Of Doctors and Eagles

Got a quick start today with breakfast and Bluey. Bingo is "The Doctor" when the kids all play hospital at school. Honey, a beagle, wants to see Bingo, but she keeps getting pushed aside for patients with alligators on their heads. She finally gets Bingo's attention when she cheers up the "patients" in the "waiting room" with her goofy routine.

Even with rushing out to Collingswood Family Medicine, I was still three minutes late. No matter. There was no trouble after that. I had a perfectly normal check-up with Dr. Jessica. First of all, the coughing and itchy throat I've had for weeks is allergies, a reaction to this dry and dusty weather. I'd pick up allergy medicine later in the day. I intend to put off the colonoscopy until after the holidays. This is no time to be going on liquid diets and having people stick things in your body. Had no problems with getting a flu shot, though. Otherwise, I'm doing just fine. Won't need another appointment for six months.

Had lunch a few blocks down at Sabrina's Cafe. They were so busy at 11:30, they put me in the back dining area. I had "The Pumpkin King's Spooky Stack" of pancakes, Pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon swirl, streusel topping, and cream cheese drizzle. Oh, yum. Tasty, but so decadent, I couldn't finish a little bit. 

Did my grocery shopping next. I didn't need a ton of food anyway. Restocked yogurt, probiotic soda, bagels, and granola bars at the Westmont Acme. Sugar Bee apples and yogurt were on good sales, so I grabbed those. Grabbed more dried cranberries from the bins, Zevia soda, and grapes at Sprouts. The pumpkin chocolate chip cookies were so good, I bought a box even though they weren't on sale. 

Finished out the first season of The Monkees when I got home. "Monkees at the Movies" are extras in a cheesy Beach Party imitation featuring obnoxious romantic lead Frankie Catalina (real-life teen idol Bobby Sherman). When the Monkees' antics drive Catalina off the production, they push for Davy to be hired in the lead role...at least until his ego gets even bigger than Catalina's. It's up to his friends to bring their diminutive British buddy back down to Earth.

"Monkees On Tour" takes a different route as we get a Bob Rafelson-directed documentary about what the guys do on the day of their concert and the concert itself. I don't mind the cute footage before the concert (especially the guys on horseback and Davy chasing a swan), but I wish he'd shown as much of the concert as he could get away with instead of constantly cutting away to meaningless bits from the guys. The concert looks fabulous, especially Peter going to town on the banjo in "Cripple Creek." (And people still say the guys couldn't play their own instruments?) 

"Monkees In Manhattan" are in the Big Apple to star in a Broadway show. First, however, they learn that the young producer is about to be kicked out of his hotel room and do everything they can to stall the manager and hotel owner. After the backer drops out, they dress as wealthy men and go across the street to a millionaire's club to find a new "angel." 

And that's that. I generally prefer the wilder and more creative second season, but there's certainly no shortage of fun episodes in the first season too. "Monkees On the Line" is probably my favorite, followed by "Monkee Mother," "One Man Shy," "I've Got a Little Song Here," and "Monkees at the Movies." I will say that, in all honesty, a lot of the first season hasn't dated terribly well, including two episodes ("Son of a Gypsy" and "Monkee Chow Mein") with heavy stereotypes that you'll want to discuss with younger kids before and during viewing. On the other hand, this one also has episodes that are more appropriate for little guys like "Don't Look a Gift Horse In the Mouth" and the pilot. 

I'm going to say, for older kids on up, show them the first season initially to give them a good idea of the characters, then dig up their first two albums and Live 1967 online or at your local record store. Either way, this show is still a blast to watch, especially for classic rock fans and real teens and young adults who'll get a kick out of seeing young people controlling their own destinies and taking care of each other.

Switched to South Pacific after The Monkees ended. I go further into this massive 1958 retelling of the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein show with Mitzi Gaynor as Nurse Nellie Forbush at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

A Salute to Mitzi Gaynor - South Pacific

Worked on the inventory for a while after that. Added Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, The Producers, and Ragtime. I seem to remember picking up The Producers when it came out on a trip to the Freehold Raceway Mall while visiting my (now-ex) boyfriend in 2002. I also got Ragtime when it came out, way back in 1999.  Rent was a  yard sale find in 2019. The other two came from thrift shops and record stores within the last year.

Broke for dinner and Match Game Syndicated at 7 PM. Some of the funniest episodes of the entire syndicated run came during the week with Phyllis Diller and Fred Grandy, including the one where Charles claims he can stand in for Gene...right before Gene is accidentally "electrocuted" by the faulty question holder! "I'd never take over a part that badly acted," Charles quips into Gene's microphone while the host is still on the floor.

Moved to Amazon for the Thursday night game between the Eagles and the Commanders next. The Commanders were up for most of the first half, leading 10-6 at halftime. The Eagles almost always play better in the third and fourth quarters. They were sensational in the fourth quarter in particular, roaring back to win 26 - 18. 

Finished the night with more music I've acquired lately. Soundtrack and film of A View to a Kill, the last Roger Moore James Bond movie, are very, very 1985. While the dynamic Duran Duran title song would be the biggest hit number from a Bond movie until Skyfall in 2012, John Barry's score is pretty standard stuff. Some of the music from action sequences brings out the best in this weird film, including the climatic "Golden Gate Fight" and "Destroy Silicon Valley."

Listened to Bruce Springsteen's The Ghost of Tom Joad next. This may have been too dark to see the kind of success his 80's and early 90's albums got in the US - it just missed the top 10. It's his first primarily acoustic album in over 15 years...and really, his most depressing. The slow, folksy ballads sound all alike. It was certainly too dark for most people in the mid-90's, but its folksy sound might wear better now. "Straight Time" and "Across the Border" are the best of a very similar lot. 

Angels In the Ring

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Daniel's excited when the Tiger family takes his little sister Margaret to the Clock Factory for "Margaret's First Chime Time." On the way, they encounter more of their friends and discover what they do with their families. "Tiger Family Fun" includes picking fruit at the Enchanted Garden and having it for dinner afterwards.

Hurried off to work even before the episode ended. I needn't have rushed. Work was dead for pretty much the entire morning and early afternoon. I spent the time sweeping and gathering carts. At least I had a nice, cool day to do it it. While it remains dry and sunny, it's also much colder and windier, barely in the 50's. It feels a lot more like fall now. Not to mention, we're between holidays. It probably won't pick up again until people start thinking more about shopping for Thanksgiving dinner next week.

Soon as I got home, I changed and put on The Monkees. The guys do a little bell ringing of their own when "The Monkees On the Line" get a job at an answering service. They're not supposed to get involved with the clients, but Mike tries to stop a girl from what he thinks is killing herself, Davy brings a message to a cop who doesn't appreciate it, and Peter mixes up messages given by gangsters placing bets.

"The Monkees Get Out More Dirt" when they all fall for the same girl who owns a laundromat. Of course, since the girl is played by Julie Newmar, Catwoman herself, one can hardly blame them. They each take up hobbies to impress her, then drop them when she becomes overwhelmed and insists that Peter be the one to date her.

After The Monkees ended, I made this year's Christmas lists. No, it's not what I want. It's what I'm giving. The first list had what I've bought in the past month and a half, the people I still need to get gifts for, and those who are getting gift cards. The second was my Christmas card list. The third is a list of cookies and candies I'll be making. I'll be diving into that Christmas Is Coming craft book I picked up earlier this year that also includes recipes. Since my peanut butter fudge didn't come out very well last year, I'll make simple mints instead. I'd like to try that "chocolate yum yums" recipe that uses a devil's food cake mix and replace the nuts with candy cane bits.

Ran the Peanuts Thanksgiving specials while I worked. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving has Chuck upset because Peppermint Patty invited herself, Marcie, and Franklin over for dinner. Patty doesn't appreciate the meal of toast, popcorn, pretzels, and jelly beans that Chuck, Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock threw together, until Linus reminds her of the real history behind the holiday.

The real history behind the holiday also comes up in "The Mayflower Voyagers," an episode of This Is America, Charlie Brown. The Peanuts, Snoopy, and Woodstock are pilgrim kids and animals on that fateful voyage to the New World. They face nothing but hardship on the voyage and once they arrive at Plymouth, including the deaths of more than half the settlers during an especially harsh winter. After Natives Squanto and Massasoit show them how to farm the land, they have such a bountiful harvest, they invite the other Natives for a feast of Thanksgiving.

Lay down and rested while watching Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Boxer Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery) wasn't supposed to die in a plane crash. His spirit was dragged out by an overzealous angel (Edward Everett Horton). The angel's boss Mr. Jordan (Claude Rains) insists that he still has 50 more years to go and can return to Earth. That would be a lot easier if Joe's heartbroken manager Max Corkle (James Gleason) didn't have his body cremated, forcing Joe to search for another body.

Jordan finally talks Joe into entering the body of a murdered millionaire after he sees what the jerk did to sweet and lovely Bette Logan (Evelyn Keyes) and her father. Not only are the millionaire's wife Julia (Rita Johnson) and scheming secretary Tony (John Emery) shocked to see him alive, they're even more upset when he releases Bette's father from jail and repays the man's investors. He even manages to convince Max that he's ready for that final bout he never got to. Even when Tony interferes and forces Joe to find another body, he still manages to win the big fight and get the girl.

This is an oddly charming story (and would be again under the play's original title Heaven Can Wait in 1978 with Warren Beatty). The ghost business and talk of murder is a little on the macabre side, but this mostly plays it for comedy. Claude Rains is a great debonair Jordan, while Montgomery has his own fun as the prize fighter determined to get back in that ring, even if he has to do it in someone else's body. This and Heaven Can Wait are both equally recommended and equally enjoyable.

Worked on the inventory after the movie ended. Added the original cast of Pippin and and the Rogers and Hammerstein flop Pipe Dream. Pippin was a find at the Haddonfield Library's book sale in September 2016. Pipe Dream came from Abbie Road two years later.

Watched Match Game Syndicated during dinner. I don't know what got into everybody, but some of these episodes were pretty wild. We had Charles claiming he was a cowboy, leading sing-a-longs, and arguing with Brett over repeated answers. One of Joyce's stories about her answer get so long, everyone literally just walks off the set! This upset Joyce a great deal, to the point where she looked like she might cry, but Gene and the others got her calmed down. Then there was the audience from outside Atlanta who cheered whenever someone mentioned Georgia.

Finished the night with streaming offers. Kris has a lot more than an "Angel On My Mind" on Charlie's Angels when she witnesses a man kill the owner of a restaurant...and is promptly hit by a car and loses her memory. Bosley and the other two Angels search for her while she wanders on the beach, trying to remember who she is and what she saw.

Arlo Guthrie's appearance on The Muppet Show is the closest that series got to a Thanksgiving episode. They play off his folksy songs and demeanor by setting everything at a farm with backwoods folks. The Swedish Chef keeps trying to make Thanksgiving dinner, but none of the creatures he wants to cook appreciate the idea! There's also the cows tap-dancing to "Elegance" and Fozzie's poem recetation getting interrupted by Gonzo's tango to "Hernando's Hideaway." 

In the Cool of the Afternoon

I overslept, so I got a really quick start this morning. Watched an episode of Bluey while having a fast breakfast. Bluey, Bingo, and their cousin Muffin are thrilled when their daddies give them a "Horsey Ride" in the backyard. Bluey's a lot less happy about her younger cousin Socks biting into her favorite toy. They hold a horsey wedding (to the annoyance of their fathers) to distract her.

Rushed out to this week's appointment with Dawn and arrived ten minutes late. Ironically, it turned out Dawn got stuck in traffic and was twenty minutes late. She came after me. No matter. I did manage to apply for a receptionist job at Inkling Storm Design in Cherry Hill. Trouble is...while I know I don't want to work in healthcare or in schools unless the job is year-round, I don't know what I do want to do. All I know is I want to write or organize or edit, and do it in something that isn't health care or retail. 

We were checking the online job search sites for so long, it was almost noon before I went across the street to the Westmont Plaza to run errands. I was hoping to find more cookie boxes and cards. No dice anywhere. I'm disappointed that neither Dollar Tree nor Target has boxes of cards or boxes for cookies. I did pick up a container for the cookies I'll bring to the Acme next month, a really pretty Thanksgiving cards for friends who are having a rough time right now, and gift card boxes at Dollar Tree and gift cards for Anny and Keefe's birthdays, evaporated milk, dark brown sugar, and pie crust at Target, but not what I was originally looking for.

Went home after I got out for lunch and The Monkees. "Monkee Chow Mein" is one of the more problematic episodes today. This parody of Fu Manchu "Yellow Peril" stories has Peter accidentally taking a fortune cookie with a piece of a doomsday formula when the guys are at a Chinese restaurant. Not only is the CIS after the formula, but so is Dragonman, a very stereotypical Chinese agent (played by white man Joey Foreman in Asian makeup, though he does have goons who are actually Chinese). His men accidentally kidnap Micky, then Peter when he goes after him. It's up to Mike and Davy to rescue their friends and make sure the formula ends up in the right hands.

The reason I bought the milk, pie crusts, and brown sugar at Target was for a recipe I found online that I wanted to try. I love apple butter and thought apple butter pie sounded simple and tasty. I skipped a step with the store bought crust...but didn't have any weights to keep it down and didn't want to use up the uncooked rice. The crust did puff up in the middle. At least the filling came out much better, maybe a little too sweet. I think I might use less brown sugar next time. Once I got it into the pan, it looked much better, and tasted fine when I got it out.

Since it was a one-crust pie, I decided to try something simple. I spread apple butter on the other crust, cut them into triangles, and rolled up the triangles to form crescents, then baked them with the pie. Not bad. Should have added more apple butter, or maybe sprinkled the tops with cinnamon or sugar.

Listened to two of my jazz records I've picked up recently while I worked. Country Preacher is really more blues and R&B as Cannonball Adderly performs some of his own songs and a few African-American standards at a concert for "Operation Breadbasket" in 1969. Although the title song was good, I liked the truly unique "Afro-Spanish Omelet," a mix of African sounds like "Umbakwen" and the more Hispanic "Soli Tomba." 

Charlie Parker's Greatest Hits go further back. No clue when this actually came out, but most of the songs sound 40's-50's. Parker went in for a much cooler sound in be-bop and rhythm numbers like "Move," "Cool Blues," "Round Midnight," and "Star Eyes." 

Went back out around 3:30 while the pie cooled to run two more errands. Dropped the last Thanksgiving card for my friends at the post office, then went further down to Dollar General. There were only three eggs left after I made my pie. Grabbed a carton of eggs, then waited in line while a cashier tried (and failed) to reload a man's phone card. He ended up sending him down the road to CVS.

And actually, the other reason I went out was to enjoy a blustery, chilly day a bit more. It really feels like fall now. The wind blew something fierce, making any leaves that hadn't already fallen come down faster. This time, the sun wasn't enough to overcome that biting wind. I needed my heavy coat for the first time since at least early April.

Put on The Monkees again after I got home. The guys end up with a "Monkee Mother" after their landlord Mr. Babbitt (Henry Cordon) insists on them taking in a border who will actually pay. Millie Resnick (Rose Marie) is a good-hearted, loud-mouthed widow who feeds them and willingly listens to their rehearsals, but also smothers them. Hoping to get their home back, they nudge her towards a relationship with the moving man who helped carry her furniture.

Switched to Bloodhounds of Broadway next. I go further into this Damon Runyon story in honor of the late Mitzi Gaynor at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

A Salute to Mitzi Gaynor - Bloodhounds of Broadway

Worked on the inventory briefly after the movie ended. Added the original cast of Once On This Island, the 2006 Harry Connick Jr. revival of The Pajama Game, and the 1950 studio cast recording of Pal Joey with Vivienne Segal and Harold Lang. I found Pal Joey at the Collingswood Book Festival in 2019 and Island at the FYE in Philly around 2015, but Pajama Game was originally part of a Connick Jr. box set with another show. I have no idea where that came from anymore.

Switched to Match Game Syndicated during dinner and afterwards. Robert Donner and Betty Kennedy made their first appearances during this week. Brett and Charles spent most of the week making fun of her jewelry and his hats and silly accents.

Finished the night working on my review and listening to two of the rare cast albums I found last week. Tenderloin is the story of a crusading preacher who sets his sights on cleaning up "The Tenderloin," the New York slums in the late 1800's. Shakespearean actor Maurice Evans is an odd choice for this melodramatic and relatively dark show. Ron Husmann does better by the show's only hit song, "Artificial Flowers." 

High Spirits also flopped in the early 60's, but is otherwise a very different show. Beatrice Lillie plays a daffy medium who accidentally brings up the ghost of the first wife (Tammy Grimes) of a man (Edward Woodward) whose second wife (Louise Troy) is already tired of hearing about her. Oddly, despite this being based on a Noel Coward play and directed by him, he didn't do the music. That would explain why songs like "You'd Better Love Me" when the first wife returns and the patter number "The Bicycle Song" for Lillie are only ok. 

Salute Your Toons

Began my Veteran's Day with material from Colliers Harvest of Holidays. The major piece here is the sad and touching "The Singing Tree." Three soldiers traveling across burned-out fields during World War I come across a still-living apple tree filled with many kinds of birds who lost their homes and take comfort from their singing and camaraderie. There's also a few World War I-era poems, including "In Flanders Field." 

Did the material for Book Week (which is this week) as well. "The Library Lady" from All-of-a-Kind Family makes me appreciate that my siblings and I were usually careful with our library books and never lost them. Middle sister Sarah is terribly upset when she loses a library book, but the sweet young librarian knows just how she can pay for it. "Rufus M" wants badly to take out a library book, but the less-understanding librarian insists he can't until he learns to write his name. He throws himself into practicing, then sneaks in over a coal pile to show her.

Put on a couple of the Donald Duck World War II shorts while I got ready to head out. From 1942 through 1944, Donald Duck appeared in a series of shorts that mainly had him as a soldier in training to cranky Sergeant Pete. In "Donald Gets Drafted," he's swayed by the glamour of being a pilot, but the reality sets in when Pete singles him out and makes him stand on an ant hill. The follow-up short "Sky Trooper" has an annoyed Pete finally send Donald into the air as a parachute jumper. Needless to say, this is not how Donald wanted to fly, but he never expected to get Pete involved when he grabs a missile on the way out!

"The Vanishing Private" is my favorite of Donald's military-themed cartoons. Don finally gets the best of Pete when he's told to make a cannon "hard to see" and covers it in an invisibility paint. After he's doused with it too, he leads Pete on a merry chase around the base. "Der Fuehrer's Face" is a surreal Oscar-winning nightmare that has Don as a factory worker trapped in Nazi Germany. Along with the wild propaganda imagery, this features a catchy theme song that later became a hit for comic band Spike Jones and His City Slickers. "Commando Duck" sends Donald into enemy territory, as he proceeds to wipe...no wash...out the enemy.

Since it was past 12:30 by this point, I called Uber. They're getting stranger and stranger. Now you have to give the driver some kind of code after you get in the car in order for them to proceed. At least he arrived in five minutes (less than the 7 listed) and, even with taking the long way through Collingswood, got me to the Cherry Hill Barnes and Noble in less than 20 minutes. (After accidentally driving around the back of the mall. I didn't realize they'd opened more stores behind the luxury condos, including a Costco and a cookie shop. Never heard of Duluth Trading Company; might check them out after the holidays.) At least the weather remained sunny and warm, in the upper 60's, and breezy. 

The Cherry Hill Barnes and Noble is the smallest of their stores in South Jersey. It has toys, but no CD/DVD section. I did see some mysteries I might look for after the holiday season, but my main interest was Christmas shopping. I walked out with two board books for my 2-year-old niece Aurora, a Daniel Tiger lift-the-flap Christmas story and a board book version of the Richard Scarry short story I am a Bunny. Since I got a coupon for $1 off a drink at the cafe, I tried their Chestnut Praline Frappuccino. It was a little sweet and a little coffee-tasting, but it did have hints of nuttiness and bits of brown sugar.

Had lunch at Panera Bread in the front of the mall next. Considering there's usually a long line, I only had to wait five minutes for my half a tuna sandwich, tomato soup, and crusty roll. The soup was spicy and thick, the salad messy and tasty. In fact, the salad actually tasted rather good mixed into the soup. The roll was even better dipped in the soup. The croutons on top tasted better mushed into the big tomato pieces. Had this with unsweetened iced tea.

Since it's also in the front mall stores, I went to Hallmark after lunch. I was mainly there for cards. Got one for my brother Keefe's birthday next week and a few Thanksgiving cards, along with a box of a Christmas card assortment. Picked up two packages of cookie gift boxes buy one, get one half off. Grabbed candy for Lauren and two gifts for Lauren and Amanda. 

Rushed to Starbucks next to make change for the bus after I remembered banks are closed on Veteran's Day. Just grabbed a sparkling water really quick and asked them to give me four quarters for one of my dollars. Fortunately, the bus stop is directly in front of the Hallmark. The bus was about ten minutes late, not bad for the start of rush hour. It did run into traffic on Cuthbert Road, but there were otherwise no problems. I was home by 4:30. 

Did a few more Disney war shorts as I got organized. Goofy's first short was "Victory Vehicles," a look at the variety of creative vehicles one could use to get around wartime shortages. (And I have to agree with Leonard Maltin. The song "Hop On Your Pogo Stick" really is catchy.) "How to Be a Sailor" starts as a more typical Goofy short, with him exploring the history of seafaring. The brief finale with modern soldiers, however, gets Goofy into the war as he's shot out to the enemy! 

Mickey Mouse didn't really figure into Disney's World War II shorts, but he did do one black and white military short in 1929. "The Barnyard Battle" pits him and all the mice on the farm against a group of big and nasty Hun cats. Mickey may look skinny, but he can use his wits to turn piano keys into bullets and take these giant pussy cats down.

Puttered around online next, including adding On the Town and the stage version of Once to the inventory. Had dinner while watching Match Game Syndicated. The first three episodes featured Holly Holstrom, Joyce Bulifant, and Gary Burghoff. Holly in particular had fun in these, showing off her Texas cowgirl hat and fending of Gene's advances while admiring the accent of a charming British contestant. Dick Martin stuck around for the last episode, which also featured Elaine Joyce, George Kennedy, and Betty White. Charles was so impressed with a pretty contestant, he claimed to be a modeling agency ready to hire her.

Finished the night on YouTube after a shower with the second Family Feud Armed Forces week. From 1989 through 1991, the five branches of the Armed Forces battled it out on the show to see who would take home the most money for the charity of their choice. In 1990, for the second year in a row, the Army and the Marines made it to the championship...and once again, the tough-talking Marines managed to march their way to the top prize, even though they were lousy at the Fast Money round.

Honor those who fought for our country just as the wars in the Middle East began in these hilarious episodes!

Day #1: Army Vs. Navy

Day #2: Air Force Vs. Marines

Day #3: Coast Guard Vs. Army

Day #4: Coast Guard Vs. Air  Force

Day #5: Marines Vs. Navy

Day #6: Championship - Army Vs. Marines

When the Rains Finally Came

I slept in so late, it was afternoon before I finished my morning reading. Since I don't often have Sundays off, I decided to celebrate with banana pancakes for breakfast. Had them with black grapes and coconut milk mixed with coconut milk eggnog. Best breakfast I've had in ages. I ate them on the front porch, enjoying the strong wind and relative warmth.

Listened to patriotic records while I had breakfast for Veteran's Day tomorrow. Yankee Doodle Mickey is a Disney collection of either patriotic songs like "God Bless America" or songs from their own movies with American themes, like "The Liberty Tree" from Johnny Tremain. A very young Molly Ringwauld can be heard on "This Is My Country" and "God Bless America." My favorite number is the Armed Forces Theme Medley, with Mickey singing for the Air Force and Marines, Goofy for the Army, and Donald, of course, for the Navy.

America the Beautiful is a collection of patriotic songs compiled by Reader's Digest in 1987 in honor of the Statue of Liberty's 100th anniversary. "This Land Is Your Land" and "God Bless America" turn up here as well (the latter performed by Kate Smith), but it's mostly instrumental pieces. I like the full "Grand Canyon Suite" and "American Patrol." There's also the Boston Pops George M. Cohen medley that you can clearly hear people singing along with in the background.

Went for a walk after I cleaned up the dishes and got dressed. I'd never been so happy to see it cloudy in my life. In fact, it was cloudy, blustery, and much cooler, just barely in the 60's. Finally felt more like fall. I celebrated by stopping at WaWa for a treat. They must have just put out their Christmas season flavors. I tried the Peppermint Bark Smoothie. Too sweet, but very minty and very Pepto-Bismol pink. It really did taste like liquid peppermint bark.

Headed down the road to the Environmental Center next. There's steps that lead down to Newton Lake Park alongside the path, but they're really steep and scary. I think I'll stick to the path going up the hill from now on. The park was much nicer. There were a lot of people out enjoying the weather before it gets colder tomorrow. The park's really pretty too. The leaves are turning brilliant shades of gold and scarlet now that gleam against the sparkling waters.

After I got home, I stripped the sheets and blankets off my bed and took them downstairs with my laundry. Listened to George Shearing while I worked. I Hear Music is one of his rare albums to feature vocals, in this case on "It's Easy to Remember" and "When Lights are Low." I also liked "I Wished On the Moon," "Love Is Just Around the Corner," and "My Silent Love."

The Eagles played inter-conference rival the Dallas Cowboys today. I didn't see the game because it was on Fox, but apparently, they absolutely steamrolled them at their own home stadium, helped by their star quarterback Dak Prescott being out with a major injury. Checked the score throughout the evening and was thrilled to see them flatten the wayward Cowboys 34 - 6. 

Spent the rest of the day finishing the laundry, making the bed again, having dinner, and watching today's Match Game marathon. The channel 's owner honored Veteran's Day by focusing on MASH cast members who appeared on the show. Gary Burghoff, who played Radar, was probably the most frequent. He sat in for his teacher and mentor Charles Nelson Reilly from late 1974 through mid-1975 while he was out directing a Broadway play and appeared off-and-on through 1981, well after he'd left the show. Loretta "Hot Lips" Swit made her earliest appearances in one of the first weeks of 1973. She appeared fairly frequently through 1975, after which she disappeared until 1977. She would turn up sporadically through 1980.

McLean Stevenson probably got the most out of his time on the show. He started a bit later in 1973, and though he only turned up off and on, became one of the wildest semi-regulars. You never know what he'd do, whether it was chase Gene around the studio or grab Richard for a smooch or lean over to help a lady Betty White held up to kiss him. He took Richard's place in the fifth smart guy seat from 1980 through 1982 and proved to be almost as hilarious there. 

Gary and McLean made their last appearances on Match Game in The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. Gary only did one week, but McLean was something of a semi-regular here as well. Also putting in one week were three cast members who weren't seen in the 70's Match Game, Larry Linville, William Christopher, and Jamie Farr. Farr turned up on the Game Show Host week with Chuck Woolery and Arlene Francis, where he traded nose jokes with Jon Bauman. 

Play along with the members of the 4077th, whether they're in Korea or Burbank, and honor our real-life men and women who fought and died for our country in this long and very funny marathon!

Match Game Sunday Night Classics - MASH Cast Members On Match Game

Oh, and around 10:30, I went to the window...and saw wet streets. It was FINALLY raining. It's rained off and on ever since, though it seems to be off right now. 

Really Truly Autumn

Began the morning with breakfast and Sergeant Deadhead. I go further into this wacky war comedy with Frankie Avalon as the title solider who is always in trouble and the smoother look-a-like sent to replace him with his fiancee at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Saluting Our Veterans - Sergeant Deadhead

Rushed off to work before the movie ended. I wish I hadn't. Work was a pain in the rear today, especially early-on. We were busy for most of the afternoon. At one point, I was trying to sweep and put cold items away and get the carts done at the same time, and then a lady and a cashier got mad when I tried to clean up a macaroni spill. I just ended up crying from being overwhelmed. The lady apologized later, but I still felt bad about the whole thing. 

It wasn't until it finally started slowing down in the last hour and a half or so that I was able to catch up with the carts. No wonder everyone was out and about. It was a beautiful day, sunny and blustery and nothing resembling as warm as it has been, a more normal for this time of year upper 50's-lower 60's. It's even supposed to rain tomorrow night.

Hurried home after work and straight into the shower. Finished Sergeant Deadhead while eating dinner, then ended the night on YouTube with tonight's Match Game marathon. "Leading Ladies of Hollywood" was the theme, though the marathon actually began with a Leading Lady of Broadway, Ethel Merman. Merman's fellow stage star Nanette Fabray made an appearance early on in 1973. Jamie Lynn Bauer and Trish Stewart were Leading Ladies of Soaps. Gene literally yanked Stewart off her seat in her episode! She wasn't hurt, but Brett and Kaye Stevens chewed Gene out for not being careful. 

Louisa Moritz was seen twice in 1975 and gave a very controversial answer in her first appearance. Elaine Joyce also made his first appearance early in 1973, sitting next to her husband Bobby Van. Gunilla Hudson of Petticoat Junction shows off the writing on the back of her trousers in her episode. Price Is Right models Janice Pennington and Anitra Ford appeared on two separate weeks in 1976.

See how some of the most glamorous women in Hollywood and New York did on the show in this hilarious marathon!

Match Game Saturday Night Classics - Leading Ladies of Hollywood

Beautiful Day for Toons

Began the morning with breakfast and the Superman cartoons made at Paramount during World War II. Given the tenor of the comics at the time, it was probably inevitable that Superman would fight the Axis on the big screen as well. "Japoteurs" has Superman saving Lois and an experimental bomber that was captured by terrorists. "The Eleventh Hour" features wonderful, shadowy animation and a mature plot with the enemy holding Lois until Superman stops sabotaging them. "Jungle Drums" has Superman rescuing Lois from being burned at the stake by African natives, then stopping the Nazis who intend to send bombers to attack an Allied fleet. Superman also helps a "Secret Agent" get important papers to Washington when he rescues her from a burning bridge.

Headed out after the cartoons ended. My first, brief stop was at WaWa for Propel water. It was too nice of a day to hang out inside. Though it wasn't as warm as it had been and the strong wind was much cooler, it was still nice enough to get out and enjoy a ride. Had lunch at Simply Soups in Audubon. I hadn't eaten there in a long time. Enjoyed a cup of chicken orzo soup and half of a grilled chicken with spinach and mandarin oranges wrap at a chrome table in the wide, sunny picture window. 

It was past 1:30 when I finally made it to Barrington Antique Center. They were a lot busier than usual for them. I forgot that not only is this a holiday weekend, but the kids are already off for the NJEA convention. I explored for over an hour, but I didn't really find a whole lot. Picked up a pretty vintage journal with a purple flowered fabric cover and home-made cranberry thumbprint cookies for me and a cute ornament for Amanda.

I had thought of going to the House of Fun, but it was past 3 when I finally got out. I wasn't crossing Clements Bridge Road during rush hour. Rode back under the highway and past Stanfill Manor and Towers and the Atlantic Avenue School to Haddon Heights instead. Hit the bathroom at the Haddon Heights Library quickly after I got in. Didn't see anything interesting on their sales shelves, so I moved on.

I didn't initially see anything interesting at Doc's Finds, either. Not only do their rock albums tend to be expensive, but I was wary of them after the mix-up with the Rolling Stones album a few months ago. I did pick up gifts for Lauren, but I didn't see anything for me until I looked under the main record racks. Apparently, they're so strapped for space in there, that was the only place the owner could fit the soundtracks and cast albums! I dug through the piles and came up with some doozies:

The soundtracks for The Pink Panther and A View to a Kill

The original cast albums for the flop early 60's musicals The Happiest Girl In the World, High Spirits, and Tenderloin. Happiest Girl and High Spirits feature star turns by Cyril Ritchard and Beatrice Lille and Tammy Grimes respectively, while Tenderloin has some of the earliest work by later Fiddler On the Roof songwriters Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock. All three are fairly rare, making it ironic that they came to $5 each.

My last stop was at Market Links for one of their tasty smoothies. I went with the PBC, the peanut butter and cocoa with almond milk, oats, and honey. Not bad. Not very sweet, and kind of chewy with the oats, but not bad. Cold and wet, which is what I needed after my ride. They weren't busy. Doc's hadn't been, either. And no wonder. By this point, it was past 4:30, and the traffic was getting worse. I headed home down the back roads just as the sun started sinking slowly on the horizon.

Went straight into The Monkees when I got home and put everything away. The Monkees don't know what to think when a pretty young reporter chooses them as Typical Young People of the Year and wants to write about them for a prestigious fashion magazine. They're "Monkees a La Mode" when it turns out that the the head of the magazine (Patrice Wymore) and her photographer is so unimpressed by their antics and turn in a fictional article on them. After their friends are insulted, the guys turn the tables.

Micky Dolenz gets quite a surprise when the LAPD reveals he is identical to incarcerated gangster Babyface Morales and they want him to contact his boys and find their loot. It's "Alias Micky Dolenz" when Micky first gets into a brawl, then is corralled by the gangsters to retrieve their money. It gets even scarier when Peter and Mike are forced into the theft, too.

Spent the next hour or so working on the inventory. Added everything I found today, plus You Only Live Twice from earlier in the week. I've been looking for those three cast albums for a while now, especially Tenderloin. (There are times when I'm really glad that most of the people buying records around here seem to be more interested in classic rock and jazz than show tunes. It's likely why I've been able to find some cast albums for mere pennies at some yard sales.)

I also got my schedule at this point. Surprisingly, I got not only Veteran's Day off, but Sunday as well. I guess they figured they'd have plenty of college students around to help them those days. I do work Friday this time, though I'm off Thursday for a doctor's appointment. I was also disappointed to note that a lot of the week between Christmas and New Year's had been blocked off (though not the actual holidays). I may end up taking those days off and using up my vacation time from New Year's through the end of that week. 

Broke for dinner and Match Game Syndicated. Charlene Tilton spent her week fending off a drooling Gene Rayburn and Bill Daily. Jon "Bowser" Bauman was more interested in playing his own songs on a toy piano and showing off the plastic chains on his leather jacket. Poor Patty Duke complained about feeling more like Thelma Ritter with Charlene on the other side of the tier!

Finished the night with more classic wartime shorts featuring beloved cartoon characters. Superman wasn't the only Famous Studios character who fought in World War II. Popeye was drafted before the US even entered the war in "The Mighty Navy." Most of his wartime shorts had him either fighting the Japanese, as in "Fleets of Strength" and "Blunder Below." or fighting Bluto for Olive's hand, as in "Kicking the Conga Around" and "Olive Oyl and Water Don't Mix." Swee'Pea isn't content with the toy boat Popeye gives him. "Baby Wants a Battleship" and will wander all over said ship until Popeye uses spinach to retrieve him. He's not saying "Many Tanks" when Bluto dumps him in the Army before a date with Olive and steals a tank to get him back to her. "Spinach Fer Britain" is his only go-around with the Nazis as he dodges their submarines and takes food to England.

The Looney Tunes threw themselves even harder into World War II propaganda. Their wartime shorts fell into three categories. There were the ones featuring regular characters like Bugs ("Herr Meets Hare") and Daffy ("Daffy the Commando"). A subset of these were shorts with one-off characters, like the "Gremlins from the Kremlin" in "Russian Rhapsody" who sabotage Hitler's plane and "The Draft Horse" who desperately wants to do his part on the front. 

The second types were allegories on how we'd gotten into the war ("The Duckinators") and how we intended to get out ("Third Column Mouse"). The third were sketch comedies about life in the barracks. "The Weakly Reporter," on life at the home front, is my favorite of these. I love how one woman fixes an entire factory with her bobby pin. "Hollywood Canine Canteen" parodies the real-life Hollywood Canteen and other serviceman hang-outs staffed by stars with dog parodies of popular 40's celebrities. We even get Warner Bros' first major cartoon star Bosko honoring World War I as "Bosko the Doughboy." 

My favorite wartime shorts were the utterly insane trio directed by Bob Clampett that are among the best to feature Daffy and Bugs. "Super Rabbit" has Bugs eating a carrot that gives him superpowers. He makes use of these powers to stop a rabbit-hating cowboy and his horse from attacking local animals. When push comes to shove and they finally gain powers, Bugs dons the uniform of a real hero...a Marines officer. 

"Draftee Daffy" goes into panic mode when he gets a visit from the annoying "little man from the draft board." He does every single thing he can to get rid of the guy, but he's remarkably persistent. Daffy thinks he's finally gotten rid of the guy in the end, but it turns out this little fellow can go many places, including down below.

Bugs is a "Falling Hare" when he catches another gremlin sabotaging an Allied plane. He tries to get rid of him, but for once, one of his antagonists can give as good as they get and isn't so easy to fool. The rabbit really goes crazy when they end up in a free fall...but they may not have enough ration coupons left to make the trip. 

Warm Day of the Wind

Began the day with breakfast and The Scooby Doo Show. The kids are having a beach party when they're attacked by "The Creepy Heap From the Deep," a huge lobster-like creature with one eye and seaweed hair. They retreat to an old home on a cliff, where a captain tells them the spooky tale of a creature that steals souls. After it appears that his soul was taken, Shaggy and Scooby are ready to flee...until the kids find a submerged submarine and a very modern ship and wonder if there isn't more to this fish story.

Headed out after that to run errands at the Westmont Plaza. I went to Dollar Tree for soap, but I ended up getting it at Target, since I needed vitamins, too. That was probably a mistake. Dollar Tree had more selection at better prices. Had trouble at Sprouts, too. I didn't realize the cheaper manager's special cookies weren't part of the buy one-get one deal. I ended up with snickerdoodles and salted caramel chocolate chip. Also grabbed more Nixie diet soda and Bob's granola bars. Coconut milk eggnog was on the same good sale as regular coconut milk. I really liked the coconut milk eggnog I had last year. Grabbed more black grapes here, too.

Got to the Haddon Township Library just as Dawn was walking into the building for today's job counseling session. We didn't have a lot of luck. She applied to a job as a clerk in Philly's judicial system. I applied for communications representative for an advertising firm in Philly, office clerk for a call center company, and an office administrator for a waste management business in Cherry Hill. I really wish she hadn't applied for a secretarial job with a healthcare company in Cherry Hill. I've told her and Karen a thousand times, I have neither knowledge of, nor interest in healthcare. 

Headed down the hill to the Westmont Acme after we finished. For one thing, the bathroom at the Haddon Township Library was out of order, and I needed to go. Restocked bagels, yogurt, and granola bars here. They were also having good sales on cookies. I went with oatmeal raisin. Picked up three Olipop sodas, and more women's wipes and cough drops. (The last-named were buy-one, get-one.)

Went home through Newton Lake Park. It remains sunny and too warm for this time of year, but the heavy, blustery wind was chilly enough to keep things relatively cool. After ducking around lots of folks going for walks, I finally pushed my bike up the path over the hill under a bower of golden leaves. Stopped at the pretzel shop on the way home for a cheesesteak-stuffed pretzel and two regular pretzels for lunch.

Had lunch and put everything away while watching The Monkees. "Monkees at the Circus" create a fictional act to help a small-time circus that's having trouble paying its performers. The guys are ready to turn tail when they realize that their made-up aerialists are being built up into the star act, but Davy has fallen for the owner's daughter and insist that they find a way to make the show go on. (Look for Micky's references to the series he started as a child, Circus Boy, throughout the episode.)

"Captain Crocodile" is a far less benevolent clown, a nasty parody of the kids' show hosts that were popular on local TV stations from the mid-50's well into the 90's. He's convinced that the Monkees are there to steal his thunder and turn his equally mean mini-fans on them. When the guys prove they're popular with all age groups, it's the Captain who finally shows his true colors. 

Put on Diplomaniacs net. I go further into this truly lunatic political spoof featuring RKO's star comedy duo Bert Wheeler and Robert Woosley at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Diplomaniacs

Threw on the 2003 Strawberry Shortcake after the movie ended. Strawberry's first letter from "The Friendship Club" takes her via hot-air balloon to Pearis, France. She first meets her pen pal, Crepes Suzette, and her poodle Eclair after her balloon crash-lands. Suzette has the habit of being overly dramatic, which doesn't help when Custard, Pupcake, and Eclair run all over the city and get lost. Strawberry has to calm Suzette's panic and help her find all three pets, fix the balloon, and even stop a runaway city bus.

Worked on the inventory next. Managed to finish the Ms and Ns with Monty Python's Spamalot, the original Julie Andrews/Rex Harrison My Fair Lady, the stage musical versions of My Favorite Year and Newsies, and the 1971 No, No Nanette revival. Spamalot came from Abbie Road in 2018, but the other three go much further back. I'm pretty sure I picked up My Favorite Year on Amazon in the early 2010's when I couldn't find it anywhere else. No, No Nanette was another cast album find at Borders during my college years. I have no clue where I picked up My Fair Lady anymore. 

Watched Match Game Syndicated during dinner. Anita Gillette, Bart Braverman, and Debralee Scott joined in this week, Anita for the first time since 1973. It became pretty obvious why she took so long to return when she proved to not be the best player. They have more luck helping a nice old lady with "___ and Young" and giving everyone hugs, even the people who didn't answer the question.

Finished the night with more recent CD and record finds. Jump Up! from 1982 isn't one of Elton John's better-regarded albums today. It did spin off the dreamy hit ballad "Blue Eyes" and the touching tribute to John Lennon "Empty Garden," but most of the other songs are only so-so. "Dear John" and "Princess" are the best of an ok lot.

The North Jersey-based R&B and soul group The Rascals was one of the most popular bands of the mid-60's. "A Beautiful Morning" is my favorite of their hits; "Good Lovin'" is probably the best-known today. Other familiar songs include "You Better Run," "In the Midnight Hour," and "Groovin'."

While the Chinese-set You Only Live Twice is far from my favorite Sean Connery James Bond film, it does have a rather nice score by James Barry and an attractive title song performed by Nancy Sinatra. Though some of the music features Asian notes like chimes, most of it is standard Bond jazz/orchestra music of the 60's like "Capsule In Space" and "A Drop In the Ocean."

The Complete Birth of the Cool features four of the earliest live performances by Miles Davis and his band. On one hand, there's a lot of repeat music between the two halves of the CD, including a repeat vocal number, "Darn That Dream." Not to mention, Davis still has more than a little big band sound in him at this point. On the other hand, this gives us his vocal evolution in numbers like "Moon Dreams," "Deception," "Boplicity," and "Why Do I Love You?" (the last-named from Show Boat). 

When You Need a Laugh

Began the morning with breakfast and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. It's "Daylight Savings," but the clock tower is stuck, and no one knows what time it is! Huckle and Lowly go to the tower to see if they can help Mr. Tick-Tock fix the clock. "Eager Beaver" is a solider in Switzerland who just wants to have fun. His grouchy commander wishes he'd focus on his work...until Eager invents ice hockey, and even he has a good time. Mr. Frumble takes his car through the brand new "Pickle Car Wash," but ultimately decides he'd rather clean it himself.

Headed off to work after the cartoon ended. No real trouble for most of the day. In fact, we were dead up until the last hour. It was a gorgeous, sunny day in the middle of the week and between holidays. Most people are probably waiting for Veteran's Day Weekend or closer to Thanksgiving to go shopping. No major problems other than I got annoyed when I couldn't plug an electric cart that died in at the floral department - the manager was worried she'd be blocked - but no one would help me drag it to the other side of the store. I had to do it myself.

I was so frustrated about the electric carts, I took the long way home. It was still really busy around the entrance to Audubon Crossings and the Hispanic church. Once I got past them, the ride was smooth sailing the rest of the way. Neither Nicholson Road nor the White Horse Pike were busy. I mostly just wanted to cheer myself up and enjoy that beautiful, warm weather. It was in the upper 70's by 2 PM.  I didn't even need a coat. 

When I got home, I changed, then put on The Monkees. It becomes "The Case of the Missing Monkee" when a renown scientist vanishes after a talk, then Peter disappears after getting a message about his kidnapping. The other three search a hospital for their vanished hippie friend, then try to figure out how to rescue the scientist from the agents who want to smuggle him out of the country.

"The Prince and the Pauper" crosses "Royal Flush" with the Mark Twain novella of that title. In this case, Davy's double Ludlow has to get married before his 18th birthday in order to ascend the throne, but he's deathly afraid of girls. Davy flirts with a pretty girl Ludlow's interested in the hopes of getting them married, while Micky and Peter help Ludlow with his shyness and Mike tries to figure out what Ludlow's scheming uncle is up to.

Switched to the classic comedy Ball of Fire while resting. Professor Bertram Potts (Gary Cooper) is the head of eight professors writing an encyclopedia. He's supposed to be the one in charge of grammar, but realizes he knows nothing about modern slang when a garbage man (Allen Jenkins) comes around asking questions to help him win a quiz. He does his own research in a local nightclub, where he becomes fascinated with the slangy speech of singer Sugarpuss O'Shea (Barbara Stanwyck). She agrees to join him when she needs a place to hide from her gangster boyfriend Joe Lilac (Dana Andrews), who wants to marry her to keep her from testifying against him. 

The last thing Sugarpuss expected was to end up liking these goofy little old men or to fall for Bertram. She uses them to get to New Jersey to marry Joe, to Bertram's horror. Truth be told, Sugarpuss really has no desire to marry Joe anymore, but she has to go through with it to save the Professors...until Bertram, the professors, and their garbage man friend find a way to turn the tables. 

No wonder this is so highly regarded. It's a hilarious modern take on Snow White. While Stanwyck does do well as the gangster's girl who thinks she's just laying low, but ends up really liking these cute academic guys, who knew Gary Cooper would make a great love struck linguistics professor? Andrews and Jenkins also stand out as the menacing gangster and garbage worker who just wants a few answers to his questions. Highly recommended for fans of screwball comedy, director Howard Hawks' other comedies, or the fast-paced comedies of the 30's and 40's. 

Worked on inventory for a little bit after that. Just had time to add the London stage version of Mary Poppins and the Sondheim revue Marry Me a Little to the list before dinner. Poppins came from a church yard sale in Oaklyn over a decade ago. I think Marry Me might have been an Abbie Road find. 

Broke at 6:30 for dinner and Match Game Syndicated. Buzzr is really skipping around now, all the way back to the syndicated show. Bill Daily is thrilled when a crowd of likely drunk UCLA students really take a shine to him, but Gene Rayburn is right that these unruly kids seem to have more in common with the cast of Animal House than anyone who would admire Bill. Meanwhile, Betty White is upset when she has to give an animal answer as to which animated character the Galloping Gourmet would cook.

Finished the night at Kanopy while job searching with another vintage comedy. Clumsy bellboy Stanley Belt (Jerry Lewis) is roped into being The Patsy when he's recruited by a group of comedy writers and managers as the next big thing after the comedian they work for dies in a plane crash. They try to give him singing and dancing lessons and teach him how to deliver a joke, but he's hopeless. Only Ellen (Ina Balin), the youngest member of the group, believes in him. He keeps rising in the ranks, from a hit recording to nightclubs to The Ed Sullivan Show, thanks to what show business insiders see as a refreshingly direct personality - he's just being himself. The others are willing to bail out when they fear he might bomb on Ed Sullivan. but Ellen is still willing to back him. 

On one hand, Balin is charmingly sweet and exotic as the secretary who is the only one that really believes in Stanley, and among the writers trying to turn Stanley into a star are Phil Harris, John Carradine, and in his last role, Peter Lorre. We also get a wide variety of Hollywood insiders in cameos, including Hedda Hopper when the writers try to get her to report on Stanley for her gossip column, Hans Conried as the singing teacher whose antiques are destroyed by Stanley's clumsiness, and the real Ed Sullivan announcing his own show. The story's pretty smarmy, though, and Lewis' pantomime doesn't nearly reach the heights of his previous dialogue-free vehicle The Bellboy. While not the worst thing Lewis ever did, I'm still going to say this is mainly for fans of his or those who are into Hollywood in this era and will recognize the cameos.

You're Not Elected In New Jersey, Charlie Brown

Began the morning with breakfast and Doc McStuffins. "Doc McStuffins Goes to Washington" when she's one of several kids who are invited on a tour of the White House by then-first lady Michelle Obama. She tries to help a stuffed otter who has gotten damaged, but chases after her instead when she goes looking for her owner. "Winded Winnie" is a toy tiger that's supposed to blow up balloons, but is having a hard time creating wind. Doc discovers she has dust in her tubes after having been in the attic for a long time and teaches her about how asthma works in humans and why it's important to clear out one's lungs.

Headed out after the cartoon ended. First of all, I'm going to say that I intend to keep my voting and my politics private. I don't really think personal politics are something that should be discussed in a public arena. I'd rather listen to people on both sides of the political divide. 

Second, I headed to Collingswood for a stroll, some Christmas shopping, and to enjoy a beautiful day. Stopped at Collingswood Music first. I only had a few minutes to check them out during the Book Festival last month. They and Innergroove are also among the very few stores in Collingswood that are open on Tuesdays. (Collingswood Music only closes on Mondays.) They still have a lot of really good Bond soundtracks, and I dug up an interesting jazz collection, too. I came up with: 

The soundtrack from You Only Live Twice

The Rascals - Time Peace: The Rascals' Greatest Hits

Riverside: The Soul of Jazz - 1961

Headed a few blocks down to Groove Ground Coffee House. I was hoping they'd have pastries or sandwiches, like Starbucks and Common Ground. All they had was an egg sandwich on a bagel, so I took that on a spinach bagel with bacon and a frozen hot chocolate. The frozen hot chocolate was sweet, and the sandwich was filling, at least. They were the quietest I'd ever seen them, even for 1:30 in the afternoon. Two college students and an older couple who seemed to be regulars came in as I ate. I also fished the soundtrack from The Fabulous Baker Boys out of their record racks. 

Made my way across the street next to pick up a drink at WaWa. Ended up with a Mountain Dew Baja Blast Zero. Stopped at the little bath shop a few doors down to look at Christmas gifts. Ended up getting a little something for Lauren and Amanda. 

Made my way down to the Collingswood Library next to look at their books for sale. I found another recent American Girl cookbook, this one revolving around Christmas baking. Trouble was, I forgot I gave my last paper dollar to Groove Ground as a tip. I had to dig out change instead. 

After that, I figured I'd better go home, before I did something else wrong. Opted to take the long way across Newton Lake Park, past the mimosa trees and the field and where the playground used to be. It was too nice to not linger a little bit. The sun was still shining, and it was a little too warm, in the mid-70's, but windy enough to keep me cool.

Went straight upstairs after I got in and put on Hallelujah, I'm a Bum. I go further into this unique political semi-opera from 1933 with Al Jolson as the leader of a group of homeless people in New York who falls for a mysterious young woman at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog. 

Election Day Special - Hallelujah, I'm a Bum

Switched to political-themed sitcom episodes while finishing the dusting and wiping down the windows and electronics. Mike runs for "Monkee Mayor" in The Monkees when the current mayor condemns the homes of their neighbors to build a parking lot. The corrupt construction owner Mr. Zecknbush thinks he can buy Mike out, but Mike ends up being the one who really wins when he admits the truth.

Richie learns how politics works when he falls for a girl who is campaigning for Democrat Adelai Stevenson in "The Not-Making of the President" from the second season of Happy Days. Staunch Republican and Eisenhower fan Howard Cunningham is shocked at his son changing sides. He's ready to mock  his attempt at a political rally speech...until he realizes Fonzie is giving the speech for the opposing side.

"The Election" is nothing but a headache for the cops on Barney Miller. They're all trying to get to the polls, but keep getting called back by half the loonies in New York doing the same thing. A shoplifter asks to be released so he can vote, and a housewife (Brett Somers) threw a toilet out the window because her husband wouldn't let her vote Republican.

It's "Carlson for President" on WKRP In Cincinnati when Arthur runs for city council. He looks like a lock, until he accidentally blurts damaging information about one of his competitors on the air during a debate. He's so upset about it, he tries to throw the election.

The Peanuts have their own problems on the campaign trail in You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown. Lucy's polls show that Chuck has no chance of becoming school president, so they nominate Linus instead. He's ahead in the polls, until he starts in on his favorite subject, the Great Pumpkin. Even later, he learns that making campaign promises you have no intention of or ability to keep may get you that big title, but they won't make you terribly popular once you're there.

Finished the night after a shower with more of the CDs I've picked up recently. Flora the Red Menace was Liza Minnelli's first big role, along with one of the earliest scores by John Kander and Fred Ebb. All their embryonic talents are on display in the story of an art student in the early 30's who joins the Communist Party after she falls for a guy who's also involved. This is really strange, but Minnelli stands out in two good songs, the lovely "A Quiet Girl" and the big finale "Sing Happy."

I've come to appreciate the genius of jazz pioneer Miles Davis over the past few months, listening to his music late at night on YouTube.  The Best of the Capitol/Blue Notes Years collects some of his most popular early work for the labels. Some of the better numbers here include "Dear Old Stockholm," "Tempus Fugit," "It Never Entered My Mind," and "Somethin' Else." 

Dolls In the Autumn Sunshine

Got started with brunch and PAW Patrol. Mayor Humdinger steals Farmer Yumi's honey and bee hives when he wants honey for his crumpets and won't wait for it to be ready. The "Pups Save the Honey" when the bees get loose and chase Humdinger out of his cave hideout. Mayor Goodway is upset when two seagulls steal her purse with her beloved avian pet Chickaletta inside. It's a team effort when the "Pups Save Mayor Goodway's Purse" and rescue Chickaletta from a dunking at the beach.

Headed out to run errands after the cartoon ended. I've been coughing like crazy for over a week now. I have no idea why. I otherwise feel fine. Went to Dollar General first and picked up a birthday card for my sister Anna (it's Sunday), toilet paper, two more of those moisture eliminators, and an Oreo Coke Zero when my throat got dry. Grabbed cough medicine at CVS, along with Christmas ornaments for Amanda and Lauren.

Strolled across Oaklyn and down to West Clinton for lunch. Opted for a spinach-feta pastry, a raspberry "chuffin" (a cinnamon roll baked in a muffin pan), and an unsweetened peach iced tea for lunch at Common Grounds. They were really busy, too. I was barely able to find a seat. It seemed to be mainly college students chatting or working on laptops.

Took the laundry downstairs when I got home, then put on The Monkees. "The Audition" has the guys trying to audition for a big-time producer after they fail to get an invitation to his office. What they don't know is, he's looking for them when his secretary plays a tape they made of Mike's "Sweet Young Thing." The guys do everything they can to get into him, while he does everything he can to find the band with that great sound. The episode ends with a genuinely interesting interview discussing a series of riots in LA over curfew that Micky Dolenz witnessed in real-life. (And Davy Jones makes an equally-good point that no one will listen to him, as he was under 21 - barely 20 - at the time.)

Pulled out the dolls' boxes to dress them for November after the episode ended. Samantha, Molly, and Josefina wear the outfits they originally came in. Molly is in her argyle sweater and blue skirt with saddle shoes, Sam's in her mauve checked dress with black boots, and Josefina is in her red and brown print skirt. I have a hard time squeezing Felicity into her blue and yellow brocade dress (the outfit the most recent version of her doll came in), but she looks so pretty in the silky turquoise and gold print that it's worth it. 

Jessa's in the original "modern" magenta leggings and denim vest from 1995 and the AG flower print long-sleeved T-shirt from 2004 with Springfield Collection denim sneakers. Ariel wears the beaded flared jeans from the 2004 meet outfit with a blue and teal square-necked peasant blouse and the tan boots Whitney originally came in. I love that soft red flower print dress with the attached cardigan I found for Whitney at the Cottage Resale Shoppe two years ago. It's so soft and comfy, I wish it came in grown-up sizes (without the attached cardigan). Kit's thick brown knitted cardigan and plaid wrap skirt came off eBay. Barbara Jean looks elegant for school in her black and magenta mini-dress with the white top, black velvet collar, and soft red-violet jacket, with black velvet strap shoes borrowed from Jess.

Listened to the Rolling Stones greatest hits albums I picked up last month while I worked. Hot Rocks 1964-1971 is the better of the two and is in slightly better shape. You can't argue with some of their best and most famous work, including "Gimmie Shelter," "Satisfaction," "Paint It Black," "Under My Thumb," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and a live "Midnight Rambler." Despite the scratches, I'll hang onto this one.

Not only do I think More Hot Rocks (Big Hits and Fazed Cookies) isn't as good of a collection, the albums and their covers were in terrible shape. All four the albums were rather badly scratched, but this one had skips, too, and the covers had obviously gotten wet at one point and were badly stained. Despite having a few good songs (among them "She's a Rainbow" and their version of "Not Fade Away"), this isn't worth keeping. I'm going to leave it with the trash tomorrow and be more careful about buying records from overpriced antique shops in the future.

Brought the laundry upstairs to put it away, then had dinner while watching Match Game '78. They're really skipping around now. Richard Dawson finally left by this point, replaced here by cheerful David Doyle and ever-rhyming Nipsey Russell. I'm a bit surprised Gene couldn't figure out the top answer for "__ of Steel," even though he was around when a certain superhero in a red cape and S first debuted.

Finished the night at YouTube with game shows revolving around movie and TV trivia. Movie trivia shows apparently go back to radio, where any station could ask its audience questions about the latest hit film at the neighborhood theater. One of the earliest on TV was Bank on the Stars, which had contestants trying to remember what happened in clips from recent films. I dug up an early episode of its second run hosted by Bill Cullen. 

Most movie and trivia game shows tended to be simple, cheap affairs, like The Movie Game from 1969. Contestants teamed up with two celebrities to answer movie questions. In the second round, the celebrities would act out clues to a person or movie that the contestant would have to guess. Dick Martin and Dan Rowan at the height of their Laugh-In fame are joined by Greer Garson and a young Sharon Farrell. Nothing earth-shaking, but the game play was fun.

The Hollywood Game was designed for summer night's viewing. This is basically movie Jeopardy, with the contestants answering questions from categories and the fourth round involving them guessing an answer and betting on the response. The bonus round had contestants guessing nine pictures in a category. An obvious imitation Jeopardy, with Bob Goen hosting, likely intended to be summer prime time filler. No wonder this would be the last nighttime game show until the short-lived Big Deal in 1996.

Beat the Geek on Comedy Central in 2001 was a lot more fun. Three contestants answer questions tossed out by "geeks," men and women who specialize in certain facets of pop culture such as movies, TV, or Simpsons episodes. The second round has the contestants and the Geeks facing off against each other answering trivia. If the contestant answers more questions correctly than the Geek, they get the Geek's medal. Winner faces off in a category against a Geek. Yeah, if you know pop culture like these guys, you'll probably get as much of a kick out of this as I did.

Comedy Central wasn't the only cable channel who tried to get in on the movie trivia games...but AMC and PAX struck out with their chintzy efforts. The Movie Masters on AMC in 1989 had Gene Rayburn in his last show hosting a panel answering movie trivia questions for home viewers. PAX's The Reel to Reel Picture Show from 1998 was based on (and made to sell) a Canadian board game. This time, a contestant and a celebrity worked together to answer a series of questions from randomly chosen subject. The bonus round had them answering a question that revealed a clue to a famous movie or person. Winner got a trip, or they were supposed to. The company that produced the show went belly-up after five weeks had been filmed. No one got paid (including host Peter Marshall), and most didn't get their prizes. 

MTV was far better-equipped to handle pop culture trivia games. Their first game show, Remote Control, had three college kids strapped into recliners answering TV and music trivia. The last kid standing (literally, given the other two are dragged into the walls) finishes the show by guessing which singer performs in a series of quick music video shots. The series was developed and hosted by Ken Ober, playing a geek living in his mother's basement with his strange friends (including a very young Adam Sandler). This was a big hit in the late 80's and remains a blast to watch today, especially if you know anything about 80's music or TV trivia.

The syndicated Couch Potatoes from 1989 was very similar, only here, two teams played on a bright-colored set made to resemble a living room of the time. Marc Summers is the host asking TV trivia questions, with Joe Alaskey as his announcer neighbor. I remember getting a kick out of this when I caught it on USA later in 1989, and the amusingly informal game play makes it still really fun to watch today.

Beat these pop culture geeks and test your knowledge of movies and TV with these tough trivia shows!

Bank on the Stars (1954)

The Movie Game (1969)

Remote Control (1988)

Couch Potatoes Pilot (1989)

The Movie Masters (1989)

The Hollywood Game (1992) 

The Reel to Reel Picture Show (1998)

Beat the Geeks (2001)