Spring Treasure Hunt

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and Bluey. Bandit wants to teach Bluey and Bingo to play Chess, or as they call it, "Chest." He's trying to show them strategy, but Chili ends up playing the actual game with him while the girls use the pieces as action figures. Chili finally points out to her husband that maybe it's just as important to teach their young ladies how to be kind and imaginative as it is to be intelligent.

Hurried downstairs and called Uber soon as the episode ended. I couldn't get a ride for 9 minutes, which was not good because I was already behind. I wound up being 10 minutes late.

Fortunately, that was the worst thing that happened all day. In fact, I had a rather pleasant day. For one thing, there were 19 younger kids all together, 6 at my table. Only one of the girls misbehaved when we were cleaning up and in the bathrooms. In fact, when I took a second group of kids to the bathroom during lunch time, the kids kept running in the hall. I told them if they were going to run, to do it together...and the girl and boy at the head of the line took each other's hands and skipped all the way down the hall hand in hand. It was too adorable.

There was something special waiting for them after lunch and they'd colored Pokemon, Sonic the Hedgehog, and spring-themed pages. Yesterday, one of the teachers had covered small rocks in glue, then in gold and glitter. The head teacher hid them in the playground and let the kids run around and find them. They had an absolutely wonderful time searching for those gold pieces. They could only find two or three. Any others had to be left for their friends to find. They each got to keep one after they were done. 

I think I found the best treasure of all, though. While the kids were running around later after they'd found the gold rocks, I spotted lovely purple crocus blooming along the chain link fences surrounding the playground, under the shady trees bordering Comley Avenue. As I pointed out to the kids, it's a good sign that spring is well and truly here. 

After the gold was found, we stayed outside for another hour. It would have been a crime not to. At that point, it was sunny and beautiful, in the 60's and breezy as can be. Though we did have to argue a few of them off the swings (and one girl took her shoes off again), they mainly had a wonderful time chasing each other around and dancing to "I'm Still Standing," "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" from Lilo and Stitch, "The Gummy Bears Song," the theme from PJ Masks, and songs from Trolls and Frozen. 

When we were down to six younger kids, we took them inside...then went right back outside about 20 minutes later with the remaining 9 older kids. The older kids got to find gold rocks, too, this time spread out around the blacktop area. They were even funnier than the little guys had been! Though it was windier and cloudier by that point, we figured it was still nice enough for the kids to stay outside. I watched a girl and boy kick two balls around an enclosure before we were finally down to 3 younger kids and I was told I could go. 

I made a brief stop at the tiny little convenience store on Collings and got a giant chocolate chip cookie for a treat before I walked home. It was too nice for me to be inside again myself. The Thomas Sharp School isn't the only place in South Jersey where spring has arrived. The grass is looking much greener too. Many of the trees are finally budding, and daffodils are blossoming in gardens. 

Watched The Price Is Right on Buzzr when I got in. Started with a fairly rare win on the Any Number game. Most people just get the piggy bank on that one. The winning ladies were actually pretty close on the Showdowns. The one who bid on the "story" Showdown with the car did slightly better and got the car.

Match Game Syndicated moved on to the only week featuring Tom Kennedy (who was by then hosting Password Plus) and the last week for Gail Farrell, the only singer on The Lawrence Welk Show who was brave enough to try Match Game. At least these contestants were slightly smarter than the ones the previous week had been, including a lovely Air Force officer. 

Finished the night at YouTube with more Shirley Temple's Storybook Theater. Her version of "Dick Whittington and His Cat" starts out the same way the English folk tale does, with Dick Whittington coming to London to seek his fortune, getting help from a wealthy merchant, and falling for his daughter Alice. The cook is a man here, and not only does he beat Dick and his cat, but he and a treacherous captain have Dick, the merchant, and Alice sold as slaves to a sheik during that voyage with the merchant's treasures. The sheik can't sleep because of the rats in his room. Turns out Miss Puss is a better rat catcher than any human. While most of this doesn't have much to do with the original story, I do like that not only does Dick get to keep his beloved Puss, but the cook actually gets punished, too. 

Night of the Playground

Began the morning with breakfast and Little Bear. Little Bear is on his way "To Grandmother's House" with gifts, but he and his friends eat the gifts before they can get to her. Little Bear loves playing with "Grandfather Bear," even if he can't roll down a hill or do some of the more energetic things he does. Grandmother tells him the story of "Mother Bear's Robin." His mother took care of a baby robin when she was a young girl, finally letting him go when spring came.

Did two more cartoons involving the start of spring, which begins on Saturday. In Care Bears Family, Grams Bear tells Hugs and Tugs the story of "Caring for Spring." Jack (Tugs) and Jill (Hugs) must rescue Mother Nature (Grams) from the Wicked Witch of Winter (Shreeky) and her henchman Simple Simon (Beastly). They're given a magic ring, but use the wishes to help Jack Be Nimble (Champ) and Wee Willy Winkie (Bright Heart Raccoon). They learn about the importance of working together when their new friends help them after they're caught by the Witch, too.

Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, must bring the spring without magic in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Each pony has a job to do in the "Winter Wrap Up," whether it's clearing snow clouds or breaking up icy ponds or awakening animals from their hibernation. Twilight struggles to find a group she can fit into, until she realizes how unorganized the others are. She then discovers where her true talents lay...making lists and making sure the others stick to them and to their schedule.

It was late when I called Uber. Thankfully, it only took me 8 minutes to get a ride going to the school. I had a much harder time getting a ride home. It took me 15 minutes! I was slightly late to work, but nothing really bad. 

Thankfully, we had slightly fewer kids today, only 22, 7 at my table. They cleaned up pretty well and were a little rowdy in the bathrooms, nothing really horrible. At least we were able to get them out to the playground this time! It was cloudy and chilly, probably in the upper 40's, but not windy or frigid. The kids had a marvelous time chasing bubbles and each other. I have no idea why half of them ditched their coats when they ran outside - it wasn't THAT warm! And I had to argue three of them back into their shoes. (You do not want to walk around in your sock feet on mulch.) They were so funny running after those bubbles, I spent most of the time doubled over laughing. We listened to "The Gummy Bear Song" and songs from Trolls, Bluey, Tangled, Moana, and Moana 2. 

Before and after we were outside, we let the kids color on papers taped to the tables. When we got back in, they used those dot markers and did stencils, too. We'd just had snack time and were trying to get the remaining four younger kids to settle down when they let me go. I saw the older kids in the playground on my way out to Uber. I even had the time to talk to one upset girl about how she was mad at her older sister. I know about being angry with sisters! Sometimes my sisters drive me crazy, too.

Put on Somebody Loves Me when I got home. I go further into this biography of legendary jazz singer Blossom Seeley and her long-time husband Benny Fields at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Somebody Loves Me

Switched to Match Game Syndicated next. This finished out the week with Robert Pine, Fannie Flagg, and Dolly Martin. They spent most of the week dealing with tiebreaker after tiebreaker when the contestants just couldn't seem to win anything. Fannie came up on the Star Wheel three times...and only got the answer right once.

Finished the night with The Wild Wild West. "The Night the Dragon Screamed" gets into stereotypical territory when Artemis Gordon and Jim West are tracking down opium smugglers who also run a thriving business bringing in Chinese immigrants. While Artemis poses as a Chinese worker for the head of the ring, Jim has to deal with British military man Colonel Allenby-Smythe (Ben Wright), who wants to capture a princess and take over China. 

Look to the Paper Rainbows

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Children Wore Green

Top O' the Evenin' to ye! I got a quick start this morning with breakfast and Doc McStuffins. It's a "St. Patrick's Day Dilemma" when Doc's brother accidentally scribbles on her new paper doll Fiona's Irish dance dress. She won't wear anything else to the St. Patrick's Day parade. Doc and the others have to convince her that it's better to change clothes when they've gotten dirty. Doc's new doll Gillian thinks she's too tall to play with the other toys, but she's the one who makes "A Giant Save" when Professor Hootenberg is stuck in a tree and she's the only one who can catch her.

Called Uber shortly after that. Once again, I had a surprisingly easy time getting rides. The driver to West Collingswood came in 4 minutes! The one going home arrived in 7. No trouble or traffic either way.

Since I was a little early, I went for a short walk down Magill Street. Despite the sun, it was cold and blustery, barely in the 40's. It wasn't even that in the shade. I saw a container of water in the deep shadows that was frozen solid! On the other hand, I also saw the first blooming flowers of the season. Beautiful purple and white crocus and tiny white snowdrops were nestled among the green and dry yellow grasses in several sunlit gardens.

Thanks to the cold, the younger kids never went outside today. Almost every kid wore green of some kind - green dresses with shamrock prints, adorable green and black pants outfits trimmed with ruffles, green sweaters, Eagles t-shirts and jerseys. Two of the boys announced that their kindergarten class had captured a leprechaun. They didn't indicate if it was a "real" leprechaun, but they did say he'd left behind a mess of toilet paper and extra treats for them. All of the kids got bags with chocolate coins (most of those were eaten before lunch was over), tiny bubble wands, slap bracelets, and shamrock beaded necklaces. 

Though we started with 26 kids, things were a bit disorganized at first. The kids played wherever they could fit in the cafeteria while the music class finished their rehearsal. The library is being used for parent-teacher conferences this week, so we can't go there. After they left and the kids ate lunch, they colored Healthy Kids paper bags they could use for all that loot. While some continued to draw, I showed two best friends the Storyland Disney anthology book and its gorgeous vintage artwork. (The artwork depicting Donald's less-than-sterling driving skills from "Donald Duck, Prize Driver" was especially popular. Even the older girls thought it was hilarious when I showed them later.) By 4 PM, we were down to three younger kids and six older ones, and another teacher had come to help. I was let go early.

After I got home, I took out the trash, then made Irish Soda Bread. This is extremely easy to make, especially if you do what I did and cut the recipe down to make one loaf, instead of two. All it requires is flour, baking soda, baking powder, a little sugar, buttermilk, an egg, raisins or currants, and butter or shortening to cut into it. Oh yuuuum! I think that good organic buttermilk I got from Sprouts helped, but this was the best Irish Soda Bread I ever made. Dense, chewy, soft, just sweet enough, and it smelled incredible in the oven. 

I got the bread out just before Jessa arrived. We were originally going to celebrate the Westmont (formerly the Westmont Diner) having reopened, but they're only serving breakfast right now. We drove a little further down to the Club Diner in Bellmawr instead. I think we made the right call. They had a big and very Irish St. Patrick's Day menu. She had corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage (and shared some of it with me) with soup. I had Irish Lamb Stew with a rather watery iceberg lettuce salad. The stew came with shredded lamb and big pieces of potato and carrot. She had a slice of carrot cake for dessert. I had Oreo Cake (chocolate cake with vanilla frosting topped with an Oreo cookie). 

Put on Match Game Syndicated when I got home. Fannie Flagg and Lee Merriweather wore their green St. Patrick's Day blouses in the episode I saw. Fred Grandy had to spend the night listening to Charles and Brett complain about the contestants ending up in a tie.

Finished the night with The Quiet Man at Pluto TV. Sean Thornton (John Wayne) has come home to the tiny village of Innisfree in Ireland to buy the cottage that once belonged to his mother and settle down. He falls for spirited Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O'Hara), but her big stubborn brother Will (Victor McLaghlen) is angry Sean got the cottage instead of him and refuses. Father Lonergran (Ward Bond) and matchmaker Michaeleen Flynn (Barry Fitgerald) convince Will that the Widow Tilane (Mildred Natwick) wants to marry him. When she refuses, he gives the bride away, but not her dowry. Mary Kate is furious, even after the townspeople manage to get all of her things but her money. Sean doesn't get it. Money isn't important to him. For Mary Kate, it means her freedom. 

Sean refuses to fight her brother, which leads everyone to think he's a coward. Reverend Playfair (Arthur Shields) is more understanding...but he does encourage Sean to put aside his bad memories and fight for his bride. When Sean finally does confront Will about the money, it leads to a gigantic knock-down, drag out donnybrook that gets so big, half of Ireland come to Innisfree to start taking bets!

This was John Ford's love letter to his own homeland, made in gorgeous Technicolor and shot so glowingly on location, it won a Best Color Cinematography Oscar. Almost every Irish character actor in Hollywood has a delightful time with the hilarious script, especially Bond as the fishing-obsessed Catholic priest and Fitzgerald as the impish and very traditional matchmaker. Highly recommended around St. Patrick's Day, or whenever you're in the mood for O'Hara and Wayne sparring or want a taste of a slightly stereotypical but still lovely Ireland. 

Lucky In the Rain

I overslept and didn't have a lot of time for much more than breakfast and the original late 80's DuckTales. Scrooge thinks he's found the "Luck O' the Ducks" when he, Webby, and the nephews discover a leprechaun stuck in his crate of Irish linens. He and the kids follow the leprechaun to Ireland, hoping to get their pot of gold. Not only is the leprechaun not exactly revered among his fellow wee people (who think of him as a con-artist and faker), but they're determined to keep outsiders away from their gold at any cost.

Called Uber shortly after the episode ended. Considering it was warm, wet, and windy, I didn't expect to get a ride so quickly! To my shock, the driver came in 4 minutes. The luck of the leprechauns held with me going home, too. I got a ride in 8 minutes. It wasn't raining either time, though it did rain during school. There was no traffic, and I got to work right on time.

Good thing, too. We had 25 energetic kids today, 11 alone at my table. They cleaned up pretty well, especially since we had to go first, but I had a harder time with them in the bathroom. It was even more difficult to keep them in line after lunch. We all stayed in the cafeteria this time, no decamping to the library. I'm not sure there would have been room for all those kids anyway. I had to argue with one girl while I gathered colored pencils to sharpen to sit up and not keep putting her drawing paper in her mouth. Another boy complained about the kids grabbing at his doll instead of just putting it away. 

It took the head teacher a while to get the projector set up, but when she did, she put on The Luck of the Irish for any kid whose parents had allowed them to watch it. In one of the earliest Disney Channel Original Movies, high schooler Kyle Johnson (Ryan Merriman) is the luckiest boy alive. He barely has to practice to send his team to the basketball championships or to get good grades in school. He's more nervous when his friend Alexis Lopez (Bonnie Lopez) asks him what he's going to do for their school's Heritage Day. Kyle has no idea where he's from, and his parents Kate (Marita Geraghity) and Bob (Paul Kiernan) are reluctant to discuss it. All he knows is as long as he wears a certain lucky coin around his neck, he can get and do whatever he wants.

His luck takes a turn for the worse after he attends an Irish Festival, and step dancer Seamus McTiernan (Timothy Omudson) runs into him. Suddenly, he's lost his homework, gets into an argument with Alexis, and can't make a basket to save his life. Worse yet, his mother is feeding him calorie-heavy Irish food instead of the usual healthy breakfasts and has shrunk down to an inch high...and he's starting to shrink, too. His estranged grandfather Reilly (Henry Gibson) reveals that they're leprechauns, and that lucky charm was their clan's luck. If he can't get that charm back from Seamus, then their luck will be gone for good. With the help of his parents, Alexis, and his best friend Russell (Glenndon Chatman), Kyle finally learns that even a leprechaun can make his own luck, that skill can be just as important, and that no matter what your heritage is or where you're from, we're all Americans in the end.

Yeah, this is definitely one of the stranger Disney Channel movies. On one hand, I appreciate the emphasis on the trouble the Irish had to go through when they first came to America and them addressing several Irish stereotypes. On the other hand, the "you make your own luck" Aesop is hardly subtle, and just the story of a kid turning into a leprechaun who defeats bad guys playing basketball is plain weird. It's still worth checking out for older kids on or around St. Patrick's Day if they have any interest in Irish culture or love unique fantasy tales.

After the movie, the head teacher switched to showing several read-a-longs with people reciting books for younger kids about St. Patrick's Day or catching leprechauns. I spent that time drawing scenes from Legendary Tales of WENN and keeping an eye on the boys drawing. By the time the kids had gotten bored with the read-a-longs and she was putting the projector away, it was almost 5. We were down to 3 younger kids and 7 older ones, and the rain had temporarily stopped. Two left even as I gathered my things to go home.

Watched Match Game Syndicated when I got in and had dinner. The first episodes finished off the week with George Kennedy and Barbara Rhodes. The remaining ones moved to the next week. Edie McClurg moved to the sixth seat she'd occupy for the rest of the series and in 1990, while Bernie Kopell made his third and final appearance on the show. Scoey Mitchelll was more interested in flirting with a pretty contestant.

Finished the night with game shows featuring teenagers and college students in honor of spring break week. Most game shows are generally made for older adults or kids, but that doesn't mean there haven't been attempts at ones for teens and young adults, too. Fun House was such a surprise hit in 1989-1990, the same company created a spin-off called College Mad House. Same idea with sexier stunts, pie-in-the-face questions replacing the "race to get the rings" round, and colleges playing each other instead of kid duos. Southern rivals University of Maryland plays the University of Virginia in the episode I have here. Greg Kinnear had some of his earliest exposure on TV as the host.

Most game shows for teens and college kids were far more cerebral. The original TV version College Bowl ran on NBC and CBS from 1959 to 1982, with shorter revivals in 1987 on The Disney Channel and back on NBC in 2021 and 2022. This is about as simple as you can get. The host (Allen Ludden in this early episode) asks the kids questions worth 10, 20, or 30 points. The more the kids answer right, the more points they get. Winners earn scholarship money. The episode I have is a battle of smaller schools from cold climes - Bates College in Maine and Macalester College in Minnesota.

College Bowl proved to be so popular, local shows adapted the format to let area high schools compete against one another. Scholastic Scrimmage is the version for Allentown and eastern Pennsylvania. This one has been going strong on the Allentown PBS for over 50 years. In fact, the episode I have here is from last year. New Jersey Bowl was on the Camden PBS NJN (now NJTV) for many years. The episode I have is from 1987 and features two schools from small North Jersey suburban towns.

College Bowl wasn't the only game show for college kids and teens on The Disney Channel in the late 80's. My sisters and I loved Teen Win, Lose, or Draw, especially since we owned the game at that point. It was the same deal as the daytime shows with Vicki Lawrence, only with teen contestants and celebrities and a much younger and more energetic Marc Price hosting. Lecy Goranson of Roseanne and Dany Pintaro of Who's the Boss are the eager young celebrities here. 

Given the overwhelming popularity of Survivor and similar reality competitions in the early 2000's, it was probably inevitable that versions would be made for kids and teens. Moolah Beach had 12 kids from different parts of the US paring off to see who could last the longest in a series of challenges and earn the 13 "Grand Idols" with the big prize. It's basically a cross between Survivor and Legends of the Hidden Temple. The kids are certainly game enough in the premiere episode I have here. Though the show only ran three months, it would be retooled as the far longer-running Endurance on Discovery Kids from 2002 to 2008. 

Take your spring break at the College Mad House, on Moolah Beach, sketching with your buddies, or playing trivia games with some truly wild quiz kids!

GE College Bowl (1961)

New Jersey Bowl (1987)

Teen Win, Lose, or Draw (1989)

College Mad House (1990)

Moolah Beach (2001)

Scholastic Scrimmage (2025) 

Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year

Began the morning with breakfast and Donnybrook! This 1961 musical version of The Quiet Man has Art Lund as the former prizefighter title character, Joan Fagan as the spirited Irish woman he falls in love with, Eddie Foy Jr. as a matchmaker, and Susan Watson as the village widow. Watson and Foy have the lion's share of the good material here, including their comic numbers "I Wouldn't Bet One Penny" and "Dee-lightful Is the Word." Most of Lund's songs are pretty dull, but Fagan does have a rather nice ballad, "He Makes Me Feel I'm Lovely."

Called Uber after the record ended. I hadn't been to Sprouts in ages, and I needed something at Target, too. Ironically, considering the cloudy and chilly weather and all the trouble I've had getting rides from them lately, they arrived in 4 minutes.

In fact, I started at Target. I was walking past the coolers in the grocery area when I noticed they had a lot of new Slice flavors I'd never seen at the Acme. I wanted all of them, but since I'd also have to carry them, I just got Apple and "Pacific Pop" (likely their version of Mountain Dew) to try. I was really there for a gift card for Mom. I didn't see what I wanted, but I still got her something. Stopped at Starbucks for a tasty Iced Double Berry Matcha (lavender berry foam, berry syrup on the bottom, very sweet). 

I saw a young woman holding a box of Thin Mints when I was at Starbucks. Sure enough, there were two Girl Scouts dancing around outside of Target, attracting customers by singing their idea of "Girl Scouts" horror sales songs with rather macabre themes. They were too funny. I had to get Peanut Butter Sandwiches and their new "Explorermores" (chocolate sandwich cookies with almond cream middles) with that kind of a sales pitch!

Sprouts was the busiest I'd ever seen it! Good thing I didn't need a whole lot. Their coconut milk is a lot cheaper than the Acme's, and they have smaller bottles of buttermilk, too. Raided the bulk bins for lemon-raspberry dried mangoes, dried cranberries, and raisins. Found one of those kids' lunch bags with a sandwich, applesauce, cookie, chips, and small bottle of water on clearance; grabbed the almond butter-jelly. 

I walked home. I won't be doing any walking tomorrow! It's supposed to pour all day. The weather today wasn't much better. It was cloudy, breezy, and chilly, into the lower 40's. Even so, I still sat at a black metal picnic table near a clearing for my first picnic of 2026. You'd never know we're so close to the first day of spring. Though green grass is sprouting through the yellow, the trees remain bare gray husks, and the flowers haven't bloomed. There weren't even many Canadian geese around. It was such a depressing scene, I hurried over the stone steps and down East Clinton to home soon as I finished lunch.

Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to focus on writing and listening to spring or Irish-themed music and Broadway cast albums. Finian's Rainbow debuted in 1947, when the story of a leprechaun who follows the title Irishman and his daughter to the deep south after his pot of gold and end up helping sharecroppers was a breath of fresh shamrock-scented air. Scotswoman Ella Logan headed the original cast, introducing "If This Isn't Love," "Look to the Rainbow," and "How are Things In Glocca Morra." Impish David Wayne joined Logan for "Something Sort of Grandish" and got the hilarious "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love." 

The Music of Spring and Tune Up for Spring are two collections Columbia made to sell at tire dealerships in the early 60's. Ray Conniff's bouncy "Younger Than Springtime" is my favorite from both albums. Rosemary Clooney's "I Could Have Danced All Night" and Jerry Vale's "Camelot"  are a bit more out of place in Music of Spring. Leslie Uggams doing a lovely "April In Paris" and the New Christy Minstrels' "Green Green" are more fitting. Al Jolson's "April Showers," Polly Bergen singing "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year," and the Hi-Lo's "Everything's Coming Up Roses" are the standouts in Tune Up. 

The Broadway version of Once was a surprise hit in 2012 that ended up winning the Tony for Best Musical that year. The 2007 film was already lovely, but it ended up making a rather nice intimate stage show, too, if bittersweet numbers like "Leave," "Sleeping," "When Your Mind's Made Up," "The Moon," and "Falling Slowly" are any indication.

The other famous modern Irish musical is probably The Commitments. I loved my cassette version of the soundtrack as a kid, and I was just as happy to find it on CD a while back. The cast's passionate renditions of "Mustang Sally," "Destination Anywhere," "Try a Little Tenderness," "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man," and "In the Midnight Hour" wound up being an even bigger hit than the film and introduced teens of the early 90's like me to classic R&B and blues.

Jessa dubbed Snoopy's Classiks - Beatles on Toys for me last Easter. This is exactly what it sounds like, Beatles songs played on toy pianos, with Sally and Chuck introducing the first number "Do You Want to Know a Secret?" "She Loves You" is just the kids singing that over and over. They do much better by a charming "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" and "Yellow Submarine." "Here, There, Everywhere" and "When I'm Sixty-Four" are the best of the instrumental numbers. 

I couldn't focus on the writing, but I did get a little done. C.J, Sir Scott Sherwood's squire, is guarding the oddly silent and closed gates. Hilary demands to know what's going on. King Rollie the Snake King has taken over, he tells them in a whisper. Lord Comstock opened the gates and let the snake men invade. Sir Sherwood and King Jeffery were supposedly killed in the invasion. Betty and her Heart-Quill are horrified. How could that happen? Scott had his men. He was overwhelmed, C.J softly explains. His men were out searching for Pavla, and he had little protection left at the castle. Betty doesn't believe him, even as he takes the ladies and their mounts through the silent gates and into a quiet, motionless town...

Finished the night with a late Match Game marathon. Handsome Robert Walden was playing a cocky young reporter on the drama Lou Grant when he first turned up on Match Game late in 1978. He had once been a pupil of Charles Nelson Reilly, and Brett Somers certainly had no problems ogling him either. Neither did Patty Duke when she ended up wrapped in his sweater after he stripped it off once. He was there for the infamous syndicated episode where the contestant Ginger gave an extremely strange answer for what a jock caterpillar buys, and he was the one who had to answer her when she gave an even weirder answer for "Cuckoo __" in the Head to Head. His most memorable nighttime appearance pit a handsome Naval officer against a pretty young Israeli woman who didn't seem to grasp the language very well. Marcia Wallace was much happier to match an unusual answer for "He's So __" in another memorable Head-to-Head. 

Go "cuckoo" for this disco-era hunk turned dedicated reporter in these hilarious episodes!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Robert Walden On the Panel 

Lucky Matches

Began the morning with breakfast and Bluey. Chili explains what a quest is to Bluey as they crochet, narrating a "Curry Quest" as Bingo becomes the hero of her own story and helps her father bring curry to a swap with friends. Bluey and Bingo are delighted to hold "Magic" over their father and his friend, then try to force Chili to play with them when she was busy...but Chili reminds her daughter that magic should never be used for mischief as Bingo begins to question what they're doing.

Called Uber after the second episode ended. No trouble here. In fact, I got the same chatty man both runs. He picked me up for work in 9 minutes and got me there just in time. Took 10 to pick me up going home. No trouble either way other than part of East Clinton was closed for tree removal.

No trouble at work, either. I did accidentally knock over a glass vase with a hyacinth bulb at one point and had to clean it up, which put me briefly behind on carts. Otherwise, we were off-and-on steady. The next major holiday is St. Patrick's Day, which not everyone celebrates. The only other thing going on right now is March Madness. By the time it started to pick up later in the day, I was almost done.

Had a lot of groceries to pick up after work. Restocked granola, granola bars, yogurt, soda, chicken, and cans of tuna. Had online coupons for apples, a free bag of Acme generic sliced Swiss cheese, Poppi probiotic soda, and brownie cookies. They still had those dollar bags of oranges leftover from last week. They were so delicious and juicy and sweet, I had to get another bag. 

After I got home, I changed, then put everything away while watching two Bowery Boys movies on Tubi. Slip and Sach are Lucky Losers when their broker boss supposedly commits suicide and they want to know why. The duo learn he had heavy gambling debts to the owner of an illegal gambling house who had been cheating to take money from wealthy patrons. They learn how to cheat at gambling themselves from a street busker in order to help their friend Gabe Moreno take him and his sexy moll down.

Fighting Fools from a few years earlier is even darker. This time, the Boys search for the brother of a friend of theirs who died from a hit in the boxing ring. He dropped out of boxing when he wouldn't take a dive, but Slip convinced him to rejoin the game to help his family. His original crooked manager still wants a piece of him, and even kidnaps his younger brother to force him to take that dive. Slip, Sach, and the other boys make sure the match goes on with no shenanigans. 

Finished the night at YouTube with tonight's Match Game marathon. Many contestants on this show hit some very lucky answers, from handsome gym teacher Ron Valenti to the funny older lady who insisted she was a "new kid on the block" and requested a kiss from Gene. Others brought along good luck charms. One lady had a pet rock and gave another to Richard Dawson. Pretty Chris had a tiny stuffed bear. There was the lady who brought a whole pile of tiny toys from her children, and the one with a little stuffed duck. The lady on a recently-rediscovered nighttime episode definitely thought Richard was her good-luck charm when she barely beat a genial Asian man and he helped her win big money. 

You'll have good luck watching this delightfully hilarious marathon full of shamrocks and shenanigans! 

Match Game Saturday Classics - St. Patrick's Day Marathon 2026

Springtime Fairy Tales

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The Clubhouse residents are excited when they see "Minnie's Rainbow" and follow it to see where it goes. Donald just wants the pot of gold at the end. Leprechaun Pete would do anything to save his pot of treasure, including take down arrows pointing the right way and hiding the gold in a certain shamrock-shaped bush.

I was tired of hanging out inside and decided to go for a short walk. It was cloudy, windy, and chilly, but not abnormally cold for mid-March, probably in the lower 50's. Dropped off a book I didn't want at the kiosk down the block and a copy of the letter terminating my case with the DVR now that I have a second job at the post office. Picked up toilet paper and a card for Mom's birthday at Dollar General and two regular pretzels and a cheese steak stuffed pretzel for lunch at A&A Pretzels. 

When I got home, I had lunch while watching Lighthouse Island, a Jim Henson special from 1989. Young Zeb (Chris Makepeace) has come to Lighthouse Island to find the perfect wedding gift for the fiancee he's never met. He sees silver slippers in the antique store belonging to Clara Buford (Helen Burns) and decides he must have them. She says she'll give them to him...if he helps her retrieve a pearl belonging to her old rival Fred (Jerry Nelson). The pearl allows its owner to turn into anything. Fred turns up as a sea monster, a flying creature, and a tentacle. Zeb has his own reasons for wanting those slippers so badly he fights off Fred and his many forms...and they're not what Clara thinks. 

Switched to Murder She Wrote after that ended. There's "No Accounting for Murder" when Jessica's nephew Grady gets a new job with a major accounting firm, only to be accused of killing his boss. Jessica is actually encouraged to help solve the mystery for once by an Irish cop who is overwhelmed with the long list of suspects who all seem to have had more than one bone to pick with the man. A security guard was more interested in finding the "phantom" who lived in the building's air ducts, and may be the key witness who actually saw the murder.

Oh, and I got my schedule at this point. To my shock...I have no Acme schedule. They gave me Sunday and next Saturday off, too. I asked for the weekdays off to focus on the kids' half-days. The college kids must be on spring break. Good thing I did use one of my float days to make up for the money I lost on Wednesday. That's the only money I'll make from the Acme this week. 

It was later than it should have been when I called Uber. They took 16 minutes to arrive, which made me 10 minutes late. At least there was no traffic whatsoever. 

Not a good thing, as we had 25 younger kids today, 10 alone at my table. The ones at my table were very good. One girl messed around a bit in the bathrooms, but other than that, they cleaned up when asked and were only a little noisy in the halls. They were even complimented by the head teacher when they all walked back from the bathrooms instead of running. 

Of course they were all good. They wanted to go outside again! By 4 PM, the sun had come out. It was warmer, but not to the ridiculous extent of earlier in the week. Many of the kids still wouldn't wear jackets, or even sweaters in some cases. (At least they kept their shoes on this time.) I had to take a couple to the bathroom, but at least no one wanted drinks. It was too nice for much fussing, anyway. They chased bubbles, ran around the slides, and danced to "Pup Pup Boogie," several children's dance movement songs, the theme from PJ Masks, and "Happy Birthday" for one tiny miss whose big day was Sunday. 

No one was happy when the clouds came back and it got too cold to stay out. Not that any of us were really in the cafeteria for long anyway. Of the ten children we brought back, six (plus three older kids) left as I was getting ready to go. 

It was such a beautiful day, I walked home. Stopped at the Speedy Mart for bagels, then decided to cut across Newton Lake Park. Though green grass is showing in spots now and flowers are just popping up, most of the park is still dry and brown. Surprisingly quiet, too. I guess everyone was home for dinner. I saw two friends out for a stroll, someone walking their dog, and two Canadian geese poking around for their own evening meal.

Put on Match Game Syndicated when I got in. Most of the episodes tonight had an extra-sarcastic Patty Duke sitting in Brett's seat while she was out doing a play. Bubbly Betty Kennedy was the goofy ingenue. Charles tried to step up his acting to impress Oscar-winner Patty, including when the makeup people got stuck in the elevators. The next week features Jimmie Walker and hasn't turned up on GSN yet, so Buzzr skipped to the week after, with Bill Anderson, Bill Daily, and Jonnelle Allen. 

Switched to the last season of Laugh-In after I finished Murder She Wrote. By the sixth season, Patti Deusch, Richard Dawson, and Lily Tomlin had joined the cast, and Sarah Kennedy was the new resident giggly blonde. Henny Youngman and his very annoyed wife were kidnapped by a robber and a comedy fan, Michael Landon did Titanic spoofs with the ladies, Richard Dawson did his WC Fields impression and gave another robber a glass with his money, lawyer Sarah covered financial news and played a very unlikely geisha with an extremely picky husband, Dick and Dan traded bad Irish jokes, and Dick decided he wanted to replace Dan with Lyle Waggoner. 

Finished the night at YouTube with more Shirley Temple Storybook Theater. "Mother Goose" (Elsa Lanchester) would rather be writing comic poetry that makes all of the children laugh instead of gathering her geese. She records everything that goes on at the fair, including Tom the Piper's son (Carleton Carpenter) pursuing Polly (Temple), the daughter of the sneezing baker mayor (Billy Gilbert). When local rowdies cause trouble and accidentally burn down a tent, the Mayor calls for an end to the fair. Polly, Tom, their friends Jack and Jill, and the children know why the fair must go on, and they encourage Mother Goose to write a letter to the prince from all of them about the fair's importance. Turns out the Prince knows too, and he's a lot more open to children's rhymes than the Mayor is. 

Rainy Day In the Library

Began the morning with breakfast and Paw Patrol. "Pups Save a Sleepwalking Bear" who wandered out of its cave during a snow sculpture contest. They have to figure out how to get it home without waking it up again. "Pups Save Dude Ranch Danny" have Skye and Chase going after Daring Danny X when he accidentally takes off on a metal horse made by the dude ranch's owner.

Checked my e-mail next and e-mailed Bryanna. She sent me the e-mail of my case worker at the DVR Josh Phillips, but couldn't find his phone number. I e-mailed him and will call her back tomorrow or next week to see if she can get through to him. I really want to talk about buying a condo as soon as possible.

After I did a few things online, I watched Song O' My Heart on YouTube. I go further into the only major vehicle for beloved Irish tenor John McCormack at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! - Song O' My Heart

Ate a quick lunch, then did some writing. C.J, Sir Scott Sherwood's squire, meets them mournfully at the gates. Hilary demands to know what's going on. Scott and King Jeffery are dead, C.J tells them. Killed by Pruitt himself. Victor opened the gates and let Pruitt and his snake men in without a struggle and is now right-hand man to Pruitt himself. Hilary demands to see Pruitt and find out what happened. Good, C.J tells her, Pruitt wanted the ladies brought to him the moment they returned anyway.

Listened to fantasy-oriented soundtracks from the 80's while I worked and as I had lunch. Labyrinth is one of two major fantasy films Jim Henson made during the mid-80's that went on to become cult favorites. David Bowie is the Goblin King and gets the lion's share of the songs, notably the gorgeous ballad "As the World Falls Down" and "Magic Dance." There's also a couple of excellent instrumental numbers - my favorites are "Into the Labyrinth" and "Home at Last."

The Princess Bride is a bit more folksy, as per its comic opera-esque fairy tale story. The ballad "Storybook Love" is the only vocal number, but some of the background score is worth hearing as well. Check out "The Friends' Song," "The Swordfight," and "Revenge."

Considering it was pouring when I called Uber and had been all day, I'm surprised I had no trouble getting drivers. The one going to work arrived in 4 minutes! I ended up being a little early. The one going home only took 10 minutes, despite it being raining and snowing by then.

I think you can guess from the weather that there was no going outside today for anyone. It was cold, wet, and dreary for the entire afternoon. The 9 kids at my table were able to clean up quickly and were only a little rowdy in the bathrooms. Things are a lot crazier in the library. On one hand, at least they finally got the hint about not tearing the paper set out for them to scribble and use animal stencils. In fact, as the head teacher pointed out, they made some rather nice abstract art. Three of the boys kept throwing the rubber food around, even as the other kids were dancing to "Pink Pony Club," "I'm Still Standing," and music from Bluey, Tangled, Frozen, and KPop Demon Hunters. The remaining six kids were still pretty wild with the older kids in the cafeteria when I left.

Took out the trash and recycling and took a shower, then went upstairs with a quick dinner for Match Game Syndicated. Brett found herself caught between her two favorite drinking buddies Charles and David "Bosley" Doyle for the first week of 1981. Paul Williams had more fun with Joyce Bullifant and Edie McClurg (the latter in her debut on the show) on the lower tier.

Went back to Tubi for Storybook International after Match Game. The Hungarian folk tale "Five Loaves" is more of a math problem than a fairy tale. Two neighbors share their five bread loaves with an old man who was going hungry. The man gives them five coins, which one neighbor thinks he deserves more of than he gets. A judge in the near-by town explains why he actually deserves less than he thinks.

Finished the night with Sinatra while working on the review for Song O' My Heart. Come Fly With Me is probably one of his most iconic albums, with its jaunty title number and songs about far away places like "Isle of Capri," "Moonlight In Vermont," and "April In Paris." Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely gets into darker territory, with deep bluesy ballads like "What's New?," "Blues In the Night," "Spring Is Here," and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)." 

Harts In the Spring Heat

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Daniel learns about "Friends and Feelings" when he's scared of Prince Wednesday pretending to be a bear and Katerina finds it funny, and Katerina doesn't appreciate it when the boys get too silly. Teacher Harriet helps them talk about their feelings and figure out what they're feeling. "Daniel's Day of Many Feelings" starts with him being disappointed that he and Dan Sr. can't get to Music Man Stan's shop right away. Daniel learns how to express his feelings when his favorite Tigey the Adventure Tiger books are gone at the library and he gets to help choose stamps at the post office.

I hurried downstairs after that, but...I couldn't get a ride for 13 minutes. I ended up being late. Having learned my lesson, I called Uber early to get me to Thomas Sharp School. They picked me up in 4 minutes and was there in plenty of time. I debated walking home, but decided I was too hot and too tired. I didn't mind waiting 10 minutes, which wasn't bad during the height of rush hour.

After all that, there were absolutely no problems at the Acme whatsoever. It showered around 11:30-12 PM. Other than that, the Acme was pretty quiet. It was still way too hot for March, and now it was too humid, too. At least it kept the customers away. Plus, there's nothing really major going on right now. The next major holiday is St. Patrick's Day next week, and not everyone celebrates that. I had no trouble gathering carts and sweeping, other than getting a tiny bit wet running back to the store during that shower.

By the time I finished my shift and was strolling to the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center in the back of the Acme, the rain was just ending and the sun was coming out. Since I had a heavy meal out with Jessa last night, I went with a nice, light Japanese lunch at Futomaki's. Had salad with Japanese dressing, clear spicy soup, and salmon hibachi - barbecue salmon with sauteed vegetables and fried rice. Very yummy, and just enough for one sitting. 

Since the weather continued to hold out, I stopped at Sonic on the way back to treat myself to a peanut butter milkshake. They were busy with the last of the lunch crowd and I had to wait a few minutes on the patio. They brought out a manual payment machine for the card, too. Apparently, they had a new system that was booting up and hadn't finished yet. At least the milkshake was nice and cold...and very peanutty! 

Briefly picked up Native shampoo and conditioner when I got back to the Acme. My head is still itchy, but I don't have dandruff. I think it's dry scalp from perimenopause. I'm hoping these will help more than the Head and Shoulders did.

I went to the after-school program a little bit early, which proved to be a good thing. We had 24 kids today, all of them excited about being able to go outside again. At the 9 at my table were quick cleaner-uppers and not too bad in the bathrooms other than some giggly girls. 

Considering how noisy they were in the cafeteria, it's probably just as well that we did get them outside and let them run around...for the first 20-30 minutes or so. By 4:30, the sun had come back out, and it was 82 degrees and thickly humid. Most of the kids ended up in the shade by the school or under trees, or looking out to the street over the chain link fence to wave to dog-walkers and parents picking up their children. I did have to argue with an older boy about the swings, but he recovered quickly when the head teacher pulled out that bubble wand! By the time I left, there were five younger kids still there...and four of them opted to go back outside and play ball games with the big kids on the blacktop.

After I got home, I watched The Price Is Right. Alas, I came in just as a lady got the wrong number on "Squeeze Play." The Showcases went better. For one thing, there was an utterly hilarious spoof of "Little Red Riding Hood" with Johnny Olson as one of the most unlikely Little Reds in history and someone describing prizes in a truly ugly Wolf costume. For another, one lady got really close and picked up a car and a bedroom furniture set when the other lady went over.

Match Game Syndicated was even more fun. McLean Stevenson spent his week caught between resident blonde beauties Elaine Joyce and Eva Gabor (and their considerable...assets), while Brett enjoyed goofy Dick Martin sitting next to her. One of the contestants even brought along his beautiful bird artwork, which Eva, Elaine, and Brett got to happily show off. 

Finished the night with Hart to Hart. Jonathan and Jennifer become "Hunted Harts" when they're lured to a big game ranch in South America owned by a couple who just lost their funding when a reclusive millionaire pulled out. Turns out the millionaire was bested by Jonathan in a big business deal and intends to take vengeance by hunting down Jonathan on the game preserve. Jonathan and Jennifer have to keep one step ahead of him and avoid the wild animals and the heat. 

(Oh, and the rain did return around 9:30 - 10 PM, with a vengeance. We had a nice little thunder storm going there for a while. The rain's long gone, but it remains gale-force windy.)

In the Heat of Spring

Began the morning with breakfast and The Pirates of Dark Water. The crew finds themselves in a "Break Up" when they arrive at Niddler's home island and discover his people are sold as slaves. Ren helps free them, but when they discover the pirate who stole the first treasure and the compass and the slaver are in cahoots, Ren stays behind to help Niddler and his people. Tula and Teron leave on the ship, convinced Ren and Niddler are lost. They were rescued and set out after them, only to be caught by Bloth on the open seas.

Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon doing the child care refresher course and the CPR course, both of which were required by Healthy Kids. Thankfully, the refresher course took about an hour. It was the CPR course, which was for adults and kids and was more thorough than the one I did in May, that took forever. I was still working on it when it was time to leave for the Thomas Sharp School. 

Listened to Anderson's Fairy Tales while I worked. This double-CD is a collection of some of Anderson's more fanciful stories. Thankfully, only "The Little Match Girl" is all that depressing, considering what some of his fairy tales can be like. Most of them are adventures like "The Traveling Companion" and "Little Claus and Big Claus," gentle moral tales like "The Ugly Duckling," or slightly more pointed ones like "The Swineherd." Brit Erica Johns provides the soothing narrations.

I hurried downstairs and called Uber soon as I ate a quick lunch. Thank heavens I was able to get a driver in 4 minutes! I arrived only slightly late, nothing like yesterday.

Good thing, too. We had 29 kids today, 9 of them at my table. At least my kids were really good. They weren't too bad in the bathrooms, and most of them came and got their backpacks from the library without being asked. (We started in the library, since the school band was rehearsing in the cafeteria.) Once again, they all wanted to go outside after snack time! 

And who wanted to miss a glorious 80-degree day? It was sunny, breezy, and ridiculously hot for March. Too hot. I kept having to take kids inside to get drinks, when they weren't chasing bubbles or each other or having "no shoes" parties. (We quickly put the kibosh on that one. Mulch was not meant for bare feet.) It was so nice, they were only just going back inside when I went to the other side of the school to wait for Jessa.

Jess finally arrived at 6. We had no idea what to do for dinner and just followed the traffic across Cherry Hill and Pennsauken until she suggested The Melting Pot in Maple Shade. It was a brilliant idea. This dark, modern wood-paneled restaurant specializes in all kinds of fondue. We decided the oil and meat variety would be too much and take too long to cook and settled for Classic Alpine cheese fondue and a dark chocolate fondue for dessert. Oh yuuumm! They made the cheese fondue right at the electric burners on the marble table top. We dipped cubed French bread, chunks of soft pretzels, and sliced vegetables into it. I ordered cubed sausage for some more protein. The dark chocolate fondue came with sliced bananas and strawberries, cubed pound cake, Rice Krispies Treats, and brownies, and bits of chocolate chip cookie bar. Jessa tossed in mini-churros, too. We chatted for so long, we where there almost a half-hour after we finished eating.

When I got home, I finally completed the CPR course, then finished the night listening to the last disc of the Broadway: The American Musical soundtrack. This one kicks off with songs from the huge European rock operas of the 80's and early 90's, including "Memory" from Cats, "Do You Hear the People Sing" from Les Miserables, "The Music of the Night" from The Phantom of the Opera, and "The American Dream" from Miss Saigon. By the time Glenn Close was singing "With One Look" in the massive Sunset Boulevard, most audiences had started to look for a more homegrown and less bombastic sound. 

La Cage Aux Follies was the first musical with a happy gay couple at its center, and it's anthem "I Am What I Am" spoke for a significant portion of the musical's fan base...even as the AIDS crisis killed off many promising young talents. Smokey Joe's Cafe, Jelly's Last Jam, Movin' Out, and Mamma Mia! were jukebox musicals with infectious, nostalgic numbers like "On Broadway" and "Dancing Queen" getting audiences up and dancing. Hairspray and The Producers proved that smash hit musicals could come from films, with their big chorus numbers like "Good Morning Baltimore" and "I Wanna Be a Producer," while the rock shows Rent and The Boy from Oz introduced promising new talents. At the time the miniseries came out in 2004, the big thing on Broadway was Wicked...and unlike the other shows on this disc, it's still going strong, in New York and London, at press time. Elphaba's big first-act closer "Defying Gravity" is included here.