Briefly watched the tail end of the 1986 Card Sharks (the old guy who won the Money Cards didn't really get a whole lot, but was a riot anyway) before heading out to run errands. Made a brief stop at Target to see if they had the mouthwash I use. When they didn't, I walked next-door to Sprouts to do this week's grocery shopping. I'll be saving grocery shopping at the Acme for Monday when Lauren visits, but I did need some things here, including dried cranberries, blood oranges, soda, fruit leather bars for a snack with the kids later, and enough yogurt to cover the weekend.
Hurried back home, then started cleaning after I put away the groceries. Watched One Crazy Summer while I vacuumed, Swiftered, and dusted the front room. Hoops McCann (John Cusack) isn't enthusiastic about spending the summer in Nantucket with his horny pal George (Joel Murray) until he meets beautiful rock singer Cassandra (Demi Moore). Cassandra is desperately trying to earn enough money to keep her grandfather's boarding house from being demolished by Aguilla Beckerstead (Mark Metcalf), the nasty owner of a seafood restaurant chain. Hoops first lies to her about being a basketball player, but gets caught during a nutty date with Cookie (Kimberly Foster), the girlfriend of Beckerstead's lazy and obnoxious son Teddy (Matt Mulhern). Hoping to make it up to her, he uses his art skills to make flyers and commercials for her concert at a local nightclub.
That does get her the money, but it's too late. Beckestead has already bought the house. Hoops' gentle friend Ack Ack (Curtis Armstrong) suggests winning the local regatta and trading the trophy for the house. With the help of the wacky Stork twins (Bobcat Goldthwait and Tom Villard) and George's tough little sister Squid, they fix up "The Boat" and prove to everyone in Nantucket that the most important thing about a wild and crazy summer is having friends backing up even your weirdest notions.
I've loved this movie for years, especially the performances of Cusack as the shy artist who hates boats and desperately wants to learn about love and Murray as his girl-obsessed best friend, but it's not for everyone. The juvenile humor and weird characters makes this very much a film of the late 80's. Your mileage may vary if you're a fan of Cusack or the slobs vs snobs comedies of the 80's and early 90's.
Had lunch while watching the tail end of Supermarket Sweep (including a quick win on the Big Sweep), then the start of the next one before I went out to the Thomas Sharp School on my bike. Though it was cloudy, breezy, and humid as heck, it was also warmer and not raining. I had no trouble getting down the White Horse Pike and got into work just in time. I even waved at some of the kids as I walked around to lock up my bike near the playground.
Thank heavens the kids did get to go outside today! They were all kind of on the antsy side, probably due to it being the start of the weekend. Fortunately, we didn't have quite as many, only 20 or so. I did have to convince one of the girls to put her play makeup away (she already made a mess with her lipstick and got it all over her leggings). I also had to constantly remind the boys playing with the magnetic tiles later that their mile-high lemonade stands, trains, and castles for stuffed Stitches were admirable and ambitious, but also use up too many tiles that should be shared.
Considered stopping at CVS on the way home, but the weather was still kind of iffy. I just went straight back to Oaklyn instead, crossing at the corner of the White Horse Pike and West Clinton to avoid the worst of the traffic.
Went straight into Remember WENN when I got home. Frustrated over the Johnathan Arnold broadcasts, Jeff packs up and returns to London, much to Hilary's consternation! They're already short on actors, thanks to Pruitt's interference, and now Mackie is doing everything himself. "The New Actor" winds up being Scott, who supposedly left his California job to come back to WENN.
Scott gets a baptism under fire his first day on the job in "Two for the Price of One." Hilary's not happy when he's late and plays his elderly gardener character in her daytime show as a hunky leading man. Things get even crazier when Pruitt's dowdy secretary Miss Cosgrave (Audie Neenan) reveals she has them doing shows for both WENN and another station, WEEP. They have to rush to create programming for both stations...then mix up the programs in order to keep WEEP from ending up with their programming as well.
Switched to Match Game Syndicated during dinner. Comedian Freeman King made his only appearance on the show during this week, while giggly comedienne Betty Kennedy joined in for her first week. One of the episodes from this week apparently features such racially insensitive language and jokes, it's now banned from the airwaves. (And explains why King never appeared on any version of Match Game ever again.)
Listened to the second volume of Remember the Golden Days of Radio after Match Game ended. This one switches the focus to many types of drama, from the heart-pounding opening to The Lone Ranger to real-life newscasts like the on-the-scene reports on the Hindenburg explosion. We also get bits and pieces of action shows like Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy and Dangerous Assignment, plus a nearly-full episode of The Shadow.
Finished the night with two episodes of MASH in honor of Loretta Swit, who passed away today. Hot Lips, Hawkeye, and Klinger have to go to an "Aid Station" to help out. While the rest of the 4077th pass the days they're away worrying about them, Hot Lips finally begins to have an understanding about the unconventional Hawkeye and what makes him tick.
Hot Lips gets engaged to a handsome officer she met in Tokyo. "Margaret's Engagement" is met with various reactions from her fellow members of the 4077th, from delighted to amused. Frank Burns is not amused. Frank Burns is furious. He first stabs her in the finger, then tries to prove how tough he is in order to win her back.
Worked on editing Land of WENN all evening. Betty and Mackie inadvertently discover the Rebel Society that's been attacking the Shadow Realm meeting at the stables in the back of the Buttery Inn. Their mysterious "Leader" who remains in the shadows and knows how to break codes insists on them joining, especially after Betty reveals that she intends to find the three missing talismans and weapons.
Maple joins Betty at the Mayor's mansion downtown, where Betty discovers Lord Kurt Holstrom bought the Fire Talisman and bow and arrow at auction. The ladies think they've drugged him and his men, but he avoids Maple's foul-smelling brew to order their arrest. He's the one who gets into trouble instead when he tries to use the Flaming Bow and Arrow and accidentally sets the Buttery Inn on fire. The Leader turns into a demon and just barely escapes. Victor in his Johnathan Arnold disguise leads Holstrom away as Betty, Maple, Mackie, C.J, Eugenia, and Mr. Foley flee in Mackie's cart.
When they get too close to the fighting around the white crystal mines that power the magical elements and machinery, Betty uses her sun magic to propel them over the fighting to safety...but it wipes her out. She collapses unconscious as the others head down the road to the prosperous lakeside resort city of Port Harbor and their Summer Arts Festival.
Victor has his own problems. He's torn between his duty to his spying for Brittanica and his desire to help out more. His feelings are tested when he witnesses Pruitt stripping the magic from one of the young men who attacked the Shadow Realm's cannons, but can't do anything about it thanks to being in his Johnathan Arnold disguise at the time.
(Oh, and it did finally rain...around 10 PM, long after I and all of the kids were at home. And when it rained, it thundered and blustered. I don't think the storms will be sticking around, but the rain will be here through tomorrow.)
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