Fairy Tale Matches

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and The Frog Prince on Dailymotion. I go further into the charming 1971 Muppet version of this Grimm's Fairy Tale at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Family Fun Saturday - The Frog Prince (1971)

Called Uber even before the special ended. Thankfully, no trouble there. 10 minutes going there and going home. In the case of the former, I left early enough that waiting wasn't a problem. In fact, I got there with two minutes to spare for once.

No problems at work either, other than I was outside pushing carts in the cold on a sore knee for most of the day. The head bagger took over the indoor chores. I would go inside and warm up whenever I got too cold or finished the carts. Thank heavens we weren't that busy, especially later on. Most people are either avoiding the cold or waiting for the beginning of the month tomorrow. We're between holidays, too. The Winter Olympics start next week, the Super Bowl is next weekend, and Valentine's Day isn't for another two weeks. 

Grabbed a few things when I finished. The Westmont Acme didn't have the mouthwash I use, and there's an online coupon for it this week. Had online coupons for cookies, too. Decided to try the Acme's sushi (shrimp roll, cooked) and pork dumplings for dinner. 

When I got home, I went straight into the shower.  I ate my sushi, put a heating pad on my knee, finished The Frog Prince, then spent the rest of the night watching a super-long Match Game marathon on YouTube. For some reason, this show really loved its Snow White jokes. Whether it was about her relationship with the Seven Dwarfs, how impossibly innocent she was (or wasn't), or how she was depicted by parade balloons, Snow White was mentioned far more than any other fairy tale on the show. 

Rather appropriately, a question turned up during the week in 1979 with two other fantasy characters, vintage puppets Kukla and Ollie. Nipsey Russell and Jimmie Walker gave answers claiming that they wished Snow White looked a lot more like them. Fannie Flagg sure felt like Snow White being kissed by the prince when she answered a question for handsome gym teacher Ron Valenti in an infamous episode from 1975. Fannie also got to give the answer to lovely blonde contestant Darlene that made her the all-time winner to that point in 1976, with over $22,000. Roz Kelly made her own virginal Snow White jokes during her first of two appearances on the show later in 1976. There was also the PM episode where Nipsey insisted that Snow White should look more like him and the Air Force captain contestant. 

Whistle while you work with the fairest question character of all, because good things grow with these wacky weirdos in this extra-long marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Marathon

As Time Goes By

Got a quick start today with breakfast and Paw Patrol. They're trying to figure out a song for "The Pups' Winter Wonder Show," but there's more immediate problems on hand. They first have to help repair the Winter Wonder Show stage when a girder is accidentally knocked over, then save the dancing penguins from Mayor Humdinger, who wants them to dance for him. Meanwhile, Tracker, who normally lives in the jungle, takes his time getting used to this cold white stuff.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended and I made my grocery list. No trouble with Uber at all today, other than some long waits. I had to wait 10 minutes to get to the Westmont Acme and 11 to get back from the Thomas Sharp School. At least there was no traffic anywhere, and only the ride home from the School took longer than 5 minutes (due to the icy roads in West Collingswood). 

I'm going to continue to shop at only the Westmont Acme until it finally warms up and my knee feels better. Neither my knee nor the weather are up to stops at multiple stores. Thankfully, it wasn't insanely busy this time. There's still a few empty spots on the shelves, but they've mostly restocked after the mess last week. It doesn't sound like we're going to get anything from the next storm, either. I think it's mostly going to hit Cape May and Atlantic Counties. I restocked apples, oranges, yogurt, granola bars, granola, coconut milk, and probiotic soda. Had online coupons for free peanut butter and tissues. Got golden raisins here, since I don't know when I'm going to get back to Sprouts. Grabbed bagels for lunch later this week, and a pack with grapes, pretzel chips, and two turkey and cheese sliders on Hawaiian rolls for lunch today. Found cranberry scones on the bakery clearance rack for a treat. 

When I got home, I went straight into lunch and Remember WENN. "From the Pen of Gertrude Reece" is one of my two favorite episodes of the entire series. Gertie proudly shows Betty her first radio script...which turns out to be a parody of Casablanca, "Rendezvous In Rabat." Scott is Rick, Betty is Ilsa, Victor Comstock is Victor Lazlo, Mr. Eldridge is Carl the waiter, Maple takes the place of the bar singer and the desperate refugees, Mackie is Major Renault, Hilary as Rick's previous girlfriend, C.J as the bartender and a young Nazi officer, Jeff as the waiter/pickpocket, and Mr. Foley, of all people, as a German officer. Like the real Casablanca, Gertie doesn't have an ending to her play. She and Hilary offer up several suggestions, none of which Betty approves of. Betty starts typing which man she thinks her character ought to be with before she finally tells Gertie it's better to draw your own conclusions.

"Eugenia Bremer, Master Spy" also involves espionage. Desmond Quist, a British intelligence officer (Daniel Davis) insists that there are still codes going out over the airwaves. He has the cast paraphrase their scripts, then removes the sound effects. He effortlessly charms sweet middle-aged organist Eugenia (Mary Stout) after having overheard what sounds like conversations in German. Eugenia does have a reason for those conversations, and they're nothing like Quist thinks they are.

Got my schedule for next week at this point as well. In good news, more hours, and I don't think I'll need to call out all weekend this time. In bad news, an extra day on Friday means two days of rushing between jobs instead of one. My knee still isn't feeling right, and it's only going to be slightly warmer next week. 

(I also discovered at this point that my tax return money showed up more than two weeks early. Sweet! Most of it will probably go into my rent.) 

Called Uber at 20 after 2 for a ride to the School. I had a hard time getting a driver and was five minutes late. Once again, we didn't have that many kids. I only had six in my group today, and I think there were 19 younger ones all together. At least they were better-behaved in the bathroom today. It was the library where there were problems. One of the boys grabbed another and knocked him off his chair while they were building with magnetic tiles. Later, one of the littlest girls ran over to me in tears. Another girl wanted to look at books instead of playing with her. I led her to the bristle blocks and built with her instead, assuring her that her friend was just doing something else, and she'd play with her later or tomorrow. 

When I got home, I went straight into dinner and Match Game Syndicated. Most of the episodes finished off the 1980 season opener week. Gene dragged out the guy who was supposed to be in the Audience Match box when he forgot and didn't open the question. Charles spent his first week back dodging jokes about the flop play he'd just appeared in and complaining about sitting "with the other patients."

Finished the night with Murder She Wrote. It's a "Deadline For Murder" when Jessica goes to argue with the nasty owner of a newspaper about a libelous article he printed on her, only to be pushed away. She later witnesses the man's death at a cocktail party when he keels over after drinking liquor. Turns out, the liquor was combined with a certain drug he took for his heart. Jessica's friend who wrote the original, non-libelous interview on her before having a heart attack convinces her to follow-up on his boss' death. 

A Cold Day In the Library

Started off the morning with breakfast and Sunny. I go further into the 1941 version of this circus-set romance with British movie star Anna Neagle as the title bareback dancer who falls for a millionaire at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Sunny (1941)

Switched to Remember WENN while eating lunch and getting organized. Mackie Bloom is thrilled to take over the manager's office for a day when Betty's out, to the point where it goes to his head. His ego deflates quickly when gangster Palermo Racine (Phillip Bosco) turns up at the station trying to find him. Seems he was "A Star In Stripes Forever" and has a sketchy past with Racine that includes jail time. Racine's ready to blackmail him, until the others make use of their This Is Your Life-style show to make sure Mackie's secrets stay private.

"A Girl Like Maple" is fed up with being treated like a tomboy and loose women by pretty much everyone at the station. She falls for a handsome Governor (Boyd Gaines) while doing a prestigious show, but is afraid to let him hear her real Brooklyn accent and think she isn't a cultured lady. The others try to help her by showing off their own accents for the politician, to the annoyance of Hilary. It takes a big date for Maple to realize that what's important isn't what she sounds like. It's the big heart she has inside. 

Called Uber soon as the episode ended. I had a really, really hard time getting a ride. I had to switch to a more-expensive car just to get one that would get me to the Thomas Sharp School even remotely on time. Took them 7 minutes to come. Thankfully, I was only five minutes late.

As it turned out, we didn't have nearly as big of a group as we have the last few days. There were only five kids in my group, and 19 kindergartners and pre-schoolers overall. I did have a little trouble with the kids at the bathroom. Two of the boys took so long, I let them go back with the head teacher and her group. Other than that, it was pretty much the same as it has been the last few days. The kids just colored until she broke out the music and let them dance. There were four left by the time we returned to the cafeteria, and one went home at the same time I was leaving. 

(And yes, I got the bag I left yesterday. The school's lost and found is thankfully in their cafeteria. It was right on top of the pile.)

Thankfully, I had fewer problems getting a ride home, despite it being the height of rush hour. The Uber driver arrived in 9 minutes. Though he went around a few ice-congested streets, there were otherwise no problems getting home.

Went straight into Match Game Syndicated when I got in. The first week finished off the 1979 season with Holly Halstrom, Bill Daily giving strange answers, and Debralee Scott and Bart Braverman flirting and fighting with each other. At one point, Deb got so fed up with Bart throwing cards at her head, she went to pound him...before he grabbed her for a kiss! "I love it when we make up!" she said with a grin. Holly stuck around for the 1980 season opener. Charles returned, along with Gary Burghoff, Dick Martin, and Joyce Bulifant.

Finished the night with some traditional operettas and older musical comedies. Roberta and The Vagabond King is one of those two-for-one operetta and musical CDs Decca released about 20 years ago. Roberta is the longer one, featuring almost the entire score. Paula Laurence joins Alfred Drake for a hilarious "Let's Begin" and goes solo for "I'll Be Hard to Handle." Broadway star Drake joins Kitty Carlisle for "The Touch of Your Hand" and the standard "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" and gets the goofy Don't Ask Me Not to Sing" with the chorus.

Drake sticks around for The Vagabond King. This time, he's joined by opera star Mimi Benzell for "Only a Rose" and "Tomorrow." He gets the rousing "Song of the Vagabonds" with the male chorus. She sounds gorgeous on "Some Day." Frances Bible sings the "Hugette Waltz."

My CD copy of Rose-Marie, another Rudolf Friml operetta of the 1920's, came from the Media Theater in Media, Pennsylvania. Once again, we get almost the entire score, even the comic numbers that usually get cut from movie versions like "Hard Boiled Herman" and "Why Shouldn't We?" Honestly, the guy playing Herman and the lady doing his girlfriend Lady Jane are trying too hard (her fake New York accent is appalling), but Rose-Marie and Jim aren't too bad. Their "Indian Love Call" is as passionate as one could wish. "Pretty Things" and "Door of My Dreams" also come across well here. 

Magic In the Winter

Began the morning with breakfast and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Glimmer's first act as queen is to send Bow, Adora, Huntara, and Perfuma to "The Valley of the Lost" to retrieve the ship that once belonged to Mara, the original She-Ra. Not only have the Horde already gotten there first, but Perfuma is frustrated that she's having a hard time controlling the scrappy plant life in the desert. Meanwhile, Catra is having her own problems with a shape-shifting mercenary who calls herself Double Trouble. She can appear to be anyone, for a price...including Catra herself.

Though my knee still felt sore, I just couldn't put off going to work any longer. In addition to having already lost two days, I needed to refill my blood pressure medication. Thankfully....and rather surprisingly, given the ongoing cold and icy weather...I had no trouble at all with Uber today. The morning driver arrived in 5 minutes and got me there right on time.

Yes, I did end up pushing carts, but not many of them. It wasn't easy, though. There was a huge icy patch in front of the store I had to push them around in the morning. (It melted by early in the afternoon.) We weren't busy at all, and the carts still kept disappearing. It was a little cloudy and still cold and icy, though thankfully not windy or with any threat of more snow. Other than I had to do some cold returns at one point and was late getting outside, there were no major problems.

After I finished and changed into a regular shirt, I went to the pharmacy to pick up my medication. Since I had 10 minutes, I also grabbed cookies on the clearance rack and pads. By this point, the Acme was quiet as can be. I didn't have to wait at the Pharmacy or even in line for the self-checkout registers.

Had lunch at Applebee's on the other side of the building, near the Octopharma health office. They were fairly busy for such a cold afternoon, probably with people looking for a hot lunch with friends. I ordered hot tea before I even sat down. It came with lemon and honey, perfect for a cold day. I stuck to a simple bacon cheeseburger and fries. Oh yum! The cheeseburger was perfectly cooked, if juicy and messy. The fries were delicious, nicely seasoned.

I didn't feel like doing a lot of running around in 20 degree weather, so I waited to call Uber at Applebee's. Thankfully, it only took them 7 minutes. There was no traffic on the Black Horse Pike, and once again, I got to work at exactly the right time.

Things were pretty much the same they were yesterday...and likely will be for quite some time. The playground and blacktop are still covered in ice and snow. It may be weeks before the kids can play outside again. Once again, my group was well-behaved, maybe because there were only 6 of them. They helped clean up the magnetic tiles and didn't make too much of a fuss in the bathrooms. 

The trouble started in the library. The kids dragged out chairs to see the head teacher read a book...which she said not to do. They take up too much room. Since my knee still hurt, I ended up in the back again. The boy who draws all those wonderful rockets and robots fell off his chair. He was so engrossed with turning a Minecraft character into a robot, he didn't even say ouch! His father later said he falls a lot, not surprising given how caught up he can get with his art. One of the little girls said she thought my artwork of Betty, Scott, Maple, and Victor at the ball in Land of WENN was bad. I said I know it is. I've spent the last 40 years of my life being told by Mom and my sisters what  a lousy artist I am. I think she thought she actually insulted me and was being funny. We've been talking to her for weeks about being nicer to the other kids and listening to the teachers, neither of which she's been doing.

By 5:15, enough kids had left that I could go home. I wasn't expecting to get an Uber driver in 4 minutes at the height of rush hour...and I walked out the door before I realized I forgot the bag with everything I got at the Acme today and there wasn't time to go back for it. I'll have to get it tomorrow. At least the driver did come in 4 minutes and took less than 5 to get me home.

Put on Match Game Syndicated during dinner. The first week brought in Bonnie Franklin of the original One Day at a Time and Peter Marshall, the first host of Hollywood Squares. Marshall was a good friend of Gene Rayburn's and would appear twice on the show out of respect for him. (Gene apparently did at least one week on Squares as well, but alas, it has yet to turn up online.) Holly Halstrom of The Price Is Right made her debut the next week, along with towering, boyish Jim Staal of Mork and Mindy. 

Moved to Remember WENN next. "Nothing Up My Sleeve" was a big deal when it debuted in the summer of 1997. Seinfeld was nearing the end of its run at that point, and anything involving its cast was big, big news (as Scott would say). Mentalist Alan Ballinger (Jason Alexander) impresses most of the station with his mind tricks, especially a vulnerable Hilary Booth. He falls for her and gets her to reveal a big secret. Maple, however, says that his other big trick involves his getting the confidence of a local female big shot and revealing her secret on the air. Hilary decides to make him look as foolish as she feels, but it turns out he's more enamored of Hilary than she thinks. Meanwhile, a jealous Mackie keeps attempting his own mind card trick for anyone who will or won't listen.

Writer Betty Roberts is indispensable to the station. She not only writes the shows, she deals with sponsors, settles disputes between the cast, and knows where everything is. She's excited when she gets a job offer from The New Yorker. The others try to push her towards the big time by proving they can run things without her. They all learn "The Importance of Being Betty" when Pruitt (Jonathan Freeman) ends up doing the writing and wrecks havoc on Betty's favorite show, This Girl's Kinfolk. 

Finished things off with the last disc on the Disneyland: Legacy Collection set. This one represents music from the controversial Disney's California Adventure and from their big nighttime parades. California Adventure was Disney's attempt at an "adult" park, with more educational than thrill rides. You can imagine how well that went over, especially after the events of September 11th, 2001 damaged the tourist economy. It did so badly, they totally revamped it after barely a decade of existence. The films Seasons of the Vine and It's Tough to Be a Bug haven't been shown in years. A Bug's Land was their kiddie ride area and is now a part of Avengers Campus. The Boudin Bakery is still there, though, along with Cars Land and its hit slot car ride Radiator Springs Racers.

My favorite part of this disc by far was the last three titles. We get the full recordings for the beloved Main Street Electrical Parade and the big fireworks show Fantasmic. Both already have fabulous music. The Electrical Parade features the bubbly "Baroque Hoedown," while Fantasmic has its own lush orchestral score. They're the full original recordings, complete with the narration from Main Street Electrical Parade and the dialogue from Fantasmic that has villains trying to manipulate Mickey Mouse's dreams. The "Closing" had Jimmie Dodd of The Mickey Mouse Club announcing that Disneyland is shutting down for the night, as Mickey and his friends sing the Mickey Mouse Club theme (and Donald complains that it's not about him). It's so cute and funny, I hope Disneyland and California Adventure still use it to close their parks. 

There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow

Slept in this morning. Had a very quick breakfast while watching Pac Man. Mezmeron finally gets his wish when the Ghosts make Pac Man and his army giggle so hard, they can't defend the Power Pellet Forest. Pac Man has to stop "The Day the Forest Disappeared" and rescue them. The Ghosts are sent back in time to stop Pac Man from defending the forest, but they end up encountering his ancestor "Sir Chomps A Lot" and his Pac Dragon instead.

I was just going to hang around online again, but...ehh. Snow or no snow, I was bored. I had a little time before the after-school program started. They went in two hours late this time instead of closing. I grabbed a heavy coat, wrapped up, and headed out.

On one hand, the day was beautiful, sunny, and not windy at all. It was also literally Antarctic, barely in the 20's. Though Johnson and the White Horse Pike had been cleared and cleared well, East Clinton still had ice on it. Most sidewalks had been cleared, but some of them were still icy, and some of the sidewalks on the Pike were still covered in snow. I had to pick my way carefully, especially since my knee continues to be sore.

I'd never seen Dunkin's have so many donuts in the middle of the day. It was past 2 by the time I got there, but the donut racks were almost full. I'm guessing most people are either staying inside or just getting hot drinks at the drive-through. I still have the gift cards I got from the kids for Christmas, so I got a breakfast sandwich with egg, cheese, bacon, and "bacon jam," a cream donut, a vanilla-frosted donut, and a hot chocolate. Yum. The croissant the sandwich was on was a little burned, but it was edible. The hot chocolate was great, warm, chocolatey, and sweet. The vanilla frosted was ok, but the chocolate-frosted cream was tasty.

I picked up the Uber at Dunkin's. They arrived in 9 minutes, not bad for the state the roads are still in. No traffic anywhere, not even at the corner of the White Horse Pike and Collingswood. I was slightly late to the Thomas Sharp School, but nothing outrageous.

The kids must have spent the last three days running themselves ragged outside in the snow, because they honestly could have been worse. My group gave me no trouble in the bathroom. To keep them from running around in the hall, I did poses for them to imitate. They loved it, especially the flexible young ladies who take ballet and dance. They did start to get rowdy when we moved them to the library. Some of them thought it would be funny to hide under the tables, but the head teacher quickly ended that idea. I sat in the back with the kids working on Duplo towers. By the time I finished, we were down to three younger kids. I helped them move them and their toys and art supplies back to the cafeteria before I headed out.

Hit the bathroom fast, then called Uber. They arrived in 11 minutes, not bad for rush hour on a day when many roads are icy. And unlike Oaklyn, all but Collings and the area around the Thomas Sharp School did seem to be in pretty bad shape in West Collingswood. No wonder the kids had that delay. It took a tiny bit longer to get home than it had been to get there, but not that much.

I watched Sunny and had dinner after I managed to get the trash and recycling out in the ice-covered snow. I go further into this charming early talkie about a bareback rider in an English circus who follows her crush to the US on a cruise ship at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Sunny (1930)

Switched to Remember WENN after a shower. It's "Two for the Price of One" when Pruitt's secretary Miss Cosgrave (Audrie Neenan) signs a contract requiring Betty and the actors to create shows for radio station WEEP and their own. Though Gertie the receptionist (Margaret Hall) enjoys doing her gardening show, it proves to be too much for the staff and for CJ the engineer (CJ Byrnes). Mr. Crawley (Lee Wilkof), the owner of WEEP, is so impressed, he takes all their shows for his own. It's Scott who finally comes up with the idea of mixing the shows and the broadcasts, so no one knows which station is which.

Hilary's having her own problems in "Mr. and Mrs. Singer." Jeff keeps trying to call her and warn her about something, but he just can't get through to her. As it turns out, he has good reason to worry. Czech refugee Pavla Nemcova (Karen Travis) claims Jeff married her in London and even brings a letter backing up her statement. Hilary's devastated, until Scott, Betty, Mr. Foley, and CJ turn the tables and show Pavla for the gold-digger she truly is.

Finished the night working on the Sunny review while listening to the Disney Legacy Collection Disneyland CDs. This is especially fascinating for me. I went to Disney World twice in the 80's and early 90's, but I've never been to the original Disneyland. I've never even been to California. Some of these songs and rides - The Country Bears, the Tiki Room, It's a Small World, Haunted Mansion with its "Grim Grinning Ghosts," "Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for Me" - I know very well, as they can still be found in many of the parks to this day. Others, like the theme from The Twilight Zone and the music from Star Tours, are based on familiar properties Disney borrowed or owns. 

Others are from older versions or rides that no longer exist. "Miracles from Molecules" is from Adventures Thru Inner Space, which closed in the 80's. "Nation On Wheels" is from the Peoplemover, which hasn't moved anyone at Disneyland since the early 2000's. (They attempted to turn it into a roller coaster and abandoned the tracks when that didn't work. It's apparently still at Disney World, though.) The dreamy "Rainbow Caverns" would be replaced by the more dynamic Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the 70's. The "Swisskapolka" was the music heard in the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, until Disney gave it a only-in-Disneyland Tarzan theme...which was replaced in 2022 by a variation on the original. 

If you love Disney Parks history or theme park history, or have actually been to Disneyland between 1955 and 2015, you'll absolutely want to look around for this collection of songs from some of the most beloved properties, shows, and rides to ever grace the "Happiest Place On Earth." 

Winter and Taxes

First of all, I awoke to a white world. Everything was covered with shiny whiteness...but the street. Though the street was cleared here, it's more than likely it hasn't been elsewhere. Oaklyn is the best local town at cleaning up the streets after a major weather disaster. The Collingswood School District was closed today, and I was already off the Acme until Wednesday. I went nowhere but home today.

Started things off with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Millie and Melody want their Aunt Minnie to play with them, but she's too busy setting up "Minnie's Winter Bow Show." They accidentally make a mess of the decorations, then run out. Minnie follows them into the Glove Balloon, which ends up taking them to the top of Mistletoe Mountain. They have to help Snow Fairy Clarabelle find her snowflakes, then retrieve her reindeer to pull a sleigh that will take them back to Minnie's show. On the way, they help a family of yeti get across a frozen pond.

Moved to Remember WENN after breakfast. Betty's left wondering "Who's Scott Sherwood?" after Victor's major revelations during "In the WENN Small Hours." So is Rollie Pruitt, who has caught wind of Scott's memorial scheme and fired him. The others rise to Scott's defense and end their shows. Betty's not sure he's worth defending, especially after Scott finally confesses how he really got his station manager job.

Betty and Mackie are dealing with the fallout in "The New Actor." While Betty tries to negotiate with Pruitt to get Mackie a raise, Jeff insists on returning to London after hearing one of Jonathan Arnold's (Victor) broadcasts. Now WENN is so short on help, Mackie's playing roles with himself. They're desperate to hire anyone...but Betty's not sure the very familiar former con-artist they end up hiring is worth a second chance. 

After breakfast, I moved to Turbo Tax to get that done. This is slightly more complicated with two jobs, but still nothing that takes more than an hour. I still own no property and have no dependents. Thanks to that second job, I'll only be getting about $470 back from Federal and $40 from the state. That's nowhere near what I usually get, but any kind of money is better than none. 

Switched to Tubi for a double feature of two wacky winter comedies from the 80's and early 90's after I took my laundry downstairs. Ski Patrol  is a pretty typical slobs vs snobs teen comedy from 1990. The ski patrollers are in charge of the mountain run at Pop's (Ray Walston) resort. The land is coveted by a smarmy developer (Martin Mull) who wants to build a much larger and more lavish resort. He hires a group of jealous ski instructors to sabotage the ski patrol and make the resort look bad to the local Forest Ranger (Deborah Rose). After they're stretched too thin and the Ranger sees their mistakes, the Forest Service is ready to shut them down...unless they can find a way to prove that they're not the ones wrecking havoc on the mountain. Meanwhile, the patrollers have to deal with a very strange hard rock nut named Suicide (Sean Gregory Sullivan) who wears two masks to represent his dual-sided personality and the short head of the patrol (Leslie Jordan) they're constantly making fun of.

I'm not surprised this came from the creators of the Police Academy franchise. It's basically a less raunchy Police Academy on skis with a great cast. In addition to Walston, Jordan, and Mull, we have comedian T.K Carter as resident singer and karaoke-machine owner Iceman, George Lopez as the Hispanic explosions expert Eddie Martinez, and future director Paul Feig as hapless Stanley, who tried and failed seven times to get on the Ski Patrol. My sisters and I used to love this when it turned up a lot on cable in the early 90's. It's still a lot of fun if you're looking for something goofy and not much else or are a fan of Police Academy-style slapstick ensemble comedies.

Hot Dog - The Movie has a little of the authentic ski bum flavor that Ski Patrol lacks. In this case, the focus switches from the ski patrol to skiing competitions. Harkin Banks (Patrick Houser) is on his way to Squaw Valley, California for a major ski festival when he picks up 17-year-old runaway Sunny (Tracy Smith). They're both disgusted with Rudi Garmisch (John Patrick Reger), a spoiled hot shot European skier who has won all the major awards. Despite excellent performances by Harlin and veteran skier and bar-owner Dan O'Callahan (David Naughton), it looks like he might take this one too...until Dan challenges him and his entourage to a winner-takes-all free-for-all downhill race. Now Dan, Harlin, and their friends have to avoid Rudi and his cheating to prove who the real "hog dogs" on the mountain are.

This movie is way better than it has any right to be. Naughton, Reger, and Shannon Tweed steal the movie as the veteran skier who joins the Championship for one more day in the sun, the spoiled European champ, and the (slightly) older woman who seduces Harlin at first. The Japanese skier (James Saito) is pretty stereotypical, but he's also portrayed as a member of the gang who takes part in most of the same antics as the others. The ladies, especially Smith, don't always come off the best either. Ski culture, on the other hand, is portrayed so authentically, this was a surprise hit in 1984 and remains a favorite of a lot of real skiers to this day. If you're also a skiing fan and can handle more sex than usual for one of these teen comedies, this is definitely worth checking out the competition for.

Switched to Buzzr for Match Game Syndicated next after I finally brought my laundry upstairs and put it away. We had a first for game shows in these episodes as blind contestant Glenn and his beautiful service dog Princess competed. Betty White adored Princess and helped take good care of her. Meanwhile, Eva Gabor was a trooper when she talked about how another contestant had accidentally kicked her toe and taken off her toenail, and she said she now had a cheaper pedicure.

Listened to the Wicked: For Good soundtrack after dinner while working on Once Upon a Time in the Land of WENN. I haven't a single clue as to why this got such horrible reviews. The performances are still fabulous, especially from Ariana Grande as Glinda. The mix of practical and CGI effects still look gorgeous. The show's big ballad, "As Long as You're Mine," can be found here, and we have two decent new songs, "The Girl In the Bubble" and "There's No Place Like Home." I'm wondering if the critics were expecting it be just as lighthearted as the first half...and were shocked to find it most definitely isn't. If you're a fan of the show or of The Wizard of Oz and don't mind the darker take on this franchise, or you loved the first movie, this is absolutely worth checking out too.

I finally got further on Land of WENN. Duchess Hilary Booth's husband Duke Jeffrey Singer just returned to Londchester to help with the war against the Shadow Realm there. Not only does she miss him terribly, but she's upset that Elizabeth (Betty) Roberts and her acting troupe are moving on the Parched Mountains too to find the Earth Talisman and staff. She's even more shocked when a woman dressed in an icing-colored dress arrives at the Bedside Manor stage, claiming she's Pavla Nemcova, Jeff's new wife. Scott Sherwood, the shadowy head of the Rebel Society, knows Pavla is really an evil Candy Witch who may have harmed Jeff, and he knows what she really wants...an audition with a major producer. 

Finished the night at YouTube with spelling and word games after I made the bed. Two of the major champs in this genre remain Password and Match Game. They're simple, addictive, and a lot of fun to play along with. We have three examples here, with Password Plus from 1981 and Super Password from 1987 and one of the funniest episodes from the first year of the revived Match Game in 1973. 

Another word and spelling game champ is Scrabble, and it's another one that's seen a recent revival. Chuck Woolery is the host of the original version from 1986 that had people calling for letters and unscrambling words. The Pyramids are a bit simpler. Celebrities help contestants guess a certain category by naming object or people in that category. I have a rather infamous episode of $100,000 Pyramid from 1991 where soap star Stuart Damon has to figure out what to say for "Things That are Stiff" that won't get them taken off the air. John Davidson is the amiable host here.

Not all word games are massive hits. Smush debuted on USA in 2001 and didn't even last a year. This game is so simple, the contestants play in a set that resembles a living room of the time, and the audience is mostly on the floor or couches. Three contestants have to decide what smushed phrase two clues make, like "Karen Allen Ludden." Ken Ober is certainly no stranger to casual pop-culture based games and has a lot of fun with the material, but it might be a little too casual and low-budget to make much of an impression.

Have fun describing words, guessing phrases, and describing the category with these heart-pounding and hilarious word and spelling games!

Match Game (1973)

Password Plus (1981)

Scrabble (1986)

Super Password (1987)

$100,000 Pyramid (1991)

Smush (2001)

Winter Wonderland Matches

I awoke at 7 to a winter wonderland. Everything was white, including the street. Normally, Oaklyn is the best town in the area at clearing the streets. If the streets here weren't clear, none of them in the area were passable, period. I called Acme, told them there was no way I'd be able to get an Uber today even if my knee was up to pushing carts in deep snow, and went back to sleep.

It was still coming down when I got up again, and the dark gray sky basically said that it would continue to come down for a long time. I think you can guess that no one went anywhere or did anything today. I spent most of the day in front of my laptop, listening to records and going through Once Upon a Time In the Land of WENN, seeing what needs to be edited and where I left off. 

In fact, I spent a lot of the afternoon putting a dent in the records I've bought in the last few months. Soundwaves is a K-Tel release from 1980. There's some really great stuff here, some of the biggest hits of the early 80's - "Upside Down" by Diana Ross, "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" by Prince, "I Was Made for Lovin' You" by Kiss, "Lost In Love" by Air Supply - but my favorite is one I didn't even know existed until I bought this. I know Meco did a Star Wars: New Hope disco instrumental medley (it still turns up on the radio from time to time), but I had no idea he did one for Empire Strikes Back, too. It's pretty awesome. You've never lived until you've heard an electronic version of "The Imperial March."

I thought two Rupert Holmes records from the early 1980's suited both the snowy weather and the story I was working on. Anyone who's seen Remember WENN or heard the cast albums for Curtains and The Mystery of Edwin Drood knows Rupert loves playing with masks and hidden identities, and that's the theme of Adventure from 1980. "The Mask" sounds like Victor in the third season, "Blackjack" might as well be Scott Sherwood's anthem, and Betty certainly was "Cold" to him during much of the third and fourth seasons. "Adventure" is what Scott wanted with Betty, and "You'll Love Me Again" and "I Don't Need You" have a lot of Hilary and Jeff in them.

Full Circle from a year later is somewhat similar. Things are a bit more romantic here. "You Remind Me of You" has a title from the Marx Brothers, but is honestly very sweet. There's also "Loved By the One You Love," "Love at Second Sight" (Hilary and Jeff again), "My Lover's Keeper," and the title song.

The Moody Blues' The Present wasn't nearly as big of a hit as Long Distance Voyager, their previous album, had been, but that doesn't mean it lacks merit. "Sitting at the Wheel" and "Blue World" were minor hits at the time, and there's the dreamy "Running Water" and "Under My Feet." In fact, it made for rather nice reflection music on an afternoon that kept switching between snow, frozen rain, and sleet.

Finished the night with dinner, a shower, and the Sunday Match Game marathon. There were quite a few panelists named Robert or Bob who appeared on the 1973 - 1982 run of the show. The first and most prominent was Price Is Right host Bob Barker. He turned up on the second week and would appear sporadically through 1980, usually to promote Price. He had some of his most memorable episodes in the late CBS run and early syndication, including the time he protested Gene covering the slit skirt of a pretty casting coordinator and when his chair broke and sunk below the desks. 

Bobby Van was the other regular "Bob" during the 70's run. He was usually seen with his dancer wife Elaine Joyce, but he did make occasional appearances on his own from 1973 through 1977. His first appearance on the show was sitting next to Elaine on the top row in 1973...and one of their answers to a question was so sexually-charged, that episode is now banned from the airwaves. 

Three Roberts and Bobs were semi-regulars during the later and syndicated years. Robert Walden of Lou Grant, a former student of Charles Nelson Reilly, turned heads and made hearts flutter from 1979 through 1981. Robert Pine, the only actor to last through the entire six seasons of CHIPs, was a genial "dad" presence from 1978 through 1980. Character actor Bob Donner of Mork and Mindy started off in 1980 and would last through the end of the syndicated series in 1982, making occasional appearances on The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour as well.

There were other guys named Bob or Robert who only appeared for one or two weeks. Robert Vaughn of The Man From U.N.C.L.E appeared twice, in a memorable week in 1973 with Nancy Dussault and McLean Stevenson, and again in 1975. Comedian and game show host Robert Q. Lewis and Robert Culp of I Spy and The Greatest American Hero made their only appearances early on in 1973. Broadway star Robert Morse did a hilarious week in 1974 where he imitated an ape and accidentally blurted out an answer. Brett was more than happy to kiss action star Robert Urich during his only week in 1975. Robert Mandan of Soap did incredibly well in 1978, probably the best of any star who only played one week. 

Get to know a lot of guys named Bob in this hilarious and happily snow-free marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - The BOB Marathon 

Oh, and you've probably already guessed that the Collingswood School District, including the Thomas Sharp School, is closed tomorrow. I checked their website around 3 PM. Good thing I'm already off of the Acme on Monday (and Tuesday) anyway. I'm not going anywhere tomorrow but here. 

Baking Matches

I woke up at 7 AM...and promptly called out. My knee was too sore for pushing carts. If I had worked in the morning, I might have reconsidered, but I wasn't supposed to be in until 1:30. Working in the afternoon means I'm just helping with the carts. They'd live without me today. 

Went back to sleep after that. When I got up for good, I had a nice, warm breakfast while watching winter-related animated specials. Frosty's Winter Wonderland brings Frosty the Snowman (Jackie Vernon) back, to the delight of all his kid friends. Frosty's lonely when they're inside at night, so they create a "snow wife" (Shelly Winters) they dub Crystal to keep him company. Trouble is, they can't figure out how to make her "all livin'" at first. Meanwhile, Jack Frost (Paul Frees) is jealous of Frosty's popularity and would love to blow those snow people right off the map.

Frosty Returns from 1992 was one of the last cartoons made by Bill Melendez, and as such, comes off as more of a cross between Rankin-Bass and a Peanuts holiday special. This time, Frosty (John Goodman) appears to two kids in a town whose winter carnival is threatened by an industrialist (Brian Doyle Murphy) who created a spray that quickly removes snow. The kids know that the kind of magic winter needs can be found in good friends and cozy days, not quick ideas.

I went further into another Rankin-Bass winter special, Jack Frost, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in 2020. 

Jack Frost

After that ended, I switched to YouTube for Dot and Keeto. I also go further into the fourth movie in the long-running Dot series from Australia at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Dot and Keeto

Spent most of the afternoon looking over my Once Upon a Time In the Land of WENN story. With The WENN Nutcracker Suite having stalled and it being past Christmas anyway, I thought I'd double back and take a look at this Game of Thrones-esque fantasy I've been working on for a decade. I started it in August 2015, worked on it off and on through early 2016, then dropped it after I got into Star Wars. Started it again last May, but ultimately switched to Hilary and the Beasts instead. 

It's the early 4th season, between "And If I Die Before I Sleep" and "Hilary's Agent." Betty is writing a new series for a sponsor who was inspired by her When In Rome script and asked for a deeper fantasy story than usual for a radio show. As usual for Betty, her problems, including the three men in her life, intrude...and explode into the story of Elizabeth Roberts (Betty) who discovers her destiny as the Light Guardian even as she deals with the two men in her life, noble King Victor (Comstock) who is currently a spy, and former Prince Scott (Sherwood), who now steals from the rich in the woods and leads the rebel faction. 

After Dot and Keeto ended, I decided to try something downstairs. I still had buttermilk and coconut leftover from Christmas baking. I made Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread from The Taste of Home Baking Book, adding coconut to the batter and sprinkling it along with the cinnamon sugar between the layers. Oh yuuuummm! It came out perfectly, sweet and spicy and moist, and smelled amazing in the oven. I haven't made anything this good in ages. And it only took me about 10-15 minutes to put together, too. 

Finished my night with a late lunch-early dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon. I'm not the only one who loves good food. Despite Gene Rayburn's frequent admonishment that they weren't supposed to be eating on the air, food was often consumed in front of the cameras by panelists anyway. Charles brought a burger with him during a syndicated episode. In a 1974 show, Richard stole an apple given to Brett by an audience member. Also in syndication, opera singer and avowed pasta lover Diana Sorvino handed plates of spaghetti and meatballs to the panelists. Gene once let everyone try out caviar. There was the contestant who brought kiwi from his farm for everyone to test, too. There were also all of the jokes about the "Russian" club soda Brett and Charles imbibed, and the time Bill Daily spilled water and ended up out of his chair to wipe it up. 

Food also turned up in Audience Matches and Head-to-Heads. Betty helped a Naval officer in a nighttime episode whose answer to her Head-to-Head was a brand of beer. Another one in 1975 had "Pie __." "Mama" Cass Elliot got teased quite a bit about her weight and what she ate during her one week in 1973. There was also the obvious answer to "Club __," given how much of it the panelists (supposedly) consumed. 

Enjoy dinner and a show with the Match Game panelists in this tasty and rib-tickling marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - What's for Dinner Marathon - Featuring Food & Drink Items On Match Game

Oh, and at press time...it still hasn't snowed, iced, or done anything but look ugly and be cold. It hasn't all day. I don't think it's supposed to arrive until later in the morning. 

Dance Party On Ice

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and Pac-Man. It's an "Invasion of the Pac Pups" when six little Chomp Chomp pups wreck havoc on Pac Man's home and his life. Mezmeron and the Ghosts make a "Journey to the Center of Pac Land" when they dig under what they think is the Power Forest. They do manage to get Pac Man at first, but Pepper knows how to handle them.

Switched to Super Password while making my grocery list. Got to see a bit of Marsha Warfield and Marty Cohen chatting with Bert Convy before I called Uber. My knee is still really sore. I think it doesn't like this cold weather. Besides, I wasn't getting a ton of groceries, but I did have a lot of heavy ones I wanted to get. Thankfully, they only took 7 minutes to pick me up and about 5 to arrive.

If you've seen the weather reports for the East Coast, I think you can guess that the Acme was mobbed today. It's not supposed to snow until early Sunday morning, but the temperatures are going to drop into the teens tomorrow. No one wants to be out when it's gale-force windy and literally freezing. I restocked oranges, apples, yogurt, granola, granola bars, and probiotic soda. Had online coupons for bakery cookies and Propel drink mixes. No 20 ounce Fresca, but I did get two of the Diet Coke With Lime. Thankfully, there were enough lines open that the 15 items or less checkout line was short. 

Once I got home and put everything away, I switched to a more dramatic 80's cartoon while eating a quick lunch. In the first season of Jem, Jem and the Holograms are on vacation at a Colorado ski resort owned by a friend. They're shocked to discover the resort is in serious trouble. The Misfits and their sleazy manager Eric Raymond have been sabotaging it to help a friend of Eric's and his competing resort. The Holograms agree to a ski race with the Misfits to decide ownership of the resort. It becomes their "Last Resorts" when the Misfits sabotage that too, and Jem is trapped in a cave after an avalanche. That cave, however, contains something that could be more of a help to the resort than any concert ever could.

Took Uber to the school, too. I can sit at the school, but I'm not up to a bike ride, and it's gale-force windy anyway. Thankfully, unlike yesterday, the Uber going to the school arrived in 10 minutes and got me there right on time. The one I initially got going home canceled...but their replacement took a mere 5 minutes to arrive.

Things were definitely better today. For one thing, I had a small group, only 6 kids plus one boy I agreed to take because he was so enamored with playing daddy to one of the girls' American Girl modern line dolls, he didn't get up and run around quite as much as usual. The kids loved it when I showed them pictures of my American Girl doll collection. I even showed them my wrapped-up knee to explain why I couldn't chase after them like usual today. It helped that we only had about 20 younger kids all together. It was the head teacher's birthday. All of the older kids sang "Happy Birthday" for her during snack time. It was so sweet of them! 

The head teacher had a surprise when we went to the library. Our Friday dance party turned into a disco dance party when she handed around glow stick bracelets for everyone. I did wiggle a bit when I went to sharpen colored pencils, but I mostly stuck with the kids in the back of the library who were coloring on a wide piece of paper, building with magnetic tiles, or looking at books. Like I told the two boys who were back there for most of the time, a quiet party can be just as much fun as a big, noisy one! I finished my picture of Betty, Eugenia, Hilary, and Maple from The Four Dancing Princesses and did stencil pictures of a butterfly and a pig. (Really more of a boar - we're out of pink colored pencils.) One of the boys did an amazing picture of a roaring rocket in his favorite colors. (He's going to be a great engineer someday, that one.) The other colored a picture of Spongebob Squarepants' pineapple house.

Watched The Price Is Right and Match Game Syndicated when I got home. Mary Ann Mobley's host hubby Gary Collins was the male ingenue this week, joining Debralee Scott, Betty White, an antsy Bill Daily, and in Charles' seat, Dick Martin. Debralee spent a good part of the week flirting with a handsome young man from New York with the accent to match. (Debralee herself had been born in North Jersey.) 

Finally got my schedule at this point, too. It's...pretty much the same as this week with slightly more hours next Saturday. To be honest, I'd already planned on taking Sunday off. There's no way I'm going to get an Uber driver in the middle of a major snow and ice storm. The way my knee's feeling, I'll likely call out tomorrow, too. 

Finished the night starting season 3 of Remember WENN. Victor explains to Betty where he's been "In the WENN Small Hours" and why he's turned up so suddenly. He's doing important government work, and she can't let anyone know he's alive...which proves to be a problem when first the rest of the cast starts trickling in from talking to the police, then sponsor Mr. Medwick turns up with explorer Cutter Dunlap (Malcom Gets). Betty and Victor do manage to head him off after they tell him the, er, strange things that have gone on while he's been out of the US, but Victor can't stay...and then drops a bombshell about just how well Scott Sherwood actually knew him.

Hilary Booth, meanwhile, is frustrated with her recent lack of roles that suit her considerable dramatic talents. She thinks she's found the perfect vehicle for her and Jeff when a budding playwright (Harry Hamlin) comes to her with his magnum opus. They convince their sponsors the Sweets (Louis Zorich and Peggy Cass) to fund their show "Prior to Broadway," but can't decide if it's a comedy or a drama. Betty's more interested in re-reading the letter of introduction Victor sent along with Scott, noticing that it sounds an awful lot like one of Scott's pet catchphrases...

Heaven Help the Fighting Woman

Began the morning with breakfast and Little Bear. Little Bear wants to stay "Up All Night" and see the sunrise, but he ends up dreaming about it instead. After he gets muddy, "Little Bear's Bath" turns into an adventure where he meets a mermaid caught in a net. "Father Bear Comes Home," and Little Bear and all of his friends are excited about the surprise he's bringing them. They think it might be a mermaid, but he has something that's even more fun.

Spent the next couple of hours checking the schedule for adult programs at the Cherry Hill Library and watching the 2011 remake of Footloose, which I go further into at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Footloose (2011)

Watched Remember WENN during lunch. Elderly janitor Mr. Eldridge (George Hall) is excited when his old friend and former vaudevillian Pepper Carnasie (Eddie Bracken) visits the station. Unfortunately, he's there with Blair Foley (Michael Patrick McGrath), an overbearing hearing aid salesman who uses Pepper as a shill. They're more "Like a Brother" than Blair is with his younger brother, the silent sound effects man Mr. Foley (Tom Beckett). It's Scott and Foley who use the laugh track machine Foley made to bolster Mackie's comedy act on the real joke - Blair's puffed-up opinion of himself.

There's "Magic" in the air at the station when sponsor Kurt Holstrom (David Leary) comes to see Hilary and Jeff's mind-reading act on their show Magic Time. Scott's more concerned about the decoded messages on their Amazon Andy kid's show not making sense. As it turns out, those codes are a lot more than just "be sure to drink your Ovaltine," and Holstrom is more than just a sponsor. It's a night of mayhem, memories, Scott revealing a hidden talent, and Mackie being nervous when Hilary says "someone at this station will pass through the doorway between life and death." She's right, but not in the way she thinks when, alone late at night, Betty has a visitor she never expected to see again...one who supposedly died in London months ago...

The second and third season are by far my favorite of the show. Scott's in his element as the fast-talking station manager, and this is probably the season where Hilary and Jeff get along the best and have some of their wittiest lines. The classic hour-long Christmas episode is far and way my favorite of the season, along with "Scott Sherwood of the FBI," "Close Quarters," and the touching "Radio Silence." Take note of the events of "Magic" and the return of a certain supposedly dead former station manager, though, because things will be getting very messy from here on in...

Called Uber soon as "Magic" ended. Yes, I know it was much warmer today, but my knee has been really sore, to the point where I put a wrap on it. I have no idea why it would have been so busy at 2:30, but I couldn't get a ride for 17 minutes! I was 15 minutes late to work. I had a hard time getting a driver going home, too. At least the second driver arrived in a mere 2 minutes after the first canceled.

And my being late was not a good thing. Though we only had 20 younger kids today, they're all rowdy from being cooped up all week. I didn't have any really major problems with my group at the bathrooms. I enjoyed reading to a few of the kids while the others finished their snacks. The real trouble didn't start until we moved the kids to the library. They wouldn't listen to the head teacher read them stories. One girl threw a tantrum when another grabbed rubber ducks from her and just would not stop crying, for nearly ten minutes. When I scolded the other girl, she lay on the floor and ignored me. (After I talked to her yesterday about using her words.)

The same girl begged me to read a book about wolves and grizzlies attacking their prey that was really for older kids. I read it...until the very end, when I refused to read the last few paragraphs about the wolves overwhelming the grizzly or show her the blood. I kept asking her if she really wanted to read it and pointing out that it wasn't appropriate for her, but she kept insisting on it. The boys just kept running around and crawling on the floor when they explicitly told not to. It was a major relief when we finally moved the kids back to the cafeteria shortly before I left.

When I got home, I went straight into dinner and Match Game Syndicated. We finished off the week with Stephanie Edwards, Fannie Flagg, and Robert Pine. Brett spent the week alternatively mourning Charles going away to Broadway for a role the next week and being glad him and his poky writing were going.

Finished the night working on my Footloose review while listening to the 2-disc Starburst set. The title sounds like something K-Tel put out in the late 70's, but it's actually from 1969...and boy, is it from 1969. This is one of the most eclectic assortment of songs I've ever seen on two records. You get rock numbers like "God Bless the Child" by Blood, Sweat, and Tears and "This Girl Is a Woman Now" by Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, vocalists like Tony Bennett singing "I've Gotta Be Me" and Johnny Mathis's version of the "Love Theme from Romeo & Juliet," instrumental covers of rock numbers ("Up, Up, and Away" by Terry Baxter and His Orchestra, "Spinning Wheel" by Moog Machine), and even country numbers from Tammy Wynette ("Stand By Your Man") and Johnny Cash ("Daddy Sang Bass"). If you want to hear a little bit of pretty much everything the late 60's had to offer, this is worth digging up for the variety alone. 

I'm Still Standing

Started the morning with breakfast and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Season 4 kicks off with "The Coronation." Poor Glimmer is grieving her mother Angela's death and is being driven crazy by Bow and all of the princesses trying to help with the ceremony. In order to become queen, she, Adora, and Bow have to take a lantern beneath Bright Moon to find a magical cave. They also run across a crystal slug...but it takes Glimmer admitting how much she misses her mother to calm it. Meanwhile, Catra forces Hordak's hand by stealing his crystal and claiming she knows how to end the Rebellion.

Though it was a bit warmer today and sunny, not only was it not that warm, today's my double work day. I called for Uber. The morning driver thankfully only took 4 minutes. I arrived right at work right on time.

We were a lot busier than I thought we would be for a Wednesday morning. Everyone's panicking over the snow we may be getting Saturday night. People, the snow is coming Saturday night, not tomorrow! At least I manged to stay outside and push carts when I wasn't sweeping. After I finished, I quickly changed shirts and hurried out.

Walked behind the Acme and had lunch at Futomaki, the Japanese restaurant. They were dead quiet when I arrived at quarter after 1. I had a bento box - four pieces of California Roll (vegetable) sushi, two fried scallops, white rice, and in this case, shrimp teriyaki. Yum! Everything was so tasty, even the sushi. Oh, and white rice tastes great with shaved ginger. 

When I went back to the Acme, I still had more than a half-hour before I had to be at the school. I bought bread and Head and Shoulders' curl formula. I don't have dandruff, but I do have an itchy scalp, and have for a while. I thought this might help. Called Uber after I finished. They arrived in 7 minutes. The driver took a wrong turn onto the next street over from Thomas Sharp School, but it didn't take him long to get turned around.

I still arrived slightly early, which was a very good thing. We had 26 younger kids and 20 older ones today. I have to admit, taking them in smaller batches does help relieve the bathroom problems. I had to change one of the littlest misses after an accident...but we had such a wonderful conversation about The Lion King and how it's her favorite Disney movie (even though the wildebeest stampede scares her), and she was so good about it, I recommended her getting a sticker for listening and using her words well to the head teacher. 

Otherwise, things went the same as they did yesterday. We once again ended up in the library after snack time. Some of the kids worked with stencils in the back. Others drew on construction paper or built tall towers with magnetic tiles or looked at books. Most of them danced and froze in poses while listening to "ABC" by the Jackson Five, Elvis songs from the soundtrack of Lilo and Stitch (you've never lived until you've seen a roomful of 5-year-olds wiggling to "Burning Love"), and Taron Egerton's version of "I'm Still Standing" from Rocketman. The artists were fascinated by my artwork of C.J, Mackie, and the angry giant Pruitt from C.J and the Beanstalk. They loved hearing about a giant who could smash them, if they didn't knock down the beanstalk first!

This time, I finished at the normal quarter after 5. Got a ride in 10 minutes, not bad for rush hour. Once again, no trouble picking me up, and no traffic whatsoever.

Watched Remember WENN when I got home. The normally unflappable station manager Scott Sherwood is very nervous when his Aunt Agatha (Jan Miner) visits WENN. Seems he's fibbed to her that the station is a branch of the FBI and he's the head of it. Betty joins "Scott Sherwood of the FBI" in pulling the wool over his aunt's eyes, until it becomes clear that she was ahead of the game before they even began...but there's a real FBI agent who may not appreciate the deception.

Scott's perpetual lies catch up with him in the next episode when he admits to Betty he's been telling the sponsor of their bridal show they marry real couples, so he can pocket the change and use it to build a memorial for Victor. Not only is Penelope Cominger (Julie Hagarty) the wealthy sponsor, but she's also Mackie's former flame whom he left at the alter. Betty's ready to become "The First Mrs. Bloom" when they have to keep up the deception, but it's Scott and Penelope who figure out what Mackie really wants. 

Switched to Match Game Syndicated during dinner. They finished off the week with Jon Bauman and Patty Duke and went into the next week with Stephanie Edwards appearing for the first time since 1973. The other key event from this week was Charles leaving at the end of it to appear in a (short-lived, as it would turn out) play on Broadway. Brett alternated between saying how much she'd miss him and declaring how happy she'd be when he was gone.

Switched to YouTube for the other Goofy driving short. Freeway Troubles is basically the same idea as Freewayphobia, but this time, they focus on what not to do on the highway...like pack too much in your back seat or trailer, drink and drive, not get a lot of rest before driving, or not take good care of your car. Honestly, as a kid, I thought these were absolutely hilarious when they turned up between shows on the Disney Channel, even though I'd barely seen a freeway at that point. Nowadays, it's almost scary how accurate they still are...and as all the trouble with people using smartphones while driving proves, the more things change, the less likely people are to be paying attention. 

Finished the night at Paramount Plus with The Love Boat. Gopher's aunt (Jane Powell) discover that she and a handsome passenger (Howard Keel) were "Maid for Each Other," but she's afraid to admit she's no longer wealthy and is working as a maid for an eccentric older woman (Mary Wickes). One best friend (Joe Namath) hires an old female friend (Karen Grassle) to say "Then There Were Two" and make his buddy (Fred Willard) fall in love so he can earn a big pile of cash...but she really loves the other guy. An abandoned baby is "Lost and Found" when it needs a blood transfusion and only one man can help him...the nervous father (Gary Burghoff) who abandoned him. 

Kids, It's Cold Outside!

Began the day with breakfast and The Producers. I go further into the 2005 musical remake of the 1967 Mel Brooks black comedy at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - The Producers (2005)

I did some research online before having a quick lunch. I've narrowed down where I want to find a condo or townhouse to either Cherry Hill or Deptford. I did research on Cherry Hill today. On one hand, Cherry Hill probably has the most infrastructure in this area outside of Camden, with tons of shopping, restaurants, and transportation options (including the NJ Transit train) within easy reach. Though it is popular with families, it's also big with professionals of all ages looking for something more single-oriented and with shopping and dining options than the small towns. 

On the other hand, first of all, it's huge, likely the largest town in this area besides Camden, with tons of neighborhoods with their own characters. Second, it's not the most pedestrian or bike-friendly. Cherry Hill was designed for the 60's-70's car culture and, unlike the smaller towns closer to Camden, has no real downtown. The Cherry Hill Mall and the area surrounding it are about as close as they get. It's criss-crossed by three of the busiest roads in South Jersey, Route 70, Crescent Road, and Haddonfield Road. 

I had just finished lunch when I realized it was time to call Uber for a ride to the Thomas Sharp School. It was way too cold for bike riding today! Despite the sunshine and lack of wind, the high was 22. Thankfully, the one getting me there turned up much earlier than the 13 minutes indicated on Uber, and I arrived only slightly late. It took me two tries to get a driver going home, but when he did arrive, it took him about 10 minutes. No traffic or trouble either way.

We're trying some new things with the kids this week. Instead of all of them running from table to table when they first arrive, we assign a teacher to a group of kids at a cafeteria table, 8 to 9 per teacher. We then rotate toys, so all the kids will get a chance to use them without getting up from their seats. My group had the magnetic tiles first, then built with Duplos and played with plastic dinosaurs and animals, then colored on construction paper. They were all so good! They helped clean up and didn't fuss when they lined up for the bathroom. I'm so proud of them. (It also helped that there were fewer little ones today, only about 20 when we started.) 

We moved them to the library after snack time. There was no way they were going outside in temperatures that weren't even above freezing. A few kids joined me at the coloring table or looked at books, but most of them danced to songs from Trolls and KPop Demon Hunters blasting from a speaker one of the teachers brought. (One young aspiring ballerina danced on her toes in her golden strap shoes. I admire her for being able to do that. My toes hurt just watching her.) I cleaned up the library after they moved the remaining kids to the cafeteria around quarter after 5.

After the last kid went home, we had a staff meeting with the head teacher. He mostly praised the job we were doing, but there were a few things we needed to discuss. For one thing, no more tag on the playground. The older boys in particular are too inclined to turn it into a contact sport. No more swings, either. As much as I enjoy pushing them, not only do they cause too much arguing (there's only two), but several kids have already gotten hurt or kicked on or around them. I suspect some of the girls in particular are going to throw fits, but they're just too dangerous for pre-schoolers. 

The other problem is keeping them calm when we're transitioning from playing to the bathrooms, and from the bathrooms to snacks, and from the snacks to the library or playground. That's when they tend to get the most injuries from running around. We're going to play games with them in the bathroom halls while they wait to see if they can imitate our poses and call on them in smaller groups for the bathrooms and to get their coats and backpacks when we go outside. 

Watched Match Game Syndicated when I finally got home and had dinner. I have no reason why they jumped back to much earlier in the run. I came in for the week with Alfie Wise, Betty White, and Patty Duke (in a luxurious fur coat). In the next week, Jon "Bowser" Bauman showed off his sneaker-shaped bag and everything in it, while Brett objected to Jon's rubber rat and Charles giving her weird "awards."

Finished the night listening to recent record and CD acquisitions while working on The Producers review, starting with two classic rock albums from England. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust is considered to be one of, if not David Bowie's best album. It's certainly his most famous. Despite the gritty cover, Bowie gives us a taste of glam rock with "Moonage Daydream," "Lady Stardust," and "Hang On to Yourself."

As it turns out, Flowers is a Rolling Stones collection, which explains some of the terrific material here. The opening number "Ruby Tuesday" and "Let's Spend the Night" are by far my favorite tracks. We also have "Standing In the Shadow?", "Back Street Girl," and a surprisingly good cover of "My Girl." 

The Essential Rosemary Clooney also gives us some of her best-known hits. "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me" comes from White Christmas, and she does another movie number associated with Bing Crosby, "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening." Her best-known hit is probably "Hey There" from The Pajama Game, which allows her to perform a duet with herself. Other familiar standards here include "Come On-A My House," "Half as Much," "You Make Me Feel So Young," "This Ole House," and "Tenderly."

The Bobby Darin Story goes the unique route of having Darin narrate the story of his career via some of his biggest hit songs. The narration is genuinely funny, especially the hilarious end of what would have been side 1 on a record going into side 2. "Splish Splash," "Dream Lover," and "Mack the Knife" are probably the best-known numbers here. We also have "Artificial Flowers" from the Broadway show Tenderloin and the French ballad "Beyond the Sea." 

Someone to Watch Over Me

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. We're not the only ones getting hit with winter weather. "The Neighborhood Snowstorm" is so bad, the children at school are sent home early. Daniel is upset when the heat dies and a pipe breaks, flooding his room and ruining his Tigey the Adventure Tiger books. He and Margaret stay with Jodie and her family and have hot soup until the Tiger parents come back for them.

Switched to Remember WENN while making the bed and doing chores. Hilary and Jeff are "Strange Bedfellows" when Scott encourages them to join opposite parties in the race for Pittsburgh's city council. They spend Scott's big debate arguing until Betty brings in a third candidate, a folksy former baseball player who reminds them that politics takes more than pretty speeches or claims. It requires real dedication to local needs, no matter how seemingly trivial.

The staff learns more about each other than they probably wanted to when they're quarantined after sound effects man Mr. Foley (Tom Beckett) comes down with a mysterious rash. The "Close Quarters" is fun at first, with Hilary's attempt at dinner, dancing afterwards, and Hilary revealing that Jeff didn't handle his time in England as well as it appears. As the weeks drag on, the cast begins to get on each other's nerves...until the doctor reveals he was totally wrong about his diagnosis.

Hurried out even before the second episode ended to bring out the recycling. Jessa picked me up 10 minutes later. I would have been happier about her boyfriend Mike tagging along if she'd told me he was coming. I had no idea. She hadn't mentioned him when I texted her and asked her to eat out on Monday instead of Tuesday. I felt like the third wheel all day.

At least he paid for our brunch at the Turning Point. This small but popular breakfast eatery on Haddonfield Road in Cherry Hill was so busy when we arrived, we had to wait for 25 minutes for a table to be ready. At least we got a rather nice corner table when we did get seated. I kept things simple with their "breakfast combo," two eggs, two pieces of meat (I went with bacon), two pancakes, and greens with citrus dressing. I really liked the option of the greens instead of potatoes. It made a large, heavy meal much lighter. Mike had a mushroom omelet. Jessa had eggs in a spicy tomato sauce with vegetables. 

My original thoughts for today were the American History museum in Deptford or one of the libraries, but it's a holiday, and the museum is only open on weekends. Jessa loves thrift shops, and I hadn't been to the Moorestown Mall last month when I was off, so I suggested the Goodwill and Barnes and Noble there. I don't think they were very interested in either. I did find five DVDs from Kino Video on the earliest movies, including The Great Train Robbery and the fantasy films of Georges Melies, The Essential Rosemary Clooney on CD (still in its original plastic!), and a cute Hershey's Special Dark coffee mug. 

They mostly just wandered around the busy Barnes and Noble. I hit the jackpot. Selected hardbacks were half-price. I picked up The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst. Found Bewitched and Betrothed by Sarah Blackwell with the mass-market mysteries. The three-disc CD Legacy Collection of music from the Disney Parks over the years was 40 percent off. Dug two records out of their large and extensive music and DVD area:

The Rolling Stones - Flowers 

Blossom Dearie - Great Women of Song (Fabulous collection that includes my favorite song from her, "They Say It's Spring," plus several songs in French. Amazon indicates there's a lot more of these collections for ladies like Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Shirley Horn, Peggy Lee, and Helen Merrill - I'll have to look for them.)

I was hoping we could hit the Moorestown Mall proper after that, but it was getting late, and they hadn't been all that interested in Barnes and Noble, so we just went home. I don't know why Mike didn't go back the same way he came. He took the traffic-laden highway, then somehow ended up in the Fairview section of Camden. That was nerve-wracking. He claims it's been cleaned up since he worked there in the early 2000's, but still, it's Camden. 

Finished out "Close Quarters" when I got home, then had dinner and watched Match Game Syndicated. I picked up with the week with lovely Lee Merriweather and Fannie Flagg sitting up front. One of the contestants came back because, cute as their kick line to explain the Rockettes to the other contestant was, the producers thought it did give her and unfair advantage. Fannie stuck around for the next week, this time joined by Dolly Martin and Robert Pine.

Listened to the Blossom Dearie LP after a shower. Dearie is best-known to my generation for introducing several songs in Schoolhouse Rock, including "Unpack Your Adjectives" and the lovely "Figure Eight." She was a popular jazz vocalist long before she did that series. In addition to "They Say It's Spring," we had her charming covers of the standards "'Deed I Do," "Tea for Two," "Someone to Watch Over Me," and "If I Were a Bell."

Finished the night at YouTube for mystery game shows. Some of the earliest game shows on TV were based around crime solving. Armchair Detective from 1949 is one of the earliest surviving TV game shows. The host and a contestant watch two short murder mystery skits and try to figure out "who done it" from the clues given. Sounds simple, but honestly, it's rather interesting, and the skits were well-acted.

Mysteries seemed to go over better in England, the land of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers, than here in the US. Whodunnit was a long-running ITV show that basically ran on the same premise, with one full, layered mystery and a celebrity panel trying to solve it. "Happy New Year" from the end of the first season has an elderly millionaire in 1899 bitten by a snake in his safe and given a half-hour to let his family find out who had it in for him. No wonder this was a six-year hit in the 70's and is one of the few British game shows of its era to exist in full. The mysteries are twisty and interesting to watch, and it's fun to see the panel try to figure them out.

Cluedo from the early 90's is almost exactly the same deal with Clue characters instead of historical ones. Once again, a celebrity panel tries to solve a mystery seen as a series of skits. It's played like the board game, with the weapon, the room, and the suspect showing up in computer-generated "cards" onscreen. I'm absolutely going to have to check out more from both of these series. They're a heck of a lot of fun to watch. (I'm surprised they haven't tried something similar over here. We do have Clue in the US too.)

Modern mystery games come closer to police procedural programs like NCIS. Murder In Small Town X from 2001 has ten contestants playing detectives searching for clues to a murder in a fictional small town. At the end of the episode, two contestants are led to two different locations. One finds another clue. The other "dies" and is off the show. Fascinating if you're a fan of police shows and can handle the graphic nature of of the "killings." (Incidentally, the guy who won was a Bronx firefighter who died responding to the Twin Towers collapse later in 2001. There's a statue dedicated to his memory in the town where this was filmed.)

Streaming has gotten in on the murder mystery games, too. Escape the Night was one of the most popular shows on YouTube TV from 2016 to 2019. "The Savant" Joey Graceffa invites ten internet personalities to play types from the historical era of a house he supposedly inherited (in this case, the 20's) to see if they can find the objects needed to banish dark forces from the estate. If the end of the first episode is any indication, this one tips into horror turf, with dark rituals and demonic monsters. It was popular enough for Scarfetta to move it to Tubi and continue it as a miniseries last year.

Solve crimes in the US and England in these delightfully twisty and macabre murder games! 

Armchair Detectives (1949)

Whodunnit? (1973)

Cluedo (1992)

Murder In Small Town X (2001)

Escape the Night (2016) 

It's a Marshmallow World In the Winter

Didn't have the time this morning to start with anything but breakfast! I overslept. It was 20 after 8 when I woke up, and I had work at 9. Thank heavens I was able to get an Uber driver in 4 minutes and arrived at work right on time. It was snowing hard, but the snow was only sticking to the grass. The roads and sidewalks were clear. The driver going home only took 7 minutes to come. There were no problems or traffic either way, and I got where I was going in the usual 5 minutes.

Maybe that's why it was so busy today. The morning Uber driver said it would probably be dead, due to the weather and the holiday weekend, but he couldn't have been more wrong. We were off and on crazy for a lot of the day. Everyone must have come out once they saw that the snow wasn't sticking to the streets. I was alone during the morning, but by the time I went on break around 11:30, one of the college-age boys had taken over sweeping and helped me with carts. 

Unlike yesterday, however, the snow only stopped briefly once before it started up again. It never stuck to the street or sidewalks while I was at work, or even the parking lot. Like I told one of the managers who also waited for an Uber driver later, it amounted to not much more than very pretty rain. I did help figure out what to do about a ceiling leak in the women's bathroom. I remembered the purple bins used when the back storage area had a leak in the ceiling and grabbed one of those. 

After I got home, I changed and did a few quick chores, then decided it was the perfect day for cooking and baking. I still had that Scone Goddess scone mix Amanda gave me in late November that I hadn't used and a bag of fresh cranberries waiting to be made into sauce. I bought the heavy cream for the scones, but didn't have the chance to make them until today. Oh yum! I added a little too much cream to the chocolate chocolate chip scones and made them into drop scones instead of rolling them out, but they still came out tasty. The cranberry sauce was edible, if too soupy. 

And...for some reason, there were a couple of guys playing football outside as I worked on the scones. This despite East Clinton being a block from the White Horse Pike and the snow continuing to come down. It finally started to stick to the road later in the afternoon, too. Thankfully, they'd finally fled by the time the cranberry sauce was as done as it was going to get.

Listened to recently-acquired records while I worked on yesterday's blog entry. The live-action Disney Little Mermaid has its good points (Melissa McCarthy was a hilarious Ursula, Eric had a lot more spirit, Ariel was somewhat more proactive), but its songs are a mixed bag, to say the least. I actually like the slower tempo on "Under the Sea." I can finally catch all the words to that one! "Kiss the Girl" is just as much fun here as it is in the original, and McCarthy has a blast with "Poor Unfortunate Souls." Of the new songs, my favorite is Eric's "Wild Uncharted Waters," which perfectly outlines his adventurous personality and desire to find that elusive voice that rescued him. "The Scuttlebutt," a rather ridiculous rap for comedienne Awkwafina as Scuttle, works far less well. Ariel's "For the First Time," as she describes the wonders of the land in her head, is a bit better. 

Ehh, the original animated Little Mermaid was never my favorite Disney movie either, and this one isn't going to change my mind. Fine if your kids loved the movie. Everyone else is better off looking for "Wild Uncharted Waters" as a single somewhere. 

The Spinners were at the top of their careers when their self-titled album debuted in 1973. As the album cover mentions, "Could It Be I'm Falling In Love" and "I'll Be Around" were the million-selling hits here. We also have one of my favorites of their songs, the charming "One of Kind Love Affair," along with "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You" and "We Belong Together." 

Finished the night with more classic Betty White episodes. Betty appeared on pretty much the entire run of Match Game, on every version from 1961 through 1991 except Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. She joined Charles Nelson Reilly in the character actress seat in 1990 and got to hear Vicki Lawrence answer a question in her "Mama" voice and Joe Alasky do Porky Pig in front of Ross's "That's All, Folks!" entrance. She strutted her stuff in 1981, wearing a gorgeous red dress a friend of Sharon Farrell's made, then watched Sharon land on Richard Paul during a question about mud wrestling. Betty loved strutting her stuff. She stripped earlier in 1980 (or at least, took off her jacket) and in 1978, too. 

She could be even funnier on nighttime episodes. She appeared on one of my personal favorite PM episodes of all time when she saw Richard Dawson bet Gene Rayburn that "Color TV" wouldn't be on the "Admiral ___" Audience Match. Gene should know better than to ever bet against Richard, who always knew. Betty spent the episode tossing out quips with an on-fire Brett. Her last appearance on the show with Allen Ludden was a few months before his death in 1981. Though the full week with them sitting next to each other in the bottom row is currently unavailable, the PM is in circulation. Jimmie Walker and Jonnelle Allen look on as Betty appreciates that her beloved hubby is still thinking about sexual matters and teaches him a lesson in comedy sounds. 

Betty's love of animals also turned up on syndication. Gene brought along his daughter's dog Trotter for an episode and a PM in 1980. Betty adored the dear old mutt and took good care of her. Charles kept calling her a vicious dog, but she was really a sweetheart who was probably prettier, smarter, and better-behaved than most of the panelists that week. There was also the time in 1977 when she "borrowed" Charles' glasses and pipe and imitated him in his seat next to Brett. (And regretted it later, complaining about how awful Charles' pipe tobacco tasted.) 

There's lots more Betty in this hilarious and heartfelt tribute to the Queen of Game Shows!

Match Game Sunday Classics - A Celebration of Life: Betty White "Best Episodes on Match Game" (Part 2)

Golden Girl Matches

Began the late morning with breakfast and Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll. I go further into this 1987 documentary covering the life and career of Chuck Berry on his 60th birthday at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musical Documentaries - Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll

By the time the movie ended, it was cloudy and chilly, but not snowing. It was supposed to snow later, and I wasn't taking chances. I called Uber. The driver going there took only five minutes, despite the snow starting even as he pulled up to the curb. The one going home took 10 minutes, but it was also 6 PM, after dark, and much colder.

Actually, work could have been a lot worse. We were busy, but nothing abnormal for a Saturday. It stopped snowing about an hour after I arrived and never started again. The snow never stuck to the street, or anything but the grass. In fact, by the time I finished, the clouds were taking a brief leave of absence. In fact, I spent most of the day pushing carts. The head bagger did the sweeping and indoor chores before she'd come out and help me with the carts. There were no problems whatsoever other than long lines. 

I spent the rest of the night after a much-needed shower eating dinner and watching tonight's Match Game marathon. Match Game Productions is celebrating what would have been Betty White's birthday this weekend with two marathons totally devoted to her. Betty was already a seasoned panelist on game shows when she appeared on the Match Game '73 pilot episode. She first appeared on the show proper in the third week, making her debut along with Charles, Brett, and Bert Convy. Her reaction to Brett's insistence that Charles wasn't wearing socks - "I didn't know Brett Somers was an ankle man!" was a hint of things to come. She, Charles, and Brett would become close friends over the years, tossing out quips and teasing each other in the ways that only the closest of drinking buddies can. 

There were other people she loved teasing on the show. Her other gag was to roll down host Gene Rayburn's socks and roll up his pants legs when he lingered in front of Charles. (Sometimes, Richard Dawson and the ingenue in the 4th chair - Lee Merriweather one week - would help out.) She loved stripping routines, shaking her stuff to David Rose's "The Stripper" and removing scarves and jackets, to the delight of the audience (and some folks on the panel). She also adored animals up until the very end, and would noisily protest whenever a joke suggesting harm to an animal - especially dogs - came up in the rotation.

The other person she adored was her husband Allen. She did manage to get into the right spirit when a question joked about what she'd do if he was on fire (she has plenty of chicken), but she usually looked painted whenever the questions teased how staid he was. She was happier on the famous week in 1975 when they appeared together. Oh, and Allen...yes, Betty rolls down Gene's pants legs when you're not there. 

Celebrate the life of the Queen of Game Shows with this hilarious and heartfelt marathon! (And look for the second half tomorrow night!)

Match Game Saturday Classics - A Celebration of Life: Betty White "Best Episodes On Match Game" (Part 1)

Wild Times In the Library

Began the morning with breakfast and Pac Man. The Ghosts are given super powers that make them "Super Ghosts," letting them wreck havoc around Pac Land. Pepper and Pac have no idea how to stop them, until they figure out how to get super powers too. Pac becomes "The Pac-Man In the Moon" when the Ghosts steal the space shuttle and he and Pepper make their own intergalactic trip to rescue it.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. It was getting late, and I needed to make a very grocery run. Uber picked me up within 6 minutes at home and 10 at the Acme, not bad for between 1 and 2 PM. There wasn't any bulk dried fruit on sale this week, but I hadn't had golden raisins in a while, and they weren't that expensive. Probiotic soda and sparkling water were on sale, though. Restocked coconut milk and found peanut butter cookies and one of those bags of almond butter and jelly sandwiches with chips, water, applesauce, and a cookie on clearance. 

I walked the five or so minutes from Sprouts, past the Haddon Township Library, McDonald's, and the high school to the Westmont Acme. It was sunny, but cold and blustery, with a blistering blue sky that was so intense, it almost hurt to look at it. I hurried along as fast as I can, pushing at the still fairly strong wind.

The Acme wasn't much busier than Sprouts had been. I was mainly restocking apples, oranges, granola, and yogurt here. Made Good granola bars and Cove probiotic soda were on too good of a sale to resist. Found a clearance container of gingerbread cake, too. I still have 10 percent off coupons from when I got my vaccinations back in November, and had online coupons for the yogurt. Grabbed Fresca and Diet Coke With Lime from the coolers.

Had a quick lunch when I got home while watching the Disney Muppet Babies. Gonzo is so addicted to racing and winning, he insists on "The Great Gonzo's Desert Grand Prix" to prove he's the best. He keeps cheating, until Statler and Waldorf remind him that it's no fun to win a race of one. "Animal Kong" throws a fit when he can't play the drums during quiet time. The others think of every possible way to calm him down, but it's Summer who figures out what he really needs.

Hurried off to the school even before the episode ended. Once again, we were pretty busy, with 26 pre-schoolers and kindergartners running around. Despite the sunny day, it was still too cold for them to go outside. I did read them a Thomas the Tank Engine book and a book about a boy who deals with a dragon that moved into his sandcastle while they finished their snacks, and two of them played with my Timex watch (while it was on my wrist) and gave me hugs. Two more hugged my legs as we got organized to spend the rest of the day in the library.

Which got really wild. The kids doing the drawing were fascinated by my Hilary and the Beasts artwork of Eagle (Victor), Maple, Puppy (Enid), and Mrs. Fox (Gertie), but the ones playing with rubber food and bristle blocks kept throwing everything around. Three girls argued over one of the sheets of paper on the back tables intended for stenciling. Several kids built an enormous tower of magnetic tiles...right where the head teacher wanted to set up a dance party. We basically had to scold them to clean up that mess, then the toys and books that had been thrown all over the small room. It was rather a relief when we finally moved those that remained to the cafeteria around quarter of 5 to join the older kids. 

Made a quick stop at Speedy Mart on the way home for bagels, then went straight upstairs to finish putting my groceries away, have dinner, and watch Match Game Syndicated. The first week showcased McLean Stevenson between two lovely comediennes, Dolly Martin and Elaine Joyce. (And I'd love to know how they talked Elaine into the sixth "comedienne" seat. I did hear she wasn't fond of sitting on the end.) The last hour brought in character actress Sharon Farrell, impressionist Richard Paul, and Betty White for the second half of that wild week with the guy whose laugh supposedly woke up his children in the morning and Sharon's array of somewhat revealing fashions.

Finally got my schedule at this point as well. It's...identical to this week, with slightly later and fewer hours next Saturday, and earlier hours on Sunday. The Sunday morning bagger must have taken the day off. I have Monday off, and since school is also closed that day and I have an after-school program meeting on Tuesday evening, I texted Jessa to see if she wanted to do lunch on Monday. 

Finished the night with more Remember WENN. Hilary is convinced by Dusty Foxx (Rue McClanahan), the wife of the owner of Midas Hand Lotions, to sponsor a gossip show. The show is quickly canceled when all the gossip is about Hilary. She's even more devastated when she learns that Dusty wants her off the soap The Hands of Time. With Maple's encouragement, she becomes "The Diva Who Wouldn't Die," doing anything she can to stave off fictional death and keep her character on the air!

"Behind Every Great Woman" brings in another Broadway diva and rival to Hilary. Ruth Geddy (Donna Murphy) isn't nearly as pleasant as Grace Cavendish mostly was, either. Betty hears Hilary and Jeff talk about Hilary having been in a musical and decides to do a musical show around her talents. Hilary, however, freezes on the air, and Betty has to sing for her. Hilary is fine with letting this state of affairs continue, until the others discover the deception and bring down the curtain on Hilary's lies.