Did the material for Book Week (which is this week) as well. "The Library Lady" from All-of-a-Kind Family makes me appreciate that my siblings and I were usually careful with our library books and never lost them. Middle sister Sarah is terribly upset when she loses a library book, but the sweet young librarian knows just how she can pay for it. "Rufus M" wants badly to take out a library book, but the less-understanding librarian insists he can't until he learns to write his name. He throws himself into practicing, then sneaks in over a coal pile to show her.
Put on a couple of the Donald Duck World War II shorts while I got ready to head out. From 1942 through 1944, Donald Duck appeared in a series of shorts that mainly had him as a soldier in training to cranky Sergeant Pete. In "Donald Gets Drafted," he's swayed by the glamour of being a pilot, but the reality sets in when Pete singles him out and makes him stand on an ant hill. The follow-up short "Sky Trooper" has an annoyed Pete finally send Donald into the air as a parachute jumper. Needless to say, this is not how Donald wanted to fly, but he never expected to get Pete involved when he grabs a missile on the way out!
"The Vanishing Private" is my favorite of Donald's military-themed cartoons. Don finally gets the best of Pete when he's told to make a cannon "hard to see" and covers it in an invisibility paint. After he's doused with it too, he leads Pete on a merry chase around the base. "Der Fuehrer's Face" is a surreal Oscar-winning nightmare that has Don as a factory worker trapped in Nazi Germany. Along with the wild propaganda imagery, this features a catchy theme song that later became a hit for comic band Spike Jones and His City Slickers. "Commando Duck" sends Donald into enemy territory, as he proceeds to wipe...no wash...out the enemy.
Since it was past 12:30 by this point, I called Uber. They're getting stranger and stranger. Now you have to give the driver some kind of code after you get in the car in order for them to proceed. At least he arrived in five minutes (less than the 7 listed) and, even with taking the long way through Collingswood, got me to the Cherry Hill Barnes and Noble in less than 20 minutes. (After accidentally driving around the back of the mall. I didn't realize they'd opened more stores behind the luxury condos, including a Costco and a cookie shop. Never heard of Duluth Trading Company; might check them out after the holidays.) At least the weather remained sunny and warm, in the upper 60's, and breezy.
The Cherry Hill Barnes and Noble is the smallest of their stores in South Jersey. It has toys, but no CD/DVD section. I did see some mysteries I might look for after the holiday season, but my main interest was Christmas shopping. I walked out with two board books for my 2-year-old niece Aurora, a Daniel Tiger lift-the-flap Christmas story and a board book version of the Richard Scarry short story I am a Bunny. Since I got a coupon for $1 off a drink at the cafe, I tried their Chestnut Praline Frappuccino. It was a little sweet and a little coffee-tasting, but it did have hints of nuttiness and bits of brown sugar.
Had lunch at Panera Bread in the front of the mall next. Considering there's usually a long line, I only had to wait five minutes for my half a tuna sandwich, tomato soup, and crusty roll. The soup was spicy and thick, the salad messy and tasty. In fact, the salad actually tasted rather good mixed into the soup. The roll was even better dipped in the soup. The croutons on top tasted better mushed into the big tomato pieces. Had this with unsweetened iced tea.
Since it's also in the front mall stores, I went to Hallmark after lunch. I was mainly there for cards. Got one for my brother Keefe's birthday next week and a few Thanksgiving cards, along with a box of a Christmas card assortment. Picked up two packages of cookie gift boxes buy one, get one half off. Grabbed candy for Lauren and two gifts for Lauren and Amanda.
Rushed to Starbucks next to make change for the bus after I remembered banks are closed on Veteran's Day. Just grabbed a sparkling water really quick and asked them to give me four quarters for one of my dollars. Fortunately, the bus stop is directly in front of the Hallmark. The bus was about ten minutes late, not bad for the start of rush hour. It did run into traffic on Cuthbert Road, but there were otherwise no problems. I was home by 4:30.
Did a few more Disney war shorts as I got organized. Goofy's first short was "Victory Vehicles," a look at the variety of creative vehicles one could use to get around wartime shortages. (And I have to agree with Leonard Maltin. The song "Hop On Your Pogo Stick" really is catchy.) "How to Be a Sailor" starts as a more typical Goofy short, with him exploring the history of seafaring. The brief finale with modern soldiers, however, gets Goofy into the war as he's shot out to the enemy!
Mickey Mouse didn't really figure into Disney's World War II shorts, but he did do one black and white military short in 1929. "The Barnyard Battle" pits him and all the mice on the farm against a group of big and nasty Hun cats. Mickey may look skinny, but he can use his wits to turn piano keys into bullets and take these giant pussy cats down.
Puttered around online next, including adding On the Town and the stage version of Once to the inventory. Had dinner while watching Match Game Syndicated. The first three episodes featured Holly Holstrom, Joyce Bulifant, and Gary Burghoff. Holly in particular had fun in these, showing off her Texas cowgirl hat and fending of Gene's advances while admiring the accent of a charming British contestant. Dick Martin stuck around for the last episode, which also featured Elaine Joyce, George Kennedy, and Betty White. Charles was so impressed with a pretty contestant, he claimed to be a modeling agency ready to hire her.
Finished the night on YouTube after a shower with the second Family Feud Armed Forces week. From 1989 through 1991, the five branches of the Armed Forces battled it out on the show to see who would take home the most money for the charity of their choice. In 1990, for the second year in a row, the Army and the Marines made it to the championship...and once again, the tough-talking Marines managed to march their way to the top prize, even though they were lousy at the Fast Money round.
Honor those who fought for our country just as the wars in the Middle East began in these hilarious episodes!
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