Sky Full of Rainbows

Slept in, which meant it was past 11 when I had breakfast and put on "A Nutcracker Scoob." The series finale of The New Scooby Doo Mysteries brings Fred back in to help Daphne, Shaggy, and the dogs put on a Christmas pageant for a poor orphanage. When the Ghost of Christmas Never Was interferes with the show, the kids are initially convinced that the miser who is after the orphanage did it. At least, until he's at the pageant too when the Ghost steals the true star of the show...

Got ready for work while watching Supermarket Sweep. Caught the first half when they were still playing games. This was an older episode, probably from around 1993. David Ruprecht wore colorful sweaters and pushed the new "super-sized" cans that contestants could grab and the sandwich they could make to get extra money.

Headed out a little early. I wanted to finish my Christmas shopping and pick up gift cards at CVS, since it's on my way to the Thomas Sharp School. I needed two for older friends, two for my nephews Collyn and Skylar, and one for Keefe and his wife Julia. Grabbed them, paid for them, headed out.

Thankfully, it wasn't anywhere near as chaotic at school today as it was yesterday. For one thing, we only had 14 younger kids, down from 25 yesterday. I suspect most of the kids probably went home with their parents after conferences. We even took them to the bathroom as a group with no major trouble. 

It also helped that we got them outside today. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, breezy, a bit chilly but nothing like yesterday. One of the little girls even spotted a small rainbow in the clouds over the school while she was swinging. The kids all gazed at it in wonder until we called them inside. I spent the rest of the evening building with wooden blocks with one group, then watching another play card games until there were only two pre-schoolers left and they let me go.

Hurried home, did chores, then went back out with Jessa. We had dinner at the Silver Diner at the Hillview Shopping Center across from the Cherry Hill Mall. They're a 50's-style diner with decidedly modern takes on old favorites. Jessa had your basic turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry chutney dinner. I had a small burger with their amazing sweet potato fries. Yum. The burger was good despite its size, and their fries are always amazing. Jess let me try a bit of her turkey dinner, too. She had sourdough bread under the turkey instead of stuffing. We had to try dessert. She had pecan pie and a fancy s'mores-themed coffee drink. I had an enormous slice of chocolate cake with fudge filling topped with chocolate and vanilla sauce and smothered in mini chocolate chips. Jess even let me try some of her pecan pie, too.

I finished the night with Vogues of 1938 when I got home. I go further into this gorgeous 1937 backstage confection that introduced the ballad "That Old Feeling" at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - Walter Wanger's Vogues of 1938

Rainbow Connections

Started off the morning with stories about 4th of July celebrations and America's independence from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology book. The longer pieces here are a chapter from Little Town on the Prairie about Pa Ingalls taking Laura and Carrie to the new town's small Independence Day party and the full Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. We also get several shorter patriotic poems. The last chapter of the coffee-table history book Summer In America covers 4th of July and Juneteenth through the years.

Headed out after eating a very quick breakfast. Oaklyn's 4th of July Parade was at 10 AM...or it was supposed to be. I left at 9:45 and arrived at West Clinton about 8 minutes later to see families still lining up on the sidewalks in their nylon deck chairs and wagons and strollers. The Oaklyn Civic Association gave away free pretzels and small bottles of water in a tent at the municipal parking lot. I picked up a pretzel and a bottle of water and hiked up and down the street for a while.

Ran into Rose and her family about ten minutes later. I was able to give Finley her birthday presents. Her birthday was yesterday, but I didn't have the chance to give it to bring it over then. As much as she liked the stuffed dog in a hog dog roll, she really loved gray-striped Kiki the Cat in her sparkly pink bow. She and her dad Craig played with her for the next ten minutes.

The kids were starting to get a little antsy just as a Mr. Softee truck rolled into the parking lot. Turns out they were giving out free ice cream and water ice in honor of the Fourth. Finley, Rose, and me hurried across the street and into a long line. I liked the look of the chocolate soft-serve with chocolate sprinkles the mom in front of me got so much, I ended up with a cup of that.

The parade began while I was in line. Oaklyn's 4th of July Parade mainly consists of one brass band, a few local Armed Services troops, kids on decorated bikes, a motorcycle team on huge Harleys, and a lot of softball teams and civic services on flatbed trucks. One of the softball teams had by far the best theme. They were on a "Flaming Hot" orange-decorated truck and threw Flaming Hot Cheetos to the kids in the crowd. They ended up winning the float contest. Oaklyn's food pantry came in second, followed by the motorcyclists. A young man in a Philadelphia Eagles shirt did a not bad rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" after the parade ended. 

Though it was sunny and breezy at that point, it was also hot and murderously humid. I wanted to get something cold to drink at the Common Grounds Coffee House. It was packed before the parade, but it wasn't as bad later. I got in just ahead of the crowd. By the time I was waiting for my Frozen Hot Chocolate, there was a line going out the door.

Walked straight home after that. Spent the next hour and half eating lunch and watching the early talkie musical Sunny Side Up, which begins at a 4th of July block party in New York. Had just enough time to change, grab a snack, and head out.

Work was a mess when I got in. We had plenty of help, and there were still long lines. In addition to the holiday and it being the beginning of the month, Tuesday is our Senior Citizen Discount Day. Once dark clouds moved in, it cleared out in a hurry. A noisy thunder storm, complete with torrential rain and loud thunder, arrived around 5:30-6 PM. It died so quickly, I spent the last half-hour putting away cold items and had maybe three customers in the hour before that. 

I kept telling the managers that the storm wouldn't last until 9 PM, like the weather reports claimed. Storms that big never last long. Indeed, the sun was out as I rode home, even as the last of the rain continued to fall. I took the long way down Nicholson Road to dodge flooded areas on the Black Horse Pike, the rode down to the White Horse Pike to get around flooding in Oaklyn. By that point, the rain and clouds had blown away, and it was back to being sunny and humid. I even saw a beautiful, clear rainbow arching over Oaklyn as I crossed the Pike and pointed out to a family walking down the street.

Had dinner while finishing Sunny Side Up. I go further into this charming early talkie romantic comedy at my Musical Dreams Musical Reviews blog.

Happy 4th of July! - Sunny Side Up 

A friend told me the fireworks were still on, so I went out around 8:30 to find somewhere dry to sit in the park. Stopped at Dollar General on the way for a Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. Strolled down to the park, which was busy...but no one seemed to know if the fireworks were on or not. People sat on lawn chairs and oversaw barbecues, and I could even hear amateur fireworks being set off in the distance.

Collingswood's fireworks were supposed to be set off at the high school. There were plenty of cars there, but no one on the grandstand or in the fields. I finally looked it up on the Collingswood Facebook page. Yes, it was postponed until tomorrow. Thanks for telling everyone an hour before it was supposed to happen. They should have canceled it when the deluge started, instead of waiting for the last second. There were people and cars all over the place, waiting for a show that wasn't going on. At least I did get to see some rather nice red and gold fireworks set off by families in the neighborhood on the way back.

I wasn't happy at all when I got home. Tried to cheer myself up with a few more holiday-related cartoons. The "me" in Ben & Me is Amos Mouse, who befriends Benjamin Franklin and helps him with his newspaper The Pennsylvania Gazette. He's fed up after Ben uses him for his infamous kite-flying electrical experiment, but it's their make-up agreement that eventually becomes the Declaration of Independence.

Amos isn't the only mouse who claims to have significantly shaped American history. In Yankee Doodle Cricket, Tucker the Mouse insists his ancestor helped Paul Revere with his midnight ride and created the first American flag. Harry the cat supposedly gave Tucker's agreement for all animals to live in harmony to Thomas Jefferson to re-write into the Declaration of Independence, while Chester Cricket wrote "Yankee Doodle" and recruited his animal friends to spread it to the humans.

Daisy Duck asks Donald to set up a picnic in front of the fireworks. "Donald's Failed Fourth" seems to be a disaster when the chairs and blanket won't cooperate, but Daisy appreciates his effort anyway. "Hysterical History" is Harvey Films' spoof of historical events, from the arrival of the Pilgrims to Alexander Graham Bell inventing the telephone. The short ends with a "follow the bouncing ball" sing along to "Yankee Doodle Dandy." 

The 1988 version of Family Feud with Ray Combs as host debuted on July 4th. I loved this show as a kid. It was on during a very difficult time in my life. Ray and his wacky families never failed to make me laugh with their often-crazy answers to silly survey questions. The show even kicked off strong with a great game and a really nice Fast Money win. 

And here's hoping you had a 4th of July that was equally fun...and much drier. 

The Rainbow Connection

It was gloomy, cold, and gale-force windy when we headed out this morning, Lauren in a winter jacket, me in that blue hoody I bought at Eddie Bauer. The damp weather made me appreciate we planned on staying in the area today. This was no weather for long drives.

Our first stop was in Lanesborough, down the road from the abandoned Berkshire Mall. Berkshire Mantiques is an antique shop and coffee bar situated in an old farm building. Despite the name, it's filled with all kinds of antique items, from ancient gas station signs to records to furniture. There's even an area for coffee and baked goods set up along a bar in the back. Lauren greeted the owners like old friends. Apparently, they're customers at the bank where she works. I didn't see anything I could carry home, but she found the cutest teddy bear-shaped bank. He has a slight chip in his base; otherwise, he's adorable.

It started raining as we headed down the highway to North Adams. The weather slowed down just as Lauren pulled into the parking lot behind Norad Mill. This 1898 factory complex has since been made over to houses offices and shops. 

Our first stop was Belltower Records. This tiny hipster enclave nestled in a whitewashed sewing room mainly sold new records and old CDs. It reminded me a lot of Sun Valley Records in Somerdale, without the DVDs and incense. We peeked around, but they were kind of busy, and neither of us walked out with anything.

We had far more luck across the hall at the Norad Candy and Toy Company. Stuffed animals and bins and shelves filled with penny candy lined the walls of the polished oak wood room. We have plenty of candy, but we found Halloween stuffed animals we liked. Lauren chose a cute black cat with an orange bow. I went with a sweet bat with orange-lined wings. He'll go great with the three stuffed bats I pull out for Halloween every year. 

Lauren originally planned for us to eat at The Norad Cafe, but they're closed on Sunday. She took us into downtown North Adams, eventually ending up at 413 Bistro and Taproom in the Holiday Inn. They were a small room consisting of a black wood bar and whitewashed brick. We each had sliders. The waitress said they were out of the beef brisket I wanted; I went with chicken and waffles. Lauren had siracha chicken. 

And so, we waited to eat. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. It took almost 40 minutes for our food to arrive. We waited so long, another group sitting in the room across from us got angry and left. Admittedly, our food was very tasty when it did come. The chicken was crunchy and the herbed cream cheese was delicious, but the waffles were too small to work as sandwich bread. I used a knife and ate the chicken and waffles separately. 

(Research reveals they're a brand-new business that just opened in July. They may have gotten hit hard with the current hiring shortage, and I can't imagine it's easy to find people willing to work on Sunday's at normal times.)

The Berkshire Emporium is across the street. This is another huge antique center, more of a jumble like the Barrington Antique Center. They had so much stuff packed into that building, shelves of books for sale lined the side wall of the bakery next-door. I couldn't take home anything that interested me, but Lauren found a cute mini-Nintendo that held over 600 vintage games. (Apparently, they're among the most popular items in the store. The owner told Lauren she sells one or more a week and can't keep them in stock.)

Our next stop was the gigantic WalMart in Lanesborough. We dodged lighter showers heading into the massive building, nestled between two mountains. Lauren found Father Knows Best: The Complete Series and a few things for her parents. Once again, I saw nothing I could carry home that interested me. 

Lauren's wanted to check out the Berkshire Scenic Railway in Adams for years. This volunteer-only local museum has short trips down tracks originally used by passenger trains and freight going from Boston and Albany to North Adams when it was an industrial hub. Truthfully, the scenery mostly consists of trees and houses, but there is the occasional lovely view of babbling brooks and rushing rivers. The trees are starting to turn glorious colors up here, too, golds and bricks and lime greens. (Oddly, despite talking quite a bit about the historic Hoosic Tunnel, we didn't go through it.)

It started pouring as we arrived at the station. The two of us dashed for the car as fast as our legs could carry us. We decided the weather wasn't appropriate for further travels. She ordered take-out dinner from her parents' favorite local restaurant the Highland instead. 

No sooner did she finish calling in the order, than we looked up over the train...and saw a beautiful rainbow stretching over the trains and the majestic Greylock Mountain. Even as we took photos, a second, fainter rainbow appeared, to our surprise and delight. 

We stopped briefly at a parking lot in downtown Pittsfield for Lauren to pick up dinner, then headed home. After we showed Mr. and Mrs. Miller our finds, we dug into dinner. I had a huge hot turkey sandwich dripping with (probably bottled) gravy, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Lauren had a Chicken Parmesan sandwich and a small salad. Yum! The potatoes were probably a mix, too, but there's nothing like comfort food. 

After we ate, we moved into Lauren's room downstairs to try out that tiny Nintendo. Half of the 620 games were Japanese titles we never heard of, and many of the others were for one player only, but we did find a few we could do together. I got further on Super Mario Brothers, mainly because I remembered to use the secret pipes in World 1-2. Lauren killed me at Ice Hockey 7 - 2; I had trouble aiming. She also did better at Elevator Action, in which a secret agent rides a series of elevators down a building, shooting at bad guys and occasionally stepping into red doors. I couldn't get out of the first round; Lauren made it to round 3. Her Raphael just barely beat my Leonardo at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tournament Fighters. 

We did best at Galaxia. Each of us made it to the third round. She had the better score, but I had the higher aim-accuracy percentage. I've been playing that game all my life; it was common in the Cape May arcades during my childhood, and I believe they had it in Wildwood in the early 2000's, too. 

Finished the night online with vintage word game shows at YouTube. Rhyme and Reason was yet another attempt to clone Match Game in 1975. In the pilot episode, Bob Eubanks hosts a panel (including poet laureate of television Nipsey Russell) who have to match the word the contestant game to finish a rhyme. It's cute, but a bit complicated and slow-paced. I can understand why it didn't last a year, and this is the only episode known to exist today.

The Cross-Wits was more fun. It's basically a cross between Password Plus and crossword puzzles. Here, the celebrities help contestants figure out a crossword puzzle with a theme. The winners move on to the bonus round, where a celebrity helps the figure out a larger puzzle for increasing cash amounts. Nipsey Russell's in this 1979 episode as well, joined by Elaine Joyce, soap star Rosemary Forsyth, and character actor James Hampton. Gentlemanly Jack Clark presides over this one.

Wheel of Fortune originally debuted on NBC in 1975. It garnered good but not spectacular ratings on the network through the early 80's, until Chuck Woolery was replaced by Pat Sajak in 1983, Vanna White started turning letters, and the show launched a syndicated version later that year. Suddenly, ratings were through the roof, and they climbed even further when the show was packaged with a new version of Jeopardy! in the late 80's. The episode I chose from 1988 is pretty emblematic of the ones my family used to watch together after dinner. 

The success of Password in the early 60's spawned even more word association parlor games. Oh My Word was a short-lived San Francisco show that had celebrities making up descriptions of unusual words. Musicians Buddy Greco and Sal Mineo join Jim Lange (in his first major hosting assignment) here. Wordplay is a later version from 1987, only here, it's three celebrities making up the goofy descriptions. Roseanne Barr joins Ned Beatty and Stephan Furst over a year before her sitcom started to chew gum and revel in wordy wisecracks. Tom Kennedy keeps things moving. 

Lingo originally played syndication in 1987, but that version didn't even last a year. Game Show Network revived it in 2003; this time, it ran five years. Chuck Woolery watches over two teams of men and women attempt to guess a mystery word appearing bit by bit on a screen. The team who finally guesses gets to choose numbers for a bingo card. If they can fill a line, they'll be able to move on to the bonus round, where they guess as many Lingo words as possible. 

This seems to be especially popular with people who grew up watching it in the early-mid 2000's, and I can see why. Though the ladies didn't play too well, it's still fast-paced fun in an era where most shows were trying desperately to rack up suspense and mystery. 

Stump your friends and challenge your mind with these wild word games! (Oh, and Rhyme and Reason comes in three parts, but it's also the only copy of that show known to exist.)

Password (1964)

Oh My Word (1964)

Rhyme and Reason (1975)

The Cross-Wits (1979)

Wordplay (1987)

Wheel of Fortune (1988)

Lingo (2006)

Somewhere Under the Rainbow

Started another gloomy morning with the most recent episode I've heard turn up on the American Top 40. 1988 was a difficult year for me, as my body began changing in ways I wasn't ready for and I was having heavy problems in school and at home. The music I heard on the radio seemed to be one the only constants in my life at that time. Hits I would have listened to (probably while reading my novelization of Return of the Jedi) during early August of that year included "Monkey" by George Michael, "Hands to Heaven" by Breathe, "One, Two, Three, Four" by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leopard, and "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" by Elton John. That week's number one hit was one of my favorite Steve Winwood songs, the Motown-esque "Roll With It."

Headed to the farm market after the show ended. It had already started showering briefly while I was riding, and one of the farmers confirmed that it had rained earlier. The farm market was busy, but not quite as bad as usual. I was still able to buy bok choy, a tomato, blueberries, tiny, tart green apples, white peaches, mushrooms, and one of those small, all-green "Sugar Baby" watermelons. I admired the entrants in the market's annual Peach Pie Contest as I made my way back to the bike. Stopped at a yard sale on Oaklawn Avenue in Oaklyn and didn't find anything interesting; stopped at the Oaklyn Library to return the Universal 100th Anniversary Classic Comedy Collection (which was two days late).

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon doing things online, having a quick lunch (including some of that delicious watermelon), and finishing Girl Crazy. The final Mickey/Judy movie is a fairly straightforward adaptation of the Broadway show of the same name, this time with almost its entire original Gershwin score. Playboy Danny Churchill (Rooney) would rather be chasing chorus girls like June Allyson (who sings "Treat Me Rough" in the opening number) than studying. His father sends him to an all-boy college out west...but of course, he manages to fall for the only girl nearby, post-mistress Ginger Gray (Garland). Danny has a rough time of it at first, and almost quits the college twice...until he and Ginger overhear that the college may have to close. Once again, the two plan a big show, this time a rodeo that ends in an amazing version of "I Got Rhythm" directed by none-other than Busby Berkley.

If you want to get to know these two and their "put on a show" vehicles, start here. This is the most fun, has the best music, and is the most cohesive of the four. It's also nice to see Rooney have to chase Garland, for once. In the other movies, she has to patiently wait for him to come to her. Here, he's going after her, but for once, she's not buying. Mickey has to work a bit harder to get her attention here than he does in the other movies, and it's refreshing. Also look for an early appearance by a young Nancy Walker; shame she and Allyson didn't have much to do. (MGM was still figuring out what to do with Allyson at that point, and it never did decide how to handle the idiosyncratic Walker.)

Work was just as much of a pain in the rear as yesterday, if not quite as busy. It was a bit more on-and-off...but when it was on, it was frustrating. Customers were once again cranky and rude, and the ongoing spotty showers did nothing to help anyone's mood. I rushed out as soon as one of the teenage boys was sent in for me.

A big black rain cloud followed me from the Acme down the Black Horse Pike. It finally started showering again as I headed down Kendall....sort of. It was raining, but the clouds were only half-there. When I looked up to see how close they were...I saw a beautiful rainbow clear as day. I haven't seen a rainbow in years, and certainly not one as distinct and pretty as this one! I kept an eye on it until I got to Manor and it disappeared behind some trees.