There's a Kind of Hush

I had a very quick breakfast, then we went outside and called Uber. Honestly, it was hot and humid, but not any hazier than it had been yesterday evening. I was more concerned about the mid-90's heat than the haze. At least we had no trouble there. The driver picked us up in 8 minutes and pleasantly chatted with us all the way up to Red, White, and Blue Thrift at Lawnside. 

Red, White, and Blue replaced the long-empty K-Mart the week before Memorial Day. I did so well there, I wanted to show it to Lauren. I made even better finds this time! Lauren turned up more workout shorts. I found a pair of jean shorts for work, a pair of brown shorts, two records, two books, and 3 CDs (one a two-disc set). The books were:

The Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters

Forgotten Fairy Tales of Brave and Brilliant Girls

The records were:

The Disney Winnie the Pooh retelling of When We Were Very Young

True Value Happy Holidays Vol. III (The earliest True Value Happy Holidays I've found - before that, my earliest Happy Holidays collection was Volume 13.)

The CDs were: 

The 2-disc original cast album for the revue Closer Than Ever

Jack Jones - The Best of Jack Jones

Phil Collins - Dance Into the Light

Since it's two blocks down the White Horse Pike, our next stop was the House of Fun. I sorted through the bins of stuffed toys and looked over the racks and racks of sci-fi, action, and horror DVDs, but saw nothing of interest. Lauren was more interested in the back wall filled with every kind of Funco figure imaginable. She ended up with Captain America poised to attack and Deadpool dressed as Bob Ross. (I am not going to ask there.)

We hiked further down Atlantic Avenue to the Old Rail Tavern for lunch. We ate outside...which might not have been the smartest idea. Flies kept attacking our legs! On the other hand, our sandwiches were really good. Lauren had Southwestern grilled chicken and thick chips. I had fries and the same yummy Italian Chicken Cutlet I had back in May. Very tasty despite the bugs.

After lunch, we headed a block over to the Haddon Heights Antique Center at Barrington. This huge rabbit warren of rooms is filled with everything from antique china to depression glass to recent DVDs and Barbies. Lauren found a few things for her parents. I picked up two older Beanie Babies, Fleece the sweet lamb and Curly the brown bear. 

It may have only been hazy, but it was still really hot. Even the air conditioning at the Antique Center didn't help cool us off. We picked up drinks next-door at the Garnet Grill before heading down Barrington Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, under the 295 overpass and past the baseball field and Haddon Heights Public Works. It took us 20 minutes, but we did get into Haddon Heights, coming out next to Jane's Tea Room on Station Avenue. 

Our next stop was Doc's Finds, a gift shop and record store. Doc's records and CD have more and more begun to dominate. He has tons and tons of great stuff, and I never fail to walk out with something good. He had so much great stuff, I couldn't explore half his dollar bins because they were buried under more records. Lauren bought three CDs. I picked up six records, two of them with multiple discs:

The soundtracks for Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter and Working Girl 

The cast album for the 1970 revival of The Boy Friend with Judy Carne and Sandy Duncan (Still in its original plastic!)

Jefferson Airplane - Bless Its Pointed Little Head

Stage Door Canteen, a 4-disc collection of popular songs from World War II

The Hit List - 1982 2-Disc K-Tel collection

Cabana Water Ice is right across the street from Doc's, so we headed there next. They looked very different from the last time I was in there years ago. They were all white and chrome, with a fill-your-own-frozen yogurt section. I didn't want frozen yogurt. I wanted water ice. Once a family with three boys finally got their ice cream, I ordered a medium chocolate covered strawberry water ice. That turned out to be a very red, very strawberry water ice with chocolate bits. At least it was a lot less grainy than Cabana's water ice used to be! Lauren took longer to decide, but she finally got a gelati - sugar-free lemon water ice layered with vanilla ice cream and pineapple topping. Yum! It was delectably sweet and cool. We watched it while Law & Order: Special Victims Unit played in the background on USA.

By that point, it was past 4:30. We hurried down Station Avenue and across the White Horse Pike to the bus shelter. Thankfully, the 4:42 was slightly late, nothing horrible, and there was no traffic. We got off at Oaklyn and were home within 20 minutes. 

After we put everything away, we went right back out for dinner. This time, we ended up at a very busy Amoto Bros two blocks down the White Horse Pike. This dark-paneled local bar replaced a deli by the same name when that burned down. They were known for their amazing hoagies...and fortunately, both the deli and their sandwiches carried over to the bar. Lauren had a massive triple-decker sandwich that was so good, she ate it all. I couldn't even finish my Pilgrim Turkey Hoagie with stuffing and cranberry sauce. Lauren had sour cream and onion chips. I had regular. We chatted while watching the Phillies-Mets game. (Alas, later research revealed that the Phils lost, 4-1.)

Once we got home, she finished packing and went online. I watched Safety In Numbers. I go further into this 1930 romantic comedy featuring Carole Lombard as one of three ladies showing young millionaire Buddy Rogers how to live at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Safety In Numbers

Nothing but the Tooth

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and Match Game '90. Buzzr's marathon this week is likely to test the waters and see how it'll do as a regular series. I think this version is very underrated. Yes, Ross Schafer is cute and funny but doesn't compare to Gene, and the Match Up tends to slow down game play. It definitely has its fun moments, though, including some really hilarious panelists like Betty White, Charles Nelson Reilly, Joe Alasky, and Vicki Lawrence on today's episode. 

Since the weather continues to hold out and I wanted to take Uber later, I walked to the dentist. It was a beautiful day for a brisk hike down Johnson and Cuthbert. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and while the wind had returned, all those clouds from yesterday disappeared overnight. I should have left earlier, though. Even with no traffic on Cuthbert and moving fast as I could, I still dashed in the dentist's office literally as the technician popped her head out and called my name.

Everything went just fine after that. Cleaning my teeth took 20 minutes. Finding a doctor to check my teeth after that didn't even take a minute. He checked my teeth, declared that I had no cavities, and I moved on in a little over a half-hour. I'm in such good shape, I won't need to see them again until late April.

Stopped briefly for a Diet Pepsi at Dollar Tree, then had lunch at the Bagel Shop. Considering it was 12:30 by that point, they were pretty busy. I still didn't have to wait long for my spinach and feta omelet, chocolate chip bagel, and home fries. Grabbed a chocolate chip cookie on the way out for the movies later.

Walked over to Target, where I picked up Uber. Considering it was the height of the noon rush hour, I was surprised it didn't even take a minute to get a driver. There was no traffic on the back roads of Haddon Township or on the White Horse Pike. After I directed him in front of the theater (I don't know why the GPS keeps sending all the drivers in the back), he dropped me off at the Cinemark within 20 minutes. 

I had just enough time to buy my tickets and slide into my seat, with five minutes to spare before the commercials for Better Man began. I go further into this unique biography of British rock star Robbie Williams that presents him as a CGI ape at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Better Man

And rather disappointingly, not much of interest in the commercials. It was mainly horror that's too scary for me and dour thrillers that looked all the same. The only movie I even liked the look of was the last Mission: Impossible that's set to debut in May. 

Didn't get much out of my trip to Walmart, either. They still don't have much in the way of records, their doll clothes seemed pretty thin, too, and I need to watch the TV show sets I have before I start picking up more. I just bought Propel mix and those Junkless granola bars before picking up the bus home in front of Taco Bell. 

After I took out the trash, I worked on the Seasonal inventory. Added The Ultimate Christmas Album Volumes Five and Six and A Very Special Christmas 2 and 3. Ultimate Christmas Album Volume Five goes back the furthest of this batch. In fact, it goes back so far, I have no idea where it came from anymore. I think it might have been sold in the Wildwood CVS or Acme in the early 2000's, before I moved. Either that, or I got it from FYE around the same time. 

Watched Match Game '73 while I worked and as I ate dinner. After finishing out the week with Robert Q. Lewis and Joyce Bulifant, they moved on to the next week with Judy Carne and Fannie Flagg...for one episode. The episode after that skipped a week and a half to Christmas 1973. Jack Cassidy made his first of three appearances on the show before his untimely death, while June Lockhart was so warm and personable, I wish she came back. 

Finished the night with the soundtrack from The Pirate Movie in honor of a new Broadway revival of The Pirates of Penzance set to debut on Broadway this spring. Yes, I'm aware that this goofy spoof of Penzance has never been popular with the critics, who don't appreciate the jokey tone or weird cast. No, I don't care. While Mabel and Fredrick's pop ballads are bland and silly, the chorus numbers old and new are first-rate. The upbeat "Happy Endings" is more palatable without the slightly salacious choreography in the film's finale, "Modern Major General" has hilarious updated lyrics, and the ensemble songs "We Are the Pirates," "Tarantara," and "Come Friends, Who Plough the Sea" are delights. 

I got lucky and dug this out of the dollar bin at Innergroove years ago, but it's still worth poking around eBay for if you're a fan of the film like me or love 80's action spoofs. 

Pure Imagination

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and the first episode of Green Eggs and Ham on Netflix. Somehow, the simple story was turned into "Here," the surprisingly touching tale of failed inventor Guy (Michael Douglas) who encounters an enthusiastic little guy named Sam I Am (Adam DeVine) at a diner after missing the bus. Sam keeps pushing his favorite dish green eggs and ham on everyone, but Guy refuses. There's a Chickargriffe (Dee Bradly Baker) missing from the zoo. Little EB (Illana Glazer) is hoping to catch it despite her worried single mother's (Diane Keaton) fretting over everything. Sam, however, has his own connection with who freed the Chickargriffe, and why it's now running loose...

Headed out after that. Since it was relatively late and I didn't trust Mother Nature, I took Uber. No trouble here, not even traffic. Let let me off at the theater in just  a little over ten minutes. I went straight into a nice, quiet lunch at Applebees, since I wasn't sure how long the movie would run. I enjoyed by grilled chicken and bacon sandwitch and crispy, salty fries. Went to the stores on the other side of the movie theater to buy a Pepsi Zero at Dollar Tree.

Even with all that, I was still 20 minutes early for Wonka. Was disappointed to learn that the Fandango card only works for ordering tickets online. I'll just use it next month when Mean Girls: The Musical comes out. Stopping at Dollar Tree proved to be a wise decision, too. The lines for the concession stand went half-way across the lobby; I didn't bother with them. I just ended up following the twisty halls to the theater instead.

Mean Girls was definitely the most interesting commercial. I still haven't gotten around to seeing the original film, let alone its musical version! I really need to do that one of these days. Migration looks cute, but nothing I'm going to go out of my way to see. Maybe when it debuts on streaming. 

As for Wonka, I go further into that at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Wonka

Though the weather remained gray and a bit warm for this time of  year, it wasn't raining, snowing, or doing anything besides be gloomy. It wasn't even windy. I had enough time for a stroll up the hill to the giant Walmart. I was hoping to pick up the Wonka soundtrack like I did with the one for Barbie, but it would seem that it won't be out on physical media until next month. Did grocery shopping instead. Bought yogurt, Propel drink mix, and granola bars; found a container of sugar-free oatmeal raisin cookies on clearance. 

The bus home showed up on time for a change. No trouble here, either. There were more problems with people chattering with the driver and distracting him and blocking riders coming on than with the relatively minimal traffic. Got off on the White Horse Pike with no trouble.

Went into writing when I got home. I couldn't get anything going with Nutcracker Blank, so I returned to The Wizard of Blank. Joyce is worried about the dark forest ahead. Richard and Charles are less so, although Charles does hope that no animals there eat straw.

Broke at 7 PM to check out Match Game Syndicated. Fred Grandy sticks around for this week, this time moving to Charles' seat. Joe Santos takes the male ingenue chair, joined by Eva Gabor and Betty White. The show made history with Glenn, one of the first blind contestants to appear on a game show. Betty was more interested in his sweet and beautiful service dog Princess, who was aptly named (and probably smarter and better-behaved than many of the panelists). 

Finished the night with dinner while watching the first season Christmas episode of The Love Boat. It's "Lonely at the Top" for Captain Steubing, who isn't in the Christmas spirit and feels like he can't connect with his homesick crew. Father Mike (Dick Sargent), who has brought six orphan boys on a special cruise paid for by an anonymous donor, suggests he try to be involved with their lives, but Steubing just ends up trying too hard. An unhappy couple (Shecky Greene and Florence Henderson) try to find a way to say "Divorce Me, Darling" and end their relationship. It may be a "Silent Night" for a man (John Gavin) who was framed for a crime he didn't commit. His wife (Donna Mills) wishes he'd just live and let live, or at least deal with it in another way besides killing his former partner.