After I finished breakfast this morning, I put up the patriotic decorations. I usually get them up earlier, but I just hadn't gotten around to it until now. Most of what I have came from dollar stores, including a large cardboard flag and a "God Bless America" banner I found at a dollar store in Philly. The folksy "USA" doll sign, Uncle Sam cardboard container, and the two US-themed Teeny Beanies came from yard sales. The bell door knob hanger and the red-white-and-blue striped bow for the front door were CVS finds. The cardboard stars - both small and large and covered in Mylar - are from a party store. The Mylar is coming off the big stars. I put them up, but I may end up getting rid of them after this year.
Listened to music as I decorated. Yankee Doodle Mickey has become a favorite of mine. This recording from the early 80's includes a rousing version of "The Liberty Tree" from Disney's version of Johnny Tremain and a cute medley of the theme songs of the Armed Services, performed by the Disney gang. The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band may be a strange musical (it's about a contested election in the Dakotas in 1888), but its soundtrack has some lovely tunes. My favorites are the dance songs "Ten Feet Off the Ground" and "West O' the Wide Missouri" and the adorable ballad "'Bout Time."
Work was quiet for almost the entire afternoon. I guess everyone's waiting for the holiday weekend and the beginning of the month. The weather didn't help. While it wasn't really hot, it was on-and-off cloudy and killer, cut-the-air-with-a-knife humid. I was dripping after both times I rounded up carts. I did a lot of returns, too. Thankfully, there were no problems getting in or out. I picked up the Acme-brand Fig Newtons on the way out. One of the younger employees asked me if she could take my shift tomorrow. She needs hours. I would have loved to, but she had nothing to switch to. I need the hours, too. I have rent and bills to pay.
When I got home, I changed, put away my cookies, and worked on my story. More re-writing - the Sword of Light has already been sent along to Coruscant. The Death Star cannon will be following it there shortly. Everyone manages to get out, then separates into two cars to get to Harry's air field.
I decided I wanted a decent dinner, for once. Made Italian chicken meatballs with whole-wheat pasta and steamed snap peas while watching Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. When huge robots invade downtown Manhattan in 1939, intrepid reporter Polly Perkins (Gwenyth Paltrow) is on the case. The robots are fended off by the titular Sky Captain (Jude Law), who happens to be Polly's former lover. Though Sky Captain saves New York, he's unable to come to the rescue of his sidekick and builder Dex. Polly smells a story and won't leave her Captain's side until she gets it. Now, the two travel from Shangril-La to a flying station run by Frankie (Angelina Jolie), another ex-lover of the Captain's, to a hidden tropical island to find out what's the real meaning behind the sinister World of Tomorrow.
This unusual experiment tries to recreate a 30's atmosphere with Sepia-toned film and CGI Art Deco backgrounds...but the first time I saw it, I thought it was just weird. I still think it's pretty strange, though I did enjoy it a little bit more the second time. Not a bad time-waster for fans of the real sci-fi and action serials and B-films of the 1930's.
Oh, and I updated the stories and ideas page to include the revised Star Wars 1980's story idea.
Upcoming Stories and Ideas In Development
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