Conquerors Always Think Those They Rule Are Magical

            Conquering peoples and colonists always think of the people over whom they have power as possessing secret magical powers. Indigenous people, Africans, Indians, Middle Eastern people and East Asian people are all given mystical abilities in the imaginations of their conquerors. This is how the subconscious mind deals with power imbalances. It invents unseen power in order to counteract the guilt of conquest. Someday when white people are no longer in power they will also be seen as wise shaman and will be presented as the noble teachers of heroes in movies and stories.

On Sunday morning I started working out the chords for “J’suis snob” by Boris Vian. I only managed the first two, which are D7 and G7.

I finished working out the chords for “Encore lui” by Serge Gainsbourg. I’ll start posting it on my translation blog on Monday.

I washed another section of my living room floor. Now during yoga my mat will be entirely on the bright part, although when I’m stretched out my feet still touch the dark area. I ca safely say that I’ve cleaned half of the living room floor. Next I’ll tackle the part where my left stereo speaker stands between the left side of my dresser and the north end of the mantle. That’s an area ten floorboards wide. It’ll take three sessions for me to get back to the couch and then another three to make another clean strip leading to the bookshelf that holds my stereo. Then I think it would be a good time to finally elevate the shelves so that my left speaker will fit on the bottom.

I had a toasted cheese, tomato and cucumber sandwich for lunch.

I did some exercises and took my usual bike ride to Ossington and Dundas.

I notice there’s a tattoo shop on Dundas with a sign saying that it does tattoos in “both styles”.  I couldn’t find any list online that narrows tattoos down to two styles.

I went down Queen and then home.

I got caught up on my journal.

I had a fried egg with toast and a beer for dinner while watching two episodes of The Veil. This series so far is not as good as I’d expected it to be.

In the first story Captain Elwood returns home to Massachusetts after a long voyage at sea. His ship had been infested with poisonous snakes and two of his men had died. Instead of going home he sends his first mate to take his luggage home and goes directly to the tavern where a banquet will be held in his honour. His wife comes in the back door of the tavern to buy a bottle of wine for her husband’s dinner. When the captain sees her he accuses her of spying on him. In frustration she grabs the tablecloth on the banquet table and pulls it, sending everything crashing to the floor. At home she feels guilty and begs him to forgive her. She begins to unpack his trunk and a snake bites her.

Later she is in bed and the captain has drawn out the poison and called the doctor. While she’s resting he goes back to the tavern and learns from the innkeeper that the widow Smith had just inherited 20,000 pounds from her late husband. He reminds the captain that she's has always been partial to him, so too bad he's married. The captain immediately goes home and invites Ruth on his next voyage. She has been neglected for so long she is immediately grateful. But while she is at sea he begins to slowly poison her tea. As she gets increasingly more sick the first mate doesn’t understand why the captain has set course for Jamaica rather than the nearest port where there is a doctor. Ruth dies and the captain pretends to be in grief as the widow Smith consoles him. He attends a banquet for his former first mate that has just become a captain. Suddenly the tablecloth pulls out by itself exactly as Ruth had done it. People talk of Ruth’s ghost but the captain says it’s nonsense. He tries to reset the table but it flips over by itself. Later the captain’s ship is wrecked on a calm sea and everyone survives but the captain.

Boris Karloff played the captain.

Ruth was played by Kay Stewart who was in the first issue of Life Magazine when it did a feature about her being the first female cheerleader at a major university. I’d forgotten that cheerleading used to be an exclusively male activity. Times have changed.

Bessie the barmaid was played by Eleonor Lucky.

The second story takes place in Italy. Karloff plays Dr. Carlo, the physician for a small village of peasants who depend on and trust him. Carlo’s son Angelo arrives to visit. He is now a successful surgeon in a city hospital. He wants his father to retire and move to the city with him but he says the villagers could not live without him. Carlo goes out that night to look in on one of his regular elderly patients. While he is gone a young man named Tony arrives looking for the doctor because his little sister Francesca is dying. Angelo goes out in the storm with Tony to look after the girl. But when he tells the family that he needs to operate they refuse to let him because they want the real doctor to come. Angelo sends his driver Guiseppe to fetch Carlo. Meanwhile Carlo returns home from his house call and falls asleep in his chair. When Carlo arrives at the home of the sick girl he is silent but his presence gives the family confidence to let Angelo give the child the simple tracheotomy that she needed to save her life. Angelo tells his father to go home while he finishes up. When Angelo leaves the house he finds Guiseppe trying to fix the broken down car. He walks home in the storm and finds his father sleeping in his chair. He tells Angelo that he had been there all along.

The mother of the little girl was played by Elvira Curci.

The grandmother was played by Inez Phalange.

Francesca was played by Lauren Perreau, the younger sister of Gigi Perreau who was the drama teacher of the former Meghan Markle