Went back to sleep for an hour, then read A Deadly Feast for so long, I didn't get to breakfast until noon. Sarah Kennedy and Bobby Van join in for Match Game '75. Brett and Charles really got into teasing each other here, especially on the limerick question in the beginning and the Audience Match "Twinkle __."
The next episode was one of the funniest of 1975. Gene heard that the Germans read "Schnick Schnack" in place of "blank," since they have no word for blank in their language, and decided to try it himself. That led to a round of German accent jokes, especially from Richard Dawson, who worked with several real-life Germans and Austrians on Hogan's Heroes.
Worked on my Christmas list during the second episode. It's not what I'm getting. It's what I'm giving. All I want this year is to have a relatively normal holiday season after what happened last year. I should be able to send out cards, and I'm hoping to make cookies and candy. Need to round up someone to get me to the storage facility to pick up my Christmas decorations.
Stayed briefly for Tattletales...because Gene Rayburn hosted it. It was one of those game show host weeks where Bert Convy sits in with his wife Ann. They tossed in a few Match Game-style "blank" questions, and Gene had a great time, really running with it.
Headed out after the first question. Dropped a book at the kiosk in front of the Lutheran Church, then headed to Collingswood to do some Christmas shopping. I would be in and out for the next hour or so after I went to the bathroom at the library. Picked up a game for Lauren and her parents at the Educational Ed toy store and a stuffed gingerbread man toy for tiny Aurora at the new Occasionette Joy Shop, a baby store.
Dodged early rush hour traffic as I headed down Cuthbert Road to the Westmont Target. Had a brief lunch at Starbucks. Just barely missed the teens coming in from the local high school. Thankfully, by the time a long line formed, I'd sat down with my spinach, egg, and feta wrap and Peppermint Mocha Frappucino. After I ate, I found Christmas presents in the toy section for Anny's daughter Lilah and son Collyn. Went next-door to Dollar Tree for cookie bags and candy canes.
Put on the Peanuts Thanksgiving specials when I got in. In A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Peppermint Patty invites herself, Marcie, and Franklin over to Charlie Brown's house for the big meal. Trouble is, he's going to eat at his grandmother's house. Linus, Snoopy, Charlie, and Woodstock make a dinner of popcorn, pretzels, and jelly beans to appease them. Patty's upset, until Linus and Marcie remind her and Charlie Brown of the real reason for the holiday.
The Peanuts take the part of The Mayflower Voyagers, playing pilgrim children and pets traveling to the New World. While the kids and animals did survive in Plymouth, their parents had a rougher go of things. Many settlers died until Squanto and the local natives taught them how to plant corn and other crops. They're so delighted with their harvest, they share what they have in the first feast of Thanksgiving.
Worked on writing for a while. Debralee is impressed with the handsome old Nutcracker Gene found in an antique shop in Burbank. Bart teases her because he can't really crack nuts anymore, but she likes him anyway.
Broke for dinner with friends at 6:30. Came back up at 7 PM. Watched Match Game '77 while I went through Christmas books for baking ideas. Conny Van Dyke may have been obnoxious, but she did get a good zinger on Dick Martin and Gene Rayburn in the opening. The others have a harder time with "__ Matter." Charles ends up in a hospital gown Conny gives him in the second episode and spent the half-hour making doctor jokes.
Finished the night online with several unique versions of The Nutcracker. I love seeing how different countries and regions adapt the story to their area. The Nutcracker and the Mouse King on Kanopy is from Denmark. Their version is set around the 1820's on St. Nicholas Day. Clara's Nutcracker Prince isn't changed back so quickly. The "Land of Sweets" is inside a steampunk camera Godfather Drosselmyer created. There's a second mouse fight in the camera, and the Mouse King's designs are truly terrifying. The Sweets dancers mostly have a Greek theme (though they do retain the Russian trepak dancers and the dancing flowers).
A Russian animation company made a half-hour animated version of The Nutcracker in 1973. I remember seeing this in elementary school, probably sometime in the late 80's, and thinking how strange it was. Here, Marie is a servant rather than one of the household children. The Nutcracker is a neglected toy, and his story is based after The Hard Nut, but with the Prince being turned into a Nutcracker in infancy rather than a bratty princess. The story ends with Marie dancing off into a psychedelic "Waltz of the Flowers" with her prince and never being seen again, which I found quite ominous as a child. (Though the version I found is dialogue-free, I remember the one at school had a male narrator. Apparently, there are at least two US versions with English-dubbed narration. We must have seen the Hans Conried one. According to Wikipedia, Shirley MacLaine narrated a later dubbing.)
Even Hello Kitty played Clara in an animated Nutcracker from her 90's show. Her version follows The Hard Nut, complete with the cursed princess who rejects the Nutcracker after he in turn is cursed by the evil Mouse Queen. Here, she defeats the seven-headed Mouse King with a magical amulet, rather than by throwing her shoe at him.
2 comments:
I don't think you understand how rare writing jobs are. A placement agency like the one you're working with is absolutely not going to be able to provide you with something like that.
I didn't make it clearer. By "writing," I mean office work. Data entry, things like that.
Post a Comment