Started off another glorious morning with breakfast and cartoons. The Stingiest Man In Town is Rankin-Bass' adaptation of A Christmas Carol, taken from a 1950's TV musical. Tom Bosley narrates as EH Humbug, a bug who lives in the home of one Mr. Ebeneezer Scrooge (Walter Matthau) and witnesses his haunted holiday night. Robert Morse is the young Scrooge; Dennis Day has his last TV role as Nephew Fred. There's some really nice music too, including "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" for Day and the chorus and "Yes, There Is a Santa Claus" for Belinda Cratchit to sing to her brother Tim.
Spent the next hour or so vacuuming the kitchen and living area. Normally, this takes me about 20 minutes, but I wanted to do a more thorough job than usual for the holidays. I pulled out the hose attachment and ran it along all the baseboards, some walls that were really covered in cobwebs, and around as many pieces of furniture as I could get behind. Did under my big chair in the music area and the couch, too. It took me so long, I took time off to get some writing done before I could finish.
BB is still listening in on the adults' meeting. Not only is Leia in debt to Snoke, but her son Benjamin, who is now Snoke's vice-president, accuses Poe of skimming money from the company. He also snidely asks where his father Harry Solo is. Leia coldly tells her son that his father no longer runs drugs or races boats and now has a good job with Skywalker Department Store.
Broke at 1 for lunch and to get ready for work. Ran an episode of Rick Steves' Europe while I ate yogurt and Spicy Cranapple Muffins for lunch. Switzerland is one of my favorite countries Rick visits. It always looks so much like something out of my fairy tale books! Here, he visits its most famous cities, including Bern and Lausanne. My favorite city was Lucerne, with its lovely medieval bridge.
Work was...pretty much as quiet as it was Monday. It's the end of the month, the week after the biggest food holiday of the year, and the middle of the week. We probably won't be that busy again until we start getting beginning -of-the-month people this weekend. Not to mention, the weather was amazing again too, sunny and breezy and warm for this time of the year, into the mid-60's. The only problems I had was being sent to do carts when I only had less than ten minutes left before the end of my shift. Otherwise, I mopped the bathrooms, gathered baskets and carts, and did the few returns.
As soon as I got home, I changed into regular clothes and went right back into vacuuming. Had to get the bathroom and my bedroom done. Neither room is as big as the living area, but they do take a while. I have to maneuver the vacuum around the sink and toilet in the bathroom and around all my shelves and the desk in the bedroom. Not to mention clean under the bed!
Made a delicious dinner of baked salmon, roasted broccoli, and tri-colored spiral pasta with herbs and olive oil for dinner. Watched The Wild Bunch while I ate, and later as I went online. Pike (William Holden) and Duch (Ernest Borganine) are aging gunslingers after one last big score that'll make them rich enough to retire. The rest of their gang, including the obnoxious Gorch Brothers (Warren Oates and Ben Johnson) and Angel, a much younger Mexican lad (Jamie Sanchez) just want money and to get laid, in approximately that order. They're being pursued by a group of bounty hunters hired by the railroad to end the Wild Bunch's lawless spree and lead by Deke (Robert Ryan), Pike's former partner. The group opts to sell arms to Angel's village...but their decision has far-reaching consequences that may lead to their bloody end.
Excellent depiction of an end of an era...in American film and the no-longer-Wild West. Holden was especially good as the gunslinger eternally searching for one last score; Ryan was also excellent as the bounty hunter who just doesn't want to end up in jail again. Great cinematography, too, showing off the glowing beauty of a dusty, gritty Texas and northern Mexico. Sam Peckinpah's use of dynamic editing techniques seldom seen in American movies before then keeps the movie going, even when it starts to outlast it's welcome in the final third.
Warning that the R-rating on this one is justified. The several shootouts are violent and can get bloody, especially in the finale. Prostitutes show up a couple of times, and there's a lot of mature themes as well, especially when Pike reflects on his days as a gunslinger.
Adult fans of westerns or the cast who enjoy darker and grittier takes on the Wild West will absolutely love this one.
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