Began a cloudy and cool morning with breakfast before switching to making Strawberry Almond Muffins. Watched Brain Donors while I worked. A shyster laywer (John Tuturro), a goofy houseboy (Bob Nelson), and a jack-of-all-trades cab driver (Mel Smith) become involved with a ballet company owned by a rich widow (Nancy Marchand). They try to hire an obnoxious dancer (George de la Pena), but end up promoting a pair of young lovers (Spike Alexander and Juliana Donald) looking for their big break. A fun riff on the Marx Brothers movies; worth checking around for (it's currently available at the Warner Archives).
Headed out to get the laundry done around 11:30. They were fairly busy when I came in and just starting to clear out when I left. Even though I'd waited over a week to get it done, I still didn't have a big load. I listened to The View and Action News, worked on story notes, and was out in less than an hour.
Charlie met me on the path to my apartment. Apparently, he wants to replace one of the windows in my bedroom tomorrow or Friday and insists I move stuff away from it. I don't know why he's replacing the windows at this minute, but whatever. I'll move it tomorrow.
Put away the laundry and had lunch while doing more Backyardigans episodes. Pablo and Uniqua are two galactic war lords searching for a powerful crystal in "Pablor and the Acorns." Pablo crash-lands on Earth and encounters the Acorns (Tyrone, Austin, Tasha), a trio of Scout-like do-gooders. They teach him how good it can feel to help others while taking him to the mountain where the crystal landed. But Uniqua's not far behind...
Uniqua joins Pablo and Tyrone as "The Great Splashinis," a high-diving act. They discover a sea monster in their practice pool and do everything they can to get rid of him...at least before they discover he may actually be an asset to the act.
Left again around quarter of 2 to hit the Haddon Township Library. Despite the chilly wind, I took the long way across Newton Lake Park. They were fairly quiet; the chill may have scared a lot of people off. I saw a few fishermen and joggers and a couple of parents and their kids around the picnic pavilion, but it was mostly me and the water foul. Everything is so lush and green now, glowing in shades that even Oz couldn't reproduce.
The Haddon Township Library was fairly busy with kids and their parents looking for something to do on a dreary day. I mainly shelved DVDs. Took out a couple this week. There's another Minnie and Daisy Happy Helpers set out. Continued my exploration of the changing cinema of the 60's and 70's with the unusual musical All That Jazz. Found The Disaster Artist, one of the more intriguing movies from last fall, and the 2014 French version of Beauty and the Beast. Dug a recent collection of Star Wars kids' stories out of the children's section.
Between the dark clouds, cold wind, and my lack of money, this was no day for lingering. I went straight home and on the computer for some writing. Leia, to her horror, discovers that her Aunt Breha and Uncle Bail are among those who were turned into monsters by Palpatine. She leaves them with Lando and Wedge's men and takes Wedge, Princess Amilyn, Chewie, and the Ewoks upstairs to his lair before the Great Confluence begins. Besides, she has a few questions she wants to ask the princess about her original engagement to Han...
Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. Played more Lego Indiana Jones while eating leftovers. The second bonus round is one of the "break up a Lego town for a million studs" games. Sticking with the treasure hunting/archaeologist theme, here, the "town" was actually an ancient city, with runs and dinosaur bones to build. I got up to over 900,000, but just couldn't figure out the last part. I'll try again tomorrow or later this week.
Ended the night after a shower with The Secret of Nimh. Mrs. Brisby is a widowed mouse with four children, one of whom is deathly ill. Seeking help from The Great Owl on how to keep them safe when the plow comes through, he sends her to talk to the rats who live on the farm. They're really a highly intelligent society of rodents who have been stealing electricity from the farmer to power their own city in a rose bush. They want to find a safer home, but there's a splinter faction who thinks they're better off where they are. Mrs. Brisby just wants her children safe from the plow, but she ends up helping them anyway. Her husband had helped save he rats from a medical laboratory. With a little help from a magical amulet, Mrs. Brisby shows equal courage...and proves that you don't have to be big or bold to be a real hero.
Still one of my favorite animated films. The animation is stunning, the music by Jerry Goldsmith is haunting, the theme song "Flying Dreams" is lovely, the characters are memorable, and the story is touching and surprisingly dark. It's not for young kids, but for grade school-age on up, this is a really beautiful movie and a fine introduction to Don Bluth's work.
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