I Hope That Something Better Comes Along

Began the morning with breakfast and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Confusion reigns in Busy Town when "Mr. Frumble's Brother" visits. His twin brother is exactly like him in every way, including how absent-minded he is. They keep missing each other - and leaving a trail of surprised residents - all over town. Viking chief Pig Pigson's "Viking Pigs" have no desire to explore anything. He yells at them, and then tries being nice when that doesn't work. Hilda is so delighted her teacher Miss Honey is getting married, she plans what she hopes will be "The Perfect Wedding" for them. It doesn't go quite as Hilda planned, but they're still wed just the same.

Dashed off to work after that. I got out late and was slightly late arriving. Not that anyone noticed. It's the last day of the month, and we were dead when I arrived. It did pick up a little bit later, but never became overwhelming. Even so, I kept getting pulled to do stuff during mid-day. I had to put away a whole cart of cold items that were left in the produce department...which, cold as it is, still wasn't cold enough for the frozen items and meat in that cart. I had to take them to their departments so they could be disposed of.  Bought some baked goods off the clearance cart, plus water and two Culture Pops for later.

Went straight home after work and into The Price Is Right. Interesting Showcases on the episodes I saw today. I know one in the second hour revolved around The Young and the Restless, which I've never been a fan of. I'm not into soap operas, but to give them credit, they're one of the few soaps still on today. 

Did some job searching on Indeed and applied for grant writing at a metal recycling firm in Camden, a junior copywriter for the firm that owns Urban Outfitters, administrative assistant with a concrete firm in Cinnaminson, administrative assistant and bookkeeping with a restoration firm in Cherry Hill, and accounting administrator with a management corporation in Moorestown. I haven't had much luck on the job front. I hope something comes of these.

Worked on the soundtrack inventory next. Did L through N titles today, including La Bamba, Lady Sings the Blues, Lost Horizon, Love Me Or Leave Me, Mary Poppins, the film versions of Mame and The Music Man, the first two Muppet films, National Lampoon's Animal House, and New York, New York. (And I forgot Moana and Nashville, which I'll do tomorrow.) Some of these go really far back. I have no clue where The Muppet Movie soundtrack came from. I think Love Me or Leave Me and The Music Man came from thrift shops, but I'm not sure. 

Broke for dinner at 6 PM. Watched Match Game '78 as I worked. For now, Buzzr is staying in the early part of the year, before Richard Dawson left. One episode with Helaine Lembeck and Dick Martin saw Richard get so fed up with Brett's chatter, he told her to shut up. A small gentleman from backstage brought Gene a new microphone in another. The joke running through that week was Betty White not wanting anyone to swat flies, including Gene. This ended with Gene finally swatting her with a swatter that had giant holes in it.

Joe Garagiola and Debralee Scott joined in the next week. The big news that week was a new overhead camera angle. We also had a nice older gentleman with some of the worst answers ever heard on the show. He just didn't seem to get any of the questions. 

Finished the night at Kanopy with the 1976 German movie The Blue Light. This was a loose adaptation of the Grimm's Fairy Tale about a soldier who is cheated out of his pay by a greedy king. He asks an old woman for shelter, but she turns out to be a witch who demands that he bring a light up from a well. He ends up keeping the light for himself. When the light is ignited, a little man is brought forth. The soldier uses the little man to get his revenge on not only the king, but his petulant and spoiled daughter.

Relatively dark, as per the subject matter, it can also be pretty funny. The soldier is much younger here than in the original story, and he ends up with a peasant girl he falls for, not the bratty princess. (This having been made in East Germany in the 70's may have had something to do for that.) Not the most necessary or faithful adaptation, but interesting to see if you love Grimm's stories like I do. (Especially as I don't think this one has ever been adapted in the US.) 

The Guys In Red and Yellow

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Goofy In Training" has to prepare for a big obstacle course. The others teach him how to jump high and low and go through and over objects. He's hoping to win a medal, if he can get through Willie the Giant's huge piles of yummy food, especially the enormous Swiss cheese.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended; they arrived in 8 minutes. Decided to dodge the ugly dark clouds and see Deadpool and Wolverine at the AMC Cherry Hill 24 theater today. A friend told me earlier that we lost electricity after a car ran into a pole. The electricity was long back on by 10:30, but I did see the mess with police cars and fire trucks fixing the pole and towing the car away when my driver had to cut around it. 

Left a little early to buy a drink for the movies at the big Target in the shopping center next to the theater. I looked at their records and books, but just ended up with boxes of Made Good granola bar flavors that they don't carry at the Acme and a bottle of Dr. Pepper.

I didn't have time to linger because the showing of Deadpool and Wolverine I wanted to catch began at 11:45. I rushed down the ramp, past TGI Friday's, and over to the huge AMC Theater. Thankfully, there was no line when I arrived, and despite its size, the AMC isn't the maze that the Somerdale Cinemark is. I slid into my seat just as the commercials began.

First of all, there's a reason I prefer seeing movies at the Cinemark over the AMC, despite the latter having more theaters. The AMC is over a decade older than the Cinemark, and its theaters are small and cramped with barely any legroom. The seats only recline back, not forwards, and they aren't all that comfortable. 

Second, I wish they hadn't shown so many commercials. Deadpool and Wolverine is already over two hours. Most of the ads were for horror films you couldn't pay me to watch, and I'm still not interested in the second Beetlejuice movie. I would love to see the Christmas action comedy Red One if I hadn't already reserved my November moviegoing for Wicked. The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, on the other hand, is a must. Timothee Chalamet was a wonderful young Willy Wonka, and parts were filmed in Cape May (standing in for Newport). Captain America: Brave New World looks just as good as the earlier Captain America films with a different actor playing the Captain. (And will likely be a far better February movie than the ridiculous Argyle.) 

I won't go into the plot because of spoilers, but I did like it. I enjoyed the other two Deadpool films and am a fan of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, so I figured it was something I'd get a kick out of. The duo played perfectly off each other as "The Merc With a Mouth" who is trying to save his friends and his timeline from being erased and the lost soul of a former X-Man who is trying to live down losing the people he cares about. The cameos ranged from cool to goofy (especially Chris Evans as a totally different character than Captain America) to very unexpected. They did dig up an awesome villain in Cassandra Nova, who rules the barren world where they're sent and has her own bone to pick with the X-Men. Love the soundtrack too, with everything from NSYNC to Huey Lewis and the News to Jimmy Durante. 

The movie does share the same problem as the other Deadpool films of Wade's stream-of-consciousness pop culture references becoming dated in a few years. As mentioned, it's also way beyond too long. The movie probably could have been trimmed near the end with no one the wiser. A fight between Deadpool, Wolverine, and 100 other versions of Deadpool is funny and looks cool but adds nothing else to the story. There's also this being rated R for a reason. These characters are notorious for coming from dark comics with a lot of violence, blood, and profanity, and that's replicated here. 

If you're a fan of any of these characters, the movies it refers to, Reynolds, or Jackman, you'll want to grab your own buddy and head to the theater for one more go-around with the Merc with a Mouth and the most famous X-Man of all.

Made my way over the pedestrian bridge to the Cherry Hill Mall for lunch after the movie ended. I wanted to try Blue Fig Garden, a new Mediterranean restaurant outside the Mall as part of their "Restaurant Row." I came in to a quiet interior with a few couples enjoying lunch at large, modern tables while the girl brought me soft pita bread and olive oil to dip it in. I looked at the sandwiches, but the prices were a bit much for what you got, and I really wanted something more ethnic. Tried Pachanga Pastry, phyllo dough filled with Turkish pastrami, red peppers, and cheese. Very tasty, but also fairly small. I ate the lettuce and tomatoes they came on, too.

Went into the mall after lunch for a walk. I don't really need clothes right now, so I didn't bother with the department stores. Poked around in Build-a-Bear, Miniso, Hot Topic, Go! Calendars and Toys, and the Squishmallow store, but the only place I bought anything was FYE. Ended up with two records there for half-way decent prices:

John Coltrane - Trane: The Atlantic Collection

The Monkees - More of the Monkees (which came with a second disc of songs recorded for but not used on the album - and it was only $15!) 

The bus would be arriving at 4:20, which gave me enough time to get money from an ATM machine. Since that only gave out 20 dollar bills, I stopped upstairs at Aunt Annie's for a good, greasy pretzel and a small cup of very tart and sweet lemonade. The bus picks up just around the corner from the main entrance. It was right on time, and other than getting caught in rush  hour traffic on Cuthbert, there were no problems on the road.

Went straight into job hunting and the inventory when I got home. Added the H through K titles, from The Happiest Millionaire through the film version of Kismet. Included the Hogan's Heroes album I found at Abbie Road earlier this year. It's not technically a soundtrack, but it is based after a TV show, which is close enough. 

Watched Surf Party while I worked. I go further into the very first Beach Party imitation, with Bobby Vinton as a surf shop owner and Jackie DeShannon as one of three girls on vacation, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Surf Party

Broke for dinner at 7 PM. Ate while watching Match Game '78. They cut to early in the year, before the set changed and Richard left. He's still not in a good mood here, even joined by Gary Burghoff, Fannie Flagg, and Jo Ann Pflug. 

Finished the night after a shower listening to classic rock and R&B while working on my Surf Party review. I go way back with Santana's music. My mother was and remains a huge fan of his. She was thrilled when Supernatural came out and probably still has her CD with her in Virginia. Zebop! and Shango came out in the early 80's, during the tail end of his first flush of popularity. "Winning" was the hit from Zebop!, but I also liked "The Sensitive Kind" and "I Love You Much Too Much." "Nowhere to Run" was my favorite from Shango. 

I also go way back with Fats Domino. Mom used his big hits like "I'm Walkin'" and "Blueberry Hill" for her oldies aerobics classes in the late 80's, and I heard them on the Saturday night oldies show I listened to on the radio every week around the same time. The Best of Fats Domino also has a good version of "My Blue Heaven," along with "Blue Monday" and "Walking to New Orleans." 

A Ride In the Park

Began my day with breakfast and Laff-a-Lympics. They start off in the "French Riviera" with a soap-box derby. The Dread Baron's cheating gets in Scooby's way but manages to ricochet Wally Gator to victory. Shaggy may be nervous about gliding on the beach, but he does the best by far. The Great Fondoo's magic proves no help here. Daisy Mayhem is the one causing the trouble in the "New Zealand" Ostrich race. Cindy Bear sweet-talks her ostrich enough for second, but Scooby Dum's sticky problems rocket him to first. The tug-of-war over a mud puddle is only the second event everyone on all teams take part in. The Rottens try to add more horsepower, but they don't have a giant purple ape and two superheroes on their team!

Did a few things online and on my phone next. Called Abilities Solutions to check in with them and see how things are going with that voucher. E-mailed another counselor who has been sending me government jobs that just don't seem to fit. I wasn't sure how to tell her the jobs were either not what I was looking for or not in this area. 

Broke for lunch at 2. Ate my berry and chicken salad from yesterday while watching PAW Patrol. Mayor Humdinger does his own creative cheating in order to win a big race against other local mayors. "Pups Save the Mayor's Race" when they fix Goodway's boat and trains her in the running portion, then have to rescue Humdinger from his own bad shortcut. "Pups Save an Outlaw's Loot" from Humdinger with the help of mountain-dwelling pup Everett.

Headed out after that. I had another bag of donations to take to Goodwill...but this time, I didn't linger. Though it was hot and humid, it was also sunny and breezy. I took advantage of the continuing sunshine to go for a nice long ride across Audubon and around Haddon Lake Park. Stopped to run around at a playground overlooking the park. A family with a little boy and girl were already there. I climbed up the cloud-themed stairs, made my way through the net-like tunnel, and watched the kids play on the seesaw and the smaller playground. Incidentally, plastic slides can be just as hot as the metal ones infamously were, so be careful when you're on playground equipment in the sun.

Ended up on the Black Horse Pike. I quickly stopped at the huge WaWa there for water, then started back towards Oaklyn. I thought of getting a fancier drink at Common Grounds, but finally decided the water was fine and simply cut down West Clinton going home.

Went straight into working on the inventory when I got in. Added the F and G soundtrack titles today. Flashdance, Funny Lady, and Footloose go so far back, I have no idea where I got them from anymore. I think they came from either Abbie Road or Friends In Deed Thrift Shop before it closed. Other albums I worked on included the soundtracks for Fame, Flash Gordon, Funny Face, Ghostbusters, The Garfield Movie, Give My Regards to Broad Street, Gigi, Good Morning Vietnam, The Great Race, The Goonies, and the 1969 musical version of Goodbye Mr. Chips. 

Listened to classic Dave Brubek while I worked. No wonder Time Out was the first jazz album to sell a million copies and is regarded as a classic today. There's some great stuff on here. The title song and "Blue Rondo a 'la Turk" on the first side were my favorites.

Broke for dinner at 6 PM. Buzzr continued with Match Game '77. Scoey Mitchilll and Elaine Joyce join in to answer "Put ___" on the Audience Match. Brett's more interested in complaining about the people who repaired her car. She commends Gene for his handsome suit in the next.

Finished the night on YouTube with game shows revolving around sports or sports trivia in honor of the Olympics. Some shows combined the two, as with the short-lived Brains and Brawn from 1994. Mark-Paul Gosselear of Saved By the Bell and Danielle Harris hosted this summer replacement show that ran from July to October on NBC's Saturday morning line-up. Two teams of teens press buttons to answer trivia questions, then compete in sports-related obstacles. Probably NBC's attempt to keep up with Nickelodeon, it wasn't anything terrific, but the sports were kind of fun.

Adults and sport game shows go way back. Celebrity Golf was a short-lived 9-hole golf tournament in 1961 pitting various stars who played the game against professional player Sam Snead. Great if you're a fan of vintage golf or golf in general, a snore if you're not, especially the second half when they explain how the shots were done.

Sports Challenge was the granddaddy of all sports-related trivia games. From 1971 through 1979, this syndicated show pit two sports teams against each other to see who knew more trivia. I thought an episode with the Boston Celtics was appropriate after they won the basketball championships last month. Found a show from 1971 that pit them against the Washington Senators the year before they finally closed up shop (again) and moved to Dallas. 

Designated Hitter barely lasted four months ESPN in late 1993-early 1994. As you can guess, this one was mainly based around baseball. Host Curt Chaplin asks three constants four sports-related questions across six categories. The two who answer the most go on to the next round, where they choose one category. The contestant remaining after the second round gets to go on to the Grand Slam bonus round, where they're asked more sports-related questions. Wrong answers ended the round. This was ok, nothing special. The overeager Chaplin didn't help.

A Question of Sport was the BBC's longest-running sports quiz show. It ran for so long, it started in 1970 and didn't end until last year. The 1987 episode I have here seems to be emblematic of the series as a whole. Two celebrity sports captains help a contestant answer sports-related trivia, on and off a board. Simple but fun to play along with, I can see why this ran for so long. Emlyn Hughes was the host at this point.

Most sports game shows couldn't match Question of Sport or Sports Challenge for longevity. Star Games pit teams made up of actors and directors from popular shows of the time against each other in swimming, racing, and basketball. It only ran a year from 1985 to 1986 on syndication, but I wish it went much longer. It was fun to watch the teams play each other. They really got into it, even the teams made up of actors not known for their physical prowess, like the teams from Diff'rent Strokes and Growing Pains in the episode I have here.

Other game shows occasionally had sports celebrities play for charity. Family Feud with Richard Dawson did an Olympics week in February 1985, less than seven months after the 1984 Games ended. Track star Evelyn Ashford led the ladies' team, while much-decorated diver Greg Louganis headed the men's group. The guys would do better later in the week, but the ladies swept the first two games, not even letting the guys on the board and easily winning both Fast Money rounds.

Celebrate the Olympic spirit with some of the most beloved athletes in the US and England in these classic shows!

Celebrity Golf (1961)

Sports Challenge (1971)

Family Feud Syndicated (1985)

Family Feud Syndicated (1985)

Star Games (1986) 

A Question of Sport (1987)

Designated Hitter (1994)

Brains & Brawn (1994) 

Dolls In the Summer Breeze

Slept in this morning. It was past noon when I had breakfast and listened to the 1988 Summer Olympics Album. From 1976 until the last few years, album companies have put out collections of music from their own artists likely as a promotional product for the Olympic broadcasts. The big hit from the 1988 collection is "One Moment In Time," the stirring Whitney Houston ballad that was inescapable on the radio that year. I didn't find this one to be as varied or enjoyable as the album put out in 1992, but there were some good songs along with "Time," including "Shape of Things to Come" by the Bee Gees, "Willpower" by Taylor Dane, and the instrumental "Olympic Spirit" from composer and conductor John Williams. 

Spent the next hour and a half dressing the dolls for August after I finished eating and messing around a bit online. Kit, Samantha, and Molly all wear their historically-accurate bathing suits I found on eBay. Jessa's pretty purple and magenta Island Luau Bathing Suit from 2007 was also an eBay find. Ariel's ruffled tropical print  suit and Whitney's purple popsicle print skirted suit were gifts from Lauren. 

Josefina and Felicity come from time periods where swimming wasn't ladylike, and I haven't found a historically-accurate mid-60's bikini that fits Barbara Jean yet. The purple and pink pineapple-print sundress with the lacy cardigan Lauren set a while ago is short enough to pass for a mid-60's mini-dress. Josefina is in her pretty floral-print beige Party Dress and moccasins that she came in and Felicity wears her lavender Traveling Dress with the embroidered flowers.

Listened to two more CDs while I worked. Kitty's Kisses apparently had a respectable run for the summer of 1926, buoyed by a hit title song, and then vanished until most of the libretto was found in a warehouse in 1986 and restored and released on CD in 2009. In some ways, the storyline (a lady traveling alone poses as a lawyer's wife to get a room, then has to explain herself when the lawyer turns up and she falls for his brother) and songs aren't all that far removed from No, No, Nanette from the year before. Con Conrad and Gus Kahn did come up with some charming numbers, including "Choo Choo Love" for the second leads, "Two Fellas and a Girl" for Kitty and the male chorus, and the very funny "I Don't Want Him." According to the liner notes, the one bit of score they couldn't find was the finale, so they had to grab one from somewhere else...but Conrad and Kahn's Oscar-winning "The Continental" came out almost a decade after the show and sounds very out of place. 

The Damsel In Distress CD was a random collection of Fred Astaire songs from Top Hat, A Damsel In Distress, and The Sky Is the Limit, with one each from Dancing Lady and Holiday Inn. The Dancing Lady and Holiday Inn songs were the only ones I didn't have elsewhere. I won't be keeping this one. 

Went out for a walk and lunch after I put everything away. I had a choice of three restaurants open on the stretch of White Horse Pike in Oaklyn and Haddon Township on Sunday. I just ate at Crown Chicken and Gyro not long ago, and I didn't feel like sandwiches anyway. Sakura, the Japanese restaurant, was open, so I went there. In fact, they were busy for quarter of 4, with two pairs eating lunch and another couple coming in while I was there. I had shrimp hibachi (grilled shrimp) with vegetables and yummy brown fried rice. Tasty and filling, it really hit the spot.

Made my way down the Pike to WaWa to pick up a chicken and fruit salad I originally planned on having for dinner. Also grabbed two Olipop sodas and a frozen matcha chai drink. Oh, yum! Sweet and spicy, I really tasted more of the chai than the matcha, but it was still good. I drank it on my way home, stopping to listen to the final moments of West Side Story being performed at the Ritz Theater on my way. 

Hit the shower when I got home, then ate out of the fridge for dinner (I'll have the salad for lunch tomorrow) while watching tonight's Match Game marathon. Bloopers and mechanical failures abounded on this fast-paced show. You never know what would come out of Gene's mouth. He or one of the panelists might accidentally blurt out an answer, causing the question to be thrown out. Brett, Dick Martin, and Marcia Wallace all had answers that were censored on three separate occasions, Marcia's in an infamous nighttime episode. The wrong music might be played, or someone (usually Charles) would take so long, they'd play "The Star Spangled Banner" when they ran out of music. 

The two sets had so many bloopers of their own, I swear they were as alive and cranky as any of the panelists. The turntable went the wrong way at least three times. Words on the Audience Match board would be misspelled. Fannie Flagg's light went out once while she was giving an answer. The answer holder was forever sliding out of Gene's reach. In one episode, Gene and Charles had so much trouble getting the darn thing to work, they had a contestant hold it up so Gene could get the questions. 

Check out some of wildest bloopers that ever derailed a game show in this wacky marathon!

Match Game Sunday Night Classics - Best Blooper Moments On Match Game

Day In the Sunshine

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and more Laff-a-Lympics. I already did the "New York/Turkey" episode, so I skipped ahead to "South America." Huckleberry Hound claims he doesn't know how to use a rope, but he still wins the computerized bull roping contest after Dinky Dalton is caught cheating. Yogi and Boo Boo do even better in the Amazon River rubber raft race. Things get really weird in "Transylvania" when everyone ends up winning the scavenger hunt to find things related to horror icons. Blue Falcon and Dynomutt come in first in a log rolling contest across the Brack Lagoon.

Rushed out to work after that. Spent most of the day sweeping and pushing carts. I did have to sweep under Utzs chips displays that were just moved out of the lobby, but other than that, I just did my usual duties. At least it was a nice day for it. Warmer than yesterday, but still not humid, with a nice breeze. 

Oh, and I confirmed my schedule. In good news, three days off in a row, from Sunday through Tuesday, along with Thursday for my next doctor's appointment, and more hours. All three days I do work are early, though, including Saturday. No farm market for me again. 

Rushed home, changed, and ate popcorn while watching 1001 Arabian Nights, which is currently free on Amazon Prime. I go further into the only feature-length animated film to feature Mr. Magoo at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - 1001 Arabian Nights

Finished the night at YouTube with the Saturday Match Game marathon. Dolly Read Martin, the former Playboy centerfold wife of Dick Martin, started off on one of the most delightful weeks of Match Game '75 with Betty White and Allen Ludden. That would be her last appearance until 1979, the year after they got married for the second time, when she sat next to Dick for one of the funniest episodes of that year. They both got to see an overly excited contestant practically drag Gene around. Gene fled behind his question holder while Nipsey Russell grabbed her for a squeeze! "If you won't take advantage of all that jumping," Nipsey told him, "then I will!" 

Dolly was a semi-regular throughout the syndicated run, with and without Dick at her side. She was delightful in her own right, with her infectious laugh and her obvious affection for her husband and all of the fun onstage. Charles once tried to help her with her Northern England accent when a proper British butler was a contestant on the show. She and Dick were around for two of the best later PM episodes, the one where Dolly played matchmaker for Debralee Scott and a contestant she obviously had her eye on, and a later one with a sweet redheaded contestant. 

Her final appearances on the franchise to date were several weeks of Match Game '91. Dick joined her for at least one of these weeks as well. She had just as much fun here, making jokes with Charles and Marcia Wallace and having just as much fun with Dick as she ever did. (Oh, and incidentally, Dolly is another one who is still with us, but I think she may have retired even before Dick died in 2008.) 

This model Brit proves she's no dumb bunny in these hilarious episodes!

Match Game Saturday Night Classics - Featuring Dolly and Dick Martin

Down On Main Street

Began the morning with breakfast and a double-dose of Laff-a-Lympics. The games in "Quebec" begin with lacrosse. Daisy Mayhem's great at throwing, but thanks to the Rottens' cheating, she ends up in the net with the balls. Quick Draw and Scooby have more luck. The Doggies can't get anywhere in tree cutting, until the Rottens inadvertently help them out. The Great Fondoo's magical cheating works well enough to let him come in first in the magic carpet race in "Baghdad" and assure that Grape Ape and Babu don't come in at all. Dinky Dalton doesn't have nearly that much luck with magic rope climbing. Yogi gets tangled in the Rottens' cheating, but Blue Falcon and Dynomutt figure out what's going on fast enough to save the race.

The second season opener begins in "Russia," much to the consternation of a frozen Mildew and Snagglepuss! Dynomutt does well enough pulling his sled in the moose marathon to come in first. Captain Caveman gets caught in Fondoo's magic in the Russian dancing race, making him drop to third and Wally Gator the winner. Daisy Mayhem knows critters like no one's business and has no trouble winning the porpoise-riding race in the "Caribbean." Fondoo's magic strikes again when looking for Bluebeard's treasure. Shaggy and Scooby are experts at finding what's hidden and do much better. 

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. They arrived in a quick four minutes. At least the traffic wasn't bad as he made his way to Marlton, not even on Route 70. It was around quarter after 11, after the morning rush hour and before everyone leaves for the Shore. He dropped me at the Cottage Resale Shoppe in Marton within 20 minutes.

The Cottage Resale Shoppe is a small store on Main Street in Marlton that sells used clothes for American Girls and other 18-inch-dolls. I found two outfits for Kit right away, her original Reporter's Outfit with the red piping and her pink and brown School Skirt Outfit. The latter is a bit on the frilly side for Kit and will probably go to Molly. 

My best find was the rare modern Artist's Outfit from 1999. I've wanted to buy that for Jessa since the human Jess gave her to me, but it can cost anywhere from $100 to $300 or more complete on eBay. It was $55 complete except for the hair clip. Kit's Reporter Outfit was complete, with shoes, socks, and headband. Kit's School Skirt Outfit was missing the hat and had the wrong socks, but it did come with the shoes. I also found a pair of saddle shoes for Molly and Whitney to share. Molly's are falling apart.

The Cottage Resale Shoppe is on Marlton's quaint Main Street. It's lined with beautiful old houses in various states of repair, some of them going back to the 1840's. It was a gorgeous day for a stroll, too. Though it was still hot, it was neither as hot, nor as humid as it has been, probably in the mid-80's, and sunny and breezy as can be. Main Street was busy with medical workers from the many hospitals and medical offices in Marlton driving to lunch. I dodged more than a few cars as I made my way across the street to Sal's Pizzaworks.

Sal's is nestled so far back in a small shopping center about a block from the main highway. They make the best - and cheapest! - pizza in Marlton, and they have a Coca Cola Freestyle machine. My slice of mushroom, slice of white broccoli, and medium Coke Zero Peach cost me less than $5. I took it outside on their patio booths, since it was way too beautiful to eat inside!

I originally planned on stopping at the thrift shop Among Other Things next, since it's less than a block from Sal's. When I arrived, a sandwich board in front of the doors indicated that they're now only open on Saturdays and Sundays. Bummer. I stopped briefly at Gallo's Bakery too, but I wasn't hungry enough after my pizza for their massive cookies and pastries. Just ended up walking another block and hurrying across the street to Marlton Crossings instead.

There wasn't much here that interested me, either. I peeked around Michael's, but I didn't see any doll clothes, and I'm not really in the market for craft supplies right now. Played Burgertime and found a Danny Kaye album in a box of records for $4.99 each at Rocket Fizz. I also picked up a container of my favorite fruit slices and either a French or French Canadian Reeces Oh Henry bar for now, from the French description on the packaging.

Strolled down two blocks past a series of small offices and crossed the street to the back of the Marlton Barnes and Noble. It's almost identical to the Barnes and Noble in Deptford, only half of their music and DVD section holds toys, games, and music books. There was enough left for me to dig up two records, a CD set, and Spectre on DVD. (And it turns out I have that. It's the most recent Bond movie No Time To Die I'm missing. I'll donate it to Goodwill.) Didn't see any mysteries I liked, but I did pick up a book of Irish fairy and folk tales from the Book Annex section.

Incidentally, the records ended up being: 

The soundtrack from Moana

Andy Williams - The Best of Andy Williams (This one was half-price!) 

The lone CD set:

The soundtrack from the musical version of The Color Purple. (It was 20 percent off and cheaper than the enormous record set.) 

As I came out, I noticed another shopping center across the street with a huge Kohl's. Thought I'd take a look at that. Turns out it was a bust. The only thing I saw that was remotely interesting was a rack with stuffed animals for $5. I considered it, but stuffed animals are the last things I need right now. I'm not on the lookout for clothes, either. The only thing I got at that mall was a dollar water from Shop Rite. 

Called Uber at Kohl's, but that may have been a mistake at quarter of 4, the height of rush hour. It took the driver over 20 minutes to arrive. At least he was extremely pleasant when he did arrive. He was just happy I was going in the opposite direction from that annoying Shore traffic! We discussed our jobs and he told me about the remodeling he's doing on his house all the way back to Oaklyn.

Went straight into working on the inventory when I finally got home. Added the remaining C, D, and E soundtracks today, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the film version of Can-Can, the Columbia Rita Hayworth musicals Cover Girl and You Were Never Lovelier, Darling Lili, Dirty Dancing, the Rex Harrison Doctor Doolittle, Easy Rider,  and Encanto. With a few exceptions, I haven't had most of my soundtrack albums for as long as some of the CDs. Easy Rider came from a thrift shop back in 2008, but most were yard sale or record or book store finds. 

Broke for dinner and Match Game '77 at 7 PM. Dick Smothers and Meg Bennett joined Fannie Flagg and the regulars here. Fannie gets a standing ovation when she's the only one who matches the contestant on a question about who the ringmaster sleeps next to that would make him unhappy to get up on the wrong side of the bed.

Took a shower, then finished the night with Mystery Science Theater 3000. Space Mutiny is a later Mike episode featuring a 1988 South African sci-fi drama. Elijah Kalgan (John Philip Law) hatches an elaborate scheme with space pirates force the colony ship Southern Sun to end its long colonizing by hijacking its engines and police force. He and the ship's engineer MacPherson (James Ryan) begin their sabotage just as an important professor arrives at the ship. The professor dies in a crash, but his pilot Dave Ryder (Reb Brown) survives. That closes off the main flight deck long enough for Kalgan to take over. Ryder joins Commander Jansen (Cameron Mitchell) and his daughter Lea (Cisse Cameron) to foil Kalgan's plot and regain control.

This may be the most 1988 sci-fi movie ever made. From the massive shoulder pads on the men and the leotards on the women to the obvious Star Wars rip off special effects and sets, this is space opera cheese of the ripest sort. Mitchell mostly manages a certain gravity as the Commander...except for when a group of sexy female aliens try to seduce him for no reason other than they're there. (They do better with two of Kalgan's men later.) The continuity is so bad, one woman is killed off mid-way through, only to be seen back at her desk moments later. 

I think you can guess that Mike and the robots have a field day with this one. I can't say I blame them. Worth seeing with or without robot wisecracks if you're a fan of truly campy space opera or B action films from the 80's. 

In the Cool of the Evening

Began a late morning with breakfast and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Hilda has planned "The School Dance," and everyone is excited except Huckle. He's no dancer and is worried everyone will laugh at him. One of his friends finally reminds him that it doesn't matter if you're good, it matters if you get out there. "The First Olympics" are created by a goat in Ancient Greece as games his five kids play on their birthday. The town mayor is annoyed at first, until he sees how much fun the family is having and says everyone in Greece should be able to enjoy them. "Hilda for President" can make great baked goodies, but has no idea how she wants to make the school better. Billy Dog has many ideas to improve the school, but no idea how to organize them. They finally decide that even the president can't do everything alone and agree to work together. 

Saw a bit of Super Password while making my grocery list and signing the get well and encouragement cards for James and Linda Young. I was a bit surprised to see David Graff of Police Academy playing with Pat Klous of The Love Boat. Some folks from Police Academy did turn up on the syndicated Match Game and Match Game-Hollywood Squares, but I had no idea any of them were on other shows. He wasn't doing too badly when I left, either, leading his contestant to the Super Password bonus round.

Headed out around quarter after 12 for this week's grocery run. Dropped the cards in the mailbox on the White Horse Pike and a book in the kiosk in front of the Ritz Theater, then rode down Cuthbert to Sprouts. Sprouts was busy, but not with kids. They don't really have anything that would interest pre-teens or teenagers. They don't sell silly string, they have no seasonal aisle, and they only have toys on displays during December. Grabbed coconut milk and granola bars on sale, along with speckled plums and blueberries. 

Next stop was the Westmont Acme. I mainly wanted to restock yogurt, peaches, more granola bars, and Olipop soda. They didn't have the mouthwash I wanted there, but I did get a gift card for my oldest nephew Skylar's 20th birthday next week. Had online coupons for a buy one, get one Remedy, a kombucha soda, $1 off five Chobani yogurts, and $2 off bakery items. I opted to try the lemon thumbprint shortbread cookies.

Made one last stop before I went home. Bought lunch at the A&A Pretzel Shop down the street from me. Grabbed two pretzels and a stuffed pepperoni pretzel. I was also disappointed to notice that Los Amigos Bakery was dark and empty. It would seem they're gone for good. That's too bad. The people who owned the place were nice, I liked their cookies, and that yule log cake I won on Christmas Eve was terrific. 

Had lunch while watching a sports-themed episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Mickey and the gang invite Martian Mickey and his friends to compete in "Mickey's Sporty-Thon" with them. They're used to having gadgets and flying apparatus do all the work and try to do everything themselves, until the others teach them the right way to play. It's Martian Minnie and her big tossing ability who helps save Announcers Pete and Donald when their hot air balloon goes out of control!

Watched the 1967 TV version of Damn Yankees next after the cartoon ended. I go further into this extremely psychedelic retelling of the beloved baseball musical with a great cast at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musicals On TV - Damn Yankees (1967)

Went into working on my inventory for the next few hours. I did all the B vinyl soundtrack titles and one C, Barbie through the film version of Cabaret. It was mainly soundtracks from James Bond films, though I did also do the Twiggy/Ken Russell Boy Friend movie and Breakfast at Tiffany's. While some of my soundtrack CDs go way far back, most of the records are more recent. I did totally forget that I found the double soundtrack for the MGM musicals Annie Get Your Gun and Three Little Words at the Collingswood Library for 25 cents years ago.  Boy Friend was one of my earliest finds at Rustic Music. 

Broke to go for a walk and run errands at 6 PM. It was hot, sunny, and humid earlier when I was on the bike. By the time I made my way down to Newton Lake Park, clouds had cooled things off considerably despite the continuing humidity. I didn't see a lot of people out for walks, probably due to it being the dinner hour, but there were a lot of folks fishing on small speed boats or row boats bobbing along on the lake. Briefly stopped at Dollar Genera to see if they had the mouthwash I wanted and quickly moved along when they didn't.  

Went straight into dinner and Match Game '91 when I got home. Soupy Sales made his second and final appearance on Match Game in these episodes after having done a week during the 70's CBS run. Jimmie Walker flirted with a pretty contestant in the last episode, while Sally Struthers announced she was doing a voice on the ground-breaking puppet sitcom Dinosaurs. (Which would go on to run for three years and is still much-loved today. Sally was the voice of Charlene, the younger sister.)

Finished the night working on my review for Damn Yankees while listening to the two Mike Nesmith albums I picked up on vacation. From a Radio Engine to the Photon Wing and Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma are basically Mike messing around with song length and styles. The catch tropical-flavored "Rio" from Radio Engine is by far my favorite from these two albums. Other good ones from Infinite Rider include "Magic" and "Flying." 

Harts On a Rainy Day

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and Bluey. The girls start a game of "Keepy Uppy" with Bluey's last balloon. Things get really crazy when Bandit jumps in and adds  his own obstacles.

I didn't like the way it looked outside at all. It hadn't rained by 8:30, but it was cool and humid, and the clouds were heavy and pitch black. I decided not to take chances and called Uber. The morning driver came in 9 minutes. It took him a little longer due to Nicholson Road being blocked off for repairs, but I still got to work on time. The afternoon driver arrived in 7 minutes. He must have read the road reports and cut through Oaklyn instead of trying for Nicholson.

Work wasn't really much of a problem. It was dead the entire morning. It picked up a little bit before the rain finally started around noon. That really cleared things out. I did get a little wet gathering carts, but by the end of my shift, it was so quiet, and there the carts were so full, I ended up watering plants just to have something to do.

Soon as I got home, I changed and had a snack while watching Faerie Tale Theatre. Did "Rapunzel" in honor of the show's producer and the title character of this episode, Shelly Duvall, who passed away last week. Gena Rowlands is the witch, Duvall is the title character and her mother who craved radishes, and Jeff Bridges is the father the witch caught taking them and the prince who climbs up Rapunzel's hair. This one follows the Grimm version of the story, up to and including Rapunzel being sent out to the desert and the prince being blinded. As Duvall herself points out, harrowing stuff, but very interesting (even if I do wish they'd broken with the Grimms and actually shown the witch getting in trouble for everything she did).

Switched to Disney Plus for The Rescuers in honor of Bob Newhart. He was the voice of Bernard, the janitor for the Rescue Aid Society, a group of mice who are devoted to helping save humans in trouble. Hungary representative Miss Bianca (Eva Gabor) recruits him to help her save Penny (Michelle Stacy), an orphan who was kidnapped and taken to the Louisiana bayous by bumbling Mr. Snoops (Joe Flynn) and frightening Madame Medusa (Geraldine Page), who want her to find a lost diamond. Bernard, Bianca, and the residents of the bayou help save her and the gem, proving that you don't need to be a big creature to do big things.

This has been one of my favorite Disney movies since I first saw it during a nasty bout with pneumonia in the early 90's. Newhart and Gabor play wonderfully off each other, Stacy and the character actors playing the bayou natives are a hoot, and Page is marvelous as one of Disney's most underrated villains. Although this isn't a flat-out musical, there are some lovely late 70's ballads on the soundtrack; "Someone's Waiting for You" was nominated for an Oscar. The animation definitely shows the hand of Don Bluth, with its earthy sketchiness that almost looks like a warm-up for The Secret of Nimh. 

If you or your kids love animal or adventure stories, you'll want to join Bernard and Bianca on their trip down to Devil's Bayou, too. 

Watched The Scooby Doo Show after the movie ended. Shaggy and Scooby are "Scared a Lot In Camelot" when they arrive at the castle owned by Shaggy's uncle, only to find him missing and the castle occupied by the ghosts of Merlin and the Black Knight! Merlin even manages to hypnotize Shaggy and Scooby, but Velma knows how to get them out of it. Food does the trick every time with those two. 

Worked on the inventories for a while. Finally finished up the rock collections with the Reader's Digest Remembering the 60's 4-disc set, Soul of the 70's, and the A Year In Your Life trio. While I got the other two sets within the last two years, the Year In Your Life collections go back to when they were sold at the North Cape May Acme in the early 2000's. I'd buy them after work. Since I still had time after I finished, I started the soundtracks. Did all the A record titles, from the TV musical The Adventures of Marco Polo to the soundtrack from The Aristocats. 

Watched Match Game '91 while I did the inventories, and later as I ate dinner. Betty White figures into all of these episodes, along with Bruce Baum, goofy Jacklyn Zemen, and Stuart Damon from General Hospital (whom I know best as the prince from the 1965 Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella). Mixed feelings on the Match-Up mini-games that end each round. On one hand, it's fun to play along at home and see if you can match the contestant and the panelist yourself. It also breaks up the flow of the game and doesn't really add a whole lot else.

Finished the night on The Roku Channel with Hart to Hart. They're saying "Which Way, Freeway?" when their dog turns up with a new sweetheart, an attractive Irish Setter. Turns out her owner was an old business colleague of Jonathan's whose pretty young assistant ended up being a con woman after his money and jewel business. She and her associates are desperate to kidnap or kill the dogs to keep their humans from finding the gun with her fingerprints, 

Cooling Down

Began the day with breakfast and Laff-a-Lympics. Despite having appeared in a western, Huckleberry Hound doesn't have much luck riding a bucking bronco in "Arizona." Daisy Mayhem and Tinker from Speed Buggy do much better. Quick Draw McGraw is an old hoof at lassoing bulls, but Dynomutt has a harder time figuring it out, and the bull ends up lassoing Dinky Dalton. Despite getting caught for obvious cheating, the Rottens still do the best at spinning windmills in "Holland." The Great Fondoo thinks he's sabotaging Scooby and Shaggy on filling gaps in the Zyder Zee barricade, but he ends up helping them instead.

Headed out after that for a walk and to run errands. I decided to stroll over to Target in order to get my walk in rather than taking my bike. Besides, I figured it would be easier to dodge the traffic. Cuthbert was only just slowing down at 1 PM as I rushed across the street.

Stopped at the Bagel Shop first, but not for lunch. I wanted bagels for my lunch at work this week. Went in, bought six, and went out. 

Target and Dollar Tree were far more of a mess. The local teens are out of school now, and the Westmont Plaza is the closest place for many of them to hang out. There was a ridiculously long line at Dollar Tree. Good thing all I wanted at Dollar Tree were mints, a bottle of water, and cards. My nephew Skylar turns 20 next week, and my older friends Linda and James Young are having a really rough time with his health right now and could use encouragement.

Didn't have as much luck with Target. They had the Clinical Solutions Gum Therapy Listerine I wanted, but not the size. I did pick up a double-sized box of small Hefty trash bags and a box of chocolate chip Made Good breakfast bars I've never seen anywhere else. Starbucks was surprisingly quiet, given how busy it was elsewhere, so I also grabbed a Mocha Cookie Frappuccino. 

At least it wasn't a bad day for a long walk. In fact, I took the long way home through Newton Lake Park to enjoy how much cooler it was. It was cloudy and humid, but I'll take that after the insanely hot weather we've had over the past month or so. I saw parents pushing children in strollers and dog walkers out taking advantage of the weather as well.

Put on Athena while I ate lunch and put everything away, and then while I started working on the music inventory. I go further into this very odd MGM musical from 1954 themed around bodybuilding and healthy lifestyles at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Cult Flops - Athena

Spent the next few hours adding more rock and vocal collection CDs, including the Have a Nice Day and Malt Shop Memories sets and two individual soul and Motown titles. I've had some of these literally forever. Two of my Have a Nice Day CDs go so far back, I have no idea where or when I bought them anymore. In fact, I think I may have gotten them from that now-defunct music store in North Cape May where I also picked up By the Beautiful Sea somewhere in the mid-late 90's. 

Broke for dinner at quarter after 7 PM. Buzzr ran the Match Game '90 Halloween and Veteran's Day episodes again. That's fine. They're probably the best episodes from the 1990-1991 run. Halloween featured Brett as a little girl sitting next to Charles as Superman, Vicki Lawrence in a super-short Little Red Riding Hood outfit, and Ronn Lucas and Scorch's idea of a scary costume. 

Veteran's Day week coincided with a run of soap opera stars on the show. Karen Wittier and Fiona Hutchinson were adored by the audience of love-besotted Marines. Fiona spent the week flirting with Scorch, while Karen proved she was more than a pretty face by doing well with the Head-To-Head three times (twice in a row).

Finished the night with rock and jazz records and CDs while working on my Athena review. I'm surprised I don't remember us having Dancing On the Ceiling in the 80's. We had Can't Slow Down and listened to it constantly. Some of my favorite Richie solo songs come from this album, including the title number, "Ballerina Girl," and "Love Will Conquer All." George Benson's 20/20 also debuted in the mid-80's...and boy does it sound like it, with the duet with Roberta Flack "You are the Love Of My Life" and the original version of "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You."

October Road is one of James Taylor's most recent albums. The theme here is the change of seasons, which explains the inclusion of a lovely "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Taylor's mellow sound here borders on New Age, with reveries like the title song and "My Traveling Star." "Raised Up Family" and "September Grass" are other good ones here. 

Night of the Pricing Games

Began a gloomy morning with breakfast and Sailor Moon Crystal. It's been a while since I visited Sailor Moon's world. Picked up where I left off with the arrival of "Minako - Sailor V." Unlike in the dub, Sailor Venus isn't eager for the girls to help her out at first. She also claims to be the Moon Princess. Most of the episode plays pretty much the same as in the original, only Usagi and Mamoru offer to trade her handkerchief for his watch, Kunzite attacks Venus first, and the others join her together. Tuxedo Mask suddenly appears to save Sailor Moon...just as the episode ends...

Messed around online a bit until around 1:30. I wanted to get a walk in and needed to run an errand. My first stop was CVS. They did have the gum therapy mouthwash I wanted, but not for a decent price. I checked the shelves and moved on quickly.

Had lunch at a busy Common Grounds Coffee House. Despite it being past 2 PM at that point, they were very busy with college students and adults chatting or doing online work or checking their phones. Common Grounds is one of two businesses on West Clinton that's open on Mondays. (Phillies Phatties is the other.) I had a big, moist Pineapple Coconut Muffin, the last small slice of bacon-cheddar-spinach quiche, and Pineapple Matcha Drink. The last-named was pineapple, pineapple juice, coconut milk, and matcha. It was another one I had to mix. Tart and earthy once I finally mixed it, but the pineapple pieces kept getting stuck in the straw.

Headed down West Clinton and Kendall and into the neighborhood bordering the school. Other than the men doing lawn work at several houses, it was a quiet afternoon. I saw a few summer banners and leftover 4th of July decorations, but it was mainly gardens lined with carpets of bushy green grass and Technicolor summer flowers. Stopped to play briefly at the playground in the Tracy Connors Memorial Park. I had a hard time ducking all of me through the big tube that connected the two halves of the equipment. I couldn't slide too well in my short-shorts, either.

At least the weather could have been worse, and has been worse lately. It was cloudy, humid, and cool, in the mid-80'. I felt it spit every now and then, but other than that, it hasn't rained. It actually felt nice to go on a walk in the middle of the day and not be overheated by the time I got home.

Took the laundry downstairs, then put on The Wild Wild West and wrapped a birthday gift for a friend when I got in. "The Night of the Golden Cobra" gets seemingly deadly when Jim West and the military officer in charge of Native affairs Colonel Mayo (Simon Scott) are attacked by a cobra and three men in Asian Indian dress. The trio are the sons of Mr. Singh (Bela Lugosi), whom he wants West to train. West thinks Singh is keeping Mayo hostage, but it turns out Mayo has his own plans, not only for Jim, but for the Native tribal land they're on that turns out to be a lot more valuable than first thought.

Gave my friend her gift during the show. She absolutely loved the box with the soup bowls and tureen I found at Goodwill a few weeks ago and was so pleased. I know she told me she had wanted soup bowls a while back. 

Worked on the music collections inventory for a while after I put the laundry in the dryer. Listed the CDs I have from the series AM Gold and Billboard Top Hits, along with the individual sets British Invasion Gold, Flashback 80's, Freedom Rock, and 20th Century Rocks: The 60's Bands - Wild Thing. Most of these go so far back, I don't remember when or where I got them anymore. I'm pretty sure I bought the Billboard Top Hits CDs from the FYE and Borders at the Hamilton Mall in college because they were among the only CDs I could afford then. I think Flashback 80's came from what was then the Super Fresh in the late 2000's, and I know the Freedom Rock set was from a thrift shop a block from me in Wildwood when I first moved there in 2002. 

Broke for dinner and to bring the laundry upstairs at quarter after 7 PM. For some reason, Buzzr jumped way ahead to the second week of Match Game '90. Game show host Johnathan Prince and Joe Alasky of Tiny Toon Adventures joined Charles Nelson Reilly, Vicki Lawrence, and Betty White in these episodes. At one point at the very end of the show, Joe couldn't resist running up to the big orange circle in the back where host Ross Shafer comes in and giving us an excellent "That's all, folks!" 

(And speaking of Buzzr, the commercials during Match Game indicate that their next marathon will be back to school themed. Looks like the college weeks from Sale of the Century and the early 90's Family Feud and Card Sharks episodes with college students being questioned. Even if there's nothing new, the Feud college episodes in particular are hilarious, and I wouldn't mind seeing them again.) 

Finished the night on YouTube with something a little bit different. The Price Is Right started out as a half-hour show in 1956. The first run with Bill Cullen from 1956 through 1965 simply had people bidding for high-priced prizes like cars, homes, and large pieces of furniture. It was even more successful when revived in 1972, with Bob Barker hosting. Now three mini-games were played, each giving the contestant the chance to win a larger prize. The two biggest winners went on to bid on the Showcases, lavish prize packages of everything from whole rooms of furniture to a car and a trip to Greece. 

Attempts at a night time version of Price go as far back as the original late 50's-early 60's show. They tried again in 1972, with first choice daytime host Dennis James in charge. Bob Barker took over in 1977 after they didn't renew James' contract. Unlike the daytime version, the nighttime show kept the original half-hour format until the end of its run in 1980. 

Goodson attempted syndication again in 1985, this time with Tom Kennedy hosting. Once again, the format remained identical to the original half-hour show. However, by the mid-80's, syndication had been flooded with game shows trying in vain to become the next Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy. Most of them ended up shoved to early morning or late nights. Even Price, which continued to be a hit in the daytime, suffered this fate. The Kennedy version barely lasted eight months.

Price made one last stab at syndication in 1994. Doug Davidson, formerly a star on The Young and the Restless, took over the hosting here. This made many changes from the previous half-hour format. Contestants now just come onstage to play games when called and don't bid before it. The top winner plays what amounts to The Range Game in order to win the Showcase. Very 90's, with its bright, boxy aesthetic, and kind of strange. I wasn't the only one who thought so. Game shows were out of style by the time, and this was competing not only with Fortune and Jeopardy, but a slew of newly-popular talk shows as well. This one lasted four months. 

That seems to have ended any attempt at doing a regular syndicated Price. It has been seen at night periodically since then, usually during the summer or when CBS has a hole in the schedule they need to plug, but always in the hour format the daytime show has run in since 1975. And honestly...I think I like it better that way. This show needs the room for all of the pricing games and the Showcases and the wheel. 

Of the three non-Barker nighttime hosts, warm and funny Kennedy was my favorite. I really do wish his version lasted longer. Davidson tried too hard (and as mentioned, his version made a lot of odd and unnecessary changes), and James behaved more like a racetrack tout in Brooklyn than a game show host. 

At any rate, dig deep into the history of Price Is Right with these shorter but no less enjoyable episodes!

The Price Is Right (1959)

The New Price Is Right (1973)

The Price Is Right Syndicated (1975)

The Price Is Right Syndicated Finale (1980)

The Price Is Right Syndicated Premiere (1985)

The Price Is Right Syndicated (1994) 

Sunshine Matches

Began the morning with breakfast and Headquarters. This is the first time the Monkees were able to play their own instruments and their own compositions as a group. For many fans, even though it contains no hit songs, it still marks the high point of their collaboration. Mike Nesmith's "Sunny Girlfriend" and "You Just May Be the One" are good, but by far my favorites from this one come from the unbridled mind of Micky Dolenz. "No Time" started as a jam between the members, and you can hear the fun they're having in this terrific fast-paced rocker. "Randy Scouse Git" was Micky's stream of conscious number on their time in England.

Switched to the Rolling Stones while adding the CD music collections Classic Soft Rock: Into the Night, The Fabulous Fifties, and the retail store exclusives Sun Country Good Times Music and Soundburst to my inventory. I have vague memories of hearing several songs from Emotional Rescue on the radio during my early childhood. "She's So Cold" and the title song were the hits, but I liked "Send It to Me" and "Down In the Hole" best.

Had a very quick lunch, then hurried off to work. Same deal as yesterday. The carts were a mess when I came in, and it took me the entire afternoon to put them away. Other than that and cleaning up after a very small yogurt spill, there were no problems whatsoever. It was a little busy when I came in, but by the time I finished, the store was totally dead. No trouble getting out. 

At least the weather was somewhat decent for running around. It was hot, sunny, and humid, but not quite as hot or humid as it has been lately. I saw dark clouds on the horizon as I went home, but to my knowledge, it hasn't done anything but look gloomy yet. 

I wasn't up to even making sandwiches after pushing carts and sweeping the store for four hours, and I was too hungry for just a hoagie anyway. Stopped at Crown Chicken and Gyro and ordered shrimp over rice with vegetables and a Diet Pepsi. (I also originally ordered a slice of something called Bean Pie, but they forgot to put it in my bag.) 

Finished the night with dinner and tonight's Match Game Sunday Classics marathon. We again got away from Match Game for a tribute to exercise teacher Richard Simmons, who also passed away last week. Though he didn't turn up in the original show, he did appear for two weeks on Match Game '90. His energy and noisy braying really livened up shows that included Dolly Martin, Charles Nelson Reilly, Brad Garrett, Pam Stone, and Vicki Lawrence. 

The earliest show here was the original Battlestars from 1982. Alex Trebek hosted this variation on Hollywood Squares, with the wisecracking celebrities in triangles instead of squares. He also did two versions of Hollywood Squares itself, two weeks from the mid-80's John Davison run and one from the 1998 Tom Bergeron show. He led his lovely "Perfect Ten" Rosebuds, including Heather Locklear and Mary Ann Mobley, to victory on the Family Feud "Battle of the Perfect 10s" special. I think he was really too fidgety for Super Password, but he was there for Betty White's birthday and helped a contestant win one of the show's biggest jackpots ever. 

He was probably happiest on Body Language, where he could do the work-out moves and encouragement that were his trademark. The first was their all-star Christmas show, with Lucille Ball, Robert Morse, and Isobel Sanford. The second was the episode from that wig marathon Buzzr did a few years ago, with him playing Phyllis Diller in a jungle-green hairpiece. 

Keep sweatin' to the oldies with one of the most famous exercise lovers ever! (And look for Dr. Ruth and Martin Mull, who also passed away recently, on two Hollywood Squares episodes.) 

Match Game Sunday Classics - Richard Simmons Tribute

Buttoned-Down Harvest

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Goofy's Magical Mix-Up" accidentally makes Pluto's doghouse disappear! He and the others try to find a way to bring it back, including dodging the Wizard Pete.

Hurried out after the cartoon ended. It was later than planned, and I had errands to run. Started by dashing quickly into WaWa for money. I got a Pina colada smoothie, too. Yum. Sweet, cool, and more like a milkshake than a smoothie.

The Collingswood Farm Market was still busy with people buying produce for barbecues and birthday parties, despite the late hour and it being very humid and much cooler. Cherries, raspberries, and strawberries are gone, but I did see the first local cantaloupes and Granny Smith apples of the season. Grabbed nectarines, blackberries, blueberries, cherry tomatoes, and a chicken empanada for lunch. Wanted a pretzel ring from the Lost Bread Co. booth for a treat, but they were out of them. Their rye brownie was even tastier, thick, rich, and fudgey. Stopped to buy individual carnations from the plant seller for a friend who loves flowers and has been working very long and hard lately. 

Went straight into Donald and the Wheel and lunch when I got home. I go further into this Disney educational short with several catchy songs at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Disney Short Subject Special - Donald and the Wheel

Headed to work soon as the cartoon ended and I got organized. I took my bike and arrived just in time. Though I did have to put away a cartful of meat and seafood someone didn't want, I mainly swept the store or pushed carts. The carts badly needed to be done. There were none left when I got in, probably because the head bagger was in a register. I didn't have help until about a half-hour before I left, and that was only because they pulled the guy working self-checkout to go outside. Frankly, by the time he got outside, it had long slowed down, and I was just about done with the carts.

At least the clouds we had all day cooled things off. It was in the mid-80's, normal for this time of year. It remains killer humid, though. It spit a little bit late this afternoon, but I never felt any other signs of rain.

Rushed home and into the shower, then had dinner and finished the night watching YouTube. Tonight's Match Game marathon also incorporated episodes of various versions of Password in honor of Bob Newhart, the beloved TV and nightclub comedian who passed away on Thursday. Newhart first turned up on the 60's Password, playing against Eydie Gorme in one of his earliest appearances. 

Though Newhart wasn't quite unbuttoned enough for Match Game, other actors who appeared on his shows did turn up there. Marcia Wallace and Bill Daily, who starred in The Bob Newhart Show as Bob's efficient secretary Carol and nutty neighbor Howard respectively, were semi-regulars on Match Game and The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. Daily quit after Squares Hour, but Marcia Wallace not only continued appearing through 1991, she was one of the best things about the 1990-1991 run. Long-time TV character actor Tom Poston, who would later appear as handyman George Utley on Newhart, did one week on Match Game in 1976 and another on Squares Hour in 1984. 

Honor the buttoned-down mind of a man beloved by too-tall elves and globe-trotting librarians alike in this hilarious and rare marathon!

Match Game Saturday Night Classics - Bob Newhart Tribute

I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia

Began the morning with breakfast and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. "Denys at Camp" is nervous about everything he encounters, from the obstacle course to canoeing. It isn't until Lowly and Huckle get caught in rapids and lose their oars that he realizes there are things he can do at camp. Grandfather Origami wants to give his daughter a special gift for her wedding. "Peasant Pig's Gifts" only need folded paper to be  truly beautiful. Mr. and Mrs. Fixit are excited when "Little Fixit" arrives. Huckle and his pals may be even more so. They even help Mr. Fixit build a nursery in a tree. 

Put on Buzzr while getting organized. I forgot they moved Let's Make a Deal to the mornings. I saw two carpenters and Raggedy Ann take the Big Deal. They were smart enough to know that Monty's Cookie Jar is rarely anything good. The carpenters got kitchen appliances. Ann was thrilled with a beautiful living room, including a huge TV and stereo home system. 

Headed out after that. Stopped at WaWa first, then locked my bike at the Collingswood PATCO. At least, as well as I could. The front half of the PATCO and the escalator were blocked off, and would be boarded off completely by the end of the day. I guess they're fixing the sidewalk outside and got tired of the darn escalator constantly breaking down. At any rate, picked up the train to Philly with no trouble and arrived at 8th and Market in 20 minutes.

I got a little turned around after I got off, but I stopped and checked Google Maps and my list of record stores in Philly and their addresses. No trouble after that. I headed down 8th Street, passing by Pennsylvania Hospital and many teens, college students, and medical workers either on their way to lunch or out enjoying a gorgeous day. At least I picked the right day for an outing in Philly. It was sunny, breezy, warm but not to the degree that it has been, and not at all humid. 

Many of my family and neighbors in Oaklyn talked about South Street, but I never made it there until today. It's been Philly's hub of punks, hippies, and other alternative types since the 1950's. That became abundantly clear from my first stop, an anarchist bookstore. I saw no one over 30, and everyone had long hair, shaved hair, bright clothing that was either too baggy or very tight, and often wild-colored hair. Though some of the books were interesting, I saw nothing I couldn't live without and moved on. 

Did better a few blocks down at Repo Records. Given the bent of the neighborhood, the focus here was mainly hard rock, punk rock, rap, and classic rock, but I did find two soundtracks of interest. Everyone I encountered today was really sweet, the teens and young adults at Repo included. I came up with four albums here: 

Wings - Wings In America

The Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue

Soundtracks for Some Like It Hot (1959) and Nashville (The latter was in a dollar bin!)

Though I saw many nifty vintage clothing stores and small sandwich shops, I'm not in the market for clothes of any age right now, and I couldn't decide between the shops. Not to mention, it was getting busier with large groups looking for lunch. I had to push my way through or duck around some of the bigger crowds of people. I decided it was time to head elsewhere and started down 9th Street.

9th Street between South and Catherine Streets appeared to be a residential area. I passed many people out for walks, enjoying the lovely weather, or sitting on the stoops of mossy brick brownstone houses. Kids chased each other around a field and a huge playground, while their parents chatted on the sidewalk.

Once I hit Christian Street, the brick rowhouses became old brick buildings with many restaurants out front. Seems I'd hit the Italian Market, South Philly's premier small-business shopping district. Stopped first at Lorenzo's Pizza for a quick lunch. Their prices weren't bad, they had outdoor seating, and they claimed to have the best cheesesteak in South Philly. I had a chicken cheesesteak wrap and a Diet Coke. Oh, yum. It was tasty, with plenty of cheese in a just-big-enough wrap. 

Kept going until I ran across shelves of books, records, and CDs on the sidewalk. My main interest at the Italian Market, besides lunch, was Molly's Books and Records. The narrow sliver of a store was jam-packed with cookbooks, literature, and books on poetry on the walls and record bins in the center. Alas, I didn't get a chance to really look at the books. They were filming an interview with local teens and college kids who worked at the store in the back. I did pick up a bunch of records here, including four from the 2 dollar bin outside:

The Monkees - Headquarters

Lionel Richie - Dancing On the Ceiling

George Benson - 20/20

The Music People, a 3-disc collection of songs from Columbia Records artists in 1972

The Golden Age of Hollywood, a collection of songs from Busby Berkeley Warner Bros musicals with a really cool pop-up insert depicting the "By a Waterfall" number from Footlight Parade

Originals Musical Comedy 1909-1935, a collection of vintage recordings of stage stars ranging from Nora Bayes to Eleanor Powell

(And I didn't realize it at the time, but Molly's is related to a long-gone store in Washington Square I used to love. I badly miss Russakoff's Used Books and Records on 10th Street. Apparently, Molly is the former owner's daughter. No wonder her store seemed familiar. The layout wasn't far removed from Russakoff's.)

Continued heading down 9th Street, looking for another record store, even as the Italian restaurants and produce stands gave way to Mexican restaurants and clothing stores. I didn't find the record store, but I did find an ice cream and snack shop. They had so many unique ice cream flavors I'd never even heard of, including guava and cream and corn. I decided I wasn't that brave and went with toasted coconut. Oooh, the lady even added chocolate ripples. I sat on a red stone staircase that led to nowhere and enjoyed my milkshake and two free maple sandwich cookies.

Since I couldn't find the other record store on 9th Street, I decided to try one last store on Samson Street. That's halfway across Center City. I wasn't up to that much walking. I finally broke down and called Uber. The young man arrived within 7 minutes, and he got me to Samson in less than 20. 

As it turned out, I should have checked social media before I went into Philly. Long In the Tooth Records was closed for their summer vacation. I wasn't ready to go home yet, so I had a look around Samson Street. Spied a shop in a little yellow building across the street with CDs outside, so I thought I'd check them out.

Boy, did I hit the jackpot at that place! I'm almost glad Long In the Tooth was closed. Circa Gallery, a second-hand shop, had some great stuff, including cast albums and soundtracks I'd seen nowhere else. I ran out of paper money (the nice old gentleman didn't accept cards) for all the records I wanted, but I found a really cool book I just couldn't leave behind. I hadn't seen Bound and Gagged, on the silent serials (most of them now lost), in decades. 

The one record I was able to afford was equally awesome. Cut! Out Takes From Hollywood Musicals was mainly cut numbers from MGM films, though a couple from 20th Century Fox and one Paramount song did sneak in. 

The CDs were: 

Original cast albums for the Broadway musical version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and the Madison Square Garden A Christmas Carol

Studio albums for the Stephen Sondheim musical Saturday Night and the long-lost Jerome Kern show Kitty's Kisses

Collection of Fred Astaire songs from his 30's and early 40's films Top Hat, Holiday Inn, A Damsel In Distress, and The Sky's the Limit

What proved to be a home-made CD of a performance of Rose-Marie from the Media Theater in the Philly suburbs. 

I figured I wasn't going to get any luckier than that, so I decided to call it a day and headed down Samson towards City Hall. On my way, I stopped at Dilworth Park to watch local kids frolic through the spurting fountains in front of City Hall. I considered stripping off my shoes and socks and joining them, but I didn't want to leave my finds just sitting there. 

Cut through City Hall and ducked down Market Street, stopping at Dunkin' Donuts for an iced tea. Headed past Hard Rock Cafe and the Pennsylvania Convention Center, making my way around the crowds to Primark. By this point, it was past 4 PM, and I found myself pushing past rush hour traffic and around crowds of people heading home from work. Fortunately, I arrived at the PATCO station just in time to catch the train back to Collingswood.

Soon as I got home, I added my new finds to the inventories, then had dinner while watching Match Game Syndicated. In the first episode, Gary Burghoff borrowed Gene Rayburn's jacket, but Gene is a lot taller than he is! Marcia Wallace got lucky when the contestant finally gave her a smooch in the next episode, while the others deal with an especially noisy high school singing group in the audience. Fred Grandy and Bart Braverman spent the next week playing with rather annoying kazoos, while poor Dolly Martin shows off a broken finger, and Ira Skutch, the show's producer, has to come out to replace a question.

I also got my schedule at this point. In good news, while not as many hours as this week, still more hours than I've had. No floral department this time, though, and I have an early seven hour day next Saturday. I'm disappointed that I'll have to miss the Farmer's Market. 

Finished the night at Tubi with The Assassination Bureau. Reporter Sonia Winter (Diana Rigg) uncovers evidence of "The Assassination Bureau Limited," a group that kills tyrannical or dictatorial leaders. She orders the killing of its leader, Ivan Dragonmilof (Oliver Reed), the son of the group's founder. Far from being offended, he's amused. He doesn't like how a lot of the men under his leadership have been killing for money lately. He offers them a challenge. They can kill him, or he'll kill them! 

The movie then turns into a comic adventure across Europe, as the duo kill off the members of the Bureau, always staying one step ahead of them. In a lot of cases, though, the members are killed before they can get there. As it turns out, it's a plot by Sonia's boss Lord Bostwick (Telly Savalas) to kill all the European heads of state and plunge the entire continent into a major war. Ivan and Sonia rush to Eastern Europe to stop them.

Weird but still very funny swashbuckling adventure, with Rigg and Reed in top form as the starchy feminist reporter and the assassin who is always five steps ahead of everyone else. All their traveling gives us some great shots of Europe in the 60's and gorgeous costumes, too. If you're a fan of the stars or British action films or are looking for something different in your costume pictures, you'll have a wonderful time with this one. 

The Second Time Around

Began a sunny, hazy morning with breakfast and the Warner Bros Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation set. All of the shorts on the disc were nominated for awards, but didn't win. In some cases, like the Speedy Gonzales vehicle "Tobasco Road" and Tom and Jerry's "Jerry's Cousin" and "Hatch Up Your Troubles," I can understand why they didn't win. They're not bad, but they're also not that much different from the usual shorts featuring the characters. "Touche, Pussy Cat!" probably falls into this category as well, but I always did love the Tom and Jerry swashbuckler spoofs. Hanna and Barbara had a great time with the Musketeer gags in all of those shorts.

Other shorts were more worthy of the nomination. "Good Will To Men" from 1955 is the remake of the 1938 anti-war parable "Peace On Earth." A grandfather mouse explains to his mousling choir how humans kept warring until there was nothing left of them. Mice eventually found their bible and decided to give up such horrible violence. It's a harrowing and sad short, apparently the last put out by producer Fred Quimby, and likely one of the darkest made during the studio era. 

"High Note" was more fun. One of the notes in "The Blue Danube" gets so drunk, the conductor note has to chase him to get him back in his proper place on the scale. It's hilarious what they manage to do with one little note! Dreamy little boy Ralph Phillips makes his first appearance in "From A to Zzzz." Bored at school, he imagines himself as everything from a cowboy to a deep-sea diver to General Douglas MacArthur. Chuck Jones had a lot of fun with Ralph's wacky imagination here. I especially love him playing around with the numbers on the blackboard! 

"Nelly's Folly" was entirely new to me. A giraffe with a beautiful voice is discovered by a hunter and becomes a sensation. She quickly grows bored with fame and gets into an affair with a giraffe in the zoo. After the ensuing scandal ends her career, she finally admits she belongs in the jungle and returns home. 

Watched a bit of Classic Concentration while I quickly had lunch and made a grocery list. It was worth catching the first half just to see Alex Trebek in a Santa Claus suit! He kept complaining about trying to position the beard and mustache over his actual mustache and that his belly got in the way. 

Hurried off to my doctor's appointment next. On one hand, Madison and Dr. Jessica said everything besides my blood pressure is fine. My blood work and mammogram came out negative. However, my blood pressure, while not as high as two weeks ago, is still higher than it should be, and Dr. Jessica claims I have depression. 

I'm not keen on taking any kind of medication at all. I don't trust chemicals. I'll take the high blood pressure if I have to, but I still see no point in taking medication for depression. I just need to find a real passion, something I can get into and work towards. I just wish I knew what that was. Maybe I'd have an easier time finding a job if I really had an idea of what I was into, or how I can turn my reading and writing and weird interests into a real career. 

I also need to start getting to sleep earlier. I get so caught up online, I often stay up as late as 5 AM! I can't help it. I start reading one thing, and then I see something else that interests me, and then something else...and before I know it, it's three hours later. 

I left the doctor's office feeling as low as I could. Took the long way through Collingswood to try to cheer myself up a bit. At least the traffic wasn't bad on Cuthbert, and there was no one out and about on the streets at 2:30. Had no trouble getting to the Westmont Acme, not even on Cuthbert.

There were other things I wanted to do today, so I limited the grocery shopping to the Acme today. Mostly needed yogurt and granola bars. The latter weren't on sale, but there were no good sales on the low sugar and salt bars I like. I did have online coupons for the Acme's bagged brownie cookies. Their bags of low-salt almonds and cashews weren't on sale either, but they're the cheapest I've seen bagged nuts anywhere. 

Went straight home after that, then went back out for that walk Dr. Jessica recommended...and because it wasn't a bad day for one. Though it remains killer humid, it wasn't quite as warm, probably into the upper 80's. I hiked down the steps and into a quiet Newton Lake Park. Most people were coming home from work at 4:30. It wasn't much busier on the White Horse Pike as I headed down that way, or in the neighborhood. At least everything looks a lot greener now. The yards are doing much better; the gardens burst with purple, yellow, blue, and white Technicolor blooms.

After I got home, I put on Darling Lili while having an early dinner. I go further into this World War I romance with Julie Andrews as a very unlikely German spy at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - Darling Lili

Did some more organizing during the second half of the film. My other Amazon Day purchase was a larger CD book. The animated movies were transferred to the large silver book, and the dramas and thrillers to the smaller hot pink one. That should be the last of the DVD organizing I need to do, but I do eventually intend to move the CDs to books, too. There's too many of them for the binders.

Finished the night after a shower with jazz and soundtrack albums while working on my review. Darling Lili was far from Henry Mancini's first film score. High Time is a comedy from 1960 with Bing Crosby as a widower who returns to college at age 51 and gets more than an education from the young people there. I presumed it was a musical. It's not, but it did introduce the standard "The Second Time Around," which is really more associated with Frank Sinatra. 

I'm not sure if you'd call what I have on my vintage Verve set The Essential Count Basie, but there are some good numbers here that I don't have elsewhere. "Jumping at the Woodside," "Blee Blop Blues," "April In Paris," and "All Right, Ok, You Win" are the standouts here. 

Summertime Blues

When the alarm went off this morning, I closed my eyes, then opened them. I read a little and started writing in my journal before I saw the clock and realized it was past 9 AM, and I was supposed to be at work by 9! I was so embarrassed. I raced around, changed, ate breakfast fast as I could, and called Uber. They took 8 minutes to arrive, and there was traffic on the White Horse Pike. All of this made me more than a half-hour late. 

I could have been infinitely late, for all anyone noticed. I was really more concerned about losing money than being late. For a morning that was pretty dead, I did have to put away several items and clean up two large spills. Otherwise, I swept the store and pushed carts. It remained hot and very humid today. I made sure to drink lots of water and replace my sunscreen frequently. 

Ironically, it took me a lot less time to get home, and that was at 2 PM. The driver arrived within 4 minutes, and there was no traffic this time. Everyone must have been either down at the Shore or at home dodging the heat. 

When I got in, I changed, then watched The Scooby Doo Show. Scooby's country cousin Scooby Dum in the pork pie hat is introduced in "The Gruesome Game of the Gator Ghoul." A half-man, half-alligator is scaring customers and workers away from Ma and Pa's paddlewheel boat, where they produce fritters and soda. While Scooby reunites with goofy Dum, the others try to figure out who wants the paddlewheeler to go out of business and what they're after.

Spent the rest of the afternoon working on the inventories. Finished up all the K-Tel albums I've collected over the years...and realized that I have too many of them, particularly from the years 1977 - 1979. A lot of songs are repeated ad nauseum. I cleared out a few of those and started in on the CD collections. 

I really need to dig around for more Olympics-themed music collections. I found Barcelona Gold, based around the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games, at a long-defunct used CD store on the boardwalk in Wildwood during the summer of 2005. It has some great stuff, including favorite songs from En Vogue ("Free Your Mind"), Travis Tritt ("Texas Flyer"), and Madonna ("This Used To Be Our Playground"). I'm saving the 1988 Olympics CD with Whitney Houston I picked up last month for when this year's Olympics start.

Switched to Match Game Syndicated while eating dinner. Jon Bauman, Eva Gabor, and Arte Johnson continued through most of these episodes. A woman who does body building was the big winner, prompting Jon to show off his non-existent muscles. Arte has more trouble with "__ Guests" on the Head to Head. Charles' defending Gene when he argues with director Marc Breslow in the next episode ends with the camera pointed over his head for during the credits. Arte's not as happy to listen to the gossip from the goofy blondes on either side of him. 

Elaine Joyce, Dick Martin, and George Kennedy turned up in the last episode. Charles spent the episode joking about eating with the other patients. Dick Martin is more concerned about "Don't Talk __" in the Head-to-Head. The others are less impressed about Gene going on and on about a TV show he saw.

Finished the night with Hot Stuff on Tubi. They have a lot of random comedies from the 70's, 80's, and early 90's, some of which I never even heard of. Take this oddity from 1979. Miami police detectives Ernie (Dom DeLouise), Louise (Suzanne Pleshette), Doug (Jerry Reed), and Ramon (Luis Avalos) set up a sting in a local pawn shop to trap illegal sales. They not only end up befriending the people who keep selling everything from dogs to drugs illegally, but sell many of the things sold to them back in order to keep in business. The local mob boss doesn't like that one bit, and their captain (Ossie Davis) thinks they've lost their marbles. They finally hold a huge party to round up all the criminals, but the criminals end up helping them when the mob invades.

Considering DeLouise's only directorial effort doesn't seem to have the best reputation, I thought it was pretty cute. The four leads play beautifully off of each other, and DeLouise is actually less of a ham in his own vehicle than he is sharing the spotlight in some later comedies. The low budget shows in the fact that most of the movie is set at the pawn shop (though we do get a few glimpses of Miami in the late 70's) that makes this feel more like a long Saturday Night Live sketch than a movie at times.

If you're a fan of the leads or are looking for a unique crime comedy, this is much better than you might think from the low-budget origins and is worth checking out. 

Rockin' the Heat

Began a sunny morning with breakfast and Laff-a-Lympics. Considering it got up to 100 here today, the contestants were lucky to start at the "North Pole." Daisy Mayhem's sled being pulled by her huge pig and the Teen Angels pulling Captain Caveman made at least some sense, but Yakky Doodle pulling Grape Ape seems like a recipe for disaster...until the big purple primate lends a hand. Quick Draw and the Doggie pair did their best with igloo-building, and despite the Rottens' cheating, it was good enough for first. The Yogis also dodged the Rottens and their messes long enough to win in the Pontoon race in "Tahiti." Shaggy and Scooby prove why they'd later enter a sand-castle building contest in What's New, Scooby Doo? with their winning entry. 

Spent most of the next few hours starting the rock collections inventory. These are anthologies of mostly rock music from the 50's through the 80's by various artists. I don't have as many of them as I do the regular rock albums from individual artists, but they tend to be 2 to 4 disc sets and take longer to type. I haven't had these for nearly as long, either. Most of them came from thrift shops, yard sales, or the local record stores. 

Watched Half a Sixpence as I worked. I go further into this long but charming vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews Blog.

Cult Flops - Half a Sixpence

Broke for lunch after the movie ended. Watched Super Password as I worked. Buzzr continues its "Christmas In July" theme with new-to-them episodes that aired around Christmas 1988. Pat Harrington of One Day at a Time and Ilene Graff of Mr. Belvedere helped people guess words and admired the nifty decorations that had jewel-colored glass balls against white frosted trees. 

Headed out around 6 PM. I wanted to get out and stretch my legs for a while. By that point, it was still pretty warm, but nothing close to what it had been during the heat of the day. Stopped briefly at Dollar General for a Gatorade and a roll of regular birthday wrapping paper, then went down the Black Horse Pike to Newton Lake Park. It was past quarter of 7 when I hurried past the Collingswood High School. Between the heat and the dinner hour, the only people I saw outside were a teen girl out for her own walk and what I suspect was a little league team getting some practice in on Collingswood High's fields now that it wasn't quite so hot. 

Went straight into dinner and Match Game Syndicated when I got home. Some of the episodes they showed today were among the craziest of the syndicated run. Charles arrived at the studio on roller skates in one episode. Brett and Fannie turned up wearing blonde wigs in another, and everyone but Charles and Brett changed seats. Poor Eva Gabor put up an umbrella indoors because the fan over her was leaking oil in the last episode of the night.

At this point, I also opened one of my two purchases from Amazon Prime Day. Yeah, I broke down and bought the same pink and white New Balances I had two years ago for work. They were $50, not bad for New Balance, and I can never find the ones I like in South Jersey. 

Finished the night after a much-needed shower with vintage children's records. The Care Bears' Adventures In Care-a-Lot is a basic story about the Bears helping a lonely child who has been forgotten on his birthday. In the negative column, this has the same problem as the previous Introducing the Care Bears with the Bears' (or their voice actors) not being even remotely decent singers. It does make up for it with some mildly catchy songs, including "Hall of Hearts," "Make a Wish," and "We All Count On Each Other." Nifty cover art too, depicting the bears in their cloud kingdom home and designed to resemble the Bears' greeting card art of the time. 

(There's also the fact that this holds sentimental value. My sisters and I owned a copy of this record and played it constantly through the mid-80's.)

We did have a Strawberry Shortcake album when I was a kid, but Strawberry Shortcake Sweet Songs wasn't it. I bought this to hear their covers of such sugar-related tunes as "Over the Rainbow," "Sugar Sugar," and "Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows." The thin story gets around the voice actors' lack of singing talent by having the songs performed by others.

Although the Tale Spinners for Children version of Treasure Island was condensed to fit an hour record, it otherwise came across very well. They even retained some of the darker elements, like Billy Bones' death and all the violence in the second half. The actors playing Long John Silver and Captain Smollett are especially good. I enjoyed this far more than the shorter version on that Peter Pan record I found a while back.