Monday, June 29, 2015

The Perfect Sunny Day

Began a gorgeous day with fresh blueberries, strawberries, and peaches sprinkled with sugar and a couple of public domain Popeye and Betty Boop shorts. It's Popeye-rella to the rescue in "Ancient Fistory" when Bluto goes after the fair Princess Olive. The two are "Taxi-Turvy" as they compete to see who can get Olive to her destination. "Betty In Blunderland" takes animation's sexiest flapper into the world of Lewis Carroll as she follows the White Rabbit down a subway hole to a surreal Wonderland. Betty is a legal stenographer, but what she really wants to be is "Judge For a Day" so she can pass sentence on all the people who annoy her on her way to work.

The first order of business of the day was getting the laundry done. I hadn't seen it so quiet in there in weeks. I guess the nice day encouraged people to be elsewhere. I listened to The Price Is Right and the news and read the American Girl History Mystery Shadows In the Glasshouse. I only got half-way through the tale of a young girl who is kidnapped to be an indentured slave at a glass works in Jamestown, Virginia, in 1621. I'll finish it next week.

When I got home, I put everything away, then went right back out. I was actually glad I had a lot to do. There couldn't have been a nicer day in late June. The sun was shining. The breeze was blowing. It was warm, probably in the upper 70's-lower 80's, but not that hot, and not at all humid. If the Acme could only give me one day off this week, this was the day for it.

Had lunch at Friendly's around 1:30. There were a few older couples and grandparents with grandkids enjoying a treat. Friendly's is having a five dollar meal deal...and the meal was finally something I'd eat. The other items they have as part of the deal this summer are either too spicy or have crispy chicken in them. I don't like breaded chicken. The Honey BBQ Burger is better - bacon and crispy onions with melted cheese on a brioche roll. The ranch and barbecue dressing was tasty but did make eating it a bit difficult. It was deliciously savory, but very slippery.

The Haddon Township Library was quite busy when I arrived, mainly with people using the computers. Once again, I actually managed to fit all the kids' titles onto the spinning racks, even the Scooby Doo DVDs. The kids volunteering that day did the overflowing adult titles, but I did get to the new book releases and the CDs and audio books. Didn't take anything out - I have a busy week ahead, and I have plenty to watch for the holiday and that I still haven't watched from vacation.

Made a quick stop at Thriftway next. Their generic whole wheat flour is cheaper than the brand-name prices Acme. I also picked up Mazola Canola Oil on sale for $2.99. They were dead as a doornail - I was in and out in 20 minutes.

Decided on a treat at Common Grounds Coffee House in Oaklyn on my way home. Unfortunately, their Frozen Vanilla Coffee Frappe had a little too much coffee flavor in it for me! I drank what I could of my indulgence outside at a wrought iron table, writing down notes for Captain Victor, Man of Power and the first of my Remember WENN fairy tales, Scott White and the Seven Actors.

I started Scott's fairy tale when I got in. Each fairy tale is based around a couple of episodes that spotlight the character - in this case, "Who's Scott Sherwood?" and "The New Actor." The prologue is set a few days after "Who's Scott Sherwood?" Scott is at home, wondering where to go next after his firing. He's listening to WENN and hears them doing "Snow White" on a kids' show. He thinks about Betty's strange behavior and Pruitt's gloating. As he listens to the story, he complains he'd never liked it - the prince has little to do, and Snow White is too passive. He contemplates how he would have gotten Betty to juice up the story....

Which takes us out west to Colorado. Scott is now a gambler who is on his way home to his mother's ranch. He encounters Betty Prince, a pretty reporter, on the train to Wennton. Seems someone's been buying up seemingly worthless land in the area and forcing people to leave their homes. Betty thinks there's something devious going on. Scott offers to help, but Betty can see him for the con-artist he is and brushes him off. He's still intrigued by her, though...and now, he's worried about his mother's own lands...

I got offline around 6 to have leftovers for dinner and dub Blonde Crazy. This pre-code comedy takes James Cagney out of gangster mode and into Scott Sherwood's world of con-men and smart ladies. Cagney is Bert, a bellhop with aspirations to make money, money, and more money. Joan Blondell is Anne, a chambermaid who becomes his partner in crime when the two start setting up cons together. She wishes he saw her as more than his business partner. When he does finally fall for her, it's too late. She's in love with a seemingly respectable broker (Fredrick March). They go their separate ways, but they realize they both made a mistake when she comes to him one last time to get him to help the broker out of a jam.

This breezy tale of con artists and the rich folks they fleece is such fun, it's really rather a disappointment when it takes a hard left turn into melodrama for the last twenty minutes or so. Cagney and Blondell always did play well off each other, and this movie is no exception. Today, this movie is mainly remembered for the scene where Cagney is sparring with Blondell while she's in the bathtub. (It's so famous, it's on the cover of the Forbidden Hollywood Warner Archives set this was released in.)

If you're a fan of Cagney and Blondell or pre-code movies, despite the dark ending, this is mainly a fun comic caper that's worth checking out at the Warner Archives.

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