Rant #2,267: It's Now Winter's Day

Well no, not quite, but we are now heading into winter, and to me, once Thanksgiving is over, it is winter, even if it does not say it on the calendar.

Personally, my Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and holiday weekend were an up and down affair, but at least it gave me a few days off from a toxic work situation to recharge my batteries.

I did as I said I was going to do, which was to watch "March of the Wooden Soldiers," and this year, my local station, WPIX-TV in New York, showed the film in black and white, which was an extra treat.

And when the soldier goes through the door and his head is ripped off, I still laughed as I did when I was six years old, and I will probably still laugh at that scene when I am 66, 76, 86, 96 and 106 years old, if I am lucky to live that long.

But during my time watching the film, my wife told me that she did not feel well, and yes, she was sick on Thanksgiving Day.

She had a cold, or a touch of the flu, or something, because she was so under the weather that day that she could not accompany us to my sister for our festive meal.

Let me tell you, that was a real downer, and it cast a pall over the entire occasion.

She is much better now, but on that day--of all days--she was sick as could be.

Then we had Black Friday, and yes, I did as I said I would, I went to my local record store for Black Friday Record Store Day.

As I might have said, this year, I looked down the list at the specific releases for that day, and personally, I was not impressed, so there really wasn't that much that I really wanted to buy that day, and once I made my decisions, it was reflected in the fact that I didn't buy very much, but I did get two gems that were on my record bucket list--and they were not released for Record Store Day, they were just old releases there for the taking.

First off, I purchased the second and last LP by Buddah Records' psychedelic/bubblegum act, the Lemon Pipers.

This "Green Tambourine" band put out two albums during 1968 and 1969, then evidently called it a day, and I have had their first LP for decades.

The second LP, called "Jungle Marmalade" eluded me for some unknown reason until Friday, and once I saw it, I grabbed it.

It is a good record for the period it was released in, and features "Jelly Jungle (Of Orange Marmalade)" on it, so for me at least, it was a prize find.

The second bucket list release that I found was the single "Bye Bye Birdie" by Ann-Margret. Honestly, I did not know that such a record even existed until a few years back, but I have pursued this thing since then.

And I finally found out why although the movie was a big hit, the single was such a huge bomb,

This version of the song is not featured in the film, nor on the film's soundtrack, I do believe.

It is a slowed down version of the song, it makes Ann-Margret sound like a fawning 12-year-old yelping for her idol, and why they did not use the closing sequence version for this single is beyond me.

That version of the song is sung so confidently by Ann-Margret--without the fawning and yelping--that to me, watching it as an adult. it signified her character finally growing up into a woman, and almost moving beyond the idol of her youth.

And that closing sequence was so mesmerizing to every male in the audience--there has got to be a reason that they did not use that version for the single.

To me, this was simply a try at a cash-in from RCA, and it did not work--although the picture sleeve is now one of my all-time favorites, worth the price I paid for the entire package.

After food shopping later on Friday, on Saturday, my family and I saw "Creed II," another installment of the "Rocky" movie franchise, with all indications that this film will be it for Sylvester Stallone as Rocky.

I won't give anything way, but there are some segments at the end of the movie that will tell you this.

Anyway, although a little more soap-opera-y than "Creed," the film is really good, and I highly recommend it.

On Sunday, with my son going back to work--he did work on Black Friday too--it was simply a day to relax before going back to work today, something that I dread as I feel we are getting closer to dissolving.

And as an added extra, at 4:55 p.m. last night, my car speedometer went to 50,000 miles, so that was a nice accomplishment to round out the holiday weekend.

So that was my Thanksgiving break, up and down, all around--how was yours?