Dawn picked me up for my interview in Moorestown around quarter after 9. Considering the cold wind and heavy showers, there was a lot of traffic in Cherry Hill and on Route 38. Guess everyone was on their way to work or to get ready for Thanksgiving next week. We finally found Signature Inc. at the end of one of the office buildings a few blocks from the Moorestown Mall.
Signature Inc is a marketing company with gorgeous, spare, modern offices. The young manager explained that I would be talking to people who were interested in buying Verizon packages, and I would be receiving a commission for each sale made. Uh, no. They were all very sweet, but I need a regular salary, not commissions. He said there would be a second round of interviews after Thanksgiving, but I think I'll politely decline.
After Dawn and I grabbed coffee and tea from their coffee bar in the reception area, we headed back out. I had grocery shopping to do, and I wasn't going to do it in my good black suede skirt and black flats. Dawn did stop to return three suits that didn't fit right to K&G Fashion in Cherry Hill. Otherwise, we went right back to Oaklyn, dodging the traffic and more heavy showers.
Changed into jeans and made a turkey sandwich for lunch. Watched The Monkees while I ate. After Peter trades his guitar for a treasure map, the guys decide to make the best of it and explore the island. "Monkees Marooned" find themselves dealing with a crazy big game hunter (Monte Landis) and his not-that-stereotypical native accomplice (Rupert Crosse) who are also after the treasure and an aging former jungle movie star whose help is more of a hindrance.
The prima ballerina (Ondine Vaughn) of the Druvaninan National Ballet is under heavy scrutiny from the ballet master (Leon Askin) and lead male dancer who have placed microfilm in her "Card-Carrying Red Shoes." Having fallen for Peter, she hides in the guys' trunk and flees with them. Her fellow Druvanians kidnap Peter, leading her, Micky, and Davy back to the theater and into tights (and a chicken costume) in order to rescue him.
(And I would love to know where Mike vanished to during that episode. I know he had his tonsils out during the filming of "I Was a 99 Pound Weakling" and "Monkees Watch Their Feet" and got genuinely seasick during "Hitting the High Seas," but no one has ever really explained why he missed this one.)
Switched to The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold while I got organized. This would be the second-to-last Rankin Bass special, and it remains one of their most peculiar. Young Irish sailor Dinty is stranded on a remote island after he chops down a pine tree that held the banshee, a wailing evil spirit who needs gold to survive past Christmas Day. She's the reason leprechaun Blarney Kilkalarney (Art Carney) has been separated from his wife Faye (Peggy Cass) for centuries after she tricked Faye into believing gold was wicked. After she attacks Dinty too, Blarney and Faye finally admit they were wrong...and discover that love is more precious than any pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Finally headed out again to run errands. The weather remained cold and rainy by 1:30. I ended up calling Uber, and would have even if my bike was in better shape. They picked me up in less than five minutes and picked me up in seven minutes. Took less than five minutes either way, even with traffic and the second driver missing the turn-off for Johnson Avenue and having to go down the White Horse Pike.
I had a bunch of errands to run that I couldn't put off. Started with Target. I considered replacing my bike helmet there, but I really wanted something better. Just got a tasty Iced Gingerbread Oat Milk Chai Latte at Starbucks. Sprouts is next-door to Target. I picked up grapes, coconut milk, dried orange slices, tiny little pumpkin puff sandwich cookies on sale, and two bundles of the most adorable rounded mini Indian corn I've ever seen. Those are now decorations on one of the shelves in my bedroom and the entertainment center.
Thankfully, the rain had taken a temporary leave of absence when I started down the hill to the Westmont Acme. They were much busier than Sprouts with people getting ready for Thanksgiving or avoiding the weather. I mostly just restocked yogurt here. Bought a muffin tin and papers to make Pumpkin Muffins for work this week. I also picked up canola oil and a container for Rose and her family's Christmas cookies and found huge, soft M&M cookies on the bakery clearance rack.
(Incidentally, the rain returned shortly after I got home. It's rained off and on, sometimes hard, for the rest of the day.)
After I got home, I did a few chores, put everything away, and watched That Lady In Ermine after I finished A Thanksgiving Tale. I go further into this troubled Betty Grable historical romantic fantasy at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
My other tire had arrived by the time the movie ended. I went downstairs to wrestle with the damn rim again. This time, it took me almost an hour and a half, but I did figure out how to get the tire on. I finally did one side, then pulled in the other. At any rate, the tire is now on the rim, the rim is back on the bike, and I'll be ready to go the next time I need it. (And I have a spare tire and inflated inner tube that might come in handy in case these blow out.)
Watched the second half of Match Game Syndicated while I had leftovers for dinner. They're up to the Game Show Host week where every panelist but Brett Somers either had hosted a game show (Peter Marshall, Dick Martin, Bill Cullen) or would in the future (Elaine Joyce, Betty White). Peter Marshall was surprised when the Star Wheel lands on him for the third time, but considering how different Hollywood Squares is, he wound up doing very well indeed.
Finished the night after a shower with the last of my recent record and CD finds and a holiday record I hadn't really listened to that often. The Fabulous Baker Boys is a 1989 drama about two piano-playing brothers (Beau and Jeff Bridges) who fall for the singer (Michelle Pfeiffer) they hire to spice up their act. I was a little young to really get this movie as a kid, but I've always loved the piano jazz score. Pfeiffer's "Makin' Whoopee" and "My Funny Valentine" sung seductively on a piano were iconic moments that brought those standards back to prominence and became one of the most parodied movie scenes of the late 80's.
The Pink Panther also has an iconic jazz score. The slinky opening theme is likely more associated with the Pink Panther cartoon character nowadays than the series, but there's a lot more here than just that number. We get a little Italian on side one with "It Had Better Be Tonight" and go Latin on the other side with "Cortina" and "The Lonely Princess."
Kicked off this year's Christmas music with the soundtrack from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Actually, it's pretty much the entire special, minus some bits of dialogue. "Welcome Christmas" and Thurl Ravenscroft's performance of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" are the best-known numbers, but I always did like the fast-paced "I Must Stop Christmas" that plays as the Grinch and Max take their sleigh down to Whoville. (Also, I'm glad I held off and bought this new. The copy I got from Target has a really cool Grinch-green record.)
A Winter's Solstice is a collection of dreamy winter and Christmas music from jazz and New Age specialist Windham Hill. There's a few traditional hymns like "Greensleeves" and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," but my favorites were the gentler "New England Morning" and "Northumbrian Lullabye." This would make wonderful quiet background music on a snowy late night in December when everyone else is snoozing and you're winding down.
The One from 1992 was Elton John's biggest hit album since 1976 and signaled his comeback after some disappointing albums in the 80's. The title song and the sad "Last Song" were huge hits, but I prefer the more upbeat "The Simple Life." In fact, that remains one of my all-time favorite John songs. Most of the others are more reflective of the time period they were made in. "Emily" and "On Dark Street" are the best of the remaining songs.
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