Windy Autumn

It was sunny when I rolled out of bed this morning. Began a lovely fall day with breakfast and one of the stranger Rankin-Bass holiday specials, The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold. This is the only holiday special I know of to mix Irish mythology and Christmas lore. A young sailor is told to get a Christmas tree from a misty island for his ship by his captain, but accidentally uproots a pine that had trapped a banshee. The banshee wants the gold of the leprechauns, or it'll dissolve into tears on Christmas Day. Trouble is, it must be given freely. She first tries to trick the leprechaun, then the sailor. When she puts the sailor to sleep, it takes the leprechaun clans mending bad feelings between them to revive him and save their gold.

Headed out to the laundromat around 10:30. I couldn't put off getting the laundry done anymore. The laundromat was busy, but not unbearable. I didn't have that huge of a load anyway. I worked on story notes while listening to Rachel Ray and The View.

Had a little time to write when I got home. The girls and frogs spend the next week preparing for their party to send the ladies off...and hopefully, bring Leia and the Master closer together. They have an inkling of what's going on, but the kids aren't talking, and Chewbacca isn't saying anything to Harold, either. The girls are hoping that having a new man in Leia's life - even if he's a horned toad - will make her less sad. The boys figure this is the chance their Master has been waiting for - a woman loves him enough to see past the prickles and get into bed with him.

Broke at 1 for lunch and to get ready for work. The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas is one of my favorite lesser-known holiday specials. Ted E. Bear is more curious than most of his ursine brethren. While they're content to spend the winter hibernating, he wants to stay up and learn more about Christmas. After being humiliated by his fellow bears when he asks a few too many questions, he strikes out on his own to the big city. There, he learns that Christmas isn't a place or a person. It's a feeling...and one that's best shared with someone you love.

Work was a slight improvement over yesterday. I did get stuck in the register for 10 minutes early-on when a manager saw some people on the ends of a few lines and panicked. Otherwise, I was mostly either bagging, doing returns, or gathering carts or baskets. Fine by me. It was a gorgeous day to get carts, sunny, very windy, and warmer than it has been, into the upper 50's. It rained this morning, but by the time I was at work, it was partial clouds.

Did two Backyardigans episodes when I got in and had leftovers and steamed broccoli for dinner. Tyrone thinks he has to "Escape From Fairy Tale Village" when it looks like Uniqua the Witch, Austin the Wolf, and Pablo the Giant want to eat him. But is that really why they're chasing him?

Tasha, a photographer for a newspaper in Bigopolis, is ready to report some "Front Page News" when a huge robot is terrorizing downtown. Pablo sends her to get the shot for the front page...but she's too busy being superhero Super Snap and helping Bug Girl (Uniqua) and Bubble Man (Tyrone) to take the picture.

Finished the night with Mission: Impossible III as I went online. Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) thinks he's ready to settle down with his fiancee Julia Meade (Michelle Monaghan), who has no idea what his real job is. He's called back into action one more time to try to rescue an agent (Keri Russell) who was kidnapped while investigating a case about nasty arms dealer Owen Davian (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). While they do manage to rescue her and two laptops with information, they're only able to keep the laptops. Davian kills her with an explosive implanted into her brain. Even after they do succeed in grabbing Davian before he leaves Vatican City, they learn he's after a certain mysterious object called "Rabbit's Foot." He manages to escape and capture Julia, whom Ethan had married several days before. Now Ethan has only 48 hours to rescue his bride and find "Rabbit's Foot," before Davian kills his bride or his team.

A bit darker than the previous entry in this series, but not bad. (And with far fewer weird slo-mo action scenes.) Hoffman was only ok as one of the creepier bad guys in this series, and I thought the "bomb in the brain" thing was a little much. The romance was dull, too. On the other hand, the plot was still pretty interesting, and the cinematography and action scenes were breathtaking at times, especially in Rome.

Not the best of this series, but far from horrible. This pretty much confirms what I said after Rogue Nation. This is the best kind of popcorn action series. If you like one, you'll pretty much like them all, including this one.