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