Dolls On Veteran's Day

Began my Veteran's Day with breakfast and Idol On Parade. I go further into this 1959 British military comedy that made a star out of singer-songwriter Anthony Newley at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Saluting Our Veterans - Idol On Parade

Spent most of the morning dressing the dolls. Molly, Samantha, and Josefina wear their original "meet" outfits. Molly is in her blue argyle sweater, blue felt skirt, the white dickey with the rickrack trim, white socks, and strap shoes borrowed from Sam. Josefina wears her red "meet" skirt with the brown flower print with her long-sleeved nightgown camisa, as the shift that came with the outfit is short-sleeved and too chilly for November in New Jersey. Sam wears her mauve checked dress. I have a really hard time squeezing Felicity into her blue and gold brocade dress (the outfit the most recent version of the doll came in), but she looks so pretty in it that it's totally worth it.

Jessa's ready to do art inside on cold November days in the late 90's Artist Outfit with the lime green t-shirt, fringed overalls, and splatter-print button-down shirt and matching high-top sneakers. Ariel wears the beaded flared jeans from the 2004 modern meet outfit, the boots Whitney originally came in, and a square-necked turquoise and teal peasant blouse Lauren sent ages ago. I love the soft white dress with the red flower print and attached red cardigan I found for Whitney a few years ago. I wish I could get a human-sized version of the dress without the attached cardigan. Kit's in an eBay find, a hand-knitted burgundy sweater with a brown, yellow, and green plaid wrap skirt. Barbara Jean looks elegant for class at Cherry Hill High East in her black and magenta mini-dress with the white satin top, black velvet collar, and soft magenta jacket.

Switched to the Donald Duck wartime shorts as I cleaned up and ate a quick lunch. From 1942 to 1944, Disney did a series of shorts that had Donald as a frustrated soldier in the Army. These honestly came off more like mini episodes of MASH than the surreal lunacy they were doing over at Warners and Famous Studios in the early 40's. "Donald Gets Drafted," and he thinks he's going to be a big flying ace. He ends up dealing with cranky Drill Sergeant Pete instead. He does manage to get in the air during "Sky Trooper," but Pete puts him in with the paratroopers. Their attempt to push away a missile while in the air has explosive consequences!

My favorite of the Donald Duck wartime shorts is "The Vanishing Private." This is the only time in the entire series that Donald gets the better of Pete. When Pete tells Donald to make the cannon "hard to see," he covers it with an invisibility paint. After Donald gets the paint on himself, he leads Pete on a wild chase after "the little man you can't see" all over the base.

"Fall Out, Fall In" is more typical. Donald wants to eat and sleep after a long, grueling hike, but first his tent won't cooperate, then his fellow bunkmates make too much noise for sleeping. "The Old Army Game" is more disturbing today. Pete chases Donald around the base after he's gone AWOL, but it has what Donald thinks is more drastic consequences when he's hurt. "Commando Duck" is the last Disney war short, and the only one to get Donald into actual combat. Donald goes to a (heavily caricatured) Japan, where he proceeds to wipe...no, wash...out the enemy.

Speaking of caricatures, the most famous Disney war short is probably the Oscar-winning "Der Fuhrer's Face." Donald's surreal nightmare about dealing with the Nazi's control of Germany is one of the most imaginatively animated pieces of work Disney ever did. Even the jaunty title song became a hit for comedy orchestra Spike Jones and His City Slickers.

Rushed off to school just as "Commando Duck" was ending. We did get outside for about 40 minutes around 3:30-4 PM. Admittedly, it wasn't the nicest day for running around a playground. While we never got the snow other parts of the northeast reported, it was cloudy, windy, and very cold, in the mid-40's. I did have a lot of fun hopping with one of the little girls in the leaves blown up against the chain link fence around the playground. There weren't enough leaves to jump in, so we hopped in them instead. We had so much fun, some of the other kids did it, too. 

Once again, after we got in, we split up the kids. Half stayed and colored and played with toys in the cafeteria. The others played Heads Up 7 Up in the library. That started out all right, but the older kids kept picking the same people, and the younger ones were often too shy to pick anyone. I was actually kind of grateful when we eventually gave up and moved the kids back to the cafeteria.

Jessa was at home and waiting for me when I got in. We had dinner at the Olive Garden in Cherry Hill near the library. I was feeling the need for comfort food, and I haven't been to Olive Garden since college, when my ex-boyfriend Max would occasionally take me to the one in the Hamilton Mall's parking lot. There was a long line when we arrived. Tons of veterans were taking advantage of a special menu. At least it didn't take us that long to be seated. We both had salad, bread sticks and the Endless Bowls of Pasta. I had angel hair, meat sauce, and Italian sausage. She had rigatoni, meat sauce, and meatballs. Oh, yum! That really hit the spot. Even the salad was incredible. And the bread sticks were so soft and salty! We both took our second bowls home, and I got the remaining bread sticks as well, since Jess said she didn't want hers.

Finished the night with 4th season episodes of MASH on Disney Plus. "It Happened One Night" as the surgeons deal with heavy shelling from the US side, a freezing cold night, a young man who keeps going crazy every time he hears the shelling, Klinger trying to run off, and Radar's nervousness around their new Colonel Potter. Poor Radar is still nervous around Potter, which the older man notes when he writes his "Dear Margaret." It takes a horse Hunnicut and Hawkeye saved to show the young man he has more in common with his new commanding officer than he thought. Father Mulcahey has to deal with his own commanding officer (Ned Beatty), which Hunnicut notes as he writes to his "Dear Peggy." 

Salute Your Toons

Began my Veteran's Day with material from Colliers Harvest of Holidays. The major piece here is the sad and touching "The Singing Tree." Three soldiers traveling across burned-out fields during World War I come across a still-living apple tree filled with many kinds of birds who lost their homes and take comfort from their singing and camaraderie. There's also a few World War I-era poems, including "In Flanders Field." 

Did the material for Book Week (which is this week) as well. "The Library Lady" from All-of-a-Kind Family makes me appreciate that my siblings and I were usually careful with our library books and never lost them. Middle sister Sarah is terribly upset when she loses a library book, but the sweet young librarian knows just how she can pay for it. "Rufus M" wants badly to take out a library book, but the less-understanding librarian insists he can't until he learns to write his name. He throws himself into practicing, then sneaks in over a coal pile to show her.

Put on a couple of the Donald Duck World War II shorts while I got ready to head out. From 1942 through 1944, Donald Duck appeared in a series of shorts that mainly had him as a soldier in training to cranky Sergeant Pete. In "Donald Gets Drafted," he's swayed by the glamour of being a pilot, but the reality sets in when Pete singles him out and makes him stand on an ant hill. The follow-up short "Sky Trooper" has an annoyed Pete finally send Donald into the air as a parachute jumper. Needless to say, this is not how Donald wanted to fly, but he never expected to get Pete involved when he grabs a missile on the way out!

"The Vanishing Private" is my favorite of Donald's military-themed cartoons. Don finally gets the best of Pete when he's told to make a cannon "hard to see" and covers it in an invisibility paint. After he's doused with it too, he leads Pete on a merry chase around the base. "Der Fuehrer's Face" is a surreal Oscar-winning nightmare that has Don as a factory worker trapped in Nazi Germany. Along with the wild propaganda imagery, this features a catchy theme song that later became a hit for comic band Spike Jones and His City Slickers. "Commando Duck" sends Donald into enemy territory, as he proceeds to wipe...no wash...out the enemy.

Since it was past 12:30 by this point, I called Uber. They're getting stranger and stranger. Now you have to give the driver some kind of code after you get in the car in order for them to proceed. At least he arrived in five minutes (less than the 7 listed) and, even with taking the long way through Collingswood, got me to the Cherry Hill Barnes and Noble in less than 20 minutes. (After accidentally driving around the back of the mall. I didn't realize they'd opened more stores behind the luxury condos, including a Costco and a cookie shop. Never heard of Duluth Trading Company; might check them out after the holidays.) At least the weather remained sunny and warm, in the upper 60's, and breezy. 

The Cherry Hill Barnes and Noble is the smallest of their stores in South Jersey. It has toys, but no CD/DVD section. I did see some mysteries I might look for after the holiday season, but my main interest was Christmas shopping. I walked out with two board books for my 2-year-old niece Aurora, a Daniel Tiger lift-the-flap Christmas story and a board book version of the Richard Scarry short story I am a Bunny. Since I got a coupon for $1 off a drink at the cafe, I tried their Chestnut Praline Frappuccino. It was a little sweet and a little coffee-tasting, but it did have hints of nuttiness and bits of brown sugar.

Had lunch at Panera Bread in the front of the mall next. Considering there's usually a long line, I only had to wait five minutes for my half a tuna sandwich, tomato soup, and crusty roll. The soup was spicy and thick, the salad messy and tasty. In fact, the salad actually tasted rather good mixed into the soup. The roll was even better dipped in the soup. The croutons on top tasted better mushed into the big tomato pieces. Had this with unsweetened iced tea.

Since it's also in the front mall stores, I went to Hallmark after lunch. I was mainly there for cards. Got one for my brother Keefe's birthday next week and a few Thanksgiving cards, along with a box of a Christmas card assortment. Picked up two packages of cookie gift boxes buy one, get one half off. Grabbed candy for Lauren and two gifts for Lauren and Amanda. 

Rushed to Starbucks next to make change for the bus after I remembered banks are closed on Veteran's Day. Just grabbed a sparkling water really quick and asked them to give me four quarters for one of my dollars. Fortunately, the bus stop is directly in front of the Hallmark. The bus was about ten minutes late, not bad for the start of rush hour. It did run into traffic on Cuthbert Road, but there were otherwise no problems. I was home by 4:30. 

Did a few more Disney war shorts as I got organized. Goofy's first short was "Victory Vehicles," a look at the variety of creative vehicles one could use to get around wartime shortages. (And I have to agree with Leonard Maltin. The song "Hop On Your Pogo Stick" really is catchy.) "How to Be a Sailor" starts as a more typical Goofy short, with him exploring the history of seafaring. The brief finale with modern soldiers, however, gets Goofy into the war as he's shot out to the enemy! 

Mickey Mouse didn't really figure into Disney's World War II shorts, but he did do one black and white military short in 1929. "The Barnyard Battle" pits him and all the mice on the farm against a group of big and nasty Hun cats. Mickey may look skinny, but he can use his wits to turn piano keys into bullets and take these giant pussy cats down.

Puttered around online next, including adding On the Town and the stage version of Once to the inventory. Had dinner while watching Match Game Syndicated. The first three episodes featured Holly Holstrom, Joyce Bulifant, and Gary Burghoff. Holly in particular had fun in these, showing off her Texas cowgirl hat and fending of Gene's advances while admiring the accent of a charming British contestant. Dick Martin stuck around for the last episode, which also featured Elaine Joyce, George Kennedy, and Betty White. Charles was so impressed with a pretty contestant, he claimed to be a modeling agency ready to hire her.

Finished the night on YouTube after a shower with the second Family Feud Armed Forces week. From 1989 through 1991, the five branches of the Armed Forces battled it out on the show to see who would take home the most money for the charity of their choice. In 1990, for the second year in a row, the Army and the Marines made it to the championship...and once again, the tough-talking Marines managed to march their way to the top prize, even though they were lousy at the Fast Money round.

Honor those who fought for our country just as the wars in the Middle East began in these hilarious episodes!

Day #1: Army Vs. Navy

Day #2: Air Force Vs. Marines

Day #3: Coast Guard Vs. Army

Day #4: Coast Guard Vs. Air  Force

Day #5: Marines Vs. Navy

Day #6: Championship - Army Vs. Marines

Salute Your Harvest

Began my Veteran's Day with breakfast and the Donald Duck World War II shorts. If the Pink Panther was swayed by the power of the military, Donald was swayed by the glamour. "Donald Gets Drafted" and hopes to be a big-shot pilot, but he ends up being bossed around by Sergeant Pete. He wants to be "The Sky Trooper," but Pete doesn't bother telling him he sends him up with the paratroopers...at least until they both end up falling out of the plane!

My personal favorite of Donald's war-related shorts is "The Vanishing Private." Ordered to make a cannon "hard to see" by Pete, Donald paints it with an invisibility formula...then lands it in himself after Pete tries to make a grab for him. Pete ends up chasing "the little man you can't see" all over the base.

Headed out to the farm market after that. They're down to their last two weeks, and as such, now have more craft booths than produce booths. At least the dairy booth was back, and the orchard booths remain. I was able to get my dill and herb cheese, Asian pears, and lovely little Staymen apples. I also returned to the knitted stuffed animal booth to buy a present for Amanda. Children gathered around two complacent alpacas munching hay in a pen.

Hurried home to put everything away, get ready for work, and finish out the Donald Duck shorts. "Der Fuerher's Face" won an Oscar in 1943 for its surreal imagery as Donald dreams himself into a nightmarish Nazi-controlled Germany. Donald doesn't want to "Fall Out, Fall In" during a long hike. He struggles to put up his tent, then can't sleep around his noisy troop mates. "Commando Duck" is sent into the heart of Japan to take out an airplane factor. He proceeds to wipe...no, wash...out the enemy.

Tried something different at work today. The floral manager needed help with the many Christmas decorations and Thanksgiving bouquets coming in. The other woman who used to work in the floral department got tired of it and first moved to produce, then left for another store. I watered plants, trimmed flower stems, loaded bouquets into plastic containers, and cleaned up after them. It was very simple, and I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. 

I actually got my schedule online yesterday, but I confirmed it today. In good news, three days off again, and I'm in the floral department on two of the four days I do work. I'll have plenty of time to make my Christmas lists this week. Fewer hours, though. I could have used more. The holidays are coming. 

Did three more Disney war shorts when I got home. Goofy's only ventures into World War II propaganda were "Victory Vehicles," a demonstration of how people (and dogs) could get where they were going without using their cars at a time when rubber, metal, and gas were all in short supply, and "How to Be a Sailor." Mickey didn't really figure into World War II shorts that much, but he did do a World War I-set short in 1929. "The Barnyard Battle" pits skinny rubber-hose Mickey against growling Hun cats. He wins, of course, using nothing but his wits, piano keys for bullets, and a sledgehammer. 

Switched to Skirts Ahoy! on Amazon Prime. I go further into this vehicle for Esther Williams that has her as a socialite who joins the Navy during the Korean War at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Saluting Our Troops - Skirts Ahoy!

Worked on writing towards the end of the movie. Cora is confused and upset when she manages to duck away from Stephen's burning red eyes and angry tone. She's so frightened, she doesn't see the hunchback servant carrying a pile of wood on his lumpy back and nearly trips over him. Cora is quick to help him gather his wood, but Stephen scolds him for getting in the way. Cora rebukes him for treating the man badly, but Stephen only sees him as a doltish servant.

Finished the night on YouTube. Country singer Bill Anderson began on Match Game in mid-1976 to promote his number-one hit "Sometimes." His down-home charm and good-natured sense of humor quickly made him one of the most popular semi-regulars during the later 70's and syndicated episodes. He remained a favorite straight through to one that week on Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour in 1984 where Edie McClurg wore the tiara and they saw a group of cheerleaders perform their best moves. 

Bill rounded up Charles and Brett to help him sing his own composition for Debralee Scott, to her delight. He watched Jack and Brett bicker during that week in 1978 where they appeared together after their divorce. There was also the nighttime episode where the young wrestler shook Richard Dawson's hand so hard, he got Marcia Wallace to write his answer on the Head-to-Head for him, or the one where he joined Debralee and Jonelle Allen in singing "The Battle of Jericho," spoofing K-Tel Records collection commercials, and making jokes about how much a contestant resembled Barry Manilow. 

Sing a little country tune with this crooning cowboy charmer!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Bill Anderson On the Panel

The Lawrence Welk Show saluted the Armed Forces for Veteran's Day in the mid-late 60's, just as the Vietnam War was getting hotter. The black-and-white show from 1965 featured Jo Ann Castle and Larry Hooper as farmers singing "How Can They Keep Them Down on the Farm After They've Seen Paree?" Jo Ann joins the cast for a medley of other World War I favorites. Diane Lemmon (her sisters were doing a Perry Como show) does a solo "Something to Remember You By." The other female singers replace her sisters for "Hoop-De Doo." Barbara Boylen and Bobby Burgess get two dreamy waltz numbers. Soldier Jimmy Roberts and nurse Norma Zimmer hope to love "Til We Meet Again." Arthur Duncan does his best George M. Cohen with "Give My Regards to Broadway."

The 1969 color Veteran's Day show also saluted ultra-patriotic Irving Berlin. Larry Hooper laments "Oh How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning," while Clay Aiken is "Sittin' On the Dock of the Bay." Patty and Natalie want to "Strike Up the Band." Ken Delo remembers when "A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square." Eager recruit Bobby Burgess gets "How Can They Keep Them Down on the Farm" with Cissy King here. Marines officer Arthur Duncan admires "A Shine On Your Shoes." The episode concludes with a stirring "God Bless America" performed by Norma Zimmer and the chorus. Ralna claims that joining the Services is "Doin' What Comes Naturally," while Jimmy Roberts and Natalie remind each other "Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree." 

Salute those who fought for our country with Lawrence Welk and his musical family in these two patriotic parties! (The 1969 episode is missing the first number and is in bad shape, but it seems to be the only copy of this online.) 

Veteran's Day - 1965

Veteran's Day & Irving Berlin Salute - 1969

And I salute all of the men and women who fought for our country on this Veteran's Day!

Toons Salute the Troops

Began an extremely wet Veteran's Day with breakfast and a couple of Popeye shorts. The Fleischer Brothers tossed Popeye into the Navy even before the war began. "The Mighty Navy" came out in the fall of 1941, shortly before the US entered the war. The enemy isn't even named. By the release of "Blunder Below," Popeye was definitely fighting the Japanese, to the point where watching many of Popeye's wartime shorts can be uncomfortable today. "Navy," "Blunder," and "Fleets of Strength" are variations on Popeye trying to prove to his superior officers that he's an experienced seaman, even if he doesn't understand the Navy way of doing things. 

They're on more traditional turf with "Kicking the Conga Around." Bluto shows off his dancing skills to the Senorita Olive on a tropical dance. Popeye can't join in, until spinach really gets him moving!

While the wind and the rain weren't that bad at 11 AM, they were supposed to get a lot worse later. I called Uber for a ride. They arrived in 7 minutes and got me there in a little over five. I arrived a little earlier than I thought, so I picked up pads and more muffins for lunch this week. They also had Thanksgiving and winter-themed bags that would be perfect for my holiday and seasonal decorations.

Ended up spending my afternoon pushing carts. It rained hard on and off. Thankfully, I only got very wet once. After that, I did returns until the rain slowed down again. The weather scared everyone off. We were off-and-on steady, and only that due to people calling out. They even had bagels and coffee in the employee's room in honor of Veteran's Day. I did have to clean up a rather nasty mess in the men's bathroom. Otherwise, the day was fairly calm and went quickly.

It was just damp and heavily humid when I called for a ride home. Got them quickly. They arrived within 13 minutes. Got me home in a little over five, due to traffic on Nicholson Road and the White Horse Pike. 

(The rain returned later in the evening, and has been going on and off, frequently hard, ever since.)

Went straight upstairs and into dinner and Match Game '90 when I got home. Buzzr ran the Armed Services weeks for them and the 2002 Family Feud for their Veteran's Day Salute marathon this year. I arrived right in time for Match Game. While Halloween was the funniest individual episode of the show, the week they had Marines as contestants and in their audience may have been the best overall. The Marines were absolutely wild, cheering on everything lovely Karen Witter and sarcastic Brit Fiona Hutchinson of One Life to Live said or did. Bruce Baum had less luck introducing his weird inventions, including a shower with a hand meant to conserve water.

(Oh, and it looks like Buzzr's next marathon will be their day-after-Thanksgiving "Black Friday Frenzy" shopping show theme. With Sale of the Century off the schedule and Let's Make a Deal having already had a marathon in July, this one focuses on Supermarket Sweep and their "Second Chance" week. Couples who didn't get the 5,000 the first time around returned for a second try. I haven't watched this in ages; I might have to check it out.) 

Finished the night with more war-related animated cartoons. Donald Duck became Disney's number one star in the early 40's with a series of shorts that depicted his adventures in the army. "Donald Gets Drafted" when he buys into the glamorous posters. He soon learns the Army's a lot tougher than he thought when Sargent Pete picks on him. "The Sky Trooper" continues this story. Donald still wants to be a glamorous pilot, but first Pete gives him a difficult test, then sends him up with the paratroopers!

"Der Furher's Face" won an Oscar for its surreal animation, depicting Donald living in a bizarre Nazi nightmare. The catchy title song became a surprise hit for comedy orchestra Spike Jones and His City Slickers. Donald's "The Vanishing Private" when Pete tells him to make a cannon "hard to see," and he covers it with invisible paint. When he ends up in it, too, Pete has to chase "the little man you can't see" all over the base. All Donald wants after a hard day's hike in "Fall Out, Fall In" is dinner and a rest, but first his tent won't cooperate, then his fellow soldiers make too much noise. "Commando Duck" finds himself on assignment in a stereotyped Japan, where he manages to wipe...no, wash...out the enemy. 

Donald wasn't the only Disney character who went to war. The early sound short "The Barnyard Battle" pits Mickey against mean Hun cats...and he wins, of course. Goofy contributed "How to Be a Sailor" to the war effort. The first half depicts sailing through the years, but it ends with Goofy as a modern sailor who literally throws himself into destroying the enemy.

Woody Woodpecker's only World War II-themed short, "Ace In the Hole," had a lot in common with "Donald Gets Drafted." Woody also wants to fly, but his sergeant has him shaving horses. He definitely regrets it when Woody finally gets in the air! 

The Pink Panther finds himself in the Vietnam War without a paddle in "G.I Pink." If Donald was swayed by the glamour of the Army, then Pink was swayed by the power. Cranky mascots, mine-riddled fields, and impossible obstacle courses makes his sergeant wish he'd joined the Navy instead.

And we honor all of the brave men and women who fought and died for our country on this (very wet) Veteran's Day!

Animation Celebrates the Troops

Kicked off a late morning with breakfast and more wartime Looney Tunes shorts, these by legendarily nutty director Bob Clampett. Bugs becomes a "Super Rabbit" when he eats a carrot enhanced to give him strength and invulnerability. He travels west to keep a cowboy and his horse from harming other rabbits, but his powers keep running out at inopportune times. When push comes to shove, he dons the uniform of a real hero...a Marines officer. "Draftee Daffy" would do anything to avoid that Little Man From the Draft Board, including blowing both of them sky-high. Bugs becomes a "Falling Hare" when he takes on a gremlin sabotaging planes who can give as good as he gets. 

Given the patriotic tenor of the comic books at the time, it was inevitable that Superman would fight the Axis on the big screen, too. Lois stows away in a huge bomber, only to be taken hostage when stereotyped "Japoteurs" steal the plane. Superman has to rescue the plane and the girl from a free-fall. "The Eleventh Hour" has wonderful, shadowy animation and a relatively mature plot that involves Superman sabotaging the Japanese while he and Lois are prisoners behind enemy lines. 

Went online after breakfast. I did try calling the Imperial Arms Apartments in Audubon, who had an ad on Craigslist. Turns out the ad was dated. They rented their last apartment three days ago, though apparently there are some open in their building in Bellmawr. They also said that all tours are scheduled and applications signed online. 

After that, I figured there was no reason to call anyone else. I don't think any of the office workers would be able to give me information I couldn't find online. I fired off e-mails to apartment buildings in Runnemede, Audubon, and Mount Ephram instead. One building was actually pretty near-by on Collings Avenue, so I figured I'd just walk there and see if their office was open.

Since it's on my way, I made my first stop at CVS. Found gifts for Lauren and Amanda for Christmas. Picked up a Perrier for me. Was hoping to get dishwashing liquid, but they had no good sales. 

Rose called while I was in CVS. I ducked into the stand of trees along the river to call her back. In good news, she finally called Jodie. She's still upset with her over her getting rid of Dad's stuff in the house without asking anyone if they wanted it or asking us to help more, but at least they touched base. (And she swears she has called Jodie several times in the past two months. Jodie claims she hadn't heard from her at all.) Oh, and poor Khai sprained his knee wrestling and is now at home for a few weeks. She also mentioned she and Craig will try to get my bike to Deptford tomorrow or Saturday.

Strolled down Collings Avenue and into West Collingswood Heights. It's mostly huge old Victorian and early 20th century family houses, but there's a few apartment buildings. I was interested in one gray brick block, the Collings Avenue Apartments, but the front door was locked, and I didn't see a side door into an office. I guess I'll have to e-mail them, too. 

Strolled further into West Collingswood after leaving Collings Avenue. I wish there was one little rental sign out, but most of the few realtor signs showed large houses or townhomes for sale, not rent. The houses here ranged more in age, from the sprawling Victorians to little 20's bungalows like Rose's home and 50's brick boxes. I even got a rare opportunity to check out Peter Creek on the other side from Oaklyn. It was lovely down there, warm for the time of year, a little cloudy but not bad, and very fall, with the gorgeous scarlet and gold leaves.

Since Jodie wasn't home when I got in, I tossed my laundry in the wash, then had lunch. Finished up the Superman shorts while I sipped my smoothie. Nazis command stereotyped natives with "Jungle Drums" while using their temple as a cover to shoot down planes. Superman keeps Lois from being burned at the stake and helps her catch the Nazis in the act. "Secret Agent" is the only cartoon Lois doesn't appear in. Superman rescues a beautiful spy carrying important papers to Washington DC from the saboteurs she infiltrated. 

Moved on to Popeye as I scrubbed the kitchen. The Fleischers tossed Popeye into "The Mighty Navy" before the war even started. "Navy," "Blunder Below," and "Fleets of Strength" all feature variations on Popeye trying to show his new commanding officers that he's an experienced seaman. He doesn't know the Navy way of doing things and isn't great at taking commands, but his spinach-fueled way proves to be equally effective in taking down the enemy. 

He and Bluto are "Kicking the Conga Around" when they try to impress Latin senorita Olive with their South American dance moves. Olive's visit to their ship turns explosive in more ways than one when they attempt to show it off to her in "Olive Oyl and Water Don't Mix." Popeye's not saying "Many Tanks" after Bluto dumps him in the Army and he has to rescue his date with Olive. "Baby Wants a Battleship" when Swee'Pea finds Popeye's battle cruiser more interesting than any little toy boat and treats it like his personal playground.

Quickly ran two wartime Walter Lanz shorts as I did the dishes and switched the laundry to the dryer. Woody Woodpecker wants to be an "Ace In the Hole" and flies planes. His sergeant has him shaving horses instead. He's really not thrilled when Woody does finally make it into the air. The new "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" is a Chicago musician who gets his camp jumping with his swinging revelie. This cartoon is awash in African-American stereotypes, but it also features an energetic version of the title song and is one of the few cartoons I know of to depict minorities in the military. 

Jodie came in with half of a pork roll hoagie as I finished off the dishes. Yes, Rose called, and they talked. Their primary concern is Jessa. No one's heard from her in weeks. She did mention having a small tumor to me...but apparently it's getting bigger, and she's not taking her medicine for it anymore. I was going to call her tomorrow and ask her to come over next week anyway. Jodie says her husband Joe should take care of her, but I'm not sure they're getting along that well.

Switched the laundry to the dryer, then did some writing. Sir Richard says he can take Brett, her sons, and the others to Looking Glass Land. They may be able to find a way to Brett's house from there and get Charles out of Limbo. Queen Betty offers to show them where a mirror large enough to walk through is in the palace hall. Got the laundry out and put it away right before I broke for dinner. 

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had that pork roll hoagie with steamed broccoli for dinner while watching Match Game '77. Lovely and sweet soap star Trish Stewart joins crusty Mary Wickes and neurotic Bill Daily here, along with the regulars. Mary flirts with a good-looking older man contestant while the others figure out the Audience Matches "Abbey __" and "Compound __" with a different guy in the box behind the answers. 

Spent the rest of the night making snickerdoodles while watching wartime shorts. Donald Duck became Disney's top shorts star in the 40's, thanks to a brash and bold personality that made him a great soldier. "Donald Gets Drafted" when he's lured by the glamor the Army posters depict, but the reality is a lot less pleasant when Sargent Pete makes him drill on an anthill. He wants to be a "Sky Trooper," but Pete won't let him up...then makes the mistake of sending him with the paratroopers. 

Donald gets him back in "The Vanishing Private." Told to paint a cannon so that it's "hard to see," he uses a paint that makes things invisible...and gives Pete the run-around when he also lands in it. He has to "Fall Out-Fall In," but first he can't put up his tent, then his fellow troops keep him awake. "Commando Duck" parachutes into Japan with orders to wipe...no wash...out the enemy.

Don wasn't the only Disney character who went to war. "How to Be a Sailor" begins as a Goofy lesson in sailing history, but ends with Goofy on board a modern battleship, inadvertently using himself to take down the enemy. Mickey signs up for "The Barnyard Battle" and takes on a whole platoon of Hun cats twice his size...and wins, of course. 

While Donald was lured by the glamor of war, The Pink Panther is lured by the idea of power in "G.I Pink." He does no better in the Army during the Vietnam War than Don did 20 years earlier. Land mines, nasty drill sergeants, impossible obstacle courses, and cranky dog mascots make him wish he'd stayed home. 

Finished the night online after the cookies were out of the oven and I took a shower with Best Foot Forward. I go further into this tale of a star who accompanies a military school boy to his prom at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Saluting Our Troops - Best Foot Forward

And I salute all our fighting men, women, and animals on this Veteran's Day! 

Rainy Day Salute

Began a cloudy, gloomy Veteran's Day with breakfast and more Looney Tunes wartime shorts. My two favorites out of this batch were the duo spoofing how rural and suburban Americans on the Homefront dealt with the war. "Wacky Blackout" gives us what happens during a blackout on a farm; "Weakly Reporter" covers how life in the city and suburbs changed during wartime (including a woman fixing an entire factory with her one bobby pin). "Meet Johnny Doughboy" gave us a look at life in the barracks. "The Duckinators" and "Fifth Colum Mouse" are allegories on how the war began and how the US intended to end it. "Hollywood Canine Canteen" spoofs the real celebrity-filled canteens that sprung up on either coast with dog caricatures of popular celebrities of the day, like Laurel and Hardy, Bing Crosby, and Carmen Miranda. 

After breakfast, I finally got around to calling my mother, which I've been meaning to do since Halloween. Mom's fine. She's taking leave of her job as a ticket-taker for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry after the New Year. She's tired of dealing with anxious or panicky people and all their anxieties over everything. My brother Keefe is insisting on coming up from Virginia for Thanksgiving too, despite having been diagnosed with the virus and quarantined. At least she had a nice, quiet Halloween. Her little house is on the end of a street and doesn't get many trick-or-treaters at normal times, but my sister's kids apparently had a good haul in the busier neighborhoods of suburban North Cape May. 

Next up was getting the laundry done. Along with doing the regular clothes, I wanted to wash my curtains and get to at least some of the blankets. Started with the clothes and curtains first. It took me longer to get the curtains down than it did to take them in the basement and throw then in the washer and dryer, especially since some of the rods really aren't the right size, but I did get them there. Threw the clothes in first, then put the curtains in while the clothes were in the drier.

Ran the Donald Duck In the Army cartoons while I went back and forth. From 1942 to 1944, Disney made a series of shorts revolving around Donald joining the Army, his desire to become a pilot, and dealing with nasty Sargent Pete. "Donald Gets Drafted" and "Sky Trooper" explores what happens when Donald enters the army, and what Pete does when he gets fed up with Donald begging to fly. "Der Fuhrer's Face" is a surreal trip into the heart of Nazi Germany as Donald has a nightmare about being a worker in Germany. "Fall Out, Fall In" has him attempting to put up a tent, then ignore the snores of his fellow soldiers around him. He's sent to Japan in "Commando Duck" and proceeds to wipe...no, wash...out the enemy.

My favorite by far of the Donald wartime shorts is "The Vanishing Private." It's the only time Donald ever got the best of Sergeant Pete. When Pete tells camouflage painter Donald to make a cannon "hard to see," he covers it in an invisibility paint he found in a lab. After Donald lands in the paint too, Pete ends up chasing "the little man you can't see" all over the base.

Called Uber for a ride to Cherry Hill just as "Commando Duck" ended. The ride appeared around 12:40. I was at Cooper Orthopedics by 12:55. The nurse asked me to come back after about ten minutes, and then it was another five minutes to briefly talk to another nurse. Dr. Ramerez and an even younger doctor checked out my arm and made sure it wasn't too stiff. Frankly, my arm feels fine now. It's bending normally, and I can even carry heavier loads at work again. They declared me healed and said this would be my last appointment. I checked out, called Uber again, was home by 1:52, and went nowhere else.

(I couldn't have gone anywhere else today, even if I wanted to. It started raining minutes after I climbed into the first Uber car, and has continued showering steadily for the rest of the day.)

Made a tropical green smoothie (bananas and mandarin oranges in coconut yogurt with spinach and honey) while watching Superman shorts. Given the tenor of the comics of the time, it was likely inevitable that Superman would fight the Axis on the big screen, too. "Japoteurs" has him saving an experimental plane - and a stowaway Lois Lane - from Japanese spies. "The Eleventh Hour" has marvelously shadowy animation gracing its mature story of Superman sabotaging Tokyo and saving Lois from a firing squad. "Jungle Drums" moves to South America as he rescues Lois from Nazis and hostile (and stereotypical) natives. He has to rescue a female "Secret Agent" from falling into the hands of Nazi sypathizers.

Went to pick up the regular laundry and switch over the blankets and curtains...and was surprised to see Jodie in the kitchen. I hadn't heard from her since she left two Fridays ago and had no idea when she'd be home. She even mentioned she had appointments and parties on Saturday she wanted to attend. I did wash the curtains and the blankets already in the machine, but skipped the other blankets in deference to her. 

Ran the last of the wartime shorts as I cleaned up from lunch. Bugs Bunny becomes a "Super Rabbit" when he eats a specially-enhanced carrot. He heads out west to stop a crazy cowboy from killing rabbits, but when push comes to shove, he dons the uniform of a real hero...a marines officer. The last thing Daffy wants to be is "Draftee Daffy" and does everything he can to avoid The Little Man From the Draft Board. "Falling Hare" is by far my favorite of the Looney Tunes war-related shorts. For once, Bugs goes up against an antagonist who gives as good as they get when he tries to stop a determined little gremlin from sabotaging planes.

Mickey Mouse didn't really figure into most of the World War II shorts, but he did take on Hun cats in 1929 during "The Barnyard Battle." Pink Panther finds himself in Vietnam without a clue in "G.I Pink." He ends up dodging cranky drill sergeants, angry company mascots, land mines, and super-hard obstacle courses.

Jodie was gone by the time I went back for the curtains - she must have gone out to lunch. I did my best to put the curtains up again while returning to Buzzr. The only couple I recognized on today's Tattletales were wacky Patty Duke and the original Gomez Addams himself, John Astin. Not only were they today's big winners, but they got the show's biggest haul ever, getting every answer right when the other couples missed. Whammies abounded on Press Your Luck today. One lady Whammied out, leaving the other woman and the sole young man to battle it out. He hit a Whammy on his last turn, allowing her to win a sailboat and become the new champ.

Worked on writing for a while after the shows ended. Gene invites Richard to dinner with him, Charles, and Brett to make him feel better. He has to help the men with the wine they stole from the Stardom Squares anyway, and he has excellent tea for himself and Gene (who don't drink). Gene's looking forward to it, but Richard looks more worried than he should about a mere dinner...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Made Southwestern Sweet Potato Hash while watching Match Game '74. The contestant takes a "Leap ___" of faith choosing Brett for the Head-to-Head, leaving the others to get very into their celebratory hugs and kisses. Big Jim Staal of Mork & Mindy gets to help a gentleman win 20,000 on Match Game PM. 

The contestants on Sale of the Century were a little closer today than they have been the last couple of days. Even so, the woman champ still bought both Instant Bargains, won the Instant Cash money, managed to win the Speed Round, and once again picked up the Bonus Round money with time to spare.

(Oh, and it looks like Buzzr's doing their Black Friday Frenzy theme again this year on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Good. I really enjoyed last year's. Along with getting Supermarket Sweep and Sale of the Century again, Let's Make a Deal will replace the lesser-known Temptation.)

Finished the night after a shower with a mini-MASH marathon on Hulu in honor of Veteran's Day. Started with "Sometimes You Hear the Bullet" from the first season. Hawkeye is devastated when he can't save a friend who was going to write a book about his experiences in the war (James Callahan)  from dying. He has more luck convincing an underage soldier (Ron Howard) to go home.

The doctors learn "There Is Nothing Like a Nurse" during the third season when the battle draws closer and all the nurses are sent elsewhere. Lieutenant Calvin Spalding (Loudon Wainright III) writes lousy blues songs on his guitar while the guys try to drink their loneliness away. Enlisting Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) and Radar O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff) to help out only leaves them short elsewhere. 

Meanwhile, the 4077th is turned upside down by a visit from "Big Mac," General MacArthur himself. Henry has to rehearse the group on proper greeting protocol and figure out what to do with Corporal Klinger (Jamie Farr), who wears dresses to try to get himself discharged.

Moved on to Season 4 and one of the many episodes revolving around a character writing a letter to someone, "Dear Mildred." New base commander General Potter (Harry Morgan) writes to his wife about all the lunacy around him on their 27th anniversary. Hot Lips (Loretta Swit) and Frank buy a special anniversary gift for him, while Radar convinces Hawkeye and newcomer B.J Hunnicut (Mike Farrell) to save a sick horse and nurse him back to health. 

And I salute all of our veterans on what I hope was a far drier Veteran's Day than I had!

Salute the Troops

Kicked off Veteran's Day with a short story and several poems from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. Given Veteran's Day began as Armistice Day after World War I, it's not surprising that the material revolves around that war. The Singing Tree is the touching story of a group of soldiers who discover a still-living tree on a dead battlefield filled with homeless birds. The poems include In Flanders Field, which was written by a World War I soldier who died during the conflict. My friend Linda Young says they used to memorize it in school for Veteran's Day during her 60's childhood.

Since there's not a lot there, I also read the material for Book Week. My favorite story was a chapter from All-Of-A-Kind Family. One of the younger girls lost her library book. She's devastated, until a young librarian helps her figure out a way to pay for it. Rufus M is a little boy who is so desperate to take out his first library book, he brings the application for his library card back after hours.

Watched most of the Donald Duck In the Army shorts while I ate breakfast. More than good-natured Goofy or every-mouse Mickey, Donald's brash personality made him Disney's number one star in the early 40's. He jumped right into the army in "Donald Gets Drafted" and ends up with Sargent Pete ordering him to do drills on an ant hill. He doesn't have much more luck in "Sky Trooper." He wants to get in the air, but the last thing he was expecting was for Pete to send him with the parachute troop!

My favorite of the Donald wartime shorts is "The Vanishing Private." Pete orders camaflage painter Donald to make a cannon "hard to see"...and he does just that when he covers it with an invisibility paint. When Pete tries to get him out of the cannon, he lands in the paint. Pete ends up chasing "the little man you can't see" all over the base.

"Der Fuhrer's Face" is a unique look at the Nazi regime. Donald goes literally crazy when he finds himself in Nazi Germany and can't keep up with their incessant demands and rationing. "Fall Out, Fall In" is back in more typical territory. All Donald wants after a long hike is rest, but first, he can't figure out his tent, then his fellow soldiers keep him awake. "Commando Duck" is sent to Japan to take out a base. He proceeds to wipe...no, wash....out the enemy.

Headed to work as soon as the cartoons ended. Work, to my surprise, was quiet, or at the least steady, the entire afternoon. It never got as busy as it did last Veteran's Day. I did the recycling and trash outside, quickly mopped the men's bathroom, and alternated sweeping the store with the the head bagger, but I was mainly outside with the carts. I didn't want to be anywhere else. The weather was gorgeous today, sunny, breezy, and in the mid-60's.

Needed a few things on the way out. The Acme is clearing out a ton of items, including a lot of  Nestle's chocolate chips. I grabbed butterscotch and triple chip bags. I also needed toilet paper and got money for the laundry later this week.

Did writing when I got home. Richard and Charles are going through their bags for rope when they see the evil Queen Malade climbing the tower and hear screams and yelling. Richard goes up first, but Charles is more reluctant to follow him, especially when he sees Malade attack Elaine in the window...

Broke for dinner at 7. Ran my remaining wartime shorts as I ate leftovers for dinner. Despite also being popular during the war years, Woody Woodpecker only figured into one war-themed short, "Ace In the Hole." Like Donald, he wants to be a pilot, but his commanding officer has him shaving horses. He's less-than-thrilled when Woody does finally end up in a plane and gets it into the air.

The other Walter Lantz war shorts were one-offs. "21 Dollars a Day (Once a Month)" uses stuffed animals (and cameos from Woody and Andy Panda) to spoof the peacetime draft. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" is the tale of a former jazz trumpeter who gets his camp moving with his swinging reveille. The black stereotypes run thick and fast here, but there's a nice version of the title song, and this is one of the few cartoons I know of to depict minorities in the military. "Pigeon Patrol" is the more typical story of a country bumpkin bird who has to get an important message past the enemy.

Ran two shorts representing earlier and later wars as I had my cake for dessert. Mickey Mouse didn't figure much into the World War II cartoons, but he did fight Hun cats during "The Barnyard Battle" in 1929. "G.I Pink" finds himself in Vietnam without a clue after he's swayed by Army recruiting posters promising power. All he does is annoy his drill sergeant, who ends up sending him to the Navy in frustration.

Finished the night with Here Comes the Marines. The Bowery Boys did movies representing all four of Armed Forces branches between 1952 and 1954. I went with Marines in honor of their win on Family Feud last night. The Boys are all drafted into the Marines, but Sach is the only one who keeps getting promoted, thanks to his father having known the general in charge of their camp. He's in charge of their barracks and is driving everyone crazy with his incessant demands and constantly blowing his whistle. Slip is more concerned with the Marine who turned up badly beaten after investigating a corrupt casino in town. He and the others have to figure out what the owner is up to...and how to get his female cohort out of Sach's bed, where she's hiding.

And I salute the veterans of all wars on this Veteran's Day, including the one in my life - my father Bruce was in the Vietnam War.

Saluting Our Troops

Began the morning with the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. Veteran's Day began as Armstice Day after World War I. It goes without saying that all the material revolves around that devastating conflict. Read the sad short story The Singing Tree by Kate Seredy, about soldiers who discover a live apple tree on an otherwise ruined battlefield filled with birds who lost their homes. There were also two poems, one of which was the famous "In Flanders Fields."

Tossed in the material from Book Week since I had a little extra time. My favorite piece here was a segment from All-Of-a-Kind-Family on what happens when one of the girls loses a library book and her kindly young librarian helps her figure out how to pay for it. There was also a cute story about a little boy who is determined to learn to write his name, so he can get his library card and take out a book.

Cleaned the kitchen after breakfast. The kitchen really needed to be scrubbed. I've been eating at home a lot more than usual, mostly because I can't afford to eat out. The sink in particular was bad. Not to mention, I'm still clearing out the last remains of that mouse I caught last month.

Ran the Donald Duck In the Army shorts while I ate and cleaned. World War II propelled Donald ahead of Mickey Mouse and Goofy to make him Disney's number one short subjects star. He made more wartime shorts than any other Disney character, starting with "Donald Gets Drafted." Swayed by recruiting poster who makes being in the Army look like a great way to meet women, Donald signs up for the Service. He wants to be a glamorous pilot, but ends up as a foot soldier standing on anthills while Sargent Pete barks orders. He's still trying to get in the air in "Sky Trooper." After he fails his test, Pete does send Donald up...as a paratrooper! Donald not only refuses to jump, but when he does go, he ends up taking Pete with him.

My favorite of the war shorts is "The Vanishing Private." Donald is a camouflage painter charged by Pete with making a cannon "hard to see." He takes his orders literally when he finds an invisibility paint and uses it on the cannon, then himself. Pete ends up chasing "the little man you can's see" all over the base.

"Der Fuhrer's Face" isn't technically a war short, but since it's on the same disc, I usually watch it with the others. Donald has a surreal nightmare that lands him behind an assembly line at a Nazi munitions factory. The strain from their tough regime is enough to make him go crazy, and for Disney to indulge in some of the wildest images this side of The Three Cabelleros.

The remaining shorts are a tad more benign. "Fall Out-Fall In" has a weary Donald struggling with his tent after a long march, then unable to sleep, thanks to the snoring around camp. Huey, Dewey, and Louie make their only appearance in a war short in "Home Defense," as they and Donald keep an eye out for enemy aircraft. Donald scolds the boys for playing a prank, but he's the one who's embarrassed when he mistakes a bee for a bomber. "The Old Army Game" is more disturbing today. Pete chasing Donald around camp after he's gone AWOL may have more violent consequences than either planned. Donald's last Army short was "Commando Duck." He's sent to Japan, where he proceeds to wipe...no, wash...out the enemy.

Did one more Disney short as I got ready for work. Mickey Mouse didn't figure heavily into World War II cartoons, but he did do one war-related short in 1929. "The Barnyard Battle" pits Mickey and the other animals of the farm against a group of Hun cats. Mick goes on to prove that he may be a rubber-hose rodent, but he has what it takes to kick those cats out of the yard for good.

Headed out to work shortly after Mickey ended. It wasn't too bad when I arrived. As it turned out, the head manager initially wanted me there to organize and straighten shelves. A district manager may or may not have been stopping at our store before or after the Eagles game, and she wanted everything to look perfect.

I'd finished Aisle 1 and got half-way down Aisle 2 when the manager came up to me and said they needed me in the registers after break. I wasn't happy about it, but it was only for a hour and a half...and she was right. Not only were we insanely busy by that point, but three cashiers called out and another never showed up for work. At least most people were in a good mood. A few customers gave me a hard time about our online coupon system and the turkey coupons, but everyone else was fine. It moved fast, at any rate.

Took the long way home down Nicholson Road. No wonder all those kids called out. While still chilly, likely in the upper 40's, the raging wind from yesterday had gentled to a breeze and it was bright blue and sunny. The trees have finally turned colors here, gorgeous shades of scarlet, sun yellow, lime green, and sienna brown. It's like riding through a rainbow. The traffic was pretty bad on Nicholson, but it thinned out considerably by the time I made it into Oaklyn.

Swept the porch as soon as I got home. I started doing it yesterday, but it was still too wet from the heavy showers on Friday. The railings Charlie put in are a bit taller. They have a space at the bottom wide enough to allow me to push leaves through.

Did some writing after I put the broom away and changed. Even as Leia leaves, two of the workers in her charity arrive. Turns out they're both old friends of Anakin's. Ahsoka had been his apprentice as a child, but she lost touch with him after leaving Yoda Fezziwig's shop. Captain Rex Fett was an Army officer who had known Anakin in his younger years. Anakin, however, has no desire to renew old acquaintances. He refuses to donate money, siting that he pays for the poor to go to work houses and prisons. Rex and Ahsoka are shocked and disappointed; Luke makes up for it somewhat by giving them some money of his own.

Broke around 6:30 to have leftovers for dinner. Watched one last war cartoon while I ate. While Donald was convinced to join the Army by recruiting posters offering him glamour and a way to meet ladies, The Pink Panther is swayed by the power. He lands in Vietnam without a paddle in "G.I Pink." His fed-up sergeant keeps trying to devise elaborate traps to get him out of his hair, but they always backfire on him.

Called Mom after dinner. Mom's doing all right. She's hoping to return to her much-loved job at as a receptionist and ticket-taker at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry by Monday. She has to. Dad's finances are such a mess, it may be ages before she can figure them out. She may just put the house on the market after the holidays, then see if she can get a place in Wildwood. Oh, and Anny and her family moved into their new house in North Cape May last week. Evidently, it isn't as perfect as she wants, but at least it's much bigger than their old house, which is probably all that matters at this point.

Moved on to Rampage while making Cranberry Flummery. Davis Okoye (Dwayne Johnson) is a former US Army officer who now works tracking down poachers and tending to gorillas in a sanctuary. He has a special relationship with one albino gorilla named George, whom he rescued from poachers. He and his crew are shocked when George begins changing after he's exposed to rays from a meteor that touched down in his habitat. The meteor was actually debris from a spaceship that was carrying a mutagen. It makes George grow in size and aggressiveness, until he begins harming the other animals in the preserve.

He's not the only one, either. The mutagen has also had adverse effects on a gray wolf and an alligator, both of which have quadrupled in size and are running amok, eating and smashing everything in their paths. The company that developed the mutagen is run by a spoiled and greedy young yuppie named Claire (Malin Akerman) and her idiot brother Brett (Jake Lacy). Claire wants to sell the mutagen and the three animals as biological weapons. Kate, a geneticist (Naomi Harris) had tried to call her out on this and was fired and arrested. The FBI, including Special Agent Harvey Russell (Jeffery Dean Morgan), capture George and get him on an airplane. But neither George nor the other mutated critters can be contained, especially after Claire puts out a radio signal in a Chicago skyscraper that will call them to create even more havoc.

I have to admit, I enjoyed this. It's not a masterpiece or trying to reinvent the wheel or anything, but it doesn't need to. It's just big, dumb fun, and that's all it needs to be. The special effects, especially on the animals, is absolutely incredible. I love George, before and after his transformation. Johnson and Harris are also decent as the two scientists in way over their heads...literally...dealing with the massive mutants.

This was a fairly big hit last spring as people waited for Infinity War to come out. If you're in the mood for a big, silly, macho blockbuster, you can do far worse than this one.

Wish the Eagles had a couple of mutant gorillas to get them moving. They played terrible in the first half, and while they did do much better later, it wasn't enough. The Dallas Cowboys finally out-ran them 27-20.

Oh, and I hope all of you had a wonderful Veteran's Day! I'd like to give a special shout-out to the veteran in my life - my dad Bruce was in Vietnam.

Saluting Our Veterans

It was a gorgeous day when I rolled out of bed this morning, sunny and bright, but not nearly as windy as yesterday. In honor of Veteran's Day and the fine weather, I read a few items from Colliers Harvest of Holidays. Veteran's Day began as Armistice Day, the date when World War I ended in 1918. The name didn't change until 1954, in honor of the veterans of the two wars that followed...and all wars.

To that end, two of the three pieces in Colliers was based around the War to End All Wars. The Singing Tree is a touching, almost eerie short story set after a huge battle in France. A group of soldiers stumble around a devastated battlefield, hoping to discover some signs of life. They finally find it in an apple tree that was somehow spared the shelling and is now the home to dozens of different species of birds who had lost their homes. The poems included In Flanders Fields, written by a Canadian officer who died just months before the war ended and frequently memorized by children in North America in the mid-20th century (as my friend Linda Young relates in this essay). 

Since there wasn't much there for Veteran's Day and I had extra time, I added in the material listed for Book Week. My favorite piece there was the funny excerpt from All-of-a-Kind Family, involving middle sister Sarah getting upset over a lost book and how she and her new young librarian figure out how to pay for it. There was also a cute short story by Eleanor Estes about a little boy who wants so badly to take out a book, he works on printing is name and sneaks into the library in the middle of the night to sign his card.

Ran the Donald Duck in the army shorts while eating breakfast. Donald's star was already ascending in the late 1930's, but the war turned him into Disney's top shorts breadwinner. More than lovable Goofy or every-mouse Mickey, Don's brash, noisy persona suited wartime audiences and the propaganda material being churned out in the early 40's. 

The series kicks off with "Donald Gets Drafted." Donald jumps into the army with both webbed feet when he hopes to become a glamorous pilot in the Air Corps. His dreams of the skies evaporate quickly when he's stuck on an ant hole, trying to avoid the stinging residents while Sergeant Pete snarls orders. "Sky Trooper" picks up from where this one leaves off. After a disastrous test, Don does finally get his wish to fly...but not in the way he expects. 

My personal favorite of the Donald in the army shorts is "The Vanishing Private." Donald takes Pete's orders to make a canon "hard to see" literally when he covers it with a special invisibility paint. He finally finds a way to get back at the bossy cat officer when he lands in the paint himself and leads Pete on a merry chase around the base to find "the little man you can't see."

While "Der Fuerher's Face" isn't technically one of the army shorts, it's so brilliant, I usually run it with the others anyway. It won an Oscar for a reason - Donald's surreal Nazi nightmare features some truly imaginative and nightmarish animation. "Fall Out, Fall In" brings us back to more typical turf. All Don wants is dinner and a good night's sleep, but first he can't figure out his tent, then his fellow soldiers' snoring keeps him awake. "The Old Army Game" is more disturbing today. Pete catches Don coming home from a night off the base...but things get really ugly when their fight seems to have more violent consequences. "Commando Duck" is only slightly less scary. Donald's sent to meet with the (stereotyped) Japanese, and proceeds to wipe...no, wash...out the enemy.

It was almost 11:30 when I made it to the Collingswood Farm Market. That didn't give me a lot of time to do this week's produce shopping. Given the cold day and the late hour, I wasn't surprised to see that the crowds were a lot thinner than usual. The sudden cold snap brought the end to a lot of crops, notably tomatoes, and with the market in it's second-to-last week, there's now more craft booths than food booths. There was still some farmers doing business, though most were starting to get ready to go. I just needed small apples, green peppers, and cranberries. 

After having enjoyed yesterday's shopping trip, I thought I'd take a look around downtown Collingswood. There's quite a few new stores there. Oubliette, which sells fancy chocolates, gifts, and stationary items, replaced the Collingswood General Store. There's a new store finally going in where International Market used to be, too.

I browsed in Clutter, Oubliette, and The Candy Jar, but I only bought things from Inner Groove Records and Frugli Consignment. I never fail to find at least one interesting cast album at Inner Groove, and today was no exception. Dug Golden Boy, a 1965 Broadway vehicle for Sammy Davis Jr, out of the dollar record shelves. Also picked up the book-and-record version of Bedknobs and Broomsticks, a retelling of Mickey and the Beanstalk that's probably as close to having a soundtrack that short got, and Ellington Fantasies by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. 

My find at Frugli was a bit more practical. One of the few plus-sized items on the racks was a simple white long-sleeved t-shirt from Old Navy. I'd been meaning to replace my white long-sleeved tee for a while now. The one I got from JC Penney a few years ago was dingy and no longer anything resembling white. It was in such bad shape, I cut it up for dust rags a little later when I got home.

Took the long way back to Oaklyn across Newton Lake Park. Though the air remained chilly, it was otherwise a gorgeous fall day. The bottle green lake sparkled through the last of the fall foliage. The leaves have finally turned into the loveliest shades of gold, pale green, russet, and brick red. I dodged several clusters of high schools taking time off from the many practices going off at Collingswood High's athletic fields across the street.

I took that way back to Oaklyn in order to stop and Dad and Jodie's. Dad-Bruce was in Vietnam, and I wanted to wish him a Happy Veteran's Day. I arrived at a house filled with older women. Jodie had invited a bunch of her buddies over for a group birthday party for several of them, including the hostess herself. (Jodie's birthday is Tuesday.) Frankly, I found their gossip beyond boring and was happier joining Dad in the living room, watching college football. He switched back and forth between local rivalry Penn State and Rutgers and one that he started following when he lived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and South Carolina. 

(Incidentally, the much-better Penn State blew Rutgers out of the Cooper River, 31 to 6. Florida just missed beating South Carolina 28 to 20.)

Rose arrived with Khai and Finley around 3. (Craig had to work at Anthony's, a popular Italian restaurant in Haddon Heights.) Khai wouldn't eat, but he had no problems snitching cookies and soda. He was happier when his buddy Chloe and her mom showed up later. Finley wasn't happy with anyone but her mother. She cried when handed off to anyone else, or when she was taken into the den full of clucking older women hens. I didn't blame her for getting upset. I'm not the biggest fan of crowds myself. She's teething now, which may be another factor. Rose did finally get her to sleep later in a beautiful wooden crib Anny gave her for when she visits the grandparents. 

There was tons and tons of food! One of the women made a delicious macaroni and cheese. Another did deviled eggs. Someone else brought a plate of mini-pumpkin cheesecakes and bags of Pepperidge Farm raspberry and dark chocolate Milanos. Jodie ordered broccoli and pepperoni Stromboli with pizza sauce dip and turkey hoagies from a local deli, along with cole slaw and potato salad. There was a huge bowl of garden salad and plates of shrimp cocktail. sliced salami and cheese, and vegetables and dip. I ended up taking home macaroni, salad, and three hoagies.

Ran a couple of Universal war shorts when I got in. Donald wasn't the only wacky bird to rise to stardom in the early 40's. Woody Woodpecker was the top star at the Walter Lanz Studios by the time "Ace In the Hole" came out in 1942. Like Donald, Woody yearns to become a pilot, but his sergeant has him shaving horses. The nasty officer is in for a big surprise when Woody does finally take to the skies.

"21 Dollars a Day (Once a Month)" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" spoof the peacetime draft. The former has a toy "army" (including cameos from Woody and Andy Panda) performing the title song. "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" is more-or-less the same thing, this time with black stereotypes replacing the toys as a famous trumpeter gets his barracks jitterbugging with his swinging reveille. (As offensive as the stereotypes are in this short, it does have a really awesome version of the title song, and it's one of the few cartoons to depict minorities in the military.)

"Pigeon Patrol" is the most typical of the Lanz war shorts. Homer Pigeon wants to join the carrier pigeon squadron, but he's a skinny country bumpkin who can barely fly. He gets his chance to prove his mettle when he finds a downed flyer and offers to deliver his important papers past a nasty caricatured Japanese vulture. 

Worked on writing for a while after the shorts ended. Leia once again finds herself in the dream world, dressed in an elaborate red velvet gown worthy of the French court. The King appears, also dressed in finery, but still hiding in the shadows. She knows whom he reminds her of, but wishes he could step out of the darkness. As she talks to him, telling him of how she'd once saved her husband Han from an evil magician who turned him into a statue, she hears giggles and rustling in the bushes...

I'd eaten so much at Jodie's house, I took my shower before I ate dinner. Had a little bit of salad and last week's macaroni salad, along with yogurt. Did two final animated shorts while I ate. Mickey Mouse didn't really figure into many World War II shorts, but he did do a war-related cartoon in 1929, "The Barnyard Battle." Mick may be a skinny rubber hose mouse, but he has no trouble kicking the rears of the Hun-like cats who threaten the farm.

The Pink Panther has less luck in the Vietnam War in "G.I Pink." While Donald was swayed by the glamour of war, Pink is swayed by the power. He doesn't do much better than Don did. Cranky drill sergeants, impossible obstacle courses, hard-to-find land mines, and growling company mascots make him wish he'd just stayed home. 

Finished the night with the original animated Disney Beauty and the Beast. As much as I enjoyed the live-action version of this story, the original will always have a place in my heart. A French peasant girl (Page O'Hara) finds herself the prisoner of a seemingly ferocious beast (Robby Benson) in an enchanted castle filled with talking furniture. Belle's angry with him at first, and he's a spoiled jerk who can't control his temper. As the months continue, they finally grow to respect one another, until it looks something like love. The Beast reluctantly lets Belle go when her father Maurice is accused of being crazy by the handsome-but-obnoxious Gaston, who wants to marry her. Now Belle has to race to her beloved Beast's rescue, before Gaston and the townspeople destroy the castle and all who live within.

This might be better for slightly younger kids; there's a little bit less violence than the current live-action version, and it's shorter and more colorful. It's still one of my favorite Disney movies, and one of my favorite retellings of this tale. 

Saluting Our Veterans

This is the first day in ages I've been off with no real plans. Decided to get some things done at home, starting with the cleaning. I gave the kitchen a quick scrub, then vacuumed and washed the windows. I'll do heavier cleaning at the end of the month, after Thanksgiving. Wanted to scrub the one window that was holding an air conditioner for ten years again. Even after washing it yesterday, it still came up black.

Ran more war-oriented shorts as I cleaned. Mickey Mouse didn't figure heavily into World War II-era cartoons, but he did do one war-related short in the late 20's. Mickey finds himself caught up in "The Barnyard Battle" that pits Hun-like cats against other farm animals. Mickey may be a skinny rubber-hose mouse, but he still has no problem taking on the enemy and winning.

Donald Duck replaced Mickey as Disney's biggest animated shorts star in the early 40's. His brash temper was more in line with the times than Mick's every-mouse persona. It was probably inevitable that he would appear in the most wartime shorts of any Disney character. "Donald Gets Drafted" and "Sky Trooper" tell how Donald is swayed by the glamour of recruiting posters and the desire to fly...and finds himself tussling with Sargent Pete. "Der Fuehrer's Face" takes Don into a surreal nightmare that has him working at a Nazi factory, then going crazy. "Fall Out, Fall In" has an exhausted Don wrestling with his tent, then trying to ignore his snoring fellow privates. Donald and his nephews are trying to spot air craft but end up attacking a bee, in "Home Defense." "Commando Duck" takes him into the heart of Japan to wipe...no, wash...out the enemy.

My personal favorite of Donald's war shorts is the hilarious "The Vanishing Private." Donald is supposed to be camouflaging a new cannon. He finds "invisible paint" and proceeds to take Pete's orders to make the cannon "hard to see" literally. When Pete accidentally lands him in the paint, he takes advantage of his situation to drive Pete up the wall.

Tom & Jerry's only war-related short was their first Oscar-winner, "The Yankee Doodle Mouse." The duo get some explosive results when they take their usual antics to a fireworks factory!

The Pink Panther lands in the Vietnam War-era army without a paddle in "G.I Pink." By the late 1960's, the Armed Forces recruitment posters had apparently gone from offering glamour to offering power. Pink gets neither when he joins the army, and ends up dealing with land mines, cranky drill sargents, crankier mascots, and wild obstacle courses.

Did a couple of Three Stooges shorts while having leftovers for lunch. "Higher Than a Kite" has the trio on the run when they accidentally destroy a top military officer's plane. They hide in what turns out to be a bomb and literally drop in on the enemy. Larry dresses in drag and the other two as officers to get the goods on the Nazis.

They're "Dizzy Pilots" when they create their own plane in order to avoid being drafted. They have a far easier time getting Moe in the air than keeping the plane there.

Did some writing for the next couple of hours. Rey and Ben's friends are arriving. Poe Dameron brings Rey an adorable calico kitten he's named Bee Bee 8. (She's the eighth kitten in her litter.) Jess and Snap give her a book on machines. Kaydel gives her a fashionable brown velvet cloak. Hux and Ben are more interested in impressing the attractive Gwen Phasma, the chief of police's intimidating daughter.

Broke at quarter after 4 to stretch my legs and talk to a few family members. Called Cape May County to confirm Thanksgiving; got Dad-Bill. He seems to be fine now. He was eating popcorn and watching TV.

Went for a bike ride next. I stopped at Dad-Bruce's house to wish him a happy Veteran's Day (he was in Vietnam), but no one was home there. Ended up just riding around, enjoying the day. Stopped at the little playground in one of the neighborhoods to enjoy the view. The trees are finally looking like fall, all pale green and gold and bright red. It was windy, but sunny, with a bright blue sky. The air had that crisp wood smoke smell it gets in fall and winter.

Got in around 5:30. Had tuna salad on a bed of Boston lettuce and pasta tossed in Parmesan cheese and herbs for dinner while watching one of the four Bowery Boys armed services comedies. Here Comes the Marines is the only one of the four where they get into the Services normally - they're all drafted. When Sach discovers that the general who is in charge of their barracks knew his father, he takes advantage of the relationship to get more promotions than the others. He ends up in charge...and driving all of his men, including his friends, crazy. Meanwhile, Slip discovers a badly beaten Marine lying in a ditch, a playing card laying next to him. When Sach ends up losing his money at a shady casino, Slip wonders if there might be a connection.

Tried something new for dessert while Marines was finishing. Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book has a couple of recipes for pudding cakes that I've always wanted to try. Hot Fudge Pudding Cake was the simplest. I was going to replace the melted shortening with canola oil and forgot, so my cake came out a bit lumpy. Next time, I may also lower the sugar content. It has a cup of white sugar in the batter and several tablespoons of brown sugar in the topping! Tasty, but a bit too sweet. Also, it says that it needs to cook for 45 minutes. Maybe ovens were slower in 1950. It started burning at 35. Thankfully, it being a little burnt didn't affect the taste. It was delicious, even without the canola oil. I'll definitely try it again, and maybe some of the other pudding cake recipes they have listed.

Did some Lego Star Wars next. Finished out "Secret Plans" and the last Bonus Room. Couldn't get that last piece on "Speeder Showdown." Had more luck with "Battle of Hoth." Got True Jedi, the red brick, and all but one piece there.

Ended my night with the last five episodes of She-Ra on the disc. The remaining episodes on the series added segments with Loo-Kee, a little rainbow-colored creature who hides in every episode, then relates the moral of the day. This was annoying in every 80's cartoon it was done in. Loo-Kee's grating voice doesn't help matters.

Some of the episodes here were pretty interesting. "The Sea Hawk" is a handsome, Han Solo-like pirate who will work for anyone who pays him, including the Horde. He's forced to give up Princess Adora when Catra attacks him and threatens his ship. His first mate talks him into going after them, reminding him that, yes, they have their ship, but at what price their freedom?

I actually remember "The Missing Ax" from my childhood. Two boys lie when they lose their father's ax and say a man stole it. Bow goes after it, only to be captured by the Horde. She-Ra rescues him and teaches the boys a lesson in trust.

"The Red Knight" is a man in bright crimson armor who constantly comes to the aid of Etherians and the Rebels. Bow's upset when he bests him in a race...but then his friends are captured, and She-Ra reminds him that there's no one better with a bow and arrow. Interesting that the Knight never reveals his true identity...and Queen Angella seems to recognize his voice...

And I salute all the veterans in my life today, including Dad-Bruce (Vietnam), my late Uncle Ken (World War II), and two who are in the Navy now, my friend Jen Waters and my brother Keefe Jackman.

Oh, and I came up with an idea. I haven't taken my third vacation week yet. I was going to wait until February or March...but I need that extra money now. I think I'll take it either the week after Thanksgiving, or the week after that. We're usually pretty quiet after Thanksgiving and before the Christmas baking season kicks in, plus I'm supposed to meet Amanda on the 6th.

Veteran's Day Adventures

Charlie's cursing downstairs woke me up at 7:30. I went back to sleep for another two hours. When I got up for good, I read a few chapters of Return of the Jedi, then did a short story and two poems for Veteran's Day from the Collier's Book of Holidays. The short was The Singing Tree, by Kate Seredy. One of the poems was In Flanders Fields. There's also photo of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

I did the Donald Duck in the Army shorts as I had breakfast. From 1942 to 1944, Donald appeared in a series of cartoons that mostly had  him dealing with daily life in the barracks. Donald jumps into the army with both webbed feet in "Donald Gets Drafted." He quickly discovers that army life isn't as glamorous as the recruiting posters make it seem when Pete demands he stand at attention over an ant hill! "Sky Trooper" is a follow-up to this. Donald does make it into the air...as a paratrooper, much to his shock! He's "The Vanishing Private" when he uses a new invisibility paint to make himself disappear before Pete can get him. "Fall Out, Fall In" has Donald marching with his troop. He's tired and he wants dinner, but first he has to set up his tent, then he has to try to sleep with all his fellow soldiers' snoring! Donald is "Commando Duck" on his first big assignment to contact the (heavily stereotyped) Japanese agents. He ends up wiping...no, washing...out the enemy.

The most famous of the Donald wartime shorts, and the only one to win an Oscar, was the infamous "Der Fuehrer's Face." Donald finds himself in a surreal nightmare where he's a worker in Nazi Germany, forced to eat wooden bread and make bombs until he's exhausted. Things get really crazy when the foremen demand more and more shells, and Donald finally cracks! I do have fond memories of seeing this on the Disney Channel from time to time as a child, usually on a night show like Mouserpiece Theater where the context could be explained. (And I think they usually cut the ending with the tomato at Hitler and several of the nastier racial stereotypes. I believe I've never seen this short intact until I bought the Treasures DVD set.)

Headed out around quarter after 12 to Collinsgswood for volunteering (making a very short stop first to see if Studio LuLoo was open - they were not). It was a chilly day, though not too cold, probably in the lower 60's. The sun kept playing peek-a-boo behind thick, heavy clouds all day long. It certainly felt like fall as I cut across the development on Park Avenue, across from the park and community pool in Westmont.

I'd just about come out of the development when I heard it. A loud POP! sounded through the development. I felt the back tire go flat. What?! But Richard had just fixed it a month ago! I was so upset. It was a good thing I did leave early. My appointment wasn't until 2. I at least had time to get it fixed. Thankfully, a young lady who was about to take her truck to work on King's Highway gave me a lift to the bike shop.

Thank heavens the shop was open. It turns out Richard hadn't put the tire on properly either when he fixed the wobbly back wheel or when he originally put them on after he found the bike for me. The valve in the inner tube had been rubbing against the tire...and they both finally gave. I ended up having to replace the tire and the inner tube. (I just hope the front one is in better shape. I do have a spare inner tube, but not a spare tire.)

Had lunch at the Bistro after the bike was fixed. The lunch hour was just winding down when I got in around quarter after 1. I had their version of "the Gobbler," the Turkey DeBrie. No stuffing, but it did have real sliced turkey on toasted marble rye with cranberry sauce and melted brie. It was very tasty. It came with crunchy fries and an excellent but tiny cup of cole slaw.

It was getting late. Though I window-shopped a bit, checking out the book sale at the small storefront Haddonfield Library (their main branch is in the midst of major remodeling) and taking a look in a new book store and around The Happy Hippo Toy Store, I finally just went to counseling ten minutes early. I looked at books until Mrs. Stahl was ready.

I told Mrs. Stahl about my vacation and the fun we had and the towns we visited, my (mostly) wonderful Halloween, the slow but sure progress on my story, Charlie's continuing (and noisy) work on the house, and my lack of hours. This happened last year at work, too. They cut our hours in the weeks before Thanksgiving, then wondered why they had long lines and cranky customers during busy times. We discussed my plans for Thanksgiving and what I usually do for Christmas - baking and a little shopping. The latter is mostly for my nephews and niece (who don't need a ton of sugar), Jessa (who can make her own cookies), and Lauren and Amanda (who come from small families and don't have a lot of people giving them presents).

We also went into all the trouble I've had at work lately. I just get so scared and nervous when I make a mistake or things get crazy. That's why I do things like give customers back their money. I just panic when things go wrong or there's tons of people all demanding things at once. I don't know what to say or do, and I feel so horribly guilty for all the trouble!

She suggest that I write a short story about a young woman who is also getting scared at a job she hates and is feeling bad about it. I actually did start something like that and have other stories in mind, but either didn't write them or never finished. I'll have plenty of time to do it. I don't do counseling in December. I have too much going on during the holidays as it is. I won't see Mrs. Stahl again until early January.

Since it was getting chillier by 3 PM, I decided to forgo the water ice and get a treat at the Westmont Acme instead. The Acme's having a big sale on Domino's sugar and Nestle's chocolate chips. I was almost out of sugar and figured I might as well stock up on chocolate chips for Christmas baking while I can. I bought one of the large dollar packs of Fig Newton-style fruit bars (peach apricot) for my snack.

Cut across Newton Lake Park on the way home. They were very busy despite the chill. Kids rode home from school. Haddon Township High School's girl's track team practiced. People walked their dogs and pushed their toddlers in strollers. The park is awash in color now, all reds and yellow-greens and golds. The algae is long gone, replaced by a glassy green waterway.

When I finally got home, I went right into writing. Jeff meets Betty, Mackie, and the others at Port Harbor's big Summer Festival. They're setting up an outdoor stage in the park to perform for royalty, including Hilary and Jeff, and win enough money to continue their journey. Betty's nervous about having her brand-new play performed before royalty. The others assure her they'll be fine.

Hilary isn't so sure. She's not in any hurry to see some traveling group perform a play she's never heard of. She doesn't agree to it until Jeff tells her Betty is a Guardian and a Light Magician. While Hilary has spent the last few years trying to avoid any involvement with magic, she does want to find out more about this girl. (Especially if Jeff has any interest in her.)

I got up to stretch and have leftover Chicken-Vegetable Soup around 7. Made Ally's "Snappy" Ginger Snaps while finishing out the wartime shorts. Bugs and Daffy headlines my favorites of the Looney Tunes wartime tales. "Super Rabbit" has Bugs spoofing the World War II superhero craze when a carrot turns him into an invulnerable critter. He continuously outwits a rabbit-hating cowboy, but when push comes to shove, he turns into another kind of hero - a Marines officer. Unlike Donald, Daffy wants nothing to do with the army in "Draftee Daffy." He'll do anything to avoid that pesky "Little Man From the Draft Board." "Falling Hare" is one of the few times Bugs deals with an antagonist who gives as good as they get. He has to stop a gremlin from sabotaging planes, before they get out of that free fall!

Though laid-back Mickey Mouse didn't figure into many World War II shorts, he did do one war-oriented cartoon in 1929. "The Barnyard Battle" has him joining the army to fight a group of Hun-like cats. He may be a skinny rubber-hose mouse, but that won't stop him from giving the enemy a lickin'!

The Pink Panther was one of the few major cartoon characters to take part in the Vietnam War in "G.I Pink." He's also been swayed by recruiting posters, but he's expecting power, not glamour. Like Donald, he gets quite an eye-opener when he finds himself dodging land mines, avoiding obstacle courses, and constantly getting his commanding officer in trouble with the company mascot and the other officers.

Did two quick fantasy-oriented cartoons while cleaning up from the cookies. Little Audrey did a couple of Silly Symphony-style tales that had her wandering through a fantasy land and helping the characters who live there. "Goofy Goofy Gander" shows Audrey that Mother Goose can be a pretty hip gal when she has to save Mother Goose Land from the two gangsters in her comic book. "Tarts and Flowers" has her helping to rescue Angel Cake from the evil Devil's Food Cake and return her to her Gingerbread Boy sweetheart.

And I honor all those who served and fought for our country on this Veteran's Day, including my own dad Bruce (Vietnam), my late uncle Ken (World War II), and two who are out there now in the Navy, my brother Keefe Jackman and my friend Jen Waters.

Salute the Troops

First of all, I honor all the men and women who have served in our Armed Forces on this Veteran's Day. This includes my biological father Bruce (Vietnam), my late uncle Ken (World War II), and two who are currently serving in the Navy, my brother Keefe and my friend Jen Waters.

It was still sunny when I got up this morning, not to mention more humid and even warmer than yesterday. I celebrated nice weather and Veteran's Day by starting the day with the Donald Duck In the Army shorts. These cartoons were released from 1942 to 1944, when the US was in the thick of World War II. Donald became Disney's number one short subject star during this time. Like Woody, Daffy, and Bugs, his brash temper was more in tune with the spirit of the era than the toned-down one Mickey Mouse was using by then.

The series kicks off with "Donald Gets Drafted," which is what the title implies. Donald finds himself in the Army without a paddle, and with Sargent Pete yelling at him for being the smallest guy around. But what Don really wants to do is become a pilot. He does finally get in the air in "Sky Trooper," but he's shocked when he finds himself in the parachute brigade! He finds a way to get even with Pete in "The Vanishing Private." He discovers camouflage paint to use for a cannon, but ends up using it on himself when Pete thinks the cannon is missing.

Mickey didn't figure too much into World War II shorts, but he did make one war-oriented short early in his career. "The Barnyard Battle" pits skinny rubber-hose Mickey against a platoon of huge Hun cats! Scrappy Mickey figures out how to use farmyard items to make this a much fairer fight.

The Pink Panther was one of the few characters of the 60s to land in Vietnam in "G.I Pink." Cranky drill sergeants, crankier mascots, and land mine filled fields make him wish he'd just stayed home. His commanding officer gets so fed up, he sends him off to the Navy instead!

I hit the laundromat after Pink ended. Needless to say, it was busy on what is a holiday off for most people. I didn't mean to sound rude to the older lady who asked me how much the larger washers cost. I really don't know. I guess I emphasized this a bit too much. She got all offended. I don't mean to offend people. Thankfully, I had a very small load. I was in and out in less than an hour.

When I got home, I put away my clothes, then made a nice lunch of leftovers at home for once while continuing the war theme. The Three Stooges also saw their popularity rise during the violence-loving war years. They inadvertently round up a group of Nazi spies while fixing their doorbell in "They Stooge to Conga." They're "Back to the Front" when they find themselves stranded on a Nazi war ship and have to don creative disguises to save their hides. They go "Higher Than a Kite" when they escape an irate officer in a missile and end up capturing the enemy. A trio of "Dizzy Pilots" want to create a home-made plane that'll keep them from getting drafted. They have more luck getting Moe in the air than the plane.

I headed back out after lunch to do chores and errands. First up was sweeping the porch. It had clouded over by that time, though it remained warm. The wind picked up, too. For every pile of leaves I swept, another seemed to quickly replace it. I finally gave up and went downstairs.

I was originally going to rake the side path today, but I couldn't find the old rake. My neighbor's son was working on fixing the path leading to the front apartment. He said it was broken, so he got rid of it. Great! That rake should have been tossed years ago. However, he hadn't replaced it, and couldn't find a rake at his parents' house. I finally gave up waiting, decided I'd rake tomorrow, and headed out.

I wanted to go to Rite Aid yesterday, but I ran out of time. I mostly just needed shaving lotion. I also started my Christmas shopping. Grabbed presents for my friends Lauren and Amanda. Lauren's big present this year will be cookies. She'll only be getting a few small items. Amanda, however, isn't really into food. I'll be looking for more for her.

I stopped at WaWa on the way home. I was out of skim milk. I picked up a pretzel and one of those tasty Sparkling Ice sparkling waters (Black Raspberry) as a snack while I was there.

When I got home, I made Ginger Cookies while running Clipped Wings. The fourth and final Bowery Boys Armed Services-themed comedy puts Sach and Slip in the Air Force, this time without the aid of their usual crew. They were originally there to help a friend out of jail. One wrong turn later, and they find themselves signed up as recruits. While Slip cleans his way through the barracks, Sach somehow finds himself assigned to the women's quarters and drives his female sergeant crazy. When their friend is captured by spies, they go after him in a plane that they can't seem to control.

Made baked salmon with roasted Brussels sprouts for dinner while watching The Corsican Brothers. This 1941 adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas book tells the story of two Siamese twin brothers (both played by Douglas Fairbanks Sr.) who are separated at birth when their parents are killed by an evil baron who wants to rule Corsica. Mario is taken to Paris, where he becomes a dandy. Lucian remains in Corsica and becomes a rough-riding bandit...but he has visions of a young man in splendid surroundings who looks just like him. When the brothers finally meet each other, Mario joins Lucien as a bandit to avenge their parents and restore their family name. They start to question their vows when they fall for a beautiful countess (Ruth Warrick) whom the Baron wants for his bride.

Pretty standard stuff with surprisingly well-done special effects for 1941 - you really do believe Fairbanks is two different men who share a psychic bond. Fairbanks has a blast with the derring-do, especially as the somewhat foppish Mario. Most copies currently available (including the one I dubbed) have been colorized, but that actually works pretty well with the story. Recommended if you can find it for fans of swashbucklers and old-fashioned action.