Knights and Aliens

Began the morning with breakfast and Halloween Hall of Fame. This is another vintage Disney special Mom taped for us, this time off of our local Fox channel around 1987. Johnathan Winters is a security guard who discovers a jack-o'-lantern (also Winters) hiding in a crystal ball among props at the Disney studio. Seems Jack thinks Halloween's gotten too tame lately. Winters directs him to "Trick or Treat," "Pluto's Judgement Day," and most of "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" to prove otherwise.  

Worked on writing for a while after I finished breakfast. Brett complains to Ross that Mark Goodson was always humorless and never really understood Match Game, and it seems his son is a chip off the old block. Ross agrees with her, but also adds that he's just the host, and it's not his place to say. 

Broke around 1 for lunch and Z.O.M.B.I.E.S 3. I go further into the final film in Disney's series of teen horror parables at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Musicals on Streaming - Z.O.M.B.I.E.S 3

Headed straight to work after the film ended. Work was a little bit busier than it has been the past few days, but still not that busy. Once again, by the end of the night, it died so fast, I spent my last few minutes putting away cold items people didn't want. 

Went right into dinner and Match Game '77 when I got home. Maybe Buzzr's not as cowardly as I thought. They switched right back to the week with Ed Asner and Debralee Scott. Someone must have been sleeping over the controls yesterday. At any rate, there was a lot of messing around with the microphones in this episode, including Richard "accidentally" smacking his sleeves into his. Richard also has trouble with "Are You __" in the Head-to-Head, and his frustration will spill over into the next episode...

Took a shower, then finished off the night with more vintage Halloween episodes. Addison and the residents of Seabrook aren't the only humans to encounter aliens. In the fourth season Perfect Strangers episode "Aliens," Larry dreams Balki is a far less benevolent extraterrestrial after watching 12 hours of horror movies during a Halloween party.

Michael Knight has a spooky holiday of his own in the third season Knight Rider episode "Halloween Knight." Mechanic Bonnie thinks she saw a woman being strangled by a gorilla in the apartment across from hers. Michael investigates, only to find no one there. Someone is out to frighten Bonnie out of her new apartment, throwing out everything from the victim floating in her bathtub to a gremlin-like face that speaks backwards. Michael and KITT try to figure out who's out to get Bonnie, before she's the killer's next victim. 

Spooky Tales In the Rain

Began a very windy and cloudy morning with breakfast and one of The Monkees horror episodes from the second season, "Monstrous Monkee Mash." Davy's date with a dream girl turns out to be more of a nightmare when it turns out she's a vampire, Dracula's her uncle, and they intend to make him one of them. The others go to rescue them, but Peter and Micky fall into their clutches as well. It's up to Mike Nesmith to get all of them alive and with their brains intact!

Finally called Jodie's realtor Linda Alexandroff after breakfast. She said the same thing the other one did - I don't make enough money to pay the rent for most local apartments. Apparently, I'll have to write a letter to explain my inheritance and being able to pay 4 to 6 months of the rent up front. 

Did sneak a little writing in. Brett lifts Ira in the air and finally shakes a confession out of him. Yes, he stole the tarts, under orders from the King...and because he was hungry, and he wanted the Queen and King's attention. All they care about are their garden and parties, not running a kingdom. He believes the Red King's rules will make things better.

Broke with enough time to change, pack for grocery shopping later, and call Uber. The driver came within 8 minutes, but for some reason, his phone tried to direct him through Audubon, rather than taking any faster way. I turned him down Nicholson Road and past Applebee's. 

Work was busy almost the entire afternoon. Besides nasty weather chasing people and their Halloween parties inside, two cashiers called out, and another went home early. We had no help at all, anywhere. They reported only having one person in the deli and the bakery, too. At least most people were in good moods, and the afternoon went fast. It slowed down enough by 5:30 for me to shut down without a relief.

Fewer hours next week, but still a lot more than I was getting before last March. Yes, I did get Halloween off, as I requested; also have Wednesday off, and my cashiering shifts are short 4 and 5 hour days. Still have two 8 1/2 hour bagging days in a row, though. 

Went straight into grocery shopping after work. Found another bag of whole wheat flour on the clearance rack and had a free coupon for Acme brand butter. Picked up chips and green peppers for a dip recipe I'm going to try on Halloween. Grapes and shrimp were on good sales with online coupons, too. Restocked apples, bananas, milk, olive oil, cereal, vanilla extract, and shampoo. Treated myself to a double-pack of two Reeces Pumpkins. 

The clouds grew darker and darker as the afternoon progressed. No wonder it died down by 5:30. When I came outside after I finished my shopping, it was dark as midnight and showering heavily. To my surprise, it took less than four minutes for my Uber driver to arrive even with the bad weather. She was a pleasant older woman who chatted with me about my rental problems and got me home in five minutes. (I tipped her well.)

(Incidentally, it would continue raining off and on in some form or another for the rest of the night, complete with those high winds I mentioned earlier.)

Match Game '77 was on when I got home. The first one featured "___ Marshall" on the Audience Match. Gene wasn't entirely happy with the top answer being "Peter Marshall," host of the rival comedy game show Hollywood Squares. (We also find out why Richard started asking people to stop referring to him as "Dickie" by '77.) I had shrimp and salad during the second as the panelists reacted to an especially weird answer to a question about what the stork delivered along with the baby.

Switched to Perfect Strangers as I threw the laundry in the wash for the fourth season Halloween episode "Aliens." Larry's excited about watching a horror movie marathon on Halloween night. Balki thinks the horror movies will make you bad. Larry scoffs at his fears, until he has a nightmare about Balki being an alien bent on taking over the Earth!

Watched Young Frankenstein on Amazon Prime, where it's free with the subscription. Fredrick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) is called to Transylvania when he inherits his late grandfather's castle and workshop. He's a surgeon who isn't interested in his grandfather's gristly work in reanimating life, until he discovers his private library and thinks there might be something to it after all. His assistants Igor (Marty Feldman) and Helga (Terri Garr) help him bring an enormous man to the castle for an experiment. It works...but Igor brought an abnormal brain, and now Fredrick has a brainless hulk running around. He does manage to bring him back, thanks to Frou Blucker's (whinny) (Cloris Leachman) violin, and even gets him tap dancing...but first his routine goes wrong and the monster is taken prisoner, and then his fussy fiancée (Madeline Khan) shows up for a visit...

Classic horror comedy was so much fun - to watch and make - the cast added extra scenes, just so they could keep going! Top notch work from everyone involved, with some hilarious gags and delightfully spooky atmosphere (thanks to the real sets from the 1931 Universal Frankenstein being used). Highly recommended for lovers of Mel Brooks and his spoofs, the cast, or gentler horror satire.

Finished the night on YouTube with the Halloween episode of You Can't Do That On Television while folding laundry. Annoying Alisdair had joined the cast by this point, just in time to see Christine jokingly put a "curse" on their obnoxious stage manager Ross for Halloween. Christine means it to be all in fun, but Ross takes it seriously and spends the episode lamenting all the strange things happening to him. Meanwhile, the Senator dad has his own idea of trick-or-treating, a kid tricks the executioner by switching clothes with him, and some of Barth's Halloween dinners are not for the squeamish. 

Autumn Serenade

We began Lauren's last day here with breakfast, tea, and Hogan's Heroes. "The Defector" is a German Field Marshall who wants safe passage to London. Hogan's ready to give it to him, but Hochstetter shows up on his trail. He and the others try to figure out how to distract him while they get the man out of the country.

Switched to Perfect Strangers as Lauren packed and I did the dishes. Larry's convinced he's "Safe at Home" when he buys a high-tech security system to protect his new stereo chair. He realizes how unsafe he and Balki are when they accidentally activate the system and can't figure out how to turn it off.

Balki explains to Larry "I Saw This On TV" when Larry lies to his fiancée Jennifer about ducking out of their date to the ballet. In a hilarious black-and-white spoof of The Honeymooners, Larry is Ralph Kramden, who gets into trouble with his wife Alice (Jennifer) when he lies about attending a bowling tournament with his pal Ed Norton (Balki). It takes Balki to help them out and teach Larry a lesson about fibbing in a relationship.

One of my favorite Perfect Strangers episodes is the swashbuckler satire "Family Feud." Larry thinks it's ridiculous when a member of the Bochilitis family of Sceptos comes to Chicago demanding that Balki fight a duel in a long-standing feud...at least, until he insults the man. Balki ends up being the one who has to get his cousin out of the duel, before Larry gets sliced to ribbons.

Jodie drove us out to the Cherry Hill train platform around 11:30. We left Lauren at the station and headed out. I'm glad our trip mostly went very well. We always have a wonderful time together, and this week was no exception.

I got off at my side of the house long enough to bring the trash can up to the patio, then grabbed my bike and went back out again. Had a few errands I wanted to run. The Oaklyn Library was quiet except for the librarian. I said "hi" to her, then took out two Laura Childs Tea Shop Mysteries and Into the Heights for review next week. 

Originally stopped at Dollar General for sugar, but all they had left were the huge containers of Domino's. I ended up spending a little more at CVS instead; also grabbed the dish washing liquid sale there.

Had a quick lunch when I got home while watching more Hogan's. The boys leave "The Empty Parachute" to make the guards think there's a commando loose and frighten a courier into letting go of his locked briefcase. Hogan convinces Klink that "The Antique" cuckoo clock is worth thousands of dollars. It's not...but it will help the boys get vital information to the underground.

Spent the next hour looking up apartment buildings in Audubon. In good news, I found at least three or four...all of which were listed as having no available apartments. I wrote down their numbers anyway. Rose wanted me to call them today, but I just couldn't do it. Between work and my busy trip and everything else going on, I was just too worn out. I took a nap for almost two hours instead.

Worked a little bit on writing when I did roll out of bed. Brett assures Sir Richard's son Gary that his son will be all right...but she's not really sure. The guards hold him back, and the jury doesn't look too merciful, either...when they bother writing down relevant information and not every single thing said by every single being in the courtroom.

Broke for leftovers at 6:30. Watched Match Game '74 while I ate. Fannie's fried egg shirt came in for a lot of ribbing in this episode, or at least, where the eggs were placed on the shirt. Meanwhile, a soft-voiced Frenchwoman proved to be far more astute with the English language than Gene believed, and Charles wondered exactly what went on in his best friend Brett's head.

Began making snickerdoodles during Match Game PM. This 1978 episode featured two of the most hapless contestants who ever turned up at Studio 33. They just could not match anyone. The only reason either made it to the Bonus Round was Charles matched them one time each, and then matched one in a tiebreaker. Richard broke out of his dark mood long enough toss in a few one-liners as well.

Returned to Hogan's Heroes as I rolled the dough in cinnamon sugar. Klink's gleefully asking "Is There a Traitor In the House?" when Newkirk volunteers to broadcast on propaganda queen Berlin Betty's show to London. He's really doing it to relay information after a bombing blows out their transmitters. He falls for Betty when the lady claims to be in trouble, but she's not as innocent as she seems.

"At Last - Schultz Knows Something!" The guys are all desperate to find out where Klink's new job as the head of security at an atomic research facility is. Klink won't talk, so they decide to try a new drug on Schultz to get it out of him. 

Finished the night online with Hart to Hart. In "Vintage Harts," Jonathan's gone into business with an older wine merchant to sell his own inexpensive wine label. After his friend and a young employee are murdered, Jonathan and Jennifer learn that their wines are being marked up as much more expensive by two enterprising employees. 

Incidentally, I heard from Lauren about two hours ago. All of her train trips went fine. The train was about to pull into the station when she got off her phone. I imagine she and her parents have long arrived in Pittsfield by now. 

Pac Man Fever

Since we weren't meeting Jessa until later and Jodie put the house on the market today, we began the morning by tidying up, doing dishes, and me making my bed. Had breakfast while Hogan's Heroes was on. Hogan makes "The Big Gamble" when the boys set up a casino to lure in a scientist who may have a piece of equipment the Allies need to win the war.

Balki and Larry become "Defiant Guys" in Perfect Strangers when Balki handcuffs a busy Larry so he can talk to him, then loses the key. Larry's about to have an important lunch with his boss Mr. Burns and Burns' boss Mr. Wainright, which means Balki has to come along, too. He's hoping Balki will be able to sit alone, but then the snooty head of the society department shows up, and they have to try harder to hide that handcuff.

Switched to Match Game-Hollywood Squares as I finished up the dishes. Couldn't have chosen a better episode for Lauren's introduction to the show. This one came from a theme week showcasing the more teen and family-friendly sitcoms either on the air or in syndication at that point. Eddie Mecca and David L. Lander of Laverne & Shirley, Linda Goodfriend and Erin Moran of Happy Days, and Mindy Cohn of The Facts of Life join Police Academy cop Michael Winslow and cool older lady Nedra Voltz for matches and wisecracks. 

It was almost noon when we strolled off to Jalapeno's for lunch. The place was dark, quiet, and perfect to focus on tasty quesadillas. She had chipotle chicken. After two chicken sandwiches this week gave me nasty indigestion, I decided to take no chances and went veggie. They were both delicious and stuffed to the brim with roasted vegetables, chicken, and cheese...and huge. It took us a while to finish.

In previous years, we've always walked the way down the White Horse Pike to Barrington. It's a really long walk, a half-hour or more, and we didn't have that much time. We ended up taking a quick bus ride instead. 

The Barrington Antique Center is a warren of tiny little rooms in an old storefront, with every single conceivable vintage thing you can imagine stuffed in its tiny crevices and many shelves. I didn't see something I really wanted until the last minute. I found a rack with home made American Girl-sized doll clothes. Most of the clothes looked very late 40s-50's in design, with full skirts and simple bodices. I chose a purple floral with black lace for Whitney and a blue gingham for Molly.

The House of Fun, the pop culture collectibles shop that used to be in Oaklyn, moved to Barrington a few months ago. Lauren found its location tucked into a tiny shopping center on the White Horse Pike. Not only is the store a lot newer and bigger, but the ceilings are much higher as well, allowing for far more racks of action figures to be displayed and for better organization. Lauren didn't get anything, but I found a Wuzzle, one of the plus animal-mix characters Disney put out in the mid-80's. There were three, one of which I already had (Hoppo). I went with Eleroo, the sweet purple and pink elephant with the kangaroo's pouch and big feet. 

We doubled back to Clements Bridge Road after that and bought soda at a pizza shop. Texted Jessa to tell her we were waiting for the bus. She cut out the middle man and picked us up in her odd little van on the way to Deptford instead.

Our first stop at the Deptford Mall was Round 1, a huge entertainment center on the second floor. They're an arcade/bowling alley, and while we do all enjoy bowling, we finally decided we only had time to check out the arcade. Most of the games are huge, neon-lit versions of familiar favorites like Pac Man or newer ones like Jurassic Park. 

There were three rows of cranes in the center of the room. I tried to win a big stuffed Luna and a realistic cat who reminded me of Rose's cat Lynx, but no luck. Did much better with the skee ball machines. I spent a lot of my childhood playing skee ball at the arcades on Cape May's promenade.

Browsed around the second floor of the Deptford Mall next. Deptford's FYE opened a few weeks ago. I found the soundtrack for The Princess Bride, one of my favorite childhood movies, on LP. Searched Boscov's for work pants, but didn't find anything. (I ultimately ordered a pair from Amazon tonight.)

Since Red Robin is right next to Boscov's, we had dinner there next. Jessa treated us to sandwiches and their towering stack of crispy onion rings. Jess had a Guacamole Bacon Burger. I had the same "Bonzai" (Teriyaki-Pineapple) Burger as when I went here with Jessa and Joe a few years ago. It was just as good this time...and just as messy. The pineapple kept slipping out of the bun. Lauren kept things simple with a BLT on a croissant and Chicken Tortilla Soup. 

We strolled around downstairs for another half-hour or so, checking out Box Lunch and a larger Go! Toys and Games than the one at Cherry Hill, but ultimately didn't see anything interesting. Not to mention, it was getting pretty late by that point. Jess just ended up driving us home around quarter after 7. 

We got organized, then I jumped in the shower. Finished the night online with Three Sailors and a Girl. I go further into the first of two movies I'll be reviewing this week honoring the late Jane Powell at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

A Salute to Jane Powell - Three Sailors and a Girl

Games People Play

After I barely slept at all on Friday night, I desperately needed to sleep in. Didn't get up until almost 11; it was closer to noon before I finally got to making us Banana Pancakes. We watched more Perfect Strangers as we ate. Balki and Larry are "Piano Movers" when Balki talks his cousin into pushing a piano up 10 flights of steps to their friend Lydia's (Belita Moreno) apartment. Not only is Larry concerned about his bad back, but it seems that the piano keeps following them...

We played two games of Othello after the show ended. I found this pristine 1977 edition of the checkers-style strategy game in the pile Jodie intended for Veterans of America back in the winter. I figured Lauren and my nephews would appreciate it more and traded it for a few piles of my own donations. You have black and white chips, and have to place your chip so it turns over the chip to the other color. To my surprise, since I don't usually do very well with checkers and chess, I won both games. Lauren did help me during the first one...but I won the second one, too. 

Went out for a stroll after we finished. We were originally going to check out a small block party at a church on West Collings, a block from the business district. Turns out they were really small. They had a bounce house, a few games for the kids, a couple of food tables, and not much else. We decided there's better food elsewhere and moved on.

Ended up at Phillies Phatties on West Clinton. Shared a medium half-pepperoni, half-mushroom pizza and Pepsis (mango for me, regular for her) for lunch while watching the second half of the Eagles-49ers game. The Eagles were down 7 to 3 when we came in. The 49ers hit two touchdowns, but the Eagles were just starting to catch up when we loaded the remaining pizza into a bag. (The Eagles eventually lost 17-11, but that's a lot better than many of their games last year, and against a really good team.)

Finally decided we were too full for fancy puddings from the Puddin' Palace and strolled back to my place. At least it was a nice day for walking around. Yesterday's slight humidity was replaced by blue skies, warm winds, and dry temperatures. There couldn't have been a more perfect day in mid-September. 

Since Rose and her tribe were in the pool and we wanted peace and quiet, we played Pokemon Yahtzee Jr. first. This is a basic version of Yahtzee with Pokemon characters instead of numbers. We played for over an hour; I just barely beat Lauren, though it was close. 

Got our swim around 5. The water was a tiny bit warmer than yesterday, and even more relaxing. Lauren enjoyed it so much, she slid in and reclined on the pool steps in her clothes. Jodie came around to say "hi" and that she's putting the house officially on the market Tuesday. We'll have to clean up the apartment then. (Considering I cleaned it last Tuesday, that will basically involve me making my bed and putting away dishes and Lauren picking up her things, which she'll have to do anyway because she goes home Wednesday.)

When it got too cold for us to be lounging in water, I went right into the shower. After I finished, we played a long game of Scrabble. She won this one, but she also kept coming up with longer words. I kept ending up with lots of vowels and no consonants (and a lot of Ys). 

Showed Lauren two Match Game episodes while we played. Since we saw an episode involving a riot over an answer in 1974, I showed Lauren an even more infamous incident involving the producer not matching close answers in 1977. In this case, "school" didn't match "finishing school" after it matched "college." Richard Dawson and Debralee Scott were furious, and even Gene Rayburn couldn't keep order. Richard was far happier during a 1975 PM episode where he and Gene made a bet as to whether his "Color TV" answer would be under "Admiral __" on the Audience Match.

Finished the night on YouTube honoring producer Bob Stewart. He originally created Password and The Price Is Right for Goodson-Todman, but got tired them taking all the credit. After they rejected his latest idea for a show involving celebrities giving clues to categories, he left the company to form his own. 

That idea eventually became the Pyramid franchise, by far his most enduring hit as a solo producer. It started as The $10,000 Pyramid on CBS in 1973. It moved to ABC in 1974 for another five years, becoming The $20,000 Pyramid in 1976. CBS revived it as The New $25,000 Pyramid in 1982. I fondly remember watching the CBS version and The $100,000 Pyramid in syndication in the mid-80's. Went with episodes of 10,000 from 1973 featuring Ed Asner and Sandy Duncan and 20,000 from 1978 with Nancy Lane and Michael McKean. Dick Clark is the host of both versions.

One of Stewart's earliest shows as a solo producer was Personality from 1969. It's basically "solo Tattletales." Three celebrities - Jack Cassidy, Joan Rivers, and Flip Wilson in the surviving episode currently on YouTube - try to guess the answers to what the others will say in a pre-recorded interview. They guess how the celebrity responded to a series of questions about the celebrity in the second segment. In the third, they all have to guess how a celebrity guest answered the questions. This one is especially funny because Shirley Jones was the guest...and she and Cassidy were married at the time.  Larry Blyden is the amiable host.

Bill Cullen hosted Three On a Match, the second of six shows he did for his good friend Stewart. All of the episodes currently on YouTube are of the second format, where the big Match Board has images on it and can allow the contestants to win prizes. We also get to see The Big Match, a mini-game giving contestants a chance to win extra money by matching two halves of a dollar bill. Geoff Edwards makes a cameo appearance towards the end of the show to plug his own program, Jackpot. 

Cullen also hosted Chain Reaction in 1980, which would be his last with Stewart. Here, four celebrities and two contestants call out letters to form words that connect to other words. The first to finish the connection wins. The bonus round would be altered several times during the course of the show's short run; I believe this episode has the second version, with the slightly increased earnings. 

Apparently, Stewart still had Chain Reaction and its "Instant Reaction" bonus round on the brain. Three years later, he debuted Go, a show based around that concept. Here, it's two celebrities (Lynn Redgrave and Richard Gilliland) with four contestants. It's kind of a cross between Pyramid and those "pass the gossip" line games. Four of the team members give clues to a word; the contestant guesses it, rings a bell, and moves on to the next word. It was actually kind of fun, and it's too bad it didn't last longer. Former weatherman Kevin O'Connell was out of his element as the host.

Stewart's last original solo show before his retirement was Double Talk from 1986. Supposedly a revival of another short-lived show of his Shoot for the Stars, it's more-or-less Pyramid crossed with the fill-in-the-blooper of Whew! Celebrities help their contestants help figure out what phrases some similar words represent. The final round is almost a total Pyramid imitation that had the contestant filling in blanks written on "Double Talk" boards.  A bad time slot coupled with ABC's desire to get away from game shows doomed this one; smarmy actor Harry Polic III was hardly the right host to drum up excitement for any of this.

Climb to the top of the Pyramid with the solo creations of one of the most beloved game show producers of all time! (Look for the original commercials on Chain Reaction and Three On a Match.)

Personality (1969)

The $10,000 Pyramid (1973)

Three On a Match (1974)

The $20,000 Pyramid (1978)

Chain Reaction (1980)

Go (1983)

Double Talk (1986)

All Summer Long

I didn't sleep well last night. The stomach and chest pains I had a few weeks ago returned. I did feel well enough for a quick breakfast and to throw on a Perfect Strangers episode while we got ready to head out. Larry says "Everybody In the Pool" when Balki keeps picking winners on the newspaper's football pool. Turns out Balki's too good. He picks losers when his co-workers get upset...but then has to save Larry's bacon after he puts Balki's guesses in with a bookie.

Headed out around 11. Thanks to my sleepless night, this was later than I'd planned, but we still did make it for the last half-hour of the farm market. Despite the late day, it was still very busy with people and their dogs picking produce for football parties and fall dinners. Saw pumpkins and winter squash for the first time this season. Opted for vegetables that were easier to carry in my cart - zucchini, corn, red lettuce, a yellow tomato, and an onion. 

We had brunch at Tortilla Press, the Mexican fusion restaurant on Haddon Avenue a block from where the farm market's held. They'd only been open for an hour at that point and weren't overwhelmingly busy. Lauren had a steak and avocado quesadilla; I went with "Pan Perdita," aka French toast with a mixed berry sauce. Yum! Perfectly sweet and just spiced enough, and the berries were amazing...and more to the point, not too harsh on my stomach. Our meals vanished pretty quickly, even Lauren's.

We were in and out of stores for the next hour. I showed Lauren Clutter, where I bought those little angel ornaments for her and Amanda last November. We looked at gift shop Occasionette, Ida's Book Shop, and toy store Extraordinary Ed, but found nothing of interest. 

I did much better at Innergroove Records, even with it being crowded in the tiny store. Managed to dig out:

Original casts of Raisin (1973 Broadway version of A Raisin In the Sun) and Mr. President

Soundtrack album for 1967 TV musical On the Flip Side

WFIL History of Rock Part III

Lauren and I came to the conclusion that what I felt last night and a couple of weeks ago was a rather nasty bout with acid reflux. We stopped at CVS on the way home to find a way to deal with it. I finally picked up a bottle of generic Maalox and a ginger ale; she got a Pepsi Zero. 

After we got home and I took my medicine, we threw on an episode of Hogan's Heroes while getting our laundry together. "Bombsight" has Hogan trying to figure out how he can sabotage the new German bombs when Klink caught Newkirk trying to get the plans out of the safe. It's up to him to keep Klink and London happy...and make sure his resident thief doesn't get into worse trouble.

Check my schedule for next week really fast, too. Ugh. Eight and a half hours the first two days, one of them late, next Saturday early. I'm  not looking forward to going back at all. 

Cheered up with that trip to the laundromat. Lauren had clothes to wash, and it wouldn't hurt me to get mine done, either. They were too busy to hang around, and we ended up with the longer washing machines anyway. This was the perfect time to finally check out Comicrypt. She looked for new Batman stories; I settled for petting the kitties who wandered among the stacks. 

The new pretzel shop two doors down from Comicrypt is finally open. (It was supposed to open back in late June-early July.) Lauren's not a pretzel fan, but I got to try their twist pretzels. Nothing special, but warm and tasty anyway. We enjoyed the pretzel and cans of Orange Crush and ginger ale outside on the concrete curb, enjoying the warm sunshine.

Put our clothes away when we got home, then hit the pool. I was surprised no one was there. Jodie was inside; all of the kids must have been at sports or cheerleading. The water was a bit colder than the other day. I swam for a bit, then Lauren and I kicked and splashed our legs around. 

When we got back in, I changed into dry clothes and made Eggplant Parmesan while introducing her to the current version of Muppet Babies. "Scooter MVP" gets upset when  he loses every sport he plays. His twin sister Skeeter doesn't want him to give up, so she has the Babies lose for him. Now he thinks he's a great athlete, just as big Sweetums comes in with his wild Marshmallow Kickball game. "Rizzo for Mayor" has the rat making all kinds of wild promises during his campaign against Summer. Like many politicians, he's not so good at making those promises come true when he's actually in office.

Returned to Hogan's as we enjoyed our meal. Klink needs a lot more than "The Big Picture" when he's blackmailed by Gestopo officer. Hogan and Newkirk have to get those pictures back, or Klink will keep taking the money to pay the blackmail out of the camp's budget.

Balki and Larry are "Disorderly Orderlies" in Perfect Strangers when Larry agrees to volunteer in a hospital with his eager cousin. He's really after an interview with a football star who was brought in after he damaged his knee. He's desperate to get a hold of the guy, but Balki knows the best way to make a friend...and get what you want...is to be a friend.

Finished the night online with the original version of the truly bizarre British animated spy caper Freddie as F.R.O.7. I go further into this odd action flop at my Musical Dreams Reviews Blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Freddie as F.R.O.7

Busy Holidays

With a busy weekend coming up, I desperately needed to sleep in. Had breakfast during the tail end of Body Language. Brad Garrett and Dr. Joyce Brothers are the celebrities playing charades this week. Garrett's partner defeated a long-running champ and just missed getting the bonus money. Blockbusters continued with the mother-daughter duo, who had far more competition from a smart older lady than in any challenger they dealt with previously. They started playing a tie-breaker game as the show ended.

Put on The Devil's Brother (Fra Diavolo) as I did the dishes, wrote out my nephew Collyn's birthday card (it's on Saturday) and packed up Lauren's Christmas presents. I go further into this dashing Laurel & Hardy operetta at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

The Devil's Brother (Fra Diavolo)

Headed out to do the laundry the moment the movie ended. It was a gorgeous day for it. Sunny and breezy, in the lower 50's, not warm but decent for this time of year. I took the cart, and probably would have even if I had the bike on the road. It was too nice to rush the trip, and I had too much laundry to fit on top of the basket anyway. 

Not to mention, I had errands to run. My first stop was a very brief one at Dollar General. They were out of sugar, and that's what I needed, so I was quickly on my way. The Oaklyn Post Office is around the corner. I was surprised at how quiet they were. I only waited a few minutes to send out Lauren's package and drop a pile of out of town Christmas cards in the slot. 

The laundromat wasn't any busier. I saw the two managers fixing pipes behind the dryers and one other man, and that was it. Dropped the laundry in one of the front-loading dryers that doesn't take as long and hurried out. Family Dollar did have sugar; also picked up another cookie tin and one more Christmas bag. Worked on story notes while my laundry was in the dryer.

Put everything away when I got back, then watched more Buzzr during lunch. Mary Cadorette lead a very smart older lady to 5,000 in the Super Password bonus round and another 1,000 in the Ca$hword mini game on Super Password. The late Helen Reddy and her husband Jeff Wald were the big Tattletales winners today, over game show host Jan Murray and his wife Toni and mouthy plus-sized comedienne Totie Fields and her husband George Johnston. The champ had no problems winning Press Your Luck after her competitors kept hitting Whammies and she lucked into a vacation to Miami and a ski boat.

A package awaited me on the porch of the main house when I got in. It was Mom's gift from Swiss Colony. We've been buying petit fours - mini-cakes with cream between the layers robed in chocolate - from this catalog/online company since at least the mid-90's. This year, she sent me a collection of petis fours, including brownie bits with cream on top and coffee-flavored petit fours. Yum! They're as delicious as I remember them being in my teens. 

Worked on writing after the show ended. Captain Kennedy sent several of his men to be hired onto Goodson's ship the SS Todman and spy on their movements. Kennedy intends to follow them and raid the ship. Betty's worried that it may be a trap, but Gene will do anything to get his crew and treasure back...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had a baked wild tuna steak with roasted Brussels sprouts and mashed sweet potatoes while watching Match Game '75. The beauty who turned Richard's head was defeated by a lady who claimed she'd show off her belly dancing skills if she won money. Richard did win the Head-to-Head for her...but she didn't dance, mainly because they played a march instead. Match Game PM had just as much fun with a sweet aspiring singer and a laid-back nutritionist and health nut from Waikiki whom Brett seemed to have a bit of a crush on. 

Started chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies while Sale of the Century ran. The champ went for the whole pot today, including 50,000. It ended up almost the same as yesterday, only this time, he bought no Instant Bargains. The one lady won the Fame Games, but he won the Speed Round...and indeed, got his 50,000 to become one of the biggest winners the show ever had.

Switched to What's Happening!! on The Roku Channel as the cookies came out of the oven. "A Christmas Story" from the first season has Roger and his little sister Dee joining their father for Christmas dinner, since they think their mother will be working. Turns out, their dad Bill's girlfriend Nadine has a cold and ruins their dinner. Good thing their mother isn't as far as they think, and everyone in the neighborhood brought them food when they thought they'd be alone.

Finished the night on Hulu after a shower with Perfect Strangers. Balki and Larry also appear in "A Christmas Story" in their second season. Larry's devastated when a snowstorm cancels their flight home to Madison. Balki reminds him that even if he can't be with his family for the holidays, he still has him. 

"The Gift of the Mypiot" from the fourth season finds Balki inviting his much-hated boss Mr. Gorpley to his and Larry's Christmas party. Gorpley's not popular among his employees, and his sarcastic and nasty attitude doesn't exactly add to the holiday spirit. Turns out, though, that Gorpley never had a decent Christmas until Balki gave him one. 

Sunny Day Spooks

Today was my early work day. While it was a little steady off and on, it mostly remained fairly quiet. I did the trash inside and out and the few returns that were there, but once again, I was mostly outside with the carts. And once again, it was likely just as well. The wind was wild and it was chillier than yesterday, but it also remains sunny and nice. Not only is the weather too gorgeous for shopping, but it's a little early for most people to be planning their Thanksgiving menus.

When I got home, I changed, then did some baking. Made Teen-Time Chocolate Chip Bars while watching a few Halloween and horror-themed episodes of Perfect Strangers. "Aliens" from the fourth season sees Larry having a nightmare after watching a horror movie marathon on Halloween and dreaming that Balki is an alien bent on taking over Earth. The seventh season show "Fright Night" has them trying to clear a ghost out of their new house. Balki's worried for Larry in the third season episode "The Horn Blows at Midnight" when a psychic claims he'll die at midnight. Larry brushes off his concerns, until it looks like her predictions are coming true.

Worked on writing for a while after the bars were in the oven. Leia talks to her brother Luke, who is still in mourning for Vader and the Jedi. Luke says he'll give his money to UCLA's journalism department for special classes and a scholarship in Ben Kenobi's name. Even though his father did terrible things, he regrets not being able to know him better. Leia doesn't at all. She's never quite forgiven him for his part in kidnapping her and Harry in France or for his killing their Papa Bail and his workers.

Broke for dinner around 7. Did two horror cartoons while eating leftover Italian chicken legs and Chinese beans with mushrooms. "The Horror of Slumber Party Mountain" was the last of the Tiny Toon Adventures spooky episodes. In this parody of 50's and 60's B-scare fests like Horror of Party Beach, Babs, Fifi, and Shirley are having a slumber party in a remote cabin. Their boyfriends Buster, Hamton, and Plucky scare them by dressing as One-Eyed Jack, a legendary local monster. The joke turns out to be less amusing when they discover that the monster is real, and is picking them off one by one!

Switched to a short Danger Mouse episode after I finished. Danger Mouse and Penfold discover "The Trouble With Ghosts" in the first season when they find themselves staying at a hotel filled with creepy creatures and scary monsters. The monsters, however, are really creations of Baron Von Greenback, who is out to capture the dynamic duo.

Finished the night after a shower with the 1931 English-language version of Dracula. Bela Lugosi is once again the title character, who has attacked the solicitor Renfield (Dwight Frye) in his home in Transylvania, turning him into a slave and a raving madman. They eventually travel to London, where he meets the Seward family, including daughter Mina (Helen Chandler), her fiancee John Harker (David Manners), and her friend Lucy Weston (Frances Dade). Lucy's interest in the Count proves to be his undoing. She's his first victim, but far from his last. When Mina's also infected, John turns to none other than Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) to find out how to help her, and to stop the Count's reign of terror.

While it's creaky and very slow-moving by today's standards, it's also undeniably creepy and atmospheric. Lugosi is the thing here. Few actors are as associated with the character; between the accent and his hypnotic stare, he's a terrific vampire. Most of the rest of the cast isn't quite as good, although Frye does pretty well as the groveling Renfield.

The scary feel and some violence makes this not for young horror buffs; for older kids on up who love monsters and don't mind how slow it is, it's one of the classics of the genre and is recommended.

All the Kingsmen's Horses

Began a beautiful, sunny morning with a couple of black-and-white shorts based around horse racing. "Porky and Teabiscuit" has the porcine farmer stuck with a skinny nag after he inadvertently buys him at an auction. He races him to get his father's money back, but it takes really loud noises to get this pony moving.

Mickey Mouse has a somewhat similar problem in "The Steeplechase"...but here, the horse is drunk rather than lame, and the last dollar of Minnie and an older friend is riding on their participation. Unfortunately, this one is marred by a few stereotypes, including what Mickey ultimately enters in the race.

Worked on writing after breakfast. Leia asks Yoda and Ahsoka about her father and how he ended up joining Palpatine. The Chancellor promised to help him save his wife from dying during his pregnancy...but Anakin finally realized after he killed Jedi counselor Mace Windu that he had no intention of doing so. Palpatine scarred his face and thought he'd killed him, but Anakin managed to escape. Obi-Wan was so angry that he wouldn't speak to his friend for months, but Padme proved to be more forgiving. They all ended up fleeing Palpatine's influence with Yoda and Bail and Breha Organa's help.

Broke at noon to do a few things around the apartment. First on the list was sweeping the porch. The fuzzy seed pods have finally started falling and making their usual yellow-green dusty mess. Swept them up as best I could, including climbing onto the blocked part around my bedroom and bathroom window that's sagging.

Had lunch, then made Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Ran a few more racing-themed items while I worked. The Three Stooges are "Playing the Ponies" when they trade their restaurant for another non-starting nag. This time, what gets the horse moving is Curly's hot chili pepperinos!

Emilia and Jack learn a lesson about gambling in "A Horse of a Different Color," the first episode of the second season of Jack of All Trades. While they're making use of Jack's supposed "system" at the island's new track, Russian empress Caroline the Great threatens to blow them all sky-high if they don't find her prize race horse. Jack and Emilia do find it...but in the meantime, they've lost all their money. The duo finally enter it into the race themselves to get their own money back and expose the criminals.

The Monkees learn "Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth" in an early first season episode. A little boy leaves his beloved horse with the guys. Not only does their landlord not allow animals, but former jockey Davy is the only one who really knows how to take care of it. Working for the farmer to earn the money for its keep only makes things worse. They finally agree to a race with another farmer to win the cash they need.

Put on a quick Pink Panther short as I got ready for work. "Pinto Pink" has him trying to grab a horse for a ride north. As with the similarly stubborn equine in "Yankee Doodle Pink," this horse just does not want Pink riding him, no matter how much he ties himself on.

Work was actually pretty quiet when I came in...but that changed quickly during rush hour. I got stuck in the register for almost an hour. We're still really short on help, especially in the morning and afternoons. Matters improved after my break. I spent the rest of my shift doing returns or rounding up carts outside.

Returned to sitcoms when I got home and had leftovers for dinner. Larry Appleton buys a racehorse cheap in "A Horse is a Horse," from the early sixth season of Perfect Strangers. Turns out there's a reason he got it a such a good price - it's dying. Balki hopes one of his Myposian concoctions will get it back on its feet.

Took a nice, soothing bath after dinner. Given how crazy things have been lately, especially at work, I really needed this. Kicked back, read that book of affirmations I bought a while back, and listened to 20's and 30's jazz.

Ended the night with Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Eggsy Unwin (Taran Egerton) is enjoying his new role as the head man of Kingsman, a British secret service agency, as well as his relationship with Princess Tilde of Sweden (Hanna Alstrom). His happiness is short-lived after he's attacked by Charlie (Edward Holcroft), who lost an arm and his voice in the previous film. He's not the only member of Kingsman being targeted. Every agent they have, along with their headquarters, are blown to smithereens except tech support man Merlin (Mark Strong) and Eggsy. Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), the head of the world's biggest drug ring the Golden Circle, has infected all her drugs with a powder that makes one break out in a blue rash, then become paralyzed before death. Eggsy and Merlin track down their American counterparts the Statesmen to help. Their first partner, Tequila (Channing Tatum), is effected by the bad drugs and is replaced by the tougher Whiskey (Pedro Pascal). The Statesmen have also been able to revive Eggsy's dead mentor Harry (Colin Firth), but not his memory. After Tilde reveals that she's also effected by the drug, Eggsy has to work fast to revive his mentor's mind and find out where Poppy's keeping the antidote, before more lives are lost.

While most critics weren't that impressed, I thought this one was even better than the first movie. Moore's Poppy is a far more interesting and creative villain, and I like the idea of the Statesmen, cowboys who's front is a bourbon distillery, as the counterparts to the more refined Kingsmen. I'm not the only one who enjoyed it - this was a fairly big hit in early fall last year.

If you loved the first movie, this one is just as much fun...but do keep in mind that the body count and violence is even heavier and more stylized, with far more mayhem and creative ways of killing people. Definitely not for kids, but teens on up who love comic book mayhem or spy spoofs will really get a kick out of this series.

Winds In the Sunset

Began another sunny, windy morning with breakfast and Mickey's Christmas Carol. Despite the title, Mickey actually has the supporting role of Bob Cratchit in this 1983 Disney take on the beloved Charles Dickens novel. Uncle Scrooge is a pitch-perfect Ebeneezer, Donald is Nephew Fred, Daisy is Belle, Mickey's nephews Morty and Ferdie are the Cratchit children, and Goofy makes a better Jacob Marley than you might think. (His gags with the chain are among the highlights of this short.)

Did a quick short while getting the laundry together. "Santa's Workshop" is one of two Silly Symphonies featuring Santa Disney did in the mid-30's. I love the first half, with the elves making the toys, and the parade of the toys in the end. The tumbling teddy and spotted wind-up piggies are so cute!

I picked the right day to hit the laundromat. It was empty when I arrived, and I never saw more than two people the entire time. I didn't want to do it tomorrow. Figured everyone would be out tomorrow to get their linens and tablecloths done before Thanksgiving. Listened to Rachel Ray and The View and worked on story notes while my very small load was in the washer and drier.

Did a little writing when I got home. Leia and the girls appear in her office. The battle is going on right outside the door, with First Order Clan soldiers fighting their own army and volunteers from the local villages. Leia grabs hold of one of the soldiers. It turns out to be a woman, the intimidating Captain Gwen Phasma. Leia demands that she take them to Snoke and Luke.

Had my lunch at 1. Ran an episode of the wacky swashbuckler spoof Jack of All Trades while eating and getting ready for work. This is the last show you'd think would have a Thanksgiving episode, but somehow they manage to work one in with "One, Two, Three, Give Me Lady Liberty" from the second season. Jack's ready to celebrate a real all-American Thanksgiving, but Emilia has other ideas. Midget French king Napoleon has built a ten-foot statue holding a torch that he intends to give to President Jefferson...but he has ulterior motives. Jack and Emilia first invite him to their Thanksgiving feast to get the plans off him, then distract him with another Thanksgiving tradition - football!

Headed straight to work after the episode ended. Other than a half-hour spent cleaning the bathrooms after break, I once again was outside gathering carts for most of the day. It was too nice to be inside dealing with harried customers and panicking managers anyway. Despite the wind, it was even sunnier and warmer than yesterday, into the upper 50's.

It was worth doing the carts for most of the afternoon just to catch that absolutely amazing sunset. Around 5 PM, the sky lit up with strokes of melting roses, lavenders, and oranges, tinged with streaks of deep purple clouds . It was a gorgeous display, as pretty as any of the lights at street level.

Put on another Thanksgiving sitcom episode when I got in and made scrambled eggs with peppers, spinach, and taco meat for dinner. "Wild Turkey," from the seventh season of Perfect Strangers, has Balki, Larry, and their ladies gearing up for their first big meal in their new home. Larry is excited about the live turkeys he hopes to sell the day before the holiday...until Jennifer tells them that one turkey may have swallowed her wedding ring. Turns out Balki sold a turkey the day before. They head to the house of the family he sold it to to try to find out if it took the ring.

Did The Nutcracker: A Fantasy On Ice while eating milk and Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies for dessert. Lorne Greene narrates this 1983 special, with Dorothy Hamill as Clara and Robin Cousins as her Nutcracker prince. This used to turn up a lot on HBO around the holidays in the early and mid-80's. It was likely the first version of The Nutcracker I ever saw, well before I knew it was a ballet. If you have a little girl who loves figure skating or ballet or have fond memories of seeing it on cable too, I believe it can currently be found on YouTube.

Finished out the night online while watching An American Christmas Carol. I began the day as I ended it, with an unusual version of Charles Dickens' beloved holiday tale. This one has Henry Winkler as Benedict Slade, a miser in a small New England town who runs a real estate company. It's the height of the Great Depression, and he takes great delight in repossessing the townspeople's property and firing his employee when he tries to convince him to reopen the local quarry. It takes visits from three ghosts (who greatly resemble three of the people whose possessions he took) to make him see the error of his ways and understand the importance of charity.

Ok TV version of the story. Winkler is decent as the Scrooge character under a ton of makeup. Mostly for fans of Winkler or those who have to see every Christmas Carol out there.

And They're Off!

Started off a quick morning with a couple of horse racing-themed shorts and cartoons in honor of the Kentucky Derby today. Curly's along for the ride in "Playing the Ponies." A guy trades the Stooges a race horse for their greasy spoon. Turns out the horse is a dud and can barely move, until Curly feeds him his hot pepperinos!

"The Steeplechase" is a rare black and white Mickey Mouse short. Mickey's supposed to be riding the aging General's horse in the big race, but two (heavily stereotyped) stable hands got it drunk. Mickey's nothing if not creative. The horse he does end up racing is more than a little...unusual.

Porky's also stuck with an unwanted equine in another black-and-white tale, "Porky and Teabiscuit." He accidentally wins his own broken-down nag when an auctioneer thinks he's putting in his two cents. Determined to win back his father's money, he enters him in the big race.

Work was absolutely no problem. I spent the entire afternoon outside, rounding up carts and helping the floral department manager organize hanging baskets and containers of flowers to be planted. It was on-and-off busy, actually not as bad as I thought it would be on Derby Day. Wild weather may have helped. It showered lightly and briefly around 11:30-noon. Otherwise, it was cloudy, chilly, and very windy.

I had a few things to pick up that either forgot or wasn't able to get yesterday. I used Monopoly coupons to get a free doughnut and a free box of aluminum foil. Had a coupon for Grainberry Honey Toasted Oats Cereal, too. For some reason, the Westmont Acme doesn't sell the one-pound box of white sugar. Found a can of the Acme generic organic no-salt diced tomatoes on the full clearance shelves, along with piles of colorful muffin papers. Forgot the dust cleaner yesterday. I'm almost out, and I really need to dust the apartment sometime next week before Lauren visits.

Got my schedule today, too. Surprisingly, all late morning, afternoon, and early evening hours except for Thursday. I'll have plenty of time to do more writing and finish the spring cleaning, and I'll be able to make it to the Collingswood Farm Market next week.

When I made it home, I went right into more spring cleaning. Swept and organized the pantry shelves between the sink and the stove and the area under the sink where I keep my pots and pans. Scrubbed the refrigerator. It wasn't really that bad, except for some stains under the vegetable crisper.

Ran a couple of sitcom episodes as I worked. Jack and Emilia learn a lesson about gambling in "A Horse of a Different Color," the first episode of the second and last season of Jack of All Trades. Russia's Catherine the Great is incensed when her beloved white horse goes missing. Her navy will blow the island to smithereens if Governor Croque doesn't produce it within two days. Meanwhile, Jack and Emilia have blown every bit of money they had on Jack's horse-racing "system." When they find Catherine's horse, they figure out a way to use it to win their money back and avert a major naval war.

The Monkees also found themselves involved with racing in the first season episode "Don't Look a Gift Horse In the Mouth." A little boy leaves a horse in Davy Jones' care. Davy's the only one who has any idea of how to care for it, and their obnoxious landlord won't let them have animals in their beach house. They try to do chores for the kid's farmer father, but none of them are any good at it. Davy, a former jockey in real-life, finally agrees to race the horse to win the money for its care.

Balki and Larry land in a similar situation in "A Horse Is a Horse," from the sixth season of Perfect Strangers. Larry spent his and Jennifer's honeymoon money on a race horse, but the critter is literally on its death bed. Balki's hoping one of his Myposian concoctions will speed its recovery.

Worked on a little writing for a while after I finished the fridge. Leia sits with Ahsoka on the stands, where the rest of the crowds await the announcement of the winners of the Regatta. Jyn and Cassian are taking pictures and interviewing spectators. The quartet know Hux and Vader cheated. They've also noticed that most of the crew of the Rogue is missing, except for one of Wedge Antilles' buddies.

It's a hot, muggy day. Leia's drowsing on the stands, half-listening to Palpatine drone on about how wonderful his country is, when she feels the bench sway under her. Ahsoka manages to get her out of the way before the whole thing collapses...and the chaos begins.

Broke around 6:30 to have leftovers for dinner. Watched Mr. Muggs Rides Again while I ate. The second of two East Side Kids movies where Muggs as a jockey has him thrown out of the stables after being accused of cheating. Muggs is heartbroken. Not only does he love to ride, he won't be able to help kindly Ma make the money she needs to keep her prize horse Storm Cloud. He also has to keep his favorite horse, Sweet Alice, from being put out to pasture. Muggs is determined to prove his and Alice's worth, and keep Ma's niece from getting involved with a former friend who is now running around with a bad crowd.

Played Kirby's Epic Yarn for about an hour after the movie ended. Went back through most of the rounds in Snow World, picking up things I missed the first time. I still couldn't get one item in the Holiday Lift Christmas-themed round, but I got most everything else. However, there's still that Mt. Slide round it took me so long to do last time. I didn't get anything on that one. I wasn't up to dealing with it tonight. I'll do it the next time I play.

Ended the night with the Bowery Boys as I went online. They're Crazy Over Horses when a guy who owes Louie money gives him a horse instead. Turns out the horse belongs to gangsters, who want her back...yesterday. After way too many gags involving switching their gentle horse and the gangster's more aggressive one, Slip decides that the only way they'll ever get Louie's money and pay for the horse's keep is to get Sach to race her. (Beware of a couple of ethnic stereotypes mid-way through this one...although the switching gags that go on for way too long are far more annoying.)

Duel In the Wind

Began a slightly cloudy morning with Buttermilk Pancakes and an episode of Perfect Strangers. Balki and Larry become Chicago's least-likely swashbucklers in "Family Feud" from the 6th season. Balki is required to fight a duel with an old family enemy. Larry thinks the whole thing is ridiculous and tries to call him on it...but when he inadvertently insults the man, he ends up being the one who has to fight. Larry's no fighter, and he tries every way he can think of to get out of it. It ends up being Balki who saves the day and brings an end to the feud.

Did two action-oriented Mickey Mouse shorts from the early 30's while getting ready for work. "Shanghaied" is one of my personal favorite Mickey/Minnie cartoons. Mickey and Minnie have been captured by modern pirate Pete at sea. Mickey has to fight Pete (with a fish) in order to free both of them.

"Mickey In Arabia" takes us to a very stereotypical version of the Middle East. Mickey and Minnie are having fun being tourists, until once again, Pete interferes. This time, he's a Bedouin who makes off with Minnie. Mickey has to deal with a drunk camel on his way to a rescue.

Work was...well, it was really kind of boring. I rounded up carts once, shortly after I arrived. Otherwise, I was inside all day, cleaning the bathrooms, doing returns, gathering baskets, and bagging. Maybe it's just as well. It was sunny by late morning, but chilly and gale-force windy. The carts blew in every direction. They weren't easy to control.

When I got home, I worked on writing for a while. Leia and her aunt and uncle are attacked by bandits on the road. They're lead by the legendary Crimson Hawk and his young sidekick the Golden Eagle. The Hawk at first insists on stealing their money and carriage...until Bail tells them they're refugees from the recently-invaded Alderaan. The Hawk settles for taking some money for the people of Naboo and flirting with a none-too-happy Leia.

Broke for leftover chicken legs with honey-glazed carrots and grapefruit for dinner around 7:30. Watched Sailor Moon Super S: Black Dream Hole while I ate. The Guardians are enjoying their Valentine's Day preparations when they get reports of children mysteriously vanishing around the globe. An evil witch is kidnapping children and taking their dream energy to create a black hole large enough to swallow the Earth. Chibi-Usa may have enough energy for her to complete it, if Sailor Moon, the other Guardians, and a young dream fairy can't get to her first.

Took a quick shower, then finished the night with The Mark of Zorro. Fairly typical Zorro tale from 1940, featuring Tyrone Power as the Masked Avenger of old California. Don Diego comes home to Southern California, to find it take over by a new, ruthless leader...but it's really ruled by an ambitious general (Basil Rathbone). He masquerades as a dandy while secretly aiding the people as the black-clad vigilante. When the governor decides to marry his daughter off to Diego, he brings her in on the secret. But they both may have everything to lose when Diego's friend the padre is captured and Diego is caught...

Classic tale of derring-do in the Southwest, with an especially dashing Power. Look for the brief but nifty Power-Rathbone duel in the end.

The Day Before the Snow

Began a cloudy, chilly morning with work. For all the fussing about the cold, it actually wasn't that bad, probably in the mid-30's. Heavy wind was more of a concern than the temperature. I spent most of the first half of my shift doing returns, but they did send me out to do carts when it picked up during the second half. Everyone must have gotten the weather reports. We're supposed to get 1 to 3 inches of snow tonight. I doubt it'll be a huge problem, but people were freaking out anyway.

Went straight home after work. Ran Frosty''s Winter Wonderland while eating lunch. In this 1976 Rankin-Bass follow-up to the original Frosty the Snowman, Frosty decides he's lonely. The kids make him a snow wife named Crystal to keep him company. Jack Frost is jealous that the kids pay more attention to the snow people than him and becomes determined to steal Frosty's magic hat.

(And of course, Charlie didn't show up today to defrost the refrigerator. He called later and said he'd do it tomorrow.)

Spent the rest of the evening returning to Cinder-Han. Han is delivering illegal explosives and fireworks to Coruscant City when he, his dog Chewbacca, and his old horse Falcon discover bandits attacking an old man and a dark-haired girl and golden-haired boy in the woods. He throws firecrackers in their midst, just as they're about to assault the girl. It distracts them long enough for them to knock them out and escape.

Made a nice dinner of turkey meatballs on whole-wheat pasta, steamed green beans, Cranberry Flummery, and gingerbread while watching Perfect Strangers. The two-part second season episode "Snow Way to Treat a Lady " has Balki and Larry hitting the slopes with Mary Anne and Jennifer on a ski trip. Trouble is, neither of them can ski. Larry lies to Jennifer about being a great skier...then seriously regrets it when he takes them down the wrong side of a mountain, and they end up trapped in a cabin after an avalanche.

Finished out the night with The Road to Utopia. "Utopia," in this case, is the Klondike in the fourth Road To... movie and the only one not set in the present time. It's the 1890's, and Bing has just shanghaied Bob (more-or-less) into coming with him to the Alaska gold rush. They steal a map to a gold mine from two killers on the boat over. A ruthless saloon owner (Douglass Dumbrille) will stop at nothing to get that map...and neither will Skagway Sal (Dorothy Lamour), the map's rightful owner.

Not my favorite Road To movie (Robert Benchley's narration isn't that funny and really wasn't necessary), but it does have some nice bits, including all the talking animals.

The First Day of Winter

I woke up a lot later than I planned. It was nearly 11 before I got to breakfast! Went right into my last loaf of bread after I ate. I've given Jodie pumpkin pudding pie for her Christmas Eve party the last few years. After it was a pain to get there last year and never got eaten, I decided to bring something more portable that might disappear faster. I finally opted for the Golden Pumpkin Bread that goes over so well on the other side of the family on Black Friday morning. It's quick to make (even for quick bread), cooks fairly well, and smells divine in the oven.

(This is also the last baked holiday gift I'm making from scratch. The cupcakes I plan on doing for Dad and Charlie tomorrow will be from a mix.)

Ran National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation as I worked. Clark Griswauld (Chevy Chase) is looking forward to a big, old-fashioned family Christmas, with lots of presents, a huge tree, and all his family gathered around a fine meal. As with all of Clark's plans, what he imagines and what actually happens are two entirely different matters. The two sets of in-laws don't get along. The tree Clark (literally) digs out of the ground is bigger than his house. He has so many lights on his roof, he shuts down the neighborhood power grid. His yuppie neighbors think he's insane. And then his hillbilly cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his family show up and cause even more chaos. When Christmas Eve is one disaster after another, Clark finally snaps...until he learns that we really can't make Christmas perfect, but we can make it memorable.

Another childhood favorite that used to show up on cable a lot. If nothing else, this movie always made me at least somewhat appreciate our comparatively quiet Christmases and understand why Mom and Dad always insisted that any relatives who wanted to come around did so on Christmas Day or the week afterwards. A lot of scatological humor makes this for older kids just starting their own Christmas vacations and adults who have probably gone through most of what happens to Clark here.

Howard Cunningham has a similar dilemma in the second season Happy Days episode "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas?" He wants Christmas Eve to be reserved for a quiet, old-fashioned holiday for the immediate family...until Richie realizes Fonzie, despite his insistence otherwise, doesn't have a place to go for Christmas. Father and son have to figure out how to invite Fonzie over without hurting his pride.

Larry Appleton is having trouble just getting home for the holiday in "A Christmas Story" from the second season of Perfect Strangers. A snowstorm has stranded him and Balki in Chicago, much to his dismay. He was really looking forward to Christmas with his family in Madison. Balki cheers him up by reminding him of what the season is all about.

Finally headed out to do the laundry around 2. I just walked, pushing the laundry and detergent in my old cart. I probably should have gone earlier. It was really busy when I got in. Thankfully, I was able to get a washer and dryer pretty fast. I had a ton of laundry to do. Worked on story notes while Steve Harvey and Ellen chattered in the background.

Saw Richard as I was coming in. I was able to give him the cranberry bread for him and his family and tell him about the bike. He said he'd take a look at it.

While he looked at it, I worked on my story. The old man who takes Luke and Leia in is Palpatine, who claims to be the missing merchant. Leia's suspicious. His clothes are too big and look like they were made for someone else. There's things monogrammed "HS" all over his gingerbread home.

He leads them to a huge dining room, where guards in red armor and a handsome man with reddish-brown hair and hazel eyes sets out their meal. Leia had seen the man just moments before, and he'd been clear-eyed then. Now, his eyes are empty and clouded, and he moves stiffly, as if he's a puppet and someone else is pulling the strings. He won't speak to anyone or look them in the eye. Palpatine claims he's his nephew, a mute simpleton and a charity case he'd just taken in. Luke asks for him to eat with them, but Palpatine quickly insists he's a servant.

One of the guards finally takes Luke and Leia upstairs to the bedrooms. Leia's too tired to consider her suspicions any longer. She finally passes out on a bed made from cotton candy.

Richard called while I was working on my story. The back rim just isn't fixable. He'll let me borrow his wife's bike until I can get a new rim from Amazon.com or somewhere similar online.

Finally broke around 7:30 to have a fried egg and spinach wrap for a late dinner. Watched Frosty's Winter Wonderland in honor of today being the Winter Solstice. Frosty's happy to be back among his young friends, but something is missing. The kids build him a wife, so he won't be lonely while they're inside. Frosty calls her Crystal, but then has to figure out how to make her "all livin'." Meanwhile, Jack Frost is jealous of Frosty's popularity and wants to prove he's the only reason to love winter.

Ended the night with Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I didn't have a lot of time, so I thought I'd try something different and quick. I played my usual Princess Peach on solo Classic Normal mode...and to my surprise, actually did pretty well. I had a harder time with the bonus "Target Smash" rounds than with kicking the characters' rears. (Literally. One of Peach's signature moves is a very high kick the Rockettes would admire.) I only needed three continues out of 11 rounds.

Busy, Busy Fall

Began the morning with baking the Cranberry-Orange Bread after breakfast. I always bring two loaves of bread to Thanksgiving. It's a tradition that goes back to when I was in college. The only things I had the time or the room to make were the Pillsbury bread mixes. I used to make them for my roommates, and they loved them so much, I thought I'd try them on my family. Mom said they had plenty of desserts...but they were perfect for Black Friday breakfast for ten or fifteen hungry (and hungover) people after my family's late 90's-early 00's Thanksgiving get-togethers.

Ran a couple of holiday specials while I ate and baked. The Stingiest Man In Town is a Rankin-Bass adaptation of a 1950's TV musical of the same name. This is another musical Christmas Carol, this time with Walter Matthau as Scrooge, Robert Morse as the young Scrooge, Tom Bosley as the bug narrator E.A.H Humbug, and Dennis Day in one of his final TV roles as Nephew Fred. I love the music in this one, especially the opening number "An Old Fashioned Christmas" and Martha Cratchit's "Yes, There Is a Santa Claus."

Threw on a Max & Ruby episode while cleaning up the dishes. "Max's Thanksgiving" has Ruby setting the table for Grandma's big feast. Max is more interested in the nut stuffing.

Spent the next couple of hours writing while waiting for the bread to come out of the oven. Rey's glad she's traveling with her new friend the Nutcracker. She likes him a lot, but she wonders if there's a lot more to him than he claims.

Mother Maz turns out to be a very old woman in a huge dress that looks like a cake and is big enough for her gingerbread children to run in and out of! She offers the group food and shelter while they prepare to rescue Han. She knows where he is - in the Pit of Darkness, deep within Starkiller Fortress. He's alive, but weak. Fairies can't survive without light.

Did two Thanksgiving TV episodes while getting packed for tomorrow and eating lunch. Jack of All Trades had a very unique Thanksgiving episode in its second and last season, "One Two Three, Give Me Lady Liberty." Jack teaches Emilia and the citizens of the tropical island where they live about that most American of holidays as Napoleon prepares to give a very tall statue of a woman carrying a torch to the US. When the duo find out what the miniature emperor really has in mind for the statue, they distract the guards surrounding it with another Thanksgiving tradition - football!

Balki and Larry are having their own problems with "Wild Turkey" during a seventh season episode of Perfect Strangers. Larry took in a whole flock of fresh turkeys to sell. The feathers really fly when Jennifer thinks one ate her wedding ring. The boys have to try to persuade a family who bought a turkey to give it back when they suspect it's the bird with the ring.

Threw on a quick Three Stooges short while getting ready for work. The trio are "Boobs In the Woods" when they're sent by England to help defend the new colonists from Indians. They immediately fall for three pretty pilgrim lasses, but have less luck with the natives. When the Indians capture Larry, Moe and Curly dress as members of the tribe to rescue him.

Work was surprisingly quiet when I got in...but that didn't last long. By 2:30, it was starting to get busy. By the height of rush hour around 4:30-5, we had lines down the aisles and no carts. I did help bag for the first half-hour and occasionally gathered baskets, but once again, I was mostly outside. It got really crazy about an hour before I finished. The traffic was crazy, and I dodged as many cars as I could, in the parking lot and going home.

When I got in, I put on another short while eating leftovers for dinner. Molly's Pilgrim won an Oscar for best short subject in 1985. I can understand why. It's very sweet. Molly and her parents are Russian Jewish immigrants who came to America for religious freedom. Molly may appreciate her freedom, but she doesn't like how the kids at school make fun of her old-fashioned clothes, her trouble with English, and her unusual lunch. She's worried that she'll be teased even more when her mother makes her pilgrim doll for a class project look more like a Russian pilgrim than the traditional Mayflower puritan. But one of Molly's classmates is really right - it does take all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving.

Took a shower, then did Planes, Tranes, and Automobiles while settling down online. All ad executive Neil Page (Steve Martin) wants is to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving. A blizzard strands him in Wichita and leaves him perpetually stuck with Del Griffith (John Candy), a shower curtain salesman who is a very nice guy, but also overly chatty and a mass of bad habits. As the two make their way across the frozen Midwestern landscape, Neil realizes why Del is on the road...and learns a lesson in being thankful.

This enjoyable tale of holiday travel gone wrong is a little dated (many of Neil's problems would be solved with a cell phone call or by checking an app today) and the sentimental ending is a bit jarring. It's worth seeing if you're a fan of Candy, Martin, or director John Hughes - it's some of their best work.

Thanksgiving specials don't often turn up on DVD. Here's a couple of lesser-known specials from YouTube to whet your palate for the big dinner tomorrow.

The Bernstein Bears Meet Big Paw
The Mouse On the Mayflower (Rankin-Bass' only Thanksgiving special)
The Turkey Caper
Saturday Supercade: Q-Bert - Thanksgiving For the Memories
Care Bear Family: Grams Bear's Thanksgiving Surprise

For those of you who won't be online tomorrow, I hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving! Everyone else, enjoy the last days of fall.

Let's Do the Limbo Rock

It was gloriously sunny when I got up this morning. Started a nippy day with two spooky episodes of Perfect Strangers as I ate breakfast. Larry has his second of three nightmare sequences on the show in the fourth season tale "Aliens." He stays up all Halloween night watching horror movies, then dreams that Balki's an otherworldly visitor bent on conquering the Earth. "Fright Night" from the seventh season has the duo trying to rid their new home of the ghost of a gambler whom non-believer Larry has insulted.

Headed to the Acme to do what little grocery shopping I could afford and change the coins in my little coin cup for cash. It was barely half-full, but I really need the money. I just paid my rent today. I was able to pay it in full, but it completely wiped out most of what was in all three of my accounts. I got fifteen dollars out of it. I had enough left in checking to buy eggs (which have been a LOT cheaper than they were at this time last year), brown sugar, one container of Greek yogurt, and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter. (They're always late putting out the schedule. I'll get that tomorrow.)

Went home for lunch. Put on Tiny Toon Adventures while I ate Cranberry-Chocolate Chip Muffins for lunch. "The Horror of Slumber Party Mountain" from the fourth season spoofs the B-horror movies of the 1950's and 60's (even including a spoof of the old American International movie logo). Babs, Shirley, and Fifi are having a get-together in a cabin in the woods. Buster, Plucky, and Hampton dress as a local monster urban legend to scare them. The girls try to get even...but they all end up on the run when the real monster appears!

Was off to the Oaklyn Library after lunch. Stopped at West Clinton Avenue first to see if Studio LuLoo was open. Not only was it not open, but Viola's International Deli seems to have closed permanently - they were dark and totally empty. Wow, wonder what happened there? That's two local food stores that went out of business without warning in the past two weeks. I can understand Thriftway's demise. They never seemed to be that busy. Viola's was only been open a year, and I thought it was pretty popular. I often saw people ordering hoagies and lunch there.

The Oaklyn Library had quite a few people at computers or reading for quarter of 1. There was quite a bit to do, too. I gave the DVDs a quick look (didn't want to disrupt the people reading), then went over the kids' area. Organized the series books and shelved the board books for babies and toddlers.

Newton Lake Park was stunning today. The weather was perfect for autumn, blustery and chilly and bright blue. The trees are finally turning brilliant shades of crimson, gold, lime green, and russet. The bottle-green lake sparkled under the warm late-afternoon sunshine. Surprisingly for such a nice day, they weren't too busy. The wind and it being about 2 PM probably helped.

Haddon Township Library wasn't really busy when I arrived, either. They were in the midst of doing their book inventory, so I stuck to shelving DVDs. There were a lot to do, too. It took me an hour to do the kids', adults', and non-fiction titles. I didn't take out any movies or cartoons this week (I have plenty to watch for Halloween, and I want to concentrate on finishing my current story anyway), but I did find a really nice storybook for The Force Awakens.

Stopped at Family Dollar really fast on my way home. Their mandarin orange bowls are cheaper than the Acme's. I forgot tissues there, too. I need those badly. My allergies have been a pain for weeks. I've been constantly sneezing and sniffling, even after taking the Acme's generic version of Allegra.

Went on the computer as soon as I got in to do some story work. I revised the confrontation between Ben and Hank to give Rey more of a reason for tackling him. When Ben hits Hank into the railing, the old wood gives way, and he falls over. He's lucky he lands on a couch, but he's still dazed and sore. Finn goes after him first, but Ben cheap-shots him in the stomach. That finally sets off Rey. She's fed up with his bullying and his spoiled, selfish behavior. It takes Leia and most of the kids to drag the girl off him.

Charles runs upstairs in shock, telling them that Hank is gone. No sooner has he said that then they hear rattling chains and the crazy, cackling clown laugh that scared them all off before. Leia knows that laugh is familiar. She separates the kids into teams. Half will go with Charles to find the source of that laugh. The other half will go with her to get Poe out of the basement and find Hank. Ben and his buddies take off in the confusion.

Jodie called me while I was writing. She was making lasagna. Would I like to come over for dinner? Sure! My only dinner plans were leftovers. I finally made it over around 6:30. They were already quite full, with Rose, Khai, Dana, and several neighbors. I enjoyed warm, cheesy lasagna, Caesar salad, and Italian bread with butter. Dana put up 12-year-old Mary's hair into an elegant French braid for a party she was going to. She did very well - the girl looked lovely.

Went outside and watched Chloe, Khai, Emmie, and Bee (one of the boys in the neighborhood) run around for a while as their mothers talked on the porch. My goodness, did they have energy! They finally called them in when it got too dark for playing outside, and they went in the street one too many times.

The kids ran around in the living room for a while, watching SpongeBob Squarepants episodes and playing with Jessa's old Beanie Babies collection and Legos. While I still wish Nick wouldn't run this show to death, they did have a few cute episodes on tonight, including the first Halloween show. Spongebob wants to dress as a ghost, but his square corners make it hard for him to do the sheet thing. Patrick tries to cut him down to make him look more spooky. When Davy Jones, the fearsome pirate ghost, arrives at the Krusty Krab, he discovers that Patrick may have done too good of a job!

The kids had been begging their mothers all night to play Limbo. I had no idea Limbo was so big among elementary schoolers. Jodie and one of the neighborhood moms held a cue stick (leftover from the old pool table that used to be in the den) while the kids, Dana, and Rose went under it. (I'm not that flexible. I watched and laughed.) I can't believe how good Dana was. She was one of the last ones out. Bee finally won, to Khai's disappointment. (He kept insisting Bee cheated.)

And I still have that darn Limbo Rock song stuck in my head. Someone pulled it up on an iPad and played it throughout the game.

Snow Way to Treat a Writer

If you've seen the news, you may have already guessed that I never left the apartment today. I awoke to a completely white world...and a phone call. It was Rose. The main roads were clear, but many back roads weren't, and visibility was next to nothing. I would have to call out. It didn't bother my managers when I called. The one I talked to said everyone else called out. It bothered the heck out of me. It was only four hours, but I needed them. My paycheck is going to be worthless next week. Rose said she was going to walk over to Dad's later with Khai. She invited me along, but if I couldn't get to work, there was no way I was going anywhere else.

I settled on a snow day instead. Started things off with breakfast and the rest of the live-action Disney Cinderella, which I began last night. If you know the original Disney animated film (or the Charles Perrault story that inspired both), you know the story. Cinderella (Lily James) is the put-upon servant of her selfish stepmother (Cate Blanchett) and two silly and stupid stepsisters. She meets Prince Kit (Richard Madden) on a ride in the country and falls for him. She'd love to go to the ball in his honor, but her mother destroys the only good outfit she has. Enter her slightly daffy fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter), whose magic will allow her to attend the ball and step into the limelight. Her stepmother's not happy about that, though, and neither is the Duke, who wants the Prince to marry a princess from another kingdom in a political alliance. But true love will find a way...and teach everyone a lesson in the importance of being yourself.

First of all, this was a vast improvement over the badly botched Maleficent. The characters felt a lot truer to both the original Disney film and the Perrault tale they're based after. Kit, while a tad shallow, is still more interesting than the cardboard prince from the animated movie. Blanchett and Carter are even better as the two very different mother figures in Cinderella's life. The cinematography is incredible. I especially love the use of color. Cinderella's famous blue ballgown pops in a rich Technicolor tapestry at the ball. It felt like an exquisite fantasy of the 1940's and 50's. I also like the allusion to the Grimm's version as well with the emphasis on Cinderella's relationship with her mother. (And no, the animals don't talk here or rescue anybody.)

Ironically, my main problem once again was with the lead protagonist...but it's sort of the opposite problem from Maleficent. Where Maleficent seemed totally out of line with her original characterization, a little too updated, Cinderella could have stood for more updating. She actually seems more passive than in the original, often standing around and being mistreated, where in the cartoon, she would have had at least a saucy remark. And the ending is just a little weird, even for a fantasy.

The quibble about Cindy aside, I still highly recommend this, especially for princess-crazy girls. (It also gives me high hopes for the live-action version of Beauty and the Beast Disney's talking about for next year.)

I thought the day was perfect for trying something I hadn't made in years. It's been ages since I've made bread, real yeast bread. I don't really eat it that often, but the day seemed to call for it. Why run to the store for it when you can make it yourself? I kept forgetting it was rising. Otherwise, my Buttermilk Rye-Whole Wheat loaf came out pretty well, nice and moist and a bit chewy.

Stuck to fairy tales while I did lunch. "The Snow Queen" episode of Fairy Tale Theatre seemed rather appropriate. Gerda and Kai are best friends, but one day, Kai gets a shard of glass in his eye, sent to Earth by a mischievous goblin. The shard makes Kai discontented and nasty. He falls off the roof and is rescued by the mysterious Snow Queen, who takes him to his kingdom to teach him about love. Meanwhile, Gerda goes to literally the ends of the Earth to find her friend. Neither snow nor a lonely summer sorceress or a spunky thief will keep Gerda from finding Kai.

Moved onto sitcoms as I decided to try something a little different. One of the chocolate chip cookie recipes in the Country Cookies cookbook Lauren gave me last year includes pudding mix in the list of ingredients. I'd never seen that before. I only had chocolate pudding mix, so I added the coffee extract and mint chocolate chips I got on clearance at work and turned Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies into Mocha Mint Chip Cookies. Yum. Could have used a tad more chocolate and coffee flavor (if I make these again, I'll up the amount used for both). Otherwise, not bad at all.

A two-parter towards the end of the second season of Perfect Strangers was Balki and Larry's first of three encounters with bad vacations. "Snow Way to Treat a Lady" has the duo joining their girlfriends Mary Anne and Jennifer on a skiing trip. Trouble is, Larry can't ski, and Balki never has before. Larry lies to Jennifer that he's a great skier. He tries to show off, but he lands them in a cabin during an avalanche. The boys try to tunnel their way out.

When the cookies were out of the oven, I set the bread to rise a second time, then worked on writing and did stuff online. I finally finished out Babes In WENNLand. Lisa and Alan get a ride home with a mysteriously familiar Santa. They try to ask him questions, but fall asleep on the way. When Lisa wakes up, they're back at WENN, and their mother has arrived for them. Scott and Betty (who are going on a date) brings them to her. Lisa tells her mother she's learned a lot...and that she doesn't mind being a kid so much anymore.

Whew! I know that took a while, but life, illness, holidays, and my renewed interest in Star Wars got in the way more often than not. The next story I have planned is something totally different - an original fairy tale about a young woman who discovers a mysterious man half-dead in the forest. When the shy young storyteller takes him home to tend to his wounds, she finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime when he turns out to be far more than just an ordinary woodsman.

This one is really intended to be short and (cross your fingers!) shouldn't take more than a week or two, tops. After that, I'll move onto the Star Wars 80's story, then either do the Star Wars fairy tale or return to Once Upon a Time In the Land of WENN, depending on how I feel.

At any rate, Babes In WENNLand is now available at my writing blog. I'm not up to posting it at my WENN site tonight - I may see if I can get it up there tomorrow.

Ran the first half of That's Entertainment Part III while having leftovers for dinner. The That's Entertainment movies make great background music when I'm either not in the mood for something with a plot, or need background music, or just can't decide on which musical I want to watch. This was the third and final That's Entertainment documentary, focusing on cut or unused numbers. Among my favorites - Lena Horne's "Ain't It the Truth" in the bubble bath from Cabin In the Sky and Judy Garland's adorable "Doin' What Comes Naturally" from Annie Get Your Gun.

And...yeah, it's been snowing for most of the day, sometimes heavily. While the winds don't sound as bad as they did earlier, they were really going this morning and afternoon. If it's snowing at all now, it's nothing like it was when Rose called this morning. My porch is a sea of white crystal dunes. Miss Willa shoveled a path on my porch around 3:30; it's half-covered again now.

In a Christmas Galaxy Far, Far Away

Started a cloudy and cold morning with more Max & Ruby. "Ruby's Gingerbread House" will be spectacular, if she and Louise can apply enough icing to keep it together. Max just wants them to consider his gummy worms. Ruby's feeling a little blue after the holidays are over in "Max's Christmas Passed." Max finds a way to make her feel better. "Max's New Year" is spent playing games and sipping fizzy drinks with Grandma and Ruby. Max would rather just eat Grandma's clock-shaped cookies.

Did the first Laverne and Shirley Christmas episode while cleaning up from breakfast and making Carrot-Coconut Muffins. "Oh Hear the Angel Voices" from the second season has the girls joining Carmine and most of the main cast in a holiday variety show put on for the patients of a mental hospital. Shirley's scared to death. She's heard too many family stories about relatives who were put in mental facilities. Laverne's too busy flirting with patients to notice her worries.

Went right into Perfect Strangers as I put the muffins in the oven. They did two Christmas shows; I opted for the second season episode "A Christmas Story." Larry is devastated when a blizzard leaves him and Balki stranded in Chicago on Christmas Eve. Balki does everything he can to make his cousin forget his troubles. It takes a truly meaningful gift to remind Larry of what Christmas really means.

Worked on writing for an hour. Not only is Scott being accused of stealing Maple's sheep, but toys seem to have gone missing, too. Lisa knows she overheard Mr. Barnaby talking to someone the night before, but she can't get the adults' attention.

When I got off, I went through the boxes in the back room, looking for some to use to send out Mom and Anny's packages. As I got them together and had leftovers for lunch, I ran one of the two Moonlighting Christmas stories. "Twas the Episode Before Christmas" in the second season, and all through the Blue Moon Agency, we hear Maddie yelling at David over his newest brainstorm - the Santa hotline. Then their secretary Agnes DiPesto turns up with a baby she found in a laundry basket. While David and Maddie search for the mother, they argue over the idea of parenthood and babies and children.

I left for work early so I could get Mom and Anny's packages in the mail. I figured the line at the Audubon Post Office would be half-way around the corner. It wasn't at all. It was surprisingly quiet in there at 1:30. I got right in line with no waiting and sent my boxes off in about five minutes.

Work was very busy when I came in, off-and-on steady thereafter. Like the post office, it really could have been a lot worse. I guess everyone's either still at the malls or are spending the weekend baking cookies. I did have problems with my last customer, whose gift cards just would not work. I finally left her with my relief and rushed out as fast as I could.

Finally got my schedule after work. (They were late posting it. It wasn't up when I came in.) Actually, it's very good, the best I've had in weeks. I have Monday and Christmas Day off, and a perfectly normal 10 to 4 shift on Christmas Eve. This will give me the chance to get a lot of things done, including the remaining baking. There's a couple more hours than I have been getting.

There was a box waiting by the mail box for me when I got home. My Christmas presents from my best friend Lauren Miller and her parents had arrived! She always gives me fun stuff. This year, I got an Our Generation Retro white and purple floral dress and shiny purple shoes for Whitney (Our Generation is Target's 18 inch doll line - I love their Retro collection), a pile of American Girl books, including four hardback short stories, Happy Birthday, Addy!, and Changes for Felicity, and some much-needed soft headbands (the hard ones give me headaches, wearing them all day) from Lauren. Her parents gave me 20 dollars in a sweet card. Lauren said they loved my chocolate chip cookies so much, they've eaten all but a few.

Oh, and as a Star Wars fan, I must mention that I'm really excited by all the positive reviews I've seen for The Force Awakens. While I would love to see this in the theater, it's more likely I'll catch it the moment it hits DVD.