I stayed up late doing last night's entry and slept until 10. Finally started the morning with breakfast. After I ate, I tried something different and made blueberry donuts in the pan Mom gave me a year and a half ago. They tasted pretty good, but a couple fell apart when I pulled them out. For some reason, I just can't get the big ones to stay together.
Watched the 1940 version of Irene on the TV Time Musicals app as I worked. I go further into British movie star Anna Neagle's first attempt to break into Hollywood at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Irene (1940)
Watched a little Match Game '74 as I got organized and ready to go. Orson Bean and his Vermont wit and dainty southern beauty Mary Ann Mobley joined Gene, Betty White, and the regulars as they celebrated returning to their regular home at Studio 33 in Television City (now known as the Bob Barker Studio). The contestant struck out in the first Audience Match (no one got the top answer for "Turtle"), but did better in the second.
Took the Uber to Cherry Hill at around 1. There was no traffic anywhere as the car headed down Route 70, and we arrived at the Cooper Orthopedics building in plenty of time. To my embarrassment, I discovered when I got to the office that my appointment was for tomorrow, not today! I have no idea why I wrote down today on my calendar. I dashed out of the building as quickly as possible.
Wasn't terribly happy when I hit the sidewalk. Normally, I might have gone out to lunch at that point to cheer me up, or continued down Route 70 to the shopping center with Jo Ann's and Shop Rite. I really don't want or need to be ordering things curbside, and I'm not supposed to be eating the salt-laden junk most of the fast food restaurants near the hotel and Cooper Orthopedics sell anyway.
It still seemed a shame to waste the trip. I wandered behind the two buildings and across the street. There's a grassy spot between woods directly across the street from Cooper. Strolling to the riverside revealed roots that created a narrow staircase down to the banks. The view was green and peaceful, with no one around but Canadian geese going for a swim. The day was still cool, but cloudy and more humid than it has been, no day for lingering.
There used to be a mini golf course next to the Cooper River Bridge and across the street from the Crown Plaza Hotel. The golf course closed in 2016 and was mostly dismantled, except for a large sand trap and two buildings. A storage shed is oddly in good shape despite having boards under (not on) the windows, but the former concession stand and ball counter is rotting and falling to bits. Exploring the area revealed a fabulous view of the bridge, a patch of gravel and a boardwalk that look like they've been kept up, and small pine trees and grass and weeds that most definitely have not. I even found fuzzy green patches where the golf courses themselves once were.
Even if I should have been more careful with my appointments, at least the walk was lovely. With everything going on, it was almost cathartic to find a quiet space of my own that no one knew about. I saw maybe two people the entire time I was there. One was on a bike, and neither of them came anywhere close to the golf course or the river.
(Speaking of it being a shame to waste things, I wonder what they intend to do with that space? It's a great location with a wonderful view, one of the largest hotels in the area across the street, a medical building a block away, and one of the larger parks in the area a few blocks in the other direction. They could put a gazebo there and use it as outdoor meeting space for the hotel, or reincorporate it into the country park system.)
After Uber dropped me off, I made a lemon glaze for the donuts while watching Super Password. Bubbly Elaine Joyce and deadpan big guy Richard Moll were the celebrities helping out today. Elaine in particular lead her first contestant through the bonus round in record time. I was working on another dishrag by the time Tattletales came on. Orson Bean turned up here as well with his wife Carolyn Jones. They were joined by married songwriter Bobby Troupe and his shy singer wife Julie London and comedian Army Archerd and his wife Selma. Long-time married couple Julie and Bobby were by far the big winners, getting almost every question right.
Worked on writing for a while after the show ended. Clifton calls Charles over to begin the music as Betty has to explain her amphibian escort to Sir Larry Blyden. Charles borrows a lute just as the disguised Richard, Gene, and their entourage arrive...and make a sensation with the women...
Broke for dinner at 6 and returned to Match Game. Tough Scoey Mitchlll may not have been the best at playing the game, but he was always entertaining, even when he didn't quite get what was going on. He was joined by Fannie Flagg, Broadway singer Karen Morrow, Gene, Richard, Brett, and an eager Gary Burghoff replacing Charles Nelson Reilly while he was on hiatus. Sale of the Century was almost a repeat of yesterday, with everyone buying or winning something and the champ pulling ahead at the last minute. Once again, he opted to return for better prizes later.
Finished the night after a shower with It's a Living. Tubi currently has the first two seasons of one of my favorite childhood sitcoms for free with ads. Five waitresses at the super-modern Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles work for Nancy (Marian Mercer), the strict but well-meaning woman matre 'd. Vicki (Wendy Schaal) is the newest recruit, a naive college girl who just moved to LA. Peppy Dot (Gail Edwards) is hoping for an acting career. Hot-tempered Jan (Barrie Youngfellow) and sensible Lois (Susan Sullivan) are moms earning money for their children and families. Cassie (Ann Jillian) is the resident wisecracker who is basically known for sleeping around. Also working there are elderly cook Mario (Bert Remsen) and smarmy pianist Sonny (Paul Kreppel), the latter of whom hits on anything that does or doesn't move.
Ran the first four episodes of the series tonight, starting with the pilot episode. Vicki isn't sure that she wants to spend a weekend with a guy she doesn't know very well. The other women offer advice to her about how to handle the relationship. "The Intruder" invades when Lois is holding a slumber party with the other women at her house. They prove that there's safety in numbers when they end up holding off a burglar themselves. Cassie and Vicki become "Roomies" when Cassie's apartment isn't ready for her to move in. Cassie, however, is tired of Vicki's cheerfulness and her parakeet but can't quite bring herself to throw her out. Vicki adores her dad who raised her alone, but he becomes a "Fallen Idol" when she catches him in bed with Nancy.
My sisters and I loved this show when we were kids. We watched the later syndicated episodes religiously on Channel 17. Growing up at the Jersey Shore, we were more than familiar with fancy restaurants, huge expensive hotels, sarcastic waitresses, and slightly creepy lounge singers. My mother was one of those women. She worked at the Ugly Mug, a popular bar and restaurant in Cape May, as a cook for a couple of years in the mid-80's.
The show is as much fun as I remember it, especially Ann Jillian as the man-crazy Cassie who gets all the best lines. I hope the syndicated episodes show up on Tubi eventually as well. I remember later additions like Sheryl Lee Ralph and Crystal Bernard being just as funny.
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