The Eastern Front

            On Monday morning I finished working out the chords for the first verse and a couple of chords for the chorus of “J’suis snob” by Boris Vian. The chorus will be quicker because it’s simpler.

            I almost nailed the chords for “Puisque je te le dis” by Serge Gainsbourg.

            I got called a misogynist on Twitter for defending transgender athletes competing against cisgender women. I had no idea there was so much vitriol on the topic. I had an avalanche of people attacking me and though I got a couple of “likes” not one person pitched in any arguments for my side. I made a comparison of Serena Williams being bigger than most female tennis players and said that if she were a transgender woman with the exact same body people would complain that she had an unfair advantage. Several people accused me of being a racist because apparently some racists say that black women look like men. I wouldn’t have made such an association and besides I didn’t even mention that Serena is African American. It seemed like these people were playing the Donald Trump “I’m not a bigot, you’re the bigot” card. As I was exposing them for being transphobic they tried to pull the old switcheroo and label me as racist.

            I washed another section of my living room floor, extending the eight-board wide strip that I’d done the last two sessions to the tall shelf on the east side of the room. Next I need to pull the shelf out and wash behind it but in order to do that I have to remove everything from the shelf and so I might as well clean the shelf as well. Then I’ll elevate the boards so I can fit my left speaker on the bottom.

            I had a small piece of chicken and some yogourt for lunch.

            I did some exercises and then took a bike ride.

            I talked with my neighbour Benji about roti. We agreed that Ali’s is the best in Parkdale. Benji said he likes goat meat and I wondered if that was what he was raised on in Guyana. He said there wasn’t a lot of meat there and they ate mostly fish.

            I had three little potatoes, steamed Swiss chard, a chicken breast and gravy for dinner while watching parts 8 and 9 of Victory at Sea.

            From part 8:
            When Germany overran France in June 1940 the British were afraid the French navy would come under Italian control and so they attacked French ships in the Mediterranean. They sank a battleship and killed more than a thousand French sailors.

            I learned that Mussolini is the one that coined the term “Axis” to describe Italy and it’s German and Japanese allies in WWII. Mussolini was also essentially the founder of Fascism in a time when fascists were proud of the name.

            Italy attacks Greece but the Italian commanders don’t think they can win. The Greeks send them back across the border. The British move in to defend Greece but the Germans attack and push them back. With Greece under German control they push to control the Mediterranean and especially the Suez Canal in North Africa. Under Field Marshal Rommel, known as “The Desert Fox”, the Germans surge forward in their advance for the Suez. In one spurt the Germans come 563 kilometres closer to Alexandria. They take Tobruck and take 30,000 prisoners of war. Rommel stops 100 kilometres from Alexandria to wait for supplies. The Italian navy is in charge of defending the supply ships in the Mediterranean but the British navy defeats them, cuts off Rommel’s supply line and forces the Desert Fox to retreat.

            In part 9 it’s October 1942 and the Allies open a second front with Dwight Eisenhower in charge of Operation Torch, which was the plan to invade North Africa by sea. This is the first joint British and US mission of the war. The troops from the States and from England ship out without knowing where they are going and converge in French Africa. The Vichy government aims to defend its African colonies. When they are just off the coast of Casablanca Roosevelt announces their presence to the French and asks them to welcome their troops. They send men to shore with still no word.  The military leaders loyal to the Vichy government decide to fight. It takes three days of battle before the Vichy French surrender. The Free French take over and welcome the Allies. The British part of the invasion force makes way for Algiers in a convoy of ships. These landings are the first major victories for the Allies, now joined by the Free French. The British head for Tunisia but Rommel gets there first. The Allies converge on Rommel’s stronghold from the east and west. The Afrika Corps is smashed and 250,000 prisoners are taken.

            At the end the narrator quotes Winston Churchill, “It is not the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.” What the hell is that supposed to mean? One second after anything starts is the end of the beginning.