Began the morning with breakfast and two early first season episodes of Sailor Moon. Usagi acts as a matchmaker for the first time in "The Melody of Love: Usagi Plays Cupid." A cassette tape that can drain energy ends up in the hands of a love-sick jazz pianist, who thinks it's the ballad he wrote for the younger woman he has a crush on. Usagi does her best to bring them together, and then protect them when they're attacked by Jadeite's monster.
We go back to school in "The Girl Genius Is a Monster: The Brainwashing Cram School of Horror." Ami Mizuno is a sweet, shy girl who also happens to be the most brilliant student in Usagi's school. Usagi befriends her, but Luna suspects that she may be a monster after they discover a disk in her bag that removes energy. Ami is magical, but she's no monster...and when she's attacked, Luna gives her a wand to turn her into Sailor Mercury, the Guardian of Ice!
It was gloomy, cloudy, windy, and cold for this time of year when I headed out to the laundromat. I had a big load to do, including towels. It was busier than I thought it would be, given the weather. There were a lot of people in and out. I worked on story notes and ignored the news blaring about Hurricane Dorian leaving the Carolinas and Days of Our Lives.
It was raining when I hurried out. The rain was down to a shower by the time I was heading home, but I still got wet. Thankfully, to my knowledge, it hasn't rained since. (Though it does remain cold, humid, and windy.)
Put everything away when I got home, then had lunch and did the dishes. The weather practically screamed for spooky movies. I started off with the East Side Kids vehicle Spooks Run Wild. The Kids are at a camp, annoying the law school student who runs the place. They sneak out for a date and cut through a graveyard, where one is shot in the arm by the groundskeeper. The only place to rest for miles is a spooky old castle, where a man in a tuxedo (Bela Lugosi) offers to restore him. The place is filled with tricks and scares, making the Kids wish they'd just stayed at camp. Meanwhile, the school's nurse goes after the boys, even as a homicidal killer is supposedly loose in the area.
Headed out to the Acme around 2 for this week's grocery shopping. Found two packs of large salmon patties with manager's coupons and thought I'd try them. (They were listed as salmon burgers, but they were too big to fit on any burger roll.) Had free grocery rewards coupons for the Acme's sparkling drink. Restocked whole wheat flour, skim milk, Belvita Pumpkin Spice cookies, hot dogs, sugar, cake mix, ice cream, and yogurt. Found a jar of pink spring sprinkles and sugar for a dollar on the clearance racks. Grabbed Cepecol to help with my throat.
Mixed feelings on my schedule next week. In good news, Sunday and Tuesday off will give me plenty of time to prepare for vacation starting next Friday. In bad news...I really could have used more hours. I'm surprised I'm not working at least Tuesday.
As soon as I got home, I put everything away, then decided it was perfect weather for cookie baking. The snickerdoodles I made for the retirement party at work came out so well, I decided I wanted to fill my own cookie jar. Oooh, these came out even better, perfectly sweet and chewy.
Stuck to comic mysteries while I made the cookies with Murder By Death. Five famous vintage detectives and their sidekicks are invited to the home of eccentric millionaire Lionel Twain (Truman Capote) for "dinner and a murder." Twain is tired of never figuring out the stories in their books and wants to prove that he's the greatest living detective. When he turns out to be the victim, the others have to figure out who did him in...and if any crime was actually committed at all.
Like the later Clue, this is a great spoof of mysteries with an awesome all-star cast at the top of their game. Along with Capote, we have David Niven and Maggie Smith as the Nick and Nora Charles expys, Peter Sellars as the obviously not-Chinese Charlie Chan detective, Peter Faulk as the Bogart-esque Sam Spade private eye, and Elsa Lanchester as the Miss Marple nice old lady detective. There's also Sir Alec Guinness as a blind butler and Nancy Walker as a deaf-mute maid who can't communicate well enough to get dinner together. Neil Simon had a lot of fun with the satire of beloved mystery-land figures. A lot of fun if you're familiar with the detectives Simon is parodying here.
Worked on writing as soon as the cookies were in the oven. Brett is horrified when she sees ghosts through the telescope on the top of the lighthouse that seems to be crowded around a bound and terrified Charles. The three women manage to shine the light down on the ghosts long enough to reveal them and break them away from Charles. Getting his glasses on his face allows him to "see" the ghosts...and defy what he's frightened of.
Didn't break for dinner until almost 7:30. Made that slightly spicy salmon patty with salad and corn on the cob, then went online. Watched Sorry, Wrong Number as I ate. One night, bedridden, bratty heiress Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck) picks up the phone and accidentally overhears two men plotting a murder. She first tells the telephone company and the police, but they're no help. She then calls her husband Henry's (Burt Lancaster) office. He works for her father James (Ed Begley) at a chemical company, but he's late coming home and hasn't been seen all day. Sally Lord (Ann Richards), who had once been in love with Henry, tells him that her husband, attorney Fred Lord (Leif Erikson), is close to completing a major case that involves Henry. He's been restless at work with big ideas, some of which may be criminal. As Leona pieces together what Henry's really up to, she begins to realize that the murder being plotted may be her own.
Tense, atmospheric noir based on a much-loved radio play. Barbara Stanwyck got an Oscar nomination as the woman who grows more and more hysterical as she pieces together more of the truth. Lancaster almost matches her as the conniving husband who may or may not love his wife's money more than her. If you love tense, dark thrillers or are a fan of Stanwyck or Lancaster, you'll want to give this one a look.
No comments:
Post a Comment