Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Some Sunny Day

Started off the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Mixed-Up Adventures. "Petey O' Pete" is embarrassed when he cranks up Clarabelle's blender too high and it flies away, so he joins the gang's Irish-themed race to win the Pot of Gold. His attempts to cheat at every turn throw off everyone but Clarabelle, but all that gold may turn out to be a lot more foolish than he thinks. "Daisy Does It!" when she rushes to set up the county fair. Cuckoo Loca reminds her why it's important to take your time and follow directions.

Headed off to work soon as Daisy ended, stopping briefly to drop Kelly's birthday card in the mail. For once, I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else. It was absolutely gorgeous today, sunny, breezy, and in the 60's when I went to work. We weren't busy and the carts weren't bad, but I stayed out with them as much as I could get away with. I did sweep, gather trash, and brought a leaky pack of water to be disposed of, but I mostly stayed with the carts and enjoyed the spring sunshine.

Took the long way home after that. There were electrical vans on Nicholson, and the traffic was moving slow as molasses. I ended up cutting down Market Street in Audubon and over the train bridge into Oaklyn. They were quiet as can be, even on the White Horse Pike.

Watched Let's Make a Deal as I changed and got organized. The show didn't begin well. I came in just as three dealers in a row were zonked. Things picked up considerably from there. A lady dressed as Oscar the Grouch became one of the few people to win big on the Door 4 Wheel. Another wearing a pith helmet kept turning down boxes...until she picked the right one and won her entire deal, plus money. Two "Native" maidens and a scarecrow all picked up cash. The Native ladies turned their money in at the end for the Big Deal. One went home with a fat piggy bank. The other won a gorgeous living room set for her and her fiancee. 

Went back out soon as the show ended. It was just too nice to stay inside all afternoon, as I originally planned. Bought two soft pretzels from the pretzel shop on the White Horse Pike and strolled down Bettlewood. There's a low stone bench in the park, etched into the hills surrounding the back paths. I enjoyed my snack there, feeling the fresh breeze on my face and letting the sunshine warm my nose.

Walking through the park was far less of a picnic. Though it's starting to look like spring, with green grass and buttercups lining the banks, it's still slippery as heck back there. I had to carefully make my way around at least three spots of thick, black mud. After the third, I figured the park hadn't dried well enough for strolling yet. I took a set of stairs back up the hill between two houses and onto Oaklawn Avenue.

Ran the rest of F-Troop disc 4 after I got home. O'Rourke's attempt to "Go for Broke" in a crooked poker game ends with Fort Courage losing its pension money. Wrangler Jane corrals her wanna-be inventor cousin (George Gobel) to help get it back.

"The New I.G" (Andrew Duggan) has a fancy new rifle that he claims can take down any Native tribe. What he doesn't realize is the Hikawis would rather bargain than fight. O'Rourke and Agorn rush to warn them about his surprise attack and make sure they're prepared.

"Spy, Counterspy, Counter Counterspy" goes into the territory of the other genre spoof sitcom of the time, Get Smart. Everyone at Fort Courage is thrilled at first to test a secret weapon, sent directly from the government. A nasal-voiced spy who insists he's a master of disguise (Pat Harrington doing a very bad Maxwell Smart) arrived and claims a pretty lady is a traitor who is after the weapon. It isn't until Agorn tries to seduce the lady that they figure out who the real traitor is.

Inspired by the Hikawi's steam baths, O'Rourke sets up a steam room at the Officer's Club. Trouble is, Parameter has been patrolling it. He and Agorn try to instigate "The Courtship of Wrangler Jane" in order to get Parameter married and out of the Officer's Club...and then has Agorn court Jane to make Parameter jealous.

After doing some job searching, I worked on writing for a while. Charles is the one who figures out how to wind up Nip-Tok. He admits that his springs aren't what they used to be, which is why he's not out with the rest of the Army. Besides, he digs the Wizard. At least, the stories he's heard about him. 

Broke for dinner and Match Game '77 at 6:30. Dick Smothers and soap star Meg Bennett joined in this week, the latter to advertise a special featuring the CBS soap stars of the time, Getting to Know Us II. They all have a hard time with "Havana ___" on the Audience Match.

Let it run into Match Game Syndicated while I ate. The first episode featured Debralee Scott giving an answer to "Coco __" that seemed to make sense at the time, but didn't turn out to be the winner she thought it was. It was probably the only time on the entire run of the show that Gene actually won a bet on the Audience Match. He has less luck untangling his microphone cable from Bill Daily.

The next episode is another favorite from the syndicated run. Charles appears in the contestants' desks in the opening, claiming they make more money and he can finally get away from Brett. The others have more fun with their answers to "__ Cones" in the Audience Match.

Finished the night at Tubi with The Librarian: Quest for the Spear. I found one of the Librarians books, The Librarians and the Lost Lamp, at Dollar General last week. Since I'm enjoying that, I thought I'd go back to the beginning and give the original films a shot. Flynn Carsen (Noah Wylie) has been in school for over a decade and has many degrees, but no practical field knowledge. His professor and his mother (Olympia Dukakis) insist he find a job and get into the real world. 

Flynn receives a prestigious invitation to be interviewed for a job at the Metropolitan Public Library. Turns out that job entails a lot more than shelving books. There's a magical underground annex at the Library where precious objects from literature are kept. It's the Librarian's job to find these objects and make sure they're safe. On Flynn's first day, the Library's heavy security is breached by a group known as the Serpent Brotherhood. They stole a piece of the Spear of Destiny, the magical artifact that pierced the side of Jesus. Now Flynn, with the help of his Guardian Nicole Noone (Sonya Walger), has to find the other pieces, before they fall into the hands of the Brotherhood and their mysterious leader (Kyle McLachlan).

Oh boy, was this fun. Wylie is having a ball as the geeky knowledge nut who finally finds a way to use those decades' worth of degrees. I also like Bob Newhart and Jane Curtin as the two older members of the Library who introduce Flynn to its world. Check out Newhart taking on an entire horde of Brotherhood goons on his own! If you love comic action stories or lighter Indiana Jones-style tales, you'll want to join Flynn on this wild adventure through literary history. 

1 comment:

Linda said...

You're lucky! There are two more films and then an entire four-season series called The Librarians that follows!