Overslept this morning and got such a quick start, I barely had time for breakfast! Dashed out and just made it to work on time. Fortunately, that was the worst thing that happened all day. We weren't busy at all. It's the end of the quietest month of the year, and the only one with no holidays in the US. Most people are likely waiting for the beginning of the month and Labor Day Weekend to do their shopping. Besides, it was too nice to be inside a grocery store. It remains gorgeous here, sunny, breezy, and barely in the 80's, with no humidity in sight.
It was so nice, I took the long way home down Nicholson Road. Most of the lunch hour traffic had cleared out by 1 PM. Nicholson Road wasn't that bad. Oaklyn was even quieter. The only people I saw as I pushed my bike over the hill and rode down to the White Horse Pike were a few dog walkers and kids showing off on their own bikes.
I checked my e-mail the moment I got online, before I even changed. Thankfully, Healthy Kids had approved of my alternate vacation week, September 29th through October 3rd. And actually, I'm going to leave earlier than that. Lauren says if I arrive on the 27th, we'll be able to do the last day of the New England Exposition on the 28th. School isn't open on Saturday, and I doubt the Acme will protest. We're not usually that busy until after Columbus Day.
After I finally changed, I had lunch while watching PAW Patrol. "Sea Patrol: Pups Save a Shark" has them trying to figure out how a shark got into Adventure Bay. Turns out it's not a shark at all. It's really Mayor Humdinger's attempt to chase people off the beach, so he can have it to himself. "Sea Patrol: Pups Save the Pier" has them repairing the pier where the local art show is to take place after it was chewed by clams and lobsters, then wondering what made them want to chew it at all.
I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening working on Hilary and the Beasts. Hilary and her family get a cryptic call from Mrs. Fox, warning them that they're being invaded, and they're in danger too. She sent help to retrieve them. Shortly after Maple gets off the phone with her, the door is kicked in by goons with guns, whom Pavla hired to keep them there until after midnight.
To Maple's delight, Eagle appears and flies through the front door...or tries to. He gets stuck. After she and C.J help him through the door, he helps them dispatch and tie up the goons. They call the police, and Hilary snares a gun from one of the goons and herds Mackie, C.J, and Betty out the door to Mackie's dilapidated Ford. Maple climbs on Eagle for one last ride...even as he slowly shrinks to the size of an ordinary, non-human bald eagle.
The rest of the family arrives at the mansion, only to discover Pavla and her slimy monsters are already there. They hold Troll back as she muzzles a big black bear and orders her men to bind him. Betty calls out to him in horror. She knows he's Scott Sherwood, now fully under Pavla's spell...without a shred of humanity left. Pavla is about to remove his claws when Eagle and Maple burst through the window. Alas, Eagle too is now fully animal. Maple lets him go and tumbles to the ground, unconscious. Hilary manages to get her up and moving and send her and Betty to retrieve the last record, just as C.J kills the lights.
Listened to records while I worked. I consider all of the Disney live-action musicals to be underrated, and Summer Magic is no exception. This adorable look at a family moving to Maine and adjusting to their new, more rustic circumstances around 1912 has some really lovely songs. In addition to the sweet title number, Burl Ives scores with "On the Front Porch" and "The Ugly Bug Ball," while Hayley Mills and Deborah Walley have fun discussing why "Femininity" is important for landing a beau.
High Button Shoes was one of the major Broadway hits of 1948 and gave Nanette Fabray some of her first exposure as sprightly Mama Longstreet. She's trying to pair her sister Fran (Lois Lee) off with small-time salesman Harrison Floy (Phil Silvers), but she prefers a handsome Rutgers football star (Mark Dawson). While the most famous aspect of this - the Bathing Beauty Ballet, with cops chasing ladies in long bathing suits around Atlantic City - obviously doesn't come across on disc, there's still a lot to enjoy. Fabray's energetic "Papa, Won't You Dance With Me?" was the standard here. We also get Lee insisting "Can't You See Yourself In Love With Me?" to Dawson and Papa Longstreet (Jack Maculey) claiming "I Still Get Jealous."
Though Judy Garland: Collector's Items 1936-1945 does feature songs from her movies, there's also quite a few numbers from her early career that aren't as associated with her today. She has fun with "Stompin' at the Savoy," wistfully performs "Oceans Apart," and does a surprisingly decent "Blues In the Night." Songs from her films here include "How 'Bout You," "Embraceable You," and "It's a Great Day for the Irish."
Dennis King was the go-to star for operetta on Broadway in the 20's and early 30's. It's a shame The Three Musketeers almost never turns up today. This 1928 version of the famous Dumas novel shows off King to best and most florid advantage with rousing songs like "My Sword and I" and "March of the Musketeers" and ballads like "Ma Belle." He was even better known for "Song of the Vagabonds" in The Vagabond King. He did Rose Marie in London, where he performed "The Mountie" and "Indian Love Call" with popular star Edith Day.
Leave It to Jane goes even further back. It was one of the famous small-scale Broadway musicals that Jerome Kern wrote songs for back in 1917. This tale of the seductive miss of the title who tries to lure a football star from dear old Atwater is the ancestor of every musical set in academia, from Good News to High School Musical. This recording is from a popular off-Broadway revival in 1959. The title song may be the best known number from this one, though we also have "The Crickets are Calling" and the comic "Cleopatterer."
Switched to Match Game Syndicated during dinner. Don Galloway, Holly Halstrom, and Bart Braverman returned this week. While Holly complained about her bare shoulders, Bart and Fannie Flagg flirted with a pair of attractive and single contestants. Bart was the one who got the lady he had his eye on up to the Star Wheel twice, though.
Finished the night back at the record player with the soundtrack from Encanto. This wasn't a huge hit when it came out, but it's now one of Disney's bigger success stories of the last few years. Lin Manuel Miranda crafted some lovely melodies here, and Stephanie Beatriz is a delight as Mirabel, the only non-talented sibling in a family full of magical talents. "We Don't Talk About Bruno" is probably the best-known song from this now. I also like Mirabel's "Waiting on a Miracle," her strong older sister explaining why she has to cave to "Surface Pressure," and her seemingly perfect flower-creating sister Isobel wondering "What Else Can I Do?"
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