Worked on writing for a while after the cartoon ended. Joyce's dog friend smells sausages on a cart. He jumps out of Brett's arms and dashes into the hall! Joyce is worried that someone will see him and send him away. Brett's worried he'll actually get those sausages. They follow him through half the studio, including under the big Gambit board. (Research reveals the hit Gambit would have been in the last year of its run when this story was set.)
Though the storms took a temporary leave of absence as I got ready for work, thick, black clouds gathered over the Camden County area, and the winds lashed wildly. This was no day for a bike ride. Besides, I had two bags of donations for Goodwill that were too big and heavy to carry on the bike. I decided to leave a little early and drop them off.
The Uber driver arrived in seven minutes...and his timing was impeccable. He pulled up to the curb just as Mother Nature unleashed her fury and fat drops poured down. I ducked into the car as quickly as possible. Thankfully, despite some flooded roads, it took him five minutes to get to Goodwill.
I ducked out, rushed inside, and brought my bags to the back. My original plan was to have lunch at Tu Se Bella's Pizza across the parking lot...but the rain just kept coming down. Not only rain, but booming thunder and very visible lightning. By the time it slowed down enough for me to duck out, I barely had the time to get there and buy a turkey wrap for a late lunch before I signed in...and I was still pretty wet.
Work was off-and-on busy. The rain slowed down and ended all together within the hour. When the rain died, the crowds arrived. I think most local schools got out for the summer today, too. A teacher who came through my line told me the Audubon school district finished today. (And they had to keep the kids ten extra minutes because of the storm, which didn't make them happy.) Didn't help that I was the only cashier through a lot of the afternoon, too. Thankfully, it slowed down enough by 7 for me to leave with no relief or need for one.
Oh, and I got my schedule this afternoon. While I have slightly fewer hours than this week and they're still pretty late, there's also no long or very early shifts. Monday and next Saturday off, which means I will be able to hit the farm market next week.
The storm had long vanished by the time I finished work. That could be why my driver arrived in less than two minutes. In fact, it had turned into a rather nice night, sunny and a little humid but still breezy. Thanks to his foot constantly being on the gas pedal, we were home in less than five minutes.
Had dinner while watching Match Game '79. This was one of the more memorable episodes of the year. It began with Betty White doing a stripping routine after everyone practically begged her to, and ended with them having to throw out a question after Gene accidentally added a word where he usually said "blank."
Finished the night after a shower with Meatballs Part 2 for free on YouTube. Coach Giddy (Richard Mulligan) would rather pound shrimpy military man Colonel Jack Hershy (Hamilton Camp) into the pavement then let him buy the lake and the land under his Camp Sasquatch and force them out. He sets up a boxing match between his second in command Boomer (Joe Nipote) and the beast of a fighter at Hershy's Camp Patton...but when Hershy orders his kids to break Boomer's arm, Giddy recruits reluctant tough-guy counselor in training Armand "The Flash" Carducci (John Mengatti) to take his place in the ring.
That's not the only strange thing going on at Camp Sasquatch. The nerdy head counselor Jamie (Archie Hahn) is pursuing tough and gorgeous female counselor Fanny (Misty Rowe). Flash is after pretty and virginal Cheryl (Kim Richards), whose friend insists that she should see her first naked man. Four of the campers discover a friendly young alien (Felix Silla) wandering around and take him in to teach him Earth culture. Misunderstanding his "me, Ted," they dub him Meathead. There's also Albert (Paul Rubens), the weird bus driver who acts as DJ, referee, and local nut.
Uh, yeah, this is one freakin' weird comedy. Pretty easy to tell this came out in 1984. They randomly grabbed plot lines everywhere from E.T to the Rocky movies to Porky's. On one hand, none of this makes a lick of sense, and the supernatural side-plot with Meathead that ends up helping Flash with the boxing match seems totally out of place in the camp setting. The kids are bland and dull, with Flash being a jerk for most of the movie, Cheryl too naive, and everyone else barely registering.
On the other hand, there are places where the weirdness works. Mulligan and Camp play off each other surprisingly well as the tough-guy counselor and the over-the-top military commander who just wants more room for his camp's war games. Some of the smaller gags aren't that bad, including a couple with Meathead not being accustomed to Earth ways and a bear that turns up while everyone is watching Archie and Fanny make out.
Critics eviscerated this at the time, but I'm going to say it's honestly worn pretty well. Yeah, it's weird, it's dated, and it's pretty silly, but if you go in for the weird and the silly, or love other equally odd 80's comedies with unique or supernatural premises, you might enjoy your summer trip to Camp Sasquatch.
No comments:
Post a Comment