Tuesday, May 01, 2018

The Tooth of the Matter

I couldn't believe how absolutely gorgeous it was when I woke up this morning. Opened the windows and enjoyed it while watching Sailor Moon R: The Promise of the Rose. This short movie has the Guardians fighting an alien (similar to An and Ali from the first half of the season) who has come to Earth with an energy-draining flower that wants to suck the Earth dry! Things get even scarier when it turns out the alien, Fiore, had been friends with Mamoru during his childhood and kidnaps him, hoping to restore their relationship.

There was a lot I wanted to get done today, starting with heading to Westmont. Had to dodge a lot of road work on Cuthbert. From what I could see as I walked around them, a telephone pole was either blown or knocked down, taking a lot of wires with it.

First on the agenda was dropping the box with the old modem off at UPS. Apparently, Comcast has a deal with them to send their equipment back for free. Fortunately for me, a UPS Store just opened last year in Westmont Plaza. I went in, weighed my package, got the receipt, and went out.

The UPS Store is a few doors down from the dentist's office. I was mainly getting my teeth cleaned. Apparently, they were so bad, there were bits the lady still couldn't remove. I also got a check-up and more x-rays. While it looks like I'm clear for cavities, I have two broken teeth and a broken wisdom tooth that have to come out, and my gum disease isn't getting any better. I made an appointment to get the teeth removed on May 30th and moved on.

Next stop was the Haddon Township Library for volunteering. They were surprisingly busy for 11:30 on a stunning May Day morning and early afternoon. I had plenty of DVDs, adult and kid titles, to shelve and organize. I have a lot that I want to watch at home this week, so I settled for two movies, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and the 1963 Doris Day comedy Move Over, Darling.

I was at the library for so long, it was past 1 before I headed back out. Made my way around the continuing repairs on Cuthbert to West Clinton. Had lunch at Phillies Phatties. They were dealing with the tail-end of the lunch crowd. I opted to take my slice of cheese pizza, slice of mushroom pizza, and can of Pepsi cherry vanilla soda outside and enjoy the weather. It was absolutely glorious, sunny, breezy, and warm, probably in the upper 70's.

Ran a few errands next. My thumb has been hurting for at least a week now. I probably need to get it x-rayed, but while I find a local place on my health plan, I was hoping to find a wrap for a decent price. They cost 20 dollars or more at CVS! There was nothing at Dollar General. I just ended up buying wrap bandages...which proved to be too bulky. I'll keep the bandages for other purposes, but I'm still going to have to pick up a wrap sometime.

Finally made it home around 2:30. Worked on writing for a while when I got in. Leia does manage to find her crystal, a blue-white piece, after finally reaching out with the Force. She returns with Ahsoka and Yoda to eat lunch and turn the crystal over to Kanan, who will forge her a new sword. While the others help out in the garden or the forge, Leia sits down with Yoda and Ahsoka to reach further with the Force. Leia just wants to see Han again...and as her visions become clearer, she realizes that it is him that she sees...

Broke for dinner at quarter of 6. Made chicken salad with tomatoes (a variation on a recipe in Samantha's Cooking Studio) while watching Xanadu. Sonny Malone (Michael Beck) is an artist who wants to make it on his own. For now, he's stuck painting larger copies of record covers that'll be displayed in store windows. He meets another man who is having difficulty with his muse, construction company owner Danny Maguire (Gene Kelly), while searching for a young woman he encountered earlier in the day. Maguire had once been a musician, but he'd lost interest after World War II and his girl vanished. Sonny does finally find the mysterious Kira (Olivia Newton-John) at the abandoned Pan-Pacific Auditorium. He and Danny decide it would be the perfect place for a disco nightclub. Sonny's delighted to bring Kira in, too...but she can't stay, as she's not what he thinks she is...

I have a soft spot for the cheesy guilty pleasure musicals of my childhood, like The Pirate Movie, Grease 2, and this. For all the movie's problems, most of the musical numbers are genuinely good. Olivia Newton-John's "Xanadu" and "Magic" and her duet with Cliff Richard, "Suddenly," were huge hits; I also like Newton-John and Kelly's charming "Whenever You're Away From Me" and the Electric Light Orchestra's "All Over the World."

Went into Wii Sports after the movie ended. Focused on baseball and golf tonight. I'm getting better at the home run derby - I can now hit at least two per game. I'm pretty good at Target Practice in golf, too.

Did a little Lego Star Wars next. Finally figured out that the two droid bounty hunters could pass as both astromech (R2-D2) and protocol (C-3PO) droids and open doors intended for them. Found Qui-Gon, Mace Windu, and Obi-Wan that way. Also completed the Admiral Ackbar and Yoda rounds. Still can't find that one Jedi, though, or Artoo...

Finished out the night with Jack & the Beanstalk. This 1967 animation/live-action hybrid starts off the way most versions of this story do, with Jack (Bobby Riha) trading his cow for beans from a peddler (Gene Kelly), here called Jeremy. Neither of them expect the beans to grow into a beanstalk that reaches the sky, or for them to find a nasty giant (Ted Cassidy) and enchanted harp (Janet Waldo) at the top! While Jeremy falls for the harp, who is really the Princess Serena under a spell, Jack mobilizes all the mice in the house to help them rescue the princess and her gold and flee the giant.

Gene Kelly directed this spirited, if cliched, tale. Some of the songs are kind of fun, especially "A Little Bit of Faith" for Jeremy and Jack and the march for Jack and the mice. It's currently available as part of the Warner Archives if you're interested.

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