Began a sort-of cloudy and windy morning with breakfast, then baking Mint Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies to get rid of the last of that bag. Ran four Monkees episodes centered around Peter Tork, who passed away yesterday, while I baked, starting with "One Man Shy" from the first season. Poor Peter is too bashful to talk to a pretty debutante (Lisa James). The other guys try to encourage their romance, which annoys the heck out of her obnoxious boyfriend Reggie (George Furth).
Most other episodes that revolved around Peter usually had him discovering a foul plot and the other guys coming to his rescue. Take "The Case of the Missing Monkee" from later in the first season. He discovers that a respected scientist has been kidnapped, only to be captured himself. The remaining Monkees learn that Peter and the scientist are being kept in a hospital and first try fake injuries to get in, then passing as doctors.
One of the best - and most controversial - episodes of the series was "The Devil and Peter Tork," from the mid-second season. Peter inadvertently sells his soul to the devil Zero (Monte Landis) in order to buy a beautiful harp he falls in love with. Peter and his harp-playing skills brings the guys fame and fortune, until Zero comes to collect and the others have to keep their blond buddy out of his clutches. (This was actually filmed much earlier - Mike's wearing his green hat, and Micky has straighter hair - but censors had a fit over the song "Salesman" and some cracks at the strict network rules in the 1960's and it got pushed back.)
"The Monkees Blow Their Minds" from later in the second season is somewhat similar, only this time, Peter ends up being controlled by a devious mentalist (Landis again) and his goofy assistant (director James Frawley) who want to use him for his nightclub act. This time, when the other guys go after him, they fall into the mentalist's hands, too. It's Micky who finally figures out how to break free of his control. (And yes, that is Mike swapping roles with musician Frank Zappa in the opening sequence.)
Went outside after the cookies came out of the oven. I had to get the bike seat back on. My legs just weren't up to more hiking after all the long walks I've taken all week. It took me almost an hour and a half, but I did manage to figure it out. Despite my efforts, it remained quite wobbly. The tool set I was using to fix the bike fell apart while I used it; it was a kind of cheap one I picked up a while back, anyway. I figured I'd stop and get a new one later.
First stop after I actually got the bike moving was PNC Bank. Dad and Jodie gave me some money as an early birthday present. I reopened my two savings accounts, one for that nest egg everyone wants me to make, another for other expenses. The woman who helped me was really sweet. She even offered me peppermint puff candy when her throat was dry.
Next stop was the Crystal Lake Diner on Cuthbert for lunch. It was almost 2 by the time I made it there. They weren't dead, but it was far from crazy. I ate a huge chicken quesadilla with lots of big, juicy grilled chicken pieces and watched Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on the TV behind the counter.
The Haddon Tonwship Library is on the hill just over the diner. They were even less busy. I mainly shelved kids' DVDs. Grabbed more Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and An American In Paris for review next week, along with renewing Julie & Julia and Three Billboards.
Stopped at Target after I left the library. They actually had a set of two tool sets for 9 dollars. That was fine. It wouldn't hurt to have two around. I raised the seat to the right height, but still couldn't get it tightened.
Rode across Haddon Township and Audubon to the Acme to do this week's grocery shopping. The clementines are still on sale; found bagged vegetables on a decent sale as well. Had an online coupon for free Acme generic hot chocolate mix and thought I'd try it. Restocked canned tomato sauce, mushrooms, canned mandarin oranges, honey, skim milk, buttermilk, yogurt, chocolate chips, brown sugar, whole wheat flour, cereal, and ground turkey.
My schedule next week is pretty similar to this week, only this time I work next Friday and have off on Saturday, and the latest I work is 5:15. Monday and Tuesday are also off. This time, I'll actually be able to get some stuff done on Monday, including volunteering.
Finally went straight home after that. Ran episodes of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood while putting everything away, and then as I made a quick banana-oat smoothie for dinner. "Super Daniel!" and Super Grandpere take Daniel Sr's lunch to work. Along the way, they help Prince Wednesday the Dinosaur get an apple from a tree and Miss Elania the Horse find her way through the forest.
"Daniel Is Big Enough to Help Dad" build a playhouse for him. Well, he's big enough to hold the door while Dan Sr. nails it on, help him paint the door, and hold a cabinet that his mom needs to fix. "Daniel Fixes Trolley" when his mother doesn't have the time to help him and he has to put the tire back on his toy trolley himself. "Daniel Doesn't Want to Stop Playing" with his toy trolley, but first his parents insist he has a book he made himself that he has to finish for show-and-tell, then he has to go to bed. Mom tells him he can do one more thing each, and then he's done.
(Dan's not the only one who has trouble with the "one and done" thing. I often stay up too late when I can't stop looking up or reading things online. I need to remember that "Choose one thing to do. It was fun, now it's done" song myself.)
Did a little bit of writing after dinner. Han tries to get Leia to go after Luke, but she wants to stay with him. They finally admit their feelings to each other...but Prince Palpatine is not moved. And then Sheriff Vader comes back with his prisoner...
Ended the night after a shower with Julie & Julia. "Julie" is Julie Powell (Amy Adams), who works at a call center in New York in 2002. She hates her job and while she loves her husband Eric (Chris Messina), she doesn't like their move to Queens over a pizza parlor. Hoping to find some meaning in her life, she starts a blog devoted to cooking every recipe in beloved chef Julia Child's massive Mastering the Art of French Cooking books. She's hurt first when her husband argues over all the time she spends on it, then when the real Julia Child makes a dismissive comment, but eventually finds writing a blog to be invigorating.
As Julie finds herself, we see in flashbacks just how the cookbooks came to be. Julia Child (Meryl Streep) attends a prestigious French cooking school to give herself something to do while her own husband Paul (Stanley Tucci) works as a diplomat. She enjoys French cooking so much, she collaborates on a book of French recipes for American housewives with two other women. The cookbook is rejected by the first company that picks it up; Julia couldn't deliver it on time, and they want less elaborate recipes that use mixes for fast-paced American cooks. Julia perseveres, and not only does another company publish her book, but they give her the first real cooking show on PBS, The French Chef.
Meryl Streep is the thing here as a perfect Julia Child. She has the more interesting story, including her collaborating with two other chefs and keeping her husband in Europe while she worked on her book. Julie's story isn't as much fun; while Adams isn't bad, her character can come off as neurotic and a bit of a whiner. While Messina and Tucci are fine as their supportive husbands, this is mainly about the women and a lot of French food. If you love writing, stories of real-life triumphs, or the other work of writer/director Nora Ephron (this was her last movie), you'll want to throw a French omelet on the burners and check this one out.
Life is a lazy river - no matter where you are. Movies, musicals, mysteries, pop culture, and lots of other great stuff.
Friday, February 22, 2019
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Springing Into Winter
I awoke to a sunny morning and the plip-plop of melting snow. Yesterday's storm was disappearing rapidly, even as I ate breakfast and ran an episode of The Backyardigans. Mounties Tyrone and Pablo guard "The Snow Fort" and its contents, the world's biggest snowball, from what they think are raiders. It's really ski patrol members Tasha and Uniqua, who think the boys need to be rescued.
The snow was vanishing rapidly, even as I strolled to work. It was almost completely gone by mid-way through my shift around 2 PM. While it was windy, it was also much warmer than yesterday, probably in the lower 50's. No wonder we were dead for most of the day. I did do some returns inside and gathered baskets when the carts were full, but for the most part, I spent the day outdoors, pushing carts, rounding up trash and recycling, and sweeping the front patio. It got mildly busy around noon, then went right back to being dead.
After having walked for a half-hour in each direction and spent almost six hours on my feet, I was dead tired when I got home. I uploaded my resume onto JJ Staffing's website, then did a little bit of writing. Palpatine taunts the captured Han, revealing his true name - Han of Corellia Manor, a deposed lord whose lands were sold to Baron Du Hutt. He's been doing Hutt's dirty work to pay off his debts. Lando holds back an angry Leia as Han goads the nasty ruler.
Broke for dinner at 7. I was too tired to make the meatballs I originally planned for tonight. I sauteed mushrooms, onion, celery, and leftover green beans in oil, then added the ground turkey, tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Topped it off with Colby-Jack cheese. Yum. Not bad, for something I threw together when I was completely dead on my feet.
I had enough juice left to review MGM's massive 1936 Oscar-winner, The Great Ziegfeld, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. I actually found this one at the Collingswood Book Festival back in October, but held off on it when I came up with the idea of reviewing Oscar-winning musicals.
The Great Ziegfeld
The snow was vanishing rapidly, even as I strolled to work. It was almost completely gone by mid-way through my shift around 2 PM. While it was windy, it was also much warmer than yesterday, probably in the lower 50's. No wonder we were dead for most of the day. I did do some returns inside and gathered baskets when the carts were full, but for the most part, I spent the day outdoors, pushing carts, rounding up trash and recycling, and sweeping the front patio. It got mildly busy around noon, then went right back to being dead.
After having walked for a half-hour in each direction and spent almost six hours on my feet, I was dead tired when I got home. I uploaded my resume onto JJ Staffing's website, then did a little bit of writing. Palpatine taunts the captured Han, revealing his true name - Han of Corellia Manor, a deposed lord whose lands were sold to Baron Du Hutt. He's been doing Hutt's dirty work to pay off his debts. Lando holds back an angry Leia as Han goads the nasty ruler.
Broke for dinner at 7. I was too tired to make the meatballs I originally planned for tonight. I sauteed mushrooms, onion, celery, and leftover green beans in oil, then added the ground turkey, tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Topped it off with Colby-Jack cheese. Yum. Not bad, for something I threw together when I was completely dead on my feet.
I had enough juice left to review MGM's massive 1936 Oscar-winner, The Great Ziegfeld, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. I actually found this one at the Collingswood Book Festival back in October, but held off on it when I came up with the idea of reviewing Oscar-winning musicals.
The Great Ziegfeld
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Winter Is For the (Angry) Birds
I awoke to...bare ground. It was chilly when I strolled out the door, but not snowing or raining, or even windy. I walked to work. I didn't have the time to mess with the bike seat, and I wasn't sure what the weather was going to be like later.
It flurried on and off after about quarter of 10, but the real snow didn't start picking up until past 11:30. I ended up spending a lot of the day doing carts. We were busier than expected with people who saw the weather and panicked. It didn't help that a lot of cashiers who come in later were worried about the weather and called out. At least the afternoon bagger came in ahead of schedule. I let him take over the carts and shoveling the snow while I did the recycling and outside trash, gathered baskets, and cleaned up after a bleach spill next to the express register.
By the time I got off work with a soft pretzel for a treat (I was starved from doing carts and all the walking), the snow was slowing down. We'd gotten about two or three inches of very slushy, messy snow and ice. It's probably just as well that I did walk. I was able to bring along my umbrella and keep most of myself (except my feet) dry. The streets were fine. Some sidewalks had been shoved, but most hadn't, which made for quite an adventure.
Went into playing Angry Birds Star Wars when I finally made it home and changed into dry clothes. Han and Leia continue out into the reaches of space, dodging more TIE Fighters and AT-AT walkers. These were considerably tougher, including some places where Leia had to pull out a Walker leg just the right way, or Obi-Wan would have to use the Force to knock the blocks over in just the right place. Chewbacca also got an upgrade during these rounds; he just becomes bigger and able to smash through larger objects.
Did a little research when I went online. I thought I might be able to get rental assistance. Scratch that idea. There's a waiting list for rental assistance and rental vouchers in most of the local counties that's as much as three years long, and few to no openings at most low-income apartment buildings. (And those with openings are mostly senior centers.) I'm not waiting two to three years to find an apartment.
Did a little writing after I gave up on the apartment hunt. Han and Chewie fight bravely - Chewie with Thomas, the cowardly servant, on his back - but they're surrounded. Both men are eventually overcome by the guards and pinned down. Lando finally admits that he helped Palpatine lure Han there to keep him from killing him and destroying his livelihood.
Didn't break for dinner until 7:30. Made a cheese n' blueberry jelly omelet with a green salad while watching more Buck Rogers. Buck and Hawk find a glowing green box that they have to deliver to "The Guardians." Things go wrong almost as soon as they bring the box on board the Searcher. Everyone starts to have strange, dark hallucinations. One crew member tries to destroy the box, but it comes right back, making Buck realize that it's leading them to its new owner.
Finished out the night after a shower with "Mark of the Saurian." Thanks to his having picked up an alien virus, Buck can see green lights around an ambassador and his entourage that reveal them to be walking lizards that want to take over the galaxy (in a plot reminiscent of the horror movie They Live from later in the 80's). Buck tries to prove what he's seeing to the others, but they think he's crazy. Buck has to figure out how to prove that he's telling the truth, before the aliens take over the ship.
Oh and it started raining shortly after I got home, and has been raining for the rest of the evening. It's supposed to get into at least the 50's by the end of the week here. I wouldn't be surprised if the snow was gone or partially gone by the time I go to work tomorrow.
It flurried on and off after about quarter of 10, but the real snow didn't start picking up until past 11:30. I ended up spending a lot of the day doing carts. We were busier than expected with people who saw the weather and panicked. It didn't help that a lot of cashiers who come in later were worried about the weather and called out. At least the afternoon bagger came in ahead of schedule. I let him take over the carts and shoveling the snow while I did the recycling and outside trash, gathered baskets, and cleaned up after a bleach spill next to the express register.
By the time I got off work with a soft pretzel for a treat (I was starved from doing carts and all the walking), the snow was slowing down. We'd gotten about two or three inches of very slushy, messy snow and ice. It's probably just as well that I did walk. I was able to bring along my umbrella and keep most of myself (except my feet) dry. The streets were fine. Some sidewalks had been shoved, but most hadn't, which made for quite an adventure.
Went into playing Angry Birds Star Wars when I finally made it home and changed into dry clothes. Han and Leia continue out into the reaches of space, dodging more TIE Fighters and AT-AT walkers. These were considerably tougher, including some places where Leia had to pull out a Walker leg just the right way, or Obi-Wan would have to use the Force to knock the blocks over in just the right place. Chewbacca also got an upgrade during these rounds; he just becomes bigger and able to smash through larger objects.
Did a little research when I went online. I thought I might be able to get rental assistance. Scratch that idea. There's a waiting list for rental assistance and rental vouchers in most of the local counties that's as much as three years long, and few to no openings at most low-income apartment buildings. (And those with openings are mostly senior centers.) I'm not waiting two to three years to find an apartment.
Did a little writing after I gave up on the apartment hunt. Han and Chewie fight bravely - Chewie with Thomas, the cowardly servant, on his back - but they're surrounded. Both men are eventually overcome by the guards and pinned down. Lando finally admits that he helped Palpatine lure Han there to keep him from killing him and destroying his livelihood.
Didn't break for dinner until 7:30. Made a cheese n' blueberry jelly omelet with a green salad while watching more Buck Rogers. Buck and Hawk find a glowing green box that they have to deliver to "The Guardians." Things go wrong almost as soon as they bring the box on board the Searcher. Everyone starts to have strange, dark hallucinations. One crew member tries to destroy the box, but it comes right back, making Buck realize that it's leading them to its new owner.
Finished out the night after a shower with "Mark of the Saurian." Thanks to his having picked up an alien virus, Buck can see green lights around an ambassador and his entourage that reveal them to be walking lizards that want to take over the galaxy (in a plot reminiscent of the horror movie They Live from later in the 80's). Buck tries to prove what he's seeing to the others, but they think he's crazy. Buck has to figure out how to prove that he's telling the truth, before the aliens take over the ship.
Oh and it started raining shortly after I got home, and has been raining for the rest of the evening. It's supposed to get into at least the 50's by the end of the week here. I wouldn't be surprised if the snow was gone or partially gone by the time I go to work tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Hiking to Haddonfield
Began a sunny morning with breakfast, then with making honey corn meal muffins. While they baked very well, the additions of honey and sugar made them much too sweet. If I use this recipe again, I'll use either sugar or honey, or reduce the sugar.
Watched the first half of the next episode of Buck Rogers while I worked. Buck and Wilma find themselves stranded on a hostile world filled with strange "genetic rejects" after they crash-land there while taking an ambassador to peace talks on a "Journey to Oasis." They have to battle the strange caveman-like mutants who live on the planet and follow the riddles of an odd blue-skinned alien in order to make it to the city. Meanwhile, the ambassador is an old flame of Wilma's...and Buck is worried that she may be considering returning to him.
Finally headed out around 11:30. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library. I did organize some DVDs, but I mainly talked to the librarian. I feel like everything's been going wrong lately. Ironically, work is about the only thing that has gone right. I've tried, but everything I do seems to terrify me into stopping. I can't find an apartment. I'm nervous about pushing my blog and promoting my work. The librarians were very sweet to me and said I was trying my best.
I thought about walking to Collingswood and taking the train, but I didn't want to spend the money. I ended up hiking an hour and a half to Haddonfield. At least it was a beautiful day for it. It was sunny and windy, but not to cold, in the upper 30's-lower 40's. The traffic wasn't bad around noon as I made my way down Cuthbert, and then down Haddon.
And of course, when I got there, I discovered that the bike shop in Haddonfield had been replaced by yet another clothing boutique. The next-closest bike shop is in Cherry Hill! I barely had enough time to grab a chicken burrito and Simply Delicious (carrot/apple/orange/lemon) juice before rushing off to counseling. (And of course, I discovered that the bag I was carrying the bike seat in had split and I lost parts. Thank goodness I was able to go back later and find it, and the other missing part was still in my bike basket.)
I tried to explain how frustrating it's been for me lately to Mrs. Stahl when I got there, but I don't know how well I articulated it. She says there's no writing jobs out there for my interests, which are mainly related to history and media...but I have absolutely no choice in the matter whatsoever. I need to make money, and I can't always count on the Acme to give me extra hours. Plus, I'm trying to ween myself away from retail, not throw myself even harder into something that makes me crazy.
I just don't feel very smart. Every time I try to look up jobs, I get nervous. I don't know what's wrong with me, and neither does anyone else. I just want that fear to go away, so I can sell my writing, but I'm not sure how to make it go away. I don't really have any other skills besides writing, reading, editing, and organizing. I've even been afraid to call Rose, because I really don't want to hear a lecture from her about my finances and how bad they are again.
Mrs. Stahl wants me to look up actual, real companies that can use my writing skills - or at least blogs. All I want is an online side job to make extra money so I can actually rent a decent apartment. While I appreciate that Charlie is finally trying to do some things up here, I don't really feel comfortable in my current apartment anymore. Trouble is, I've already called two apartments, and both turned me down because I don't make enough money.
I finally decided after I left that I could not deal with another hour and a half walk, no matter how nice the weather was. I stopped at CVS to get a pineapple coconut sparkling water and money, and then took the train back to Collingswood. I took the back way across Newton Lake Park and past CVS into Oaklyn.
Needed to talk to Dad and Jodie rather badly. First of all, I wanted to see how Dad was doing. He seems to be eating a little bit better, but is still not great. I tried to get a ride to work tomorrow, but neither Jodie nor Dad are great at riding in snow (plus they don't get up early anymore). I did get the number of Jodie's regular doctor. Rose has been after me to get a regular doctor, but I keep forgetting. I just don't get sick that often. Second, Jodie recommended the name of a temp agency in Cherry Hill, JJ Staffing, to find better work.
I looked the up after a quick banana smoothie dinner. The trouble there is, first of all, I need help with my resume. Second is...they mostly seem to hire for medical transcribing, or accounting. I'm worried that no one will want me as a secretary or a clerk because I don't know anything about medical stuff or math, or anything of the things secretaries are supposed to do.
Worked on writing for a little bit after that. Boba of Gisbourne distracted Han by nudging him, making his shot go wild. He gets a second shot that directs the first to the target. The crowd goes wild, and even the nobles are impressed. Han's amazing shooting gave himself away. Palpatine reveals who he is to a shocked crowd and an angry Leia. He forced Lando to lure Han and the others into a trap.
Played a little Angry Birds Star Wars to calm down after I got off the computer. Finally finished the bonus round with the egg-shaped C-3PO, then returned to Hoth. Thins picked up considerably here. A lot of rounds involved Leia having to pull just the right AT-AT leg to bring the whole thing crashing down, or Han having to shoot in just the right spot to send piggies into the snow. It was pretty complicated, and it took a little while.
Finished the night with the first of three weeks worth of Oscar-winning Best Picture musicals I'll be reviewing. I go into further details on the granddaddy of them all, The Broadway Melody, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
The Broadway Melody
Watched the first half of the next episode of Buck Rogers while I worked. Buck and Wilma find themselves stranded on a hostile world filled with strange "genetic rejects" after they crash-land there while taking an ambassador to peace talks on a "Journey to Oasis." They have to battle the strange caveman-like mutants who live on the planet and follow the riddles of an odd blue-skinned alien in order to make it to the city. Meanwhile, the ambassador is an old flame of Wilma's...and Buck is worried that she may be considering returning to him.
Finally headed out around 11:30. My first stop was the Oaklyn Library. I did organize some DVDs, but I mainly talked to the librarian. I feel like everything's been going wrong lately. Ironically, work is about the only thing that has gone right. I've tried, but everything I do seems to terrify me into stopping. I can't find an apartment. I'm nervous about pushing my blog and promoting my work. The librarians were very sweet to me and said I was trying my best.
I thought about walking to Collingswood and taking the train, but I didn't want to spend the money. I ended up hiking an hour and a half to Haddonfield. At least it was a beautiful day for it. It was sunny and windy, but not to cold, in the upper 30's-lower 40's. The traffic wasn't bad around noon as I made my way down Cuthbert, and then down Haddon.
And of course, when I got there, I discovered that the bike shop in Haddonfield had been replaced by yet another clothing boutique. The next-closest bike shop is in Cherry Hill! I barely had enough time to grab a chicken burrito and Simply Delicious (carrot/apple/orange/lemon) juice before rushing off to counseling. (And of course, I discovered that the bag I was carrying the bike seat in had split and I lost parts. Thank goodness I was able to go back later and find it, and the other missing part was still in my bike basket.)
I tried to explain how frustrating it's been for me lately to Mrs. Stahl when I got there, but I don't know how well I articulated it. She says there's no writing jobs out there for my interests, which are mainly related to history and media...but I have absolutely no choice in the matter whatsoever. I need to make money, and I can't always count on the Acme to give me extra hours. Plus, I'm trying to ween myself away from retail, not throw myself even harder into something that makes me crazy.
I just don't feel very smart. Every time I try to look up jobs, I get nervous. I don't know what's wrong with me, and neither does anyone else. I just want that fear to go away, so I can sell my writing, but I'm not sure how to make it go away. I don't really have any other skills besides writing, reading, editing, and organizing. I've even been afraid to call Rose, because I really don't want to hear a lecture from her about my finances and how bad they are again.
Mrs. Stahl wants me to look up actual, real companies that can use my writing skills - or at least blogs. All I want is an online side job to make extra money so I can actually rent a decent apartment. While I appreciate that Charlie is finally trying to do some things up here, I don't really feel comfortable in my current apartment anymore. Trouble is, I've already called two apartments, and both turned me down because I don't make enough money.
I finally decided after I left that I could not deal with another hour and a half walk, no matter how nice the weather was. I stopped at CVS to get a pineapple coconut sparkling water and money, and then took the train back to Collingswood. I took the back way across Newton Lake Park and past CVS into Oaklyn.
Needed to talk to Dad and Jodie rather badly. First of all, I wanted to see how Dad was doing. He seems to be eating a little bit better, but is still not great. I tried to get a ride to work tomorrow, but neither Jodie nor Dad are great at riding in snow (plus they don't get up early anymore). I did get the number of Jodie's regular doctor. Rose has been after me to get a regular doctor, but I keep forgetting. I just don't get sick that often. Second, Jodie recommended the name of a temp agency in Cherry Hill, JJ Staffing, to find better work.
I looked the up after a quick banana smoothie dinner. The trouble there is, first of all, I need help with my resume. Second is...they mostly seem to hire for medical transcribing, or accounting. I'm worried that no one will want me as a secretary or a clerk because I don't know anything about medical stuff or math, or anything of the things secretaries are supposed to do.
Worked on writing for a little bit after that. Boba of Gisbourne distracted Han by nudging him, making his shot go wild. He gets a second shot that directs the first to the target. The crowd goes wild, and even the nobles are impressed. Han's amazing shooting gave himself away. Palpatine reveals who he is to a shocked crowd and an angry Leia. He forced Lando to lure Han and the others into a trap.
Played a little Angry Birds Star Wars to calm down after I got off the computer. Finally finished the bonus round with the egg-shaped C-3PO, then returned to Hoth. Thins picked up considerably here. A lot of rounds involved Leia having to pull just the right AT-AT leg to bring the whole thing crashing down, or Han having to shoot in just the right spot to send piggies into the snow. It was pretty complicated, and it took a little while.
Finished the night with the first of three weeks worth of Oscar-winning Best Picture musicals I'll be reviewing. I go into further details on the granddaddy of them all, The Broadway Melody, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
The Broadway Melody
Monday, February 18, 2019
Winter Blues
Kicked off the morning with biographical essays and poems on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln in honor of their birthdays and President's Day from the Colliers Harvest of Holidays book. Did a late Valentine's Day cartoon I hadn't gotten to on Thursday as I ate Cornmeal Pancakes and oranges for breakfast. Pink at First Sight follows the Pink Panther as he works as a singing messenger to earn some extra cash. Trouble is, he keeps seeing the female panther of his dreams wherever he goes...and many of his clients, from a woman with a jealous husband to a group of gangsters he inadvertently delivers a bomb to, aren't exactly happy to see him.
Played Angry Birds Star Wars after I ate. Finally finished out the Death Star rounds, including a final round that involved hitting things while moving in the Trench Run. Darth Vader was back as the Final Boss, this time in the form of a TIE Fighter. Ironically, neither the last few rounds of the Death Star, nor the first couple of rounds in Hoth, were as difficult as some of the earlier Death Star rounds. Princess Leia is added to the mix on Hoth; she can pull out objects, which proves to be vital to knocking down some Imperial Pig bases and Walkers.
Decided to try something around quarter of 2. The seat on my bike has been loose since I got it. I thought I'd replace it with the seat I bought for the Huffy bike I had before the one that was stolen. Turns out it's totally the wrong seat for that bike and goes on in a different way. I have no idea how to get it back on. I tried to figure it out, but I just could not make it work. In the end, I gave up, put it inside, and went for a walk instead.
I'm really frustrated. I want to move, but I've already tried calling two apartments, and both turned me down due to my shaky finances. I'm stuck. Everything I try terrifies me. I had a panic attack just looking up how to run a freelance writing business. I haven't done spreadsheets in years, and I'm terrible at math! Trouble is, I'm not sure what else I can do to make money. I don't want another retail job that will make me crazy, and I don't have enough experience to be hired anywhere else. Everything I attempt just makes me more nervous.
I mostly just wandered around the neighborhood, hoping to see a "For Rent" sign somewhere. I can't believe there isn't a nice little cottage or a small apartment in the back of someone's house with an owner that's willing to negotiate. All I need is something simple and small. Just a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom. Nothing large or fancy. I'm tired of going shopping every time I want to make a trip, but I don't know where else I can go.
Ended up at Common Grounds Coffee House. They were insanely busy for them...with college students on their laptops or talking among friends and older women knitting and gossiping. I just ordered a hot chocolate and a cinnamon raisin bagel with butter (they were out of jam) and looked at my phone. I wish I knew what to say to all of them, but I didn't.
The blah day matched my blah mood. It was kind-of cloudy, kind-of sunny, although it became out-and-out sunny later. The wind remains strong - the pieces from my bike seat kept blowing away while I worked on it. It was chilly, but not freezing, probably in the lower 40's.
Looked for apartments when I got home. When I saw nothing I could do here or in Gloucester County, I moved on to writing. Han's main rival in the Golden Arrow tournament is Boba of Gisbourne. Han asks him where Sheriff Vader, said to be the best archer in Nottingham, is. Boba casually mentions that he went to the main castle to look for someone.
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers while starting season 2 of Buck Rogers. Wilma, Buck, and Twiki are all that remain of the original show in "The Time of the Hawk." They're now on board the space ship Searcher, trying to find other scattered Earth colonies. They're joined by two older doctors this time, along with a taller, rather supercilious and obnoxious robot to play off of Twiki (who has a different voice). They discover that the crew of a freighter was attacked by Hawk (Thom Christopher), a bird-man who, along with his mate Kourie (Barbara Luna), is the last of his kind after his people were slaughtered by pirates. Buck tries to convince him that not all humans are evil, and that there may be others of his species out there yet.
Finished the night after a shower with Random Harvest. Industrialist Charles Rainier (Ronald Coleman) has the most devoted secretary anyone could wish, Margaret Hanson (Greer Garson). He eventually marries her after Kitty, the girl who had a crush on him (Susan Peters), sees how crazy Margaret is about him and gives up on him. The only thing is, he's met - and married - Margaret before. She was singing under the stage name Paula Ridgeway when she found him wandering away from an asylum after World War I. He had no memory of who he was or how he'd gotten to the place; he couldn't even remember how to talk. Margaret nursed him back to health and married him, living with him in a small cottage. She's hoping that someday, his memories will return...and that he'll recall the deep love they once shared.
Melodramatic claptrap highlighted by several excellent performances, especially from the two leads. For all the ridiculousness of the plot, Coleman and Garson really do make you believe every excessive bit of suffering. If you're a fan of old-fashioned soap opera or the stars, you'll want to give this one a look.
Played Angry Birds Star Wars after I ate. Finally finished out the Death Star rounds, including a final round that involved hitting things while moving in the Trench Run. Darth Vader was back as the Final Boss, this time in the form of a TIE Fighter. Ironically, neither the last few rounds of the Death Star, nor the first couple of rounds in Hoth, were as difficult as some of the earlier Death Star rounds. Princess Leia is added to the mix on Hoth; she can pull out objects, which proves to be vital to knocking down some Imperial Pig bases and Walkers.
Decided to try something around quarter of 2. The seat on my bike has been loose since I got it. I thought I'd replace it with the seat I bought for the Huffy bike I had before the one that was stolen. Turns out it's totally the wrong seat for that bike and goes on in a different way. I have no idea how to get it back on. I tried to figure it out, but I just could not make it work. In the end, I gave up, put it inside, and went for a walk instead.
I'm really frustrated. I want to move, but I've already tried calling two apartments, and both turned me down due to my shaky finances. I'm stuck. Everything I try terrifies me. I had a panic attack just looking up how to run a freelance writing business. I haven't done spreadsheets in years, and I'm terrible at math! Trouble is, I'm not sure what else I can do to make money. I don't want another retail job that will make me crazy, and I don't have enough experience to be hired anywhere else. Everything I attempt just makes me more nervous.
I mostly just wandered around the neighborhood, hoping to see a "For Rent" sign somewhere. I can't believe there isn't a nice little cottage or a small apartment in the back of someone's house with an owner that's willing to negotiate. All I need is something simple and small. Just a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom. Nothing large or fancy. I'm tired of going shopping every time I want to make a trip, but I don't know where else I can go.
Ended up at Common Grounds Coffee House. They were insanely busy for them...with college students on their laptops or talking among friends and older women knitting and gossiping. I just ordered a hot chocolate and a cinnamon raisin bagel with butter (they were out of jam) and looked at my phone. I wish I knew what to say to all of them, but I didn't.
The blah day matched my blah mood. It was kind-of cloudy, kind-of sunny, although it became out-and-out sunny later. The wind remains strong - the pieces from my bike seat kept blowing away while I worked on it. It was chilly, but not freezing, probably in the lower 40's.
Looked for apartments when I got home. When I saw nothing I could do here or in Gloucester County, I moved on to writing. Han's main rival in the Golden Arrow tournament is Boba of Gisbourne. Han asks him where Sheriff Vader, said to be the best archer in Nottingham, is. Boba casually mentions that he went to the main castle to look for someone.
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers while starting season 2 of Buck Rogers. Wilma, Buck, and Twiki are all that remain of the original show in "The Time of the Hawk." They're now on board the space ship Searcher, trying to find other scattered Earth colonies. They're joined by two older doctors this time, along with a taller, rather supercilious and obnoxious robot to play off of Twiki (who has a different voice). They discover that the crew of a freighter was attacked by Hawk (Thom Christopher), a bird-man who, along with his mate Kourie (Barbara Luna), is the last of his kind after his people were slaughtered by pirates. Buck tries to convince him that not all humans are evil, and that there may be others of his species out there yet.
Finished the night after a shower with Random Harvest. Industrialist Charles Rainier (Ronald Coleman) has the most devoted secretary anyone could wish, Margaret Hanson (Greer Garson). He eventually marries her after Kitty, the girl who had a crush on him (Susan Peters), sees how crazy Margaret is about him and gives up on him. The only thing is, he's met - and married - Margaret before. She was singing under the stage name Paula Ridgeway when she found him wandering away from an asylum after World War I. He had no memory of who he was or how he'd gotten to the place; he couldn't even remember how to talk. Margaret nursed him back to health and married him, living with him in a small cottage. She's hoping that someday, his memories will return...and that he'll recall the deep love they once shared.
Melodramatic claptrap highlighted by several excellent performances, especially from the two leads. For all the ridiculousness of the plot, Coleman and Garson really do make you believe every excessive bit of suffering. If you're a fan of old-fashioned soap opera or the stars, you'll want to give this one a look.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
Birds In Space
Kicked off the day with early work. Though I did squeeze some returns in later in the day and gathered recycling and outside trash, I was mostly doing carts. It wasn't a bad day for it. When I got to work, it was sunny and windless, a perfectly normal day in mid-February. Even later, when it got cloudy, the wind was still gone, and it wasn't too cold for the time of year. Despite the decent weather, we were busy all morning. Most people are likely off this weekend for President's Day. The carts kept vanishing faster than I could gather them! Good thing I had a lot of help later, a teenage girl and two guys.
Went straight home after work. Thought I'd do something a little different after I changed and had a snack, especially since I wasn't tired enough for a nap. I did more Angry Birds Star Wars. Continued to make my way through the Death Star. Obi-Wan Birdnobi got an upgrade after his fight with Vader - his "Force" power that can knock over blocks is a little bit stronger. I also faced my first "boss round," a complicated one where you had to hit Vader on top of two of his "men" (green piggies in Imperial gunner helmets). There's a lot of having to shoot your birds through space bubbles that make them curve upwards or downwards...and often not where you want them to go.
I had so much fun, I didn't start writing until almost 5. Han joins the contest, along with many of the other men - and a few women - in Nottingham. Leia manages to charm her way into the royal box with Palpatine. Han wonders where Vader is - he's a crack shot with a bow and arrow - until Chewie tells him he saw him following Luke into the castle. Han sends his friend after the young man while he takes part in the contest.
Broke for dinner at 7. Had a couple of leftover chicken sausages with defrosted green beans and almonds. The top of one of my apples had gotten mushy. I cut it off, filled the cavity with butter, brown sugar, and spices, and had a delicious baked apple for dessert.
Finished the night with Dames at Sea. This off-Broadway parody of the Busby Berkeley-style backstage musicals of the 1930's gave Bernadette Peters her first big role as Ruby, the Ruby Keeler ingenue who eventually becomes a star. The music is pretty cute if you know anything about what they're spoofing. "Wall Street," the opening number, was obviously influenced by "We're In the Money" and "With Plenty of Money and You"; "Singapore Sue" parodies "Shanghai Lil" from Footlight Parade, while "Choo Choo Honeymoon" has fun with "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo." Peters gets my favorite number, the lovely "Raining In My Heart" when she thinks her sailor sweetheart is after the leading lady of the show being held on his battleship.
This apparently turned up on TV in the 1970's with Ann-Margaret as Ruby, Harvey Evans as Dick, and Ann Miller as the original leading lady Moana, and it finally made it to Broadway briefly in 2015. Neither seem to have made nearly as much of an impression as the original (though the revival did get a Tony nomination for choreography). Both lose the joke that this is a big musical being made on a small budget - the original off-Broadway show only used two pianos and drums backing a cast of six. I suspect the original cast album, which is fairly easy to find, should be all you need if you love the musicals of the 30's or Peters.
Oh, and the clouds that had lingered all afternoon finally burst while I was having dinner. It's been on and off for the rest of the night.
Went straight home after work. Thought I'd do something a little different after I changed and had a snack, especially since I wasn't tired enough for a nap. I did more Angry Birds Star Wars. Continued to make my way through the Death Star. Obi-Wan Birdnobi got an upgrade after his fight with Vader - his "Force" power that can knock over blocks is a little bit stronger. I also faced my first "boss round," a complicated one where you had to hit Vader on top of two of his "men" (green piggies in Imperial gunner helmets). There's a lot of having to shoot your birds through space bubbles that make them curve upwards or downwards...and often not where you want them to go.
I had so much fun, I didn't start writing until almost 5. Han joins the contest, along with many of the other men - and a few women - in Nottingham. Leia manages to charm her way into the royal box with Palpatine. Han wonders where Vader is - he's a crack shot with a bow and arrow - until Chewie tells him he saw him following Luke into the castle. Han sends his friend after the young man while he takes part in the contest.
Broke for dinner at 7. Had a couple of leftover chicken sausages with defrosted green beans and almonds. The top of one of my apples had gotten mushy. I cut it off, filled the cavity with butter, brown sugar, and spices, and had a delicious baked apple for dessert.
Finished the night with Dames at Sea. This off-Broadway parody of the Busby Berkeley-style backstage musicals of the 1930's gave Bernadette Peters her first big role as Ruby, the Ruby Keeler ingenue who eventually becomes a star. The music is pretty cute if you know anything about what they're spoofing. "Wall Street," the opening number, was obviously influenced by "We're In the Money" and "With Plenty of Money and You"; "Singapore Sue" parodies "Shanghai Lil" from Footlight Parade, while "Choo Choo Honeymoon" has fun with "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo." Peters gets my favorite number, the lovely "Raining In My Heart" when she thinks her sailor sweetheart is after the leading lady of the show being held on his battleship.
This apparently turned up on TV in the 1970's with Ann-Margaret as Ruby, Harvey Evans as Dick, and Ann Miller as the original leading lady Moana, and it finally made it to Broadway briefly in 2015. Neither seem to have made nearly as much of an impression as the original (though the revival did get a Tony nomination for choreography). Both lose the joke that this is a big musical being made on a small budget - the original off-Broadway show only used two pianos and drums backing a cast of six. I suspect the original cast album, which is fairly easy to find, should be all you need if you love the musicals of the 30's or Peters.
Oh, and the clouds that had lingered all afternoon finally burst while I was having dinner. It's been on and off for the rest of the night.
Saturday, February 16, 2019
Ease On Down the Road
Kicked off a late, sunny day with breakfast and more Buck Rogers. "Buck's Duel to the Death" comes about when the people of Katar bring him to their planet to challenge "the Trebor" (William Smith), an evil warlord who enslaves and terrorizes their people. They believe that Buck is "the Roshan" who will deliver them from evil. Buck's not interested in leading a revolution and tries to encourage the people to take him on their own. The Trebor, however, wants to duel with Buck...which may be hazardous to his health, thanks to the Trebor's ability to control electronic impulses.
Headed out to do the laundry around 12:30. It was surprisingly not that busy when I arrived. It did pick up a little bit later, but it was never really crazy. It must have been too nice for a lot of people to want to be in laundromats. I read the book on professional blogging and ignored the sports and documentaries on NBC behind me.
When I got home, I put everything away, then had a quick lunch before going right back out. It was late, almost 3:30, but I was feeling restless. Between the wet weather we've had all winter and my lack of funds, I've spent way too much time inside in the past few weeks.
I wandered across Oaklyn and through Collingswood, keeping my eyes open for rental opportunities. I eventually ended up in Westmont. The Samaritan Thrift Shop was still pretty busy for almost 4. Didn't find anything I liked there, so I went across the street to see if Phidelity Records had any musicals for me to review. Nope - their movies are mostly comedies, action flicks, and sci-fi. I did pick up the original cast album for the 1960 Broadway show No Strings with Diahann Carroll and the 1968 off-Broadway hit Busby Berkley spoof Dames at Sea with Bernadette Peters, plus the original soundtrack album for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Took the long way home across Newton Lake Park. I dodged a lot of people pushing strollers or out for a walk, enjoying the lovely weather. While not as warm as yesterday, it was just as sunny, and the wind was gone. It was a perfect, icy-blue day for mid-February. The trees are bare black slashes against that pale sky, though the grass is a bit greener than usual, probably due to all the rain.
When I got home, I e-mailed Linda Young and did a little research on Amazon Affiliates, then went into writing. Leia goes to distract Prince Palpatine, while Han and Chewbacca join the contest. Han's enjoying Lando's uptempo song for the court, but Chewbacca thinks he looks nervous about something...
Broke for dinner at 7. Finished out the Buck Rogers first season finale, "Flight of the War Witch," while eating chicken sausages, sweet potato fries with honey, and salad for dinner. Buck, Wilma, and the people of Earth find themselves working with Ardala, Kane, and the people of Draconia to stop the evil witch Zarina (Julie Newmar) from waging war on a peaceful planet in another universe. Buck's not overly happy when Ardala turns him over to Zarina in exchange for passage out of the black hole around the universe...but she learns that there are ladies out there even nastier than herself when Zarina goes back on her deal, and they have to escape together.
And...yeah, I'm glad I bought this. This show is a lot of fun. On one hand, there's a lot that's dated rather badly, including Buck's "girl of the week" revolving door of leading ladies, some of the briefer costumes, and a few very strange storylines. (A galactic whiz kid? Space vampires? Space rock and roll rebellion?) Some of the casting doesn't always come off well today either - Gary Coleman and Jerry Orbach, among others, definitely do not belong here.
On the other hand, Geraud and Gray make a fetching pair, and when the casting works - as with Jack Palance in "Planet of the Slave Girls" and Jamie Lee Curtis in "Unchained Woman" - it can really make for some campy fun. Mel Blanc is absolutely hilarious as Buck's robot buddy Twiki, too. Some of the more creative episodes, like the touching "Dream of Jennifer" and "Happy Birthday, Buck," are really interesting.
In the end, I'm glad I bought this. It's not for those who prefer their sci-fi darker, but if you have fond memories of this show or love camp like me, I highly recommend this wacky trip into a late 70's view of the future.
Finished off the night after a shower with The Wiz Live! I go into further detail on this NBC hit from 2015 on my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
The Wiz Live!
Headed out to do the laundry around 12:30. It was surprisingly not that busy when I arrived. It did pick up a little bit later, but it was never really crazy. It must have been too nice for a lot of people to want to be in laundromats. I read the book on professional blogging and ignored the sports and documentaries on NBC behind me.
When I got home, I put everything away, then had a quick lunch before going right back out. It was late, almost 3:30, but I was feeling restless. Between the wet weather we've had all winter and my lack of funds, I've spent way too much time inside in the past few weeks.
I wandered across Oaklyn and through Collingswood, keeping my eyes open for rental opportunities. I eventually ended up in Westmont. The Samaritan Thrift Shop was still pretty busy for almost 4. Didn't find anything I liked there, so I went across the street to see if Phidelity Records had any musicals for me to review. Nope - their movies are mostly comedies, action flicks, and sci-fi. I did pick up the original cast album for the 1960 Broadway show No Strings with Diahann Carroll and the 1968 off-Broadway hit Busby Berkley spoof Dames at Sea with Bernadette Peters, plus the original soundtrack album for The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
Took the long way home across Newton Lake Park. I dodged a lot of people pushing strollers or out for a walk, enjoying the lovely weather. While not as warm as yesterday, it was just as sunny, and the wind was gone. It was a perfect, icy-blue day for mid-February. The trees are bare black slashes against that pale sky, though the grass is a bit greener than usual, probably due to all the rain.
When I got home, I e-mailed Linda Young and did a little research on Amazon Affiliates, then went into writing. Leia goes to distract Prince Palpatine, while Han and Chewbacca join the contest. Han's enjoying Lando's uptempo song for the court, but Chewbacca thinks he looks nervous about something...
Broke for dinner at 7. Finished out the Buck Rogers first season finale, "Flight of the War Witch," while eating chicken sausages, sweet potato fries with honey, and salad for dinner. Buck, Wilma, and the people of Earth find themselves working with Ardala, Kane, and the people of Draconia to stop the evil witch Zarina (Julie Newmar) from waging war on a peaceful planet in another universe. Buck's not overly happy when Ardala turns him over to Zarina in exchange for passage out of the black hole around the universe...but she learns that there are ladies out there even nastier than herself when Zarina goes back on her deal, and they have to escape together.
And...yeah, I'm glad I bought this. This show is a lot of fun. On one hand, there's a lot that's dated rather badly, including Buck's "girl of the week" revolving door of leading ladies, some of the briefer costumes, and a few very strange storylines. (A galactic whiz kid? Space vampires? Space rock and roll rebellion?) Some of the casting doesn't always come off well today either - Gary Coleman and Jerry Orbach, among others, definitely do not belong here.
On the other hand, Geraud and Gray make a fetching pair, and when the casting works - as with Jack Palance in "Planet of the Slave Girls" and Jamie Lee Curtis in "Unchained Woman" - it can really make for some campy fun. Mel Blanc is absolutely hilarious as Buck's robot buddy Twiki, too. Some of the more creative episodes, like the touching "Dream of Jennifer" and "Happy Birthday, Buck," are really interesting.
In the end, I'm glad I bought this. It's not for those who prefer their sci-fi darker, but if you have fond memories of this show or love camp like me, I highly recommend this wacky trip into a late 70's view of the future.
Finished off the night after a shower with The Wiz Live! I go into further detail on this NBC hit from 2015 on my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
The Wiz Live!
Friday, February 15, 2019
Busy Day In the Sunshine
Slept in for the first time in a while; when I did roll out of bed, it was a bright, sunny day. Charlie thought so, too. He was already outside and cursing around the door when I was getting dressed and having breakfast. Ran another Buck Rogers episode to drown him out while I ate, and later as I took down the Valentine's Day decorations. Buck helps a young high jumper from a totalitarian world escape to Earth with his astrosled-driving sweetheart during the annual "Olympiad." His sponsor has implanted a bomb in him that they can make go off remotely. They have to outrun the signal through the astrosled course...which can be deadly for those who veer off of it.
Headed out to run errands as soon as the episode ended. First stop of the day was the Oaklyn Library. It looks like they're slightly reorganizing the adult DVDs. Instead of making the genre labels all hot pink, as they were previously, they're now different colors - Comedy is bright green, Crime is white, Drama is purple. Whomever did the labeling must have just thrown everything back on the shelf, as many titles were wildly out of order. (And it looked like they were only half-done with the drama.) Other than that, it wasn't a busy day. I looked over the kids' area briefly before heading out.
No wonder the library was dead. As Charlie had pointed out earlier, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was still windy, but not to the degree of earlier in the week, and the temperatures had soared into the lower 60's. I only needed a jean jacket to run around in. It was so nice, I had a quick lunch at Sonic. I was only hungry enough for a hot dog, tater tots, and a cherry limeade. Maybe because it was almost 2 PM by that point, or because of the wind, but I was the only one on the patio. (They may have had a point about the wind. My tater tots almost blew away.)
The Acme wasn't any busier than the Oaklyn Library. I had no problems walking around to do my shopping, and the lines were empty. (And they had plenty of help up front.) Eggs were on sale for 99 cents during the weekend, and 3-packs of sponges are still buy one, get one. Found a lone salmon cake in the seafood case that was also 99 cents. I've been wanting to try the thin chocolate mint cookies with the white chocolate backs, but they were so expensive! Grabbed the last bag from the clearance shelf. Restocked canned tomato sauce and mandarin oranges, skim milk, peanut butter, parchment paper, apples (bags of galas were on sale), oranges, bananas, sugar, corn meal, and ground turkey.
My schedule next week is kind of strange. I have two very early days on Sunday and Wednesday...and two late days on Thursday and next Saturday (the latter until 7). Monday, Tuesday, and next Friday are my off days, Tuesday for counseling.
Went straight home, put everything away as quickly as I could, and went right back out again in less than 10 minutes. I really wanted to return my DVDs to the Haddon Township Library. They were actually a bit busier than some of the other places I visited today, maybe because they were about an hour and a half from closing by the time I arrived. I mainly shelved the adult titles, the kid titles and TV sets being on hold for other volunteers.
Had just enough time after I finish to grab a couple of movies and books. Stuck to all adult titles for movies this week. A couple of people have recommended the Amy Adams/Meryl Streep drama Julie & Julia, about a woman who wrote about famous chef Julia Child and tried her recipes, but I never got around to it until now. Having enjoyed The Shape of Water early last spring, I thought I'd give another Oscar-winner from last year, the drama Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, a try. Also found two tales of romance from the 30's and early 40's, The Girl From 10th Avenue with Bette Davis and Random Harvest with Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson.
I also grabbed a bunch of books. They finally had a book on being a professional blogger. Also found one on being and introvert running a business, The Introvert Entrepreneur, along with one on work in the 21st century and how it's changing and another on careers in mass media and communication. Took out one of the last Mercedes Lackey books they had that interested me, The Sleeping Beauty.
Made a quick stop at WaWa for money on the way home. It was well into rush hour by this point, and they were quite busy. At least there wasn't a line for the ATM machine. I bought a bottle of grapefruit Bubly sparkling water to get change for the laundry tomorrow.
(Incidentally, it turns out Charlie was adding molding around the front door today, which explains all the banging and his needing to have the door open occasionally. It does look much better. Even the exposed wood out there now looks better than the faded yellow siding and peeling brown paint from before.)
First thing I did when I got home was look up Microsoft Word to see how expensive the software is now. To my surprise, you can now use it for free online. Almost every job I see wants you to know everything about Word. I haven't used it in years. I never wanted to pay to download it or for the software on disc. I'll look further into this tomorrow.
Did some writing later. The group breaks up when they arrive at the Nottingham Fair. Thomas and Artoo will scan the crowds for the Sheriff and his minions. Luke and Yoda will keep the Sheriff busy, while Leia does the same with the Prince Palpatine. Han intends to enter the contest for the Golden Arrow and win. He's certain he can do so without being noticed...but Lando-a-Dale seems a bit worried about something...
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Watched the next Buck Rogers episode while I ate that salmon cake with roasted broccoli and salad with home-made honey mustard dressing for dinner. "A Dream of Jennifer" goes further into Buck's life in the 20th Century and is a tad bit darker than previous episodes in the series. Buck thinks he sees his former girlfriend from the 20th century and follows her to "City By the Sea" (aka New Orleans). What she's really doing is luring him into a trap set by aliens who want him to attack freighters that are transporting weapons to a rival colony. Buck refuses, until they threaten the girl. It takes help from Wilma, Twiki, and Dr. Theopolis to make him understand that, while we can't go back, we can figure out to live our lives in the best possible way now.
"Space Rockers" goes 180 degrees in the opposite direction, from semi-serious for a space opera to ridiculously goofy, even for a space opera. The wildly popular rock music by the group Andromeda seems to turn teenagers into machines of destruction whenever they have concerts on their worlds. Buck heads to a former space station-turned-broadcasting station to find out how their manager (Jerry Orbach) is managing to send subliminal messages through their music.
Switched to playing Angry Birds Star Wars after dinner. The second world, the Death Star, adds Pilot Luke Skywalker (who splits into three birds) and Chewbacca (who is big enough to slam through anything, including metal that the other birds can't penetrate) to the mix. There were some really tough rounds, especially in space. One round had magnetic pieces that kept attracting my Obi-Wan birds and wouldn't let them blast through. I must have restarted that round thirty times before I finally figured it out.
Finished the night with the short romantic comedy-drama The Girl From 10th Avenue. Miriam Brady (Bette Davis) finds herself saddled with drunk rich boy Geoffrey Sherwood (Ian Hunter) after he sees his former sweetheart Valentine (Katherine Alexander) get married to someone else. Two of his buddies offer her 100 dollars to keep an eye on him, which somehow ends up with the two of them married after they get plastered together. They decide to make a go of things with the help of their landlady, former Florodora Girl Mrs. Martin (Alison Skipworth). Their marriage works out surprisingly well, until Valentine decides she wants Geoff back. Miriam isn't going to take this lying down and ends up in a well-publicized fight with Valentine in a restaurant. Now Geoff has to decide which woman he really wants...and if he wants to return to his previous life of rich aimlessness.
My favorite thing about this one was Skipworth, who was quite funny as the seen-it-all-twice landlady. Otherwise, this was mainly for fans of Davis or the romantic shopgirl-makes-good movies of the Depression era.
Headed out to run errands as soon as the episode ended. First stop of the day was the Oaklyn Library. It looks like they're slightly reorganizing the adult DVDs. Instead of making the genre labels all hot pink, as they were previously, they're now different colors - Comedy is bright green, Crime is white, Drama is purple. Whomever did the labeling must have just thrown everything back on the shelf, as many titles were wildly out of order. (And it looked like they were only half-done with the drama.) Other than that, it wasn't a busy day. I looked over the kids' area briefly before heading out.
No wonder the library was dead. As Charlie had pointed out earlier, the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was still windy, but not to the degree of earlier in the week, and the temperatures had soared into the lower 60's. I only needed a jean jacket to run around in. It was so nice, I had a quick lunch at Sonic. I was only hungry enough for a hot dog, tater tots, and a cherry limeade. Maybe because it was almost 2 PM by that point, or because of the wind, but I was the only one on the patio. (They may have had a point about the wind. My tater tots almost blew away.)
The Acme wasn't any busier than the Oaklyn Library. I had no problems walking around to do my shopping, and the lines were empty. (And they had plenty of help up front.) Eggs were on sale for 99 cents during the weekend, and 3-packs of sponges are still buy one, get one. Found a lone salmon cake in the seafood case that was also 99 cents. I've been wanting to try the thin chocolate mint cookies with the white chocolate backs, but they were so expensive! Grabbed the last bag from the clearance shelf. Restocked canned tomato sauce and mandarin oranges, skim milk, peanut butter, parchment paper, apples (bags of galas were on sale), oranges, bananas, sugar, corn meal, and ground turkey.
My schedule next week is kind of strange. I have two very early days on Sunday and Wednesday...and two late days on Thursday and next Saturday (the latter until 7). Monday, Tuesday, and next Friday are my off days, Tuesday for counseling.
Went straight home, put everything away as quickly as I could, and went right back out again in less than 10 minutes. I really wanted to return my DVDs to the Haddon Township Library. They were actually a bit busier than some of the other places I visited today, maybe because they were about an hour and a half from closing by the time I arrived. I mainly shelved the adult titles, the kid titles and TV sets being on hold for other volunteers.
Had just enough time after I finish to grab a couple of movies and books. Stuck to all adult titles for movies this week. A couple of people have recommended the Amy Adams/Meryl Streep drama Julie & Julia, about a woman who wrote about famous chef Julia Child and tried her recipes, but I never got around to it until now. Having enjoyed The Shape of Water early last spring, I thought I'd give another Oscar-winner from last year, the drama Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri, a try. Also found two tales of romance from the 30's and early 40's, The Girl From 10th Avenue with Bette Davis and Random Harvest with Ronald Coleman and Greer Garson.
I also grabbed a bunch of books. They finally had a book on being a professional blogger. Also found one on being and introvert running a business, The Introvert Entrepreneur, along with one on work in the 21st century and how it's changing and another on careers in mass media and communication. Took out one of the last Mercedes Lackey books they had that interested me, The Sleeping Beauty.
Made a quick stop at WaWa for money on the way home. It was well into rush hour by this point, and they were quite busy. At least there wasn't a line for the ATM machine. I bought a bottle of grapefruit Bubly sparkling water to get change for the laundry tomorrow.
(Incidentally, it turns out Charlie was adding molding around the front door today, which explains all the banging and his needing to have the door open occasionally. It does look much better. Even the exposed wood out there now looks better than the faded yellow siding and peeling brown paint from before.)
First thing I did when I got home was look up Microsoft Word to see how expensive the software is now. To my surprise, you can now use it for free online. Almost every job I see wants you to know everything about Word. I haven't used it in years. I never wanted to pay to download it or for the software on disc. I'll look further into this tomorrow.
Did some writing later. The group breaks up when they arrive at the Nottingham Fair. Thomas and Artoo will scan the crowds for the Sheriff and his minions. Luke and Yoda will keep the Sheriff busy, while Leia does the same with the Prince Palpatine. Han intends to enter the contest for the Golden Arrow and win. He's certain he can do so without being noticed...but Lando-a-Dale seems a bit worried about something...
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Watched the next Buck Rogers episode while I ate that salmon cake with roasted broccoli and salad with home-made honey mustard dressing for dinner. "A Dream of Jennifer" goes further into Buck's life in the 20th Century and is a tad bit darker than previous episodes in the series. Buck thinks he sees his former girlfriend from the 20th century and follows her to "City By the Sea" (aka New Orleans). What she's really doing is luring him into a trap set by aliens who want him to attack freighters that are transporting weapons to a rival colony. Buck refuses, until they threaten the girl. It takes help from Wilma, Twiki, and Dr. Theopolis to make him understand that, while we can't go back, we can figure out to live our lives in the best possible way now.
"Space Rockers" goes 180 degrees in the opposite direction, from semi-serious for a space opera to ridiculously goofy, even for a space opera. The wildly popular rock music by the group Andromeda seems to turn teenagers into machines of destruction whenever they have concerts on their worlds. Buck heads to a former space station-turned-broadcasting station to find out how their manager (Jerry Orbach) is managing to send subliminal messages through their music.
Switched to playing Angry Birds Star Wars after dinner. The second world, the Death Star, adds Pilot Luke Skywalker (who splits into three birds) and Chewbacca (who is big enough to slam through anything, including metal that the other birds can't penetrate) to the mix. There were some really tough rounds, especially in space. One round had magnetic pieces that kept attracting my Obi-Wan birds and wouldn't let them blast through. I must have restarted that round thirty times before I finally figured it out.
Finished the night with the short romantic comedy-drama The Girl From 10th Avenue. Miriam Brady (Bette Davis) finds herself saddled with drunk rich boy Geoffrey Sherwood (Ian Hunter) after he sees his former sweetheart Valentine (Katherine Alexander) get married to someone else. Two of his buddies offer her 100 dollars to keep an eye on him, which somehow ends up with the two of them married after they get plastered together. They decide to make a go of things with the help of their landlady, former Florodora Girl Mrs. Martin (Alison Skipworth). Their marriage works out surprisingly well, until Valentine decides she wants Geoff back. Miriam isn't going to take this lying down and ends up in a well-publicized fight with Valentine in a restaurant. Now Geoff has to decide which woman he really wants...and if he wants to return to his previous life of rich aimlessness.
My favorite thing about this one was Skipworth, who was quite funny as the seen-it-all-twice landlady. Otherwise, this was mainly for fans of Davis or the romantic shopgirl-makes-good movies of the Depression era.
Thursday, February 14, 2019
My Tragic Valentine
Happy Valentine's Day! I kicked off a sunny morning with The Adventures of Luke Skywalker and some holiday reading. The Colliers Harvest of Holidays book only had one story for Valentine's Day, but it was the very sweet The Valentine's Box by Maud Hart Lovelace. A little girl who just moved to a new town and is worried she won't get any valentines makes a friend when she helps her classmate gather her valentines that were blown all over the school yard by the wind.
Samantha Parkington has a more exciting Valentine's Day in Changes for Samantha. Her best friend Nellie and her sisters are now in an orphanage in New York. When Nellie tells Samantha that she's due to be sent away, Sam comes up with a plan to help the girls run away and have them stay in her Aunt Cornelia and Uncle Gard's attic until Nellie can get work. They're eventually found out, but Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia have a special surprise for the girls that gives Samantha the sweetest Valentine's Day gift she could possibly have.
Ran the first of my Valentine's Day specials while eating a quick breakfast. Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers has Cupid (who looks an awful lot like Elmer Fudd) spread love among the Tunes via segments from various shorts, despite Bugs' insistence that he's meddling. Switched to "Past Perfumance" as I got ready for work. It's "lights, camera, chase!" when Pepe Le Pew chases a female cat-turned-skunk all around a French movie studio in 1913.
Work was on-and-off steady for most of the day. It only got really bad at noon, when the lunch crowds came in. I ended up briefly taking the register right before break. Otherwise, I spent the day almost entirely outside doing carts and the outside trash and recycling. I had no problems with this whatsoever. Mother Nature was feeling the love as well. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, breezy, and probably in the mid to upper 40's, too nice to be inside all day anyway.
Did a little research when I got home. I thought a mobile home might work well for me. Trouble is, it turns out that most trailer parks in this area are either buy-only, with no rental properties, or for seniors 55 and over. I'm getting so frustrated! There has to be someone with a small apartment in the back of their house or upstairs who is willing to negotiate with me.
Got a little bit of writing in. Leia poses as a princess from a remote kingdom to gain entry, with the guys as her servants. She manages to quell the guards at the gate with just a few references to Sheriff Vader. Thomas is more worried...and Luke senses that something is wrong...
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers while watching Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine For You. Pooh sees Christopher Robin making a Valentine for a girl, and he and the others automatically think he's been bitten by the "smitten" bug. They go off in search of the bug to cure Christopher, but the child knows that true friends never leave your heart.
I'd moved on to making a Raspberry Triple Chocolate Fudge cake by the time "Un-Valentine's Day" was on. In this episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit cancels Valentine's Day to stem the flood of cards Pooh sent the year before. That works about as well as his canceling Easter and Thanksgiving...which is to say, it doesn't. Someone gives Pooh a pot of honey for Valentine's Day, and he feels he just has to give something in return. This ends up in a free-for-all of flying cakes and Pooh dressed as a mail box, before Rabbit finally comes up with putting on a romantic play. But who did give Pooh the original pot of honey?
Switched to playing Angry Birds Star Wars while the cake was in the oven, and later as it cooled. The second half of the Tatoonie rounds takes you into the far reaches of space. That not only involves dodging Stormtroopers and their guns, but having to make some fairly complicated curved shots through airless space, too. I did finish the round; next time, I'll be taking the birds to the Death Star to rescue Princess Stella.
Moved on to the Peanuts while frosting the cake with the raspberry goo that was originally supposed to be fondant. Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown has Chuck waiting and waiting in vain for any Valentine to hit his mailbox. Linus has a crush on his teacher Miss Othmar and buys her a box of candy that Sally assumes is for her. Meanwhile, Snoopy's putting on very messy and romantic puppet shows.
The kids have slightly more luck in A Charlie Brown Valentine. Charlie Brown wants to invite the Little Red Haired Girl to the Valentine's Day dance, but accidentally ends up taking Peppermint Patty and Marcie instead. Sally and Lucy would be happy if their crushes would acknowledge them even that much.
Finished the night with the tragic opera Carmen Jones, featuring powerful performances by Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. I go into more detail on this dark World War II romance at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Carmen Jones
Here's some more animated specials that cover the funnier side of love. I hope everyone enjoys them, and that you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!
The Berenstein Bears' Comic Valentine
The Popeye Valentine's Day Special: Sweethearts at Sea
Cartoon Planet Valentine's Day Special
For Better or For Worse: A Valentine from the Heart
From Disney With Love
A Special Valentine With the Family Circus
DTV Romancin'
DTV Doggone Valentine
Cathy's Valentine
Samantha Parkington has a more exciting Valentine's Day in Changes for Samantha. Her best friend Nellie and her sisters are now in an orphanage in New York. When Nellie tells Samantha that she's due to be sent away, Sam comes up with a plan to help the girls run away and have them stay in her Aunt Cornelia and Uncle Gard's attic until Nellie can get work. They're eventually found out, but Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornelia have a special surprise for the girls that gives Samantha the sweetest Valentine's Day gift she could possibly have.
Ran the first of my Valentine's Day specials while eating a quick breakfast. Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers has Cupid (who looks an awful lot like Elmer Fudd) spread love among the Tunes via segments from various shorts, despite Bugs' insistence that he's meddling. Switched to "Past Perfumance" as I got ready for work. It's "lights, camera, chase!" when Pepe Le Pew chases a female cat-turned-skunk all around a French movie studio in 1913.
Work was on-and-off steady for most of the day. It only got really bad at noon, when the lunch crowds came in. I ended up briefly taking the register right before break. Otherwise, I spent the day almost entirely outside doing carts and the outside trash and recycling. I had no problems with this whatsoever. Mother Nature was feeling the love as well. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, breezy, and probably in the mid to upper 40's, too nice to be inside all day anyway.
Did a little research when I got home. I thought a mobile home might work well for me. Trouble is, it turns out that most trailer parks in this area are either buy-only, with no rental properties, or for seniors 55 and over. I'm getting so frustrated! There has to be someone with a small apartment in the back of their house or upstairs who is willing to negotiate with me.
Got a little bit of writing in. Leia poses as a princess from a remote kingdom to gain entry, with the guys as her servants. She manages to quell the guards at the gate with just a few references to Sheriff Vader. Thomas is more worried...and Luke senses that something is wrong...
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers while watching Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine For You. Pooh sees Christopher Robin making a Valentine for a girl, and he and the others automatically think he's been bitten by the "smitten" bug. They go off in search of the bug to cure Christopher, but the child knows that true friends never leave your heart.
I'd moved on to making a Raspberry Triple Chocolate Fudge cake by the time "Un-Valentine's Day" was on. In this episode of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit cancels Valentine's Day to stem the flood of cards Pooh sent the year before. That works about as well as his canceling Easter and Thanksgiving...which is to say, it doesn't. Someone gives Pooh a pot of honey for Valentine's Day, and he feels he just has to give something in return. This ends up in a free-for-all of flying cakes and Pooh dressed as a mail box, before Rabbit finally comes up with putting on a romantic play. But who did give Pooh the original pot of honey?
Switched to playing Angry Birds Star Wars while the cake was in the oven, and later as it cooled. The second half of the Tatoonie rounds takes you into the far reaches of space. That not only involves dodging Stormtroopers and their guns, but having to make some fairly complicated curved shots through airless space, too. I did finish the round; next time, I'll be taking the birds to the Death Star to rescue Princess Stella.
Moved on to the Peanuts while frosting the cake with the raspberry goo that was originally supposed to be fondant. Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown has Chuck waiting and waiting in vain for any Valentine to hit his mailbox. Linus has a crush on his teacher Miss Othmar and buys her a box of candy that Sally assumes is for her. Meanwhile, Snoopy's putting on very messy and romantic puppet shows.
The kids have slightly more luck in A Charlie Brown Valentine. Charlie Brown wants to invite the Little Red Haired Girl to the Valentine's Day dance, but accidentally ends up taking Peppermint Patty and Marcie instead. Sally and Lucy would be happy if their crushes would acknowledge them even that much.
Finished the night with the tragic opera Carmen Jones, featuring powerful performances by Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte. I go into more detail on this dark World War II romance at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Carmen Jones
Here's some more animated specials that cover the funnier side of love. I hope everyone enjoys them, and that you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day!
The Berenstein Bears' Comic Valentine
The Popeye Valentine's Day Special: Sweethearts at Sea
Cartoon Planet Valentine's Day Special
For Better or For Worse: A Valentine from the Heart
From Disney With Love
A Special Valentine With the Family Circus
DTV Romancin'
DTV Doggone Valentine
Cathy's Valentine
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
A Windy Day's Work
Began the day at work. Spent the first half of my shift outside, doing carts and gathering trash and recycling. It wasn't a bad day for it, either. It was very windy, but also sunny, and not too cold for this time of year. I got stuck in the register for most of the second half of my shift. Someone called out, and we're still short-handed.
People weren't always in the best moods, either. One man was trying to figure out how much some of the clearance items were, backing up a long line. The man behind him got snippy with him when he offered him his Acme Monopoly tickets. I tried to step in and prevent open warfare. (At least the other guy apologized for cursing. The one behind him just stayed in a bad mood.) And the lady behind them was pregnant, had a fair-sized order, a son that wouldn't listen to her and just kept playing with his Hess truck, and was not happy with their antics. Good thing she was my last customer of the day.
I had a far more pleasant surprise waiting for me in the back room. One of the managers told me I was Employee of the Month! When you receive a compliment or a good review from a customer, it's put in a box. A lucky person gets chosen every month. I got a 50 dollar gift card and they took my picture holding the "Employee of the Month" sign. Used a little of that gift card for raspberries for my raspberry truffles and for a cream-filled donut (don't know how to make those yet).
Went right on the computer when I got home. The man passing through is Lando-a-Dale, a friend of Han's. He tells him and the others that the Sheriff is holding a contest for a golden arrow. Friar Yoda is certain that it will be a trap, but the others see it as an opportunity to lift jewelry and sell the golden arrow for more money to feed the poor and for King Bail's ransom. Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, and Thomas all agree to go into town with Han to keep an eye on things.
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers, then tried to make fondant for the raspberry truffles. I must have put too much milk in, or the crushed raspberries made them soup. Whatever the reason was, I now have raspberry sugar soup instead of candy filling.
Had more luck with the next two episodes of Buck Rogers. "Ardala Returns" when she needs someone to pilot a prototype space ship that keeps exploding. She nominates Buck, whom she lures with a space capsule that appears to be from the 20th century. She proceeds to make clones of him and rigs one with a bomb to blow up New Chicago. Meanwhile, Buck's memories are being implanted in the minds of his clones. If he can't stop these menacing duplicates, Earth - and his friends - will be in deep trouble.
"Twiki Is Missing" is a bit of spoof of Charlie's Angels, which was also popular at the time. Three beautiful young women who have telekinetic powers are controlled by a mysterious man on a mining colony. The miners are pushing for better conditions and are ready to revolt. He's hoping to replace them with droids and thinks Twiki would be perfect. The ladies first try to buy Twiki from Buck, then steal him, prompting Buck to follow.
Ended the night with a round of Angry Birds Star Wars. This is pretty much what it says on the tin. The regular Angry Birds characters wear Star Wars costumes and have galactic-themed powers; Han can shoot, Luke can use a lightsaber, Ben can toss bombs and make himself go further. It's really addicting. I was almot three-fourths of the way through the first Tatoonie segment when I realized how late it was getting. I'll definitely be playing this again. It's fun and really cute.
People weren't always in the best moods, either. One man was trying to figure out how much some of the clearance items were, backing up a long line. The man behind him got snippy with him when he offered him his Acme Monopoly tickets. I tried to step in and prevent open warfare. (At least the other guy apologized for cursing. The one behind him just stayed in a bad mood.) And the lady behind them was pregnant, had a fair-sized order, a son that wouldn't listen to her and just kept playing with his Hess truck, and was not happy with their antics. Good thing she was my last customer of the day.
I had a far more pleasant surprise waiting for me in the back room. One of the managers told me I was Employee of the Month! When you receive a compliment or a good review from a customer, it's put in a box. A lucky person gets chosen every month. I got a 50 dollar gift card and they took my picture holding the "Employee of the Month" sign. Used a little of that gift card for raspberries for my raspberry truffles and for a cream-filled donut (don't know how to make those yet).
Went right on the computer when I got home. The man passing through is Lando-a-Dale, a friend of Han's. He tells him and the others that the Sheriff is holding a contest for a golden arrow. Friar Yoda is certain that it will be a trap, but the others see it as an opportunity to lift jewelry and sell the golden arrow for more money to feed the poor and for King Bail's ransom. Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, and Thomas all agree to go into town with Han to keep an eye on things.
Broke for dinner at 6:30. Had leftovers, then tried to make fondant for the raspberry truffles. I must have put too much milk in, or the crushed raspberries made them soup. Whatever the reason was, I now have raspberry sugar soup instead of candy filling.
Had more luck with the next two episodes of Buck Rogers. "Ardala Returns" when she needs someone to pilot a prototype space ship that keeps exploding. She nominates Buck, whom she lures with a space capsule that appears to be from the 20th century. She proceeds to make clones of him and rigs one with a bomb to blow up New Chicago. Meanwhile, Buck's memories are being implanted in the minds of his clones. If he can't stop these menacing duplicates, Earth - and his friends - will be in deep trouble.
"Twiki Is Missing" is a bit of spoof of Charlie's Angels, which was also popular at the time. Three beautiful young women who have telekinetic powers are controlled by a mysterious man on a mining colony. The miners are pushing for better conditions and are ready to revolt. He's hoping to replace them with droids and thinks Twiki would be perfect. The ladies first try to buy Twiki from Buck, then steal him, prompting Buck to follow.
Ended the night with a round of Angry Birds Star Wars. This is pretty much what it says on the tin. The regular Angry Birds characters wear Star Wars costumes and have galactic-themed powers; Han can shoot, Luke can use a lightsaber, Ben can toss bombs and make himself go further. It's really addicting. I was almot three-fourths of the way through the first Tatoonie segment when I realized how late it was getting. I'll definitely be playing this again. It's fun and really cute.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Rain In the Stars
It was pouring rain and sleet when I got up this morning, and continued to in some capacity for the entire day. This was no day to be outside. I had breakfast, then finally finished the cleaning. I really needed to get the dusting done. I mostly just dust around things at this time of year, but I put it off for too long. The entertainment area and my bedroom were especially bad. Made the bed, too. The blankets I layer on me at night keep slipping off.
Watched The Incredibles 2 while I did my chores. We start off right where the previous film left off, with Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson), his wife Helen (Holly Hunter), their son Dash (Huckleberry Milner), teen daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell), and baby Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile), and Bob's friend Lucius (Samuel L. Jackson) fighting the Underminer. They do manage to stop him from destroying City Hall, but not from robbing a bank. They're out of funds after the program that gave them their home shuts down.
Help comes in the form of wealthy Winston Deaver (Bob Odenkirk) and his sarcastic sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener), who want to make superheroes legal. Winston chooses Helen, aka Elasticgirl, as his spokeswoman and the new savior of the city. Helen's thrilled at first, until she keeps running into a supervillain called the Screensaver who seems to be controlling people through their televisions. They turn out to not only be whom Helen expected, but they're someone with a grudge against Winston and superheroes who desperately doesn't want to see them return. Meanwhile, Bob is trying to deal with the kids, including Jack-Jack and his new powers. Edna Mode (Brad Bird) gives Jack-Jack a suit to help control them. All the Incredibles learn a bit about working as a team when they go after Elasticgirl, who is being held captive on Winston's yacht during a major summit.
The Incredibles is one of my favorite Pixar movies, so yeah, I had a lot of fun with this. The animation is even better, especially in action sequences like the finale on the yacht and Elasticgirl stopping a monorail from crashing. I love the family dynamics and how realistic they are, and it's always great to see the marvelous Edna Mode.
My main complaint is that the villain can be telegraphed from a mile off, and while I appreciate that their motivation is better than usual for a superhero movie, I wish they weren't quite so obvious. Otherwise, if you're a fan of the first movie or the cast, you may find just as much to enjoy here as I did. (And there's rumors swirling around of a third movie. Let's hope it doesn't take them 14 years this time.)
Watched more Buck Rogers during lunch and while beginning the dough for Cinnamon Swirl Bread. Buck and Wilma are on a "Cruise Ship to the Stars" in order to protect Miss Cosmos (Dorothy Stratten), a beauty queen considered to be a genetically perfect woman. Someone keeps trying to attack her, a frizzy-haired thief who calls herself Sabrina (Trisha Noble). While Wilma tries to figure out what she's up to, Buck befriends shy Alison (Kimberly Beck) and her boyfriend Jay (Leigh McCloskey) who are on a trip for her health. Alison insists that she keeps having blackouts and may have hurt someone, but Jay waves it off. Buck's not as convinced...and believes that there's a lot more to the frightened girl than mere illness.
Went on the computer as soon as I put the bread aside to rise. I did more research on being a freelance writer. I'm not sure how well I'll do with this. I want to write, and I want to sell my writing...but I'm not good with money. I'm bad at math, and I'm not good with managing money, either. Every time I try, I never have enough to manage. The more I researched, the more I panicked. How can I do this? How can I sell my work when I can't even talk to people? When I'm not good with people? What if I don't know what to say? And I don't really have the time for a ton of work. I'm just looking for a little bit of writing, just a small side gig, not a full career yet. I want to promote my blog, but I'm afraid of what people will say. I don't want to encourage trolls again.
I did manage to post my blog with several groups on Facebook (including one I didn't mean to post to). I don't know what to do. I want to write...but I'm starting to wonder if random freelance writing is a good idea. I will keep up with all three blogs in the meantime, but I still need money. There has to be some way I can promote the blogs and make money off them without getting nervous!
Broke briefly to knead the dough, roll it out, and brush it with butter and cinnamon sugar before letting it rise again. Baked it while having leftovers for dinner and moving on with Buck. "Space Vampire" moves from camp space opera to straight horror. Buck and Wilma are at a space station getting Twiki repaired when a freighter collides with them. All aboard seem to be dead, the victims of a rare virus. Wilma, however, becomes paranoid about being followed, and when members of the space station crew start turning up as zombies, Buck and Twiki start to wonder what else came in with that freighter.
The bread finally came out during "Happy Birthday, Buck." Wilma, Twiki, and Dr. Huer hold a real 20th century birthday party for Buck to cheer him up on his big day. They assign him to bring psychic courier Raylyn (Morgan Brittany) to New Detroit, but they're captured by a man named Traegar (Peter MacLean) who wants revenge on Dr. Huer for sending him to prison years ago.
(Incidentally, in good news, the bread did actually rise this time, smelled amazing while baking, and tasted quite nice out of the oven. It took long to bake than I thought it would, though, and fell apart when I tried to get it out of the pan. I didn't add enough cinnamon, either. I taste sugar, not spices. Next time, I'll separate this into two batches and just bake one at a time, or use the other batch for rolls or something else.)
Disc 4 ends with "A Blast for Buck." The blast is to the past in this clip show episode when someone sends Buck and his friends a mysterious riddle. Dr. Huer goes back into their minds to try to figure out which of the many villains they've gone up against earlier in the season have a grudge against Buck (and we find out the fate of many of them).
Finished out the night with another blast from the past, the all-African American film Cabin In the Sky, which I review at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Cabin In the Sky
Watched The Incredibles 2 while I did my chores. We start off right where the previous film left off, with Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson), his wife Helen (Holly Hunter), their son Dash (Huckleberry Milner), teen daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell), and baby Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile), and Bob's friend Lucius (Samuel L. Jackson) fighting the Underminer. They do manage to stop him from destroying City Hall, but not from robbing a bank. They're out of funds after the program that gave them their home shuts down.
Help comes in the form of wealthy Winston Deaver (Bob Odenkirk) and his sarcastic sister Evelyn (Catherine Keener), who want to make superheroes legal. Winston chooses Helen, aka Elasticgirl, as his spokeswoman and the new savior of the city. Helen's thrilled at first, until she keeps running into a supervillain called the Screensaver who seems to be controlling people through their televisions. They turn out to not only be whom Helen expected, but they're someone with a grudge against Winston and superheroes who desperately doesn't want to see them return. Meanwhile, Bob is trying to deal with the kids, including Jack-Jack and his new powers. Edna Mode (Brad Bird) gives Jack-Jack a suit to help control them. All the Incredibles learn a bit about working as a team when they go after Elasticgirl, who is being held captive on Winston's yacht during a major summit.
The Incredibles is one of my favorite Pixar movies, so yeah, I had a lot of fun with this. The animation is even better, especially in action sequences like the finale on the yacht and Elasticgirl stopping a monorail from crashing. I love the family dynamics and how realistic they are, and it's always great to see the marvelous Edna Mode.
My main complaint is that the villain can be telegraphed from a mile off, and while I appreciate that their motivation is better than usual for a superhero movie, I wish they weren't quite so obvious. Otherwise, if you're a fan of the first movie or the cast, you may find just as much to enjoy here as I did. (And there's rumors swirling around of a third movie. Let's hope it doesn't take them 14 years this time.)
Watched more Buck Rogers during lunch and while beginning the dough for Cinnamon Swirl Bread. Buck and Wilma are on a "Cruise Ship to the Stars" in order to protect Miss Cosmos (Dorothy Stratten), a beauty queen considered to be a genetically perfect woman. Someone keeps trying to attack her, a frizzy-haired thief who calls herself Sabrina (Trisha Noble). While Wilma tries to figure out what she's up to, Buck befriends shy Alison (Kimberly Beck) and her boyfriend Jay (Leigh McCloskey) who are on a trip for her health. Alison insists that she keeps having blackouts and may have hurt someone, but Jay waves it off. Buck's not as convinced...and believes that there's a lot more to the frightened girl than mere illness.
Went on the computer as soon as I put the bread aside to rise. I did more research on being a freelance writer. I'm not sure how well I'll do with this. I want to write, and I want to sell my writing...but I'm not good with money. I'm bad at math, and I'm not good with managing money, either. Every time I try, I never have enough to manage. The more I researched, the more I panicked. How can I do this? How can I sell my work when I can't even talk to people? When I'm not good with people? What if I don't know what to say? And I don't really have the time for a ton of work. I'm just looking for a little bit of writing, just a small side gig, not a full career yet. I want to promote my blog, but I'm afraid of what people will say. I don't want to encourage trolls again.
I did manage to post my blog with several groups on Facebook (including one I didn't mean to post to). I don't know what to do. I want to write...but I'm starting to wonder if random freelance writing is a good idea. I will keep up with all three blogs in the meantime, but I still need money. There has to be some way I can promote the blogs and make money off them without getting nervous!
Broke briefly to knead the dough, roll it out, and brush it with butter and cinnamon sugar before letting it rise again. Baked it while having leftovers for dinner and moving on with Buck. "Space Vampire" moves from camp space opera to straight horror. Buck and Wilma are at a space station getting Twiki repaired when a freighter collides with them. All aboard seem to be dead, the victims of a rare virus. Wilma, however, becomes paranoid about being followed, and when members of the space station crew start turning up as zombies, Buck and Twiki start to wonder what else came in with that freighter.
The bread finally came out during "Happy Birthday, Buck." Wilma, Twiki, and Dr. Huer hold a real 20th century birthday party for Buck to cheer him up on his big day. They assign him to bring psychic courier Raylyn (Morgan Brittany) to New Detroit, but they're captured by a man named Traegar (Peter MacLean) who wants revenge on Dr. Huer for sending him to prison years ago.
(Incidentally, in good news, the bread did actually rise this time, smelled amazing while baking, and tasted quite nice out of the oven. It took long to bake than I thought it would, though, and fell apart when I tried to get it out of the pan. I didn't add enough cinnamon, either. I taste sugar, not spices. Next time, I'll separate this into two batches and just bake one at a time, or use the other batch for rolls or something else.)
Disc 4 ends with "A Blast for Buck." The blast is to the past in this clip show episode when someone sends Buck and his friends a mysterious riddle. Dr. Huer goes back into their minds to try to figure out which of the many villains they've gone up against earlier in the season have a grudge against Buck (and we find out the fate of many of them).
Finished out the night with another blast from the past, the all-African American film Cabin In the Sky, which I review at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.
Cabin In the Sky
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