Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sunrise, Sunset

I slept until 9:30 this morning, then read in bed for another hour. The Brunch With the Beatles show wasn't very interesting today, so I opted for more McBride and an episode of a 1994 show called Burke's Law instead.

The McBride movie was It's Murder, Madam. A naive young woman is accused of killing the high-priced madam who set her up with a man who tried a little too hard to get her in bed. Turns out the madam was also blackmailing her famous customers, and McBride and Phil have to find out which one of the blackmail victims might also be a murderer. Meanwhile, Mac's not terribly happy that Roberta's dating someone else.

I've never heard of Burke's Law, which seems to be an unusually elegant cop show from 1994. A father-and-son cop duo investigate a murder at a beauty pageant. The young lady who was considered a shoo-in to win was killed with a baton in the dressing room, and Burke Senior and Junior have to find out who did it...and why. I recognized quite a few familiar faces here, including Diahnne Carroll (as the pageant coordinator), Alan Thicke (as the smarmy Master of Ceremonies, an aging singer), Elizabeth Berkley (as the victim's main competition), and Jennifer Anniston (as a reporter undercover as a makeup artist). It's a shame this stylish show didn't seem to last long - considering I'm not fond of either Berkley or Anniston, I quite enjoyed this episode.

Called Mom after my breakfast of Cranberry-Lemon Pancakes and half a grapefruit. Mom was working on projects for neighbors whose daughter was getting married and couldn't talk long. We were on the phone long enough for her to deliver some wonderful news. My brother Keefe has finally decided he's going to join the Navy after he graduates high school in June. I think Mom said something about him wanting to do something with nuclear - probably designing or building submarines, if I know my brother the master builder. He'll be going to school in Charleston, South Carolina, for 2 1/2 years. I'm proud of him, and Mom's elated. She's a native southern belle (born in West Virginia) and loves the Carolinas.

I just hung out online for the rest of the afternoon, then headed to work. Work was very busy all day, not unusual for an end-of-the-month Sunday. It was much nicer today than it has been, too, sunny and in the 40s. The good weather (and melting snow) must have brought a lot of people out of the woodwork. People were generally in a good mood, my relief was actually a little early, and there were no major problems.

Went straight home after that for a shower, a dinner of leftover baked pasta and sausage and peas and carrots, and The Dress Circle. "The Music of Jerry Bock" was the theme today. Bock is best known for his famous series of shows done in the 60s and early 70s with Sheldon Harnick, including Fiddler on the Roof represented here by a medley of songs used in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, including "Sunrise, Sunset," "Tradition," and "The Wedding Dance." Other familiar Bock songs include "Artificial Flowers" from Tenderloin, "Too Close For Comfort" from the Sammy Davis Jr. vehicle Mr. Wonderful, the charming "Dear Friend" from She Loves Me, and the touching "In My Lifetime" from The Rothchilds.

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