It was sunny but very, very windy when I got up this morning. I could hear the wind howling as I put on a couple of Valentine's Day specials during breakfast. Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers has an Elmer Fudd-like Cupid spreading love among the Toons in a series of segments from various shorts. Bugs insists he's meddling, until he gets shot with Cupid's arrow himself.
Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acres Woods crew learns a lesson in friendship in Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You. They find Christopher Robin making a valentine for a girl he likes and automatically assume he likes her more than them. Owl tells them he's been bitten by the "Smitten" bug. They go looking for the "Smitten" to change him back to normal.
"Un-Valentine's Day" is an episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Thanks to the overwhelming amount of valentines Pooh sent the year before, Rabbit cancels the holiday all together. Pooh, however, gets a pot of honey on the big day. This leads to cakes flying, Piglet making massive hearts, and Rabbit putting on a romantic play for Christopher Robin that goes comically wrong. But who did send the original pot of honey?
Work was busy to steady all afternoon. While some customers got a little ornery, it wasn't anything like last weekend. My relief was on time, and there were no really major problems. I picked up cereal (Life was the only thing on remotely a good sale) and a birthday present for Jessa - a stuffed Beanie Baby owl - on the way out. (The owl was amazingly cheap, only $1.49 - it must have been a Halloween item that got mixed in with the Valentine's Day toys.)
When I got home, I spent the next hour or so working on the story. The evil Lady Sylvia wants Kathleen to give up the stories she's written to get Darren...and her own story, her memories. Kathleen won't do it, but she's worried about Darren...
Headed to Dad's around quarter after 6 to celebrate Jessa's birthday. Jessa wasn't there when I arrived, but Khai (already in his pajamas) was, along with one of the neighbors and their kids. They weren't there for long, but Joe and Jessa showed up with Joe's three kids. Alexa, a good friend of Jessa's, showed up later.
Jessa requested fondue for dinner. We had chicken and beef chunks in hot oil and bread and a vegetable tray in cheese. It was so tasty. Dessert was a box of tiny tarts and cakes from Desserts By Design. (Joe had to hold Jessa's number candles when they were lit, since they obviously weren't going to fit in tartlets and little cakes.) It was all very tasty. In addition to the stuffed owl (which she loved), Jessa got a new laptop from Jodie and Dad.
I spent a lot of the night watching Khai run around with Joe's two younger kids, Little Joe and Dannica. We drew hearts and Pac Man and the elder Han and Leia from Force Awakens on a huge cardboard box that the kids used as a spaceship all night. When they weren't trying to figure out how two boys could fit in one long but fairly slender box, they were screaming and chasing each other. I alternated between watching their antics and warming up by the roaring fire in the office/living room area. Headed home after we all finished dessert.
Incidentally, yesterday's snow dusting was already melting by the time I left for work around noon. The wind blew the rest of it away.
Oh, and in honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow, here's a rare Disney Channel special my sisters and I watched every February in the 1980's. Like Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers, it's a series of segments from various shorts. No real plot, but the narration that links it is pretty cute, and there's some nice music, too. I always thought the ballad "Disney Girls" was written for this special. It wasn't - it's an old Captain and Tenille song.
From Disney With Love
Life is a lazy river - no matter where you are. Movies, musicals, mysteries, pop culture, and lots of other great stuff.
Showing posts with label Disney Channel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disney Channel. Show all posts
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Mele Kelekimaka
I couldn't believe how warm it was when I got up this morning, especially for the first day of winter. It was probably in the 60s by 9AM! I was fine in a t-shirt and light pants, even as I made breakfast and listened to the American Top 40. This week's episode was a holiday special covering popular Christmas songs from the 40s onwards. Among the songs we heard were Gene Autry's version of "Here Comes Santa Claus," Johnny Mathis' "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," the Ronettes' really swinging version of "Sleigh Ride," and Nat King Cole's cozy "The Christmas Song."
I spent the next hour and a half or so working on the icing for the Swirled Peppermint Cupcakes for Dad-Bruce and my landlord and his wife Andrew and Linda. I made "Daisy's Vanilla Cream Icing" from The Mickey Mouse Cookbook again this year, replacing the vanilla extract with peppermint extract and topping the cupcakes with crushed candy canes.
Ran a couple of holiday episodes of favorite animated and comedy shows and characters as I worked. The Monkees spread holiday cheer in their own way in their only holiday episode, "The Christmas Show" from the second season. Thinking they're going to be playing a Christmas gig, they find themselves babysitting an obnoxious rich boy for the holidays instead. The kid is unamused by their attempts to give him the Christmas spirit...until Mike Nesmith figures out what it is that he really wants.
"It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas," as you can guess, spoofs It's a Wonderful Life, right down to a familiar-sounding rabbit guardian angel named Harvey showing Buster what his life would be like if he was never on the show. They even have a black-and-white "clip" from the film. I wish I could have seen this when it came out in 1993, but we didn't have cable by that point. It's the last episode on the Tiny Toon Adventures Volume 4 DVD set; definitely worth a look if you're a fan of the show or of Wonderful Life.
The Pink Panther has less luck trying to earn money for a holiday meal in A Pink Christmas. He does everything from playing Santa to catching a robber, but never gets any money or food for his efforts...until he befriends a puppy and learns that kindness is its own reward.
The Backyardigans are also on the trail of Christmas thieves in "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve," from their fourth and (to date) final season. Uniqua, Tasha, and Pablo are called by Santa Claus (voice of Conan O'Brian) to retrieve his magic sack from the goofy Abominable Brothers (Tyrone and Austin). The two didn't even know they took Santa's sack - they thought it was just something they could use to carry snowballs.
I went for a quick errand run after finishing the cupcakes. First off was a few present deliveries. My next-door neighbor Richard didn't appear to be home. I just left the bag with the card and Cranberry Bread for him and his family on their front door. My landlord Andrew was home, and I was able to give him the cupcakes for him and his wife Linda in person.
Rode over to Family Dollar next for a few things I forgot at the Acme yesterday. I'm out of soap, and Family Dollar had a huge bag of cough drops for two dollars. They were also having a buy one Christmas item, get the second half-off sale; I bought bags for Dad's cupcakes and Jodie's pudding pie. (Dad's bag ended up being fifty cents!)
Speaking of Dad and Jodie, I made a short stop at Dad's house on my way back. Jodie was working on the computer. Dad's still on a cruise ship job in Florida (he's a freelance cruise ship captain), but Jodie says he'll be home in time for their party on Christmas Eve.
When I got home, I swept the porch (which needed it badly - this is the first time I've seen most of the porch in weeks), then ran A Disney Channel Christmas while working on the Christmas coasters I'm crocheting for my apartment. They're going to replace the coasters I made as a child, which are by now dirty and gunky. I dubbed Disney Channel Christmas about two years ago, when Mom gave me the tapes we made in the late 80s. This is a combination of Disney's two earlier TV specials, Jiminy Cricket's Christmas and A Disney Christmas Gift, with some additional segments. (There's a sequence from Mickey's Christmas Carol that says it's "now in theaters," which dates this special's debut to about 1983.) I always get a lump in my throat when Jiminy sings "When You Wish Upon a Star" at the end, surrounded by most of the Disney gang in the 60s.
I went to work an hour early, so I could enjoy the Acme's Christmas luncheon and bring my two boxes of cookies without having to rush. It's pretty much the same deal as the Thanksgiving Luncheon, only with red-and-green tablecloths and holiday-themed wrappers on the candy. As I did at Thanksgiving, I stuffed myself silly. I enjoyed the noodle casserole again (this time with the addition of shrimp), slices of Mexican-spiced cheese and turkey melts, Hershey's Special Dark mini-bars, a tasty black bean and corn salad, and a slice of Pineapple Cake for lunch. What little dinner I could fit in during my break included tortellini-spinach salad, turkey and gravy, and a half a slab of pumpkin bread.
Surprisingly, work wasn't that busy. It was steady early on, and some of the people who worked the early shift said the morning had been crazy. It began to die out even by the 4PM rush hour. By the time I left, it was quiet. There were no problems whatsoever coming or going.
Since it was still pretty warm when I left, I took a short ride to look at lights as I headed home. This time, I cruised around the neighborhood between the ramp onto the Black Horse Pike and the Oaklyn School. While most of the displays up there are smaller and not quite as elaborate as the ones on the other side of the School, many of them can do something the side down by the School can't - decorate their back porches and patios so that the lights reflect on the river.
I spent the next hour and a half or so working on the icing for the Swirled Peppermint Cupcakes for Dad-Bruce and my landlord and his wife Andrew and Linda. I made "Daisy's Vanilla Cream Icing" from The Mickey Mouse Cookbook again this year, replacing the vanilla extract with peppermint extract and topping the cupcakes with crushed candy canes.
Ran a couple of holiday episodes of favorite animated and comedy shows and characters as I worked. The Monkees spread holiday cheer in their own way in their only holiday episode, "The Christmas Show" from the second season. Thinking they're going to be playing a Christmas gig, they find themselves babysitting an obnoxious rich boy for the holidays instead. The kid is unamused by their attempts to give him the Christmas spirit...until Mike Nesmith figures out what it is that he really wants.
"It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas," as you can guess, spoofs It's a Wonderful Life, right down to a familiar-sounding rabbit guardian angel named Harvey showing Buster what his life would be like if he was never on the show. They even have a black-and-white "clip" from the film. I wish I could have seen this when it came out in 1993, but we didn't have cable by that point. It's the last episode on the Tiny Toon Adventures Volume 4 DVD set; definitely worth a look if you're a fan of the show or of Wonderful Life.
The Pink Panther has less luck trying to earn money for a holiday meal in A Pink Christmas. He does everything from playing Santa to catching a robber, but never gets any money or food for his efforts...until he befriends a puppy and learns that kindness is its own reward.
The Backyardigans are also on the trail of Christmas thieves in "The Action Elves Save Christmas Eve," from their fourth and (to date) final season. Uniqua, Tasha, and Pablo are called by Santa Claus (voice of Conan O'Brian) to retrieve his magic sack from the goofy Abominable Brothers (Tyrone and Austin). The two didn't even know they took Santa's sack - they thought it was just something they could use to carry snowballs.
I went for a quick errand run after finishing the cupcakes. First off was a few present deliveries. My next-door neighbor Richard didn't appear to be home. I just left the bag with the card and Cranberry Bread for him and his family on their front door. My landlord Andrew was home, and I was able to give him the cupcakes for him and his wife Linda in person.
Rode over to Family Dollar next for a few things I forgot at the Acme yesterday. I'm out of soap, and Family Dollar had a huge bag of cough drops for two dollars. They were also having a buy one Christmas item, get the second half-off sale; I bought bags for Dad's cupcakes and Jodie's pudding pie. (Dad's bag ended up being fifty cents!)
Speaking of Dad and Jodie, I made a short stop at Dad's house on my way back. Jodie was working on the computer. Dad's still on a cruise ship job in Florida (he's a freelance cruise ship captain), but Jodie says he'll be home in time for their party on Christmas Eve.
When I got home, I swept the porch (which needed it badly - this is the first time I've seen most of the porch in weeks), then ran A Disney Channel Christmas while working on the Christmas coasters I'm crocheting for my apartment. They're going to replace the coasters I made as a child, which are by now dirty and gunky. I dubbed Disney Channel Christmas about two years ago, when Mom gave me the tapes we made in the late 80s. This is a combination of Disney's two earlier TV specials, Jiminy Cricket's Christmas and A Disney Christmas Gift, with some additional segments. (There's a sequence from Mickey's Christmas Carol that says it's "now in theaters," which dates this special's debut to about 1983.) I always get a lump in my throat when Jiminy sings "When You Wish Upon a Star" at the end, surrounded by most of the Disney gang in the 60s.
I went to work an hour early, so I could enjoy the Acme's Christmas luncheon and bring my two boxes of cookies without having to rush. It's pretty much the same deal as the Thanksgiving Luncheon, only with red-and-green tablecloths and holiday-themed wrappers on the candy. As I did at Thanksgiving, I stuffed myself silly. I enjoyed the noodle casserole again (this time with the addition of shrimp), slices of Mexican-spiced cheese and turkey melts, Hershey's Special Dark mini-bars, a tasty black bean and corn salad, and a slice of Pineapple Cake for lunch. What little dinner I could fit in during my break included tortellini-spinach salad, turkey and gravy, and a half a slab of pumpkin bread.
Surprisingly, work wasn't that busy. It was steady early on, and some of the people who worked the early shift said the morning had been crazy. It began to die out even by the 4PM rush hour. By the time I left, it was quiet. There were no problems whatsoever coming or going.
Since it was still pretty warm when I left, I took a short ride to look at lights as I headed home. This time, I cruised around the neighborhood between the ramp onto the Black Horse Pike and the Oaklyn School. While most of the displays up there are smaller and not quite as elaborate as the ones on the other side of the School, many of them can do something the side down by the School can't - decorate their back porches and patios so that the lights reflect on the river.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
The Perfect Spring
The weather continued to be utterly amazing. Sunshine poured through my window as I switched on this week's American Top 40 and finished out The Jedera Adventure. Late April 1985 brought in pop, power ballads, dance tunes, and charity albums to the fore, with hits like "Rhythm of the Night" by Debarge, "One More Night" by Phil Collins, "Night Shift" by a Lionel Richie-less Commodores, "One Night In Bangkok" by Murray Head (from the smash London musical Chess), "Some Like It Hot" by Power Station, "(Don't You) Forget About Me" by Simple Minds, and "Smooth Operator" by Sade. The #1 song that spring was one I remember well. "We are the World" was made by some of the most famous musicians in the business for a good cause, in this case providing food and medical aid for starving citizens of Africa. It ran constantly on the radio that spring, and I remember seeing the video on MTV.
I finished breakfast and got organized for an hour while watching Popeye cartoons, then headed out to run errands. My first stop was the Logan Presbyterian Church's thrift shop, which was open today. I wanted to bring one last small bag of donations, including that mini sewing machine I could never really get to work. Someone else might have more luck with it. I don't really have the room for huge sewing projects, anyway. For now, I'm better off with crafts that require less equipment and space, like crocheting. It was far quieter there than usual. I didn't see anything I really needed and headed out quickly.
My next stop was the Acme for this week's grocery shopping trip. I didn't need much there, either. I was mainly restocking fruits and vegetables, including asparagus, strawberries on sale, and those sweet little clementines. Found ground turkey with a manager's coupon; I'll make spaghetti and meatballs or meatloaf later in the week. Stocked up on canned fruit, including mixed fruit and peaches.
Also picked up my schedule while I was at the Acme. Pretty par for the course for late April-early May. There's one slightly long day and a few too many late days, but other than that, I have two days off (Tuesday a request for counseling), and nothing major to complain about.
When I got home, I put everything away, then went right back out. The sun was shining. The breeze was blowing gently through the brand-new, lime-green leaves. The gardens were bursting with irises, lilacs, tulips, and pansies. People were trying to start lawn mowers in order to shear grass that had shot to Amazonian proportions in some places, thanks to all the rain we've had lately.
It was a lovely day to run errands. I made a short stop at the Oaklyn Library first. Mainly concentrated on organizing a messy kids' DVD section and the board books. I actually took DVDs out from there. They have last year's musical version of Les Miserables (which the Haddon Township Library hasn't gotten in yet). I also grabbed two cartoon sets, a collection of Disney action-themed shorts and two two-part episodes from the superhero-based cartoon Justice League.
My next two stops were short. I treated myself to a frozen chai latte from WaWa, as the Icee machine was being repaired. It was nicely spicy, but way too sweet for my taste. I didn't finish the whole thing before I went across the street to Family Dollar. I wanted to find a beach chair to lounge in on my porch. All they had were those "camp chairs" with the polyester bottoms. I don't think they'd be sturdy enough to hold me, not to mention not all that comfortable for reading. I went home empty-handed.
I had leftovers for lunch while finishing out the Popeye cartoons, then spent a blissful hour reading Simple Abundance on a felt blanket on my porch. It was a little uncomfortable on the thin blanket, but I couldn't find anything else that would work. It felt absolutely amazing. The sun was warm, but not too hot, and the breeze kept me from feeling sweaty. Since I was out there, I also swept the porch, which needed it badly, thanks to all the recent storms.
Went back inside when it felt like the back of my legs were getting burnt. I crocheted and baked an Orange Butter Cake (a variation on the Simple Cake from Clara's Kitchen, with the additions of orange juice, marmalade, and orange extract) while watching the Justice League DVD. What a difference two decades makes! This had almost nothing in common with the slightly goofy cartoon of my childhood. In the first two-parter, the current Green Lantern finds himself in a galactic trial for destroying a planet with billions of people. The Flash distracts the courtroom, while the others find out what really happened to the planet. Aquaman debuted in the second story, which had most of the League helping him rescue Atlantis and his family from his battle-crazed brother. I saw a little of this show during my years in Wildwood when I'd visit my folks, but never a full episode until now. Very interesting; I may have to seek out more, including the Superman show most of the same team did before this one.
Switched to dubbing the original The Land Before Time after the League ended. Little Foot is a baby brontosaurus who has been separated from his grandparents by an earthquake and lost his beloved mother to a "sharp tooth" (tyrannosaurus rex). He's joined by four other dinosaurs who were separated by the quake as well to lead them to the lush Great Valley, where there will finally be enough food for all.
If you have grade-school age and older kids who love dinosaurs, they should see this at least once. It was a huge hit in the late 80s for a good reason. The characters are well-drawn and the animation is incredibly lush, drawing you into this primeval world. This isn't for younger dino-lovers, though. The death of Little Foot's mother is every bit as traumatic as the death of Bambi's, especially as it comes after a huge confrontation between her and the T-Rex. My sisters and I cried over that scene when we first saw it; even my big macho stepfather wept openly.
This is a touching tale for kids who can handle the death and separation, and one of Don Bluth's best movies. If your children are younger, you may want to try them on one of the numerous sequels first.
Moved to something entirely less traumatic as I made Beans and Rice with carrots and corn for dinner. Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is the last of the 70s and 80s Looney Tunes movies based around bits and pieces of older shorts. Here, however, we have two entire new shorts woven in along with the original material and far more plot than usual. After peddling gag items to no avail, Daffy finally earns his fortune by making a famously grumpy financier laugh. When his provider kicks the bucket, Daffy gets the dough...provided he can start an honest business. If Daffy doesn't stay honest in his dealings, the financier's ghost proves that he can take his earthy goods with him. Determined to get rid of the ghost, Daffy hires Porky and Bugs to help him ferret out all manner of paranormal parasites, from a monstrous Tweety to a female duck who has been possessed by spirits.
Along with The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, this is probably my favorite of the Looney Tunes "movies." For one thing, the mix of new and old animation is far more seamless than it is in earlier entries. Having an actual plot helps, too. Daffy's "commercials" sprinkled throughout most of the movie are especially funny. It's still no substitution for the real shorts (and I think most of these are on DVD), but if you're a fan of the Looney Tunes, Daffy, horror comedy, or the previous Tunes films, there's a lot to like.
(The copy of Land Before Time that I found at a yard sale last week was apparently taped off the Disney Channel, probably sometime in the early 90s, from the look of the logos. Since the movie is barely more than an hour, it came with two extra Disney shorts, the Goofy hunting tale "Tiger Trouble" and a favorite of mine, the sweet one-shot from the 50s "Lambert the Sheepish Lion.")
The weather continued to be utterly amazing. Sunshine poured through my window as I switched on this week's American Top 40 and finished out The Jedera Adventure. Late April 1985 brought in pop, power ballads, dance tunes, and charity albums to the fore, with hits like "Rhythm of the Night" by Debarge, "One More Night" by Phil Collins, "Night Shift" by a Lionel Richie-less Commodores, "One Night In Bangkok" by Murray Head (from the smash London musical Chess), "Some Like It Hot" by Power Station, "(Don't You) Forget About Me" by Simple Minds, and "Smooth Operator" by Sade. The #1 song that spring was one I remember well. "We are the World" was made by some of the most famous musicians in the business for a good cause, in this case providing food and medical aid for starving citizens of Africa. It ran constantly on the radio that spring, and I remember seeing the video on MTV.
I finished breakfast and got organized for an hour while watching Popeye cartoons, then headed out to run errands. My first stop was the Logan Presbyterian Church's thrift shop, which was open today. I wanted to bring one last small bag of donations, including that mini sewing machine I could never really get to work. Someone else might have more luck with it. I don't really have the room for huge sewing projects, anyway. For now, I'm better off with crafts that require less equipment and space, like crocheting. It was far quieter there than usual. I didn't see anything I really needed and headed out quickly.
My next stop was the Acme for this week's grocery shopping trip. I didn't need much there, either. I was mainly restocking fruits and vegetables, including asparagus, strawberries on sale, and those sweet little clementines. Found ground turkey with a manager's coupon; I'll make spaghetti and meatballs or meatloaf later in the week. Stocked up on canned fruit, including mixed fruit and peaches.
Also picked up my schedule while I was at the Acme. Pretty par for the course for late April-early May. There's one slightly long day and a few too many late days, but other than that, I have two days off (Tuesday a request for counseling), and nothing major to complain about.
When I got home, I put everything away, then went right back out. The sun was shining. The breeze was blowing gently through the brand-new, lime-green leaves. The gardens were bursting with irises, lilacs, tulips, and pansies. People were trying to start lawn mowers in order to shear grass that had shot to Amazonian proportions in some places, thanks to all the rain we've had lately.
It was a lovely day to run errands. I made a short stop at the Oaklyn Library first. Mainly concentrated on organizing a messy kids' DVD section and the board books. I actually took DVDs out from there. They have last year's musical version of Les Miserables (which the Haddon Township Library hasn't gotten in yet). I also grabbed two cartoon sets, a collection of Disney action-themed shorts and two two-part episodes from the superhero-based cartoon Justice League.
My next two stops were short. I treated myself to a frozen chai latte from WaWa, as the Icee machine was being repaired. It was nicely spicy, but way too sweet for my taste. I didn't finish the whole thing before I went across the street to Family Dollar. I wanted to find a beach chair to lounge in on my porch. All they had were those "camp chairs" with the polyester bottoms. I don't think they'd be sturdy enough to hold me, not to mention not all that comfortable for reading. I went home empty-handed.
I had leftovers for lunch while finishing out the Popeye cartoons, then spent a blissful hour reading Simple Abundance on a felt blanket on my porch. It was a little uncomfortable on the thin blanket, but I couldn't find anything else that would work. It felt absolutely amazing. The sun was warm, but not too hot, and the breeze kept me from feeling sweaty. Since I was out there, I also swept the porch, which needed it badly, thanks to all the recent storms.
Went back inside when it felt like the back of my legs were getting burnt. I crocheted and baked an Orange Butter Cake (a variation on the Simple Cake from Clara's Kitchen, with the additions of orange juice, marmalade, and orange extract) while watching the Justice League DVD. What a difference two decades makes! This had almost nothing in common with the slightly goofy cartoon of my childhood. In the first two-parter, the current Green Lantern finds himself in a galactic trial for destroying a planet with billions of people. The Flash distracts the courtroom, while the others find out what really happened to the planet. Aquaman debuted in the second story, which had most of the League helping him rescue Atlantis and his family from his battle-crazed brother. I saw a little of this show during my years in Wildwood when I'd visit my folks, but never a full episode until now. Very interesting; I may have to seek out more, including the Superman show most of the same team did before this one.
Switched to dubbing the original The Land Before Time after the League ended. Little Foot is a baby brontosaurus who has been separated from his grandparents by an earthquake and lost his beloved mother to a "sharp tooth" (tyrannosaurus rex). He's joined by four other dinosaurs who were separated by the quake as well to lead them to the lush Great Valley, where there will finally be enough food for all.
If you have grade-school age and older kids who love dinosaurs, they should see this at least once. It was a huge hit in the late 80s for a good reason. The characters are well-drawn and the animation is incredibly lush, drawing you into this primeval world. This isn't for younger dino-lovers, though. The death of Little Foot's mother is every bit as traumatic as the death of Bambi's, especially as it comes after a huge confrontation between her and the T-Rex. My sisters and I cried over that scene when we first saw it; even my big macho stepfather wept openly.
This is a touching tale for kids who can handle the death and separation, and one of Don Bluth's best movies. If your children are younger, you may want to try them on one of the numerous sequels first.
Moved to something entirely less traumatic as I made Beans and Rice with carrots and corn for dinner. Daffy Duck's Quackbusters is the last of the 70s and 80s Looney Tunes movies based around bits and pieces of older shorts. Here, however, we have two entire new shorts woven in along with the original material and far more plot than usual. After peddling gag items to no avail, Daffy finally earns his fortune by making a famously grumpy financier laugh. When his provider kicks the bucket, Daffy gets the dough...provided he can start an honest business. If Daffy doesn't stay honest in his dealings, the financier's ghost proves that he can take his earthy goods with him. Determined to get rid of the ghost, Daffy hires Porky and Bugs to help him ferret out all manner of paranormal parasites, from a monstrous Tweety to a female duck who has been possessed by spirits.
Along with The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, this is probably my favorite of the Looney Tunes "movies." For one thing, the mix of new and old animation is far more seamless than it is in earlier entries. Having an actual plot helps, too. Daffy's "commercials" sprinkled throughout most of the movie are especially funny. It's still no substitution for the real shorts (and I think most of these are on DVD), but if you're a fan of the Looney Tunes, Daffy, horror comedy, or the previous Tunes films, there's a lot to like.
(The copy of Land Before Time that I found at a yard sale last week was apparently taped off the Disney Channel, probably sometime in the early 90s, from the look of the logos. Since the movie is barely more than an hour, it came with two extra Disney shorts, the Goofy hunting tale "Tiger Trouble" and a favorite of mine, the sweet one-shot from the 50s "Lambert the Sheepish Lion.")
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
This Is Halloween
Happy Halloween, whether you had trick-or-treaters to attend to today or not! Our trick-or-treating is being held off on until Saturday. Oaklyn may have weathered Hurricane Sandy better than most, but there's still a lot of downed trees and limbs to be cleared. Maybe it's just as well. I still need to throw a costume together to help Dad and Jodie give out candy.
I spent most of the day making up for the lack of kids with Halloween-themed programming. Started off with three fall-oriented Max & Ruby tales. In "Max's Halloween," Ruby wants her brother to be a prince to her Cinderella, but Max would rather be a spooky vampire. Max is an enthusiastic leaf collector in "Ruby's Leaf Collection," but Ruby wishes he'd stop burying her school assignment in his leaf pile. Both bunnies get quite a scare in "The Blue Tarantula," when the book Ruby reads to Max before bedtime about a rabbit-eating insect proves to be too much for their imaginations!
Max and Ruby aren't the only ones who are spooked by Halloween. Garfield and Odie also have a frightening encounter with some ghoulish characters in Garfield's Halloween Adventure. Garfield and Odie are out trick-or-treating dressed as pirates, but their night takes at turn for the scarier themselves stranded on an island with no candy and real ghostly pirates after their treasure.
The Grinch may be best-known for trying to steal Christmas, but he's been out at Halloween, too. In Halloween Is Grinch Night, a sour sweet wind sends Dr. Seuss' nastiest villain on the prowl. Inquisitive Eukeriah Who takes it on himself to make sure that the Grinch never reaches Whoville with his cart filled with wild psychedelic scares.
Bugs Bunny's Howl-Oween Special and Disney's Halloween Treat are bits and pieces of, respectively, Looney Tunes and Disney shorts. Howl-Oween has Witch Hazel chasing Bugs through several classic horror-and-Halloween-oriented shorts. Halloween Treat is an old copy of a Disney Channel Halloween special from the 80s that combines Halloween-oriented episodes of several different Disney TV anthologies with additional material, including the full versions of the classic shorts Lonesome Ghosts (with Micky, Donald, and Goofy as the original ghost busters) and Trick or Treat (another Witch Hazel helps Huey, Dewey, and Louie get treats out of their trickster uncle).
Not everyone appreciates the spookier side of the holiday. In Boo to You, Too!, Piglet is so scared by his friends' Halloween costumes, he refuses to go out for trick-or-treats with them. Winnie the Pooh decides that they shall simply have a "Hallo-wasn't" and do without costumes. Tigger, Gopher, and Eeyore cry foul and convince Pooh to help them prove to Piglet that Halloween is nothing to be afraid of
The best-known of all classic Halloween specials is by far It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Linus is determined to await the title character, whom he believes brings treats to all good little children, in a sincere pumpkin patch. Against her better judgement, Sally joins him. Meanwhile, Charlie Brown has his own problems with trick-or-treating and Halloween parties. Snoopy's more interested in fighting World War I than in Halloween festivities.
Piglet isn't the only one easily spooked by horror. Blood and guts scares leave me queasy, and even less overly gory scares can give me the willies for weeks. No, I'd rather laugh at my fears and enjoy the ghoulish atmosphere in comedies like Arsenic and Old Lace, which I ran while having a soup I threw together from leftovers and water I'd put aside for the hurricane for dinner.
Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) is a drama critic who just got married to the sweet girl next door (Priscilla Lane). He's the lone sane man in a family full of loonies. His two sweet elderly aunts (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) have been poisoning lonely men and burying them in the basement. Their nephew (John Alexander) thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt. His brother (Raymond Massey) is a homicidal maniac who turns up with his own body and a face reconstructed by a jittery German doctor (Peter Lorre). And the local cop (Jack Carson) just isn't buying his story. Mortimer has only one very busy Halloween night to get all the murders and bodies sorted out and keep his impatient new wife from figuring out what's going on!
If you love black comedy, this should be high on your list of must-sees. It was based after a smash-hit stage comedies, but unlike most stage-to-screen transfers, it never feels confining. Everyone is spot-on, from Adair and Hull (repeating their original stage roles), to a frantic Grant, to perfectly ghoulish Massey and Lorre, to Carson as the cop who can't believe these nice people would be that crazy. Highly recommended for fans of Grant, Lorre, or wacky comedies with a dark streak.
I ran errands and did a few things around the apartment between comedies. Took as good of a look around the house as I could with my ankle. Everything seems to be in good shape. The rickety steps to the garden from Miss Ellie's porch held. There were lots of huge branches strewn everywhere, including some doozies in the path...but the side of the house where my bedroom is that borders the path is brick. It would take a lot more than one branch to harm that!
My money was more troubling. I got my disability money today...all eighty dollars of it. I was expecting a LOT more. Not only that, but it came in a card, not a check. I activated the card, but I need to call the State and find out what's going on. I can't live on eighty dollars every two weeks!
I did get to the Acme with Dad. I'd put it off again. I just don't have any money right now. I needed a lot - chicken, fish, sugar (brown and white), fruit concentrate, eggs, cake mix, cornstarch, cereal (I had a coupon for Chex - got Corn Chex), sweet potatoes and apples and romaine lettuce. And I still forgot a lot of things!
One of the big things I did remember was two bags of dollar peppermint drops. Yes, my stomach is still feeling a bit off, though the fever's gone and it's not quite as bad as yesterday. Hopefully, I'll be fully recovered by the weekend.
Happy Halloween, whether you had trick-or-treaters to attend to today or not! Our trick-or-treating is being held off on until Saturday. Oaklyn may have weathered Hurricane Sandy better than most, but there's still a lot of downed trees and limbs to be cleared. Maybe it's just as well. I still need to throw a costume together to help Dad and Jodie give out candy.
I spent most of the day making up for the lack of kids with Halloween-themed programming. Started off with three fall-oriented Max & Ruby tales. In "Max's Halloween," Ruby wants her brother to be a prince to her Cinderella, but Max would rather be a spooky vampire. Max is an enthusiastic leaf collector in "Ruby's Leaf Collection," but Ruby wishes he'd stop burying her school assignment in his leaf pile. Both bunnies get quite a scare in "The Blue Tarantula," when the book Ruby reads to Max before bedtime about a rabbit-eating insect proves to be too much for their imaginations!
Max and Ruby aren't the only ones who are spooked by Halloween. Garfield and Odie also have a frightening encounter with some ghoulish characters in Garfield's Halloween Adventure. Garfield and Odie are out trick-or-treating dressed as pirates, but their night takes at turn for the scarier themselves stranded on an island with no candy and real ghostly pirates after their treasure.
The Grinch may be best-known for trying to steal Christmas, but he's been out at Halloween, too. In Halloween Is Grinch Night, a sour sweet wind sends Dr. Seuss' nastiest villain on the prowl. Inquisitive Eukeriah Who takes it on himself to make sure that the Grinch never reaches Whoville with his cart filled with wild psychedelic scares.
Bugs Bunny's Howl-Oween Special and Disney's Halloween Treat are bits and pieces of, respectively, Looney Tunes and Disney shorts. Howl-Oween has Witch Hazel chasing Bugs through several classic horror-and-Halloween-oriented shorts. Halloween Treat is an old copy of a Disney Channel Halloween special from the 80s that combines Halloween-oriented episodes of several different Disney TV anthologies with additional material, including the full versions of the classic shorts Lonesome Ghosts (with Micky, Donald, and Goofy as the original ghost busters) and Trick or Treat (another Witch Hazel helps Huey, Dewey, and Louie get treats out of their trickster uncle).
Not everyone appreciates the spookier side of the holiday. In Boo to You, Too!, Piglet is so scared by his friends' Halloween costumes, he refuses to go out for trick-or-treats with them. Winnie the Pooh decides that they shall simply have a "Hallo-wasn't" and do without costumes. Tigger, Gopher, and Eeyore cry foul and convince Pooh to help them prove to Piglet that Halloween is nothing to be afraid of
The best-known of all classic Halloween specials is by far It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Linus is determined to await the title character, whom he believes brings treats to all good little children, in a sincere pumpkin patch. Against her better judgement, Sally joins him. Meanwhile, Charlie Brown has his own problems with trick-or-treating and Halloween parties. Snoopy's more interested in fighting World War I than in Halloween festivities.
Piglet isn't the only one easily spooked by horror. Blood and guts scares leave me queasy, and even less overly gory scares can give me the willies for weeks. No, I'd rather laugh at my fears and enjoy the ghoulish atmosphere in comedies like Arsenic and Old Lace, which I ran while having a soup I threw together from leftovers and water I'd put aside for the hurricane for dinner.
Mortimer Brewster (Cary Grant) is a drama critic who just got married to the sweet girl next door (Priscilla Lane). He's the lone sane man in a family full of loonies. His two sweet elderly aunts (Josephine Hull and Jean Adair) have been poisoning lonely men and burying them in the basement. Their nephew (John Alexander) thinks he's Teddy Roosevelt. His brother (Raymond Massey) is a homicidal maniac who turns up with his own body and a face reconstructed by a jittery German doctor (Peter Lorre). And the local cop (Jack Carson) just isn't buying his story. Mortimer has only one very busy Halloween night to get all the murders and bodies sorted out and keep his impatient new wife from figuring out what's going on!
If you love black comedy, this should be high on your list of must-sees. It was based after a smash-hit stage comedies, but unlike most stage-to-screen transfers, it never feels confining. Everyone is spot-on, from Adair and Hull (repeating their original stage roles), to a frantic Grant, to perfectly ghoulish Massey and Lorre, to Carson as the cop who can't believe these nice people would be that crazy. Highly recommended for fans of Grant, Lorre, or wacky comedies with a dark streak.
I ran errands and did a few things around the apartment between comedies. Took as good of a look around the house as I could with my ankle. Everything seems to be in good shape. The rickety steps to the garden from Miss Ellie's porch held. There were lots of huge branches strewn everywhere, including some doozies in the path...but the side of the house where my bedroom is that borders the path is brick. It would take a lot more than one branch to harm that!
My money was more troubling. I got my disability money today...all eighty dollars of it. I was expecting a LOT more. Not only that, but it came in a card, not a check. I activated the card, but I need to call the State and find out what's going on. I can't live on eighty dollars every two weeks!
I did get to the Acme with Dad. I'd put it off again. I just don't have any money right now. I needed a lot - chicken, fish, sugar (brown and white), fruit concentrate, eggs, cake mix, cornstarch, cereal (I had a coupon for Chex - got Corn Chex), sweet potatoes and apples and romaine lettuce. And I still forgot a lot of things!
One of the big things I did remember was two bags of dollar peppermint drops. Yes, my stomach is still feeling a bit off, though the fever's gone and it's not quite as bad as yesterday. Hopefully, I'll be fully recovered by the weekend.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Eye of the Hurricane
The weather was already bad when I got up this morning. It was pouring and gusty, with dark clouds in the sky. I spent most of the morning in front of my computer, checking on everyone I know. As far as I can tell, only a few people are left in Wildwood, my good friend Kelly and her family and a former middle school teacher, Ms. Krah. Everyone else has fled the barrier islands for higher ground...which is understandable. According to Yahoo! and local newscasts, New York and the Jersey Shore are supposed to get it the worst. Half the Shore is already underwater, including a lot of Ocean City, Avalon, and Stone Harbor.
The phone ran around 12:30. My sister Rose was on the other end, asking me if I wanted to join her, Craig, and Khai at Dad's house for a little while. She wanted to let Khai get his energy out in a larger space before the storm really started picking up later that night. Sure, why not? It might not hurt to spend a couple of hours with people before the weather became too nasty to travel in.
I went downstairs a little early. The wild gusts were against my back, which means I was able to carry my umbrella with no problems, at least downstairs. I had my blue raincoat, too. A police officer checking out the roads saw me as I was waiting for Rose and asked if there was nothing wrong. I told her no, I was waiting for my sister, I was ok. I did thank her for asking.
They picked me up about ten minutes later. Thankfully, everything was fine, as far as I could tell. Dad's house is on a hill overlooking Newton River. The water was just coming to the top of the fishing dock on the bottom of the hill. The train underpass between Manheim and Manor Avenues was clear - that's usually the first place that floods when the rivers rise. Jodie mentioned they'd cleared it out over the summer; hopefully, it won't flood as bad as it used to.
We had a pleasant couple of hours over there. Khai got to let off steam to his heart's content, while Rose ran Disney Junior On Demand cartoons for him. The kid has good taste. The first three shows we watched were episodes of Little Einstein, which I discovered last year and enjoyed. The first had the kids and a Little Red Engine trying to catch nasty Big Jet, who has stolen the Red Engine's bag of party favors for his friends' hoedown. The second, slightly more Halloween-oriented had the kids helping an adorable one-eyed red monster rescue his friends from the grumpy Loch Ness Monster. The kids helped a trio of cutie-pie pigs make their garden grow in the third.
Doc McStuffins, on the other hand, is new to me. I love the premise, though. The young lady of the title wants to be a doctor like her mom, so she dons a white jacket and play stethoscope and calls herself "Doc." That "play" stethoscope is magic and allows her beloved stuffed animals to talk to her and for other toys to tell her when there's something wrong. I can see why this show has apparently been a big hit. It's awfully cute. In the first episode, Doc and her crew helps a mother possum find her babies, who have come off from the Velcro on her back. The second has Doc and her toy friends Lamby the Lamb and Stuffy the Dragon rescuing a Care Bear-like rabbit from a yard sale. The poor bunny is upset that her human wanted to give her away, but Doc fixes her up and reminds her that true friends would never abandon you that way.
They finally dropped me off at my apartment around 3:30. I worked on the cookbook inventory until I got a surprise - Lauren came on around 4. I don't usually get to chat with her until 7:30 or 8PM! We talked and worked on Three Stooges stories until I told her I needed a shower and something for dinner.
I was just starting leftover Merlin's Chicken and vegetables for dinner when suddenly, the power went out. Thank heavens we lost it for less than a minute. It was really spooky. It's flickered a few times since then, but hasn't gone completely out at press time.
I ran the first half of Young Frankenstein during dinner. The title character is Fredrick, the grandson of the famous Dr. Frankenstein, of book and movie fame (Gene Wilder). He initially wants nothing to do with his grandfather's infamous experiments on the dead...until he inherits Grandfather's estates and holdings, including all of his lab equipment and books. He finally picks up where his grandfather left off by bringing a dead criminal back to life. A mistake his assistant Igor (Marty Feldman) makes with brains leaves his monster a damaged creature...and Fredrick a dead duck with frightened locals and his stuffy fiancee (Madeline Khan).
One of Mel Brooks' best and most atmospheric spoofs, helped by the use of the lab sets from the original Universal Frankenstein. Just spooky enough to be fun for horror buffs and fans of Brooks or Wilder.
Sandy was supposed to make landfall in the area sometime tonight. I heard anything from 8PM to midnight when I was at Dad's. All I know is the wind is still going insane out there, and it's still raining. Everyone in the path of the storm stay safe and be careful!
The weather was already bad when I got up this morning. It was pouring and gusty, with dark clouds in the sky. I spent most of the morning in front of my computer, checking on everyone I know. As far as I can tell, only a few people are left in Wildwood, my good friend Kelly and her family and a former middle school teacher, Ms. Krah. Everyone else has fled the barrier islands for higher ground...which is understandable. According to Yahoo! and local newscasts, New York and the Jersey Shore are supposed to get it the worst. Half the Shore is already underwater, including a lot of Ocean City, Avalon, and Stone Harbor.
The phone ran around 12:30. My sister Rose was on the other end, asking me if I wanted to join her, Craig, and Khai at Dad's house for a little while. She wanted to let Khai get his energy out in a larger space before the storm really started picking up later that night. Sure, why not? It might not hurt to spend a couple of hours with people before the weather became too nasty to travel in.
I went downstairs a little early. The wild gusts were against my back, which means I was able to carry my umbrella with no problems, at least downstairs. I had my blue raincoat, too. A police officer checking out the roads saw me as I was waiting for Rose and asked if there was nothing wrong. I told her no, I was waiting for my sister, I was ok. I did thank her for asking.
They picked me up about ten minutes later. Thankfully, everything was fine, as far as I could tell. Dad's house is on a hill overlooking Newton River. The water was just coming to the top of the fishing dock on the bottom of the hill. The train underpass between Manheim and Manor Avenues was clear - that's usually the first place that floods when the rivers rise. Jodie mentioned they'd cleared it out over the summer; hopefully, it won't flood as bad as it used to.
We had a pleasant couple of hours over there. Khai got to let off steam to his heart's content, while Rose ran Disney Junior On Demand cartoons for him. The kid has good taste. The first three shows we watched were episodes of Little Einstein, which I discovered last year and enjoyed. The first had the kids and a Little Red Engine trying to catch nasty Big Jet, who has stolen the Red Engine's bag of party favors for his friends' hoedown. The second, slightly more Halloween-oriented had the kids helping an adorable one-eyed red monster rescue his friends from the grumpy Loch Ness Monster. The kids helped a trio of cutie-pie pigs make their garden grow in the third.
Doc McStuffins, on the other hand, is new to me. I love the premise, though. The young lady of the title wants to be a doctor like her mom, so she dons a white jacket and play stethoscope and calls herself "Doc." That "play" stethoscope is magic and allows her beloved stuffed animals to talk to her and for other toys to tell her when there's something wrong. I can see why this show has apparently been a big hit. It's awfully cute. In the first episode, Doc and her crew helps a mother possum find her babies, who have come off from the Velcro on her back. The second has Doc and her toy friends Lamby the Lamb and Stuffy the Dragon rescuing a Care Bear-like rabbit from a yard sale. The poor bunny is upset that her human wanted to give her away, but Doc fixes her up and reminds her that true friends would never abandon you that way.
They finally dropped me off at my apartment around 3:30. I worked on the cookbook inventory until I got a surprise - Lauren came on around 4. I don't usually get to chat with her until 7:30 or 8PM! We talked and worked on Three Stooges stories until I told her I needed a shower and something for dinner.
I was just starting leftover Merlin's Chicken and vegetables for dinner when suddenly, the power went out. Thank heavens we lost it for less than a minute. It was really spooky. It's flickered a few times since then, but hasn't gone completely out at press time.
I ran the first half of Young Frankenstein during dinner. The title character is Fredrick, the grandson of the famous Dr. Frankenstein, of book and movie fame (Gene Wilder). He initially wants nothing to do with his grandfather's infamous experiments on the dead...until he inherits Grandfather's estates and holdings, including all of his lab equipment and books. He finally picks up where his grandfather left off by bringing a dead criminal back to life. A mistake his assistant Igor (Marty Feldman) makes with brains leaves his monster a damaged creature...and Fredrick a dead duck with frightened locals and his stuffy fiancee (Madeline Khan).
One of Mel Brooks' best and most atmospheric spoofs, helped by the use of the lab sets from the original Universal Frankenstein. Just spooky enough to be fun for horror buffs and fans of Brooks or Wilder.
Sandy was supposed to make landfall in the area sometime tonight. I heard anything from 8PM to midnight when I was at Dad's. All I know is the wind is still going insane out there, and it's still raining. Everyone in the path of the storm stay safe and be careful!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
The Nostalgia Channel
First of all, allow me to repeat - the phone is STILL not working. I receive calls, but all I hear is static, and I can't hear people when I call them. Verizon had BETTER be here Tuesday morning to fix the problem. Until then, please do not attempt to call me. The Internet is working intermittently (it only went down once today, and that for a minute), so I would prefer if you sent e-mails or text messages until the problem is cleared up.
Spent a quiet morning online, listening to the Beatles show (B-sides of singles was the theme today) and looking around online. I went online mostly to e-mail Mom and tell her I wouldn't be able to call her today and make sure she wouldn't worry about me. I was at X-Entertainment, looking at Matt's collection of 80s TV ads, and enjoyed the Saturday Morning commercials so much I went to YouTube to look for more.
That lead me to several series of videos containing bumpers for The Disney Channel in the 1980s and 90s. We were one of the only families I knew with premium cable until well into the 80s. My stepfather is one of the great couch potatoes of the universe, and even the basic cable package wasn't enough for him. We watched The Disney Channel long before most kids did, when it still ran an ecelectic mix of Canadian dramas and action programs (Danger Bay, The Edison Twins, our much-loved early 90s favorite Road to Avonlea), made-for-the-Disney Channel movies, Disney animated features, classic non-Disney films (I saw a lot of my first old musicals on Disney), half-hour programs highlighting the animated shorts and featurettes (Good Morning, Mickey, Donald's Quack Attack), music videos made of sequences from Disney animated and live-action movies, foreign, syndicated, and (later) original Disney cartoon and live-action kids' series, and concerts and special events (the Going Home series, The American Teacher Awards).
Avonlea was probably our favorite of the Disney Channel Canadian series. My sisters and I were entranced by the Anne of Green Gables adaptation with Megan Follows that came out in the mid-80s and love this show just as much. I was always fondest of "The Story Girl"...for I loved to tell stories, too. I would often recall how the children on Avonlea reacted when the parents announced they were having a baby. They took it much better than my sisters and I did when Mom and Dad made a similar announcement in March 1992. (We didn't believe them. I was a month from turning 13!)
I remember Rose was crazy about Danger Bay and Five Mile Creek, the latter a western. I never got into them. Anny loved the adorable Under the Umbrella Tree, a toddler show about a young woman and her four funny puppet pals.
Mom may still have a few bits and pieces of the early Disney Channel at her house. We taped two Disney-Channel-only holiday specials, A Disney Channel Christmas and Disney's Halloween Treat, in 1988. (We also picked up two Disney Halloween specials that ran on Fox that year. Disney had other holiday-related specials made up almost entirely of sequences from the animated films and shorts. There was a Mother's Day special, a Valentine's Day special I remember quite fondly, and Goofy's Salute to Father, made up of Goofy's 50s Suburbian Everyman shorts. I think there was also one for the 4th of July.) Christmas includes the "Disney Night Time" bumper with the glass-like purple Disney Channel logo and the shiny effect. We taped a couple of Disney and non-Disney movies off the Disney Channel in the late 80s and early 90s as well. (Our only copy of Star Wars: A New Hope until 1997 was taped off The Disney Channel in 1990.)
One of the things I remember the most about the early Disney Channel was how they used to run things between the shows and movies when they ran short. These were usually classic shorts that related to whatever had just ended, but we'd occasionally see something more bizarre, like the Tim Burton short Vincent (I'm getting the willies just THINKING of that one), the 70s stop-motion short Mouse Mania, or a featurette like Donald In Mathematics Land or Ben and Me.
I also have fond memories of Walt Disney Presents, which ran episodes from the Disneyland and Walt Disney's World of Color 50s series. That's how we got to see all the great Disney anthology heroes. Rose was fondest of Elfago Baca and Zorro (she's loved all things Spanish and Mexican since she was little). I preferred Dr. Syn and Gallagher, the Newsboy. Anny's favorite was Texas John Slaughter. We could still get Daddy to join in when Davy Crockett was on. He and Mom loved the odd "Tomorrowland" sci-fi/science shorts, too. I liked the ads for Disney movies that were new when the show came out but could, by the late 80s, be seen on video. It was fascinating to see how many of these films and the theme parks came into being.
Oh yes, and work was steady today, nothing major. People may have been scared off by the on-and-off rain and thunder we had all day long. I rode to work in the rain (being unable to call for a ride), but thankfully managed to dodge another storm and make it home dry after a groceries run.
First of all, allow me to repeat - the phone is STILL not working. I receive calls, but all I hear is static, and I can't hear people when I call them. Verizon had BETTER be here Tuesday morning to fix the problem. Until then, please do not attempt to call me. The Internet is working intermittently (it only went down once today, and that for a minute), so I would prefer if you sent e-mails or text messages until the problem is cleared up.
Spent a quiet morning online, listening to the Beatles show (B-sides of singles was the theme today) and looking around online. I went online mostly to e-mail Mom and tell her I wouldn't be able to call her today and make sure she wouldn't worry about me. I was at X-Entertainment, looking at Matt's collection of 80s TV ads, and enjoyed the Saturday Morning commercials so much I went to YouTube to look for more.
That lead me to several series of videos containing bumpers for The Disney Channel in the 1980s and 90s. We were one of the only families I knew with premium cable until well into the 80s. My stepfather is one of the great couch potatoes of the universe, and even the basic cable package wasn't enough for him. We watched The Disney Channel long before most kids did, when it still ran an ecelectic mix of Canadian dramas and action programs (Danger Bay, The Edison Twins, our much-loved early 90s favorite Road to Avonlea), made-for-the-Disney Channel movies, Disney animated features, classic non-Disney films (I saw a lot of my first old musicals on Disney), half-hour programs highlighting the animated shorts and featurettes (Good Morning, Mickey, Donald's Quack Attack), music videos made of sequences from Disney animated and live-action movies, foreign, syndicated, and (later) original Disney cartoon and live-action kids' series, and concerts and special events (the Going Home series, The American Teacher Awards).
Avonlea was probably our favorite of the Disney Channel Canadian series. My sisters and I were entranced by the Anne of Green Gables adaptation with Megan Follows that came out in the mid-80s and love this show just as much. I was always fondest of "The Story Girl"...for I loved to tell stories, too. I would often recall how the children on Avonlea reacted when the parents announced they were having a baby. They took it much better than my sisters and I did when Mom and Dad made a similar announcement in March 1992. (We didn't believe them. I was a month from turning 13!)
I remember Rose was crazy about Danger Bay and Five Mile Creek, the latter a western. I never got into them. Anny loved the adorable Under the Umbrella Tree, a toddler show about a young woman and her four funny puppet pals.
Mom may still have a few bits and pieces of the early Disney Channel at her house. We taped two Disney-Channel-only holiday specials, A Disney Channel Christmas and Disney's Halloween Treat, in 1988. (We also picked up two Disney Halloween specials that ran on Fox that year. Disney had other holiday-related specials made up almost entirely of sequences from the animated films and shorts. There was a Mother's Day special, a Valentine's Day special I remember quite fondly, and Goofy's Salute to Father, made up of Goofy's 50s Suburbian Everyman shorts. I think there was also one for the 4th of July.) Christmas includes the "Disney Night Time" bumper with the glass-like purple Disney Channel logo and the shiny effect. We taped a couple of Disney and non-Disney movies off the Disney Channel in the late 80s and early 90s as well. (Our only copy of Star Wars: A New Hope until 1997 was taped off The Disney Channel in 1990.)
One of the things I remember the most about the early Disney Channel was how they used to run things between the shows and movies when they ran short. These were usually classic shorts that related to whatever had just ended, but we'd occasionally see something more bizarre, like the Tim Burton short Vincent (I'm getting the willies just THINKING of that one), the 70s stop-motion short Mouse Mania, or a featurette like Donald In Mathematics Land or Ben and Me.
I also have fond memories of Walt Disney Presents, which ran episodes from the Disneyland and Walt Disney's World of Color 50s series. That's how we got to see all the great Disney anthology heroes. Rose was fondest of Elfago Baca and Zorro (she's loved all things Spanish and Mexican since she was little). I preferred Dr. Syn and Gallagher, the Newsboy. Anny's favorite was Texas John Slaughter. We could still get Daddy to join in when Davy Crockett was on. He and Mom loved the odd "Tomorrowland" sci-fi/science shorts, too. I liked the ads for Disney movies that were new when the show came out but could, by the late 80s, be seen on video. It was fascinating to see how many of these films and the theme parks came into being.
Oh yes, and work was steady today, nothing major. People may have been scared off by the on-and-off rain and thunder we had all day long. I rode to work in the rain (being unable to call for a ride), but thankfully managed to dodge another storm and make it home dry after a groceries run.
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