Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Dolls On a Rainy Day

Began the morning with breakfast and Doc McStuffins. Doc opens the "McStuffins School of Medicine" to teach her friend Emmy's teddy bear Dr. Tundra all about being a doctor and how to take care of patients. "The Super Amazing Ultra Hoppers" are supposed to be able to bounce super-high, but once can't jump as high as his brothers. Doc checks him out to see why he's not like the others.

I would have been taking Uber to work, even if my wrist felt better. It was raining hard and blowing like crazy this morning. The rain had subsided by the time I picked up Uber, but it would return less than a half-hour after I got back, and would continue off and on in some capacity for the rest of the day. That could be why it took me 8 minutes to get home; I got a late start and was lucky it was only 4 going to work.

Work was pretty much the same it has been for the past week - pin drop quiet. There just isn't anything going on right now, and there was the weather today, too. I did have to clean the women's bathroom towards the end of the day. Other than that, no real trouble.

Put on Let's Make a Deal when I got home. A cheerleader had a couple of options to trade up for. She finally got a Hawaiian vacation. My favorite costume on this episode was a male cheerleader in a skirt. He originally got money; traded for the Big Deal of the Day and probably wasn't too unhappy when he got furniture and a TV. Dorothy in a pink dress and frilly pinafore got enough money to go on her own vacation. 

Switched to dressing the dolls for March and St. Patrick's Day next. Sam wears her mint green Spring Day Dress with the cute dark red shoes with the bows. I'm so glad I got that outfit when I did. It's hard to find now. Molly's in a shamrock-print dress with rickrack trim I found at a yard sale and her white t-straps. Josefina wears her Harvest Outfit with the sage-green skirt and long-sleeved camisa with the flower embroidery. I found Jessa's emerald green wrap blouse at the Deptford Mall around 2010. They had a booth selling 18 inch doll clothes for the holidays. She wears it with the mid-90's Blue Jeans Basics jeans, yellow socks, and Springfield Collection denim sneakers.

Barbara Jean is extremely mod in a bright orange, white, yellow, and turquoise minidress with a white fur jacket and white boots. Whitney's cute as a button in a yellow floral Queen's Treasures dress with red strap shoes borrowed from Kit. Ariel is in Julie's original meet outfit with the heather striped turtleneck and two-toned bell-bottom jeans. Felicity's friend Elizabeth's celery-green gown was marketed as being for summer, but the pale color and quilted panel really makes it more appropriate for spring. Kit is in her birthday dress and her own white t-straps. 

Listened to music while I worked, starting with the two CDs I found at Goodwill a few weeks ago. Vintage Verve features some real jazz classics, including "April In Paris" by Charlie Parker, "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing" by Ella Fitzgerald, "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong, and Stan Getz's sexy "Girl from Ipanema." I had the soundtrack from the original 2001 Moulin Rouge for a while a decade ago, but I got rid of it. Found a truncated version of the score that at least includes big numbers like "Sparkling Diamonds," "Lady Marmalade," "Your Song," the Elephant Love Medley, and "Come What May."

Switched to Cole Porter Revisited as I put the dolls' things away and switched to writing. Most of the songs came from three Ethel Merman vehicles of the 30's and 40's. "I Still Got My Health" was Merman's big showstopper from Panama Hattie. We also get "But In the Morning, No!" and "It Ain't Etiquette" from DuBarry Was a Lady and "A Little Skipper From Heaven Above," "You're a Bad Influence On Me" and the title song from Red, Hot, and Blue.

Broke at 6:30 for dinner. Watched Match Game '76 while I ate. The show opens with Brett commenting on Orson Bean's dark suit making him look rather like a 30's gangster, while Mary Wickes claims Gene looks like a banker. Later on, Gene attacks the camera man when he's late cutting to commercials.

Continued on to Match Game Syndicated. The week with Holly Hallstrom and Dick Martin finishes with Holly sporting a cowgirl hat in honor of her Texas roots. The new guy who pulls out the answers for the Audience Match was late, which didn't make Gene happy at all. 

Dick stuck around for the next week. This time, he, Brett, and Charles were joined by Elaine Joyce, Betty White, and big George Kennedy. They mostly spend the episode drooling over an extremely pretty contestant, including Charles starting his own "modeling agency."

Finished the night at Amazon Prime with one of Rudolph Valentino's better vehicles. I can never resist a good Zorro-type swashbuckler, and The Eagle is one of Valentino's better ones. He's a Russian guard-turned-highwayman after he turns down favors from the czarina (Louise Dresser). When the nobleman Kyrilla Troekouroff (James A. Marcus) seizes his family's lands and kills his father, he becomes the Black Eagle and plots revenge. Posing as a tutor to Kyrilla's daughter Masha (Vilma Banky), he manages to gain entry into the household...then regrets his decisions when he falls for Masha. 

I don't entirely understand Valentino's negative reputation, which lingers somewhat even today. He handles the love scenes and the action scenes equally well. Banky makes for a ravishingly beautiful costar, and Dresser is a fine sly czarina. There's some nice outdoor shooting, too. If you're into Valentino or love swashbucklers like I do, this is one of his best. 

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