Sun In the Wind

Kicked off my morning with breakfast and the second half of Blockbusters. Came in as that young man champ played a pair of sisters. He just won the first round as I sat down with breakfast. They were half-way through the second as the episode ended.

Switched to Doc McStuffins as I cleaned up from breakfast. "Itty Bitty Bess Takes Flight" takes us into Women's History Month. Doc's mom gives her an antique toy version of Bessie "Queen" Coleman, the first African-American and Native American woman to earn her international pilot's license, and her tri-wing plane. Bessie is dismayed she can't do tricks, but it turns out that she and the plane have rusty joints. Even after Doc's dad applies rust remover, they have to loosen Bessie's joints. Doc's new Spanish flamenco dancing doll is "Boxed In." She's so nervous about getting messy, she won't leave her box. The others hold a dance marathon to show her how much fun it can be to leave your comfort zone.

Went into Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood after Doc ended. "Daniel Asks First" when he needs a drumstick and he borrows Margaret's spoon and gets her upset. Later, when he's at Jodi's house, her Nana scolds her for taking her brother's carrot stick without asking. Jodi's even less happy when one of her little brothers snatch her stuffed hedgehog while she and Dan are using him as their audience. Dan and the kids at school learn "Friends Ask First" when Prince Wednesday takes O the Owl's book before he's finished reading it to the class and Dan tries to take Miss Elaina's blocks. 

Buzzr is still in Match Game '78 at noon. The first episode had everyone teasing Betty about the trained elephant she worked with in a Johnny Carson episode. We got a concert in the second, as a choir in the audience performed "Sweet Adeline"...prompting the panelists to do the same towards the end.

Went online while the episodes were on and finally bought my new bike. The sun yellow is listed as "Call for Availability." I'm tired of phone calls and waiting, so I bought the French Blue instead. I'm happy either way, and the blue is nearly as bright as the yellow. Called Rose and told her voice mail, then tried to print out the receipt. Unfortunately, only half of it printed for some reason. I'll try again later this weekend. 

Headed out to the laundromat shortly after getting offline. While it was still cold and very windy, the sun was nice when you could get into it. I settled outside on the concrete barrier and worked on story notes while my large load ran through the washer. After I switched them to the drier, I treated myself to a Macha Mint Smoothie at a busy WaWa. Very sweet and earthy...and very, very green! I'll have to try another Macha Smoothie on or around St. Patrick's Day.

Put on Tattletales as soon as I got home. I made another smoothie, this one Banana-Cherry-Watermelon, while Dick Gautier and his mouthy then-wife Barbara Stuart, Robert Vaughn and his wife Linda, and Arte Johnson and his Swiss model wife Gisele joked about which features of Burt Convy's the guys would want on their bodies. At the last minute, Dick and Barbara were the only ones who got the last question, which allowed them to come from behind and win the game.

Put the laundry away during the first half of Press Your Luck. Money and spins flew fast and furious in this one...but so did Whammies. One of the ladies Whammied out within the first two minutes of the second round. It kept going back and forth between the other two, until the man won a huge payout that got him the game.

Worked on writing for a while after the show ended. Charles catches a western novel when Richard angrily throws it. He's surprised to see Richard reading the original Zorro novel The Curse of Capistrano. Richard admits it's an escape between tapings. He finally goes to talk to Brett, leaving his British friend to finish packing...and to wonder what it would be like if he could give justice old west style...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had scrambled eggs with spinach and mushrooms while watching Match Game '76. Betty White's mother Tess, whom she adored, was in the audience the audience that night. She usually went to every one of Betty's tapings, but apparently she'd been sick the last time Betty was on the show. 

Snuggled on the futon with Pluto and my biography of Bill Cullen as Match Game PM came on. Appropriately, he was on the panel in this episode, along with feisty redheads Debralee Scott and Fannie Flagg. Gene got very tongue-tied asking a tongue question to a pretty traveling saleswoman (I loved the lilacs in her hair) and a gentleman with a considerable mustache, while everyone jokes about what Fannie's IQ score is the same as.

Sale of the Century was close again, but in a somewhat higher-scoring game. The other guy bought the Instant Cash, but the one lady bought an Instant Bargain and beat the guy by one question. She won the bonus round with two minutes left after missing the first puzzle.

Finished up online with vintage western tales. Annie Oakley, which is currently on The Roku Channel, is the rare female-centered 50's western show. Annie and her little brother Tagg hitch a ride with an elderly train manager whose vehicles have been robbed three times. His manager son, dubbed a "brass collar" by cowpokes Annie, Tagg, and deputy Lofty, comes to the station determined to do things "by the book" and fire his father. Annie and her boys teach him that you don't always have to do things by the book to get the job done when they save him and the gold bullion on the train. I really enjoyed this episode, especially the action and Annie's take-charge character.  I'll definately check out more of this one. 

The 1975 Italian Zorro is also currently at The Roku Channel. Moved from California to Nueva Aragon (New Spain, aka Mexico) during the early 1800's, this dubbed swashbuckler has Don Diego (Alain Delon) taking over for the murdered governor of the colony. From here, the story proceeds more-or-less the same. Don Diego poses as a fop while secretly posing as Zorro, the masked avenger who fights for justice. He leads corrupt Colonel Huerta (Stanley Baker) off his trail first by having Zorro threaten the governor, then by making it appear that he and the governor are killed. He shows up to rescue the lovely Hortensia Pulido (Ottavia Piccolo) from having to marry the dastardly military leader to save her family.

Wish the copy at Roku was in better shape. The print they have is soft, scratchy, and not always the easiest to watch. I figured this would be cheesy as heck, but it was actually a lot of fun. There were some great set pieces, including a brawl at an outdoor market and the incident with the governor's carriage, and Delon makes both a very funny fop and a wonderfully dashing Zorro. Baker makes a great scenery-chewing villain opposite him. It's actually an interesting look at how one country adapts the icons and stories of another.