Thursday, August 31, 2023

Perfect Summertime

Started off the morning with breakfast and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Huckle's nervous about having "A Big Operation" to get his tonsils out. The doctors show him around the hospital and tells him he'll be able to have ice cream afterwards. "Cucumber, the African Photographer" would rather take pictures of anything but lions! She and her assistant are encouraged to look for them anyway...but they turn out to be quite different than she imagined. Miss Honey's "Summer Picnic" for her students doesn't work out at all like she intended when a pop-up shower forces them into a cave. 

Karen picked me up around 10 AM for this week's job counseling session. I've come to the conclusion that, first of all, I need both full time hours and health insurance. I'll turn down that library job if they offer it. Second, much as I'd love to be a librarian, I really don't want to spend four years in college or spend more money on something that won't help me now. We applied for two administrative assistant jobs in Philadelphia. Not great, but full-time and full benefits. 

Put on Fancy Pants when I got home. I go further into this wacky western with Bob Hope as an American posing as a British butler and Lucille Ball as part of the family that brings him to the US at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.


Switched to writing after eating lunch. Joyce and Rover throw corn cobs to scare the crows away. Charles the Scarecrow laments that he's not very scary. He can't remember anything about himself. His mind just doesn't seem to be there. Joyce says she'll take him to the Emerald City to find someone who can jolt his memory.

Headed out to work soon as I got off. I ended up bagging again, which was fine by me. It was too nice to be inside all day anyway. The weather was utterly perfect for this time of year, sunny, breezy, dry, and in the upper 70's. Not to mention, we're still not that busy. It's the end of the month, the beginning of a holiday weekend, and the weather was gorgeous. It'll probably pick up this weekend as people use their beginning-of-the-month money and shop for Labor Day barbecues and back to school.

Went straight home and into Match Game '79. Brett and Barbara Rhodes were very much interested in a handsome college student with a distinct Maine accent. (Gene kept asking him to "say something Maine-ish.") At one point, Barbara stood up to show Gene she was as tall as him and the young man. 

Moved on to two Lost In Boston collections on Hoopla while I worked on my review. This Varasae Sarabande series collects songs that were cut during tryouts of successful shows, or at least shows that made Broadway. Favorites from Vol 2 include "Man and Wife," "Guess We May As Well Stay Married Now," and "Throw It Away" from I Do! I Do!, the wistful "What am I Doing Here?" from Promises, Promises, the comic monologue "When Messiah Comes" from Fiddler On the Roof, and the lovely ballad "It Was Always You" from Applause. My favorites from the hard-to-find Vol. 3 are "Mama's Talkin' Soft" from Gypsy, the touching "Pink Taffeta Sample Size 10" from Sweet Charity, "Older and Wiser" from Bye, Bye Birdie, and two dropped from the brutal out-of-town tryouts for Seesaw, "Big Fat Heart" and "Pick Up the Pieces." 

Finished the night on YouTube with more Bob Barker on Match Game. The first two days of his week in 1976 don't show up on Buzzr anymore, thanks to non-PC questions. (One of them is, ironically, a Native American joke. Bob himself was part Native and had been raised on a reservation in South Dakota.) A sweet older lady named Johnnie wanted so badly to kiss Richard...and finally got her wish in the second show. The PM episode featured a handsome Australian with a charming accent and some not-so-great answers.

Celebrate the bicentennial year with Bob!

No comments: