A Trip to the Beer Store

On Thursday morning I finished working out the chords for “Ah! Si j'avais un franc cinquante” (Oh If I Had A Dollar Fifty) by Boris Vian. I also finished the chords for “La petite rose" by Serge Gainsbourg. I went through it in French and English and then started posting it on Christian’s Translations. I was surprised that I didn’t have to adjust any font sizes or add italicizations this time.

Around midday I got my two garbage bags full of beer cans ready so I could take them to the beer store later that afternoon. I took all of the comic books out of the upper shelf in the credenza and put them in order on my bedroom dresser. The credenza is light enough to move now but I think I’ll take all of the comic magazines from the lower shelf too because I plan on cleaning both the outside and the inside. It will also be easier to move back and forth without scratching the floor during the few days it’s going to take me to scrub and clean the floor underneath it and the wall behind.

For lunch I had two cold chicken wings.

In the afternoon I left early for my bike ride to the Beer Store. I’d found out from the web site that only certain stores are taking empties back and the nearest one I could see was the store on Bathurst between Dundas and College. It was awkward riding my bike with the two bulky though light garbage bags full of cans. It might have been quicker to just take Dundas to Bathurst but I went up to Bloor so I could make only right turns while managing the bags. I had green lights almost all the way.

There was a line-up of people returning cans and bottles. When I was at the front I saw Tom Fisher coming out. He said he made $16 but competing with the Chinese ladies wasn’t worth it. We chatted for a while. I told him that his friend Shankar is my second floor neighbour. He said he met Shankar around the same time he first met me. We talked mostly about the late Nik Beat, who had been Tom’s best friend. He still misses him.

I made $10.70 for thirty five weeks worth of beer cans.

I stopped at Freshco on the way home where I picked up seven bags of red grapes, a basket of nectarines, a jar of honey, a box of spoon size shredded wheat, some raspberry skyr, a can of coffee and a pack of paper towels. Because the grapes made the bill very high and because she knew that I buy a lot of grapes there, the cashier took pity on me and did a price match, saving me almost $20.

I grilled eight chicken drumsticks in the over. After I turned them my neighbour Benji said that it smelled better than Popeyes. He told me they are opening on Monday.

            I finished editing the video of my performance of “Person” and uploaded it to YouTube. I’d like to put that song to bed and bring in another that I need to work on but “Person” is the song that inspired me to learn to whistle. There’s another song that I whistle on but I’m not ready to practice it every day until some other songs have been worked on, so I’ll keep playing “Person” for a while.

            I had two drumsticks, a parsnip and gravy while watching two episodes of The Adventures of William Tell.

            In the first story Tell travels to the sword making town Linzon to find out why they have ceased providing weapons for the resistance. He also wants to know what became of his comrade Joseph whom he sent there two weeks before. The burgomeister of the town claims that the iron mine went dry and so they’ve had to turn to farming but Tell notices that they live very well for neophyte farmers. Tell is also told that Joseph never arrived in Linzon, although when Tell asked on his way there Joseph had been seen in every town. The burgomeister seems to want to get rid of Tell and suggests that old Andreas who is taking a load of cheeses to market in the next town, can give Tell a lift. Andreas says market day is tomorrow but burgomeister Martin insists he’s being forgetful. On the way Andreas assures Tell that market day is tomorrow and that the burgomeister knows it. He also informs Tell that Joseph did arrive in Linzon. Tell gets off and goes back to Linzon. Tell returns to the tavern where Heinz, one of the locals picks a fight with him and loses. Tell addresses the townspeople in the inn and tells them not to try to run him out because he’s staying until he finds out what’s going on in Linzon. That night a local named Karl comes to Tell’s window. He says that the town needs Tell’s help because it is under the thumb of the burgomeister. He plays on their fear and their greed to control them and he has plenty of money. Karl is about to inform Tell where the money comes from when Heinz shoots him in the back with crossbow. In the morning the barmaid Dina comes to Tell with breakfast and tells him that Joseph did come to Linzon but he died in a fight with her boyfriend over her. She offers to take Tell to Joseph’s grave but when they get there he is ambushed by Heinz. They have a shootout on the rocks and Heinz is killed. Dina runs back to warn the burgomeister that his plan failed. When Tell returns he sees that Linzon’s mine did not run out of ore but that they are now selling arms to the Austrian soldiers. Tell shoots a soldier and crosses swords with another. Martin tries to shoot Tell but Tell moves the soldier in the path of the arrow. One of the miners stands against Tell and when he dies some other run away. Tell fights to more miners while another named Gerhard looks on. Finally Gerhard begins fighting on Tell’s side.  They take on the traitors and the Austrians and Tell kills the burgomeister. Gerhard explains that he held back because he was afraid but now he will make swords for the resistance again.

            The second story takes place in Burgundy. A Swiss agent named Bertold is there to form an alliance between the Swiss resistance and the Duke of Burgundy but he has fallen in love with a young lady named Anna. They are riding to the lake for a picnic when Anna feels faint. He lays her down on the grass and then suddenly he is attacked by two assassins who kill him. Back in Switzerland the resistance leaders known as The Council of Three learn that Bertold has been murdered. The counsel of Three sends Tell there to assist another agent named Louis that they’ve sent there on the same mission as Bertold. Louis is staying with a man named Quirini, who is sympathetic with the Swiss cause but is also Anna’s uncle. Tell is to pose as Louis’s servant and help him complete his mission but he is also to kill whomever is responsible for Bertold’s death. Louis has become romantic with Anna. Anna’s uncle is trying keep Anna’s mouth shut by making her and everyone else think that she is mentally unstable. He tells her that she was never at the lake and since after she became unconscious she was carried back to her bed and when she woke she was told that she’d dreamed the whole thing. A doctor prescribes a potion for Anna based on symptoms her uncle has made up but tells Anna’s uncle that she should not take stimulants such as wine with the potion because it will cause confusion. Louis trusts Quirini and reveals to him Tell’s mission. Tell learns that Quirini is only a guest on the estate and it is his niece Anna who owns it. Louis and Anna go for a picnic at the lake and her servant Aldo serves wine. He knows but she and Louis do not know the effect it will have on her. She again becomes faint and Louis is attacked just as Bertold was, while Aldo takes the unconscious Anna back to her bedroom. But this time Tell arrives to assist Louis and they kill the assassins. Tell makes Louis stay away from everyone so they can be told he is dead. When Tell questions Quirini he tries to incriminate Anna in the murders. Tell lets Quirini believe that he is going to avenge the deaths by killing Anna and he merely asks Tell to be swift. Tell questions Anna and she didn’t even know about the attack. She grabs Tell’s knife and says if Louis is dead she doesn’t want to live but Tell stops her. Later Tell informs Quirini that Anna will no longer betray Swiss patriots and Quirini thinks that means he has killed her. The Duke of Burgundy arrives and Quirini informs him Anna has been murdered. But the duke already has been informed that Quirini is the traitor. Anna and Louis come in together. Quirini and Aldo draw their swords and Tell and Louis fight them and win. Louis will marry Anna.

            Anna was played by Diana Lambert, who was in “The Nun’s Story”, “Chaos on a Wet Afternoon” and “Vicky’s First Ball”. She played Captain Peacock’s wife on ‘Are You Being Served?”.