Reginald Owen

            On Monday morning I worked out the chords for half of the first verse of “S'il pleauvait des larmes” (If Our Tears Made the Rain Come) by Boris Vian. 

            I worked out the chords for the second verse and most of the third of “L'impression du déjà vu” (A Sense of Déjà Vu) by Serge Gainsbourg. The first two verses are repeated three times and once I have the chords for the third verse that will complete the three verse chord pattern of the song as the chords for the sixth verse will be the same as the third. I’ll probably have the whole song done tomorrow. 

            During song practice I played my Martin acoustic guitar for the second of four sessions. 

            I weighed 88.25 kilos before breakfast, which is the heaviest I’ve been in the morning since last Monday. 

            Just before 1:00 I left for my appointment with Dr. Xia at the U of T Grad School of Periodontics. This time it was a free consultation. He checked out the problem areas and says there’s been some improvement but the main tooth of concern at the top front left still has an 8ml pocket. He recommended the surgery of peeling back the gums and cleaning underneath. He said once it’s opened up he would know better what’s needed. There’s the possibility of doing a bone graft to add to the diminishing bone. It could serve as a scaffold to build my own bone around it. He warned me it would make my tooth look longer because of a receding gum line but some of my other teeth already have that. He said the maximum price would be $1200 and the minimum $400. I said I just spent $1475 on a guitar and so I guess a front tooth is more valuable. I signed an agreement to do the procedure. I can’t get an appointment though until September. Meanwhile he wants me to keep coming back for deep cleanings, which are $203 each. I was offered an appointment for July 24 but I said I already have an appointment for a cleaning at my local clinic for July 25. Dr. Xia advised me to cancel the other appointment and just do the deep cleanings with them. I’m told it will be covered by the new federal dental plan. I asked him about an implant for my top right front tooth for which I’ve been using a denture. As I suspected, because of my gum disease, an implant is in as much danger of failing as a tooth. If the gum disease is cured I can consider an implant. I found out they cost at least $4000.

            I weighed 86.5 kilos before a late lunch. I took a late siesta and got up at almost 18:00. 

            I weighed 88 kilos at 18:24. 

            I posted my blog and then went out with my camera and tripod to see if there was anyone on the street that it felt right to put on video for my project. The light was great but the energy tonight was low. I walked to Sorauren and then back past my place to the library but there was no one I felt like engaging with. I went home. 

            In the Movie Maker project for my acoustic performance of “La jambe de bois” I pretty much synchronized the audio with the video. The audio might be slightly behind but not enough to create an echo. I’ll check tomorrow to hear if it needs another adjustment. 

            I had a potato with gravy and a piece of roast pork while watching season 4, episodes 22 and 23 of Bewitched. 

            In the first story Samantha reads Tabitha “Sleeping Beauty” but after the “happily ever after” part Tabitha thinks there must be something more. After Samantha puts her to bed and says goodnight, Tabitha brings Prince Charming to life and asks him, “What happened next?” Darrin is out of town and Samantha has a little dinner party. Endora comes, plus Larry and Louise, Darrin’s cousin Helen and her date Ralph. Upstairs in the nursery Samantha discovers Charming and learns that Tabitha is unable to send him back. Then Helen comes to say goodnight to Samantha who introduces Charming as her cousin Charlie. Charlie is extremely charming and Helen is immediately smitten. When he comes downstairs Louise is also enamoured with him. He says nothing but complimentary things but both Larry and Ralph equate that with saying nothing. Ralph is offended by Helen’s ignoring of the person she came with and so he leaves. The next day Larry comes and says that Charlie’s looks and charm would be dynamite for the Abigail Adams Cosmetics ad campaign. Then Helen comes looking for Charlie with marriage on her mind. Endora informs Samantha that Charlie is a projection of wishcraft and so his image would not show up on the screen. When Samantha tries to stop Larry she finds he’s already taken Charlie to the studio. She goes there but sees that it’s not really a problem because when they sit Charlie down to film him and don’t see him on the cameras they think that it’s some kind of technical error and call off the shoot for the day. When Samantha returns home with Charlie she talks about sending Charlie back. Charlie begs to be allowed to stay. Endora says she realizes the problem now. It’s not that Tabitha can’t send him back but that he doesn’t want to go. Samantha asks Charlie about going back to be with Sleeping Beauty but he doesn’t know who she is talking about. They take Charlie upstairs where Samantha has conjured Sleeping Beauty. The problem has been that Tabitha took him from the part of the book before he met Sleeping Beauty. She is now lying on a couch sleeping and looking beautiful. Charlie kisses her and she wakes. Samantha asks him if he still wants to stay here and he says, “Are you kidding?” Tabatha sends him back into the books and Samantha sends Sleeping Beauty back as well. Prince Charming was played by William Bassett, who co-starred in Demon Hunter. He appeared in several movies and guest starred on several TV series. 

            In the second story Clara arrives from England to ask for Samantha’s help. Her boyfriend Ocky has acquired an English castle and now calls himself Lord Ockham Duke of Dunstable. He’s opened the castle as a tourist hotel but the place is haunted by a disagreeable ghost named MacTavish who is terrifying the guests. Since Darrin is working late Samantha decides she has some time to pop over to England and try to resolve the issue. But Darrin’s parents Phyllis and Frank are right now on a tour of Europe and by coincidence they just happen to be guests in Ocky’s castle. Phyllis sees Samantha in the hallway but Frank thinks she’s imagining it. Samantha finds MacTavish and he is disappointed to see she’s not afraid of him. He’s the Fifth Earl of Angus and he’s been haunting this castle for 500 years. She suggests he find a less cold and damp place to haunt and says he could go to North America where there is air conditioning and central heating. Phyllis barges in to see Samantha and MacTavish but they both disappear and Phyllis faints. Earlier Darrin came home early and was upset about Samantha being gone. When she returns she finds him drunk but they make up. Then MacTavish appears and says he’s taking her up on her offer and has decided to haunt her home. The next day Ocky comes to say he was wrong to get rid of MacTavish because tourists expect an English castle to have a ghost. MacTavish says it’s too cold and damp. Ocky promises to put in central heating and air conditioning. MacTavish wants to get rid of the moat because it draws mosquitoes. Samantha promises she’ll vanish the moat and so MacTavish agrees to return with Ocky. 

            Ocky was played by Reginald Owen, who studied at Sir Herbert Tree’s Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his stage debut at the age of 18. He co-wrote Where the Rainbow Ends under the name John Ramsey and also starred in the first production of the play. He moved to New York in the early 1920s and started working on Broadway. He moved to Hollywood in the late 1920s. His first film appearance was in The Letter. He played Dr. Watson in a 1932 Sherlock Holmes movie. Then in 1933 he played Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Scarlet. He starred as Ebeneezer Scrooge in the 1938 classic A Christmas Carol. He played Admiral Boom in Mary Poppins and General Teagler in Bedknobs and Broomsticks.