Soon as the episode ended, I dashed out. Left Welcome to the World, Baby Girl in a book kiosk, then rushed down Johnson and Cuthbert to make my appointment with Abilities Solutions. I arrived at the Haddon Township Library five minutes late. As it turned out, the counselor said she hit traffic and would be late as well, and then she didn't realize the bikes are parked at the back entrance and I'd gone in that way.
Dawn proved to be an amiable older lady who enthusiastically greeted me when I figured out she was out front. We sat down, and I explained my problem. It's the same one I've had for twenty years. I don't really know what I want to do. I'm not good at math, and I don't want anything to do with medical offices. I wouldn't mind working in a school if it was year-round. Trouble is, I'm not sure what that leaves. My skills need to be upgraded, too. I probably would have gotten six jobs by now if I knew more about Excel and Word.
She did spot a library assistant job for Rutgers University on Indeed that didn't say anything about needing special training. I'm still not sure, but I did send her better copies of my resume and the cover letter Karen wrote when she asked. I also explained about the bike and my transportation difficulties, and how badly I want to find a job and make enough money to buy a condo or apartment. I'd also prefer to stay in South Jersey, or at the very least in eastern Pennsylvania. Cape May and Atlantic Counties don't have year-round economies and are frankly too isolated for me, and North Jersey is too expensive even by Jersey standards.
Needed something at Target after I left Dawn. Thankfully, the kids must have all been at Dollar Tree. I had no trouble getting what I wanted and an Apple Hint water and getting out. Had a quick but tasty lunch of spinach and feta omelet, hash browns, Diet Pepsi, and a raisin French Toast bagel at the bagel shop and picked up a few bagels for later this week.
Went straight home after that. It was sunny, warm, and humid. I heard it was supposed to rain later. It never did, but it remained steamy enough for me to spend the rest of the afternoon working on the inventory. I started the Cast Albums this afternoon. Considering how many I have, that's going to be a job and a half. On the other hand, with the exception of a few CDs I picked up in high school and college, I haven't had most of my cast albums for years like I have the rock records and soundtracks. Titles I added today included Ain't Misbehavin', the original 1946 Annie Get Your Gun, the 1969 London Anne of Green Gables, Allegro, Ambassador, the 1962 off-Broadway Anything Goes, The Apple Tree, Applause, the stage Back to the Future, Baker Street, Barnum, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, Bells are Ringing, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, and Big River.
(Incidentally, Beautiful, which I picked up from Amazon in 2015, was the first record I bought brand new since the late 1980's.)
Listened to three more of my new soundtracks while I worked. The Band Wagon is one of my favorite movies, and the soundtrack is pretty awesome, too. MGM's surprisingly full album has most of the songs, plus "The Girl Hunt Ballet" in its entirety, with Fred Astaire's narration. Astaire and Jack Buchanon define elegance with "I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan," Astaire romps through "A Shine On My Shoes," and he, Buchanon, and Nanette Fabray have fun with the macabre "Triplets."
Hello, Frisco, Hello was one of Alice Faye's last movies before she gave up stardom for her family, and one of her biggest. This later soundtrack recording includes all of the songs, some incidental music, and even a song for June Havoc that was cut, "I Gotta Have You." Faye had one of the biggest hits of her career with the standard "You'll Never Know," which won a much-deserved Best Song Oscar.
Part of the reason Faye left was 20th Century Fox now had Betty Grable as their major pin-up queen. Movies like The Dolly Sisters with June Haver cemented her stardom and her popularity with the boys in blue in 1944. "I Can't Begin to Tell You," introduced by John Payne in the movie, was the hit ballad here. The album includes Grable and Haver's goofy "We've Been Around" number and the rather ridiculous chorus routines to "Powder, Lipstick, and Rouge" and "Darktown Strutter's Ball."
Had dinner early, around 5:30. Watched Match Game Syndicated while I ate. Gene praised a pregnant contestant whose hairstyle made her look a little bit like Farrah Fawcett and her voice sounded a bit like Joyce Bulifant. (Which Joyce herself pointed out.) David Doyle is more nervous to help the contestant with "__ Your Dog" in the Head-to-Head.
Finished the night after a shower with more stunt-based game shows. Stunt shows go back further than any game show genre besides quiz shows. Truth or Consequences actually started on the radio, but if there was ever a game show genre that was made for TV, the stunt show was it. The show was way more fun when you could see the guys riding unicycles and the ladies dressing in Asian Indian garb to surprise their son. Bob Barker was the host from 1956 through its demise in 1975. The show made a lot of firsts, including the first network game show to jump to syndication with new episodes.
Treasure Isle in 1967 crossed the Beach Party movies with Beat the Clock. Couples play stunts (that often involved swimming and kissing) in order to earn more time to open treasure chests on the title island. Kind of goofy, and to tell the truth, the stunts seemed less romantic and more like early Double Dare.
Double Dare brought stunt shows back with a vengeance in the late 80's and early 90's, this time usually made for kids. The simple premise of kids daring kids to answer questions and doing stunts when they can't, leading up to the big, messy Obstacle Course was heavily imitated, including by Nickelodeon themselves. Their most creative take on Double Dare was likely Legends of the Hidden Temple. Here, four teams of kids hear the tiki statue Olmec tell the story of a fictional lost object that the kids have to find. The last group standing after the mini-games gets to run through the Temple and search for the object.
Double Dare was so huge in the late 80's, the formula spilled over the northern border and into Canada. 5-4-3-2-Run played two rounds. Four kids would sit behind a monitor that held a possible answer to a question. If the kid guessed right, they moved on. If they didn't, they'd get hit with slime or rice and would exit with a board game. The two remaining kids would play each other at the end of the episode to see who could take home the biggest prize. Creative and cute, no wonder this was a two-year hit on CTV in Canada and in syndication here in the US.
England had their own fun with stunt shows in the 90's. The Crystal Maze had a team of six intrepid explorers led by an eccentric host - Ed Tudor-Pole in this later episode - through four themed rooms filled with difficult challenges. If they won a challenge, they'd get a crystal. The more crystals they got, the more time they had to gather gold certificates at the end of the episode and avoid silver. If a teammate ran out of time or got locked in a room, they could buy them out with a crystal. This is delightfully creative and crafty, with some nifty sets and genuinely difficult challenges. I'm glad I ran across this show.
The success of American Gladiators in syndication in the 90's spawned many imitations. Wild West Showdown pit three would-be sheriffs against the roughest, toughest paint-wielding outlaws this side of Dodge City. Money was given as a "reward." After each challenge, a pretty reporter would ask questions from the trio to see how they felt and how well they did. As a western fan, I will admit, I got a kick out of this. The three sheriffs know what they're doing, and everyone is all-in on making this a semi-authentic western experience.
Join the original slime time games with these hilarious looks at stunts past!
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