Heating Up Independence Day

Began the morning with the 4th of July selections from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. The big pieces here are a chapter from Little Town on the Prairie that has Carrie, Laura, and their pa enjoying lemonade and a pony cart race at their growing little town and The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. There was also the first part of the Constitution and several smaller poems on independence and fireworks.

Started Ben & Me during a quick breakfast. The "me" in this case is Amos Mouse, who helped Benjamin Franklin create some of his greatest inventions, from the Franklin Stove to the Pennsylvania Gazette. Amos thinks Ben's gone too far after he has him ride in that famous electrifying kite and leaves. He begs Amos to come back during the American Revolution and help him out again. Their agreement to no more tricks becomes the basis of the Declaration of Independence. 

Thank heavens Oaklyn pushed their parade back to 9 AM today. I wouldn't have seen it if it stayed at 10. Even at 8:50, it was already steamy and in the 90's. I dropped Finley's birthday gift off at Rose's house, then got a free cotton candy water ice from Yummies Palace's cart and free red, white, and blue beads from the Oaklyn Civic Association. A little boy who was already dripping sweat handed me a 250th anniversary America flag. 

Thankfully, the parade was more-or-less on time. The cardboard boat with a Jaws theme won first place. I liked the group dressed as butterflies the best. There was only one other kid next to me, jumping out to gather the tons of candy all of the baseball teams and various groups threw. I gave some of my candy to the little kids in wagons behind me, some of it to him, and still had tons of Mamba, Tootsie Roll Fruit Chews, and Dum Dums lollipops leftover to share with Lauren when she visits. 

Oh, and I ran into Rose and Finley towards the end of the parade. No, they weren't doing anything today. Rose was sending the kids to have a barbecue with their father at his mother's house, and she just wanted to rest. I pointed them towards the Civic Association's booth with Hot dogs, mini bags of chips and Cheetos, and baby pools filled with ice, soda, and water. 

Stopped at Common Grounds Coffee House to get a cool treat. The line for drinks was long, but it moved fast. I got a Peaches and Cream Lemonade. Peach syrup with very tart lemonade topped with foam. Not bad, though that lemonade was very, very puckering!

Finished Ben & Me after I got in, then switched to classic shorts while I got dressed for work. "Patriotic Popeye" tries to keep his nephews from setting off balloons, until they end up being carried into the sky by one, and he needs spinach to intervene. "Donald's Failed Fourth" has Donald trying to set up for a picnic with Daisy in front of the fireworks, but the blanket and chairs won't cooperate.

Called Uber after the cartoons ended. It was just too hot to ride my bike. To my surprise, it only took me 7 minutes to get a ride. I figured it would be much longer on a very hot major holiday. It took me 9 minutes to get a ride home. No problems or traffic either way.

Work could have been a lot worse. It got crazy around noon and was picking up again when I left at 5, but the in between wasn't really that bad. I did spend most of the time outside pushing carts, but I had help from one of the college boys (who did most of the sweeping), and I went in for water when I got too hot. I was in and out with no trouble. 

Listened to A Musical Souvenir of America On Parade when I got home. Yes, this was the music from Disney's big Bicentennial parade at the parks in 1975 and 1976. The songs are mostly instrumental versions of traditional American tunes like "Turkey In the Straw," "O Susannah," "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and "I've Been Working On the Railroad," but somehow "Animal Crackers In My Soup" slips in there towards the end...and Disney being Disney couldn't resist including "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah." 

Finished the night on YouTube after a shower. The owner of the Match Game Productions channel did something different and showed us how other game shows celebrated the 4th of July. One show actually started on the 4th, the 1988 Family Feud with Ray Combs. Press Your Luck had Whammies setting off fireworks and snatching cash in 1985. Markie Post and Richard Shannon (with hair!) played each other on Super Password in 1986 just prior to Post joining Night Court (and even obliquely mentioned it on the episode). A patriotic episode of Price Is Right from 1975, just a few months before they expanded to an hour, had a Bicentennial salute to George M. Cohen as one of the Showcases. 

Classic Concentration was the only show to decorate for the occasion, offering flags everywhere, a trip to Washington DC, a paper mache George Washington, red, white, and blue cars to choose from, and Canadian Alex Trebek in an American flag tie. Things were more normal on 4th of July episodes of the Richard Dawson Family Feud, other than a few picnic-related questions. Susan Richardson and Wesley Eure did battle on Password Plus. The first 4th of July on Body Language had Betty White simply being outplayed by lanky Ed Begley Jr. Lisa Benet had more luck against Jason Bateman during their teen month the next year, while Kennedy set off sparklers. The Bob Eubanks Card Sharks introduced a new bonus round, while Jim Perry dealt with some pretty unique contestants, including a very funny old man named Ed, in his earlier version from 1979 and 1980. 

Celebrate our nation's 250th anniversary game show style in these hilariously patriotic tributes!

Saturday Game Show Classics - 4th of July Game Show Marathon

Called Mom during the marathon to wish her a happy 4th. She was enjoying hers in pretty much the same way, watching Ken Burns documentaries on PBS with Keefe. Keefe's wife Julia took their children to visit her family, so they were relishing the peace and quiet. They hadn't done much today, but Keefe did take Mom to his favorite restaurant earlier in the week. 

Oh, and there were no fireworks this year. Not only was it too hot, but there were some pretty bad storms later in the evening. That didn't stop people from setting off their own fireworks, including a beautiful display of sparkling green and pink just a few houses down from here on East Clinton.

Here's hoping your 4th of July was just as much fun...and a lot cooler. 

Wet Easter Matches

Actually, I'd only just gotten up when Mom called to wish me a happy Easter. She'd just gotten Play Doh "food" from my brother Keefe's daughter Aurora, who is now three and a half. Apparently, Aurora got a Donut Factory Play Doh set from the Easter Bunny. Mom says Aurora loves donuts! Her father's not doing nearly as well. In addition to his arthritis problems, he's having major trouble with his eyes. He had to have eye surgery that was so new, he was actually a documented case (with his enthusiastic permission) by doctors. He seems to be doing better, even if he can't drive at night anymore. At any rate, he was going to make Easter dinner.

Read Easter selections from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology after I got off with Mom. My favorite material here is "Nino's Easter," about the Easter day of a typical Italian peasant boy and his family and community. Just reading about all the food they eat at the feast after church makes me hungry! No wonder the one boy gorged himself.  "The Country Bunny and the Gold Shoes" trains her little ones so well, they can take care of each other. The senior Easter Bunny is so impressed, he makes her an Easter bunny, too. She's worried she won't be able to bring eggs to a sick boy on an icy mountain, but the Easter Bunny gives her gold shoes to create her own holiday magic. I also read an utterly hilarious short for April Fool's Day that has two boys being run up a tree by a giraffe. They're hoping to give it back to the zoo and get a reward, but the giraffe doesn't make that easy!

Went online briefly after that before Jessa came. Mike was with her. It was still just cloudy and warm when we drove into Collingswood, parking on Haddon Avenue. We got incredibly lucky. We hadn't been at Paloma Restaurant for more than 10 minutes before it started showering heavily. I had the Churro French Toast, two huge raft-sized French toast slices with cinnamon cream, blackberries, strawberries, and bananas. Mike had a chicken quesadilla. He even gave me the last wedge. Jessa had Eggs Benedict. Oh, yum! My French toast was just crispy enough, with huge berries and banana pieces. Mike's Chicken Quesadilla was nice and cheesy and crispy.

We walked up and down Haddon Avenue for an hour, dodging showers and checking out what was open. None of us bought anything at Clutter. I found a lovely folk art-style felt heart ornament at Occasionette, sewn with a flower basket and beads. It was $16, but it reminded me so much of the similar felt Christmas decorations Mom made us in the 90's, I had to buy it. Innergroove was open again after being closed on Easter last year. I don't think Mike and Jess got anything, but I found:

John Denver - Windsong

George Benson - The George Benson Collection

The soundtrack from Sing 2

(I also found Nat King Cole's Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer, but I already have that one. I'll donate it to Goodwill.)

On our way down Haddon, we stopped to admire the shadow boxes in the window of the local newspaper the Retrospect. Each box represented a Collingswood business or landmark. In addition to obvious places like the police and fire station, there were boxes representing the Scottish Rite Auditorium, the Retrospect itself, Kismet Bagels, Flair Dance Studio, and even the water tower. To my surprise, Jessa pointed out that the pre-school children of Thomas Sharp made the shadow boxes this year! I thought some of the photographs of the children in the window looked familiar. I'll have to ask the kids about that when school starts again on the 13th.

Jessa drove me home after we left Innergroove. That rain wasn't stopping, and indeed, it would be off and on for the next few hours. Soon as we got home, I changed and relaxed while watching Easter Parade. I went further into this classic MGM musical with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in 2019. 

Happy Easter! - Easter Parade

Switched to Easter records after the movie ended. The soundtrack for It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, like the special itself, is highly underrated. There's some nice, bouncy tracks here, from "Woodstock's Dream" to Marcie inadvertently making "Easter Egg Soup." The bonus David Benoit track "Woodstock's Medley" is well-done, too. (And hey, if we're doing Peanuts special soundtracks, could we get David Benoit's work for the Peanuts in the 90's, too?)

Peter Cottontail - The First Easter Record for Children is just that, Easter and rabbit-themed songs for kids from presumably the mid-late 50's. Gene Autry kicks things off with the title song. He also sings "Sonny the Bunny," "The Funny Little Bunny (With the Powder Puff Tail)," and "Bunny Round-Up Time." Rosemary Clooney handles the ballads and bouncy songs, including "Bunny On the Rainbow" and a lovely version of "Easter Parade." Art Carney gets the comic stories "Flop, Mop, Cotton, and Pete" (Peter Rabbit, that is) and "A Thump, a Twinkle, and a Twitch, or How to Make a Rabbit." 

I started the Walt Disney 1987 Easter parade on YouTube, but moved to the Match Game marathon when that began at 6 during a big ham dinner. There were even more references to rabbits, eggs, or Easter on the show than what turned up yesterday. The first episode to have a rabbit question was the second week with Bob Barker, Della Reece, and the only cast members of The Waltons to appear on any version of the show, Michael Lerned and Richard Thomas. There was one on the 1978 episode where Richard Dawson argued that "Toasted Buns" matched "Warm Buns" (it did not), and the 1973 episode that introduced a hilarious Morey Amsterdam to the panel. By far the most notable episode with a rabbit reference was Charles Nelson Reilly's infamous return to the show in 1975 after being gone for nearly a year. Only Charles would make a grand entrance via wire and a stuffed bird! 

Join the Easter parade of weirdos and enjoy a whole lot of ham with these hilarious episodes!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Easter Sunday Marathon (Easter Part II)

Finished the night with the Walt Disney Easter Parades on YouTube. Ben Vereen joined Joan Lunden in 1987, appearing in the opening "Trolley Song" number himself. One of the things I like about the Easter specials is that they're just lavish enough. They don't get nearly as over the top as the Disney Christmas and Fourth of July parades do. The 50th anniversary of Snow White was the big push that year, along with Disney's Cruise Lines. Alan Thicke chased Mr. Smee and Captain Hook around the cruise ship and to a beach party in the Bahamas, where they danced to a Beach Boys cover group. Regis Phillbin worked the crowd here.

By 1995, the Disney Renaissance was in full swing. There were floats devoted to Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid. Philbin joined Lunden in the host's chair this time. Comedians Dave Chappelle and Dave Bruer were the goofballs interviewing viewers on Main Street. The main focus here was on Pocahontas, which would debut that June. Max and Goofy promote A Goofy Movie while grown-ups battle kids at the newly-opened Blizzard Beach, and we get to see bits of the ultra-colorful, ultra-blocky, ultra-90's "Mickey Mania" parade and the new vintage space-themed revamp of Tomorrowland.

Celebrate Easter at Walt Disney World and relive some fond memories of your own with these delightful trips into Disney's past!

1987 Walt Disney World Easter Parade

1995 Walt Disney World Easter Parade

Of Mummers and Muppets

Began the first day of 2026 with stories from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays. My favorite is the charming tale of a group of kids in a small town who ring the church bell for an elderly neighbor to celebrate the New Year. "A Disastrous New Year" from Hitty: Her First Hundred Years depicts how wooden doll Hitty was stolen on New Year's Day by a group of New York street toughs who attacked her child owner. "Dobry's New Year" focuses on Bulgarian New Year's customs, including reading the buds on a dram bush to see how your year will go. There's also several poems on New Year's festivities and changes in the New Year.

I thought I was running late when I ate a quick breakfast and waited for Jessa outside just after 10 AM. She didn't turn up until past 10:30 with her boyfriend Mike. He's a cheerful fellow, a bit on the chatty side. To my surprise, it snowed a little bit last night, enough that the ground was frosted white like a New Year's cake. Unfortunately, while the roads in Oaklyn had been cleared, the ones in Collingswood had not. Jessa skidded a few times before she finally pulled into the PATCO parking lot. 

We took a barely-full PATCO into Philly and made it to Broad Street by 11:30. It was a beautiful, if fridgid, day for a parade. The sky was a full-bodied, brilliant blue that almost hurt to look at, without a cloud in it. The wind, however, remained icy and so strong, some of the fancier string bands had to leave behind their props. It didn't dampen anyone's spirits. The Mummers strutted just as wildly as ever, and the crowds were even more enthusiastic, cheering, dancing along, and calling out the Eagles victory cheer.

The first group I saw as we made our way through the crowds were one of the Wench Brigades, this one wearing candy-print outfits and pulling a small "gingerbread house." The next group in red and blue were pirates, complete with a huge wooden "ship." Another had black and white outfits with an eye test print of large and small letters. Freddy Kruger wenches had red and green striped dress outfits, wore green tinsel garlands and Freddy's hat, and had clawed gloves. There were at least two Revolutionary War wench brigades in honor of America's 250th anniversary this year. A local used car dealership tossed its bear mascot in with characters representing Philly sports mascots and the Liberty Bell. Magician wenches wore red, black, and white and sported cards and long scarves. A yellow and black wench group were bees pulling cardboard hives.

I loved the comic Toy Story group, with a dad and mom Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, a male Little Bo Peep, Buzz Lightyear, teen aliens, and the most adorable kid Trixie and Rex. A group of animals included eagles "soaring" on roller blades who got quite a reaction from the crowd! The first fancy brigade had a garden theme, with massive pink and green flowers and enormous Venus fly traps fluttering in the wind. The next was an amusement park. There were kids dressed as a roller coaster, a ticket booth, and even a giant ice cream swirl cone. Guys and girls twirled in fluffy cotton candy dresses. 

During a gap in the program, I got cold and bored standing there and headed down Broad Street to see what else was there. The wind and cold had scared off many people. There weren't quite as many people watching the parade live as there usually is. It was still fun to watch all of the drunk college kids screaming and (trying to) dance and the kids handing their parents beads while their parents taught them the Mummers Strut.

There's a Dunkin' Donuts further up Broad Street near the Sprouts Market and the Philadelphia High School for the Performing and Creative Arts. Though it was busy inside, the line surprisingly wasn't long. I made use of those gift cards from the kids to get a medium hot chocolate and a blueberry donut. There wasn't as much going on down by the school, so after I finished my donut, I followed the crowds back to Locust Street.

We finally decided by quarter of 12 that we'd seen enough and were too cold to stick around for the rest of the fancy groups. We took a largely empty PATCO (except for one really loud and drunk guy in a pink bunny outfit who thankfully got off at Broadway in Camden) back to Collingswood, getting in by just after 1. 

I usually have my first meal out of the year at the Westmont Diner. With the Westmont Diner still under renovations, I suggested the Haddon Diner on the border of Westmont and Haddonfield instead. Jessa had a hard time parking in the tiny, full lot, but they weren't that busy when we got in. The Haddon Diner is a lovely little spot with hand-stenciled wooden booths and reasonable prices. Mike had a huge chicken wrap. Jessa's turkey club sandwich was so big, she could only finish half of it. She and Mike both had chicken soup. Mike ordered mozzarella sticks and chicken quesadillas with curly fries. I had apple-raisin pancakes that were smaller, more moist, and more manageable than the ones at the Silver Diner on Tuesday, along with bacon and hot tea. Everything was so tasty, and the other two seemed to really enjoy theirs.

After they dropped me off at home, I went straight into Holiday Inn. I went further into this classic 1942 musical that introduced "White Christmas," "Happy Holiday," and "Let's Start the New Year Right" at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back on New Year's Day 2019.

Happy New Year! - Holiday Inn

Moved on to Sesame Street Stays Up Late after the movie ended. I also go further into this charming special on how different cultures celebrate the New Year at my musical review blog.

Happy New Year! - Sesame Street Stays Up Late 

Switched to the Match Game New Year's Day Celebration Party marathon after dinner and a shower. The first episode of 1974 began with the arrival of Dorothy Zinni, an overly enthusiastic contestant who was so excited, she accidentally hit the laid-back guy next to her and scared the panelists to death. Even Richard was too terrified of her to kiss her! Richard's girlfriend Jodie proved to be far more palatable for him in 1976. Dick Martin kicked off 1976 by getting an answer right for the first time. Fannie Flagg enjoyed sitting in Brett's seat while she was out doing a play on the first day of 1978. Gene stumbled into the first day of 1979 draped with streamers from the previous episode and looking more than a little bleary-eyed. Jon "Bowser" Bauman played with rubber chains on the first episode of 1980, while McLean Stevenson had permanently taken over Richard's spot by 1981.

Dick Martin carried over to The Match Game-Hollywood Square Hour's first episode of 1984. Alison Arngrin showed off her stylish black dress and hat, Vic Dunlop dodged fat jokes, Arsenio Hall tossed out quips, and we have a young David Ruprecht when he was hosting Real People. Brad Garrett continued to imitate the on-vacation Charles Nelson Reilly on the first Match Game episode of 1991. Bruce Baum showed he could do more than create goofy and slightly disturbing "inventions" by actually doing pretty darn well at Match Up. 

Party on in the new year with Match Game in these hilarious episodes!

Match Game New Year's Celebration Party

Wait, there's more! We also have bonus episodes of Family Feud, Password Plus, Super Password, and a repeat of the Match Game '77 New Year's Eve episode. It's more bang for your game show buck in the New Year!

Family Feud (1980)

Family Feud (1980)

Match Game (1977)

Password Plus (1981)

Super Password (1987)

Finished the night working on the Sesame Street review while listening to My Favorite Things. John Coltrane digs into songs by three masters of American standards, starting with the Rodgers and Hammerstein title song. There's two gorgeous renditions of Gershwin brothers numbers, "But Not for Me" and "Summertime," and a darker Cole Porter "Every Time We Say Goodbye." 

Here Comes Santa Claus

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. This time, Martian Mickey comes to Earth, but he has a "Martian Mishap" when he crashes into a tree after Goofy makes a mistake getting him down. The others have to retrieve pieces of his ship from the forest, the lake, and the desert, so Martian Mickey can get the spices he needs for his Yumblatz (hot dog) Pie.

Switched to Supermarket Sweep while I made my grocery list. This was the end of their "Family Week," with three sets of sisters playing each other. Team 1 not only got almost all of the bonuses in the Big Sweep, they got twice as much time as anyone else. All of those bonuses resulted in them earning the show's biggest-ever Big Sweep total, over $1,900.

Hurried off to run errands next. I couldn't find an egg timer at Target or Dollar Tree. I want it to time me at night and make sure I go to bed and not stay up until 5 AM. Did a little better at Sprouts. Found sugar cookies and more containers of those apple fritter-flavored dried cranberries on clearance. Picked up coconut milk and sparkling water, too.

Sprouts hadn't been busy, and the Acme wasn't really, either. I mainly needed to restock yogurt and oranges here. Found Nature's Valley granola bars buy one, get one free. Cove sodas were $1.50. Got more sliced chicken, too. Bought stamps for when I get the Christmas cards together on Saturday. Found more Winter Spiced Sprite Zero and Diet Coke Lime $2 for 5. 

Newton Lake Park was gorgeous, if chilly, as I rode home. It was sunny, windy, and cold, in the upper 30's. The park is showing signs of winter now. The leaves are almost entirely gone from the trees, the grass is turning yellow, and fewer plants and animals are seen along the banks. 

Had a quick lunch when I got in while putting everything away and watching First a Girl. I go further into this British version of Victor/Victoria from 1935 with Jesse Matthews and Sonnie Hale at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

First a Girl

The movie had just ended when I headed to the Thomas Sharp School. Though the older kids did get to run around on the blacktop, it was too cold for the younger kids to go on the playground. One of the teachers and I read Hot Wheels: Extreme Stunts, Tweety: The North Star's Magical Journey Home, and Move Over, Rover! After that, the kids spent the rest of the afternoon building towers from magnetic tiles that were so tall, they had to be leaned against the cafeteria wall to keep them standing, coloring, and playing with rubber play food.

After I finished, I had dinner at Crust n' Cravings. I was originally going to eat at Phillies Phatties, but Collings Avenue was closer to the school. Plus, to be honest, I just like Crust n' Cravings' pizza better. I ate a slice of cheese and a slice of broccoli and tomato while watching Action News on ABC. 

Stopped at Dollar General on my way home. I was hoping to find an egg timer, but no luck. (I just ordered one online.) I did get aspirin, ibuprofen, and cold medicine here. My head had been stuffed up and I'd had mild sinus headaches all day. Either my allergies are acting up from the wind and dryness, or I'm coming down with a cold. 

Went home briefly to park the bike and put everything away, then went right back out again. Oaklyn had its Parade of Lights and Tree Lighting this evening. They were just starting to hand out the fiber optic lights for the kids when I arrived. There was rich hot chocolate, brownie bites, and four different kinds of cookies. I tried what I believe to be butter pecan and red velvet. They were so delicious! Probably came from Shop Rite, but they still tasted good.

I only saw Rose once and I never did find Jessa, but I did get to see my 8-year-old niece Finley perform several carols with her class on the side of City Hall. Good thing she inherited her mother's height and was wearing a reindeer antlers headband! It was so crowded, I never would have seen her otherwise. At any rate, the kids did a wonderful job, their voices mostly smooth and clear. Near the end of their performance, a "snow" machine spewed foamy "snow" all over, which the kids absolutely loved. 

After the kids sang their carols, the Parade of Lights arrived at City Hall! They had a few actual floats this year, including one lavish gingerbread-themed one, and another with a costumed Grinch. There was one fire truck "pulled" by dalmatians, and others covered completely in lights. Santa arrived in the last truck for Oaklyn. 

Surprisingly, there was no speech or fanfare for the tree lighting this year. The tree just lit up. One minute, I had turned to City Hall to find Finley. The next, the massive "tree" blazed with reds, blues, greens, and yellows, with a huge glittering star on top. After the tree lighting, I gave up trying to figure out where Rose and Finley had gone and just walked home.

Finished the night working on the First a Girl review and listening to two more new (to me) Christmas CDs after my shower. I'm not as familiar with many of the artists in A Very Merry Christmas 5. Most of it is rap or pop that I'm just not that fond of, but there are a few good numbers. We get Stevie Nick's gorgeous version of "Silent Night," B.B King and John Popper doing "Back Door Santa," and Sheryl Crow getting into "Run Rudolph Run."

The Carpenters' Christmas Portrait is on more familiar turf. The most popular number from this one by far is the wistful standard "Merry Christmas Darling." Some of the covers are nice too, notably "Sleigh Ride," the aching "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." Richard Carpenter plays a lively "Selections from The Nutcracker." 

Thanksgiving With the Family

Began the morning with the Thanksgiving material in the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. The long piece for Thanksgiving is a story about a Pilgrim grandmother relating her memories of the first Thanksgiving to her family. There's also several hymns and poems, including "Over the River and Through the Woods."

The original book version of Molly's Pilgrim is pretty close to the half-hour special that debuted in 1985. The biggest difference is it's likely set in what I suspect to be the early 1900's. Elizabeth, the girl who bullies Molly, has long black ringlets rather than straight blonde hair, they go a little more into Molly and her family being Jewish, and Molly doesn't get extra help for English after school. It's still a sweet and charming story, though, a reminder that "pilgrims" continue to search for religious freedom even today.

There's a short story in the Disney Storybookland anthology called "Pilgrim's Party." Mickey takes Minnie, Donald, and Pluto to Plymouth, Massachusetts for a real old-fashioned Thanksgiving dinner. It's all fun and Pilgrim cosplay, until Pluto steals the turkey!

Changed and had breakfast while watching the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade. They've gone through a couple of different sponsors through the years. The current sponsors are ABC and Dunkin' Donuts, the latter of whom had an extremely pink donut float in the parade. The only balloon I saw in the air was Clifford the Big Red Dog. There was a modern Netflix Strawberry Shortcake, but I think she had deflated by the time they showed her on the broadcast, because she seemed to be laying down. I saw an Acme float, too, appropriately based around a cornucopia bursting with harvest produce. 

Thank heavens this was broadcast for free on WPVI 6's website. The Macy's Parade is the exclusive domain of Peacock online, but it was more fun to see what Philly did for Thanksgiving anyway. A huge tap group did an enormous number with dozens of kids all tapping together. We had songs from the stage Beauty and the Beast and Here's Love (under the title Meredith Wilson's Miracle On 34th Street: The Musical). The Four Tops, Jordan Sparks, and a group called Cameo performed their hits. There were marching bands from as far away as Indiana. Unlike Macy's parade, which ends with the arrival of Santa, the Philly parade ended with a huge number that included the tap dancers, the All-American Cheerleaders, Santa, and piles of confetti.

Called Mom while the parade was on. We weren't able to chat for very long. She was making pies for my brother's Thanksgiving dinner. Keefe insisted on making the rest of the dinner, including the turkey (though his wife Julia was apparently in charge of the sweet potatoes). There had been a few problems when Elijah came out, but he's as healthy as any darling baby ever born now.

Switched to two delightful Thanksgiving specials from the 1980's after the parade ended. I go further into the charming Paul Fusco puppet show A Thanksgiving Tale at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Thanksgiving Short Subject Special - A Thanksgiving Tale

The 1985 Molly's Pilgrim won an Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Subject that year...and richly deserved it. The story is now reset in the mid-80's. Molly is a young Jewish girl from Russia whose family came to a small Midwestern town in search of religious freedom. Molly is still bullied by children who envy her gymnastics abilities and don't understand her accent or her Borscht lunches. She's upset and feels out of place, especially after her mother makes a clothes pin Pilgrim that looks more like a traditional Russian peasant than the usual Pilgrim. Molly's teacher finally explains to the class that Molly's mother is right - pilgrims still exist today, and they come to America for the same reason the ones at Plymouth Rock did. As her classmate Arthur said, it does take all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving.

Since I had food to carry and I wasn't sure how late I was going to be at Rose's, I walked to her house. It was a gorgeous day for it. Yesterday's off-and-on clouds had given way to a beautiful, sunny, if chilly afternoon. It was in the 40's, cold, but really more in line with what it should be during late November.

I was greeted at the door by Rose's two dogs Cider and Oreo barking their hellos. Jessa had already arrived (in fact, she texted me earlier to ask which house was Rose's) as the Green Bay Packers-Detroit Lions game began. It was just Rose, Craig, 8-year-old Finley, 15-year-old Khai, and Jessa this year. Craig's mother apparently went up to New England to visit his brother. 

Jessa played Dinosaur Bingo with Finley and Khai while Craig and I watched the game and we all had appetizers from three huge trays. One tray had sliced vegetables and dip. One had sweet goodies - donut holes, my pumpkin bread, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, pomegranates (Finley ate most of those - she apparently loves them), Danish butter cookies. There were also bowls of chips and pretzels and a yummy shrimp cocktail.

(Oh, and the Packers did very well against the Lions, who are no slouches themselves. The Packers would run and get a touchdown, then the Lions would get one. In the end, the Packers finally outran them 31-24.)

It was well into the Kansas City Chiefs-Dallas Cowboys game before dinner was ready. Rose apparently forgot to put the turkey in early! Jessa left before dinner, but the rest of us sat down to turkey, ham, green beans with bacon and crispy onions, mashed potatoes. cubed orange and purple sweet potatoes, canned cranberry sauce, tossed salad, and rolls. Oh, yum! The two meats looked like they belonged on the cover of a food magazine or the main page of a food website. The turkey was so juicy, I saw Rose cleaning up turkey juice she'd spilled (with the help of the dogs). Even the white meat was moist and tender. The ham was almost as good.

(The Chiefs-Cowboys game didn't go nearly as well. Their game was also close and well-played, but the Cowboys just managed to push ahead at the end 31-28.)

While Khai disappeared into his "office" (a tiny storage area where he plays computer games) and Craig and Rose prepared dinner, Finley and I played something called Zingo. You get a board containing small words, like what, the, she, if, and or (along with the numbers two and three). Someone pushes a lever that makes two yellow chips with words on them slide out of a slot. You have to grab the word before the other person does to fill your card. I did win a few games, but not only was Finley faster, I was tired and couldn't really focus on where the words were.

It wasn't until almost 7 when Rose and Craig brought the sweets tray back out, along with pumpkin pie, apple pie, vanilla ice cream, and home-made whipped cream. Finley and I both went for pumpkin pie with whipped cream. (In fact, I think Finley mainly had whipped cream. There might have been pumpkin somewhere under the enormous mounds of white fluff on her plate.) Khai insisted that he wasn't a fan of pies, so he had a root beer float instead. 

Finley and Craig brought drove me and a huge bag of leftovers home around 8. I went straight online and into the annual Match Game Productions Thanksgiving marathon. This year's theme was "personal favorite episodes of the channel's owner." The marathon started much earlier, but I did get to see two classic syndicated episodes that were also personal favorites of mine. 

In a 1979 syndicated episode, Joyce Bulifant wears a crazy red fright wig that made her look like a demented Little Orphan Annie to keep from being mistaken for the other blonde on the show that week, Elaine Joyce. A later contestant was almost as weird, giving a very strange answer to what a jock centipede bought along with 100 pairs of shoes. 

Betty White turned up in a much later syndicated episode from 1981 wearing a short, flaming red and gold dress made by a friend of Sharon Farrell's. Sharon was no slouch either in her pink pants outfit. She and Richard Paul inadvertently demonstrated mud wrestling when she landed on him during McLean Stevenson's answer for what form of "wrassling" should be an Olympic event. Later on, a contestant's laugh that he supposedly used to wake up in the morning was so terrifying, it sent McLean hurrying for Gene's entrance doors.

At any rate, enjoy your own feast of favorites with this bountiful showcase!

Match Game Thanksgiving 2025 Countdown Marathon

You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween

Began my Halloween with material from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. "The Blue-Nosed Witch" is a scatterbrained young sorceress who is always late for her coven's flight formations. She sets her alarm back so far, she ends up trick-or-treating with the kids on Halloween instead. Another young witch tries to make a fairy appear for her friends, but she ends up conjuring "The Water Nixie" instead. We also get a couple of poems on trick-or-treating and Halloween traditions.

Watched The Woody Woodpecker Show on Disc 3 of my first Woody Woodpecker set during breakfast. Woody spends most of the episode between cartoons blowing up balloons for his boss Walter Lanz. They're preparing for a big Halloween party with all of the Lanz characters created up to the early 60's (most of whom were actually comic book characters). They're holding a big "Spook-a-Nanny," but won't let Woody in. He joins a ghostly rock band, but forgets he can't walk through the walls like they can.

Switched to Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile as I made my grocery list. Ann, Andy, and their dog Arthur bring a glum pumpkin who wasn't bought for Halloween to a little boy whose aunt won't let him enjoy the holiday. After they finally get the gourd to the kid, they remind his aunt that you're only young once, and there was a time when she enjoyed Halloween, too.

Put on Sale of the Century while I got organized. Their "Trick or Treat Week" from 1988 played pretty much the same, only with Halloween-themed questions and prizes. The one woman came back during the Speed Round to win a beautiful heart-shaped diamond pendant necklace that would look pretty on her. Too bad she didn't have as much luck with the Bonus Round.

Hurried to go grocery shopping next. I didn't need a whole lot, and I didn't have much time to get it. Sprouts was having a buy one, get one 50 percent off sale on their bakery cookies. I went with their seasonal flavors, ginger molasses and white chocolate cranberry shortbread. Also picked up coconut milk and sparkling water. Found cookies and cream Made Good granola bars and a plastic container of lemon curd dried mango slices that were on clearance.

The Acme was a lot busier when I arrived. I'll be getting fruit and vegetables at the farm market tomorrow, so I mainly needed yogurt here. Got canned tuna and sliced chicken for my own mini-pantry. The Kind Kids' bars were on clearance, too, and I had a good online coupon for Kind granola. Popwell and the new Bloom Pop sodas were on good sales, and yes, they had Fresca this time. Dug mini chocolate Bundt cakes off the bakery clearance racks. 

Cut through Newton Lake Park on the way home. It's fully fall here now. The trees have finally turned fabulous shades of gold, rust, scarlet, and lime green. It couldn't have been a nicer Halloween. Though 40-miles-an-hour winds lingered from yesterday, it was otherwise sunny and relatively warm when you could get out of the wind, in the upper 50's-lower 60's. 

Put everything away, then had a quick lunch while watching Bugs Bunny's Howl-oween Special. Witch Hazel chases Bugs, turns Speedy into her, and spooks Daffy's niece in this piecemeal anthology. At least they used sequences from horror shorts and ones actually set on Halloween, rather than the random cartoons seen in Bugs' Easter and Thanksgiving specials. 

Hurried off to the Thomas Sharp School after the cartoon ended. I was slightly late...but I could have been infinitely late. There were nine pre-schoolers there when I arrived. I colored printed pictures of Jack o'lanterns and Pikachu in a witch's hat laying on a pumpkin with the girls. By 3:30, when we took the kids outside, there were five boys left. In fact, they originally said I could leave at 3:30, but I figured I could at least help get them out to the playground. I finally left the boys running around and enjoying the lack of line for the swings at 4. (Oh, and I was one of only two teachers who dressed in costume. The other was a Phillies baseball player. One teacher did admit that her Spirited Away costume was a bit too lavish for school.)

Soon as I got home, I hurried upstairs and grabbed the rest of my cowgirl costume. Yes, I was a cowgirl this year in my blue-checked LL Bean shirt, the corduroy vest Mom made me for my first cowgirl costume in 1989, jeans, boots, a jean jacket, and the hat I picked up from Goodwill. Glad I got the bandana and metal sheriff's badge. They really completed the costume. Added a crocheted "belt" with a plastic knife and bow tied on. Grabbed the trick-or-treat bags and candy and hurried outside with my red stuffed bull Romeo soon as I was ready.

I got outside at just the right time. Trick-or-treating starts at 3, but it doesn't really pick up until around 4:30. We had a ton of kids. I gave away all of my trick-or-treat bags in less than an hour. All but a few Sour Patch licorice sticks were gone by 6. 

Saw lots of great costumes, too. There was a pretty and adorable baby dressed as a pearly pink shell. A Winnie the Pooh group had a dad Pooh, a big brother Tigger, a mom Eeyore, and a pre-school girl Piglet. Another large group were all Lord of the Rings characters, including a mom Gandolf. Two teen girls were variations on Alice In Wonderland, while a third was the White Rabbit. Teen boys wore a gas mask and a Jason Voorhees mask. A couple in long Matrix black coats walked their dog Trinity. A tiny pre-school Wednesday was too adorable! There were two Elsas and three KPop Demon Hunters. Saw a couple of Ghostbusters, a bloody nurse, an Iron Man, a Spider Man and Spider Girl, Ginny from SuperKitties, and Connor from PJ Masks. 

I headed back out around quarter after 6 to have dinner at Phillies Phatties. Trouble is, they were mobbed with families who just came in from trick or treating and people ordering a quick dinner. I had to wait more than 20 minutes for my slice of cheese and slice of sausage. (I did get the can of Diet Pepsi right away.) 

It took them so long, I ate them on my way two doors down to Tonewood Brewery. My sister Rose was there with her 8-year-old daughter Finley and several of Fin's friends from school. Finley was an absolutely stunning marionette in a black and white sequined ballet outfit, wrist ribbons, black and white spooky stockings, a bun, and spooky makeup. I ate my pizza and chatted with Rose and the kids a little bit, admiring Rose's sleek new haircut and telling her about my vacation earlier this month. 

For once, the Halloween Parade started right on time. I saw a lot of great costumes here, too. One boy was dressed as Ben Franklin, complete with flying "kite." Another was a dinosaur in a home-made costume. One little firefighter had a pretty realistic costume, including a bright red and yellow jacket. There was a Mario Kart group with a big sister Peach, Mario in his cart, and a dad Luigi. Two little oceanographers rode around in a huge cardboard "shark" wagon. Saw two more Demon Hunters, an elementary schooler dressed as a grandma with gray hair, curlers, and a cane, a lovely witch in glittering purple and black, a big Ghostbusters group that included a mom dressed as Louis Tully and inflatable Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, and a hilarious Men In Black group with parents in sunglasses and suits and an infant alien in a flying saucer stroller. The Nightmare Before Christmas group had impressive inflatable and hand-made costumes, including Oogie Boogie and the Mayor of Halloween Town. I thought the pre-teens dressed as Sesame Street characters were adorable, especially Ernie in what I suspected was a hand-made head. 

To my delight, Finley deservedly won first in the second-to-sixth grade division. She and Rose really did do well with that costume. I didn't win anything. The other adult costumes included a guy in a scary mask up on stilts. I still enjoyed walking in the parade from the Oaklyn School to the Fire Hall, twirling my garden rope "lasso" (I lost the cap gun walking over to Oaklyn) and cuddling Romeo. 

Took as shower when I got home, then put on It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Linus spends his Halloween waiting in a "sincere" pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin, who is supposed to leave treats for all of the good little girls and boys. Against her better judgment, Sally joins him. Meanwhile, Charlie Brown has trouble trick-or-treating, Lucy is still pulling away that football, and Snoopy spends the night preparing for Veteran's Day and fighting the Red Baron.

Mom called me around this time. She sent me a really cute Halloween card. Needless to say, with a newborn around, they've been incredibly busy. Like most of my family, Mom and Keefe get really into Halloween and decorate inside and out. They were all bee-themed this year. Aurora was a bee. Julia and Elijah were bears, and Keefe was the beekeeper. (Oh, and three-year-old Aurora is apparently a huge fan of KPop Demon Hunters too.) Mom did tell me Anny finally got a duplex for her and her daughter Lilah in Millville. Not the best part, and she has to commute 40 minutes every day for her tiring job fixing fishing boats at Lund's Fisheries in Wildwood Crest. 

Switched to YouTube for this year's Halloween Marathon. I arrived in time for the second half of the 1994 Richard Dawson Family Feud. They only decorated (including with a very ugly paper mache vulture), but some people gave such bad Fast Money answers, it was scary. Caught the entirety of a Super Password episode I saw part of earlier in the week on Buzzr, with Pat Sajak and Rebecca Arthur of Perfect Strangers. The contestants all opened "tricks," like a jumping dinosaur, or "treats," like a propeller beanie cap. 

Bob Barker may have been getting on in years by the time of the 2004 Price Is Right episode, but he was still beloved by the college kids who appeared on the show. One woman said she'd watched him on Truth or Consequences, too...and ironically, she was one of the ones who made it to the Showcases. The first Showcase featured a witch model conjuring prizes with her cauldron (and running afoul of California's strict anti-pollution laws). The second had the witch dealing with a fussy Beverly Hills model trick-or-treater who wanted expensive prizes, including gold bars and a sports car.

Here's this year's Halloween Party, for your enjoyment!

Trick or Treat - Happy Halloween 2025 Spooktacular Marathon

Got my schedule at this point, too. In good news, slightly more hours. I do work next Saturday, but only 1 to 5, which means I'll be able to hit the Farm Market again. Still not enough hours, but after this week, I'll take this.

Stayed on YouTube to finish my holiday with two more vintage Halloween specials. Halloween Is Grinch Night has the Grinch, stirred up by animals howling in a sour-sweet wind, dragging his Paraphernalia Wagon full of wild psychedelic scares down to Whoville. When little Eukeriah Who gets lost in the mountains, he takes it on himself to make sure the Grinch never makes it to town.

The Halloween That Almost Wasn't has Dracula (Judd Hirch) in a tizzy because the Witch (Mariette Hartley) refuses to fly over the moon at midnight and kick off the holiday. Seems she doesn't feel appreciated and demands more even footing with Dracula. While he sputters over sharing the limelight with her, one little girl dressed as a witch reminds her of why she's so important to the holiday.

And here's hoping you had a spectacular Halloween of your own, with all your own little Demon Hunters, marionettes, and Ghostbusters! 

4th of July Revolutions

Kicked off my 4th of July with material from Colliers Junior Classics: Harvest of Holidays. The long piece here is a segment from Little Town On the Prairie in which Pa, Laura, and Carrie enjoy the town's small but festive celebration. The girls are delighted to drink lemonade from a dipper, watch people pass by in Pa's shop, and cheer on their friend Alonzo in the buggy race. We also have The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere, the first part of the Constitution, and several shorter poems on fireworks and independence.

Threw on two classic holiday shorts while having a quick breakfast. "Patriotic Popeye" wishes his nephews would forget the fireworks and find other ways to have fun on the 4th. He teaches them a lesson when their largest rocket carries them off, and he has to rescue them. Bugs defends Boston as a "Bunker Hill Bunny" fighting against Hessian (Yosemite) Sam.

Hurried out the door at 9:55. The Oaklyn 4th of July Parade was supposed to start at 10. One of the things you can always count on is it's NEVER on time...and considering I saw people lining up on Johnson, too, I suspected it would be even less so today. I could have stayed there, but all the fun stuff is on West Clinton. I arrived just in time to see the Mr. Softee truck pull up in the municipal parking lot. 

My brother-in-law Craig, 8-year-old niece Finley, and 15-year-old nephew Khai were already sitting in lawn chairs, waiting for the show to begin. I got to hand Finley, whose birthday was yesterday, her stuffed Squishmallows unicorn. She absolutely loved it! She loves animals of all varieties, including mythological. After she opened her present, we got free ice cream from Mr. Softee. I went simple with a cup of soft-serve vanilla and chocolate sprinkles. She got a chocolate/vanilla twist with strawberry crunch sprinkles. 

The Parade was over a half-hour late, but when it did arrive, it came by biker group. To my niece and nephews' amusement, the bikers came first, looking like fierce teddy bears on giant motorcycles. The Oaklyn Food Pantry had by far the best float. Their hot dog theme had everyone dressed as condiments, including mustard and ketchup bottle cone hats. Most of the others were local baseball and softball teams throwing candy, which is all Finley cared about (along with waving to her friends on the softball floats). I even managed to snitch lollipops and pieces of hard candy for myself. (Oh, and I love the names of the local softball teams - the Bubblegum Bombers and the Flamingos.)

Craig took Finley and Khai home for lunch after that, but I stuck around for the National Anthem (the lady who sang it was really excellent), and the winners of the float contest. I think you can guess that the Oaklyn Pantry deservedly won that one. Though there were also free hot dogs and bags of chips, it was way too early for lunch. I grabbed free red, blue, and silver beads and USA headband bobbles instead. I was going to stop at Common Grounds Coffee House, but I realized I forgot my money. Oh well. Just walked home instead.

Relaxed for an hour while watching two patriotic specials on mice making unusual contributions to American history. Chester the Cricket is a Yankee Doodle Cricket when he supposedly writes "Yankee Doodle" for all of the animals in the Colonies. Tucker the Mouse claims his ancestor the Declaration of Independence to prove cats and mice can get along, while Harry says his got a drunk Paul Revere moving on that famous midnight ride.

The Disney special Ben & Me takes us to Philadelphia to meet Amos, a poor church mouse. He moves in with Benjamin Franklin and helps him create memorable inventions like the Franklin stove and bifocals. Amos is also instrumental in starting the Pennsylvania Gazette and putting out hard-hitting news stories for that. He and Ben finally part ways after Amos is used as a test-mouse in the famous kite-flying experiment, but Ben calls him back to help write the Declaration of Independence. 

Headed back out after that, this time on my bike. Craig invited me to barbecue between 4 and 5, but it was only 12:30. I had plenty of time for a nice picnic in the park. Rode down to Haddon Culinary, which, thankfully, was opened. Bought a turkey club hoagie with their house-made chips and a Coke Zero. Enjoyed it under the trees at one of the old wooden picnic benches in Knight Park, near the pavilion. I was surprised at how quiet they were. I figured everyone would be picnicking on such a gorgeous day. It was sunny and breezy, slightly humid but not annoyingly so, probably in the mid-80's. I shared my table with a drowsy ladybug enjoying the one shaft of sunlight coming through the trees.

After I rode home, I put on Johnny Tremain. Johnny (Hal Stalmaster) is a silversmith's apprentice who agrees to remake a sugar basin for wealthy Johnathan Lyte (Sebastian Cabot). Unfortunately, he burns his hand while making it so badly, he can never be a silversmith again. He ends up as a messenger boy for the Sons of Liberty. He tries to sell a silver cup with the Lytes' crest, only for Lyte to claim he stole it. Fortunately, his former master's daughter Priscilla Lapham (Luana Patten) speaks for him in court. He's now able to throw himself into getting involved in the American Revolution, including tossing that tea overboard in Boston and joining the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Though this loses a lot of incidents and characters from the book, it does have excellent performances from Cabot and Ralph Clinton as Lyte and General Gage, and Richard Beymer looks a lot more engaged here than he would four years later in West Side Story. Still recommended if you're a fan of American history, the original book, or the Disney action films of the 50's and 60's.

Mom called me around this point. I haven't heard from her in a while. She did appreciate my finding another job that I like, but still insists that I should remain at the Acme for the pension and because I'll probably be retiring in a few years. She's also concerned about my brother Keefe. I'm thrilled that his wife Julia is pregnant, and they'll be having a boy in the fall, but she's worried about them needing a bigger home and how their daughter Aurora will react. 

Switched to my original cast CD for By the Beautiful Sea after the movie ended. Shirley Booth headlined this 1952 Broadway show as Lottie Gibson, a vaudeville performer in early 1900's Coney Island who falls for a Shakespearean actor (Wilbur Evans). His daughter "Baby" Betsy disapproves. Betsy's mother tries to keep her as a child to get better roles, but she's in love with a young waiter at the boardwalk. Lottie eventually gives her a dress and teaches her how to behave older, no matter what age her mother wants her to be.

I've had this CD since I found it at a long-defunct music store in North Cape May around 1996. To be honest, it's not that great of a show. They never did figure out what to do with the Baby Betsy subplot. She doesn't even get a song. Apparently, the book on this one was constantly re-written right up until opening, and it shows. The songs are something of a hodge-podge, with most of the chorus numbers not being anything but filler. I do like the comic lament "I'd Rather Wake Up By Myself" for Booth and the lovely ballad "Alone Too Long" for Evans, but most of the score is as much of a mash-up as the show in general. Only for major enthusiasts of Booth or 50's musicals.

Worked on Hilary and the Beasts for the next few hours. Hilary spends her evening making phone calls. Jeff hasn't been seen at his radio jobs that he was broadcasting with his secretary Victor on the situation overseas, nor at the stage roles manager Scott worked so hard for him to get. After she finishes, Puppy dresses her for dinner in a lavish black velvet and fur gown. She eventually takes her down to her dinner with the Beast in a beautifully-appointed dining room. He tries to ask her to marry him, but she tells him she's in love with someone else. That sets them fighting again, and she ends up running out the door, angry and wiling to leave.

I got so into working on the story, I didn't get to Rose's until after 5. I got there at the same time as Craig's mom and dad, who were just getting out of their car when I was walking up the driveway. Rose had a huge spread set out - bowls of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries, plates of grapes and cherries, another plate of Doritos. Finley was just excited about her birthday yesterday. She went to a local spa for little girls, then went to Dave & Buster's and out to eat. We had grilled hot dogs, burgers, vegetables, and the sweet potatoes Craig's parents brought along for dinner.

Finley insisted on going swimming after dinner, even though she'd already changed. She changed back into a bathing suit. I totally forgot Rose and Craig had that big inflatable pool in the backyard. I would have brought my own suit if I remembered. I sat in the back and kept an eye on her while she splashed, swam, and showed off her swimming moves. She was so interested when I told her about the story I was writing, I gave her the revised version. I didn't think 8-year-olds knew much about the early Great Depression, so I put the story in a more generic fairy-tale-world. Jeff was a prince, Scott a knight, Victor a wizard, they were still turned into a troll, bear, and eagle by a wicked fairy, and the other ladies still had to rescue them. 

Finley especially liked hearing about how much Maple loved the adventure, how she stroked all the animals and will ride Victor later. "That's so me!" she squealed with delight. She put in a request to be in the story, or at least use her name. Maybe not this one, but I might get some local kids into the Maple Rapunzel story I have planned for after this one.

We finally dragged Finley inside around 8 to have cake. She apparently had cupcakes yesterday, but Rose had a small white cake for her to share with the family. It was a simple white and blue cake Rose bought from Wegman's, but it was nice and moist, and the icing was amazing. We all sang "Happy Birthday" for Finley, and I enjoyed my slice quickly before heading out.

Made a quick stop at Dollar General for Gatorade Zero before following everyone else making their way down to Newton Lake Park. Though the fireworks are set off at Collingswood High School, most people watch them at the park, where the entrance is free. I ducked around people on blankets and lawn chairs, making my way down to the hill overlooking the brand-new neon orange and bright lime green playground equipment. I was hoping to avoid the damp ground, but I just ended up plopping on the hill. 

Looked at my cell phone until the first lights were seen in the sky. Collingswood always puts on an amazing show, and tonight was no exception. I oohed and ahhed over purple circles, giant multi-colored sparkles, golden glitter, and rings within rings. Hurried off just as the big finale boomed and glittered against the ebony sky and the bare black outlines of trees.

Hurried home just in time for another type of fireworks. Tonight was the chat "premiere" for the School Riot. It's delicious irony that the head of Match Game Productions debuted this tonight. Richard Dawson and Debralee Scott hold their own revolution when producer and judge Ira Skutch won't match "school" with "finishing school." Here's the episode, so you can see how it all went down:

Match Game '77 1005 - School Riot Episode

Finished the night with a patriotic dose of Disney history. The 1989 Walt Disney World 4th of July Parade is where the balance started to switch to bands and advertising. New Kids on the Block were THE huge boy band in this era. We hear them performing two of their biggest hits in the now-defunct Pleasure Island, including "Hangin' Tough." The Temptations perform at the entrance to what's now Disney Hollywood Studios. Splash Mountain (now Tiana's Bayou Adventure) is featured. The actual parade doesn't really last that long. The last half-hour is given over to a too-long medley of old musical numbers, with an incredibly annoying Carol Channing and grown women dressed as Shirley Temple. It's ridiculous. They should have done ten minutes of this, tops, not 30. The members of the Mickey Mouse Club running around Typhoon Lagoon would have been of vastly more interest to me at age 10.

At any rate, here's how all this went down for yourself. And I hope you had a great 4th of July with your own families!

1989 Walt Disney World 4th of July Spectacular 

Matching With the Mummers

Began 2025 with a quick breakfast and two shorts on Disney Plus, starting with Minnie's Bow-Toons: Party Palace Pals. Clarabelle, Daisy, and Minnie get into "Snow Day Shenanigans" when they first can't even get Daisy in her many sweaters out of the van, then sled down the wrong hill. Chip n' Dale's Nutty Tales have them constantly after an acorn. The acorn lands in Donald's popcorn during "Nutty Movie Madness." The chipmunks try to figure out how to get it while Don is distracted by a parody of Jurassic Park. 

Rushed to Collingswood after the cartoons ended. I got up way later than I planned. Didn't make it to the PATCO station until quarter of 11. Evidently, I wasn't the only person who wanted to sleep in. The PATCO station was busy with families and couples going into the city for the Mummers' Parade, despite the escalator and a lot of the back of the building still being blocked off. At least the train wasn't so full I couldn't get a seat to myself. I was climbing up the steps to 13th Street, two blocks from the parade route, within 20 minutes.

I arrived just in time for the comic "wench" brigades, the ones in the ruffly dresses with ruffled caps and parasols. One group and red and gold had gladiator helmets. Another had shark-shaped visors and wore red and silver. Red, white, and blue wenches had Phillies and Phanatics caps. A group in white and red sported medieval knights' helmets and parasol shields. A gold and black group had musical notes on their dresses and focused on the songs and dancing. I saw a group with frog parasols sporting green and black stripes and a ghoulish group in neon purple and green gowns with wild neon hair. There was a Pac Man dad with neon ghosts and a Jester group in rainbow print dresses. 

The wench groups gave way to comic groups as I strolled up and down Broad Street, from the DoubleTree Hotel to the former University of the Arts building. Aliens wandered in bright feelers, costumes with huge eyes, spaceships, and a couple of guys in silver riding bikes who were supposed to be satellites. An Alice In Wonderland mom was joined by a male Queen of Hearts in a lavish gown and various citizens of Wonderland. Woodland animals led by Swoop, the Eagles' mascot, rode skateboards. They were followed by a Christmas tree riding a bike. 

The crowds were nearly as crazy. They thinned out as I made my way down Broad Street. Mummers handed older kids metallic beads in bright colors, while adults taught their younger siblings to do the Mummers' strut. Families pushing huge strollers pushed past drunk college students who climbed onto ledges and yelled into the crowd. Some of the Mummers even tried to throw beads up to crowds watching them on higher floors, but most of those ended up with the crowds below them.

The weather wasn't bad, either. It was windy, semi-cloudy, and chilly but not overly cold for this time of year. The wild wind was more of a problem than anything. It made those little parasols hard to control and blew people on skates and bikes further along faster than the riders intended.

Finally got tired of the crowd and noise around quarter of 1 and headed back towards the 13th Street PATCO entrance. A few college students turned up right before the train left, but I mostly waited alone. The train itself was once again steady but not too full. No trouble getting off at Collingswood or grabbing my bike once got back in. Made a short stop at one of the outdoors PNC ATMs for money, then rode down Cuthbert to the Westmont Diner.

The Westmont Diner was just as busy with people eating their first lunches out of 2025 as it was last New Year's Day, but I was there for a reason. Last month, when I ate there with Dawn, they gave us red envelopes to be opened in front of our waiter. I ripped it open while eating blueberry pancakes and very crispy melt-in-your-mouth bacon. As I did last year, I got a coupon for a free dessert or appetizer. I knew exactly what I wanted. There was a pink cake in the bakery display with white frosting and cheesecake and strawberries between the layers. It looked amazing, and I was dying to try it.

Put on Rudolph's Shiny New Year when I got home. I went further into this bizarre but enjoyable 1976 follow-up to the original Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in 2019. 

Happy New Year's Eve! - Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Laverne and Shirley have their own New Year's excitement. "New Year's Eve - 1960" seems to be coming up roses for the ladies. Shirley's New Year's party is a huge success, and Laverne managed to snare a date with an old guy friend she'd wanted for years. Things don't go as well once midnight comes around. Shirley catches a cold, and Laverne's date ends up with his original girlfriend. At least they can look forward to Lenny dropping Squiggy at midnight instead of the ball.

Finished the night with more New Year's Match Game and game show episodes at YouTube. The first episode of 1974 introduced Dorothy Zinni, an overly excited contestant who bounced around so much, she accidentally hit the laid-back guy next to her. Even Richard Dawson was too scared of her for a kiss! A funny older man had even stranger answers on the first day of 1975. Dick Martin finally got an answer right on the first day of 1976. Fannie Flagg took over Brett's seat on the first day of 1978. (Brett was out doing a play, not in jail like everyone kept joking that week.) Gene stumbled into the first day of 1979 draped in streamers from the previous episode and looking more than a little bleary-eyed. Jon "Bowser" Bauman brought rubber chains for the first episode of 1980, while McLean Stevenson had become a permanent fixture by the time the first episode of 1981 rolled around.

Dick Martin stuck around for the first Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour of 1984. Allison Arngrin shows off her elegant black suit and hat, while comedian Vic Dunlop dodges fat jokes, Arsenio Hall tosses out quips, and we have a young David Ruprecht when he was one of the hosts of Real People. Vicki Lawrence does the best at the Match-Up mini game during the first episode of 1991, which ends with Brad Garrett channeling Charles again.

Wait, there's more! We also have Bill Cullen, Sharon Richardson, and Tom Kennedy celebrating the second Password Plus episode of 1980, plus encore showings of the first two episodes of 1976 and 1977. Party on with Match Game and Password Plus in these hilarious episodes!

Match Game New Year's Celebration Party - Ring In 2025

Match Game (1976)

Match Game (1977)

Password Plus (1980)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Began a cloudy gray Christmas Day nice and warm inside with Colliers Harvest of Holidays. Of the three longer pieces, my favorite is "Flora McFlimsey's Christmas." Santa recruits an old doll who has wandered down from the attic to be the Christmas gift for one of the little girls in the house. The new dolls make fun of her old-fashioned summer outfit, until the tree angel and her friends the mice find her original Victorian velvet splendor. Little Sophie is encouraged to save her money in an applewood box until her brother asks for a wooden star, and she knows it's the right time to spend her last coin on "A Star for Hansi."

Watched Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales during breakfast. This series of skits was made to fill an hour slot with Charlie Brown Christmas, but it has some entertaining material in its own right. Sally writes to "Samantha Claus," Snoopy deals with Lucy while working as a sidewalk Santa and dodges the cat next door, and Lucy tries to get Linus to buy her gifts.

Moved on to Garfield's Christmas while I got dressed. Jon takes Garfield and Odie to his parents' farm for Christmas. Garfield's not too happy about it, until he bonds with Jon's supremely tough and sarcastic grandmother. Grandma's badly missing her late husband, but Garfield stumbles onto something in the barn that might make her holidays a little merrier.

Ran Little Drummer Boy and Little Drummer Boy Book II next. I went further into these on my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog Christmas Eve 2020. 

Little Drummer Boy and Little Drummer Boy Book II

Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas was one of the first Jim Henson productions to use relatively realistic-looking animals, and among the first original holiday specials on HBO. Impoverished Emmett and his Ma are facing a bare Christmas, until they hear about a talent contest being held in the nearby town on Christmas Eve. They give up the things they use for their regular work for their acts...and while it doesn't work out like they expect, they get something even better in the end.

I called Rose to see when I could come over...and as it turned out, it was not today. She and her family were going to Craig's parents house in Westmont for Christmas. I was very disappointed. I was looking forward to spending time with them and giving them my gift after I had such a lovely Thanksgiving with them. She said I could come over on New Year's Day after the Mummers' Parade instead.

Ended up joining a friend and  her family for Christmas instead. I had a lovely book shaped tea tin for her, sheet music books for her daughter, cookies for her son and his girlfriend, and a bag of treats for their cat. They and my friend's sister gave me a pair of wonderfully warm fur-lined knitted boot slippers and tons of candy, including chocolate-covered sea salt caramels, a bag of Goetz caramel creams, and a whole box of assorted Russell Stover chocolates. 

After we opened gifts, I quickly rode my bike over to Rose's. I had to bring her gifts over today. The cookies weren't going to keep another week. I left the bag with their presents and cookies on her front stoop, then went for a short ride around the neighborhood behind the school. Maybe it's just as well that I wasn't out for long. Though it wasn't raining or snowing, it was also chilly, cloudy, and damp. Not the nicest weather. I hurried back quickly.

They started Elf shortly after I got in. My friend's son and his girlfriend are big fans of this wacky and heartfelt 2003 comedy. They even had Elf wrapping paper. Buddy (Will Farrell) is a very tall elf who discovers from his adopted father (Bob Newhart) that he's actually a human. His birth father Walter Hobbs (James Caan) now works for a publishing company that's desperate for a best-seller. Buddy's delighted that he's found his father, but Walter finds him to be more of a nuisance, especially after he inadvertently insults a writer (Peter Dinkalage) by saying he's an elf. He has more luck when he falls for department store worker Jovie (Zooey Deschanal), charms his stepmother Emily (Mary Steenburgen), and wins over his half-brother Michael (Daniel Tay) after helping him with bullies in Central Park.

After Walter insults him, Buddy takes off. He couldn't have left at a worse time. Santa's sleigh crashes in Central Park, and there's not enough Christmas spirit to take him back into the skies. It'll take a concentrated effort from Jovie and everyone Buddy has touched on his journey to prove that Christmas spirit really can be found everywhere, even in the hearts of jaded New Yorkers.

Some of Farrell's brand of manic comedy may not work for everyone, and there's dated aspects (like how that short writer is treated) that would never fly even 20 years after this film's release. Still, there's enough charming and enjoyable moments to make this a favorite of many. Farrell and Caan are the stand-outs as the man-child who wants everyone to love Christmas like he does and his taciturn, frazzled father. Well worth checking out if you're a fan of Farrell or are looking for a more recent Christmas film for older kids and teens.

The movie ended literally just as my friend declared dinner was ready. We had huge lobsters, tails and claws and all, with sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, cucumber salad, and a stuffed butternut squash for her son's vegetarian girlfriend. It was all amazing, especially those juicy lobsters! The sweet potatoes tasted just as good dipped in butter as the lobsters did.

Headed upstairs after dinner to finish the night online. What little I saw of the Match Game Christmas Day marathon was a repeat of yesterday's, but I did get to see Rip Taylor in a Santa costume. I did better with other shows. We continued yesterday's 1978 Card Sharks as that lady, to her delight and shock, went on to pick up almost $20,000 on the Money Board. Bob Eubanks' first Card Sharks Christmas pit a young lady against a very funny older man.

Family Feud celebrated Christmas 1979 with gifts for Richard and the contestants singing carols for him. Charles continues to spend the week on Match Game '76 complaining about not being able to play Santa that year while the others get to know a woman who brings a sock-type puppet along to help her nerves. Rip Taylor, on the other hand, did get to play Santa on Match Game '90...three days late. Debralee Scott and Gina Hecht continue to do well on Password Plus, once again making it to the Alphabetics round. Gary Collins did get his contestant to the Super Password bonus round, but he misunderstands a word and just gets the lady confused. 

Finished the night with The Walt Disney Very Merry Christmas Parade from 1988. Joan Lunden and Alan Thicke are the hosts here, with Regis Philbin interviewing the crowds and plugging the then-upcoming Disney-MGM Studios. Sarah Purcell hosted the segment in Disneyland, while Scott Valentine tried to get on the just-about-to-open Splash Mountain. Almost all of the floats but a beach-themed one and one with the Country Bears represented a then-popular Disney animated film. We even saw movies like Robin Hood and The Jungle Book that would likely never even be mentioned in a Disney parade today! The show begins and ends with dancers doing Christmas Carol medleys. The opening has them dancing down Main Street. The sleigh-based finale is performed at Cinderella Castle.

Here's all of tonight's programming, so you can enjoy your own vintage Christmas! And I hope you had a wonderful holiday with all the family and friends you love to match with.

Match Game - Merry Christmas Blank-a-Thon

Match Game (1976)

Card Sharks (1978 and 1986)

Family Feud (1979)

Password Plus (1980)

Super Password (1986)

Match Game (1990)

The Walt Disney Very Merry Christmas Parade 1988

The Oaklyn Christmas Parade

Began the morning with breakfast and A Pink Panther Christmas. Pink spends his Christmas Eve wandering around New York, looking desperately for any kind of a meal. He tries to work as a Santa in a department store, but gets thrown out for stealing the kiddies' treats. An old lady asks him to shovel snow, but it gets covered again before she can pay. Stealing the carrot off a kid's snowman only ends with the carrot in the belly of a horse. Even his attempts to get arrested so he can have a real meal ends with him catching an actual robber. It's not until the end, when he shares his last crumb with a hungry dog, that he's reminded that giving is its own reward.

Headed out after that, first to run errands at Sprouts. I mainly needed coconut milk and apples. They were having a sale on Pink Lady apples there. Grabbed dried orange-flavored cranberries, which were on sale, too. Got a box of granola bars, more because they were on sale than anything else. Those Nixie sodas still had coupons attached.

Hurried to the Haddon Township Library for my session with Dawn. I did apply for a job early-on, but we mostly had no luck. Not only is it hard to find jobs during the holidays, I'm just too darn picky. I'm not interested in doing medical work, working for the post office sounds too close to retail, and I really have no desire to be a stewardess. I wish I had more skills! I need to find free or cheap offline computer classes. Having a teacher there will help keep me on track and make me focus. 

Stopped at Genova Pizza for lunch on the way home. Decided to do something different and had a vegetable Stromboli. It was a little browned on the top and bottom, but edible, especially dipped in marinara sauce...and unlike the Stromboli at Phillies Phatties, it wasn't too much to eat in one sitting. They were largely quiet at 2 PM except for one random older guy sitting in the corner whom I suspect was more there for warmth than food.

After I got home, I settled down and watched The Young Girls of Rochefort. I go further into this charming Jacques Demy musical from France with dazzling dances by Gene Kelly at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort)

Began the Seasonal Album inventory next. This will include all seasonal and holiday music, including everything I have for Christmas. Started it off with my four winter titles, Jazz at the (Winter) Olympics, Winter Memories, December by George Winston, and Holiday Symphony. The last-named is a selection of  instrumental numbers meant to revolve around patriotic holidays. I have it listed for President's Day, but it also has songs for the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, and Decoration Day (what's now known as Memorial Day) too. December goes back the furthest here. I picked it up from a yard sale in 2012. I found the others at record stores and Goodwill within the last five  years. 

Watched Match Game Syndicated while I worked and had a really quick dinner. In the first episode, Gene teased big George Kennedy about carrying a purse onstage. The second had Gene rambling on to Dick Martin about the cosmos for so long, the rest of the panel walked off the stage and the lights went out!

Bundled up and headed out around quarter of 7. Tonight was Oaklyn's Christmas Parade and tree-lighting. It was bitterly cold out when I made my way down the block, and gale-force windy, too. The only people there when I got there were those giving out treats. I went for a walk around the block...and when I got back, the fire station parking lot was hopping. I'm glad I was able to get creamy hot chocolate and M&M, white chocolate-macadamia nut, and perfectly moist double chocolate cookies topped with powdered sugar from the Civic Association. Grabbed bags of foam for craft project for a friend and her daughter, too.

Thankfully, the parade started right on time for once. It wasn't long after 7 when the first lights-covered fire truck was seen gliding down West Clinton. There were a lot of trucks this year, more than I figured there would be with the windy weather. One truck had a shivering snowman huddled on the steps entering the vehicle. Another was topped with a wooden sleigh pulled by dalmatians. There was also the one that sprayed fake "snow" into the air, to the delight of the kids. They all shrieked with delight when Santa came by, including the gaggle of pre-teen boys next to me who likely did it as a joke. 

After Santa finally joined us, some of the kids from the Oaklyn Elementary School performed "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and one other song. It might have been "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," but their voices were drowned out so badly by the crowd, it was hard to tell. 

Most of them ran over to the very tall town tree after they finished. Some of the littlest kids literally put their arms around it and gave it a hug. They were so noisy, I never did hear who the Volunteer of the Year was. Nothing happened for a minute after they counted down...before the tree finally blazed forth in glowing shades of red, yellow, and blue. The moment the tree was lit, I walked home.

Finished the night after a shower with more Christmas CDs while I worked on the review. My most recent Happy Holidays acquisition from eBay is Vol. 26 from 1991. By far the most unique track here is Willard Scott's opening spoken version of "The Night Before Christmas." Other songs are a bit more traditional, including Bing Crosby's "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and the Nat King Cole rendition of "The Christmas Song."

A Christmas Carol: The Musical is the show from Madison Square Garden that would be filmed by NBC in 2004. I didn't like the music much better on the cast album than I did in my review of the film back in 2018. "Abundance and Charity" is still a bit too brassy, and the Ghost of Christmas Past still sounds like she's a bit too naughty in her number. And I still don't understand why they used Charles Dickens' past for Scrooge instead of the one from the book.

I'm so glad I found Radio City Music Hall Presents Songs of Christmas! Stockton's Media Center had it when I was in college. I used to listen to it every year on my last day of work before Stockton let out for Christmas break, and I've missed it ever since I graduated. The "Christmas In New York" medley is especially charming. 

Thanksgiving Is for Family

Began a rainy morning with breakfast and Thanksgiving stories from Colliers Harvest of Holidays. They only have one long piece for Thanksgiving, but it's a pilgrim grandmother's charming recollection of what the first Thanksgiving was like. There's also several poems and the song "Over the River and Through the Woods." 

Since there wasn't much, I tossed in a few more short stories and children's stories. Molly's Pilgrim is the original version of the book that would become a lovely Oscar-winning short subject in 1985. Here, the story is set in what I presume to be the early 1900's, and it makes more references to Molly and her family being Jewish. The sweet ending with the teacher explaining why "it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make a Thanksgiving" remains the same, though. 

Disney's Storybookland anthology features the 40's short story "Pilgrim's Party." Mickey takes Minnie, Donald, and Pluto east to visit New England and the Plymouth Plantation to join a group reenacting the first Thanksgiving in costume. It's all fun and Pilgrim cosplay, until Pluto steals the turkey! I also did a very funny retelling of "Babes In Toyland" from Fantasyland that was closer to the original movie than the one in Storybookland. 

Mom called as I was getting dressed. Keefe's wife Julia's side of the family tends to bring drama wherever they go, so they opted to have some of Keefe's friends from the Navy over instead. They did get to see the Macy's parade. Mom said Aurora adores Minnie Mouse and was as over-the-moon about seeing her balloon in the Macy's parade as her father was about the Pikachu balloon in 2001. 

Since the Macy's Parade is the exclusive domain of Peacock online, I put the Philly parade on ABC's website instead. I did see a few balloons, a toy soldier and Brainy Smurf. For some reason, they really got into disco and vintage rap in this parade. Chic, the Funky Bunch, and a Motown group all danced in the parade. I saw a float designed to look underwater, another themed around Philadelphia landmarks like the LOVE sign, and a train. The Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders really got into their routine. We had performances from the Neil Diamond bio musical A Beautiful Noise and Elf: The Musical. Everyone was in high spirits despite the continuing downpour, and it all seemed to go off without a hitch.

After the parade, I did things in my rooms and made the bed while watching Alice's Restaurant. I go further into this meandering 1969 retelling of Arlo Guthrie's epic folk song at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Happy Thanksgiving! - Alice's Restaurant

Thankfully, the rain had long subsided by quarter of 2, though it remained cold and damp. I quickly stopped at the kiosk in front of the former library to drop off a book, then rode my bike over to Rose's house. I was greeted by a noisy Oreo and Cider, who wanted to see what was going on and greet the new arrival. It took a few minutes to shoo them back in and put my things down!

Rose's husband Craig was watching the Lions-Bears game when I arrived. I spent the next hour and a half or so watching the game and playing with Rose's 7-year-old daughter Finley. Craig's parents arrived about a half hour after I did, walking with canes and sounding raspy. Apparently, they both just had surgery. Needless to stay, they stayed at the table the whole time.

Rose did put out quite a lunch spread. There was shrimp cocktail, a vegetable tray with cucumbers, celery sticks, and mushrooms, a crackers and cheese tray with a cranberry log, sausage sticks, and pepperoni, and a fruit tray with pineapple, blueberries, apple slices, and pomegranate seeds. I ate lots of almost everything but the apples, which I have plenty of at home. 

(Oh, and the Lions were up 16 - 0 when I got in. The Bears did make a huge comeback, but they missed a long throw at the end that cost them the game. The Lions just squeaked by them 23-20 in game that was much better than I thought it would be.)

Rose made an absolutely gorgeous turkey this year. Craig's mother and I both said it should have been on the cover of Gourmet Magazine. I'd never seen a turkey more perfectly brown and seasoned. Tasted pretty good, too. Along with the turkey, we had stuffing, mashed potatoes. sweet potatoes with brown sugar, green beans with bacon, white and pumpernickel rolls, cranberry sauce, and roasted Parmesan butternut squash. Everything was good, but I think my favorite thing was the squash. I didn't know squash could taste so good when so cheesy.

Joined Finley to watch the new Netflix movie Spellbound (which I'll go further into on Saturday) while Rose and Craig set out the desserts. Rose always makes a splendid apple pie, and there were tiny cherry tartlets and cheesecake along with my apple cider pound cake, but I only had eyes for Craig's pumpkin pie. Besides, it was all I could fit in after that big dinner! The pies could be topped with ice cream, but I don't think they're right without real whipped cream.

Headed home after I ate and Rose handed me a big pan of leftovers. After I got in, I spent the rest of the night watching the Best of Match Game PM countdown marathon. There's so many good nighttime episodes, the marathon began at 2 PM! The Admiral Color TV episode wasn't the first time Richard made a bet with Gene on the Audience Match and came up a winner. He did something similar when Gene didn't believe his "Cuts" would be up with "Burns __." There was also the time Richard and Charles wore big hats and claimed to be "Your Basic Big Picture Hat Society," or the time Charles gave his toupee to a balding but personable young man, or when two hapless contestants only made it to the Audience Match because Charles matched them each once, and then matched one again during a tiebreaker. 

Enjoy a feast of nighttime fun with some of the best Match Game episodes ever shown after dark!

Feast of Favorites - Match Game PM Countdown of Greatness

And I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving matching with all the people you love!

Hot for Halloween

Began the morning with the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. In addition to a few spooky poems, the book has two sweet comic pieces featuring very modern witches. "The Blue-Nosed Witch" is a scatterbrained miss who is forever late for her coven meetings. She sets her clock so far back on Halloween, she ends up joining the trick-or-treaters. Another young witch is annoyed when she conjures "The Water Nixie" for the local kids. She was hoping for a fairy. She has more luck hurrying to school on her broom after her disapproving witch mother falls asleep.

Switched to The Woody Woodpecker Show during breakfast. The only cartoon on the show made directly for television was the Halloween-themed "Spook-a-nanny." Woody spends most of the episode between cartoons blowing up balloons for his boss Walter Lanz. The rest of Lanz's creations try to keep him out of their Halloween party. He eventually gets in by following a ghost rock band, but forgets he can't walk through walls like they can.

Headed out for Halloween brunch next. It was so dead at the Pop Shop when I got in, I think I was the first one there. My pumpkin cheesecake "Bettys" consisted of two regular pancakes topped with two huge scoops of pumpkin cheesecake filling. Not bad, but so huge and rich, I couldn't finish them. Watched parents come in with their younger kids in costume as I ate, including a ghoulish princess in a fancy blue dress and scary make-up and two boys with their faces made up.

After a very quick stop at PNC Bank for the rent, I dodged noon traffic down Cuthbert to the Westmont Acme. I didn't really need much here anyway. Mainly wanted to restock yogurt. Also picked up shampoo and conditioner on a good sale and the Kind kids' bars with online coupons and more Olipop soda. They were relatively busy, but no more than usual for a Thursday during lunch hour, and I was in and out.

Next up was job counseling with Dawn at the Haddon Township Library. I did apply for a receptionist and office assistant job at a cheesecake bakery Dawn said was right down the street from her in Burlington, but Dawn's main interest was applying for government positions. I don't know. I don't have my driver's licence, don't know if I could handle the stress at the post office, and it just seems so complicated to apply for them.

Rushed to Sprouts next. They were having a buy-one, get-one sale on cookies. I tried the seasonal flavors pumpkin chocolate chip and ginger molasses. Also grabbed more of the Nixie soda with the dollar coupon, a bag of black grapes, and lemon raspberry dried mango pieces.

Went straight into getting my costume together when I got home. I was originally going to be a cat this year, but I saw lacy bat's ears and a "wings" cape at Walmart last week and changed it to being a bat. Alas, those makeup "crayons" I bought from Dollar General proved to be worthless. The black one broke after I'd colored in my nose and done two whiskers. I finished the rest with regular makeup. Uses the purple jack o'lantern candy bucket to give out treats and carried my cutie-pie stuffed bat Bela. 

Watched Halloween Is Grinch Night while I got organized. I went further into this bizarre Dr. Seuss special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in 2018 (along with Garfield's Halloween Adventure). 

Halloween Short Subject Special - Halloween Is Grinch Night

I was sitting outside and reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Stories by 3, but the kids didn't really start coming around until 4:30. And when they came, they came in droves. It was too gorgeous to not do something outside for Halloween! The weather was sunny and ridiculously warm for Halloween, in the lower 80's, but the strong wind was deliciously cool. In fact, I'd never seen so many adults sitting outside on their stoops or driveways to give out candy, including our next-door neighbor.

Saw some terrific costumes this year. And for once, I actually got to see all of them. The warm weather meant there was no need to cover costumes with coats or heavy sweaters this year! There were lovely girl ghouls and pretty witches in lacy mini-dresses. Saw three ninjas in red, black, and blue, Beetlejuice, an Oompa Loompa, Rubble from PAW Patrol, a tiny female Incredible Hulk, and parents in Incredibles suits with a girl monster. A mom Elphaba and dad Fiyero pushed a tiny Glinda in a stroller. At least five Ghostbusters, Dorothy, a mom in her nurse's uniform, another mom dressed as Mrs. Frizzle from The Magic School Bus in a planet-print dress, three Army soldiers in fatigues, and the little girl with the short hair from Stranger Things came later in the afternoon. Another family toted a small and adorable Buzz Lightyear, while another chased a boy in an inflatable dinosaur costume. Older boys wandered around in leisure suits and ugly wigs. 

The Mystery Bags vanished in less than a half-hour. Good thing I bought more candy at the Acme to go with what I already had and a friend brought out a box of mini-Pringles containers. In fact, the Pringles were probably the biggest hit of the afternoon. All of the kids loved them and kept asking for more, especially the teenagers who weren't all that into candy.

By 6 PM, I was down to half a bag of Sour Patch gummies and Swedish Fish. Not to mention, it was time for dinner and to head down to West Clinton for the parade. I went inside and ate really quick, then used the bathroom, left the remaining candy with my friend for her kids, dropped my wallet and Bela in the purple pumpkin, and went on my way again.

To my delight and surprise, I ran into Rose, Finley, and Craig with Cider at Tonewood Brewery's outdoor patio. I was able to give Rose Fin and Khai's Mystery Bags in person. Craig took Cider home and Khai was out with friends, but I was able to chat with Rose. Rose went 80's in a slouchy blue shirt and tight shorts. Finley was a dark fairy and a sleeveless purple dress, a flower crown, beige ballet flats, "vines" drawn on her legs, arms, and face with glitter makeup, and actual fairy ear tips kept on with latex glue. She played with mini dinosaur toys while her mother and I talked and the other parents there broke out pizza for dinner.

The costumes at the parade were even cooler. One little girl went as a peacock, complete with genuine peacock feather tail. There was a dad in a construction outfit pulling his son in a wagon made to look like a bulldozer. A Little Mermaid family had a truly adorable Ariel and toddler Flounder, while a sweet Anna chased her little Olaf brother. Another boy wore a lavish steampunk suit, jacket, and top hat. There was a teen group with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet whose high spirits were remarkable considering how hot their costumes must have been. Two pretty princesses sported poofy pink and purple gowns. Saw another Beetlejuice and three more Ghostbusters. Finley's best friend was Barbie in her pink flared western costume from mid-way through the movie. Parents went as Frankenstein and his bride, gangsters, and a mom Chucky and dad Tiffany. 

Thankfully, the parade was only slightly late this year. As the group started down West Clinton, I couldn't help noticing that it was more than twice the size it usually is. Everyone must have decided to come out and enjoy the still-warm evening. Even Finley and her friends rushed out to join me as we hiked past Tonewood. 

With all those great costumes, neither Finley nor I won anything. I suspect Finley was more disappointed than I was. She and Rose vanished right after the elementary school kids were judged. I hung around to get candy and two balsa wood gliders for a friend's kids. 

Got yet another surprise after I got home, washed my makeup off, and put my costume pieces away. The owner of the Match Game Productions channel ran a previously-unmentioned Halloween game show marathon. I came in to see Vincent Price as the Mystery Guest on a 50's episode of What's My Line? In addition to repeating the Match Game '90 Halloween episode, we had two Family Feud episodes from the 90's (one with Ray Combs dressed as Robin Hood, the other with Richard Dawson and lavish Halloween decorations), two Super Password episodes with trick and treat bags, a mid-70's Halloween Squares episode with Paul Lynde as Frankenstein in the center square, and a Price Is Right episode from the mid-2000's with an older Bob Barker and two spooky witch-based Showcases. 

Play this marathon at your spooky parties this weekend and see who plays along!

Trick or Treat Game Show Spooktacular Marathon 2024

Finished the night with The Midnight Hour. I go further into this TV teen horror comedy from 1985 at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Happy Halloween! - The Midnight Hour