Of Princesses, Fairies, Magic Mirrors, and Clutch Cargo

Started the morning off with breakfast and more cartoons. I didn't think anything could be stranger than the set of space cartoons from yesterday, but today's first group of shorts took the cake. I'd heard of Clutch Cargo before, usually as a joke, but never saw the real thing until today. This infamous 50s TV series used a very, very limited animation system that superimposed human lips over motionless drawings. Clutch was a pilot who'd go on Indiana Jones-esque adventures with his ward Spinner and Spinner's dog Paddlefoot. Some of the drawings are well-done, and the stories are interesting enough for fans of globe-trotting adventure who can get around the cheapness of the production and those odd moving lips.

Clutch Cargo ended the third DVD. I finally moved to the last one, which kicked off with more Betty Boop.  Once again, poor Pudgy is bedeviled by cats who wreck havoc and let him take the blame. This time, it's a trio of kittens causing trouble. Betty punishes him, but the cats feel bad and finally admit to their guilt.

Ran to the Acme next to do my grocery shopping and pick up my (small) paycheck. I didn't really have a big order, either. I wanted to get some ground chicken or turkey to replace what I used on the meatballs, but they're both expensive. I ended up buying more of those chicken cutlets for stir-fry instead. The Acme was having a rare winter sale on strawberries, and I needed apples, bananas, and green beans. I had a coupon for the Planters Peanut Butter, the Valentine's Day strawberry heart-shaped marshmallows were on sale, and I was out of maple syrup, butter spread, and chocolate chips. Found the last of the holiday tea on the clearance shelves; went with Bigalow's black "Egg Nogg'n" and herbal "Ginger Snappish."

When I got in, I had leftovers for lunch while watching three episodes of Fairie Tale Theatre. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" and "Beauty and the Beast" are variations on "beauty is only skin deep." In "Snow White," Elizabeth McGovern is the title character who is bedeviled by her wicked stepmother, the jealous and vain queen (Vanessa Redgrave); Rex Smith is the singing prince. Susan Sarandon is the beauty who learns to look under the fur of her ferocious-looking but gentle host (Klaus Kinski) in "Beauty and the Beast." Carrie Fisher is a smaller beauty who learns that you're never too tiny to start making your own choices in "Thumbelina"; William Katt (of The Greatest American Hero) is her fairy prince.

Work was no problem today; busy when I came in during rush hour, relatively quiet when I left, with no major problems. Everyone must be happy we've finally gotten to the first major holiday weekend of the year.

Now I'm glad I did take all the extra hours I did this week. I have practically no hours next week. I only work Monday, Friday, and Saturday...and Monday and Friday are from 5 to 10! On the other hand, I'll get to enjoy a rare Sunday with Dad and Jodie watching the NFL Championship games - the winners of Sunday's games go on to the Super Bowl in two weeks. Not to mention, I'll be able to get a lot of things done around the apartment that I've put off over the last few weeks.