Walking In Autumn Glory

Began a late morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Mickey's Treat" has them invited to Pete's Trick or Treat Tower for his big Halloween party, but no one's ever come to it. His friends are determined to appear. They have to climb over giant candy corn, find their way through a foggy forest, and get around many frogs jumping in their way to get to the tower...and then they have to get past Pete himself, who wants a trick from Mickey!

Put on Match Game '75 as I cleaned up from breakfast. I don't know why Buzzr always skips over the episodes Alex Karras appeared in. They're on YouTube, and there's nothing offensive about them other than a woman wrestler taking Karras down rather easily. Said woman wrestler is defeated when they pick up with Scoey Mitchilll and a pair of Pattys, Duke and Deustch. Richard has to help the new champ with "__ Tent" in the Head-to-Head.

Spent the next half-hour or so on the phone. Called Creran Funeral Home on the White Horse Pike in Oaklyn first. They handled Dad and Uncle Ken's deaths. No luck there. They suggested I call Oaklyn's city hall. I did...and this time, I hit pay dirt. They did have it, and were willing to hand over a certified copy if I applied for it and turned over 10 dollars.

Since it was a gorgeous fall day, in the upper 50's, sunny, and breezy, I walked to the City Hall. It's also on the White Horse Pike, two blocks from Creran's to the west and my rooms to the east. Went in, signed the application, paid for the copy, and went out in less than ten minutes.

I had to go to PNC anyway to deposit money, so I figured I'd drop it off. Strolled back down East Clinton in the opposite direction, this time to the stone steps into Newton Lake Park. It's definitely fall now. Trees glow in shades of lime green, lemon yellow, scarlet, and plum. They crunch under your feet as you head down the path, past fallen logs and waving brown reeds with dried seed pods on the ends. 

Used the inside ATM machine, then went inside to deliver the death certificate. I had to wait a few minutes while the woman there helped an older lady. I explained to her boss why I was there. He said that my financial adviser wouldn't be around until Thursday, but he'd put it on his desk for me. 

Went for a short walk in Collingswood next. I didn't have any other plans for the day, and I hadn't done a day in Collingswood proper for a while. Occasionette was closed for a few days "to prepare for the holiday," but they did have a new store, Occasionette Joy, in the space that used to be Frugili Consignment. It looked like a baby store, with picture books and toddler toys on pastel shelves and baby onesies hanging on low racks. I peered around there and Educational Ed toys, but didn't see anything interesting. (I'll return to both when we get closer to Christmas.)

Most stores in Collingswood are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but Innergroove Records had its door open. I wasn't in the mood for spending the entire day sitting on the floor and riffling through their dollar bins, and they had a lot of people in and out. Plus, it was getting late. I just ended up with: 

The George Shearing Quintet featuring Brass Choir - Satin Brass

33 Golden Hits, a soft-rock collection put out by Sessions, a music compilation company similar to K-Tel

Went straight upstairs and into a very late lunch and Pennies from Heaven on Tubi after I finally got home. I go further into this slightly dark Depression-era vehicle for Bing Crosby at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Pennies from Heaven (1936)

Worked a little bit on writing after the movie ended. Bill really doesn't think Gene's heart is as much into acting as he claims. He doesn't have the discipline. Gene points out that he does do other things, including gardening shows in Cape Cod with his wife Helen.

Broke at 7 for dinner and Match Game '77. Richard Dawson wasn't happy in these episodes at all. In the first, he angrily said to write producer Bobby Sherman when he wouldn't match his answer of "toasted" for "warm buns." In the second, he tried to explain that he meant to write "ate" instead of "sat on," but Ira didn't pass that, either, or his heated argument that he'd been up all night doing a telethon and was tired. Richard was clearly frustrated, and his seething anger would boil over into the coming weeks...

Finished the night on YouTube to spend Halloween with curmudgeonly Paul Lynde. The Paul Lynde Halloween Special may be one of the strangest holiday variety shows in the annals of television, or at least the most mid-70's. Lynde joins his housekeeper Margaret Hamilton at her sister's house. Turns out the house is haunted, Margaret is the Wicked Witch of the West, and her sister is Billie "Witchepoo" Hayes. They give him three wishes for helping them out. In the first, he dreams he's a tough guy trucker, Tim Conway is his rival, and Roz Kelly is the waitress they both love. The second has him as a sheik, Florence Henderson as the frigid British beauty he's romancing, and Conway as the Foreign Legion officer who's after him. He turns the witches' home into a disco with the third. In between, the Osmonds annoy Lynde, Betty White appears as Miss Halloween, and KISS pop in to perform three of their biggest hits, "Detroit Rock City," "Beth," and "King of the Night World."

That wasn't Lynde's first encounter with an especially wild Halloween party. "Twitch or Treat" from the third season of Bewitched has Endorra (Agnes Moorehead) living across the street from her daughter Samantha and her husband Darrin. They want her to remove the house, and she agrees to it on the condition that she can have her Halloween party at their house. Uncle Arthur (Lynde) invites himself, to Endorra's annoyance. While Samantha tries to figure out what Willie Mays is doing there, Darrin has to extract himself from a beautiful lady who is a little too feline to be really human. Their next-door neighbor Gladys Kravitz thinks something is going on, but Uncle Arthur isn't about to let the authorities spoil their fun.