Night of the Great Pumpkin

Began the morning with breakfast and two quick Disney shorts. Chip and Dale think Donald's "Trailer Horn" is an amusement park ride and keep jumping on it. Don doesn't have much luck chasing them away. "Chip and Dale" is the first short where they're named. Donald chopped down their log for his fireplace. They have to keep it from getting burned.

As I hurried off to work, I didn't see a huge branch that had fallen over the metal railings on the ramp into Oaklyn and rode smack into it. Ouch! I broke it, but it slammed me hard in the side of my head before I did. It hurt when it happened, but seems to be all right other than a bruise and scraped spot now. 

Fortunately, that was the worst thing that happened all day. The Acme wasn't busy in the slightest this morning. It picked up a little bit around 11:30-12, then died out again. We're between holidays, and Halloween isn't a big food holiday anyway. More people will be buying candy, party trays, or ready-made food than actual dinners. I was in and out with no trouble.

Put on It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown as I ate lunch when I got home. While the rest of the Peanuts gear up for Halloween, Linus is more excited about waiting for the Great Pumpkin in the pumpkin patch. He claims that on Halloween night, the Great Pumpkin will bring toys to all the good little children. Against her better judgement, Sally joins him. Elsewhere, Charlie Brown has trouble trick or treating, and Snoopy prepares for Veteran's Day by fighting the Red Baron. 

Chuck's insistence that Snoopy learn to do something useful ends with him learning magic and putting on a show. It's Magic, Charlie Brown when Snoopy turns Chuck invisible and can't figure out how to change him back. Chuck's upset, until he realizes that Lucy can't pull the football away if she can't see him coming...

Headed off to the Thomas Sharp School even before the cartoon ended. We spent most of the time outside again. Though it's still windy and was a bit colder, it remains too nice to have them inside. I get so many requests to push them on the swings, even from the ones who are capable of pushing themselves! (Some of the girls in particular can really be "one with the air," as I told them.) We were out for so long, they were just moving the kids to the blacktop area in the back with the older ones as I left.

Watched Match Game '76 when I got home. Donald Ross, the long-time comedy and mystery writer husband of Patty Deusch (who could get just as strange as his wife), joined two wonderful sitcom comediennes this week, Betty White and the wonderful Isobel Sanford. Sanford in particular was a warm and grounding presence, and I wish she'd been on the show more often. 

Spent the rest of the night working on Maplepunzel. Hilary and Queen Gertie rally the troops. Hilary sends Foley the Rabbit and Eugenia the Bird to get the rest of the enchanted animals of Hope Springs to help. Queen Gertie sends Mackie, Maple, Hilary, and Jeff in the mirror on ahead to rescue Scott, Victor, and Betty and open the door to the castle before she and Mr. Eldridge show up with the army, since Maple knows her way around.

Mackie stays with Maple after the others leave. He realizes he's only seen power like hers in one other person...his late wife Penelope. Maple is Anna, the child Pavla took from them. Maple realizes it matches her story, and what Mackie says is true. Gertie comes in as they embrace and asks them both to join them for dinner. Mackie is happy to accompany the two loveliest ladies in the kingdom to dinner, even as Gertie snarks at him.

Switched to The Wild Wild West after dinner. "The Night of the Puppeteer" has James West looking for an assassin after a puppet show nearly kills a Supreme Court Justice. He's led to a room filled with life-sized marionettes, directed by a deformed man who was using his puppet crew to get back at the men who arrested him on false charges and disfigured him.

Finished the night at YouTube with The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. This is probably the most 1976 piece of programming in existence. Lynde, dodging the Osmonds trick-or-treating, ends up at a spooky manor owned by Billie "Witchiepoo" Hayes and his housekeeper Margaret Hamilton, aka the Wicked Witch of the West. They give him three wishes. The first has him as a glamorous trucker with Roz Kelly as his girl and Tim Conway as his rival for her affections. In the second, he's a sheikh, Florence Henderson is the beautiful British object of his affections, and Conway is a Foreign Legion officer. He gives the witches the third, creating the Halloween disco of their dreams. In between, Betty White as Miss Halloween is disgusted that Lynde is her date, and we have KISS playing three of their biggest songs, "Detroit Rock City," "Beth," and "King of the Night Time World." 

The Eagles Wash Out the Bills

I awoke this morning to a sore right wrist, a right big toe that was one purple spot, and a stiff knee I could barely move. Yeah, I called out of work. No way I'd be able to push carts with my knee and wrist like this. Called them around 8, then went back to sleep and passed out until almost noon.

Did some reading and writing in my journal, then went into breakfast. Since I just finished the 1980 novel Annie that was based on the Broadway show, I did the original cast for that first. I'm honestly fonder of the 1982 movie - I can't see anyone but Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan - but there's some indelible performances on the original cast, too. Dorothy Loudon is a good Miss Hannigan, while Reid Shelton may be the definitive Daddy Warbucks. Andrea McArdle launched her stage career as the original title character. There's at least one duet for Warbucks and Grace Farrell, "You Won't Be an Orphan for Long," that doesn't seem to have made it into any of the filmed versions. The chorus numbers "It's a Hard Knock Life," "NYC," and "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" are fun here.

Switched to another mildly Christmas-themed musical after Annie. I picked up my Decca Broadway CD of Babes In Toyland and The Red Mill at least 20 years ago. The Babes songs are mainly sung by Karen Kemple and Kenny Baker and include charming versions of "Toyland," "Floretta," "I Can't Do the Sum," and one that I've never heard elsewhere, the tongue-twisting "Song of the Poet." Wilbur Evans scores with the two big hits from Mill, "Every Day Is Ladies' Day With Me" and "The Sidewalks of New York." 

That Christmas Jazz CD I picked up yesterday was a great find. It was worth it alone for Louis Armstrong's "Christmas Time In Harlem" and Babs Gonzalez' hipster version of The Night Before Christmas, "Be Bop Santa Claus." I also liked Fats Waller's "Swinging Them Jingle Bells" and Duke Ellington's version of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas." 

Moved to records in the living room during lunch. Disney's Babes In Toyland book-and-record has Little Boy Blue narrating the story. (It sounds like the same kid who narrated The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band book-and-record.) Most of the songs are clearly not from the original film...although this sometimes works to the record's advantage. Thurl Ravenscroft sounds a heck of a lot more menacing singing "And We Won't Be Happy 'Til We Get It" than Ray Bolger! The Tom and Mary also do a lovely "Just a Whisper Away."

Say One For Me is a 1959 movie about a priest (Bing Crosby) in New York's theater district who gets involved in the lives of several of his parishioners. It basically sounds like Going My Way crossed with Singin' In the Rain, and the soundtrack bears this out. Crosby and Ray Walston get nice versions of "The Secret of Christmas," but most of the other songs are generic dance numbers performed by Robert Wagner, Debbie Reynolds, and the chorus. 

Here's Love is the Broadway musical version of Miracle On 34th Street from 1963. It largely follows the original movie, although Fred Gaily is stated to be an ex-Marine and we have a dream sequence where Susan imagines her mother among toys trying to choose a father. Janis Paige is Doris; Fred Gwynne is fellow Macy's executive Mr. Shellhammer. Not some of Meredith Wilson's best work, although I do like Doris' "Look, Little Girl," her "Arm In Arm" with Susan, and Susan and Fred's sweet duet "My Wish." 

Thanks to Paramount Plus, I was able to watch the Eagles-Bills game today. It didn't look too good for the Eagles throughout most of the game. Despite the Bills being hit constantly with penalties, they just couldn't get anything started. The fact that it poured almost the entire day didn't help. The Eagles finally woke up in the second half and caught up in a big way by the fourth quarter. They finally won the game in overtime, 37-34.

Worked on writing for a while during and after the game. Stephen tries to hypnotize Cora again, but she's not falling for that anymore. She knows the truth about him - he's a shallow, insensitive bully with no interest in anyone but himself. He finally admits that no, he doesn't love her. He loves the fertile land in her parents' kingdom. She's a means to an end.

He's about to attack her when the hunchback, whom Stephen claims can't do anything but follow orders, breaks free and runs right into him. They go sprawling while Cora pulls away. Stephen's furious, yanking the hunchback around. Cora separates them, telling Stephen basically to cut it out and lay off the guy. Stephen calls the hunchback a freak and a monster, but Cora knows who the real monster is - Stephen.

Broke to have dinner at 7:30, then took a quick shower. Finished the night with episodes of Supermarket Sweep in honor of Cyber Monday tomorrow. This is another one that goes further back than most people likely realize. The original show debuted on ABC in 1965. Three teams begin with a base time of 1 minute and 30 seconds and play pricing games in order to add more to their time. The bonus round lets them run around the store, gathering the most expensive food, along with various bonus items and prizes. The team that gathers the highest total wins and plays two more contestants. Bill Malone hosted.

It's interesting to see what was different in the initial version. First of all, they drove around and filmed at different Food Fair markets in the New York area. Everyone was allowed to keep their groceries along with the bonuses. Everything you saw was real, including the market. No big bonus rounds, either. The Big Sweep is the bonus round. If nothing else, it's interesting to see how real grocery stores looked in the mid-late 60's. 

The women-oriented cable network Lifetime revived Supermarket Sweep in 1990. This time, it was filmed at a studio set up to look like a real supermarket. The pricing games used to earn time are more diverse, including games that let contestants guess tabloid magazine trivia or unscramble brand names. The Big Sweep is now followed by a Bonus Sweep, where the winners of the Big Sweep guess three clues that lead them around the store, ending in an item holding five thousand dollars. Energetic David Ruprecht of the bold sweaters hosted.

I don't think any show evolved more during their runs than Supermarket Sweep. It never seemed to be the same show twice. The graphics became increasingly brighter and blockier. A Mini-Sweep opened the first round starting in 1991 where people would guess an item from Dave's clues, then try to find it in the store for 10 extra minutes. More and more bonuses were added to the Big Sweep, including finding a list of items David announces, guessing an item from clues on a monitor, grinding a bag of coffee, filling a bag with candy, and figuring out which three bread items David wants or which three frozen yogurt flavors he asked for.  Even the episodes I have here from 1990, 1993, and 1995 show different bonuses and pricing games. David dropped the sweaters in favor of weird ties by 1993. 

The show returned on PAX-TV in 2000. I love the graphics that originally opened this one, with their adorable CGI animation depicting carts racing around a store. The second Mini-Sweep is replaced by two longer games. One has a member describing words to their partner that would eventually form a food word; the partner has to guess the word. It's sort of "Supermarket Pyramid." The other was the "Snack Attack Movie Game." That started with three questions about movies. The winner would taste test a food that was related to the film and try to guess what it was for fifty dollars towards the Sweep. 

Supermarket Sweep remained wildly popular in re-runs, first on Lifetime and PAX, then on Buzzr after they debuted there in 2019. That led to the creation of a round-the-clock channel that mostly showed early 90's episodes and a fourth revival on ABC in 2020. Noisy Leslie Banks hosted an expanded hour-long version. Now all the contestants participate in the Mini-Sweep instead of just someone buzzing in, and the Bonus Sweep is expanded to allow contestants to keep going to increase their total winnings, or stop with the money they have. In the show's third episode from 2020, one pair keeps going, only to get stuck, while two mothers wisely figure they have enough money for their needs. 

This has a lot of virtues. Banks is such a ball of energy, I got tired just watching her scoot around! The announcers from the early version are replaced by Banks and a goofy security guard who plays a few skits with Banks between rounds. The contestants are allowed to personalize their matching sweatshirts, too, leading to some rather creative designs. They also have cute names based around their favorite food, like "Team Honey" for honey fans or "Team Marinara" for two women who admitted they bonded over emotionally eating mozzarella sticks. It's kind of too bad ABC dropped this one early last year. I hope they bring it back eventually - it's a lot of fun.

Attention shoppers! Go wild through the aisles with some of the craziest cart-fillers to ever dash through a grocery store! 

Supermarket Sweep (1967)

Supermarket Sweep Premiere (1990)

Supermarket Sweep (1993)

Supermarket Sweep (1995)

Supermarket Sweep (2000)

Supermarket Sweep (2001)

Supermarket Sweep (2003)

Supermarket Sweep (2020)

At-Home Feud

Got a late start this morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel Gets a Cold," just as his class is preparing to celebrate Prince Wednesday's birthday with strawberry shortcake. He's too sick to stay, no matter how much he wants to. His father assures him that, even if he has to miss the party, rest is still best to fight a cold. Likewise, when "Mom Tiger Gets Sick," her boys make her lunch and finish the invitations she was working on.

Finished the book The Bear and the Nightingale while listening to An Evening With Lerner & Loewe, the LP set I picked up from Phidelity Records a few months ago. This is a collection of songs from the four major projects by the songwriting team at that point, My Fair Lady, Paint Your Wagon, Gigi, and Brigadoon. Fair Lady is probably the best of them. Phil Harris doesn't remotely attempt to sound Cockney, but he's having so much fun with "With a Little Bit of Luck" and "Get Me To the Church On Time," it scarcely matters. Jane Powell's Cockney on "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" isn't so hot either, but she does do a fine, fiery "Show Me." I also liked Jan Peerce's stunning "On the Street Where You Live." 

Tenor Robert Merrill shares my favorite song from Brigadoon with Powell, "Almost Like Being In Love." Harris' dicey French accent does "I'm Glad I'm Not Young Anymore" and "Thank Heavens for Little Girls" no favors. Powell and Robert Merrill have a disappointingly bland "I Remember It Well"; Merrill does far better on his own with "Gigi" and also gets a powerful "They Call the Wind Mariah." Powell's best solo is "Say a Prayer For Me Tonight." 

Went online for a while, but I couldn't concentrate. I finally broke for dinner at 6:30. Thought I'd try something I hadn't done in ages. Eating on the end table I got from the Manor Avenue apartment has really scratched up the finish. I thought I'd try making smaller place mats for it. The ones I currently have are not only too big for it and meant for a larger table, but they're in storage with the rest of my kitchen items. I tried to make a round place mat for spring with a cotton pastel yarn I have...but first I couldn't find the yarn, then I couldn't figure out how to make it lay flat. It was past dinner when I finally realized you have to chain into the sides, not the top rows. 

Finished the night with All-Star Family Feud. The original Richard Dawson Feud did a series of hour-long prime time specials from 1978 to 1984 featuring celebrities instead of the usual families. They mostly featured actors from popular sitcoms and dramas of the time (or in one case, popular daytime and nighttime soap operas). I finished out Disc 2 with the most unique roster, "Heroes and Villains." Feud had an odd idea of what constituted a hero and a villain. Joan Collins, Leonard Frey, and Henry Silva were certainly known for playing bad, and Paul Smith just came off well-received bad guys in Popeye and Midnight Express...but who in the heck put Marion Ross and Jon Bauman in with the Heroes, the latter in "Bowser" mode? And how did Norman Fell get in with the villains? At any rate, Fry and Collins' group trounced all comers, including the first Hero roster. 

"Battle of the Perfect 10's" placed a man in charge of a group of gorgeous ladies and a woman as the captain of hot guys (or cute kids, in the case of Ricky Schroeder on Debra Sue Moffat's team). Wilt Chamberlain and his beauties went up against Debra Sue Moffat and her boys, while Phyllis Diller led beloved sitcom and soap opera actors against Richard Simmons' former Miss Americas and models. Debra and her gentlemen won the first game hands down; Richard and his models got the second.

Most of the sitcom battles were a tad more generic. Ironically, the show I knew the least about did the best. I don't remember watching Family as a kid. It's one of only two shows listed I never saw, even in re-runs. I don't remember Hawaiian Eye, either. The Family that plays together, wins together. They steamrolled the competition, including the high schoolers and their teachers from Welcome Back Kotter, the crew of The Love Boat, and another big family show, Eight Is Enough. Hawaiian Eye had no luck with the castaways of Gilligan's Island. Dallas was the other major winner...and they had the funniest opening when the cast was seen holding up Larry Hagman before unceremoniously dumping him on the floor! 

(And I'm disappointed they don't include all of the specials, or at least all the ones they can find. The "Beasts Vs Beauties" episode is currently the only one missing. I suspect rights issues may have kept the second half of the Hawaiian Eye/Gilligan's Island show, which pits the casts of Batman and Lost In Space against each other, off the set...but there were two more "Battle of the Perfect 10" specials after that, including one with Betty White and Bert Convy leading teams that are on YouTube.) 

Foolish Heart

Started off with a late breakfast and Match Game '75. I came just in time for Gene to announce a new contestant...a gentleman who happened to own a motel in Encino, California, the very town Brett and Gene are always joking about having trysts in. Rather amusingly, he went on to win in the next episode. The others got to help him with "Line __" in the Audience Match.

Headed out for a walk around quarter after 1. The weather continues to be too nice for hanging around inside. It was sunny, breezy, and nearly in the 60's when I strolled along to Dollar General. No wonder they weren't terribly busy. I just grabbed a pack of Suave soap (6 for a dollar!) and two boxes of Dollar General's generic grape and strawberry-watermelon electrolyte drink mixes.

The Dunkin' Donuts on the White Horse Pike finally reopened last week. While the exterior was remodeled into the modern, blocky look a few years ago, the interior remained largely the same. Now, they finally cleaned up the interior, pulling the donuts from the back and putting them in a case that was right out front. The chairs and tables have a Formica retro look, with the smaller ones being rounded and cushy. Most donuts are too sweet for me, though. I went with a Vanilla Bean Coolatta instead. It took a bit of time. There was a long line at the drive-through window wanting to get Dunkin's coffee again after having to wait two weeks.

After the poor, harried lady finally got it to me, I took my sweet, cool treat down East Clinton and the stone stairs into Newton Lake Park. Thanks to the ridiculous spring-like weather we've had, I'm already seeing the first yellow crocus in gardens and green grass waving in the breeze in the park. There was even a guy going fishing. I dodged other people out for walks and the muddy dirt path behind the houses on Beachwood. Instead of going all the way, I followed another path up a hill, past a large stone Tudor house and a few other older houses, enjoying the stroll and the view.

When I got home, I looked over a Valentine's Day card from my mom and watched Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers during lunch. This Looney Tunes compilation special has an Elmer Fudd-like Cupid spreading love among the Toons, despite Bugs insisting he's medling. Bugs falls for the mechanical rabbit being chased in a greyhound race, helps Granny get a gold-digging Yosemite Sam off her back, dodges an overweight and over-eager Eastern European female rabbit, and finds a mate for the Tasmanian Devil. Detective Daffy tries to figure out why a gorgeous dame claims she's guilty when she isn't, while Pepe Le Pew plays sheik for a beautiful black cat at a Foreign Legion fort. 

Took my laundry down to the basement after lunch...and that was when the trouble started. I missed the last step, turned my ankle, and found myself wailing on top of a pile of spilled laundry. Good thing I did land on the laundry - the floor is concrete. I managed to get it all in the washer and myself back upstairs, but my ankle hurt and was swollen. (Oh, and I did get the laundry done, though someone else had to bring it back upstairs.)

I went online to do some writing and try to figure out what to do about my ankle. Revised it to be Lee Merriweather as the reporter again. She's indifferent to Richard's attempts at flirting. She'd rather dump him on Gene Rayburn, who is getting ready for a meeting about the next day's show...

By 6:30, there was no denying it. The ankle was badly swollen, and though I could walk on it, I was limping and it was really sore. A friend who was running errands anyway took me to Cooper Urgent Care in Audubon to have it checked out. 

Checking in proved to be quick and easy. I'd been there at least twice before, when I broke my elbow in May 2020 and overextended my right thumb in May 2018. I did have to wait for a few people in the waiting room before me, but it only took about ten minutes before they came for me.

I was very upset by the time they took my blood pressure. I can't believe I did this. I'll never be able to make that appointment to talk to Karen about finding a job now. And if I can't find a job, I'll never be able to make enough money to buy an apartment or condo. I need to get back on my own. I don't feel like a real adult. I feel like a spoiled child who isn't good enough to own a home or do anything that real adults do. 

Another lady came in and checked my foot, then lead me down to another room two doors down. I sat on a bench, and they scanned my ankle with the x-ray. It all took less than 10 minutes before I was back in the check-up room.

Another doctor came to give me the verdict. Oddly, though they suspected there might be a chip, as of right now, it doesn't look like there's a fracture. The bone is smooth and not jagged. It's still sore and swollen, though, so I have to wear a boot and take two days off of work. (To be honest, I really didn't want to work 8 1/2 hours on Wednesday anyway.) I also have very high blood pressure and need to do something about that, though I wonder if some of that might be stress from the last few years. 

Soon as I got home, I went upstairs and put my ankle on ice. Had dinner, then spent the rest of the night watching relationship and dating game shows on YouTube. By far the best known of these are The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game. These brainchildren from the titillating mind of Chuck Barris were designed for maximum randiness at a time when the networks were just starting to push the boundaries of good taste. Dating Game had bachelors and bachelorettes choosing from three potential dates; Newlywed Game let four just-married couples answer questions on their relationships. 

They became the templates for almost every dating and relationship show that came after them. The biggest hit among these imitators was Love Connection, which ran from 1983 to 1994 in syndication. Chuck Woolery lets a woman or a man select a date from three potential suitors. Unlike with Dating Game, we do get to hear all the details of their date, whether it worked out or not. If it didn't work out, they can choose from among the also-rans. Honestly...I found this show to be a colossal bore as a kid, and it still doesn't interest me much today. The interview portions leave me cold, with all the fussing over what went well and what didn't. 

Dating shows go back further than most people realize. The template for Dating Game would be Blind Date. This started out on radio in 1942 and was one of the earliest game shows to hit television in 1949. It also made history, with Arlene Francis being one of the first female hosts of a game show. Three young college gentlemen talk into a phone and answer questions from three young ladies. Honestly kind of cute, especially the odd skits midway through.

Tattletales revised an earlier show, He Said, She Said. Same deal as The Newlywed Game, but this time, celebrity couples played for the audience members. My interest in this show depends heavily on the couples playing. This episode from 1976 had Clifton Davies and his darling wife Lorraine, Richard Dawson and his then-girlfriend Jody, and William Christopher and his very funny wife Barbara. Richard and Jodie and William and Barbara were the big winners here.

Even ultra-hip MTV got into dating shows in the late 90's with Singled Out. This time, one guy or girl has to narrow down a potential date from a field of 50 would-be suitors. When they've whittled it down to three hopeful canidates, the three answer questions about what they want in a lover, and the guy or gal holds up signs to answer it. Jennifer McCarthy and Chris Hardwick pumps up the crowd and keeps the wacky proceedings moving. 

Romance shows came from abroad, too. Ross Schafer cut his game show teeth on Love Me, Love Me Not, an American adaptation of an Italian dating show from 1986. The champ listened to a panel read true or false statements about love and romance. If they guessed correctly, they "captured" the panelist. If they guessed incorrectly, the panelist got $100. In the second round, they took turns choosing questions from panelists they didn't own and tried to steal the other contestant's panelist. The bonus round had them guessing answers to love-related questions while going around a giant orange "daisy." Getting all the way around netted them a car.

Unique among dating and relationship shows in that it focuses on trivia, not relationships or mating. No one talks about their relationships or goes out on a date here. Too bad the game is way too complicated, and the Daisy Chase finale is kind of silly. 

Change of Heart debuted in the late 90's, just as "reality" shows and talk shows revolving around troubled relationships were starting to pick up steam on American television. Here, the couples are already established, but having problems. They date other people, and see if they want to stay together, or remain with their new mates. Ho hum. Despite being a five-year syndicated hit, I found this to be an annoying snore. It's a little too Jerry Springer for me, with all these people screaming over their bad habits and fussing that their mates aren't good enough. 

Match Game was more fun when married or dating couples played on the show. Jody and Richard actually did turn up together in a week in late '75. Jack Klugman and his wife Brett Somers initially appeared together during two weeks in 1973. They didn't do a week together again until 1978, by which time they'd divorced. No matter. They were still hilarious together, enough for Charles to insist they sit next to each other on the last day of the week and the others to hold a mock "wedding" for them. 

Spend your Valentine's Day enjoying these games with your own favorite love connection!

Blind Date (1951)

The Newlywed Game (1966)

The Dating Game (1970)

Tattletales (1976)

Match Game (1978)

Love Connection (1983)

Love Me, Love Me Not (1986)

Singled Out (1997)

Change of Heart (2002)

And here's more vintage Valentine's Day specials on the funny side of love for your enjoyment!

Alvin and the Chipmunks: I Love the Chipmunks Valentine's Special

Woody Woodpecker Valentine's Day Special: I'm With Cupid, Stupid

A Special Valentine With the Family Circus

The Popeye Valentine's Day Special: Sweethearts at Sea

Cathy's Valentine

The Smurfs: My Smurfy Valentine

For Better or for Worse: A Valentine from the Heart

Buttons and Rusty In the Honey Bunch (A Chucklewood Valentine)

From Disney With Love

Disney's DTV Valentine

Muppet Babies (1984): My Muppet Valentine

A Goofy Look at Valentine's Day (Educational Short) 

Chilled Spring

Began a gloomy, rainy morning with Strawberry Pancakes and Donald Duck shorts. Donald vaulted past every-mouse Mickey during the war years to become Disney's number one shorts star. He starred in the majority of their war-related shorts, including "Donald Gets Drafted." Swayed by the glamorous new image seen on recruiting posters, Donald joins the Army...then regrets it when Sergeant Pete makes him stand on an anthill. He's desperate to become a pilot in "Sky Trooper." Pete's not happy with his less-than-impressive flight test...and is even less thrilled when he does make it in the air. 

My personal favorite Donald wartime short is "The Vanishing Private." He's supposed to be painting camouflage on a cannon. Pete tells him to make it "hard to see"...which he does, thanks to invisibility paint. Donald ends up in the paint himself...then takes the opportunity to get Pete back and leads him on a merry chase all around the base. 

"Der Fueher's Face" won an Oscar in 1943. Donald finds himself living in Nazi Germany, without food and working on an increasingly frenzied bomb assembly line. When things start leaning into surreal territory and he starts to crack, he finally realizes how important his freedoms are.

Thankfully, the rain slowed to a mild mist by the time I rode to work. Work was much busier than yesterday, with less down time, longer lines, and not as much help. Also had to deal with a few annoying customers. It did slow down enough by 4:30 that I was once again able to leave quickly with no relief.

Went straight home and into writing. Bill ends up going down the chimney to try to get Brett out. She kicks up the chimney, sending him soaring in mid-air! When he lands, not only is he not hurt, but he has an idea for a new song and wants to do it again.

Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. Made Cincinatti Chili while finishing out the Donald Duck shorts. All Donald wants to do is sleep during a hard day of "Fall Out, Fall In," but first he can't set up his tent, then his fellow soldiers keep him awake. Pete catches Donald after a night out on the town, but "The Old Army Game" takes a more disturbing turn when a bomb goes off and they think Donald lost a part of himself. Donald's taking on "Home Defense" as a civilian aircraft spotter. His nephews don't think much of his work, especially when he mistakes a bee for a bomber. "Commando Duck" is sent into the heart of Japan to wipe...no, wash...out the enemy.

Took out the recycling after dinner. Turned out to go back inside when my foot slid on one of the pieces of slate used on the path and slammed into the concrete steps. Ouch! The second toe on my left foot is now black and blue and very sore. I can move it and walk on it, so I don't think it's broken, but it doesn't feel good, either. 

Put it on ice while watching Superman shorts. Given the tenor of the comics at the time, it was probably inevitable that Superman would fight the Axis on the big screen as well. "The Japoteurs" steal a huge experimental plane...and Lois, who stayed onboard to investigate. Superman has to rescue both and stop the spies, before they make it out of the country. "The Eleventh Hour" is a fairly mature short for the time about Superman sabotaging the Japanese and how they try to stop him. "Jungle Drums" brings in the Nazis as the Man of Steel helps Lois stop a group of spies from using stereotypical natives to hide their anti-aircraft weapons. A beautiful "Secret Agent" gets help from Superman when she needs to get to Washington with plans belonging to a German spy ring.

Took a shower, then switched to YouTube. I enjoyed those Family Feud Armed Services weeks so much on Buzzr, I re-watched the one from 1989 that ran two years ago. The Marines in particular are so damn funny. I didn't know they had such great senses of humor. They cheered on answers good and bad, expertly trash-talked the other teams, and had some of the best lines.

Celebrate Memorial Day with some of the most hilarious officers to ever join the Feud!

Monday - Army vs Navy

Tuesday - Air Force vs Marines

Wednesday - Army vs Coast Guard

Thursday - Air Force vs. Coast Guard

Friday - Marines vs Navy

Championship 

Finished the night at Sundance TV for the only episode of Hogan's Heroes currently available there, "Carter Turns Traitor" from Season 3. Carter (Larry Hovis) has to convince the Germans that he's a chemist who is willing to join the other side. Trouble is, someone seems determined to kill him before he can go through with his real mission - learning the location of a new German chemical plant. 

Day By Day

Began my day with breakfast and Body Language. Mindy Cohn and Jamie Farr were the celebrities acting out words for contestants in order to solve puzzles. Jamie's usually good at this, but Mindy correctly guessed a hard puzzle in the last regular round. She did manage to get 700 for her contestant, but they couldn't figure out the words for the big money.

The contestants did better on Blockbusters. The older lady who was a former member of the All-American Girl's Baseball League had trouble with a brother and brother-in-law, but she finally beat them on a tiebreaker. She had fewer problems with the Gold Run, missing only one question. 

Broke before the end of Blockbusters to dress the dolls for Easter, letting it and Match Game-Hollywood Squares run in the background. Samantha and Whitney get cute limited edition spring outfits. Sam wears her Flower Picking Dress and black and white boots, while Whitney is in (Kit's) Springtime Outfit. Felicity celebrates her birthday later this month in her salmon-pink Birthday Dress and Pinner. Molly's birthday pinafore has sleeves that are too short for early spring; she gets her aqua Polka-Dot Outfit instead. Josefina celebrates her feast day last week in her Feast Day Celebration outfit and Heirloom Accessories. Ariel sports the Flower Girl Dress from the late 2000's with a ruffled sweater and Swiss lace espadrilles from the Springfield Collection. Jessa's in the 1998 Birthday Outfit with the purple fruit-print jumper, the t-shirt with the fruit decal on the front, and purple jelly sandals. 

Let Match Game '75 run as I cleaned up from breakfast and got organized. The first episode featured a slightly cruel question about what happened to Allen Ludden at Betty White's barbecue and a lot of panelists jumping or falling out of seats. Major hams Jack Cassidy and Richard Dawson got together to ready a question about the pirate and his matey in nautical-speak in the second.

Switched to Yogi the Easter Bear while making Honey Orange Mini-Donuts. Ranger Smith is horrified when Yogi Bear eats all the candy intended for the Jellystone Easter Jamboree and destroys the Easter Bunny suit. The macho park commissioner's bringing his grandchildren to the show and expects nothing but the best. Yogi and Boo Boo go off to find the Easter Bunny, only to have to rescue him and the Easter Chicken from an extremely weird pair obsessed with plastic eggs.

Made a Chocolate-Banana Smoothie for lunch while watching the latest episode of Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures. We're in New Delhi, India for "Holi, By Golly!" Goofy and the gang are tasked with taking a guru's all-white artwork to the Museum of Modern Art, but they may not be able to pull it off with all the sudden showers and colorful spring festivals going on! Minnie's enchanted by "The Pink City," but they're really there to see their elephant friend Missy safely to an elephant sanctuary. Somehow, Cuckoo Loca and Daisy manage to lose Missy and run all over The Pink City searching for her.

Went outside after lunch. Though my foot was sore, I really wanted to enjoy the nice weather. I haven't used the hard plastic, phys ed-style jump rope I found at a yard sale since last spring. Tried jumping or skipping down Manheim and back up Reading...but first of all, I could only do it for so long before the rope got caught on my foot. Second, despite the weight I've lost, I'm not quite up to a run yet. I skipped a few minutes, then walked a few minutes. Tried jumping on the walk to my place after I got back to Hillcrest, but I could only manage 15 before the rope got caught again.

Besides, my left foot was too sore to really do much. I can walk on it, so I don't think it's broken. It's more likely I pulled a muscle yesterday. Put it up with ice while watching Super Password. Tom Poston's still on, managing to do a little better, even almost getting his contestant through the Super Password bonus round. Newcomers Janet and Gary Burghoff were the big winners on Tattletales today over older couples Amanda Blake and her animal-taming then-husband Frank Gilford and long-married Gene and Helen Rayburn. 

Press Your Luck didn't begin well for anyone. Whammies slammed the female champ three times alone in the first round. She Whammied out early in the second round. The other woman and lone man were left to battle it out. In the end, he couldn't make enough money after hitting a Whammy. She went home with no Whammies, a TV, and lots of money.

Worked a little bit on writing after the show ended. Richard gets in between the bandit and Gary, asking if he can shoot a clock off the wall behind him. He can, by golly...but Richard can do it much faster.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers while watching Match Game '76. Fannie's poor spelling comes in for ribbing when everyone sees how she spells "Minnie Pearl." (She actually has dyslexia. Bill Daily and Joyce Bulifant do, too.) Meanwhile, contestants named Maggie Smith and Ed Sullivan answer questions about what Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke eats and listen to a few new versions of the think music.

Things didn't go as well on Match Game PM. The contestants had a hard time matching. After they tied, they apparently played at least 3 Sudden Death tiebreakers before the lady won. Sweet Susan Richardson from Eight Is Enough tried to help her figure out Hot as __." 

Settled down with ice and a book as Sale of the Century began. For the second time in two days, the pretty woman contestant dominated the proceedings, buying both Instant Bargains and winning all Fame Games. Had no problem with the Bonus Round, either.

Finished out the night on Amazon Prime with Godspell. I go further into this joyous retelling of the Gospel According to St. Matthew with wonderful Steven Schwartz music at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Godspell

Laughter In the Rain

Started off a sunny, hazy morning with breakfast and Split Second. This time, there was a clear winner. The champ pulled ahead the entire time, and though the one man initially got ahead of her in the Countdown round, she came from behind and won. Alas, she didn't choose the car and opted to return.

Having enjoyed It's a Living last night, I decided to sample other vintage sitcoms streaming online and see what else I felt like doing a marathon for. Started at Hulu with MASH. "Crisis" from the second season is entirely too appropriate right now. The supply lines for the 4077th have been cut off, leaving many shortages in the middle of brutal winter weather. Colonel Henry Blake (McLean Stevenson) keeps losing his office furniture to the surgeons chopping it for firewood, Frank Burns (Larry Linville) totes a rifle and is hoarding hams with Hot Lips (Loretta Swit), and no one is happy about sharing quarters to conserve heat.

Clouds were starting to build in the distance as I switched to The Bob Newhart Show, also on Hulu. Bob played a psychiatrist with a lot of nutty patients and Suzanne Pleshette was his smart wife Emily, but "Bob and Emily and Howard and Carol and Jerry" from the first season focuses on their three supporting friends. Their neighbor Howard (Bill Daily) manages to charm Bob's receptionist Carol (Marcia Wallace) when he's high on laughing gas, but he can't even remember her name when they actually go on a date. She eventually goes on a date with Bob's dentist friend Jerry (Peter Bonnerz), but Howard is still interested in her and wants to try again.

By the time I'd moved to What's Happening!! on The Roku Channel, we were in the middle of a very loud, full-on thunderstorm. I quickly threw down all the windows in the apartment as "The Maid Did It" played behind me. Mabel King was the head of family who is fired from her maid job when she's accused of stealing a ring. Her son Roger (Ernest Thomas) and his friends Dwayne (Haywood Nelson) and Re-Run (Fred Berry) take it on themselves to find the real thief.

(Incidentally, something I didn't realize until I read the credits - well-known composers wrote the themes for at least two of the shows I watched yesterday and today. Leslie Bricusse did the infectious showtune title song for It's a Living; Henry Mancini wrote the funky instrumental theme for What's Happening!!)

Though the thunder was gone by the time I was on NewsRadio, it continued to rain fairly hard. I have an odd soft spot for shows about failing radio stations. WKRP In Cincinatti was one of my favorite sitcoms as a kid, and I still adore the underrated AMC historical dramady Remember WENN. I probably would have gotten more into NewsRadio if it hadn't been on around the same time as WENN. I did like what little I saw at the time, but I haven't seen it since the late 90's.

For some reason, Roku currently only has seasons 3 and 4. I went with "Complaint Box" from season 3. News director Dave Nelson (Dave Foley) installs a complaint box (with a buzzer), but it's quickly overwhelmed with with jokes and nonsense complaints. Dave's first horrified when he somehow loses the box he hears his boss Jimmy James (Stephan Root) through, then angry when lawyers take the complaint from Lisa Miller (Maura Tierney) seriously.

Even waiting out the rain didn't make taking Uber during a storm any cheaper. Not to mention, I forgot to confirm the first ride and had to do it again. Thankfully, the young man was able to avoid traffic, and I got to my appointment just in time, by which time the rain was gone and the sun was just emerging.

It took about 15 minutes for the doctor to take me this time, and there were several other people in the room, including a man getting a cast on his hand taken off and an elderly mother and her daughter. The ultimate verdict from Dr. Ramerez was about what I figured it would be. The fracture is healing, but not 100 percent better yet. I'm to leave the sling off at home and do light arm therapy on my own whenever I can.

The Uber took longer to get home than it did to get to Cooper. The guy who drove me there took the highway, but the man going back to Oaklyn took the back roads, where there were tons of downed trees and large limbs from the earlier storm. Saw a lot of downed trees at Newton Lake Park as we drove past too, including one that was blown over with a ton of roots and dirt intact.

Ran Tattletales as I had a snack and got organized when I arrived at home. This time, Orson and Carolyn did the worst of the three, only getting two questions. The winners were comedian Army Archerd and his equally funny wife Selma, who got everything right.

Switched to writing after the show ended. As Charles and Clifton start the music, Richard attracts a bevy of adoring beauties. Among them are are Fannie's stepsisters, bubbly Meredith and grumpy Vicki. Neither of them will take "no" for an answer on that dance...until Larry announces a beautiful and mysterious newcomer...

Had leftovers and a salad for dinner while watching Match Game. Both episodes got pretty wild today. The first one began with Earl, the young man who slides the question and answers on the Audience Match board, missing his cue and forgetting to slide the question.The second episode brought legendary announcer Johnny Olsen in when a question asked about what he says to his wife to wake her up at nights. As the long-time announcer for The Price Is Right, he got to say that famous "Come on down!" Gary Burghoff even dashed down the stairs in imitation of an excited Price contestant.

Yesterday's champ on Sale of the Century just couldn't get anything going today. The young man playing against him bought all three Instant Bargains and still killed everyone in the speed round. He too opted to return and try for better prizes.

Finished the night with four more classic sitcoms, starting with the first season of The Golden Girls on Hulu. Ironically, Rose Nylund (Betty White) faces a similar dilemma to Vicki last night in "Rose the Prude." She has a wonderful new boyfriend named Arnie (Harold Gould) who has asked her on a cruise, but she's not sure if she's ready after her husband died. Unlike Vicki, her roommates are able to convince her to make the leap and go further in the relationship.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show is also currently on Hulu. In the fourth season, Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) drags her best friend Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) to New York for her sister's wedding in "Rhoda's Sister Gets Married." While her noisy aunt (Brett Somers) is squeezing them a little too tight, Rhoda's mother (Nancy Walker) is worried that her unmarried daughter might be jealous. Rhoda's more concerned that her mother is going to ruin her sister's wedding because of her.

The first three seasons of That Girl are currently free at Tubi. Mary Richards is hardly the only working woman on TV to run into problems with her jobs and love life. Went with the series' first episode, "Don't Just Do Something, Stand There." Ann Marie (Marlo Thomas), an aspiring actress, is thrilled when she's offered a commercial that's filming right at the news stand where she works. She's supposed to play a girl who gets kidnapped, but Don (Ted Bissell), a writer in the same building, thinks she's being kidnapped for real and tries to save her. To make up for yelling at him over it, she attempts to buy him the desk they both had their eye on.

The last show I watched before tonight's syndicated Match Game premiere was The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which is also found on YouTube. "The Spirit of the Law" from the second season brings a power company workman (Jack Burns) to Gull Cottage in the hope of putting up power pylons on their land. When the Captain's sabotage gets her into hot water, Carolyn  (Hope Lange) opts to go to jail and let it go to trial rather than cause further damage. Claymore (Charles Nelson Reilly) tries to play lawyer and help out, but it's not until the Captain takes over his body and recalls an earlier case of unlawful demolition that the Judge (J. Pat O'Malley) takes them seriously.

Oh, and the storms returned in force tonight, twice in a row, actually. It doesn't sound like they'll be going anywhere for the next few days...which isn't good, as I still have errands I need to run.

The Verdict Is

Slept in this morning. Buzzr was on The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour by the time I got to breakfast. Michael Winslow, the noise-making comedian from the Police Academy movies, really livened up this week. Gene could never quite figure out what those strange sounds were behind his back!

I did what packing I could with one arm while the 70's Match Game ran. Most of the boxes I have here are too small for the books, pans, and DVDs I have left to pack. Two narrow boxes proved to be appropriate for my high school yearbooks and a trio of scrapbooks I haven't looked at in a while. One was dried flowers, menus, and other assorted paraphernalia from a trip to Montana in 1995. A narrower scrapbook held all of my articles from high school and college newspapers. The third held articles and photos of Remember WENN (and my attempts to save it) and the re-releases of the original Star Wars movies in 1997.

Came out for a quick yogurt and fruit lunch as Classic Concentration was in full swing. A young woman from Boston (with the accent to prove it) did very well at the main rounds, winning a computer and a trip to Spain, among other prizes. She just could not figure out the bonus rounds. Even with almost a full minutes, she wasn't able to match enough spaces for a car.

Called Uber during the second show. Turns out the Cooper Orthopedics building in Cherry Hill was directly behind the Crowne Plaza Hotel just off the Cooper River Bridge. The big, hearty gentleman picked me up around 2, driving me down the Black Horse Pike and through Pennsauken to Route 70.

(I might have to ride down to the Pennsauken side of Cooper River Park sometime once my elbow heals. It was really lovely there, with the elegant park row house, memorials, and lots of people running around, jogging, or bike riding.)

Neither the traffic nor the ride were as bad as I figured they would be. The car pulled in around 2:15, an hour before my appointment. To pass time and get some exercise, I went for a walk around the building. The large brick building was an X-shape, and while not huge, the exterior was clean and a pretty good size. I saw a well-kept outdoor dining area; it was empty, not surprising given it was well past lunch.

Finally opted to just go to my appointment early. On entry, the sweet nurse at the door took my temperature (a normal 96.8) and basically asked if I had any of the virus symptoms. Unless you count the usual pollen and dust-based sneezes, I did not. She pointed me in the direction of the elevators, which I took after a quick stop at a spotless bathroom. In fact, the entire building was very spotless and very modern, with lots of chrome, plastic, and curved lines.

As soon as I came in, the lady on duty gave me a few things to sign. The nurse had to wait for me to finish, but as it turned out, she and the doctor were able to see me early. No wonder. I saw maybe three people in the building who weren't working there. It was pin-drop quiet. There wasn't even anyone in the waiting room.

The nurse revealed why everything was so new and clean when she took my vital signs and I told her about my impending move. Turns out they just moved, too. The building only opened two weeks ago. I explained to her what happened with the car accident and my arm before she went off to get the doctor.

Dr. Ramerez turned out to be a young fellow, probably no more than early 30's, and very pleasant. He showed me the x-rays e-mailed from Cooper Urgent Care. Yes, my elbow was fractured, but it wasn't a bad break. I'd wouldn't need anything more than the bandages and sling Urgent Care gave me, but I would need the six weeks off from work to recover. I'll be seeing him again to check it out in two weeks. I picked up the note from him for work before I headed out.

Since I had the note, I took Uber to the Audubon Acme so I could deliver it as quickly as possible. They once again weren't busy, with no lines inside or out. Probably a good thing. Display items around the store had been moved in the back or to the side, likely in order for the floor to be polished tonight. I turned the paper over to a manager, then bought some more bananas, a green pepper, cherry tomatoes, a small bottle of hand sanitizer, and a buy one, get one deal for large Acme-brand band-aids.

I checked my phone after I got out of work. Turns out Rose tried to call earlier while I was just getting out of my appointment. Tried to call her as soon as I got in, but I ended up leaving a message. Jodie called me while I made bacon spinach salad for dinner. I told her everything that happened today, including what the doctor related at Cooper Orthopedics. I assured her that I'd try calling Rose again tomorrow and would sign for unemployment first thing tomorrow morning.

Watched the evening Match Game episodes while eating dinner. Giggly Judy Landers of the detective show Vega$ proved to be better at matching than one might think in the first episodes from 1978. The second hour of episodes jumped back to 1975. Buck Owens proved too laid-back for the show and didn't seem terribly interested in the proceedings. Gloria DeHaven was more game and did a little better.

At one point, one contestant got a difficult question about why Tarzan wouldn't wear a white loincloth. She and the panel had such a hard time answering the question, they turned to the writers backstage to find out what the definitive answers were. Among the answers were "virgins." When Gene jokingly said "will all the virgins stand up?", the entire back tier got to their feet! (I know Brett and Gary had kids, and I'm pretty sure Buck probably did.)

Settled down to crochet a new dishrag while watching Sale of the Century. The musician champ got a run for his bargains by the other gentleman, who just barely lost to him in the speed round. He likely wouldn't have won at all if he hadn't gotten 25 dollars from the Fame Game board. He opted to come back again and try for a Caribbean cruise instead of the sapphire bracelet.

Finished the night watching The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension on Pluto TV's on demand service. Bonzai (Peter Weller) is, among other things, a musician, physicist, and pilot who has just created a device that can pass through solid matter. It would seem the device can also transfer from one dimension to another. On his first test drive, he picks up  goo and what seems to be a small alien. Turns out there's a whole lot more where that came from. He and his rock band and adventurer buddies The Hong Kong Cavaliers discover that the insane Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow) once crossed into the dimension as well, and now is involved with a race of beings who want to create an explosion in Russia that would start World War III! It's up to Bonzai, his friends, and lovely Penny Priddy (Ellen Barkin) to save the world from this very peculiar alien menace.

When you have John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd (as an alien), Jeff Goldblum (as one of the Cavaliers), Dan Hedaya, Vincent Schiavelli, and Ellen Barkin in the same movie, you know it's going to be weird for the ages. Apparently, neither critics nor audiences knew what to make of it in 1984, and it wound up being a fair-sized flop. I thought it was hilarious, with a great cast making the most of the truly bizarre material. If you love the cast, 80's adventures, or are willing to take a chance on a really odd sci-fi comedy, give this one a try.

The Unkindest Break

Began the morning with breakfast and Rick Steves' Europe. Rick takes a trip through France's Loire Valley, exploring ancient Medieval castles and vast Renaissance chateaus, both the home of kings and queens for centuries. Kids will probably be happier at Leonardo Di Vinci's home, where they can run among and play with some his most famous and unusual inventions.

Headed out as soon as the episode ended and I took some aspirin and wrapped my arm in a bandage. At least it was a nice day for a long walk, much nicer than it's supposed to be next week. The sun blazed overhead, the sky was a brilliant robin's egg blue, and the bare hint of a breeze stirred my hair. While still warmer than it has been, probably in the 70's, it wasn't quite as hot as yesterday.

Just like last time, there was no one at Cooper Urgent Care when I arrived. I quickly signed in, told the lady at the desk what happened, and was whisked into a room. The first nurse, clad in a plastic mask and gloves, took my vital signs and temperature and asked me what happened. A doctor once again checked my blood pressure. A young man lead me to the x-ray room, where he took photos of my arm.

Watched Flea Market Flip on the DIY Channel until the doctor returned. Verdict - yeah, it's a fracture. No wonder it won't bend. She gave me a signature to get out of work for the week and told me I'd have to see an orthopedics office. She also repeated Dr. Jessica's warning about my blood pressure being too high and eating better. After she brought a packet of papers, I got a tetanus shot, had my arm bandaged and dressed and placed in a sling, and was on my way.

Stopped at WaWa on my way home for lunch. Opted for a turkey hoagie with spinach and tomato this time. Limited my drink to a Pineapple Perrier. Surprisingly for 1:30, they weren't busy at all. The lunch crowd must have been long gone. I was in and out.

Put on Match Game as I ate. The first episode was another one from that week in 1978 featuring Jack Klugman and his sort-of-ex-wife Brett Sommers battling it out. The second went further back to 1976, as Ed Asner and Lynn Deerfield joined Betty White and the regulars in dealing with a nerdy good ol' boy and wacky Lyle, the strangest male contestant ever on the show.

By the time of the third episode, I was nodding off. I didn't sleep well last night, probably thanks to the pain in my arm. I was originally going to wait until Charlie stopped blowing fuzzies off the roof to take a nap, but I was just too tired. I finally opted to ignore the leaf blower and snuggle down into bed.

I must have been really wiped. I went down at 3:30 and didn't wake up until 6! Had leftover lentil stew over spinach for dinner while watching Mr. Bug Goes to Town on YouTube. I go further into the tale of bugs trying to save their community from humans and a greedy beetle businessman at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Mr. Bug Goes to Town

Did two episodes of Tattletales a bit later in honor of Jerry Stiller, who passed away at 90 from natural causes this week. Stiller and his wonderfully sarcastic wife Anne Meara appeared several times on the show, notably with Dick Gautier and Gloria Stuart and Elaine Joyce and Bobby Van on one week early in 75, and Stuart, Gautier, Greg Morris, and his wife Lee in another. At this point, the show still used its original format, with one couple guessing a clue as to what their spouse might say on a subject. Meara and Stiller's down-to-Earth warmth made a nice contrast to the more glamorous or traditionally sexy couples around them.

Finished the night on Shout TV with another Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode. Mike and the robots explored another Russian fantasy epic, The Sword and the Dragon, while playing Dungeons & Dragons and creating their own topical comedy variety show. The complex plot of this one I think had a warrior helping out his king with a Mongul invasion, only to be betrayed and lose his family years later. After the Mongols invade again, he's released from prison, only to end up fighting his own son. This one has more in common with cheesy Italian epics like Hercules and lacks the fairy-tale romance of Jack Frost. It absolutely needed the wisecracks, if only to make sense of the plot. (And that "dragon" only shows up in the last 20 minutes of the film and is barely used.)

Mystery Science Theater 3000 - The Sword and the Dragon

Close Encounters of the Sore Kind

Began my day with breakfast and Sale of the Century. The woman champ blew the competition away, coming way ahead of everyone else, finding a money card, and getting twice as much money on the speed round. She even got the Irish vacation she'd had her eye on. She made a few bobbles in the "guess the six-word puzzle" bonus round, but ultimately won the money with two seconds to spare. Headed off to work at Supermarket Sweep began.

Once again, I started off the day with gathering carts. It was the perfect weather for it. It was sunny, bright, breezy, and the hottest it's been since September, probably in the mid-80's. I did get called in later to do cleaning and sweeping after the head bagger ended up in a register, but I only worked four hours today. I didn't have to clean and run errands for that long.

Went straight into grocery shopping after work. I really needed vegetables. Bagged spinach and cherries were on a good sale, and I had online coupons. Blueberries were on sale too; we'd finally gotten the first US crop of the year. Cucumbers were also surprisingly cheap. Saw turkey bacon on sale and thought I'd have bacon spinach salad for dinner sometime this week. I also had online coupons for yogurt and Friendly's ice cream. The Duncan Hines premium cake mix flavors were on a rare good sale; thought I'd try making red velvet cookies. Restocked mushrooms, bananas, broccoli, minced garlic, brown and white sugar, lentils, and cereal. Found four pencil boxes on clearance. They weren't much nicer than dollar-store versions, but I thought they'd be useful for stray art supplies at home.

My schedule next week is a lot busier. Once again, I mostly work in the early morning...except for one random late afternoon-early evening day next Friday. Monday and Tuesday off. While I appreciate the money, it's also tiring, especially at a time when most people are supposed to be staying at home. At least I'm not sick, and I have no one sick at my apartment, plus I have the move to focus on.

I was so concentrating on all that, I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going as I rode down the sidewalk on the Black Horse Pike. I didn't see the white car turning into Audubon Park until it was too late and I'd already hit the side. Cherries went flying across the road, one cup of yogurt ended up in the grassy meridian, and I landed hard on the street on my left side.

A young woman in blue came flying out in horror and immediately offered to help. I told her it was my fault; she said it was hers. (Looking back later, I think we were both probably not paying attention.) She did put on a mask and helped me round up the cherries (at the proper distance), which I planned on washing when I got home anyway. The yogurt cup was in good shape, not a scratch or crack on it. Only two cherries got squashed, and that because we stepped on them while trying to gather them. I walked the bike until I got into Oaklyn, then rode the rest of the way home.

By the time I made it back to Manor, it was very clear that while the bike was running fine, I was not. My left knee had scrapes and a nasty bruise, but it otherwise moved normally. The left elbow was so sore, I couldn't bend it all the way, and it hurt to move it.  I had to carry my grocery bag upstairs and open the door with one hand.

As soon as I got in, I started putting everything away. My colored pencils and glitter fabric pens were kept in an old plastic cup and an extra-large coffee mug. The colored pencils, along with spare pens and mechanical pencils in the bedroom desk, went into the pencil boxes. The glitter fabric pens fit nicely into one of the plastic ice cream pint containers that are so thick, they can double as holders for small items.

Changed, then went online. First order of business was checking to see if Cooper Urgent Care in Audubon, which did a great job checking out my arthritic thumb in 2018, was open and accepting non-virus-related patients. They were, with the usual social distancing restrictions. I'll walk there first thing tomorrow. Audubon isn't far, and other than the scraped-up knee, my legs feel well enough to walk.

Second was ordering dinner. I intended to treat myself to a delivered meal anyway. I figured I needed it, after the last few weeks! Now, I really wasn't up to cooking. While it costs 2 dollars extra, Phillies Phatties does do at-home drop-off. I ordered fries, a chicken gyro, and a can of Pepsi.

Managed a little writing after that. Jo Ann (Pflug), the flower fairy, reveals that she and the other fairies can transform the women's outfits into gowns that will get them into the ball at Password Palace. Trouble is, the only way to get there is through the village of Holly Woods, and the town is heavily guarded by Ira and his men. Big Orson the troll has his own ways of dealing with them...

Went downstairs to pick up my dinner at five minutes of 7. I usually avoid ordering takeout. My apartment is in the back of a house, on the end of a dead-end street, and is next-door to a park. No one can ever find it! I decided to save the poor guy the trouble and waited on the curb for him instead. He was only five or so minutes late; I gave him the money right in his car, and he plesantly handed me the change and food.

Yum! It was worth the wait. The gyro was huge and filled with big, juicy, perfectly seasoned chicken slices and lots of onion, tomato, and Tzatziki sauce. The fries were crispy and salty, but I didn't realize the gyro came with fries, too. I'll see if I can re-heat the larger order tomorrow.

Watched more Sale of the Century before going online to chat with Lauren. For the second day in a row, it was a neck-and-neck race, this time between two men, that came down to a tie after the speed round. The guy who won decided he wanted to wait on other prizes and opted to return the next day.

And...I'm walking to Cooper Urgent Care first thing tomorrow morning. My lower left arm hurts like hell, even after taking aspirin. I even called out of work on Sunday because I knew darn well I wasn't going to be able to clean or push carts with a bum arm.

At the very least, I'm in a better position than I was when I chipped my ankle and had to stay home for two months in the fall of 2012. I have streaming shows and movies to watch and review along with DVDs and plenty of books to read and records and CDs to listen to. I'll finally have the time to build up my courage to look into work-from-home options. At the moment, I have more food stamps than I can use in a month. I just found out tonight that food stamp renewals from the first half of the year were granted six-month extensions, which means I won't have to worry about renewing mine until December.

But most of all...I have money in the bank, and I can walk. And not only that, with the pandemic going on, there aren't too many places I could go anyway. I'll have enough money to pay my rent and bills at least for next month. Plus, I haven't used any of my vacation time yet. I was going to save at least one week for moving in late June-early July, but maybe I'll use it sooner...

Hot Time In May

I was really tired after working 8 and 1/2 hours yesterday and being up too late the night before. I slept a lot later than I planned. Ran an episode of the 1980's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while I had breakfast. "The Mean Machines" are being controlled by Shredder, Baxter Stockman, and a huge computer in an office in New York, thanks to an intergalactic meteor fragment. The Turtles have to find the fragment...and avoid the appliances and robots now running amok in the city!

It was well after 12 when I finally headed out to get the laundry done. They were busy, but I did get a washer and dryer. Listened to local news and The View while working on story notes; also got to say "hi" to a co-worker who lives near-by and also uses the laundromat regularly.

When I got home, I put everything away, then had a very small lunch. Watched an episode of Sailor Moon while I ate. We're introduced to Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of Time, in "Journey to the Future: Battle In the Space-Time Corridor" in the late second season. Chibi-Usa has taken the Guardians and Tuxedo Mask into the Time Corridor to save Future Tokyo, but something out there is determined to keep them lost in time forever.

Headed out again right after lunch. I couldn't put it off anymore. While my right thumb didn't hurt as badly as it has the past week and was no longer stiff, it was still sore, swollen, and bent at an odd angle. I really needed to get it checked out. Independence Blue Cross' website said Cooper Urgent Care in Audubon on the White Horse Pike took my health plan. They're only ten minutes away by bike, next-door to the WaWa.

They were so quiet when I came in, I was admitted right away after paying the co-pay and answering some questions. The office is brand-new and very modern, built out of the shell of a former bank a few years ago. They have the latest equipment. After having my blood pressure checked and answering many more questions with several different nurses and interns, I finally had my hand examined. The x-ray was much smaller than the one used for my teeth, and it took less than 10 minutes. All of the doctors and nurses were very sweet and helpful, and I was out in about 40 minutes.

The verdict - thankfully, it wasn't broken. Hyperextension from overuse coupled with mild onset arthritis. The nurse gave me a wrap splint. I'm to avoid heavy lifting and playing video games, though I would be able to ride my bike and push the carts if I didn't drag them too hard. She said if it didn't feel better in two weeks, I'd need to talk to an orthopedic doctor. (Hopefully not. The gum doctor is going to cost more than enough.)

(Incidentally, I'm very proud of myself for getting to Urgent Care on my own this time. The last time I really hurt myself, when I fractured my ankle in the fall of 2012, I only went because Rose and Dad talked me into it.)

Treated myself to a smoothie from WaWa next door to celebrate it not being broken. I was really worried about that. I'll be limited as to what I can do at work, but I'll still be able to work. I was out for two months after that fractured ankle! I enjoyed WaWa's creamy Chocolate Banana Smoothie (they use real bananas) at the small shopping center a block away before finally heading home. (Stopping quickly for skim milk at the Oaklyn WaWa - I forgot it in Audubon.)

Did some writing when I got in. While meditating, Leia has a vision of Han in Palpatine's office. The evil sorcerer finally reveals that yes, he was the one who had the prince ambushed and locked up in the tower, and yes, he wiped out his memories. He tries to control Han's mind again, with little success. Han now knows that he has people who love him for who he is...and that he can love himself as he is.

Broke for dinner around quarter of 6. I ate leftovers really quickly, then cleaned the bathroom as well as I could one-handed. I probably should have held it off until closer to Lauren's visit, but it was really grungy. The bathtub in particular was terrible. It was running slow for ages before I dumped the Liquid Plumber down the drain a few days ago.

Ran the Bowery Boys movie Crazy Over Horses while I worked in honor of the Kentucky Derby this weekend. Louie Dumbrowski, the owner of the Boys' favorite soda shoppe, finds himself saddled with a horse when he's given one in collateral instead of money. Turns out the horse is being used in a betting scheme by a group of local gangsters. After many shenanigans involving switching out similar horses (and padding the movie's length), Slip finally decides that they should race the horse themselves and get Louie's money back. But the gangsters are onto them...and the Boys may never make it to the racetrack!

With Wii Sports no longer an option, I needed to find other ways to work out. It was so nice by 7:30, I just went for a walk around the neighborhood. It had been hot today, into the lower 90's. It was probably in the 70's by then, with a nice breeze. Spring has finally hit Oakyn. The trees are blossoming in soft pastel shades of lime green, lavender, cotton candy pink, and pale magenta. Candy-colored tulips have begun to replace daffodils and hyacinths in many gardens. The scene of lilacs perfumes the air. Looks like Phillies Yummies has finally opened, too. I saw a long line there as I crossed West Clinton Avenue.

Put on Move Over Darling after I got in and went online. Ellen Arden (Doris Day) returns from being stranded on a desert island for five years to discover her daughters barely know her and her husband Nick (James Gardner) has had her legally declared dead and has just married another woman (Polly Bergen). Ellen's shocked at first, but with the encouragement of Nick's mother Grace (Thelma Ritter), she decides to confront her husband. Nick's flabbergasted. He does love Ellen, but he loves his new wife Bianca too. He's less happy when he learns that Ellen was on the island with athlete Stephan Burkett (Chuck Connors), whom she called "Adam." Things get so messy, the entire crew finally gets hauled into a judge to solve matters.

It's hard to believe something this light proved to be almost as much of a headache to shoot as Cleopatra. It started in 1960 as a comeback vehicle for Marilyn Monroe, Something's Got to Give, but that one had to be scrapped after she died. Even when they did restart it, Day broke her rib filming the scene where she has to be yanked off Bergan during a massage. Thankfully, unlike the over-budget Elizabeth Taylor extravaganza, all the headaches proved to be worth it. This was one of the biggest hits of 1963, refilling the coffers at 20th Century Fox after Cleopatra couldn't make it's money back.

Unfortunately, despite all the trouble, it really hasn't dated well. Ellen's desire to remarry someone who has clearly moved on comes off as more creepy than romantic. She probably would have been better off getting the divorce, shoving Stephan off, and starting over herself. Day is a bit shrill as the woman who is totally out of the loop; Garner is better as her totally confused ex-husband.

It probably doesn't help that I'm not really that crazy about romantic comedy to begin with. If you're a big fan of Day or Garner or are into the genre, you may find a lot more in this than I did.

A Cat, a Mouse, and Three Wizards In Training

The wind was still whistling across the bare black limbs of the trees when I woke up this morning. I did two episodes of Rick Steves Europe while I ate breakfast. Since the story I'm working on is set in mythical middle European countries, I thought a visit to Vienna and Saltzburg was appropriate. Vienna is the glittering capitol city, home of wiener schnitzel, massive palaces, and the waltz. Saltzburg was once the home of Mozart and was one of the filming locations for The Sound of Music.

I tried calling Camden County again while the shows were on. When I couldn't get through to them. I looked up a few things online. I can order my birth certificate, but it'll cost $14. I'll do it tomorrow, when I get my paycheck.

Ran a quick Tom & Jerry short while I got organized for work. "Johann Mouse" won an Oscar for best animated short subject in 1952. Tom and Jerry live in the home of Johann Strauss. Jerry only emerges from his hole when Strauss plays and he dances. When Strauss goes on a trip and there's no music, Tom takes it upon himself to learn how to play the waltz...and form a beautiful partnership that lasts as long as the music is playing.

Work was on-and-off steady all day. We'd have long lines, but they'd disappear pretty fast. I pretty much did everything - bagged, gathered carts and baskets, did the trash, shelved returns. I even took the register for another cashier when she went on break.

Unfortunately, while I was outside for one of my cart round-ups, I turned my ankle pretty hard. I don't think it's broken. I can walk on it. It's just sore. I went straight home after work, ignoring the chilly weather and gale-force winds.

When I got home, I changed, put my ankle on ice, and went straight on the computer to work on my story. Luke tells Leia his situation. Henry Solo, a shipping magnate, was once the notorious pirate Captain Han Solo, before he went straight. He's now Luke's guardian and one of his mentors. Leia swears she's seen Luke somewhere before, but she can't put her finger on where...

Broke at quarter after 7 for dinner. Did two more Tom & Jerry shorts while I ate. "The Two Musketeers" has Jerry and his own young apprentice as Musketeers fighting Cardinal's Guard Tom for all the cheese in a cheese shop. "Touche, Pussycat!" is a prequel to this, showing how Jerry's apprentice first came to the Musketeers.

Finished the night out with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azbekstan as I threw together a Hummingbird Cake. Harry's barely survived a harrowing trip on the Night Bus (after accidentally using his powers to blow up an obnoxious aunt) when he discovers that Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), the man who betrayed his parents, has escaped prison and is after him next. Dementors - wraith-like jailers who such the soul and happiness out of anyone they come in contact with - are guarding the school, trying to keep it safe from Black, but they also effect Harry badly. Meanwhile, Harry and Ron find themselves helping Hagrid defend a Hippogriff that was accused of hurting a student and wonder how Hermonie can find the time to be in so many different classes at once and why their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher keeps taking so much time off...

A less-bland director and sharper script makes all the difference here. Alfonso Curon worked wonders with the kids, turning this into one of the best entries in the series.

Of Turkeys and Muppets and Meddling Kids

Ouch. I was so sore when I got up this morning. My right shoulder and upper arm were the worst of it. I put out my right arm to slow me when I fell. I can move it, so I don't think it's broken, but it does hurt. I think I twisted or pulled muscles. Right wrist doesn't feel great, either. My left knee is pretty bruised, but is moving better than the arm. The side of my left elbow also hurts.

Even with the soreness, I had things to do this morning. I decided to begin a cloudy, cool day with breakfast and a few last horror items I didn't get to yesterday. Vincent Price was at his zenith as a horror icon when he appeared on a first season episode of The Muppet Show. The writers had fun with his image, both as a horror star and an elegant raconteur, in a skit about Gonzo and Fozzie running into him in a haunted house and his discussions with Kermit about gourmet cooking and the craft of horror acting.

After I finished breakfast, I took down the Halloween decorations and put up what I have for Thanksgiving. Even though I've grown fonder of Halloween over the last few years, I still prefer the November and December holidays. I've found a few Thanksgiving decorations at yard sales - a pair of folk-art pilgrims, ceramic turkey pilgrim salt and pepper shakers, a beautiful turkey candle, a porcelain teddy-bear Indian holding a basket of corn, a tiny cloth pilgrim mouse, and two Webkinz turkeys I named Plymouth and Mayflower.

Most of the decorations are cardboard posters and hangings. I found a cute pilgrim girl carrying apples, a Snoopy-and-Woodstock banner, and an exquisitely drawn turkey (all three likely from the 70's or early 80's) at a yard sale a few years ago. Mom gave me the banner with the cute pilgrim and Indian kids and the laminated, colorful "hand" turkey that says "Happy Thanksgiving" from her stash. The realistic-looking large cut-outs of pilgrims and Indians working together came from the Acme the first year I moved here (even though their size makes me think they were originally intended for classroom use). The card covers come from various Thanksgiving greetings sent to me over the years.

Ran an episode of Fairie Tale Theatre as I worked. The lesser-known "Boy Who Left Home to Look for the Shivers" is the closest they come to flat-out horror. The boy of the title is Martin (Peter MacNichol), a simple lad who has never been afraid of anything. He eventually finds himself at an Inn, where he accepts the task of staying in a haunted castle for three nights. If he survives the three nights and can defeat the evil wizard (Christopher Lee), he'll win the treasure and the princess. The innkeeper's daughter Amanda (Dana Hill) fears he'll be killed. Marvin gets more into teaching the ghouls in the castle about bowling than being scared of them. It's not until he falls in love that he discovers what real fear is.

As soon as Side One of George Winston's Autumn piano solos finished, I headed out. Stopped at the Oaklyn Library first. They weren't terribly busy. An older lady chatted with the librarian for most of the forty minutes or so I was there. I did take a look at the DVDs, but I spent most of the time in the kids' area. They must have had a Halloween party yesterday. There were books all over the place. I shelved them all, including the Halloween books that were on display.

I decided to celebrate my win yesterday and make up for my accident and last week with a treat. Jalapeno's Grill on the White Horse Pike has really cheap lunch specials. I got a vegetable burrito for 5 dollars. The refried beans and Spanish rice that came with it weren't very good, but the burrito itself was delicious. It had tons of melted cheese, rice, and veggies. Good thing, because their service hasn't improved. It still takes me a while to get the waitresses' attention, and there were only two other pairs there.

I went home, grabbed my laundry, and went right back out. I really needed to get that done. Once again, I picked the right time. It was quiet as can be when I arrived. I saw a few people, but it never got terribly busy. It was just me, Steve Harvey, Ellen, and my story notes. Good thing, because I did have a fair-sized load this time, including the black jeans I wore yesterday when I fell. (They're fine. Not even a tiny hole.)

Put everything away when I got in, then worked on my story. Poe has suddenly appeared in the hallway, walking with eyes in the front like a ghost...or a man not under his own control. The appearance of a (supposed) "vampiress" finally gets Luke and the kids following Poe downstairs.

Did Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost while eating leftovers for dinner. The gang are up in Massachusetts, at the request of horror writer Ben Ravenscroft (Tim Curry). They're hoping to have a quiet visit, but it turns out the town Ravenscroft once lived in has been turned into a bit of a tourist trap lately, thanks to an unearthed pilgrim settlement. The locals claim the ghost of Ravenscroft's ancestor Sarah, an accused witch, is haunting the area. Ben wants to find her spell book. It's the only way to prove she was a Wiccan, a healing woman, rather than a witch. Whose version of Sarah's history is real? And what do goth singers the Hex Girls have to do with it all?

The second Scooby direct-to-home-media movie is a tad lighter than the previous Zombie Island, but still fairly spooky for the franchise. References to Halloween and Thanksgiving and the general fall atmosphere makes it perfect for transitioning between the autumn holidays. The Hex Girls proved so popular, they would turn up in a second movie a few years later, as well as episodes of What's New, Scooby Doo? and Scooby Doo Mysteries Incorporated.

Around Europe In One Week

As it turned out, Komfort Kare called ME back first thing this morning. The news wasn't good. Yes, they could provide the boot, but it would cost $169. I called Dad. He was about to take my cousin Guy and his family to the airport and had some errands to run. He would get back to me later.

I cheered myself up with a couple of episodes of Rick Stevens' Europe and getting the dolls organized. I pulled out their winter clothes, found sweaters for Tiana and Cinderella (whose dresses have short sleeves), and redressed all of the AG girls but Felicity. (Felicity doesn't have enough clothes to change into - she remains in her Laced Jacket and Petticoat.) Samantha wears her thick pink Talent Show Dress with her original heavy ribbed black stockings and Springfield Collection black flats. I put Molly in her original argyle sweater, the red skirt from the Skating Outfit (the Velcro on her "meet" skirt is too gone to use), Springfield Collection socks, and her Saddle Shoes. Jessa's far more casual in the magenta t-shirt from the 1995 modern doll meet outfit, high-top sneakers from the 1996 Blue Jeans Basics outfit, cargo pants and a navy hoodie from the 1999 Drawstring Cargos outfit, and Springfield Collection socks.

Dad called as I was putting everything away. About 20 minutes later, we headed out to Komfort Kare. I hate the stupid boot. It's HUGE. I assumed it would be about the size of normal snow boot, but with more padding. It's more like the size of a thigh-high boot, with at least five or six straps and more padding than a football player wears in an average NFL game. It's only a fractured ankle! On the other hand, they did say the insurance company will eventually refund Dad for most of the money. I feel bad about him paying for it in the first place. If only all of this happened last year, when I actually had money!

I went home with Dad briefly. He and Jodie had been babysitting my nephew Khai. He was just getting up when I arrived. He insisted on Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs again. Jodie and I groaned and slipped the Blu-Ray in for him. Rose came in half-way through the movie. She and Khai ended up taking me home.

Spent the rest of the evening photographing the girls and finishing the Rick Stevens disc. The first one I watched covered Belgium, the Netherlands, and most of France, from Paris through Amsterdam. While hearing about glamorous Monaco, Cannes, and the Riviera was fun, I think I enjoyed the trip through Brussels and Bruges the most. A country that loves chocolate, mussels, fries, waffles with everything and anything on top, trains, and bike riding? Sounds like my idea of heaven. ;)

And I'm mad at myself. When I was trying to take a shot of the three Disney Animator's Collection dolls together, I accidentally deleted all of the photos on my camera, including the great shots I got at Uncle Ken's funeral and the ones I'd taken of the dolls on the 4th of July that I never put on my computer! I have no idea how, or if, I can get them back.

The Verdict

Jodie picked me up for my appointment at the Foot and Ankle Center at 10:30. I learned my lesson last Tuesday after the incident with Rose. This time, I was ready to go when she arrived, and we were there on time and with no problems. Dr. Berlin and a nurse looked at my foot and explained what had happened and what I needed to do.

Long story short - that chip means it's fractured. I'm supposed to be out of work for at least two weeks. She gave me a note for the Acme telling them that I can't come in and a prescription to get a boot (heavier wrap) at Komfort Kare, a medical equipment sales store in the Westmont Plaza between Dollar Tree and Super Fresh. I need to make an x-ray appointment at the medical examiners next-door to them later this week or in the beginning of next week and will be returning to the Foot and Ankle Center at the end of next week.

Jodie and I stopped at Acme on the way home. We both needed some supplies, and I needed to deliver my disability papers to the managers. I also grabbed a few things I thought I might run out of or realized that I needed to restock - eggs, pasta, canned tomato sauce, brown sugar, bagged vegetables, more pears. The Acme is clearing out the majority of its DVDs. I found the Veggitales Penniless Princess episode that I enjoyed so much last month for $3.50 in the pile.

Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day at my place. I watched Penniless Princess to cheer myself up while having scrambled eggs with spinach for lunch, then tossed on an episode of the first season of Sailor Moon that also dealt with being a princess while cleaning up. Serena joins a "Princess Seminar" in order to study good manners and breeding. Serena may not be a lady, but it doesn't take proper posture to realize there's something sinister about the seminar and its headmistress...

I worked on inventories for my children's books for several hours after the cartoons ended. I decided I had enough young adult novels to separate them into their own list. The original "kidfiction" list now holds all of my picture books, mostly vintage Golden Books titles of interest to me and some hardback picture book series based after favorite childhood characters like Strawberry Shortcake and the Care Bears.

For once, I had plenty of time for a nice, slow dinner, even after finishing my inventory work. I watched Radioland Murders while a sweet potato and turkey meatloaf baked in the oven. Brian Benben and Mary Stuart Masterson head a huge cast in this comic mystery set in a fledgling Chicago radio station in 1940. The staff and sponsors of the station are dying one by one, and writer Roger Henderson (Benben) has been accused of the crime. He has to figure out who did it, then catch them in the act, all while trying to convince his wife (Masterson) not to leave him.

This was a huge flop on first release in the early 90s, despite the George Lucas pedigree (he developed and produced it). I get a kick out of it, especially the first half, but it does have its problems. First and foremost, it runs at least 20 minutes longer than it should. The second half, which is mainly a series of slapstick shenanigans as Roger tries to elude the cops, grows wearying after a while. Comedienne Anita Morris' death during filming may have prompted some re-writes as well (which also explains why her character disappears during that chaotic second half).

This is one of those cult features that people seem to either love or just not get. Give it a chance if you ever run into it on cable or Netflix.

Threw on a Mickey Mouse cartoon from 1931 that also dealt with a fledgling radio station as I did the dishes. The Barnyard Broadcast is just as nutty as Radioland Murders, but the chaos comes from a much different source. Pluto overhears cats meowing on the radio Mickey put outside for him. He immediately rushes to fend off the felines, destroying Mickey and the gang's radio show in the process.

On the Telephone

I spent most of the day playing phone tag with various doctors. To make a long and annoying story short, now the Foot and Ankle Center is saying my foot is fractured, and I can't get a doctor's note until they look at it. The worst part is, they offered to look at it when I was there on Tuesday, but I said no. I was in a hurry - Rose was driving me - and I thought Dr. Manalis would cover everything. Nope, she said she's a general doctor.

As of right now, I'm going to see the Foot and Ankle Center again on Monday morning. I did notify the Acme that I wouldn't be in for definitely several days, if not weeks. They were cool about it - they have my disability papers out for when I can come and get them, which will have to be soon. I need to pick up my paycheck and swing by America's Best for contacts, my refrigerator is bare, and I have to deposit money from Mom in the bank.

Speaking of Mom, she called, too.  Turns out yes, she was with my sister and her son last night, and got in too late to talk to me then. We both apologized to each other - her for getting upset, me for not listening in the first place. I don't mean to be so frustrating and down on myself, but this is difficult for me. I don't have a lot of people I can talk to about it. I'm not really good at handling stress. I'm hard on myself because I want things to be better, but my fears just build and build, until I'm too frightened to do anything. I just want it all to go away on its own, so I don't have to go through all the calling and waiting and being stuck. As soon as I can get this whole thing with my foot sorted out, I need to talk to counselors...and fast.

I didn't want to call Rose. I've disrupted her life enough. As I've been reminded, my uncle just died, too. They're having their own problems, and I don't want to make things worse. I couldn't get through to Jodie, who is probably dealing with the funeral, so I did call her. Turns out Rose's car is in the shop anyway. She'll help if I can't get someone else.

I hated doing it, but I finally called Dad. He or Jodie will help tomorrow. I don't really want to disrupt anything with the funeral. I know things are crazy. I know they're mourning Uncle Ken. I am, too. I don't mean to make everything harder on everyone. I held off until Monday to get my foot looked at because I'd hoped it wasn't that bad, so I wouldn't disrupt everything and everyone could just get along with their life, including me.

I also worked on inventories today. Started the American Girl books. I have so many now, they're going to get their own list. I'll see what I can do with the children's book inventory tomorrow. It badly needs to be updated.

If I've sounded self-centered, especially in the event of Uncle Ken's death, well, I'm sorry, but a lot of overwhelming things have happened to me over the past week and a half. I don't mean to dismiss his death, or other people's feelings. I'm just not very good at dealing with all of this.

Ran the Winnie the Pooh Halloween special Boo to You, Too! during lunch and Pooh's Grand Adventure while having tilapia, sauteed cranberry beans, and Golden Mum Beets for dinner. Boo to You mainly revolves around Piglet. He's scared to come out on Halloween...until he thinks his friends are in danger.

Pooh's Grand Adventure is the first of several versions of "everyone looks for Christopher Robin." Pooh finds a note from Christopher Robin one morning in early fall and can't decipher it. Owl tells him it says that the boy is in "skull," and sends Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Tigger to rescue their friend from the dreaded "skullasaurus." While the others learn that they are, indeed, up to the challenges of the journey,  Pooh discovers that true friends never really leave you if you keep them in your heart.

Silly, yet surprisingly bittersweet for Pooh. The unspoken assumption that Christopher Robin will someday grow up and leave his friends hangs over this story. You may want to have a comforting hand for your little ones near when Pooh sings the heartbreaking "Wherever You Are," and maybe even a tissue for yourself.