Inspectors Aren't Dull

Celebrated yesterday's big Eagles win by finally finishing Heir to the Empire. Watched "Demons Aren't Dull" from the serial-style 4th season of Danger Mouse. This one, at least, certainly isn't. He's a strange creature from another dimension who steals London landmarks and drops them in his home world. Danger Mouse and Penfold have to figure out how to rescue them...and dodge an equally nefarious (if shorter) plan from Baron Greenback.

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon ending BB In Toyland. All's well that ends well in Toyland. Leia makes Poe the Piper's Son head of her Factory. He and Rey Quite Contrary agree to start courting each other. Han Shaftoe tells Mother Leia Goose that he'll stay on land more often. Confused about his place in Toyland, Kylo Ren returns to the Crooked Castle with Jack Hux, Jill Phasma, Simple Simon Mitaka, and the rest of the trolls. Barnaby Snoke is arrested. Santa tells Kaydel Bo Peep that he'll buy her sheep and give them to her, as long as she actually keeps an eye on them. Santa gives a sleepy BB a ride home in his sleigh.

The little girl wakes up back in Skywalker's Department Store with Maz's words about the choices we make ringing in her ears. She's a bit surprised when the first person she sees is Santa Claus...but it's just Luke Weston in a costume. She immediately tells him and Poe about Ben's deception and his stealing from the company. Turns out Leia and Poe were also suspicious and got friends of Officer Solo to haul Ben, Hux, Phasma, and Mitaka down to the nearest police station for questioning. Phasma is fired; the deal with Alexander Snoke and the First Order Value Department Store chain is off.

Officer Harry Solo offers the entire group a ride home in his old truck the Falcon. As they're leaving, BB sees a group of dancers in colorful costumes...including one who looks like Maz Kantana. She waves as they head out, telling her brother that she's glad there's no place like home.

That should not have taken as long as it did to write. It was supposed to have been this year's Christmas story. I had a lot of major distractions in December and early January, including a couple of days around New Year's when I couldn't get to writing at all, and other days when I could only get a tiny bit of writing done. At any rate, BB In Toyland is finally up and posted at Archive of Our Own, my writing blog, and Fanfiction.Net.

BB In Toyland - Archive of Our Own
BB In Toyland - My Writing Blog
BB In Toyland - Fanfiction.net

Ran one of the Popeye 20-minute shorts as I had a quick lunch and got ready for work. Popeye is the title character in Aladdin and His Magical Lamp. Screenwriter Olive makes herself the princess he woos. Surprisingly, there's no Bluto to be found. A wicked vizier is the one who sends Popeye into the caverns to find the lamp, then steals it from him and forces the genie to take the princess' castle away. Popeye still has to use spinach to rescue her.

Work wasn't too bad, especially after yesterday. It was steady for most of the night, not as crazy as yesterday, but never really dead, either. I cleaned the bathrooms when I came in, bagged, and did the outside trash, but I mostly gathered carts. At least it was a nice day for it. It was the warmest weather we've had in weeks, mid-50's and cloudy, with no wind.

Did an episode of Fairie Tale Theatre while eating leftovers for dinner. Star Wars wasn't the last time Carrie Fisher would play a princess or appear in a fantasy story. She made a fetching "Thumbelina" in the show's second season. A tiny girl is kidnapped by a toad and befriended by a mouse and a mole, the latter of whom wants to marry her, before she ultimately finds happiness with a fairy prince who is far closer to her size and temperament.

Took a shower, then played some Wii. I hadn't played video games for a while. I used to have it hooked up through the DVD recorder. When that died, so did my way of hooking up the game. I finally bought a splicer that allows you to hook several devices at once to your TV off Amazon with that Christmas gift card Mom gave me. Decided to start Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga over rather than return to the more difficult Clone Wars. I've definately improved at this game since last time. Made it through the first two rounds easily, getting 1 piece from the first round, 7 from the second, and True Jedi from both.

Finished out the night with The Inspector General. This Danny Kaye vehicle from 1949 has some things in common with the later The Court Jester. Once again, Kaye is involved in a comic swashbuckler, this time as Georgi, a gypsy on the run from his abusive chief Yakov (Walter Sleazak). He stumbles into a small town run by a corrupt group of politicians, including the Mayor (Gene Lockhart) and his Chief of Police (Alan Hale Sr.). He's arrested at first, but is then mistaken for the Inspector General who is supposed to be coming to see if the town is run honestly. The politicians want to either kill him or get him out of town, but Yakov thinks they can use their bribes to his gain (despite claiming he's going to buy back the town's organ). Georgi just wants to court a pretty and outspoken maid (Barbara Bates) and avoid the mayor's lusty wife (Elsa Lanchester).

If you enjoyed The Court Jester, this is pretty much the same deal, only set in Yugoslavia instead of England. Kaye sings his patter songs with aplomb, avoids Lanchester's advances, and spends a lot of time stuttering over how he's supposed to be aristocratic when he can barely write. Fun for fans of Kaye or comic adventure stories.