The Heat Is On

Began the morning with breakfast and Charlie and Lola. Lola is very superstitious and believes "Never, Ever Step On the Cracks" because Charlie said there's bears under there, and then her friends claimed lions and crocodiles live there, too. Charlie regrets his teasing when she won't move anywhere at all. He has to show her that superstitions are just stories, and nothing is out to get her.

Karen picked me up promptly at 10 AM. We did apply for a document specialist/customer service job at a law office, but found nothing else. I apologized to her all the way back. She says it's not my fault, external factors are at play, but...it is my fault. I'm the one who is stuck. I'm neither interested in, nor know anything about health care, law, senior care, or cars, and that seems to be what most jobs revolve around. And Karen says she's retiring next week! I'll get a new counselor, but I probably won't hear from them until after the 4th of July holidays.

I felt terrible after Karen explained her retirement and that she felt guilty for not being able to help more. It's my fault, not hers. I should have done more. I needed a walk, and I didn't care how hot it was. Besides, I can no longer push the bottom of my electric toothbrush closed. I needed a new one. Stopped at Dollar General and picked up a good Oral B, along with Propel. Went to CVS to see if they had heads for it there. They didn't, so I quickly left with nothing.

My original thought for lunch was Sakura Japanese Steakhouse. I haven't eaten there since they opened. I thought the sign said open, but the door was locked. Unlike many small businesses on the White Horse Pike, they are open all week. I think they might have switched to all-takeout after the pandemic began. Ended up buying a fish sandwich at a quiet Crown Chicken and Gyro instead. 

Watched Mickey Mouse Funhouse while I ate lunch. Mickey and the gang go on a "Pirate Adventure" when Captain Salty Bones invites them on the biggest treasure hunt ever! They have to earn badges and brave geysers that gush in time to music, ride a huge catfish in the swamp, and figure out how to get across a rickety rope bridge without falling off. Even when they get to the treasure, there's still Captain Wheezelene and her cowardly weasel crew to deal with.

Settled down for Cindy on YouTube next. I go further into this 1978 TV musical with an all-black cast set during World War II in Harlem at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Musicals On TV - Cindy (1978)

I worked on my review while listening to some of the many records I picked up during vacation. I totally don't remember Give My Regards to Broad Street, other than "No More Lonely Nights" being a hit in the mid-80's. Apparently, the strange movie with Paul McCartney chasing the thief who stole his music is just plain weird, but the album has some merits. In addition to "Nights," we have some decent covers of McCartney's older Beatles and Wings music, including a rather lovely symphonic "Eleanor Rigby" called "Eleanor's Dream." Probably not the most necessary thing in the world if you just want "Nights," but worth hearing for fans of McCartney and his work.

Star Power is one of K-Tel's many pop and disco collections, this one from 1978. It may be one of the best of their late-70's disco-themed albums. Among my favorites here are "Help Is On Its Way" by the Little River Band, "Heaven On the 7th Floor" by Paul Nicholas, "On and On" by Stephen Bishop, "It's Sad to Belong" by England Dan and John Ford Coley, "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, and "Undercover Angel" by Alan O'Day.

The Julie Andrews World War I musical Darling Lili was a huge flop in 1970, just as epic musicals were starting to go out of fashion. It certainly wasn't the fault of the music. The moody "Whistling Away the Dark" was the hit here, and it sounds sensational on Andrews. She also does well by "I'll Give You Three Guesses." The chorus gets the lovely title song and the big drinking number "Skal." 

It was past 7:30 when I finally got around to dinner and Match Game Syndicated. The show began with Gene repeating the story of how that officer accidentally kicked Eva Gabor's poor foot and ripped off the toenail, praising Eva for being a trooper and staying to do the remaining episode, despite it really hurting. She spent the next day with ice on her toe, eating chocolates. Betty White is more nervous about a big "__ the Table" Head-to-Head match. There's also all the varying answer to where someone would open a strange disco.

Finished the nights with more new records and CDs, this time Broadway cast albums. High Button Shoes revolved around the adventures of the Longstreet family as they run afoul of a con-artist (Phil Silvers) and his partner (Joey Faye) in turn of the 20th century Atlantic City. There were two big hits here, the sprightly polka "Papa, Won't You Dance With Me?" and "I Still Get Jealous" that were introduced by Mama (Nanette Fabray) and Papa (Jack McCauley) Longstreet, and there's also the chorus number "On a Sunday By the Sea." 

Actually, the best-known aspect of this nowadays is "The Bathing Beauty Ballet." Too bad we don't actually get to see Jerome Robbins' inventive farcical choreography along with the music. It's so well remembered, it would be recreated for Jerome Robbins' Broadway in 1989 and the recent Encores concert in 2019. 

The 1999 Annie Get Your Gun revival was so successful, it ran almost as long as the original in 1946. On one hand, I am glad they restored two of my favorite songs from this show. The charming "Who Do You Love, I Hope?" and "I'll Share It All With You" are nicely performed by Andrew Palermo and Nicole Ruth Snelson. Peters, however, is trying way too hard as Annie, and Tom Wopat isn't the singer she is (though his "Girl That I Marry" does come off well). They do better by "Anything You Can Do" - and you do believe Peters can hold that note longer than him!