Went online briefly during the second episode to get my schedule. Not as many hours, but they made up for that with only one early day and a floral department day on Friday. In addition to it being prom season, we're getting very close to Mother's Day, too, and then college and high school graduations. I asked for next Saturday off. I wanted to enjoy at least one town-wide yard sale this month. Chose Haddon Township's, which is the closest to me and covers the most ground.
Hurried out after the episode ended...and then went back inside briefly to get my jean jacket. It dropped 20 degrees overnight, from the mid-80's to barely the upper 60's, and was cloudy and windy. Maybe it was just as well. It was nice not to sweat to death as I headed down to Cuthbert Road to run errands.
I got a late start, so the local high and middle schoolers were just heading back from lunch as I got there. Fortunately, they're not all that interested in Sprouts. The golden nugget and mandarin oranges were on sale 2 for a dollar this week. I got two of each. Made Good was on sale; got the Cookies n' Cream box and another box of Annie's Organic Oatmeal Cookie. Grabbed coconut milk, too, and sugar cookies that were on clearance.
Dodged traffic and people out for walks as I rode down Cuthbert to the Westmont Acme. I had a free online coupon for tissues and five dollars off three Secret deodorants, along with a coupon for Kind bars. McIntosh apples were on a good sale, and I only needed four of them. Restocked yogurt and bagels for breakfast and lunch this week, too.
Went down Lakeside Drive, trying not to ride in the park took much and aggravate my allergies again. Rode down to the White Horse Pike first to get lunch from the Pretzel Shop. They were busy almost an hour from closing, but I did get two pretzels, the last stuffed cheesesteak pretzel, and a can of Diet Pepsi.
One of my three recent orders was waiting for me when I got home. I was looking up more James Bond soundtracks on eBay when I ran across something called The Persuaders! I didn't buy the record, but the show it represented intrigued me. Research reveals that it's a British action spoof from 1971. Tony Curtis is a self-made guy from New York and Roger Moore is a playboy nobleman from London who are brought together by a judge (Lawrence Naismith) to solve cases where the criminal was let off on a technicality. I love Bond-type stuff, so this was right up my alley. (And no wonder there was a soundtrack album. Not only is the music really good, but it was done by frequent Bond collaborator John Barry.)
Watched the first episode while having lunch. "Overture" brings Danny Wilde (Curtis) and Brett Sinclair (Moore) together after they got into a fight at a restaurant. Judge Fulton (Naismith) will give them three months in jail if they don't help him figure out how a supposedly dead crime boss has seemingly returned to life. They follow his daughter Maria, but then are told she's off-limits. Not that Danny or Brett will listen when there's a pretty girl involved, but this mob may be hard for even them to handle.
Danny finds himself in the thick of their next case when he and his latest lady friend, an artist in the French Riviera, are shot at. He and Brett think he's the target, until they realize that the girl's uncle is the maker of "The Gold Napoleon." The old man is supposed to make copper coin replicas, but he's being forced to mint new ones by criminals. The duo have to expose them and make sure the girl doesn't end up in more trouble.
Went online to do some job hunting next. I finally came up with something. Put in an application for a copywriter and editor at a furniture showroom in Philly...and learned I was turned down for the typist job at Rowan University. Not that I really thought I'd get it to begin with. I need to either figure out jobs I can do that don't involve so many computer skills, or figure out how to upgrade my computer skills as quickly as possible.
Listened to The Age of Television while I worked. This unique LP isn't a collection of music from TV shows. Clips and interviews from people involved with the first twenty years or so of television's history document how the medium evolved into a dominate form of entertainment in a relatively short time. In fact, we kick off with a bit of Neil Armstrong's first words when he landed on the moon. With Arlene Francis as one of the three narrators, it's inevitable that there will be a clip from What's My Line. There's speeches from Johnson, Kennedy, and Eisenhower, kids' shows Ding Dong School, Captain Kangaroo, and Sesame Street, sitcoms I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show, Superman, soaps Guiding Light and The Secret Storm, and even a bit of Let's Make a Deal. It's all fascinating stuff if you're into TV history like I am.
Worked on writing next. Kathleen spies one of the rabbits who ate the flowers in her boss' garden earlier, the only one who had stopped and looked back at her. She tries to coax him with the few wilted flowers she has. After a few minutes, it finally works, and the rabbit hops over her. He has large, liquid brown eyes that seem almost human and soft, unusually curly fur for a rabbit...
Broke for dinner and Match Game '77 at 7 PM. The curly-haired guy who owns a ferret just keeps right on winning in this episode. Marcia Wallace is totally flummoxed when he chooses her to do his Head-to-Head, "__ Stomach." The others have more trouble with a question about what the weird guy uses to paint with instead of oil.
Finished the night after a shower with the second Matt Helm film, Murderer's Row, at Tubi. Helm (Dean Martin) fakes his death after several ICE agents are killed around the world. He poses as a gangster to find out who assassinated the agents and kidnapped Dr. Solaris (Richard Eastham) and his heliobeam weapon. He heads to the French Rivera to find out more about him from his wild daughter Suzie (Ann-Margaret), only to be arrested, then taken to the island hide out of Julian Wall. Wall has an incredible plan to destroy Washington D.C and secure world domination, but Solaris is the only hold-out. There's two people standing in his way, dance-crazy Suzie...and Matt Helm.
These Matt Helm movies are darn strange. First of all, Ann-Margaret has no chemistry with Martin and is totally miscast as what amounts to the Bond girl. Malden does somewhat better as the power-crazed villain. I give Martin credit for just rolling with some of the weird things that happen here, from Helm driving a hovercraft in the middle of Nice to Ironhead (Tom Reese), the henchman with the shiny metal plate on top of his head. Obviously, those who like their crime stories darker or more realistic should go elsewhere, but if you're into the campier side of the James Bond spy caper fad of the mid-late 60's, they don't come much weirder or campier than this.
No comments:
Post a Comment