Turning Point

            On Sunday morning I had a stomach ache resulting from what was probably food poisoning from having eaten rancid nachos the night before. It bothered me to a too slowly diminishing degree all through yoga and song practice until it subsided before breakfast.

I worked out the chords for the first verse and chorus of “Vu de l’extérieur” (From the Outside) by Serge Gainsbourg, so next all I have to do is place the same chords in their corresponding places in the rest of the song.

            I washed another section of my kitchen floor from the beginning of the wall at the right side of the entrance to the living room to halfway around the curved left end of the mantle. My cleaning project has literally reached a turning point.

            I had old cheddar on toast for lunch.

            In the afternoon I did my exercises while listening to a February 1947 episode of Amos and Andy. This show was unique because it was done in metatext. The three characters of Amos, Kingfish and Lightning that are voiced by Freeman Gosden, are missing. The characters of Andy, Gabby and Shorty go looking for them but not in the context of their fictional reality in Harlem but rather as characters in a radio show looking for the other characters so the show can go on. They travel through various NBC radio studios and first encounter the other radio characters Fibber McGee and Molly who are wondering why they can’t tune into Amos and Andy. Then Gabby the lawyer talks about having played Uncle Remus in the 1946 film Song of the South. Gabby is played by James Baskett, who did play Uncle Remus and he sings “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah". They then go to the Bob Hope Show where we hear some of his performance. Most of his jokes are topical and not very funny out of the context of that era but a couple are not bad. He talks about having bet on a horse that was so slow the saddle converted into a Murphy bed. He tells another about coming back from Palm Springs where in one week you get healthy enough to go back to work and poor enough to have to. They go to another studio and see a man that looks like Red Skelton but he is in character as Clem Kadiddlehopper. His jokes are pretty lame as well except for the one about having filled up his car with gas and having moved from the country to the city. He says it was a terribly hot drive. Andy asks why he didn’t open the window and he says, “What, and let all the gas out?” Finally they learn that Amos is in the hospital after having an operation and so Andy calls him up and we hear from Andy, Lightning and Kingfish.

            I read the first two chapters of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. In the first chapter Lord Henry is visiting his friend, the painter Basil Hallward. Lord Henry is full of the many ironic sayings that pepper Wilde’s work. Basil shows Henry his portrait of Dorian Gray, which Henry says is his greatest work. Basil tells him about meeting Dorian Gray for the first time. In chapter two Dorian arrives to sit for the portrait. Henry gives a speech that shocks Dorian’s consciousness with the fear of growing old. The portrait is finished and it is declared a masterpiece. Basil does not plan on selling it but gives it to Dorian. Dorian and Henry leave together even though Basil begs him to stay.

            I heated some frozen fries and for the last fifteen minutes melted cheese whiz on top of them. I had them for dinner with ketchup, hot sauce and a beer while watching Wanted Dead or Alive starring Steve McQueen.

            In this story Josh comes to an unspecified town and checks into a posh hotel called The Outrider. He’s there to meet an old friend named Jesse who manages the hotel. Jesse’s girlfriend Meghan owns the hotel but Kovack, the self-proclaimed mayor is trying to take the place away from her. He had given her a loan in exchange for the gambling rights for a year but now he wants it all. He has his men trash the saloon. When Jesse goes to confront Kovack he returns severely beaten. Josh goes to see Kovack and slaps him around and then he forces him to sign his interest in the hotel over to Meghan. Kovack’s men are waiting for Josh outside the office but Jesse, who can barely stand shows up and has a shootout with them, taking them all out. Distracted by the shooting, Josh is knocked out by Kovack who takes his gun and goes after Jesse. Jesse sees him first and kills him before collapsing. Josh leaves the happy couple as they contemplate their future in business and marriage.

            Jesse was played by James Coburn, who will star with Steve McQueen one year later in The Magnificent Seven. Apparently McQueen faked a car accident to get time off from the show to shoot The Magnificent Seven.