Thursday, October 19, 2023

Spooky Tales on a Sunny Day

Started off the morning with breakfast and Charlie and Lola. Lola laments that "Everything Is Different and Not the Same" when they return to school in the fall. She has new tights that sag, and Lotta has a scarf she finds to be itchy. They're dismayed when they have a new teacher and a desk they're not used to and the leaves fall off Lola's favorite tree. After the girls make a mess of their school leaf project, they're ready to hibernate until spring. Charlie finally coaxes them out to help gather things for his fall time capsule and to remind them that change is a part of life, and they're not so bad once you get used to them.

Karen picked me up at 10 AM. We decided to give Monster.com a shot, since Indeed hasn't been working out very well. The only thing I saw that remotely interested me was a "content specialist" working on an online catalog. I don't think I have enough experience with data entry for them to want me, but it's something.

Went straight home and into Hillbillys In a Haunted House. I go further into this bizarre tale of three country singers who take refuge in an old house and get mixed up with spies at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 


Headed to work even before the movie ended. Work was pretty much the same as yesterday - dead all night. I did end up gathering trash inside and out later, but once again, I mainly swept the store and pushed carts. Fine by me. No wonder we were dead. Though clouds gathered and the wind had picked up, it mostly remained sunny and warm. It was too nice of a day for shopping.

Took the long way home again down Nicholson Road. I'm not sure this was a great idea. They were busy as heck by 5:15. I managed to get on newly-laid sidewalk by the new electrical plant they're building. Oaklyn was, once again, a lot less noisy. The leaves are just starting to turn colors on most trees here. I saw a bush with the last roses of the season, too.

Did the dishes, then put on Match Game '76 while I ate leftovers for dinner. Dr. Joyce Brothers was on fire tonight, matching both contestants. Patti Deustch is less thrilled about a "Dumb Donald" question (her husband's name was Donald, and he could be pretty strange). 

Finished the night online after a shower, starting with The Devil Bat at Kanopy. Angry when all he gets is a $5,000 bonus for his work while his partners make millions, Dr. Paul Carruthers first creates an aftershave with an especially strong smell, then enlarges bats and encourages them to attack anyone wearing that aftershave. He manages to kill off one of his partners (Edward Mortimer) and his two sons before he's discovered by a tenacious reporter (Dave O'Brian) and his goofy photographer (Donald Kerr) who are determined to figure out what he's up to. 

Nifty little B horror film with an effective performance by Lugosi as the kindly doctor driven to murder for not receiving what he sees is his due. 

Moved to YouTube for the closest Rankin-Bass got to a Halloween special, the Festival of Family Classics episode "Jack O'Lantern." Jack is a leprechaun who lives in a pumpkin shell. He emerges when a little boy carves his pumpkin into a jack o' lantern. The kids recruit him to help get rid of a witch and her husband who have been stripping their land bare.

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