On Saturday morning I translated the line
I’d missed in “Bourrée de complexes" (Buried in Complexes) by Boris Vian.
I guess I missed it because it basically says the same thing as the previous
line but with a different rhyme. I still have to adjust the metre.
I
memorized half of “Lunatic Asylum” by Serge Gainsbourg.
During
song practice I continued to struggle with playing the chords more precisely
and I find that it makes my fingers so tired that I screw up even the songs
that I normally do well.
I
arrived at the food bank at around 9:45 and stood on the green heart beside the
cables that run up to the power line pole.
I started trying
to read my book but they already started to hand out the food before 10:00.
Rosemarie came down the line with her clipboard to take down out membership
numbers. I suggested to her that she tell the new manager to come up and say
hello to everyone in line, since all the other managers have had some kind of
interaction with the clients. Rosemarie thought that was a good idea and she
said she’d tell her but she once again said, “She's only twenty three and she's
a nice little girl but she's still trying to ..." and she didn't finish.
Rosemarie said
people are really missing being able to come downstairs and shop. I told her
that if it always went this fast I wouldn't care.
The plastic milk
crates containing the food were double sized this time.
The only two
non-refrigerated items I took were the pack of Oreo fudge dipped thin bites and
the 750 ml container of mayonnaise. I like mayonnaise but it scares me a bit
because of the calcium disodium EDTA that manufacturers tend to put into it.
But the only harmful side effect from this that studies show is digestive
problems that would only occur if one were to slather the mayonnaise on
everything at every meal.
I only held onto
about half of what I was given. I kept the half litre of 2% milk; the two small
containers of fruit bottom yogourt; a nice round loaf of Portuguese corn bread;
a pint of blueberries; the face mask; and a pack of fourteen long, thin sticks
of finocchio or fennel salami. This type of salami was developed in Tuscany in
the late Middle Ages or the Renaissance using fennel instead of pepper because
pepper was very expensive while fennel grew wild and abundantly. The product
that I received is made by a Canadian company called Soleterra d”Italia that
works in partnership with a family business in Italy called Simonini.
I put the box of
Cheerios; the bag of rice; the can of tomatoes; the pack of tofu; the little
containers of jam and pancake syrup; and the six eggs back into the carton.
Since Billy the Cuban wrestling coach was still in line behind me and had yet
to receive his carton I walked it over to him to offer him first pick of
anything I didn’t want. As I was approaching at first he shook his head but
then he gestured for me to bring it. He ended up taking the whole thing and
said he’d take the milk carton back to the front when it was empty. That was
easy.
This week’s haul
from the food bank was pretty sparse in terms of vegetables and fruit, other
than the blueberries. The best and most interesting score this time was the
pack of finocchio sausages.
I was home by
10:00, put my food away and headed back for the supermarket. On the way I made
a couple of stops. I went to Vina Pharmacy to ask them to fax my doctor to get
him to refill a prescription. I also needed to know from them whether my
prescription would be covered now that I no longer have a drug plan from
Ontario Works. The young woman behind the counter said check and let me know in
a few minutes. Meanwhile I went over to Freedom Mobile to pay for my August
phone plan. I was fifteen cents short of the $28.25 and since they are always
short of change they accepted what I had rather than having to give me change
for an extra $20. I went back to Vina and found out that the prescription is
covered now that I’m a pensioner.
At
No Frills I bought three bags of cherries, mouthwash, Murphy’s Oil Soap,
kitchen bags, some Canadian honey, a tub of margarine and some Greek yogourt.
For
lunch I had a toasted cheese and lettuce sandwich on the last of my croissants.
As
usual for a Saturday I didn’t do any exercises or take a bike ride in the
afternoon because I wanted to finish writing my Food Bank Adventure.
That
night I had a fried egg, a warmed up naan and a stick of finocchio with a beer
while watching two episodes of "The Adventures of Sir Lancelot".
In
the first story Lancelot is just returning to Camelot with his new squire Brian
after the adventure in which they met. Lancelot learns that Guinevere has been
abducted by Mordred and his father King Pell and head immediately for Pell’s
castle. Brian follows him even though he has been told not to. Lancelot enters
the castle disguised as a peddler but is captured and thrown in the dungeon.
Brian gets into the castle buy telling the guard he wants to do some chores in
the kitchen in return for scraps to feed his very large and hungry family. He
makes it inside just as the gates are closed because they are expecting Arthur
and his knights to lay siege to the castle. Brian convinces the dungeon guard
that he is needed at the battlements and then helps Lancelot to escape. Arthur
arrives and Pell tells him that he will only release Guenevere unharmed if
Arthur signs a treaty giving him Northumbria. Lancelot fights his way out just
as Arthur signs the treaty. Lancelot demands satisfaction from Mordred for
having attacked him when he was unarmed. Mordred at first doesn’t want to fight
until people begin to laugh. When Lancelot is ready to kill Mordred his father
offers to give back Northumberland if he spares his son’s life.
The
second story is centred on Lancelot’s squire Brian. Lancelot presents Brian to
Arthur and asks that he be trained as a knight. Arthur agrees and Brian is
placed in a dormitory with the other trainees. Brian is treated as an outsider
and young Osbert is encouraged by Sir Glavin to make sure he is driven out.
That night the boys tell him that to prove he’s not a coward he must go to the dormitory
of the girls learning to be handmaidens and steal the nightcap from the head of
the sleeping matron. Brian sneaks past the guards and makes it into the dormitory.
A girl named Mary who had been watching Brian train earlier sees him, gets up
from her bed and leads him into the hall. She asks him what he’s doing and he
tells her. Mary tells Brian that the boys are messing with him since the matron
does not wear a night cap. She gives Brian her own night cap that she wears in
the winter. But when Brian returns to the boys dormitory the knights in charge
arrive to announce that the queen’s ring has been stolen. Brian’s things are
searched and gold part of the ring is found but with the gem missing. Brian is
placed in the dungeon but Guenevere believes him when he says he’s innocent and
although he must still prove it she orders him set free. Brian is ostracized by
the other boys because they think he is guilty. Mary later tells Brian that Sir
Glavin, who is a landless knight has recently asked her to run away with him
because he will soon have a grand estate. She and Brian suspect that Glavin is
the thief and so Brian goes looking for him. At the stables he overhears Osbert
confronting Glavin and demanding the bag of gold he’d promised him. Glavin says
said he would give him the gold if he helped to put the blame on Brian. Since
they are not convinced of Brian’s guilt he owes him nothing. Osbert says he
will raise the alarm and so Glavin attacks him. Brian jumps Glavin and goes up
against his sword and shield with a broom until Lancelot comes in and finds the
jewel on Glavin’s person. Brian is allowed to continue his training.
Sir
Glavin was played by Patrick McGoohan, who of course went on to star in “Danger
Man” and then “The Prisoner”.
Mary
was played by Simone McQueen. It looks like she became a pin-up model for a
while.
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