It was cloudy and humid, but a bit cooler, when I rolled out of bed this morning. Started my day with breakfast and an earlier Max & Ruby Halloween episode. "Max's Halloween" has him wanting to be a vampire and scare people. His sister keeps insisting he dress as her prince. "Ruby's Leaf Collection" will be the best in the class, if her brother stops burying it in his leaf pile. Ruby reads the spooky story "The Blue Tarantula" at Max's insistence, but it ends up keeping both bunnies awake.
First on the agenda today was getting the laundry done. Good thing they weren't busy. I had a huge load. Did towels along with any summer clothes I wanted to wash before I put them away. Listened to The View and Action News and worked on story notes.
As soon as I got home and got the clothes folded, I pulled out the seasonal clothes bin. Though it may briefly get back up into the 80's over the weekend, it's going to return to the 60's after that. Besides, I'm tired of waiting. While I have a lot more winter clothes than summer clothes, I do need a few things. I'd like to get a pair of jeans in a lighter blue. (I have indigo and black jeans.) I do have good winter pants, but my black winter skirt hasn't fit right in ages, and I haven't found an affordable winter dress yet. Also swapped out my woven summer purse for my leather-like winter one.
Had a quick lunch after I finished, then headed to the Haddon Township Library. Though it remained cloudy, the heavy wind felt nice and cool. We need even more rain than what we got over the weekend. The park still looks dry and brittle, though the remaining goldenrod and milkweed retain their color.
The Haddon Township Library was very quiet when I arrived. It didn't pick up until I was starting to organize children's DVDs. By the time I was shelving the stacks of adult titles, the place was as packed as a library gets. All the kids must have just gotten out of school. Dodged kids and adults looking for movies while putting new releases away.
Though I didn't get any books this week (I'm still working my way through Phasma), I did pick up a few DVDs. Enjoyed the Cat In the Hat Knows A Lot About That Halloween special last year enough to make it an annual tradition. Continued my exploration into the maverick filmmakers of the late 60's and early 70's with The French Connection. Figured it was time to finally get to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. (That was one of the movies I rented the week the DVD recorder died.)
Made a short stop at WaWa on my way home for a treat. They have a couple of different pumpkin spice smoothies and milkshakes this year. Tried the Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Smoothie. Ooh yum, this was the best one yet! It actually tasted like a pumpkin cheesecake (even if the girl did overdo the graham cracker crumb topping).
Got home around 4:30 and went right on the computer. The surfing contest begins! The Imperials are clearly outclassed by the Rogues. Wedge manages to pull of several complex tricks before a rock shot at him knocks him off his board. The Imperial who did it is ejected, much to the disappointment of Mayor Thrawn. Meanwhile, Luke notices a huge, sleek yacht on the horizon that he doesn't recognize...
Broke at 6:30 for dinner. Had the big lemon-pepper tilapia fillet for dinner, along with Ratatouille made from a pile of older vegetables I had in my crisper. Made Coconut-Dark Chocolate Chip Muffins for dessert.
Watched Mission: Impossible while I ate and baked. Ethan Hunt's (Tom Cruise) mission, should he choose to accept it, is to find out who framed him for the death of his team during a trip to recover a list of CIA spies. At least one member of the team, Claire (Emmanuelle Beart), survived and joins him as he gathers two former agents (Lee Rhames and Jean Reno) to find out who was the mole who sold the list to an arms dealer named "Max" (Vanessa Redgrave). Turns out she doesn't have the real list. Ethan and his group steal it from the CIA Headquarters in London, in return for the name of the real mole. Meanwhile, the head of the CIA, Kitteridge (Henry Czerny) is on his trail...and one of the members of his original group may not be as dead as he thinks they are...
Oh wow. This was much better than I thought it would be. I will point out that I've never seen either the 60's TV show that this is based on or the later films in this series, so I'm coming to this one with fresh eyes. Tom Cruise really threw himself into this role, and it's obvious he was having a lot of fun with it. I also liked Redgraves as the surprisingly tough arms dealer and Lee Rhames as one of the former agents Ethan recruits. Some spectacular action set pieces too, including the finale on a moving train. Danny Elfman's score was excellent, nicely incorporating the TV show theme.
I do wish the plot had been a little easier to follow. It was hard to tell who was backstabbing whom after a while. Not to mention, much of the hardware and special effects haven't dated all that well. (Those all-important lists are on the small floppy discs that were still common in the mid-90's.)
If you're a fan of action, Tom Cruise, or spy tales that are slightly more realistic than James Bond, this is one mission you should absolutely choose to accept.
Finished the night on YouTube. I found some utterly hilarious animated shorts that uses Nintendo characters, like Mario, Link, and Princess Peach, to parody other pop culture franchises. My favorite is the spoof of The Force Awakens. It manages not only to be one of the funniest online cartoons I've ever seen, but the scenes between the older Peach and Mario are as touching as the ones between Leia and Han in the actual movie. (If you're interested, there's also spoofs of the Original Trilogy, Ghostbusters, The Avengers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.)
The Triforce Awakens Part 1
The Triforce Awakens Part 2
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