Saturday, October 17, 2015

Rock n' Wrestling n' Shopping

Lauren and I started out around 10:30 to check out yard sales, or tag sales, as they're apparently called in New England, in her area. We didn't do any better than I've been doing in South Jersey. The first one was an estate sale. It was in a creepy old house that was dark, smelled like heavy smoke, and was in horrible shape. Among the things for sale were tools, old weapons, pin-up costumes from World War II and T&A outfits from afterwards, vintage records and games that were falling apart, and quite a few other items. As Lauren said when we left, the owner of that house had some sick hobbies. On top of that, there were tons of people crowded into a small, smelly area. We got out of there as soon as we could.

The next two sales were more G-rated but less interesting. One had clothes and overpriced collectible items like stuffed moose from name companies. The other was a typical clothes-and-kids-toys spread.

The train excursion ride Lauren had discussed all week didn't go any better. The one in Adams isn't running regular service yet. When we went to check out the train and museum in Lenoxdale, they were closed, despite claiming online that they were open on Saturdays.

We ended up back at the Lee Premium Outlets for lunch at their food court. This time, we both ate at the cafe. I had a Coke Zero and a small but tasty cheese and chicken quesadilla. She had a Dr. Pepper and a crispy chicken wrap.

We took a short stroll around the Outlets to stretch and use the bathrooms after lunch. The only store we hadn't checked out in our earlier trips that interested us was the Kitchen Collection. If it was sold by a company for a kitchen, it was probably in there. Alas, most everything I saw I either couldn't afford, couldn't carry home, or could find elsewhere for cheaper. Lauren bought some new chip clips for her parents that were a lot nicer than their old ones.

Our next stop was Lauren's recently-opened Marshall's. This is a discount department store similar to Kohl's and Tuesday Morning. I admired pants and skirts, but I couldn't find anything in my size or the right style. Their jumbled toy department had a few Monster High dolls but no Ever After High that I could see. Lauren did better, picking up a really cute gray sweater with a ruffled collar.

Lauren was out of ideas at that point. There was nowhere else we could go in her area with the time we had. Besides, despite it being off-and-on sunny, it was also windy and very cold. It only got into the mid-40's in Pittsfield today, and dropped to the 20's at night. We stopped briefly at Subway for me to get a sandwich for lunch tomorrow, then headed home.

Lauren's parents had a surprise for her when we arrived. Lauren's birthday is Monday. Mrs. Miller had baked her a yellow cake and frosted it with fudge icing. We watched her blow it out, then all had a piece or two.

We spent the rest of the night eating vegetable beef soup (me) and grilled cheese sandwiches (Lauren) and playing video games and watching wrestling. We did one last round of Mario Party 10 when we got in. We played the Toad Amiibo Board this time. Lauren won by a large margin. She got more stars than anyone and kept kicking everyone's rears at the minigames.

Didn't have as much luck with Yoshi's Wooly World. We had a hard time getting through the first rounds of the second world, especially the volcano-themed one. Poor Lauren got so frustrated, she turned me into an egg and just ran through without getting most of the secret items. She said she'd go back and play the round again and get them later.

Switched to wrestling during dinner. I have no idea who did the movie Lauren showed or what it was called, but from the clothes, hairstyles, the "rock is everything" attitude, and the sleazy main character, I'm going to guess it's from the mid-80's. A small, slender, greasy former music producer in LA is definitely in a free-fall. His last few bands were busts. His car was repossessed. He has a little Asian man with two huge hired mooks on his back for money. In desperation, he talks his way into being the manager for two up-and-coming wrestlers (Roddy Piper and Tonga). Piper's former manager ("Captain" Lou Albaino) isn't happy about his men switching sides. When his current tag team send Piper, Tonga, and their new manager to the hospital, the sleaze comes up with the idea of combining the wrestlers with one of his rock groups and sending them on the road for promotion.

There should have been a lot more wrestling and character actors and far fewer sleazeballs. The greasy manager may have been cool or funny in 1985, but in 2015, he comes off as obnoxious and annoying. Today, guys like Piper and Tonga would be more likely to sit on him than agree to let him be their manager.

The only reason to see this nowadays is for a glimpse of wrestlers like Piper in their 80's prime. The wrestlers aren't great actors, but they (and Billy Barty as an excitable fellow wrestling agent) are a lot more interesting to watch than the scuzzy guy chase a politician's daughter who is too good for him, or try to manage her dad's career, including ruining his campaign dinner. I think Lauren found it on YouTube; for fans of vintage wrestling or vintage character actors only.

Lauren and I are spending our last few hours together online, chatting while the fire sputters in the corner of her room. Tomorrow, I'm heading home. I'll be off around noon. Hopefully, things will be a lot less crazy on a Sunday.

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