Action-Packed Harts

Began the morning with breakfast and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. There's "No Time for Bananas" when Bananas Gorilla gets a crush on a lovely ape actress. He thinks bananas are the perfect gift, but she doesn't agree! "Sneef In India" takes on a fortune teller who has stolen a fortune in jewels from an elephant rajah. "Sally Cat's First Trip" will be visiting her cousin Lilly by plane. She's nervous at first, until the stewardess who takes care of her turns out to be really sweet despite her intimidating appearance.

Headed out to work after that. No trouble there! It was cloudy, cool, and windy all morning, but the clouds didn't really amount to much besides looking gloomy. By the time it started getting busier, I was an hour from being done for the day. Swept the store and pushed carts with no trouble whatsoever.

Got my schedule during my break. In good news, four days off, one of them Saturday. I'll get to see Collingswood's big May Fair. However, I don't have nearly enough time when I do work. I'm surprised they don't want me to do all of Memorial Day Weekend.

Did some grocery shopping next. I got really lucky. The generic light popcorn I bought a while back was on clearance. I bought two boxes. Mr. Beast bagged oatmeal cookies were on clearance as well. Had online coupons for Chobani Yogurt, Made Good granola bars, and that Olipop soda. (Tried the Barbie Peaches & Cream today). The Cara Cara Oranges weren't on sale, but they weren't a bad price. The only things I bought that weren't on sale in one way or another were the bagels for lunch this week and the baby carrots. I even got garlic cheese spread from the deli for free with another online coupon.

Went straight home after that. Watched Super Password while I got organized. Lauri Hendler of Gimmie a Break and Pat Sajack were the celebrities that week. I did get to hear Lauri announce she was leaving the show at the end of the current season (which she did, if memory serves me correctly) before I went downstairs to pump my tires again.

Switched to The Persuaders! while doing job searching. The dead son of a wealthy household arrives to "Take Seven" million from the beautiful daughter (Sinead Cusack) who had been there for years. She gets Brett and Danny to help...but when they're followed by a detective, they realize that there's more to this than siblings squabbling over an inheritance. 

"Greensleeves" is a beautiful old manor that's recently been restored, to the surprise of its owner Brett. He discovers people who claim to be MI5 agents there and passes himself off as an actor recruited to play him. Danny comes along as his butler. Turns out it's all a ruse to get an African leader to give up the vast nickel deposits in his country.

Danny and Brett are competing at waterskiing when they discover a beautiful girl in a wig who had been drowned. Their search for who did this leads them to an annoying cop who isn't interested in the case and to an old businessman (Bernard Lee) and his ruthless wife. He's not what he seems, however. Brett and Danny will have to get past the wife and her lover to expose them as the real masterminds behind the "Powerswitch."

I'd been waiting all day for my newest project to arrive. The Wild Wild West came in a large container with DVDs layered over spokes. They were badly organized; if you wanted to get at later discs, you'd have to remove several. The Vega$ and Good Times complete series sets were in cheap paper holders. Though The Persuaders! was in a smaller case, it too had overlapping discs. I moved them all to a bright blue DVD holder I picked up from Amazon last night, along with the home-made Happy Days seasons 7 - 11 discs Lauren sent me for Christmas. 

Worked on writing for a bit after I finished. Mother Nature explains that her son is the product of her having fallen in love with a human several years before. The man has since passed away, but her son survives. He's also a victim of Lady Jacqueline, who is in charge of winter and doesn't see why she should stop being in charge because it's time for the seasons to change...or why there should be any change at all. 

Broke for dinner and Match Game '78 around quarter after 7. They're really skipping around. They started on the week with Helaine Lembeck before heading into former baseball player Joe Garagiola's only week on the show. Also new that week was a nifty but short-lived camera angle that gave us more of a bird's eye-view of the panelists. 

Finished the night at Tubi with the pilot episode of Hart to Hart. Millionaire Johnathan Hart (Robert Wagner) is shocked when a poker buddy of his seemingly commits suicide on the way home from a health spa. He checks into the spa in the hope of finding out what's going on. Turns out his wife Jennifer (Stephanie Powers) had the same idea, only she's investigating the death for her newspaper. Jennifer befriends a neurotic movie star (Jill St. John) who is taking a strange "anxiety therapy." When she dies too, Johnathan begins to suspect that the heads of the spa (Stella Stevens and Roddy McDowell) have more than their client's health in mind. 

Night of the No-Show Blues

Began a cloudy, windy morning with breakfast and Laff-a-Lympics. This time, we started off in Florida, where the Really Rottens actually managed to win the swamp buggy race semi-fairly. That was the last time they'd win anything during the entire episode. They played the cartoon physics game and used two Mumblys during the waterskiing contest, but their attempt at sabotaging the car rally backfired. They did even worse in the rickshaw race in Hong Kong when their vehicle fell apart. Grape Ape won gymnastics by a long shot, while the Rottens made use of a magnet and their octopus friend for ping pong. 

Rushed out to hit Sprouts before my interview and the high school kids got out for lunch. I didn't need much anyway. I was mainly there for produce. Strawberry containers were two for four, while mandarin oranges were two pounds for a dollar. Also grabbed coconut milk and vegan chocolate chip cookies on clearance. The Olipop sodas that are supposedly good for digestion come in some really unique flavors. I never saw banana cream or strawberry vanilla soda before. They were also two for four, so I thought I'd try them.

(And while I haven't gotten to the strawberry vanilla yet, I can vouch that the banana cream really does taste like bananas.)

Rushed home and went online to do some research on Bear Paddle Swim School in Marlton. Listened to that Blues record I picked up last Saturday while I worked. Diplomat was a low-budget imprint in the 50's that mainly seemed to specialize in releasing big band covers of popular showtunes, but they aimed slightly higher here. Side one features a nice "I've Got a Date With Rhythm" by Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan's lovely "It Might as Well Be Spring." Side two is given over entirely to Phil Flowers; his best number is "Walkin' at Night."

Karen picked me up at 12:10. After a stop at the Haddon Township Library so she could use the bathroom, we headed up to Marlton. Trouble is, neither of us know the area well, and we had a hard time finding the school. We thought it might have been in one of the shopping centers or industrial parks. By the time we figured it was tucked away just off the main road in its own building, it was five minutes past 1. 

There was one other car in the lot when we finally arrived. She knocked on the windows and I looked around, but there was no one there. I could see child-sized furniture and a really nice pool area inside, but the doors remained locked. We tried to find someone for ten minutes, but no one responded. Disappointed, we finally headed back out. She drove back through Cherry Hill and Haddonfield, dropping me off at home around quarter of 2. 

Went back out again for lunch to make myself feel better after that mess. Had lunch at Jalapeno's Bar and Grill a few blocks down the White Horse Pike. There were only two other groups there when I came in, college students having lunch with their grandparents in a booth and two friends sitting at a table. At least their table service has gotten quicker over the last few years. The huge and tasty shrimp burrito and salad arrived in no time. 

Stopped at WaWa for dessert on the way back. Tried a small chocolate birthday cake smoothie. Disappointing, compared to the strawberry and vanilla birthday cake smoothies. Didn't taste much like chocolate or birthday cake. All I tasted was sugar. The weather as I strolled home wasn't pleasant, either. It was chilly, gray, and windy all day. It showered lightly while Karen and I drove to Marlton and would continue to spit off and on for the rest of the afternoon.

Went straight into Tick...Tick...Boom! on Netflix when I got home. I go further into this semi-biography of Rent creator Johnathan Larson at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musicals On Streaming - Tick...Tick...Boom!

After the movie ended, I switched to job searching while watching The Wild Wild West. In "The Night of the Infernal Machine," Jim West (Robert Conrad) ends up guarding a judge whose life was threatened by a clockmaker who created some extremely effective bombs. His partner Artie dresses as a chef to get the lowdown on who wants to take the judge out and why.

Worked on writing for a while next. Kathleen is shocked when she discovers the earthy older woman is Mother Nature, who knows her by name. She knows everything that goes on in the natural world, including with humans. She also knows the rabbit, who is not what he appears to be...

Broke for dinner at 7 PM. Ate while watching Match Game '78. Gene kicks things off by admiring Brett's simple black shirt and pearls outfit, which leads into a round of racy Encino jokes. Richard has a rougher time with "Divide and ___" in the Head-to-Head. By the time of the final episode of the week, Gene was combating a sore throat that made him sound like he was swallowing gravel. Richard has more fun playing with Jo Ann Pflug's earring.

Finished the night with another record find from Saturday, the two-disc Benny Goodman All Time Greatest Hits set. I couldn't resist this collection of some of the most famous songs associated with the King of Swing. "One O'Clock Jump" and "Sing Sing Sing" may be the most iconic; other good numbers include "Jersey Bounce," "Don't Be That Way," "A String of Pearls," "After You've Gone," and "Why Don't You Do Right?" 

Sleepytime Angels

Began the morning with breakfast and Charlie & Lola. Lola says "I Just Love My Shiny Red Shoes," but she's grown out of them. She wants shoes that look exactly the same as her old ones and won't consider any other types. Her dad finally chooses brown shoes with buckles. Lola doesn't like them...until her friends at school insist that the jingling buckles sound like ponies when she walks.

It was still raining at quarter after 9 and getting late, so I took Uber. Thankfully, no trouble with them this time. The morning driver came in five minutes; the afternoon driver arrived in nine. No traffic either way, and I arrived at work just in time.

No trouble with work, either. It's the middle of the week and the middle of the month, and we're between holidays. Not to mention, while it didn't rain again, it was still chilly, cloudy, and very windy. I helped an older gentleman chase after his empty bags that blew away. I pushed carts and swept the store with no problems whatsoever.

I was so worn out, I went straight into bed for a nap when I got home. I've been up later recently than I really should have been. I just get so caught up reading online! It's hard to focus when you're looking at one thing, and then you see another interesting topic, and then another. 

When I got up, I did online job hunting while watching Vega$. "Everything I Touch" seems to die when Dan's current girlfriend and her best friend who tried to help him solve the case are both strangled after being with him. His secretary Angie (Judy Landers) may be the next victim of a bearded man who seems to be determined to eliminate every woman in Dan's life.

Switched to Match Game '77 during dinner. Fannie Flagg sat in Brett's seat during the week of New Year's 1977 while she went to visit her son at college. Mary Wickes claimed Brett left her the key to the infamous Encino hotel room in the first episode. In the second, Gene hung up a needlepointed fly swatter someone sent him on the back desks.

Finished the night after a shower with the two-part fifth season opener from Charlie's Angels. Kelly and Kris pose as models after a young lady who worked for a supposedly reputable agency turns up dead in an alley. They're "Angels In Hiding" when Kris acts like a klutz to get into the lower "B" group that gets the lesser jobs. While Kris tries to find out what a creepy older man photographer (Jack Albertson) has to do with everything, Kelly discovers that the dead model's tough former roommate Julie (Tanya Roberts) has been doing a little investigating of her own. 

(Oh, and I put in for vacation time. Lauren will be coming down here for the first two weeks of June. I always look forward to it, and this time is no exception. We'll have time to spread out trips we'd normally bunch together, like the one to the Barrington Antique Center and the Deptford Mall.) 

Jazz On a Spring Afternoon

Slept in again, this time starting the late morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Goofy the Homemaker" wants to make a birdhouse for Baby Red Bird and his mommy. Trouble is, Pete is tired, and the noise with the building keeps interrupting his cat nap. His attempts to cool off or get back to sleep end up blowing down the house! Goofy and the others try their best to find a more stable building material for Baby Red Bird's new home.

Came in for the second half of Press Your Luck. In the first episode, the one guy finally beat the lady from yesterday, landing himself a pool table. The one lady in the next episode screamed so loudly when she got a trip to Paris, Peter Tomarken joked she broke all the lights at CBS. Alas, she hit a Whammy and lost her trip. (And screamed again.) A young man eventually won a speedboat, a trip to Tahiti, and a ton of money.

With the five-time winner having retired yesterday, the field at Split Second was wide open. The first episode came down to the ladies. The one man didn't get anywhere near them. The lady who won opted to continue into the next show to get the car. Alas, she lost to the one guy, who came from behind in the Countdown Round. He said he'd never been to the Bahamas and took the trip instead.

Watched part of Let's Make a Deal before I realized I'd already seen it and headed out for a walk after taking out the trash. I didn't get more than a block and a half before I saw some really nice furniture piled on the curb. I didn't need the pretty blue dresser, but the long, heavy shelves might work for books, or if I could turn it upwards, records. The gentleman was nice enough to help me get it home.

I left it on the porch as I went for my walk. By quarter of 3, it was cloudy, humid, and windy, though not cool like last week. I just strolled around the neighborhood and briefly in Newton Lake Park. It's gorgeous out there now. The roses have debuted, in brilliant shades of pink, red, and orange, and the azaleas are even prettier. Likely thanks to the rain we've had, everything is fresh and green. The leaves get bigger every day. I saw a few people out walking dogs and a mother playing with her tiny toddler daughter in their backyard.

I had a far harder time trying to get that shelf upstairs. It was just too darn big and heavy for me to deal with. After twenty minutes of pushing and pulling that left me with nothing but sore shoulders, I gave up and left it downstairs. I told a friend she could have it, sell it or use it in her own home. 

Spent the next few hours having lunch and watching La La Land. I go further into this hit love letter to jazz and classic musicals of the 50's and 60's at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

La La Land

Worked on writing for a while after the movie ended. The kindly old woman is Mother Nature. She knew Kathleen was going to come. She knows everything about the happenings on Earth. She also knows Kathleen is the only person who knows what Lady Jacqueline is up to, and thus, the only one who can stop her...

Broke for dinner at Match Game '77 at 7:30. Tom Poston, later of Newhart, and Mary Anne Mobley turned up in this episode. Betty ribs Richard in the opening for his crush on then-newscaster Connie Chung. Richard reminds Gene that while Gene is happily married, Richard himself was then single.

Finished the night with recently acquired jazz albums in honor of La La Land while I worked on writing that review. I'm so fond of Ray Conniff's bouncy version of "Younger Than Springtime" on my two Columbia spring records, I thought I'd try a full album with his orchestra. S'Marvelous is a collection of standards from not only the Gershwins, but also Jerome Kern, Rogers and Hart, and Cole Porter. We also get a nice version of the big band standard "Moonlight Serenade" and the then-film hit "Be My Love."

Stan Kenton is probably closer to what most people think of when they hear "traditional jazz." Back to Balboa has some lovely bluesy or rollicking songs that work with the island in southern California that give this album its name. "Rendezvous at Sunset" and "Out of This World" are especially lovely.

The Modern Jazz Quartet was known for their elegant, restrained sound, and we get that in The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays for Lovers. Their version of the classic ballad "All the Things You Are" in the opening is a delight. I also liked "All of You" and a medley of Gershwin songs on side 2.

(Oh, and it did finally start raining around 6 PM. It's been showering off and on since.)

Springtime Games

I slept so late, it was noon before I finally finished with my journal and got going. Started off with breakfast and Paw Patrol. The pups are excited about a major rock star doing a show at Adventure Bay, and Mayor Goodway is ecstatic! They're more than happy to help when a hurricane destroys the stage and strands the singer beyond the bridge. "The Pups Save the Woolf and Roll Show" when Rubble and Marshall go onstage to stall for time. Mayor Goodway is horrified when her chicken Chicaletta is accidentally knocked into a ravine, and it looks like a mother eagle wants her for a snack. "The Pups Save an Eagle" when they rescue Chicaletta and find out why the eagle can't get food for her baby.

Switched to Press Your Luck next while I made my bed. The guys couldn't catch a break here. They kept getting hit with Whammys, including one who lost a car. He hit a Whammy on his last turn, allowing the one woman to pick up trips to Hawaii and Acapulco. 

Let it run into Split Second while I took the laundry downstairs and went through clothes I was thinking about getting rid of. The lady champion just kept winning here. She barely got the first one, then turned down the vacation to make one last try at that car. She was second to the other woman going into the Countdown Round, but she came from behind to win the car outright.

Put the laundry in the dryer while Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was on. Coco the Monkey asks Goofy, Mickey, and Pluto to help pick up coconuts for "Coco's Coconutty Party." They follow a trail of tiny footprints through the jungle, helped along the way by their friends whom they end up inviting to the party, too.

Brought the laundry upstairs and put it away while watching Let's Make a Deal. This one began well, with everyone getting something from the opening deal. Two clowns and a lady went up for the Big Deal of the Day. No one got the deal, but the clowns got a high-end stereo, and the lady got money.

(Oh, and I saw the ads for Buzzr's next marathon during Deal. They've been hinting around online about doing something Price Is Right-related for their annual National Game Show Day marathons in June for at least two weeks. Not only are they celebrating with previously-unseen episodes all month, but the much-requested Bob Barker Price is finally making its way to Buzzr. No wonder we've barely gotten anything new from them since mid-April. I'm guessing the Barker Price will pick up from where the 24 hour Pluto/Roku channel leaves off, likely in the mid-80's right before Johnny Olsen's death.)

Caught most of Super Password while getting organized and having lunch. Richard Moll played with Florence Halop in 1986 to plug the new season of Night Court. Alas, it would prove to be one of Halop's final appearances on television outside of the series. She died just a few months after these episodes aired. At least they played really well, with the contestants and off each other.

Headed out after that to run some brief errands. Dropped a bag of clothes I didn't want, mainly shirts, in the bin behind Dollar General. I ran into one of my old neighbors from Hillcrest inside. At least, from what she says, the people who bought Dad's house are really nice. They apparently take care of the house and have kids who enjoy the pool. I can't bring myself to go back over there, though. It wouldn't be the same.

While I'm no longer angry with Rose over what happened in 2021 and early 2022, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive my stepmother Jodie for her ridiculous and immature behavior. All she did was talk behind my back and Rose's and whine about how no one was respecting her feelings. What about me? The one who had no convenient aunt or husband to run to. The one who had no home of her own and nowhere to go. The one who actually got hurt. What about my feelings? If Jodie calls, I'll talk to her, but I won't be visiting her or initiating contact myself again. 

At least it was a nice day for a quick outing. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and it felt more like a normal day in mid-May, breezy and in the lower 70's without a hint of humidity. I took a longer way across the neighborhood and past the book kiosk down the block going home, passing several dog walkers and kids on their way home from school.

Put on Vega$ after I got in. Dan and Phyllis are horrified when they almost literally run into a teenage girl who appears to have been battered. Her high school counselor (John Fielder) won't give out information, and the girl isn't talking, either. Dan is furious when he discovers someone blackmailing young girls at the school into working as prostitutes for him. A huge convention in Vegas has made a "Demand and Supply" for comely young ladies. He literally puts himself in the line of fire to make sure no other girls get hurt, or worse, after one of their clients end up dead.

Worked on job searching next. Checked The Sun Newspapers and Comcast. I can't find the job section at Sun, and Comcast doesn't really seem to have anything along the lines of what I'm looking for in Philadelphia at the moment.

Worked on writing next. Kathleen is surprised when the rabbit leads her to a kindly older woman. It's Mother Nature herself. She knows all, sees all. She knows why Kathleen is there, and what she wants. She also knows who the rabbit is...

Broke for dinner and Match Game '77 at 7 PM. David "Bosley" Doye made his first appearance in these episodes. He was an old drinking buddy of Brett's, and while he wasn't the best player, he always seemed to enjoy himself. He certainly had fun this week, including watching Gene joke that Richard's military-style shirt made him a member of the Nerdocrumbesian Army.

Finished the night on YouTube after a shower with popular panel game shows. Shows with celebrity panelists trying to guess something about a contestant or help them figure out a question go back a long way on television. Actually, they started on radio with the informal talk/panel show Information Please. That talk-heavy show didn't translate well to the visual TV medium, but other panel shows became the biggest hits of TV's formative years. What's My Line was one of the earliest panel shows to be a hit. An elegant four-person panel tries to guess a contestant's unusual occupation. It ran for 17 years and would prove to be so popular, it would be revived in syndication as a slightly less-formal affair in 1968.

What's My Line was such a hit, it spawned many imitations, including from its creators Goodson-Todman. The Name's the Same had the panel trying to figure out how two people with a famous name were connected, or what famous name the person had. Despite running for five years, this was a little too complicated. Robert Q. Lewis had early fame as the host here; this would also be some of the earliest TV exposure for Gene Rayburn.

Hollywood Squares and Match Game are two more long-runner panel show champs. They both began in the 60's, but while Match Game was a more staid affair for the first two years or so of its existence, Squares was raunchy from the start. The more familiar 70's revival of Match Game has two contestants trying to match slightly liquor-fueled answers to goofy questions from a six-person celebrity panel. The contestants in Hollywood Squares try to figure out whether the folks on a 9-person panel are bluffing or telling the truth. 

I fell in love with the late 90's-early 2000's version of Squares during college. I used to flip back and forth between that and Jeopardy, then stick around ABC for Wheel of Fortune. I vaguely remember the 80's syndicated Match Game, but thankfully (unlike Squares), the vast majority of it survives and is easily found on Buzzr, GSN, and YouTube. I have one of the Tom Bergeron-hosted Squares episodes with Whoopi Goldberg here, along with two Match Game shows from its CBS 70's and nighttime syndicated runs.

Panel games largely vanished in the 1980's and early 90's. They were often too slow-moving, and the celebrities were out of the budget of many shows. One of the few new attempts at a panel show in the 80's was Battlestars. Heatter-Quigley tried this Squares imitation twice in 1982 and 1983, with the wisecracking celebrities in connected triangles instead of squares. Alex Trebek is the host. I have the debut of the revived Battlestars here, with Vicki Lawrence, Jm J. Bullock, and Debbie Reynolds among the panelists.

Wordplay was another good panel show from the 80's. Three panelists help two contestants try to figure out which description of a word is the accurate one. This show was a blast to watch, and Tom Kennedy seemed to really have fun hosting it. It only lasted a year, and I don't think NBC gave it a fair shake. 

There was a minor panel game revival in the late 90's as game shows in general began to make a comeback. Along with the Berganon Squares, Nickelodeon got into panel shows with Figure It Out. Basically, this is Junior I've Got a Secret with slime. Four Nickelodeon celebrities try to figure out what a kid's unusual talent is. Summer Sanders is an adorable host, and both contestants and panelists seem to be very much enjoying themselves. It was so well-remembered, Nick briefly revived it in 2012.

See if you can guess these questions before the celebrity panel does in these hilarious and thoughtful episodes!

The Name's the Same (1954)

What's My Line Syndicated (1970)

Match Game (1976)

Match Game PM (1980)

The New Battlestars Premiere (1983)

Wordplay (1987)

Figure It Out (1997) 

Hollywood Squares (2000)

Of Mothers and Matches

Began the morning with a quick breakfast and one of the many CDs I've picked up recently. Live at the World Cafe has long been a nonprofit venue for local indie bands in the Philly and South Jersey area to get exposure, and it's one of the long-running shows on NPR radio station WXPN. Research reveals that they started releasing CDs based on the series in 1997 and continued to through at least 2019. The only name I recognized is Suzanne Vega, but considering I picked up the CD for free, I was willing to try something different. Along with Vega's "Frank & Eva," other decent numbers include Iron & Wine's "Boy With a Coin," "She Tried to Hold Me" by the Waterboys, and "On Peak Hill" by Stars.

Headed off to work as the CD ended. Though the streets were wet and it was cold and windy, it wasn't raining. I figured I'd be fine taking my bike to work, and I was. It remained cloudy and cold all day, but other than some very mild spitting around noon, it hasn't rained again. 

It wasn't bad at the Acme when I arrived or when I left. People started coming out of church around 11:30-12 to pick up flowers and a nice dinner for Mom. Fortunately, we had plenty of help. There were two people in the floral department and two baggers all day. I did returns, pushed carts, wiped up water dripped and spilled from all those bouquets being bought in the floral department, and helped consolidate buckets of flowers as they emptied. Texted Mom to wish her a Happy Mother's Day during lunch. 

I was so thirsty after work, I thought I'd pick up a treat. Stopped at Common Grounds Coffee for an iced tea. Thought I'd try "Very Berry Matcha," a matcha tea drink with strawberry syrup topped with freeze-dried strawberries. Oooh, yum! Sweet and earthy and just enough berry flavor. The small Very Berry Matcha donut wasn't bad, either.

Changed when I got home and listened to more of my recent CD finds. Since I have a ton of Frank Sinatra, I thought I'd branch out and pick up music from some of the other Rat Pack members. Dean Martin's specialties were laid-back ballads and Italian-flavored dance tunes. I heard a lot of him in college after his lounge-y style made him popular during the neo-swing revival of the late 90's - early 2000's. "Ain't That a Kick In the Head" has always been my favorite from him, though I think the songs most associated with him today are "That's Amore" and "You're Nobody 'Till Somebody Loves You." Other familiar songs here include "Everybody Loves Somebody," "Just In Time," and "Mambo Italiano." 

The Flamingos were one of the earliest popular R&B groups. "Golden Teardrops" was their first major hit. Today, they're probably best-remembered for their heartfelt covers of "Goodnight Sweetheart" and "I Only Have Eyes for You." Other good songs from the early era of rock include "That's My Desire," "Lovers Never Say Goodbye," and another decent cover, "Love Walked In." 

Worked on writing for a while. The rabbit leads Kathleen to a little cottage built into the side of a tree. It turns out to belong to an older woman who was out gathering fruit and vegetables. The lady recognizes Kathleen's bunny friend...and Kathleen herself...

Finished the night with dinner and the Match Game Mother's Day marathon. Mothers abounded on this show, from women like Bonnie Franklin of One Day at a Time and Esther Rolle of Good Times who played them on TV to the real mothers among the panelists and contestants. Jo Ann Pflug and Patti Deustch appeared on the show while pregnant. Patti's son Max and Gary Burghoff's daughter Gina appeared in Gene's arms to open a 1978 episode. This one also featured another TV mom, Hope Lange of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. Elaine Joyce's darling daughter Taylor Van came onstage to show off her Polish dance costume during a syndicated episode. Brett proudly boasted about her pretty twentysomething daughter Leslie in the audience (who looked exactly like a redheaded version of her mother). 

Possibly the most memorable episode featuring a mother was the 1978 episode from the week with Joe Garagiola. The male contestant's pregnant wife was in the audience...despite having gone into labor. The contestant and his wife were pretty much the only people in the studio who weren't nervous about this! Gene and the panelists tried to rush the game along in order to get that mom-to-be to the hospital faster, which led to some pretty strange answers, even for this show. A few weeks later, the couple sent an announcement of their beautiful new baby boy to the show. Richard read the details on the air. 

Match the stars with your mom and some of the funniest mothers ever on television!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Mother's Day Marathon

Oh, and Mom called during the first hour of the marathon. She had a nice, quiet Mother's Day. Keefe, Julia, and Aurora went out to brunch with Julia's family. Mom decided she wanted some peace and opted to stay home. Even as she called, Keefe was making his three favorite ladies burgers on the grill. 

Here's hoping you had an equally fun Mother's Day matching with the mothers in your life!

Harvests and Yard Sales

Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and Charlie and Lola. Lola insists "I Like My Hair Completely the Way It Is" and refuses to get it cut. Charlie keeps reminding her that she can have many different styles and it'll keep it from getting in her eyes, but she still won't do it. It isn't until he finds out what she's really afraid of that he manages to convince her it won't be so bad.

Stopped to pump my tires really fast, then headed out to enjoy the Haddon Township Town-Wide Yard Sale. Though we're technically in Oaklyn, the first sale I found was less than a block from where I am. The man had boxes of records in the back of his driveway, many of them new or nearly-new. I ended up buying five for $10 before moving on.

Found nothing else in my immediate area, so I moved on to the Collingswood Farm Market. It opened last weekend, but I worked early and couldn't get there. They were mobbed with people looking for produce for their Mother's Day dinners and food gifts for Mom. I was surprised to encounter apples at the apple orchard seller. I don't usually see apples until late summer. Otherwise, it was mainly strawberries, green beans, radishes, and asparagus. I bought a pint of early strawberries and a soft whole wheat pretzel ring for a treat and moved on.

Spent the next two hours roaming around Westmont and the Bluebird neighborhood between Collingswood and Cuthbert Road looking for yard sales. And oh boy, did I find yard sales! There were yard sales on every street, sometimes three or four on a block. I had an easier time getting around in Westmont than in the Bluebird neighborhood, which was crawling with cars and kids on bikes looking for bargains. And no wonder everyone was out and about. It was a gorgeous day for riding around, sunny, blustery, and blue, probably in the mid-60's. 

The only place I had no luck was a booth in the Bluebird neighborhood. A grandmother was selling off her CD collection, but someone told her CDs were making a comeback. She wanted way too much money for used copies of Fosse and The Book of Mormon. For the price she asked, I could buy them new, or at least get them in better shape at one of the used record stores. I passed. 

Otherwise, I really hit the jackpot. This was the best I've done with a yard sale run in at least five or six years, maybe longer. Now I'm glad I asked for today off so I could enjoy at least one town-wide-yard-sale day. I came up with nine records, four CDs, and three books. The records are:

Benny Goodman and His Orchestra - All Time Greatest Hits (2-disc set)

Frank Sinatra - A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra

Stan Kenton - Back to Balboa

Ray Conniff and His Orchestra - S'Marvelous

 The soundtrack from the wacky 1983 rock spoof Get Crazy

Blues, a collection of songs from blues artists of the 1950's and 60's

Modern New Orleans Masters, a more recent blues collection from 1988.

Count Basie and His Orchestra - The Best of Basie Vol. 2

The Modern Jazz Quartet - The Modern Jazz Quartet Plays for Lovers

(Incidentally, those last five are the ones that came from the house on the next block over from me.) 

The CDs are: 

Live at the World Cafe - Volume 25: Quarter Notes (Found this one still sealed in a pile of free items on a sheet in front of a house!) 

Dean Martin - Dino: The Essential Dean Martin

Two Time-Life classic rock collections from the same estate sale as the Dean Martin CD, both sealed: 

AM Gold -  The 60's Generation

AM Gold - 1968

The books are: 

Stuart Little, by E.B White

Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle

Treasure Island, by Robert Lewis Stevenson

Had lunch at Reunion Hall, a recently-opened bar in Westmont. It calls itself a "multi-concept restaurant/bar," but it looks like your average upscale bar to me, with a lot of heavy wooden tables and skinny metal chairs. I don't know how long they're going to last in bar-laden Westmont. I ended up at the bar with a Diet Coke and water. Their skin-on fries weren't bad, but the cheeseburger was terrible. It was plainly a puck with basic American cheese added. They didn't even have any lettuce or tomatoes. I guess those are extra. It definitely should have at least come with the fries for the price I paid. 

Primo's Water Ice further down Haddon Avenue was much better. This local ice cream chain carries unique ice cream and water ice flavors and is wildly popular with Westmont kids on their way home from school or sports. In fact, I passed a girl in a Little League softball uniform and her mother enjoying their treats as I went in to get mine. I ended up with a kids' sized cup of Churro water ice. Yum. Sweet and creamy, with just a hint of cinnamon.

I didn't have much cash left after I had my water ice, so I headed for home. Cuthbert Road was busy even for them on a Saturday. I couldn't figure out why as I dodged traffic until I passed the Haddon Township High School. From what I could see, they were having a huge track meet with the Cherry Hill High Schools. The high school grounds were packed. I actually took Haddon Avenue and the back roads home, since I figured the kids would be practicing and running in the park.

After I got home, I changed and went straight into the 1993 Bette Midler Gypsy on Amazon Prime for Mother's Day. I go further into this TV retelling of the beloved Broadway show at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Happy Mother's Day! - Gypsy (1993)

Took an early shower, then worked on writing for a while. Kathleen is surprised to to see how green and beautiful everything is in the tree. She's even more surprised to encounter a lovely older woman who calls herself Mother Nature and seems to know the rabbit intimately...

Finished the night with dinner and tonight's Match Game Classics marathon. Oscar-winner Patty Duke was possibly the most famous star to appear on Match Game during its 70's-early 80's heyday. She began in early 1975 and would continue as a semi-regular through the end of the syndicated run in 1982. Though she could sometimes seem a little lethargic, due to her ongoing battle with bipolar disorder, she generally seemed to have a lot of fun and was one of the more enjoyable ladies to sit in the fourth seat. 

She really loved the time Gene let her read a question in 1977. She got so into it, I'm surprised Gene never let her do something like that again. She saw Charles be the only one to get the Audience Match "Kris __" right in 1976 and was around for the PM episode where Richard gave the winner a huge kiss, only for Gene to try to yank her back. Rich pulled at her arm, and it ended up in a tug of war until she pulled away, claiming that her arms were now longer than they were when she came! 

Patty was one of the few women to sit in all three seats. Though she was usually in the fourth "ingenue" seat in the 70's, by 1979, she'd graduated to the sixth "comedienne" seat. She was on that goofy week in '79 with Bert Convy, Robert Walden, and Audrey Landers. She encouraged Charlene Tilton to show off her barely-there dress in 1980 and protested short jokes when she, Bill Daily, and Charlene weren't exactly tall. She got a brief chance to sit in Brett's seat when she was out doing a play in 1981. A man struck out with "The Royal ___" in the Audience Match later that year by taking his own answer that made a lot less sense than the panelists'.

It's double your pleasure, double your comedy with both sides of this much-loved award winner!

Match Game Saturday Classics - Patty Duke Astin Top Episodes

Flowers On a Rainy Day

Began a gloomy morning with breakfast and the last of the new Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood episodes to debut this week. It's "Pizza Day at School." Dan is delighted when Prince Wednesday is his pizza buddy, but not when he wants peppers on his pie and Wednesday wants broccoli. Teacher Harriet reminds him that it's not only ok to want different things, but you should ask your friends what they like, too. "Daniel and Jodi Like Different Things" when they're at the beach. Daniel doesn't like Jodi squeezing water on him, and Jodi's little brother Leo doesn't want sand in his toes.

Switched to The Busy World of Richard Scarry while I got ready for work. Officer Flo is "Sergeant Murphy's Deputy," who is assigned to help him when he's overworked. Flo reminds me a lot of a fox Judy Hopps. She's just as overzealous about solving cases and handing out tickets, including when she's supposed to be directing traffic. Sergeant Murphy reminds her that her real job is to help the community. "Couscous In the Sahara" finds himself chasing Pepe and his Dirty Rats again. He finally finds a way to corner them while searching for treasure in a pyramid. Mrs. Cat wants Huckle to bring cookies to "The New Kid On the Block," but he drops them on the way there. He's happier to play with Cassie, whom he saw across the street...but she does seem awfully new...

Even as Busy World ended, the rain continued to fall. It was a light shower, cold and windy. This was no day for riding the bike. I called Uber. The driver originally said he would arrive in 5 minutes. I waited for six minutes, then seven. Nothing. When I checked Uber, it turns out the guy canceled a minute before he was supposed to pick me up. Great. Not only did the next driver I got take longer to get there, but I barely got to work on time. Getting home was no picnic, either. He took 12 minutes and was late. Of course, by that point, it was also rush hour, and still showering (though lighter than earlier).

Helping out in the floral department wasn't much fun, either. One of the floral department managers called out, and the other was frantic. She said she wanted me to learn how to do everything right and quickly, but whether it was putting mini-bouquets in a wooden rolling shelf or carrying vases of arrangements out to the displays, I just couldn't seem to do it the way she wanted it done. And all throughout the day, people kept poking their heads in, asking for bouquets in fancy wrapping or huge arrangements. Even the arrangements I did make didn't have enough filler in them. The head manager had to help load rose bouquets into buckets! It was a mess. We weren't even all that busy.

At least I was able to get some grocery shopping done after work. Had online coupons for Made Good granola bars and buy one, get one BodyArmor drinks. Restocked oranges, coconut milk, and yogurt. Found a tray of mini-cookies on the clearance rack I thought I'd try. Needed money for the Haddon Township Town-Wide Yard Sale and the Collingswood Farm Market tomorrow, too.

Got my schedule, too. In good news, three days off. They're all early days again, though, and no floral department work. The head bagger wanted next Friday and Saturday off, so no Farm Market or yard sales next week.  

Finished Flash Gordon when I got home, then worked on writing. Kathleen walks through the old hollow tree, and into a warm and sunny glen. She's surprised when the rabbit leads her right to a charming little cottage owned by a kindly older woman...

Broke for dinner and Match Game '77 at 7 PM. The champ was very pretty, but she didn't show much sense in the Audience Match. She chose the least likely answer to "__ Brains," possibly because Richard said it. Marcia Wallace, Lee Merriweather, and comedian David Lansburg were among those with better answers. She did better in the next episode watching Marcia tell Gene he's "semi-irresistible" and with her answer as to what's the only exercise a heavy drinker gets.

Finished the night at Shout! TV with Mystery Science Theater 3000. Outlaw of Gor is one of the last of the sword and sorcery barbarian movies that were popular throughout the 80's. At least the premise is genuinely interesting. Ordinary guy Professor Tarl Cabot (Urbano Barberini) and his dorky buddy Watney (Russel Savadier) are thrown back to a barbarian-like kingdom in another dimension. Cabot has already had adventures here, including falling in love with Princess Talena (Rebecca Ferrati). Her father, King Marlenus (Larry Taylor), married the scheming Lara (Donna Denton), who has partnered with his bishop Xenos (Jack Palance) to take over the throne. She kills Marlenus and frames Cabot. Cabot and his diminutive friend Hup (Nigel Chipps) flee into the desert, rescuing a girl (Michelle Clarke) from slavery. Meanwhile, Xenos and Lara aren't exactly getting along, as they plot to take each other out and Lara hires a "hunter" (Tulio Moneta) to find Cabot.

I love the idea of dropping a normal guy and his geek buddy in Conan the Barbarian...but unfortunately, this is a Cannon Group production. Watney barely figures into the first half and the last ten minutes and turns on his buddy pretty quickly. The production values range from cheesy to absurd; some of the rock formations in the desert are obviously paper mache, for instance. Palance looks like he's sleepwalking through his role, too. It's a shame, because there's some interesting ideas and things that do work, including the incident with the slave group and Denton as the ambitious and evil Lara, along with an unusually lush and epic score for a Cannon movie. Worth checking out once if you're a fan of 80's sword and sorcery fantasy, with or without robot wisecracks.

The Long and Winding Road

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. "Mickey's Show and Tell" will have each member of the crew showing off their favorite shapes. Martian Mickey arrives with his moving shape pets. After Donald accidentally scares the pets into running away, the rest of the gang has to chase after them while showing off their favorite shapes.

Karen picked me up promptly at 10 AM. I got a text from Bear Paddle Swim School late yesterday. They want to interview me for their job as Front Desk Receptionist! Now I just need to get my schedule tomorrow, so I can tell them when I can take that interview. We also applied for secretarial jobs at Seahawk Services, a marine supply store in Paulsboro, and the Deptford Center health offices.

She was kind enough to drop me off at Sprouts, so I could get some grocery shopping done before the weather got ugly. Honeycrisp apples were $1.77 a pound. Grabbed more Annie's Organic Granola Bars, too, and an orange. (I thought I was out of oranges, but I do have one left for tomorrow.) Found peanut butter cookies on the bakery clearance rack.

Headed to Target next before the high schoolers got off for lunch. Mainly needed to restock my fish oil vitamins here. Picked up thin pads too; had online coupons for disinfectant wipes and Made Good granola bars. 

Had lunch at the Westmont Bagel Shop after I got out of Target. I was greeted by a long line. Thankfully, they were either large groups, or were picking up orders. I was quickly able to get my egg white and vegetable omelet with provolone cheese and Blueberry French Toast bagel. Enjoyed them while listening to 70's and 80's hits on their intercom. 

I originally planned on taking Uber home. It was cloudy, humid, and a bit cooler when I got up this morning. Since it wasn't raining, or even windy, I walked back to Oaklyn. There were a couple of people also out for strolls that I had to dodge on Cuthbert Road. Even the kids at Jennings Elementary a block from Cuthbert were running around their school garden and playground, enjoying the unexpected weather.

Soon as I got back, I put everything upstairs, then went back out again. I mainly wanted to drop my Mother's Day card and gift card for Mom at the post office. Dollar General is a block from there, so I went that way next. Picked up pads for a better price than Target had them and a Coke Zero.

Took out the recycling, then went upstairs to watch Split Second. A young man who had gotten into a car accident less than an hour after getting his license really wanted a vehicle of his own. He won the first episode with no trouble, but missed the car. He was beaten in the second episode by a woman who managed to hold off her attacker in New York before he really hurt her. She just barely beat the kid in the regular and Countdown rounds, but also didn't get the car and opted to return.

I tried to take a nap after that, but despite it not being that hot, it was still really humid. Everything stuck to me. I finally gave up and watched Let It Be on Disney Plus instead. I go further into this documentary on the Beatles' last album and performance as a group at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Musical Documentaries - Let It Be

Since I just finished Let It Be, I listened to the second disc from The Beatles 1967-1970 (aka The Blue Album) for even more songs from this era. Frankly, I prefer the later, more mature Beatles from Revolver onwards to the earlier, less polished work, and these songs are a good example of why. Along with cuts from The White Album, Abbey Road, and Let It Be, we have singles that weren't collected on any other album at the time. John's catchy and frustrated "Ballad of John and Yoko" is my favorite of these. I also like "Get Back," "Don't Let Me Down," and the title song from Let It Be. 

Had a small dinner while watching Match Game '77. Polly Holiday of Alice and Fannie Flagg joined in for this southern-fried week. Charles is nervous when the contestant wants him to do "__ Tubes" for the Head-to-Head, but he's a lot better at that than he gives himself credit for.

Finished the night with the last of my recent record acquisitions. Orson Welles played The Shadow for the first two years of its 17 year run on radio. Ironically, considering he didn't have much to do with the actual show, I tend to find his episodes the most. "The Message from the Hill" and "Murders In Wax" are from the second season of his run, when Margot Stevenson briefly took over as his Margo Lane. 

Superman seems to be a kids' recording of Superman stories from the mid-late 70's, just prior to the 1978 film changing a lot of people's idea of the Man of Steel. The stories feature very little violence, and are mostly Superman scolding or directing some wayward character out of trouble (though The Mole is the villain in the slightly-more violent "P.O Box 65"). "The Mystery of the Mad Minnows" in particular gets a little too heavily into its environmental message as Superman finds out how giant sea creatures turned up at polluted Crystal Beach. These stories are as disco-era as you can get. Clark, Jimmy, and Lois even work at something called "Galaxy Broadcasting," rather than the Daily Planet. 

Oh, and it did finally rain, and rain hard...around midnight-1 AM, when I was long at home and chatting with Lauren. 

Hot for Adventure

Began my morning with breakfast and more new Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Daniel doesn't think a walk in the neighborhood sounds like much fun. "Daniel's Surprising Day" shows our neighborhoods have a lot more surprises around than we think. "Daniel Makes a Surprise" when he and his father decorate rocks for their other neighbors to find and he gives a sick Jodi Platypus a heart-shaped rock he found and decorated.

Headed off to work after that. We were far less busy this morning than we have been. We're past the beginning of the month now, and the weather wound up once again being hot and sunny. I was late doing the 11 AM sweeping because I had to put away cold items someone didn't want. Otherwise, I spent the morning sweeping and pushing carts on a warm and very humid day.

Went straight home after work and into snacks and Let's Make a Deal. Monty started off with letting a cowgirl choose which wallet had a dollar bill. If she could find a dollar, she would go to Paris. She didn't find a dollar, but she did pick up some pretty big money. A construction worker threw in his thousand dollars for the Door 4 Wheel...but alas, it didn't work out well for him. A college student dressed as a sultan did better, also winning money. He and the cowgirl traded in their cash for the Big Deal of the Day. The cowgirl and her cute cowboy boyfriend ended up with some really nice living room furniture that cost twice what she gave up, while the sheik ended up with a fancy blue car.

Rested while watching the original Flash Gordon serial from 1936. Polo player Flash (Buster Crabbe) and his girlfriend Dale Arden (Jean Rogers) join scientist Dr. Alexis Zarkov (Frank Shannon) to figure out why the planet Mongo is on a collision course with the Earth. They run headlong into the evil dictator Ming the Merciless (Charles B. Middleton), who wants to marry Dale and force Flash to fight in his arena. Ming's daughter Aura (Priscilla Lawson) falls for Flash and manages to get him out of several tight situations. Flash does rescue Dale, but even when they flee into Mongo, they discover most of its residents aren't exactly friendly. There's also Aura, who loves Flash, and Prince Barin (Richard Alexander), who is leading a rebellion against Ming. 

Cheesy good fun, this is the ancestor of everything from Star Wars to sci-fi TV shows like Babylon 5. Middleton steals the show as the scenery-chewing galactic villain. Yeah, the special effects definitely show their age, and neither Dale nor Flash are really all that interesting. That doesn't stop this from being enjoyably campy. Your mileage may vary, depending on how goofy you want your space opera to be. 

Applied to a secretarial job for a marine supply store in Paulsboro, then had dinner while watching Match Game '77. Gene got Ira to change his views on one of Brett's answers early on. Later on, there's some debate about which Pole penguins can be found at. (They never seemed to get the hint that they're at the South Pole, not the North.)

Finished the night online watching Danger: Diobolik at Kanopy. Diobolik (John Philip Law) is a master thief pursued by Inspector Ginko (Michel Piccoli). He steals ten million from a bank right under the Inspector's nose, then literally sleeps in it with his lover Eva (Marisa Mell). Ginko enlists gangster Valmont (Adolfo Celi) to help bring Diobolik down, then captures Eva. No matter what he does, Diobolik finds a way out, even faking his own death. The Minister of Finance (Terry-Thomas) desperately sends gold out to mint into money for the country. Diobolik finds a way to get that too, but it literally blows up in his face in the end...or does it?

This Italian-American co-production is about as psychedelic as you can get. From the bold costumes to the increasingly weird action sequences to Law's performances as the eternally cool and collected master thief, this one screams 1968 at the top of its lungs. I think it's supposed to be a spoof of the James Bond movies and Batman, but it's a little darker than either of those, with its weird anti-villain fighting against bland cops. Even with his short screen time, Celi does come off slightly better than he did earlier in Thunderball, while Mell does just fine as Diobolik's lover. Worth checking out if you want to see a truly unique action film from the 60's or are into the mid-late 60's Bond imitations. 

Here Comes the Sun

Began the morning with breakfast and one of the three new Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood episodes that debuted this week. "Daniel and Miss Elaina Put Their Things Away" when Elaina can't find her mitten to go outside and Daniel loses his toy trolley. Lady Elaine and Mrs. Tiger remind the kids that when they put their things away, they can find them again. Likewise, "Daniel and Prince Wednesday Put Their Things Away" after Prince Wednesday leaves the comic book his brother Tuesday made him outside and it gets wet.

Switched to Help! after Daniel ended in honor of Disney Plus putting out Let It Be tomorrow for the first time since the 1980's. I went further into their second movie, a wacky comedy about Ringo being chased by an Indian cult that wants to sacrifice him, at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Help!

Did a little writing while the movie was on. Kathleen tells the rabbit that they're going to need shelter, and fast. The snow is getting worse. The rabbit leads her to a gnarled old tree in the middle of the woods. She protests that she can't fit in the roots...until the rabbit presses a knot in the bark and leads her through a door into a very different world...

Broke for lunch at 1 PM. Split Second was a very close game! The young man tied with yesterday's champ when I got upstairs. It came down to the Countdown Round, where she managed to get all the answers for one question at once. She didn't get the car and once again opted to return.

Headed off to work after that. Once again, I wish I hadn't. Although work wasn't as busy today, probably due to the sunny and hot weather, there was a lot going on. Displays were lined up in the frozen aisles on unused registers, due the floor having just been polished. The head bagger got called to work the self-checkout lines, so I had no help. I was told to clean the men's bathrooms because there was a problem. There was no problem. Someone forgot to flush. I got into trouble for accidentally signing the sweep in twice. I couldn't remember if I did it the first time or not. They're very strict about how the sweeps are signed in and when. 

Needless to say, I rushed home fast as I could after that. Took out the trash, then went straight in the shower. Had leftovers for dinner while watching Match Game '77. One of the men in the audience claimed he'd give them $100 to be able to kiss Eva Gabor. He got his kiss...then admitted he only had 10! Gene called him one of the great con artists. 

Finished the night working on my review for Help! and listening to more of the records I've acquired lately. The Robber Bridegroom was a country musical based on a novela by Eudora Welty. It was on Broadway twice in 1975 and 1976; the recording is based on the '76 version. Jamie Lockhart, the Robin-Hood like title character, is a bandit in 17th century Mississippi who poses as a landowner after he rescues the wealthiest man in the county from far more incompetent thieves. Clement Musgrove hopes he'll marry his pretty daughter Rosamund. Rosamund, however, is enamored by the bandit after he steals her dress. Jamie would love to have her for a sweetheart, but he's not that interested in marriage. Meanwhile, Rosamund's scheming stepmother Salome just wants her out of her hair for good.

I love fairy tales, and while I'm not the biggest fan of country music, I did enjoy this. Jamie has two enjoyable numbers, "Steal With Style" that explains his way of taking riches from unsuspecting rich folk, and the ballad "Love Stolen." Rosamund's best number is "Nothin' Up" as she complains of the work she has to do when Salome sends her to gather herbs. Salome has fun with her "The Pricklethorn Pear." 

Though neither of the Broadway versions ran for more than two months, I have heard this tends to do better in regional stagings. If you're a country fan or love fairy tales like I do, the cast album is worth hearing once for some decent songs and robust performances. 

Bernadette Peters' self-titled album is from 1980...and boy, is it obviously from the tail-end of the disco era. Songs like "Heartquake" and "Chico's Girl" definitely have a disco beat to them, with lots of synthesizers and dance beats. Some of the songs on side two have dated a little better, including a rather nice version of "You'll Never Know."