Sunny Summer Days

Started off the morning with breakfast and more Goofy shorts. The cartoons of this era often felt something like an early run for Goof Troop. Goofy reminds us that "Fathers are People" when he and his (unseen) wife share the duties of raising their son. The kid may drive him crazy, but in the end, he is his little boy. Goofy tries to take Junior camping, only to run headlong into "Father's Lion" who would rather they went home. 

Not all of the shorts from this era have dated well. The depiction of Goofy's attempt to go cold turkey in "No Smoking" (and the fact that it doesn't work) is more disturbing than funny today. Likewise, his students' behavior in "Teachers are People," including nearly blowing up the school, is a lot less cute in light of real-life shooting and terrorist incidents.

Headed off to work shortly after I ate. I cashiered today. Thankfully, other than I'm tired and got mad at myself for making mistakes a few times, there were no major problems. We were on-and-off steady; by 5, it died so hard, I was able to close with no relief and no need for one. 

Jodie rolled in the driveway at the same time I did. After I got in and changed, she knocked on the door and handed me a Styrofoam container. She went out to dinner and couldn't finish half of her cheesesteak and fries, so I did it for her.

Since they were still warm, I ate right away and watched Match Game '74 at 5:30. Richard Dawson makes a rare misstep in the Head-to-Head with his answer to "__ Canyon." (In Richard's defense, he was from England.) Meanwhile, Gene and Brett makes jokes about Charles' colorful floral fisherman's hat. 

Did the dishes during Match Game '76. Charles and Brett have a great time teasing each other and Bill Daily in the beginning as Charles continues to claim he's a taxi driver. Towards the end of the episode, Gene tries to say good bye to the outgoing contestant, only for the revolving stage to sweep her away while he's still talking. He jumps on the stage and continues to chat with her anyway!

Worked on writing for a while after I finished the dishes. Brett finally takes the boys back to where the Cheshire Catwoman's head still floats over the croquet guests. Queen Betty wants Richard to chop off her head, but there's no neck to chop it off of. Brett points out that the cat technically belongs to Duchess Marcia (Wallace) and they should ask her how to deal with it.

Finished the night with Dangerous When Wet at Watch TCM. I go further into this cute Esther Williams vehicle that includes an animated number featuring Tom & Jerry at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Dangerous When Wet

To the Moon and Work

Spent a very quiet, relaxing morning doing the laundry. I read X-Men: The Legacy Virus on the porch while Dad watched TCM's movie marathon celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. Uncle Ken was at the doctor with Dolores; they came in later. It was a bit more humid and cloudy than it has been, but still not that warm.

I had enough time to have a tasty Turkey Sandwich with Summer Vegetables lunch before I headed for work. Work was just steady when I came in, but it picked up by the time I headed home. There were a few obnoxious customers, otherwise no problems. My relief was on time.

Puka Pele!

Laundry day. I did pilates and enjoyed today's B movie series on TCM, The Lone Wolf. The Lone Wolf was one of the numerous "thieves-turned-detectives" who were common in the 30s and 40s programmers (others include Boston Blackie and The Saint, both of which are also running on TCM this month). Warren William and Eric Blore were Michael Lanyard and his valet Jamesion in the movie I saw, the generally entertaining (if improbable even for B films) Lone Wolf Takes A Chance. I believe this was William's last Lone Wolf movie; the series was revived in the late 40s with Gerald Moher as Lanyard and more of a film noir air.

Diego and his sister Alicia headed out west today on Go Diego Go!. The animal of the day was a prairie dog, and the interpret Hispanic pair had to rustle up a prairie dog and her family who were trapped in the dry desert ranchero and find them a new home in the grassy prairies, where they'd have plenty to eat...if they can get past the goofy Bobo Brothers and a cracking dam. There used to be a family of prairie dogs who lived at the Cape May County Zoo, and I have fond memories of their antics.

The Backyardigans headed from Egypt to Hawaii for another exotic adventure. Party-hearty "Luau Brothers" Pablo, Austin, and Tyrone want to hold the Hawaiian bash to end all Hawaiian bashes, but angry "Volcano Sisters" Uniqua and Tasha may end up raining lava on their parade...IF the boys can find what they want. ("Puka Pele!" is the girls' phrase for eruptions.) Trouble is, the girls aren't telling, and Tyrone and Pablo's attempts to bring them lavish gifts are rejected. It's sensitive Austin who finally figures out what it is the girls are after...and teaches both genders two different lessons. Ladies, if you really want something, don't play mind games with the boys; boys, simple gifts and genuine gestures are often more appreciated than all the jewels and decorations in the world. (Incidentally, this is one of the rare later Backyardigans episodes in which all five kids appear, and one of the very few that's boys vs. girls.)

Work was on-and-off busy, with few problems other than one of the turkey coupons acted up a bit again before it was fixed. I also saw a few new cashiers being trained tonight. Only one was old enough for late work, so my hours may not be impacted too harshly. On the other hand, we do need the help, at any age.

The Merriest Girls In Virginia

I began this Election Day with a bit of American history. Felicity: An American Girl Adventure is the film adaptation of (most of) the six Felicity American Girls books. It doesn't appear that any of the short stories were used this time, only the original six stories.

Though I'm not as interested in the Colonial era as I am in the Victorian era and I've only read three of the six books, I ended up enjoying Felicity's movie debut more than I did Samantha's. For one thing, the use of the actual Colonial Williamsburg as a backdrop gives it more authenticity than Samantha's Canada-as-Victorian-New York. For another thing, the Revolutionary War setting gave it a note of danger that Samantha's more benign adoption tale lacked. Third, Felicity's adventures taming a horse owned by a nasty tanner and helping her dad's apprentice are just plain more exciting than Sam's New York stories.

Another thing I appreciated is, as far as I can tell, most of the original characters are more intact than in Samantha's story. Only Felicity and Elizabeth's teacher, Miss Manderly, is drastically changed from the books (where she was much older). The story is less choppy and better-edited, too, and I actually liked moving the Christmas story from the third to the last, though it did make for a rather sappy ending.

Today was laundry day, and I enjoyed the usual fare with TCM and Nick Jr. TCM's theme of the month is "series movies." They're running films from some of the most famous "series," from the B flicks turned out for double-features in the 30s to the 60s spy capers that generally ended the idea of "movie series" until the proliferation of slasher sequels in the 80s. Today I encountered the later end of the spectrum. I had no idea The Man From U.N.C.L.E made it into the movies. I don't remember this show too well from re-runs, but what I saw was generally a not-bad James Bond imitation. I especially liked the Russian guy.

Dora the Explorer and her buddy Boots the Monkey went on one of their earliest and most unusual adventures today. They headed to Blueberry Hill (hello, in-joke!) for some tasty, juicy fruit, where they encounter Swiper the Fox, who seems to live there, for the first time. They also encounter a big blue bear, who chases them backwards through the obstacles they went through the first time...the only time I recall Dora doing each obstacle twice.

Diego and his big sister Alicia had an even more interesting adventure under the sea that also resulted in a mild format change. This is the first (and so far, only) time Diego and Alicia discover an animal they don't recognize, whom they help lead home.

I stuck around for The Backyardigans, who went exotic as Princess CleoTasha and her band of servants bring presents to Uniqua the Sphinx to find out why the Nile's dried up. Uniqua and the boys finally teach ever-bossy Tasha a lesson - if you really want people to do things, you have to learn to say "please" and "thank you."

I wish they'd teach that lesson to my customers. I had some annoying ones tonight. It started and ended fairly slow, but was busy in between as people came out from the voting booths, trying to avoid tonight's cold weather.

You Do Something To Me

Today was laundry day. Turner Classic Movies concluded it's month-long biopic theme with movies about jazz and big band composers and performers. I spent most of the morning while the laundry was running enjoying Night and Day, the sort-of biography of debonair composer Cole Porter from 1946. Some of it was more accurate than most reviews led me to expect. Cole Porter did go to Yale and Harvard to become a lawyer, did marry a fellow wealthy member of his smart set he was devoted to, Linda, was close friends with character actor Monty Woolley, and sadly, did end up with paralyzed legs after a horseback riding accident and was constantly in surgery in the late 30s.

In real life, though, Porter didn't really care about making Broadway shows. He did grow up wealthy, but was apparently something of a dilettante, which probably explains why, though he got songs published as early as his teens, he didn't have his first genuine Broadway hit until 1928. Even today, his songs are sometimes censored for recordings and movies. He was also a closet homosexual - when he and Linda have marital problems midway through the film, if you know anything about Porter, you start to suspect it isn't female flesh Linda should be worrying about him having his eye on. Historians have questioned his World War I military service for years, too, though they do agree he wasn't wounded.

Actually, my biggest disappointment with this film was with the lifeless musical numbers. Despite all of the wonderful songs from Porter's early career, it feels as icy as Alexis Smith's demeanor. When Cary Grant sits down at a piano and shares a delectable "You're the Top" with radio singer Ginny Simms, it's all pure fun, but the bigger musical numbers, especially ballads, often come off as arty and just plain pretentious. Jane Wyman has some fun comic bits (especially all the millionaires she drags around in a running gag), but is only a so-so singer, and Simms is no actress.

On the other hand, Porter loved Cary Grant as him, and who am I to disagree with him? I thought this was one of Grant's better performances. Shame he didn't do more musicals. Eve Arden was odd but quite funny in a short role as a French(?) chanteuse.

The biggest irony is that, for all the hoopla about Porter's career in this film, his greatest triumphs and sorrows were ahead of him. His career was revived two years later with the Broadway musical Kiss Me Kate; he would go on to do the Broadway shows Out Of This World, Can-Can, and Silk Stocking, and the original movie musicals The Pirate, High Society, and Les Girls. Unfortunately, Porter never really got to enjoy his rebirth. Linda, of whom he was supposedly very fond of in real-life, died in I believe the 50s, and he finally lost one of his legs later in the decade and spent the last years of his life in pain and seclusion.

Work was steady-to-dead, no major problems, and should continue to be so tomorrow. Halloween is not a really big holiday for grocery stores. We won't pick up again until after Veteran's Day.

I also watched three horror-oriented sitcom episodes this morning, two Perfect Strangers eps and one from Remember WENN. The first of the two Strangers episodes, the fourth season's "Aliens," was the only one to outright deal with Halloween. Larry holds a Halloween party to watch a horror movie marathon, but everyone else (including Balki) eventually drops out, leaving Larry alone with his movies and popcorn. He eventually has the second of three nightmare sequences that turned up on the show, here dreaming that Balki is an alien from the planet Mypos who has come to invade the Earth.

"Fright Night," from the seventh and last full season, was a tad more generic. Balki is excited when neighbors reveal their new home is haunted, but Larry doesn't believe him, as usual...until the ghost actually comes out of hiding. And yes, Balki, Elvis is really dead.

The staff of Pittsburgh radio station WENN also finds themselves handling ghosts in "The Ghost of WENN" from the third season. Soap opera diva Hilary Booth is targeted by an unseen poltergeist who has an odd thing for cranberry jelly. Meanwhile, the rest of WENN has varied reactions as they put on a spooky ghost story with some rather frightening back history.

Vacation: The Most Glorious Word In The English Language

I woke up early to run to the bank, then did my five-hour shift at the Acme. Work was steady when I came in at 10, stone-dead by the time I left at 3. Plenty of help, no major problems. Many people had just returned from vacations of their own (if their massive restocking orders were any indication - some orders numbered as much as $600) and were in great moods.

Who could be in a bad mood anyway, between a glorious day and the knowledge that I wouldn't be setting foot in the Acme again for over a week? I went straight to Uncle Ken's after work to do my laundry, which I did. Uncle Ken and his girlfriend Dolores were working on new railings for the porch. Bruce, Jessa, and Bruce's girlfriend Jodie went to some graduation/pool party and were gone pretty much the whole time I was there.

I hit the pool after I put the laundry in the dryer. It was great! The water was warm; the air was breezy and hot but not humid. There couldn't have been a more perfect July day. I swam for about a half-hour. The doctor told me I'd have my knee up for a week, then could exercise it for four, and what better way to exercise a bad knee than with simple swimming moves? I felt more refreshed and energized after that swim than I have in...years, maybe. I just felt so GOOD.

Even the TV was on my side. Bruce had TCM on when I arrived; they were running the last 20 minutes of Casablanca, one of my all-time favorite films. The movie that came on afterwards, Murder of the Orient Express, was equally good. (I'm lucky there was something interesting on for a change; I usually bring a book when I do the laundry, but I was in such a hurry after I got back from work, I forgot).

Most of tomorrow is going to be spent packing. I want to bring far less this time than I did last time so it'll be a lot easier to haul my luggage around four bus terminals. I'll make a quick run to CVS for trial-sized shampoo and conditioner in the morning. (I didn't like the brands the Acme carried, though I did get trial-sized deodorant from them.)

Turner Classic Rock

Here's something I wouldn't expect to see on Turner Classic Movies. They're covering "Oscar Winning and/or Nominated Scores" tonight, and among those running are the infamous 1975 Kurt Russell version of "Tommy."

Come to think of it, I wouldn't expect to see the movies running before ("A River Runs Through It" isn't really a classic - it's from 1992!) or after ("Shaft," "Sleuth") "Tommy" on TCM, either. Glad to see them trying to diversify their audience...

I like "Tommy" (I'm listening to the original album version as I type this), but let me say this is DEFINATELY not for the squemish, young kids (and some older ones), and anyone who isn't a fan of classic rock to begin with. It's massively strange. Fun if you like the Who, but very, very strange. I'm not exactly sure how Ann-Margaret got nominated for this - it still recieves mixed reviews to this day and it's hard for anyone to cut through Russell's excess. (This man accidentally started a fire in an English pier...then got everyone out and filmed the burning building for the movie!)

http://www.tcm.com/thismonth/article/?cid=152705&mainArticleId=152700