Malls and Games

Began President's Day with breakfast and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. There's "Fractures" in the Rebellion as they argue over how to use the Heart of Etheria super weapon. Adora and Bow think it's best to let sleeping weapons lie before they destroy the planet, while Glimmer thinks it could be harnessed to defeat the Horde. They're all shocked when Scorpia suddenly turns up to tell them that Entraptra is on Beast Island, but they don't trust her...until they admit that they're all misfits in one way or another, and she wonders if she's found a place where she can finally fit in. Meanwhile, Glimmer tries to get the truth from flippant Double Trouble, while Adora, Bow, and Swift Wing sneak out the rescue Entraptra.

Called Uber after the show ended. To my surprise, I got a driver in 3 minutes at quarter after 11. He came in a snazzy orange Jeep, too. No trouble getting to the Deptford Mall at all. There was no traffic anywhere, not even around the mall or on the highway.

Started off at Round 1 Arcade. There were a lot of games down, including Lane Master and Ring Toss. Thankfully, plenty of others were still going. I spent the next hour going from Tetris to giant Pac Man to giant Space Invaders to Bust a Move to skee ball to a Wizard of Oz wheel to Centipede Chaos. Couldn't get anything out of the cranes, but I did earn enough points for a cute little Beanie Baby French bulldog named Portia. 

After a quick peek at FYE, I headed to Red Robin for lunch. Considering it was 12:30 by the time I got there, I'm surprised they weren't busier. I didn't have to wait at all. I went with one of their big promotions, where you could get certain sandwiches with a side and a drink for a fixed price. I got a Red Robin Double Burger, steak fries, and an unsweetened iced tea for $10.50 (including tax but not tip). The burger wasn't bad, juicy if a bit flat. I always love their steak fries, though, nice and hot and perfectly seasoned.

Unfortunately, I also got a text from Jessa while I was there saying that she had to cancel this week, but we could do next week. Bummer. I look forward to our dinners together. I don't really have too many adults I talk to on a regular basis. Plus, her birthday is this week, and I have a Valentine's card for her, too.

I was in and out of stores after lunch. I looked at t-shirts in the Junior Plus section at Boscov's, but I just ended up getting Jessa a birthday present. Browsed at Toys R' Us, but didn't see anything I needed. Hit the jackpot at Box Lunch. They were having a buy one, get two for free sale on clearance items. I picked up a cute Wicked t-shirt, a Wicked pocket insert for mini backpacks, and Jacken the Squishmallow Sea Slug. (He's cute, but I can understand why he was only $3.99. And the pockets and Jacken were the freebies.) 

Headed across the street around 2:30. On one hand, it was cloudy, gloomy, and breezy. Though it's colder than it has been, probably in the upper 30's-lower 40's, that's still nowhere near the Antarctic temperatures we've been getting lately. It was actually a rather pleasant walk across the street, made even more so by the fact that it looks like they're finally moving something into the former Christmas Tree Shoppes building next to Aldi's. (Later research revealed it'll actually be three buildings, a Nordstrom Rack, a restaurant, and Blinds To Go.) 

Barnes and Noble was even busier than the mall. I didn't see any books I desperately needed, and I still have tons to read at home, but I did find two records for relatively decent prices. Until today, the only Beatles albums I was missing were Please Please Me and Yellow Submarine. I finally found Please Please Me today, along with A Boy Named Charlie Brown. (Later research reveals it's not the actual soundtrack. It's a reprint of an earlier Vince Guaraldi album that was originally titled Jazz Impressions of A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Oh well. I'll put it in with the jazz albums and keep looking for the actual soundtrack.)

Since I got a dollar off tea or coffee coupon with the records, I went to Starbucks for a snack. Had a chai latte and an Oreo brownie. The Oreo brownie was thick and fudgy, filled with crumbly Oreo pieces and vanilla cream. The chai latte was sweet and slightly spicy. 

The Uber going home picked me up at Barnes and Noble in 10 minutes, not bad considering it was past 4 PM by then. There was traffic going over the still-under-repair ramp into Collingswood and Mt. Ephraim, but it moved faster than I thought it would. I was home by almost 5.

Took my laundry downstairs, put everything away, and did a few chores, then put on the first episode of Good Times in honor of Black History Month. I have at least 25 TV DVD sets I haven't gotten around to watching yet, many of them full series. Instead of trying to binge-watch all of them (many of them being very long-running sitcoms), I'm going to rotate seasons with the longer shows. In this case, Good Times kicks off with "Getting Up the Rent." Florida (Esther Rolle) and James (John Amos) Evans are shocked when they get eviction notices. Their children J.J (Jimmie Walker), Thelma (Bern Nadette Stanis), and Michael (Ralph Carter) try to help in their own way. Florida doesn't approve of James playing pool for the cash and goes to get it in her own way.

Switched to Match Game Syndicated next. Fred Travalena figured into two of the weeks, sitting next to Brett during the one with Betty Kennedy and Robert Donner and in the fifth "smart guy" seat next to Fannie Flagg. Fred's many voices prompted several jokes, including Brett wondering how his wife felt about sleeping with so many different voices at night.

Finished the night at YouTube covering the career of Geoff Edwards. Edwards had been a TV and radio host who did several unsold pilots before he finally landed Hollywood's Talking in 1973. Jack Barry's revival of the short-lived Everybody's Talking from 1967 had three contestants trying to guess who or what celebrities seen in short filmed segments were discussing. The segments were cute, but the game play was rough - it wasn't easy to figure out what they were talking about just from the segments. The show ran three months, ultimately being replaced by the far more successful Match Game revival. 

Edwards hadn't gotten along with Jack Barry, but found the wacky Chuck Barris to be more congenital. He hosted The New Treasure Hunt for Barris from 1973 through 1977. Ladies were called onstage to open up colorful boxes. They initially chose a box, then a card with money attached to the box. They could keep the money, or go for the contents of the box. The contents might lead to a big car or prize...or lead to a silly skit and much cheaper prizes called "klunks." Alas, both ladies hit "klunks" in the episode I saw. Edwards finally left when he thought his boss was getting a little too sadistic with the ladies on the "klunks." He'd briefly host a revival in the early 80's.

He also had trouble with Jackpot! in 1974. This Bob Stewart show had a group of people reading riddles for a contestant. If the contestant could guess the riddle, they would remain queen or king of the "hill." If they got it wrong, they'd have to step down, and the person who read the riddle would have their turn. The more the riddles were answered correctly, the higher the Jackpot got. There was also a Super Jackpot...and that was won in the only episode currently existing with audio and video intact. Apparently, the format was changed to a more typical question-and-answer show later in its run. The original NBC show only ran a year and a half. It would do far better on USA and in syndication in the late 80's. Edwards hosted the final, syndicated season of that run.

When the word-based Bob Stewart show Shoot for the Stars didn't fare any better in 1977, Edwards returned to syndication for Play the Percentages. This one had so much format trouble, it ran through three different versions of its format during the show's eight-month run. The format seen in this pilot episode would be slightly tweaked for the actual series. By March, the couples were replaced by solo players, and it would be more of a straight quiz. Nothing worked. Edwards was charming, but the rotating formats were confusing in any version.

Edwards was much happier taking over Starcade from Mark Richards in 1983. Unlike Richards, he was willing to study and learn about video games and those who played them. In fact, he did his homework so well, he became a gamer himself for the rest of his life. Two contestants answer questions about video games, then play a then-popular video arcade console. Whomever has the highest score gets to win prizes on a "guess the video game" mini-game, then plays one of the remaining games and tries to beat the game's average score. No wonder Edwards fell in love with video games after this. This show is really fun to watch even now, especially if you're a vintage video game nut.

Edwards' last non-lottery game show would be The New Chain Reaction. He took over from the blase Blake Emmons after a few weeks in 1986 and would host for the rest of its run. I used to love playing along with the contestants and watching them make word chains and seeing who could get all the letters first. This was Edwards' other Canadian/US cable show along with the Jackpot revival. I fondly remember seeing both on USA as a child and thinking how much fun they looked.

Avoid klunks, make word chains, hit the Starcade, and play the percentages with this jack of all trades charmer!

Hollywood's Talking Premiere (1973)

The New Treasure Hunt (1974)

Jackpot! (1975)

Play the Percentages Pilot (1980)

Starcade (1984)

The New Chain Reaction (1987)

Jackpot! (1989)

Roots and Games

Began the morning with breakfast and two Minnie's Bow-Toons shorts on Disney Plus. When the propeller of a little boy's remote control airplane breaks off, Minnie learns that the solution to fixing it is "In Plane Sight." "Bow Bot" is a little bow-tying robot Daisy buys to give them a day off...but then it overloads and makes a mess in the store.

Since it continues to be gale-force windy and cold, I called Uber. The one going to work arrived in 9 minutes and got me to work just in time. The one going home arrived in far less than the 7 minutes she claimed. No problems getting where I was going either way.

No trouble at work either, other than having to stop and put away a few cold items when I was trying to do other things. We were dead for most of the morning, and even when it did pick up a little around 11, it was nowhere near overwhelming. Either everyone was out enjoying the last holiday Monday off until May, or they did all their shopping over the weekend. 

Switched to PAW Patrol while I got changed and did a few chores. "The Pups and the Big Freeze" end up calling Everett the Husky when Mayor Goodway is caught in a snow bank, a branch has to be removed from the train tracks, and the streets need to be cleared and salted. "Pups Save a Basketball Game" when Mayor Goodway begs them to create a basketball team to beat Mayor Humdinger's team. Marshall's afraid to play when he keeps tripping over his paws, but he doesn't have a choice after Humdinger's cheating ends with two pups out of the game.

Decided to join my customers and go out and enjoy the day, wind be damned. It was cold, but also sunny and bright...and I'm tired of sitting around inside. Was hoping to find mouthwash or the new Orange Cream Coke Zero and Blackberry Dr. Pepper flavors at Dollar General. I did see the Blackberry, but not in Zero. I left with nothing. Got a chicken gyro from Crown Chicken and Gyro instead.

Ate my lunch and moved the jazz and soundtrack CDs to their new books while watching the first two episodes of Roots. The entire mini-series is currently on Tubi. I remember hearing about this as a kid, but I never saw it until now. Thought it would be interesting for Black History Month. Kunta Kinte (LeVar Burton) is a teen African warrior brought over to the US on a slave ship in 1765. He's part of an uprising aboard-ship, but that's squelched. When he does arrive in the US, he's purchased by John Reynolds (Lorne Greene) and is placed under the eye of Fiddler (Louis Gossett Jr.) and given the name Toby. Kunta is determined to escape and return to Africa, even if it means compromising Fiddler's position as head of the slaves. Even when Reynolds beats him, Fiddler assures him that he should remember his name and keep trying to get home. 

I can understand why this was such a monumental hit in 1977. An all-star cast brings a harrowing story of survival in some of the worst parts of American history to life. This is rough stuff. The N word is tossed around with abandon, and given the place and time, I think it goes without saying that women and minorities do not fare well. You'd never guess this was LeVar Burton's first role from how wonderful he is. Other stand-outs include Ed Asner as the conflicted captain in charge of the slave ship, Gossett Jr. as the mentor for Kunta who can turn from tough to servile on a dime, and Lloyd Bridges as Asner's thoroughly reprehensible first mate. 

Not for kids, and despite the gorgeous costumes and outdoor shooting, the language and abuse may make this a hard watch for those who can't handle physical abuse well. If you can deal with the violence, this is worth checking out for that incredible cast alone.

Took a shower, then switched to Buzzr for Match Game. Looks like they've returned to Match Game Syndicated. This time, it's the first week with Bart Braverman, Eva Gabor, and Bill Daily, which they have shown on the channel many times before.

Moved to YouTube to finish the night with more game shows that premiered on cable. Cable game shows have their roots in the unaired pilots for How Do You Like Your Eggs? Bill Cullen hosts this interactive game that has people in the Columbus area using their cable set to vote for the answers on certain subjects. Two married couples have to figure out how they voted. It's a cute idea, sort of a cross between Family Feud and the later interactive Trivial Pursuit. Too bad that, according to the Bill Cullen biography, the owner of the cable company decided he preferred a more old-fashioned kiddie host show.

By the time the Canadian revival of Jackpot! aired on USA Network in 1985, cable had gone from a few scattered Midwestern lines to big business available in half of all households. I used to watch game shows on USA all afternoon, Jackpot! included. One person would be up on a pedestal, guessing riddles with dollar values assigned read by a group of people across from them. If they missed someone's riddle, that person would be up to bat. They could keep building the jackpot, or go for it if it was big enough. Biggest winner at the end of the week got a trip.

I have vague memories of this being a fun show, and that is borne out here. The set is colorful (if a little on the cheap side), but the riddles are between cute and hilarious, and it's cool to see that jackpot growing. Considering it ran into trouble with competition and executives who wanted a more straightforward question and answer show during its original 70's run, I'm glad it got a second chance here.

I didn't just watch game shows on USA as a kid. Having seen the success of Nickelodeon's game shows, The Disney Channel took a crack at their second game show with Teen Win, Lose, or Draw. It's played the same as the adult versions of the time, only with teen celebrities helping out and a more informal setting in front of someone's garage. We enjoyed seeing young people our own age run through a game we actually owned. We had that Win, Lose, or Draw Junior game the announcer held out for years. Mayam Balik (more than a year before her breakout show Blossom) and Danny Ponce of The Hogan Family are the celebrities here. 

The most popular game show on cable in the early 90's was also a revival. Supermarket Sweep let people run "wild in the aisles" and brought a lot of viewers to Lifetime who otherwise wouldn't have had the slightest interest in their drama-of-the-week movies. The episode I have here is from early in the Lifetime run, when David Ruprecht still wore weird sweaters and the only bonuses were the big ones people grabbed from random spots and a list Dave gave out.

Family games continued to be popular well into the new millennium. Family Game Night was an early hit for the Hub (what's now Discovery Kids). Two families play wild mini-games based on Hasbro board games like Yatzhee! and Bop It. No wonder this wound up being a four-year hit, and by far the most popular of the Hub's game shows. It's hilarious to watch the families play these huge games. Check out how intense the two moms who are last women standing in the Bop It-agon game get!

Relive your own fond memories of cable's most beloved game shows and enjoy a genuine piece of cable TV history!

How Do You Like Your Eggs? (1977)

Jackpot! (1985)

Teen Win, Lose, or Draw (1989)

Supermarket Sweep (1991)

Family Game Night (2010) 

Bigger Than a Bread Box

Began President's Day with breakfast and material from Collyer's Harvest of Holidays. There's a lot more that's known about Abraham Lincoln's early years in the wilderness of Illinois and how he went from a country lawyer to the president during the Civil War than the childhood of George Washington. Though there was an essay on what little was known then about George's younger years, most of his material focused on how he headed the American army during the Revolution and  his presidency afterwards.

Watched Charlie & Lola while having a quick breakfast. "I'm Really Not Ever So Well" says poor Lola. She begs Charlie to stay and cheer her up, even though he promised he'd go out and play football with Marv. He finally has her imagine what's inside of her and takes her to visit them.

No trouble with Uber, even though I left late. It didn't take five minutes in the morning. It took 6 in the afternoon. No traffic and no trouble either way.

No trouble at work, either. I was surprised at how quiet we were for not only a major holiday, but the last holiday Monday until late May. It must have been busier over the weekend. Once again, the floral department had been stripped of everything but the plants and bulbs. It was likely just as well that all I did today was sweep and push carts. It was too nice to be inside anyway. It remains sunny, breezy, and chilly but not too cold or hot for this time of year, probably in the mid-40's.

(Oh, and not only did the head bagger go on vacation this week, but six other employees did as well, for part or all of the week. I can understand the floral manager wanting time off after Valentine's Day, but I'm not sure why anyone else would want off in the middle of winter unless they're big winter sports fans.)

After I got home, I put the laundry in the washer, then took a long and much-needed nap. I've had more and earlier hours than usual for the past week and a half, and the Acme's been really busy. I went down at 2:30 and slept until past 5 PM.

Worked a little bit on writing for a while after I rolled out of bed and put the laundry in the dryer. Patti explains about the witch Mombi and how her magic can bring anything to life and turn anyone into a child. She's one of the truly evil magicians in Oz along with the Warlock of the West and the now-deceased East. She knows Mombi and the Warlock of the West are behind the poppies and worries that they're planning some other attack.

Watched Match Game Syndicated while eating dinner. The Syndicated episodes return with Holly Halstrom's first appearance on the show. She was joined this week by Bill Daily, sweet and towering Jim Staal, and Bart Braverman in a scraggly beard. I was surprised none of them came up with the obvious answer that I did for "__ Action" in the Audience Match, though. (Incidentally, Bart mentioned that the female contestant looked like Farrah Fawcett. I thought she looked more like Crystal Barnard of Wings and It's a Living.) 

Finished the night on YouTube after a shower and bringing my laundry upstairs with episodes of What's My Line? in honor of its birthday on February 2nd. This one goes way back to 1950 as the first of many Goodson-Todman panel shows. A well-dressed and distinguished panel would guess the occupation of three different people. They would wear masks for a celebrity "mystery guest" who would disguise their voice and see if the panelists could figure out who they were.

The very first episode didn't go too well, as almost no one guessed any of the occupations. Columnist Dorothy Kilgalian was on that very first panel. Things picked up when actress Arlene Francis joined the panel a few weeks later, and then author Bennett Cerf debuted in 1951. The final male panelists was initially comedian Hal Block. He was later replaced by Steve Allen in 1953 and Fred Allen in 1954. After Allen's death, the final seat was usually reserved for a rotating star male panelist. Erudite South African journalist John Charles Daly was the original host for the entire 1950-1967 run.

While many of the earliest episodes have been lost to time, the premiere episode and the 1967 finale do still exist. Along with them, we have the 1953 episode where Steve Allen first uttered the show's famous catchphrase "Is it bigger than a bread box?" and a 1959 episode featuring Cliff "Charley Weaver" Arquette years before he became a regular on another celebrity panel show, Hollywood Squares. (There's some nice book ends here. The 1967 finale features the contestants from that very first episode. We find out what happened to them in the 17 years since the first show's debut. We also have a very funny and unique "Mystery Guest.") 

What's My Line may have been old-fashioned on the networks by 1967, but it retained enough fans to be revived in syndication not even a year after it left CBS. It retained Francis and occasionally Cerf, but the rotating male seat was filled by comedian Soupy Sales. Wally Bruner hosted until 1972, when he was replaced by stage star Larry Blyden. Francis and Sales were joined by a who's who of celebrities at the time, including other Goodson-Todman hosts like Allen Ludden, and in the very first episode, Gene Rayburn.

In addition to color, some elements were added to make it less formal and inject more humor. There was no more dressing up; guys did wear suits, but the ladies wore pant suits or simple dresses. When the show ran long, the panelists would play a cute mini-game with four audience members and try to figure out which of the four held occupations listed on four cards. If the audience members stumped all of the panelists, they won money. There would also be occasionally as skit or a demonstration of something the contestant did or made. This version of the show ran until 1974. 

Surprisingly, unlike the similar panel shows I've Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth, What's My Line has never seen another major revival. Apparently, it's not for lack of trying. According to Wikipedia, there were at least five different attempts since 1981 to bring the show back, but none have gotten off the ground. Considering there's talk of reviving Secret, maybe it's time to bring Line back as well. I think there's still a lot of fun to be had in figuring out whether what someone does is "bigger than a bread box." 

Celebrate one of the oldest game show favorites with these classic episodes!

What's My Line? Premiere (1950)

What's My Line? (1953)

What's My Line? (1959)

What's My Line? CBS Finale (1967)

What's My Line? Syndicated Premiere (1968)

What's My Line? Syndicated (1972) 

What's My Line? Syndicated Finale (1975)

Quiet Times at Home

Started the day late with material from Colliers Harvest of Holidays for President's Day. They have biographical essays on Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, who have birthdays last week and Wednesday respectively, so I did both. Apparently, not much is known about Washington's early years, so his essays mostly focused on his part in the Revolutionary War. Lincoln's are far more interesting and pretty much cover the gamut of his life, from his early years as an amazingly tall pioneer boy who just wants to read to his years as president of the Union during the turbulent Civil War. We also get several poems, including Walt Whitman's "O Captain" on Lincoln's assassination.

Didn't get going until past 12:30. Watched Match Game '75 while I had breakfast. Gene finds himself describing a weather vane to slightly ditzy Louisa Moritz by standing on the lower desks and flapping his arms like a rooster while producer and tough-guy actor Sheldon Leonard looks on. Gene doesn't have a lot of luck with his screechy microphone in the opening, either.

Switched to Doc McStuffins as I got organized. Lambie accidentally gets "The Rip Heard 'Round the World" in her rear when Doc's dancing with her. She and Doc are incredibly upset. Lambie is Doc's favorite toy who has been with her since she was a baby. They learn about stitches from Doc's mom, who sews Lambie up good as new with a "scar" of thread seams that barely shows. It's "Walkie Talkie Time" when Donnie and Luca want to sneak up on Doc, but their walkie talkies aren't working. Doc figures out why Walter the Walkie Talkie can't contact his partner Grace, and where Luca left her.

(I know how Doc feels. I'd get upset if my stuffed animals ripped as a kid, too, especially if they were my favorite! In fact, I recently had to perform similar "surgery" on Grindal the Uni-Dragon, who somehow got a hole in his lower paw.)

Restarted my crocheting project, this time using pink and yellow yarn. It didn't curl this time...but it did ruffle! It wasn't supposed to do that, either. Oh well. I'm not restarting again. I kind of like the effect, anyway. It's supposed to be a spring plate mat. I'm going to make one for each season. 

Watched the first six episodes of the 1939 Republic serial Zorro's Fighting Legion as I worked. Reed Hadley is Don Diego Vega, who dons his Zorro persona to help his uncle Francisco after he's killed by men working for Don Del Oro. This golden figure appears to be an idol of the Yaqui Native tribe and is inciting them to attack Californians for taking their land. Don Del Oro wants to steal the newly-minted Republic of California's gold, end the Republic, and declare himself emperor. Don Diego takes his uncle's place on the local Council to find out which one of its ruthless members is posing as Don Del Oro, while he and his "Fighting Legion" combat the Natives and Del Oro's men.

This is definitely one of Republic's better western serials. It has the advantage of being their only serial to feature the original Zorro and be set in roughly the same time period as the book. (Their other Zorro serials feature a descendant using the name, or only use the name and not the character.) Hadley's reasonably charming as Vega and virile and dexterous as Zorro. 

Worked on writing around 4. Richard Dawson, now the sheriff of Match County, asks Marshall Gene Rayburn and Mayor Allen Ludden where he might take lodgings. Gene suggests the Newhart Inn boarding house on the other side of town, run by prickly-but-charming Marcia Wallace. He also invites Richard to dinner with him and his wife Helen that night. Richard agrees to take him up on the offer.

Didn't break for a shower until past quarter of 7. Finished the night upstairs with dinner and the original silent Mark of Zorro at Kanopy. Don Diego (Fairbanks) seems like a foppish nobleman, but he's really Zorro, who aids the innocent and abused in early California against the corrupt Govenor Alvarado (George Periolat). He and Alvarado's henchman Captain Juan Ramon (Robert McKim) both attempt to court the lovely but impoverished noblewoman Lolita Pulido (Margurite De La Mote), but she finds Diego to be dull and Juan to be a bully. It takes the governor jailing Lolita's family to finally bring Diego out into the open and let him reveal his true identity once and for all. 

This is the grandparent of every desert swashbuckler from Errol Flynn's westerns to the late 90's-early 2000's Antonio Banderas Zorro films. Fairbanks had such a marvelous time leaping from chandeliers and rescuing the girl, he'd spend the remainder of his career specializing in historical action films. Check out the scene where he takes boastful Sargent Pedro Gonzolez (Noah Beery) and a whole roomful of bar patrons on by himself!

Winter's Rain

Desperately needed to sleep in this morning after my long night yesterday. Celebrated my President's Day off with Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood when I did roll out of bed and have breakfast. Teacher Harriet has Daniel and his friends make their own dragon for "The Dragon Dance." They have to work as a team to make it really come together. It's "Teacher Harriet's Birthday," and the kids and Mrs. Tiger want to hold a classroom party. Mrs. Tiger shows them how to work together to create a crepe paper rainbow and a "cake" made of different colors of clay.

Switched to Muppet Babies while doing the dishes. Kermit's blue frog friend Carlos is scared to go into space to see Henson's Comet up close. The kids put him through "Muppet Space Camp" to show him that space isn't so scary. Piggy's looking forward to "The Best Best Friend Beach Day" with Summer and taking new photos for their Best Friend Book. She's upset when nothing she suggested goes as planned. Summer and the boys remind Piggy that a spontaneous outing can provide just as many memories.

Moved to Match Game '79 as I took down the Valentine's Day decorations. For some reason, Buzzr skipped waaaaayyy ahead to the end of the CBS run to show off the episodes where Carolyn Reisner became the all-time Match Game '70s champ. Brianne Leary of CHIPs, Orson Bean, and Dick Martin joined Gene, Brett, Fannie, and Bill Daily as first Brett, then Bill answered tense Head-to-Heads. Bill was so excited after his, he almost stripped in front of everyone! 

Worked on writing for a couple of hours before breaking for lunch. Made a Banana-Carrot Smoothie while watching the newest episode of Mickey Mouse: Mixed Up Adventures. "Dale's New Pal" is Gordy the Groundhog. Chip thinks he's replacing him and tries to show off at the boat show. When both their boats sink, the trio have to figure out how to team up and create one big one. Cuckoo Loca wants to visit her cousins at the beach and help Minnie and Daisy with a wedding. She uses "The Cuckoo Turnstyler" to be in two places at once. 

Caught the tail end of Super Password after the cartoon ended. Started making Double Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies as I ogled Robert Walden, who joined Lauri Hendler to guess Password puzzles. All of the couples - Milton Berle and his witty wife Ruth, Glenn Ford and his then-girlfriend Cynthia Heyward, and perfectly nutty pair Donald Ross and Patti Deustch - did well on Tattletales. They each got at least one question right and all ended up winning in the end. 

Slid the cookies in the oven as Press Your Luck came on. Honestly, no one did very well. The contestants couldn't get answers right and didn't pick up many spins, and then they kept hitting low numbers. That changed in the second round. One of the guys picked up 11,000 in cash and one Whammy, more than enough to win.

Returned to writing after the show ended. Gene and Bill Daily go down to the main deck to release Charles, who is tied to the mast. The Nartz's are just about done dealing with Goodson, but Goodson has reinforcements. Good thing Gene does, too...

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers while watching Match Game '74. Goofy Kaye Stevens of the noisy laugh happily flirted with a handsome male contestant during the first half of the show. She was absolutely over the moon when he asked her to be his partner for the Head-to-Head. 

Match Game PM also jumped far back, in this case to 1977. This was the panel from the week of the "lower tier plays upper tier" episode, so it was already guaranteed to be funny. JoAnn Pflug got a rare chance to help a contestant win 10,000 with "Boo __."

The contestants were a lot closer on Sale of the Century than they have been in days, if not weeks. No one was far ahead for too long. The champ bought one Instant Bargain; a lady bought the try at the Instant Cash. Once again, the champ pulled ahead on the Speed Round. Didn't have nearly as much luck this time at the Bonus Round cash, though.

Finished out the night on Tubi with The Bold Caballero. This 1936 Republic western was the first Zorro movie filmed in color and sound...but we didn't really see much of Zorro. Don Diego Vega (Robert Livingston) courts the Governor's daughter Isabella (Heather Angel). His attempts to woo her and continue his activities as Zorro go off the rails when her father is killed by a man who marks him with a "z." Isabella, now the governor of California, demands vengeance from her boastful Commendate (Sig Rumann). She gets more than she bargains for when she discovers Don Diego's real identity...and who really killed her father.

Angel's the stand-out here as the feisty and determined young woman who is strong enough to rule all of California and do better tracking down Zorro than most of the men in Zorro films. Livingston, on the other hand, makes a better impression as foppish Don Diego than his few moments playing Zorro near the end. Rumann does better as the blustery captain whose bragging hides a coward's heart. Not the best Zorro movie in the world, but worth checking out of you love the character or western swashbucklers.

It was cloudy the entire day. The rain didn't arrive until late tonight...and when it did arrive, it was rain. Not ice, snow, wind, or anything else. It's still going at press time. 

Spoofs of Times Past

Got a late start and only had time for What's My Line? this morning. The panel quickly guessed that the first man sold a jump rope with what amounts to what we would now call a pedometer. All four got to try it out. Poor Henry Morgan and Soupy Sales couldn't time their jumps right and barely got anything. Anita Gillette by far out-skipped the others, and Arlene Francis didn't do too badly, either. Henry redeemed himself by quickly guessing the identity of a woman dog catcher. Arlene Francis made use of her many years of experience on the show in a mini-game that had her correctly guessing the occupations of four members of the audience.

Went straight to work after Arlene made her guesses. Considering the holiday, it wasn't as busy as I figured it would be. For one thing, we had amazing weather. Glorious sunshine, blue skies, and soft breezes replaced the rain and cold that's plagued South Jersey for most of last week. I did end up in the register a few times later in the day, when we were short on help, but I mainly gathered carts, put baskets away, shelved candy, and bagged.

Put on Tattletales when I got home and changed, and then as I finally got around to taking down the Valentine's Day decorations. Orson Bean and his then-wife Carolyn, who played for the yellow "banana" section, were the overwhelming winners today. They got every question right, joking about his slobbish tendencies and storytelling.

Worked on writing after I put the box away. Malade threatens to bring in Ira and her trolls before finally vanishing. Gene and Richard agree that they need to find a way to stop Ira and Malade's army from doing damage to them and the castle. Poor Bill the wolf is so terrified of ending up in Malade's clutches again, he refuses to help. Marcia's disgusted with him, but he doesn't want her to harm him or his servants. It's Richard who comes up with the plan to take Ira and his men by surprise...by making them all invisible with the servants.

Broke for dinner at 6. Made Salisbury steaks, steamed broccoli, and cranberry sauce while watching episodes of Match Game from 1975. Psychiatrist Dr. Joyce Brothers had a field day trying to figure out Patti Deutsch and her unusual answers and Bill Daily and his many anxiety tics, along with fielding wisecracks from Gene and the three regulars. For some reason, Sale of the Century jumped back to 1985. All three contestants were pretty close for most of the game, but the champion pulled ahead and won the speed round decisively. He opted for taking that day's prize, and I couldn't blame him - it was a gorgeous white grand piano. I would have taken it, too.

Finished the night on Crackle and the Roku Channel with a "sitcom period movie spoof" mini-marathon. I Dream of Jeannie did a few costumer satires, including "My Master, the Pirate" from the second season. When Tony tells Jeannie about searching for Captain Kidd's treasure, she flashes them back on board Kidd's ship. Tony accidentally knocks the Captain overboard, becoming captain himself. His crew threatens mutiny after Tony refuses to kill a beautiful prisoner who turns out to be his great-great-great grandmother. He and Jeannie have to flee the ship and get his grandmother to safety, or Tony won't exist!

Suddenly Susan, a late 90's work-com featuring Brooke Shields, did a hilarious take on Titanic in their third season, "Seems Like Old Times." After an earthquake wrecks havoc on the offices of the magazine where she works, Susan and her co-workers help a little old lady out of a stuck elevator. Grateful to be rescued, the woman relates a fantastic story of how her mother (Susan) sang for Enrico Caruso and discovered her great love, a sweeper at a tavern (Judd Nelson, who played Susan's boss), only to lose him when the San Francisco Earthquake of 1903 hit. Check out the awesome dance routine to "Proud Mary," of all songs, here!

Winter Blues

Kicked off the morning with biographical essays and poems on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in honor of their birthdays and President's Day from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays book. Did a late Valentine's Day cartoon I hadn't gotten to on Thursday as I ate Cornmeal Pancakes and oranges for breakfast. Pink at First Sight follows the Pink Panther as he works as a singing messenger to earn some extra cash. Trouble is, he keeps seeing the female panther of his dreams wherever he goes...and many of his clients, from a woman with a jealous husband to a group of gangsters he inadvertently delivers a bomb to, aren't exactly happy to see him.

Played Angry Birds Star Wars after I ate. Finally finished out the Death Star rounds, including a final round that involved hitting things while moving in the Trench Run. Darth Vader was back as the Final Boss, this time in the form of a TIE Fighter. Ironically, neither the last few rounds of the Death Star, nor the first couple of rounds in Hoth, were as difficult as some of the earlier Death Star rounds. Princess Leia is added to the mix on Hoth; she can pull out objects, which proves to be vital to knocking down some Imperial Pig bases and Walkers.

Decided to try something around quarter of 2. The seat on my bike has been loose since I got it. I thought I'd replace it with the seat I bought for the Huffy bike I had before the one that was stolen. Turns out it's totally the wrong seat for that bike and goes on in a different way. I have no idea how to get it back on. I tried to figure it out, but I just could not make it work. In the end, I gave up, put it inside, and went for a walk instead.

I'm really frustrated. I want to move, but I've already tried calling two apartments, and both turned me down due to my shaky finances. I'm stuck. Everything I try terrifies me. I had a panic attack just looking up how to run a freelance writing business. I haven't done spreadsheets in years, and I'm terrible at math! Trouble is, I'm not sure what else I can do to make money. I don't want another retail job that will make me crazy, and I don't have enough experience to be hired anywhere else. Everything I attempt just makes me more nervous.

I mostly just wandered around the neighborhood, hoping to see a "For Rent" sign somewhere. I can't believe there isn't a nice little cottage or a small apartment in the back of someone's house with an owner that's willing to negotiate. All I need is something simple and small. Just a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom. Nothing large or fancy. I'm tired of going shopping every time I want to make a trip, but I don't know where else I can go.

Ended up at Common Grounds Coffee House. They were insanely busy for them...with college students on their laptops or talking among friends and older women knitting and gossiping. I just ordered a hot chocolate and a cinnamon raisin bagel with butter (they were out of jam) and looked at my phone. I wish I knew what to say to all of them, but I didn't.

The blah day matched my blah mood. It was kind-of cloudy, kind-of sunny, although it became out-and-out sunny later. The wind remains strong - the pieces from my bike seat kept blowing away while I worked on it. It was chilly, but not freezing, probably in the lower 40's.

Looked for apartments when I got home. When I saw nothing I could do here or in Gloucester County, I moved on to writing. Han's main rival in the Golden Arrow tournament is Boba of Gisbourne. Han asks him where Sheriff Vader, said to be the best archer in Nottingham, is. Boba casually mentions that he went to the main castle to look for someone.

Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers while starting season 2 of Buck Rogers. Wilma, Buck, and Twiki are all that remain of the original show in "The Time of the Hawk." They're now on board the space ship Searcher, trying to find other scattered Earth colonies. They're joined by two older doctors this time, along with a taller, rather supercilious and obnoxious robot to play off of Twiki (who has a different voice). They discover that the crew of a freighter was attacked by Hawk (Thom Christopher), a bird-man who, along with his mate Kourie (Barbara Luna), is the last of his kind after his people were slaughtered by pirates. Buck tries to convince him that not all humans are evil, and that there may be others of his species out there yet.

Finished the night after a shower with Random Harvest. Industrialist Charles Rainier (Ronald Coleman) has the most devoted secretary anyone could wish, Margaret Hanson (Greer Garson). He eventually marries her after Kitty, the girl who had a crush on him (Susan Peters), sees how crazy Margaret is about him and gives up on him. The only thing is, he's met - and married - Margaret before. She was singing under the stage name Paula Ridgeway when she found him wandering away from an asylum after World War I. He had no memory of who he was or how he'd gotten to the place; he couldn't even remember how to talk. Margaret nursed him back to health and married him, living with him in a small cottage. She's hoping that someday, his memories will return...and that he'll recall the deep love they once shared.

Melodramatic claptrap highlighted by several excellent performances, especially from the two leads. For all the ridiculousness of the plot, Coleman and Garson really do make you believe every excessive bit of suffering. If you're a fan of old-fashioned soap opera or the stars, you'll want to give this one a look.

Red White and Sisters

Awoke late to a cloudy day. Along with a chapter of The Painted Queen, I did the material for Lincoln and Washington's birthdays from Colliers Harvest of Holidays for President's Day. I found the essay on Lincoln and his early years to be slightly more interesting than the ones on Washington. (Not much was known about his childhood in the early 60's, evidently.)

Called Rose after I finished reading. She suggested I come over for dinner around 5:30 and do the paperwork after we eat. I had no problem with that. She was making ribs in a slow-cooker. I haven't had ribs in ages, and the last time I did have them, they were grilled.

Ran an episode of Wonder Woman while eating breakfast and digging out the folder I needed to complete the application. "Screaming Javelin" from the second season is an odd episode that has Diana searching for a series of missing athletes. The loony ruler of a tiny European country is kidnapping athletes for his own all-star Olympic team...and he wants Wonder Woman to be the top contender! Diana dodges his people, including a sharp-shooting husband-wife team, in order to find a young gymnast and save her boyfriend in time for the real Olympic Games.

Headed out around quarter of 1 for a walk. I didn't really have any major plans today, so I thought I'd just stroll around Oaklyn. It started to sprinkle lightly as I made my way down Manor Avenue. We're still very much in the throws of winter here. While I have seen green grass and the shoots of spring flowers poking up in some yards, it's still mostly old dry roots and crunchy gold lawns. A few houses have winter, Valentine's Day, or St. Patrick's Day banners up; most settle for their yellow grass and black trees.

Hit the House of Fun first. They were really busy for them, with at least two dads showing their kids the toys they loved at their age, and a couple of collectors looking over the vast piles of pop culture paraphernalia After much deliberation, I ended up with a copy of the "new canon" novel Star Wars: Aftermath, a DVD of The Monster Squad, a stuffed Artemis (Minako's white kitty in Sailor Moon), and an adorable tiny stuffed Chewbacca I fished out of a dollar toy bin. Artemis was the only expensive item at 16 dollars. Everything else was under 10.

Made a few quick stops in the neighborhood next. Picked up cooking spray and canned chicken at Dollar General - they're both cheaper there. Stopped at Dad and Jodie's house to say "hi" and pick up the cake pan I used for the marble cake for their Super Bowl party. Jodie was watching something comic with mothers - I had no idea what it was. Dad was apparently at an appointment for his treatment. I picked up my pan and a small box of chocolates from Jodie and Dad as a belated Valentine's Day gift and moved on.

Spent the rest of the afternoon finishing and posting Finn and the First Order Princess. Phasma sees Finn practicing with the staff he made and says she must have it. He tell her he'll give it to her...if she gives him a hundred kisses. She's almost done when Snoke, Hux, and Prince Ben show up, shocked that she's kissing a peasant.

Fed up with Phasma and her family, Finn reveals who he really is. He brings Rose out of the stables and says he'd rather court her. She's kind, loyal, and brave...everything Phasma, despite her attractive looks, is not. He does bring her back to Atch-To, where they court each other before finally getting married. Phasma is stripped of her rank by Snoke and sentenced to take Rose's place in the stables instead.

I think that came out pretty cute, considering the original story isn't exactly high drama to begin with. I had time to get it up on my writing blog, Archive of Our Own, and Fanfiction.net before I switched to doing job research at Pinterest.

Finn and the First Order Princess - Archive of Our Own
Finn and the First Order Princess - My Writing Blog
Finn and the First Order Princess - Fanfiction.net

Craig picked me up around 6. The ribs were still cooking when I arrived. Khai was taking a nap, but Finley was awake. She is so chubby and cute! I loved watching her play with her Little People Zoo, pushing the buttons to see what sounds they made, or gnawing on an animal to see if it would move with her touch. Rose had Moana on in the background, which looked amazing on their wide-screen TV.

Dinner was ribs, green beans, drop biscuits, canned cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes. It was all absolutely delicious. I don't usually make biscuits for myself. They don't taste good cold. Rose's were tasty, though, just savory enough. Khai begged to have his with strawberry jam. (I liked mine with jam at his age, too.) I didn't have a lot of the mashed potatoes because I'm just not a fan of white mashed potatoes, but the green beans were yummy and the ribs were melt-in-your-mouth tender.

I looked over the paperwork while she did the dishes. It's for that doctor she and Jodie were talking about me seeing last year. I'll still see it, if only to get a second opinion. I honestly don't remember much about who I saw as a kid. I only talked to school therapists in college. I had enough problems without dealing with that, too. I did see a therapist in Cape May Court House near the special services schools briefly in 2005. I actually liked that lady and only ended it because I moved. Took up with another in Collingswood around 2007, but I left that about two later. I didn't think the man I was seeing there was helping me. I wouldn't go back to therapy until I started with Shelly Stahl in early 2013.

One thing Rose did insist I do now was see a gynecologist. I normally only see doctors when I feel sick. Why bother unless there's something wrong with you? I am getting older, though. It wouldn't hurt. There's a gynecology office in Collingswood I could call tomorrow.

Craig and Khai finally drove me home around 8:30. (Khai tagged along so he could find more Pokemon on Pokemon Go!)  After I got in, I had the last of the cherry vanilla ice cream, then went online while watching Dave. Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) runs a temp agency in Washington DC. He also happens to be a dead ringer for President Bill Mitchell (also Kline), who just had a stroke. Dave is brought in by Mitchell's chief of staff Bob Alexander (Frank Langella) and communications director Alan Reed (Kevin Dunn) to replace him while he recovers. Alexander has a devious plan to implicate the genuinely good vice president Gary Nance (Ben Kingsley) in a bank scandal and take over the presidency himself. Meanwhile, Dave is more interested in Mitchell's first lady Ellen (Sigourney Weaver). She's surprised and suspicious when her husband starts taking more of an interest in the common man, visiting schools and fighting to keep homeless shelters. After actually talking to Nance, Dave realizes they've both been set up...and what he has to do now to keep Alexander from going after the Oval Office.

I remember seeing this cute political comedy a couple of times when Dad rented it in the early 90's and enjoying it. Kline is great as the everyman suddenly thrust into the role of Commander and Chief; I also liked Ving Rhames as the devoted Secret Service agent. The breezy screenplay was nominated for an Oscar. Nice cast too, including dozens of real-life politicians and journalists in cameo roles. If you're a fan of Kline, Weaver, or gentle political satire, you'll want to take a look this charmer.

Swashbuckling President's Day

Began a sunny President's Day with some Colliers' Harvest of Holidays. I did a short biography on Abraham Lincoln and two on George Washington, along with poetry about their life and times. I also went back and did the one Valentine's Day story, The Valentine's Box, and the poetry, since I forgot to do it on Valentine's Day.

Did two episodes of Jack of All Trades while I made Apricot Pancakes and a grapefruit slice for breakfast. Another early American president, Thomas Jefferson, makes a cameo appearance in the series pilot, "The Return of the Dragoon." Jack is less than thrilled when Jefferson reassigns him to a small tropical island to keep an eye on the French. Worse, his contact is a very smart British woman, Emilia, whose steampunk-esque inventions keep their spying under cover. Jack finds a cover of his own when he dresses as "The Daring Dragoon," a local myth, to ward off suspicion from the French Governor Croque.

Benjamin Franklin is "The Floundering Father" when he's taken prisoner by none other than Blackbeard the Pirate. Jack and Emilia are at a loss on how to get to Blackbeard's ship, until Emilia suggests her latest invention, a ship that can float underwater.

Listened to the first few songs from the Broadway musical Hamilton while I got ready for work. I can definitely see why this has become such a smash. Start with a good script and racially diverse casting; end with genuinely good music even people who aren't normally into rap and R&B can enjoy.

Work was pretty much the same as yesterday - on and off busy all day. Except for a few quick rounds of gathering baskets, I did carts the whole day. This time, though, I had less help. The one woman who was with me in the morning took an hour to get outside and was out for 15 minutes when she did finally make it. The other bagger was in the register for most of the early afternoon. When they let her go, the crowds had just begun to slow down. By the time it began to get busy again, we were both done.

I had a little shopping to do on the way home. I was hoping they'd have an ankle brace. My old one is too small. It gave me a huge blister on my heel. They didn't have an ankle brace, but they did have tape bandage. That'll have to do until I can get an ankle brace. I also found these new cheese crackers shaped like actual cheese slices. They remind me of the Nabisco Swiss Cheese crackers my sisters and I ate a ton of in the 80's. (We loved the bacon ones, too.)

Spent the rest of the evening working on my story. Actually, I revised the opening, and will probably revise it further. The refugee thing was too dark. Leia and her aunt and uncle are now merely visiting Mon Mothma to celebrate the coronation of Prime Minister Palpatine as the king of a united Coruscant and Naboo and the country's Diamond Jubilee. I also updated the Crimson Hawk and his band of criminals' costumes to make them closer to the era (1877) and the steampunk aesthetic.

Made a quick meal of spinach, eggs, mushrooms, and Parmesan cheese while watching another Rick Steves episode. We went back to Austria for a trip to Innsbruck and the Austrian and Italian Alps. The lovely towns, lively squares, and elaborate castles are the perfect inspirations for my story.

Finished the night with a much-needed bath. Ahhh. I can't remember the last time I had one. I read You are a Badass while listening to George Winston play music by Vince Guaraldi (including iconic pieces from the Peanuts specials) and just enjoyed the chance to relax and soothe my sore muscles.

Snow Day Dolls

My slumber was broken by a phone ringing. It was a frantic Charlie. The main pipe for the toilet had apparently burst and was leaking all downstairs. They were going to have to turn off the water in a half-hour and would be taking two hours to fix the pipes.

It took Charlie over an hour to turn off the pipes. Meanwhile, I read tales about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington from the Collier's Book of Holidays for President's Day and wrote in my journal. Thankfully, by the time Charlie and the other plumber did get their rears upstairs, I was dressed, had eaten breakfast, and was just finishing taking the Valentine's Day decorations down.

Charlie had a box under his arm for me when he came in to shut off the water. For some reason, the mail man had deposited it on the back porch steps. I have no idea how or why the mailman got all the way over there. At any rate, my Amazon.com post-tax-return order had arrived. Along with finally picking up the Sailor Moon R (Season 2) Vol 1 set (since no one around here seems to have it on DVD), I picked up the signature (basic) version of Ginger Breadhouse, one of two remaining Ever After High signature dolls I didn't have, and the Han/Leia based Star Wars novel Tatoonie Ghost. 

(Incidentally, the only other Ever After High signature doll I currently don't have is Melody Piper. I'll wait on her until she shows up in the stores or her price comes down on Amazon. There's more coming in the spring and early summer too, including three new Signatures and a "Snow Queen"-based character that's heading the line based around their next special.)

I pulled out Ginger after I finished breakfast. Ginger Breadhouse is supposed to be the daughter of the Candy Witch from "Hansel and Gretel." While she does love baking (and adding benevolent spells to her sweets), like Raven, she has no desire to be evil. She just wants to share her skills with the world. Ginger is a (literal) sweetie, one of three dolls in the line who wear glasses. (The others are Dexter Charming and Rosabella Beauty.) Thankfully, her bright-pink hair came perfectly soft and shiny. It did shed when I brushed it, but it also didn't need to be washed. She has a tight dress made to look like gingerbread with sprinkles. Unlike Ashlynn's dress, it didn't seem to impede her ability to sit down. I put her on the end of the front row with her fellow Rebels Darling, Cedar, and Cerise. 

Drowned out the guys and watched Sailor Moon while baking my favorite Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies. Unlike the first season, most of the second season episodes seem to be intact so far. Most of what I've noticed to be different were things cut for time or some scatological jokes removed from a babysitting episode. 

The first half of the second season reintroduces the characters after Usagi/Sailor Moon changed their memories so they could lead peaceful lives. The Guardians are called back when two aliens named Ann and Ali land on Earth, with their energy-sucking tree. The tree sustains them, but it seems to be dying. It feeds on pure energy. The pair disguise themselves as humans to find energy for their tree...and fall for Mamoru and Usagi in the process. It doesn't help that Mamoru hasn't regained his memories and doesn't recall either being Tuxedo Mask or his feelings for Usagi. And there's that mysterious Moonlight Knight who keeps showing up when the girls need help...

It started snowing even as the guys were beginning to work on the pipe. (Which, as it turns out, was under my porch. Who knew? Meant I had the guys' cursing and their tools blasting in my ears all day, though.) It wasn't heavy, but I decided I just didn't want to brave the weather and opted to put off doing my laundry, my only real outside plan for today. 

I'd put off dressing the American Girl dolls for a while as I focused on writing. I finally had time to do it today. Even though Valentine's Day was yesterday, I still put them in pink and red outfits. Samantha wears her lovely, very historically accurate Talent Show Dress with black stockings and the black and white boots from last year's limited-edition spring outfit. Josefina's in a pretty pink and mauve floral empire-waist dress and lace shawl I got for her off eBay a few years ago. Went with the modern beige, pink, and gold Sweet Spring Dress from a few years ago, paired with the pink tights from the Ballet Outfit and the yellow t-strap shoes from Kit's Scooter Outfit for Jessa. Molly's in her plaid School Outfit, white tights, and Sam's "meet" outfit Mary Janes. Whitney's heading out to the lake for ice frolics in Molly's red and blue Skating Outfit with the tight fleece sweater and swirly red skirt, white tights, and Springfield Collection skates. Felicity's wearing her Laced Jacket and Petticoat.

Charlie came in and out a few times as I was finishing the girls. It took him and the other plumber literally all afternoon, but yes, they apparently fixed the pipes. I did offer them some cookies as they cooled. They seemed really happy with them. Charlie said he could smell the cookies baking as they worked on the porch.

Spent the rest of the afternoon and evening finishing my story. Kathleen despairs of being able to help Darren, until she discovers that her words literally have power. When she speaks, they become part of the story she was writing earlier...and they give her the power to defeat the evil Lady Sylvia and revive Darren and restore his human form. She suggests that they turn the Villa into a place where people can admire the gardens and create stories of their own. They marry and do just that and live happily ever after. 

Thankfully, this one came out MUCH shorter than my previous stories. I really did intend to keep this simple. It's on my blog if anyone's interested:

Writer's Desk at the Riverside - Original Fairy Tale

Since that one came out pretty well, I'm going to do the Star Wars fairy tale next and put off the 80's spoof until I've worked on it a bit more. I've come up with some pretty good ideas for this one. Princess Leia of the Kingdom of Aldran is supposed to be at her last ball before she joins the Court of the Seven Kingdoms. She'd rather be anywhere else...especially when her evil guardian appears, burns the kingdom, and kidnaps her. The two handsome gentlemen whom she met at the ball, who claimed to be a prince and a knight (when they were really a roguish thief and a stable boy training to be a knight) rescue her, leaving behind a strange sword and a dilapidated gypsy carriage called the Falcon. She seeks them out, but her guardian, a knight and a strong black magic sorcerer, isn't far behind. He has no intention of letting his daughter marry a penniless thief with no political alliance, but the innocent knight-in-training may be useful...

I'm going to hopefully start it tomorrow. I more-or-less intend for it to be a blend of several familiar fairy and folk tales, including "Cinderella," "King Arthur," "Rapunzel," "Snow White," "Sleeping Beauty," and "East of the Sun and West of the Moon." I'm once again going to try to keep it relatively short, though it'll probably be longer than the story I just finished. We'll see how it goes.

Finished out the night with lobster cakes and escarole with mushrooms sauteed in lime sauce for dinner. Ran the end of the first Sailor Moon disc and the beginning of the second one as I ate. While the majority of the episodes in the "Doom Tree" arc are fluff and filler, there's some surprisingly scary or action-packed tales to be found here. The episode about the Cherry Blossom Festival and how Sailor Moon gets a new weapon and a power upgrade is actually rather chilling. There's at least two episodes where the monsters attack groups of little kids and babies for their energy. (Come to think of it, the emphasis on children in many of these episodes almost seem like foreshadowing for the prominence of Chibi-Usa in the next arc.) Another episode introduces Makoto's close guy friend Kenji, who is drained so badly by a monster, Makoto donates blood to him. And there's Usagi's continuing attempts to get Mamoru to remember who she is and their relationship. Not to mention, Ann and Ali are experiencing love for the first time...and they're both very jealous of Usagi and Mamoru and will do anything to get them out of the way.

The snow stopped while I was writing. It started raining shortly after I got online and has been raining on and off ever since. It's supposed to continue tomorrow - once again, we'll see. 

Presidents' Day at Home

I slept so late, it was past 11 before I got to breakfast! I was up late again with Lauren last night. President's Day weekend is her last long weekend for three months (Easter, fun though it is, doesn't count), and we wanted to celebrate. I started a chilly, cloudy day with two winter and Valentine's themed Pink Panther specials I didn't get to on my hectic Saturday.

Pink takes part in the 1980 Olym-Pinks in Lake Placid as part of the US skiing team. He keeps giving his rival trouble while preparing for the games, and even afterwards. He doesn't have a much better Valentine's Day than I did in Pink At First Sight. He joins a messenger service to be able to earn money for flowers and cards, but runs into a jealous husband and a group of gangsters who aren't too happy with their Valentine's gifts.

Took down the Valentine's decorations while watching the cartoons. After my rather frustrating Valentine's Day, I didn't really want to leave them up for much longer. I'll put up the spring, Easter, and St. Patrick's Day things in about two or three weeks.

I didn't make it to the laundromat until quarter of 2. Needless to say, given this is a holiday, they were busy. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait for anything, and my load wasn't that big. I was in and out in less than an hour.

Spent the rest of the day puttering around the apartment and watching movies. I made the bed while running My Little Pony: The Movie. A nasty witch (Cloris Leachman) and her two rather incompetent daughters (Rhea Perlman and Madeline Khan) create a sticky substance that can destroy anything it comes across and sends it straight at the Ponies! Meanwhile, Baby Lickety-Split is upset when her teacher Buttons yells at her for ruining the Baby Ponies' recital and runs away. Spike the Dragon goes after her. A few of the Ponies have to look for them, while the rest, including Megan and her siblings Molly and Danny, search for the Flutter Ponies, the only creatures that can stop the witches' magic.

I've always liked this movie. We taped it off cable sometime in 1987 and watched it for years. There's a lot of really well-done action, and an interesting lesson that not everything that's ugly is always evil. Lickety Split and Spike discover a race of troll-like creatures who look scary but are really very sweet. The witches are hilarious. Khan and Perlman steal the movie wholesale with their voice work for the bickering sisters.

However, even as a kid, I realized this movie has more than a few problems that were probably the reason it flopped when it came out in 1986. The songs are dreadful, with sappy lyrics for Megan's cheer-up ballad and dull ones for the witches. The animation is worse, saddled with the same lousy continuity that plagues the Care Bears films. As hilarious as the witches are, not only are they more interesting than most of the Ponies, but you see a lot more of them, too. The movie feels really unbalanced. Buttons comes off as overly nasty to poor Lickety-Split today as well.

I still recommend this for anyone who grew up watching it on cable as I did, or for parents with young girls, especially ones who are already Pony fans.

Stayed in the 80s and with fantasy but moved to live-action for The Princess Bride. In this unusual comic fairy tale, beautiful Buttercup (Robin Wright) is spirited away by Prince Humperdink (Chris Sarandon) to become his bride. Buttercup is truly in love with the farm boy (Cary Elwes) who died at sea...or so she thinks. A mysterious man in black rescuing her from three goofy henchmen is just the beginning of her adventures. Even after they flee, her unwanted fiancee catches up with them. The remaining henchmen change sides and go after them. In the end, she and Wesley learn that, with a lot of patience, teamwork, and a touch of miracles, true love really can conquer all.

This, too, was a failure in the theaters that finally found an audience when it turned up on cable - including my family. Everyone in my family can quote this movie line by line. We had a bad copy we taped off Showtime during a thunderstorm that we still watched constantly. While Mandy Patinkin stands out as the revenge-minded Spanish fencer with one of the most famous lines in movie history, the entire cast looks like they're having a great time. If you love fantasy, romance, or satire that's more subtle than most movie spoofs, you'll get as big a kick out of this one as we do.

I finally made the pasta and meatballs dinner I'd originally planned for Saturday during The Princess Bride. The chicken meatballs fell apart but weren't too bad. I left the pineapple upside-down cake in the oven for too long. Thankfully, it only burned a little and still tasted pretty good. The escarole with the pasta was a bit tough. I probably should have boiled it longer.

Finished the night with Xanadu as I ate. I jumped backwards to 1980 for another kind of fantasy. Sonny (Michael Beck) is tired of painting covers for records, but doesn't know what else to do with his talents. He's inspired by Kira (Olivia Newton-John) to go into business with Danny (Gene Kelly), a kindly old man who owns a construction company, and open an elaborate nightclub. Kira, however, is not what she seems....

I love this very campy tribute to creativity and old-style 40's and 50's musicals, but it's far from everyone's cup of Crush soda. The lack of a real script prior to shooting was obvious. The musical numbers (except for one crazy animated sequence by Don Bluth) are mostly well-done. If you can handle the cheese and enjoy other odd 80's guilty pleasures like The Pirate Movie, you might have as much fun with this one as me.

Return of the Edwardian Beauty and Other President's Day Tales

First, and most excitingly, I just heard some really cool news at American Girl's Facebook page. Evidently, this fall, along with completely revamping the historical line, they're going to be bringing Samantha out of retirement! It'll probably just be a brief limited edition thing, but even that's cool. I would love to buy her even one outfit new from AG. I didn't really start collecting for her until after she was retired. And if they re-release some of her old things (I still don't have her "Meet" accessories or her ice skates), that would be even cooler.

Other than that, this was actually a rather frustrating day. I was up late with Lauren (who works at a bank and won't have another weekend off until May) and didn't get out of bed until 9:30. I watched more Red Skelton, finishing out the Best of DVDs. Some of these were a little weird, and the only celebrities I recognized were Gene Barry (in a skit that had Skelton's Clem as a census-taker who gets between a husband having an affair and his very angry wife) and "Mama" Cass Elliot (a woman who is so desperate for a husband, she begs Red's "San Fernando Red" to marry her to a nonplussed firefighter).

I didn't have much luck with the bike tire. Even coating the bolts with W-40 couldn't make them move. I couldn't get the tire off to change it! I just pumped it and hoped it would get me there. It did...but it was deflating again, even as I arrived at the Acme.

Work was steady for most of the afternoon, actually a little quiet for the last major holiday for over two months. It didn't pick up until rush hour and people started seeing the weather reports. We're supposed to get snow again tonight. As of right now, they're saying an inch or two again...but after the last few storms, no one wants to believe it. Thankfully, my relief showed up on time, and I was in and out.

Walking home was a pain. For one thing, I was going after dark. I tried walking on the sidewalk down the Black Horse Pike, but the snow was still high there, and it was so cold. It took me almost an hour to get home, longer than it usually does walking.

I ran more Red as I made a quick dinner of leftover chili. In addition to the Best of sets, Lauren sent me five DVDs with clips of Red from YouTube. Among the ones on the first disc I enjoyed were the skit from the 50s that had George Appleby discover a murderer hiding bodies in the car he's fixing...then saving his wife from him. It also included the famous "Guzzler's Gin" skit from the movie Ziegfield Follies. Red plays a pitchman for the aforementioned liquor who proceeds to get very, very drunk on the product he's selling. It's a riot, one of the better acts in the movie.

A Hint of Frost In the Air

My President's Day was relatively quiet. Lauren and I took advantage of her rare Monday off and did two long nights in a row. I slept in again. By the time I got up, it was too late to do anything besides watch a couple of DVDs and go for a walk. I had breakfast and ran the That's Entertainment: Treasures From the Vault cut numbers and the half-hour documentary on the producers, musicians, directors, and composers who worked behind the scenes on the musicals at MGM.

It was such a gorgeous day, I had to go for a stroll to WaWa after the DVD ended. The air was still chilly, with that frosty nip it gets in winter, but yesterday's gale-force wind had slowed to a gentle breeze. I had a very pleasant stroll. There were several dog-walkers and packs of kids out and about, enjoying the beautiful weather. It had to be in the lower 40s, perfectly normal for this time of year. Some of the gardens are starting to show the earliest signs of spring, with a few sprouts who were confused by the few warm days we had, and a few people have even put out very early St. Patrick's Day banners. For the most part, the gardens on Manor Avenue remain elegantly bare; most houses sport leftover greenery from Christmas, Valentine's or winter banners, or nothing at all.

When I got in, I put on an episode of Wonder Woman from the World War II-set first season that did involve music. Diana goes undercover at a beauty pageant that's supposed to be a morale-booster for Army camps. The cutthroat competition among the contestants is nothing compared to the Nazi's plot to sabotage a new radar. When Steve and Etta Candy discover that the Nazis have something else up their sleeves, will they get to Diana...and Wonder Woman...in time?

As you can guess on a holiday, work was far busier tonight than it was yesterday. We had tons of customers with huge orders who were using their last Monday off until May to do some major shopping, and not nearly enough people to handle them. Thankfully, it had slowed down so much by 8:30, I spent another productive half-hour doing returns. I was in and out with no problems.

No Business Like Snow Business

Started the morning with grits with bananas and a grapefruit for breakfast. I ran the beginning of Annie Get Your Gun while I was doing the dishes. Annie is the 1950 adaptation of the hit Broadway show. Judy Garland was originally supposed to have played the title role. She filmed two numbers, but ultimately dropped out due to her many problems at the time. Betty Hutton took over playing Annie Oakley, the female sharp-shooter with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Shooter who charms everyone...including Indian chief Sitting Bull, who adopts her into his tribe, and bullheaded fellow marksman Frank Butler.

I love Irving Berlin's score for this one (yes, even the non-PC "I'm an Indian Too"), but the book hasn't dated that well. Still, if you can get around some of the comic treatment of Indians and smart ladies, there's a lot of really nice numbers here. My favorite - Annie and Frank come face-to-face (and high heel-to-rear) in the hilarious "Anything You Can Do."

Also included are the two sequences Judy Garland filmed before she dropped out, "Doin' What Comes Naturally" and "I'm An Indian Too." "Naturally" is genuinely charming. Garland has a lot of fun with the kids, and it's warmer and less pushy than Hutton's version. Garland, however, didn't seem to be up to the rigors of "Indian Too" - she's noticeably weary throughout the number.

Headed for the laundromat after breakfast. Thanks to those three days off last week, I only had one work uniform to wash and half the laundry I usually had to do. Good thing, too. Probably thanks to the holiday and the weather, the laundromat was very busy. I saw three older women, two men, three college students, and two couples with tons of laundry. Thankfully, I was able to get a washer and dryer without waiting.

Inspired by the tips in the Younger By the Day book I've been reading, I decided it was time to do something I haven't done in years. I cleared out my makeup and hair accessories. Most of my clips and scrunchies belonged to my mother or have been around for years. I rarely wear makeup, which means I replace it even less often. Some of my makeup has been around since I lived in Wildwood, and possibly longer. Anything that was stretched out or I knew had to be way past its expiration date was thrown away. Scratched clips were tossed. I really need new clips, and at least a new lipstick wouldn't hurt, either.

I had leftover teryiaki chicken cutlets with broccoli slaw and peas and brown rice for lunch while watching more of Annie. After lunch, I changed into my work uniform, packed dinner, and headed for the Acme.

It was sunny this morning, but the morning sun gave way to pearly gray clouds and wind this afternoon. Everyone fussed about snow and how cold it's gotten. Um...it was probably in the 40s when I rode to work. We were supposed to get around 1-3 inches of snow starting at 8. Thing is, I seem to remember this time last year, we also got a late snowstorm...that dumped about an inch or two of snow on us that didn't really do much damage. The ground was just too warm.

Between the weather and this being President's Day, we were busy for a lot of the night. Thankfully, it had slowed down enough by 8 for me to shut down, as I had no relief.

A woman claimed it was sleeting around 6:30. If it did, it either didn't do it here or didn't stick. It was still dry when I came out around 8. In fact, as far as I can tell, it didn't start snowing here until around 10. The snow seems to be coming down fairly hard and fast...but it's the light kind of snow that you can sweep up like dust.

Here's hoping that all of my readers had a wonderful President's Day Weekend!

Ridin' High

First of all, Happy President's Day to all those who were lucky enough to get today off! We salute two of our greatest presidents who have birthdays this month, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Since the streets are largely clear in Oaklyn, I rode my bike to work for the first time in over a week today, after spending the morning taking down the Valentine's decorations. Other than the wind and some sheer awkwardness around the busy Nicholson Road-Black Horse Pike intersection, I had no trouble. (I normally ride on the sidewalk at the intersection, but the sidewalk is covered with two feet of snow right now. Unlike the sidewalks in Oaklyn, no one ever bothers clearing the sidewalks on the highways.)

Work was on-and-off steady, a bit busier than yesterday due to the holiday. We also had more employees calling out and more difficulty finding help. I was originally asked to stay later, but it only ended up being about fifteen-twenty minutes late when it took forever for my relief to appear.

It was bright and sunny this morning, but by the time I was riding home at quarter after 3, the silvery snow sky had returned. Thankfully, I was indoors doing pilates when it actually started snowing. This time, however, not only did it not really stick, but it didn't come down that hard. It stopped around 6, then started up again before I went in the shower. It's gone again now, and there's barely more than a dusting on the steps and the dry parts of my porch.

Salute To The Country's Leaders

And we send a shout-out to our nation's leaders, including two of the best, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, on this rather wet President's Day!