Watched the second half of Tattletales next. They're just running the week with Betty and Allen, Jo Ann Pflug and Chuck Woolery, and Bill and Ann Cullen again...but that week was so funny, I have no complaints. Bill tells them in one question that he once took a photo of Ann doing a headstand when her skirt fell down and revealed far more than she wanted to, while the ladies admit they have no problems with joining their husbands to watch a woman dressing in a window.
Let it run into Press Your Luck while making my grocery list and getting ready to run errands. The first half went wild with Whammies. All of the contestants hit at least one, and two of them got two within the first minute. Things went better in the second half. The young man who won took home a trip, a sailboard, and a pile of cash.
Headed out after the show ended. The weather was really nice this afternoon, sunny and chilly for this time of year, but not too cold. I wanted to take advantage and get shopping done before it rains tomorrow. Stopped at Sprouts first for two Nixie sodas, a box of cranberry oatmeal cookies off the baker's clearance rack, a bag of Cortland apples, a bag of good chocolate mint chips to melt for truffles, and dried apricots and unbleached flour from the bulk bins. Restocked yogurt, clementines, and bagels and picked up three Olipop sodas at the Acme. Bought heavy whipping cream for the truffles and got free butter with an online coupon.
Took the shortcut back to Oaklyn across Newton Lake Park. It's really winter there now. The trees are bare, and the grass remains yellow and appears to have not recovered from the drought in October and early November. Taking the path up the hill probably wasn't the best idea I ever had. For one thing, it was slippery and very muddy. For another, there were men near the Environmental and History Center who were blowing leaves off the path.
Stopped at A&A Pretzels for a really quick lunch. They were out of the stuffed cheesesteak pretzels, so I went with pepperoni and two regular ones. Got a can of Diet Pepsi, too.
Ate lunch while watching Super Password. For the first time that I can remember, along with the Betty White Christmas marathon, Buzzr is running holiday episodes of their regular shows during the actual holidays, not just in July. Ilene Graff of Mr. Belvedere and Pat Harrington of the original One Day at a Time celebrated the holidays with a battle of sitcoms that ended with Graff getting her contestant to the Super Password bonus round.
Spent the next few hours downstairs, baking my Christmas cookies. I make five kinds of cookies and give them away to neighbors, to family, and to the Acme for their employee luncheon. The last-named is this Saturday, which is why I wanted to do it today. The cake mix peanut butter came out beautifully. The ginger molasses had browned bottoms, but weren't that bad, and they smelled amazing in the oven. (And they used up the last of my black strap molasses, which is why I wanted to make them.) I read the recipe wrong and put baking powder instead of soda in the oatmeal chocolate chip, so they didn't spread right. Made up for that by adding the chocolate chips from Sprouts and other half of the white chocolate chips from the Red Velvet Yum Yums yesterday.
Listened to Christmas records while I worked. Holly-Daze features four Looney Tunes stories revolving around the holiday. "Bugs the Red-Nosed Bunny" goes all the way to the North Pole to help Santa when Rudolph gets sick. Elmer claims he'll give his entire fortune to anyone who can cure his "Santa Claustrophobia." Bugs and Daffy pose as a psychiatrist and nurse to help him with his problem and get their hands on those millions. Bugs and Granny are in a "Holly-Daze" when they're stranded in a western town on Christmas Eve and Yosemite Sam thinks they're notorious bank robbers. "Twas a Sight Before Christmas" has Bugs interviewing the other Toons to convince his skeptical nephew that Santa does exist.
Albert Finney may seem to be a strange choice for Scrooge, but he's not too bad in this lovely musical version of A Christmas Carol. The rousing "Thank You Very Much" was Oscar-nominated, and I've heard the number at the Fezziwigs' party "December the 25th" pop up elsewhere as well. My favorites are "Christmas Children" for Bob Cratchit and his little ones as they do their holiday shopping and "I Like Life" for the Ghost of Christmas Present.
The best of the Great Songs of Christmas albums came out in 1965. Diahann Carroll has two lovely old ballads, "Some Children See Him" and "Lo, How a Rose Er Blooming." Anna Maria Alberghetti sings the sprightly "Caroling, Caroling" and the gentle "Star Carol." Steve Lawrence and Eyde Gorme enjoy their "Sleigh Ride," while Maurice Chevalier sings about "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" and wishes us a "Silent Night" partially performed in his native French. The album ends with Sammy Davis Jr. showing a passel of kids why "It's Christmastime All Over the World."
The Beach Boys were at the height of their initial success when The Beach Boys' Christmas Album debuted in 1964. It introduced the holiday standards "Little Saint Nick," "The Man With All the Toys," and "Santa's Beard." Some of the covers are a lot of fun, too, notably 'Frosty the Snowman" and "We Three Kings of the Orient Are."
Oh, and I got my Christmas present from Lauren and her parents when I brought in the mail. Lauren's parents always send me $20 for lunch when I go out Christmas week. Later, I checked my e-mail and discovered Lauren gave me a very generous online Amazon gift card as well.
After I finally got everything cleaned up, I decided to go for a walk to check out lights in my neighborhood. I love how festive Oaklyn gets in December. I strolled down Clinton and back around towards the lake and saw everything from a house sporting a single porch light that blinked red, purple, and green to houses wrapped in lights, with every possible Christmas icon studding their front lawn. My favorite of the few inflatables I saw was Santa riding a very happy Tyrannosaurus Rex. Loved the fabric and lights statue of the cowboy snowman on Beechwood, too.
Made a brief stop at Dollar General. I forgot to buy a friend maraschino cherries with stems earlier. They didn't have them, either. I did get gift tags...and forgot what else I was there for, which was pet gifts for my sister's dogs and cats and a friend's cat. I'll do that tomorrow, too.
Watched Yogi's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper while eating dinner when I got home. Yogi and Boo-Boo evade Ranger Smith long enough to head to the city to see the Hanna Barbara funny animal crew, not knowing they went to Jellystone to visit them. They hide from zoo keepers in a department store and pose as Santa and an elf to evade them. Little Judy Jones thinks Yogi really is Santa and tells him she just wishes her father was there, which makes Yogi believe she's an orphan. As it turns out, she's the daughter of a wealthy businessman who is too busy for her. While he sends cops to search for her, the others look for her family with the help of Pixie, Dixie, and Mr. Jinx and Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.
Switched to It's Christmas Again on Tubi after a shower. I go further into this Christian teen musical that gives us the birth of Christ through the eyes of a modern teen boy at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Finished the night with Happy Holidays Vol 31. This is my favorite of the CDs I bought in Cape May along with Vol. 28. I first heard Eartha Kitt's version of "Santa Baby" and "Carol of the Bells," here performed by Kenny Rogers, on this album, and "Little Saint Nick" pops up here, too. Other fun numbers include Frank Sinatra singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas," Donna Summer's lovely "White Christmas," Amy Grant's brief but adorable "Santa's Reindeer Ride," and the original "Snoopy's Christmas" by the Royal Guardsmen.
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