Red Hot and Cool

Began the morning with breakfast and The Scooby Doo Show. "The Ghost That Sacked the Quarterback" appears to have kidnapped the local football team's star player. Turns out it's supposedly the ghost of a player who disappeared years ago, the Rambling Ghost. The kids stick around the stadium to find out what's really going on with this mystery, while Shaggy and Scooby dodge the Rambling Ghost to get at all that concession stand food.

Headed out after that. First up was a brief stop at WaWa for a drink. I ended up with an Oreo Coke Zero. Looks like Coke has been messing around with their limited edition "Creations" again. Thankfully, unlike that nasty artificial-tasting Y3000 a while back, this did taste like a fizzy liquid chocolate Oreo. 

Cut across Audubon and Haddon Lake Park to avoid traffic on the Black Horse Pike. There were two businesses on the Pike I really wanted to check out again. Del Buono Bakery is impossible to miss, with the giant horse statue out front and several more statues of animals outside. I went in through a side door flanked by statues of the Blues Brothers. The first room you see is dominated by rows and rows of breads and rolls, with a huge conveyor belt-like machine spitting out hot, fresh rolls in the back. The front room is filled with shelves of cookies, cake rolls, cheesecake, coffee cake, soft pretzels, and cinnamon rolls, along with a deli. I bought four bagels and a raisin roll for lunch next week and pretzels for a snack later.

Rode a couple of blocks down past Walgreens and CVS before crossing into Mt. Ephraim. I hadn't visited Bob at the Abbie Road record store since Lauren visited in early June. He was pretty busy for him, with at least two other guys digging around for new and used classic rock, hard rock, jazz, and pop LPs and CDs. I hit the jackpot with CDs, picking up five jazz, four rock, and one country title as a Christmas gift for Lauren. Only found three records, but one was a childhood favorite. The three records are:

The Rolling Stones - Black & Blue

 

The Moody Blues - The Other Side of Life

Walt Disney's Story and Songs from Cinderella (This cost me the most, but it was a mint, still-in-its plastic copy of the very first record I ever owned. It's what it says on the tin, four songs and some dialogue from the Disney Cinderella. Mom bought this for me and Snow White for Rose in the early 80's; she'd pick up Sleeping Beauty for Anny a few years later.) 

Thanks to a 5 for 20 sale on CDs, I came up with that gift for Lauren and:

The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers and Voodoo Lounge

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin (1971)

Santana - Abraxus

Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball

David Benoit - The Best of David Benoit 1987 - 1995

Charles Mingus - Three or Four Shades of Blue and Mingus Ah Um

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Jazz: Red Hot and Cool

Miles Davis - The Best of Miles Davis - The Capitol/Blue Note Years

I thought of riding down to Tu Se Bella's or the Black Horse Pike Diner for lunch, but I didn't feel like going all the way down to Audubon Crossings and I just did a diner last week. Thought I'd try Toni Roni's on the corner of the Black Horse Pike and West King's Highway, a couple of blocks down from Abbie Road. Considering it was almost 3 when I made it there, I was surprised to see a couple of guys at Formica tables enjoying slices. I'll have to eat there again when I'm on the Black Horse Pike and feel like pizza. The thin, crispy slices of cheese and tomato basil mozzarella weren't bad. Had them with a bottle of iced tea.

The traffic on the Black Horse Pike had gotten so bad by 3:30, I decided to go home the way I came and cut across Audubon and Haddon Heights. I suspect I'd run into folks on their way to a weekend at the Shore. If they were going to the Shore, they picked the wrong weekend. It was cloudy, cool, and very humid as I rode down Merchant Street and over the train bridge into Oaklyn. It spit slightly when I arrived at Abbie Road, but to my knowledge, it hasn't done anything since then.

Went straight into working on the inventory when I got home. In addition to all of the rock titles I picked up today, I added the 1981 Pirates of Penzance revival with Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt, Plain and Fancy with Barbara Cook, Promises, Promises, Purlie, Raisin, the Gwen Verdon Victorian mystery Redhead, and The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd with Anthony Newley. All but Plain and Fancy came from thrift shops and record stores; I picked that one up from the Voorhees Library book sale over a decade ago (when they still held it). 

Broke at quarter after 7 for dinner and Match Game '79. They're almost up to the end of the CBS run with Fred Grandy's first week. It also features the first appearance by Carolyn, a contestant who will become rather important in a few episodes...

Took a shower, then finished the night at YouTube with more Match Game. James Darren, Philadelphia singer, actor, and TV director, passed away on Monday. He finished out 1974 with Betty White, sweet Juliet Mills, and Nipsey Russell and his poems on prosperity. James hadn't hadn't been on the show for more than five minutes before Jack Narz suddenly popped up from under his desk to promote his show Now You See It. The New Year's episode was a riot, with Jimmy Durante nose joke questions, an adorable older man answering "__ Breaker" on the Audience Match, and balloons and streamers coming down from the ceiling to celebrate the arrival of the New Year and their new sign.

The joint is jumpin' the Philadelphia way with this beloved South Philly singer and director!

James Darren - Match Game Tribute

The Eagles-Packers game in Brazil was on Peacock, so I didn't watch it, but I did check the score. It seemed to be one heck of a game, with the score going back and forth all night. In the end, the Eagles just barely pulled off their first win of the season, 34-29.