Tales of High Fantasy

Began a sunny morning with breakfast and another Rick Steves jaunt. This time, we visited small-town Netherlands, home of modern art, viking museums, and story time under the trees with Hans Christian Anderson. My favorite place in both rural Netherlands episodes I have is the island of Aero. The lovely town and cozy farms look like something out of a fantasy.

Made the bed as Rick was finishing the episode. It was time to finally get the new sheets on. This set is beige with tan stripes. I got lucky - the colors match my blue, beige, and tan comforter perfectly. There's only one pillowcase, so I'll keep the cornflower blue case from the previous set, and use the previous sheet as a thin flannel blanket for guests.

Spent the rest of the morning writing. Leia's father takes her out on a few jaunts, rescuing locals from smaller monsters, and helping him sell the furniture he makes in town, while Obi-Wan teaches Luke the ins and outs of magic. Padme is concerned that her children, especially her daughter, won't settle down and find someone to love. Leia reassures her that she will, someday. After she's become a knight and saved the kingdom from Queen Jania's evil head counselor Palpatine.

Broke for lunch at 1. Watched a fairy tale-themed episode of Max & Ruby while I ate and got ready for work. "Little Red Ruby Hood" has to avoid the Big Max Wolf and get her cookies safely to Grandma's. Ruby tells her brother the story of a young boy who found out what grew from magic beans when he won't eat his green beans in "Max & the Beanstalk." Ruby and Louise don't know what play to put on, until Max's frog friend reminds them of the tale of "The Froggy Prince."

We were incredibly busy all afternoon at work. Not only is it still the beginning of the month, but we may be getting anything from 1 to 6 inches of snow on Wednesday...and most people are still freaked out about the storm from last Friday. I was outside doing carts the entire day, which didn't bother me a bit. While it was chilly and windy, it was also sunny, and the sun felt nice and warm when you could get out of the breeze.

(Incidentally, the Acme sign in the front of the store has been completely stripped of plastic. Either the rest of it blew off after I left, or they took it down this morning. The lights were exposed underneath...and they actually looked kind of neat, like an old-style movie marquee.)

I got home and made scrambled eggs with tomatoes, mozzarella, and spinach for a quick dinner. Ran the original 1980's My Little Pony special, Rescue from Nightmare Castle, while I ate. Impulsive flying pony Firefly brings Meghan, a normal kid, to Ponyland to help her and her friends stop the evil demon Tirak from using turning their friends into dragons to pull his chariot and create "the night that will never end!" The remaining ponies take Meghan to see their absent-minded friend the Moochick, who has a certain Rainbow of Light that may help.

Did some Lego Star Wars after I ate. Finished "Droid Factory" and "Betrayal at Bespin" and got most of the pieces and True Jedi on "Death Star Attack." I'm still having a hard time finding the red bricks on the flying rounds, though.

Ended the night with Willow. This fantasy tale from 1988 has the title character (Warwick Davis), a farmer in a community of small people called Nelwyn, find a human baby. When their town is attacked by monsters, he figures out that they're after the baby and finds himself in charge of delivering it to the human world. With the help of a smart-mouthed warrior (Val Kilmer), a shape-shifting sorcereress, and a pair of comic brownies, Willow dodges the evil Bavorda, who wants to make sure that the prophecy involving the baby does not come to pass.

While this only did mildly well in 1988, it's been a family favorite since we first taped it in the late 80's. Kilmer and Davis work especially well together. If you're into high fantasy epics like Game of Thrones or Dragonslayer, you'll want to look around for this one.