Began a cloudy, blah day with breakfast and Blockbusters. That grandmother and her granddaughter barely let the first guy get on the board. The grandmother didn't miss a single hexagon on the Gold Rush bonus round, winning in record time. They were having a slightly harder time with a mother when the show ended.
Spent the next hour or so baking. My dark chocolate cake mix became Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies with the addition of butter, chocolate chips, and an egg. I think I put too much butter in. They spread a lot and were kind of soft, though they tasted pretty good.
Watched One Crazy Summer while baking, and later as I went through the rest of my records. Hoops McCain (John Cusack) is talked into spending the summer in Nantucket with his best friend George (Joel Murphy) and his protective little sister and their grandmother (Billie Bird). Hoops falls for gorgeous and tough Cassandra (Demi Moore), whom they rescue from bikers on their way to the island. Cassandra is trying to make money to buy her grandfather's home from wealthy restaurant owner Aquilla Beckersted (Mark Metcalf) and his spoiled son Teddy (Matt Mulhern). He lies and tells her he's good at basketball, which only leads to trouble when he has to go up against Teddy and his abs. He and his friends do help advertise her band gig, but it does no good when the Beckersteads buy the house outright. Hoops and his friends have to enter the local regatta - and help Hoops overcome his fear of boats - to beat these rich jerks at their own game.
This another old favorite that turned up on cable all the time when I was a kid. The quirky cast (including Bobcat Goldthwait and Tom Villard as a pair of unalike twins and Curtis Armstrong as the sensitive son of a military nut) and oddball antics give this a slightly wackier feel than most 80's "snobs-vs-slobs" comedies. If you're a fan of director "Savage" Steve Holland's other movies, the cast, or other 80's summer comedies, you'll want to check this out.
Switched briefly to Match Game and Classic Concentration while having a quick yogurt and berry lunch. On Match Game, Richard found Brett's lost earring in the opening. Later, everyone teased Allen Ludden about his weird answer earlier in the week and admired the beautiful long hair on an Indonesian contestant. The contestants on Classic Concentration were neck and neck in prizes for most of the game, until the woman got a Take and snatched the piano from the man, then got the last couple of prizes and the puzzle. She didn't get close in matching cars on the bonus round, though.
Contacted Uber shortly after Classic Concentration started. They picked me up quickly, and there was no traffic on the road...but the old man who drove me must have gotten confused and dropped me at the Crown Plaza Hotel next-door to Cooper! Oh well. It's a super-short walk, and his early arrival meant I had plenty of time to get there.
My appointment was possibly the fastest visit to the doctor I've ever had. The technician fetched me less than five minutes after I checked in. Dr. Ramerez arrived about five or so minutes after he left. The verdict was pretty much the same as last time. I'm to continue exercising it at home and wearing a sling when I'm out. He spent more time signing papers for work than checking my arm. I'll be returning for my next appointment July 1st. If' it's not quite ready by then, I may need another week or two off. The whole trip took a little over an hour, including both Uber rides.
As soon as I got home, I put the papers inside, then went back out. I wanted to get at least a little bit of a walk in today. So did everyone else. Despite the dull gray clouds and chilly wind, I saw lots of people walking their dogs or pushing strollers. Kids walked together or gathered on their bikes. Passed by one diverse and chatty group of boys on bikes as I headed home down Manor Avenue.
Had a snack and worked on crocheting while Tattletales and Press Your Luck were on. All of the couples on Tattletales this week know each other too well, including two of my favorites from Match Game, Patti Deustch and Donald Ross. The show ended in the second three-way tie in a row. This wasn't the case on Press Your Luck. The champ managed to only hit the Whammy once and came out with a trip to the Bahamas.
Went on the computer and did some writing for a while. In an attempt to streamline the ball sequence, I cut out a lot and went straight to Malade confronting Gene. Yes, she was the one who lured him into the forest and turned him into a tree, having transformed herself into a different beauty. He dodges her fire and uses his magic to fling her into the wall before they head off to find Fannie and free the others.
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Marcia Wallace, who almost never matches the contestant on Match Game, missed only one question today. Meanwhile, we had a new winner, a funny older man who seemed to have a bit of a crush on Brett. The champ just barely made it through on Sale of the Century, winning the speed round despite having bought an Instant Bargain (he said he lived with five guys, and they definitely needed a trash compactor). I thought he was going to take the entertainment center, but he opted to come back and try for larger prizes.
Went online and watched the original 1965 That Darn Cat! on Disney Plus. Patti Randall (Hailey Mills) is a normal teen girl who lives with her older sister Ingrid (Dorothy Provine) and a Siamese cat, named DC (for Darn Cat). At night, DC prowls the neighborhood, frequently causing trouble. One evening, he returns from one such outing wearing a gold watch with the letters "HEL" etched on the back. Patti is convinced that the watch came from a teller who was kidnapped by bank robbers. She convinces Zeke Kelso (Dean Jones), a handsome young FBI agent, to take her case. He sets up headquarters in Ingrid's room, to her dismay, and sends agents all over the neighborhood to follow DC and see where he goes. When that just scares the cat off, Patti convinces Zeke to follow DC himself, despite his being allergic to cats. Meanwhile, Patti has to hold off her dimwitted surfer boyfriend Canoe (Tom Lowell), Ingrid's fending off the affections of dull Gregory Benson (Roddy McDowell), and their elderly neighbors (Elsa Lanchester and William Demarest) are spying on the whole business.
This is another older Disney film I used to watch a lot on The Disney Channel when I was a kid. Rose liked it better than me then, but that may have been because I didn't understand the mystery. Nowadays, I still think Canoe is an idiot (Patti can do so much better) and some details (like Canoe's obsession with surfer movies) haven't dated well, but for the most part, this is a pretty cute way to spend two hours. A great cast helps, including Frank Gorshin and Neville Brand as the thieves and Ed Wynn in one of his last roles as the jeweler who helps Patti convince the FBI that there's more to the watch than they think. If you love comic mysteries, the cast, cats, or comedies from this era, you'll want to go on the prowl to find this one.
Finished the night with the current version of Muppet Babies, also at Disney Plus. Bunsen and Beaker make their first appearance on the show in "Bunsen Knows All." Bunsen may be incredibly smart for his age, but he doesn't know where rubber chickens come from. When he tells Fozzie they come from trees, it leads to the kids all trying to grow a rubber tree to get a chicken from. "Doctor Fozzie" is quickly overwhelmed with patients when the other Muppets decide they'd rather have ice cream than help him out. They finally have to take care of him when he collapses from exhaustion.
1 comment:
Loved That Darn Cat! as a kid, and always appreciated that they did not play the kidnappers scenes as comedy; that was straight drama and serious. Still have (somewhere) the book the story was based on, Undercover Cat by The Gordons (husband and wife mystery writers). In the book DC stands for "Damn Cat" and he's black, and Patti is the elder sister.
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