Monday, July 18, 2022

One Hot Summer

Kicked off a late morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Mickey encourages his favorite dog to do "Pluto's Best" when he goes up against big Spike in the Doggy Games. Each dog is tied by the fifth game, but when Pluto shows good sports-dog-ship by helping Spike out, Spike decides that he and Pluto are each special in their own ways.

Switched to Match Game '75 next. William Shatner and Broadway star Julie Harris joined in to figure out "Rick __" in the Audience Match and what goose item a woman's husband stuffs pillows with in the first episode. Fannie jokes that a Broadway producer called her and said she wouldn't be in his plays, while Richard seemingly disapproves of a young missionary who talks about "family values." 

In the next episode, Fannie sports one of her famous t-shirts, this with daisies over certain parts of the anatomy, while Brett jokes about Gene's dapper pin-striped suit being their "wedding suit." William's excited when the contestant chooses him for the Audience Match, but then doesn't give the best response to "__ Nails." There's also the jokes about his answer about what Judy needed to go near a water bed.

Headed out after the second episode ended. First stop of the day was the Oaklyn post office. I wanted to send Mom's copy of the Downton Abbey complete series set back to her. It's on at least three streaming services for free, including Roku and Amazon. The gentleman behind the counter was a little grouchier than the nice lady who was there before, but I was still in and out in less than five minutes.

Since it's a block away, I went to Dollar General next. Looked at a few things, but I ended up just buying a sugar-free Powerade. There was a long line, but one opened when I was there.

Went for a walk after I left. The entrance to the back paths at Newton Lake Park are two blocks from the post office. Went to my left, strolled over two narrow lengths of wooden planks, and found myself at a charming wide, well-mowed field. It made me wish I brought food and a blanket for a picnic. I admired the plants along the edges. Saw a lovely brown and red butterfly with a white spot flutter around tall magenta flowers...but I think I also saw the spotted lanternfly, an invasive bug they're trying to get rid of here. I think I saw thorny raspberry or blackberry vines, too. 

Made my way to the other end and continued down the path. While it was hot and sticky, in the lower 90's, the woods were nice and cool. Everything was so blissfully calm and quiet. Gnats fluttered around the lake, practically begging fish and frogs to eat them, and delicate white moths waggled by my nose. I did see a few people out for a walk and at least one fisherman, but I was mostly on my own.

Put on One Crazy Summer when I got home and had lunch. Hoops McCann (John Cusak) wants to get an art school scholarship, but he's required to write a comic about love. Hoping to get more experience and fall in love for the first time, he joins his best friend George (Joel Murray) on a trip to Natucket. He rescues Cassandra (Demi Moore) from bikers on their way to the island and falls hard for her. 

Her grandfather's home is targeted by nasty rich seafood chain owner Aguilla Beckerstead (Mark Metcalf), who wants to tear it down and build his own condos. Hoops fibs to her about being a good basketball player, which comes back to haunt him after he goes on a date with the girlfriend of Beckerstead's spoiled and lazy son Ted (Matt Mulhern). Even after he and his friends do help Cassandra get the money, Beckerstead buys the property outright. Desperate, Hoops and his friends join the Nantucket Regatta to trade the trophy for the house, and learn a lot about teamwork, loyalty, and chasing your dreams in the process.

Wacky variation on the "slobs vs snobs" comedy of the 80's might be a little too weird for some people, thanks to some really goofy sight gags and over-the-top performances from Metcalf, Joe Flaherty as the military-obsessed father of Hoops' gentle friend Ack Ack (Curtis Armstrong), and Tom Villand and Bobcat Goldthwait as extremely unalike twins. Still a lot of fun if you can run with the satirical vibe and overlook some of the more juvenile gags.

Worked on writing for a while after the movie ended. Brett's amused when Dolly calls her "fabulous monster" and didn't realize she existed. She and the lazier Dick say only the best plum cake will do for such an unusual arrival! 

Dark clouds started gathering shortly after I arrived home. They finally burst while I was writing. It rained loudly and briefly around 5. I believe it rained again later in the evening, although it didn't make nearly as much noise. 

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Ate while watching Match Game '77. Connie Stevens makes her first appearance on the show in an episode Gene spends chasing a fly. Richard Dawson would rather make jokes about the Vincent Price version of The Fly

Let's Make a Deal made a grand return to Buzzr as Monty Hall navigated his way through towering men in pink tutus and ladies dressed as tourists and black cats. Indeed, this was the very first episode of the 1984-1986 run. I don't know why people kept turning down cars. Contestants turned away at least four, including a Big Deal of the day.

(Oh, and Buzzr's next "marathon" has a lot of people up in arms. They're completely revamping their schedule starting August 1st and will be airing shows in blocks. My biggest complaint is they're pushing Family Feud back to late nights again and have dropped Match Game PM, Sale of the Century, and Press Your Luck. Much as I love Match Game 70's, most of the daytime episodes are on YouTube. Them dropping its third hour isn't that big of a deal. Likewise, I don't mind seeing Supermarket Sweep moved to late-nights for the same reason. There's plenty of it online, including its own 24 hour channel. 

I suspect this may be more of a summer stunt than a true schedule shake-up. I'm wondering if they have something big planned for the fall, especially since Buzzr has indicated that Sale, Concentration, and Luck will likely return.)

Finished the night online after a shower with the NBC Mystery Movie series McCloud. Lauren and I never finished watching "Manhattan Manhunt" when she was here; the entire series is currently on Tubi. British director Ted Callender (Richard Dawson) has had his life threatened by someone who doesn't appreciate his arty shows. Former Texas sheriff-turned-New York cop McCloud (Dennis Weaver) tries to figure out who wants him dead, then solve a mystery surrounding a pharmacy theft.

It's obvious these were two episodes strung together; Dawson's character vanishes towards the end with only a line or two of explanation. I'd really love to find the original hour-long episodes. It's still fun if you love the show or the character, but it could have been woven together better 

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