Oaklyn On My Mind

Started off with breakfast and Sailor Moon Crystal on Hulu. They finally start to deviate from the original show with the episode revolving around "Tuxedo Mask." Usagi is upset when he announces he's committed crimes in an attempt to find the Legendary Silver Crystal. The girls are even less thrilled when Zoicite, one of Queen Beryl's guards, uses their favorite Sailor V game to brainwash ordinary humans into finding the Crystal for him. Usagi runs off, but she's the only one who can save them when Queen Beryl herself attacks and tries to force the Earth to join her Dark Kingdom.

No trouble anywhere today. Uber picked me up this morning in 4 minutes. They took 7 this afternoon. We did have marble cake in the back room for Acme's Associate's Day, but I mainly spent the morning and early afternoon sweeping and pushing carts. It was lovely when I came to work earlier, sunny and relatively warm for this time of year, in the upper 40's. By the time I picked up the Uber going home, clouds had moved in and it was slightly cooler and far more humid.

Changed when I got home, then went straight into a nap. After I got out, I put on Ray for review while doing job hunting. I go further into this biography of soul musician Ray Charles featuring Jamie Foxx in an Oscar-winning performance as Charles at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Ray (2004)

(Oh, and it finally started raining shortly after I started Ray. It's rained off and on since then.) 

Worked on writing towards the end of the movie. Joyce and her friends do finally make it to the gates surrounding Televisia City...but they're shut tight. Charles' knock finally brings out a cheerful little fellow who looks distinctly like Bill Cullen...

It was 7:30 before I broke for dinner and Match Game '79. We get the finale of the original CBS run in this episode. Towards the end, Gene gives Bill Daily his jacket to try on so he can wear it at his wedding. (He must have really liked it. He's seen wearing it throughout the syndicated show's run.)

Finished the night as I worked on my review with the first episodes of the fourth and final season of WKRP In Cincinnati. The season begins with the two-part "An Explosive Affair" as WKRP receives its first serious bomb threat. Andy sends Johnny and Venus to their transmitter to broadcast, but it turns out that may not be the wisest decision. Meanwhile, Arthur is worried that his former secretary (Rosemary Forsyth) may have more than just business and talking old times on her mind.

Mr. Carson is horrified when the staff of WKRP consider joining "The Union." He considers it a betrayal. Les thinks it's a communist plot. Andy has to placate him and his mother while convincing the rest of the staff that there's other ways to get upgrades to their pay and the station.

Bailey's innocent offer of letting Johnny stay at her apartment while his is being fumigated leads to a lot of "Rumors" about what they're doing there. Nowadays, I doubt anyone would care what they did on their own time, but in the early 80's, Bailey in particular gets a lot of flack for it. She's upset when they give her Les' interview show because of it, but finally decides to do the best she can...and that there's no shame in letting the others believe what they want.

Stranger Than Science Fiction

Started off the morning with a quick breakfast and PAW Patrol. Cap'n Turnbot is counting whales when he spies an oil tanker hitting a rock. The "Pups Save a Bay" when Zuma and Ryder find a way to contain and clean up the oil. Marshall uses his new fire hose to help wash oil off a baby whale. Mayor Goodway is horrified when Turnbot accidentally knocks her great-grandfather's statue into the bay while bringing it back from being cleaned. It'll take a little thinking outside the box to bring the statue to the surface when the "Pups Save a Goodway."

Headed out after that to run errands and test the bike. My first stop was the Haddon Township Library. The books I took out last month were overdue. I have plenty of fiction to read right now, but I did take out a few non-fiction books. I really need to cut down on sugar. I found a book on cooking with less sugar or more natural honey or cane sugar. I've had so much happen to me in the past four years or so, I'm still trying to process it all. I took out a book on grief, and another on fallow periods of "wintering," when we're overwhelmed and are trying to figure everything out.

Had lunch at the Bagel Shop next. It was 1:30 by the time I got out of the library, and they close at 3. I had a vegetable and egg white omelet and a diet iced tea with a chocolate chip bagel and hash browns. The omelet was delicious, with lots of vegetable pieces and stringy cheese. The bagel wasn't really all that chocolatey, but it tasted pretty decent. The potatoes were crisp, but the others filled me up so much that I didn't finish them. There were a few other people there, but I mainly had a nice, quiet lunch.

Headed to Sprouts next. I hadn't been there in a while. I just haven't needed anything, and their prices on most things aren't any better or worse than the Acme. They did have a pack of 4 organic Cara Cara oranges for 98 cents. Grabbed Cascadian Farms granola bars and coconut milk on sale, too, along with more Zevia in grape, creamy root beer, and cherry cola. 

Headed home and upstairs after that. Spent the rest of the afternoon watching The Phantom Empire. In this unique 1935 western-sci-fi hybrid serial, Gene Autry (himself) runs Radio Ranch, where he has his radio broadcasts. He's joined by brother-sister duo Frankie (Darro) and Betsy (King Ross), who have their own group "The Thunder Riders" who do good deeds. Their club is based on the "Thunder Riders" who mysteriously appear from the underground kingdom Murania. Queen Tika of Murania (Dorothy Christy), and a group of professors who want the uranium under the ranch would do anything to get rid of Autry, including frame him for murder and kill him. Meanwhile, there's a splinter faction of soldiers Tika has tried to have killed who want to overthrow the demanding queen and end her reign of terror on their advanced civilization for good.

Uh, yeah. They don't come much stranger than this one. This may be one of the most unusual action films ever created. You have the modern western that looks more like one of Autry's later films for the first half, complete with musical numbers. The second half actually gets into Murania, showing off some impressive futuristic models and costumes for the time. The kids coming to the adults' rescue give it the feelings of a 90's family comedy at times as well. If you like serials or Autry, you'll want to give this a try...but be warned, it's most definitely not your typical cliffhanger!

Worked on writing for a while after the first disc ended. (I'll do the last two chapters tomorrow.) Joyce and her friends head down the hill and through the snow-covered poppies to the Emerald City. They're thrilled when they arrive, but not that the gates seem to be closed...

Broke for dinner and Match Game Syndicated at 7 PM. The first season of syndication ended with jokes about native Texan Holly's cowgirl hat and Debralee not having much luck with "__ the USA" in the Audience Match. For some reason, the second show jumped back to Match Game '79. Gary has more luck with "__ Comb" than the others do with "__ Too Soon" on the Audience Match.

Ended the night back at Paramount Plus after a shower with The Love Boat. A model who is desperate to have the perfect body learns that you can be "Too Rich and Too Thin" when Doc and Captain Stubing discover she  has anorexia. "A Rose Is Not a Rose" when she is a guy (Rich Little) who is impersonating her. Julie falls for him out of a dress, but another man (Arte Johnson) falls for his "Rose" persona. A "Novelties" salesman can't stop pushing his wares on a catalogue executive (Audrey Meadows), even as he falls for her. 

Night of the Hi-De-Ho Man

Got a quick start today with breakfast and Bluey on Disney Plus. Bluey is supposed to be playing "Hide and Seek" with her family, but she's easily distracted by her other toys. It takes a few minutes, but she finally learns to focus and remember what she was actually doing.

The Uber to work only took 2 minutes to arrive. I was almost late getting out! I don't know why Uber keeps sending the drivers to the house next to the one I'm in. At least I caught him shaking out his car rugs. It took me 7 minutes to get a ride home. At least there was no trouble either way, and I arrived at work just in time.

And that was the worst thing that happened all day. The Acme was slightly busier due to Tuesday being when seniors get a 5 percent discount, but it still wasn't anywhere near crazy. I did have to return cold items and duck around people organizing frozen food in new freezers, but other than that, I once again spent the morning and early afternoon sweeping and pushing carts on a gorgeous, sunny day.

Changed when I got home and got my sister Jessa's birthday card and gift card together, then went back out again. Not only was it too nice to sit inside all day, I needed to run a few errands. Dropped Jessa's birthday card at the post office. I was going to buy stamps, but the line in the tiny building was nearly out the door! I still have a few stamps left. I'll buy them another time, when it's a lot less crazy.

Had more luck at Dollar General. I was there for cheaper pads than they had at the Acme. Grabbed a Dr. Pepper Zero, too. Went in, got what I needed, and went out.

I had originally planned on reviewing Boarding House Blues, a black musical from the 1940's on Tubi, until I remembered I already reviewed it in February 2021. Quickly switched to a similar movie from the same time period that's also currently on Tubi, Hi-De-Ho. I go further into this vehicle for jazz orchestra leader Cab Calloway at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Hi-De-Ho (1947)

Did some job hunting after that, then worked on writing. Patti finally transforms into her bubble as she explains about Mombi. She's the most evil witch of all of them, and she'll do anything to rule Oz with her fellow wicked warlocks. 

Broke for dinner at 7 PM. Watched Match Game Syndicated while I ate. The name "Edna" is officially retired from use in "ugly" questions during the first episode, due to too many complaints from real Ednas. Bart gets rather violently booed by the crowd after his answer to "Fats ___" on the Head-to-Head is close to the contestant's but doesn't quite match. The second show is the one that inspired my Nutcracker Blank story. Bart spends the episode picking on Debralee Scott under him. She goes to beat him up after he tosses one too many cards at her head, but she grabs him for a kiss instead!

Finished the night at Amazon Prime with The Wild Wild West, which is currently free with a subscription there. It's the "Night of the Vicious Valentine" when older industrialists start dying shortly after marrying younger brides. Agents James West and Artemis Gordon learn they all found their brides with matchmaker Emma Valentine (Agnes Moorehead). Turns out she has an ambitious plot to take over the US...at least before her latest girl falls for the older man intended to be her victim. 

Bigger Than a Bread Box

Began President's Day with breakfast and material from Collyer's Harvest of Holidays. There's a lot more that's known about Abraham Lincoln's early years in the wilderness of Illinois and how he went from a country lawyer to the president during the Civil War than the childhood of George Washington. Though there was an essay on what little was known then about George's younger years, most of his material focused on how he headed the American army during the Revolution and  his presidency afterwards.

Watched Charlie & Lola while having a quick breakfast. "I'm Really Not Ever So Well" says poor Lola. She begs Charlie to stay and cheer her up, even though he promised he'd go out and play football with Marv. He finally has her imagine what's inside of her and takes her to visit them.

No trouble with Uber, even though I left late. It didn't take five minutes in the morning. It took 6 in the afternoon. No traffic and no trouble either way.

No trouble at work, either. I was surprised at how quiet we were for not only a major holiday, but the last holiday Monday until late May. It must have been busier over the weekend. Once again, the floral department had been stripped of everything but the plants and bulbs. It was likely just as well that all I did today was sweep and push carts. It was too nice to be inside anyway. It remains sunny, breezy, and chilly but not too cold or hot for this time of year, probably in the mid-40's.

(Oh, and not only did the head bagger go on vacation this week, but six other employees did as well, for part or all of the week. I can understand the floral manager wanting time off after Valentine's Day, but I'm not sure why anyone else would want off in the middle of winter unless they're big winter sports fans.)

After I got home, I put the laundry in the washer, then took a long and much-needed nap. I've had more and earlier hours than usual for the past week and a half, and the Acme's been really busy. I went down at 2:30 and slept until past 5 PM.

Worked a little bit on writing for a while after I rolled out of bed and put the laundry in the dryer. Patti explains about the witch Mombi and how her magic can bring anything to life and turn anyone into a child. She's one of the truly evil magicians in Oz along with the Warlock of the West and the now-deceased East. She knows Mombi and the Warlock of the West are behind the poppies and worries that they're planning some other attack.

Watched Match Game Syndicated while eating dinner. The Syndicated episodes return with Holly Halstrom's first appearance on the show. She was joined this week by Bill Daily, sweet and towering Jim Staal, and Bart Braverman in a scraggly beard. I was surprised none of them came up with the obvious answer that I did for "__ Action" in the Audience Match, though. (Incidentally, Bart mentioned that the female contestant looked like Farrah Fawcett. I thought she looked more like Crystal Barnard of Wings and It's a Living.) 

Finished the night on YouTube after a shower and bringing my laundry upstairs with episodes of What's My Line? in honor of its birthday on February 2nd. This one goes way back to 1950 as the first of many Goodson-Todman panel shows. A well-dressed and distinguished panel would guess the occupation of three different people. They would wear masks for a celebrity "mystery guest" who would disguise their voice and see if the panelists could figure out who they were.

The very first episode didn't go too well, as almost no one guessed any of the occupations. Columnist Dorothy Kilgalian was on that very first panel. Things picked up when actress Arlene Francis joined the panel a few weeks later, and then author Bennett Cerf debuted in 1951. The final male panelists was initially comedian Hal Block. He was later replaced by Steve Allen in 1953 and Fred Allen in 1954. After Allen's death, the final seat was usually reserved for a rotating star male panelist. Erudite South African journalist John Charles Daly was the original host for the entire 1950-1967 run.

While many of the earliest episodes have been lost to time, the premiere episode and the 1967 finale do still exist. Along with them, we have the 1953 episode where Steve Allen first uttered the show's famous catchphrase "Is it bigger than a bread box?" and a 1959 episode featuring Cliff "Charley Weaver" Arquette years before he became a regular on another celebrity panel show, Hollywood Squares. (There's some nice book ends here. The 1967 finale features the contestants from that very first episode. We find out what happened to them in the 17 years since the first show's debut. We also have a very funny and unique "Mystery Guest.") 

What's My Line may have been old-fashioned on the networks by 1967, but it retained enough fans to be revived in syndication not even a year after it left CBS. It retained Francis and occasionally Cerf, but the rotating male seat was filled by comedian Soupy Sales. Wally Bruner hosted until 1972, when he was replaced by stage star Larry Blyden. Francis and Sales were joined by a who's who of celebrities at the time, including other Goodson-Todman hosts like Allen Ludden, and in the very first episode, Gene Rayburn.

In addition to color, some elements were added to make it less formal and inject more humor. There was no more dressing up; guys did wear suits, but the ladies wore pant suits or simple dresses. When the show ran long, the panelists would play a cute mini-game with four audience members and try to figure out which of the four held occupations listed on four cards. If the audience members stumped all of the panelists, they won money. There would also be occasionally as skit or a demonstration of something the contestant did or made. This version of the show ran until 1974. 

Surprisingly, unlike the similar panel shows I've Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth, What's My Line has never seen another major revival. Apparently, it's not for lack of trying. According to Wikipedia, there were at least five different attempts since 1981 to bring the show back, but none have gotten off the ground. Considering there's talk of reviving Secret, maybe it's time to bring Line back as well. I think there's still a lot of fun to be had in figuring out whether what someone does is "bigger than a bread box." 

Celebrate one of the oldest game show favorites with these classic episodes!

What's My Line? Premiere (1950)

What's My Line? (1953)

What's My Line? (1959)

What's My Line? CBS Finale (1967)

What's My Line? Syndicated Premiere (1968)

What's My Line? Syndicated (1972) 

What's My Line? Syndicated Finale (1975)

Out In the Sunshine

Slept in, then got a quick start with breakfast and Charlie & Lola. Lola and Lotta overhear Charlie and his best friend Marv playing their favorite pirate TV show. The dialogue makes the girls believe that the boys don't like each other. They insist "But Marv Is Absolutely Charlie's Best Friend," especially after they see Marv buying snacks with another boy. Lola hopes leaving a card to Marv from Charlie will make them friends again.

Headed out after that. First stop of the day was The Big Event, the bowling alley and arcade in Cherry Hill. The arcade is much smaller than Round 1 or Dave and Buster's, but they're also less expensive, and the few games use far less points. I spun the pirate wheel, pushed both lever wheels, and played a ton of Nerf Arcade. One little boy no more than 5 joined me at Nerf Arcade at one point. He didn't do great, but he had an absolutely marvelous time and was hilarious to watch. I amassed over 2,100 points. Got a cute stuffed popcorn named Arnel who apparently (and appropriately) is a movie lover, a little stuffed rainbow seal, and two fruit Tootsie Rolls. 

Stopped at Dunkin' Donuts and bought a Diet Pepsi, then headed over to the Ellisburg Shopping Center. I had hoped that book store had reopened. Sadly, no. A Wren Kitchen Store opened in what had been Dollar Tree. The book store now held a martial arts studio. The book store would seem to be gone for good. 

There was no way I could hike down Route 70 to Market Place, like I did last summer. It wasn't the weather. It was a gorgeous and sunny, if chilly and windy, day. There wasn't much of a Route 70 left for me to walk down. The right side as you came from Ponzio's and the Ellisburg Shopping Center was being completely refinished, including the sidewalks. I ended up just taking Uber from the McDonald's on the edge of the shopping center. 

My original thought for lunch was The Cheesecake Factory. I took one look at the long line bunched up in their lobby, even at quarter of 3, and decided to save it for a non-holiday weekday. Brio also had a long line and seemed a bit fancy for lunch. 

I ended up at Shake Shack. That might not have been a good idea. Not only were they busy too, but while they have great crinkle-cut fries, their burgers aren't very good. The Shackburger I had was barely one step up from McDonald's. Their fries are delicious, nice and crisp, and I liked the iced tea. I think if I need to eat there again, I'll just get shakes or snacks.

The other reason I ate there is Trader Joe's is right across the parking lot from them. Needless to say, they were insanely busy, too. I just wanted my favorite snacks. Picked up the chocolate-almond butter cereal bars, the coconut strips, and the dried orange slices. All of their yogurt had a ton of sugar. The Iceland-style seemed to be the least sweet.

It was getting late. I had no time for anywhere else in the mall but Barnes & Noble. I walked around for an hour, but I had a hard time picking things I wanted. I just ended up with a work book for women with ADHD and Twilight Falls, the next book in the Shady Hollow Mystery Series revolving around a Zootopia-like town in the woods whose residents are talking animals. They had long lines, too, that moved slow as molasses in January. There was only one register open. Maybe they're having trouble finding help, too. 

At least I had no trouble with Uber today. The one going to The Big Event came in two minutes! The other two took 6 minutes. There was a little traffic on Route 70 and Cuthbert, but no real trouble getting home. 

Went straight into dinner and tonight's Match Game marathon when I got home. For a show as popular as Match Game, their set seemed to always be breaking down. The turntable would go the wrong way, or not go at all. The question holder was forever sliding out of Gene's reach or not going down when he wanted. Lights went out when they weren't supposed to. Earl, the little guy who slid the answers during the Audience Match, fell asleep on the job at least once. Once, the question holder was so stubborn, Gene had a contestant hold it. Gene tripped while doing his Mr. Perriwinkle impression and landed in Elaine Joyce's lap. Some stagehand dropped an orange background instead of the monitor that showed the $5,000 for the Head to Head.

See how a hit game show deals with some pretty crazy breakdowns in this goofy marathon!

Match Game Sunday Night Classics - Technical Difficulties On Set (1973 - 1977)

Going Downtown

Started off a late morning with breakfast and Green Eggs and Ham. Michellee initially leaves Guy, Sam, and the Chickargriffe out in the "Rain" after she thinks Guy is lying again. E.B finally talks her into letting them in. While Sam encourages Michellee's crush on Guy and tries to keep the Chickargriffe from flooding the bathroom, Guy and E.B rescue her mother's jar of beans from a group of stuck-up creatures called Giroosters. Guy angrily calls them out for holding judgement on others when they refuse to give the beans back. Meanwhile, rich animal collector Snerz hires a very mean goat bounty hunter to find the Chickargriffe and the men who stole it.

Spent the next half-hour or so figuring out what to do with myself. I originally planned on hanging out inside. It snowed late last night, and rather heavily...but by 1:30, the snow had long ended. It also never stuck to the streets, or anything but the grass and rooftops. It was really too nice to be inside all day now.

I ended up going for a walk into Collingswood. I hadn't been there since the week after Christmas. Apparently, I wasn't the only person who decided to take advantage of Mother Nature's surprising generosity. Collingswood was packed with families, friends, and college students browsing in the thrift shops and gift stores. I peered around the Time Lapse thrift shop twice, but all I came up with was a record. Found nothing at the Clutter thrift shop, either.

Had a brief and simple lunch at GrooveGround Coffee House. I was more cold after my walk through Newton Park than hungry. I just had a raspberry royale tea latte and a blueberry muffin. The latte at least tasted like raspberry, though I probably should have asked for honey. The muffin was nice and moist, but could have done with more blueberries.

After a quick stop at WaWa for money, I headed back down Haddon Avenue. Saw a group of Girl Scouts selling cookies on the corner near the Pop Shop. This time, I decided to try the new Adventurefuls - crisp brownie cookies filled with salted caramel. Very sweet, but  not bad. A peek at Haddon Culinary yielded a busy shop and no finds. I didn't realize the Collingswood Library is only opened until 1:30 on Saturday. I didn't make it down there until almost 3. 

Had far more luck across the street at Innergroove Records. Though they were also busy, I found another cast album I've wanted for a while. Dug five records out of the two dollar crates and one showtune collection that was erroneously included with the dollar classical records. 

Incidentally, I came up with: 

The original cast of The Wiz (This was the splurge at $15. Not only have I wanted it for a while, but a revival is set to open on Broadway next month.) 

Ben Bagley's Jerome Kern Revisited (I love collections of rare showtunes. This is the one I found in the dollar classical stack.)

The Beach Boys - All Summer Long and Spirit of America (I really bought the latter for the incredible cover.)

Original soundtrack for the Disney Alice In Wonderland

The rock collections The 30 Love Songs of the 60's, 70's, and 80's, Unforgettable Fifties, and Gold & Platinum (the last named is an 80's collection) 

My best find of the day was a freebee. I don't know who left a gorgeous Barnes and Noble copy of The Snow Queen and Other Winter Tales in the book kiosk down the block, but they're now one of my favorite people. This is an anthology of the Hans Christian Anderson title story and many other fairy tales and fantasy short stories revolving around Christmas or winter. If nothing else, I had no idea Alexandre Dumas wrote a version of The Nutcracker. I can't wait to look over some of these stories, which range from shorts Dumas and Oscar Wilde to various fables from the Color Fairy Books. 

Soon as I got home, I went straight into a much-needed shower, even before I put everything way. Got organized, then spent the rest of the night watching today's Match Game marathon. Vicki Lawrence was only involved sporadically with the 1970's run of the show. She appeared during the first week in 1973, but wouldn't turn up again until 1978. She did a week on her own that year, then wandered in with the rest of The Carol Burnett Show cast during another episode and ended up playing a round. 

Vicki turned up far more often in the two 90's runs. In fact, she was one of the best things about them. Her complaints and down-home fussing brought a lot to Match Game '90. Towards the end of the show's run, she got into a feud with host Ross Schafer that ended with him falling downstairs and walking with a cane for an episode. She also cut up his fancy tie; he supposedly repaired it with green tape.

The 1998 Match Game is extremely rare nowadays, and with good reason. It hasn't worn nearly as well as the late 90's Hollywood Squares. The panel is reduced to five, the pastel set is butt-ugly, and the host Michael Burger is dull as the paint on the set. The changes made to the show, including selecting nonsensical subjects for the questions, don't help at all, and everyone is trying too hard to have a good time.

That said, it's not quite that bad. The decent panel does help. Vicki's funny as ever, Nell Carter gets some good moments, and George Hamilton gets to throw out a few quips that spoof  his smarmy reputation. Judy Tenuta of the strange answers and tight leggings can be overly shrill, but she can also be hilarious, especially making fun of Berger. 

Have fun with Mama Harper as she matches throughout the 90's in this rare and unusual marathon!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Featuring Vicki Lawrence on the Panel

Finished the night with Tom & Jerry and The Wizard of Oz. I go further into this earlier crossover between the cat and mouse duo and a famous Warners franchise at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Tom & Jerry and The Wizard of Oz

Sunny Day Before the Storm

Started off a late and quiet morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Dan and his class work together to make a paper dragon. They help Dan with the head so they can all do "The Dragon Dance" for Teacher Harriet. It's "Teacher Harriet's Birthday." Mrs. Tiger encourages the kids to make a crepe paper rainbow and turn their rainbow colored clay into a clay birthday cake.

Switched to Press Your Luck while writing my grocery list and checking my schedule online. The first episode ended with a sweet lady in glasses picking up a trip and a pool table. She did well in the second, mostly managing to dodge the Whammies that plagued both episodes. 

In good news, I have Wednesday and a rare Sunday off next week, and I work until two the entire rest of the week and only for four or five hours. In frustrating news, I won't be in the floral department at all, and Sunday and Wednesday are my only days off. I suspect the head bagger went on vacation this week. At least I still have pretty decent hours for the time of year. 

Karen picked me up a little after 1 PM. I'm still not having a ton of luck. I wish something seemed right. We were able to apply for a clerk typist at Rowan's College of Education, though the application took forever. I was hoping something would jump out. I'd go after what I wanted, if I only knew what that was. 

I needed to do my grocery shopping, and Karen said she wanted to pick up seafood for her husband. She drove us a block down to the Westmont Acme. I restocked granola bars (I had an online coupon for Kind, plus found two flavors on clearance), yogurt, blood oranges, coconut milk, and bagels for work. Found brownie bites for dessert. The smaller containers of store brand disinfectant wipes were buy two, get them for $2.99, which now made them cheaper than the larger containers. Got a gift card for Jessa's birthday, which was earlier this week.

Once Karen dropped me off, I put my things upstairs and briefly went right back up again. The pretzel shop was open today. I wanted to at least enjoy a little bit more of the sunny, pleasantly chilly weather before it snows tomorrow, so I headed down there and got a gluten-free pepperoni-stuffed pretzel and two regular pretzels. It was almost closing time, so the owners threw in three more regular pretzels.

Watched the next Vega$ episode "Yes My Darling Daughter" while having lunch and putting everything away. A bride-to-be (Lauren Tewes) is upset when she sees her late country star father at her wedding. He killed her mother, then supposedly died himself. Dan Tanna interviews everyone who once knew him to find out if he is indeed still alive. Meanwhile, someone out there does not want him to be found, and Dan's librarian sister is visiting from Omaha and looking for a good time.

"Lady Ice" takes Dan into the world of jewel robbery when expensive rubies are stolen from a wealthy sheikh (Nehimiah Persoff) while Dan is off with the shiekh's pretty hostess (a young Kim Basinger). Turns out, this lady isn't as innocent as Dan wants to believe. Her partners think he's distracting her and try to get rid of him.

Worked on writing for a while next. Patti explains that Mombi is almost as dangerous as the Warlock of the West while the guys try to get Avery back on his paws. She was the one who sent the army against the Emerald City. Joyce just hopes she never runs into her...

Watched Match Game '79 after that. Gary Burghoff once again took Charles' place during the last, initially unseen week of regular shows on CBS. Bart Braverman made his first appearance, joined by Elaine Joyce, Marcia Wallace, and Bill Daily. In the first episode, there was a fuss over whether "Cool Whip" matched "whipped cream." Gary was more nervous in the second episode about matching "Comb __" in the Head-to-Head. 

Finished the night on Kanopy with a late dinner and the original silent 1924 Thief of Baghdad. Douglas Fairbanks Sr. is the title thief Ahmed, who stumbles into the chambers of the princess (Julanne Johnson) and falls for her. He poses as a princely suitor to win her heart. She does select him after he touches a rose tree, but he's found out by the ruthless Prince of the Mongols (Sojin Kamiyama). The Princess then insists that she'll choose the suitor who brings her the rarest treasure. Ahmed goes off in search of a crystal ball and a cloak of invisiblilty. Meanwhile, the Prince of the Mongols poisons the princess, forcing the others to find treasures to save her. Even this doesn't stop the Prince from trying to take over Baghdad. Only Ahmed and his treasures can prove that it doesn't matter what you are in life. What matters is having a courageous heart.

Wow. The gigantic sets and gorgeous costumes on this continue to impress today. Fairbanks has a ball leaping around huge turrets and castles and onion domes, fighting puppet dragons and ducking around giant clay containers. If you love silent movies, swashbucklers, Arabian Nights fantasies, or Fairbanks and have time on your hand (it's over two and a half hours), it's worth checking out for the eye candy alone. 

A Hard Day's Afternoon

Started off the morning with breakfast and Charlie and Lola. Lola claims "I Will Be Especially, Very Careful" when she swaps her new purse for Lotta's fluffy white coat. This turns out to be easier said than done. She has to keep it out of the rain and away from dirt, and then she manages to lose it at the library...

Headed to work right after the cartoon ended. I had an easier time getting a ride there than home. Got a car in 4 minutes this morning. After work, I went through two drivers, and it took the second 11 minutes to arrive. Must have hit rush hour traffic. At least, there was no traffic going to or from the store.

I ended up spending most of the day pushing carts. The head bagger had a family emergency and called out. At least the weather remains beautiful, sunny, bright blue, and chilly, and we weren't insanely busy like yesterday. I didn't get to the floral department until the afternoon bagger came in at 2:30. Helped the manager pull out bouquets of flowers so we could actually have flowers in the floral department. Every single flower in the entire store was sold yesterday. All they had left when I came in this morning was a table of plants. There's no arrangements left in the cooler; it's just vases and containers of rose petals.

Soon as I got home, I changed, then put on A Hard Day's Night while taking down the Valentine's Day decorations. I go further into the Beatles' influential debut film at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

A Hard Day's Night

Did some job research, then worked on writing after the movie ended. Patti explains that the Warlock of the West isn't the only evil magic-user in Oz. There's also Mombi, a grouchy witch who tried to take over Televisia City with her all-female army. Indeed, Queen Bretta and her court vanished after Mombi's invasion. Patti's worried that she may try again.

Broke for dinner and Match Game '79 at 7 PM. For some reason, they skipped the rest of that week and went into the next featuring Orson Bean, Bill Cullen, and Brianne Leary. Not sure why these originally went unaired on CBS. I like Whew! too, but these were just as much fun. Bill Daily was extremely weird in these episodes. He nearly strips off his clothes before answering "__ File" in the Head-to-Head in the first episode. His answer to a question in the second is so bad and off-the-wall, the ladies end up attacking him.

Finished the night at Shout! TV with Mystery Science Theater 3000. I went with one of the more recent episodes, The Million Eyes of Sumuru. I honestly found the story of an army of women who want to replace world leaders with their own people to be oddly entertaining. Handsome George Nader makes a somewhat more realistic Bond-type spy than the totally at-sea Frankie Avalon, and I actually agree with the robots' female boss that Sumuru wasn't that bad of a villain. Goofy spy caper doesn't take itself seriously for a second and is worth the watch with or without robot wisecracks for the camp value. 

Isn't It Romantic

Began Valentine's Day with the Colliers Harvest of Holidays anthology. They only have one long piece for Valentine's Day, but it's "The Valentine Box" by Maud Hart Lovelace. Julia is new in town and fears she won't get any valentines at her school party. She ends up befriending Margaret when her valentine's blow away, and then she leaves her bag with her best friend's valentine in the snow.

Watched Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You during dinner. I went further into this sweet tale of Pooh and the gang trying to save Christopher Robin from "the Smitten" bug at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog last year.

Valentine's Short Subject Special - Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You

Hurried off to work soon as the special ended. I had a far harder time getting there. Some Uber drivers went on strike today to protest their working conditions. Thankfully, they were only those who had to haul people to airports. Got a driver in 11 minutes this morning and 7 in the afternoon. No traffic either way.

All the traffic ended up at the Acme. We were busy the entire morning and early afternoon. In addition to people buying flowers, candy, and fancy dinners for Valentine's Day, it's also Ash Wednesday. They had their traditional 1-day seafood sale for Lent, which is extremely popular. I swept and pushed carts and didn't have the time to do much else. At least it was a gorgeous day for it. Chilly, yes, in the upper 30's, and windy, but not too chilly for mid-February. It was actually quite nice in the sun.

The lines were still long when I finished at 2. I was able to buy a drink and a lovely bouquet of carnations and mums for a friend, but I decided not to wait for a cashier to do a gift card for Jessa. I'll pick it up when I go grocery shopping on Friday instead. 

Soon as I got home, I changed while watching Happy Days. They did their lone Valentine's Day episode, "Be My Valentine," in the fifth season. Joanie, who is enjoying her first real relationship, imagines all of her friends and families in musical vignettes depicting their own romances. Scott Baio did a really cute "Thank Heavens for Little Girls" chorus girl spoof, Donny Most crooned a surprisingly good "My Funny Valentine," and Ron Howard and Linda Goodhead had an even better apache dance, but Marion Ross and Tom Bosley stole the show with their sweet and absolutely spot-on "I Remember It Well." (And no, Henry Winkler did not attempt to sing. Fonzie did a romantic recitation for a group of ecstatic college co-eds instead.)

Headed back out after the episode ended. I had Valentine's Day bags and cookies for Rose and her family, and I never did deliver Jessa's Christmas presents. Besides, it really was too nice of a day to be hanging out inside. I strolled to the other side of town, and seeing they weren't at home, dropped both bags on their front stoop. 

Stopped at Common Grounds Coffee House for a Valentine's Day treat. Their Red Velvet Chai was likely just chai, cocoa, and foam, but it was amazing, spicy and warm and oh so chocolatey. Had it with a small red velvet cake pop. They were busy with high schoolers and college kids just out of class, so I drank my chai on the walk home.

Put on Bugs Bunny's Cupid Capers when I got in. A distinctly Elmer Fudd-like Cupid tries to spread love among the Toons. Bugs thinks he's a meddler, but Cupid knows how to get to him, too. This is another collection of random bits and pieces of shorts, but there are some funny moments, including Bugs marrying the Tasmanian Devil to a female devil, Detective Daffy trying to prove a dame is guilty of being something besides crazy about him, and Pepe LePew chasing Penelope around the Foreign Legion.

The Pink Panther has an even tougher holiday in Pink at First Sight. He's so desperate for a pink panthress to love, he ends up squeezing a child's teddy bear. He finally gets a job as a singing delivery boy, thanks to cassettes and a cassette player. That goes even less well when he ends up dealing with everything from a jealous husband who thinks he's after his wife to a group of gangsters who are convinced he sent them a bomb. 

Switched to Sailor Moon Super S: The Movie while job hunting. The Sailor Guardians are excited to make their own cookies for Valentine's Day. Chibi-Usa is delighted when her cookies turn out better than Usagi's, but she ends up giving them to an odd little boy with a flute that can make candies dance. Usagi realizes how precious her daughter - and all children - are when an evil witch steals children to harness their dream energy and open a black hole that can swallow the earth. The Guardians join Chibi-Usa's new friend and head into the Black Dream Hole to make sure their sweet Valentine's Day dreams don't end on a sour note.

I got a very nice surprise at this point. I gave my friend, her daughter, and the neighbor's daughter bags of strawberry white chocolate chip cookies. The kids also got heart-shaped bubble wands and small Valentine's-themed bead craft kits, while the lady got the mums and carnations I picked up earlier. They gave me a smaller rose arrangement in a slim vase, a box of dark-chocolate-covered cherries, and a card. 

Called Mom around this point as well to thank her for the Valentine's card she sent me. I didn't get to talk to her for very long. She was sitting for my one-year-old niece Aurora. All she mentioned is no, she hasn't heard from Rose and her family in a while, either. I presume they're either busy with school and work activities or sick or both.

Worked on writing for a little bit next. Patti admits that yes, the poppies were the Warlock of the West's doing. The bees that attacked them in the woods were, too. Plus, Televisia City may not be friendly to strangers at the moment. They were attacked by the Warlock's army and are skittish about visitors.

Broke for dinner at 7 PM. Watched Match Game '79 as I ate. Fred Grandy made his first appearance during its second-to-last week on CBS. Charles spent the week teasing Brett about her drooling over another younger man sitting next to her. The first episode also featured an appearance by a contestant named Carolyn who would be far more important to the show during the next week...

Finished the night with more Valentine's specials, starting with a Peanuts triple feature. Charlie Brown is nervous about escorting The Little Red Haired Girl to the Homecoming Dance, especially after he doesn't do very well at the game thanks to Lucy pulling the ball away. He proves to be far better at being the life of the party than expected when It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown leaves him in another world. 

Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown explores the various Peanuts romances. Linus is hoping to impress his teacher Miss Othmar with a huge box of candy, which Sally thinks is for her. Lucy destroys Schroeder's piano when he ignores her ranting about not giving her a valentine. Meanwhile, Charlie Brown waits for someone, anyone, to give him a valentine, and Snoopy is putting on melodramatic and messy puppet shows.

A Charlie Brown Valentine was created to fill an hour with Be My Valentine, but it has some entertaining vignettes of its own. Chuck wants to ask the Little Red Haired Girl to the Valentine's Day dance, but Marcie and Peppermint Patty think he's taking them. Meanwhile, Sally wants to make a card for her "Sweet Baboo," but Linus would rather be anywhere on the planet but near her.

Smurfette is also feeling less than lovey-dovey in My Smurfy Valentine. She goes to a wishing well to ask for a Smurf Charming to sweep her off her white heels. Unfortunately, a witch and Gargamel had the same idea. Gargamel wants to use his cat Azreal to wish the Smurfs away, while the witch wants to eliminate all love. Smurfette ends up working with Cupid to foil their plans before the end of an eclipse. 

And I hope you all had a Valentine's Day that was equally sweet! 

Sweet Harts

Got a quick start today with A Sunlit Weapon and writing in my journal. Rushed out just in time to get the Uber driver...and when I did get out, it was snowing hard. A light frosting covered the ground. The streets, however, were a tad slushy but mostly fine. I got a ride to work in 4 minutes and a ride going home in 6. No trouble whatsoever.

Work was crazy. The floral department is still trying to catch up with getting all the flowers and potted plants on the floor...and that was all I did today. I took orchids out of bags, tagged the smaller ones and surrounded them with grasses, and put the larger ones in cardboard tube-like wrapping. I pulled out many, many bouquets of roses, loaded them into large black buckets, and replaced empty or less-full buckets on the floor. 

I was very disappointed that I never got to make any arrangements myself, though. I was looking forward to even just doing a few rose bud vases like I did yesterday. Nope. Didn't happen. The floral manager had a customer service manager and a college girl from the home delivery department doing arrangements. They're also training to work in the floral department...but they weren't the ones who went to that seminar on how to make arrangements with the floral manager. I did. I guess it had to do with them being in earlier than I was, at 9 AM to my 10. By the time I came in, there were other things that needed to be done. 

The sun had long been out by the time I finished work. What little snow we got didn't survive the end of the storm. In fact, it was so nice, I went out to run errands after I got home and changed. Sent out two Valentine's cards for Lauren and her parents and Mom and the family in Virginia in the mail, then strolled to Dollar General and bought two more cards for friends. Stopped at Crown Chicken and Gyro for a very quiet fish gyro and fries on the way back.

Did job research while watching Been So Long. I went further into this lovely romantic musical drama from England on my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Been So Long

I was delighted when my Valentine's Day present to myself, Roadshow: The Fall of Film Musicals In the 60's, finally showed up in the mail box. I splurged and picked up a hardback former library copy in nearly-new shape on eBay. I've been fascinated by these lumbering failures ever since movies like Oliver! and Hello Dolly made frequent appearances on cable in the 80's and 90's. Some of them, like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Dolly, and Finian's Rainbow, are personal favorites of mine despite critical drubbings. Others - the deadly dull Camelot, the too-big-for-its-story Happiest Millionaire, the overstuffed Star! - were too much then and now. And there's a few, like the lovely and underrated musical Goodbye Mr. Chips, that I'm glad have been receiving reassessments of late. 

Looked over the book while Match Game '79 was on. Lee Merriweather is nervous as  heck about matching "__ Counselor" in the Head to Head in the first episode. Bill Daily has a rougher time with "__ Exit." He gets even wilder in the second episode, thanks to some of his stranger answers, but at least he manages to do better by "__ Winters." 

Switched to Hart to Hart at the Roku Channel next. It's "Harts and Flowers" when Max enters the rose he named after Jennifer in a huge flower contest, but they think Jennifer entered it. The mistake turns deadly when someone seems to be killing off the competitors one by one, and Jennifer may be next on their list.

Finished the night with more Valentine's Day specials. I went further into The Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine at Musical Dreams Movie Reviews last February. 

The Berenstain Bears' Comic Valentine

Olive Oyl is fed up with Popeye forgetting Valentine's Day and takes a "swinging singles cruise." They become Sweethearts at Sea when Popeye and Bluto follow her, hoping to win her heart. Also aboard is The Sea Hag, who poses as a gorgeous princess in an attempt to woo Popeye. When that doesn't work, she gets together with Bluto in order to win both their hearts' desires.

Disney's DTV Valentine from 1986 is a TV special based around the DTV music video series on The Disney Channel. Mickey, Donald, Jiminy Cricket, and Professor Ludwig Von Drake introduce music videos featuring either romantic pop songs like Whitney Houston's "Give Good Love" and Elvis Presley's "Teddy Bear" or ballads from Disney movies like "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty and "Someday My Prince Will Come" from Snow White. 

If you enjoyed those, here's even more vintage Valentine's Day specials on the funny side of love for you and your sweetheart!

The Woody Woodpecker Valentine's Day Special: I'm With Cupid, Stupid 

The Smurfs: My Smurfy Valentine

Cathy's Valentine

A Special Valentine With the Family Circus 

For Better or for Worse: A Valentine From the Heart

The Pink Panther: Valentine Pink

Buttons and Rusty In the Honey Bunch (A Chucklewood Valentine)

From Disney With Love

DTV Doggone Valentine

Flowers for Tattletales

Got a quick start this morning, with just enough time to finish Mrs. Harris Goes to New York, write in my journal, grab breakfast, and hurry out. At least Uber helped there. The driver going to work arrived in 4 minutes; the one going home came in 5. No trouble anywhere on the road. Got to work with just a few minutes to spare.

Work was crazy today, especially this morning. We focused on balloons this morning, which of course, are not my strong suit. I gathered Super Bowl balloons to be given away or sold at a discount, then balloons to be refilled. Had a harder time figuring out how to put the balloons back. I just could not get them organized right, no matter how hard I tried. I did a little better helping to shelve new vases on two empty shelves after lunch.

We had a few extra "illusion" vases left, so I made bud vases. One perfect rose bud is clipped, and the stem is stuck into florist's rocks. The vase is then filled with water. They made a red rose bud vase earlier. I did pink, orange, yellow, and lavender. I thought they all came out rather well. The bright pink rose was especially pretty. Tied satin ribbons around the vases, then priced them and put them out for sale. 

Went online for a while, relaxing and messing around when I got home. Took the laundry downstairs, then did some writing. Patti explains that the poppies appeared after the first invasion of Televisia City by a band of trained warriors. The Warlock of the West is only one evil spell-caster in the land. There are many others, including the one who invaded Televisia City in the first place, Mombi. 

Put the laundry in the dryer, then had a quick dinner. Began strawberry white chocolate chip cookies for a Valentine's Day surprise while watching Match Game '79. In the first episode, Bill Daily's rather scraggly beard comes in for some ribbing. Brett would rather rant about politics and having to pay taxes. In the second episode, Gene and Bill end up dancing together.

Finished the night after taking the cookies out of the oven and the laundry upstairs with Tattletales episodes in honor of Valentine's Day and its 50th anniversary this Sunday. Since I already looked at the show's history, I decided to check out episodes featuring my favorite couples on the show. I wish Dick Martin hadn't been quite so insistent that he and Dolly mainly play with Bob Newhart and his wife Ginny. Newhart doesn't like his game show episodes to be seen nowadays. I did manage to find a very funny episode from 1982 where they're joined by Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme and Lynn Redgrave and John Clark.

Scoey and Claire were so popular on the show, they were regulars well into the 1982 revival. In this episode, they're playing with Tom Poston and his wife Kaye and Leslie Easterbrook and her honey Vic Holchak. They knew each other so well, they were married for over 50 years, until his death in 2022, and we get that here. (And Claire did not change in a decade. At all. She looks the same as she did in the early 70's episodes.)

Bobby Van and Elaine Joyce appeared on the very first week of Tattletales with Dick Gautier and his then-wife Barbara Stuart and Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. There were some terrific stories in the early non-Quickies format. One involved how Elaine picked up Bobby in a singles bar. Another had Anne detailing  how a glass of milk was significant in her Jewish-Irish household. 

Gene and Helen Rayburn were also married for 50 years. Those who only know Gene from Match Game don't realize how well-matched he and Helen were. When Gene talks about how funny his wife is on Match Game, he's not kidding. Helen is a riot. I especially love her answer to why she wouldn't read her diary on the air. I have their first appearance from later in 1974, where they're joined by Gary Burghoff and his sweet then-wife Janet, and Amanda "Miss Kitty" Blake and her then-husband, animal trainer Frank Gilbert. 

No couple was crazier about each other than Betty White and Allen Ludden. They made frequent appearances during the entire run of Tattletales, and they always played well and had great stories to share. I love their answers to which one of them would swear more! Patrick Duffy and his wife Carlyn and Bill Anderson and his wife Becky join in near the end of the original run in 1978.

Patti Deustch and Donald Ross may have been the most well-matched twosome of any celebrity couple. They shared the same wacky sense of humor and truly strange and creative minds, as we see in the 1977 episode here. None other than Red Foxx and his wife Joi are in this one, along with Bill Macy and his wife Samantha Harper.

Possibly the funniest regular couple on the show were battling duo Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall. Like Gene and Helen and Scoey and Claire, they were married for a long time, and are still married to this day. They had been doing an act together for years when they started appearing on the show. This 1976 episode with Julie London and her husband Bobby Troupe and soap stars Eileen Pone and her husband Danny Fortune gives you a good example of how crazy those two could get.

Patty Duke and John Astin could be very competitive when they played each other elsewhere, but they were surprisingly sweet on Tattletales. No wonder they raised five kids together. They were some of the best players on the show, and among its top money winners. Gene and Helen and Bill and Samantha return in this episode from 1975. 

Celebrate Valentine's Day and Tattletales' 50th anniversary with hilarious stories told by some of the most loving and funniest couples on the air!

Tattletales (1974 - Bobby and Elaine)

Tattletales (1974 - Gene and Helen)

Tattletales (1975 - John and Patty)

Tattletales (1976 - Charlie and Mitzi)

Tattletales (1977 - Donald and Patti)

Tattletales (1978 - Allen and Betty)

Tattletales (1982 - Dick and Dolly)

Tattletales (1982 - Scoey and Claire)

(Oh, and it had been cloudy and cold all day. Thankfully, it didn't start raining until around dinner time. It's rained off and on ever since.)