Saturday, June 23, 2018

It's a Rainy Day, Charlie Brown

I got up fairly late and didn't really get moving until around 9:30-quarter of 10. Started a cloudy morning with another She-Ra episode while I ate a quick breakfast and got organized. "The Red Knight" is a mysterious fighter in crimson armor who seems to be good at everything he does, including winning a race that Bow normally dominates. Bow runs off after he loses, but he learns a lesson when it turns out he's the only one who can save the Rebels - including the Red Knight - from Hordak's latest scheme.

It was humid and misting when I went out to run my first errand of the day. The mist was slowing down somewhat as I arrived at the Collingswood Farm Market. To my surprise, despite it being past 11 and still a tiny bit rainy, it was also very busy. People were picking up their produce for graduations parties and to stock up to feed their now-at-home kids. I saw strawberries back again and decided to splurge on a pint. (They're five dollars a pint at the only booth that sells them.) Also picked up blueberries and greens.

Went straight home and put everything away. Switched to He's a Bully, Charlie Brown while I made my grocery list and checked out the Acme's app for online coupons.  A mean boy at summer camp named Joe Agate has been winning all the little kids' marbles, including Re-Run's. Truly angry for once, Charlie Brown trains with Snoopy to win them back.

The Acme was actually pretty busy when I arrived. There's a couple of good sales going on this weekend, including a big Quaker products promotion. I bought Life Cereal and Breakfast Squares for $1.88 each. Found a small tub of shrimp for dinner. Restocked sugar, skim milk, eggs (another good sale), butter, batteries, chicken legs, soap, cream of mushroom soup, bananas, and yogurt. 

My schedule is a bit frustrating next week. In good news, more hours again. In annoying news, my two days off in a row don't start until Friday, I work really early tomorrow, and I have another long 8 1/2 day on Wednesday, plus an unusually late day. 

Had lunch as soon as I got home and got everything where it was supposed to be. Finished out the He's a Bully DVD while I ate. It's a Short Summer, Charlie Brown is another Peanuts summer camp tale. This time, most of the Peanuts gang are at camp for the summer. The boys can't defeat the girls at sports, until they recruit Snoopy ("The Masked Marvel") to go up against Lucy in arm-wrestling.

A random episode of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show seemed to be there more to fill out the DVD than because it fit with the other cartoons. The first short, involving the kids planting their garden, seems re-used from It's Arbor Day; most of the third segment with Re-Run on his mom's bike would turn up again in I Want a Dog for Christmas. The last short, with Snoopy briefly taking over as manager of the baseball team, got a little closer to the summertime theme.

Worked on writing for a while. They pass through Coruscant City, a gloomy metropolis of gray cinder block apartment buildings and temple-like government buildings. Cassian manages to get them past the guards at the gates to the Coruscant Armory by passing them off as inspectors. He takes Jeanne (Jyn), Leia, Luke, Kay, and Harry into the village via a secret passage in the sub-basement.

Broke for dinner at 6. Had shrimp and leftover asparagus and corn while watching Recess: School's Out. All of the kids at the Third Street School are also off to camp for the summer, except TJ Detwiller. He accidentally stumbles onto a conspiracy when he passes the school and notices a green light. Turns out the light is a laser being built in the school's auditorium by a former politician who also happens to be an ex-Third Street principal. He wants revenge on the school and on current Principal Prickley in the worst way...by eliminating summer vacation and forcing the kids into year-round school. TJ calls the kids back first to save their principal, then to save their beloved two months off. 

Enjoyable ode to summer was a surprise hit in 2001. In fact, it was a bigger hit that year than Disney's "canon" release, Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Like that movie, it's equally forgotten nowadays. If you love the show Recess or the late 60's rock that makes up the soundtrack, you may have just as much fun as I do with this one.

Moved onto Meatballs while making Berry-Chocolate Chip Muffins. We head to another summer camp, this one in Canada in 1979. Camp North Star is filled with misfit counselors-in-training and wacky counselors like Tripper (Bill Murray), who lives to break rules. He spends the summer chasing the head female counselor (Kate Lynch) and befriending a lonely camper (Chris Makepeace) during long morning jogs. The jogging comes in handy when North Star plays the rich camp across the lake Mohawk in their annual Olympiad and need someone to run the marathon.

Fairly typical teen comedy of its time (check out the short-shorts, tube socks, and Afros on everybody), enlivened by Murray's wisecracks and the touching relationship between Tripper and the kid. Enjoyable enough for fans of Murray or the slobs-vs-snobs comedies of the late 70's and 80's. 

Ended the night with more Mystery Science Theater 3000. Cave Dwellers is a fairly typical low-budget Conan/Red Sonya imitation of the 1980's. This is cheesy to the max and absolutely terrible, making all the wisecracks most welcome.

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