Before the Storms

Got a quick start today with breakfast and Little Bear. We kick off the second season with "Little Bear the Magician." Mother Bear is so impressed with how quickly Little Bear can make his lunch disappear, Little Bear decides to show off his magical abilities to his friends, too. "Doctor Little Bear" takes care of Mother Bear when she has a cold while his friends fret over her. He's so eager to grow up, he imagines that he's "Bigger Little Bear." He may be bigger, but he's too big to jump in Duck's pond, and he scares off Owl and Cat. Being big does have its advantages...like being able to sit on the moon.

Called Uber shortly after the cartoon ended. They arrived in 13 minutes...and I ended up being one minute late. That was the only problem I had with Uber all day. The driver going to Thomas Sharp came in 11 minutes. The one going home arrived in 5 minutes, surprising given it was rush hour and the dark clouds building.

The Acme, once I got there, was pretty quiet for most of the morning. There wasn't a whole lot to do, other than put a few cold items away. Most people are probably waiting for Memorial Day Weekend to do their big shopping. It didn't really pick up until noon, by which time I was almost done anyway. Got in and out with only a little trouble.

Had lunch across the street at Rexy's. This time, I opted for a far simpler crispy fish sandwich with onion rings. Yum! The sandwich had Cole slaw on it, too. A little small, but tasty. They were surprisingly quiet for quarter after 1. I think I may have been the only one there besides the host and the waitresses. 

Since it was still very hot and sunny at quarter of 2 and I still had a little time, I went back across the street to Sonic for something cold. I originally wanted a coconut slush, but the slush machine was broken. Oh well. I went with a peanut butter milkshake instead. They too were quiet. Anyone getting food was doing it from the drive-in or going next-door to Chick Fil'A. I had my treat in peace before I went back to the Acme to call Uber.

Got to the Thomas Sharp School right on time. We had the same amount of kids we've had all week, 20 younger ones and 26 older ones, 9 at my table. Actually, they were largely much better-behaved today. Two of the little girls tried to hide in the hall when we were waiting for the bathroom, and one of the girls kept picking on one of the boys and I did have to talk to her, but it could have been worse. This time, one of the girls ended up under a table, but I was able to talk her into coming out. 

I initially saw dark clouds on the horizon while I was at sipping my milkshake at Sonic. By 4:30, it was cloudy, windy, humid, and a bit cooler, enough that we were able to get them out to the playground. I had to argue with one of the girls who kept trying to do dangerous stunts on the swings (and the boy next to her who imitated her). Otherwise, there weren't enough kids left by then to cause trouble. We took them back inside at 5. Most of the teachers took the remaining 7 older kids and 5 younger ones outside on the blacktop to play soccer as I left.

(And I got incredibly lucky, too. I'd been home for about 20 minutes when those clouds finally burst...and when they did, they unleashed buckets of water and a huge thunderstorm. I don't think it's rained heavily since.) 

Went straight into The Price Is Right when I got home. I arrived in time for the Showcases. The first one was a generic bedroom set and huge TV. The second showed how announcer Johnny Olsen and the models recovered from playing sports over the weekend...which in this case, involved soaking in a big old-fashioned bathtub, sleeping on a huge waterbed, and taking a ride in a speedboat. Neither bid really got all that close, but the one who bid on the bedroom furniture got closer.

Match Game '74 started off with New Year's week, featuring Gail Fisher and (in her debut on the show) Lee Merriweather. For some reason, half-way through the week, they skipped way, way ahead to May 1974. Sweet little Jackie Joseph made her only appearance that week, joining Jo Anne Worley and Nipsey Russell to protest "friends" not matching "girlfriend." Jo Anne was more interested in flirting with a handsome young man with long gold hair and a bushy beard and mustache.

Finished the night with The Wackiest Ship In the Army. In 1943, Lieutenant Rip Crandall (Jack Lemmon) is not happy to be put in charge of an ancient sailing ship from New Zealand, the USS Echo. As a former yachtsman, Crandall is the only one who knows how to run it. He wants to be in charge of anything else, but his superior Lieutenant Commander Vandewater (John Lund) reminds him of his poor physical health. It's a ship with a sail, or nothing. 

They're supposed to deliver a "coastwatcher" named Patterson (Chips Rafferty), an agent involved with detecting enemy movements, to a Japanese-occupied island. He, his young second-in-command Ensign Tommy Hanson (Ricky Nelson), and their men decorate the ship and dress themselves to resemble natives on a floating trading vessel. It doesn't work. They do manage to get Patterson to his post, but get captured in the attempt. When Crandall is hurt, Hanson has to decide if he wants to take the suggestion of the Japanese officer (George Shibata) and take them to the shore before they're spotted, or tell the Army that a huge fleet of Japanese airplanes are coming towards the Bismarck Sea.

This isn't nearly as wacky as the title would have you believe, maybe because it's based on a real story and a real USS Echo sailing ship. (Though that one actually survived the war and existed in New Zealand until 2015.) I suspect the subsequent 1965 sitcom based on this film probably made more out of the nutty hi jinks inherent in the situation. They don't even make it out on the open ocean until half-way through the film. The first half is entirely occupied with trying to convince Crandall to even take the mission. 

The second half, pitting Lemmon's anxieties against craggy Rafferty, is somewhat more interesting. I wish the crew wasn't so interchangeable. Only Nelson and Mike Kellin as the Chief Petty Officer had any actual personality. Though them dressing up the ship and themselves as Natives works with the time period, it doesn't look so hot today, either. Not the greatest war comedy ever, but the story is interesting enough to be worth a look this Memorial Day if you love Lemmon or the wacky World War II comedies of the 50's and 60's.