Count On Matches

Began the morning with breakfast and Here's Love. This musical version of Miracle On 34th Street wasn't a hit when it debuted on Broadway in 1963, but has apparently done better on regional stages during the holidays. Janis Paige is Doris Walker, Fred Gwynne is Mr. Shellhammer, and Laurence Naismith is Kris Kringle, the man who believes himself to be Santa Claus. The best song is an interpolation. Meredith Wilson added his own "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," joined by Kris singing "Pine Cones and Holly Berries." There's also the charming "My Wish" for Susan (Valerie Lee) and Fred Gaily (Craig Stevens) and "That Man Over There" for Mr. Macy (Paul Reed) during the court hearings. Not the most necessary show in the universe, but a lovely listen for the holiday season if you're in the mood for a cute Christmas musical you probably haven't heard.

True Value Happy Holidays Volume 15 from 1980 is the second-oldest Happy Holidays LP I own after Volume 13. The heavy-hitters here are classic choral and instrumental numbers. The Robert Shaw Chorale does a lovely medley of "Carol of the Bells," "Lo, How a Rose 'Er Blooming," and "Go Tell It on the Mountain." Eugene Ormandy, the long-time conductor for the Philadelphia Orchestra, leads "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," while Arthur Fielder and the Boston Pops Orchestra does "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." Lana Cantrell's "White Christmas" is one of the prettiest versions I've heard of that song. We also have Harry Belafonte's "Mary's Boy Child," and "There's No Christmas Like a Home Christmas" from Perry Como.

Hurried off to work even before the album ended. I got there just in time. I actually spent most of the day sweeping. There was another college-age boy there who gathered most of the carts. It was busy early-on, but cleared out somewhat near the end of the day. I needed a few things I'd forgotten yesterday after work, notably molasses to make pumpkin bread next week and vitamins.

Went straight into dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon when I got home. Having had good responses to his "alphabet games" marathons, the owner of the Match Game Productions channel did a "numbers game" and let everyone guess where the next number was going to be spotted. It might be in the Audience Match, like "Sixteen __" or "4 __." It might be in an answer, like the time Arte Johnson answered "25 cent pancake" to a question about what flat thing a person turned into. It could just be the number of the episode itself, like when we saw PM episode #23. 

A lot of wacky contestants and unique panelists helped count the numbers down. A very tall and handsome young man from Maine turned Brett's head in 1979. Fannie Flagg flirted and danced with another handsome young contestant, Ron Valenti, in 1975. Jack Narz helped count down number 6. Raymond Burr, who never seemed to quite understand what he was doing there, perked up a little bit as he helped count number 8. 

You can count on Match Game to deliver the laughs in this hilarious numbers-filled marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - The Numbers Code Game Marathon

Oh, and I finally got around to posting Maplepunzel at my blog tonight. Here's part 1. It ended up in 20 parts, not as long as Hilary and the Beasts, but longer than my earlier Remember WENN fairy tale fanfics. I hope you enjoy it!

Maplepunzel, Prologue

And my new Timex watch was waiting for me on the porch when I arrived. It's actually a men's watch, but unlike my last Timex watch, it has a fabric strap. It's white, so it'll be dirty in very likely a few weeks, if not a few days, and I just hope the velcro lasts. On the other hand, it's easier to change the time than it was on my old Shark watch. 

Witches and Matches

Started off the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Plus. Mickey tells the others to "Say Cheese" when he takes pictures of them in their favorite places for his picture wall. After he sees them taking Minnie's picture, Pete keeps trying to photo bomb the shots, until he finally reveals where he'd like to get his picture taken.

I would have called Uber even if the weather hadn't been windy, cloudy, and damp this morning. I intended to hit the movies later. The Uber driver arrived in 8 minutes. Thankfully, there was no traffic, allowing me to arrive at work just in time.

To tell the truth, I could have been infinitely late. We were pretty dead the whole morning. They didn't even need the head bagger in the register this time. I spent almost the entire morning pushing carts, and there wasn't that much to do until the last hour. Even that could have been worse. I was in and out with no trouble whatsoever.

Soon as I finished, I changed into a regular shirt and grabbed a few things I wanted at the Acme. Got a snack pack with cheddar chunks, grapes, crackers, and chicken salad to eat at the movie theater for lunch. The Propel and small bag of popcorn was for later in the movie. Also picked up two boxes of Kind Kids' Granola Bars that were on clearance and sugar cookies I found at the bakery clearance rack.

Called Uber after I finished. The driver arrived in less than the 7 minutes the app said they would. Once again, there was no traffic, not even in Haddon Heights or around the shopping center in Lawnside. It was a little over 10 minutes when the driver pulled up in front of the Cinemark.

There was no way I was going to miss Wicked: For Good! I came with ten minutes to spare before the 1:50 showing. Cinemark has a new ticket purchase system. It's experimenting with contact-less ticket purchases that look more like buying them online. I don't know if it's better, but I did get my ticket and one of the last seats in a full showing.

Frankly, most of the commercials were for romantic comedies and action films that just don't interest me that much. I may check out the Christian animated musical David when it comes out on streaming, and I absolutely must see The Super Mario Galaxy Movie after I enjoyed the first one so much. It'll even be out right before my birthday in April. I don't give a fig about the Avatar films. I wasn't a fan of the first one and still haven't bothered with the second. The first one was pretty, but overly complicated and kind of boring. 

I go further into the main feature Wicked: For Good at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Family Fun Saturday - Wicked: For Good

(Oh, and my Shark watch died in the middle of the movie. I ordered a new Timex one with a fabric strap that was on a good Black Friday sale from Amazon.)

The sun was going down, even as I left the theater. It was too late to linger anywhere. I strolled past the Wal Mart to the White Horse Pike to wait for the bus home. It was probably about 20 minutes late, not bad for rush hour on the White Horse Pike. I watched a lovely pink sunset as the bus runbled down the highway. It pulled into Oaklyn about 15 minutes later.

Worked on my Wicked: For Good review for an hour while listening to another one of my new K-Tel collections. Starlite is very much an album from 1983. We have heartfelt ballads like "On the Wings of Love" from Jeffery Osbourne and "Eye In the Sky" by The Alan Parsons Project, one of Elton John's best ballads in "Blue Eyes," and the dance number "Steppin' Out" from Joe Jackson. "Wasted On the Way" by Crosby, Stills, and Nash, "You Can Do Magic" by America, and "Love's Been a Little Bit Hard On Me" by Juice Newton get a little more into the country aesthetic.

Finished the night with today's Match Game marathon. Suave character actor Greg Morris was just coming off the run of Mission: Impossible when he first turned up on the show in early 1974. In fact, only Richard Dawson was more suave than this cool cat. He was laid-back enough to not only handle a racial comment from Gene Rayburn well in an episode from 1975 (that got this episode banned from the airwaves), but toss it right back at him. He was around to see squeaky-voiced Marlena lose her shoe when she ran to embrace Morey Amsterdam in 1974 and Richard's hand be crushed by a very strong contestant in 1976. 

Greg appeared on the show sporadically through 1978. Half of his last week on the show was lost until very recently. They were on the same tapes as the week with Valerie Bertanelli's episodes, and she wouldn't let them be seen until 2023. We can now see how wild that week got, especially Greg turning up in the beginning in oversized lime-green sunglasses.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to play along with the tech man of Mission: Impossible and Vega$!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Featuring Greg Morris on the Panel

Hot In Oaklyn

Kicked off a quick morning with breakfast and Sailor Moon R. Esmeraude, the third-in-command of the evil Dark Moon Kingdom with the annoying laugh, takes over their attempts at corrupting the Earth in "Magic of Darkness: Esmeraude's Invasion." Her attempts to blend in lead her to a bakery, where Usagi is also indulging after getting jealous over Chibi-Usa being clingy with Mamoru. When Esmeraude brings in a monster who attacks the Guardians, they have to fight icing with fire to get rid of it. 

Rushed off to work even before the episode ended. Spent the morning alternating between sweeping inside and pushing carts outside. I did do some sweeping later, even after more help arrived, but I mainly spent the afternoon gathering the outside recycling (one of the teens did the trash) and pushing those carts. Dark clouds gathered later in the day, and the wind picked up, but they never burst. It remained killer hot and sticky humid, even as I rode home.

After picking up my new work pants on the way in, I decided I was too hungry to not start with dinner. Watched Match Game '78 while eating leftovers. Hot Lou Grant reporter Robert Walden made his first appearance on the show here, joining Loretta Swit, Mary Wickes, Richard Paul, and the regulars. Brett's happy to be sitting next to him, but not as much when she has to do a 10,000 Head-to-Head for "__ Sale."

Worked on writing for a while after the episode ended. Sir Richard Dawson, the White Knight, rides up to Brett shortly after the Cheshire Catwoman vanishes. He too is on his way to the Mad Tea Party. The Mad Hatter and March Hare are messengers for the Queen and King of Hearts. He's hoping they'll be able to help him convince the royal duo to join his own boss, the White King Gene and Queen Helen, in stopping the Red King from taking over the Wonderlands. 

Broke for a bath around 7:30. I badly needed this. Even after having been home for a couple of hours, I was still sweaty and hot. Not to mention, I've worked 7 days without a break. I needed something to relax. Kicked back, listened to modern jazz singers, and read a book on optimism and the glass being half-full.

Finished the night online with Hart to Hart. It's "One Hart Too Many" in the fourth season when Jennifer spends the weekend at a health farm for women, only to discover the head doctor is murdering socialites and replacing them with look-a-likes to get their inheritances. Jonathan gets his drag on and poses as a rich countess to lend his wife a hand in figuring out what they've done with the bodies. 

(Oh, and by the way...it still hasn't rained, stormed, or done anything besides be windy at press time. And along with my work pants, my new Shark watch also showed up today. I badly needed a new watch. The old one had a scratched face and a non-adjustable strap with worn Velcro that kept coming apart. I splurged and bought a nice Shark watch with an adjustable neon clip strap instead.)

Welcome To Fall

And autumn could not have a more gorgeous introduction! Today was a perfect fall day, warm but not hideously hot, breezy but not windy, under a bright sun and a radiant blue sky.

Work was busy, but not unusually so for a Sunday when there's a major football game. I only worked until noon, which gave me just enough time to buy a new watch from Eckerds' next door (a digital Timex, which turned out to be on sale, much to my delight and surprise) and run home and change and pick up a cake for Uncle Ken's Sunday afternoon Philadelphia Eagles party.

My Peach Spice Cake was a hit...and so was the game. The Eagles won their first game of the season, ending the Detroit Lions' two-game winning streak dead in it's tracks. They dominated the game from first quarter to fourth quarter, eventually winning 56-21. It was such a nice day, I went for a walk afterwards, making a quick stop at the Family Dollar on the White Horse Pike for paper towels.

Time Out Of Mind

What a long day. I did do my usual farm market-bank run, but I got soaked in a sudden, unexpected shower while doing so. I was glad to go despite getting wet. The peaches are gone, but every kind of apple in the universe is out in full force, and pears and squash are now in season, too. I bought Bosc pears, Gala apples, mini portobello mushrooms, a green pepper, two mini-pumpkins, a medium-sized pumpkin, and a few odd-shaped decorative squash for a centerpiece on the coffee table in the music section of my living room.

I also stopped at Erica's and told her I was thinking of dropping the thrift shop volunteering gig. As much as I like it, it's not really helping me meet people or find a job, I don't need more junk, I'm not thrilled about all these new rules cropping up, and to be honest, it's getting a little boring. Much to my surprise, Erica agreed with me and wasn't upset at all.

My watch is a Casio I picked up about three or so years ago. The digital face still works fine, but the wristband is cheap vinyl and has been falling apart for over a year. I've taped it and taped it, and it still keeps coming apart. It did it today at the farm market. I was lucky to get the watch itself back, but the other half was missing. The wristband is attached to the face. It can't be removed and replaced. I have a Shark watch I bought a few years ago, but the battery ran out and the heavy black plastic buttons never wanted to work. They seemed to be stuck, or just really hard to push.

Work was crazy-busy today, but they did get in more Domino's Sugar, and there was really no major problems. I bought a battery for the Shark watch and went home.

I didn't know watch batteries took so long to replace! The other reason I held off so long on getting a new battery for the Shark was a screw got stuck in the Shark watch while I tried to take it out. I finally just broke the screw and opened the watch. It took me over an hour to figure out what went where...and by the time I did, I'd realized I hadn't had dinner yet. I ended up having to take the screws out of the Casio and put them in the Shark.

AND I STILL COULDN'T MAKE THE STUPID BUTTONS ON THE SHARK WATCH WORK! I could not figure out how to set the time correctly!

Sigh. I'll just get a cheap watch from Wal Mart or CVS or Eckard's tomorrow before the Eagles game while I try to figure out how to make the Shark work.