Sailing Into Matches

Began a gloomy morning with breakfast and more Let's Pretend cassettes. "Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp" is generally a straightforward rendition of the original Arabian Nights story. While it does use the genie in the ring that many versions tend to drop, it also just had the evil Wizard order the genie to steal the princess, rather than the entire castle. Aladdin ends up using the ring to rescue her and poisoning the wizard.

"The Donkey, the Table, and the Stick" is less well-known today. This version of the Grimm's tale has a young man named Jack working for two older people who give him a donkey that drops coins from its ears and a table that magically makes food appear. He makes the mistake of boasting about them to the head of the inn where he stays and his daughter. They steal them, then claim to Jack's father that he never had them to begin with. It's the third magical item that finally gets the duplicitous trio to confess, so Jack can marry his sweetheart.

Despite the ongoing downpour, I had no trouble with Uber today. The one arriving came in 7 minutes. Good thing, as I wanted to get there early enough to buy a plastic container of turkey cubes, mozzarella cubes, crackers, and grapes for lunch. The one going home came in 6 minutes.

I did do carts for the first hour, when the rain wasn't so bad...but once the downpour picked up around 10 AM, I had no desire to be out in it. I spent the rest of the day sweeping the store and putting unwanted items away. One of the college boys took over the carts after he arrived later. Just as well that I didn't see the Eagles game. They dropped a heartbreaker to the Jaguars in London, just barely losing 19-17. 

Finally got around to putting up the Halloween decorations when I got home. Xiomara the Squishmallow Leopard is far from my only Halloween decoration! I'm not a fan of horror, so most of my decorations are funny or cute, like the Trick-or-Sweet Bear stand-up (yes, there is a Halloween Care Bear) I found at Marshalls a few years ago, the cartoony black cat and skeleton wooden stand-ups I found at Goodwill, the stuffed witch I got from Jodie when Dad died, and the various Halloween Happy Meal toys Mom gave me when she cleared out her Halloween decorations in the late 2000's. I also collect cute stuffed bats - I have Boo the WebKinz Bat, Ophelia the Beanie Baby Bat, Scarem, a much smaller Beanie Baby bat, the adorable Belfry I found at a candy store in 2021, and a bat from the Eckards holiday Beanie Baby-type stuffed toy collection from the late 90's.

Listened to Halloween stories and music while I worked, and later as I went online. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow comes with two stories. The title story is a condensed version of the Ichabod Crane segment from The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Rip Van Winkle is more interesting. It sticks to the original story up until Rip wakes up...to discover that he's slept not through 20 years of his life, but 220. He awakens in a typical small upstate New York town of the early 60's to discover that the more things change...the more kids love to hear his stories. 

Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House is honestly a bit scary for Disney. Even they admit this album isn't for young children. The stories on Side A alone lean heavily into spooky horror, even just using sound effects and a few lines of dialogue. The screechy sound effects on side B are just slightly less spooky. 

Autumn is one of George Winston's most relaxing albums. The first song "Colors/Dance" is my favorite from side one, "September." "October" gets appropriately moodier, with "Road," "Sea," and "Stars." 

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown probably has the second best-regarded soundtrack of the Peanuts specials after the one for the first Christmas show. I have the second version, released after they found the master tapes for the special in 2020. "The Great Pumpkin Waltz" is probably the best-known new-to-this-special song here, but I also like the charming "Snoopy and the Leaf" and spooky "Graveyard Theme."

Finished the night with today's Match Game YouTube marathon. Jokes about Christopher Columbus abounded on this show, especially as it became better-known that he was, frankly, a lousy sailor and a worse explorer. They generally either covered what he missed at sea, why his men thought he was crazy, or what his love life was like. (And I have no idea why Gene kept giving him an Italian accent. He was Portuguese.) 

There was a Christopher Columbus reference on the episode where a charming and funny old man who ran a junk yard won the game, and another on the PM episode that had Gene and Brett showing off their dueling push-ups. Lee Meredith of the original 1967 The Producers had a Christopher Columbus question on her first day, and Alejandro Rey on his last. There was one during the week with a very fussy Don Adams, too, and the one where Gene announced that Richard would be hosting a new show called Family Feud in the fall. Charles Nelson Reilly was an avid sailor who counted a captain's hat among his many chapeau worn on the show. 

Discover some truly hilarious episodes with Gene and his wacky panelists! 

Match Game Sunday Classics - Ships Ahoy & Columbus Day Marathon

(And yes, it has continued to rain, sometimes heavily, for the entire day.) 

Somewhere Out There

Started off early with one last trip through the upstate New York countryside. It was a little cloudy, but neither rainy nor even that cold. We had one last breakfast at a fairly quiet Denny's. We made our own slams again. I replaced the turkey bacon with original bacon. Lauren replaced her sausage with fruit. Yum! They were still good, even if I couldn't finish the pancakes. 

Denny's and Cracker Barrel are less than 5 minutes from the Albany-Renesslaur Train Station. We sat on chairs by the closed for Sunday post office until my train started lining up. I gave Lauren a hug before getting into line. I didn't buy food this time, since I was getting on earlier. I told Lauren to give her parents and Rico and Elliott my love. I really did have a good time! Lauren's my best friend, and I'll miss her, even if we can talk online.

(Oh, and Lauren spent the rest of the day doing her own grocery shopping and stuff at home with her parents. And apparently, she'll be seeing Rico again on Wednesday.)

Thankfully, this time I had no trouble for the rest of the day. Every train arrived on time. They were also full to bursting. I spent the ride to New York wedged next to an older woman who mainly read. I admired the stunning views of sail boats bobbing on choppy silver waters past ancient, crumbling castles on tiny islands, smoke-belching factories, and sprawling hotels and mansions. 

Unlike the train going to New York, the one coming from Albany goes straight into Moynihan Train Hall. They were full to bursting, too! People lounged on their luggage in every corner and crevice, waiting for their train. The lines for the downstairs bathrooms were so long, I ended up lugging my bags upstairs to use the quiet bathrooms there. 

Had lunch at the Food Hall downstairs. This is a more lavish version of a typical mall food court. Given I was in New York and the only time we had pizza this week was at the Colonie Center Sbarro's, I had to get a slice of mushroom and a slice of cheese. Yum! Real mushrooms with just the right crust. I barely managed to find a seat near the Irish bar, but I did find a place to eat. Tried a banana bread latte afterwards at Starbucks. Yum! Sweet, but it really did taste like liquid banana bread.

The train to Philadelphia was actually a commuter train to Harrisburg, and it might have been even busier than the one to New York. It was so full, I just dropped my stuff in the last seat on the car where I didn't have to put my suitcase in a rack. A young woman, probably college age, settled next to me with her own bags. She spent the trip to Philly reading her phone. I spent it watching the rain fall on Newark arenas, New Jersey suburbs, and graffiti-laden factories outside of Philly

Instead of calling Uber right away when I arrived at 30th Street Station, I bought a ticket for the NJ Transit train. It wasn't leaving for over an hour, but it was quarter of 5 when I got in. I had so much trouble picking up Uber at the train station the past few years, I figured it was worth the wait. I bought a tuna and cucumber hoagie and ranch sweet potato chips from the food booth (they still haven't finished remodeling their own food hall) and had dinner, then went to the bathroom and read One Poison Pie until they announced the NJ Transit train had arrived.

Unlike the other two trains, the Transit wasn't remotely full. The only other people riding in the car with me were two curly-haired college age boys in Eagles sweaters. For once, it actually left the station on time. The only trouble we had were the lights going out and having to fix them briefly in Pennsauken. Otherwise, they ran on time too. It finally pulled into the Cherry Hill Pavilion around quarter of 7.

I picked up Uber at the big Shop Rite in front of the Pavilion. It's easier (and cheaper) to get a ride closer to home and at a place where the driver might actually see me. No trouble here, either. The driver arrived in seven minutes and got me back in a little over 10. Considering how wet everything in Camden County was, it must have rained pretty hard earlier. Now I'm glad I spent most of the day on the train. 

Finished the night after a shower and putting everything away with the Sunday Match Game marathon. Given the entire run of the show spanned most of the Sexual Revolution, there was an awful lot of sex talk on this show. If Orson Bean wasn't joking about stripper's chests coming off, Richard Dawson and Gene Rayburn were panting over barely-adult contestants. 

One of the most famous episodes of the syndicated run got very into sexual matters. Betty White turned up in a short red dress borrowed from Sharon Farrell. As Sharon said, she did look fabulous, and she knew it. Later, McLean's answer to what a farmer thought should be an Olympic sport somehow ended with Sharon Farrell on top of Richard Paul. There was also the guy who claimed he started his children's day with laughter...but his wild, Joker-like cackling sent McLean running to Gene's door instead. 

It's all about the birds, bees, and the changing attitudes about what goes on between romantic partners in this hilarious and provocative marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Sex Party Marathon

Oh, and I got my schedule yesterday. In good news, I don't work at the Acme again until Wednesday. Unfortunately, I also got an extra day on Friday, and for some reason, an 8 hour day on Saturday. Head bagger must be taking the day off again. 

Country Roads

This time, we started out at quarter after 9 with a trip to Vermont. Lauren needed to get gas, so we stopped at the Shell station down the street from her house. She got her gas and a croissant at the Dunkin' Donuts in the convenience store there. I got a "Franki" Matcha Latte (topped with purple foam) and a maple frosted donut. 

Vermont is beautiful country! I love our drives up there. It was sunny when we left, but even with dark clouds moving in on the horizon, the gold and orange trees glowed in the rustling wind. The emerald green farmland was laden with huge round pumpkins and golden corn. Cows grazed in fields of pastel wildflowers. Those green mountains seemed to literally touch the sky, thanks to the thick fog at their tops. Villages that go back to the Revolutionary War crowded around narrow highways, clapboard churches, and quaint antique shops with wrap around porches.

Lauren pulled into the gravel parking lot of the Vermont Country Store at Weston around 11:30. This is a vintage red farm house that sells everything from retro toys and games to old-fashioned candy and kitchen items to pastel milled soaps, herbal tonics, Vermont cheeses, maple syrups, and sausages, and lacy nightgowns. They have nifty vintage holiday decorations and all kinds of Peanuts items too, books, stuffed Snoopys and Woodstocks, sheets, games.

Trouble is, they may be practical and hard-to-find, but most of their wares are also expensive above the norm, especially their clothes. Soon as I could find it, I hurried upstairs to their sale area in the attic. Made some of my best finds here. I've only just begun to see those scratch-and-sniff stickers that were common as prizes in schools during the 80's again. There was a basket with four remaining. We're supposed to make a special Halloween theme with prizes for our tables on the day before Halloween. I hope the kids love them as much as we did! I also found a gorgeous maroon nightgown with a lace collar. Downstairs, I dug up jute coasters with a leaf and a pumpkin motif that weren't that expensive. Thought I'd try Fruit Jelly Stackers, which seem similar to fruit slices in a layered square rather than a half-moon shape.

I had just gone outside to wait for Lauren to finish her own shopping when I saw Mom had left a message on my cell phone. Turns out yes, they got the birthday card for Aurora in time for her birthday yesterday, and yes, Aurora loved the Disney gift card. She's a big Elsa fan! Mom and Keefe's wife Julia handled her birthday party. Keefe had to work on a new ship. 

After Lauren came out with two bags of clothes for her and her parents and socks for her dad, we put everything in her car, then headed to Mildred's Table. The sit-down restaurant at the Vermont Country Store has been through several names and owners of late - last year, it was Mildred's Grill - but it's back in the Orton family at the moment. This is more industrial-rustic, with plain wooden beams on the ceiling and local artwork depicting Vermont scenes on the walls. Lauren had a massive grilled cheese and bacon sandwich on thick sourdough bread and a huge bowl of butternut squash bisque. I went for a simpler chicken salad wrap with lots of nuts and dried cranberries.

Mildred's Dairy Bar and Grill is attached to the back of Mildred's Table. It's basically the take-out version of Mildred's Table, with local ice cream and treats along with basic sandwiches and hot dogs. Lauren had a cup of black raspberry ice cream. I had a vanilla maple "Creamee" swirl in a cup with chocolate sprinkles. Yum! They know ice cream in Vermont. It was sweet and just maple enough. 

It showered hard while we were in Mildred's, but the rain took a temporary leave of absence as we went across the street to the Christmas Shop. This old wooden house isn't as big as Winterwood in Rio Grande, but it's just as jammed full of every possible Christmas ornament that ever existed. I even saw soda can and peanut butter jar ornaments! Lauren got gifts for her parents and Rico. I didn't see anything I could carry home. Not to mention, my tree is jammed full as it is! 

The Weston Village Store is next-door. It used to be Weston's town hall, but now it sells local souvenirs, Vermont-made cheeses and fudge, and novelty toys. Lauren bought Skittles-themed socks for Rico and Vermont sweatshirts for her and her parents. I just bought a small bottle of maple syrup, which is cheaper there than at the Vermont Country Store.

It was still just cloudy and windy as Lauren drove us down into Manchester. Pasttime Pinball at the Outlet Mall there is under new ownership, but it hasn't changed the experience. It's still rows of pinball history, from Humpty Dumpty, the first machine with flippers from 1947, to a lavish Elton John machine with a flashing LCD screen from three years ago. There's quite a few rarities there. I saw machines themed around Elvira, Happy Days (the original Eight Ball), Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, Terminator 2, the first Addams Family film, Ghostbusters, Labyrinth, the first Toby Maguire Spider Man movie, The Wizard of Oz, and the 1994 action flop The Shadow. In addition to the recent Elton John machine, there was one from 1976 based on his Tommy character. They had Pin-Bot, Bride of Pin-Bot, Centaur, Diner, Ice Revue, Fish Tales, Paratrooper, and Space Shuttle. 

Pinball can be a lot of fun, and I loved learning about the history behind the consoles, but after an hour, my hand got tired from pulling all those levers to get the ball going. I left Lauren playing every game there and went across the street to the Northshire Bookstore, dodging more heavy showers as I did. The Northshire Bookstore is in a charming old inn, but it's also a bit of a maze. I kept running into alcoves and more alcoves filled with new books, records, and stationary...but I was looking for the old books. I finally asked for directions to the used book room. It's right next to their cafe (which was closed by the time I got there). Thankfully, the used book room is much brighter and more open than the rest of the store. I finally came up with:

Shades of Earl Grey by Laura Childs (I don't often see the older Tea Shop Mysteries out in the wild.)

Grimm Curiosities by Sharon Lynn Fisher (Christmas-set British Victorian fantasy)

They had two American Girl Williams-Sonoma cookbooks, Baking and Breakfast & Brunch. I have a ton of baking cookbooks, so I went with Breakfast & Brunch. 

Thankfully, the rain had stopped again by the time we were ready for dinner. Lauren drove us over to the small shopping center where the cozy little Japanese restaurant Sushi Boat is located. When we arrived, though...they were closed. They weren't supposed to be closed. They're normally open for dinner on Fridays.

We ended up across the street at the more elegant Thai Basil by default. They were a little pricey, but their food was good and their servings were massive. Lauren's bowl of beef pho was big enough to pass as a swimming pool. My chicken stir fry was served in a hollowed-out pineapple! Oh yum. Thai food tends to be spicy, but pineapple or no pineapple, my stir-fry was just the right melding of flavors. I had sticky white rice, too. I ate all but about half my rice. Lauren ate three quarters of that lake-sized bowl of pho.

Went straight in the shower when I got home, then watched Million Dollar Kid on Tubi. I went back a little further to the East Side Kids, when Leo Gorcey's name was Muggs, and he led a group of slightly younger hooligans that included Glimpy (Huntz Hall) and his decidedly not-kid cousin Herbie (Al Stone). They find a wallet that belongs to millionaire John Cortland (Herbert Heyes), who takes a shine to them and lets them use his son's gym. They end up helping out his family, including heading off a phony Frenchman (Stanley Brown) who is after his daughter Louise's (Louise Currie) money and getting his younger son Roy (Johnny Duncan) back on the straight and narrow.

Finished the night at YouTube with a rare animated fairy tale from Canada. The Admiral and the Princess apparently debuted there in 1990. A grandmother reads her grandson the story of a brave admiral who loved a spirited princess. They couldn't wed because she had to remain on land and prepare for her duty as queen. The king's evil advisor try to hypnotize the admiral to kill the king, but he couldn't do it. The King didn't want to kill him, so advisor punished him by turning him into a blue heron. When the king travels to a neighboring kingdom with his armada, the advisor intends to create a storm and destroy them. The princess' nurse is a sorceress and is able to turn her into an egret, so she and the Admiral can lead her father from danger. The Admiral does eventually defeat the advisor, but at the cost of his humanity. It's faithful nurse Renee who finds a way for the two star-crossed lovers to be together.

This was surprisingly sweet and even sad. The bittersweet ending and the advisor's gristly and fairly graphic demise after his blood crystal is destroyed are fairly rare in 90's animated fairy tales. Apparently, this disappeared for years before someone posted it on YouTube six years ago. The animation isn't the greatest, but it's still recommended if you love original fairy tales like I do. 

The Admiral and the Princess

With a Little Help From My Friends

Started out heading back to Albany on a gray, cool morning. It showered lightly as we made our way through the small, lovely upstate New York towns to Cracker Barrel near the Albany train station. Thank goodness the clouds were starting to break up as we pulled into their parking lot. In fact, that was the last rain we saw all day.

Cracker Barrel goes for southern-fried rustic instead of generic 60's diner. Lauren and I sat under framed artwork of patterns for dresses from the 40's. I could see skis and older snowshoes over one table, 45's and their covers at another. The blazing fire in the huge fireplace felt good on that slightly chilly morning! Lauren had a hash brown casserole with two fluffy biscuits. I had thin but tasty pancakes topped with caramel, sweet cream, and fried apples. (Those fried apples taste much better on top of pancakes than they do as a side.) I thought it would be busier at quarter after 10, but it wasn't that bad.

We of course stopped in Cracker Barrel's gift shop on the way out. Cracker Barrel's country theme extends to their old-style candy, CDs of country stars, and for some reason, a lot of Peanuts merchandise. I just ended up with a cute, fluffy little stuffed cow I named Hoodsie and a pecan log. Lauren got a stuffed Eeyore for her mom and shirts for her.

By the time Lauren pulled into the parking lot of Crossgates Mall about 20 minutes away, the clouds were rapidly vanishing. She couldn't find a good space near JC Penney, so we entered at Primark. I'm not a fan of them. I can never find my size there. Lauren normally does well there, but finally admitted she couldn't find anything either when she joined me in the main mall.

There were small neon gold and white cranes scattered throughout the mall. They pretty much looked like gold and white versions of the Prince UFO Catchers at Colonie Center. Lauren didn't have any luck with them, even when we found a store with rows of them called Kiddleton. I got a cute little round knitted white duck and a butterfly-like creature with beautiful orange, black, gray, and green markings. She had a Godzilla tag. (I later discovered that her name is Mothra, and at least in the current film series, she's a goddess and a good guy.)

Our next stop was Dave & Buster's. The one at Crossgates doesn't have skee ball, but they have plenty of everything else. I spent over an hour and a half going from the pirate wheel (won over 200 on one try there!) to Monopoly to giant Space Invaders to giant Pac Man to ring toss. Got Mario on Mario Kart Deluxe; came in 1st on the Kingdom Way round. Didn't have as much luck with Crusin' Blast, despite my sweet cherry-red Cadillac. I came in 3rd on the Madagascar race with the dinosaurs. Got two cards for extra points out of the SpongeBob and Minions token machines. I had over 4,200 when it was all done. Got a really cute fluffy, floppy mottled brown-and-white teddy bear I named Honeycomb.

I peeked at FYE next. They moved and didn't have the selection they used to, but I came up with enough to do their buy 3 used items for $15 sale:

The Essential Collections - Deanna Durbin (Apparently an import, but I almost never see anything for her, not even on LP.)

Great Women of Jazz - Astrid Gilberto

The soundtrack for O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The third season of Supergirl (This wasn't part of the sale, but it wasn't a bad price.)

Next stop was Macy's. Lauren looked around, but all I did was use the bathroom. After that, we went upstairs and headed to The Arcade House. This is one large room with smaller machines and cranes with better toys than Dave & Buster's. Alas, neither of us had any luck there. They had a row of older games in the back. I played Burger Time and at least got through most of the first round, but I'm still no good at Defender. 

After we couldn't get anything out of the cranes at Kiddleton, we briefly moved on to JC Penney. It was getting late by that point, though, and we also wanted to get mini golf in. There's an indoor black light mini golf course across from Dave & Buster's downstairs. The theme is space. You navigate your neon balls around Venus fly traps, aliens, glowing "rock formations," and astronauts in neon green playing golf. Lauren won by a few points, but I got the only hole in one of the day.

We made a brief stop outside of Primark to use the bathroom before we finally headed out. At least the rain seems to have taken a temporary leave of absence. In fact, the weather was gorgeous when we drove past Albany and down to Mass Pike. It was sunny, breezy, and much warmer. If the dry roads were any indication, it hadn't so much as sprinkled in hours.

Lauren pulled in at Rico's house near Great Barrington around 6:30. Rico was letting his baked chicken brine when we arrived. He and his boyfriend Elliott were absolutely hilarious. It was funny just watching them together, and Lauren was hilarious with them, too. We chatted, then ate Rico's delicious, moist baked chicken with corn boiled in salted water. 

We were going to have dessert at an ice cream bar nearby, but apparently, it closed early tonight. No matter. I had cookies and Lauren had a popcicle while the guys chatted and laughed and drank rum. We tried to play the Train-themed card game Lauren picked up, but I don't think the guys quite got it. We ended up singing along to Garth Brooks (Rico is a big country fan) instead. We did much better with Golden Girls Against Humanity, which ended up being a riot. Elliott won by a wide margin. He had 7 to Rico and Lauren's 6 cards each and my 3. We had so much fun, it was late before we finally got home. 

Have You Ever Seen the Rain?

Started off the morning heading across the rain-spattered landscape of upstate New York. Even with the gritty gray skies and heavy showers, western Massachusetts and upstate New York remained beautifully pastoral. The leaves here are just starting to turn glowing shades of gold, rust, and flaming orange. They hung over huge red barns, charming little villages, lovely Victorian hotels and libraries, and sturdy farmhouses. Thankfully, the traffic was non-existent as we headed down the highway past Schoendack to the Denny's on the hill next-door to Cracker Barrel.

It wasn't raining when we pulled into their parking lot. They weren't even that busy, despite it being 10 AM and prime breakfast time. She ordered a strawberry lemonade for a drink. I got hot tea...and of course, I spilled it on myself when I tried to pour it. Ouch! I've been a real klutz lately. I ran it under cold water right away. Thankfully, though it was a little sore later, it never blistered. I ran cold water on it whenever I could throughout the day, which seems to have helped.

Our breakfast went much better after that. We made our own slams. Lauren went simpler with sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast that was so heavily buttered, it was practically French toast. I had two delicious and fluffy pancakes, turkey bacon, scrambled egg whites, and a huge plate of grapes and sliced bananas and strawberries. Oh yum! Very tasty, especially those pancakes. We ate every bit.

Our next stop was the Colonie Center, the smaller, older mall on Wolf Road. On one hand, heavy remodeling a decade ago made it modern inside and out. It's also had more trouble with losing anchors than its larger neighbor down the street Crossgates Mall. On the other hand, it also has stores that Crossgates doesn't, including the one we started at. I love L.L Bean's travel accessories, but as Lauren pointed out, their clothes are expensive even on sale. We didn't spend much time here.

We did a little better at Go! Calendars and Toys. I looked at stuffed animals, but didn't see anything I wanted. Lauren did better. She found a cute mint-colored Snoopy key clip and a ball with a surprise toy. 

After we left Go!, we split up. Lauren went to Boscov's and LA 7. I started at Barnes and Noble. I wasn't that impressed with their mystery section. I just went with A Trip With Trouble: The Mountain Lodge Mysteries by Diane Kelly and the soundtrack from Toy Story 5. Headed across the way to Boscov's after that. I replaced the Easy Spirits with white Hi-Tecs. I looked at Avia, but they were too tight, even in wide sizes. The Hi-Tecs are slightly tight, but better than the Avias. 

Met Lauren out in the main hall while tying on my new sneakers. Our next stop was something different. Colonie just added the first all-crane machine arcade I've ever seen. It's small, and interestingly, like Tyler St. Arcade, it uses tokens. The pink and white neon machines did have some larger prizes, but most of them were cards or keychain toys. I kept trying for a Bulbasaur keychain with no luck. I did pick up a Flareon (fire version of Eevee) and a tiny stuffed pretzel with a cat's face. 

Went a little further down to Macy's after we finished at Prince UFO. I left Lauren to wander around, but I rarely do well here anymore. I ultimately just used the bathroom and met Lauren out in the mall. When she revealed she'd had no luck either, we headed a few doors down to Spencer's. I didn't get anything at the weird, edgy novelty store, but Lauren found a goofy shirt for her guy friend Rico.

Our plans got their first check of the day after Spencer's. We were going to spend an hour at the Pier Arcade next, but...they were closed. I could see the games wrapped in cellophane and netting through the bars. Looks like they're gone for good. That's disappointing. They were small, but they had enough in there to kill an hour. Wonder what happened? I can't imagine they had trouble competing with the cranes, which are really a different type of amusement. 

Our next stop wound up being K & A Thrift Shop by default. They were generally well-organized for a thrift shop, and other than some nice furniture, kind of sparse. I did see some cute stuffed animals and the clothes weren't bad, but there was nothing I absolutely needed. We moved on fairly quickly. I browsed in Hallmark after that while Lauren went back to Spencer's for Rico's shirt.

After Lauren got out of Spencer's, we had lunch at the food court. We both ended up getting stromboli from Sbarro's. I went with a spinach stromboli. Lauren got a pepperoni stromboli and added a salad and a soda. Yum! I don't know why Sbarro's has such a bad reputation. Their stromboli are slightly dark but far from bad. Ours disappeared pretty fast. 

There isn't much else upstairs, so we headed back down to the first floor after lunch. We poked around the Gift Emporium and a tiny toy store, but found nothing but Beanie Babies, imitation stuffed animals, and junky statues. Five Below proved to be far more interesting. Lauren bought lounging pants. I found the cutest little leopard Squishmallow dressed as a vampire. Her tag says her name is Xiomara, and she's a chemistry teacher who loves showing her little Mallows how to make slime and bath bombs. 

Thankfully, the rain died down again as we made our way back out to Wolf Road. This time, we headed left to Trader Joe's. Good thing we could actually park in the parking lot this time. They took over vacant buildings next door and are expanding the store and the lot. That doesn't seem to have impacted the store itself. It was busy, but I was able to buy coconut strips, sweetened dried orange slices, fruit bars, and oatmeal coconut cookies with no trouble. Lauren got her favorite ginger slices. 

It was way too early for dinner, so Lauren drove us a few doors down to a small big box shopping center. Once again, I didn't find anything in Burlington, and all I did in Marshalls was use the bathroom. Lauren did better, picking up shirts for her parents and pants for her. The Target was huge! I looked through the Our Generation clothes, but ultimately just had time to grab The Faraway Inn by Sarah Beth Durst on a good sale. 

The rain slowed again as Lauren drove us further down busy Wolf Road to Ted's Fish Fry for dinner. This popular local franchise specializes in massive fried fish sticks on tiny hot dog buns that can't close to contain them. Lauren bought a fish fry for her, two for her parents, and fish tacos for a snack later. I had a fish fry, slightly bland French fries, and very tasty and not-too-sweet Cole slaw. 

By the time Lauren was driving us past the glittering night silhouette of Albany, the rain was down to light showers. They'd continue during pretty much the entire ride home. Lauren cranked up the music and the heat, and we sang to 60's and 80's hits and country favorites as she got off the highway and passed through small towns and down dark highways.

When we got in, we showed our loot to Lauren's parents, and then I took a shower. Finished the night with more vintage music after I got out. Music-based game shows go way back on TV, here and in England. Juke Box Jury actually started in the US, but the long-running British version from the late 50's and 60's is better-known today. Celebrity panelists - Carmen MacRae is among them in the episode I have - would rate songs and try to figure out if they'd be a hit or not. Sounds simple, but the show was popular enough to attract some of the biggest groups of the day as panelists, including the Beatles. Alas, little of the show survives, with only audio from one of the Beatles' shows.

Juke Box Jury was far from the last time young people would get involved with musical game shows. The MTV show Lip Service from 1992 has college kids singing along to popular hits of the early-mid 90's. Whichever group can do it better wins a big trip. Weird as the premise is, the kids really do get into their miming - check out the girls in the opening acts!

Musical Chairs from 1975 also went for the hip youth crowd. Singer Adam Wade made history as the first African-American man to host a game show. He'd introduce regular singers Mary Stuart and Donna Ceillini, plus a guest star - in this case, R&B group the Spinners. The singers would start performing a song, and the contestants would guess the next lyrics. It was too complicated and expensive with the guest starts to last longer than a year, but I'm glad most of the show has been found. For all the weird game play, there's some great music on display here.

I loved watching The $100,000 Name That Tune on USA when I was a kid! In this revival of the popular 50's show, Jim Lange is the one who leads contestants through a series of mini-games to the Golden Medley. Contestants dare each other to see who can name a song in the least notes possible. It's exciting to see how well they do on the Golden Medley, especially one of the rare folks who go all the way, as they do here.

It's a cavalcade of music styles from four decades of musical and game show history in these tuneful episodes!

Juke Box Jury (1960)

Musical Chairs (1975)

The $100,000 Name That Tune (1984)

Lip Service (1992)

Driving My Life Away

It was cloudy and spitting slightly when we headed out around quarter after 10 this morning. Even those clouds were trying to break up as we headed to the shopping center on the bottom of a cliff. The Pittsfield Goodwill is huge (it used to be a Big Lots), even bigger than the Audubon one, and much better-organized. I found their bins and bins of media right away. Lauren found two shirts. Out of their piles and piles of CDs and bins and bins of records and DVDs, I found: 

Billboard Top Hits 1982 (I think that makes 1984 and 1980 the only 80's entries in this series I don't have.)

Julie Andrews - Broadway - The Music of Richard Rodgers

Sea of Love: Hits of the Late 50's (3-Disc set)

The House of the Seven Gables with Vincent Price (This was one of my best finds. Universal Vault DVDs are made on demand and hard to find in the wild.)

We headed up the hill to the upper half of the shopping center next. The Pittsfield Ollie's is also new, and frankly much nicer than the one in Cherry Hill (if not as big). Lauren picked up a pack of Archway Iced Oatmeal Cookies. (Apparently, her folks are big fans of those.) I found Sunkist Thin Shortbread coconut sandwich cookies with dark chocolate cream. The book aisles yielded what was my favorite discovery of the day. TCM Underground was their late-night series discussing classic cult cinema. It ended last year, but not before they released a book of the same title on classic and lesser-known cult films. 

(Among those films are five musicals I've reviewed before. I would have enjoyed the gritty Jamaican reggae crime film The Harder They Come more if I could understand the accents better. Roller Boogie and Xanadu are late 70's roller skating musicals that are way better than they have any right to be. Thank God It's Friday is a dull story with a killer soundtrack. Head is...its own thing.)

We headed into Pittsfield for our next stop. Lauren's guy friend Rico pointed out the recent opening of the Tyler St. Arcade. This is about as old school of an arcade as you can get. The newest machine was probably the SpongeBob Wheel from the late 90's-early 2000's. Most of them were generic machines from the 80's and early 90's. I did get a kick out of the Operation game where you had to hit a "bone" spot with a claw, even if it was hard to do, and the Shaquille O'Neal-themed pinball machine was pretty cool. It even used tokens and tickets instead of cards. Lauren had enough luck to get a Matchbox car, a pretty purple flower ring, and a small, squishy white bear. All I got was a pen with a video game-shaped top. 

Even the cranes were filled with generic printed stuffed animals and vintage stuffed toys from the 80's they probably found at local thrift shops. I'm still having no luck with cranes. Lauren got an 80's Strawberry Shortcake rag doll.

Lauren took us further down Pittsfield for lunch. She loves Angelina's Subs next-door to the Co-Op Bank where she works. They're a small, basic sandwich shop that sells some of the best cheesesteaks and grilled sandwiches in the Berkshires. Lauren had a cheese steak, Coke Zero, and a bag of Andy Capp Cheese Fries. I had a chicken cheese steak, Fresca, and a really yummy bag of ridged sea salt and cracked pepper potato chips. And the older ladies who made the food were funny and total dolls who had worked there for years. No wonder Lauren is such a fan of this place. 

Next up, Lauren took us about a half-hour down the road to the Lee Outlets. Alas, the Outlets have lost quite a few stores of late. There wasn't nearly as much to check out there as there usually is. I just ended up buying underwear at Jockey to replace a pair I bought in July that were too small. Lauren did slightly better, grabbing polo shirts at Aeropostale. 

We were originally going to eat at the Lee Outlets food court, but it was only 4 PM when we finished. That was too early for dinner, especially with our late lunch. Ended up going further south to the Great Barrington Goodwill instead. Lauren found nothing here. I dug through their equally full media bins for two more multi-disc CD sets: 

Original Cast! 100 Years of Musical Theater - Completing the Century (Collection of songs from musicals of the 80's and early 90's. I bought this for numbers from extremely hard-to-find flop musicals, including Dance a Little Closer, Baby, Romance/Romance, and Nick & Nora.) 

Mary Poppins Special Edition (I have the original LP soundtrack, but this has all of the music, plus a second CD with bonus interviews.) 

Lauren drove us all the way up to Canaan to try a restaurant Rico recommended. Picante's Mexican Grill looks extremely modern south-of-the-border in its decor, but it also has an extensive Italian menu along with the Mexican food. We had Italian yesterday, so we went with Mexican. Lauren had four small enchaladas with green tomatillo sauce, Spanish rice, black beans, and chicken that she ate all of. I went with a simpler - and equally tasty - chicken quesadilla full of thick chicken pieces and lots of cheese.

It had been spitting off and on all day. It didn't really start raining until we were heading to Picante's. The heavy shower continued during the hour-long drive home. Honestly, this may have been my favorite part of the day. Lauren turned up her 80's and 60's hits playlist, and we belted along to the Cars, the Beatles, the Chiffons, and Dexy's Midnight Runners. She spoke-texted messages to Rico, and I nearly doubled over laughing at how funny those two were together. 

We showed Lauren's parents most of what we found when we got home, then went downstairs. Lauren is watching YouTube videos. I'm watching today's YouTube Match Game marathon. McLean Stevenson took over Richard Dawson's spot in the fifth seat towards the end of the 1980 syndicated season. Honestly, I think the syndicated episodes are way underrated, especially the ones with McLean. He took over as host when Charles hit Gene with a card in an argument over an answer. Ted Lange dressed McLean in a creamy white suit with a cowboy hat that made him look like he got lost on the way to the set of Dallas. He wore a blond curly wig to imitate later Police Academy cop Leslie Easterbrook. He saw a contestant with a crush on sitcom actress Sydney Greenstreet give her a pretty rose. 

Have a little syndicated fun with McLean in some of the wildest episodes ever on local TV!

Match Game Sunday Classics - McLean Takes Richard's Seat: Best Shows With McLean Stevenson

I'm On My Way

Started the morning with breakfast and Let's Pretend. "The Water of Life" is a Grimm's fairy tale about a young prince, with the help of an old man, finds a lovely princess and a magic sword. His brothers steal the princess and the Water of Life intended for his sick father when he goes to fight a war, but the Princess knows how to keep the brothers at bay. 

"Prince Gigi and the Magic Ring" is entirely new on me. It starts out like Aladdin, but instead of being poor and wanting something better, Gigi is a normal peasant who wants to find his fortune. Things seem to be looking up when he finds a ring that allows him to wish for anything he wants and a dog and a cat who talk to him. He falls in love with a beautiful princess, to the point where he has a castle built right next door to be near her, but his feline and canine friends know what she's really like.

"The Brave Little Taylor" is pretty much a straightforward retelling of the Grimm's Fairy Tale...but here, the princess knows who he is, doesn't care, and even helps him get rid of the giants. He only has one task - to get rid of two giants who terrorize the countryside. The king doesn't want to kill him. He just wants him to prove himself and stop bragging to everyone in the castle about killing "seven in one blow."

I made the bed while the shows were running. As I was putting the stuffed animals on, I rolled backwards and fell off the back of the bed. Ouch! The left side of my back and bottom of my left foot hit the wooden frame hard on the way down. I could move and walk fine, so I don't think there's any damage, but they're awfully sore.

Thank heavens that was the worst thing that happened all day. It had poured for a lot of the morning. The rain was starting to slow down as I called Uber, but it was still coming down. The driver arrived in 8 minutes, not bad for the weather and a trip into Philadelphia. There was no traffic and no flooding either, not even on the Route 38 corridor that was underwater in July when Lauren visited. Not even heavy traffic in Philly. 

30th Street Station is a beautiful old building with a massive, glowing lobby. I feel more elegant just walking around in there. They just remodeled the ceiling, and it looks great. They still haven't finished the food court area, though. I was able to get a pumpkin donut and chai latte from a Dunkin' Donuts stand. Went to the bathroom, then spent the next hour walking around and admiring the improvements before lining up for the train.

Thankfully, the train to New York left right on time. The rain was bad, but it didn't seem to affect the trains. The only trains that canceled were the ones going to Boston. The train I was on was originally supposed to go on to Boston, but canceled that leg. The really horrible weather must have all gone to the coast. It also must have cleared off the train. I had no trouble getting a seat to myself between two families in the first car. One had two fidgety little girls. I pulled out my stuffed Teddiursa and let her wave to one to amuse her. Amused myself while eating my turkey sandwich, chips, and applesauce by listening to a more typical mom-dad-brother-sister family play games and fuss about their hotel in New York and each other behind me. The train did arrive in New York 15 minutes late, but that train always does get in late.

I had a harder time just finding Moynihan Train Station. Normally, I get out and it's right across the street, but I must have gone the wrong way. I came out on the side of Madison Square Garden. Which looks great (must have been recently remodeled), but wasn't where I wanted to go. It took me 20 minutes to figure out where I was going. Didn't help that it was spitting, cold, and gray. Moynihan was so busy when I got in, I went to the bathroom and spent my remaining time in the station having a snack and walking around.

Despite what the conductor claimed, the train going to Albany wasn't full, either. I managed to get a seat to myself here, too. Unlike the train going to New York, this one was full of commuters going to the New York suburbs and totally quiet. I colored in the Adventures In Care a Lot coloring book I've had for almost 20 years now and made up stories about the gorgeous sights along the Hudson River. I love the view going to Albany! Even with the fog and off-and-on rain, the crumbling castles, massive manors, smoke-belching factories, choppy gray waters, and endless rolling green mountains looked like something out of a dream.

I had a harder time getting to the main station at Albany. The escalators were down. I was going to take the elevator, but the line was too long. I finally just hauled my suitcase and backpacks upstairs and met Lauren in the main lobby. 

Lauren and I had dinner at Mario's Restaurant in New Lebanon, New York, about an hour from Albany. It's a lovely old Italian place we've eaten at before. It's expensive, but so worth it. We ate by the window, near the fireplace. We both enjoyed the bean salad, Italian bread, and soft, crusty popovers. Lauren had shredded ribs braised in wine with pasta and vegetables and cream brulee for dessert. I had a delicious, if spicy, fennel sausage and shrimp with butter herb sauce and cigar-shaped pasta. Oh, yum! It was all so good, no wonder the place was still packed even at 8:30. I heard three different birthday groups there, too.

We finally arrived at Lauren's around 9. I went straight in the shower, then took my things downstairs and watched tonight's Match Game marathon. Even on Match Game, the occasional rain shower sprang up in the form of rainy day questions. One of the most notable was on the week with writer Donald Ross and his matching wild floral shirts and ties and his slightly bemused wife Patti Deusch. They were there to see an ever-jumpy contestant continue to win big bucks (she would go on to be one of the all-time biggest winners on the show later that week).

Into everyone's life, a little rain must fall...and a lot of wacky questions! Let a smile be your umbrella as you join the belly Laughs while singing in the rain with Gene and his very wet weirdos!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Rain and Storms Marathon

Tales of a Rainy Day

Began the morning with breakfast and He-Man. "Evil-Lynn's Plot" is to turn herself into a sweet young woman to trick the elf-like residents of Widget into giving up their Cordite mineral. Skeletor wants to make a sword that's even more powerful than He-Man's. The Widgets learn a lesson about not believing everything you see when they end up being the ones who help He-Man out after Evil-Lynn reveals her true intentions.

Took down the summer decorations and put up the fall decorations while the cartoon finished. Not only is today the first day of fall, but for once, it feels like it. It was cloudy and rainy and barely in the 60's. The stuffed owl with the book and the candy corn candles and the stuffed pumpkins and apples and raffia bow wreath and wooden leaf, pumpkin, and acorn hanging went up today. The Halloween decorations will go out in about two weeks. 

Spent the rest of the morning looking up the basics on Habit for Humanity and finishing yesterday's blog entry. On one hand, I wasn't looking to have a home built for me, but they apparently do build condos, too, and they can help with finding homes for low-income families. I'll do further research on this and the waiting lists when I get back from vacation.

Listened to CDs and cassettes while I worked. 20 #1 Hits of the '20's does feature a few songs that are still well-known today, like "St. Louis Blues" by Marion Harris, "Singin' In the Rain" performed by Cliff Edwards, and Van & Schenck turning "Ain't We Got Fun?" into a comedy novelty number. Others here are far more obscure. "Charmaine" is a graceful waltz from the rowdy silent comedy What Price Glory. Eddie Cantor has fun with "No, No Nora," while Al Jolson brays about his "Swanee." The patter from "Two Black Crows" has dated far less well today.

Switched to Let's Pretend while eating a quick chicken-Swiss wrap for lunch. "Faithful John" is a servant tasked with keeping watch over the handsome young prince in his care. He discovers a conspiracy to kill the king, but can't tell him why he has to shoot a horse or remove drops of blood from his wife, or he'll turn to stone. The fairy who cast the stone spell claims the prince can only free John by killing his own son. Fortunately, just threatening the child here is enough to release John. In the actual fairy tale, the prince does kill his children and use their blood to free John, but John returns them to life. 

"The Little Mermaid" is probably the least-changed of the stories I listened to today. It's pretty much the story as Hans Christian Anderson wrote it, up to and including the dark ending where the mermaid dies and comes back as a spirit. "Why the Sea Is Salty" is more obscure today, and a lot more fun. A young peasant brings a salt grinder out of the sea, but is delighted to discover it can grind a lot more than rocks when it creates instant wealth for him and his wife. His greedy brother buys it, but can't control it. Nor can the captain who also buys it, but creates so much salt, it goes into the sea...

"The Elves and the Shoemaker" is the most changed. The original story is just a poor shoemaker who is helped by elves who make shoes he can sell. Some versions of the story do give the shoemaker a wife. Here, he has a wife, a son, and a pretty daughter. The last is coveted by the miserly old man who owns the store and will throw them out if she doesn't marry him. Of course, the person who bought the most shoes from the Shoemaker just happens to be the head of the town. 

I hurried out at around 2:25. It rained for most of the morning, but the rain was long gone by 2 PM. It was cloudy and cool, but not raining. I figured I was all right to take the bike to Thomas Sharp. Maybe it's just as well that we only had 16 younger kids today, 5 in my group. It started raining harder while they were eating their snacks. There could be no thought of anyone at any age going outside. 

Things did get noisy when the older kids came in the cafeteria to eat their own snacks. By the time we left, the head teacher settled the kids down with an art project. She cut out paper ice cream scoops, cones, bowls, cherries, and whipped cream topping and glued them to sheets of construction paper. The kids could decorate them however they wanted. One girl went with a rainbow sherbet cone. Another did what she called her "Superman cone," a red cone with blue and red ice cream scoops and a red cherry. When I didn't admire artwork and sharpen colored pencils, I built apartment buildings and space stations with the boys at the magnetic tile tables. By the time I left, there were only two girls and a boy remaining, and one of the girls went when I did. 

Thank heavens it wasn't raining when I got back out, even though my bike was soaked. Given it was still cloudy, cool, and humid, I went straight home. Hit the shower when I got in, then had dinner while watching Match Game '76. Most of tonight finished out the week with Susan Sullivan and Gary Burghoff. By the end of the night, they'd skipped ahead slightly again as everyone welcomed Orson Bean back to the show. 

Finished the night with a more recent episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Emily became the first female host to interact with the 'bots as they tried to figure out the treasure-hunt adventure film Beyond Atlantis. This story of boat owner Vic (Patrick Wayne) who has to deal with sleazy hustlers and falls for an anthropologist Dr. Katherine Vernon (Lenore Stevens) while searching for massive pearls around a remote island is both creepy and pretty darn dumb. The only normal-looking humans on the island are of course the king (George Nader) and his gorgeous daughter Syrene (Leigh Christian), whom he wants to produce an heir who is a heck of a lot more attractive the the bug-eyed, in-bred inhabitants of the island. She chooses Vic, but despite her grabbing him and doing things in coral underwater, he's already in love with Katherine. The rest of the gritters just care about the enormous pearls they've dragged up from the sea.

Um, yeah. On one hand, this does have its fun points, including them looking for pearls and just how tough East Eddie (Sid Haig) is. There's also some pretty decent cinematography on and around the island, when they're on land. All that swimming underwater looks murky and dull, and likely was there because underwater photography was still pretty new in 1973. Wayne and live wire Haig are the only people who come off as even remotely interesting. The ping-pong-eyed natives are more likely to give you nightmares than make you long for the wonders of the South Seas, the sets are minimal, the story silly and cliched. Honestly, it's for aficionados of bad B-action and horror films and major camp lovers only. 

(Oh, and to my knowledge, the rain has not returned since I got home. It's stayed cloudy, windy, and cool the rest of the night.)

Puppy Love Matches

Started a gloomy morning with breakfast and the Elton John album Ice On Fire. The lovely Cold War ballad "Nikita" was the big hit here, but honestly, this is a pretty dark album. Wikipedia talks about this having a rhythm and blues sound, but I think it's very mid-80s dark blues. "This Town" explores economic decline, "Cry to Heaven" is vaguely anti-war, and "Shoot Down the Moon" is a dark ballad. The other hit "Wrap It Up" and the upbeat ballad "Soul Glove" are more fun.

It had just started to shower by around 9. I ended up calling Uber. I called them early, and they arrived in less than 5 minutes. Had less luck going home. The original driver canceled, and their replacement didn't arrive for 13 minutes. 

Honestly, work was unusually quiet for the Eagles' first 1 PM Sunday game. It was busy right before the game started, but it was relatively quiet before that and died quickly afterwards. The weather didn't help. It remained cool, rainy, and humid off and on for the entire afternoon. I had plenty of help, too. The Sunday bagger and one of the college boys took the indoor chores and did carts, though I did end up doing the outside trash. No trouble whatsoever.

(I didn't see the game, but the Eagles apparently started well, then stumbled against the Tennessee Titans in the second half. They got a last minute pass that won them the game 24-20. It was a good Philadelphia sports day all around. The Phillies killed the Mets too, 7-2.)

Went straight down for a nap when I got home. I was up way too late last night, and I'm still really tired. I've been busy lately! Hit the sack at 4, and didn't get up until around 5:30.

Good thing I woke up when I did. Tonight's Match Game YouTube marathon had just started. Questions and jokes about our friends from the animal kingdom abounded on this show. Though they were mainly about what mean widdle kids do to animals, two real animals did appear on syndicated episodes. Blind man Glenn made history as one of the first disabled contestants, with the help of his beautiful service dog Princess. Betty White adored her, and she was sweeter and better-behaved than most of the panelists. 

Betty also helped with Trotter, who belonged to Gene's daughter Lynne. Trotter was a dear sweet old mutt who stayed right with Aunt Betty and Grandpapa Gene. Charles kept talking about her being a vicious dog, but he later said he had dogs himself. I think he realized that Trotter was probably smarter and better-looking than any of them.

The other "animal" who turned up on an episode wasn't real, or quite as pleasant. An extremely ugly paper-mache eagle Charles dubbed "The Goody-Toddy Bird" dropped a Match Game '77 egg at the start of the New Year's Eve 1976 episode. Later on, Gene gave the egg to the contestant George when he gave a bad answer on the Head-to-Head. Mark Goodson turned up to praise the job they were all doing before the balloons dropped for the New Year and the new sign.

Celebrate our animal friends with two of the sweetest real dogs around!

Match Game Sunday Classics - We Love Our Animals Marathon

A Couple of Characters

Began a rainy morning with breakfast, the last chapters of Sonnet of the Sphinx, and Julie London. The heavy showers and gloomy, gritty clouds seemed especially appropriate for The Unforgettable Julie London. "Cry Me a River" is only the tip of the iceberg in her many melancholy ballads. "A Cottage for Sale," "Little White Lies," "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good to You?" "What Is This Thing Called Love?" and "No Moon at All" go into similar dark turf. "Cuddle Up a Little Closer," "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," "Daddy," and "Hot Toddy" are a bit more upbeat.

Though the rain had slowed down considerably by 9 AM, it was still raining. I called Uber. No trouble there. The driver going to work arrived in 8 minutes. It took me a while to get a ride going home and cost me a bundle, but when I did, they came in 7 minutes. No trouble either way, not even with some flash flooding in Oaklyn in the morning.

It's probably a good thing it did stop raining. Though I did have to return cold items for a half-hour, I spent most of the morning and early afternoon outside. In fact, the sun came out later on, and it got hot and murderously humid. It was really busy from about 11 AM onward, too. People were getting ready for the first Eagles game of the season against the Commanders at 4:25. It wasn't until almost before I left that we managed to corral the carts again.

Stopped at the pharmacy after work to get my Covid vaccine. I don't want the kids getting sick or making me sick. I've been meaning to get this done and kept putting it off. Talked to the pharmacist. She figured out my insurance. I waited a minute, then went in the room next to the pharmacy. They gave me the injection and covered it with a Band Aid, and I moved on. 

When I got home, I changed...and went straight into bed for a nap. I was up way too late last night and had to get up early this morning (and will for most of this week.) Put my head on the pillow at quarter after 3 and didn't get up until 5:30.

I originally woke up just in time for tonight's Match Game marathon...but YouTube kept giving Match Game Productions a hard time. It blocked two marathons before we found out that the YouTube Studio was glitchy and blocking all new uploads. 

(At least things went better for the Eagles. They hit the ground running to start and were up 14-9 when I checked at half-time. The Commanders caught up in the second half, but it wasn't enough. The Eagles finally outran them 24-22.) 

I finished up the night with CDs featuring two true characters of American film and theater instead. Jimmy Durante may not have been traditional leading man material, but darned if he couldn't put over a ballad almost as well as Julie London. His "As Time Goes By" on As Time Goes By: The Best of Jimmy Durante was so iconic, it's on the Sleepless In Seattle soundtrack. That also features his delightful version of "Make Someone Happy." As Warners Archives says on the back of the CD box, only Walter Huston did "September Song" better. I've also never heard "Try a Little Tenderness" done as a jazz ballad.

Elaine Stritch was an entirely different type of character, but one who was just as memorable as the gentler Durante. I remember hearing great stuff about her one-woman show Elaine Stritch at Liberty when it opened on Broadway in 2002, and no wonder. The 2-disc cast album was recorded live at the original off-Broadway show. Stritch is obviously having a ball telling her life story. And what a life it was! She really had been there, known everyone from a young Marlon Brando to Noel Coward. 

I kind of wish we could have gotten one song from the charming flop Goldilocks, where she played a silent film star and Don Ameche was her exasperated director and ex-husband. Her other famous roles were far better represented. In addition to her first song "Civilization" from the 1947  revue Angel In the Wings, "The Ladies Who Lunch" from Company, "Zip" from Pal Joey, and "Why Do the Wrong People Travel?" from the Coward show Sail Away, there were bits of "There's No Business Like Show Business," "I Want a Long Time Daddy" as she recalled getting into trouble for sneaking out to see a drag queen in Detroit, "Broadway Baby" (which she sang in the 1986 Follies concert), and the Coward song "I Went to a Marvelous Party." 

This may be a party of one, but no one can party like Elaine Stritch can. If you love her or just want to hear someone tell a few great, slightly drunken stories, this is an absolute must-find. 

Sleepy Day In the Rain

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. "Daniel Visits School" and worries that they won't have the things he loves, so he brings his drum, a book, and his favorite block along with his stuffed tiger Tigey. As it turns out, Teacher Harriet shows him that yes, they have musical instruments, blocks, and books for him to read...but he's still welcome to bring Tigey. "Daniel Visits the Doctor" for a check-up and a shot. Doctor Anna and his mother talk him through each step, making sure he knows what's going on and that, other than a little pinch on the shot, it won't hurt him.

Headed out to work after the cartoon ended. No problems here. I arrived on time. It was quiet all morning, despite it being the beginning of the month. Everyone must be waiting for Labor Day Weekend. It didn't start picking up until noon, and I was almost done by then anyway. The weather didn't help. It was cool, cloudy, and thickly humid. 

I originally wanted to pick up a stuffed pretzel for lunch, but it turns out that A&A Pretzel Shop on the White Horse Pike is closed for their own summer break. I doubled back and had lunch at Common Grounds Coffee House instead. Enjoyed a chai latte (slightly spicier and less sweet this time, slice of crumb cake, and slice of spinach-feta-tomato quiche while watching a mother and her three children try to decide what treats they wanted. 

Maybe I shouldn't have doubled back. It started to shower heavily the moment I stepped out of Common Grounds. Good thing I wasn't that far from home. I just rode back across Oaklyn and got wet.

Dried off when I got home, changed, and went down for a much-needed nap. I won't have time for many naps after school starts tomorrow! Settled down in bed at 2 PM and didn't get up until almost 5. 

Watched Remember WENN after I finally rolled out of bed. "You've Met Your Match" is WENN's proto-Love Connection dating game. Hilary wants to get a date on the show and make Jeff jealous, but her plans backfire when Maple suggests they all go on the show. Jeff uses Betty to make Hilary jealous, only to upset her even more, while Scott has to explain to Betty that his relationship with Maple is long done. The other dates go much smoother. Mr. Eldridge and Gertie always enjoy each other's company. Maple's delighted to be in the arms of a slightly bemused Victor. Mr. Foley and Eugenia have so much fun on their date, they're the last to come back!

"And If I Die Before I Sleep" is my favorite episode of the entire show. Victor turns Betty's enormous blending of Shakespeare's Italian-set plays into a mammoth 52-hour, three-day marathon to beat the record set by a station in Philadelphia. Scott's suspicious of Charles Abernathy (John Ratzenberger) and Nurse Brumpton (Marceline Hugot) when the coffee they keep drinking does nothing to stay awake. The others do everything they can to keep from falling asleep, including Betty somehow passing out horizontal on a chair. It's Victor, Mr. Eldridge, Gertie, and a sick Maple who finally catch them in the act...and figure out who they're really working for.

Switched to Match Game '76 after dinner. They finished out the week with Soupy Sales and Madelyn Rhue as Brett complained about there being two men on the upper tier not wearing socks. (Apparently, Soupy didn't wear them, either.) Ron Pallio of Welcome Back, Kotter joined in the next week, along with sweet Joyce Bulifant and crusty Mary Wickes.

Watched Paw Patrol at Paramount Plus next. "Pups Save the School Day" when they all help Alex find his lost red backpack and who snitched his tuna fish sandwich. "Pups Turn Off the Lights" when they're setting up for Chase's birthday party and one of the wind turbines outside of Adventure Bay breaks. While Chase directs traffic and Marshal and Rocky help Ryder fix the turbine, the others find party games they can play in the dark.

Stayed at Paramount Plus to finish the night with The Love Boat. A couple celebrating their 20th anniversary (Lynn Redgrave and Robert Mandan) argue when "The Anniversary Gift" turns out to be her desire for a baby. Gopher's not saying "Honey Bee Mine" when Julie claims he's her boyfriend to keep her from chasing her current boyfriend, a ship officer (Richard Bergman). Captain Steubling is "Bewigged, Bothered, and Bewildered" and wears a toupee around his old high school classmate (Phyllis Diller). He finally finds the best way to be himself at a movie star-costume party where he shows up as one of the coolest bald men ever, Yul Brunner. 

(Oh, and I'm guessing the rain must have slowed down shortly after I got home. It was long gone by the time I finished my nap. It only just started pouring again.)

At Home In the Rain

Got a quick start on a cloudy morning with breakfast and a couple of shorts featuring the entire Disney gang. They're all excited to be on a "Hawaiian Holiday" as Mickey plays the ukulele and Minnie practices her hula. The others have less luck on the beach. Goofy just can't seem to figure out surfboarding, Donald sits on a starfish, and Pluto does battle with a very crabby crab.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy leave the shores of Wakiki to hit the road in "Mickey's Trailer." This state-of-the-art (for 1938) RV has everything an animated animal could want in a modern trailer...except a driver who can take over while Goofy eats. When he rushes to take control of the vehicle, he accidentally sends Mickey, Donald and the trailer back down a busy and treacherous Hill.

Called Uber after the cartoon ended. Considering the weather, the drivers arrived surprisingly fast. The one this morning came in 4 minutes, the one going home in 10 despite the heavy rain. No trouble either way other than ongoing road construction and some flooding in Oaklyn.

Work was no trouble, either. I spent the morning cleaning deli displays and the large cases for seafood and chicken and dusting the latter. We were pretty quiet for almost my entire shift. Sometimes after my break at 11, the sky finally opened, and it started pouring. It was pouring when I called for a ride home, and it would continue pouring and storming off and on for most of the day. 

Went straight into lunch and Remember WENN when I got home. "From the Pen of Gertrude Reece" has the station's receptionist (Margaret Hall) showing Betty her magnum opus radio script, Rendezvous In Rabat. This turns into a hilarious spoof of Casablanca, with Scott in the Rick Blaine role, Betty as Ilsa, Victor Comstock as Victor Lazlo, Maple as the cafe singer and the refugees, Mackie as Major Renault, C.J as the bartender and a German officer, Mr. Eldridge as Carl the waiter, Hilary as Rick's rejected girlfriend, and Jeff as the waiter. As with the real Casablanca, Gertie's having a hard time figuring out an ending. Nothing that she or Hilary suggests passes muster. Betty types out her own idea of whom Ilsa should end up with before insisting to Gertie that she should really figure out her own ending.

"Eugenia Bremer, Master Spy" is the station's kindly organist who is delighted to be dating British secret agent Desmond Quist (Daniel Davis). He claims there are still secret codes going out over the airwaves and makes the cast "paraphrase" their scripts to keep them out of enemy hands. Eugenia's been receiving mysterious calls and speaking German words, but it turns out there's a far more benign reason for her behavior than spy capers.

Switched to Clue after lunch in honor of Tim Curry, who passed away two days ago. Based on the board game, six strangers are called to a dinner party at the spooky Hill House by Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving). They're each given a weapon and reveal that Boddy has been blackmailing them. After the lights turn off, Boddy is found dead, and everyone has a means and a motive. Butler Wadsworth (Curry) tries his best to explain it all as they try to figure out who did it "in the hall, with the revolver," before they become the next victims!

This is an old favorite in my family. We taped it somewhere around 1987 and watched that tape for over a decade. Mom used to call it our "stormy weather movie." I can still quote most of the dialogue. Curry is delightful as the supercilious butler, but the entire cast of some of the 80's best comedians has a blast. 

The movie starts slow with the set up, but give it time. By the end, you'll be breathless just watching Curry run around summing up all the murders! There's also the gimmick of having multiple endings that baffles critics to this day, but makes it the perfect rainy-day DVD watch. (The DVD lets you choose a random ending, or watch all three, as in the video and streaming versions.) Highly recommended for your own stormy day viewing if you're a fan of Curry or any of the comedians or love a good ensemble comedy.

Moved to The Gong Show next at YouTube in honor of singer Jaye P. Morgan, who died yesterday. Morgan was a staple on the wackiest amateur show to almost be live from Hollywood, at least until she bared her breasts in an episode. She was joined in the show I saw by Steve Martin and Arte Johnson. The tuba players were surprisingly fun and a guy playing his lips was honestly pretty nifty, but the singer attempting to ape Neil Diamond was terrible, and I had no idea what the guy with the dog was doing there. 

Went to Disney Plus for Morgan's episode of The Muppet Show. You'd think a lady who frequently judges the weirdest amateur show on television would have no problems with the Muppets, but first she's not happy when she ends up in a bird costume for the cutesy "Tweedle Dee," then gets hit with bombs all over the place. She finally bonds with Scooter's crotchety uncle JP Gross, the owner of the Muppets's theater, and gets a pretty nifty rendition of  "That Old Black Magic" with the Electric Mayhem.

Stayed at Disney after a shower for The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in honor of Peter Cullum, who did the voice of Eeyore in this show. The second episode of the show kicks off with "Friend, In Deed." Rabbit is so fed up with Pooh borrowing his honey, he makes him think he's moving. The others really think he's moving and try to get him honey from a hive so he'll stay. Piglet sees Eeyore sitting on the cliff side and thinks he's sad. The others try to be a "Donkey for a Day" and make him happy, but they do what makes them happy, not him. It isn't until Piglet admits he doesn't know what makes Eeyore happy that the gloomy donkey shows Piglet what he was really doing on the cliff.

Moved to Match Game '76 as I made nectarine-banana pancakes for dinner. Gene wears a very, very bright red coat in the first episode that prompted a lot of cracks from the panelists, including Mary Wickes telling him to stay out of the bullring. The first episode of the next week with Bill Daily and soap ingenue Bennye Gatteys was rather important, as it kicked off with Gene announcing that Richard is going to host a new show called Family Feud in the fall...

Finished the night at Tubi with Blue Valley Songbird. I discuss this Lifetime musical drama from 1999 featuring Dolly Parton as a troubled singer at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

A Salute to Dolly Pardon - Blue Valley Songbird

Rainy Afternoon at the Library

Started my day with breakfast and He-Man. The "Song of Celice" is the only thing that can tame a monster named Yog that terrorizes the Kingdom of Tahryn. Skeletor kidnaps the beautiful singer to hypnotize her and have her bring Yog to Castle Greyskull and attack the Sorceress. He-Man and his friends have to break her out of it and remind her that her music is intended to be peaceful.

Headed out on foot after the cartoon ended. I had originally intended to take my bike into Collingswood, but it had already rained. In fact, the rain was just ending as I made my way down East Clinton. This was not a biking day. Collingswood isn't really that far on foot anyway, not more than 10-15 minutes. 

When I got to Haddon Avenue, I made a brief stop to browse in the brand-new housewares store Twelvetrees before making my way down to the Collingswood Library. Other than a couple of kids and their parents in the children's area and the librarians, they were utterly quiet. Everyone must have been at lunch. I spent a pleasant hour and a half relaxing in a plump scarlet chair with a book I haven't read in almost 30 years or more. 

I forget where I first found the original 1978 print of American Musical Theater: A Chronicle by Gerald Boardman. It was either the Cape May Library, the Villas Library, or one of the school libraries. This jumps much further back than most books that cover the history of musical theater, all the way to the 1866 extravaganza The Black Crook. It goes into detail about early musicals in particular that are practically forgotten now, like Harrigan and Hart and their Mulligan Guards' Ball, A Trip to Chinatown that sounds like a trial run for Hello Dolly over 60 years later, the comic opera Robin Hood, the Weber and Fields music hall comedies, and Victor Herbert's beloved operettas. This is how I know about these shows at all. I certainly hadn't heard of them before I read this, other than watching Yankee Doodle Dandy every 4th of July and the Disney Babes In Toyland on the Disney Channel. 

(The entries are less detailed after the 1940's. I don't think Boardman appreciated the musicals of the mid and late 20th century the way he did the late 19th and early 20th century shows. He seemed to find most of them to be too dark and leaned too heavily on rock and newer forms of music.)

I would have lingered longer, but I wanted to have lunch before the weather turned. My original plan was Sabrina's Cafe, but I know how busy they get at lunchtime. Palerma's Restorante was practically empty other than a couple on the other end near the window. I had a lovely and quiet meal, enjoying a slightly spicy breakfast burrito with scrambled eggs, black beans, bacon, and avocado and the best darn restaurant home fries I ever tasted while admiring the large, lovely, and very real yellow roses on the table.

Made one last stop at Haddon Culinary to grab a Diet Dr. Pepper for the walk home. I also enjoyed a matcha latte and bought a slice of Lemon-Blueberry Pound Cake with cannoli icing to eat at home later. The matcha latte was ok. It really tasted more of oat milk than green tea. The pound cake was nicely dense and just sweet enough, especially that cannoli icing!

(Oh, and it did finally rain...at 3:30, almost a half-hour after I got in. And when it rained, it monsooned. Lashing winds, heavy downpours, the whole nine yards. Some areas even reported tornadoes, though I don't think that was a concern here. The rain has continued off and on for the rest of the evening.)

Soon as I got home, I went straight into Camp Rock 3. I cover the newest Disney Channel original musical at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musicals On TV - Camp Rock 3

Switched to Remember WENN after the movie ended. "In the WENN Small Hours" kicks off the third season as Victor Comstock explains what he's doing at the station and how he managed to survive the Blitz. Meanwhile, station organist Eugenia Bremer (Mary Stout) interviews explorer Cutter Dunlap (Malcom Gets) for her late-night show, and wonders if it was such a great idea when he starts spouting nonsense Betty and Victor fed him after he caught them together. Victor can't let anyone but Betty know he's alive...including Scott, whom it seems he may not know all that well after all.

Betty's still trying to figure out what's going on with Scott and his arrival at the station in the next episode "Prior to Broadway." His letter of introduction from Victor sounds awfully familiar, including using Scott's familiar "Oh, would you look at the time?" catchphrase. Hilary's more interested in getting her and Jeff back on the stage. They perform a play written by the handsome Euripides Moss (Harry Hamlin), but can't decide if it's a comedy or a drama before it goes on the air in front of their sponsors the Sweets (Peggy Cass and Louis Zorich). 

Went straight into Match Game '76 next. Darlene just kept winning and flirting with Richard, straight into the next week with Jimmie Walker and Fannie Flagg. Jimmie thinks that the person who plays Snow White in a question should look a lot more like him. Richard and Fannie find what they claim to be the key to that infamous Encino motel room that's a running gag between Brett and Gene.

Finished the night with The Polar Bear King on YouTube. I used to see this Norwegian fairy tale fantasy a lot at local video stores throughout the 90's. It's based on the Scandinavian stories "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" and "The White Bear, King Valedmon." A lovely young princess (Maria Bonnevie) marries a polar bear, only to discover he's the King Valemon (Tobias Hoesl), who has been cursed into that form by an evil witch (Anna-Lotta Larson). If she can hold out not seeing his face for seven years, he can avoid marrying the witch. Unfortunately, the princess uses a candle given to her by her silly sisters to look at his face. The witch takes him away, and the princess must find him with the help of Valemon's mother (Monica Nordquist) and her children, whom the queen took away to protect from the witch.

I remember liking but not loving this as a kid. On one hand, the bear was actually created by the Jim Henson Company, and he's pretty realistic-looking and moves really well. The movie's pretty cheap for a romantic fantasy, though, and some of the dubbed dialogue in the English language version is stiff as heck. Still worth checking out if you're a fan of fairy tales like I am (especially considering "White Bear" isn't often adapted in North America). 

The Hosts With the Matches

Started the morning with breakfast and Rockin' Easy. This 2-disc Warners collection of "laid-back hits" from 1975 features quite a few songs and covers that were entirely new to me. I didn't know Jackson Browne recorded "Take It Easy" and Linda Rondstadt did a rather nice "Desperado," for instance. Bonnie Raitt's "Everybody's Cryin' Mercy" and the America version of "Muskrat Love" got into country turf. Randy Newman's "You Can Leave Your Hat On" was more of a novelty song. Better-known hits from this set include "She's Gone" by Hall and Oates, "The Right Thing to Do" by Carly Simon, "Without You" by Harry Nilsson, "You've Got a Friend" by James Taylor, "Diamond Girl" by Seals and Croft, "Then Came You" by Dionne Warwick and the Spinners, "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" by the Bee Gees, "Until You Come Back to Me" by Areatha Franklin, and "Sentimental Lady" by Fleetwood Mac.

Called Uber even before the last record ended. No trouble here. The first one came in 8 minutes. The one going home arrived in 7 minutes, and that was with the heavier shower. No traffic, either, and I arrived right on time.

No trouble at work, either. In fact, it was a bit boring. We were busy between about 10:30 and 1, and then it died out. Not only was it relatively dead, but there was actually too much help, for once. The Sunday bagger was already there when I came, and the afternoon bagger arrived around 11. They took care of sweeping, carts, and the trash. I was so bored by 2:30, and there was so little to do outside, I spent the last hour putting away unwanted items. 

The weather didn't help. It was just humid and in the lower 70's when I arrived at work, chilly for August. It showered lightly around 10, but that barely showed up on the sidewalk. The rain didn't really start coming down until I went home around 3:30. It's been showering heavily off and on ever since.

I needed a few things I forgot on Friday after work. I had a good online coupon for honey, and bagged spinach is part of the same dollar produce sale as those small containers of blueberries and raspberries. Got more shredded chicken for dinner later this week, too. 

When I got home, I changed, put everything away, finished out Rockin' Easy, then spent the rest of the night watching today's Match Game YouTube marathon. Game show hosts of the time were a common sight on Match Game panels well into the 90's. It was often hilarious to see them divorced from their own shows and watch them keep up with the matching.

Four of the most popular became semi-regulars in their own right. Bob Barker of The Price Is Right first appeared during the second week of the show in 1973 and would continue turning up through the early syndicated run in 1980. He usually spent his episodes joking about selling refrigerators to the crowd and ogling women, like when Gene told a cue card girl to cover her slit skirt because Bob was drooling. Dancer Bobby Van appeared sporadically from 1973 through 1977, with and without his wife Elaine Joyce. He went on to host Showoffs and Make Me Laugh. 

Genial Bill Cullen, the Dean of Game Shows himself, first turned up on a memorable week in 1973 that also featured "Mama" Cass Elliot and Brett sitting next to her then-husband Jack Klugman. He continued to appear on the show through the later syndicated episodes in 1981. Bert Convy of Tattletales and Super Password first showed up on the same week as Charles, Brett, and Betty in 1973. He lent his debonair presence frequently through 1975, with his final appearances being early in the 1979 syndicated run. 

Other hosts of the time showed up for one or two weeks. Comedian Robert Q. Lewis had a lot of fun during his one week late in 1973. Likewise, Jack Narz of Concentration and Now You See It had a ball during his one week near the end of 1974. Legendary announcer Gene Wood, who also turned up in 1974, hosted Beat the Clock after Narz dropped out in 1972. Wesley Eure, who would later go on to host the Nickelodeon show Finders Keepers, cuddled with Brett in 1980. Tom Kennedy, Narz's younger brother and host of Name That Tune, Body Language, and the later seasons of Password Plus, made his only appearance near the end of the syndicated run in 1981. 

Steve Allen hosted a few game shows in the 50's and had been a mentor to Gene Rayburn. He made his only appearance during a memorable week early in 1974. Everyman Larry Blyden of Broadway and the syndicated What's My Line also turned up early in 1974. Peter Marshall, master of the Hollywood Squares, did two hilarious weeks during the syndicated run in 1980. (He and Gene insisted during his first week that they looked alike. Personally, I don't see it.)

They're the hosts with the mostess on the ball in this hilarious marathon that lets favorite vintage hosts and announcers match their blank off!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Game Show Host Marathon

Outdoor Games

Began the morning with breakfast and Monchichis. Wizzer sends the Monchichis to the underground to visit his friend, the king of a valley city, and use his golden disc to power his potion. To their shock, they land in a swamp that covers the city. Neither the current king nor his subjects claim to remember the disc, but one little rebel helps them reveal the "Swamp Secret" and rescue their king from the Grumplins.

Made a quick errand run after the cartoon ended. I thought it would be easier on my heel to do it on the bike. Not to mention, the weather wasn't really appropriate for lingering. It was cooler than yesterday, but a bit cloudy and still humid. I wanted to get cheap moisture eliminators with charcoal, but I couldn't find them at Dollar General or Family Dollar. I did get pads at Family Dollar, but other than that, I picked up nothing else.

Put on Remember WENN after I got home. "Popping the Question" has Scott Sherwood recruiting Betty to help him set up his new game show...which he wants to fix in favor of the sponsor's son. Betty and the others show him the importance of keeping their shows honest. Meanwhile, the other male staff members grill sweet-natured lawyer Doug Thompson (Matthew Bennett), who is waiting (and waiting) to take Betty out.

The first season finale "World of Tomorrow" has Scott and Betty creating a big Wizard of Oz-inspired show for the end of the 1939-1940 New York World's Fair. The cast is so excited about being heard in New York, they refuse to cooperate or speak their roles as written. Meanwhile, Victor called Jeff away to broadcast with him in war-torn London. Scott does manage to find a way for Jeff to be a part of their show...shortly before the signal from London is cut off by static...

While there are episodes I like from before Victor left, notably "Armchair Detectives" and "A Rock and a Soft Place," I think the show really picks up with Scott's introduction. Scott and his cons are frankly a lot more interesting than the well-meaning but often distracted and standoffish Victor, and he really gives those last three episodes a major shot in the arm. That heartbreaking cliffhanger ending on "World of Tomorrow," however, is a taste of what's to come as the pace picks up in the second season...

Made pancakes for lunch downstairs after WENN ended. I still have plenty of buckwheat mix left. At least I found the eggs this time! I accidentally put more dried cranberries in than originally planned when I meant to sprinkle them in, and ended up dumping almost the whole container. At least they still tasted nice spread with peanut butter and honey.

Went upstairs after I cleaned up from lunch to watch White Heat. Psychotic gangster Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) would do anything to be "on top of the world," including leaving his own man for dead after he's scorched by steam during a railroad robbery. His Ma (Margaret Wycherley) is the only one who can calm his headaches and his hare-trigger temper. His wife Verna (Virginia Mayo) certainly can't. He barely listens to her. After he gets himself into prison for a smaller crime, he's rescued from an attempt on his life by Vic Pardo (Edmund O'Brian). He trusts him so much, he lets him tag along when he breaks out after he learns his mother was killed. He wants to pull one last heist, but Vic isn't what he seems. Cody, however, has no desire to go down anywhere but on "Top of the world, Ma"

Cagney gives one of his best performances in this dark and intense gangster film. He's genuinely terrifying, especially when he suddenly screams and has a breakdown after he learns about his mother's death and in the action-packed finale. Virginia Mayo proves she's more than a cute blonde from Goldwyn musicals as his conniving wife, while Wycherley is appropriately witchy as his adoring mother. This isn't for kids, but if your teens on up are fans of Cagney or crime movies, this is one of the best in the genre.

Needed something lighter after that, so I switched to One Crazy Summer. Hoops McCann (John Cusack) joins his best friend George (Joel Murphy) at Nantucket Island in Massachusetts for some fun in the sun and  inspiration for Hoops' romantic comic. Hoops falls for musician Cassandra Eldridge (Demi Moore) on the way to the island. She's trying to make enough money to buy her grandfather's boarding house before obnoxious seafood restaurant owner Aguilla Beckerstead (Mark Metcalf) tears it down to build luxury condos. Hoops first ends up on a date with Cookie (Kimberly Foster), the girlfriend of Beckerstead's spoiled, lazy son Teddy (Matt Mulhern), but things really pick up when he and his friends promote Cassandra's big show. After Beckerstead buys the boarding house anyway, they enter the local regatta to win the trophy and prove that the misfits who work together, kick jerk rear together.

This old childhood favorite is a bizarre variation on the "slobs vs snobs" comedies of the 1980's and early 90's. Some of it occasionally borders on black comedy at times, including where George constantly ends up while the others pursue women on the beach, Hoops' decidedly unromantic comics, and George's Uncle Frank (Bruce Wagner) who has literally been driven crazy trying to win one million dollars on a radio call-in show. If you have older kids and teens around, they might be the best audience for the wacky hijinks on this weird take on love, boating, and wild summer vacations.

Moved to Match Game '76 during dinner. Susan Howard, now best-known for her appearances on Dallas, made her first appearance here. Scoey Mitchelll has a rougher time in the first seat, even as he admires the lady contestants. Fannie Flagg and Brett Somers have more fun teasing each other.

(Oh, and it also rained at this point. I even heard a rumble of thunder. I don't think it rained too heavily, though, just enough to make it a little wet.) 

Finished the night on YouTube with game shows that were filmed or set outdoors. Usually, when one thinks of game shows, they think of massive indoor sets and bright lights and neon. Occasionally, a show, usually a stunt show, would take the games outdoors to the fresh air. Wild and Crazy Kids on Nickelodeon, for instance, had kids (and sometimes parents) competing in stunts around two different locations. Though they are in a mall in this episode, they're also outside, trying to get their remote control cars to avoid being smashed and being hit in the face with cream pies.

The Diamond Head Game from 1975 may have been one of the first game shows to film outdoors. Bob Eubanks asks contestants (three in this early episode from before the format changed) quiz questions. The winner earns the right to climb Diamond Head while remembering items Bob mentions on a list. The winner steps into the "Money Volcano," where they grab at dollar bills blown up at them. They might grab money or even prizes. Bob lets them keep the money or keep going for more.

Um, yeah. No wonder this only lasted 7 months in syndication and went through two different formats. The attractive outdoor filming is pretty much all this one has going for it. Even Bob Eubanks later admitted on Card Sharks in 1988 that he hated doing it.

Kids did better outside. Destroy Build Destroy is one of two live-action shows to survive the bloodbath that was the short-lived CN Real on Cartoon Network. Two teams of kids design and build a vehicle, using scrap from a car they blew up earlier. Winner gets money and to blow up the losers' vehicle. No wonder they kept this one. Not only is it every kid's fantasy to blow up a vehicle, but watching the kids design, build, and drive their own vehicles is fascinating and hilarious. 

The Canadians took a quieter approach to outdoor game shows. Race Against the Tide pitted ten teams of artists against one another to build the most beautiful and creative sand sculptures at the New River Beach Provincial Park in New Brunswick. As someone who grew up watching artists make equally elaborate sand sculptures on the beaches in Cape May and Wildwood, it was really cool to watch these people at work and see what they came up with. 

Wild West Showdown is my favorite of the many mid-90's American Gladiators imitators. This syndicated action show pits three cowboys and cowgirls against each other to see who can do the best cleaning up a fictional western town. Honestly, watching would-be sheriffs stop runaway stagecoaches, compete in paint-ball shootouts, and try to dodge outlaws while jumping on logs is a heck of a lot more interesting than watching two muscle-bound jocks try to knock each other off a platform.

Star Games from 1985 was very similar to the Battle of the Network Stars specials from the 1970's. Teams of celebrities from various games of the time compete in outdoor events like swimming, tennis, cycling, and track and field. Not only is it fun to watch these folks compete outside of their usual setting, but you get to hear about shows like the short-lived Miami Vice-esque newspaper drama Impulses that don't often get mentioned nowadays. The guys from that show are joined by two Miss Universes; they play teams from Different Strokes and Growing Pains. 

Take a summer vacation to a dude ranch, the beach, the mall, or Hawaii without leaving home in these hilarious and unique shows!

The Diamond Head Game (1975)

Star Games (1985)

Wild and Crazy Kids (1991)

Wild West Showdown (1995)

Destroy Build Destroy (2010)

Race Against the Tide (2023)