Calmed things down with George Winston's Ballads and Blues 1972. If the dedication on the bottom of the back cover is any indication, these bluesy instrumentals were inspired by the work of Fats Waller. Lovely slow jazz pieces like "Miles City Train," "New Hope Blues," and the opening medley inspired by sleepy small-town Florida were perfect backdrops to a quiet Sunday afternoon.
I ate lunch, then did something quick that I've been considering. I started a novel-length Remember WENN fantasy fanfiction back in 2015 that would have been even longer and more elaborate than my Crimson Blade story from earlier in the year. My interest in WENN dropped off after I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens and all the publicity around it. I tried to incorporate myriad Star Wars references into the story, then just gave up on it and wrote a Star Wars fantasy fanfic instead.
I've been rereading what I wrote for Once Upon a Time In the Land of WENN, and I think I could finish it, or at least get closer. It's going to need heavy re-writes. All of the Star Wars references will be eliminated, two of the characters need their backstories redone, and several characters will be consolidated or only referred to. I wish I could find my notes for it, but I think I dumped them when I moved. I'll have to write new ones.
Headed to work after George Winston ended. Despite the strong wind, it was otherwise too nice of a day to not take the bike, sunny and chillier than it has been. It wasn't bad when I arrived, but it picked up more later in the afternoon as people came in to restock for the week and for kids returning to school. It didn't help that our food stamp card system was down. I had to put back a lot of cold items that people with food stamp cards couldn't buy and fell behind on carts and sweeping during the second half of my shift.
Rushed home after I finished, changed, had dinner, and finished the night with the Sunday Match Game marathon. Character actor Jack Klugman, best known for the sitcom The Odd Couple and the drama Quincy, was in the spotlight in honor of what would have been his birthday today. He's also known in game show circles for having been married to Brett Somers for 17 years. Though he turned up on the pilot and the first week solo, after Brett joined the show as a regular, he'd do three weeks with her. Comedian Stu Gilliam felt like he was joining the military listening to them bicker during the first week. Jack almost walked off during the second week with "Mama" Cass Elliott.
Despite them saying their marriage was just fine, Brett and Jack separated or divorced (no one seems quite sure which) sometime in 1974. They wouldn't appear together again until 1978...and proved why they separated when they argued over an answer to "__ Hall of Fame" on the Audience Match the very first day. The last day, Jack first grabbed Brett for a kiss she wasn't entirely saying no to, then the others finished the episode by holding a mock "wedding" for them.
Jack's last appearance on Match Game was in 1981, late in the syndicated run. He claimed that he was sitting in for Brett while she was doing a play so he wouldn't have to pay alimony. For some reason, he was always fussing about panelists not getting gifts like the contestants. He got a T-shirt with the Match Game logo on it in 1978 and a jacket in 1981. Jack spent most of that week listening to horse races on the radio to make sure his bets came through. He was so excited after a contestant won $20,000 on his final PM episode, he dashed around the studio, spinning the Star Wheel, running into the audience, and swinging the contestant's pretty fiancee into the air as she hurried to join him.
Given his volatile and well-known relationship with Brett, there would sometimes be references to him even when he wasn't physically present. Everyone, including the contestant, had him as the answer to a question in 1974 that Will Rodgers never met a man he didn't like...but he hadn't met Jack. Charles twice joked about the tiny diamond pendant Jack bought Brett during the syndicated run.
See one of TV's most notorious grouches feud, fuss, and spar with his ex in this wild and wacky marathon!
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