Summer In the Fall

Began a cloudy, humid morning with breakfast and my first Halloween special of the season, Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special. This is mainly bits and pieces of horror-themed shorts strung together by the slight story of Witch Hazel chasing Bugs. While there's no full shorts, they also at least use cartoons set at Halloween (unlike the Bugs Easter special).

Switched to my Halloween covers CDs while doing some chores. Though it's been warm during the day, it's gotten cold at night. I pulled out my old warm deer print blanket after making the bed. Moved on to vacuuming after I finished, then shook out the rugs.

I didn't like the look of the weather. It was cloudy, humid, and warm for the time of year, in the lower 80's. I headed out a little earlier than usual to beat the weather to Westmont. Stopped at Genova's Pizza for their cheap $1.00 cheese slices and a can of Dr. Pepper. Watched an adorable little boy ask for a second slice of pepperoni pizza for him and his mom, then took my pizza and soda outside. Even with the wind and humidity, it was still nicer than sitting in the stuffy main dining area.

The Haddon Township Library wasn't too busy when I arrived, but they must have been earlier. Even with another volunteer shelving items, there were still a lot of DVDs to put away. I couldn't fit many of them in, especially the S titles. I did take a few out this week. Since I enjoyed the Ruth Bader Ginsberg biography last week, I thought I'd try another biopic, this one on one of my favorite classic comedy teams, Stan & Ollie. Found the fairly recent Disney Channel movie Z.O.M.B.I.E.S, on a high school that has started accepting undead students, for review this week, along with the seventh season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

Made a very quick stop at Target on the way home. I was almost out of sugar. They listed it at $2.29, not super-cheap, but better than Acme. To my delight, it came up $1.99, which is more on a par with Dollar General. Also grabbed a Bai coconut drink for the ride back to my place.

Since I'd left early and gotten in early, I thought I'd finally finish the cleaning and get the dusting in. I wasn't going do it heavily, just enough so I can get the Halloween decorations down sometime this week. I'll do heavier dusting next month in anticipation of the Christmas holidays.

Got started with Season 7 of My Little Pony as I cleaned. Turns out I'd already seen most of the episodes on the first disc on other sets. There were only two that were totally new to me. Elegant Maud Pie creates a "Rock Solid Friendship" with Starlight Shimmer when she moves to Ponyville, but her sister Pinkie keeps butting in and limiting their time together. Scootaloo is thrilled when she meets her idol Rainbow Dash's mom and dad in "Parental Gildance." Turns out there's a reason Rainbow never mentioned them. They're too enthusiastic about her achievements, loudly cheering every little thing she does. Rainbow is embarrassed, until Scootaloo reminds her that not every parent is as supportive of their children.

Did some writing afterwards. Used some of the opening of Spy Blank here. (I'll re-write that later.) Ira tells Richard he's only doing what his bosses tell him to do, and Rich should do likewise. He's a little more subtle about hitting on Brett this time, but Richard still jumps in to say "lay off" before Charles can. When Ira turns on Charles for having the fairy tale book there, he defuses the situation by claiming he intends to use it for a gag in the opening introductions.

Richard tells Charles he should be more aggressive with Ira, but Charles fears losing a job he's come to really love. After the pugnacious Brit storms down to his desk, Charles laments that everyone sees him as a milquetoast or a hammy villain, not a prince charming like Richard. Brett reassures him that he's the hero of his own story, and that he's more courageous than he thinks he is. She goes to get something for lunch, and Charles returns to his book...but he drifts off, imagining what it would be like to be the valiant hero once in a while...

Broke for dinner at quarter of 7. Had leftovers, then made Chocolate Chip Snack Cake (mixed right in the pan!) while watching the cult sword-and-sorcery film Willow. Willow (Warwick Davis) is a Nelwyn, a race of small people who live in a wooded area and are mostly farmers. He'd love to become a magician, but he lacks confidence. He gets the chance to prove he has what it takes when his children discover a human baby on the river. Turns out the baby is wanted by the evil Bavmorda (Jean Marsh), who wishes to destroy her before a prophecy can come to pass. Willow and several other Nelwyns set out to turn the baby over to a human who will protect her. That human is not Mad Martigan (Val Kilmer), a roguish warrior-turned-thief whom they find on the road. He loses the baby, whom Willow finds among the brownies. They're the ones who tell him that it's up to him and Mad Martigan to bring the baby past  Bavmorda and her strong-willed daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) to safety. The two make an unlikely friendship as they travel across the land...and Willow discovers that the real magic is in his own good heart.

An old family favorite. We watched this one a lot after taping it off cable somewhere around 1987-88. Mom was especially fond of it - she loved Mad Martigan! It's still a lot of fun to watch today, especially Davis and Kilmer's antagonistic relationship and the hilarious brownies, tiny creatures who tag along and make more than their share of mischief. If you're a fan of 80's fantasy or the cast, you'll want to find the real magic in this one.