Chilled Fantasy

Overslept this morning, but I did have the time for breakfast and Walt Disney Presents Best Loved Fairy Tales. This Disney LP from 1962 is a collection of six short Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen stories. "Rapunzel," "Rumplestiltskin," "The Bremen Town Musicians," "Little Red Riding Hood," and "The Princess and the Pea" are all pretty much the condensed straightforward versions. The unique story here - and the reason I bought this album - is "Clytie." A mermaid ends up on a beach and becomes so enamored of the sun, she turns into a sunflower. Research reveals that this is a very gentle retelling of a Greek myth. It comes off as rather sweet and even a bit sad, both of which are unusual for Disney.

Called Uber before "Rapunzel" even ended. No trouble getting a ride today. The one going to work came in 5 minutes; the one going home came in 6. No traffic either way, even going home just as rush hour ended.

No trouble at work, either. I did have to put away a cart of cold items someone didn't want, and after the morning bagger finished, I had to sweep the store. Spent most of the day outside, pushing carts. The streets were still wet when I went to work, but it was just cold, windy, and cloudy for most of the day. The clouds didn't start to break up until I was done with work. It was busy when I arrived. The 4:30 Eagles-Giants game cleared out customers. By the time I went home, it was pin-drop quiet.

(Oh, and I later discovered that the Eagles lost to the Giants 27-10, which neither ends their season on a good note, nor bodes well for the playoffs.) 

Soon as I got home, I changed and went straight into dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon. Jon "Bowser" Bauman finally got his night in the spotlight. Jon, a member of the 50's revival group Sha-Na-Na, first turned up on the show in 1978 in his "Bowser" greaser persona. He would continue to appear as "Bowser" through the second season of the syndicated series. Most of his jokes tended to center on the differences between the 50's and the late 70's, or on the amount of grease he used on his hair. There was the PM episode where, when asked to dress up, he put on a giant clown bow tie and his leather jacket, and the syndicated show where he showed off his props, like rubber chains and mice, in a sneaker-shaped bag.

Jon tended to have far more fun as himself hosting the Hollywood Squares segment of The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. He wasn't the greatest host - he had a hard time reigning in the panelists and apparently didn't get along with Gene Rayburn - but proved to be a terrific Match Game panelist. He almost always had a matching, or at least decent, answer in the game. For some reason, the ladies loved him, choosing him for the Head-to-Head more than anyone else. He got to encourage Leonard Frey to show off his Broadway tap dance skills - twice - and kept Gene from drooling too hard over a group of luscious teen beauty queens in the audience.

Rock around the center square with everyone's favorite lovable greaser in this hilarious marathon!

Match Game Sunday Night Classics - Jon "Bowser" Bauman on the Panel and as Host