Monday, July 03, 2017

New Arrivals and Creepy Carnivals

Began the morning with breakfast and two Scooby, Scrappy, and Shaggy adventures from Scooby Doo and the Creepy Carnival. The first episode is a short, "Scooby's Fun Zone." Shaggy and the dogs are enjoying their time at the local carnival...until Scooby accidentally hits a strongman with a baseball and chases them all over the fairgrounds. Scrappy's more interested in the rides.

"The Crazy Carnival Caper" brings Daphne in for a more traditional mystery. The quartet are attending their former high school's fair. The cranky science teacher has created a ruby laser beam with the help of one of his students. When he somehow disappears in the dunk tank, Shaggy and Daphne have to figure out where he ended up...and who that spooky clown who keeps trying to grab a box the teacher gave Daphne is.

Spent the next few hours writing. Luke and Henry come in next, dressed as a courier and a cowboy, respectively. While Henry drools over Leia in her swan gown, Ahsoka tells Luke how much he reminds her of her mentor Baron Anakin Skywalker. Since Wedge is busy, he offers to escort her to the ball so he can hear more stories, which she happily agrees to.

Broke at 1 for lunch and to begin the Berry Icebox Cake. "Hi-Tech House of Horrors" is from the later What's New, Scooby Doo? Fred and Velma join in for one of the most bizarre cases Mystery Inc ever dealt with. The House of the Future at the Omaha State Fair turns out to be more of a House of Fear when Mystery Inc discovers that strange things have been happening within its walls. People have disappeared. Rooms cook occupants instead of food. A robot butler is attacking guests. When Mystery Inc finds themselves locked in with a pair of prankster brothers and a preening reality TV show host, they have to find out the mysteries of the house that's out of control...before they become its next victims.

(And by the way, unless you're a huge fan of Scooby Doo who must have every release, I'd skip this DVD. The What's New episode is available elsewhere, and the other two aren't long enough or strong enough to justify the purchase.)

Headed out to work soon after. Work was a mess today and a pain in the rear. We were insanely busy all day, with long lines out into the aisles. Not only were there tons of carts and baskets to round up, but I had almost no help doing it. The teen bagger who was supposed to be helping me called out. The head bagger had been recruited to shuck corn. The manager who did help me briefly around 3:30 was that nasty head manager who is always rude and condescending. He insisted on pushing the volumes of carts himself, only allowing me to push them into place at the patio. A more pleasant manager helped out briefly later.

I was tired and sore when I got home. The whipped topping I made for the Berry Icebox Cake having never set didn't help. It just made a soupy mess when I tried to layer it. I'll just buy Cool Whip tomorrow and hope that works better.

The ground chicken and pasta casserole I made for dinner came out much better. I was too tired to make the spaghetti and meatballs I'd originally planned on having tonight. I just sauteed an onion and garlic, then added the ground chicken, canned tomato sauce, sliced yellow zucchini, and tri-color spiral pasta. Topped it with the last of the shredded pizza cheese. Oh yum, it came out amazing, a hearty combination of robust flavors.

A call from Jodie when I got home helped improve my mood enormously. My sister Rose went into labor this morning. Finley Rose was born at 11:46 AM and weighed 7.4 pounds and was 20 inches. She's a big girl! Yay, I have my second niece! I hope they're able to come to Dad and Jodie's tomorrow. I can't wait to meet the new arrival!

Celebrated with my delicious dinner and 1776. This musical covers the creation of the Declaration of Independence, from Massachusetts Continental Congress representative John Adams (William Daniels) gunning for the US to declare itself separate from England, to his and Ben Franklin's (Howard DeSilva) attempts to get Thomas Jefferson (Ken Howard) to actually write the document, to its signing. It wasn't easy. Many of the states, especially in the south, were against leaving England. Ben had trouble getting the Pennsylvania delegates, including fiery lawyer John Dickenson (Donald Madden), to listen to his views. The New York delegation won't vote at all. It takes all of Adams' rhetorical skill...and a little help from his sensible wife Abigail (Virginia Westoff) and her letters...to get this motley crew to agree to even debate something, let alone sign one of the most important documents in the history of the US.

As with the more recent Hamilton, this delightful musical showcases a part of history that comes off as a lot more interesting and suspenseful than it ever did in school books. Length is the only problem. This is another extra-long Broadway adaptation from the 60's and early 70's, one of the last of them, in fact. If you love the history of the US or this era or the cast and once again have time on your hands, this patriotic treat is highly recommended.

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