Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On

Began the morning with breakfast and Charlie and Lola. "It's Raining, It's Boring" Lola moans when it pours too hard to take Marv's dog Sizzles to the park. All the games Charlie and Marv come up with are for two, until they find a way to amuse Lola and them too.

Headed off to work after the cartoon ended; made it there just in time. Though we were once again busy during most of the day, it generally went a lot better than Wednesday. The weather was better, for once thing. Yes, it was gale-force windy and chilly, but it was also mostly sunny without the tiniest bit of precipitation. Clouds were in and out for a lot of the day, but they'd finally vanished by the time I went home. 

I was surprised when I went on my break and checked my phone to find that a friend from the YouTube Match Game chats had messaged me, asking me if I was ok. Apparently, there was an earthquake that centered in North Jersey. It wasn't a huge one, but it was enough that the tremors were felt from Washington DC to Massachusetts. Lauren texted me just minutes later and said someone mentioned feeling it in her area, though she never did. I didn't, either. I had no idea there was an earthquake until they told me. I was pushing carts at the time the earthquake happened and focusing entirely on that.

My schedule's an improvement, too. While I only work two early days next week, I also put in for two vacation days. Tuesday was just a random day off I took to use up the time, but Saturday will kick off my birthday weekend. It means I'll still be getting a decent paycheck despite the lack of hours. 

Once I got home, I changed and relaxed my sore legs while watching Match Game '77. Roz Kelly from Happy Days did her second and last week on the show, joined by Craig Morris from Vega$ and Joyce Bulifant. At one point near the end, a guy in the audience was brought onstage to give Roz a kiss. She said he was even better than Henry Winkler, leading Gene to call him "the new Fonz." Gene later comments on a contestant's flower-painted toenails, prompting Charles to come out with his own colored nails.

Had dinner while watching Match Game '91. We met a sweet young man from Arkansas here, leading to many southern jokes from the panel. Sally Struthers discusses the new show she was doing a voice for, Dinosaurs, while Jimmie Walker yells at the audience when they don't get his goofy answers.

Finished the night after a shower at Amazon Prime with The Secret of NIMH. Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman) needs to move from her cinder block home and away from the farmer's plow, but her son Timothy (Ian Fried)  has pneumonia and can't leave his bed. On advice from family friend Auntie Shrew (Hermione Badderly), she goes to see The Great Owl (John Carradine). He suggests she seek the aid of the rats who live in the rose bush. They're former lab rats who have developed a whole society in the bush, but must steal electricity and other items from the farmer to keep their civilization alive. 

Elderly head rat Nicodemus (Derek Jacobi) gives her an amulet and tells about how her husband Johnathan once helped the rats out of a jam. He wants to move the rats to a sheltered valley where they can live without stealing, but there's a splinter faction lead by treacherous Jenner (Paul Shenar) who thinks things are fine the way they are. Mrs. Brisby gets caught in the crossfire when she agrees to drug Dragon, and later when matters come to a head when they're moving the house. It's Mrs. Brisby herself who ultimately saves her home and her children, proving that the real magic comes from a loving and courageous heart.

This has been one of my favorite animated movies since it first turned up on cable around 1983. I also consider it to be by far Don Bluth's best work. Even Anastasia and the original Land Before Time can't compare to the imagination and maturity of this film. The soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith is one of the best ever written for an animated film, and Paul Williams' song "Flying Dreams" is gorgeous. Three gristly on-screen deaths, violence, the scary sequences with Dragon and The Great Owl, and frank discussions of death, illness, grief, and animal testing makes this for older elementary school animal lovers on up and their parents.