April In Oaklyn
Much to my surprise, I awoke to a day that was not only sunny and bright, but above-average warm, already in the 60s by 9. When I finally made it out to the laundromat around 11:30, it was at least in the lower 80s. I was too hot in just my old blue ribbed zipper sweater! It was so nice, I dropped my very full laundry bag in Miss Ellie's old cart instead of taking the bike.
The laundromat was incredibly busy when I arrived. I had to dig around for open washers. Turns out someone had closed the empty washers, instead of leaving them open like they're supposed to. Good thing I did finally get a washer. I had a huge load to do, one that included towels and bed sheets.
When I got back in, I decided Mother Nature was telling me it's time to pull out the spring clothes. We should be just about done with cold days; I can layer sweaters over t-shirts on chilly evenings. There's several items I really need to replace. My bathing suit is just about done. I bought it from WalMart to begin with when my last one gave out. I need work-out clothes in general, but especially ones for warmer weather. I should probably replace that peach ruffled skirt, too. I love it and think it's cute, but it no longer fits all that well. Two pairs of capris that are tight need to be replaced as well.
Spent the rest of the afternoon continuing with the dusting in my bedroom. After that, I went on my computer briefly and added the records and cassette to my inventories. Wow. Even with clearing some out, I still have 390 records, counting what I just bought, and 55 cassettes.
I ran Rick Steves episodes throughout the afternoon. I thought his spring-set jaunts through Paris were especially appropriate for the time of year. I also did the show that focused on the glamorous French Riviera, from Monaco and its casino to the museums that house artwork by the many creative-minded folks who made the Riviera their home in the early and mid 20th century.
Work was very busy off and on all night. For the most part, there weren't too many problems, other than one woman who threw a fit when she had to come back for some things that she forgot. Instead of shrugging and saying "Oops, I forgot again, my bad," she blamed us because she's always forgetting things and we should tell her! Um, sometimes, people forget things. They even forget a lot. It happens. Thankfully, she told two front-end managers who nodded their heads, then agreed with me that she was being silly. After that, the rest of the night was comparatively quiet, and I was able to get out without a fuss.
Life is a lazy river - no matter where you are. Movies, musicals, mysteries, pop culture, and lots of other great stuff.
Monday, April 08, 2013
Sunday, April 07, 2013
Perfect Spring Weather
It couldn't have been nicer when I got up this morning. Sunshine poured into my window; the sky was pale blue and cloudless. I celebrated the arrival of real spring weather with this week's Brunch With the Beatles and Strawberry Oatmeal Pancakes. Today's theme was "Apple Records," the company the Beatles set up to distribute their records and other musicians' work in the late 60s and early 70s. Among the Beatles songs we heard were "Come Together," "The Long and Winding Road," "Revolution," and "The Story of John and Yoko." Solo Apple Records tunes included George's "It's a Pity" and "My Sweet Lord," Paul's "Uncle Albert" and "Maybe I'm Amazed," John's "Instant Kharma" and "Power to the People," and Ringo's "It Don't Come Easy."
I called Mom during the second half of the show. We didn't talk for long. She said she wasn't feeling well, and she had my sister Anny and her son Skylar there. After I let her go, I called my sister Rose to wish her a happy birthday. Didn't get her, either. She must have been out with her family or at work.
After the show ended and I finished the dishes, I went for a walk to Dad's to say "hi" to him and pick up the pan I used for the cupcakes last week. Dad was outside when I arrived, taking his indoor plants to the side of the porch so they could get sunshine and hose water. He's having some kind of surgery this week. Nothing too major, but it does mean he won't be moving too well for a while. He's also in the midst of getting the pool area redone. The concrete has been torn up; Dad says later this week, then men will be back to lay the new concrete and work on the pool itself.
It was a beautiful day for a walk. The air was even warmer at quarter of 2 than it had been in the late morning. I was fine in my green sweater. The flowers are all in bloom now, sprays of forsythia exploding against bare brown limbs. The trees are just showing the first signs of the palest green leaves and flower buds. Everyone was out and about. College students walked dogs. Parents rode bikes and played catch with their children. Adults stood in groups on porches or next to their cars, or pulled out the lawn mower or weed whacker for the first time this year.
When I got in, I dusted the living room and listened to a few children's and fantasy recordings. In addition to the MGM soundtrack for Kismet, I ran two of my better kids' albums, the 70s Peter Pan version of Alice In Wonderland and The World of Strawberry Shortcake from Kids Stuff. I wasn't able to finish dusting the bedroom before I had to have a quick leftovers lunch and prepare for work. I'll do that tomorrow.
Work wasn't too bad. It was mildly busy on and off, and there were a few annoying customers, but by and large, it wasn't anything like last week. I got in and out with no problems.
It couldn't have been nicer when I got up this morning. Sunshine poured into my window; the sky was pale blue and cloudless. I celebrated the arrival of real spring weather with this week's Brunch With the Beatles and Strawberry Oatmeal Pancakes. Today's theme was "Apple Records," the company the Beatles set up to distribute their records and other musicians' work in the late 60s and early 70s. Among the Beatles songs we heard were "Come Together," "The Long and Winding Road," "Revolution," and "The Story of John and Yoko." Solo Apple Records tunes included George's "It's a Pity" and "My Sweet Lord," Paul's "Uncle Albert" and "Maybe I'm Amazed," John's "Instant Kharma" and "Power to the People," and Ringo's "It Don't Come Easy."
I called Mom during the second half of the show. We didn't talk for long. She said she wasn't feeling well, and she had my sister Anny and her son Skylar there. After I let her go, I called my sister Rose to wish her a happy birthday. Didn't get her, either. She must have been out with her family or at work.
After the show ended and I finished the dishes, I went for a walk to Dad's to say "hi" to him and pick up the pan I used for the cupcakes last week. Dad was outside when I arrived, taking his indoor plants to the side of the porch so they could get sunshine and hose water. He's having some kind of surgery this week. Nothing too major, but it does mean he won't be moving too well for a while. He's also in the midst of getting the pool area redone. The concrete has been torn up; Dad says later this week, then men will be back to lay the new concrete and work on the pool itself.
It was a beautiful day for a walk. The air was even warmer at quarter of 2 than it had been in the late morning. I was fine in my green sweater. The flowers are all in bloom now, sprays of forsythia exploding against bare brown limbs. The trees are just showing the first signs of the palest green leaves and flower buds. Everyone was out and about. College students walked dogs. Parents rode bikes and played catch with their children. Adults stood in groups on porches or next to their cars, or pulled out the lawn mower or weed whacker for the first time this year.
When I got in, I dusted the living room and listened to a few children's and fantasy recordings. In addition to the MGM soundtrack for Kismet, I ran two of my better kids' albums, the 70s Peter Pan version of Alice In Wonderland and The World of Strawberry Shortcake from Kids Stuff. I wasn't able to finish dusting the bedroom before I had to have a quick leftovers lunch and prepare for work. I'll do that tomorrow.
Work wasn't too bad. It was mildly busy on and off, and there were a few annoying customers, but by and large, it wasn't anything like last week. I got in and out with no problems.
Saturday, April 06, 2013
A Bath Is a Terrible Thing to Waste
I awoke to a sunny morning that was chillier than yesterday, but nowhere near as cold as it has been the past few weeks. Celebrated the gorgeous weather with this week's American Top 40 re-run. Casey hopped backwards through the 80s to early April 1981, when R&B, New Wave, punk rock, and pop ruled the airwaves. We heard "Kiss On My List" by Hall & Oates, "Don't Stand So Close" by the Police, "What Kind of Fool?" by Barbara Streisand and Barry Gibb, "While You See a Chance" by Steve Winwood, "Just the Two of Us" by Grover Washington Jr., "Woman" by John Lennon, "Hello Again" by Neil Diamond, "The Best of Times" by Styx, and "Take It On the Run" by REO Speedwagon.
Blondie was at the height of their popularity as the preeminent punk/New Wave band when they hit the #1 spot for the 4th time in two years that spring. Not only was the odd "Rapture" one of their most successful tunes, it turned out to be history-making, not only for punk rock but as one of the earliest exposures in the Top 40 for rap as well.
I went straight out after the Top 40 ended for the first yard sale run of the year. Alas, the yard sale part wasn't terribly successful. I couldn't find the two yard sales listed for Audubon, and the one in Haddon Township mostly had sports paraphernalia and board games, nothing interesting.
Did better elsewhere. I stopped at Family Dollar to pick up the trash bags I couldn't get to last week due to the pre-Easter crowds. Quickly peeked at Willie the Woodsman and Wife's to see if they had any new WebKinz; they didn't. I discovered another church thrift shop, this one held further down the White Horse Pike in Audubon, across from the WaWa. They were slightly larger and less-cluttered than the one on Merchant Street, with a pretty decent selection of records and cassettes for a dime each.
I ended up with four records and one cassette. The records were:
The original cast album from the 1979 Broadway musical The Grand Tour, a vehicle for Joel Gray (Caberet) with a Jerry Herman (Hello Dolly) score. The show was a flop, and the cast album is hard to find.
The Sinatra Christmas Album
The soundtracks for Brighton Beach Memoirs and the movie version of the musical Kismet. The cassette was also a soundtrack, this one for An American Tail.
My ride around Audubon was so frustrating, I treated myself to Desserts by Design to perk up my flagging spirits. She was busy with a pair of Girl Scouts den mothers buying cookies for their troop, but I did get her attention long enough to choose a vanilla cupcake with caramel frosting.
After my snack, I rode into Oaklyn to do a fast, quiet volunteering session at the library. The day started out blustery and a bit cold, but it was getting warmer and warmer outside by 12:30. There was only one other person there on the computers besides me and the librarian. It was too nice to be inside. I wasn't there for very long, either. Just organized DVDs and the kids' books. Made one more stop at the Dorias' for a Wild Cherry Pepsi (I wanted brown sugar, but they were out) before finally heading home.
Finished out the Phineas and Ferb collection while having the last of the leftover Bean Vegetable Soup for lunch. Perry's main enemy Dr. Doofenschmirtz usually isn't much of a threat. Even he realizes how bad of a villain he is. In "Agent Doof," he actually agrees to join Perry's animal spy organization, at least until he realizes that he wrecks even more havoc as a hero than as a bad guy.
Candace and Perry may find Phineas and Ferb's antics to be annoying, but in the end, they both deeply care about those crazy boys. Perry's genuinely upset when he can't join the family's trip to Africa in "Where's Perry?". The boys are even more upset when they get lost in an unexplored gorge with their buddies. Candace, meanwhile, thinks that her boyfriend Jeremy has broken up with her and decides to "go native" and live with the monkeys. And Perry has to help his boss General Monogram and Doofenschmirtz save the world from Monogram's overworked and underpaid intern Carl, who was hit with a ray that made him turn bad...and unlike Doof, he knows how to be an effective villain.
Spent the rest of the afternoon doing things around my apartment and watching cartoons and live-action comics who behaved like cartoons. Spring cleaning continued. I made the bed. I washed the windows inside and (as much as I can) outside. Opened the windows and let some fresh air blow in. Swept what little debris was there off the porch and the cobwebs off the outside windows. Made my bed and put on fresh, less heavy sheets. Changed the Cabbage Patch Kids girls into spring clothes. Vacuumed all around the apartment, especially in the bedroom, where the hair and dust gets caught the most.
Ran The Bowery Boys while working on cookies. I used the versatile Betty Crocker low-fat Stir-and-Drop Sugar Cookie recipe; replaced part of the sugar with orange juice, the vanilla extract with orange extract, and the lemon zest with orange zest and made Orange Sugar Drop Cookies. The Boys movie was Spy Chasers, one of the later 50s entries that emphasizes the Huntz Hall/Leo Gorcey pairing. The now-quartet helps Louie Dumbrowski (Bernard Gorcey, Leo's father) hide a coin until they can get the other half from a courier sent by Louie's brother, who is helping the King of Truvania return to his throne. The king's right-hand general and the princess' lady-in-waiting are traitors who want the king to return too early. The boys do everything they can to help, despite the lady hypnotizing a smitten Sach into believing he's a knight.
Hit the bath after the Boys ended. Oh, did I ever need it! I tried the orange-jasmine bubble bath I bought from work yesterday, and it felt sooo nice. The bubbles were fun to play in, too. My sisters and I used to take bubble baths when we were really little (with Mr. Bubble or Muppets fruit-smelling bubble bath, of course), but I haven't done it in years. I will have to more often. I felt a hundred times better when I finally climbed out of the tub. I'm really enjoying these baths.
Watching Phineas and Ferb made me realize I hadn't put on any of the longer Disney movies since I bought Wreck It Ralph last month. This time, I opted for the more traditional The Little Mermaid during my taco and spinach citrus salad dinner. The first half of the movie more-or-less sticks to the original story. Ariel (voice of Jodi Benson) is a mermaid who falls for a prince when she rescues him and desperately wants to be human. Ursula the Sea Witch (voice of Pat Carroll) will give her what she desires...for the price of her beautiful voice. With the help of her friends Sebastian the Crab (Sebastian Wright), Flounder the Fish, and Scuttle the Seagull (Buddy Hackett), she tries to win the human of her dreams.
This was huge when it first came out in 1989. My best friend Lauren said she was crazy about it, and my little sister Anny was into it, too. I might have gotten more into it myself it its release didn't coincide with my first Star Wars all-out obsession phase. It's not my favorite Disney movie today; the animation is gorgeous and the music is fun, but some of the tunes (like the Oscar-winning "Under the Sea") aren't all that well-integrated into the story, and Ariel isn't always the brightest starfish in the ocean. My favorite scene is the "Kiss the Girl" number, with Sebastian leading a chorus of sea creatures, all encouraging Eric to finally give Ariel that all-important smooch.
If you have a little girl (especially one who loves mermaid stories) or are a Disney fan, this is probably in your collection already. If it isn't, I believe this is scheduled to be Disney's Diamond Edition Blu-Ray/DVD release for this fall. Even with the caveats, this is still the movie that kick-started the Disney Renaissance of the 90s and is recommended.
I awoke to a sunny morning that was chillier than yesterday, but nowhere near as cold as it has been the past few weeks. Celebrated the gorgeous weather with this week's American Top 40 re-run. Casey hopped backwards through the 80s to early April 1981, when R&B, New Wave, punk rock, and pop ruled the airwaves. We heard "Kiss On My List" by Hall & Oates, "Don't Stand So Close" by the Police, "What Kind of Fool?" by Barbara Streisand and Barry Gibb, "While You See a Chance" by Steve Winwood, "Just the Two of Us" by Grover Washington Jr., "Woman" by John Lennon, "Hello Again" by Neil Diamond, "The Best of Times" by Styx, and "Take It On the Run" by REO Speedwagon.
Blondie was at the height of their popularity as the preeminent punk/New Wave band when they hit the #1 spot for the 4th time in two years that spring. Not only was the odd "Rapture" one of their most successful tunes, it turned out to be history-making, not only for punk rock but as one of the earliest exposures in the Top 40 for rap as well.
I went straight out after the Top 40 ended for the first yard sale run of the year. Alas, the yard sale part wasn't terribly successful. I couldn't find the two yard sales listed for Audubon, and the one in Haddon Township mostly had sports paraphernalia and board games, nothing interesting.
Did better elsewhere. I stopped at Family Dollar to pick up the trash bags I couldn't get to last week due to the pre-Easter crowds. Quickly peeked at Willie the Woodsman and Wife's to see if they had any new WebKinz; they didn't. I discovered another church thrift shop, this one held further down the White Horse Pike in Audubon, across from the WaWa. They were slightly larger and less-cluttered than the one on Merchant Street, with a pretty decent selection of records and cassettes for a dime each.
I ended up with four records and one cassette. The records were:
The original cast album from the 1979 Broadway musical The Grand Tour, a vehicle for Joel Gray (Caberet) with a Jerry Herman (Hello Dolly) score. The show was a flop, and the cast album is hard to find.
The Sinatra Christmas Album
The soundtracks for Brighton Beach Memoirs and the movie version of the musical Kismet. The cassette was also a soundtrack, this one for An American Tail.
My ride around Audubon was so frustrating, I treated myself to Desserts by Design to perk up my flagging spirits. She was busy with a pair of Girl Scouts den mothers buying cookies for their troop, but I did get her attention long enough to choose a vanilla cupcake with caramel frosting.
After my snack, I rode into Oaklyn to do a fast, quiet volunteering session at the library. The day started out blustery and a bit cold, but it was getting warmer and warmer outside by 12:30. There was only one other person there on the computers besides me and the librarian. It was too nice to be inside. I wasn't there for very long, either. Just organized DVDs and the kids' books. Made one more stop at the Dorias' for a Wild Cherry Pepsi (I wanted brown sugar, but they were out) before finally heading home.
Finished out the Phineas and Ferb collection while having the last of the leftover Bean Vegetable Soup for lunch. Perry's main enemy Dr. Doofenschmirtz usually isn't much of a threat. Even he realizes how bad of a villain he is. In "Agent Doof," he actually agrees to join Perry's animal spy organization, at least until he realizes that he wrecks even more havoc as a hero than as a bad guy.
Candace and Perry may find Phineas and Ferb's antics to be annoying, but in the end, they both deeply care about those crazy boys. Perry's genuinely upset when he can't join the family's trip to Africa in "Where's Perry?". The boys are even more upset when they get lost in an unexplored gorge with their buddies. Candace, meanwhile, thinks that her boyfriend Jeremy has broken up with her and decides to "go native" and live with the monkeys. And Perry has to help his boss General Monogram and Doofenschmirtz save the world from Monogram's overworked and underpaid intern Carl, who was hit with a ray that made him turn bad...and unlike Doof, he knows how to be an effective villain.
Spent the rest of the afternoon doing things around my apartment and watching cartoons and live-action comics who behaved like cartoons. Spring cleaning continued. I made the bed. I washed the windows inside and (as much as I can) outside. Opened the windows and let some fresh air blow in. Swept what little debris was there off the porch and the cobwebs off the outside windows. Made my bed and put on fresh, less heavy sheets. Changed the Cabbage Patch Kids girls into spring clothes. Vacuumed all around the apartment, especially in the bedroom, where the hair and dust gets caught the most.
Ran The Bowery Boys while working on cookies. I used the versatile Betty Crocker low-fat Stir-and-Drop Sugar Cookie recipe; replaced part of the sugar with orange juice, the vanilla extract with orange extract, and the lemon zest with orange zest and made Orange Sugar Drop Cookies. The Boys movie was Spy Chasers, one of the later 50s entries that emphasizes the Huntz Hall/Leo Gorcey pairing. The now-quartet helps Louie Dumbrowski (Bernard Gorcey, Leo's father) hide a coin until they can get the other half from a courier sent by Louie's brother, who is helping the King of Truvania return to his throne. The king's right-hand general and the princess' lady-in-waiting are traitors who want the king to return too early. The boys do everything they can to help, despite the lady hypnotizing a smitten Sach into believing he's a knight.
Hit the bath after the Boys ended. Oh, did I ever need it! I tried the orange-jasmine bubble bath I bought from work yesterday, and it felt sooo nice. The bubbles were fun to play in, too. My sisters and I used to take bubble baths when we were really little (with Mr. Bubble or Muppets fruit-smelling bubble bath, of course), but I haven't done it in years. I will have to more often. I felt a hundred times better when I finally climbed out of the tub. I'm really enjoying these baths.
Watching Phineas and Ferb made me realize I hadn't put on any of the longer Disney movies since I bought Wreck It Ralph last month. This time, I opted for the more traditional The Little Mermaid during my taco and spinach citrus salad dinner. The first half of the movie more-or-less sticks to the original story. Ariel (voice of Jodi Benson) is a mermaid who falls for a prince when she rescues him and desperately wants to be human. Ursula the Sea Witch (voice of Pat Carroll) will give her what she desires...for the price of her beautiful voice. With the help of her friends Sebastian the Crab (Sebastian Wright), Flounder the Fish, and Scuttle the Seagull (Buddy Hackett), she tries to win the human of her dreams.
This was huge when it first came out in 1989. My best friend Lauren said she was crazy about it, and my little sister Anny was into it, too. I might have gotten more into it myself it its release didn't coincide with my first Star Wars all-out obsession phase. It's not my favorite Disney movie today; the animation is gorgeous and the music is fun, but some of the tunes (like the Oscar-winning "Under the Sea") aren't all that well-integrated into the story, and Ariel isn't always the brightest starfish in the ocean. My favorite scene is the "Kiss the Girl" number, with Sebastian leading a chorus of sea creatures, all encouraging Eric to finally give Ariel that all-important smooch.
If you have a little girl (especially one who loves mermaid stories) or are a Disney fan, this is probably in your collection already. If it isn't, I believe this is scheduled to be Disney's Diamond Edition Blu-Ray/DVD release for this fall. Even with the caveats, this is still the movie that kick-started the Disney Renaissance of the 90s and is recommended.
Friday, April 05, 2013
Give Your Baby Lots of Lovin'
It really felt like spring when I headed out today. The wind had subsided somewhat, the sun was out, the sky was bright blue, and the trees are just starting to bloom. It was a lovely morning to run errands. My first stop of the day was a quick one at America's Best. I tore my last pair of contacts yesterday. It was past time for ordering my next pairs.
I didn't need a big grocery order today. Mainly just restocked fruits and vegetables. Bags of oranges are $1.99. I bought cute little clementines. Grape tomatoes were on a good sale, too, as were bags of spinach. The Acme's started selling containers of sliced vegetables; I got a cauliflower/broccoli mix. Thought I'd try Poland Spring sparkling water on sale for a dollar; the generic floss was a dollar as well. Also grabbed the Acme's generic organic tea on sale, along with their bubble bath. I can't remember the last time I had a real bubble bath. Thought I'd try something different with my baths.
When I got in, I made lunch while watching Applause. This 1929 melodrama features Helen Morgan (the 1936 Show Boat) as Kitty Darling, a burlesque queen who is far from being in the prime of her career. She's desperate to protect her convent-educated daughter April (Joan Peers) from her sleazy show-business life, but it's hard when her obnoxious user boyfriend (Fuller Mellish Jr) is all but jumping in the girl's lap. Kitty's lover wants April to go into burlesque, too, but April is more interested in a cute sailor she met while he was on leave. Kitty's determined that April should have a better life than anything she could get in burlesque...even at the cost of her own.
What saves this from being a typical mawkish early talkie melodrama is director Rouben Mamoulien's insistence on dynamic editing and some really fine performances, especially from Morgan as the weak Kitty (Morgan had no problems donning a fright wig to play a burlesque dancer twice her age) and Peers as the sheltered April. Mamoulien fought with Paramount and with his crew to make this more than the sum of it's mawkish parts. While some parts are still a little stiff, others are well-done, especially for the era (compare this to Sally or Hollywood Revue of 1929).
A warning - this is not a tale of glitter and glamour ala Sally, nor is it the most uplifting story in the universe. The movie is unstinting about what low-level burlesque halls were really like, especially in a scene where April goes to the theater to watch her mother perform and is assaulted by images of overweight "beef trust" chorus dancers (real ones from burlesque) and grimy men panting over them. It is, however, history, and an interesting story under the tawdry characters. If you want to see how the early talkies started to move from stiff to dynamic and can handle the seedy plot, this is recommended.
Switched to the infinitely more cheerful Phineas and Ferb while cleaning the kitchen. Here, the emphasis is on the other animal agents who appear from time to time on the show, either to help Perry or on their own. The most prominent is Isabella's dog Pinky, who fights Dr. Poofinschmirtz (a female Doofinschmirtz, naturally) when she steals the nuts of a certain tree to make her favorite hairspray...nuts that Isabella and her Girl Scouts troop needs for their badges. Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb go to their local warehouse store with their mother. While Phineas has fun with the equipment on display, Ferb falls for Doofensmirtz's goth teen daughter Vanessa, who wants to show her dad that she's responsible enough to have her own car.
Work wasn't nearly as much fun. It was almost as much of a pain as Wednesday. Thank goodness the crowds didn't last as long. I spent the last hour or so doing returns.
Oh, and mixed feelings on next week's schedule. While it is lighter, and the days off aren't spaced quite so far apart, I have a few late days this week, including Monday until 10PM.
It really felt like spring when I headed out today. The wind had subsided somewhat, the sun was out, the sky was bright blue, and the trees are just starting to bloom. It was a lovely morning to run errands. My first stop of the day was a quick one at America's Best. I tore my last pair of contacts yesterday. It was past time for ordering my next pairs.
I didn't need a big grocery order today. Mainly just restocked fruits and vegetables. Bags of oranges are $1.99. I bought cute little clementines. Grape tomatoes were on a good sale, too, as were bags of spinach. The Acme's started selling containers of sliced vegetables; I got a cauliflower/broccoli mix. Thought I'd try Poland Spring sparkling water on sale for a dollar; the generic floss was a dollar as well. Also grabbed the Acme's generic organic tea on sale, along with their bubble bath. I can't remember the last time I had a real bubble bath. Thought I'd try something different with my baths.
When I got in, I made lunch while watching Applause. This 1929 melodrama features Helen Morgan (the 1936 Show Boat) as Kitty Darling, a burlesque queen who is far from being in the prime of her career. She's desperate to protect her convent-educated daughter April (Joan Peers) from her sleazy show-business life, but it's hard when her obnoxious user boyfriend (Fuller Mellish Jr) is all but jumping in the girl's lap. Kitty's lover wants April to go into burlesque, too, but April is more interested in a cute sailor she met while he was on leave. Kitty's determined that April should have a better life than anything she could get in burlesque...even at the cost of her own.
What saves this from being a typical mawkish early talkie melodrama is director Rouben Mamoulien's insistence on dynamic editing and some really fine performances, especially from Morgan as the weak Kitty (Morgan had no problems donning a fright wig to play a burlesque dancer twice her age) and Peers as the sheltered April. Mamoulien fought with Paramount and with his crew to make this more than the sum of it's mawkish parts. While some parts are still a little stiff, others are well-done, especially for the era (compare this to Sally or Hollywood Revue of 1929).
A warning - this is not a tale of glitter and glamour ala Sally, nor is it the most uplifting story in the universe. The movie is unstinting about what low-level burlesque halls were really like, especially in a scene where April goes to the theater to watch her mother perform and is assaulted by images of overweight "beef trust" chorus dancers (real ones from burlesque) and grimy men panting over them. It is, however, history, and an interesting story under the tawdry characters. If you want to see how the early talkies started to move from stiff to dynamic and can handle the seedy plot, this is recommended.
Switched to the infinitely more cheerful Phineas and Ferb while cleaning the kitchen. Here, the emphasis is on the other animal agents who appear from time to time on the show, either to help Perry or on their own. The most prominent is Isabella's dog Pinky, who fights Dr. Poofinschmirtz (a female Doofinschmirtz, naturally) when she steals the nuts of a certain tree to make her favorite hairspray...nuts that Isabella and her Girl Scouts troop needs for their badges. Meanwhile, Phineas and Ferb go to their local warehouse store with their mother. While Phineas has fun with the equipment on display, Ferb falls for Doofensmirtz's goth teen daughter Vanessa, who wants to show her dad that she's responsible enough to have her own car.
Work wasn't nearly as much fun. It was almost as much of a pain as Wednesday. Thank goodness the crowds didn't last as long. I spent the last hour or so doing returns.
Oh, and mixed feelings on next week's schedule. While it is lighter, and the days off aren't spaced quite so far apart, I have a few late days this week, including Monday until 10PM.
Thursday, April 04, 2013
It's Baseball Season, Charlie Brown
Began the day with two Peanuts specials revolving around the "Great American Pastime" in honor of baseball starting this week. Charlie Brown's All-Stars was one of the earliest specials...which is pretty obvious when you see that the plot revolves around Charlie Brown not getting uniforms for the gang because a local hardware store won't sponsor a team with a dog and several girls. It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown pretty much revolved around an updated version of the same storyline. This time, the sponsor merely requires that the kids actually win a game. For a team that's lost hundreds of times, this seems nearly impossible, until Freida's little brother Leland decides he wants to join the big kids...
I woke up so late, I didn't get much done besides that before heading off to work. Thank heavens work was busy, but not nearly as frustrating or as overwhelmingly crazy as yesterday. Also helped that I didn't work as long or as late. There were a few annoying beginning-of-the-month customers, otherwise I was in and out with no major problems.
I decided that I wanted a real, decent dinner after a long couple of days. I treated myself to a slice of bruschetta (tomato chunks and olive oil) and a slice of broccoli, spinach, and red pepper pizza and a bottle of water at Tu Se Bella's after I left the Acme. They were still very busy at 7PM; thankfully, most everyone seemed to be in the main dining area. I was able to grab one of the seats up front.
Lauren wasn't going to be in until later; she and her folks were seeing Leon Redbone in concert in Northampton. I decided to take advantage of the extra time and have a nice, long bath before going online instead of the usual quick shower. It was a great idea. A nice, long soak felt absolutely amazing after a busy week.
Began the day with two Peanuts specials revolving around the "Great American Pastime" in honor of baseball starting this week. Charlie Brown's All-Stars was one of the earliest specials...which is pretty obvious when you see that the plot revolves around Charlie Brown not getting uniforms for the gang because a local hardware store won't sponsor a team with a dog and several girls. It's Spring Training, Charlie Brown pretty much revolved around an updated version of the same storyline. This time, the sponsor merely requires that the kids actually win a game. For a team that's lost hundreds of times, this seems nearly impossible, until Freida's little brother Leland decides he wants to join the big kids...
I woke up so late, I didn't get much done besides that before heading off to work. Thank heavens work was busy, but not nearly as frustrating or as overwhelmingly crazy as yesterday. Also helped that I didn't work as long or as late. There were a few annoying beginning-of-the-month customers, otherwise I was in and out with no major problems.
I decided that I wanted a real, decent dinner after a long couple of days. I treated myself to a slice of bruschetta (tomato chunks and olive oil) and a slice of broccoli, spinach, and red pepper pizza and a bottle of water at Tu Se Bella's after I left the Acme. They were still very busy at 7PM; thankfully, most everyone seemed to be in the main dining area. I was able to grab one of the seats up front.
Lauren wasn't going to be in until later; she and her folks were seeing Leon Redbone in concert in Northampton. I decided to take advantage of the extra time and have a nice, long bath before going online instead of the usual quick shower. It was a great idea. A nice, long soak felt absolutely amazing after a busy week.
Wednesday, April 03, 2013
No Time for Spring
I spent a sunny, windy morning starting this month's cleaning. I had just enough time to do the bathroom. The bathtub in particular was grungy, not a surprise considering how often I used it last month! I tried the baking soda/vinegar combination on my slow-moving bathroom sink again. We'll see if it actually works.
I barely got to lunch and an episode of Sailor Moon to go with the last of Barbie and the Pink Shoes. Giselle, one of the ballets excerpted in Pink Shoes, is also at the heart of one of the episodes of Sailor Moon's dream-themed fourth season. Serena and Rini are delighted to take free ballet lessons, hoping to become prima ballerinas and win a part in a local production of Giselle. While they have a long way to go, villain Fish Eye has the perfect skills for dancing, though her movements are too cold to be human. When she catches the eye of the dance teacher who is staging the show, she seems to displace Keriko, his original choice for Giselle, in his heart and on-stage. Serena and Rini are determined to help Keriko prove that it takes heart, not just skill, to really succeed at ballet.
Unlike yesterday, work was crazy almost all day long. It was also a total and complete pain in the rear. People were obnoxious and rude. They were demanding and often refused to help do much of anything. I had to check prices at least three times that someone neglected to read correctly. Granted, a lot of things were put on the wrong shelves during last week's Easter rush, but still. By 8PM, I was tired and frustrated and ready to tear my hair out. I bought a chocolate cream pie mix on clearance and milk and got out as quickly as I could.
I spent a sunny, windy morning starting this month's cleaning. I had just enough time to do the bathroom. The bathtub in particular was grungy, not a surprise considering how often I used it last month! I tried the baking soda/vinegar combination on my slow-moving bathroom sink again. We'll see if it actually works.
I barely got to lunch and an episode of Sailor Moon to go with the last of Barbie and the Pink Shoes. Giselle, one of the ballets excerpted in Pink Shoes, is also at the heart of one of the episodes of Sailor Moon's dream-themed fourth season. Serena and Rini are delighted to take free ballet lessons, hoping to become prima ballerinas and win a part in a local production of Giselle. While they have a long way to go, villain Fish Eye has the perfect skills for dancing, though her movements are too cold to be human. When she catches the eye of the dance teacher who is staging the show, she seems to displace Keriko, his original choice for Giselle, in his heart and on-stage. Serena and Rini are determined to help Keriko prove that it takes heart, not just skill, to really succeed at ballet.
Unlike yesterday, work was crazy almost all day long. It was also a total and complete pain in the rear. People were obnoxious and rude. They were demanding and often refused to help do much of anything. I had to check prices at least three times that someone neglected to read correctly. Granted, a lot of things were put on the wrong shelves during last week's Easter rush, but still. By 8PM, I was tired and frustrated and ready to tear my hair out. I bought a chocolate cream pie mix on clearance and milk and got out as quickly as I could.
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
Not Quite Spring
I awoke to a day that was windy and chilly, but sunny, and the sun was warm when you were out of the wind. It did make for a bit of a rough ride to the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteering session there, though. (I opted not to wait for my day off on Saturday - they have plenty of school kids who help them on the weekends.)
There was plenty for me to do this week. I organized the children's DVDs, returned a big stack of adult titles, and sifted through the shelved ones to make sure everything was in the right place. I didn't have the time to do the books, though I did take out some movies. They had the new Barbie As special, Barbie and the Pink Shoes, and a new Phineas and Ferb set. The live-action movies were Rock of Ages and the 1929 semi-musical melodrama Applause, one of those early talkies I've only read about and have always wanted to see.
For once, I went straight home after I was done. There wasn't time to run errands or have lunch out, and I had plenty of leftovers, anyway. I had the last of the mussels on a bed of spinach and greens with cornbread while watching The Three Stooges Go Around the World In a Daze. One of the better movies the Stooges did in the 60s when Curly Joe was the third member has the trio joining the great-grandson of Phineas Fog as he travels across the globe, once again to win a bet. This time, the bet isn't legit - a bank robber wants to pin a burglary on him. The adventures are, as Phineas falls for a young American woman traveling in India and the Stooges pit Curly Joe against a sumo wrestler and recreate their "Maharajah" and "music makes Curly Joe go crazy" routines from the shorts.
I started Barbie and the Pink Shoes as I cleaned up lunch and took down the Easter decorations. Here, Kristen is a dedicated dancer who prefers allowing her feet to move to the music instead of performing the choreography as written. This doesn't make her a hit with her perfectionist teacher, nor with the snotty diva who is the school's prima ballerina. When the costume designer gives Kristen a special pair of pink ballet slippers, they whisk her and her best friend Hailey off into the worlds of several popular real ballets, including Giselle and Swan Lake. Kristen's in heaven at first when she realizes she can finally dance the lead...but when she leads the stories astray and the wicked Snow Queen kidnaps Hailey, she realizes she has to do the dances her way to set things right.
Not bad. A fair improvement over last year's two rather dull specials. The animation in particular is colorful and well-done. I will warn you that non-ballet fans, or those of you who don't know much about the two shows they're performing, may be a bit in the dark. If you or your daughter love ballet or know anything about ballet or dancing, leap right in.
It took me longer to get the Easter decorations down than I though it would - I was almost late for work! As it turned out, it didn't matter much. Work was quiet when I arrived, quiet when I left, and only mildly busy in between. There were a few annoying customers, otherwise it was so dead, I spent an hour before break returning carts, and another hour before leaving doing returns.
I awoke to a day that was windy and chilly, but sunny, and the sun was warm when you were out of the wind. It did make for a bit of a rough ride to the Haddon Township Library for this week's volunteering session there, though. (I opted not to wait for my day off on Saturday - they have plenty of school kids who help them on the weekends.)
There was plenty for me to do this week. I organized the children's DVDs, returned a big stack of adult titles, and sifted through the shelved ones to make sure everything was in the right place. I didn't have the time to do the books, though I did take out some movies. They had the new Barbie As special, Barbie and the Pink Shoes, and a new Phineas and Ferb set. The live-action movies were Rock of Ages and the 1929 semi-musical melodrama Applause, one of those early talkies I've only read about and have always wanted to see.
For once, I went straight home after I was done. There wasn't time to run errands or have lunch out, and I had plenty of leftovers, anyway. I had the last of the mussels on a bed of spinach and greens with cornbread while watching The Three Stooges Go Around the World In a Daze. One of the better movies the Stooges did in the 60s when Curly Joe was the third member has the trio joining the great-grandson of Phineas Fog as he travels across the globe, once again to win a bet. This time, the bet isn't legit - a bank robber wants to pin a burglary on him. The adventures are, as Phineas falls for a young American woman traveling in India and the Stooges pit Curly Joe against a sumo wrestler and recreate their "Maharajah" and "music makes Curly Joe go crazy" routines from the shorts.
I started Barbie and the Pink Shoes as I cleaned up lunch and took down the Easter decorations. Here, Kristen is a dedicated dancer who prefers allowing her feet to move to the music instead of performing the choreography as written. This doesn't make her a hit with her perfectionist teacher, nor with the snotty diva who is the school's prima ballerina. When the costume designer gives Kristen a special pair of pink ballet slippers, they whisk her and her best friend Hailey off into the worlds of several popular real ballets, including Giselle and Swan Lake. Kristen's in heaven at first when she realizes she can finally dance the lead...but when she leads the stories astray and the wicked Snow Queen kidnaps Hailey, she realizes she has to do the dances her way to set things right.
Not bad. A fair improvement over last year's two rather dull specials. The animation in particular is colorful and well-done. I will warn you that non-ballet fans, or those of you who don't know much about the two shows they're performing, may be a bit in the dark. If you or your daughter love ballet or know anything about ballet or dancing, leap right in.
It took me longer to get the Easter decorations down than I though it would - I was almost late for work! As it turned out, it didn't matter much. Work was quiet when I arrived, quiet when I left, and only mildly busy in between. There were a few annoying customers, otherwise it was so dead, I spent an hour before break returning carts, and another hour before leaving doing returns.
Monday, April 01, 2013
Laughing Matters
I started off a warm, sun-filled April Fool's Day with a first season episode of Garfield and Friends that dealt with the importance of comedy. While Garfield befriends a lobster who was supposed to be Jon's dinner and wards off mutant guppies who are after him and Nermal, Orson Pig and the other citizens of US Acres deal with a much larger threat. Orson, Wade, and the chicks are trying to avoid Roy and his newest joke book when aliens arrive...and claim they want to take the Earth's humor to power their weapons! Orson and the others use Roy's joke books against them, but slapstick proves to be the most potent weapon of all.
My main chore today was getting the laundry done. It was very busy when I finally made it in. Today is the day after a major holiday (the last until the middle of next month); many people may have had today off. I dodged at least three families. Good thing I had a very small load anyway, since I last did my laundry on Wednesday.
It was past 2 when I got in, and I had work at 3! I quickly put my laundry away, then finished out the Faerie Tale Theatre episode "The Princess Who Never Laughed." Princess Henrietta (Ellen Barkin) is learning to be a very serious young princess. The trouble is, she's tired of dusty books and never leaving the castle and her dull royal life. She wants to dress up, wear makeup, and have fun. Her father (Howard Hesseman) is in despair of what to do with her until he suggests a "laugh-off" to find a man who will make her crack a smile. He never expected that man to be Wienerhead Waldo (Howie Mandel), a farmer who calls his pig his gag writer and teaches the uptight royal establishment an important lesson about comedy - sometimes, we get the biggest laughs from the jokes that are on us.
Work, surprisingly, wasn't all that busy tonight. I figured it would be far worse than it was - it's the beginning of the month, and if people don't have this week off, their kids do. There were a few customer problems. One older man gave me trouble when he thought his order was supposed to be $10 and it came up $11 (he counted wrong). Another older woman fussed over an Easter stuffed animal that wasn't as cheap as she thought it was. Other than that, the night went by fairly quickly, and I was in and out.
I hope everyone had a really funny April Fool's Day!
I started off a warm, sun-filled April Fool's Day with a first season episode of Garfield and Friends that dealt with the importance of comedy. While Garfield befriends a lobster who was supposed to be Jon's dinner and wards off mutant guppies who are after him and Nermal, Orson Pig and the other citizens of US Acres deal with a much larger threat. Orson, Wade, and the chicks are trying to avoid Roy and his newest joke book when aliens arrive...and claim they want to take the Earth's humor to power their weapons! Orson and the others use Roy's joke books against them, but slapstick proves to be the most potent weapon of all.
My main chore today was getting the laundry done. It was very busy when I finally made it in. Today is the day after a major holiday (the last until the middle of next month); many people may have had today off. I dodged at least three families. Good thing I had a very small load anyway, since I last did my laundry on Wednesday.
It was past 2 when I got in, and I had work at 3! I quickly put my laundry away, then finished out the Faerie Tale Theatre episode "The Princess Who Never Laughed." Princess Henrietta (Ellen Barkin) is learning to be a very serious young princess. The trouble is, she's tired of dusty books and never leaving the castle and her dull royal life. She wants to dress up, wear makeup, and have fun. Her father (Howard Hesseman) is in despair of what to do with her until he suggests a "laugh-off" to find a man who will make her crack a smile. He never expected that man to be Wienerhead Waldo (Howie Mandel), a farmer who calls his pig his gag writer and teaches the uptight royal establishment an important lesson about comedy - sometimes, we get the biggest laughs from the jokes that are on us.
Work, surprisingly, wasn't all that busy tonight. I figured it would be far worse than it was - it's the beginning of the month, and if people don't have this week off, their kids do. There were a few customer problems. One older man gave me trouble when he thought his order was supposed to be $10 and it came up $11 (he counted wrong). Another older woman fussed over an Easter stuffed animal that wasn't as cheap as she thought it was. Other than that, the night went by fairly quickly, and I was in and out.
I hope everyone had a really funny April Fool's Day!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
An Easter Under an Umbrella
It didn't start that way. When I awoke around 9, it was just cloudy. I dozed off for an hour...and when I finally shuffled out of bed for good, it was still merely cloudy and windy. I ran Brunch With the Beatles for a while (The White Album was in the spotlight today) before switching to Easter programming. I found a can of apricot slices in the pantry leftover from last fall (when I needed cheap sources of fruit and vegetables) and made Apricot Whole-Wheat Pancakes for my Easter breakfast.
I'm not terribly religious, so I mainly stuck to specials and a film on the secular side of Easter. The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town is my favorite of the three Rankin-Bass Easter specials. While the music is no great shakes, the premise is interesting, the characters are fun (love the Hendrews Sisters), and it's the only Rankin-Bass spring special that is completely devoted to Easter, with no reference to other holidays. It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is also my favorite Peanuts special, mainly due to the hilarious running gag with Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and their attempts to learn how to cook eggs, and Charles Schultz' cracks at holiday commercialism that are even more pointed than in the Christmas shows.
I called Mom during the cartoons. She was just about to hit the shower. She needed it; she'd spent the week spring cleaning while my stepfather was at work (he's a commercial fisherman). She was going to have a much quieter Easter than in previous years. It was just going to be her, Anny, and Skylar for dinner and an egg hunt. They normally go to the Wildwood Boardwalk for their opening weekend, but the weather didn't look like it was going to be conductive to strolls by the beach.
Switched to Easter Parade as I worked on my first doll and stuffed animal photo story since the fall. Easter Parade is one of the most famous of the Freed Unit 40s and 50s MGM musicals. Fred Astaire is a vaudeville dancer in 1912 whose partner (Ann Miller) leaves him to star in a show on her own. Depressed, he tells his best friend (Peter Lawford) that he could turn any girl into as good of a dancer as Miller. He finally chooses a singer in a bar show (Judy Garland). At first, he tries to turn her into an elegant ballroom showgirl, before finally understanding that she's really a down-to-Earth comedienne All four couples eventually wind up on Broadway and finally settle their differences in time for New York's famous tradition spelled out in the title song.
I've always liked this one. As with the composer biographies, a slight story is wrapped around some fabulous numbers, including Astaire and Miller's "It Only Happens When I Dance With You" and Miller's awesome "Shakin' the Blues Away." Garland gets a fun medley of songwriter Irving Berlin's hits from that era with Astaire, and later got Astaire into hobo costumes long enough for the hilarious "A Couple of Swells." While Peter Lawford was a reluctant musical performer at best, he does get my favorite of the numbers written entirely for the film, the sweet "A Fella With an Umbrella." Recommended for fans of the stars or MGM musicals, or for people looking for non-religious Easter programming.
Peter Lawford wasn't the only one who needed an umbrella. By 3:30, the clouds had burst, and it was pouring. Despite the weather, I walked to Dad's for the party. I should have called for a ride. I was only wearing my thin turquoise spring dress and brown open-toed flats (which got completely soaked). I didn't think anyone would have the time to do it.
The party wound up being pretty big. Everyone brought something to eat. In addition to my cupcakes, Dad and Jodie provided ham, turkey breast, macaroni salad, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, Jodie's famous asparagus wrapped with bacon, rolls, and tartlets and an egg-shaped cake from Desserts By Design in Audubon. Mark, Vanessa, and Brittany brought mashed potatoes. Jodie's relatives brought egg salad. Dad made two kinds of deviled eggs - one plain, one topped with applewood bacon. The parents of Rose's boyfriend Craig brought bruschetta.
Between meals, I watched my two-year-old nephew Khai hunt for eggs, then chase after the bubbles I gave him. He was so cute. I also got to see my first Doctor Who episode - Jodie's sons Jesse and TJ were watching what I believe to be one of the relatively recent ones with David Tennant as the famous British time-traveler on Netflix. (The Oaklyn Library, of all places, has what I believe to be one of the Tennant seasons on DVD. I really need to check that out, if only because several good friends of mine are fans of the show.)
The boys, TJ's friend Riff, and Jesse's girlfriend Dana switched to Ferngully: The Last Rain Forest after they finished with Doctor Who. Crysta is a young fairy who lives happily in a rain forest, learning magic from a wise older fairy and chasing her guy friend Pips. She gets the shock of her life when she first meets a crazy fruit bat who has been experimented on by humans...then sees a human damaging a tree. She accidentally shrinks the human, Zak, down to her size. Though she and Zak fall for each other, their relationship is doomed. Zak is not only part of a project that will destroy the rain forest, he inadvertently unleashed a toxic substance that takes over the project and nearly poisons the forest. Only Crysta has the power to stop him...
Despite some incredibly lush visuals (and being well-remembered by kids who grew up in this era like Dana and Jesse), this is very, very much a movie of its time. The environmental message is delivered with all the subtlety of a two-ton brick, and some of the freakier images are just plain disturbing. It doesn't help that Robin Williams in Genie-random-voice mode is the bat who has been screwed with by humans and hates them with a passion, and Tim Curry is the villainous smog whose main song was so sexually charged, it had to be heavily trimmed before release. Not for younger kids; older kids who enjoy action and can handle the moralizing and young adults with fond memories are the main audience for this nowadays.
Once again, I got bored long before I finally made it home. There just weren't a lot of people around to talk to. I finally hitched a ride home with Rose and her boys, by which time the rain was down to a fine mist.
Oh, and here's the photo story I worked on this afternoon. My dolls and several stuffed animals are disappointed that the Easter Bunny seems to have left no eggs and go on a quest through the living room to find them.
The Riverside Rest Easter Egg Hunt
At any rate, I hope everyone had a wonderful (and much drier) Easter and Passover!
It didn't start that way. When I awoke around 9, it was just cloudy. I dozed off for an hour...and when I finally shuffled out of bed for good, it was still merely cloudy and windy. I ran Brunch With the Beatles for a while (The White Album was in the spotlight today) before switching to Easter programming. I found a can of apricot slices in the pantry leftover from last fall (when I needed cheap sources of fruit and vegetables) and made Apricot Whole-Wheat Pancakes for my Easter breakfast.
I'm not terribly religious, so I mainly stuck to specials and a film on the secular side of Easter. The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town is my favorite of the three Rankin-Bass Easter specials. While the music is no great shakes, the premise is interesting, the characters are fun (love the Hendrews Sisters), and it's the only Rankin-Bass spring special that is completely devoted to Easter, with no reference to other holidays. It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown is also my favorite Peanuts special, mainly due to the hilarious running gag with Peppermint Patty, Marcie, and their attempts to learn how to cook eggs, and Charles Schultz' cracks at holiday commercialism that are even more pointed than in the Christmas shows.
I called Mom during the cartoons. She was just about to hit the shower. She needed it; she'd spent the week spring cleaning while my stepfather was at work (he's a commercial fisherman). She was going to have a much quieter Easter than in previous years. It was just going to be her, Anny, and Skylar for dinner and an egg hunt. They normally go to the Wildwood Boardwalk for their opening weekend, but the weather didn't look like it was going to be conductive to strolls by the beach.
Switched to Easter Parade as I worked on my first doll and stuffed animal photo story since the fall. Easter Parade is one of the most famous of the Freed Unit 40s and 50s MGM musicals. Fred Astaire is a vaudeville dancer in 1912 whose partner (Ann Miller) leaves him to star in a show on her own. Depressed, he tells his best friend (Peter Lawford) that he could turn any girl into as good of a dancer as Miller. He finally chooses a singer in a bar show (Judy Garland). At first, he tries to turn her into an elegant ballroom showgirl, before finally understanding that she's really a down-to-Earth comedienne All four couples eventually wind up on Broadway and finally settle their differences in time for New York's famous tradition spelled out in the title song.
I've always liked this one. As with the composer biographies, a slight story is wrapped around some fabulous numbers, including Astaire and Miller's "It Only Happens When I Dance With You" and Miller's awesome "Shakin' the Blues Away." Garland gets a fun medley of songwriter Irving Berlin's hits from that era with Astaire, and later got Astaire into hobo costumes long enough for the hilarious "A Couple of Swells." While Peter Lawford was a reluctant musical performer at best, he does get my favorite of the numbers written entirely for the film, the sweet "A Fella With an Umbrella." Recommended for fans of the stars or MGM musicals, or for people looking for non-religious Easter programming.
Peter Lawford wasn't the only one who needed an umbrella. By 3:30, the clouds had burst, and it was pouring. Despite the weather, I walked to Dad's for the party. I should have called for a ride. I was only wearing my thin turquoise spring dress and brown open-toed flats (which got completely soaked). I didn't think anyone would have the time to do it.
The party wound up being pretty big. Everyone brought something to eat. In addition to my cupcakes, Dad and Jodie provided ham, turkey breast, macaroni salad, cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, Jodie's famous asparagus wrapped with bacon, rolls, and tartlets and an egg-shaped cake from Desserts By Design in Audubon. Mark, Vanessa, and Brittany brought mashed potatoes. Jodie's relatives brought egg salad. Dad made two kinds of deviled eggs - one plain, one topped with applewood bacon. The parents of Rose's boyfriend Craig brought bruschetta.
Between meals, I watched my two-year-old nephew Khai hunt for eggs, then chase after the bubbles I gave him. He was so cute. I also got to see my first Doctor Who episode - Jodie's sons Jesse and TJ were watching what I believe to be one of the relatively recent ones with David Tennant as the famous British time-traveler on Netflix. (The Oaklyn Library, of all places, has what I believe to be one of the Tennant seasons on DVD. I really need to check that out, if only because several good friends of mine are fans of the show.)
The boys, TJ's friend Riff, and Jesse's girlfriend Dana switched to Ferngully: The Last Rain Forest after they finished with Doctor Who. Crysta is a young fairy who lives happily in a rain forest, learning magic from a wise older fairy and chasing her guy friend Pips. She gets the shock of her life when she first meets a crazy fruit bat who has been experimented on by humans...then sees a human damaging a tree. She accidentally shrinks the human, Zak, down to her size. Though she and Zak fall for each other, their relationship is doomed. Zak is not only part of a project that will destroy the rain forest, he inadvertently unleashed a toxic substance that takes over the project and nearly poisons the forest. Only Crysta has the power to stop him...
Despite some incredibly lush visuals (and being well-remembered by kids who grew up in this era like Dana and Jesse), this is very, very much a movie of its time. The environmental message is delivered with all the subtlety of a two-ton brick, and some of the freakier images are just plain disturbing. It doesn't help that Robin Williams in Genie-random-voice mode is the bat who has been screwed with by humans and hates them with a passion, and Tim Curry is the villainous smog whose main song was so sexually charged, it had to be heavily trimmed before release. Not for younger kids; older kids who enjoy action and can handle the moralizing and young adults with fond memories are the main audience for this nowadays.
Once again, I got bored long before I finally made it home. There just weren't a lot of people around to talk to. I finally hitched a ride home with Rose and her boys, by which time the rain was down to a fine mist.
Oh, and here's the photo story I worked on this afternoon. My dolls and several stuffed animals are disappointed that the Easter Bunny seems to have left no eggs and go on a quest through the living room to find them.
The Riverside Rest Easter Egg Hunt
At any rate, I hope everyone had a wonderful (and much drier) Easter and Passover!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
March Madness and Other Spring Stories
We opened on an absolutely gorgeous, sunny spring day with this week's American Top 40 re-run. Late March 1984 would have been a rather exciting time for my family. That was when Mom announced that she was pregnant with a third daughter, who would become my youngest sister Anna. The hits that eventful early spring included "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins, "Hello" by Lionel Richie, "Miss Me Blind" by Culture Club, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, "Automatic" by the Pointer Sisters, "Hold Me Now" by the Thompson Twins, "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell, and the German smash "99 Luftballons" by Nena. That week's #1 song was the title tune from the year's blockbuster movie musical, "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins.
After the American Top 40 ended, I quickly changed two of my dolls into Easter outfits. Samantha and Felicity were fine in what they were wearing. Molly now sports her cute aqua Polka-Dot Outfit, with navy ribbons in her pigtails. Jessa is more eclectic; she wears Kit's floral skirt from her "meet" outfit with a magenta t-shirt, white socks, and Samantha's black plastic Mary-Janes.
Started out for a few errands in the Oaklyn area after I finished with the dolls. First on my list was a quick stop at CVS. I forgot one Easter card last week for my landlord and his wife Andrew and Linda. Tried Reese's White Chocolate Egg there - I'd never seen the single pack at the Acme. Not bad, but lacking the sweet/salty taste of the milk chocolate version.
I walked by Dad's on my way to CVS, but there was no car in the driveway. There still wasn't when I went by there again, but I decided to see if anyone was around anyway. Yes, Dad was home, preparing to work in the yard and the pool area. He's having the pool completely remodeled this spring. It needs new concrete around the perimeter of the pool, and it's starting to leak. He says the firm he hired will start next week. Jodie was doing some last-minute shopping at the Acme; she arrived shortly before I left.
Dad and Jodie are having Easter dinner at their house this year. It sounds like the same deal as their Christmas Eve party. The guest list includes Rose and her boys, Mark and Vanessa, several neighbors, Jessa and her boyfriend Bobby, Jodie's sons Jesse and TJ, Jesse's girlfriend Dana, and a few members of Jodie's family. As it turns out, they're not having dinner until 4 - no one is up to a lot of holiday traveling this year.
Headed to the Oaklyn Library after leaving Dad's. This time, I mainly concentrated on the children's books. The Library was almost completely empty. There were only two women working on computers and the librarian. The day was too nice for hanging around inside. I wasn't there long, either. I was out again around 12:30.
Made several quick stops next. WaWa didn't have heavy cream. Family Dollar did have trash bags and dry-erase bags...but the store was so busy, and the line was so long, I decided it wasn't worth the effort of waiting for them. I'll buy them from Acme or Rite Aid later in the week. I checked out my first yard sale of the season on the end of West Oakland Avenue. There wasn't much left by 1, but I did buy two cookies from a pair of enterprising little girls.
Since it was two blocks down anyway, I tried Aunt Berta's Kitchen as a special Easter treat. Aunt Berta's is a popular soul food restaurant and catering service on the White Horse Pike, a block from Capitol Pizza and the laundromat. No wonder they've gotten good reviews from everyone I've talked to who tried them. The salmon cakes and stewed collard greens I ordered were delicious. The salmon cake had a perfectly soft center and dark, crunchy fried shell. The greens were the right amount of salty/sweet. There were thick slabs of cornbread, too. The salmon cakes were so big, I took one and a slice of cornbread home for lunch later this week.
I do wish the service had been a little faster, but it is the day before Easter. The catering part of the business is probably swamped with orders. I watched Ohio State beat Wisconsin in a game from earlier in the March Madness tournament - Ohio State was playing later today. (They eventually lost to Wichita State, 70-66.)
Though it was still a pretty nice day when I finished lunch, my legs were getting tired from all the walking, and I had things I wanted to do at home. When I got in, I ran cartoons and started cupcakes. I've made an Orange Coconut Mousse Pie for Easter dinner for the last few years. While that was tasty, this year, I wanted something that was easier to transport and better for kids and young adults who would have been eating sugar all day by 4PM. I used that Betty Crocker Strawberry Cake Mix I bought yesterday, added buttermilk, sliced strawberries, applesauce, and mashed bananas, and made Strawberry-Banana Cupcakes.
As soon as the cupcakes were out of the oven, I was in the bath. I needed a bath. This was a fairly busy week. I've really come to enjoy my baths. I read Simple Abundance and just enjoyed the (relative) peace and quiet of a busy spring day.
After my bath, I made a lamb chop with steamed asparagus and Spinach and Greens Salad for dinner while watching various Easter and spring specials. Uniqua becomes a plant-based superhero who fights the dark Gloom Meister (Austin) in The Backyardigans episode "Flower Power." "Spring In Acme Acres" brings thoughts of love with the wrong species, avoiding spring cleaning at Elmyra's, and competing in crazy game shows to the Tiny Toons. Ruby finds all the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid, but her little brother is the one who gets the prize in "Max's Chocolate Chicken." Bugs and Granny try to find an Easter Bunny replacement among the Looney Tunes in Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies. Daffy doesn't do much better with a paint brush with a wicked sense of humor in Daffy Duck's Easter Egg-citement. Yogi is determined to bring the Easter Bunny to Jellystone Park's Easter Jamboree - and save his and Ranger Smith's necks in the process - in Yogi the Easter Bear. And in Here Comes Peter Cottontail, the title character has to travel through a year's worth of holidays in order to deliver enough eggs to become the new head Easter Bunny.
I did two more Easter programs on YouTube. Brother Bear learns about the miracle of spring...and other kinds of miracles...in the early 80s special The Bernstein Bears' Easter Surprise.
Part 1
Part 2
This Silly Symphony from the mid-30s is one of Disney's few attempts at a springtime short. It's cutsey, but it has a catchy theme song, and the color is gorgeous.
Funny Little Bunnies
For those of you who won't be around tomorrow, I hope you all have a great Easter (and Passover, too)!
We opened on an absolutely gorgeous, sunny spring day with this week's American Top 40 re-run. Late March 1984 would have been a rather exciting time for my family. That was when Mom announced that she was pregnant with a third daughter, who would become my youngest sister Anna. The hits that eventful early spring included "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins, "Hello" by Lionel Richie, "Miss Me Blind" by Culture Club, "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper, "Automatic" by the Pointer Sisters, "Hold Me Now" by the Thompson Twins, "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell, and the German smash "99 Luftballons" by Nena. That week's #1 song was the title tune from the year's blockbuster movie musical, "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins.
After the American Top 40 ended, I quickly changed two of my dolls into Easter outfits. Samantha and Felicity were fine in what they were wearing. Molly now sports her cute aqua Polka-Dot Outfit, with navy ribbons in her pigtails. Jessa is more eclectic; she wears Kit's floral skirt from her "meet" outfit with a magenta t-shirt, white socks, and Samantha's black plastic Mary-Janes.
Started out for a few errands in the Oaklyn area after I finished with the dolls. First on my list was a quick stop at CVS. I forgot one Easter card last week for my landlord and his wife Andrew and Linda. Tried Reese's White Chocolate Egg there - I'd never seen the single pack at the Acme. Not bad, but lacking the sweet/salty taste of the milk chocolate version.
I walked by Dad's on my way to CVS, but there was no car in the driveway. There still wasn't when I went by there again, but I decided to see if anyone was around anyway. Yes, Dad was home, preparing to work in the yard and the pool area. He's having the pool completely remodeled this spring. It needs new concrete around the perimeter of the pool, and it's starting to leak. He says the firm he hired will start next week. Jodie was doing some last-minute shopping at the Acme; she arrived shortly before I left.
Dad and Jodie are having Easter dinner at their house this year. It sounds like the same deal as their Christmas Eve party. The guest list includes Rose and her boys, Mark and Vanessa, several neighbors, Jessa and her boyfriend Bobby, Jodie's sons Jesse and TJ, Jesse's girlfriend Dana, and a few members of Jodie's family. As it turns out, they're not having dinner until 4 - no one is up to a lot of holiday traveling this year.
Headed to the Oaklyn Library after leaving Dad's. This time, I mainly concentrated on the children's books. The Library was almost completely empty. There were only two women working on computers and the librarian. The day was too nice for hanging around inside. I wasn't there long, either. I was out again around 12:30.
Made several quick stops next. WaWa didn't have heavy cream. Family Dollar did have trash bags and dry-erase bags...but the store was so busy, and the line was so long, I decided it wasn't worth the effort of waiting for them. I'll buy them from Acme or Rite Aid later in the week. I checked out my first yard sale of the season on the end of West Oakland Avenue. There wasn't much left by 1, but I did buy two cookies from a pair of enterprising little girls.
Since it was two blocks down anyway, I tried Aunt Berta's Kitchen as a special Easter treat. Aunt Berta's is a popular soul food restaurant and catering service on the White Horse Pike, a block from Capitol Pizza and the laundromat. No wonder they've gotten good reviews from everyone I've talked to who tried them. The salmon cakes and stewed collard greens I ordered were delicious. The salmon cake had a perfectly soft center and dark, crunchy fried shell. The greens were the right amount of salty/sweet. There were thick slabs of cornbread, too. The salmon cakes were so big, I took one and a slice of cornbread home for lunch later this week.
I do wish the service had been a little faster, but it is the day before Easter. The catering part of the business is probably swamped with orders. I watched Ohio State beat Wisconsin in a game from earlier in the March Madness tournament - Ohio State was playing later today. (They eventually lost to Wichita State, 70-66.)
Though it was still a pretty nice day when I finished lunch, my legs were getting tired from all the walking, and I had things I wanted to do at home. When I got in, I ran cartoons and started cupcakes. I've made an Orange Coconut Mousse Pie for Easter dinner for the last few years. While that was tasty, this year, I wanted something that was easier to transport and better for kids and young adults who would have been eating sugar all day by 4PM. I used that Betty Crocker Strawberry Cake Mix I bought yesterday, added buttermilk, sliced strawberries, applesauce, and mashed bananas, and made Strawberry-Banana Cupcakes.
As soon as the cupcakes were out of the oven, I was in the bath. I needed a bath. This was a fairly busy week. I've really come to enjoy my baths. I read Simple Abundance and just enjoyed the (relative) peace and quiet of a busy spring day.
After my bath, I made a lamb chop with steamed asparagus and Spinach and Greens Salad for dinner while watching various Easter and spring specials. Uniqua becomes a plant-based superhero who fights the dark Gloom Meister (Austin) in The Backyardigans episode "Flower Power." "Spring In Acme Acres" brings thoughts of love with the wrong species, avoiding spring cleaning at Elmyra's, and competing in crazy game shows to the Tiny Toons. Ruby finds all the eggs that the Easter Bunny hid, but her little brother is the one who gets the prize in "Max's Chocolate Chicken." Bugs and Granny try to find an Easter Bunny replacement among the Looney Tunes in Bugs Bunny's Easter Funnies. Daffy doesn't do much better with a paint brush with a wicked sense of humor in Daffy Duck's Easter Egg-citement. Yogi is determined to bring the Easter Bunny to Jellystone Park's Easter Jamboree - and save his and Ranger Smith's necks in the process - in Yogi the Easter Bear. And in Here Comes Peter Cottontail, the title character has to travel through a year's worth of holidays in order to deliver enough eggs to become the new head Easter Bunny.
I did two more Easter programs on YouTube. Brother Bear learns about the miracle of spring...and other kinds of miracles...in the early 80s special The Bernstein Bears' Easter Surprise.
Part 1
Part 2
This Silly Symphony from the mid-30s is one of Disney's few attempts at a springtime short. It's cutsey, but it has a catchy theme song, and the color is gorgeous.
Funny Little Bunnies
For those of you who won't be around tomorrow, I hope you all have a great Easter (and Passover, too)!
Friday, March 29, 2013
The Sunny Side of Life
Started today with this week's grocery trip. The Acme was massively busy with Good Friday shoppers when I arrived. I was lucky to find everything on my grocery list. Good thing I didn't need a really big trip. I mainly needed peanut butter. I ended up with the Natural Smuckers. It wasn't on sale, but it was the cheapest "natural" brand they had. They were having a huge seafood sale; I bought a small container of fresh mussels and three packs of fish fillets. I bought things to make cupcakes for Easter dinner. Got ground chicken and a lamb shoulder steak on sale.
When I got home, I put everything away, then decided I'd have a decent lunch for a change. I used the mussels to make Pasta Salad with Mussels and Spring Vegetables while running Sally. The real-life Marilyn Miller made three movies in the early talkie era. Two of them were based after her much-loved stage hits, including this one. Miller is the title character, a waitress who dreams of being a Broadway dancer. She's devoted to her goal and to flirting with a young man she keeps seeing in the window (Alexander Gray), she can't concentrate on her work. Her fortunes pick up when she meets the young man at her newest job, and he recommends her to the cafe's owner (Ford Sterling) as a performer. Turns out the young man is a millionaire and the goofy waiter with lots of society friends is a former Count (Joe E. Brown). When an agent (T. Roy Barnes) and his girlfriend (Pert Kelton) discover the Russian dancer they hired for a Long Island party has backed out, they hire Sally to replace her. Can Sally pull off the ruse...and even become a star?
If you enjoy early talkie musicals as much as I do, this is a must-see. Miller is a so-so actress and not much of a singer, but something special happens when she dances. This is especially notable in two delightful numbers, her adorable duet to "Look for the Silver Lining" with Brown and the "Wild Rose" chorus number. (The latter is partially in Two-Strip Technicolor. The entire movie was originally in color, but the color prints were apparently lost except for this segment.)
I went for a short walk to WaWa after lunch, around 1:30. It was still a beautiful day at that point. There were clouds on the horizon, but the sky was still mostly blue, and it was far less windy and cold than it has been. It felt more like spring. This was reflected in the gardens that had suddenly erupted in jonquils, daffodils and crocus, and in the wildflowers popping up in lawns. It was also reflected in how busy it was. I waved to Richard doing chores around his front lawn and to Linda, my landlord Andrew's wife, on her porch. Kids chased each other on their own front lawns; parents chatted amid pastel wire Easter decorations.
Treated myself to a Cherry-Coke Icee from WaWa, then headed home. Ran a few cartoons after Sally ended. Felix the Cat owns "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg" in the 1936 Van Beuren short. He gives her gold to the poor of the town, but ends up having to defend her when pirates want the eggs, too! The Three Stooges have more luck stopping a robber who is after toys in their 60s "Toys Will Be Toys" animated short.
Much to my surprise, given how busy work was this morning, it wasn't that bad when I got in. Everyone must have shopped in the morning and early afternoon. It was pretty much the same as last night, on-and-off steady with no major problems.
Oh, and I have a fairly decent schedule this week. Yes, I have Easter off...but after that, I don't get a day off until next Saturday! A lot of people went on vacation this week. Not only are most schools on spring break, but our vacation cycle starts over in May, and anyone who still has time left will probably want to use it soon.
Started today with this week's grocery trip. The Acme was massively busy with Good Friday shoppers when I arrived. I was lucky to find everything on my grocery list. Good thing I didn't need a really big trip. I mainly needed peanut butter. I ended up with the Natural Smuckers. It wasn't on sale, but it was the cheapest "natural" brand they had. They were having a huge seafood sale; I bought a small container of fresh mussels and three packs of fish fillets. I bought things to make cupcakes for Easter dinner. Got ground chicken and a lamb shoulder steak on sale.
When I got home, I put everything away, then decided I'd have a decent lunch for a change. I used the mussels to make Pasta Salad with Mussels and Spring Vegetables while running Sally. The real-life Marilyn Miller made three movies in the early talkie era. Two of them were based after her much-loved stage hits, including this one. Miller is the title character, a waitress who dreams of being a Broadway dancer. She's devoted to her goal and to flirting with a young man she keeps seeing in the window (Alexander Gray), she can't concentrate on her work. Her fortunes pick up when she meets the young man at her newest job, and he recommends her to the cafe's owner (Ford Sterling) as a performer. Turns out the young man is a millionaire and the goofy waiter with lots of society friends is a former Count (Joe E. Brown). When an agent (T. Roy Barnes) and his girlfriend (Pert Kelton) discover the Russian dancer they hired for a Long Island party has backed out, they hire Sally to replace her. Can Sally pull off the ruse...and even become a star?
If you enjoy early talkie musicals as much as I do, this is a must-see. Miller is a so-so actress and not much of a singer, but something special happens when she dances. This is especially notable in two delightful numbers, her adorable duet to "Look for the Silver Lining" with Brown and the "Wild Rose" chorus number. (The latter is partially in Two-Strip Technicolor. The entire movie was originally in color, but the color prints were apparently lost except for this segment.)
I went for a short walk to WaWa after lunch, around 1:30. It was still a beautiful day at that point. There were clouds on the horizon, but the sky was still mostly blue, and it was far less windy and cold than it has been. It felt more like spring. This was reflected in the gardens that had suddenly erupted in jonquils, daffodils and crocus, and in the wildflowers popping up in lawns. It was also reflected in how busy it was. I waved to Richard doing chores around his front lawn and to Linda, my landlord Andrew's wife, on her porch. Kids chased each other on their own front lawns; parents chatted amid pastel wire Easter decorations.
Treated myself to a Cherry-Coke Icee from WaWa, then headed home. Ran a few cartoons after Sally ended. Felix the Cat owns "The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg" in the 1936 Van Beuren short. He gives her gold to the poor of the town, but ends up having to defend her when pirates want the eggs, too! The Three Stooges have more luck stopping a robber who is after toys in their 60s "Toys Will Be Toys" animated short.
Much to my surprise, given how busy work was this morning, it wasn't that bad when I got in. Everyone must have shopped in the morning and early afternoon. It was pretty much the same as last night, on-and-off steady with no major problems.
Oh, and I have a fairly decent schedule this week. Yes, I have Easter off...but after that, I don't get a day off until next Saturday! A lot of people went on vacation this week. Not only are most schools on spring break, but our vacation cycle starts over in May, and anyone who still has time left will probably want to use it soon.
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