Bobo Lewis

            Before going to sleep after midnight on Thursday I did my usual check for bedbugs and found none for the third day in a row. The real test would be to check when I get up to pee since if bedbugs have been out and feeding it would be around that time. But I didn't get up this morning until the alarm went off. However I am a fairly light sleeper and I've been woken up by bedbugs crawling on me so it seems like a good sign that hasn't happened. 

            I revised my translation of half of the fifth verse of "La java des chaussettes à clous" (The Tap dance of the Hobnail Boots) by Boris Vian. 

            I memorized the first two verses and the chorus of "Chavirer la France" (Bowling Over France) by Serge Gainsbourg and the final verse is just made of of lines from the first and second verses. I probably would have nailed down the whole thing this morning but it took fifteen minutes to open the document. 

            I weighed 90.8 kilos before breakfast.

            In the late morning after a couple of tries I got through to the dental clinic at Parkdale Community Health Centre and got an appointment under the Ontario Seniors Dental Plan. The earliest I could get was Friday October 8 at 10:00. 

            Around midday I worked on cleaning the inside and top of the first of my two muffin pans. I got it pretty much clean but there's still some brown at the bottoms of the muffin cups. I don't think I'll spend more than another session on the top. 

            While I was working I listened to the first of the albums from the Johnny Cash 58 album discography that I downloaded. The first one is called the Million Dollar Quartet featuring Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash just hanging out at Sun Records in 1956 and singing songs together. This spun out of a Carl Perkins recording session. Jerry Lee Lewis, who was unknown to the radio public at the time, had been brought in to play piano. Johnny Cash had come in just to listen to Perkins while Elvis, who had already left Sun for RCA, had just dropped by for a social visit. I can't discern Cash's voice at all in these songs but maybe he sang a low harmony. The most prominent voices are Elvis and Jerry Lee and they sounded amazing together as Jerry Lee harmonized and filled in the spaces. There are lots of gospel songs but they also do "Don't Be Cruel" and Elvis says he heard Jackie Wilson do a much better version than his own in Las Vegas. They also sing Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" and are full of praise for Berry and his songs and lyrics. I wonder if it was clear to everyone there that by a "brown eyed handsome man" Chuck Berry means a black man. 

            I weighed 90 kilos before lunch.

            In the afternoon just before I was leaving for my bike ride it started raining. I had washed my shorts earlier and had put them out to dry on the roof. I got them inside just before they got a little damp again. I wanted to go to Freshco and so I just headed there. I bought four bags of cherries, a pint of strawberries, a pack of ground pork, two cans of peaches, some lemonade, a can of coffee and a big pack of toilet paper. As I was packing up my items the guy after me saw the cherries and asked, "Cherry pie?" I said, "No, just cherries." He said they're good and I said, "And they're Canadian." He asked, "You mean because we eat them a lot?" I said, "No, they're Canadian cherries." My shorts had almost gotten dry again while I was at the supermarket but the rain was pouring when I left. During the four minute bike ride home I got soaked. 

            I weighed 90.7 kilos at 18:15 but it probably would have been less if I'd made it out for a bike ride downtown and back. 

            I worked on my poem series "My Blood In A Bug." 

            I researched YouTube clips of "Rosemary's baby" to see if there's something that fits with the line, "Undress the patient and then lay them down just like a sacrifice" from my song "Instructions For Electroshock Therapy." There are hints in some scenes that there might be parts of the film that would work but that just weren't put into clips. I'm going to have to just skim through the full movie on YouTube to see if I can find what I'm looking for. 

            I worked on making the graffiti clearer in another one of the bricks on the wall behind the skateboarder in my "Anti Gravity's Rainbow:" photo. So far I can't figure out what it says or even what most of the letters are. I might have to just forget about it and make it into a brick with no graffiti. 

            I had a potato with butter and my last two chicken drumsticks while watching two episodes of Gomer Pyle. 

            In the first story Gomer comes to spend the weekend with his friend Frankie Lombardi and his mother, father and sister Rosa. But they arrive at a point when Frankie's mother is frustrated with the fact that Rosa has been dating Leo for two years but he has yet to propose. Leo comes over for dinner like he does every night and hints are dropped about marriage. Leo has his own butcher shop but he doesn't want to get married until he's made all his payments. Gomer agrees and says his mother always said, "A man's got to settle up before he settles down." Mrs. Lombardi says, "Your mother didn't have any daughters did she?" "No ma'am." "I didn't think so." Leo leaves and Gomer sings a song for Rosa. He sings the only Italian love song he knows and to Mrs Lombardi he sounds like he's singing every word to Rosa from his heart. Suddenly she thinks that Gomer is her future son in law. Frankie decides to try to use that to get to Leo but it only upsets him because he sees it as a trick and that he's being pressured. But that night when Frankie and Gomer are coming home Frankie realizes he's forgotten his keys. He goes to the back to look for an open window. Meanwhile Gomer sees one at the front and grabs a ladder. But Leo is walking by and thinks Gomer is trying to elope with Rosa. He says if anyone is going to elope with her it will be him. 

            Rosa was played by Gigi Perreau. 

            Mrs Lombardi was played by Lillian Adams, who played Mama Kowolski in Bruce Almighty.

            In the second story the base is having an open house so the men can invite relatives and there will be a dance at the end. Gomer says he'll be inviting his cousin Bridey and also ivites Sergeant Carter to help entertain his cousin. But Carter expects Bridey to be a female version of Gomer but with no shoes and so he declines. But later Duke asks Gomer to take his girlfriend Francine out because he has guard duty. When Carter sees Gomer with a gorgeous woman he assumes it's his cousin. The next day he tells Gomer he wants to meet Bridey after all. But the night of the dance when Carter sees Duke with Francine he thinks it's Bridey. Duke explains the mistake. Now Carter is worried that Bridey will be unattractive and hides so he can slip away just in case. Then another private walks in with his not conventionally attractive sister Cynthia. Roger goes to check Cynthia's coat and while he is gone Carter sees Gomer standing and talking with Cynthia. Carter sneaks out the window. Later Boyle catches up with Carter to tell him that wasn't Bridey. Carter goes back to the dance. Then a gorgeous blonde arrives and Carter sees Gomer embracing her so he goes over to meet his cousin. But it is Bridey's friend Flora. Bridey comes from the powder room and she is everything that Carter had been running from. Later Carter says he got called away for an emergency and Gomer says that's too bad because he wanted him to spend some time with Flora. Carter loses again. 

            Francine was played by Warrene Ott, who was in "The Invincible Six" and "If A Man Answers". She co-starred in "The Undertaker And His Pals." 

            Flora was played by Arlene Howell who was Miss Louisiana in the 1958 Miss USA pageant. She was the third runner up in the Miss Universe competition. She co-starred in the series "Bourbon Street Beat." 

            Bridey was played by Bobo Lewis, who won a drama desk award for the musical "Working" in 1978. She is best known for playing the gossip Midge Smoot on Shining Time Station from 1989 to 1993.