Started off another hazy, sunny morning with Goof Troop. This is the second Disney Afternoon show to turn up at the Haddon Township Library. Unlike Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers, I didn't get to see this one when it was new. The show debuted in September 1992, six months after Mom had our cable turned off due to high rates. I occasionally caught episodes in re-runs when I was in college, but I never saw the original run. It's more of a typical sitcom than Chip n' Dale or Ducktales. Basically, Goofy and his son Max live next door to Pete and his family, including his son PJ. Max and PJ are friends. Goofy and Pete aren't as friendly. Max concocts schemes while their fathers try to compete and help raise their sons.
In the first regular episode, PJ is feeling "Axed by Addition" when his father threatens to ground him for life if he gets a bad grade on a test. Terrified that he'll never be allowed out again, PJ creates a list of all the things he's always wanted to do but never did. Max has him fake illness to get out of school so he can do everything, which leads Pete to think his son is deathly sick. He follows them all over town while they try to finish out the list.
Pete adores his boat more than anything...except his wife Peg, a real estate broker. In "Unreal Estate," Peg wants Pete to pay a handyman to take care of a certain property she wants to show off. Pete spends it on a fish finder for his boat and ends up hiring Goofy to do it instead.
Headed out to work shortly after the episode ended. Work was a bit of a pain. I was alone for most of the afternoon, until about 3 PM. I alternated between doing the carts and sweeping the store. I might have done this faster if I didn't end up in the register a few times. One of the cashiers called out, a teenager who takes off at least once a week. You'd never know we were between quiet and mildly steady for most of the day, given how fast the carts vanished. Didn't help that it was humid and hot as heck. Two young men arrived later to take over the carts and sweeping, giving me a chance to round up baskets and the outside trash and recycling before I ended up in the register again.
Wanted to get a few things after work. I like eating Fig Newtons during the summer when it's too hot to bake. The good Nabisco cookies are usually too expensive, but Acme was having a decent sale. Also grabbed a bagel for lunch tomorrow and a Snickers Almond Butter Bar.
Went into writing when I got home. Harris insists that Leia leave with him. She's not thrilled with the idea, but Charlie runs out and says they really don't have a choice. Most of the other Rebel League members have left, and the remaining transport vehicles are full or out of commission. It looks like the Falcon might not work for a minute, before it finally takes off into the winter sky...to the frustration of Darth "Father of Death" Vader, who wants his family together at any cost.
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Squeezed a little more Goof Troop in. Max and PJ get into trouble playing pranks on the first day of summer vacation, prompting their fathers to take them camping. The four guys learn that "You Camp Take It With You" when the dad's competing against each other first makes a mess of Goof's tent and Pete's attempt at fishing, then pits them against Humphrey the Bear and his own son.
Moved on to Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga after dinner. Worked on the rest of the Empire episodes. Considering how long it is in Story Mode, "Dagobah" didn't take nearly as long as it usually does. Easily got all the pieces there. "Falcon Flight" was more complicated, involving switching from the Millennium Falcon to one of the TIE Fighters in order enter special TIE-only areas and get the remaining pieces. I had such a hard time with "Hoth Battle," I got the red brick but still missed one piece. I'll go back for it another time.
Finished the night after a shower with Colette. Colette (Keira Knightly) is a Frenchwoman living the countryside when she falls for and marries Willy (Dominic West), who has several people ghostwriting books for him but can't make the money to cover his lavish lifestyle. Colette threatens to leave him when she learns he's having affairs, but he convinces her to return and write novels for him based after her school days. When he does release her book, about a school girl named Claudine, they become a sensation. He buys a house in the country and locks Colette in, telling her to write more stories. They become one of the most famous couples in Paris, but Colette isn't happy. She has an affair with a woman, only to learn that Willy did, too...and her next story about the affair prompts the woman's husband to destroy the copies. Fortunately, Willy has the copyright.
Emboldened by her first taste of real freedom, Colette begins an affair with the mannish Marquise de Mornay (Denise Gough) and convinces her to start a stage act. The act shocks Paris, but that just makes Colette even bolder. She's ready to take her life and her work back from Willy, and realize that she's so much more than a schoolgirl on the page.
Impressive story of a woman who learns that she doesn't have to be the things her husband or society wants her to be. Knightly and West dominate the film as the man who revels in his newfound fame, even if it isn't his, and the woman who writing provides the way to finally free her from the constraints of gender and society. If you're a fan of either of the stars or Colette herself and her work, you'll want to take a look at this.
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