Tales of a Rainy Day

Began the morning with breakfast and He-Man. "Evil-Lynn's Plot" is to turn herself into a sweet young woman to trick the elf-like residents of Widget into giving up their Cordite mineral. Skeletor wants to make a sword that's even more powerful than He-Man's. The Widgets learn a lesson about not believing everything you see when they end up being the ones who help He-Man out after Evil-Lynn reveals her true intentions.

Took down the summer decorations and put up the fall decorations while the cartoon finished. Not only is today the first day of fall, but for once, it feels like it. It was cloudy and rainy and barely in the 60's. The stuffed owl with the book and the candy corn candles and the stuffed pumpkins and apples and raffia bow wreath and wooden leaf, pumpkin, and acorn hanging went up today. The Halloween decorations will go out in about two weeks. 

Spent the rest of the morning looking up the basics on Habit for Humanity and finishing yesterday's blog entry. On one hand, I wasn't looking to have a home built for me, but they apparently do build condos, too, and they can help with finding homes for low-income families. I'll do further research on this and the waiting lists when I get back from vacation.

Listened to CDs and cassettes while I worked. 20 #1 Hits of the '20's does feature a few songs that are still well-known today, like "St. Louis Blues" by Marion Harris, "Singin' In the Rain" performed by Cliff Edwards, and Van & Schenck turning "Ain't We Got Fun?" into a comedy novelty number. Others here are far more obscure. "Charmaine" is a graceful waltz from the rowdy silent comedy What Price Glory. Eddie Cantor has fun with "No, No Nora," while Al Jolson brays about his "Swanee." The patter from "Two Black Crows" has dated far less well today.

Switched to Let's Pretend while eating a quick chicken-Swiss wrap for lunch. "Faithful John" is a servant tasked with keeping watch over the handsome young prince in his care. He discovers a conspiracy to kill the king, but can't tell him why he has to shoot a horse or remove drops of blood from his wife, or he'll turn to stone. The fairy who cast the stone spell claims the prince can only free John by killing his own son. Fortunately, just threatening the child here is enough to release John. In the actual fairy tale, the prince does kill his children and use their blood to free John, but John returns them to life. 

"The Little Mermaid" is probably the least-changed of the stories I listened to today. It's pretty much the story as Hans Christian Anderson wrote it, up to and including the dark ending where the mermaid dies and comes back as a spirit. "Why the Sea Is Salty" is more obscure today, and a lot more fun. A young peasant brings a salt grinder out of the sea, but is delighted to discover it can grind a lot more than rocks when it creates instant wealth for him and his wife. His greedy brother buys it, but can't control it. Nor can the captain who also buys it, but creates so much salt, it goes into the sea...

"The Elves and the Shoemaker" is the most changed. The original story is just a poor shoemaker who is helped by elves who make shoes he can sell. Some versions of the story do give the shoemaker a wife. Here, he has a wife, a son, and a pretty daughter. The last is coveted by the miserly old man who owns the store and will throw them out if she doesn't marry him. Of course, the person who bought the most shoes from the Shoemaker just happens to be the head of the town. 

I hurried out at around 2:25. It rained for most of the morning, but the rain was long gone by 2 PM. It was cloudy and cool, but not raining. I figured I was all right to take the bike to Thomas Sharp. Maybe it's just as well that we only had 16 younger kids today, 5 in my group. It started raining harder while they were eating their snacks. There could be no thought of anyone at any age going outside. 

Things did get noisy when the older kids came in the cafeteria to eat their own snacks. By the time we left, the head teacher settled the kids down with an art project. She cut out paper ice cream scoops, cones, bowls, cherries, and whipped cream topping and glued them to sheets of construction paper. The kids could decorate them however they wanted. One girl went with a rainbow sherbet cone. Another did what she called her "Superman cone," a red cone with blue and red ice cream scoops and a red cherry. When I didn't admire artwork and sharpen colored pencils, I built apartment buildings and space stations with the boys at the magnetic tile tables. By the time I left, there were only two girls and a boy remaining, and one of the girls went when I did. 

Thank heavens it wasn't raining when I got back out, even though my bike was soaked. Given it was still cloudy, cool, and humid, I went straight home. Hit the shower when I got in, then had dinner while watching Match Game '76. Most of tonight finished out the week with Susan Sullivan and Gary Burghoff. By the end of the night, they'd skipped ahead slightly again as everyone welcomed Orson Bean back to the show. 

Finished the night with a more recent episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Emily became the first female host to interact with the 'bots as they tried to figure out the treasure-hunt adventure film Beyond Atlantis. This story of boat owner Vic (Patrick Wayne) who has to deal with sleazy hustlers and falls for an anthropologist Dr. Katherine Vernon (Lenore Stevens) while searching for massive pearls around a remote island is both creepy and pretty darn dumb. The only normal-looking humans on the island are of course the king (George Nader) and his gorgeous daughter Syrene (Leigh Christian), whom he wants to produce an heir who is a heck of a lot more attractive the the bug-eyed, in-bred inhabitants of the island. She chooses Vic, but despite her grabbing him and doing things in coral underwater, he's already in love with Katherine. The rest of the gritters just care about the enormous pearls they've dragged up from the sea.

Um, yeah. On one hand, this does have its fun points, including them looking for pearls and just how tough East Eddie (Sid Haig) is. There's also some pretty decent cinematography on and around the island, when they're on land. All that swimming underwater looks murky and dull, and likely was there because underwater photography was still pretty new in 1973. Wayne and live wire Haig are the only people who come off as even remotely interesting. The ping-pong-eyed natives are more likely to give you nightmares than make you long for the wonders of the South Seas, the sets are minimal, the story silly and cliched. Honestly, it's for aficionados of bad B-action and horror films and major camp lovers only. 

(Oh, and to my knowledge, the rain has not returned since I got home. It's stayed cloudy, windy, and cool the rest of the night.)

Almost Live From Oaklyn

Got a quick start today with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel and Miss Elania Put Their Things Away" when they want to go outside and play, but Elania can't find her mitten. When they come back inside, Dan can't find his toy trolley. They learn that if they put their things away where they belong, they'll be there when they need them. Likewise, "Daniel and Prince Wednesday Put Their Things Away" when Wednesday leaves the book Prince Tuesday made him outside and it gets wet.

Spent the rest of the afternoon taking down the spring decorations and putting up what I have for summer and the 4th of July. The folk art "USA" wooden angel letters, white fabric rose, and red, white, and blue tinsel garland went on the entertainment center. America Cares Bear (aka Americana Bear) went on the top of the DVD shelf with Simone the Squishmallows Lobster. The patriotic Beanie Bears sit with the other bears on top of the record crates. The new thicker bright blue tinsel garland and two of the cardboard cutouts went on and over the bedroom window. The stuffed summer flamingos and flag panting went on the children's hardbacks shelf. Hung the glittering beaded fish on the closet door. The two big red, white, and blue ribbons went on the front door and bedroom door. 

Watched cult mysteries from England and Australia while I worked and had lunch, starting with The Persuaders! "The Long Goodbye" takes Brett and Danny to Scotland, where they discover a recently-deceased scientist's formula for a cheap synthetic fuel is missing. While Danny keeps ending up in the clutches of a group that's after the fuel, Britt tries to figure out which lovely lady is the real heir to the formula.

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries jumps overseas to Australia and from the 1970's to the 1920's for "The Green Mill Murder." Phryne Fisher is dancing at the local nightclub The Green Mill when one of the dancers dies on the floor. The sweet young man she was dancing with is accused of the crime. Turns out the victim was blackmailing just about every single person at the club, from the young man to his mother to the club's singer and her musician husband. Phyrne and her assistant Dot have to figure out who was fed up enough with the blackmail to kill over it.

Headed to Thomas Sharp School after the shows ended. Thankfully, despite a chaotic beginning in the library, things didn't go too badly. We only had 21 kids overall, 8 in my group. Other than the girls being annoyingly giggly in the bathrooms, there weren't any major problems. I think part of the reason may have been many of them got new books they bought during their big Read-a-Thon last month. I read a book about a boy who turns into a wolf in the full moon when he wears woolly underwear and another about a young girl who outwits a troll in order to save her family's farm to a couple of the kids after snack time.

They went even better outside, maybe because it was a gorgeous day. It was sunny, breezy, and in the mid-80's, not bad for early June. I didn't even have that many problems with the kids on the swings. They got into line and only fussed a little when they had to get off. The others chased each other, built mulch piles, and danced to "I'm Still Standing," "Footloose," "Pup Pup Boogie" from Paw Patrol, the theme from PJ Masks, and songs from Moana and Sing. We just took the remaining 5 kids inside to make beaded necklaces when I went home.

Took out the trash, grabbed dinner, and watched Match Game '74 when I got in. The first hour finished out the Gunilla Hutton-Richard Deacon week. The second introduced Jimmie Walker to the show and brought in sweet blonde character actress Lynda Day George and comedienne Kaye Stevens of the infamously noisy laugh. Kaye was so enamored with one handsome contestant, she literally jumped on the turntable to see him after he lost!

Finished the night at YouTube and Dailymotion with episodes of The Gong Show, which celebrates it's 50th anniversary on Sunday. Chuck Barris developed the most outrageous amateur show on TV as a spoof, with acts both talented and utterly terrible appearing side-by-side. Genuine celebrities judge the performers. If they're good (or mildly decent), they can get up to 10 points per panelists. If they're really terrible (and many were), one or more celebrities hit the gong and, thankfully, end the misery. Winners get a check for $500 and a Gong Show trophy. 

Chuck Barris had never intended to be the host, but after Gary Owens dropped out of the pilot and John Babour wanted a straight amateur format, he took over. He was a little stiff at first, but by the end of the first season, he'd warmed up to the point where he might have been the craziest performer on the show. He's fun even in the very first episode I have here. 

The Gong Show proved to be a little too provocative for network TV. Acts like the two teenagers who suggestively lick popsicles in an infamous episode from 1977 led to them being pulled off NBC by 1978. The show did better in syndication, where the wacky acts weren't any stranger than some of the people being interviewed on talk shows or seen in re-runs. The syndicated Gong Show ran until Barris finally overextended himself with the controversial 3's a Crowd and all of his shows were yanked in 1980. 

Re-runs of the The Gong Show proved to be so popular in syndication, the show returned there in 1988. It was pretty much the same idea, with a neon set and slightly better acts. The lady who could do truly amazing things with hula hoops wins for best act of the episodes I watched tonight, though the honky-tonk piano player was pretty awesome, too. DJ Don Blu proved to be slightly too bland for such a nutty show.

Game Show Network debuted Extreme Gong in 1998. The celebrity panel was replaced by viewers calling in to vote for their favorite act...which proved to be unwieldy and annoying. In fact, only one act, a decent guy with a guitar, made it to the end of the first episode. Extreme Gong was also hampered by an ugly gray set that was likely meant to be someone's ancient living room and by very annoying and hyperactive host George Gray. It barely lasted a year.

The show had a better home on Comedy Central in 2008 as The Gong Show With Dave Atwill. The neon and celebrity panel return, but this time, they give them a score of 1 to 500. Atwill was easier to take than Gray and there were some good acts, but it wasn't funny enough to last longer than a few months.

The most recent incarnation of The Gong Show turned up as a summer replacement on ABC in 2017 and 2018. Mike Myers, in his Tommy Maitland persona, was the far more appropriate host. This version not only went back to the original scoring system, it also went back to the original orange set and blocky lettering. With standards changing, even men playing the stomach of a sumo wrestler and a magician pulling a rabbit out of his stomach made it in. They weren't even gonged. It was still a lot of fun, though not enough to last longer than two seasons. 

Celebrate 50 years of the most controversial, the most outrageous, and the most unique performances ever on the air (and that's just the hosts) in the wackiest talent show to ever feature ordinary folks who dared to call themselves "amateur."

The Gong Show Premiere (1976)

The Gong Show (1977)

The Gong Show Syndicated (1988)

Extreme Gong Premiere (1998)

The Gong Show With David Atwill (2008)

The Gong Show (2017)

Look to the Paper Rainbows

Began the morning with breakfast and Pac Man. Pac Man believes he has "A Bad Case of the Chomps" after he's chomped the ghosts one too many times. The ghosts follow him to the hospital, hoping to keep him thinking he can't chomp them. The Pac Family goes "Goo Goo at the Zoo" when Pac Baby first befriends a baby gorilla, then frees all of the animals.

One again, I called Uber early...and once again, I had no trouble getting a ride. The driver arrived in 7 minutes. There was only a little traffic around the corner of Collings and the White Horse Pike, nothing major. I even saw classes of older kids trooping back from seeing the Collingswood High Schoolers perform Mamma Mia! at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, including a few of the ones in the after-school program. In fact, I arrived first and got all of the toys out for the kids well before the other teachers and assistants arrived.

Good thing I did. We had 24 kids today, 9 at my table. The ones at my table cleaned up pretty well, but they were kind of wild in the bathrooms. (I did get lovely hugs from a boy and a girl while we were waiting for the last kid.) They were much crazier after lunch. Boys threw Duplos and wouldn't clean up their towers when they fell, and the kids coloring on the papers taped to the tables just ended up arguing over them. Two of the girls ran around and screamed so much, they had to be put in time out.

Thankfully, the library was open today. We were able to move the kids there for a really cute art project. The head teacher already cut out black construction paper "pots." We glued them onto white paper, then gave the kids "dot" markers that make dots when you press them. They made rainbows coming out of the pots with the markers and glitter glue...or at least, that was the idea. Some of them did rainbows. Two of the boys just smeared the markers and glue around. Most of them went all over the paper. It did rather look like unique leprechaun magic...even some benign dark magic, as I told one boy who went with black, gray, and red dots. While their artwork dried, the kids danced to the version of "I'm Still Standing" from Sing, "Try Everything" from the first Zootopia, the theme from PJ Masks, and songs from Moana. 

When there were six kids left, we took them back to the cafeteria for snack time. After we ate, we took the remaining five younger kids and nine older ones outside to play with balls on the blacktop area behind the school building. The blacktop has a small basketball court and several picnic tables against the chain link fences on either side of the enclosure. I'm so glad we got them outside. It was chilly but sunny, and the wind had died down to a far more reasonable breeze. I kept an eye on four boys and the oldest girl playing soccer and two of the older girls walking around doing hilarious old lady imitations by leaning on the Wiffle Ball bats. By quarter of 5, we were down to two younger kids and five older ones, and I was able to go home.

Stopped at Speedy Mart to get a bottle of grape Propel on my way home. It was too nice to take Uber this time. I just walked myself. My knee ended up being sore, but it was such a lovely day, it would have been a crime to take Uber again. Not to mention, it was pretty quiet. I walked past a few people who were on their way home too, but there was very little traffic. 

When I got home, I took down the St. Patrick's Day decorations and put up what I have for Easter. Easter is my third favorite holiday of the year after Thanksgiving and Christmas, and by far my favorite of the spring and summer holidays. I have a lot of Easter decorations, so many that I didn't have the room to put them all out. There's the two Sees Chocolate tins that Mom sent me a few years ago. I thought they were much too pretty to get rid of. There's Patchy the Bunny, the big resin bunny statue I rescued from a thrift shop almost 20 years ago. There's the porcelain bunny in the lavender dress and the one holding the basket that Mom sent me for my birthday about 15 years ago. 

I have a big, beautiful die-cut cardboard hanging of a darling duck and bunny among decorated eggs that I hang on the door to my bedroom. There's Flora Bunny and Freddie Frog, the rolly-polly plastic toys who no longer play music, but are still pretty cute. There's the basket with the "chocolate" bunnies, the plastic "double boiler" and "chocolate" and silver bunny mold from Kit's limited-edition Easter outfit. I found the two bunnies on strings in calico dresses with dangling button legs at thrift shops, and the pink felt door hanger with the lavender bells at a dollar store. The folksy raffia garland with the dangling pastel painted wooden eggs went over my window. The smaller yellow tinsel garland went over my bedroom door, and the large white one is on the entertainment center.

Watched The Price Is Right and Match Game Syndicated while I worked, and later as I had dinner. Came in just in time to see them spin the wheel on Price. Two ladies made it. For once, one way underbid on a "little-known fan clubs" showcase that included a sports car. The other was merely 800 off on a "walk down Main Street" showcase that included a spa and a day bed and got herself a nice, soothing spa.

Match Game Syndicated mostly continued the week with Fannie Flagg, Lee Merriweather, and Fred Travalena. In fact, it would be Lee's last week on Match Game. She went out in style when she and Fannie did a kick line to show a British contestant who the Rocketts were that was definitely the hit of the show! Fannie stuck around for the last episode and Robert Pine and Dolly Martin joined in to see a woman say she'd just come to the show to see Charles Nelson Reilly in the flesh, which certainly impressed Charles.

Finished the night at Tubi with Storybook International. Determined to rid his village of the robbers who stole money from even the poorest peasants, a young man becomes "The Robber Chief" by stealing three cows from a merchant. He then proves to them that it literally takes a village to deal with crime when he calls in his parents and the other villagers to help him catch these devils, before they take more of their hard-earned money.

Raining In the Spring

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and Pac Man. It's a "Chomp-Out at the O.K Corral" when the Pac Family is visiting a ghost town out west...but so are the ghosts and their annoying cousin Dinky. When the Ghosts back his parents into a corner, it's up to Baby Pac to get rid of those spooky varmits! "Once Upon a Chomp" turns into a retelling of "Jack and the Beanstalk" when they give Pac Man magic beans that grow into the sky. Pac Man and Pepper end up having to escape a giant Ghost living in the castle at the top of the clouds.

Switched to the Cannon Movie Group version of The Frog Prince, which is now on Tubi, after breakfast. I went further into the first of the "Cannon Movie Tales" at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in June 2020.

Family Fun Day - The Frog Prince

While that was on, I took down the winter decorations and put up the ones for spring and St. Patrick's Day. I know it's still technically winter, and the warm weather we're supposed to get over the weekend won't last forever. Even when it does drop back down, it'll probably be in the 40's and 50's, still warmer than it was at this time last month. I have small baskets of fake flowers and the nicer wicker basket of fabric flowers that came with Samantha's Flower Picking Dress. There's the spring stuffed animals, too, Earth Bear and Willow the Caterpillar and Sunny the Bunny and Shari the Lamb and April the Beanie Baby bear and Yamaris the Floral Squishmallow Cow. I now have three St. Patrick's Day Beanie Bears too, Clover and Shamrock and Erin. There's the two vintage panda and raccoon in green outfits die-cut cardboard pictures to hang up and the green tinsel shamrock garland for the window.

Despite the light showers when I first called and relatively chilly weather (it was probably in the upper 40's), I had no trouble getting an Uber today. The one going to work took 8 minutes, and the one going home took 7. By the time I finished at the school, the rain was gone, though it remained cloudy, damp, and cold. And yes, most of the snow is gone from all but the largest piles on parking lots and in shady spots.

We were pretty busy at the Thomas Sharp School again, 25 "littles" to start. I had 10 at my table alone. They cleaned up quick and were pretty good in the bathroom. They're all still crazy after we eat, but I'm guessing that's cabin fever. They haven't been outside in over a month and a half. Some of the boys got too crazy and had to be held back in the cafeteria while the rest of us were in the library. I had a nice chat with two of the girls about my artwork when I drew with them. They were genuinely fascinated to hear the story of Legendary Tales of WENN.

When I got home, I watched Match Game Syndicated. Phyllis Diller and George Kennedy were in the episodes I watched. Giggly comedienne Betty Kennedy sat in Brett's seat while she was out doing a play. Charles kept pretending not to miss her, but it was pretty easy to tell he wished she was there.

Ate dinner and took a shower, then finished the night with more Shirley Temple's Storybook Theater. "The Little Lame Prince" is another story based on a fairy tale from the 1800's. Prince Dolor (Rex Thompson) has been hidden in a tower all his life by his power-hungry uncle who took over the throne after his parents' death (Lorne Greene). His fairy godmother (Anna Lee) gives him a magic cloak that allows him to travel anywhere. He meets the man who polishes the stars and the one who paints the flowers, but his most important trip is to his own kingdom, where he finally confronts his uncle about the injustice he's committing.

Olympic Winds

The wind woke me up around 8:30 AM. It was fierce, shaking the pine trees outside and rattling the house to its core. My knee was still pretty sore, too. Between the wind, the extreme cold, my knee, and the snow on the street, there was no way I was going to work. I rang up the Acme and called out, then went back to sleep.

The wind continued to blow hard when I did finally roll out of bed. It must have blown the snow off the street, because Johnson was clear by noon. I hurried downstairs to move the recycling canister closer to the house and empty that...and it was so biting cold, that was the only time I even remotely went outside today.

Warmed up while eating breakfast and watching She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. Three members of the Horde, Kyle, Lonnie, and lizard kid Rogelio, have been sent to pick up supplies by Catra. When their transport is damaged by an acid spore shower, they have to breach "Protocol" and figure out who should be the one to repair it. The same spore shower has also damaged Light Hope and the Crystal Castle while Adora is training there. Light Hope is far sweeter when she's rebooting, showing Adora how much she cared about the previous She-Ra, Mara, before Mara went rogue.

Switched to winter and winter-sports themed specials next. I go further into Frosty's Winter Wonderland, the sequel to the original Rankin-Bass Frosty the Snowman, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Frosty's Winter Wonderland

Did the winter sports-themed specials next in honor of the Winter Olympics, which began yesterday. Peppermint Patty is hoping to become the next figure skating diva in She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown. Snoopy is her relentless manager. Peppermint Patty has to fight local hockey players to get ice time and is convinced Marcie will make her a costume. Marcie can't sew, and Snoopy ends up doing that, too. We learn what Snoopy can't do when the tape for her music gets tangled, and Woodstock ends up bailing her out.

The Pink Panther is off to Lake Placid for the Olym-Pinks in this 1980 special. He's the star of the ski team, to the frustration and resentment of his long-nosed rival with the mustache. His rival constantly attempts to one-up Pink and only ends up with a cold and second place for his troubles. Meanwhile, Pink has his own problems dodging a piano that is determined to follow him everywhere, even onto a live wire.

Put up the Valentine's Day decorations as well as I could with my knee next. I put off putting them up because of my knee, but I really wanted to get them up before the actual holiday. I have two thick red and white tinsel garlands, one of which went in front of the TV on the media center. There were also two heart-shaped candy boxes that were too pretty to throw away, a pink bear-shaped tin, two vintage cut-outs from the 70's and 80's depicting a bear holding a heart and a Holly Hobbie-type pioneer girl whose puppy is giving her kittens, a giant cut-out cardboard heart, and three stuffed animals. Valentina the Love Penguin and Amoura the Love Frog are leftover from the WebKinz fad of the 2000's and early 2010's. Valentino is a Valentine's Beanie Bear. 

Switched to Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle at YouTube next. Drawing the WENN superhero artwork with the kids got me thinking of my ideas for my (hopefully) upcoming WENN superhero story Captain Victor, Man of Power. This three-part PBS documentary covers the origins of superheroes during the Great Depression, how they flourished during World War II, then vanished in the 50's once the threat was over and all comics became suspect to high-minded intellectuals. They made a comeback in the pop-art 60's when the Batman TV show became a sensation, and superhero comics began to embrace stronger themes and more diverse characters.

Finished the night at YouTube with the Match Game marathon. Match Game is also celebrating sports this weekend with the first of two sports-themed marathons. This one revolves around questions on Olympic sports like skating, track and field, and gymnastics. The vast majority of these questions occurred in 1976, when the Montreal Olympics were running, or in 1980 during the Lake Placid Winter Olympics. There were jokes about what Pinocchio used his nose for, about a warden who lamented that he shouldn't have let his prisoners do Olympic sports that involved jumping over walls, and involving the things gymnasts do. We heard sports questions during the week in late 1975 where Richard Dawson's then-girlfriend Jodie Donovan appeared, when Fannie sat in for Brett during the last week of 1977, when Brett Somers came in wearing a West Hollywood Olympics shirt, prompting jokes from her best female friend Marcia Wallace about what she actually won at said Olympics.

Celebrate the Winter Olympics with this hilarious Wide World of Game Show Sports!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Olympics Games Marathon

Button Up Your Overcoat

Began the morning with breakfast and Pac Man. The Ghosts want to use an earthquake-making machine to create "The Great Pac-Quake" and force Pac Man to tell them where the Power Pellet Forest is. Pac Man finds a way to turn the tables. It's "Hocus Pocus Pac Man" when he tries to do magic to amuse Pac Baby, only to accidentally make him disappear when he puts him in the hat instead of a rabbit.

By the time I got moving, it was late. Not to mention, it's still supposed to be pretty cold today, and I had a lot of grocery shopping I needed to do later. I called Uber. They got me to work literally with no time to spare. I got confused going home when a woman picked me up instead of the man who was originally supposed to come, but he canceled, and she took the ride. At least she got me home in 5 minutes. 

That was the worst thing that happened all day. I only swept the store for the first half the day. A new bagger came in and swept during the second half. I spent the rest of the day pushing carts. It wasn't a bad day for it. Though it remains cold and cloudy, the wind has at least died down. There were no major problems, and I was in and out.

Consolidated my grocery shopping to just the Acme this week. Restocked yogurt, coconut milk, apple butter, oranges, soda, granola, granola bars, and bagels. Found a slice of pumpkin cake for $1.99 and brioche hot dog rolls for $2.99, and coconut eggnog half-price. 

Changed when I got home and watched A Little Princess while putting everything away. I go further into this sweet animated version from the 90's of the popular Frances Hodgson Burnett novel at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Animation Celebration Saturday - A Little Princess (1996)

Spent the rest of the afternoon taking down the remainder of my Christmas decorations. These are the items that go out first, like the nativity, the copper bell with the candy-cane cut outs, the crocheted coasters, the cross-stitched poinsettia magnet I got from a church bazaar a few years ago, the big fabric bows I hang on windows, and the feather-style tree from Dollar Tree and its decorations. The poinsettia place mats need to be washed and will be put away later. Other than that and changing the dolls into their regular January clothes, that pretty much ends my Christmas season. 

Put up the remaining general winter items that I didn't have room for in December. This consists mainly of four snow-people - one stuffed, one with wooden spool arms and legs, one a folk art style angel carrying a wreath, one a snow-bear - that I put on the entertainment center. Also hung up two snowmen in bright-colored hats and a bell shaped like a wren. 

Listened to the soundtrack from the Disney live-action Snow White while I worked. Critics were harsh on this last spring, but I suspect it had more to do with its leads bad-mouthing it before the premiere and some controversy with the dwarfs and the special effects than anything. It certainly wasn't the fault of the soundtrack. Some of the new songs are really fun, especially the charming opening and closing chorus number "Good Things Grow." "Heigh Ho" sounds great here, too. 

Finished the night on YouTube after a shower with dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon. Given how salacious things could get, there was an awful lot of talk about - and showing off - the human anatomy. Betty White would frequently roll up Gene's pant legs to expose his knees. She once showed off her hips to illustrate an answer, and she was prone to doing stripping routines. Debralee Scott stuck out a stocking-clad leg to illustrate her answer in a nighttime episode. Bill Daily hung his coat on it to block the view! There was also Fannie Flagg's hand-print sweater with the hands in strategic places. Most of the talk was really limited to "Human __" or some such on the Audience Match, or wild questions about what cannibals eat or about Ugly Edna's limbs.

Let's get physical and learn more about the human body Match Game-style in these hilarious episodes!

Match Game Saturday Classics - The Human Body (Part I) Marathon

Home Front Angels

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel Does It Himself" when he has to wait in bed before he goes outside and plays in the snow. He makes a snowman all on his own when he does finally get out. Wish some of my kids had the gumption he shows when "Daniel Learns to Swing." He doesn't want Jodi's Nana to push him, but he's having trouble with the momentum, so Nana points out what Jodi's doing. When they get inside, Jodi's mom teaches them to make the twins' new beds.

Switched to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as I got organized. "Mickey's Choo Choo Express" will Professor Ludvig Von Drake's never-melting snow from Mistletoe Mountain, but first, Mickey and his pals have to find the parts of the train and put them together. They then need to find the track and the way up the mountain to the Professor.

Checked my schedule at this point. I'm not happy at all. Though I only work four hours, I work Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. With school starting Monday, that means two days where I'll be rushing. On the other hand, I have the rest of the week off after Wednesday, including a rare and surprising Saturday.

It was too late by the time I got moving for grocery shopping. I'll do that tomorrow. I did still need to hit the ATM machine, so I went for a walk down to WaWa. I picked up a grilled chicken sandwich and soft pretzel for lunch with those gift cards from the kids, along with a sweet but very cinnamon-y Snickerdoodle Smoothie. It remains chilly here, cloudy and windy, but not to the degree of yesterday.

When I got in, I had lunch while watching Remember WENN. In "World of Tomorrow," station manager Scott Sherwood is excited for the small-time station's big Wizard of Oz-inspired show at the end of the 1939 New York World's Fair. Writer Betty Roberts, who has to come up with this epic and actually get their star-struck cast to perform it, isn't as sure. Diva actress Hilary Booth is more upset that her husband Jeff Singer was called to broadcast in war-torn London by their former manager Victor Comstock. For all his seeming disinterest, it's Scott who finally puts Jeff and his touching speech in London on the air to finish the show...before the broadcast dissolves into static...

After lunch, I spent the rest of the afternoon taking down most of the Christmas decorations. I got all the stuffed animals and everything in the bedroom but the big fabric ribbons. The bears I keep out year-round went back on the bed. The Christmas bears and stuffed animals and their clothes went in the felt Santa Bag. Took down the tree, it's ornaments, the tinsel garland and lights. The front door wreath and vintage cut-out cardboard Santa go in the box with the tree because they don't fit anywhere else. The things for the bedroom went in the Christmas popcorn tin I got from a friend a few years ago. The only things left are the miscellaneous items that go out first - the fabric ribbons, the crocheted coasters, the poinsettia place mats, the nativity, the magnets. 

The staff of WENN aren't the only ones dealing with the realities of World War II. Molly: An American Girl On the Home Front (Maya Ritter) is living in a normal Chicago suburb in 1944 with her parents Helen (Molly Ringwauld) and Dr. James (David Aaron Baker) McIntire and her older siblings Jill (Genevieve Farrell) and Ricky (Andrew Chalmers). Molly loves tap dancing (even if she isn't the best) and speculating with her best friends Linda (Samantha Somer Wilson) and Susan (Hannah Fleming) about what their pretty, glamorous teacher Miss Campbell's (Sarah Mannien) wedding will be like. 

The bottom drops out of Molly's world when Dr. McIntire enlists to take care of troops in war-torn London. Her mother gets a job at an aircraft manufacturing plant, which brings in fussy Mrs. Gilford (Sarah Orenstein) and her rules and turnips from her garden. Her favorite Aunt Eleanor (Amy Stewart) joined the WASPs as a pilot. Then sweet, shy Emily Bennett (Tory Green), an English refugee, comes to stay with Molly's family. Molly assumes she's wealthy, titled, and stuck-up, but she's really scared and lonely. Molly learns a lot from London native Emily about how the war really effects people, When Mrs. Gilford and Miss Campbell lose people who are close to them and Dr. McIntire goes missing, Molly begins to realize just how hard wartime is, and why we all have to make sacrifices to achieve our goals. 

A lot of American Girl fans like this movie better than most of Molly's core books, claiming Molly is more sympathetic, Emily is more than a one-note character who was there to argue with Molly, and it expands more on the characters. On one hand, I miss a lot of charming incidents from the books that made them so funny, like Molly's Halloween war with Ricky, Molly and her friends making a quilt for the soldiers, and their entire trip to summer camp. And I really wish they'd done a lot more with the Aunt Eleanor subplot. She's brought up for one scene and vanishes after that. 

On the other hand...yeah, I can see their point. For one thing, Ritter's Molly is heartbreaking and hilarious, especially when she's trying so hard to learn those dance steps. The scene where Emily has a nightmare and Molly talks to her and comforts her is more touching and effective than anything in the birthday book, as is the scene during the air raid where Dr. McIntire finally gets the courage to tell everyone he's going overseas. Getting to know her dad before he leaves is a major plus. In the books, he only really appears in the last few paragraphs of Changes for Molly, one of her mysteries, and her Route 66 book. Here, we can see their close relationship and understand why she misses him like she does.

If you have a daughter with a Molly doll or is a fan of mid-20th century history or a tap-dance queen, you'll definitely want to share Molly's wartime journey with her. 

Switched to The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club as I worked on taking down the tree, and later as I vacuumed the fake needles on the floor. Lord Peter Wimsey (Ian Carmichael) is asked to investigate the death of 90-year-old General Fentiman (Ralph Truman), who passed on at the Bellona Club, a club for veterans. Thing is, no one seems to be sure of the time he died even Dr. Pemberty (Donald Pickering), who checked his body. He was just found with his heart stopped. His sister Lady Dormer died earlier in the day. Their estate is to be divided among her companion Ann Dorland (Anna Cropper) and his grandsons Robert (Terrance Alexander) and George (John Quentin) Fentiman. George has been having trouble with hallucinations and keeping a job ever since he came home from World War I shell shocked, and his wife Sheila (Vivien Heilbron) is worried. Ann refuses to talk to anyone, especially after it's discovered she knows a lot about poisons. Wimsey does manage to work out the time, via everyone stopping for 2 minutes of silence on Armstice Day, but he has a harder time with this motley crew with their vast array of motives.

Carmichael is a wonderful, inquisitive Wimsey in this charming BBC adaptation from the 70's. There's some great costumes for the BBC in this time period that really capture the flavor of the early 20's. I might have to look for the rest of these if they're as much fun as this.

Switched to a more modern sleuthing group as I finally sat down for dinner. Charlie's Angels are shocked when three women who look just like them rob a sports arena. The real Charlie lets them stay at another gentleman's club while they try to figure out who is impersonating him and them and what these "Counterfeit Angels" are really after. 

Finished the night earlier in the 70's with my Super Hits of the 70's: Have a Nice Day Vol 4 CD that I found the other day. This one goes way far back, right to the beginning of the 70's, when hard rock, soul, R&B, and bubblegum pop ruled the airwaves. Hits from that era that are still fairly well-known nowadays include "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson, "Mr. Bojangles" by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, "Put Your Hand In the Hand" by Ocean, and "Stay Awhile" by the Bells. 

Rainy Day Angels

Began a rainy morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel's Winter Adventure" has him first learning to sled with Prince Wednesday, then skating with his father. In both cases, he's encouraged to try it a little bit at a time until he gets used to it. Margaret walks for the first time too, right to her brother. Daniel ends up performing in the "Neighborhood Nutcracker" when Prince Wednesday gets sick. Henrietta, who plays the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Katerina, who plays Clara, helps him learn his part a little bit at a time.

Put up the winter decorations next, or at least the ones that I could fit out now. I mainly put out the winter stuffed animals, my Webkinz Groundhog Phil, Marie in her little winter collar and hat, and the penguin in the green knit hat. The folksy wooden snowman with the dangling legs and arms was small enough to fit now, as was the snowman candy dish.

Watched Evergreen as I worked, and later when I went online. I go further into this charming British musical with 1930's dance star Jessie Matthews at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Evergreen (1934)

Barely had the time to grab something for lunch and call Uber before work. It took 14 minutes for the driver to arrive, but I was able to get a few quick chores done. It took 10 minutes for the driver home to arrive. In both cases, there was no traffic, and the driver was pleasant. 

Considering it continued to pour even as I arrived at the Thomas Sharp School, I suspect you may already have guessed that we never went outside today. The kids listened to Horton Hears a Who, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, and If You Give a Moose a Muffin in the library instead. After the stories ended, some of the kids danced, while others colored, played with blocks (that they kept knocking over), or worked with stencils on enormous sheets of paper taped to the tables. They were all pretty rowdy - they hadn't gone outside earlier in the day, either. Enough of them had gone home by 5 that we finally moved them to the cafeteria, where they colored, played with dolls, and played ball games with the older kids.

After I got home, I did a few chores around the house before Jessa picked me up for dinner. I'm not normally a fan of fast food, but a Roy Rogers just opened in Cherry Hill. I hadn't seen one of those in years, not since they took out the one on the Garden State Parkway. Jessa had chicken tenders, fries, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a strawberry shortcake. I had a Southwestern Grilled Chicken sandwich with bacon (and got to use their famous "Fixin's Bar"), huge onion rings, a peppermint milkshake, and the strawberry shortcake. 

Oh yum. No wonder the lines when this place opened a few weeks ago were apparently out the door. The chicken sandwich was juicy and flavorful. The tenders were cooked perfectly. The strawberry shortcake was real strawberries on a biscuit with what I suspect was real, or at least local ice cream. The milkshake was perfectly minty. I wouldn't expect anything less from the King of the Cowboys! We left the place very full.

Took a shower, then watched Charlie's Angels. "Mother Goose Is Running For His Life" when the owner of a toy company learns that someone from inside the company may be trying to force him to sell to a man who would use the company as a front for gambling. Turns out a slightly unhinged toy designer is angry because his boss won't consider designing his horror-themed toys. Sabrina poses as the daughter of a toy company owner, Kris as a rag doll, and Kelly as a wire tapper to find out how he's getting information out.

Finished the night with Now That's What I Call Christmas 3. There's some really fabulous stuff here, especially on the first half. Johnny Mathis' "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" can be found here, too, along with Andy Williams' "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," Peggy Lee's version of "The Little Drummer Boy," Judy Garland's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Blue Christmas" by Johnny Cash, Dean Martin doing "Baby It's Cold Outside" and The Chipmunks singing "Please Christmas Don't Be Late." Side two includes "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," The Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick," an absolutely gorgeous "Christmastime Is Here" by Dianne Reeves, Kenny Rogers' "Christmas Is My Favorite Time of Year," Celine Dion's "Feliz Navidad," Christina Agulilera singing "Merry Christmas, Baby," a really fun "Santa Baby" by the Pussycat Dolls, and "It Just Don't Feel Like Christmas Without You" by Rhianna. 

It's the Holiday Season, Charlie Brown

Began the morning with breakfast and finishing off Alice's Wonderland Bakery. Alice needs a "Clever Clover" to make her soda bread. The Queen and King of Hearts helps her wait for hers to grow. "Alice Comes to Her Senses" when the Mock Turtle chef teaches her how to make mini-casseroles that appeal to all of the senses - sight, taste, smell, touch. Her "pie-fectionist" side crops up again when the students in her baking class make a mess of the greenhouse, until she realizes that using all of your senses doesn't mean things work out perfectly the first time.

And that's that. Too bad this seems to have come to an abrupt end on Disney Junior last April. I really enjoyed it. As someone who also loves baking, I appreciated the themes of trying new foods and how food can bring communities together. Some people online has complained that Alice is too bland compared to the original. I disagree. I think she's a lot of fun. My favorite characters are sweet little Princess Rosa of Hearts and her decidedly spicy Queen of Hearts mama. Honestly, if you're a fan of Alice In Wonderland and/or baking like me, you and your little one can do far worse than the charming tales of the most splediferous young baker in all of Wonderland. 

After breakfast, I took my overflowing laundry basket downstairs, then went back up to my rooms and pulled out the remaining Christmas decorations. I always forget I have so much! There's the jolly Santa statue Mom gave me years ago and the Winter Cinderella Barbie-sized doll I found at a yard sale. There's the printed elves, angel made from fabric and a button, stuffed "gingerbread" people and the garland with the fabric stars and green grosgrain ribbon Mom made herself. The colorful wooden "Noel" candlestick holder has been in my family for years. I bought the little white frosted bottle-brush wreath from the Special Service Middle School's annual Christmas bazaar in the mid-90's. Amanda gave me the "Gretel" gingerbread Beanie Baby, and my gingerbread Squishmallow is a doggie toy I found at Target and thought was too cute to be chewed up by some dog! I have lots of holiday Beanie Baby bears, too, Gift and Herald the angels, Wallace in the plaid scarf, the bear with the jingling hat, Ginny "The Beginning" with the silver stars. Aunt Terri gave me the American Girl tin with the recipes for Christmas 2001.

Watched Christmas specials while I worked, starting with the classic A Charlie Brown Christmas. Chuck is upset by all of the grab, grab around him, from Snoopy entering a big neighborhood display contest to Lucy insisting she wants real estate for Christmas. Directing the local pageant seems to be what he needs to boost his flagging spirits, but his pals refuse to listen to him and insist on turning it into a jazz concert. It's when Charlie brings a tiny tree back to the church and the kids make fun of it that Linus reminds them of what Christmas is really all about.

It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is a less-linear holiday special from the early 90's. Peppermint Patty avoids Christmas break homework and goes to see the Hallelujah Chorus with Marcie. Snoopy works as a sidewalk Santa, while Chuck tries to make money to buy a gift for the Little Red Haired Girl. Sally writes to Santa's wife and tries to learn her one line in the Christmas Pageant. 

The He-Man She-Ra Christmas Special is probably the least-likely holiday show in existence. Orko accidentally transfers two Earth kids to Etheria, where they teach She-Ra, He-Man, and all their friends about the magic of Christmas and peace on Earth. Horde Prime doesn't appreciate the good will they're spreading and orders Skeletor and Hordak to bring them to him. Skeletor gets to them first...but gets a rather strange lesson in the Christmas spirit when he ends up defending the kids against robot monsters.

Switched to the series finale of What's New, Scooby Doo? while eating lunch. It's an "E-scream" when Mystery Inc visits a fan convention that's overrun with Osmons, tiny furballs that are usually very popular, but seem to have gone crazy and are destroying everything in their path. As they solve the mystery, Velma notices that her friends don't seem to be acting like themselves, leading her to wonder if she's solving a real mystery at all. (Incidentally, this is one of the few times in the entire franchise where there's no unmasking, and technically, no villain.)

This is still one of the best and best-regarded Scooby series. They balanced the usual mysteries with people in masks with unique episodes like "E-Scream" (where there's no villain), "Camp Comeandscareya" (throwback to the Shaggy/Scooby/Scrappy solo shorts of the late 70's-early 80's), and "High Tech House of Horrors" (where technology was the villain). There's echoes of The New Scooby Doo Movies in episodes featuring celebrities like "Riva Ras Regas" and "Simple Plan and the Invisible Madman," too. In fact, if you have younger kids, this might be the best place to start if you want to introduce them to the franchise. It's faster-paced than the original Scooby Doo, Where are You, and has more stories that might appeal to them.

Headed out to run some quick errands before school. Hit WaWa first to use their ATM machine. I haven't had a smoothie from there in ages. Peppermint Mocha really hit the spot, very minty and even more chocolatey! I got one of the things I needed at Family Dollar, which was laundry detergent, but forgot a timer.

I barely had time to put everything upstairs and head back out again when I got home. I'm glad I just got there on time. We needed all hands on deck. One teacher left, so now the one who was taking care of the pre-schoolers had to step up and take the older kids. The kids were all antsy today, every single one. They would not stay in their seats and gave us a hard time about wearing their coats outside, too, even though it was in the 40's.

It was a nice day once we got out, though, sunny, cold, and breezy. You'd never know we're supposed to get torrential rain tomorrow. I did have to break up some of the kids who were sitting around on the top of the playground equipment, trying to push each other on the slides or blocking them. They aren't supposed to be pushing on the slides, and they certainly didn't need to block them. Other kids wanted to go down the slides, too. I also chatted with kids looking for people walking dogs and admired the beautiful gold sunset as we went inside.

When we got in, I helped the kids color and sharpened colored pencils. I wish they'd just stick to coloring and leave other things alone. Their attempts to cut out paper and use tape ends with them making messes and us with no masking tape. Some of the kids were rowdy even inside and would not sit down and play games. They were finally settling down with the magnetic tiles when I left.

Went straight home and watched Match Game '78 during dinner and as I finally brought the laundry upstairs. We finished the Joe Gargiola week and went on to one with Avery Schriber and Lee Merriweather. At one point when told to "show us your G-string" (answer), Betty White took off her vest and scarf and did a mock striptease, to the delight of the audience and the annoyance of Gene!

Finished the night at YouTube with shopping game shows. People have been shopping or bidding for items on game shows for a long time. Bid n' Buy is a short-lived Price Is Right imitation from 1958. Players began with $5,000 to bid on clues to a prize. If they could guess the clues, they got the prize. If not, they still got to keep any money they had left from the bidding. This one was kind of confusing, and I can understand why it didn't last longer than its summer replacement slot on CBS.

The Price Is Right itself, on the other hand, is still very much going strong today on CBS. This episode from 1977 has a lot going on. There's a big Showcase win, a buxom blonde in a dress barely containing her cleavage that Bob couldn't take his eyes off of, a rare sighting of the extremely short-lived Professor Price trivia game, and an even rarer sighting of a model in a fur coat (before animal-loving Bob Barker banned them). 

Two shopping games from the 1980's exemplify the good and bad sides of shopping shows. Done right, they could be genuinely exciting ways to see people get a bargain, as in this 1986 episode of Sale of the Century. Bargain Hunters from a year later was far less interesting as people attempted to figure out the price of an item. It seemed far more interested in selling the item to home viewers than playing the game.

Supermarket Sweep went through many different mini-games during its runs on Lifetime and Pax TV, but this episode from 1993 is one of the most emblematic. For all the mini games, the hook - that "Big Sweep" where everyone is running around, gathering items - remains genuinely exciting, and it feels like a real win when they get the bonus clues!

Mall Masters from 2001 was filmed in America's largest mall, the Mall of America in Minnesota. There's echoes of Bargain Hunters here, as mall shoppers team up with contestants to help them answer questions about stores or other places in the mall. Slow-moving and not the most exciting, I can see why this cross between Bargain Hunters and Family Feud only lasted a few months. 

Look for good deals on Cyber Monday with these unique ventures into shopping shows past!

Bid n' Buy (1958)

The Price Is Right (1977)

Sale of the Century (1986)

Bargain Hunters (1987)

Supermarket Sweep (1993)

Mall Masters (2001) 

Friends at Christmas

Began the morning with a really quick breakfast and Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis. This is one of Johnny's later albums from 1986. It features one of Mathis' best Christmas recordings, a delightful version of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" that later turned up in Home Alone 2. He also has lovely versions of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and a medley of "Happy Holidays" and "Caroling, Caroling." We also get music from lesser-known 80's projects, including "Where Will I Find Christmas" from The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas and the Leslie Bricusse and Henry Mancini songs from the notorious cult flop Santa Claus: The Movie, "Giving" and "Every Christmas Eve."

It took me longer to make my bed than I thought it would, and I didn't get out the door until 11, when I was supposed to meet Amanda. Good thing she was picking me up at the parking lot of Oaklyn's City Hall, less than a five-minute walk away. She was there when I arrived. I jumped in her car, and we headed down the White Horse Pike to the Legacy Diner. 

We had a hard time finding a place to park at the diner. They were so busy! There's a church just a block from there, and a lot of people probably went straight from church to brunch. At least it only took about 10 minutes to seat us. We both had pancakes and bacon. She had chocolate chip, I had coconut pineapple. Hers was part of the Legacy Sampler, which meant she also got scrambled eggs. She had hot tea, I had iced tea. The Legacy Diner makes wonderful pancakes, fluffy and huge, the size of the plate, and full of fruit. They were also too big to eat in one go. Neither of us finished our pancakes.

Amanda loves coffee, so we headed back down the Pike to Common Grounds in Oaklyn. They too were busy, but Amanda got us a seat at one of the wrought-iron tables along the brick wall. She just had a cup of coffee. I had a matcha latte. We spent the next hour or so discussing our triumphs and difficulties with our students - she teaches kindergarten at a private academy outside of Vineland - and that she's not really close with most of her family.

It had been raining all morning, since before I left Amanda, not hard rain, but a persistent shower that would continue for most of the day. Between the bad weather and Amanda wanting to get home and decorate her own tree, we ended up calling it early and exchanging gifts in her car. She gave me two fancy tins of hot chocolate, a cute kitten playing with a laptop Hallmark ornament, and another bag of scone mix, this one chocolate. 

After Amanda dropped me off, I went straight into putting all the ornaments on my tree, including the Strawberry Shortcake I bought in Vermont and the one Amanda just gave me. I have so many ornaments! Mom made the folksy-themed stitched Santa and heart, the Christmas tree with the buttons, and Holly Hobbie in the 90's. Later, she bought us all ornaments from Winterwood in Rio Grande, like the beautiful flowered heart, the gingerbread Man in the chef's hat, and the Willow angel with the heart. Mom gave Rose and Anny and me Willow Angels the year they came out. Rose's angel holds a rose, mine has a heart, and Anny's has a child. (She gave birth to Skylar that year.) There's all kinds of pop culture characters and figures I love, Lucy Ricardo in a snazzy green dress, a soft BB8, Yogi Bear, the Disney Cinderella (they both came from half-price after-Christmas sales), Pusheen, Shaggy and Scooby out sledding, Winnie the Pooh dressed as an angel while eating honey, Rudolph and the Misfit Toys. Even my star holds fond memories. I bought the silver-tinsel-trimmed topper from Family Dollar in the late 90's, well before I had a tree. I just thought it was too cute and retro.  

I had a little time after I finally got the ornaments done. Since I just rearranged my stuffed animals on my bed anyway, I got the Christmas bears out. This dates to 1987, when Dad gave Mom a big white teddy bear from K-Mart wearing a knitted hat and scarf. She named him Chester and put him on her hope chest, then dressed some of our other bears in old baby clothes and scarves and hats and had them join him. It was an interactive display. We'd change their clothes throughout the season, even putting tiaras and top hats on them at New Year's.

By the early 2000's, only Keefe was left at home, and Mom was tired of putting the bears out. She gave Chester and the remaining Christmas-only bears and clothes to me after I moved to Wildwood in 2002. I had no idea where to put them. I don't have a hope chest, but I did realize it looked a bit bare under my Christmas tree. The Christmas bears and stuffed animals have gone under the tree almost every year since.

Listened to Christmas records all afternoon while I worked. I picked up Volumes 20, 22, and 23 of the True Value Happy Holidays series on eBay. Elvis Presley's "Blue Christmas" and the Carpenters singing "Sleigh Ride" are probably the big ones on Volume 20. Leontyne Price also does a nice "I Wonder as I Wander," and Ronnie Milsap's "It's Christmas" is very sweet. Volume 22 gets its country on with Milsap returning for "Silver Bells," Alabama doing "Homecoming Christmas," and Dolly Pardon covering "White Christmas." Ella Fitzgerald ends the album with a gorgeous "Silent Night." Bing Crosby's immortal version of "White Christmas" ends Volume 23, which Mom bought to play while we decorated the tree when I was a kid. It gets a lot more late 80's with "This Christmas" by the Jets and "Greatest Little Christmas Ever Wuz" by Ray Stevens.

Switched to 80's kids Christmas albums while I dressed the bears. The Pac-Man Christmas Album has a rather sappy story about the Pac family inviting the ghosts over for Christmas, but it does have some good songs. "Snowflakes and Frozen Lakes" and "An Old-Fashioned Christmas" are my favorite numbers here. 

A Cabbage Patch Christmas is even better. In fact, I bought this album because it has four songs by the Sherman Brothers along with numbers by other hands. Ironically, the clear winner was one of the numbers by other hands. "Children Go Where I Send Thee" is the attempt by the Colonel to tell the Kids the story of Christ. The Sherman Brothers' best song is "Gimmie Gimmie Take Take." The resident villains in the Cabbage Patch are confused and annoyed by a time of year when their usual adversaries are more likely to give them gifts than run away from them.

Did True Value Happy Holidays Volume 38 after I got off. The Bing Crosby/David Bowie version of "Little Drummer Boy" that ends the album and "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney are by far the most famous numbers here. I loved the jazzy Dave Koz "Winter Wonderland" too. Sawyer Brown's "Please Come Home for Christmas" was the best of the country numbers.

Finished the night after a shower with dinner and tonight's YouTube game show marathon. We leave Match Game behind tonight to honor one of the channel owner's favorite game show hosts, Dick Clark, whose birthday would have been next week. Clark, the world's oldest teenager, had already been hosting American Bandstand for almost a decade when he did his first game show. The Object Is..., which had celebrities describing a famous person by using objects associated with them. It was too confusing to last more than a few months in late 1963 and early 1964. 

After the similar Missing Links also failed, Clark focused on radio and Bandstand until 1973, when he hosted The $10,000 Pyramid. He became so associated with the show, he'd host all versions through 1988 except the syndicated $25,000. I have fond memories of watching the CBS daytime New $25,000 and $100,000 Pyramids when I was a kid. 

Clark hosted many lesser-known shows, too. It Takes Two debuted on the Family Channel in 1997. Three couples have to decide between the averages tied to some kind of event, like a huge meal or how much three San Diego Chargers weigh. Not a whole lot too this one. He ended his career with two short-lived Who Wants to Be a Millionaire imitations. Winning Lines and the two-off special Challenge of the Child Geniuses were clearly designed to steal Millionaire's thunder. They both asked questions of a large group of people before narrowing the field down and asking questions in Millionaire style ladders. Winning Lines was slightly more interesting; the kids on the Child Genius specials were more uncanny than brilliant.

Clark appeared as a panelist on other game shows, too. He was either on the panel of What's My Line? or a Mystery Guest many times, both on the network and in syndication. Likewise, he was also a frequent panelist on To Tell the Truth, including its rare 1980 version. He helped a couple with some pretty wild stunts in the 1970 version of Beat the Clock with Gene Wood. His stint on I've Got a Secret in 1964 coincided with their "teenager day." They introduced famous young teenagers, including Carol Lynley, future basketball star Oscar Peterson, and Bobby Fisher, and showed Paul Anka singing a new song he'd written. 

Celebrate the life and times of the man who could climb Pyramids, challenge child geniuses, and kept New Year's Eve and daytime rockin' for 40 years!

Sunday Classics - Dick Clark Happy Heavenly Birthday Marathon

O Christmas Matches

Got a quick start today with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. "Mickey and Pluto Go Camping" at Friendship Lake. While they enjoy their time together, they also admit that they miss their friends. Turns out the others had the same idea and eventually join them.

Hurried off to work after that. Work was pretty much the same as yesterday. Surprisingly busy in the morning, slowing down as afternoon hit. The fact that it's still sunny, windy, and cold probably helped scare some people off. By the time I finished, I had no trouble whatsoever with the carts. I stopped on the way home to buy Finley one last Christmas gift. Saw these cookie-tart things filled with icing on the clearance rack and thought I'd try them.

The other important thing I did at work today was get my flu and Covid shots. I'm overdue for both. Since the pharmacist goes on break around 1-1:30, I couldn't get it after work. I scheduled the appointment during my break. It was worth losing the extra time just to get it over with. 

As soon as I got home, I changed, had lunch, and went straight into Standing Ovation. I go further into this cute but heavily cliched teen dance movie from the early 2010's at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Family Fun Saturday - Standing Ovation

After lunch, I dusted my rooms, then started putting up the Christmas decorations. The miscellaneous items always come first. I hung the wreath with the gold foil stars and big red velvet ribbon on my door. The needlepoint magnetic poinsettia I bought from a church bazaar, the red and green coasters I crocheted myself, the poinsettia place mats, the huge old Nativity that once belonged to my grandmother went in the living room. The bows and tinsel Garland got hung up in the bedroom and draped over book shelves. Decorated the feather-style tree I bought from Dollar Tree a few years ago with tiny ornaments and chenille candy canes I found at the Vermont Country Store.

The tree went up next as I put on tonight's YouTube marathon. I'll do the ornaments with Amanda tomorrow, but I put up the tree itself, the lights, the star, and the garlands tonight. Watched tonight's game show marathon while I worked. Match Game is far from the only older game shows to have episodes missing or can no longer be shown on Buzzr. In addition to being sensitive about the word "midget," Buzzr also skips episodes where people use the word "Oriental," which is now reserved for things, not people.

Password Plus and Super Password were both hit with the "oriental" clues. Orson Bean's story about a middle-eastern cab driver he met in New York in one episode probably didn't help things, either. Other episodes have bad tape that can't be seen or replaced. A 1973 episode of Match Game with Nanette Fabray only turned up this year due to tape damage. A nighttime Match Game episode had fringing around the edges of the screen. 

See some of the rarest game show episodes of all in this unique and thought-provoking marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Fully Stuffed Marathon: Skipped Episodes of Family Feud, Match Game, Password, and Password Plus

Whistle While You Match

Began the morning with breakfast and Six: The Musical. One of the more unique shows on Broadway right now has the six wives of Henry the Eighth singing about their lives in the style of various current pop and R&B singers and divas. I don't know how well this show is going to date in a decade or so, but right now, the music is terrific and the performances on the studio cast recording I have are sensational. I especially like Christine Modestou's bubbly "Don't Lose Your Head" for Catherine of Aragon and Genesis Lyea's cocky "Get Down" for tough German Anna of Cleves.

Hurried out before the CD even ended. Work was absolutely no problem whatsoever. In fact, I spent almost the entire four hours outside, pushing carts. There were two college boys who work on weekends to do the sweeping and inside chores. A lot of people haven't gotten their beginning of the month money yet, the Eagles were off this week (and won't play again until next Monday), we're between holidays, and the weather was just too darn nice for shopping. It was gorgeous today, sunny, breezy, and blue, in the lower 60s. 

Went straight home afterwards. After I changed, I took down the Halloween decorations and put up what I have for Thanksgiving. I've had luck with finding things for this holiday at yard sales and thrift shops over the past few years. My folksy wooden pilgrims in the cloth outfits are on either side of the TV with my mini Indian corn. Jodie gave me the pilgrim girl teddy bear after Dad died. I found the smaller resin pilgrim couple, the little stuffed pilgrim and Native girl, and the porcelain pilgrim turkey salt and pepper shakers at thrift shops. 

My stuffed turkeys Plymouth and Mayflowers are leftover from when I collected Webkinz. The big stuffed turkey, the smaller one in the pilgrim hat, and the one with the dangling beaded legs came from Dad's collection. The 70's-era die-cut paper pilgrim girl, Snoopy and Woodstock Hallmark hanging, and gorgeous turkey print are yard sale finds. Mom made the "Happy Thanksgiving" turkey when she did graphics for the Lower Township schools in the early 2000's. 

Listened to KPop Demon Hunters as I worked. I've heard "Soda Pop," "What It Sounds Like," "Golden," and "Your Idol" so much at the summer camp and after-school program, I had to get the soundtrack. Actually, my favorite song from this score is the dynamic "Takedown" that caused so much consternation in the movie. I also like "Strategy," here performed by Twice. Honestly, even if you're not a fan of Korean pop or Netflix animated films, the songs in this movie are so darn catchy, the soundtrack is still highly recommended.

Hit Explosion is one of two K-Tel releases from 1983 I picked up at Doc's Finds last week. There's a lot of heavy hitters of the time on this set, starting with the cheer spoof "Mickey" with Toni Basil and the Go-Gos on "Vacation." Other favorites here include "Young Turks" by Rod Stewart, "Steppin' Out" by Joe Jackson, "Abaracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band, "Hold On" by Santana, "Shadows of the Night" by Pat Benetar, and "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. 

Finished the night with dinner, a shower, and the Match Game marathon. Though Disney itself was going through a slump during the run of the 1973-1982 show, they still made many references to Disney films or characters. There were a lot of jokes about Snow White, including one where they asked what was different about the Snow White balloon in the Macy's Parade, and Nipsey Russell said it looked a lot more like him. There was also a question during the Bill Macy week about who would play the Beast to Betty White's Beauty. Most people said Brett, though Betty's beloved hubby Allen Ludden did have his own formidable temper. Fannie Flagg had sequined t-shirts featuring Mickey, Minnie, and Dumbo that she wore fairly frequently in the mid-70's. 

Whistle while you match with Gene's wacky weirdos in this hilarious marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Disney Showcase Marathon

Hot In Autumn

Slept in and spent most of the morning reading and writing. It was almost noon before I got going with a very small breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Minnie-rella" is tired of her friends giving her tons of chores to do. She dreams that Fairy Godmother Clarabelle and Goofy give her a gown, glass slippers, and a tomato carriage so she can attend Prince Mickey's ball. They fall in love, but after Minnie flees, Goofy is the one who has to help Mickey find whose foot fits that glass shoe.

Headed out next. My first stop was brief. I dropped off that huge collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald short stories and his novels This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and the Damned at the book kiosk on Johnson Avenue. Not only do I not have the room for it anywhere, but I suspect I could probably find most of Fitzgerald's short stories online, and I didn't like the novels enough to keep them.

Headed down to Collingswood next for lunch. The Stardust Cafe was still pretty busy when I arrived. They gradually cleared out as I enjoyed my three massive pancakes topped with strawberries, syrup, and butter. The "strawberry sauce" I also ordered was so thick and full of huge strawberry pieces, I ate it with a spoon. Tried an Arnold Palmer Slushie, lemonade iced tea with lemon foam on top. Not bad. Tart and not too sweet...and cooling, which is really what I cared about.

It was too nice of a day off to spend it wandering around in stores. Besides, I want to save what little shopping I need to do for vacation next week. I rode around in Collingswood and Westmont for a while, enjoying the warm sunshine. It was a bit humid, more than it has been, but not to the killer degree that it was last summer. 

Made my way down to La Morense Plus on the corner of Cuthbert and the White Horse Pike. It was too hot to not get some kind of cooling treat! Decided to try horschata water ice. It did indeed taste like rice and cinnamon drink water ice, almost like rice pudding water ice. Very sweet and very needed on that hot afternoon. I wasn't the only one there. A dad and his son enjoyed treats next to me.

I did make a stop at Family Dollar on the way home. My friend Amanda and my niece Aurora's birthdays will be while I'm on vacation. I wanted to get their cards and gift cards out now. Got Lauren and Amanda gift cards and Amanda a card here. Lauren's birthday isn't until the 19th, but I wanted to celebrate it with her early next week. Also grabbed a much-needed Propel.

Headed home and put on The Price Is Right while I took down the summer decorations and put up what I have for fall. It may not have felt like fall today, but today is the first full day of the season. I put out a stuffed squirrel holding a nut, an orange owl in glasses reading a book, and patchwork apples and pumpkins. There were tiny baskets of foliage and short Indian corn for my shelves, two small pillows from Jo Ann's and a yard sale respectively to hang on doors, and a lovely beaded wreath from another yard sale on my walls. The huge straw and fall foliage bow-shaped wreath is from a yard sale, too. The thick wooden standing rustic wood pumpkin is from Goodwill. 

Watched one episode of Match Game Syndicated while I put everything away. I wasn't going to miss McLean trying on Gene's jackets. He ends up in a pale blue one for most of the episode. He even does an imitation of a lounge singer near the end of the show. As Brett constantly said, he had no flair for fashion (though his comedy sense was pretty sound).

Switched to It's a Great Life after that. I go further into this 1929 backstage melodrama featuring genuine vaudeville headliners the Duncan Sisters at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - It's a Great Life

Worked on Maplepunzel while the movie was on. Maple and Scott settle into their roles as maid and gardener at the castle. Maple proves to be excellent at her job, enough for the king and queen to commend her. She most loves to hear the butler Mackie Bloom tell stories of his days as an actor and his beautiful late wife, Penelope, and the daughter they lost...

Went back to Match Game Syndicated after the movie ended. This time, McLean found himself caught between the considerable assets of glamorous blondes Eva Gabor and Elaine Joyce. Eva, Elaine, and Brett helped Gene show off the gorgeous bird-based artwork one of the contestants had done.

Finished the night with the original cast album for On the Twentieth Century. Madeline Kahn was movie star Lily Garland, arguing with her director ex-husband Oscar Jaffee (John Cullum) on this original cast album. Imogene Coca has a hilarious number near the end, "Repent!", as a religious nut who annoys everyone on board. Kahn wasn't in the show all that long (and was said to be difficult when she was), but she sounds great singing "Veronique" and joining Cullum for "Our Private World" and "I've Got It All."

Teach Your Children

Began our last morning together with an Uber ride to 30th Street Station. This was a bit of a problem. Traffic was backed up in Cherry Hill and Philly. Thankfully, it thinned out before we got to the station. Lauren went to use the bathroom when we arrived, and I got breakfast. Picked up a mini-spinach quiche, a bottle of grapefruit juice, and a bowl of cantaloupe and blueberries from Pret, and then a cream donut and a chai tea from Dunkin' Donuts.

Found Lauren waiting for the train across from the food area. I gave her a hug before staring to the exit. She has a long journey ahead of her. In addition to the usual train rides, she'll need at least one bus ride in Albany too...but that will get her straight to Pittsfield. We always have a great time on vacation together, and this one was no exception. I'm going to miss her until September.

I tried to call Uber at this point, now that the prices had gone down, but...for some reason, the driver ended up clear on the other side from where Uber drivers usually pick up and drop off. I couldn't find him. He ended up canceling. Not only was the lady who picked me up cheaper and went to the right place, but she got me home pretty fast. I was back in Oaklyn within 15 minutes.

Spent the rest of the morning working on new Remember WENN fanfic ideas. One of the ideas I came up with when I started watching the show again in 2015 was a series of short to mid-length fairy tales revolving around each character. I got Scott's "Snow White," Betty's "Little Mermaid," and the ensemble Christmas comedy "Babes In Toyland" out before I lost interest. Now that I'm watching the show again, I'd like to give that idea another shot. Mackie's story will be my favorite Shakespearean play The Tempest. I initially listed "Little Red Riding Hood" for Maple, then decided that "Rapunzel" for her and Victor in the 4th season after their date would be more romantic and moved "Red Riding Hood" to Ceila. Here's the list: 

Hilary - Beauty and the Beast

Maple - Rapunzel

Victor - King Arthur

Mr. Eldridge and Gertie - The Man Who Minded the House

Mackie - The Tempest

Jeff - Aladdin

C.J - Jack and the Beanstalk

Ceila - Little Red Riding Hood

Eugenia & Mr. Foley (They're the only ones without a story yet. I'll keep looking.)

My other story ideas is actually re-writes. Two of my WENN action spoofs wound up being kind of rushed, the fairy tale satire Miss Roberts In WENNland and the Christmas fantasy The WENN Nutcracker Suite. I want to greatly expand the second halves of both stories and keep the Nutcracker a doll for longer in the latter. Don't know when I'll get to WENNland, but WENN Nutcracker Suite will likely be this year's November-December-January project. 

After I got off with the WENN writing, I took down the general spring decorations and put up what I have for summer and the 4th of July. I have no idea where the "A" in my "USA" folk Angel trio went. I did find the two Beanie Baby patriotic bears and the Care Bear America Cares Bear (whom I call Americana Bear), along with the red, white, and blue tinsel Garland and the two bows for my doors. General summer decorations include three stuffed flamingos, a sunflower-themed vine wreath, and a cute beaded fish I hang on the door. 

Left for work a little early to have lunch. Enjoyed a slice of cheese and a slice of tomato-basil-mozzarella at Crust n' Cravings. They were delicious, and rather quiet, given it was past 2 when I was eating. Washed it down with a can of Coke Zero. Stopped in at Speedy Mart fast after lunch to get bagels for work tomorrow and Sunday. 

Though there were fewer kids today, they were still pretty rowdy through snack time. This time, it took coloring Pokemon pages to calm them down. I read a Scooby Doo book, a Hot Wheels book, and an Elephant and Piggie book while they worked. They finally settled down before they left with a teacher showing them episodes of The Wild Kratts. Stopped at the CVS really quick when I left to use the bathroom.

Moved on to Here Comes the Groom. I'll go further into that Bing Crosby vehicle on my Musical Dreams Reviews blog tomorrow for Father's Day.

Finished the night with the Bowery Boys horror spoof Master Minds on Tubi. Slip makes use of his friend Sach's toothache that allows him to predict the future to tell fortunes to customers on the midway. Unfortunately, one of those fortunes includes that he's going to be kidnapped and taken away. Mad Scientists want to put his brain into their monster...and they actually succeed for once. Now Slip, Gabe, and the others have to figure out where the real Sach is and restore the duo. 

Oh, and first of all, Lauren got home just fine, with no trouble on the train or bus. She was eating with her parents in Pittsfield by the time I was finishing with the kids. Second, this is also the end of my vacation. I'll be working at the Acme again tomorrow. 

Animation On Ice

Began the morning with breakfast and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Mr. Cat wants this to be "The Best Car Trip Ever" when he tries to take his family to the beach, but Hilda brings too much luggage, they almost lose theirs, and the kids beg to spend time at the nearby amusement park. "Ernest's Dish You Can Eat" is a cone created from a waffle for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Now he just has to figure out what filling works best in it, without ruining a judge's clothes. "Cousin Russ" is Huckle's wheelchair-bound cousin from England who happens to be a scout there. He teaches Huckle and all of the Scouts a lesson in being prepared when he's the only one who can save his cousin after he wanders off.

Rushed to work quickly after the cartoon ended...and was still 10 minutes late. Not a good thing. It wasn't bad when I got in, but it picked up quickly throughout the morning. Between the beginning of the month  and reports of snow on Monday, people are probably trying to restock after the holidays. They kept pulling me to put away cold items, which meant I kept falling behind on the carts. It took me so long to do the carts, I was late getting out.

Hurried to get my own shopping done, and I had a lot. Restocked yogurt, granola bars, oranges, apples, bagels, vanilla extract, coconut milk, and probiotic soda. Found Tresseme shampoo and Crest gum control toothpaste on clearance. Between the major sale and an online coupon, I got the shampoo for free! I also had online coupons for bakery items (got sugar cookies), the Acme's generic peanut butter, and Dannon light yogurt. 

Put on more cartoons when I got home and ate lunch. "Let's Dance" is the last episode of the 2003 Strawberry Shortcake before they updated the girls' designs to make them look older. Strawberry and her friends are excited when they decide to exhibit their skating talents in a big ice show, but their new friend Apricot has a hard time sharing their enthusiasm. She claims to live in a castle and have been skating all her life, yet she avoids rehearsing and shows up with a broken foot at the big show. Watching the other girls skate finally encourages Apricot to come clean and makes her realize she doesn't have to be wealthy or the best at something to make friends.

Watched Ice-Capades while I got changed and put everything away. I go further into this B-movie version of another popular skating show at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Ice-Capades (1941)

Spent the next hour and a half after that taking down Christmas decorations. I got everything that wasn't on or under the tree or went in the box with the linens and the Nativity, including the cardboard hangings, all the Christmas Beanie Babies and the print elves Mom sewed years ago, the garland and stuffed gingerbread people who go on the TV, the Santa statue and the porcelain items, Winter Cinderella, and the Falala and HoHoHo signs. I'll get to the tree, linens, Nativity, and Christmas stuffed animals under the tree on Monday or my next day off. 

Got a little bit of the Seasonal inventory done next. Added the Christmas Jazz CD collection I found at Phidelity Records a little over a year ago, A Motown Christmas, and Sounds of the Season, a Rhino/NBC CD that's a bit more rock-oriented than usual for these types of collections. Mom gave me the last-named for Christmas 2005, probably because she found it at some local store and thought I'd get a kick out of it.

Watched Match Game Syndicated while I worked. I arrived in time for the Season Two finale with Betty White getting to sit in Brett Somers' character actress seat. Bart Braverman is just happy to get a hug and a kiss from a very tall and pretty contestant! Season Three begins with Brett in her seat and Charles away directing an opera. Dick Martin more than adequately fills in for him. We also get a woman in the audience who performs "Louie, Louie" and really gets into it when Gene claims he's never heard of the song.

Finished the night with the soundtrack from the 1972 animated Charlotte's Web. I've long considered this to be one of the Sherman Brothers' most underrated scores. Three of their loveliest ballads come from this movie, the charming "There Must Be Something More to Us" when Fern first rescues her beloved pig Wilbur, "Mother Earth and Father Time" as Charlotte explains the changing seasons to her pig friend, and the haunting title song. We also get the rousing chorus numbers "We Have Lots In Common" and "Zuckerman's Famous Pig" and TV hams Paul Lynde and Agnes Moorehead having fun with "A Fair Is a Veritable Smorgasbord." 

Christmas Favorites and Monkee Adventures

Unfortunately, I overslept this morning and barely had enough time to grab breakfast and rush to work. Even with the rushing, I was a minute late. Fortunately, that was the worst that happened all morning. We were dead the whole four hours. We're between holidays, and even with it being the beginning of the month, a lot of people may still be getting rid of Thanksgiving leftovers or focusing on other shopping. It remained sunny, but still really cold, and much windier. Cold aside, I had no problems, and I was in and out.

Changed when I got home, then put on The Monkees. Davy discovers that rock contests can be a real drag when the guys get him into a dress for a mixed-gender contest in "Some Like It Lukewarm." To his dismay, not only does Jerry "Geater" Blavat (the real-life Philly DJ) fall for him, but he falls for the seemingly male member of their female rivals The Westminster Abbies. It's not until he sees her again in the dressing rooms and they admit that they've done something wrong that the duo come up with a solution to bring both groups together. (And look for Davy and Wiz creator Charlie Smalls working on a soul song of their own in the last sequence.)

Peter's in trouble again in "Monkees Blow Their Minds." This time, he goes to devious mentalist Oraculo (Monte Landis in his last role on the show) and his lackey (TV director Jim Frawley) in order to get help releasing a writer's block. Oraculo decides to steal their gig instead and gives him a potion that makes him into his slave. Mike tries to find out what they're doing to Peter, but he falls under his spell, too. It's up to Micky and Davy to save their friends and prove that Oraculo is more fake than fabulous. (Look for Mike and Frank Zappa playing each other and destroying a car in the opening.)

"The Frodis Caper" ends things on a seriously weird note...which shouldn't be surprising, given it was written and directed by one Micky Dolenz. Peter and almost everyone in Malibu Beach has been hypnotized by a pulsing eye on their television screens. Micky, Davy, and Mike discover that the evil Wizard Glick (Rip Taylor) is using an alien plant (voice of Micky) to control everyone on Earth and try to foil his plot. Honestly, Tim Buckley singing his own "Song of the Siren" in the finale makes more sense, even if Micky did manage some nifty directorial touches (like the "Good Morning" sequence in the opening).

And other than the Christmas episode, which I'll run when we get closer to the holiday, that is that. The show only ran two seasons because the guys wanted to do a variety program and NBC wanted things to stay the way they were. Personally, I thought they had a good balance at the end of the second season, with the guest stars at the beginning or end. I wish the guys could have gotten off their high-horses and compromised, but it was clear that they and the show's creators had pretty much lost interest by the time "Frodis Caper" aired. 

I largely prefer the second season over the first. The first is a better introduction to the guys...but while the second season has some pretty awful lows, it also has some of the best episodes of the entire series. My personal favorite episode, "The Devil and Peter Tork," is from the mid-second season. I also love "Fairy Tale," "It's a Nice Place to Visit," "Some Like It Lukewarm," and "Hitting the High Seas." 

I really wish the DVD sets for this show weren't out of print and the Blu-Ray wasn't incredibly expensive. I've had my DVD sets for 20 years now. If you're a classic rock fan or have fond memories of when this was on TV originally, in re-runs on cable and Saturday morning, or on digital channels, you'll want to see if you get music-based digital channel AXS TV (where this is apparently re-running now) and check out the adventures of the funniest fictional band who pushed themselves into reality. 

Put up the remaining Christmas decorations while I watched the guys. This is all of the little bits and bobs I've found or been given over the years, like the Santa and Mrs. Claus porcelain salt and pepper shakers Mom gave me, the mini light-up ceramic Christmas tree I bought in Collingswood two years ago, and the "Falalala" and "Hohoho" signs Linda Young made for me years ago. The mini tree from college goes with the smaller stuffed animals on top of one of the book shelves in my bedroom, along with the Whitman's tin I got from Mom a few years ago. There's a whole army of Beanie Baby Christmas toys, including two angel bears, and the stuffed tree, candy cane, and star Beanie-type toys Eckards sold in the late 90's during the height of the Beanie Baby craze. 

Spent the rest of the evening first doing job hunting, then finally finishing out the Cast Album inventory. Added the stage version of Victor/Victoria, a collection of songs from Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, A Year With Frog and Toad, and the 1999 revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown. The Very Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber goes back so far, I'm pretty sure I got it from my mom in the mid-late 90's. Lauren sent me the Year With Frog and Toad CD after we became friends in 2004. 

Since I'm already listening to Christmas music, I'll do the inventory for that next. I don't have nearly as many of the holiday albums as I do rock or cast albums. It shouldn't take long to do.

Listened to said Christmas albums while I worked. Christmas In France seems to be part of a series of albums featuring songs from various European countries Capitol released in the 60's. The Child Singers of Versailles performs the songs here. Though they do give us "White Christmas" and "Jingle Bells," the real interest here are traditional French holiday songs like "In That Stable" and "The Three Kings" that capture what they're still likely singing during the holiday season in France to this day.

Firestone released a series of Christmas albums from 1962 through 1968 that mostly focused on classical music, as per their radio and TV shows of the time, though pop singers like Julie Andrews occasionally turned up as well. I listened to Volume 2 and 3 tonight. Volume 2 belongs to Rise Stevens, Brian Sullivan, and the Columbus Boychoir with traditional offerings like "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," "Angels We Have Heard On High," and "The Twelve Days Of Christmas." Gordon MacRae is joined by three opera singers (including Roberta Peters) on Volume 3. Their offerings skewer slightly more recent, mixing "White Christmas" and "Sleigh Ride" in with "Gesu Bambino," "Go Tell It On the Mountain," and "Panis Angelicus."

(I always loved the covers of these albums, with their simple red ribbons and mistletoe against various colored "brocade" backgrounds. They just looked like Christmas in the 60's to me. Mom inherited two of these from her mother, and we'd listen to them during the holidays.)

Switched to Match Game Syndicated during dinner. In the first episode, Charles kept picking on director Marc Breslow...which meant we saw a lot of Charles' cowboy hat or shots of the side and under him during that episode. Eva Gabor showed off her lovely electric blue dress with the ruffled trim and swirly skirt in the second.

Put on another version of The Nutcracker on Kanopy after I ate. This one came from the Australian Ballet, and up thought the first half, it's pretty traditional. The second half begins with the Mouse King and his people invading the Land of Sweets. Even after they're dispatched, Clara joins the various international candies in their dances.

Finished the night at YouTube with holiday specials from around the world featuring Perry Como. The first was the oldest of the three. Perry's Christmas In Austria from 1976 made a lot of Sound of Music references, including in the opening. We also get to see Tyrolean slap dancers and a sleigh ride to the tune of "Valderi, Valdera."

Perry Como's Early American Christmas from 1978 takes us back to the US for a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia. We get to see how the Colonal colonists celebrated the holidays, with fife-and-drum corps and lots of huge balls and big meals. Diane Canova sings "My Cup Runneth Over," "It Couldn't Please Me More," and joins two ladies for "Making Christmas Dinner." John Wayne toasts Como's good health in the tavern.

Christmas In England from 1984 heads back to Europe, staring with a trip to jolly good London. Ann-Margaret sings "London Is London" before she and Como head off to admire the beautiful and enormous Downton Abbey-style castles and estates. "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Perry and Ann-Margaret don't. They have an easier time with dancing pub waiters and waitresses in London. 

Oh, and it started raining around dinnertime. I think it rained pretty hard at one point, though it seems to be gone now. At least this is supposed to warm things up a bit. I heard it's going to get into the upper 50's by next week.