The clouds from yesterday lingered as I rolled out of bed this morning. It remained cool and windy, though not as cool as yesterday. Ran some Backyardigans as I had corn meal mush and a half of a grapefruit for breakfast. Austin, Pablo, and Uniqua are on a "Mission to Mars" to find out what that strange "boinga boinga" sound is. Tyrone and Tasha are their Mission Control.
Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon writing. Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar outline their plan. Lando and Leia will lead two groups in an assault on Solo Castle to rescue Prince Henry, while the others will provide distractions and keep the guards away from Palpatine. Jyn and her guys and Artello and Cyril all agree to go with Leia; Hera and her family will go with Lando. Wedge and his boys will lead the group to a secret servants' entrance in the back of the castle.
Broke a little bit earlier than usual for lunch, around quarter of 12. Continued with The Backyardigans as I had a quick lunch and got ready for work. "Samurai Pie" is one of the most bizarre episodes this series ever did. How many kids shows have you seen with pie-baking samurai (Tyrone and Austin) creating the Great Pie for the Empress (Tasha) while avoiding pie-stealing ninjas (Uniqua and Pablo), set to spaghetti western music?
I left a little early in order to volunteer at the Oaklyn Library before work. I'm not going to have the time for them tomorrow or Wednesday! Maybe it's just as well. It wasn't long before closing, and the library was totally empty besides me and the librarian. I organized DVDs, looked over the kids' books, and moved on to the Acme.
Work proved to be no problem whatsoever. Not only are we now between holidays again, the clouds vanished as early as noon. It had suddenly turned into a sunny, breezy spring day in the mid-70's. Though we did get a little busy around the usual 4 PM rush hour, it was otherwise quiet for most of the night. I spent the day doing returns, bagging, and gathering carts; also helped cleaned up a broken pickle jar dropped by a woman organizing our displays. (She was so nice and helpful!)
It was so gorgeous, I took the long way home down Nicholson Road. We're supposed to get showers for the next few days, including while Lauren's here. I won't have too many more chances to enjoy a nice ride before she comes! It was a little busy on Nicholson Road; otherwise, the traffic wasn't too horrible. The trees are looking greener every day. Gardens are now filled with deep purple irises and azaleas in every color of the rainbow.
When I got home, I had scrambled eggs with asparagus and tomatoes while watching one more Backyardigans episode. Austin's ready for his first "Race Around the World." Uniqua, Tyrone, and Pablo have already won gold medals. Austin's ready to show that he can win his own medal...but what he really proves is how important it is to be prepared for anything.
Put on Dog Day Afternoon while I made Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Bars from the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies recipe in Kit's Cooking Studio, and later while online. Sonny Wortzik (Al Pacino) and his buddies Sal (John Cazale) and Stevie (John Springer) hold up a bank in Brooklyn...but this is their first heist, and in all honesty, they're not very good at it. Almost everyone in the bank calls them on it at one time or another. In fact, Stevie loses his nerve and runs out early. Sonny's even less thrilled when he discovers that the bank has already had their pick-up and doesn't have that much money left. Sonny grabs checks instead, then burns the bank's register...which alerts the police that something is wrong. They hold the bank employees hostage, even after Sergeant Moretti (Charles Durning) turns off the lights and air conditioning. Turns out Sonny is partially robbing the bank to fund his current wife Leon's (Chris Sarandon) change into a full woman. Even as events rapidly spiral out of control, Sonny's anti-establishment ranting and being relatively decent to the frightened employees turns him into something of a hero among the crowds.
If you ever wondered if a movie that's three-fourths Al Pacino shouting curse words and anti-establishment rants would be entertaining..well, here's your answer. This is an intense and darkly humorous stand-off between a guy who's not having an easy time and a cop who would rather he didn't do it around people. Durning and Pacino give career-best performances; Pacino and Chris Sarandon got Oscar nods, as did the film and director Sidney Lumet. (The original screenplay won.) If you're a fan of Pacino, heist films, or the movies of the 70's, this is absolutely essential viewing.
No comments:
Post a Comment