Tuesday, February 18, 2020

The Guardians and the Duke

The clouds were still out when I rolled out of bed this morning. Had breakfast while watching Press Your Luck. The one woman playing did do well and avoided Whammies...but not well enough. She made the mistake of giving her spins to one of the two guys, both of whom outpaced her. It came down to the two of them; in the end, the champ only won because the other guy hit a Whammy.

Spent the rest of the morning making collages. I finally picked up enough catalogs during the holiday season to put them together, but I didn't have the time until today. I had so many, I ended up making four. The Vermont Country Store catalogs alone provided enough to do collages for Halloween and Christmas. I also did one for Thanksgiving from the Bed Bath and Beyond flyers and a winter one I have hanging up now on the refrigerator.

Ran the remaining episodes on the first disc of Sailor Moon Super S while I worked. The Amazon Trio finally ran out of time in "Mirror of Dreams: The Amazon Trio's Last Stage." Usagi takes Fish Eye home and tries to make friends with him, but he ends up figuring out who Usagi and Chibi-Usa really are. Hawk's Eye is ordered to look into Usagi's dream mirror, but an unknown clown monster breaks it. Now it's up to the Amazon Trio to restore Sailor Moon and learn what it truly means to be real, dreaming humans.

Their replacements, the Amazoness Quartet, make their first full appearances in the next episode, "The Amazoness: Nightmare From Beyond the Mirrors." Unlike the adult Trio, the Quartet are little girls who have no desire to ever become adults. They're convinced that if they grow up, they'll lose their childhood dreams. Indeed, they make fun of Chibi-Usa's friend Momoko because she insists she can't wait to have a boyfriend. They invite her and the others to the Dead Moon Circus...but it's really a trap to steal her dream mirror.

The remaining episodes on the disc mainly involved either upgrading the other Sailor Guardians' powers or the Amazons driving a none-too-amused Zirconia up the wall. Babyish Amazon Palla Palla turns her play dentist office into "Dentist of Horrors? Palla Palla's House" and tries to steal the dream mirrors from her unsuspecting patients, including Usagi and Chibi-Usa. Ami's too shy to show a composer she met online her lyrics to his lovely melody in "True Power Explodes: Ami's Melody of the Heart," but she discovers the power within her when she has to help break the others out of his computer. Rei also gets to upgrade her power in "Flames of Passion: Mars' Raging Super Attack." A young girl imitates her when she thinks she wants to be a shrine maiden. It takes a mimicking monkey monster to make both her and Rei understand that we need to lead our own dreams.

Returned to Buzzr as I rounded up the paper mess and got organized. Jack Cassidy and Richard Dawson worked together to ham it up on a pirate-themed question in a 1975 episode of Match Game. Classic Concentration allowed a college-age girl and an older man to win prizes and try to match for a car. Alas, neither of them matched enough spaces to earn a vehicle.

Headed out as Concentration wound down. My original plan for today involved just hanging around...but the sun emerged around noon, and it became an unusually warm, off-and-on sunny day. It was just too nice to be inside. I took a ride into Collingswood to get my hair done. My hair is very thick, and it gets frizzy and unmanageable when it's too long. A blonde lady at Hair Cuttery trimmed it to above my shoulders, layered longer in the front and shorter in the back. It's actually a little shorter than I wanted, but that's not a horrible thing, and it does look pretty cute. I tend to throw it back when it's long anyway and not do much with it.

Went for a stroll on Haddon Avenue after she finished my cut. I hadn't browsed the dollar bins at InnerGroove Records in ages...mainly because I'm running out of room for them and don't really need to be spending money on a ton of junk. I did find a few interesting titles, two of which I've been looking for:

Rupert Holmes - Partners In Crime

Meco - Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk

Hooked On Classics & Turned-On Broadway 2

Made a brief stop at Frugli Consignment next. I hoped to find a pair of trousers for work. No luck. I couldn't even find a pair of trousers in my size, let alone ones appropriate for working in. Got in and out of there quickly.

Besides, by that point, it was rush hour. I had problems with the wonky bike seat, but I did manage to get to Newton Lake Park. It would have been a crime not to ride through there. The day was warm for winter, in the upper 50's. The waning afternoon sun sparkled on the river as I dodged many other bikers and people out for a stroll.

Went into writing when I got in. Charles isn't entirely sure about Gene turning them all invisible. Richard thinks it's the only way to really surprise Malade and her trolls. Brett insists on joining them, even though she hasn't fully recovered from the poisoned comb. Marcia's annoyed with Bill, who claims he's guarding the inside. Even as she complains, they hear the buzzing of Malade's trolls and hooves of the Sheriff of Nottingham's army arriving at the gate...

Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. Had leftovers while watching more Match Game. This time, it's Patti Deustch who rolls up Gene's pants leg while he talks to Charles, to the amusement of Richard, Dr. Joyce Brothers, and the audience. Sale of the Century crowned a new contestant, a woman who came back during the speed round to pass both men in the very last minutes. Despite being tempted by a lovely double-strand gold necklace and a beautiful fur coat, she opted to come back tomorrow to try to earn more money.

Finished the night baking Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal Cookies and going online while watching The Duke Is Tops. I go further into this B-movie that introduced Lena Horne to movie audiences at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

The Duke Is Tops

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