Discovering Games

Began the morning reading about Columbus Day. The big piece in Colliers Harvest of Holidays is a surprisingly honest biography from 1944 that points out he took natives from their island homes, never found the Asian riches he was searching for, and died a broken man. Two poems were funnier, but they still discussed his lack of sailing and leadership abilities and his crew's near-mutiny.

Since I got up so late and the weather was so beautiful, I decided to go out for brunch instead of sitting in front of cartoons at home. Rode up to the Legacy Diner, just dodging a group of girls who just came out. They were so busy, I ended up sitting at the counter. I still enjoyed my broccoli and cheddar omelet, home fries, and whole wheat toast. I spent so much time staring at the desserts in the displays up front, I had to try their pumpkin cheesecake. Ooh, spicy and decadent and very earthy-pumpkin!

Cut across Audubon and past the baseball fields at Green Wave Park, which is directly across from the back of Goodwill. I delivered a bag of donations, then went around to the front store. My best find today was a  bright red Issac Mizrahi sweater with lovely scalloped edges. It was sunny and warm today, but the wind was chilly. I ended up wearing the sweater home. Good thing it's soft and incredibly comfortable. I also picked up a cute rounded stuffed fox decoration made with woven fall-colored plaid fabric I named Locksley, the 1962 Disney version of Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates on DVD, and the two-disc This Is America record from the Longines Symphony for patriotic holidays. (While the Audubon Goodwill has heavily expanded their DVD collection, I was disappointed to see they barely had any CDs left, and not that many records, either.)

Hit up a few more stores after finishing at Goodwill. Found bags of mini-books for trick-or-treaters at Five Below that would be perfect for the Mystery Bags, along with an adorable Squishmallow cat named Cam with bat wings. I wanted to start my Christmas shopping at Marshalls, but they were too busy! I just replaced my curl brush and comb. The fluffy bear ears headband was supposed to be for spa days, but I thought it would be perfect for a bear costume. 

The other reason I was at Audubon Crossings was to get my hair done. There's a Great Clips across the parking lot from Marshalls and Ross. Considering how busy the stores and the Legacy Diner were, they were empty. They were able to seat me right away. That blunt cut that I got in early April didn't really end up looking right or working with my curls. They look more attractive and are more manageable cut chin-length and layered. They felt so much better and bouncier when I headed out!

Stopped at Common Grounds Coffee House on the way home for another delicious Rosemary Apple Cider Chai-der. Had a banana chip muffin for lunch, too. They were also surprisingly quiet. Most people must still be on vacation or are focusing on shopping. 

Once I got home, I relaxed while watching the 1952 version of Ivanhoe on Tubi. Robert Taylor is the title character, who returns home from the Crusades to discover Richard the Lionhearted (Norman Woodland) is being held prisoner by the king of Austria, who demands a huge ransom for his release. Richard's brother John (Guy Rolfe) would rather rule England in his stead and pit Saxons and Normans against one another. Passing himself off as a minstrel, Ivanhoe brings Norman soldiers Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert (George Sanders) and Sir Hugh De Bracey (Robert Douglas) to the home of his father Cedric (Finlay Currie). Cedric wants nothing to do with any Norman, not even Richard, but his ward Rowena (Joan Fontaine) is in love with Ivanhoe and is more supportive. 

Ivanhoe realizes Saxons aren't the only race being persecuted in England when he helps his father's jester Wamba (Emlyn Williams) rescue kindly old rabbi Issac (Felix Aylmer) from soldiers. His daughter Rebecca (Elizabeth Taylor) gives up her jewels so Ivanhoe can win a jousting tournament. He does win, but is injured while doing so. None other than Robin Hood (Harold Warrender) brings him to Rebecca to be healed. It's Robin Hood and his Merry Men to the rescue when Cedric is captured and Ivanhoe goes to rescue him, only to be taken as well. When Rebecca is branded a witch and may be burned at the stake, Ivanhoe rushes to King John's castle to stop her trial and prove who the real greatest knight in England is.

Honestly, Robert Taylor's kind of stiff (and a bit overage) as the valiant knight. It's the ladies and villains who walk off with this one. Fontaine and especially Elizabeth Taylor are so luminous, you can understand why Ivanhoe has a hard time choosing between them for a while. Sanders has more fun playing a slightly less sneering villain than he normally did. There's also the gorgeous Technicolor production, with England and some enormous sets blazing across the screen. I also appreciate that the anti-prejudice story is treated with some sensitivity, especially for the time. If you're looking for a good, stirring swashbuckler with slightly more to say than most in the genre, you can't go wrong with two of the loveliest ladies ever in an MGM England.

Switched to Match Game '77 during dinner. The first hour skipped past several weeks that are missing episodes to the tail end of the week with Hans Conried and Sarah Kennedy. Hans seemed a bit dazed, which is likely why this would be his only appearance on the show. Conny Van Dyke and Dick Martin had more fun the next week, especially when Conny complained about not getting a new-kid-on-the-block kiss (despite having been on the show at least twice before).

Finished the night with a salute to Double Dare. This Nickelodeon staple celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. This would be Nick's first foray into game shows. Two teams with two kids answer trivia questions from host Marc Summers. If they don't know the answer, they can toss a dare at the other kids. If those kids don't know, they can throw dares back. Third dare gets a "physical challenge," a messy stunt. Winner goes on to the Obstacle Course, 8 unique slime-filled stunts. Grabbing an orange flag at the end of a stunt nets a prize. Get all 8, and you got the grand prize, which in the 80's was usually a trip to Disney World or Space Camp. 

Double Dare meant a little more to kids like my sisters and me who grew up in the Philadelphia and South Jersey area in the mid-late 80's. From 1986 until they moved to Nickelodeon Studios in 1989, they filmed at WHYY Studios, the PBS station in downtown Philadelphia. You would frequently see kids from Philly, its suburbs, and South Jersey on the show and in the audience. The show's announcer Harvey was even a popular Philly disc jockey at the time.

The show was so popular, it had spin-offs almost immediately. Super Sloppy Double Dare was the weekend edition that debuted in 1987. Double Dare entered syndication, mainly on Fox stations, in 1988. Family Double Dare originally debuted in 1988 as well, but didn't last long in syndication. It did better on Nick from 1990 to 1992.

Double Dare proved so popular in re-runs, it returned to Nick in 2000 as Double Dare 2000. Pretty much the same deal, but the host was now Jason Harris, the contestants remained families, and they added a third Triple Dare Challenge. It didn't really help the show. Double Dare 2000 never found an audience and was gone within 10 months. 

The show's last version to date was in 2018. It pretty much returned to its original format, with more variety in the contestants. Now you never knew who would be playing. It might be just kids, as in the episode I have here from Paramount Plus, or kids and adult guardians, or kids and celebrities, or just celebrities. TV and radio personality Lisa Dishy had a blast hosting, and Marc Summers took over Harvey and Doc Holliday's duties as announcer. While it was never the runaway success that the original was, it did manage a decent two years. 

Celebrate 40 years of the messiest, silliest, wildest stunts on cable and syndicated TV with these delightfully gak-filled episodes! 

Double Dare Premiere (1986)

Double Dare Syndicated (1988)

Family Double Dare (1990)

Double Dare 2000 (2000)

Double Dare (2018)

You're My Best Friend

Thank heavens we started out into sparkling sunshine, blue skies, and perfect 65-degrees weather. Even if it's just one day, I'll take it. We started off at the massive Lanesborough WalMart about 15 minutes from Lauren's house. We both used the bathroom. I just bought food for my trip home tomorrow. Lauren found Avia sneakers in pink, white, and lavender that she loved. 

We went down the road next to the North Adams Goodwill. It's much smaller than the ones in Pittsfield and Audubon, but it does have a fair-sized media selection. Lauren came up with several shirts. I just found:

Rupert Holmes - Partners In Crime

Next up, we stopped at two different variations on the Ollie's "odd lots of stuff in one location" formula. I found Merino wool socks at Ocean State Job Lots. Lauren's Label Shopper, a local, more clothes-oriented version of Ocean State, moved into the North Adams Peebles after that chain went out of business. They're honestly not that much different from Peebles...but neither of us found anything there. 

Lauren doubled back to Lanesborough for lunch at Pedrin Dairy Bar. This is a local ice cream and sandwich drive-up restaurant with tons of outdoor seating. I forgot about it being cash-only and had to get more at the Mountain One Bank next-door. Lauren had a huge chicken club grinder with amazing, crunchy onion rings and a Diet Coke. I had a Chicken Parmesan grinder with a coffee milkshake. Oh yum! It was really windy, but otherwise, it was a perfect day to eat outside. The sun was warm on our backs as we enjoyed our lunch.

After Lauren drove us back to North Adams, she went to Jack's Hot Dogs to get dinner for her parents, and I made my way into the Berkshire Emporium & Antiques. And everything else, from the looks of the place. They're so huge, they have twenty rooms filled with every possible thing existing, from antique tools to new DVDs. There's so much stuff, they have books for sale in the coffee shop next-door. They're even more full than the Barrington Antique Center. I have to agree with the college kids who searched through the records, cassettes, and CDs in the basement with me. It was like ten families just dumped everything they didn't want in 20 rooms. Along with a pack of 40 Pokemon cards for a Christmas present, I ended up with two CDs:

Manheim Steamroller - Christmasville

The 1995 Broadway cast album for the Pal Joey revival with Peter Gallagher and Patti LuPone

I met Lauren outside, and we strolled back to her car. This time, Lauren drove us back into Vermont. We missed the Bennington Goodwill yesterday. They're not a whole lot bigger than the one in North Adams. I didn't find anything. Lauren found a striped shirt for work and a really pretty purple and maroon sweater with glittery threads.

In fact, I had no more luck for the rest of the day. Lauren got more shirts and another sweater at the Marshalls down the road. Neither of us found anything at the Vermont Label Shopper either. The only thing either of us bought from their Super WalMart was my Cherry Coke Zero. (And it must be a requirement for very large WalMarts to have stunning views. The WalMarts in Lanesborough and Bennington are positioned where one can have a terrific view of the mountains in the area. The Somerdale WalMart is on a hill that allows you to see the Cinemark and everything around it.)

We had dinner at The Avocado Pit in downtown Bennington. Lauren had a hard time finding a place to park, but it was worth it. The Avocado Pit is a hole-in-the-wall that specializes in tacos and their perfect home-made limeade. I had the taco special on soft flour tortillas with chicken. Lauren had hard shell tacos with beef...and loved those so much, she got a larger fish taco, too. We shared their cinnamon strips, fried tortilla strips dusted with cinnamon sugar that were delightfully flaky. The young guys at the counter were really nice and funny, too.

Lauren had trouble driving home. She got caught between two drivers going way too slow on the highway. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy about that, especially since one guy was weaving and didn't seem to be driving that well. I couldn't help laughing at some of her grumbling.

Finished the night with today's Match Game YouTube marathon after we showed Mr. and Mrs. Miller our finds. Hugging and kissing were as common on this show as weird answers from drunk panelists. If Gene wasn't kissing "the new kid on the block" ingenue, Richard was smooching with the contestant he'd just helped win money. Richard wasn't the only one, either. Sometimes, the contestants were the ones who did it, like the guy who dipped a smitten Marcia Wallace before giving her a huge kiss, or the one who kept chasing Fannie and Brett around. 

There are hugs and kisses all around with Gene and his wacky weirdos in this very loving marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Hugs and Kisses Marathon

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

Runnin' Down a Dream

We started out on a gray, cloudy morning, this time heading past Lee to the Mass Pike. There was a little traffic near Springfield due to road repairs, but it was fine once we got off the highway. We finally pulled into the Holyoke Commons Shopping Center around quarter after 10.

I love the Barnes and Noble here! It's two stories and probably the largest I've ever seen. I did have a hard time finding the smaller paperback mysteries. Once I did, I couldn't decide on a book. I finally just bought One Poison Pie by Lynn Calhoon. Went downstairs next to their massive DVD and music section. Only half of it actually sold media, but I found two greatest hits CDs on reasonable sales:

Rick Astley - The Best of Me 

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers  - The Best of Everything ($10 off a 2-disc set)

Lauren didn't find anything and was already outside when I was done. We went two doors down to Red Robin for lunch. They were surprisingly busy for a late Thursday morning when they'd just opened. The waitress chatted with an older man in a corner while Lauren ate a chicken Caesar wrap and I had a California chicken sandwich with avocado, bacon, lettuce, and tomato. I had fries and a coconut soda (Coke with coconut flavoring and topped with cream and foam). She had broccoli and a berry lemonade.

After a brief stop at TJ Maxx across the parking lot, we drove further down to the Holyoke Mall. Lauren parked near a light fixture that, for some reason, was surrounded by large spotted brown and red flying bugs. I later discovered they're spotted lantern flies. Holyoke is apparently having problems with the invasive pest right now. Fortunately, they seemed more interested in the blacktop than Lauren's car. At least the weather improved here. It was almost sunny and much warmer, in the lower 70's.

Our first stop was Round 1 on the other side of the mall. On one hand, they were a bit of a mess. They must have been remodeling or adding new machines. I saw lots of dark machines and closed-off areas. To my dismay, their prize area was closed, too. I'll have to save my points for the next time I'm at the Deptford Mall. On the other hand, there were still a lot of other machines working. I was able to run from skee ball to Bust a Move to giant Pac Man and Spaced Invaders for an hour. Crusin' Blast was among the games that were offline, but I had no trouble with Mario Kart Deluxe. Played Pac Man on the Splash Circuit; came in 2nd behind Luigi. Did better on the Hot Wheels race game this time, coming in first with my red car.

Lauren and I did better in the mall proper. Round 1 is the only amusement at Holyoke besides a kids' playground area, but that gave us more time to shop. Our first stop was Lane Bryant. I didn't get to check out the one at Crossgates yesterday! I didn't find more Care Bears shirts, but I did get a bra for $25 and a pretty mottled blue shirt for $13, the latter on clearance.

While I was exploring Lane Bryant, Lauren was across the way at a store that sold "exotic" snacks, mainly from Japan. I loved their nifty collection of Japanese sodas! I went with what looked like a clear peach Fanta. Research later revealed it was White Peach. Oh, yum! No wonder it's apparently popular in Japan. It's just sweet and tart enough and only 20 calories. Lauren had Pepsi Raspberry Ripple. She found unique Oreo flavors, and we both got Hershey's Exotic Dark Chocolates with raspberry goji middles.

We were in and out of stores for the next few hours. Lauren found a cute stuffed purple Snoopy at Toys R' Us. Neither of us found anything at Macy's, BoxLunch, Old Navy, MiniSo, or the toy-oriented Sports Zone downstairs. Lauren didn't pick up anything at Sportsline Video Games or FYE, either. I did better at FYE. Their selection isn't as good as it has been the past few years, but they still have more used stock than most stores do nowadays. I ended up with:

Seasons 1 - 3 of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Wish DreamWorks would get around to releasing the last 2 seasons on disc now that the show isn't on Netflix anymore.) 

Rod McKuen - Rod McKuen's Greatest Hits Vol. 2

Sutton Foster - Take Me to the World

1998 London cast of Oklahoma! with Hugh Jackman

There are at least four Sports Zone stores scattered throughout the Holyoke Mall. They do sell sports jerseys, but they mostly sell...everything else. Collectibles, toys, books, DVDs, games, action figures, stuffed animals. You name the junk, and they probably have it. I was looking for a Flyers Jersey, but I found two used DVDs upstairs for a decent price, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and the relatively recent Looney Tunes: Rabbit Run. 

Made one last stop at JC Penney before we left. Once again, Lauren didn't get anything. I found a red short-sleeved t-shirt on clearance for $5.99. My old JC Penney red t-shirt is stretched from many wearings, especially around the collar. 

Normally, we have dinner at Holyoke's food court when we're there...but they had a major fire earlier in the summer and are still rebuilding. We considered 110 Grill before Lauren found something even cheaper just a few minutes away. JP's Restaurant is elegant but simple, with a lively bar and terrific prices for what you get. They also have terrific food. Lauren's Cajun burger was massive. It was covered in cheese and sauce and must have weighed a pound or more. She said it was the best burger she'd ever tasted. My steak and cheese wrap was really good, too, dripping with sauteed onions, mushrooms, and peppers. She had a blueberry-lemon cheesecake for dessert. I had an amazingly decadent Snickers Pie. 

We had more trouble getting home. The traffic caused by the road work had backed up significantly. At least there was a lovely pink sunset to admire while we waited. Thankfully, the traffic finally moved after about 20 minutes, and we got home within a half-hour after that.

Finished the night watching the Bowery Boys movie Smuggler's Cove on Tubi. Terrance "Slip" Mahoney (Leo Gorcey) and his best friend Sach (Huntz Hall) think they're in the money when Slip's given papers that indicate he's inherited a mansion. Turns out it's not only rundown, it's the home of European jewel thieves who are smuggling diamonds and scientists out of the country. Not only that, but it's not really Slip's inheritance. Another, far more prominent businessman named Terrance Mahoney (Paul Harvey) and his daughter Teresa (Amelita Ward) really inherited the house, and they've come for a vacation. Slip's reporter friend Gabe Moreno (Gabe Dell) smells a story and follows him there as well. Now the boys have to figure out what the smugglers are up to and help Mr. Mahoney get them out of his house, before everyone ends up in real trouble.

Good Vibrations

We started out at another shopping center near Pittsfield. Rico wasn't going to be ready to leave for the Eastern States Exposition until noon, so we did some shopping first. Lauren picked up shirts at Burlington and TJ Maxx, lounging shorts at Five Below, and comics at the small Barnes and Noble. I just got a huge Snickers Pecan bar from Five Below and Murder In an Irish Pub by Carlene O'Connor from Barnes and Noble. 

Since we weren't going to have lunch until later, we got breakfast sandwiches at Barnes and Noble's cafe. She had a sausage patty, egg, and cheese on a croissant. I had tomato caprese (tomato, pesto, and so much mozzarella, there was enough to fill three pizzas) on crusty bread. 

We drove up to Lee next to pick up Rico, who was visiting his family's home there, and wave to his darling little niece. Rico's a sweet guy, but he's had a lot of trouble lately. He had to have some really rough surgery on his hand and has been off work for months. Apparently, his knees are bothering him as well. He needs this probably even more than we do. He got to choose the music (70's rock and classic country) as Lauren took us down the Mass Pike to West Springfield. She parked in a lot behind a shopping center that's only a five-minute walk from the Big E and is a lot cheaper.

The Big E is the enormous, sprawling state fair for the entire New England region. We did have to wait for Lauren when she was turned away by fair officials at first. Turns out she was carrying too much stuff in her backpack! After she came back, we went in...and were assaulted with huge tents selling spas and booths touting every single thing that can possibly be fried (and some that can be but probably shouldn't, like Kool-Aid). Lauren and Rico were happier buying wine slushes (which Rico claimed contained very little wine) from the rustic, dark-wood paneled Eastern States Farmers Market and Wine Cafe.

Our first stop was the cavernous Better Living Building. They touted everything from pianos people could really play to collectible (and overpriced) hand-made pins and magnets. The only thing we ended up getting there were free samples of really tasty maple ice cream.

We eventually had lunch at the Yankee Boy seafood and unique meat booth just outside of the Better Living Building. Lauren and Rico were more adventurous and had macaroni and cheese with alligator meat (Lauren said it tasted like sausage). Rico also had fried scallops and French fries. I'm not quite that brave. I just had a slightly flat cheeseburger with surprisingly tasty fries. I saw a Slush Factory booth across the street and got my own non-alcoholic orange cream slush. (And appreciated something else that Lauren pointed out. The cool, cloudy day and still-strong wind kept the bugs and bees that plagued the fair last year at bay and made walking around the fairgrounds a lot more tolerable.)

Next up, we strolled down the path to the Midway. Rico can't really ride anything with his hand, and Lauren gets motion sickness easily. Not to mention, I have to agree with Rico that the rides are really overpriced as well. We settled for getting stuffed animals out of cranes. Rico had no luck. Lauren got a pale blue Yoshi. I got a cute little Bulbasaur.

After that, we ducked back around to the Young Building. This is basically a smaller version of the Better Living Building and sells most of the same mix of local crafts and businesses touting huge wares. Lauren and I made a beeline for the Alpaca booth. This year, we both got small teddy bears. Lauren's had fluffy fuchsia fur. Mine had brown fur and an unusually long nose. 

At this point, Rico declared he needed a rest. He relaxed on a bench outside of the Massachusetts building while Lauren and I explored the States Buildings. These are recreations of each state's government building that touts that state's wares. Mohegan Sun and the upcoming National Coast Guard Museum were prominent in Connecticut. There were lines around the building for baked potatoes from Maine. Massachusetts boasted Boston sports memorabilia and its many farms. Vermont had maple syrup and honey booths and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. New Hampshire had candy and beautiful stone jewelry.

The crowds were thin enough that I was finally able to try something I've wanted to for years. My older friend Linda Young grew up in Rhode Island in the 50's and 60's. Her essays on being raised in the Ocean State extensively mention Del's Lemonade. I got a small cup of Del's Frozen Lemonade. Oh yum! Just sweet enough, with big lemon pieces. No wonder Linda has such fond memories of it. 

Since Rico was still relaxing after we finished with the State Buildings, we rode the train on our own as well. The train is a cute little motorized train with a big yellow smiling face. It's supposed to be for families, but it's pretty much the only ride Lauren will get on. It's a lot of fun! People and store-owners at the shopping booths wave to you when you pass by them. It's like a parade. 

Once we got off the train, we'd decided we had enough. It was past 6 PM, and the crowds were getting much thicker. Lauren says they sell half-price tickets after 6 PM, probably to draw more families in. Lauren and Rico stopped at the Farmers Market to refill their wine slushes, then we headed back to Lauren's car.

Lauren and I always have dinner after the Big E at the Chipolte less than a block away. We all got bowls. I had brown rice, spicy chicken, black beans, corn salsa, cheese, and lettuce. Lauren had white rice, black beans, shredded pork, cheese, and tomato salsa. I'm not sure what Rico had, but I did see his was topped with tons of guacamole. The bowls were so huge, even Rico couldn't finish his. We'll eat ours later in the week.

Rico was dropped off first at his parents' home after we got back in the Berkshires. He gave us huge hugs and promised to make a big chicken dinner for us tomorrow. We'll go there after we hit up the Crossgates Mall in Albany.

When we got into Lauren's house, we showed our finds to her parents, then went downstairs. I finished the night watching Zorro the Fox. This Italian production from 1968 definitely shows the influence of the time. It's much darker than most American versions of Zorro, with far more violence. While it does end on a happy note, there are several deaths and a lot of gunplay along with sword fighting. Very blonde George Ardisson makes a dull Don Diego, but Giocomo Rossi Stuart is a commanding Don Pedro, and Femi Benussi is fine and fiery as the daughter of the local alcada who ends up dead when Don Pedro takes over the town. 

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

There's a Kind of Hush

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

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

The Seventh Sinner by Elizabeth Peters

Forgotten Fairy Tales of Brave and Brilliant Girls

The records were:

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

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

The CDs were: 

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

Jack Jones - The Best of Jack Jones

Phil Collins - Dance Into the Light

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jefferson Airplane - Bless Its Pointed Little Head

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

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

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

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

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

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

Safety In Numbers

Only a Northern Song

I had breakfast quickly, then called Uber. It was getting late by that point, almost quarter of 12. That may be why I had a hard time getting a driver. The first one canceled. Fortunately, the second arrived in 8 minutes. He dropped us off at The Nerd Mall in Woodbury within 15 minutes, with no problems on the road.

Woodbury is a lovely little town in Gloucester County, not far from Deptford. It's one of the oldest towns in the entire area. Some of the buildings date back to the Revolutionary War era. The Nerd Mall is in one of the Victorian buildings downtown. It's shelves and shelves and boxes and boxes of comic books, collectible action figures, board games, vintage video games, role playing games, and stuffed toys related to all of the above. I was hoping to find Match Game or Family Feud among the board games, but I only saw the Feud DVD game. I saw vintage Password games (two of them going back to 1962), but none of the others.

Though there's no longer an arcade in the back game-playing room, they do still have small arcade cabinets there. Some of them are small enough for the pre-school kids from Thomas Sharp to have no trouble reaching the controls! I did mildly well on regular Centipede. At least I got to the second round, which isn't something I could ever pull off as a kid. 

While Lauren finished buying wrestling Nintendo games and a collectible figure at The Nerd Mall, I found a tiny little deli-variety store next door. It was so small and family-owned, it had one of the widest varieties of drinks I'd ever seen in a store. I ended up with Sunkist Zero. Lauren got the limited edition Berry Blue Powerade when she joined me. 

Our next stop was 2nd Chance Thrift Boutique in the next block over. They're always something of a mess. I couldn't find anything I wanted in the jammed-full racks of old clothes and piles and piles of toys, CDs, and DVDs. Lauren had more luck and picked up a few shirts.

We did better at the Woodbury Antiques store on the next block. Situated in what appears to have once been a Woolworth's, this has more in common with a one-story Haddon Heights Antique Center than with 2nd Chance. For one thing, they sell actual antiques. Unfortunately, a lot of what they sell is very expensive. Lauren found three mini Beanie Babies still in their McDonald's Happy Meal bags that were a reasonable price. Their records are way overpriced, but I picked up two CDs:

Elton John - Ice On Fire

Grover Washington Jr. - All My Tomorrows

LC's Family-Style Restaurant was on the next block. They specialize in Latin American cuisine...but I suspect they didn't have a lot of help today. I never saw anyone besides the one girl behind the counter and a woman having lunch with her baby. We watched two and a half episodes of Spongebob Squarepants on the TV in the side room, including "Bubble Boy" (Spongebob's bubble friend annoys everyone in Bikini Bottom), "Something Smells" (Spongebob and Patrick think everyone is running away from them because they're ugly - it's their breath that's the problem), "Big Pink Loser" (Patrick takes a job at the Krabby Patty, then imitates Spongebob to win awards), "Bossy Pants" (Pearl's new ideas for the Krusty Krab are losing her dad money...and Spongebob has to fire her), and "Spongebob BC." (SpongeBob and his crew are cave sea-dwellers.) At least Lauren's Cubano sandwich and my grilled chicken sandwich with thick fries were pretty decent when we did finally get them.

After lunch, we headed across the street to On the Record. This time, Lauren didn't make any finds, but I grabbed two records and two CDs I really wanted after I dodged a couple of music-lovers searching the local band albums. The records were:

Beryl Berney Tells Your Favorite Stories: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Dick Whittington (I have no idea who Beryl Berney is. I do know I've never seen a record retelling of the British folk tale "Dick Whittington.") 

Ben Bagley's Cole Porter Vol. III (Cost me $25, the most of anything today besides lunch, but I love these Ben Bagley collections.)

The CDs were something I've wanted for a while. Yellow Submarine was the last regular Beatles album I didn't have. I've been looking for a good price on it for ages. Not only did they have it on CD for $6, but they had the blue "Songtrack" CD from 1999 for the same price. I bought both. 

The original SNTM Thrift Shop is next-door to On the Record. They're more like 2nd Chance with slightly better merchandise...but apparently, they're moving to better digs in November. They've already moved some things to a charming Victorian building about two blocks down Broad Street. I didn't find anything at either location, but Lauren picked up tank tops for her and shirts for her father. 

We hiked back to The Nerd Mall to pick up Uber. By 4 PM, it was hot, humid, sunny, and hazy, probably in the upper 90's. Thank heavens the driver didn't cancel this time, even if it took a little longer than the listed 13 minutes for him to arrive. We weren't going far, anyway. He dropped us off at the Deptford Goodwill in a little over 5 minutes.

The Woodbury Goodwill moved to The Plaza at Deptford back in March...and no wonder. The store was enormous, easily three times the size of the Woodbury building. It took me 20 minutes just to sift through all of the records piled on a bottom shelf, but I came up with:

Sesame Street Story Time

"Mama" Cass Elliott - Dream a Little Dream of Me

Walt Disney Presents the Story of Robin Hood (Which, ironically, I also saw at On the Record for $10 - a slightly less-pristine copy at Goodwill was $2.49.)

Plato's Closet is on the other side of the Plaza from the Goodwill. It's another local thrift shop chain, this one specializing entirely in clothes and accessories. It's so big, there's two floors. The guys' clothes are on the lower level. Neither of us had any luck here...but I'm glad to know it is there the next time I do need clothes for a decent price.

We finished up at Mt. Fuji Hibachi Restaurant a few doors down from the Goodwill. We didn't go for the hibachi. As Lauren said, we just wanted dinner, not dinner and a show. Lauren was fine with sushi and a large salad. My shrimp with udon noodles, vegetables, and a small salad were yummy, too. We enjoyed them at the quiet, dark-paneled room with the fish swimming around a tank in the lobby. (A mother's tired little boy was utterly fascinated by those goldfish as we were heading out.)

Another thing I like about the Plaza is it has ample seating. We settled down at one of the wide benches as I called Uber. Thank heavens after the last two, there were no problems here. The driver arrived in the advertised 8 minutes and got us home in 15 with no trouble.

Put on Match Game '75 when I got home. This was the last of three weeks to feature Cuban bombshell Louisa Moritz, and the only one with producer and character actor Sheldon Leonard. I'm not sure Leonard entirely got the humor, but at least he took all of the gangster jokes like a good sport.

I finished the night watching News Hounds on Tubi. Sach (Huntz Hall) and Slip (Leo Gorcey) are working for a newspaper again, as a photographer and copy boy respectively. Slip would do anything to have his story in the paper, especially after he turns up evidence of gangster Dapper Dan Greco (Anthony Caruso) fixing boxing matches. Sach gets photos of the gangsters, but loses the camera with the pictures when they figure out who the guys are. Slip never intended for his story to be published, but his friend Gabe (Gabriel Dell), who was working with the gangsters but got thrown out, has it published under the name of the sports reporter John Burks (Tim Ryan) anyway. The gangsters slap the newspaper with a four million dollar lawsuit. Now the guys have to find those pictures, or everyone will lose their jobs...and the paper will get into a heck of a lot of trouble. 

Rainy Day Women

Got a quick start today, heading out around quarter of 11. We couldn't cut through Newton Lake Park like we normally would. They're working on a new fishing pier, and the path is blocked by cranes and building materials. At least it was still sunny at that point. It was warm, not hot, but still sticky and very humid. We passed the spraying fountains in the lake's green waters and people walking dogs on their way to Collingswood.

The Collingswood Farm Market was in full swing when we arrived. Peas are gone, but summer produce abounds now. The booths groan with corn, blackberries, watermelons, cucumbers, peppers, green beans, zucchini, and every type of tomato known to man. Surprisingly, strawberries are still out, too. I didn't want to smush strawberries or haul peaches around, so I just bought blueberries and cherries. Lauren considered blackberries, but we just ended up moving on.

We had lunch at Jersey Kabobs. Having had breakfast the last time I was there, we went with brunch and lunch sandwiches. I had the Gyro Bagel - gyro-seasoned chicken and veggies on a bagel. (Sesame seed, in my case.) Lauren had gyro meat and veggies on an enormous hoagie roll. It was so huge and dripping with meat and cheese, she took half of it home. Half of the chicken on my sandwich ended up in the basket. I ate it with a fork. We had the most incredible soft, buttery white rice, too. And of course, we had to share a plate of their amazing baklava. We liked the regular honey-pistachio and the chocolate the best.

Spent the rest of the afternoon in and out of stores in Collingswood and Westmont. Lauren bought Beavis and Butthead figures and a wrestling action figure she wanted at Time Passages. I found a small Care Bear I'd never heard of. Thankful Heart Bear is a pretty orange and lavender girl with a lovely tummy symbol of turquoise paws reaching for hearts. She'll come out at Thanksgiving. I got a birthday card for a friend's teen daughter at Occasionette. Lauren got fruit drink mixes. She didn't get anything from a very busy Innergroove Records. I got three records: 

Soundtrack from High Anxiety (The most expensive record I bought today at $17, and I dropped it and chipped it when I was outside. Hopefully, it'll still play.)

Eric Clapton - Slowhand

Rockin' Easy - Two-disc Warners collection of light rock and ballads from 1975

We started towards Westmont after I got out of Innergroove, making a short stop at Secret Origins Comics. Lauren picked up a couple of Captain America titles. Normally, I have little interest in the comics shops, but the last thing I expected to see was a new DC Superhero Girls comic book! The line ended around 2017-2018, but they just put out another one, High School Reunion, last month. I grabbed it to go with the two I have at home.

Heavy clouds were building on the horizon as we rushed down Haddon Avenue to the WaWa on the corner of Haddon and Cuthbert. She got a soda. I got a Propel water. After we got out, we dashed across Haddon to Phidelity Records as thunder rumbled in the distance. We got inside just in time. Five minutes after Lauren followed me in the door, it started pouring. It rained just long enough for us to search the boxes of dollar CDs and and $2 records without interruption. By the time the rain started slowing down, she found three CDs. I picked up two CDs:

The cast for the 2008 Broadway revival of South Pacific

The one-woman show Elaine Strich at Liberty

And three records: 

George Harrison - Somewhere In England

Bing Crosby - A Bing Crosby Collection Volume 1 (Some of his earliest recordings, new on LP when this was released in 1978.)

Ella Fitzgerald - Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Gershwin Songbook

The rain vanished all together as we made our way down Cuthbert Road, past the Acme and the fast food restaurants and the Westmont. By the time we made it to Sprouts, it was back to being humid and sunny, though not very hot. We both got prebiotic soda. I got peanut butter cookies, oat milk, yogurt, and  chocolate fudge coconut-covered almonds from the bulk bins.

We were too tired to walk the rest of the way home, and hauling way too much stuff! I tried to call Uber, but it took over 15 minutes just to get a driver, and another 20 for him to arrive. It was 5:30 at that point, the height of rush hour. At least there was no traffic and no trouble getting home when he did arrive.

We put everything away, then went back out for dinner. Lauren's friend Rico got her eating sushi, and now she loves it. I thought she'd enjoy Sakura a few blocks down on the White Horse Pike...and she did. They were quiet as can be when we slid in. She had sushi. I had teriyaki shrimp with brown rice and vegetables. We both had Arizona green tea to wash it down. She loved hers and wants to eat there again while she's here.

Dessert was at La Mortense Plus on the other side of Oaklyn. They have the most unique ice cream flavors. Lauren had chocolate banana with peanut butter, calling it her "ode to Elvis." I had orange cream with cookie pieces that was very citrus-tasting and absolutely delicious. We timed things right, too. There was only a mother and her two sons when we arrived. By the time we were seated at a blue outdoor metal table with our ice cream, the place was swarming with families and college kids and had a long line.

 After we got home, we finished the night on YouTube. Tonight, Match Game Productions honored Family Feud's 50th anniversary with the best episodes of the original Richard Dawson ABC run. Family Feud began in July 1976 as a spin-off of the Audience Match on Match Game. Richard had proved so popular there, he was tapped to host. Two families square off against each other, answering survey questions. The first family to earn 300 (later 500) points goes to the Fast Money bonus round to win $5,000. 

Unlike Match Game, Feud was a smash hit right out of the gate. Audiences loved watching families give strange answers and win big money, not to mention see all the stuff they'd give Richard and how he'd react to the weirdest events. There was the lady who answered "fish" to "vegetable you fried," or the one who said "September" when asked during what trimester a pregnant woman started to show. Rich got some of the most unique gifts, too, including a goofy curly red wig from a redheaded family so he'd "blend in" with them! He looked more like a clown in a three-piece suit. There was also the family who sent in their audition via tape. Everyone was impressed, even though Richard told audiences that they didn't really need to do that. They also did a lot of celebrating on this show, including Richard's birthday, producer Howard Felcher's birthday, and the week of Christmas and New Year's. 

Celebrate 50 years of Feuding with these heartfelt and hilarious episodes!

Family Feud Saturday Classics - 50 Year Celebration Marathon

Cherry Hill Park

I slept in...and actually slept this time. I didn't get to calling Uber until past 12:30. The driver going to the Cherry Hill Library arrived within 8 minutes, not bad for rush hour. We did hit a little traffic in Haddonfield, but still arrived at the Cherry Hill Library in less than 20 minutes.

The Cherry Hill Library is the biggest library in the Camden County area, and it has the largest remaining book sale. They didn't have records this time around, but there were plenty of CDs, children's books, adult books, and tons of DVDs! Lauren bought four classical and instrumental CDs for her father. The children's book section was too noisy and busy for me to find anything there, but I had more luck with the other sections. I got the cozy mystery Stranger In the Looking Glass by Jan Fields, Fletch Lives on DVD, and four CDs:

Hot! Hot! Hot! - Pier 1 Imports collection of tropical-themed songs from 2002

Jimmy Durante - As Time Goes By: The Best of Jimmy Durante

The Rolling Stones - Rewind

20 #1 Hits of the 20's (They had CDs for the 30's, 50's, and 60's too, but I figured this had the rarest songs.)

After we finished, we got soda from the vending machine in the cafe area, then went next-door to Casa Puebla. This Mexican restaurant is so local, it's in a normal residential house. It was surprisingly busy for 1:30 when we arrived with families and local workers looking for tacos and burgers. Lauren had fried pork tacos for lunch. I had an enormous and very tasty chicken burrito with tons of Spanish rice. That huge burrito filled me up so much, I barely had room for a cup of pineapple water ice. Lauren went with a non-alcoholic Pina colada. It came in a hollowed-out pineapple, topped with pineapple rings, whipped topping, a cherry, and one of those little paper Japanese umbrellas. And yes, she drank the whole thing and loved it.

It was cloudy, killer humid, and relatively cool as we made our way down King's Highway, probably in the lower 80's. Big fat drops started splashing down when we were less than a block from Lucky Strike. Thankfully, we made it there just as the shower was getting heavier. 

Lucky Strike (formerly The Big Event) has been Cherry Hill's premiere bowling alley for over 60 years. As you can guess on a day with such nasty weather, it was busy with families, college students, and couples on dates. Lauren and I played three games. To be honest, neither of us are very good. Lauren won all of the games and got the highest score at 73...but I'm the only one who got two strikes in the second and third games. (We also got to see more World Cup games on the monitors, along with golf. Research later revealed that Spain beat Belgium 2 to 1.)

Lucky Strike also has a small arcade in the back. It doesn't have as many games as Round 1 or Dave & Buster's, but it's cheaper and the games use far less points. Lauren and I spent the next 40 minutes or so running from Nerf Arcade to Lane Master bowling to the cranes to the basketball games. I came up with over 2,800 points...but there was no one at the prizes counter. I saw a sign that said you had to go get the lady at the front desk if you wanted something. It was already pretty late. I decided to save my points for another time.

Thankfully, the rain was long gone by the time I called Uber. It was slightly sunnier, if still very humid. The driver arrived in 9 minutes and got us to Ollie's in less than 10. I'm glad he took the longer route down Clements Bridge Road. I got to point out Sussex House, the Playa Del Sol, Jefferson Health, the pizza place, and the dessert bar to Lauren.

People who only shop at the Cherry Hill Mall and don't check out the other stores next to it and in back of it on Church Road are really missing something. The Ollie's is huge, stuffed full of all kinds of books, discontinued food, and other great random junk. Lauren bought bags of candy and trail mix. I got The Peanuts Lunch Box Cookbook, recipes intended for lunches and kid-friendly snacks, based on (and showing the) original comic strips.

Led Lauren a block down to the brand-new Red, White, and Thrift that opened in March. This good-sized store used to be a Big Lots, meaning it had plenty of room for clothes, home goods, toys, and media. I found one paperback mystery, Murder of a Snake In the Grass by Denise Swanson, a pair of Faded Glory jean shorts (haven't seen that brand in years), and one CD, the second American Musical Theater Smithsonian collection. My best find here was a fluffy stuffed Share Bear. She looks like the design from the 2002 run - she has lighter lavender fur, her eyes are more like the originals, and she has her original soda with two straws tummy symbol. Lauren came up with more workout shorts.

IHOP is almost directly across from Ollie's, so we went there for dinner next. The only other people in the place when we came in was a dad and his two lively daughters. I had yummy strawberry banana pancakes, scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, and hash browns I didn't have the room to finish. (Oh, and I appreciate that IHOP's pancakes aren't the size of the plate. They're a lot easier to eat in one sitting.) Lauren had a massive spinach and mushroom omelet topped with cheddar cheese and salsa and said it was amazing. I had an iced tea. Lauren had a vanilla coffee latte that she said was more like a vanilla milkshake with a little coffee flavor. It was just picking up when we headed out. 

Our final stop of the day was 2A Thrift at the Cherry Hill Plaza next-door to the Cherry Hill Mall. Thank heavens they finally finished remodeling the exterior! We had no problems getting inside. I found the movies Enchantment and Buck Privates on DVD (I've been looking for Buck Privates - I have its sequel, Buck Privates Come Home, but I've never been able to find the original), a sleeveless blouse with a beautiful stained glass-like leaf design, a K-Tel record collection Images, and the CD Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook. Lauren picked up a few tank tops for working out.

With the construction ended, we could call Uber right from 2A Thrift. The driver arrived in 15 minutes just as the sun went down. He had to take an alternate route because of an accident on the turn-off to Cuthbert Road, but we still got home in 15 minutes.

I finished the night after a shower with Beauty and the Beast on YouTube. From what little I can gather online, this Ruby-Spears animated special is from 1983 and was made for something called Kenner Family Classics. I never heard of it, but I wish I had. It honestly follows the Perrault version pretty well. It's one of the few animated retellings of the original story I've seen to include Beauty's brothers (who love her and make a misguided attempt to rescue her from the Beast) as well as her spoiled sisters and where her father doesn't mind her being with the Beast as long as it makes her happy. Considering the prince is turned into a Beast for turning a fairy away, I can't help but wonder if someone at Disney saw this version before they made theirs. 

Oh, and I got my schedule while watching YouTube. To my surprise, I have no schedule. I'm off Saturday along with the rest of my second vacation week. I wasn't expecting that! Either the head bagger came back, or they corralled enough college boys to not need me that day. I'll go to the farm market...then probably spend the rest of the day watching movies or napping. 

Sunny Afternoon

We were up so late, I grabbed a really quick breakfast and called Uber the moment we were both ready. The lady arrived in 8 minutes, not bad for quarter after 11. We arrived at Abbie Road in Mt. Ephraim in a little over 5 minutes.

Abbie Road is a wonderful record/CD store on King's Highway in Mt. Ephraim. Lauren and I have been friends with Bob, the kindly, grizzled older owner, for years. He greeted us warmly with hugs and asked us how we'd been. I've been buying media from him since I moved here in 2006 and he was still in Collingswood. He always gives us the best deals. His store is one large room filled to the ceiling with shelves and shelves of CDs, records, and music DVDs. Lauren found five CDs, including a rare Micky Dolenz singles set, the That Was Then, This Is Now Monkees greatest hits collection, and a 2-disc Elvis set. I only got one record, but he was having such good CD sales, especially on jazz titles, I ended up with 13 CDs. The one record was the soundtrack from Murder By Death (another movie I didn't know had a soundtrack). The CDs were:

The cast album for the 2011 Broadway revival of How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying with Daniel Radcliffe and John Larroquette 

Top TV Hits, a 1995 2-disc Entertainment Weekly collection of TV theme songs 

Soundtracks from Casablanca and Batman Forever

Rhythm of the Pridelands, a 1995 CD of African-style music "inspired by" The Lion King (I've had the cassette version since it came out - I didn't think there was a CD.)

Songs That Got Us Through World War II, collection of hits from the early 40's

Eartha Kitt - "Miss Kitt," To You

Julie London - The Unforgettable Julie London

Miles Davis - Porgy & Bess and Doo-Bop

John Coltrane - Giant Steps

Dave Brubeck - Jazz Impressions of Japan and Quiet As the Moon (The latter is the soundtrack from an episode of the Peanuts series This Is America, Charlie Brown.) 

By 12:30, our stomachs were starting to rumble. It was time for lunch. Neither of us felt like waiting that long, so we just got pizza at Tony Roni's on the corner of King's Highway and the Black Horse Pike a couple of blocks down from Abbie Road. Lauren had pepperoni and a square slice of cheese. I had the regular triangular cheese and a "supreme" - basil, tomato, mozzarella, and very small pepperoni slices. She got a Diet Pepsi. I had an iced tea. We timed things right, too. We'd just started on our pizzas when a line of big men in hard hats and bright yellow road construction vests came in to order lunch. 

Though it was much hotter than it has been, probably in the mid-80's, sunny, and thickly humid, it was still nice enough for a walk down the Black Horse Pike to the Audubon Crossings Shopping Center. We started off at Goodwill. Lauren didn't get anything here, but I found the James Cagney gangster drama White Heat still in its plastic and AM Gold 1969, a collection of hit songs from the year in question that includes "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" by BJ Thomas, "These Eyes" by the Guess Who, "Someday We'll Be Together" by the Supremes, and "Put a Little Love In Your Heart" by Jackie DeShannon. 

We were in and out of stores for the next hour or so. Lauren bought candy at Five Below and Marshalls. I got nice illustration markers and glitter markers for a friend's teen daughter at Five Below and mini coconut patties at Marshalls. I never do well at Ross, but Lauren picked up two pairs of shorts. She got energy drinks that were 2 for 5 at the Acme. I got the Powerade Water that's on sale for 99 cents and had an online coupon for the Xochital blue corn chips. 

Took another long walk after we left Acme, this time down the Black Horse Pike and Kendall Boulevard into Oaklyn. After all that walking, we needed a stop at Common Grounds Coffee Shop. Thankfully, they were less busy than they tend to be earlier in the day. We had no trouble getting a seat while Lauren had a root beer coffee float (she said it was delicious - really tasted like root beer and coffee) and a cannolli (which she also liked). I had a slice of my favorite crumb cake and strawberry shortcake crusher. I didn't realize it had coffee in it. Oh well. I could use the caffeine (even though it did give me heartburn later). 

The Score Records is directly across the street from Common Grounds. I've been dying to show this place to Lauren ever since it opened last August. In addition to records, CDs, and DVDs, it also sells stickers, pins, motel-style keychains with funny sayings, t-shirts, local art, and mini album covers on refrigerator magnets. The owner is also a total sweetheart. Lauren grabbed two pins, three keychains, and a Weird All Even Worse magnet. I found two records and a CD. The CD was Madonna's Something To Remember. The two records were:

Fire Into Music, a jazz/funk collection

The Commodores - Nightshift

After we finally got home, we rested for about an hour and a half before heading back out to get dinner. We weren't up for much more than picking up sandwiches at a quiet Crown Chicken and Gyro. Lauren got a kebobs gyro. I had a chicken sandwich that was amazing, perfectly fried and juicy. We both had their tasty thin greasy-dry fries. She got a Diet Coke. I had a citrus diet green tea that was so good, I wish I asked the girl at the counter where they got it from.

I had Match Game '75 on before and after we went to get dinner. Most of the night finished off the week with Joan Collins and Scoey Mitchelll. Spencer for Hire and Vega$ star Robert Urich and soap sweetheart Jamie Lyn Bauer appeared next week...much to Brett's delight when she got to give Urich his welcome to the show kiss!

Finished the night with Paw Patrol. Snooty Winnie Winnington thinks the jumping contest is for her horse Felicia. She has to drive into the swamp when Mayor Goodway tells her it's a frog jumping contest. "Pups Save a Show Jumper" when Winnie's van and Felicia's truck get stuck in the bog and Chase and Rubble have to pull them out. "Pups Save the Salmon" who can't get around a beaver dam to the ocean. Skye also has to rescue Alex from being stuck in the logs on the dam. 

Red, White, and Matches

Began a gloomy Memorial Day with material from Colliers Harvest of Holidays. Since Memorial Day began as Decoration Day honoring the soldiers who fought and died during the Civil War, all of the material revolves around that conflict. The most touching is the lone prose piece, "Light Bread and Apple Butter." A starving Union soldier and his dog wins the trust of a mother and her brood with his good manners and his volunteering to chop wood for them in exchange for the title meal. The poems were "Barbara Friechie," "The Sword of Robert E. Lee," and "Sherman's Ride."

Switched to Disney war-related shorts while I ate breakfast. Though Mickey Mouse didn't really figure into the World War II shorts, he did do one short based around World War I in 1929. "The Barnyard Battle" pits scrappy Mickey against huge Hun cats. Mickey uses his wits - and a convenient piano - to take those big cats down.

Goofy and Donald Duck were far more popular by the time the US entered the war in 1941. Goofy managed to get into two war shorts. "How to Be a Sailor" starts off as one of his typical how-to spoofs, with Goofy learning semaphore and trying to tie knots, but it ends with war footage and him being shot at the enemy. "Victory Vehicles" gives us a variety of conveyances, from Pogo sticks to literal golf carts, designed to get Goofys to where they're going without using rationed metal or gasoline. (By the way, I agree with Leonard Maltin in the intro to this cartoon. The song "Hop On Your Pogo Stick" is rather catchy.)

Donald was by far the biggest and most beloved character in Disney shorts by the 1940's, and he had the lion's share of war-related material. "Donald Gets Drafted" when he's swayed by the glamour offered on the recruitment posters. He wants to be a flyer, but Sergeant Pete would rather have him stand attention on an ant hill. He does finally get to fly after a disastrous check-up in "The Sky Trooper," but not in the way he planned. He finally gets the best of Pete in "The Vanishing Private," where he's doused with an invisibility paint while camouflaging a cannon. Pete follows "The Little Man You Can't See" on a Merry chase around the base. 

"Der Furher's Face" won an Oscar in 1943 for its surreal imagery depicting Donald dreaming he's a worker in a Nazi munitions factory. "Fall Out-Fall In" has Donald first trying to set up his tent, then attempting to sleep as the snores of his fellow soldiers keep him awake. "Commando Duck" is sent into the heart of Japan to contact their men. In the end, he's able to wipe...no, wash...out the enemy with the help of a rubber raft and a lot of water.

The Pink Panther was one of the few major animated characters to join the Vietnam War in "G.I Pink." Unlike Donald, he was swayed by the power, but doesn't have an easier time than Disney's irascible duck did 25 years before. Cranky drill sergeants, angry mascots, and land mine-ridden obstacle courses make him wish he'd just stayed at home. 

Headed out after "G.I Pink" ended. I just caught one of the new NJ Transit buses up the White Horse Pike. The lack of stairs is probably intended to make the bus more wheelchair-accessible, but while they're cleaner and smell better, the seats are harder and a lot less comfortable. I had no idea how you asked the driver to get off. There were no buttons, like on the old buses. I originally said Barrington, but Lawnside was closer to where I wanted to start anyway. (I later discovered that you pull on a yellow rope to get off, rather than a button.)

Another Red, White, and Blue Thrift Shop just replaced the long-empty K-Mart in the Lawnside Shopping Center a few days ago. Between the cloudy, warm weather, the new store, and this being one of the few things open on a major holiday, you can guess that they were mobbed. I did manage to dig up a few interesting items. I had no idea Major League had a soundtrack, let alone one on LP! I had even more luck with CDs: 

Journey - Raised On Radio

Diana Ross - Anthology (2-Disc set)

Soundtrack from Prince of Egypt

The Great Ladies of Rock & Roll: The 60's

And one interesting-looking young adult book: 

The League of Secret Heroes: Cape - Book One, by Kate Hannigan

Hiked down to Barrington after I left Red, White, and Blue. Thank heavens the weather held. It hadn't rained since this morning...and to my knowledge, it hasn't rained again since. It was just gloomy, cloudy, humid, and warm as I headed across Clements Bridge Road to the Old Rail Tavern. I had a tasty Italian Chicken Cutlet with provolone cheese and sauteed broccoli rabe and crunchy sweet potato fries with cinnamon cream cheese dip on their covered patio area while listening to a large family chatter on the other side of the room and half-looking at the college men's lacrosse game on TV. (Princeton killed Notre Dame, by the way, 16-9.)

The Barrington Antique Center is two doors down. This rabbit warren of tiny rooms filled with every possible vintage item, from Victorian glassware to relatively recent DVDs and Barbies, is open all week and on most holidays. My best find here was a stuffed version of Rick Raccoon from Shirt Tales. I had no idea there even were stuffed Shirt Tales. Rather appropriate, given I've been watching the show. (I'll have to look around for stuffed versions of Digger and Pammy, too.) Grabbed a bag of buttery sour cherry thumbprint cookies that were really yummy. I also picked up two children's records, The Care Bears' Birthday Party and readings of two original Winnie the Pooh stories. 

I originally wanted to get a drink at Berri Caffeinated, but they were closed by quarter after 3. I just walked down to the White Horse Pike to wait for the bus instead. Once again, it was on time, and there were no problems. I pulled the rope just in time. They let me off at the perfect spot to get home quickly.

Went straight into another Match Game Memorial Day marathon when I got home. In addition to many of the same episodes seen on Saturday, this one expanded to feature soldiers who appeared on Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour and Match Game '90 as well. The Match Game '90 episodes were the hilarious Veteran's Day week shows with Marines as contestants and in the audience. The Marines really adored soap stars Karen Wittier and Fiona Hutchinson, cheering everything they said or did. In the case of Karen, their affections were warranted. She proved to be more than a pretty face when she twice won big money for the contestants. Fiona spent most of the week flirting with Ronn Lucas and Scorch.

Match Game Holiday Extra - Memorial Day Celebration 2026

Finished the night with two more wartime shorts, this time from Universal. "21 Day, Once a Month" debuted just weeks before the US joined the war, making it perhaps more timely than Universal planned. Woody Woodpecker has a cameo in this parody of the peacetime draft featuring toy soldiers. He also figured into one of the few wartime shorts Universal did. Like Donald, he wants to be an "Ace In the Hole," but his sergeant has him shaving horses. The Big bulldog definitely regrets it when Woody finally does get into the air!