Rushing In the Rain

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. "Collossor Awakes" when Skeletor creates a ship that can turn people into stone...or bring stone to life. While Teela and Battle Cat protect Castle Greyskull and He-Man figures out how to reverse the spell, Skeletor animates a massive one-eyed stone creature to do his bidding and capture the castle.

It had looked cloudy since I got up this morning...and of course, the moment I left the house, it started showering. It didn't last long, disappearing even as I crossed the White Horse Pike to pick up the bus. The bus arrived on time, and I had no trouble getting off at the office next to Amy's Omelette House in Somerdale.

The former diner with the seaside decor (Amy's started at the North Jersey Shore town Long Branch) surprisingly wasn't that busy for 11:30 in the morning. I was able to eat my bacon and aptly-named Peanut Butter Bliss pancakes in peace. One of the "Lite Bites," this was two chocolate chip pancakes spread with peanut butter and topped with bananas, caramel, and more chocolate chips. Yum! Nice and fluffy and just the right size. 

Ate them quickly, then dashed out the door to the Cinemark. It remained cloudy, humid, and relatively cool as I headed down the White Horse Pike, but the rain held off. I rushed to the Dollar Tree next to the theater to pick up a small bag of popcorn and a Pepsi Zero. I saw wooden crates there for $10. I'd go back for that later. I'd never get away with hauling that around in a theater.

As it turned out, I was too late. I thought Moana was at 12:35. Nope, it was at 12:10. The next regular showing was 2:35. By the time I got in, they would have been a quarter of the way through the movie. Darn it. I'd have to come back.

Strolled up to Walmart on the hill overlooking the Cinemark shopping center instead. Found last year's Superman movie on DVD for $9.99. They're one of the only places around here I can find Junkless granola bars. Got the strawberry flavor. It's also the only place I've ever seen the Sprite + Tea in a 20 ounce Zero version. (Which was...ok. It tasted like Sprite Zero and bottled tea, anyway.)

Even when I headed back down the hill to the theater, I still had a half-hour left. I just bought my ticket, used the bathroom, found a bench, and watched all the summer camp pre-teens running around. I heard them arguing over whether to see Minions & Monsters or Moana. The boys all wanted the Minions and the girls all wanted Moana. (Considering the summer camp kids who did end up seeing Moana barely made a peep the entire time, I'm presuming the boys mostly won out.) Even with all that, I was still in the theater 15 minutes early.

There's still a lot of interesting family movies coming out late this year and early next year. Illumination's next big movie Not Alone, about two NASA workers who fall for each other and help really goofy aliens get home, looks really sweet (especially for them). Disney's Thanksgiving movie Hexed, about a young witch learning to use her powers, also looks really interesting. I'm far less interested in another Ice Age film. Didn't they exhaust that particular franchise over a decade ago? The Cat In the Hat in November could be really cute...or really annoying really fast. (At least it looks a heck of a lot better than the Mike Myers live-action film, starting with being in more appropriate animation.) Forgotten Island is coming out when I'll be on vacation with Lauren, and unless I can talk her into it, I'll probably have to wait for that one on streaming. I'm still not all that eager to see Paw Patrol on the big screen, especially since I haven't seen the other films on Paramount Plus yet. 

As for Moana, I'll go further into that on Thursday at my Musical Dreams blog.

The clouds were getting thicker and thicker by the second, and the wind was blowing fiercely. I went back to Dollar Tree, got a crate for my bulging holiday records, and went back to the movie theater. I initially called Uber, due to concerns about the weather...but the prices were so high, I hurried to Taco Bell at the White Horse Pike instead. 

I made it there just as the storm finally began. It was really coming down as I ate my (yummy) taco, my (spicy and so-so) quesadilla, and quickly drank sugar-free Gatorade. I was originally going to take the bus home, but the weather now made that impossible. There's no bus shelter at the Taco Bell stop. I just spent the money and called Uber. The driver arrived in 15 minutes and thankfully had no trouble getting me home despite the flooding alerts that popped up when we were going through Lawnside. (It must have been in Cherry Hill. I didn't see any flooding on the White Horse Pike.)

Organized my records and the bears sitting on the crates when I got home, then watched Match Game '75. Tonight finished up the week with William Shatner and Julie Harris. Early on, a young woman was so excited, her bouncing around supposedly put a crack in the floor! In a later show, a young woman with a wide, gleaming toothpaste smile was so pleased when she gave a sexually-charged answer, the panelists couldn't help joking about it. In the last episode, Fannie Flagg was enamored with a handsome young man who was perfectly happy being single.

Finished the night at Tubi with Jinx Money. Sach and Slip think they've found the answer to all their money woes when thousands of dollar turns up in a rolled-up newspaper on the street. To the guys' consternation, the original owner was a gangster who won the money at an illicit poker game and was killed before he could enjoy it. Every gangster who follows him and tries to get the dough from the Boys ends up dead, poisoned or stabbed by a man carrying an umbrella whom only Sach keeps seeing. Slip sets himself up as bait when one too many gamblers die on their doorstep, but for once, it's Sach who turns out to really be right about who's doing the killing. 

Life Is a Highway

Started off today early as I had breakfast and Lauren finished packing to go home. We had some nervous moments when the first Uber driver canceled and the second took 8 minutes to arrive, then we ran into traffic in Pennsauken. Thankfully, the cars vanished long before the gentleman pulled up to the 30th Street Station. They were just lining up for Lauren's train when we arrived. I gave her a hug, told her to text me when she got to New York and to home, and left her to board the train.

(Oh, and other than her bus from Albany to Pittsfield being a bit late, Lauren apparently had no trouble whatsoever today on the road. She's now long at home, having had dinner out with her parents when she got in.)

After I let Lauren go, I went to the NJ Transit ticket kiosk I spied there when Lauren arrived and bought tickets, then got a donut and a matcha latte from Dunkin' Donuts. I have never heard of an ice cream cake-flavored donut. It...wasn't bad. A little dry. It was filled with very sweet chocolate cream. I walked around a little bit after I finished my treat until they announced the 9:14 NJ Transit train to Atlantic City.

Thank heavens, the train actually made it out of the station this time. It was busy with mostly people going to Atlantic City on a day that remained hazy, if not as hot. Other than going a bit slow after leaving 30th Street, I had no trouble on the train whatsoever this time. I got off at the Cherry Hill Train Pavilion around quarter of 10.

Since the train station is behind the big Shop Rite, I thought I'd save myself a trip and do my shopping there. That store is enormous, twice the size of even the Audubon Acme. It took me a while to find everything I needed. Restocked yogurt, soda, deodorant (they had Secret for a good price), and granola. I couldn't decide which cookies to get, so I got a variety pack with M&M, chocolate chip, brownie, and sugar. They had the Nature's Valley wafer bars on a decent sale, too. 

The reason I took the train to Cherry Hill is I figured it would be a lot easier (and cheaper) to catch an Uber home from there. The last three times I called for a ride home from 30th Street Station, the driver missed me or almost missed me. I was right. The driver arrived in 9 minutes and got me home in less than 10. 

Once I got home, I put everything away, changed shoes, made up a check for a bill, grabbed a book I wanted to drop in a kiosk, and headed out again on my bike. I had a lot of errands to run. Dropped the bill in the mail box outside of the post office and the book in a kiosk. It was much sunnier by the time I was out and about and slightly less hazy. At least it didn't smell like smoke anymore.

I had lunch at the Legacy Diner in Audubon. I needed pineapple coconut pancakes and a bowl of melon chunks and grapes. Yum! The pancakes were so huge and fluffy, I couldn't finish them. Surprisingly, given it was past noon by then, it wasn't really that busy. Maybe everyone was avoiding the haze.

Stopped at WaWa on the way home. I wanted to pick up money for the Collingswood Farm Market tomorrow. Tried a small banana bread smoothie. Yum! Brown sugar syrup, graham cracker crumbs, and real banana. It really did taste like banana bread milk. 

Soon as I got home, I went down for a nap. I've had a long couple of weeks! I went down at quarter of 1 and slept until past 2:30.

After I got up and got moving, I made the bed, then pulled out more things I didn't want or need or had replaced over the last two weeks for another bag that'll go to Goodwill. Listened to some of the many records I bought over the past two weeks while I worked. Although the jaunty Rascal Flatts version of "Life Is a Highway" was the hit from the original Cars, my favorite number is the sadder and more downbeat "Our Town" by James Taylor on the rise and fall of Radiator Springs. I also like "Find Yourself" by Brad Paisley and the Chuck Berry version of "Route 66." 

Thank heavens that chip on the High Anxiety soundtrack from when I bought the disc didn't impede it being able to play. We not only get the theme song and "If You Love Me, Baby, Tell Me Loud" from High Anxiety, but songs from every Mel Brooks movie made up until 1978. Which means, yes, we also get "Springtime for Hitler" and "Prisoner of Love" from the original Producers, "Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst" from the rarely-seen The Twelve Chairs, "The Ballad of Blazing Saddles," "I'm Tired," and the brief "The French Mistake" from Blazing Saddles, and "Puttin' On the Ritz" from Young Frankenstein. There's even a bit of the score from Silent Movie.

Radio Active and Images are K-Tel collections from the early 1980's. Radio Active from 1982 leans on harder rock like "You Better You Bet" by the Who, "Take It On the Run" by REO Speedwagon, and "Super Freak" by Rick James. Ballads are the theme on the quieter Images from 1980, including "Should've Never Let You Go" by the late Neil Sedaka and his daughter Dara, "Do That To Me One More Time" by the Captain & Tenille, and "Too Hot" by Kool & the Gang.

Switched to Match Game '75 next. The first hour was the second half of the week featuring Barbara McNair and Alex Karras. I think Alex had a bit of a crush on Lola Kiss, the lady wrestler from Transylvania, after she managed to pin him! He sure turned red when she kissed him for giving her a right answer on the Audience Match. The second hour brought in Scoey Mitchelll and a pair of goofy Pattys, Duke and Deustch.

I also got my schedule at this point. Good news, more hours. Bad news, they're all early. I was hoping they'd ease me back into work, but the head bagger and Sunday bagger must have taken time off again. 

Finished the night at YouTube with Mystery Science Theater 3000. Wizards of the Lost Kingdom is a more recent episode from 2017 diving into another low-budget 80's sword-and-sorcery fantasy. Young wizard Simon (Vidal Peterson) must find his way back to the castle to rescue the princess from the evil sorcerer Shurka (Thom Christopher) with the help of lone wolf warrior Kor (Bo Svenson). Ok, yeah, it's pretty obvious this one is a Roger Corman cheapie from his "made in Argentina" phase. There's ample stock footage from his other 80's fantasy films, the special effects are just light shows, Simon is an obnoxious little jerk, and most of the "monsters" are off-the-rack puppet suits. There are a few effective moments, though, notably when Simon is lured by a beautiful woman who turns into a genuinely scary giant insect! Otherwise, this one is for true lovers of cheesy 80's fantasy only. 

Rain Is In, School Is Out

Slept in, then had breakfast while watching Paw Patrol. We find out just how the Pups got their powers in the hour-long special "Mighty Pups." They're the first ones on the scene when a meteor lands on the beach in Adventure Bay. The moment they get close to the meteor, they discover it's granted them all superpowers! Unfortunately, the second people on the scene were whiny Mayor Humdinger and his bratty nephew Harold. Harold now has the ability to build anything...including a giant robot that steals the meteor, kidnaps Ryder, and terrorizes Adventure Bay. Speedy Chase has to step up as leader, before Harold smashes all of the town and their floating base ends up crashing.

During the second half of the special, I went through my rock records. I only cleared out one, and most of them were in pretty good shape organizational-wise. I was hoping to clear out more, but some of these, I've wanted since I was a kid! And some of them I had when I was a kid.

I didn't really trust the weather today. It wasn't raining at quarter of noon, but there were going to be storms later. I called Uber. Thankfully, no trouble there. I got one in 8 minutes going to the Thomas Sharp Elementary School. Only took 5 minutes for the one going home to arrive, and that at the start of rush hour. No trouble either way. 

On one hand, there were 8 younger kids on the last day of school, 3 at my table (one went home within ten minutes of her arrival), and 10 older kids. There were so few younger kids, we condensed it down to two tables and took them all together to the bathroom. Good thing they ate pretty fast. We wanted to get everyone outside to the blacktop before the storms came. It certainly looked like rain as the kids played kickball, drew with chalk, and chatted along the chain link fence under the shady green trees. It was gloomy and warm, with air thick enough to cut it with a sharp piece of chalk. We had them out for about a half-hour before the first tiny drops hit our noses. The drops got fatter and fatter as we grabbed the balls and the Lego bin and dashed inside.

On the other hand, they got pretty crazy once we were inside, and not just because of the loud storm. The head teacher broke out Play Doh, but the older boys kept throwing them around, and one of the younger boys got upset when a younger girl grabbed his color and mixed them. The little girl kept wrapping her Play Doh in paper and coloring her "dumplings," even when we told her not to. Two of the older boys fought and wouldn't listen to anyone all afternoon. The head teacher pulled out the projector and tried to run Rio. No sooner would we get the kids sitting down and watching it than the internet would cut out, or the head teacher would be called somewhere and would take her phone and its power with her. 

(Incidentally, I reviewed Rio at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in August 2024. I go further into the film itself there.)

Rio

The storm finally subsided around 3:30, long enough for us to get the kids back on the blacktop again. I was supposed to be done at 3:30, but I stayed a little longer to help with the remaining younger kids. Fortunately, by that point there were only two younger kids left. I watched the boys shoot baskets and the other kids draw with chalk on the rapidly-drying blacktop. When the last two younger boys left with their mothers and older siblings, I left, too.

I was originally going to watch Superman: Doomsday when I got home. When the DVD I bought from Goodwill didn't work, I ended up going with another Bowery Boys movie instead. The guys are Ghost Chasers when Whitey and Sach become interested in spiritualism. Slip makes use of this to convince Louie that his deceased Uncle Jake wants him to give the Boys $100. He then uses the $100 to expose a phony medium who was conning one of the ladies in their neighborhood. The medium ends up pointing the finger at another phony female spiritualist. The guys go after her while Sach gets help from a real ghost (Lloyd Corrigan) whom only he can see.

Switched to Match Game '75 during dinner after the Boys ended. They're well into the New Year now. Cool cat Greg Morris joins Brett and Gary on the top tier. Richard wonders what he's gotten himself into when he finds himself between daffy Joyce Bulifant and whimsical Fannie Flagg on the lower tier.

Finished the night at YouTube after a shower. In honor of Buzzr running a long-lost episode of Password Plus from 1982 with Lucille Ball and Dick Martin, I ran a few other episodes of shows that are mostly lost or not well-known now. Plus isn't the only game show with episodes missing. Before videotape became cheaper in the mid-80's, game shows were among the genres mostly likely to be wiped and reused by networks. NBC wiped the entire run of the original 60's The Match Game, before CBS revamped it to the wacky format that's still in use today. This all-star episode from 1964 featuring Betty White, Bennett Cerf, Robert Q. Lewis, Henry Morgan, Joan Fontaine, and Peggy Cass is one of three surviving shows currently online.

The Richard Dawson Family Feud is missing a lot, too. ABC erased shows into the early 80's. Episodes before 1982 are sort of scattered, including this one from 1981 where Johnny Gilbert does the announcing. Poor Gene Wood had an accident with a chainsaw and was out for several weeks.

Individual producers didn't do so well with keeping their shows around, either. NBC had ended erasing tapes by the time Sale of the Century debuted in 1983...but producer Reg Grundy would erase them until the end of the decade. That's why you're more likely to see a syndicated episode from 1985 or one of the episodes from the show's final year in 1988-1989 on Buzzr than an early episode...and probably why the premiere episode seen here is in such horrible shape.

Some later flops are hard to find as well. Nickelodeon still has most of its older shows around and has re-run them on its channels and on Paramount Plus. Splat! is one of the few that's mostly missing. Between shows in 2004, kids at Nickelodeon Studios in Universal Florida would compete at messy tasks. Winner got slimed. It was cute and the kids look like they're having fun. Too bad the interstiles only lasted five months, and this was the last show to be filmed at the Nick Studios before they shut down. Only two episodes and a lot of fragments exist today. 

Not everything that's lost stays missing. Within the last six months, someone posted almost all of the episodes from the long-vanished 1975 music game show Musical Chairs on YouTube. This one is significant in several ways. It boasted the first black game show host, super-hip singer Adam Wade, and an all-star array of performers on their way up, like country singer Linda Hargrove, or down, like Bobby Rydell and Broadway star Gretchen Wyler, along with an extremely mid-70's geometric set. Too bad it only lasted a few months. The game play is complicated, but there's some great songs here. 

Learn more about our TV history with these long-lost episodes that are finally out of the vault for all to enjoy!

The Match Game (1964)

Musical Chairs (1975)

Family Feud (1981)

Password Plus (1982)

Sale of the Century (1983)

Nickelodeon Splat! (2004) 

Blowing In the Wind

Began the day with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The gang goes on a two-part "Super Adventure" when Power Pants Pete seems to be shrinking everything in sight, including the Clubhouse. Professor Ludvig Von Drake gives them all superpowers, but they can't seem to work together. They'll need to learn in a hurry when they find out that Pete's under orders from the real mastermind, an old rival of Mickey's who shrinks the clubhouse and Mickey too. 

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon looking up mortgage brokers and finding out what they do. It seems they do the heavy lifting in house-hunting, dealing with banks and shopping around for the best loans. To be honest, this is all sounding a little complicated. I need to talk to a friend who was a realtor about home buying and Rose about the legal side before hiring anyone. I'd like to explore Cherry Hill further and get to know it beyond the malls and hospitals, too. I'll save talking to the big guns for mid-July, after Lauren visits and the furor over the 4th of July and the World Cup have died down. 

Listened to the Miles Davis album Milestones while I worked and as I cleared and organized papers laying on top of the printer. One of his most popular early albums introduced his own title song (originally "Miles") and "Sid's Ahead," but his best songs here were written by others. "Straight, No Chaser" was written by and is usually associated with Thelonius Monk, but he does a rather nice version of his own on side B, along with the traditional number "Billy Boy."

Left a little bit early to have lunch at Common Grounds Coffee Shop. They were busy, but not enough that I couldn't get a seat on the bench along the wall. Had a delicious slice of spinach-tomato-feta quiche, along with a Peach-Matcha Sparkling Refresher (green tea in sparkling water with peach syrup - not bad, actually, a little sweet) and a deliciously moist slice of banana-chocolate Chip bread. I did enjoy my lunch, but I got out later than I planned and was slightly late to the Thomas Sharp School.

Not a good thing, as we were pretty busy today. There were 23 kids, 9 at my table, and one of the teachers called out. We did borrow one of the college boys to help while the kids were eating snacks and we were in the cafeteria, but we were on our own after snack time and outside. They were pretty wild again today. I had trouble with one of the kindergartners at the bathroom. He would not stay in the hall, running on the steps and climbing on the banisters. I literally had to carry him off and put him down in the hall.

Things went much better when we finally got outside. For one thing, the weather was gorgeous, much nicer than I expected. It was off and on cloudy, and while it did spit very slightly at a few points, it was nothing like yesterday morning. It was also not as hot as the weather forecasts claimed. The strong wind kept it not only cool, but cold. I regretted not having brought a sweater. There was a little bit of arguing over the swings, but by and large, the kids seemed to have a great time outside, sliding cars down sides and dancing to "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, "The Pink Tiger Hunt," "I'm the Bravest Star," "Welcome to New York" by Taylor Swift, "Pup Pup Boogie" from Paw Patrol, the themes from Bluey and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and songs from Moana 2, Frozen, and KPop Demon Hunters. 

We had such a great time on the playground, it was past 5 when we took the remaining 4 younger kids to the blacktop to play with the 8 older kids. The kids went briefly inside to put their backpacks away, then went right back out. They were all still playing soccer and basketball when I finally headed out. 

Soon as I got home, I made pancakes for dinner with the last of that gluten-free mix. Oh yuuuum! I made banana-berry pancakes with banana and dried cranberries. Spread them with peanut butter and blueberry preserves and poured honey over them. I hadn't had pancakes that came out that well in years. Threw in some hot chocolate later.

Watched Match Game '74 as I ate. This was the hilarious week with McLean Stevenson in the first male ingenue seat that was probably the best from that year. Betty White, comedy writer Ann Elder, and slightly dazed singer Joanie Sommers watched as McLean complained about Brett never hearing the question, turned up in the contestant's desk, tried to kiss Richard when a contestant won the Head to Head, and chased Gene all over the studio.

Finished the night with The Inspector General as I organized my lotions and beauty supplies, cleared out old ones, and organized my shopping totes. I go further into this classic historical comedy with Danny Kaye as the mistaken title character at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

The Inspector General (1949) 

Fiddlers In the Sunshine

Overslept and got too into reading The Daughter of the Pirate King, barely leaving me enough time to eat, get dressed, and rush off to work! Yes, I was late again. No, it didn't really matter. Once again, they barely noticed. We were quiet until noon, when people started turning up from work. I had to clean up some water leaking in the produce department, and this time, I had no extra help. Other than that, there were no problems, and I was in and out. At least the weather remains gorgeous for pushing carts. It was still sunny, breezy, and a little chilly for this time of year, into the upper 50's-lower 60's. 

Changed, had lunch, and watched The Pirates of Dark Water when I got home. All it takes is "A Drop of Darkness" that Ren and the others gather for elderly alchemist Cray to transform herself into a young beauty again. She uses Tula to force Ren to do her bidding and then to marry her...until Bloth turns up with his men, and Cray's potion doesn't turn out to be as full-proof as she thought.

After lunch, I went downstairs to go through my pots, pans, and everything else still in bins. All of my frying pans are a scratched mess and need to be replaced. I've had my largest pot since I lived in Wildwood, and it has burns I can't get off on the bottom. The Crock Pot has a broken top, and I've been meaning to get a better one anyway. I'm debating the blender. There's nothing wrong with the glass pouring vessel, but I've had it for almost 30 years, since college, and I doubt the motor is going to last much longer. 

Cleared out a bunch of cheap cups I picked up from various job fairs, along with the Phillies cup from the game I went to see with Jessa two years ago. Brought my other cereal bowls and one heavy Fiesta bowl for hot cereal upstairs, along with my only remaining silverware. I can't seem to find the container with the silverware, the Tupperware, and the toaster. It must have gotten lost or misplaced during the move. All of that will have to be replaced.

Went back upstairs, put away the dishes, and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening watching Fiddler On the Roof in honor of the last day of Passover. I go further into this touching 1971 epic about a Russian Jewish milkman and his changing family in the early 20th century at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Happy Passover! - Fiddler on the Roof

It was so late when the movie finally ended, I switched to Match Game '90 while eating dinner. They're still on the week with Phyllis Diller. Chuck Roast turned up on her fourth episode and almost seemed to like her, insomuch as he ever really liked anybody.

Finished the night with two of my recent record and CD acquisitions. The MGM Treasury of Bedtime Stories children's record features short but charming retellings of "The Pied Piper of Hamlin," "The Shoemaker and the Elves," "Rapunzel," and "Puss N' Boots." These are honestly pretty accurate for the time they had, other than the Shoemaker is able to hire help and get better glasses after the elves leave and the Pied Piper brings the children back after a year to parents who are much wiser and more appreciative.

(The back of the cover indicates that MGM did a lot more fairy-tale recordings, including ones with Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Goldilocks, along with story records featuring Tom & Jerry and Mighty Mouse and a story record for The Wizard of Oz, all of which might be worth looking for.)

Bed of Roses was Bette Midler's hit CD from the mid-90's. Most of these songs are touching ballads, like "In This Life," "To Comfort You," "As Dreams Go By," and the title song. "Bottomless" and "It's Too Late" are slightly livelier, but these are mostly Bette in soft balladeer mode. 

Kids, It's Cold Outside!

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

Cult Flops - The Producers (2005)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spooky Angels

Started off the day with breakfast and Good Eats. Figured the "Breakfast Eats" DVD was more than appropriate. "Oats Culture" is likely more appreciated now than it was when this episode was filmed in the early 2000's. People have since discovered the delights and practicality of oatmeal cooked overnight in the microwave or slow cooker. Steel-cut and whole oats have become more popular too as more people search for healthy grains and alternatives to gluten-heavy wheat products.

Likewise, "Yogurt: Good Milk Gone Bad," which I watched while pulling out the winter clothes, is also better-appreciated today. I still think it's a bit too labor-intensive to make my own, though the yogurt cheese doesn't seem as bad. And I'd love to make my own frozen yogurt!

Dusted the rooms while watching "True Brew II: Mr. Tea." This is where I respectfully disagree with Alton. I generally use tea bags. They're a lot less fussy than playing around with loose-leaf tea. I do agree with his method for making iced tea, though I generally prefer mine without sugar.

Watched Charlie's Angels as I finished up the dusting. In "Of Ghosts and Angels," Tiffany is having nightmares about a dark-haired woman being pushed downstairs. She visits with a good friend of hers from college...and realizes that some malevolent force may be after her friend, and her friend's new husband isn't nearly as perfect as he seems.

Switched to Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood while putting up the Halloween decorations and having lunch. Daniel and Katarina are over at the Merry-Go-Round Museum while they figure out what to dress as for Dress-Up Day. Daniel is his hero Tigey the Adventure Tiger. Miss Elainia has to make her robot costume. Katarina can't decide what to be...until the other two remind her that you can be more than one thing. "Katarina's Costume" blends elements of everything she loves. O the Owl is upset when his traffic lights costume is damaged during the "Dress Up Day" parade. Daniel has to help O figure out what else he wants to be.

Headed out to school a little early to drop off a bag of clothes in the bins behind Dollar General. When I got into school, I found the kids waiting in the hall with their backpacks, reading books. The school band rehearsal ran overtime, and the kids couldn't use the library due to the Book Fair being set up there. (And lucky kids! I'm so happy they still do book fairs at schools. Those were always among the highlights of the school year for me.)

Not only did we get outside today, but the teachers let them stay out for an extra 10-15 minutes. It was cloudy, windy, and humid, but also cool enough for the kids to run around and not get too hot. It's not supposed to be this nice tomorrow! The kids were fascinated by men setting up a roadblock outside the school and a nondescript cop car with lights flashing. Some of them watched the car until it turned around and went back down the street. And they all love it when I push them on the swings! I get so many requests for that, especially from the littlest ones who can't really push themselves on their own.

Went straight home and worked on a new idea for another WENN fanfic. This is going to be one of my first fairy tales for 2026 along with C.J and the Beanstalk, and it's a cross between two ideas. Betty is feeling overlooked during the 4th season - not to mention, she sees Maple flirting with Victor and realizes she might not have that many problems with it and hears Hilary and Jeff argue over Pavla again. She's supposed to be writing the script for "Cinderella," but why go the usual route? What if Cinderella had another reason for dancing at the ball than getting the prince?

So Betty is now the overlooked scribe who is convinced by Queen Gertie and King Tom (Eldridge) to attend a ball held by Lady Pavla. Lady Pavla seems glamorous on the outside, but there's a lot of red flags with her. She took over the household of Lady Maple and Lord Victor when they just vanished...and shortly before she arrived, dragons began terrorizing the kingdoms, stealing gold and burning buildings. Every knight in the kingdom has disappeared trying to find out what's going on. Lady Hilary, who has quite a bit of fairy magic, gives Betty gowns that will mask her identity, glass slippers that can't be heard, and a cape that will let her slip around unseen. Queen Gertie is worried about her son Scott being at the ball as well, as she fears he may do something rash.

Betty arrives to find Pavla the absolute measure of glamour and sweetness, carrying around a red-furred poodle who does dancing tricks. Something is very off about her, and Betty will learn by midnight that Pavla is far more than she appears at the surface.

Don't look for this one before 2026. I still have too many ideas I want to work on now, including finishing Maplepunzel.

Watched Paramount on Parade while I worked. I go further into this charming revue from 1930 at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Paramount on Parade

Finished the night with Match Game '76. Jimmie Walker was delighted to flirt with a pretty young contestant who made her own stylish clothes and kept winning. Gene just did his best to keep Jimmie from drumming up the crowd for his bad answers. 

Out In the Sunshine

Started off the morning with breakfast and a double dose of Paw Patrol. Cap'n Turnbot and Danny are counting polar bears, but Turnbot's ship crashes into the ice. When the ice under two cubs breaks and sends them adrift in the ocean, the "Pups Save the Polar Bears" and get them back safely to their mother. Marshall is "A Pup In Sheep's Clothing" when he dresses as a sheep to find out who has been making holes in the farmer's fence. 

"Pups Save a School Bus" after Adventure Bay's bus gets four flat tires. Ryder volunteers to drive the kids to school in the pups' bus, but then Alex takes off in Chase's car and the pups have to go after him. "Pups Save the Songbirds" when they vanish suddenly, and Mayor Humdinger is involved.

Let Family Feud run while I made my grocery list and got my schedule. In good news, three days off, more hours. In bad news, two 8 1/2 hour days. No idea what's going on there. I don't usually work that long on the head bagger's days off. Maybe one of the college-age baggers who usually work in the afternoons went on vacation.

Headed off to do this week's grocery shopping after I got off the computer. Restocked coconut milk, granola bars, and bananas at Sprouts. Thought I'd try their dried pineapple this week and a buy one, get one free deal on Live, a new probiotic soda. Grabbed chocolate chips for a recipe I never got a chance to make later in the day. Dropped off the remaining Mercedes Lackey books I finally finished before heading down Cuthbert Road to the Acme. 

The Westmont Acme was even less busy than Sprouts was. It's the last day of the month and the weather continues to be beautiful. I was mainly there to pick up yogurt, Kind kids bars on a good sale, and bagels for lunch at work next week. Found a bag of blood oranges for a good price and more of that tasty Slice soda on sale. (I don't remember Slice being that good when I was a kid!) Spices were buy 2, get one free, so I restocked cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Picked up chai tea and provolone cheese for dinner.

Had lunch when I got in, then went through the bin of the random doll clothes and items. The boxes I use for the dolls' clothing are now big enough to fit their pajamas and coats, and I don't need nearly all of the hangers I have. I found a few accessories I'd been looking for too, including Samantha's purse and two scarves I made for the dolls years ago. I moved the tote bags to the big Marshalls bag and switched the dolls' accessories and the Cabbage Patch Dolls' clothing to the bin that held the tote bags. The plastic bag that held my linens and out-of-season quilts was falling apart, so I moved those to the other bin.

Let Buzzr run while I worked, starting with The Price Is Right. Bob asked the ladies in the second episode what they were up to. As it turned out, not a lot. Dian claimed to be seeing someone, Holly had her eye on a guy, and Janice was engaged. The Showcases were a hoot and a half. The big theme on the first episode had "adventures," which mainly meant trips and a boat. The second episode featured a hilarious spoof of Trivial Pursuit, with Holly answering "Texas Ranger" to every question. 

The second episode also featured the rare mini-game "On the Nose." The contestant guesses the prices of four items. However many prices he gets right is the amount of tries he has to play a game, like throwing a baseball or a football. Though the contestant did win (with only one try!), I can see why this game didn't last long. Not everyone has that good of an arm (or gets that lucky), and sports and prices are really kind of an odd mix.

Match Game Syndicated had its own fun. Gene and Charles spent the first episode teasing Arte Johnson and comedian Ronny Graham for bringing purse-like bags onstage. For some reason, Steve Kanaly of Dallas has not cleared his syndicated week (though his PM episode has run), so they skipped straight into the week with Bill Cullen, Lee Merriweather, and Bill Daily. Bill Daily was extra-squirrely that week, especially when someone would have to call on him for the Audience Match and he'd either make faces or hide.

Finished the night honoring the late Gene Hackman with a genuine rarity from 1975. Lucky Lady has Liza Minnelli as blousy widow Claire who hooks up with Walker (Burt Reynolds) in order to wind up her business affairs in Tijuana, Mexico in 1930. After an attempt to smuggle illegal Mexican immigrants doesn't work out, they join rumrunner Kibby (Hackman) and his young captain Billy (Robby Benson) to do a different kind of smuggling. Even with the Coast Guard after them, they make enough money on the liquor shipment to net them a cushy home, repairs on Kibby's boat the Lady Luck, and a wealthy swain for Claire. 

The Coast Guard aren't the only ones on their tail. When Kibby and Walker are ambushed by east coast gangster McTeague (John Hillerman), they lose Billy, their shipment, and the Lady Luck. Horrified, Claire runs out on a dinner party and joins them to round up every rummy on the West coast and show those East Coast crooks they don't know as much about the business as they think.

While not the greatest thing ever, this charming caper does have its good points. The production is gorgeous, with pitch-perfect period gowns for Minnelli and suits for the guys. I actually like that she doesn't decide between the guys and decides to keep both of them. Anyone else would have had her choose one or the other, but they were both so darn likable, I could understand why she wouldn't want to. 

On the other hand, the story is disjointed, especially in the second half. The script was constantly re-written, and they never did really decide on an ending. The dialogue isn't so hot, either. There's some decent songs by Kander and Ebb (including the title number), and Donen is more at home dealing with them than with the big action finale at sea. Apparently, the entire finale was over his head and scared him to death. Donen never did figure out the tone, either. The movie veers from crime caper to violent gangster film (including showing Billy's death) without rhyme or reason. 

Worth checking out once if you're a really big fan of vintage camper comedies, Donen, or the stars involved. YouTube seems to be the only place you can find this at the moment; the Shout TV! DVD is expensive. 

Everything Under One Roof

Began the morning with breakfast and The Scooby Doo Show. The gang is told "Don't Go Near the Fortress of Fear" during a fishing trip to Puerto Rico. Shaggy and Scooby first encounter the ghost of conquistador General Juan Carlos when they visit an old fort, but they try to hide it from the others to avoid having to chase ghosts. Mystery Inc can't stay away from a ghost story for long, though, especially when it seems treasures have gone missing from a local museum and someone  has been randomly setting off a cannon on the fort.

After breakfast, I went downstairs to start sorting through all of those boxes. I was in the basement for about an hour when I realized I'd need somewhere to put everything besides a cardboard box. I don't trust cardboard boxes in a basement. Some smaller things would fit in the dresser drawers and I already had a bin for the pans, but that one bin wouldn't hold everything. I finally grabbed my umbrella and headed out to run errands, ignoring the cloudy day and light showers.

Stopped at WaWa first. I needed money from the ATM machine. Since I was there, I treated myself to a Green Pineapple Smoothie. Oh, yum. Matcha, pineapple, and other tropical fruit. Earthy, fruity, and very green. I'll have to get that again sometime. 

Family Dollar is closer to WaWa than Dollar General. I grabbed the three largest bins they had, plus a smaller narrow rolling bin for the glasses and mugs I wouldn't be using upstairs. Cost me a bundle, but I did get them. Stopped at A&A Pretzels for lunch. They didn't have the regular cheesesteak-stuffed pretzel, but their gluten-free turned out to be even better (and more stuffed) than the originals. Grabbed two regular pretzels as well.

Had lunch upstairs while watching PAW Patrol. "The Pups Save a Snowboarding Competition" when they first help husky miss Everest clear the course during a snowstorm, then rescue the Kitten Catastrophe crew after they go off-course. Cap'n Turnbot and Mayor Goodway are horrified when a cat and her pet chicken Chickaletta get trapped in his computerized diving bell. "The Pups Save the Diving Bell" after they finally get the two to decide if saving the bell or the animals is more important.

Spent the next three hours going through everything in the boxes. Most of it did stay downstairs. In fact, I ended up transferring the box of dishes and bowls and bag of kitchen towels from my closet to the third bin. There were a few things that were moved to my rooms, including my Garfield McDonald's glasses, my old Donald Duck Melody Time jelly jar glass, and my favorite brick-red mug with the pretty gold and brown flower print. I can use that retro strawberry-print colander to hold fruit again, too. (Alas, a few things didn't survive the multiple moves. My Three Caballeros jelly jar glass was the only one that broke, and a big piece broke off the lid of my mini-crock pot.) Cleared out a bunch of old tea bags, spices, and sugar sprinkles, too, and moved the remaining ones into tins or the metal shelves upstairs. 

I was so worn out from running up and down stairs all afternoon, all I was up to after I finished was watching Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story. I go further into the harrowing tale of an R&B diva who survives drug addiction and domestic abuse to make a comeback in the 2000's at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musicals On TV - Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story

Switched to Match Game Syndicated while eating dinner. They're now on the week with Randi Oakes, one of three cast members of the police procedural show CHIPs to appear on Match Game. David Doyle has far less luck with the Head-to-Head for pretty much the whole week.

Finished the night with The Best of Stevie Nicks: Time Space on CD while I worked on my Love Under New Management review. Though I've heard Nicks in one way or another all my life, I didn't recognize a lot of these songs. There are some pretty big hits here, though, including "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," "Talk to Me," "Edge of Seventeen," and "Leather and Lace." 

A Hint of Spring In the Air

Began the morning with breakfast and Alice's Wonderland Bakery. Hattie is initially excited when the Queen of Hearts' daughter Rosa announces a sleepover at Hearts Palace. When the time comes for the actual party, he can't sleep because of how different the Palace is from his home. Alice shows him that there's "No Palace Like Home" when she makes him comfort food that helps him settle down. Rosa wants her heart tarts to be "A Royal Remembrance" when her Abulito comes to visit. Even though her tarts aren't exactly like her Abulita's, she knows how to dress them up so her grandfather knows they were made with love.

Headed to work after that. No problems whatsoever there. We were quiet the entire morning. It was a gorgeous day at the end of the month and the middle of the week, and we're between holidays. I pushed carts, swept the floor, and enjoyed sunny, breezy, unusually warm weather that was already in the lower 60's by 1 PM.

Stopped at the Common Grounds Coffee House in Oakyn for lunch. Some jerk gave the baristas a hard time yesterday because they were busy and had no tables open. You don't make a fuss over that. Thankfully, they did have a table open this time. I bought a chai latte, a slice of mushroom and Swiss quiche, and a huge blueberry muffin and watched the college students and office workers tap busily at their laptops. 

Put on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic while changing and flattening all those boxes I unloaded yesterday to put in recycling later. "The Crystal Empire" is a magical land in the north that has suddenly reappeared after a thousand years. It was attacked by evil unicorn King Sondra, who made the ponies forget how happy they once were. Twilight Sparkle and Spike searches for a Crystal Heart that could protect the city, while the other ponies keep the residents happy at a Crystal Fair and Twilight's friend Princess Cadence and her brother Shining Armor use Cadence's magic to keep Sondra at bay.

Went through all those cookbooks and the stuff I unloaded yesterday while finishing up Roots. Chicken George (Ben Vereen) happily returns to his family a free man in the 1860's. His son Tom (Georg Stanford Brown) is now a blacksmith for man named Sam Harvey (Richard McKenzie) and has two sons and a lovely wife named Irene (Lynne Moody). Tom and his family are glad to see him and love his stories of England, but he can't stay long. If he remains in South Carolina for 60 days, he'll lose his freedom.

Tom is continually harassed by a pair of obnoxious brothers, Evan (Lloyd Bridges) and Jemmy (Doug McClure) Brent. At one point, he does a favor for Jemmy after he deserts the Confederate Army and finds him attacking Irene. He kills him...but no one will tell Evan who did it. Fortunately, not all whites are so unfriendly. George (Brad Davis) and Martha (Lane Binkley) Johnson turn up at the plantation in search of a meal. They end up befriending the community...and unlike Tom Moore or Missy Anne, they know how to be faithful friends, even though Tom's brother Lewis (Hilly Hicks) doesn't trust them at first. 

The postwar period doesn't go well for Tom, George, or their families. Corrupt Senator Arthur Justin (Burl Ives) buys up all the land and forces the black farmers into heavy debt. After raiders attack their farms, Tom figures out a way to find out who the raiders are. The Sheriff, however, is in Justin's pocket and tips him and Evan off. George is told to whip his friend, and only does it to save his life. Good thing Chicken George returns at this point, announcing that he has land in Tennessee...and an idea that will get Evan and his group off their backs once and for all.

Whew! That was quite a saga. Though the story lightened slightly towards the end, this is still really dark territory. As I mentioned last week, the N word is tossed around with abandon, there's strong violence, and honestly, even some of the black characters don't come out smelling like a bed of roses. The well-done drama and all-star cast still makes it worth checking out for those looking to see American history in a less-rosy light and can handle the violence and abuse.

Switched to Match Game Syndicated during dinner. Foster Brooks and Sarah Purcell joined in this week, just in time for the difficult "__ Balsam" Audience Match. After an audience member gets the answer that the rest of the panel can't figure out, the panel walks out!

Finished the night with Murder She Wrote. "The Grand Old Lady" from the sixth season goes for something different. Jessica Fletcher recounts how beloved mystery author Lady Abigail Austin (June Havoc) ran across a murder on the Queen Mary in 1947. She's there when wine merchant Peter Daniken staggers in, beaten and bloody. Turns out the man was hardly what he claimed to be. Aspiring journalist Christie McGinn (Gary Kroger) smells a story and helps her solve the case and bring together a nurse who fell for a wounded soldier onboard, despite him being married. 

Brave New Worlds

Got a quick start with breakfast and "Mr. Duck Steps Out." Donald wants to go on a date with Daisy, but his nephews want to go, too. He tries to distract them with ice cream, but they'd rather send a popping corn cob in his beak. Good thing this makes him a heck of a jitterbugger and Daisy thinks he's just creating a new dance. 

I got up early because a friend was helping me clear out that storage room in Lawnside and bring my remaining things here, and she could only get a truck from the Home Depot across from Extra Storage at 8 in the morning. We went in. I put in the deposit on the truck when they could get me to a card machine that worked. We went outside, climbed into a nice little truck, and drove across the street. 

It was so early, the office wasn't open yet. I'd talk to them later. For now, we removed everything that remained in the room, including the cassettes, the Star Wars action figures and shelf they hung on, my cookbooks and cake decorating books, the old dresser I used to use for storing small items like tape, and my pots and pans. I also finally found the fall wreath I'd been looking for. Clearing the entire room out and bringing it all home took a little over an hour. 

After we dropped off the truck, she drove me to Collingswood so I could take money out of PNC Bank to pay her. At least we could do that quick, too. There was no trouble on the road, no traffic anywhere, even in Lawnside. I was home by quarter of 10.

Spent the next hour shelving cookbooks while watching Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Jodi is upset when her mother goes away in "Jodi's Mama Travels for Work," like my sisters and I were when Dad had to go on long fishing trips in the 80's and 90's. Jodi is reminded that grown-ups will come back to you, just like we were. In this case, her mother left her a paper chain with links that lead to special surprises. "The Tiger Family Babysits" when Nana goes to the store. Jodi's toddler brothers Teddy and Leo are scared, but Daniel knows how to distract them.

Switched to The Busy World of Richard Scarry next. Huckle and Hilda are supposed to be "King and Queen for a Day" in the big parade. Hilda isn't happy with the rocket ship float Mr. Fix It insists on, and Huckle doesn't want to be caught in the middle. When he gets sick, it's Lowly who has to  show them how to compromise. A young pig is determined to show she can be a good cowgirl and lead "The Piggy Express" through rain, sleet, and heat. The hobos who live in town teach the kids that "Practice Makes Perfect" when they dig out their own records and find music they want to rehearse for the school recital.

Headed out shortly after 11. Took Uber to my first stop of the afternoon. I wanted to make sure everything was good at Extra Storage and they knew we were out. The cheerful girl at the counter in the main building said they figured it out when they saw I left the door to the storage room open as requested online and ended my account shortly after. I even got to keep the lock I used for the room. 

Thought it would be easier to let Uber pick me up at the Shop-Rite across the street, especially since I was going that way anyhow. Grabbed two bottles of Pepsi Wild Cherry and Cream Zero, then called the driver. The driver going to Somerdale came in 2 minutes; the one going to Lawnside arrived in 4. Once again, no trouble on the road. We were at Amy's Omlette House in 5 minutes.

They were a little busier, but it didn't take me long to get a seat. I enjoyed the "lite bites" pancakes so much the last time I had them, I tried another type of "lite bites" pancakes. Caramel Apple Pancakes were topped with sliced apples and drizzled with caramel. Think I tasted walnuts in the pancakes. Not bad. The apples were just sweet and tart enough, and their tartness helped make the caramel less overwhelmingly sweet. 

Hurried down the White Horse Pike back towards Magnolia after I ate. I mainly came that way to finally see Captain America: Brave New World. I wanted to last week when it came out, but I just didn't have the time. I slid into a full theater just as the commercials ended. I won't go into spoilers, but I did enjoy it. I always liked the Captain America films, and this one was no exception. Harrison Ford did especially well as the tough-guy president who is trying to make a peace treaty with Japan and get his hands on a new type of alien metal that has fallen to Earth, and he plays well off Anthony Mackie as the new Captain America. The politics may be murky and the plot is overly complicated and smacks of 70's-80's arms race paranoia, but this isn't bad, and is certainly better than the action film I saw last February, Argylle. 

I didn't figure it out until a teacher told me after the movie ended, but the reason the theater was full on a Tuesday afternoon was a middle school were there on a school trip. That was annoying. They talked noisily, left a mess all over, and the boys made inappropriate noises and jokes during quiet times. The kids were so obnoxious, three of the people sitting next to me got up and left with almost a half-hour before the movie ended. (And why the heck were they seeing a Marvel movie on a school day? Black History Month?)

Made a brief stop at Dollar Tree to buy a new comb (and make change for the bus), then went up the hill to Walmart. Didn't find a whole lot there. The TV sets that interested me had security locks on them, and there were almost no records left. I bought probiotic soda, Junkless granola bars, and disinfectant wipes. Went down to the White Horse Pike to pick up the bus after I finished. They were a little over 10 minutes late, not bad for the height of rush hour. I got home within 15 minutes. 

Soon as I got home, I went through more of the boxes, upstairs and down, trying to figure out what worked upstairs and what didn't. Cleared out a lot of stuff, from cassettes I'd since bought on CD or record to now-expired tea and spices. Moved the cassette shelves downstairs when the remaining cassettes and the player worked fine on one of the record crates. Moved pots and pans to a bin and brought the crate they were in upstairs to hold records. 

Watched Double Platinum while I worked. I go further into this TV movie from 1999 featuring Diana Ross and Brandy as an estranged mother and daughter at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Musicals On TV - Double Platinum 

Switched to Match Game Syndicated during dinner. I don't think putting Bob Barker next to Charlene Tilton was a smart move. He and Gene spent most of the week drooling over her. Meanwhile, Richard Deacon is more than happy to throw a little shade at Bob, while everyone else tosses it Gene and Brett's way.

Finished the night testing the cassette player with one of my last finds before I moved. I fished a 12-tape collection of oldies from 1993 out of the trash pile at Jodi's house. I don't know why she was throwing it away. Only the first tape is missing, and the rest work just fine. I went with Tape 7, which features lively dance numbers like "At the Hop" by Danny and the Juniors and sweeter ballads like "Take Good Care of My Baby" by Bobby Vee and "Since I Don't Have You" by the Skyliners. (Oh, and the cassette player works just fine.) 

Some Sunny Day

Began the morning with breakfast and two episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Pluto's Playmate" is Salty the Seal, whom he gets along with much better than in the short "Mickey and the Seal." Mickey and the gang use Mousketools to teach Salty tricks for his circus act. "Mickey's Big Job" is taking care of Willie the Giant's farm while he's visiting his mother. He and the gang figure out how to clean house, water a plant, and feed chickens when everything is six times your size.

Headed out after the second cartoon to run errands. I was hoping CVS would have the Listerine Gum Therapy mouthwash I use in the smaller size. They did...but I didn't see a tag and didn't realize how expensive it was until I bought it. And all the pharmacies wonder why people won't shop there anymore? They're really too expensive. Got a Propel water and brushes for my Oral B electric toothbrush. I really can't find the brush heads anywhere else, but I won't get the mouthwash there again.

I mostly went for a walk to enjoy a gorgeous, sunny day. It was even nicer than yesterday, breezy and much warmer, into the mid-50's. I was hot in the snowflake-print cardigan and heavy coat I wore. No wonder I saw several people chatting on their cell phones or with neighbors on their porches. There's a few houses that still have Valentine's or even Christmas decorations out, but most are fine with a winter vine wreath and their empty gardens. 

Took out the recycling and brought the laundry downstairs when I got home, then went upstairs to have lunch, make the bed, and rearrange the book shelves in the front and back rooms. Watched more Roots while I worked. Kunta's daughter Kizzy (Leslie Uggams) grows up alongside John Reynolds' daughter Missy Anne (Sandy Duncan). They think they're best friends, but despite teaching Kizzy to read and write, Missy doesn't see her as anything but a slave. Kizzy falls for another slave, Noah (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), who is determined to escape, and helps him forge a traveling pass. 

Noah is caught, and Kizzy is sold to the brutal Tom Moore (Chuck Connors). Moore forces her into bed the moment she gets there. She has a son by him, George (Ben Vereen). George grows up to train roosters to fight one another. He thinks he's friends with Moore, but Moore turns out to be no more trustworthy than Missy Anne when first his wife, and then him turn up frothing at the mouth and threatening their slaves over a slave uprising that had nothing to do with them. He loses George to British trainer Sir Eric Russell (Ian McShane) and sells his family when he needs money.

Worked on updating the inventories after I brought the laundry upstairs, adding the records I've bought over the past few days. Watched The Price Is Right, then Match Game Syndicated during dinner. Comedian Alfie Wise has a great time during the first week. Jack Jones, Patty Duke, Joe Santos, and Donna Pescow are around next week. Patty convinces a physical therapist contestant to help fix her knee...and then Jack suddenly decides that he needs physical therapy, too.

Finished the night on YouTube with game shows featuring British host and entertainer Bruce Forsyth, whose birthday would have been Saturday. Forsyth began his game show career hosting a brief British version of Beat the Clock on the show Sunday Night at the London Palladium. Other than the stunts were a bit messy and one involved math rather than muck, this was pretty similar to the US format at the time. 

Forsyth returned to the stage for the rest of the 60's. His next big hit was The Generation Game in 1973. Two pairs, usually a mother/son and father/daughter (although we have a mother/grandfather here), do stunts that involve guessing what something is - in this case, breed of dogs - and who can make crafts better. The remaining two couples join Bruce at the end to appear in a skit. Whomever is judged better are the winners. The winners get whatever prizes they can remember passing on a conveyor belt.

No wonder this was a long-running hit twice. It would be successfully revived in 1990, with Forsyth hosting the first four years of that as well. I believe it's still considered to be one of his signature shows in England. Even when the opening stunts are moving at a glacier pace, Forsyth is still having a grand time, making jokes and darting around. 

Forsyth's next hit was Play Your Cards Right, the British version of Card Sharks. When it began in 1980, it had two contestants answering high-low questions that allowed them to play cards on a board, like the US version. Where this differs is the goofier high-low questions that are played for comedy and in the bonus round. Forsyth asks a question. If they won, they'd get an extra 50 points to bet with. If they lost, they'd lose 50 points. After that, the Money Cards run the same until the end. If the player makes over 4,000 pounds, they could answer a simple question to win a car.

This is just as much fun (if a bit sillier) than the American version, and just as enjoyable to watch. Forsyth had such a grand time hosting, he did the entire 1980-1987 run, including when they switched to couples playing. 

Forsyth didn't have as much luck on this side of the pond. His only crack at a game show in the US was Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak. Two teams, one of men, one of women, each have to describe a word to their teammate without using words the previous teammate used. If it sounds fun, but really hard...it was. It could be hilarious, but it was also difficult for teams to get more than two or three words without repeating them. That and heavy competition from The Price Is Right and Wheel of Fortune made it a flop here that barely lasted 13 weeks (though it did give announcer Marc Summers some of his first game show exposure). 

Forsyth did better back in England with You Bet. This is another variation on Beat the Clock, only with the a panel of celebrities sponsoring and betting on the outcome of the stunts. All money went to charity. Forsyth only hosted the first two years of this long-running favorite, but he has just as much fun here watching people run around and make a mess as he did at the London Palladium.

One of Forsyth's last major assignments was ITV's third attempt at The Price Is Right. While not as huge of a hit as the daytime version was here, Bruce's Price Is Right did manage a decent six-year-run. It's played more-or-less the same as the 90's half-hour Price Is Right, with the addition of a (rather cheap-looking) wheel and two people doing the Showcases. Forsyth was as beloved over in England as Bob Barker had been here by this point (and unlike Barker, doesn't seem to have had problems with his models), and he has a grand time cracking jokes about people coming on down. 

Celebrate the life and work of one of England's most beloved hosts with these hilarious episodes!

Beat the Clock (Sunday Night at the London Palladium) (1961)

The Generation Game (1975)

Play Your Cards Right Premiere (1980)

Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak (1986)

You Bet Premiere (1988)

Bruce's The Price Is Right (1996)

Sunshine and Taxes

Began the morning with breakfast and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. "Who's Afraid of the Big Eclipse?" Everyone in town when Billy Dog forgets to give the local paper part of the article his astrologist mother wrote on the coming celestial event. Billy and the other kids in town hand out the other half of the paper to calm the citizens down. Greek sheep Toula and her father discover how to "Hold Your Breath!" when they go treasure hunting underwater in ancient Greece. Huckle, Lowly, and Sprout are "Pumpkin Heads" who have entries in the county fair's pumpkin contest. After their pumpkins get damaged, they have to put their heads together and decide what else they can enter.

Took my laundry downstairs after the cartoon ended, then spent the next 40 minutes doing my taxes. I always try to get my paperwork out the day tax season begins. It doesn't take me long using Turbo Tax. I have one part-time job, own no property, and have no dependents. I'm getting about $880 and $49 from the state after I pay them. That's far less than I got last year, but I made a lot less this past year, too. After I finished my taxes, I went through papers that accumulated on top of my printer and put those away.

Got my laundry in the dryer and took out the trash and recycling, then went for a walk. It was too nice of a day to hang out inside! It jumped into the lower 40's today, with sunny bright blue skies and a nice breeze. Perfectly normal and pleasant weather for South Jersey in late January. There were a lot of people out and about, including three women chatting on a corner while one walked her dog.

Stopped at Dollar General first. I'm almost out of laundry detergent. The Arm & Hammer stain fighting bottle came with slightly more per wash than Tide. Needed granola bars, too. Grabbed chocolate fudge cake mix and cherry pie filling for a recipe I wanted to try later. 

Strolled across town for lunch. I was in the mood for decent food, not greasy or fried. I ended up at Common Grounds Coffee House. Despite it being almost 2 PM when I got there, they were busy with older women chatting in groups and college kids working on laptops. I had a cranberry muffin, the last slice of spinach-feta-pepper quiche, and a "dirty vanilla chai." The last-named turned out to be a coffee chai latte. It was ok, though I'm still not a really big coffee fan. 

I realized as I strolled up West Clinton that I forgot two things at Dollar General, and one was important. I ran out of computer paper while printing my tax return. Headed to Family Dollar a few blocks down the White Horse Pike to pick up the paper and an aluminum pan for my cake project. Treated myself to Red Velvet Reeces Cups while I was there, too. (They weren't bad, but I tasted more chocolate and peanut butter than red velvet.)

Did a few chores when I got home, including taking the recycling down to the curb and bringing my laundry upstairs, then made my cake project. I decided to try a simpler "dump cake" after my orange soda cake didn't come out so well last week. "Dump cakes" are recipes that require dry ingredients to be dropped on the wet ones, rather than mixed in. I did use butter on the cake mix, and I really should have bought two cans of cherry pie filling. Other than that, my Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake came out very well, very chocolatey and just sweet enough.

Spent the next few hours finishing the Children's album inventory. Got in everything from The Rescuers book and record through Yankee Doodle Mickey, along with my only children's CD set, a 2-disc collection of fairy tale readings. Most of these go pretty far back. The Story of Johnny Appleseed book and record is one of the original 65 albums from my late first stepmother Kaye that Dad gave me in 2006. She was a huge fan of Dennis Day, and he sings all the songs there. Yankee Doodle Mickey, Mickey Mouse Splashdance, Robin Hood, and my Sword and the Stone with the cool pop-up book were yard sale finds in 2011. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to do next. I might start the jazz and vocalists inventory, but I'm more likely to pick up that fairy tale about the young woman who tries to stop the Witch of Winter from ending spring. I've finally been getting some better ideas for it, now that we're getting closer to spring again. She now has a best friend, a half-human fire fairy who joins her. The rabbit who runs to Mother Nature isn't Sir Michael, but a feisty young prince the witch turned into a rabbit. Sir Michael was the prince's tutor, but he was bound to the shadows and stripped of his voice. 

Listened to records while I worked. The Gang's All Here is one of the many, many Sesame Street albums released in the 70's and 80's. I bought this one a while ago because I'd never heard of most of the songs listed here. In fact, the only number I was even a little familiar with is Cookie Monster's "If Moon Was Cookie." Cookie kicks off the album with "Me Gotta Be Blue," a hilarious spoof of bluesy Sinatra-esque anthems. There's also "We are All Monsters," Big Bird's sweet "Next to You," and my favorite, Bert declaring "I'm Square."

The cool thing about that British 40 Walt Disney Originals set I picked up from Innergroove Records two years ago is the inclusion of many older songs you won't find on newer American collections. For instance, there's a jaunty Annette Funicello Sherman Brothers' number, "Dream Boy," I'd never even heard of before I found this set. There's also three songs from the rare animated-live action hybrid So Dear to My Heart, "Stick-It-Tivity," "It's What'cha Do With What'cha Got," and "County Fair," and three from The Rescuers, "The Journey," "Rescue Aid Society," and "Tomorrow Is Another Day." "Maggie's Theme" is actually "For You, For Always" from the original 1961 Parent Trap.

Watched Match Game Syndicated while I finished the inventory and ate dinner. I came in for the week with Scoey Mitchilll, Dolly Martin, and Debralee Scott. The panelists for the next week were all either currently game show hosts (Dick Martin, Bill Cullen, Peter Marshall) or would be in the 80's (Betty White, Elaine Joyce) except for Brett Somers.

Finished the night with more syndicated game shows, these made for the syndicated market. Syndicated shows go way far back to the 50's, when newly-minted independent stations looked to fill airtime with anything they could find. By the late 60's, there were dozens of shows out there filling that market. Most of them, like Win With the Stars, barely lasted a year. Allen Ludden hosted this musical show where celebrities sang standards to contestants and helped them guess the song. If viewers at home had the number of points that the two groups won on a card, they too might win prizes.

Later syndicated shows had way more fun. Celebrity Bowling is what it says on the tin. Two teams of stars play each other in a typical bowling alley to earn prizes for viewers at home. This is way better than you might think, especially if you are a bowling fan. Richard Dawson and Bob Newhart play Gavin McLeod and character actor John Ericson in the 1971 episode I have here. This wound up being a long-running success, going until 1978.

The Crosswits was another long-running hit in syndication, going from 1975 to 1980. Four celebrities help two contestants figure out the subject of a crossword puzzle in what amounts to Crossword Plus. I really think this one is a lot of fun and wish more of it was available online. Jack Clark was the gentlemanly host.

My sisters and I loved Dance Fever as kids. This began in 1979 as a competition for disco dancers, basically an early form of Dancing With the Stars with celebrities as judges rather than performers. The first few years were hosted by choreographer Deney Terrio. By the time of this 1986 episode, Adrien Zmed of Grease 2 was the host, and the dancing had diversified way beyond disco. I personally prefer the 40's jazz dancers here, but Pat Sajak, Joanna Kerns, and Wally Joyner seem more impressed with the country step-dancers. 

Split Second was the 1986-1987 Canadian revival of a game show from 1972. Monty Hall asks contestants a question with three possible answers. The contestants have to give the right answers. I found an episode from early in the run, when it was still largely being shown in Canada. I'm glad Buzzr picked this one up; it's a fun show that deserves more of an audience down here in the US.

Not all syndicated trivia shows went over that well or were as enjoyable as even Split Second. 100% from 1999 is about the driest and cheapest trivia show you can possibly imagine. A narrator (Casey Kasem) reads a series of yes and no or true and false questions. At the end of the episode, whomever has the highest percentage of questions right wins the most money. The contestants are told their score throughout the show, but not which one has what score. Though it did well enough in its native England, it came off as chintzy, silly, and mind-bogglingly dull in the US. No wonder it sold to seven markets and didn't last a year. 

Check out more of the best from syndication with these rare delights!

Win With the Stars (1968)

Celebrity Bowling (1971)

The Cross-Wits (1977)

Dance Fever (1986)

Split Second (1987)

100% (1999) 

Regional Girls and Circle Skies

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Daniel and his friends are excited about "The Neighborhood Snowstorm," until it gets so bad that school closes early. Dan's even more upset when a pipe bursts and soaks his room and his beloved Tigey the Adventure Tiger books. He and his little sister Margaret spend time with Jodi and her family while his parents fix the pipe.

Watched Family Feud while making my grocery list, then headed out to run errands. Dropped by the post office very briefly to send Lilah's birthday card off, then rode down to the Westmont Plaza. At least it was a much nicer day for a ride. It's still sunny and much windier, but also warmer, probably in the lower 30's. It's now a lot closer to what it usually is here in late January.

My next stop was Target. I was hoping to find Valentine's Day decorations, but they didn't have anything interesting. I got a warm, earthy Matcha Latte from Starbucks instead. I'd return there later after I finished at Sprouts to see if they had chunky yarn for a project, but all they had was painting and drawing supplies.

I had far more luck at Sprouts. Picked up apples, coconut milk, Zevia diet soda, and coconut macaroons that were on a good sale. Decided to try buying light brown sugar in bulk for the next time I wanted to make cookies. I also got coconut macaroon almonds, and I haven't had oat bran for a nice, hot breakfast in ages. 

Dodged traffic on Cuthbert, finally making my way back to Johnson and down to the pretzel shop for lunch. Got two regular pretzels and a pepperoni-stuffed pretzel. They weren't any busier than Sprouts or Target had been. There were no lines anywhere, not even at Starbucks.

Ate lunch while watching Head. I went further into the Monkees' supremely strange magnum opus at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in March 2019.

Cult Flops - Head

After I finished eating, I worked on the Children's inventory for a while. Entered everything from the Disney Babes In Toyland book and record through The Official Album of Disneyland/Walt Disney World. The latter is one of my older finds. I got it off eBay in the summer of 2011. Mousercise, Mickey Mouse Disco, and my Disney book and record of Hansel and Gretel came from yard sales around the same time. My oldest find here is my vintage book and record of Bambi, which came from the Collingswood Library in 2008 when they still included records with their book sales.

I also got my schedule at this point. It's almost exactly the same as my schedule for this week, with slightly fewer hours on Sunday and slightly more hours next Saturday. Jessa's already put out requests to do more together next week, and with the weather warming up, it might not be a bad time to get out of the house for a long walk or bike ride. 

Switched to Match Game Syndicated while finishing up the inventory and eating dinner. The biggest panelist ever on the show appeared the next week. At over 7 feet, gentle giant Richard Kiel towered over even Gene. He took one look at the big man and said he could write whatever he wanted! And to add to the wackiness, super-short singer and songwriter Paul Williams was in the fifth "smart guy" seat. (And I do wish Kiel had returned. He was actually a lot of fun and played pretty well.)

Finished the night after a shower with the Monkees' two TV specials. 33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee debuted in 1969, well after their show ended. It was originally supposed to be part of a series of specials...but once the networks saw the results, they canceled the others. I can certainly understand why. The guys are controlled by a devil-like pair (Brian Auger and singer Julie Driscoll) who want to use them to take over everyone's minds. They unleash their fantasies, then turn them into wind-up dolls. Then, for some reason, Darwin (Auger) turns up and regresses them to apes. Auger takes control again to make them into plastic 50's superstars.

Uh, yeah. You can see the problems here.  I think there's the kernel of a good idea in the first half with the guys beating someone trying to manipulate their minds, almost like an even stranger variation on "The Frodis Caper." Mike and Davy have the best solo performances, with Mike singing with himself to his own "Naked Persimmon (The Only Thing I Believe Is True)" and Davy dancing with dolls to "Goldilocks Sometimes." Auger, Fats Domino, and Jerry Lee Lewis turning up on stacked pianos briefly mid-way through is genuinely cool, and some of the 50's performances are a lot of fun, but for the most part, this is even more bitter and makes less sense than Head did.  

Hey Hey, We're the Monkees from 1997 is an all together happier affair. The Monkees may be in their 50's, but they're still living in a beach house and trying to make it as a band. They're trying to rehearse for a big gig at a lavish country club...if random girls, lawyers, and kids will stop interrupting them and trying to create plot lines. There's also Mike having turned the Monkeemobile into a low rider and a dimensional machine, to Micky's annoyance, and Micky trying to find them a gimmick, to everyone's annoyance. They're not even safe from plots at the country club when the owner (Chuck Woolery) and his silly daughter Princess insist they'll lose the club if the guys aren't a success.

This is more like it. While it's not perfect (some of the dialogue is a tad too goofy even for the guys, the throw-up gag in the opening goes on for too long), it's infinitely more fun than the bitter Head and 33 1/3 Revolutions. As a review online suggested, it was a far more enjoyable and appropriate finale to the series and their TV careers. 

Alas, I don't think the 90's special can be found anywhere at the moment but YouTube. 33 1/3 Revolutions is included on the Monkees TV series DVD and Blu-Ray sets. I will say that I don't really recommend either special to anyone but their most ardent fans...and seeing at least a few episodes of the original show before the 90's special is a must to get a lot of the jokes about archaic sitcom plots. 

Frozen Angels

Unfortunately, I overslept this morning and had just enough time to eat and call Uber. There was no way I was taking my bike. The high today was 17. The driver going to work barely took 4 minutes to arrive. I don't think she knew the area well. Not only was she yammering with some guy on a speakerphone about his new business and almost missed her turn-off, she couldn't tell Audubon from Camden! She had to ask me where she was. Thank goodness the driver going home came in 2 minutes, got me back in 5, and had no trouble whatsoever. 

Work wasn't busy, either. Despite the sunshine, searing blue skies, and lack of wind, it was still below-freezing temperatures on a day in the middle of the week and middle of the month without a lot going on . I spent the entire morning in and out, sweeping, putting cold items back, and pushing carts. Needless to say, I headed straight home after this and went nowhere else, sunny day or no sunny day.

Had lunch while watching the original My Little Pony and Friends on the Roku Channel. The Ponies are saying "Baby, It's Cold Outside!" when they suddenly get a cold snap in the middle of summer. The King of the Penguins is using his icy stare and a machine to turn the entire world in a place only fit for a penguin. They and the King's son whose duck friend was turned into an ice statue teach him that there's room for everyone on this planet. You just have to open your heart to them.

Spent the rest of the afternoon working on the inventory. I got a lot done. Finished the non-Disney children's albums and began the Disney albums that were books-and-records, character-based, or intended for kids and not flat-out soundtracks. I found the vast majority of these within the last five-six years, but a few go much further back. The World of Strawberry Shortcake and Sing the Hit Songs of Sesame Street came from yard sales in the spring and fall of 2011. The picture disc audio book Strawberry Shortcake and the Winter That Would Not End was a Barrington Antique Center find in 2015. 

Watched more European fairy tale movies as I worked. Sampo was another Russian fairy tale film the robots on Mystery Science Theater 3000 made fun of. In this case, the jokes were wholly appropriate. The Day the Earth Froze, the story of a wicked witch who kidnaps the sister of a blacksmith to force him to make her a mystical mill, then steals the son when the sister's sweetheart takes the mill, lacks the unique charm of Jack Frost. It moves slower than a glacier, and the US edited version never does explain what, exactly, the Sampo does. We also get a short in the beginning revolving around circus acts that Joel and the robots find a little too goofy.

Found The Salt Prince on YouTube. This is another Czech fairy tale, likely from the same people who made Three Wishes for Cinderella from the similar actors.  A greedy king asks each of his daughters how much he loves them. He's offended when the youngest claims she loves him more than salt - a common food additive found everywhere - and her lover the Salt Prince says he'll rule with charity and justice. Angry that his daughter would choose something so common to compare him to, he has them both banished. The Salt Prince's father the King of Nature turns his son into salt and curses the kingdom's salt to turn into gold. They're happy with this for a time...but gold can't flavor or preserve food. Meanwhile, the Princess seeks the Salt Prince, and not even a wise woman who wants her to fill a dry well or another prince can stop her from finding him.

Wish they'd dub this one into English. It's a lovely story, and not one that's often been told in the western world. I've read several somewhat similar tales, but not one just like this one. It's just as much fun as Three Wishes, and even lovelier to look at. 

Switched to Match Game Syndicated while finishing the inventory and eating dinner. Judy Landers and Robert Walden joined in to see a lovely lady who brought a little Buddha statue for luck get a big win. The next week brought in Rita Moreno, along with Gary Crosby and Joyce Bulifant. I wish Rita had been on more often. She was an absolute riot who clearly enjoyed doing the show, and was one of the few women who had no trouble grabbing Gene for a kiss!

Did a quick Disney short after taking a shower. Little servant Cedric becomes a "Knight for a Day" when he accidentally knocks out his master right before the big tournament. He takes his place to win the hand of the fair Esmerelda and defeat the Black Knight, if the knight doesn't knock the bolts out of his armor first!

Finished the night back at the Roku Channel with Charlie's Angels. "Angels In Chains" get themselves sent up the river to a women's prison farm to find out what happened to the sister of a young woman who was arrested on trumped-up charges. Not only are the brutal wardens abusive, but the male ones and the sheriff are using the place to force the ladies into prostitution. The Angels have to figure out how to escape with the information while shackled together. 

Baking and Other Cold-Weather Fun

Began the day quickly with breakfast and Charlie & Lola. "Snow Is My Favorite and My Best" says a delighted Lola after a storm. She and her brother and friends have so much fun sledding and making snowmen and snow dogs, she wishes it would snow all the time. Charlie takes her to the Antarctic, where it is always cold and snowy, to prove why it's good that some things only come once in a while. 

Dawn picked me up at 10:30 for our session this week. She mainly talked about signing up for government jobs. At this point, I'm beginning to wonder if anyone else will take me. None of the small offices around here are willing to give me a chance. They don't know me, and I don't have enough skills to make them look twice. I applied to two offices on Indeed, but I haven't really heard back from anyone in a while. 

She took me straight back after we finished. Though it wasn't as windy, the sky was a pearly gray, and it's still bitterly cold. This was no day for lingering anywhere. Besides, she was busy with other clients, including two who called while we were at the Haddon Township Library. 

Took the trash out when I got in, then had lunch and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. It's "Pluto to the Rescue" when Donald and Goofy are stranded behind a massive snowman on Mistletoe Mountain and can't get home. Pluto demonstrates that he's a good rescue dog when he helps Mickey off the edge of the mountain, finds a way for Pete to clear the road for his sleigh, and figures out how to get through to Goofy and Don.

Listened to local hard rock station WMMR on my mini radio as I made "Winter In the Berkshires" cookies, aka dark chocolate candy cane. Dark cocoa, crushed candy canes, chocolate chips, brown sugar, and lots of butter. There were supposed to be white chocolate chips, but I thought that sounded like overload. I probably should have added more brown sugar and milk. They came out tasty but dry and kept falling apart, though they were generally in better shape than the orange cake. They were very rich, though, with all that butter. I had candy canes leftover from Christmas and thought I'd try them, but the richness will make these a once-in-a-while winter treat.

Put on Tommy when I got upstairs. I go further into this rock spectacle about a deaf-mute British youth who becomes a pinball sensation at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Tommy (1975)

Got the children's record inventory going while Tommy was on. This should be far easier to do than the cast albums or rock records. I don't have that many children's titles, and the vast majority of them are on vinyl. I've been trying to find more children's albums since I started collecting records in 2006, but I haven't had that much luck until the last five years or so. I did find some albums before that. Of this batch, The Muppet Musicians of Bremen and Introducing the Care Bears go back the furthest. I found them at Oaklyn yard sales in 2011. I'm hoping this will only take me a week or two to finish, absolutely no longer than a month.

Switched to Match Game Syndicated while having dinner and finishing the inventory work for today. Phyllis Diller and Fred Grandy joined in for the first week, which ended with Charles Nelson Reilly turning up in the contestant's chair in the beginning. He claimed he was a 29-year-old contestant, prompting a "You wish!" from Brett. Judy Landers and Robert Walden made the panel a pleasure to look at during the next week.

Finished the night with Grimm's Fairy Tales. This collection of fairy tale retellings from RCA Camden are mostly lighter updates of familiar stories. Little Red Riding Hood tells the wolf he should be on television, Cinderella gets a cuckoo clock to make the prince notice her, and the Sleeping Beauty's prince has to make the evil fairy laugh to release her from the sleeping spell, no kissing or dragons involved. 

Ironically, the most comic of the original stories, "The Fisherman and His Wife," actually ends up being one of the darkest here. The Grimm story ends with the fisherman and his wife simply being stripped of their wealth and returning to being poor after the wife asks to order around the sun and the moon. In this version, the fish becomes human and the wife is turned into a fish forever thanks to her greed.