I can see where a lot of this would later influence He-Man and She-Ra. Ming is even voiced by Alan Oppenheimer, who would later voice Skeletor. His daughter Azura has big hair and a slim design that makes her look more like she belongs with She-Ra and her ladies than on Mongo.
Headed out after Flash ended. I've been trying to take another trip into Philly for weeks, but every time I planned on it, I would either get so many hours at work I'd be too tired for a long trip, or something else came up. I finally had the time this week. They're still working on the Collingwood PATCO station, including the escalator. Thankfully, I was able to make it on the half-full train with five minutes to spare.
Got off at 8th Street and Market, then went right onto the Market-Frankford Line train to 2nd Street. They were a little more full, and smelled horrendously sour. Thankfully, I was only on the train for five minutes at the most. Once I got off, I hurried through the revolving door and up to 2nd Street.
It took me a few minutes to find what I was looking for. Turns out The Book Trader was across the street and a few doors down from 2nd and Market. I'm glad I kept looking for them. They were similar to Mostly Books across town - two stories of floor-to-ceiling piles of books, records, and DVDs - but better-organized, with a lovely reading spot in front of the window on the second floor. They were also fairly busy with kids on school trips and college kids on lunch breaks. I did manage to dig out three books and a record, including one book I'd been after for years:
Donna Parker Takes a Giant Step - Marcia Martin (I've been looking around for this one for ages. It was the last Donna Parker book I didn't have.)
Days of Thrills and Adventure - Alan G. Barbour (I didn't know there were so many old-time serial fans in Philly. I found all three of my vintage books on serials at Philly book stores and thrift shops.)
Red, Hot, and Blue: A Smithsonian Salute to the American Musical - Amy Henderson and Dwight Blocker Bowers (I'm pretty sure I had this at one point, or one of the libraries I frequented did. It seems familiar.)
The record was Ben Bagley's Noel Coward Revisited, another Bagley collection of rare material from one songwriter.
The trouble started when I hit the streets. I figured I'd be able to walk to South Street, but I kept getting turned around. I walked down 2nd Street, but just ended up going in circles and found myself right back at 2nd and Market. At least it was a nice day for all the hiking. It was sunny and breezy, a bit cooler than it has been, but nothing outrageous for mid-March, probably in the lower 50's.
Campo's Cheese steaks were finally calm by the time I got back there around 2:30. The line had been all the way across the small brick-walled store when I passed them on my way to the Book Trader. I had a chicken cheese steak hoagie (which means, chicken cheese steak with lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo) and a Coke Zero. Thought I'd try a cannoli, too. I hadn't had one in years. It was all tasty, but very expensive, far more than I figured.
I spent another 20 minutes getting turned around and having no idea how to get to South Street, even after checking Google Maps twice. I finally hiked to the US Mint, then across 5th Street to the National Constitution Center, where I called Uber. It was a smart idea. The driver picked me up in less than a minute and got me to Mostly Books on Bainbridge Street in a little over five.
Mostly Books is the other big used book store in downtown Philly. Philadelphia used book stores are deceptively small on the outside. You'd never guess how jam-packed the Book Trader and Mostly Books are from their exteriors. I didn't find as many books here, but I almost literally stumbled onto a treasure trove of records stacked in boxes and bins in an alcove in the very back of the store. I had to move a white plastic chair to get to them, but it was worth it. The records I dug out of those bins were:
The soundtracks from the 1974 Huckleberry Finn musical and two Judy Garland movies, Girl Crazy with Mickey Rooney and the animated Gay Purree with Robert Goulet.
The London cast album for the stage version of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. (I don't think the short-lived Broadway version made a cast album.)
Found two CDs, too:
Soundtrack from the Disney animated Cinderella, including songs cut from the film or written but not used, and The Carl Stalling Project: Music from Looney Tunes 1938-1958.
And two mystery novels, one a precursor to modern pulp fiction:
Murder at an Irish Bakery - Carlene O'Connor
Fantomas - Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain
I started down the street again after leaving Mostly Books...and once again, got turned around. And I'd found the 9th and Locust PATCO entrance easily on my last trip to Philly! I was tired, fed up with getting lost, and hauling around a bag of heavy books and records. I finally stopped at a Rite Aid on 7th Street and called Uber again. Though the guy once again picked me up in less than a minute, he had a harder time getting to 8th and Market. It was past 5 PM at this point, and rush hour traffic downtown was really stalled. I got in on the wrong side of the car, too. A five-minute drive ended up taking twenty.
Ducked through the Lit Brothers building, past Five Below and downstairs to the PATCO entrance. The train to Collingwood was stuffed full of commuters at 5:30. I barely got one of the last seats. No trouble after I finally got on. I got off at Collingswood, jumped on my bike, and headed home.
Finished the night with The Firefly as I ate dinner and got organized. I go further into this 1937 vehicle for operetta diva Jeanette MacDonald about spies who fall in love during the Napoleonic Wars at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
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