Monday, May 17, 2021

Bad Day Blues

Began the morning with breakfast and Muppet Babies at Disney Plus. "Kermit's Big Show" is a version of Three Little Pigs. The others keep trying to improvise, but director Kermit demands that they stick to the book. Nanny finally convinces him that a little creativity can make a story better. Piggy is "The Card Shark" who can't resist a little cheating at a board game. When Rizzo cheats and beats her, Piggy agrees to play fairly in order to beat him at his own game.

Worked on writing for a while after that. Brett's worried about Jack being late and the boys not being packed. Her older son Adam in particular is dragging his feet. They come outside to wait for their father and help her clear the rest of the party guests. While passing Charles trying to wake up Gary, Brett and the boys see what appears to be a white rabbit in a waist coat and carrying a watch...and who rambles on like jumpy Match Game panelist Bill Daily. The boys can't resist taking a look, with their mother following along behind...

Broke for a quick lunch around 11. I was going to make a smoothie, but somehow, the electricity was off. Jodie set the men doing the floor to work today and left afterwards. I assumed they needed the electricity off for some reason and just had muffins in silence instead.

Went straight to work after I ate. Work started out well. I was outside for the first half of my shift, and I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. It was a glorious spring day, sunny, breezy, and in the 50's. We were dead the entire afternoon, and never more than mildly busy. I have no idea why the head manager insisted I be inside during the second half of my shift. I went in for someone's half-hour lunch, and that was it. I spent the rest of the day sweeping and trying to find things to do.

To my frustration, the electricity was still off when I got home. After I let off a lot of frustration, I texted and called Jodie, then called Rose. When I got nothing from them, I tip-toed into the main house. From what I could see, the men were primarily working in the office area around the front door today and never got anywhere near the den or living room. They left the light on in the basement. It took me a few minutes, but I finally found the switches. Mine was the only one shut off. I turned it to on and tip-toed back to my apartment.

That did it. I was able to make steamed asparagus and potato-crusted cod and watch Match Game PM with no trouble. The Season 2 finale brought in stage writer and director Abe Burrows and soap opera beauty Rosemary Forsyth to join Gene, the regulars, and Betty White. While the others figured out what Humpty Dumpty gets when he's drunk, Richard tried to help a gentleman win 10,000 with "__ Ivy."

Called Rose and heard from Jodie during the episode. They were both pleased that I was able to solve the problem with the electricity on my own...but Jodie was upset I went into the main house. She doesn't want anyone ruining her expensive new floors. Rose said I could do the laundry at her house tomorrow after my dental appointment and visit with her and the kids.

Sale of the Century was a super-close game the entire episode. One of the ladies bought both Instant Bargains; the champ hit money cards on two Fame Games. In the end, the champ won the Speed Round by less than one question...and for the first time in ages, finally got the Bonus Round, too.

Finished the night at Shout Factory TV with the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode Escape 2000 (Escape from the Bronx). Some time in the near future, the Bronx has become a war zone, as gangs compete with soldiers in astronaut outfits to keep them from forcing people out of their homes. A huge corporation wants to turn it into part of their plan to make New York into a futuristic floating city. Trash, raging after his parents are killed, joins the gang in their attempt to kidnap the president of the organization and make him see the light.

Hoooo boy. This one is damn strange. An early 80's view of dystopia, made in Italy, and dubbed with some of the worst New York accents I ever heard. The action sequences mainly consisted of people shooting men in silver suits and people flying all over the place during explosions. It absolutely needed the wisecracks from the robots, if only to make sense of the plot.

Did two very different versions of Alice In Wonderland on YouTube. A Hello Kitty cartoon from the 90's did a version that was a relatively accurate condensation of the first book, with Kitty as Alice. Found a Great Performances Alice In Wonderland from 1983 that was a recording of a stage show with sets based after the original Tenniel drawings. Kate Burton is Alice, her father Richard Burton is the White Knight, and the all-star cast includes Eve Arden as the Queen of Hearts, James Coco as the King of Hearts, Austin Pendleton as the White Rabbit, Donald O'Connor as the Mock Turtle, Kaye Ballard as the Duchess, Maureen Stapleton as the White Queen, and Colleen Dewhurst as the Red Queen. 

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