Flying Dreams

Began a hot morning with breakfast and Blockbusters. A young woman played a handsome young married couple. It was a close game, with neither having the advantage. The woman won the first round, only to see the couple just barely get the second. They were mid-way through the second round when the show ended.

Switched to cartoons while I did the dishes. Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood begins at school, with Dan, Katerina, and O pretending that they have to defend their castle from Prince Wednesday the Dragon. But "Daniel Wants to Be Alone" and do some drawing when they get too noisy. At home, he has to find "Daniel's Alone Space" when his family keeps interrupting his attempts to read and draw by himself.

Moved to Molly of Denali as I made my grocery list and got my cart and bag together. Molly and Tooey are excited to pick strawberries from their friend Trini's garden, but they discover that the garden is flooded. Turns out that "Busy Beavers" have built a dam at a near-by pond. They first try to remove the dam, but when the beavers rebuild it, they have to think like beavers to divert the stream from Trini's garden. Trini is hoping to earn her first Explorers badge on a night-time camp out when they go on a hike to find nocturnal animals in "The Night Watchers." Molly, Trini, and Tooey's group easily find the first two animals, but it takes more searching, and a lot of persistence from Trini, to figure out what the third animal is.

The only errand I had planned for today was a grocery store run. I was originally going to go shopping on Friday, but it's supposed to get stormy by then. I'm glad I changed my mind. The day was sunny, bright, and a little humid, not a bad day for a long walk...which may be why the Acme was pin-drop quiet. There were no lines inside or out, and I walked right into a register with no waiting. I found ground turkey with a manager's 30 % off coupon. Checking boxes in the cereal aisle revealed that Kashi had the lowest salt. I went with their tasty Cinnamon Harvest wheats. Coconut milk quarts were on sale in the breakfast food aisle, too. Grabbed blue corn chips to go with dinner tonight. Decided I'd try a bag of spring greens this time for leafy greens. Restocked strawberries, cherries, blueberries, bananas, carrots, scallions, mouthwash, parchment paper, and yogurt.

Had the yogurt with blueberries, honey, and strawberries when I got home. Watched Password Plus and Super Password while I ate and crocheted a yellow dish rag. Marcia Wallace did much better on Plus than she usually does on Match Game; Robert Foxworth joined her. Orson Bean and Jo Ann Worley celebrated with a Minnesota college student who breezed through the Super Password bonus round and won $5,000 on Super.

Tattletales started just as I pulled out a few overripe bananas. It's too hot to bake now, but I still wanted dessert. Made banana sherbet from a low-fat dessert cookbook that required bananas, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. I replaced the rum that was also called for with a few tablespoons of cocoa. Today's winning couples were gay pals Dick Sargent and Fannie Flagg and goofy married couple John Astin and Patty Duke. (Prolific, too. Astin and Duke had five kids, three from Duke's first marriage, including MacKenzie and Sean Astin.)

I'd just put the banana sherbet into the freezer as Press Your Luck began. No one did well on the first round. The two challengers ran into Whammies and won nothing. The lady champ with the big glasses did get hit with a whammy, but she was the only one who managed to pick up money. She eventually ended up winning big in the second round, picking up two vacations and a bedroom set that put her into the show's Hall of Fame.

Worked on writing for a while after the show ended. Ira angrily tells Orson to put him down so he can get the rest of his men to the ball. Orson gleefully opts to throw him over the treetops instead. When Charles and Clifton do arrive at Password Palace with Debralee the water fairy on their heels, they find Ira sputtering in the moat. Deb sends angry water fowl after him before he can recognize the two men on horseback.

Broke for dinner at 6. Made Tex-Mex Black Bean Dip with blue corn chips while watching Match Game. The Misspelling Bee continues, along with Carol Bartos' run as champ. In fact, she became the show's all-time big-winning champ at that point in the first episode, with help from Richard Dawson and his uncanny ability to match in the Head-to-Head round. Along with Fannie, Bob Barker was the one who fully admitted he couldn't spell this time.

Carol wasn't tonight's only big winner on a Buzzr show tonight. Tim the musician champ went for all the prizes, including the big jackpot, on Sale of the Century. He won them by a wide margin. No one else got close to him, especially in the speed round. I believe he would remain the show's biggest champ during it's run, and would be the only one to win everything before the show changed to add bonus rounds.

Went online to watch The Secret of NIMH free on YouTube after a shower. Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman) is desperately worried about her family. Her son Timothy (Ian Fried) is sick with pneumonia and can't get out of bed, but the plow will be coming through soon, and they'll have to move. On advice from local busybody Auntie Shrew (Hermoine Badderly), she visits the majestic Great Owl (John Carradine), who sends her to the rose bush near the farmhouse. The bush is the home of a society of super-intelligent rats who escaped the NIMH laboratories. Most of the rats, including their leader Nichodemus (Derek Jacobi), want to move to a safer place where they won't have to steal what they need anymore. There's a splinter faction lead by crafty Jenner (Paul Shenar) who thinks they're fine where they are and refuses to upset the rose bush. Mrs. Brisby gets caught in the middle of the intrigue when she convinces the rats to help her move her home. With the help of a magic amulet and her own good heart, she and the rats learn the importance of courage in the face of danger, and that there's no stronger love than that of a mother.

One of my favorite movies since childhood. As much as I enjoy Anastasia, An American Tail, and The Land Before Time, I consider this to be Don Bluth's strongest solo effort. The animation is lush and detailed, the characters are strong and memorable, Jerry Goldsmith's score is stunning, and the story is unusually thoughtful and mature for an animated movie. This is a must-see for families with older kids and young teens who can handle the darker themes.

Finished the night at YouTube before and after the Match Game syndicated premiere with episodes of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. "Vanessa" (Shelley Fabares) is a beautiful young woman who bears a striking resemblance to her great-great-grandmother, a woman whom Captain Gregg once loved. Trouble is, she wants to buy the cottage, meaning the Muirs would have to leave.

Claymore proves to be more of a problem when he becomes "A Pain In the Neck" after a slipped disk leaves him unable to move. The Muirs and the Captain cater to his every fussy whim, to their annoyance. The Captain insists that Claymore wants the attention, but Carolyn thinks he's lonely and needs to be around people.