Sunday, December 05, 2021

The Eagles Soar Over the Jets

Slept so late, it was noon before I got going. Made apple cinnamon pancakes for breakfast while listening to the soundtrack from Scrooge. This 1970 musical Christmas Carol features Albert Finney as the famous miser who learns a lesson from four ghosts on Christmas Eve. Finney makes a more effective Scrooge than you might think, given he was 30 at the time. Leslie Briccuse crafted a decent score as well. "Thank You Very Much" was Oscar-nominated. I also like "Christmas Children" for Bob Cratchit and his family, "December the 25th" for the Fezziwigs, and the Ghost of Christmas Present's philosophy, "I Like Life." 

Headed out to run to Dollar General around 1. Mainly needed bins; bought two. Also picked up eggs, but I think that might have been a mistake. Theirs were $1.90, not really much cheaper than the Acme's. Treated myself to my favorite pecan roll and Mountain Dew's holiday flavor, Gingerbread Snap'd. (Which pretty much tastes like Mountain Dew with ginger and spices. Reminds me of a Mountain Dew version of the Pepsi Holiday Spice sodas from a few years ago.) It took longer than planned. There were long lines twisting around the cashier area and down past the aisles. 

Went online for the Eagles game when I got home. They were already ahead of the Jets 24-18 when I went online. The Jets just made too many mistakes, and they couldn't get past the Eagles' replacement quarterback Gardner Minshew. In the end, the Eagles easily flew on by the Jets at the Meadowlands 33-18.

Worked on writing down everything that happened with finding an apartment in the past week. Like I said, I wish someone would give me a chance. Half the apartment buildings I e-mailed in the middle of last month haven't e-mailed or call me back. I need to call a lot of them this week. Updated the list of apartments with losing the White Horse Pike apartment and e-mailing the one in Collingswood and another building in Runnemede. 

Ran out again as around 4 as dusk fell. Jodie said earlier in the week I could do my laundry at her side of the house...but when I texted her on Thursday to ask if I could do it that day, she never responded. I figure it's probably best if I stay off her side of the house and use the laundromat. They were really busy, not surprising for 4 PM on a Sunday. I bought a turkey and spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette in a very thick pita. Not bad. Simple and salty. I enjoyed it while listening to the crowds. Checked the e-mail on my phone while the laundry was in the dryer.

Put the laundry away when I got in, then tried to work on writing. The Red Queen is Queen Fannie, who is actually the Red King's ward, not his wife. She's working with Sir Richard to bring her guardian down, or at least get him to be less strict...but she can be pretty demanding on occasion. Brett banters with her right away, unable to resist jokes about her tight red chessboard T-shirt. 

Broke for dinner at nearly 7. Had a banana-cranberry smoothie while listening to Holi-Daze. This Looney Tunes LP features four stories, all with voices by Mel Blanc. Bugs is "Bugs the Red Nosed Bunny" when he takes over leading Santa's sleigh for an ailing Rudolph. Elmer claims he'll give his fortune to anyone who can cure his "Santa Claustrophobia." Daffy and Bugs pose as a nurse and a psychiatrist to get that money. Bugs and Granny are in a "Holi-daze" after Sheriff Yosemite Sam mistakes them for bandits and arrest them. They convince him to release them and help him capture the real crooks. "'Twas a Sight Before Christmas," and Bugs' nephew Clyde doesn't believe in the jolly old man in red. Bugs interviews Tunes on the street to prove otherwise.

I overheard Jodie complaining on the phone again earlier tonight. She says she can't afford the internet and cable anymore, so she's shutting it down. I unplugged the cable box and put it in the den. I haven't really used it since I got that new TV in April. I could never figure out how to get them hooked up. If she fusses to me, I'll tell her I don't need cable and she can use the rent check I gave her for December to cover the cost of the Internet. 

Finished the night online with game shows hosted by Dick Clark in honor of his birthday November 30th. Most people nowadays associate Clark with his hosting Rockin' New Year or American Bandstand, but he goes further back with game shows than most people realize. His first show was The Object Is from 1964. Three celebrities give clues to objects. If their partners name the objects, they can guess the subject. This is really boring and I can understand why it didn't last a year, but it's also one of the very few game shows of the 60's to exist in full.

Clark did much better a decade later helping celebrities lead their partners up The $10,000 Pyramid. He became so associated with the franchise, only one other man (Bill Cullen) hosted the various versions between 1973 and 1988. I went with an early episode of $10,000 featuring Barbara Felton and John Schuck, a New $25,000 from 1986 with Adrienne Barbeau and Schuck, and a Tournament of Champions episode from the syndicated $100,000 in 1988 with Nathan Cook and a rare red-headed Audrey Landers. All feature at least one big Winner's Circle victory; the 1986 episode actually has two.

Clark continued hosting occasionally through the 90's. It Takes Two is a 1997 Family Channel revival of a short-lived late 60's game show. Three couples each guess the individual number in answer to a question. Their answers are averaged, and the winner is the one whose average number is the closest to the answer. Celebrities, often ones associated with other game shows, would come out to ask questions. Marcia Wallace answers questions about the Simpsons (which she did voices for at that point) and one of the (then) San Diego Chargers did two on the Chargers' total points for 1996 and how many fans packed into their stands. Cute show, but while it moves a lot faster than Object Is, it's not really much more exciting. No wonder it only lasted a few months.

Clark's last regular game show, the American version of Winning Lines from 2000, also involved answering number-related questions. Five out of 49 contestants advanced to the second Sudden Death round. The questions asked involved opponents numbers. If the contestant answered with their own number, they stayed in the game. If they answered with an opponents number, they were gone. Last person standing made it to the Bonus Round, The Wonderwall, where they have to answer as many questions as possible. 

Yeah, it's pretty obvious this is an overly complicated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire clone, right down to the dark-ish tone and neon sets. The many against.one theme also brings to mind Greed and 1 Vs 100. It just couldn't distinguish itself from an overcrowded pack and didn't last a month. 

Climb Pyramids and chase numbers with this disc jockey-turned-beloved host! 

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