Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider Kid

Began an absolutely gorgeous day with breakfast and Olym-pinks. The Pink Panther and his long-nosed rival take part in the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics. Pink's the star, to his rival's consternation. He does everything he can to out-jump and out-ski the rose-hued cat. Meanwhile, Pink's just hoping to dodge pianos that seem to be after him and help the poor guy when all his attempts at sabotage land him with a cold.

First thing on the agenda this morning was getting the new seat on the bike. This isn't anywhere near as complicated as changing the tires or fixing the chain. All you have to do is unscrew the seat, pull it off, then secure the new one. It took me a few minutes, due to the size of the seat, but I did finally get it on.

Concentrated on writing for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Rey's second mission is to rescue the sacred texts of Luke's wizard order from Snoke's bedroom. Luke gives her his cloak to help her sneak past the guards, but Kylo Ren is sleeping right under them. This time, she manages to dodge the young knight and the giant by going out a window.

Had lunch at 1 while watching another Pink Panther winter special, Pink at First Sight. Pink's hoping to earn money to look for a lovely panther lady of his own to spend Valentine's with. He takes a job as a singing package deliverer, but has absolutely no luck anywhere. A husband thinks he's after his wife. He accidentally gives a sexy gift to a priest. Gangsters aren't too happy when his package for them turns out to be a bomb! Not to mention, he keeps imagining that every woman he sees (and even a teddy bear) is the female panther of his dreams.

Did a quick short from my public domain cartoon collection while getting ready for work. "Cupid Gets His Man" was made by the Van Beuren Studio in the mid-30's. Mountie cupids have their work cut out for them when they have to bring together a spinster and a devoted bachelor who live next-door to one another.

Other than my break was late, work was absolutely no problem. It's the middle of the month right before two major holidays, and a gorgeous day to boot. The sun was out, the wind was gone, and it was a perfectly normal upper 30's-lower 40's. I did gather trash and baskets and shelved a few items, but I was mostly outside, doing carts and enjoying the nice weather.

Had a spinach "pancake" (spinach, eggs, and cheese) for dinner when I got home. Watched more Hannah Swenson while I ate. Peach Cobbler Mystery introduces a second bakery directly across from Hannah's Cookie Jar. The two sisters who own the place seem friendly enough, especially when the one that does the baking asks Hannah for help with a peach cobbler for a wedding. Unfortunately, neither she nor the cobblers make it to the dessert table. Hannah finds her dead in her massive industrial kitchen. Not only is she the first suspect, but her cop boyfriend Mike is taken off the case as being compromised. Hannah, her sister Andrea, her mother Dolores, and Dolores' new boyfriend Douglas search for the real killer...but he turns out to be a lot closer to home than any of them suspect.

I liked this one much better than Fudge Cupcake Murder...but then I remember liking the book, too. I completely forgot that this was set at Valentine's Day. We're introduced to Hannah's cat Moishe and her cute condo as she tries to decide between Mike and Norman for her Valentine's date...but I frankly like the solution she comes up with in the end far more.

Finished the night with Spider Man: Homecoming. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is back in school after the events of Captain America: Civil War. He's pleading with his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) to become a full member of the Avengers. Stark doesn't think he's ready yet, even after he discovers the former owner of a salvage company (Michael Keaton) selling alien technology and bits and pieces of Avengers costuming and weapons. Stark's given him a new Spider Man suit to help him out...but a disastrous attempt to capture the Vulture in Washington DC and on the Staten Island Ferry makes Stark think Peter's not quite ready for the big time yet. Peter now has to prove to Stark that he has what it takes to be "your friendly neighborhood Spider Man" and explain to his homecoming date Liz (Laura Harrier) that her dad has become a super-villain.

This ended up being really cute for a superhero movie. I loved how the kids were portrayed as about as normal as you can get, including Peter's best friend Ned (Jacob Batalon) and snarky Michelle (Zendaya) on the debate team. Some of the set pieces were fun too, especially in Washington DC. Michael Keaton also did well as one of the more interesting villains in the Marvel universe films.

I'm not the biggest Spider Man fan, but I have to admit, I did have fun with this. Let's hope Peter does just as well when he rejoins the Avengers for this summer's Infinity War.

Here's some animated specials exploring the more romantic and comic side of love while all of you get ready for Valentine's Day tomorrow:

For Better or for Worse: A Valentine From the Heart
The Bernstein Bears' Comic Valentine
DTV Romancin' (Disney Music Video special)
From Disney With Love
A Special Valentine With the Family Circus 
Cathy's Valentine

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