Count On Matches

Began the morning with breakfast and Here's Love. This musical version of Miracle On 34th Street wasn't a hit when it debuted on Broadway in 1963, but has apparently done better on regional stages during the holidays. Janis Paige is Doris Walker, Fred Gwynne is Mr. Shellhammer, and Laurence Naismith is Kris Kringle, the man who believes himself to be Santa Claus. The best song is an interpolation. Meredith Wilson added his own "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," joined by Kris singing "Pine Cones and Holly Berries." There's also the charming "My Wish" for Susan (Valerie Lee) and Fred Gaily (Craig Stevens) and "That Man Over There" for Mr. Macy (Paul Reed) during the court hearings. Not the most necessary show in the universe, but a lovely listen for the holiday season if you're in the mood for a cute Christmas musical you probably haven't heard.

True Value Happy Holidays Volume 15 from 1980 is the second-oldest Happy Holidays LP I own after Volume 13. The heavy-hitters here are classic choral and instrumental numbers. The Robert Shaw Chorale does a lovely medley of "Carol of the Bells," "Lo, How a Rose 'Er Blooming," and "Go Tell It on the Mountain." Eugene Ormandy, the long-time conductor for the Philadelphia Orchestra, leads "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," while Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops Orchestra does "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Lana Cantrell's "White Christmas" is one of the prettiest versions I've heard of that song. We also have Harry Belafonte's "Mary's Boy Child," and "There's No Christmas Like a Home Christmas" from Perry Como.

Hurried off to work even before the album ended. I got there just in time. I actually spent most of the day sweeping. There was another college-age boy there who gathered most of the carts. It was busy early-on, but cleared out somewhat near the end of the day. I needed a few things I'd forgotten yesterday after work, notably molasses to make pumpkin bread next week and vitamins.

Went straight into dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon when I got home. Having had good responses to his "alphabet games" marathons, the owner of the Match Game Productions channel did a "numbers game" and let everyone guess where the next number was going to be spotted. It might be in the Audience Match, like "Sixteen __" or "4 __." It might be in an answer, like the time Arte Johnson answered "25 cent pancake" to a question about what flat thing a person turned into. It could just be the number of the episode itself, like when we saw PM episode #23. 

A lot of wacky contestants and unique panelists helped count the numbers down. A very tall and handsome young man from Maine turned Brett's head in 1979. Fannie Flagg flirted and danced with another handsome young contestant, Ron Valenti, in 1975. Jack Narz helped count down number 6. Raymond Burr, who never seemed to quite understand what he was doing there, perked up a little bit as he helped count number 8. 

You can count on Match Game to deliver the laughs in this hilarious numbers-filled marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - The Numbers Code Game Marathon

Oh, and I finally got around to posting Maplepunzel at my blog tonight. Here's part 1. It ended up in 20 parts, not as long as Hilary and the Beasts, but longer than my earlier Remember WENN fairy tale fanfics. I hope you enjoy it!

Maplepunzel, Prologue

And my new Timex watch was waiting for me on the porch when I arrived. It's actually a men's watch, but unlike my last Timex watch, it has a fabric strap. It's white, so it'll be dirty in very likely a few weeks, if not a few days, and I just hope the velcro lasts. On the other hand, it's easier to change the time than it was on my old Shark watch.