Thursday, June 04, 2020

June Is Bustin' Out All Over

Began a sunny day with breakfast and Strawberry Shortcake on The Roku Channel. The girls think it'll be a "Piece of Cake" when Ginger Snap suggests they put on their own cooking show. Orange Blossom is too shy to participate beyond helping with the set, but when the others get angry after their recipes are eaten and the show is a disaster, she has to step up and prove that she's as good of a baker as anyone else.

Switched to The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour while getting organized. The panel on the show the week of New Year's Eve 1983 brought together actors from the original Leave It to Beaver...and, for some reason, then-popular comedian Gallagher. I wasn't a fan of Beaver myself as a kid, but Barbara Billingsly and Jerry Matthers in particular were so much fun to watch, I kind of wish they'd turned up in the 70's Match Game. (With the death of Ken Osmond, who played Wally's best friend Eddie, two weeks ago, this is actually a rather fitting tribute.)

Headed out after the show ended to run to the grocery store. I'd originally planned on getting the laundry done today, but I heard the storms may continue tomorrow and I wanted to make the longer trip while Mother Nature behaved. Actually, it was supposed to rain today, but it never did. It remained sunny, breezy, hot, and humid as I strolled down the Black Horse Pike to the Acme.

I forgot it's the beginning of the month. While not overwhelmingly crowded, there were a lot more people in the store than when I went shopping last week. I mainly needed fruit and vegetables again. Strawberries and blueberries were still on decent sales; cherries weren't, but they looked better than the grapes did. A four-pack of tomatoes were also on sale, and I had an online coupon for bananas. Treated myself to a bag of low-sugar organic frozen juice bars I spied in a display up front. Found the last relatively cheap generic bag of sugar on the shelf. It had a rip in the bottom, but I wrapped it in a plastic bag. Restocked canned black beans, canned diced tomatoes (both with the lowest salt I could find), milk, powdered sugar (mine somehow hardened), and yogurt. Bought a bottle of flavored water from the clearance rack for the walk home.

Put everything away when I got home while watching Doc McStuffins on Hulu. "Caught Blue-Handed" is especially appropriate right now. Several of Doc's toys, including Chilly the snowman, end up covered in blue dots. Doc calls it "Mystery Pox" and recruits her remaining toys to figure out where they came from and how they spread. Doc, Lambie the cuddly lamb, and Stuffy the dragon learn about non-verbal communication when they have to find a rubber duck's lost squeaker box at a mini-water park in "To Squeak or Not to Squeak."

Returned to Buzzr as I did therapy on my arm and worked on crocheting a dish rag. Elaine Joyce and Richard Moll continue on Super Password. Elaine did much better here than she usually does on Match Game, getting her contestant to the bonus round and helping him win at least once. Married singer and songwriter Julie London and Bobby Troupe were once again the big winners on Tattletales over comedian Army Arnard and his wife Selma and Orson Bean and his wife Carolyn.

Moved to writing after Tattletales ended. First, inspired by yesterday's Match Game episodes, I made Johnny Olsen the queen's page and announcer who doesn't give the Queen away. He announces Fannie, who immediately catches Richard's eye. Fairies Jo Ann (Pflug) and Joyce (Bulifant) are there as her ladies-in-waiting. Jo Ann dances with a nobleman. Joyce (who has done singing in real-life) joined Charles for the big romantic dance to "It Only Takes a Moment."

Had leftover Tuscan Tuna Bean Salad with cucumber and spring greens for dinner while watching more Match Game. Ira Skutch, the show's producer and judge, was unusually lenient with one of Richard's Head-to-Head Match answers in the first episode. It wasn't 100 percent right, but close enough that for once, he let it pass. The second show was one of my favorites of the entire series. Charles Nelson Reilly returned from his six-month directing hiatus in the most spectacular way possible. He was dropped down center stage via flying harness and a stuffed bird!

No one could get anywhere close to that new young champ on Sale of the Century. The other two contestants just kept getting everything wrong. The guy bought two Instant Bargains (he said he was a klutz and would probably break the glassware set offered in the first) and flew right through the speed round. Despite looking seriously at the gold bars in the Indiana Jones-themed prizes, he opted to return and try for the bigger ones down the line.

Finished the night with Carousel. I go further into this darkly romantic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical tragedy at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Carousel (1956)

Oh, and it did finally storm...around 11:30, when I was long online and chatting with Lauren. While the thunder and pyrotechnics are long gone, the rain continues to patter heavily on the roof.

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