Let Yourself Go

Began the late morning with breakfast and Little Bear at Paramount Plus. I used to love this show in college, when I'd watch it in the mornings before classes, and I'm glad to see it again. We start off with "What Will Little Bear Wear?" Little Bear claims he's cold, so Mother Bear makes him clothes for the snow. When he remembers he has fur to keep him warm, he finds a better use for his new clothes instead. Sweetly silly Duck can't quite get the hang of "Hide and Seek," so Little Bear helps her. "Little Bear Goes to the Moon," at least in his imagination, when he jumps off a hill and pretends he's landed in space. His mother is more than happy to play along.

I was going to go into Collingswood today, but...though the streets were clear when I finally got rolling today, some of the sidewalks were still icy, and it was very cold. It was cloudy and windy, and though the sun kept trying to come out, I didn't want to take chances. I never went beyond the porch. 

Instead, I settled down with The Twits on Netflix. I go further into this odd animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl children's book at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Twits

Worked on The WENN Nutcracker Suite for a while, then worked on the review for The Twits while listening to some of my more recently-acquired albums. Starring Fred Astaire is a two-disc set of mainly his songs from his RKO movies with Ginger Rodgers, including songs he sang with her or that she performed solo like "The Piccolino" from Top Hat and "Let Yourself Go" from Swing Time. We also get songs from the now-in-the-public-domain Second Chorus, including "Love of My Life," "Poor Mr. Chisholm," "I Ain't Hep to the Step But I'll Dig It," and "Me and the Ghost Upstairs." 

The Now Explosion is a more typical rock collection from 1974. There's some really good numbers here and a few surprisingly deep cuts like "Brother Louie" by Stories, "All Day Music" by War, and "Uneasy Rider" by Charlie Daniels. Better-known numbers here include "It Never Rains In Southern California" by Albert Hammond, "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips, "The Morning After" by Maureen McGovern, "Do It Again" by Steely Dan, "Stoned In Love With You" by the Stylistics, and "Rock and Roll Part II" by Gary Glitter.

Finished the night at YouTube with tonight's Match Game marathon. The writers on the show never missed a chance to poke fun at their own medium. From 1974 on, a question would frequently begin like a TV Guide listing, throwing out a comic description of a show ending with a "blank." Though they did have questions about All In the Family and I Love Lucy, most of the gags revolved around the detective shows that were ubiquitous in the 70's and early 80's. Kojak and his bald head, Cannon and his weight, and Ironside in his wheelchair were the most frequent targets, but other lesser-known shows referred to included Harry-O, The Streets of San Francisco, and Banaceck. 

The jokes continued straight through to the end of the CBS run, and even turned up in syndication. Nighttime episodes were featuring cracks at Quincy and The Rockford Files as late as 1981. Charlie's Angels came in for a lot of ribbing after David "Bosley" Doyle became a semi-regular late in the CBS run. 

Scan your local listings for laughs in this hilarious take on the cop shows and sitcoms that defined the 70's!

Match Game Saturday Classics - TV Guide Listings Marathon (Part I)

Holidays On Ice

Began the day with breakfast and Paw Patrol. "Pups Save the Marooned Mayors" when Mayor Goodway and Mayor Humdinger are stranded in a chasm, chased by Arctic wolf pups who wanted Humdinger's "hum-burgers." The pups recruit Everett to help rescue them, then get them off an block of ice floating out to sea. "Pups Save the Game Show," what amounts to an animated version of Wild West Challenge being filmed at a local ranch. After Humdinger's cheating drives off the competition, the pups help competitor Chase out to clean up the havoc Humdinger caused and make sure everything remains fair.

Switched to Super Password on Buzzr. Leslie Bloom and comedian Jack Carter were the celebrities. Jack was really impressive. He might have been even better at Password than he was at Match Game. He got a lady through the Super Password bonus round with maybe one bobble in pretty decent time. 

Got my schedule at this point, too. I wasn't sure I'd get the whole week off, but...thank heavens, I don't work at the Acme again until early next Saturday. I won't be back at the after-school program until January 5th! I'll be able to enjoy a nice, quiet Christmas break doing what I want to do without rushing. 

Headed out after that. I wanted to get my grocery shopping done before the snow and ice arrived. My first stop was the Target Starbucks for a treat. I was surprised at how quiet they were. All the teens who usually hang out there must have been at home, messing with their new gadgets and listening to music. I got a wonderfully minty peppermint hot chocolate without a fuss.

Sprouts was only a little busier. I didn't need much here under any circumstances. Found more of those white chocolate-filled coconut pillows, this time marked down to 99 cents. Got dried mango slices, coconut milk, and diet soda and sparkling water. Found white chocolate macadamia cookies with clearance stickers on the bakery rack.

Hurried down Cuthbert, past the library, the McDonald's, and the Haddon Township High School to the Acme. They were a lot busier, and had been even worse earlier, if the lack of carts up front and the devastated shelves were any indication. Mainly needed yogurt and apples here. Grabbed probiotic sodas on good sales. Grabbed bread to have sandwiches this week. Had online coupons for yogurt, bags of gala apples, and granola. Finally found the Fresca again. Got one last bottle of Winter Spiced Cranberry Sprite Zero, too.

By the time I rode home alongside Newton Lake Park, it was much cloudier. Those clouds had the pearly gray sheen of ice and snow. The park is now fully embracing winter. The grass is a little greener than usual for this time of year, probably due to all of the rain and snow we've had, but the trees are black brushstrokes, the lake is still slightly frozen, and the only animals around are the honking Canadian geese. (And even they were pretty scarce today.)

When I got home, I put everything away, then had lunch and spent the rest of the evening watching YouTube. Match Game Productions fixed the audio issues he had with his What's My Line Christmas marathon. Though there were two color episodes from the early 70's with a man who sold Santa Claus suits, the majority of the episodes were the black and white shows from the 1950's and early 60's. In addition to flat-out Christmas shows like the one I watched last week with Johnny Marks and the Salvation Army, there were episodes featuring singers associated with Christmas songs (like Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Eartha Kitt, Johnny Mathis, and Andy Williams) or those with Christmas-related "lines" (like the man who sold bells). There was even the Christmas episode where the spouses of the panelists (Tony Randall joining regulars Bennett Cerf, Arlene Francis, and Dorothy Kilgalleon) appeared as Mystery Guests. 

Find out if the holidays are really bigger than a bread box in this elegant and delightful marathon!

A What's My Line Christmas Marathon

Wait, there's more! We have the 1983 and 1984 Christmas episodes of the Richard Dawson Family Feud, Brett giving a naughty answer that got censored on Match Game in 1977, a hilarious and rare post-Christmas episode from 1978 where a contestant gave Fannie a huge kiss despite losing the match, more of the Carol Burnett-Bert Convy battle on Password Plus during Christmas 1979, and Illene Graff and Pat Harrington tossing out wisecracks on Super Password during Christmas 1988. It's the gift that keeps on giving - more game show bang for your holiday buck!

Family Feud (1983)

Family Feud (1984)

Match Game (1977)

Match Game (1978)

Password Plus (1979)

Super Password (1988)

Called Mom during the What's My Line marathon. Apparently, she's doing fine, and everyone liked my gifts. Aurora really loved that book on being a big sister I found at the thrift shop in Woodbury! Mom said it really helped her. She's more worried about my brother. Apparently, his knees are going and he has gout and arthritis in his hands, and he's only in his early 30's. I have an arthritic thumb (though my bad knees are more from bike accidents than family history), so I do understand what she's saying there. With Keefe, I wonder if he's just worked a little too long at the Naval shipyard.

It started raining - and raining hard - somewhere around 6 PM. I'm not sure when the ice came, only that by the time Family Feud and Match Game were on, everything was covered in a sheet of dully glistening ice. Good thing I am off tomorrow. If it doesn't melt by early afternoon, I won't have to go anywhere. 

Finished the night with Forest by George Winston. This was a better choice than I thought. The CD includes lovely versions of "Walking In the Air," "Building the Snowman," and "The Snowman's Music Box Dance" from the British animated special The Snowman. Other lovely, calming numbers here include "Troubadour," "Graceful Ghost," "and "Lights In the Sky." 

Happy Holidays With Family

Began the morning with the Colliers Harvest of Holidays book Linda Young sent me years ago. My favorite of the short stories here is "Miss Flora McFlimsey's Christmas Eve." An old doll stored in an attic manages to walk downstairs and see the tree on Christmas Eve. The other dolls make fun of her when Santa puts her aside to give to a little girl, until her mouse friend and the tree angel bring down her trunk and remind her of how beautiful and loved she really is. There's also the story of "Barney and the Wee Cap," as an Irish miser tries to escape his neighbors begging for charity by taking a leprechaun cap that allows the wearer to travel wherever they want. He discovers that poverty and charity are everywhere, and it's not so bad to help your fellow man out.

Since we're supposed to get snow later this weekend, I put on The Snowman while eating breakfast. This dreamy British special has a young boy creating a snowman who comes to life. He introduces him his home and room. The snowman rides a motorcycle, then takes the boy to the North Pole, where he meets Santa Claus and dances with other snowmen.

Switched to The Little Drummer Boy as I got organized. I went further into this classic Rankin-Bass religious special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog on Christmas Eve 2020.

The Little Drummer Boy

I first opened gifts with a friend and her teen daughter. I had gifts for them, for her adult son and his girlfriend, and for their cat. They gave me fluffy pink sleeper socks and candy, including a bag of peanut brittle, a box of chocolate truffles shaped like shells, dark chocolate "wave" candy shaped like potato chips, and chocolate-covered gingerbread.

Headed out to Rose's shortly after at around quarter of 1. As at Thanksgiving, Finley and their dogs Oreo and Cider met me at the door. Jessa arrived just a few minutes after I did. Though she seemed to like the dinosaur book, Finley was mostly excited about the Pokemon cards I gave her, especially the ones I found in the parking lot of the Acme! Finley is also crazy about magnetic tiles. She had made a massive castle with her new set and had spent her morning trying to keep the dogs from knocking it down. 

I got some pretty nice gifts from them, too. Rose and her family gave me a small but elegant box of Godiva chocolates. My present from Jessa was a lovely glass popcorn ornament and a gift card to AMC Theaters. (Good, I want to see the new Hugh Jackman movie Song Sung Blue sometime next week, probably Tuesday. I'll go to the Deptford theater - it's nicer than the AMC in Cherry Hill.) 

I spent most of the afternoon chatting with Rose and Jessa. It was nice to be able to talk to adults! I don't get to see Rose that often, and we don't really get to talk as sisters. We discussed our jobs, how happy I was to be off of both my jobs this week, and why Rose and her family stayed in South Jersey for the holidays instead of going to New Hampshire. Rose had a huge spread out. In addition to most of the same things she had at Thanksgiving - the shrimp cocktail, vegetable tray, plate of grapes and berries, platter of cheese, and bowls of chips, rolls, and crackers - there were wet, tasty steamed clams. Rose said she should have soaked them longer before she brought them out, but they tasted fine to me.

Craig spent most of the afternoon watching the Cowboys-Commanders game. Considering the Commanders are not great this year, this was a lot closer than I thought it would be. In the end, the Cowboys finally outran them 30-23.

Jessa finally drove me home around 4. I spent the next few hours eating a ham and cheese wrap and watching game shows on YouTube, starting with the annual Match Game Christmas marathon. I came in for the 1975 episode. In 1976, Charles complained about not getting to dress as Santa again. (He did that once, in 1973.) He got his wish in 1977, where he pretended to be a drunk Santa complaining about appearing on all the other networks. (At least, I hope he was pretending to be drunk.) He and Brett had more fun in 1978, where he dressed as Santa, and Brett was a little girl sitting on his knee.

The only Christmas Syndicated episode ended with the entire panel singing "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Christmas on The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour featured Jon Bauman in a Santa hat and beard, while Nedra Voltz dodged sexual and age-related questions and Marty Cohen reminds everyone that Hanukkah ended a few days ago. Match Game '90 got even more into the holiday, with lavish decorations and Rip Taylor and his confetti replacing an on-vacation Charles. Marcia Wallace spent her week explaining her increasingly wilder injuries, while Taylor hit Fred Travalena over the head with his toupee for doing a bad imitation of him.

Wait, there's more! The 1977 Match Game Christmas episode, with Charles dressed as a drunken Santa, was run separately later. We also had the 1982 Christmas episode of Family Feud, Bert Convy and Carol Burnett doing battle on Password Plus during Christmas week 1979, and the 1987 All Star Super Password with the cast of Father Knows Best not doing very well guessing words. It's a riot of ho-ho-ho holiday game show hilarity!

Match Game Merry Christmas 2025 Blank-a-Thon

Family Feud (1982)

Match Game (1977)

Password Plus (1979)

Super Password (1987)

Finished my night at Amazon Prime with The Christmas Toy. I go further into this classic Jim Henson holiday special from 1986 at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Merry Christmas! - The Christmas Toy

And I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend, surrounded by all the people you love to match with! 

Christmastime Is Here

Began the morning with breakfast and The Bears Who Saved Christmas. When their family is stranded in a cabin on Christmas Eve, adventurous teddy bear Holly (Mary Kay Bergman) and her brother Christopher (Charlie Adler) take it on themselves to find a tree and make their owners' holiday a little merrier. They're helped by a flashlight that's afraid of the dark (Henry Gibson), a compass with no sense of direction (Johnathan Winters), and a kindly mother beaver (B.J Ward) and her son. 

Hurried off to work after that. I was only alone for the first hour. One of the college boys came in at 10 and took over the sweeping...and then another one arrived at 11 and did the sweeping. I was outside the whole time. At least it was a lot busier today than it was on Monday! People surprisingly had some pretty big orders. I figured most folks would just be grabbing milk and wrapping paper. Even with two other boys helping, we had to work hard to keep up with the carts. 

At least the weather was right for it. It was sunny, bright blue, and very windy, probably blowing 20 miles an hour. The temperatures were in the lower 40's, chilly, but not overly so for this time of year. 

Soon as I finished, I cut across Oaklyn to WaWa. Wanted to make use of those gift cards I got from the kids and get a treat for lunch. I got a roast beef hoagie, a soft pretzel, a peppermint cookies and cream smoothie, and a bag of potato chips. Normally, I'm not a chips fan, but I couldn't resist a bag of mozzarella sticks and marinara-flavored. That's not something I've ever seen before. I did have trouble ringing up the gift cards in the self-checkout machine. Good thing one of the women working at the cash register is a friend of mine and was able to help. 

Went straight home after that. Changed, then watched Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales while I ate lunch. This series of skits was originally made to be filler in an hour slot with A Charlie Brown Christmas, but it does have some entertaining material in its own right. Love Sally writing to "Samantha Claus," her method of getting a Christmas tree when she can't cut it down, and Snoopy's troubles as a sidewalk Santa.

Pulled out the old Christmas photos after I ate. The oldest of these go back to my very first Christmas in 1979, when Bruce and Mom were still together. I'm wearing the cutest yellow Mickey and Minnie Mouse pajamas! I can see toys I'd have for years in the background, including one I still have, TJ the Dakin teddy bear. TJ is currently sitting with the smaller Beanie Baby and Meowchi stuffies on the shelf over the hardback novels. 

There's photos from later in the 80's, too. I can see my second typewriter, the gray and white plastic one that actually typed (my first was a white and orange Tomy Typer), next to me as I open Battle Cat in 1984. There's a Polaroid shot in 1989 of me holding Candi, the porcelain doll Mom gave me that year. I still have Candi, too. Her gold ringlets are messy from many brushings. Her pink ribbon is faded and has rust spots, and her white dress is yellowed and dirty, but she's one of only three porcelain dolls I've kept over the years.

The focus in the 90's and 2000's shifts to Keefe and to Rose's parties with her friends. I should show the kids in the after-school program the photo of Keefe proudly holding out the packs of Pokemon cards I got him. I'm pretty sure that picture was from around 98-99. I'll bet most of the little kids have no idea they go that far back. Keefe's always loved to build, even when he was little. He was so thrilled with the K-Nex sets Mom gave him and the Bionicles Lego sets he got from me. 

Watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation as I sorted through the pictures. All Clark Griswauld (Chevy Chase) wants is a good old-fashioned family Christmas, with tons of presents under a huge tree and all of his family surrounding him. As often happens with Clark, what he imagines and what actually happens are two entirely different matters. The two sets of grandparents he invites over don't get along. The thousands of lights on his house short the neighborhood power grid. His yuppie neighbors Todd (Nicholas Guest) and Margo (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) are ready to strangle him for the mess his antics keep making in their home. Mid-way through, Clark's cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his family turn up in their rattletrap RV and cause even more chaos. In the end, as the tree burns and the SWAT team comes through the windows, Clark finally realizes that we can't make Christmas perfect...but we can make it memorable.

This is an old family favorite of mine that we all watched throughout the 90's. Mae Questal and William Hickey steal the last half-hour or so as dear, senile old Aunt Bethany and her exasperated husband Uncle Lewis. Brian Doyle-Murphy has a lot of fun as Clark's obnoxious boss, too. Scatological and sexual humor makes this for teens just starting their own Christmas breaks and adults who have probably been through almost everything Clark does here at one time or another.

Switched to working on The WENN Nutcracker Suite next. With everyone on the train, Betty has the chance to ask the Nutcracker about Pirlipat. She calls him Scott at first, but he still claims that isn't his name. She gently tells him that she'd never abandon him, no matter how many mistakes he made or how ugly he was.

Watched A Disney Channel Christmas as I worked. Mom taped this blend of two earlier Disney TV specials, "From All of Us to All Of You" and "Disney's Christmas Gift," in 1988, and I've watched it almost every year since. The first half is "From All of Us," with Jiminy Cricket introducing segments from winter or Christmas-related shorts like "Pluto's Christmas Tree," "The Art of Skiing," "Donald's Snow Fight," and the gorgeous "Once Upon a Wintertime." The second half showcases segments from Disney films that depict parties, gift-giving, winter, or magic, the Donald Duck short "The Clock Watcher," the two Santa Claus Silly Symphonies, and the lovely black and white Mickey short "Mickey's Good Deed." It ends with the Past segment from Mickey's Christmas Carol, which was so new when this first debuted, Jiminy says it's "now in theaters."

Moved to the Looney Tunes for Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales. Unlike the Halloween special, this one is all-new material. The first short is a take on A Christmas Carol, with Bugs as Nephew Fred, Yosemite Sam as Scrooge, and Porky as Bob Cratchit. The second takes Wil E. Coyote and Road Runner's usual antics into snow-covered mountains as the Coyote chases his quarry on skates. The third has the Tasmanian Devil invading Bugs' house dressed as Santa and how Bugs gets rid of him.

Next up was Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus from 1974. This charming retelling of the most famous editorial letter in newspaper history has Jim Backus as the voice of Francis Church, the editor who wrote the letter, and the story's narrator. The style screams "Bill Melendez" and basically looks like Victorian Peanuts with actual speaking adults thrown into the mix. 

Put on The Bishop's Wife during dinner. Bishop Henry Brougham (David Niven) prays for guidance in building his huge new cathedral. He can't secure the funding from fussy Mrs. Agnes Hamilton (Gladys Cooper), who insists on making it a monument to her late husband. He's working so hard, he neglects his lovely wife Julia (Loretta Young) and his daughter Debbie (Karolyn Grimes) and ignores old friends like the Professor (Monty Wooley). Henry gets quite a shock when Dudley (Cary Grant), an impossibly suave angel, turns up claiming he's the answer to Henry's prayer. Henry doesn't think so when Dudley proceeds to take his place with Julia, and she falls for him. The Professor reminds Henry that he has one big advantage over Dudley. He's human, and Dudley is not.

The cast is simply luminous in this charming tale. Young is so patient and lovely, you can understand why a bishop and angel almost came to blows over her. Grant's debonair angel is a lot of fun, too - check out his quick method of decorating Christmas trees! Highly recommended during the holidays if you're a fan of the trio or looking for a quieter holiday movie.

Finished the night with a couple of specials. I went further into The Small One and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog in 2022 and 2019 respectively.

The Small One

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Raggedy Ann and Andy In the Great Santa Claus Caper has Chuck Jones' fingerprints all over it. The antagonist is a very smart Wil E. Coyote-like wolf. This fellow isn't content to chase road runners. He creates an unbreakable substance he calls "Gloopstick" that he intends to cover Santa's toys with, so the children will have to buy toys from him. When Raggedy Andy is one of the wolf's victims, Ann and Andy avoid the claws on his machine and shows the wolf that their love is stronger than any Gloopstick.

Here's even more classic Christmas specials to watch before Christmas dinner tomorrow!

The Wish That Changed Christmas

The Night Before Christmas (1968)

The Smurfs' Christmas

The Spirit of Christmas 

The Christmas Tree

A Cranberry Christmas

'Twas the Day Before Christmas (A Chucklewood Christmas)

Fleischer Brothers Classics: Christmas Comes But Once a Year

Woody Woodpecker - The 12 Lies of Christmas

The Nutcracker (Russia 1974)

For Better Or for Worse: The Bestest Present

Ziggy's Gift

Olive the Other Reindeer

The Teddy Bears' Christmas

A Wish For Wings That Work

The Adventures of Candy Claus

And as Jiminy Cricket said earlier, from all of us to all of you, have a very merry Christmas, and the happiest of holiday seasons! 

When You Believe

Began the morning with breakfast and Mickey's Christmas Carol. Actually, Mickey plays Bob Cratchit in this classic Disney featurette. Uncle Scrooge is the real star, playing his namesake miser who cares more about profits than giving. He learns his lesson from a diminutive Ghost of Christmas Past who acts as his conscience (Jiminy Cricket), a sweet, huge Ghost of Christmas Present (Willie the Giant) and a terrifying cat of a Christmas Future (Big Pete), who show him what will happen if he continues on his present path.

Switched to Journey to Bethlehem at Disney Plus while making my bed and doing chores. I go further into this pop retelling of the birth of Christ at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Cult Flops - Journey to Bethlehem 

It had been raining all morning. Not hard, just enough that it was too wet and chilly for the bike. I called for Uber to get me to the Thomas Sharp School. Fortunately, no trouble getting where I was going either way. They took 13 minutes going there, but I called early enough that I still arrived right on time. They came in 4 minutes going home.

On one hand, I don't think you'll be surprised to hear the kids were really rowdy today, especially in the first hour. On the other hand, there were just 12 pre-schoolers and kindergartners to start with, and only slightly more older kids. After lunch, we first settled them down to color and play with magnetic blocks. I gave them papers from my old Sesame Street coloring book that I've had for almost 20 years and really want to get rid of. After they got bored with that, a couple of the girls requested stories. I read Frozen and my own copy of The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas. 

The kids spent most of the second half of the afternoon doing crafts. The younger ones resumed making pipe cleaner and bead jewelry and ornaments. The older children created cards for their parents by gluing beads and squares of colored tissue paper onto construction paper. We initially listened to Christmas songs while we worked. Later on, someone found a sheet and a projection machine, allowing one of the teachers to run The Polar Express. 

They were all really excited when Santa came to the cafeteria about mid-way through the day, bearing a box covered in Mario wrapping paper with presents for all of them. Actually, I think the presents were fancy pencils or crayons, but that was enough for most of the kids. (Don't tell them, but I'm pretty sure "Santa" was a custodian or male Healthy Kids worker wearing a red shirt, suspenders, and a Santa beard and hat. I might be wrong, of course.)

The kids can be so sweet. They've done more for me this year than they'll ever know. Two gave me Amazon gift cards. Two more gave me WaWa gift cards. One gave me a smaller gift card to Dunkin' Donuts. One of the parents praised how we'd gotten her son to work with beads - in fact, he'd been working on bead ornaments for most of the afternoon - when his teachers said he needed to do more with his hands. It really made me feel appreciated and realize how important we are to these kids.

Ran the first Christmas episode of MASH when I got home. "Dear Dad" is Hawkeye's letter to his father about the wacky goings-on at the 4077th during the holiday season. Frank and Klinger get into a brawl that Father Mulcahey has to break up and hide from the police. Hawkeye and Trapper play pranks on Hot Lips and Frank in her cabin before one of their dates. Henry tries to give his troops an awkward lecture on sex, with predictably goofy results. Hawkeye and Trapper also catch Radar sending a jeep home to his family in boxes piece by piece.

Jessa picked me up around 6:20. She originally wanted to hit the Cherry Hill Mall to buy something for clients...then we saw the traffic around the mall and the full-to-bursting parking lot. We just ended up eating across the street at a much safer Silver Diner instead. This time, she had a tuna melt and fries. I had a tasty California omelet with egg whites, chicken, cheddar cheese, scallions, tomatoes, and whole wheat toast. She had her office party today and wasn't up to dessert, but I tried their tasty, sweet apple-walnut bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel drizzle.

Finished the night at home with the Remember WENN Christmas episode. Everyone at radio station WENN is gearing up for "Christmas In the Airwaves." The arrival of Rollie Pruitt (Johnathan Freeman) puts a crimp in their plans. He's the financier for the station's owner, singer Gloria Redmond (Betty Buckley), who lost her husband last Christmas. Gloria is grieving so much, she doesn't want any Christmas shows or references to Christmas at the station. Pruitt, who just wants her to write the station off and get the tax benefits, agrees. It'll take teamwork, a bit of holiday subterfuge, and a really sweet speech to make Gloria understand that Christmas is wonderful time for a heart to start healing. 

Making Spirits Bright

Began my morning with breakfast and The Backyardigans. Uniqua wants to know "The Secret of Snow" and travels to the frozen north to ask Ice Lady Tasha about it. Tasha has no time for her queries and first sends her to the desert, then to the jungle to get rid of her. Uniqua just comes back with Cowboy Pablo and Tyrone of the Jungle, who want it to snow, too. Tasha makes them work in her ice factory, and are shocked when they and her assistant Austin enjoy being together. In the end, the kids finally come to the conclusion that there's no real "secret of snow," and that if you're with your friends, it doesn't matter what the weather is.

Hurried out to work after that ended. It wasn't busy at all when I arrived. There was plenty of help, too. The head bagger swept the store. By 12, a college student had arrived to help me with the carts, too. Even when it picked up a little bit later, it still wasn't bad. In fact, it was a little bit boring. I was in and out with no trouble. At least the weather was nice. It was chilly, but sunny and windless, probably in the upper 30's-lower 40's. 

After I got home, I changed and had lunch while watching vintage sitcom and food show Christmas episodes. "Bah Humbug!" is the second WKRP In Cincinnati Christmas show. Nobody at the station is happy with Arthur not giving out bonuses. Arthur claims there isn't the money, but he's really just afraid of what his mother will say. He learns a lesson in giving when he eats one of Johnny Fever's brownies, passes out in his office, and dreams that four familiar ghosts show him what will happen if he doesn't change his stingy ways.

Alton Brown is having an even stranger Christmas Eve on Good Eats. Santa shows up, insisting on "The Cookie Clause." Seems he's tired of all the cardboard, store-bought cookies kids have been leaving him. Alton shows him how to make simple cut-out sugar cookies, then use sugar cookie dough to make chocolate-peppermint whirl cookies that need to be chilled, then sliced.

Headed to the Thomas Sharp School after Good Eats ended. We had 17 younger kids to start, more than I thought we would the day before Winter Break begins, but not an overwhelming group. After snack time, half of them settled down with Duplos, plastic dinosaurs, and Barbie dolls. The other half joined in for a really fun project. We showed the kids how to thread beads onto pipe cleaners to make candy canes, wreaths, and ornaments. I think most of the girls were more interested in making necklaces and bracelets for themselves. I helped one little cherub get her beads on her pipe cleaner and made sure one of the boys had enough beads, since the three of us were on the other side of the table from the bead bin.

The kids are such sweethearts. One girl and her family gave me a $10 Amazon card and a brown-painted snowflake she made herself. Two more kids gave gift cards to WaWa. Another girl and her family gave me a lovely card, an oven mitt embroidered with a pretty cardinal, lovely kitchen towels, and those chocolate-hazelnut cookie sticks. 

When I got home, I took the recycling outside, took the laundry downstairs, then had a shower. Ate dinner while watching more sitcom holiday shows. It's "The Best Christmas Ever" for Ricky Stratton and his father Edward on Silver Spoons as they gear up for their first Christmas together. Ricky thinks he's just doing a favor when a boy asks him if he has any work for him. Turns out the kid is having a far rougher holiday than Ricky could ever imagine...but he and Edward find a way to help the boy and his family, making sure more than their Christmases are brighter. 

Barney Miller and his men aren't happy to be working Christmas Eve on their "Christmas Story." Yemana feels better when he asks a lady on a date, only to discover she's not working...because she's an, um, "lady of the evening." Fish gets recruited to dress as Santa to find out who is stealing from department-store Santas. After Wojo gives everyone gifts, the others all feel compelled to give gifts too, despite Barney saying they wouldn't give gifts this year.

Finished the night back at YouTube after I got the laundry out of the dryer with more Christmas game show episodes. Christmas goes far back on game shows. I've Got a Secret brought in their youngest contestants for their 1957 holiday episode. The mother of a sweet infant revealed that her grandfather was seeing her for the first time on TV. An utterly adorable toddler miss turned out to be the godchild of two of the panelists. Two teen girls brought in a fruitcake with a far longer lineage than one expects to find in pastries.

Match Game celebrated its first Christmas in 1973 with Charles Nelson Reilly playing Santa Claus in a fake beard and an odd southern accent. Jack Cassidy made his first appearance here, with the late June Lockhart turning up for the first and only time. Family Feud also celebrated its first Christmases in 1976 and 1977 with fake garlands, hyped-up families, and holiday-oriented questions.

Classic Concentration was more elegant in 1989, with its gold and silver decorations, diamond and ruby jewelry, and trips to Paris. The young woman who was ahead the entire episode wasn't able to get the puzzle in a sudden-death round. The young man who beat her didn't do a whole lot better with the match-the-car bonus round. Marjorie Goodson tried to get reindeer antlers on her little dog, but he didn't seem too happy about it.

The Price Is Right also had a rough start in 1990, with contestants losing the first three Pricing Games. Things picked up in the second half when a young man who closely resembled a blond Michael J. Fox picked up furniture in The Clock Game. The Showcases were too adorable. The models dressed as little girls to give away Michael Jackson Moonwalker arcade games and too-cute giant stuffed pandas. Big sis Janice got a car. The second Showcase had the adult models getting huge projection TVs and microwaves. Holly got the big gift here, a motorboat. 

Here's more Christmas game show episodes to play along with at your holiday parties this week! I'll even throw in two bonus episodes from the weekend Password marathons. 

I've Got a Secret (1957)

Match Game (1973)

Family Feud (1976)

Family Feud (1977)

Password Plus (1979)

Super Password (1984)

Classic Concentration (1989)

The Price Is Right (1990) 

The Password Is Christmas

Began the morning with breakfast and A Victorian Christmas. I found this lovely CD a couple of years ago. It's a collection of carols and songs, some of them actually dating to the Victorian era, played on harpsichords and flutes. In addition to songs that are still well-known today like "The First Noel," "The Holly and the Ivy," and "Greensleeves (What Child Is This)," there's numbers that are probably known only to carol collectors and music historians. Both versions of "The Cherry Tree Carol," are lovely, and there's "Wextford Carol," "The Sussex Mummers' Carol," and "Jacob's Ladder." 

Hurried off to work before the CD ended. On one hand, work was very busy, especially early-on. That's hardly surprising on the last weekend before Christmas! On the other hand, I was outside almost the entire time and never had fewer than one or two guys outside helping me the entire time. The only time I was inside for longer than a bathroom break was when I emptied the trash in the women's bathroom. It started clearing out later, to the point where between the two guys there and me, there was a lot less to do, allowing me to sign out slightly early.

Besides, I had a few things to pick up that I forgot yesterday. I'm almost out of batteries again, and the Acme is having a buy two, get one sale. Got a large container of AA, a small container, and four Cs. Found a bin of adorable stuffed white elephants with red bows on their ears on half-price clearance in the floral department. Got one for me and a second for a friend's daughter when I noticed that the elephants had the same name as the girl on their tags. Grabbed bows for the cookies and a bag for the elephant gift. 

Tonight's YouTube marathon began almost as soon as I finished changing and putting everything away. I ate dinner as I watched A Super Password Christmas. By the mid-80's, game shows dove a lot harder into the holidays. Unlike Password Plus, all Christmas and most New Year's episodes of Super Password exist and are online, which gave us even more of a chance to see how holidays on game shows changed throughout the 80's. 

Jamie Farr and Shelly Smith appeared during Christmas week on the show's first year. Farr turned up again the next year, this time with fellow former MASH actor Gary Burghoff. Christmas week 1986 was a family affair with Mary Ann Mobley and her husband Gary Collins. The week after, Mr. Belvedere stars Illene Graff and Christopher Hewitt took the show into the New Year. Though Christmas 1987 was an all-star affair with Father Knows Best alumni Lauren Chapin, Billy Gray, Jane Wyatt, and Elinor Donahue, only Donahue was really much of a player. Wyatt in particular was incredibly slow to solve puzzles. Graff returned for Christmas week 1988, this time joined by twitchy One Day at a Time handyman Pat Harrington. 

There were a few givens. The set was always beautifully decorated, with white wreaths and huge trees on each side of host Bert Convy's entrance door. The guy who moved the word board would eventually turn up in a white beard and Santa hat to play Santa. At one point, someone threw fake snow on Bert for the closest thing California could get to a white Christmas. Bert had to break out a chalkboard to give an explanation for one of Christopher Hewitt's answers that looked more like he was practicing to host Win, Lose, or Draw later in the 80's. 

At any rate, the password is...Christmas! Celebrate the holidays with these hilarious and classic episodes!

Sunday Classics - A Super Password Christmas

A Merry Bear-y Christmas

Began the morning with breakfast and Sheriff Callie's Wild West. Toby wishes he could have an animal to ride, like Sheriff Callie and Deputy Peck. After he gets carried away by animal rustlers who steal Santa's reindeer and gifts, he gets help escaping from one of the reindeer. He thinks Comet is "Toby's Christmas Critter," but there's an even cuter (and equally horned) critter waiting for him at home. It's "A Very Tricky Christmas" when Tricky Travis and Oswald the Bear set up a marching band for the town, then steal their tree. They think it'll make them happy, but their hearts grow three sizes when they see that what really makes the citizens of Nice and Friendly Corners happy is being together for the holidays.

Hurried out as soon as the cartoon ended. The Acme surprisingly wasn't busy early-on, though it picked up at noon. The head bagger took the sweeping for the first half of my shift. By the time my break rolled around, it had picked up enough for her to take a register. I swept and gathered carts for the rest of my shift.

Went straight into grocery shopping after work. I'm hoping this will be my last big trip before Christmas. There was a buy two, get two sale on Nature's Valley granola bars. Tried a slightly more expensive brand of granola that had made a Christmas cranberry pecan flavor. Bought bagels for lunch this week and restocked clementines, apples, and yogurt. Grabbed that White Cranberry Spiced Sprite Zero, along with Orange Cream Coke Zero. Picked up treats for Rose's dogs Oreo and Cider, which were the last Christmas gifts I needed to buy. 

Hurried home, then changed and watched Yogi's All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper while putting everything away and getting organized. Yogi and Boo Boo head off to the big city to see all their Hanna-Barbara funny animal friends, not realizing their friends had gone to Jellystone to see them. While they're in the city, they dodge animal control officers by playing Santa in a department store. When a little girl thinks Yogi really is Santa, they do their best to give her a nice Christmas...until her wealthy father sends cops to find her.

Headed back out around 3. My first stop was the Dunkin' Donuts on the White Horse Pike. This isn't normally the first place I'd go out for lunch, but I did get that $25 gift card from one of the kids in the after-school program. Not surprisingly for quarter after 3, the place was pretty quiet when I came in. It was just me, the workers, and two teens getting snacks. I had a hot chocolate, a chicken wrap, and a green-frosted donut drizzled with vanilla glaze. Yum. The chicken wrap was small, but surprisingly tasty, hot and dripping with cheese and red peppers. I enjoyed my donut so much, I got a cream-filled one on the way out, too.

I was on the other side of Oaklyn to deliver Christmas presents to my old neighbors on Hillcrest. Brought cookies to two older single women with small families and a larger family whose mother just died of cancer a few months ago. They live next-door to what was Dad's house, and the mother was supportive and very helpful during the trouble I had finding a home in late 2021 and early 2022. Delivered cards to a single mom and her son and a female couple a little further down Hillcrest.

Besides, it was too nice to be sitting inside all day. Yesterday's in and out clouds and strong winds had been replaced by radiant blue skies, fresh breezes, and normal lower 40's December temperatures. Even most of the puddles had disappeared by 3:30. If it wasn't for a few puddles and the saturated ground, there would be no indication we had huge rain and snow storms at all this week.

Went straight into Santa and the Three Bears when I got home. I go further into this charming short animated movie from the early 70's at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Animation Celebration Saturday - Santa and the Three Bears

Switched to Christmas Eve On Sesame Street while working on the Three Bears review. I went further into the first Sesame Street holiday special on Christmas Eve last year.

Merry Christmas Eve! - Christmas Eve On Sesame Street

Finished the night with something different on YouTube. Instead of Match Game, we looked at Password and Password Plus Christmas and New Year's episodes. The only 60's Password holiday episode had Peter Lawford and Lee Remick playing with a revolving door of stars, including director Otto Preminger and songwriter Stephen Sondheim. 

Password Plus got somewhat more into the holidays. They really did it up right the first year in 1979 for two weeks, starting with Barbara Rhodes and Bill Anderson. The lavish decorations and beautifully decorated tree continued into a hilarious week with Bert Convy and Carol Burnett. Burnett in particular is a great Password player, and Convy certainly wasn't bad. They both won their contestants quite a bit of money that week. Brett Somers played her only Password Plus week at New Year's 1979 with Ross Martin...and showed why she would never do Password again when Martin wiped the floor with her. 

After the ailing Allen Ludden was replaced with his friend Tom Kennedy, fancy decorations were replaced by star power. Christmas week 1980 was dominated by the all-star quartet David Doyle, Debralee Scott, Gina Hecht, and Dick Gautier. The ladies did far better than the guys did. Debralee, in fact, just won the week over Gina. Susan Richardson and Bill Cullen joined in for the rare New Year's 1980 week. Betty White and Pat Sajak visited for Christmas 1981 and got nifty Password Plus jackets, while Tom Poston and Edie McClurg saw the New Year's out with streamers and party hats.

The Password is...holidays! Celebrate the holiday season with these classic guess-the-word games!

Game Show Saturday Classics - A Very Password Plus Christmas

Oh, and the Eagles started slow, but they eventually out-ran the wayward Washington Commanders 29-18.

Little Saint Nick

Began a rainy morning with breakfast and several Disney Junior Christmas and Hanukkah episodes. It's a "Happy Hot Diggety Dog Holiday" on Mickey and the Roadster Racers. Chip rides with Goofy and Dale with Donald in order to win a special star tree topper, not realizing they want to give it to each other. Minnie and Daisy are "Happy Holidays Helpers" who help everyone in Hot Dog Hills with their last-minute Christmas preparations, then have no time to set up their own party. Everyone in town has a surprise for them when they're done for the day, though...

Hattie is ready to celebrate Hanukkah with his fathers in Alice's Wonderland Bakery. It's "A Hat-Bachi Hanukkah" when they use oil to cook flavorful vegetables on a hibachi grill. Hattie is upset when Fergie is better at chopping and cooking vegetables than he is. Alice reminds him that he has things he's good at, too...like making grilled veggies with little or no oil. Alice's friend JoJo the Caterpillar has never seen snow, so they make snowdrops and create "A Snowdrop Summer." Trouble is, they make so many snowdrops, it starts snowing all over Wonderland! When the Cheshire Cat and the flowers protest, Alice and the kids have to figure out how to bring the warm weather back.

Switched to Tattletales while I made my grocery list. Betty White and Allen Ludden were among the first couples to appear on the show. In this early episode, they're joined by Bill Cullen and his wife Ann and Jo Ann Pflug and Chuck Woolery (the latter two years before he became the host of Wheel of Fortune). Betty and Allen adored each other...but so did Bill and Ann, who were married until Bill's death in 1989. They were the big winners in the episode I saw.

The clouds were trying to break up and the sun was out when I finally made my way down to the Westmont Plaza. My first stop was Target. I wanted to pick up cat treats for Rose's cats Lynx and Toothless and a friend's cat for Christmas. Found fresh cranberries for super-cheap, too. 

Sprouts was almost as busy. I mainly wanted coconut milk here. They had something called "coconut pillows," some kind of coconut pastry bites with maple-flavored white chocolate filling on clearance. I got soda and sparkling water, a turkey on multi-grain sandwich for dinner, and vegan caramel-chocolate chip cookies on clearance off the bakery rack. Got to try mildly sour jelly candies and bread with an orange jam and butter, too.

The rain returned with a vengeance while I was in Sprouts. It was pouring cats and dogs when I came out, with lashing winds. Thankfully, it was already ending, even as I unlocked my bike. By the time I rode home, it was cloudy, chilly, but not abnormally so for December, and gale-force windy.

Watched What's New, Scooby Doo? while I put everything away and ate a quick lunch. "A Scooby Doo Christmas" has Mystery Inc stranded in a town that hasn't felt like celebrating in years. Every year, a headless snowman attacks their town, destroying their chimneys. Shaggy and Scooby would rather get to the bottom of a Christmas cake, but the others are determined to solve this mystery and make the holidays a lot merrier for the town.

Moved to The Bernstein Bears' Christmas Tree next. I went further into the first Bernstein Bears' holiday special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog 

The Bernstein Bears' Christmas Tree

Bluey and her sister and cousins play "Veranda Santa" the night before Christmas, pretending to be Santa and give gifts. It's all well and fun, until Bluey's littlest cousin Socks bites her and she doesn't give her any presents. Bandit points out how badly she hurt Socks' feelings. 

After the near-miss with the weather earlier and the ongoing gale-force winds, I wasn't taking chances. I called Uber. Thankfully, it only took them 7 minutes to pick me up and five to get me to work. They took 13 going home, but that gave me the time to use the bathroom, and it was the dinner rush hour.

Between this being their Pajama Day and it being less than a week before Christmas and their winter break, the kids were really rowdy today, even for them. Two of the boys in particular just would not sit down and play, no matter how much we argued with them. It got so noisy after snack time, we took the kids into the library to read Christmas stories instead. There was a Frozen Night Before Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and two others. I tried to keep an eye on the kids who were just looking at books rather than listening, but they would yank a book off the shelf, look at it for two minutes, then grab another one. 

I did manage to coax one upset little girl out from behind a table by showing her the exquisite artwork in a gorgeous picture book version of The Nutcracker. The book was too long to read, so I just used the pictures to tell them the story. The little miss was so entranced, one of the younger boys poked his head in and listened, too. 

Not long after that, we put the books away and took the remaining kids back to the cafeteria. In addition to the usual coloring, wooden blocks, and magnetic tiles, one of the teachers just got the very same bristle blocks that push together with plastic "bristles" that I remember playing with in elementary school when I was a kid. The kids especially loved that the set came with plastic eyes that could allow them to make their own monsters! I helped two older boys figure out why their magnetic tile tower wasn't standing, too.

After I got home, I worked on The WENN Nutcracker Suite. I don't know why this is coming so slowly after I had no trouble with my last two stories! Gertie brings them to a gingerbread train station and gets them all tickets. She tells them that the Mouse King has convinced Queen Gloria that if she can't be happy, no one should be. She's canceled the Christmas Festival and is only putting on the Christmas Ball because the Mouse King wants to persuade her to make the Land of Sweets part of the Cheese Kingdom.

I also got my schedule at this point. In good news, I did get Christmas Day and the days after off, along with Tuesday for the last half-day before the kids go on winter break. Trouble is, I wasn't expecting to work Monday too, or six hours on Sunday. Monday is going to have to be rushed - I'll have both jobs that day. Thankfully, the kids are off Christmas Eve, which means I'll only have to work four hours that day. I'll be able to hurry home afterwards and enjoy the start of my vacation. 

Watched two movies about the existence of Santa while I worked. Ernest Saves Christmas takes us to sunny Orlando, Florida in the late 80's. Ernest P Worrell (Jim Varney) loves Christmas with every fiber of his being, and even he's shocked when the real, genuine Santa (Douglas Seale) climbs into his cab. Santa's in Orlando to recruit kindly former kid's show host Joe Carruthers (Oliver Clark) as his replacement. Trouble is, Joe already got an offer from a sleazy agent (Robert Lesser) who is pushing him to make an 80's Christmas horror movie. Meanwhile, Ernest is also dealing with a selfish runaway who calls herself Harmony Starr (Noelle Parker) and ends up flying the sleigh himself after he and two elves pick the reindeer up from a couple of very confused baggage handlers.

This is an old childhood guilty pleasure of mine. It's arguably the best movie in the long-running Ernest series, and actually the biggest hit in the series by far. Varney has a blast with Ernest's holiday fandom and plays well off Parker and Seale. Seale makes such a wonderful Santa, he was the man I imagined when I thought of Santa until well into the 2000's. If you're a fan of Ernest or want to show your older kids a goofy Christmas comedy, this one is well worth your time.

Moved north to chilly New York City for the original 1947 Miracle On 34th Street. The Santa in question here is Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn), who works at Macy's after he was a smashing success in the Thanksgiving parade. Doris Walker (Maureen O'Hara) has her doubts about him. He keeps insisting he is Santa Claus. Doris has raised her own daughter Susan (Natalie Wood) to not believe in fairy tales of any kind, Santa included, after she went through a painful divorce. She's falling for Fred Gailey (John Payne), a kind lawyer, but isn't happy when he takes Kris on as a client. Kris got angry at Mr. Sawyer (Porter Hall) and hit him on the head with an umbrella, who then sent him to a mental institution. Fred represents Santa in court, arguing that he is the real Santa. The lawyers and judge don't bear Kris any ill will, but they do need to do their jobs, insisting that Fred bring real, substantial evidence. It takes a letter from Susan and Doris to show Fred the evidence he needs, and to remind Kris and Doris that faith does indeed mean believing even when common sense says not to.

A huge hit when it came out despite being released in the summer, this remains one of the most beloved Christmas movies to this day. Gwenn made such a convincing Santa, he won a supporting actor Oscar. The adapted screenplay also won. Wood is a lovely, curious little Susan, too, and Payne comes off much better here than he ever did chasing Fox blondes in their musicals. I also like that the law officers aren't played as villains. The only bad guy in this movie is the nasty and obnoxious Sawyer. The district attorney and judge are just normal politicians doing thankless jobs. I've heard the 1994 remake with Richard Attenborough has its moments, but this one is high recommended as well.

Finished the night at Tubi with an exquisite BBC version of The Nutcracker. Other than a short prologue and epilogue showing that the Nutcracker is Drosselmeyer's nephew transformed by the Mouse Queen into a toy, this about as traditional of a Nutcracker as you can get. The Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince (not cavalier) dance the solos in the second half. I think the first group of candy dancers were supposed to be Greek, but the others remained the usual Asian, Arabian, and Russian. The mouse fight and "Dance of the Flowers" is especially gorgeous here. 

Light Up the Neighborhood

Began the morning with breakfast and It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special. Buster is directing the Toons' big holiday show, but nothing is going right. Montana Max, who is stuck in a wheelchair after a skiing accident, sabotages the show, and Babs gets jealous of Cher when she sees Buster whispering in her ear. Upset after Monty is giving the directing job, Buster is literally ready to jump out of the film. He's stopped by a large white bunny with a familiar laid-back accent who shows him what life in Acme Acres and for his friends would be like if he was never on Tiny Toons.

Watched Card Sharks while getting organized to make my last batch of cookies. Looked like Christmas 1978 or 1979, from the men's hair and suits. We had two guys with accents playing, a young Hispanic man and a somewhat older British man. The Brit won the round and did all right on the Money Cards.

I spent the rest of the morning working on the Cherry Coconut Bars. These are basically lemon bars with a cherry-coconut custard filling instead of lemon. They're rich, super-sweet, but oh-so tasty. This may have been the best they came out in years. The cookie base baked perfectly and smelled terrific. The custard came out just right. (And at least I didn't almost forget the coconut this time, like I did last year.) 

Watched Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol while I ate lunch and packed up the bar cookies. I went further into this classic TV animated special at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog back in 2019.

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

Hurried out after the show ended. I arrived at the Thomas Sharp School just in time. Once again, we were busy, with 20 pre-schoolers and kindergartners who hadn't been outside at home or school in almost a week. The blacktop was clear enough for the older kids to go out and play a ball game, but the younger ones still had to stay inside. Once again, they were incredibly rowdy until we got them settled down with toys, coloring, and books. I spent most of the evening working with the kids at the table with the magnetic tiles. I helped one boy build a space station, admired the geometric shapes another made, and shook my head as two more built a tall tower they kept knocking over, screaming with delight, before they'd build it back up again. One of the little girls wandered in and out. Another little girl and her family even gave me a gift card to Dunkin' Donuts and two Christmas shortbread cookies.

Had dinner at Crust n' Cravings on Collings after I left the kids. They were quiet except for the two guys making pizza and vacuuming and Action News. I ate a slice of chicken bacon ranch and a slice of broccoli tomato while half-listening to Channel 6. A mother and her grown daughter were just settling down with cheese steaks when I left.

Spent the next hour riding around, looking at lights displays in West Collingswood and Oaklyn. I traditionally do this about a week before Christmas, on a night after I've spent the day baking cookies on a hot stove. Since I was already out on the bike, I stayed on the bike instead of walking. I love how festive the local towns get at this time of year! I saw houses with electric candles in the window, with just the roof outlined, with the entire house wrapped in lights Clark Grizwauld-style. My favorites of the inflatables were the two Santas riding dinosaurs (Finley and the kids in the after-school program would love those) and a pig in a Santa hat. 

When I got home, I took a shower, then watched This Christmas. I go further into this R&B musical about a black family gathering for a memorable and melodramatic holiday season at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

This Christmas

Finished the night with two more holiday variety specials on YouTube. The Perry Como Winter Show is a more general holiday special from 1973 (complete with commercials that include recipes using Kraft products). Perry takes Sally Struthers, Jack Burns, and Avery Schriberer from the Metromedia Studios in sunny Califoria to wintry Vermont. Struthers, Burns, and Schriberer play broken toys who admit that they're glad they have each other. Schriberer insists that Como take him to sit on Santa's (Burns) knee. Como and Struthers have a romantic moment in the kitchen late at night over a sandwich. The group the Establishment perform chorus numbers and join in for a very peculiar tribute to vintage Hollywood. Struthers does Mae West, while the Establishment parodys Astaire and Rodgers and MacDonald and Eddy.

The 1966 Andy Williams Christmas Show is far more homey. Though we do have a very strange Osmond Brothers number "Whistle While You Work" with them as elves and a comic opening to "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," most of the show revolves around either Williams singing "Winter Weather" with his brothers, or Williams, his huge family, and his French then-wife Claudine Longet. He and Claudine get to sing a very sweet "Love In a Home" from Lil' Abner together. Williams finishes with a simple "Silent Night" on a bare stage.

It's a Wonderful Hart

I overslept this morning and didn't get much of a start at all! I swear I set the alarm for 7:30, but it was 8:50 when I opened my eyes. Rushed around, ate breakfast, called Uber, since I didn't think I'd have the time to ride my bike. I probably should have ridden the bike. Uber took 13 minutes to arrive, which means I was once again a half-hour late. At least it only took 7 minutes to pick me up going home, and there was no traffic either way.

At least the Acme wasn't busy. Most people will probably start shopping for their Christmas baking and dinners this weekend. I had no trouble gathering the carts. The weather was gorgeous, too. It was sunny and breezy, and much, much warmer than it has been the last few days! Everything was melting fast, which turned out to be a big problem. The roof over the storage area in the back was leaking like crazy due to all that melting snow. They asked me to mop it up ten minutes before I was supposed to go home! I couldn't linger. I had another job, too. I rushed and did what I could.

Hurried home, changed, and had lunch while watching Hart to Hart. The Harts are shocked when they're robbed during Max's December birthday party in "A Christmas Hart." The robbery occurred while they were listening to singers from the company Jingle Grams perform for Max. After a young man who is a son of a friend of Max's is nearly killed by someone in the company who found him looking through the files, Jonathan and Jennifer go undercover as Jingle Grams performers to find out who's using the company for his own gain and why.

I did take my bike to the Thomas Sharp School. I've taken Uber enough lately. I'll probably have to do it tomorrow or Friday. Though everything was melting, it was still fairly treacherous. Not all the sidewalks had been cleared of snow and ice, and there were huge puddles on the street. Between that and a late start, I was five minutes late for the after-school program.

Not a good thing, as the kids were really rowdy today. Though I think the older ones did get to go on the blacktop for a little while, it will likely be ages before the playground dries enough for the pre-schoolers and kindergartners to go outside and play. After we settled the kids down with colored pencils, books, and magnetic tiles, I ended up reading to some of the kids for an hour. One little girl handed me a Golden Book version of Frozen she wanted to hear. I read that, then she handed me a book about gymnastics. We ended up doing those, plus two original Dora the Explorer titles. a very short Shopkins book, the Little Critter story Bye Bye, Mom and Dad, the Disney Chicken Little from the mid-2000's, and then Frozen again when another little girl asked for it. The time flew so fast, when I finally finished Frozen the second time, it was a little over a half-hour before I had to go home.

Stopped quickly at the Speedy Mart on the way home. They have great bagels. I thought they'd make good lunches for the rest of the week. Jumped in, grabbed two of the last ones they had, paid for them, headed home.

Finished Hart to Hart when I got in, then watched Match Game Syndicated during dinner. Gene Rayburn was more than happy to kiss new kid on the block Jamie Lee Curtis in the first episode. We also had a rather hapless lady who just could not figure out her answers. She took so long with one of her answers, Gene lay down on the floor! A young Kirstie Alley turned up later in the episode as a contestant, looking rather bored by it all.

Worked on The WENN Nutcracker Suite during dinner. Gertie insists on everyone hopping on a train after breakfast. It'll take them quickly to Toyland Castle and Princess Pirlipat. What she doesn't count is the mice army getting the same idea...

Finished the night with It's a Wonderful Life. George Bailey (James Stewart) thinks life has passed him by. He's run his family's loan office all his life, building houses in his community to keep everyone from running to mean, stingy Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore). Even though he's married to lovely and sweet Mary (Donna Reed) and loves his kids, he still wishes he could have done more like his war hero brother (Todd Karns). He's really in a pickle when his forgetful Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) leaves the $8,000 they need to keep going at the bank instead of depositing it, and Potter gets his hands on it. When Potter threatens to have George arrested, he attempts suicide. He's saved by Clarence (Henry Travers), a sweet little old man who also happens to be an angel. Frustrated, George wishes he was never born. Clarence gives him his wish...and teaches George that no one is a failure who has friends and a family who love him on his side.

What I love about this dark, yet uplifting movie is the fabulous cast with some of the best character actors in Hollywood. In addition to Stewart and Reed, we have Sheldon Leonard as Nick the Bartender, Ward Bond as Bert the Cop, Frank Faylen as Ernie the cab driver, Lillian Randolph as Annie, the Baileys' hilarious housekeeper, Beluah Bondi as Mrs. Bailey, and H.B Warner as Mr. Gower. I will add that it's not for everyone. Not everyone agrees with director Frank Capra's pro-small town sentiment, it moves at a snail's pace, and the second half is so scary, I was well into my teens before I'd watch this straight through. Even with the above caveats, this is still a classic with one of James Stewart's best performances, and well worth your time this December.