Where You Are

Dang it, I overslept again! I had a very quick breakfast and called Uber fast. They arrived in 9 minutes, but I was still almost a half-hour late for the movies. As it turned out, the lady in the ticket booth said the movie was only five minutes in when I got there. I think I only missed part of the first number and maybe the prologue. At any rate, here's my review of the dark but surprisingly sweet Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

It was cloudy when I left for the movie, but by the time I got out, the clouds had largely cleared, and it was sunny, windy, and cool. I hiked down the White Horse Pike to Amy's Omlette House for lunch. Slid in about 40 minutes before they closed. I had amazing "Pumpkin Dream" Pancakes - three fluffy pumpkin pancakes with pecans and marshmallow sauce. Ordered bacon, too, which was perfectly crispy. It was all utterly delicious.

Uber keeps saying Amy's is still the Starview Diner. I didn't want to confuse anyone, so I picked up Uber at WaWa. It still took me a minute to find the car in the parking lot, but they did get me home. I had just enough time to buy a water bottle at WaWa before I left, then grab my bike and head out to the Thomas Sharp School.

The kids were waiting in the hallway for the music class to finish in the gym/cafeteria when I arrived. They were in there for so long, I took a bunch of kids to the bathroom while they were still waiting in the hall. They did go outside today, but I ended up briefly helping with the older kids when they were outside when one of them got hurt and a teacher had to write what happened, and there was an awful lot of bickering over the swings. Not to mention, the clouds had emerged again by 4:30 and it was once again cold and gale-force windy. They all went inside a bit early to play Hangman and Pictionary with the teachers and build with Legos and magnetic tiles. 

Stopped quickly at CVS on my way home. I wanted to get Lauren a birthday card and gift card (her actual birthday is Sunday), and I need to replace my travel-sized hand wipes. Got a Propel here, too. 

Listened to the Family Portrait record I picked up on Sunday when I got in. This selection of songs from A&M Records is, as I suspected, mostly instrumental covers of hit songs like "Windy" and "I Say a Little Prayer," but there are some unique numbers. We get "Flea Bag" from the Tijuana Brass, Liza Minnelli's sweet and very funny "The Debutante's Ball," the lovely "Wanderlove" by Claudine Longet, and "Girl I'm Out to Get You" by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart (before they moved to Columbia for The Monkees project). 

Switched to Match Game '76 during a quick dinner. They finished off the Bonnie Franklin/Bill Anderson week and went into the next week for the last hour. Later night-time soap star Susan Howard made her first appearance on the show this week. Dour and tough Scoey Mitchill joins in, despite Brett chiding him about never answering correctly.

Finished the night with the American Musical Theater Volume 1 Smithsonian CD I found on vacation. This one goes so far back, the oldest number represented is "Gypsy Love Song" from the 1898 Victor Herbert operetta The Fortune Teller. George M. Cohan's "Life's a Funny Proposition After All" from Little Johnny Jones is more talk-singing, but Anna Wheaton and James Harrod are charming singing "'Til the Clouds Roll By" from Oh Boy! Binnie Hale and Joseph Coyne from the original British cast of No No, Nanette gives us an idea of what "I Want to Be Happy" actually sounded like in 1925. Fred Astaire turns up twice with his sister Adele, singing "Fascinating Rhythm" from Lady Be Good and "Hoops" from the original Band Wagon revue. My favorite is Clifton Webb, as the original Mr. Belvedere shows off his beautiful singing voice with "Easter Parade" from the Irving Berlin revue As Thousands Cheer.