Dawn picked me up around 8:15. This time, she had two more people with her as we headed in the opposite direction towards the Burlington County Social Services building. It also took a little bit longer, including her stopping at Costco for gas. Fortunately, there was no traffic on the road whatsoever. We pulled into Westampton around 9 AM.
I got quite a surprise when I realized how much harder it was to get into this job fair. There was a lot more security than at Rowan, with security guards checking bags and a metal detector you have to walk through like at an airport. And as it turned out...it wasn't worth the fuss. The small, sunny room was mainly filled with either companies like Abilities Solutions that help the disabled find jobs or government booths for Burlington County and New Jersey. I did see Goodwill, Cooper Hospital, and Virtua Health, but that was it. It was also packed elbow-to-elbow and stuffy as heck. I kept walking out to get some air, hoping to find a soda vending machine like at Rowan (and having no luck). They didn't even have any refreshments.
I got a phone call just as we were ready to leave. It was a local Chevrolet dealership that Dawn and I applied for. They wanted an interview! Frankly, I was kind of iffy. They were offering health insurance but not much in the way of money, and I know nothing about cars. It's still an interview, though.
It took even longer to get home. Dawn dropped off the other two in Cherry Hill and Pennsauken first. The young man lived near a series of industrial buildings and factories in Pennsauken, including several local food companies and the Pepsi bottling facility. I read that they existed here, but had never seen them before. That's why South Jersey is frequently used as a test market for new Pepsi products or ones that often don't reach the wider public (like that coffee-flavored Kona Pepsi my mother fell in love with during the late 90's).
Took the laundry downstairs after I got in, then had lunch while watching The Monkees. Davy's been telling his grandfather (Ben Wright) in England that he's a "Success Story" and is famous. Grandfather's visit prompts his friends to try to cobble together a dinner and uniforms in order to make Davy appear wealthy. After their subterfuge fails, they try to make sure that Grandfather and Davy don't board that plane for England!
"Monkees In a Ghost Town" strands the four in the desert in their first of many encounters with gangsters. In this case, they accidentally run across two mobsters (Len Lesser and Lon Chaney Jr.) after the Monkeemobile breaks down in an abandoned village. They're captured and are about to be killed when their boss The Big Man (Rose Marie) turns up and happens to be an old vaudevillian who has no trouble doing numbers with the guys...which gives them the chance to call the police.
Put the laundry in the dryer after the episode ended, then went out to run errands. Stopped at the post office for stamps, then at Dollar General for the Child's Play Tootsie Roll candy that I use in the Mystery Bags. I got the boxes of Moon Pies (including one of blueberry Moon Pies!) at Family Dollar. Went across the street to WaWa and treated myself to a pumpkin cookies and cream smoothie. Yum. Sweet, but it did taste like pumpkin spice and crushed Oreos.
At least the weather remains beautiful. On one hand, we desperately need rain. Lawns and gardens are looking more than a little dry. On the other hand, the sunny, breezy weather and 80 degree temperatures did make for a lovely stroll down the White Horse Pike. No traffic here, either. None of the stores were busy, not even the Post Office or Dollar General.
Brought the laundry upstairs after I got home, then put on Airplaine II: The Sequel while I put the Mystery Bags together. Sometime in the future, people have now set up colonies on the moon. The Mayflower One is being rushed as the inaugural flight, but it's far from ready and hasn't met safety regulations. Elaine Dickenson (Julie Hagarty) is now the ship's computer officer.
Her ex Ted Striker (Robert Hays) was committed to a mental institution after he crashed a shuttle during a test flight, but breaks out when he realized he was silenced to not reveal the flaws in the shuttle. Elaine doesn't believe him, until the computer keeps overriding her orders and the crew ends up dead. Now Ted has to figure out how to fly a space ship and defuse a bomber (Sonny Bono), before they all become either fried to a crisp in the sun or a little too up-close-and-personal with the surface of the moon.
This wasn't bad, but it screams "rehash" at the top of its lungs. There's some fun gags and cameos (look for Pat Sajak as a weatherman and the ET joke in the opening), but by and large, this is more of the same. If you're a fan of the first one, you'll at least want to check this one out once. If the first one isn't your cup of black coffee, stay very far away from this one.
Worked on the inventory next. Did the off-Broadway cast of Hadestown and the original casts of Hair and Hairspray, then had dinner while watching Match Game '77. A smart and pretty contestant named Marcy turned a lot of heads on a week that included Patty Duke, Betty White, and Nipsey Russell on the panel...but it's an older lady who gets the best joke with her reaction to Gene asking her if she cubes or grinds her beef for chili.
Finished the night at YouTube looking at the career of announcer Gene Wood, whose birthday was Sunday. Wood began in 1966 as a substitute on the original Supermarket Sweep, but he's better known for being an announcing fixture on Goodson-Todman shows. If you didn't hear Johnny Olson's voice on their shows, you probably heard his.
Bert Convy praised the good work he did on Tattletales in 1974 and Super Password a decade later. He announced the first two versions of Family Feud and was good friends with Richard Dawson. Richard got him a wheelchair when he had to do his job on a badly cut foot after an accident with a chainsaw and proudly announced when he returned on crutches. I don't know how he talked him into letting him slice an apple on top of a copy of the Feud home game on his stomach, though! He had even more fun announcing the first two versions of Card Sharks, including taking part in a gag with Jim Perry to celebrate his 3,000 episode hosting.
Wood did get a shot at hosting. He took over the Canadian-produced early 70's version of Beat the Clock when Jack Narz couldn't handle the commute, and honestly didn't do bad at it. It's pretty much the same stunts as the 50's version, with celebrities helping out on some of the more elaborate ones. Giselle McKenzie and Arlene Dahl appear in the episodes I have here. The flop Anything You Can Do is very similar, only here, it's men competing against women to see who can do stunts that are supposed to revolve around the opposite sex (pulling panty hose on for women; tying ties for guys).
That wouldn't be Wood's last time playing on a game show. He had a great time on one of the better weeks of Match Game '74, appearing with Amanda Blake and Joyce Bulifant. The whole week was funny, but we do get some jokes here about Richard Dawson's scraggly beard (which he apparently grew for a movie role that never materialized).
Beat the clock and have wild Feuds with one of the most beloved announcers in the Goodson-Todman stable! (Anything You Can Do is in bad shape and two parts, but it seems to be the only episode of that show currently available online.)
No comments:
Post a Comment