Sylvia Miles

            On Thursday morning I started memorizing the ninth verse of “Ballade de la chnoufe” (Ballad of the Snuff) by Boris Vian. 

            I started sorting out the last five lines of the first monologue in Zizi Jeanmaire’s performance of “Les millionaires” by Serge Gainsbourg. I have the original text that I’d found online and it’s mixed up with the text I got Sonix to transcribe from the audio. I should have it down to five lines to memorize tomorrow. 

            I weighed 88.75 kilos before breakfast. 

            I played my Martin acoustic during song practice for the last of two sessions and it only went out of tune once. 

            Around midday I put away the rest of my laundry that I brought home over two weeks ago.

            I weighed 89.45 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon, because of the storm there was no safe way to take a bike ride. But I needed a few things at Freshco and didn’t want to walk. I rode, slipped, slid, scooted and walked to Gladstone and Queen. The grapes were too soft but they had cherries and so I got five bags. I also bought a pack of raspberries, and two packs of Full City Dark coffee. It was slightly easier riding home but I did get off and walk sometimes. 

            I saw David on his way to work and he says our neighbour Jacob points his speakers outside his window and blasts them. 

            I weighed 89 kilos at 17:40. 

            I was caught up in my journal at 18:45. 

            I recorded from cassette to computer through my audio interface the other side of the cassette recording of part 2 of the 20,000 Poets Under the League slam that was hosted by Sahara Spracklin. 

            I compared the video of my song practice performance of “When They Put Me in that Hole” on September 4, 2024 to that of September 6 of the same year and September 6 looks better and is more expressive. I compared September 26 to September 6 and I play it better on September 26. I compared September 28 to September 26 and September 26 looks a little better. I compared October 12 to September 26 and September 26 is the winner. 

            I compared the video of my September 18, 2024 song practice performance of “When They Put Me in That Hole” to that of September 30. On September 18 I got the name wrong of the person I’m singing to in the first verse, which should be Emile but I sang to Antoine, who’s in the third and fourth verses. Also these are supposed to be electric performances and in part A of September 30 I played the Gibson but in Part B it’s the Martin so maybe I broke a string on the Gibson. 

            I had a potato with gravy and two chicken drumsticks with skyr while watching season 2, episode 19 of Car 54 Where Are you? 

            Commissar Malonov and General Raskonokov have come on a diplomatic visit to the US from the Soviet Union. They want to observe how the working class and women are treated in Middle North America but don’t trust the official guides to reveal the truth and so they commandeer their two police guards, Toody and Muldoon to show them around. 

           Malanov goes with Toody who drives him crazy with his continuous talk of Hollywood movies.

           Muldoon is surprised that the general is a woman. Her handshake is so strong that it brings him to his knees. He thinks she’ll cause too much of a stir in her general’s uniform in New York neighbourhoods and suggests she buy a dress and go to a beauty parlour. Muldoon tells her she’s a mess so she punches him once and knocks him out. 

            Malanov tries to tell Toody about Karl Marx but he thinks he’s one of the Marx Brothers. 

            At the hair salon the chief stylist tells Muldoon to get the general out of there before she kills her manicurist. The general says Kruschev said all US women become strip tease dancers. Muldoon says Kruschev couldn’t even get into Disneyland (In 1959 they wouldn’t take him to Disneyland because they couldn’t guarantee his security. He really wanted to go and so he was pissed off). After the general’s makeover she looks very hot and even she is impressed. 

            Toody takes Malonov to a Mets game and he’s having a great time but notices he’s being spied on by a Russian agent so they leave. 

            The general wants to go to a burlesque palace and watches Bubbles Larue perform. Muldoon has only been there on raids and he's embarrassed but the general is impressed with the athleticism and thinks this is how US women dance. She says she’ll introduce these exercises to her troops. 

            Toody takes Malonov to his brother in law Julius’s plumbing supply factory. Malonov has such an impressive understanding of the equipment that Julius asks him to become a partner. Malonov immediately wants to break the union to cut costs (That doesn’t sound like a Soviet). Malonov sees he’s being spied upon again and leaves. 

            The general gets drunk and then Muldoon tells her she has to meet the US chief of staff. She decides to do a strip tease for him. There’s a lot of extremely percussive hip action. 

            The general kisses Muldoon before leaving for Russia with Malonov. The agent who was spying on them defects and becomes a capitalist. 

            The general was played by Mara Lynn in a great performance. 

            The hair stylist was played by Sylvia Miles, who studied at the Actor’s Studio. She made her theatrical debut in 1947. She made her television debut on Bob Hope in 1950. She made her film debut in Murder Inc. in 1960. In 1960 she played Sally Rogers in the pilot for Head of the Family, which became The Dick Van Dyke Show with Rosemarie winning the part. She was nominated for Academy Awards for her supporting performances in Midnight Cowboy and farewell My Lovely. She starred in Andy Warhol’s Heat, Terror in the City (Pie in the Sky), She co-starred in Shalimar, The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday, Crossing Delancey, Who Killed Mary What’s Her Name?, The Sentinel, Zero to Sixty, The Funhouse, and Sleeping Beauty. She starred in the one woman musical It’s Me Sylvia in 1981. She dumped a plate of steak tartar on the head of theatre critic John Simon for his comments about her in print. She said that in Hollywood one could get away with killing someone but the greatest crime is turning down a part. She was famous for her attendance of Manhattan parties and it was once said that she would attend the opening of an envelope. She was a competitive chess player.