Friday, November 20, 2020

Afternoon on Haddon Avenue

Began a glorious morning with breakfast and Body Language. Catherine Hickland and Nathan Cook continued their run, with Kirkland's guy getting every answer right at one point. Alas, he didn't do nearly as well at the bonus round, missing the last answer.

Let Blockbusters run while I did the dishes. The mother and her son finally met their match in a former champion who was permitted to return after NBC raised the win limit from 10 to 20. She won the second round and only missed two questions on the Gold Rush. The lady was taking on a brother and sister pair as the show ended. 

Got organized as the first half of Match Game-Hollywood Squares ran. The Match Game half started with a pretty nice group, including future Card Sharks host Bob Eubanks and Fred Travelena and his 6,000 voices. Fred tossed a few of those voices into one question involving an evangelist...but he ended up sounding more like an entire Saturday morning cartoon. 

Headed out around 11:30. I wanted to do a little bit of shopping in Collingswood. I hadn't been there for a while. Besides, it was way too nice of a day to sit inside. The persistent and bitterly cold wind finally vanished, leaving a bright blue sky and a sun so warm, I was out in my jean jacket and felt fine. Everyone was out taking advantage of the weather, too. I dodged a lot of people out for walks or bike rides or walking their dogs in Newton Lake Park both ways.

First stop was a brief peek at Haddon Culinary, which replaced International Market in the next block over from The Pop Shop last year. They were mainly expensive imported and locally made pantry goods and cheeses. Nothing I needed, so I moved on quickly. Liked their remodel, though. The dark wood and metal shelves and black flooring were a giant improvement on the sagging shelves and old tile flooring at the International Market.

I next hit The Candy Jar, a tiny old-fashioned confectionary and candy novelty store. Lauren says she has plenty of candy and I sure don't need any, but I thought I'd treat Amanda. It took me ages to decide what to buy for her, but I finally chose a half a pound and headed out.

Strolled further down Haddon Avenue, enjoying the lovely day. Peeked into Clutter, a narrow thrift shop filled with vintage books and retro linens and decorations. Poked around in a basket of lovely old ornaments that were three for five dollars and came up with a lovely little gold and wood angel I kept for myself, and two more ornaments I bought for Amanda and Lauren. Wanted to check out Collingswood Music and their record collection, but they have music lessons along with sales. A sign in their door said they were open by appointment only.

Went across the street to WaWa next. I was more thirsty than hungry by that point, so I treated myself to a pumpkin spice smoothie. It was creamy, sweet, and more importantly, wet. 

Had no luck anywhere else. Occasionette has lovely stationary, decorations, and local books, but I already bought Christmas ornaments and didn't see anything I needed. Sadly, Frugal Consignment seems to be completely gone. I was looking forward to picking up a shirt or two there. Resisted InnerGroove Records. I was just there not long ago, and I didn't want to spend an hour on my knees. 

My last stop was at the CVS on the border of Collingswood and Oaklyn. CVS sells a ton of Peanuts merchandise during the Christmas season. Amanda is a huge Peanuts fan. I picked up something for her and two cans of those low-salt nuts for me.

When I got home, put everything away and organized my Christmas gifts while watching what amounts to the Thanksgiving episode of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Daniel's saying "Thank You, Grandpere!" when he visits as his parents make fruit salad for Neighborhood Thank You Day. Dan wishes his grandfather could stay, but he says he has to work. There's a surprise waiting for him when they arrive at the Enchanted Garden, though! "Neighborhood Thank You Day" seems to involve people hanging cards thanking someone they love on a fall-colored Thank You Tree. Daniel doesn't know who to write a card for, until Mr. McFeely rescues the cards after they're blown away.

Went on to the next holiday as I had lunch. The Care Bears Nutcracker has Cheer and Grumpy helping a little girl named Anna, who is upset over her best friend moving away. She's sure she'll never have another close friend, until a confused moving nutcracker somehow falls into her bedroom. The Nutcracker's being chased by a group of rats, including the Rat King, who want to bring him back to the evil Vizier. The Vizier took over Toyland and forced its residents to search for the prince's magic ring. The Care Bears, Anna, and the Nutcracker return to Toyland to search for the ring, the prince, and the Sugar Plum Fairy...but they're being followed, not only by the rats, but by Baby Hugs and Tugs looking for their own Christmas ornaments and Anna's brother Michael, looking for adventure.

Switched to Tattletales while making cranberry cookies from The Betty Crocker Cooky Book. Ditzy Lynda Day George and her husband Christopher were the big winners today, getting almost every question right. It came down to the champ and the one woman contestant on Press Your Luck. They kept swapping turns on the second round. He finally hit a series of big money tiles that won him the game.

Worked on writing for a while after the cookies came out of the oven. Gene awakens to see a big, burly sailor in his face. There's Naval sailors all over his room, breaking his things. One carries Brett out, ignoring her angry screams. He demands to know what's going on...just as a familiar figure enters the room...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Brett and Charles get in a few fun moments on Match Game '74 as Richard and Abby Dalton (later of Falcon Crest) helps a lady answer "___ Widow" and Fannie drools over the male contestant. Brett sweated out another big 20,000 payday on Match Game PM. We had the third new champ in as many days on Sale of the Century, as a young man just out of college beat the previous champ in the Speed Round, but once again missed the bonus round. 

Watched Charlie's Angels on the Roku Channel when I got online. "Chorus Line Angels" throws Kelly into the spotlight when a producer is worried about her investment in a Vegas-bound revue whose star and choreographer have already disappeared. Kelly takes the star role, Julie is her agent, and Kris claims she's a reporter. When another chorine vanishes while trying to deliver information to Kris, she's the one who has to figure out what's going on.

Finished the night at Hulu with MASH. Hunnicut and Hawkeye find themselves on "The Yalu Brick Road" when they get lost while picking up antibiotics after most of the camp got salmonella poisoning from Klinger's bad Thanksgiving turkeys. The two inadvertently take a North Korean soldier prisoner and get help from another Korean man they help along the road. Meanwhile, Hot Lips is about to smack fussy Winchester silly when they and Father Mulcahy are the only ones at the camp who aren't sick and end up having to look after the others.

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