Some of the cartoons I did get to see were among Disney's best. The Oscar-winning "The Tortoise and the Hare" is a very cute retelling of the famous Aesop's Fable. Max Hare races slow Toby Tortoise. He thinks he's a lock to win, but is easily distracted by lunch and pretty girl bunnies. Toby eventually shows him why slow and steady wins the race (by a nose).
"Elmer Elephant" is a sweet little fellow who attends cute Tillie Tiger's birthday party, only to be made fun of by the other animal kids over his long trunk. They aren't laughing when that trunk is the only thing that can save Tillie from her burning treehouse! "Babes In the Woods" is a retelling of "Hansel and Gretel." Here, the witch has turned all the kids - including Hansel - into scary animals, and the duo are rescued by spry little dwarfs.
Headed out around quarter of 11 to hit the farm market...but first, I stopped at a yard sale in West Collingswood, a couple of blocks down from the White Horse Pike. The lady in charge said her daughters were grown and they were clearing out their childhood book collection. Wow! They had kids books going as far back as the 50's, possibly the 30's, Golden Books from the 60s through the 90's, recent pre-teen novels, and a lot of 80's and 90's coloring books. I ended up with a Whitman copy of the Louisa May Alcott story Rose In Bloom, an anthology of the original novels of Captain January and The Little Colonel (with pictures from their Shirley Temple versions), an original Strawberry Shortcake coloring book, and a Superstar Barbie Golden Book to give Finley for Christmas.
Finally got into Collingswood around quarter after 11. They were packed with people buying the freshest possible produce for their Labor Day barbecues and kids' lunch boxes. Peppers, tomatoes, and summer squash in particular abound at this time of year; apples are starting to appear, too. I ended up with Gala apples, plums, lavender, creamy yellow, and sunset orange peppers, a zucchini, a yellow squash, and green grapes.
Rode across the street to WaWa next. While not nearly as hot as it has been, it was warmer and slightly more humid than yesterday. Thankfully, they weren't busy when I picked up an overly-sweet Pumpkin Spice Cookies n' Cream Smoothie and a pretzel.
I tried to ride around and look for more yard sales, but my bike was riding funny. It kept wobbling and seemed low to the ground. I swear it was fine before I left the house! I kept trying to ride it, and it kept wobbling. I checked it on the White Horse Pike, and it did seem low. I finally walked it home, stopping at CVS for an orange Perrier on the way.
(At least it was a gorgeous day for a walk. The sun shown, and the winds from after the storm died down to soft breezes. Can't get much more perfect than that in early September.)
Pumped up my tire the second I got in, then had lunch while watching more Silly Symphonies. "The Flying Mouse" is the first of several fables Disney did more-or-less around the theme of being yourself. Here, a mouse is given his wish to fly by a butterfly fairy, then regrets it when his bat wings scare the other mice and birds away. "The Robber Kitten" is a similar story, only here, the little fellow of the title is taught he's better off at home by a bulldog thief who's more nasty than dashing. "The Country Cousin" comes to visit his city-dwelling relative, but finds the delights of rich food and liquor offset by getting drunk, almost being eaten by a cat, and all the noises and frights on the roads.
Of course, mice aren't the only ones in Silly Symphonies to run into nightmare fuel. "Lullaby Land" features a baby who dreams himself into a pleasant world of soft and cuddly baby things...and some not-so-pleasant sharp objects he can't resist touching. King Midas begs an elf for "The Golden Touch," only to learn it's more of a curse when everything he wants to eat turns to inedible metal. "Mother Goos Melodies" is a black-and-white short that harkens back to the earliest "sing and dance in time to classical music" cartoons. It's just Mother Goose characters dancing and pulling gags to songs.
"The Three Little Pigs" is probably the best-known of the Silly Symphonies, introducing the first hit song to come from Disney media, "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" It was such a hit, it spawned three sequels. "The Big Bad Wolf" added the pigs to "Little Red Riding Hood," while "Three Little Wolves" brings in three naughty (but very cute) wolf cubs to help their dad catch the pigs.
They weren't the only Symphony sequels done, either. "Toby Tortoise Returns" in a boxing match. He's losing badly, until Max stuffs him with firecrackers that give him the speed needed to put this bunny out to pasture for good.
Rose called while I had a banana-plum smoothie for lunch. She asked me if I'd like to visit a farm with her and her family to pick apples next Saturday. Sure! I have next Saturday off, and I had no plans besides the usual farm market run.
Went on the computer after I finished lunch. Printed out DVD covers for my non-holiday Peanuts cartoons, my collections of the original Garfield specials, and my Pink Panther shorts sets, then worked on my story. The Mock Turtle wishes Brett's sons David and Adam wouldn't interrupt his story, but they're more baffled than impressed by his talk of learning reeling and writhing and mystery. They're more interested in how his lessons "lesson," or diminish, throughout the week.
Broke to check my bike. To my frustration, the tire was now completely flat. I was so mad! I wish I knew what happened. I should be more careful. I angrily kicked at it and rolled it over to the garage. Jodie suggested I either call Rose or Uber. I'm trying to avoid Uber after all the bad luck I had with them last winter, so I called Rose. She didn't get back to me until much later, but she will drive me to work early tomorrow.
Finished out the night with flounder stuffed with crabmeat and a salad for dinner while watching Career Girl. I go further into this low-budget musical from 1944 featuring Frances Langford at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
2 comments:
Emma, if your streets are anything like ours, people leave crap on them all the time. Every time someone on our street has their roof fixed, I find nails on the sidewalk and street. No telling what you ran over, and you can't look down while you're riding. Annoying as all get out, but not your fault.
That's pretty much what Jodie said. It's still frustrating, though.
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