Don Megowan

            On Sunday after midnight I lint-rolled the curtains between the bedroom and the living room, the top of my bed and the pillow and picked up a few of bedbugs from the curtains. I went to bed at 1:33 and slept fitfully. I dreamed of a young and beautiful eastern European woman named Cilia who was serving as a cultural diplomat. She immediately fell in love with me even though I was my current age but we could not get enough of each other. I woke up and kept dreaming of her over and over again until 4:30 when I got up to pee, turned the heat on, then slept until the 5:00 alarm. After yoga there were a couple of bedbugs stuck to the carpet tape on my mattress but quite a few on the walls and on the baseboards around my bed. 

            I worked the chords to the first two lines of “Yes Man” by Serge Gainsbourg. 

            I weighed 90.5 kilos before breakfast. 

            I played my Martin during song practice for the first of two sessions and it went out of tune all the time. 

            I weighed 90.6 kilos before lunch. I had peanut butter and five-year-old cheddar on saltines with a glass of lemonade. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. 

            I weighed 90.35 kilos at 18:20. 

            I was caught up in my journal at 19:28.

            I digitized a cassette recording of my interview on CIUT promoting the launch of my chapbook Vomit of the Star Eater. The next cassette is another radio interview, this one promoting my 20,000 Poets Under the League poetry slam. 

            I digitally enhanced a bit more of the old photo I’ve been working on. 

            I made pizza on a slice of multigrain sandwich bread with marinara, tomato pesto, potato wedges, and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a glass of Creemore lager while watching episode 9 of Daniel Boone. 

            Yad is in Salem when he stops to get a drink at a tavern where an indentured servant auction is going on. The Irish sisters Kathleen and Molly O’Hannrahan are placed on the block. Their three year contract states that they have to be sold together. The auctioneer tells Yad he’ll pay him ten pounds to bid for the sisters until the price goes up to 100. Boone arrives and asks Yad what he’s doing and when he tells him, Boone shouts out in surprise, “100 pounds?” and ends up purchasing the two women. He takes the matter to a magistrate but is told that he has to honour the transaction and so he and Yad bring the sisters back to Boonesborough. 

            His wife Rebecca is not happy about her husband buying two attractive women that are going to be living with them for three years. But when she hears their sad tale her heart melts and now Daniel has to sleep on the floor. He can’t sleep but she tells him he should be used to it since he sleeps on the ground all the time. He says he chooses soft ground and then leaves the house to look for some. 

            But he can’t sleep and so he goes to Yad’s cabin to tell him he should marry Kathleen and take care of Molly. But Yad rejects that idea so they both go and talk to various bachelors and convince several that they need a wife. 

            Hermann the blacksmith shows up at Boone’s cabin with some gifts he made and he’s clearly interested in Kathleen. 

            While Boone and Yad are still out promoting Kathleen, several of the hopeful grooms show up at Boone’s cabin. Rebecca tells them to run along and Hermann attacks them. There is a big fight amongst all the men. Boone and Yad show up and they get knocked down as well. The only one left standing is Hermann. 

            After supper Hermann comes calling with a bouquet for Kathleen but when they look for her they find a note telling them that Kathleen and Molly have decided to go back to Ireland and left on their own. Boone, Yad, and Hermann go looking for them. 

            Meanwhile the sisters are captured by Shawnee. The men find the sisters’ bags and Shawnee footprints. They catch up with them and it’s mostly Herman who takes them all out with just his fists. Then he tells Kathleen she’s going to marry him and he’s going to be the boss. They are arguing at the end and it looks like it will be that kind of marriage. 

            Hermann was played by Don Megowan, who won a heavy weight boxing title in the army during WWII. He made his film debut in The Mob in 1953. He starred in The Creation of the Humanoids, Snowfire, and Guns of the Black Witch. He co-starred in Hell Canyon Outlaws, The Werewolf, A Lust to Kill, The Creature Walks Among Us, and Tarzan and the Valley of Gold. He co-starred in the TV series The Beachcomber. He managed apartment buildings in North Hollywood and owned Megowan’s Clubhouse, specializing in burgers and lasagna.

November 9, 1996: My 5 year old daughter spent the weekend with me as usual

Thirty years ago today 

            On Saturday my 5 year old daughter came to spend the weekend with me as usual. We played video games.

Darby Hinton

            On Saturday after midnight I lint-rolled the curtains between the bedroom and the living room, the top of my bed and the pillow and picked up a few of bedbugs from the curtains. The camera tripod that was holding up one end of the bedroom curtain rod fell off the shelf. I propped the rod back up with another tripod and secured the leg with carpet tape. I shook out my sheet and comforter on the deck. I went to bed at 1:30 and slept until 3:30 when I got up to pee, then slept until the 5:00 alarm. After yoga there were a couple of bedbugs stuck to the carpet tape on my mattress and a few on the walls and on the baseboards around my bed. 

            I memorized the sixth verse of “C’est ici (It’s Right Here) by Boris Vian. There is only one verse left to learn. 

            I searched online for the chords to “Yes Man” by Serge Gainsbourg even though I knew no one would have posted them. It’s a habit. I worked them out for the intro and the first note of the first line. 

            I weighed 89.95 kilos before breakfast, which is the lightest I’ve been in the morning since October 10. 

            I got a text from my upstairs neighbour David claiming that he talked to all the other tenants and they say they don’t have bedbugs. He also claims that he no longer has bedbugs even though he was complaining about them just a few days ago. I told him I’m happy for him if he doesn’t have bedbugs but it may be just the space between the bedbugs’ hatching cycles. He’s suggested that I have bedbugs because I don’t clean my room even though he’s never seen my bedroom. This is not a housekeeping problem. The bedbugs are inside the walls. This has gotten out of hand because the landlord is extremely negligent about hiring pest control. It’s now been 2 and a half years since the last treatment.

            Around midday I rode to No Frills where there were some firm grapes for a change though not cheap. I got five bags of red grapes, three packs of blueberries, some bananas, two packs of New Zealand grass fed beef, ground in Canada, a jug of orange juice, a jug of lemonade, two containers of skyr, a bag of potato wedges, and a bag of Miss Vickie’s chips. 

            I weighed 90.55 kilos at 14:40. That’s the kindest I’ve been to the scale in the early afternoon since September 25. I had peanut butter and five-year-old cheddar on saltines with a glass of lemonade.

            I took a siesta at 15:15 and slept until 17:00. It was too late to take a bike ride. 

            I weighed 90.65 kilos at 17:20. 

            I was caught up in my journal at 18:14. 

            I digitized a cassette tape of Steve Lowe and I polishing up our performance of my songs “Angeline” and “Calendar Girl”. One can hear my then 3 or 4 year old daughter Astrid commenting that she liked the first take of “Angeline”. The next cassette I digitize will be of one of my interviews on CIUT radio.

            I made pizza on a slice of multigrain sandwich bread with marinara, tomato pesto, potato wedges, and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a glass of Creemore lager while watching episode 8 of Daniel Boone. 

            Yad is on the way to Boonesborough with some furs to sell when he is stopped by Simon Girty and his three sons. They string Yad up by his feet and make off with the furs. Boone comes along and frees him then they head for Boonesborough to stop the Girtys. 

            Simon and his boys are just about to steal all the furs from the market when Boone and Yad arrive and start fighting. The Girtys are tossed in the river. 

            Boone and Yad are heading out by canoe to Salem to sell the furs. Daniel convinces his wife Rebecca to let him take their son Israel along so he can learn some things that aren’t in schoolbooks. She’s worried about her child’s safety but gives in. After they leave she says to herself there’s no harm in being sure. 

            That night when Boone, Yad, and Israel make camp, the Girty’s arrive with rifles they’ve stolen from the Cherokee. Boone shouts for Israel to run and so he heads west with the north star at his right hand like his father taught him. When he’s exhausted he is found by Mingo who was sent by Israel’s mother to make sure everyone would be safe. Mingo and Israel go back to the camp where they find Boone and Yad staked to the ground. Their canoe has been sabotaged with a big hole but Boone patches it with birch bark and they take to the river to catch up with the Girtys who are following the longer trail. The canoe has to shoot the rapids but they make it. 

            They come ashore near the Girtys’ camp but they know that they only have one rifle to the Girtys’ four. They are near a Cherokee graveyard and Boone gets an idea to scare the Girtys and throw them off their guard. They rob the grave of a Cherokee who was buried with his war paint. Mingo is done up to look like a Cherokee ghost and scares some of the brothers while the others make spooky noises. One of the brothers on guard is knocked out. Finally they are disarmed and sent away. 

            Israel was played by Darby Hinton, who made his debut as a baby on Playhouse 90. His father died when he was 14 months old. He made his film debut at the age of 4 in Hero’s Island. When he was 6 years old his mother dropped him off to audition for The Sound of Music and then went to park the car. He was mistakenly standing in line to audion for the role of Israel in the Daniel Boone series and he got the part. He co-starred on Daniel Boone for six years. He then went to high school at the American School in Switzerland. He went to college on World Campus Afloat and went around the world three times. He then studied and performed with The Groundlings. He played Ian Griffith on Days of Our Lives. He co-starred in Goodbye Franklin High, He starred in Malibu Express. He’s been starring in The Manor at Theatre 40s in Beverly Hills for the last several years. He is a “Master Trainer” for Tony Robbins. He wrote Growing Up Israel.

November 8, 1996: I posed all day at Central Tech

Thirty years ago today 

            On Friday I posed from 9:00 to 15:00 for Michael Gerry’s classes at Central Technical School.

Frank DeKova

            On Friday after midnight I lint-rolled the curtains between the bedroom and the living room, the top of my bed and the pillow and picked up a few of bedbugs from the curtains. I shook out my sheet and comforter on the deck. I went to bed at 1:30 and slept until 3:00 when I got up to pee, then slept until 4:30 and peed again, then slept until the 5:00 alarm. After yoga there were a couple of bedbugs stuck to the carpet tape on my mattress and a few on the walls and on the baseboards around my bed. 

            I finished memorizing “Yes Man” by Serge Gainsbourg. On Saturday I’ll start working out the chords. I think it’s a pretty simple song and since it has no chorus it should be pretty easy to chord. 

            I went over to Home Hardware and bought two rolls of carpet tape. I worked on my letter to the landlord about the bedbugs. Not that I think the letter will convince him, but it’s so I can show to the authorities a dated letter containing all the facts of his negligence. 

            I weighed 91.1 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. 

            I weighed 90.8 kilos at 18:15. 

            I was caught up in my journal at 18:48. 

            I digitized a cassette of a recording session I did at Cherry Beach Studios. I went there with Tom Smarda because Rocky Capano invited us. Rocky was paying for the session with his inheritance money. He handed me some lyrics and asked me to sing them so I made up a melody on the spot. I also got to record my song “Me and Gravity” with professional musicians though it wasn’t the sound I envisioned for that song.

            I worked on digitally enhancing one of my old photos. 

            I had a potato with gravy and a chicken leg while watching episode 7 of Daniel Boone. 

            Major Peter Wellington of the British army and two Wyandot: Pushta, and Charlie Crow approach a cabin in the distance. Charlie points out Daniel Boone’s home. Peter pays him and says this must be a secret, then Pushta kills Charlie. 

            Peter walks up to the cabin and introduces himself to Boone. He says that two British soldiers have been captured by the Wyandot and he needs his help to rescue them. Boone agrees for humanitarian reasons. 

            They walk together into Wyandot territory and when they reach the cliff that overlooks the Wyandot village, Peter knocks Boone out. He takes Boone’s clothing and then rolls Boone off the cliff into the water. 

            Peter puts on Boone’s clothes and walks into the Wyandot village announcing that he is Daniel Boone (But when he was walking with Boone he was visibly smaller so it’s very unlikely his clothes would fit as well as what he’s wearing fits). He tells Chief Talakum that he is Daniel Boone and what he’s heard about Boone fighting for the colonies against the British is false. He offers a rifle for every Wyandot who takes the British side in the colonial war. 

            When Talakum is not there Peter pays Pushta for helping him. 

            But then they hear a commotion outside and look to see Daniel Boone wearing Major Wellington’s jacket and walking into the village. He says he’s Daniel Boone. 

            Talakum has the two white men compete in a trial of fire. They have a tug of war on each side of a bonfire. Each one almost pulls the other into the fire but then the fire finally cuts through the rope. Then they have a knife fight with one knife and Boone wins but doesn’t kill him. Then they have a marksmanship contest and Boone wins as well. 

            Talakum is convinced and now wants to kill Peter, but by this time Boone’s friends Mingo and Tad have arrived and they help to convince Talakum to let them take Peter with them. They take him to the cliff and tell him to jump, so he does. 

            Later Peter sends his sword as a gift to Boone’s son Israel and Peter is now a corporal. 

            Talakum was played by Frank DeKova, who gave up his career as a school teacher to become an actor. He made his Broadway debut in Detective Story and was discovered by Elia Kazan. He made his film debut in Viva Zapata in 1952. He co-starred in The Mechanic, and Heavy Traffic. He co-starred in 63 episodes of F-Troop.

November 7, 1996: I posed for Michael Gerry's class at Central Tech

Thirty years ago today

            On Thursday I posed from 9:00 to 11:45 for Michael Garry’s class at Central Technical School.

Émile Genest

            On Thursday after midnight I put down more carpet tape on the edges of my mattress where it had gotten less sticky but ran out of tape, so I’ll need to go back to the hardware store soon. I lint-rolled the curtains between the bedroom and the living room, the top of my bed and the pillow and picked up a few of bedbugs from the curtains. I didn’t shake out my sheet and comforter on the deck because it was raining. I went to bed at 1:45 and slept until the 5:00 alarm. After yoga there were a few bedbugs on the walls and on the baseboards around my bed. 

            I memorized the fifth verse of “Yes Man” by Serge Gainsbourg and finished revising my translation. There’s just one verse left to learn and I should have that done on Friday. Then I’ll start working out the chords. 

            I weighed 90.1 kilos before breakfast, which is the lightest I’ve been in the morning since October 10. 

            I played my Gibson Les Paul Studio for the last of two sessions and it stayed in tune most of the time. 

            I started working on a letter to my landlord demanding action to eliminate the bedbugs. 

            I weighed 91.45 kilos before lunch. 

            I took a siesta but slept 45 minutes longer than planned. It was too late for a bike ride but I still rode to Freshco. I was prepared to do a price match on grapes to the Food Basics price of $4.15 a kilo but all of Freshco’s grapes were too mushy. I got three packs of blueberries, some bananas, a container of skyr, two packs of Full City Dark coffee, some shaving gel, and a lint roller. 

            I weighed 91.1 kilos at 17:55. 

            I had a potato with gravy and a chicken leg while watching episode 6 of Daniel Boone. 

            A pioneer father, mother and daughter are on their way down river in a barge to Boonesborough when a man on shore named Lac Duquesne asks for a lift. But when they steer ashore to pick him up his pirate band emerges from the bushes and hijacks their boat. The family is put ashore where they are found by Mingo and escorted to Boonesborough. 

            When Lac first came from France he saved Boone’s life and they were friends but now Lac has turned criminal. 

            It turns out that 50 rifles they have been expecting at Boonesborough were shipped on that river raft and now Lac has them. He plans on selling them to the Shawnee and so Boone, Tad, and Mingo go after him. 

            They catch up with him when he makes camp but Lac has more men in hiding and they are able to capture Boone and his friends. They take them prisoner on the boat and then set them free in Shawnee country where their chances of survival are slim. 

            They follow the boat to where Lac meets with the Shawnee chief. They find where the rifles and gunpowder are stored and take some. Boone sabotages Lac’s armoury by running a trail of gunpowder to the cache. They recapture Lac and force him to help move the rifles back to the boat. Boone arrests Lac and makes him come on the boat but the Shawnee are following. Lac warns that they will follow all the way back to Boonesborough so Boone decides to let Lac go as they take the rifles back to the fort.

            Lac Duquesne was played by Canadian actor Émile Genest, who served in the Royal Canadian Navy during WWII. He became a bilingual sportscaster for CBC Radio. He co-starred in the CBC radio drama La Famille Plouffe and reprised his role in the TV series. He co-starred in Nikki Wild Dog of the North, and Big Red. He starred in The Incredible Journey, and a four hour film update of La Famille Plouffe.