Thursday, July 22, 2021

Summer at Home

Started off a hazy, cloudy morning with breakfast and Blockbusters. The new champ was a woman whom the producers invited back to the show when they increased consecutive appearances from 10 to 20. She handily beat a father-daughter team when I came in. Had more trouble with the Gold Run; beat it with two seconds left. She just started in on a pair of older sisters when the show ended.

In addition to doing chores around the apartment like tidying up, I thought I'd try something different today. I have a recipe for English Muffins in the muffin cook book my friend Jennifer Waters gave me years ago. Seems English Muffins are very easy to make and are perfect for hot weather. They're ordinary yeast bread batter that's cooked on a griddle or a frying pan, rather than baked. 

The dough went together just right and rose perfectly. The only problem I had involved the cooking. Didn't pay attention to the pan like I should have and burned the bottom of the first few Muffins. A few others didn't cook all the way. After that, most of them did came out very well, chewy and slightly sweet like English Muffins should. I will never buy English muffins from the store ever again. 

Watched Thank Your Lucky Stars while the bread rose and cooked. I go further into this World War II semi-revue from Warner Bros at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.


Headed out to run errands after the movie ended and the Muffins cooled on a plate. I picked the right day to do my laundry. The laundromat was empty except for two guys loudly listening to what sounded like a ribald, explicative-filled stand-up comedy routine on a podcast. It was so noisy, it even drowned out the talk show on ABC. I picked up shredded Mexican Cheese, tortilla chips, and a Dew S.A at Family Dollar, then sat outside and worked on story notes to avoid them.

Put on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when I got home and made a quick Summer Fruit Smoothie for lunch. In "Pluto's Tale," Prince Pluto rescues Lady Clarabelle's puppy Princess Bella from the Witch Pete, who wants Pluto's golden ball. Queen Daisy, King Donald, Jester Goofy, and Pluto's friend Mickey (not to mention Toodles) help him along his way.

Switched to Hogan's Heroes as I made the bed and put my clothes away. To Hogan's horror, the bribe money Newkirk hid from Klink goes up in smoke when Kink tosses a burning three-day pass in. He and Newkirk pull "The Great Brinksmeyer Robbery" in order to get more. 

I'd seen the episode of Tattletales before. Despite everyone getting at least one question right, comedian Milt Kamen and his wife Margot were the big winners, over Gary Crosby and his wife Barbara and songwriter Sammy Cahn and his wife Tita. Things were nearly as wild on Press Your Luck. Once again, round 1 was relatively subdued, with everyone getting money and no Whammies. The Whammies hit the champ all at once in the second round, knocking him out quickly. In the end, an Army officer just barely beat the lady, picking up a trip to Palm Springs and a Mediterranean cruise. 

My package from Lands End finally turned up on my doorstep. I opened it while the show ran. Love the gorgeous Hawaiian flower-inspired print on the yellow bathing suit. If the company's website is any indication, I got one of the last ones they had in stock. I like my new daisy-print lunch bag, too. It's technically for kids, and thus, is smaller than my old one...but it also has outside and inside pockets and zippers closed rather than snaps. Not as happy with my new sandals. They're comfortable enough, but I think they may be a tad too small. I'm not crazy about the idea of sending them back, though. I adjusted the straps and will just wear them for the remaining two months or so of summer. 

Worked on writing for a while next. Betty's about ready to send Brett and her boys to the dungeon when Sir Richard and his sons arrive to rescue the older lady fair. Richard's liege White King Gene and Queen Helen were supposed to come, but they're too busy holding off the Jabberwocky and the other terrible creatures the Red King sent to their land. Naturally, Red King Mark denies all of this.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Made black bean dip while watching Match Game '76. The current champ is very pregnant...and her delicate condition made Gene and the panelists very nervous. Gene kept warning her not to do a lot of jumping around. Meanwhile, the others joked about Charles now directing opera. (Charles Nelson Reilly was a big opera fan and did, indeed, direct opera and stage shows.) 

Returned to Hogan's Heroes after dinner. Hogan's resentful when a scientist is put in charge of a mission to destroy a German chemical lab. He feels better when the chemist turns out to be an attractive and intelligent woman scientist. "Hogan and the Lady Doctor" have to figure out how to explain her presence in the camp, then get into the chemical plant.

Sale of the Century began as yet another close game. It didn't last long. Even with buying two out of three Instant Bargains, the champ built up a huge lead and won the Speed Round by a wide margin. She picked up diamond hoop earrings on the Match the Prizes board. (And I think she made a nice choice there. Jim Perry was right that they looked lovely on her.) 

Finished out the night at Shout Factory TV's website with Mystery Science Theater 3000. Code Name: Diamond Head is an unexciting TV spy yarn from 1977 about a gambler and American agent who has to stop a British double agent from delivering a stolen rocket fuel to the wrong hands. I agree with Mike and the robots that, not only does the movie not look like it was filmed in Hawaii, but there's too many long stretches of people talking and standing there and not enough action. The black-and-white short about a family at the county fair in the 40's was more exciting. 

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