Saturday, March 30, 2019

Yard Sale Adventures

Kicked off a sunny, breezy morning with a quick breakfast, making the bed, and two more Inspector cartoons. It's a "Cirrhosis of the Louvre" when an art thief called The Blot manages to swipe every masterpiece in the famous Paris museum out from under the Inspector and Deux-Deux's noses. They're "Plastered In Paris" when they're supposed to chase a famous criminal around the world, but he's definitely not what he seems.

Got out around quarter of 10. I'm glad Audubon moved the Town Wide Yard Sale to this week. Not only did I have off, but the weather was much better. Though it remained breezy, it was also unusually warm for this time of the year, in the lower 70's by noon. No wonder they were flooded with cars and people pushing strollers and walking dogs. If yards weren't filled with glassware and baby toys, their owners were planting flowers and trimming trees.

I kept getting turned around. At one point, I found myself on the Black Horse Pike in the next town over, Mt. Ephram. Rode down the Pike until I found the service road leading behind the Audubon Crossings Shopping center and back into Audubon. As I rode down the street, I noticed that the dilapidated former "gentleman's club" had been replaced by a brand-new combination Taco Bell/Pizza Hut. Too bad I didn't know about that yesterday. It's only a block from the Shopping Center. I could have had tacos or a personal pan pizza.

(If I hadn't found out about that earlier, I would have figured it out the moment I checked the mailbox. We were sent coupons for the Pizza Hut half of the building. I might have to give those a try in the next few months.)

By that point, the traffic on the side of Audubon between the Pikes was getting a bit annoying. I made my way across Pine and the White Horse Pike around 11. Continued riding around the neighborhoods bordering Cuthbert Road and Haddon Township for another hour and a half. I had no idea what Charlie was doing, so I stopped at WaWa and bought a small turkey hoagie and a mocha chilled cappuccino on my way home.

I did really well today. This was probably my best yard sale haul in a long time. I found DVD copies of Lawrence of Arabia, Drums Along the Mohawk, the Gary Cooper High Noon, The Right Stuff, the live-action Disney comedy The North Avenue Irregulars, and one I've wanted for years, the cult action musical Streets of Fire.  Picked up the Broadway original cast of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown with Kristin Chenowith and a two-disc collection of Christmas music from, of all places, Bath and Body Works on CD. Found four vintage cookbooks, two Better Homes and Gardens books with bread and crock pot recipes from the early 70's, an 80's Duncan Hines cake mix cookbook, and a Sunkist pamplet from the 50's with interesting citrus recipes. I've enjoyed The Flash so much, I thought I'd give another (relatively) recent DC show a try and picked up the 4th season of Smallville.

(All of the DVDs but Streets of Fire, Smallville, and The North Avenue Irregulars came from a guy about my age who said he just replaced most of his collection on Blu-Ray. The remaining DVDs, the Duncan Hines cookbook, and the CDs came from a house on the Cuthbert Road side of Audubon that had a lot of 80's-themed items for sale. Picked up the Better Homes and Gardens books from one of the first houses I stopped at. I also bought lemonade from their adorable little girl, who pretended to be a horse for me. Bought pink lemonade and butter cookies from an equally adorable young lady who was around the same age - and the same energy level - later in the day.)

Finished out the Inspector cartoons while having lunch and putting everything away. Honestly, some of these cartoons are more than a little strange. The Inspector encounters chicken servants and has to dress like one to get a diamond in "Cockle-a-Doodle Deux-Deux." "Le Quiet Squad" is more like a typical Looney Tunes short, with a noisy cat who keeps interrupting the Commissioner's attempts at rest. He has to deal with an overeager police pooch who drags him everywhere in "Le Bowser Baggage." Also, this is an older set with only the first 17 cartoons; a more recent two-disc set includes all 34 shorts. I enjoyed these enough that I might have to look around for that set.

Worked on writing for several hours after that. Luke and Ben hear the message from Force Girl (Leia) on a cassette tape. She explains that she has given Rudy and Charlie plans for Darth Vader's death ray and they have to get them to her uncle's mansion in Aldera Hills right away. Ben insists on Luke coming, but he's not as sure...

Didn't break until 5. While the wind had picked up by then, it otherwise remained lovely and warm. It was too nice not to go for a walk in the park next-door. I hadn't been over there for a while. The community garden in the center of the park has been tilled and mulched; many of the bushes already have their first pale green leaves. The weather was so lovely, I strolled along a dirt path to the train tracks and took photos of the stunning views of the lake.

Had leftovers for dinner, then tried one of the recipes from my new bread cookbook, Muffins Tropicale...or basically, Pineapple Muffins. Not bad. I replaced the sour cream with Greek yogurt and one cup of regular flour with whole wheat. Otherwise, I stuck to the recipe. It came out very well, nice and sweet and moist.

Continued with The Flash while I baked. Barry's "Out of Time" when the brother of the weather-controlling villain from the first episode returns to avenge his brother's death. Meanwhile, Catalin and Cisco have put two and two together and figured out that Harrison Wells is up to no good, but the truth may cost them more than their friendship with him. In an attempt to protect Iris from a tsunami, Barry discovers a new, and rather surprising, ability - he can run so fast, he goes back in time.

I didn't realize that I put in the wrong disc and accidentally skipped ahead to later in the season. Realizing who Wells is and what he's done, Barry and the others set "The Trap" for him...but as usual, he's one step ahead of them. He ends up kidnapping Eddie, to Iris' dismay. "Grodd Lives," Grodd being the gorilla with psychic powers who was trained by Wells. Barry stops an armored car robbery and is surprised to discover General Elling from "Plastique" is behind it. He's being controlled by Grodd and reveals where the big ape now has Joe under the sewers.

Switched to the animated Dumbo as I settled down online for the night. I go into more detail about the original version of the story of the little elephant with big ears at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Dumbo (1941)

Finished the night with Drums Along the Mohawk. Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert headline as Gil and Lana Martin, a newly married couple from Albany who leave her luxurious life to work his farm in upstate New York's Mohawk Valley. Lana, who comes from a wealthy family, isn't used to frontier life at first and is pretty much panicky about everything around her. Gil's more laid-back, at least until the Revolutionary War practically lands on their doorstep. The men form a milita and try to get their loved ones to a near-by fort. Not only is Lana pregnant and loses their child through rough handling, but the Tories (British sympathizers) and more aggressive natives destroy their farm. They move in with rich but eccentric Mrs. McKlennar (Edna May Oliver), who stays with Lana when Gil rejoins the milita. It's she has to stay with him when he comes back sick. He still goes back...and this time, he becomes a hero when he hurries through enemy lines to get supplies for the settlers.

John Ford's first color movie is an action-packed Revolutionary War saga. Colbert is a bit shrill as the Albany belle who has to get used to the wilderness. Fonda is much better as her husband, and Oliver is terrific as the older lady who is a lot tougher than she looks. If you're a fan of the cast, Ford's other work, or tales of American history, you might want to give this one a try.

No comments: