Kids of Tomorrow

Began the morning with Little Bear. We meet Little Bear's Uncle Rusty, a lumberjack, when he joins Father and Grandfather bear in "Building a House for Emily." "Emily Returns" with her globe-trotting Granny, both of whom are delighted with their new home. Little Bear becomes "Little Sherlock Bear" and searches for clues when the cherry pie his mother baked for his father disappears from the window sill.

I decided to try something different for breakfast. I chopped up a peach and added it and some cinnamon to the buckwheat pancake mix I found at Sprouts last week. I don't have syrup, so I had it with honey and yogurt instead. Yum! Not bad at all. Earthy, slightly sweet, and good for you. 

Watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I ate. "Secret Spy Daisy" has her first assignment guarding Clarabelle's secret cookie recipe from Pete. If he gets it, he'll make all the cookies for himself! Minnie, Mickey, and Pluto join Daisy as they ride down a yellow road, climb a tall wall, and find a way across a rushing river, and then distract Pete before he can get to Clarabelle's bakery!

Headed out to the Thomas Sharp School after the cartoon ended. Today was apparently the kids' Water Day. They were all wearing swimsuits and trunks and wrapping themselves in damp towels when we arrived. We had 18 damp kids, 6 at my table. On one hand, they did get pretty wild in the cafeteria early-on, including three of them ending up under the table again. On the other hand, they were thrilled that I brought my Storyland and Richard Scarry anthologies again. I read Bambi to two enthralled animal-loving pre-schoolers and let the kindergartners look at the pictures. The head teacher even read a story she wrote in second grade about a hedgehog's sleepover with his buddy. They liked seeing me draw the Bowery Boys at the drawing table, too (even if some of the girls asked why there were no female members of their group). 

It was sunny, windy, and a little humid when we got outside, but thank heavens it never rained. By the time we were on the playground, there were few enough kids that they were able to get on the swings after 15 minutes. There was a little squabbling, but we had more trouble getting them to keep their shoes on. Many of the kids wore vinyl clogs, sandals, or water shoes. Great for Water Day, not so much for running around a playground. One of the kindergartners threw a fit when we wouldn't let him build a mulch castle in the middle of the slide equipment. The mulch is supposed to stay on the ground.

There were four kids left when we took them inside around quarter of 4. The older kids had already gone back inside and were running around, playing family (which, as far as I could tell, amounted to "let's all pretend we're in college") and building massive castles for Pokemon cards with magnetic tiles. Even as we arrived, two of the kids left...and shortly after they left, another teacher came. I went home around 4.

Made a quick stop at Dollar General on the way home. I got tissues and a soda, but I mainly wanted to get money for tomorrow's Blacktop Bash. (I was hoping they'd have that Listerine Clinical Gum Protection mouthwash I use, but no dice.) Grabbed them, got out. 

Decided to try something different at YouTube after I got in. I've been reading Men of Tomorrow on comic book history and the beginnings of superhero comics for the last couple of days. Since I'm now on the chapters covering the Golden Age of Comic Books, I dug into public domain serials for a genuine Golden Age comic book hero. Spy Smasher, aka Alan Armstrong, was basically a slicker, more spy-oriented variation on Batman, but he was huge during the war years. He was a huge seller for Fawcett Comics along with the character now known as Shazam. 

Spy Smasher is regarded as one of the best Republic Pictures serials, one of the best superhero serials...and one of the best sound serials, period. You can see why from the very first chapter, which starts off with Armstrong (Kane Richmond) being bound and interrogated by Nazis. He's spared by kind Vichy French officer Pierre Durand (Franco Corsaro), who rescues him and returns him to his twin brother Jack (Richmond) in the US. From there, the two take on The Mask (Hans Schumm), a Nazi officer who is very fed up with Spy Smasher's constant interference. 

Switched to Match Game '74 around quarter after 6. Today moved on to the next week, the second and last with Adrienne Barbeau in the fourth female ingenue seat. Gary Burghoff's also back, joined by Fannie Flagg and Bobby Van. At one point in the last episode, Gary gives a bad answer...then the camera shows him sitting there, naked from the waist up. Apparently, he lost his shirt betting with Richard Dawson that he'd give that answer. (He should know better than to bet with Richard on anything.)

Finished the night with more Spy Smasher back at YouTube. I'm continually impressed with the special effects in this one. They're honestly pretty good for 1942. I especially loved the nifty "Bat Plane" with all its special features and some of the cliffhangers, like the one at the end of "Iron Coffin" that had them trapped in a submarine filling with water. This is also somewhat closer to the comics than a lot of adaptations tended to be, other than changing his vehicle from the Gyrosub and adding that twin brother. No wonder it remains a fan favorite.