On Thursday morning I finished working out
the chords to “Des vents des
pets des poums” (Farting Up a Storm) by Serge Gainsbourg and began posting it
on my Christian’s Translations blog.
I
worked on translating parts of two poems by Théophile Gautier that are
referenced by Oscar Wilde in The Picture of Dorian Gray because I might
use them for my essay. One poem is about the mummified hand of the poet and
murderer Pierre François Lacenaire as seen in a museum:
With depraved curiosity
With depraved curiosity
I touch it despite my disgust
that it is still stained with cruelty
this cold flesh with its down of rust
Mummified and yellow
like the hand of a pharaoh
Stretching faunlike fingers
as if temptation lingers
The
other poem is about Venice:
On a scale chromatic
On a scale chromatic
breasts dripping pearlescent beads
Venus of the Adriatic
rises, white and pink from the sea
On the azure waves the duomos
follow the phrase with pure contour
like throats rounded and swollen
while lifting the sighs of amour
The skiff arrives and I’m deposed
to a pillar its line is snared
before a facade in rose
on the marble of a stairs
I
had potato chips and salsa for lunch.
I
finished my translations.
I
grilled three chicken legs in the early afternoon because I had to go to work
later and there would be no time when I got back. Half an hour before leaving I
boiled a potato.
I
read more of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde before heading out and
took the book with me.
I
worked for Peeter Maimik in the Design department of OCADU at the top of the
pencil box. I think that every instructor I’ve worked for this year in Design
has been a TA, whereas in the Fine Arts department it’s the people in charge of
the courses that do the teaching in the life drawing sessions.
I
did a set of one-minute poses, another of twos and one more of fives before the
break. I got a lot of reading done since Peeter didn’t ask me to do anything
again for 40 minutes. He was just going from student to student and talking
about their work. I felt kind of guilty just sitting there and the students
were getting pretty bored. Finally he asked for two 20-minute poses. I finished
ten minutes early.
The
way home was fairly clear but I’ve gotten very cautious while driving at night
along stretches where I am crowded close to the streetcar tracks.
When
I got home I heated the dinner I’d already made. I had a potato, a chicken leg
and some gravy while watching Zorro.
In
this story Don Nacho and Zorro’s father Don Alejandro are scheduled for trial
but they are optimistic because the governor has guaranteed them a trial by a
fair judge. But Monastario has a trick up his sleeve to make it so the two dons
are found guilty and executed. He sends Sergeant Garcia to escort Judge Vasca
to Los Angeles but as Vasca is known for his appetites the plan is to delay his
journey with a feast so that the trial can take place without him. Garcia
challenges Vasca to an eating contest, which Vasca easily wins in record time.
Desperate for another way to delay the judge Garcia dopes his wine with a
sleeping potion and puts him in a room at the inn. But Zorro has anticipated
trouble and has come to make sure Vasca makes it to the trial. He forces Garcia
to drink the sleeping potion and when he conks out he has his servant Bernardo
dress up as Garcia. They made the story impossibly convenient by having Vasca
sleepwalk and so Bernardo just guides him out the door. They rush him in a
wagon to Los Angeles but Monastario starts the trial early with his own crooked
lawyer Alcalde presiding. However, Zorro gets there ahead of Vasca’s carriage
and just as Alcalde is about to declare the defendants guilty, concealed by the
curtains behind his desk Zorro pokes his sword in his back and whispers for him
to carefully consider his decision. He has no choice but to find the dons not
guilty.
Judge
Vasca was played by Sebastian Cabot, who later became a star on Family Affair
and later his own show “Checkmate”.
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