Lillian Randolph

            On Wednesday morning I finished memorizing “Première symptômes" by Serge Gainsbourg.

            Around midday I continued working on organizing my books and got rid of a few. I don't need two Webster's Thesauruses and I no longer want the three books I have on how to build a website.

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

            In the afternoon I did my exercises while listening to Amos and Andy. This was the ten-thousandth broadcast of the show and so the story related how Amos and Andy arrived in New York from Georgia and started a taxi company. The continuity of this show was all over the place. Past stories have presented Andy and Kingfish as having been childhood friends in Georgia but in this story Andy meets Kingfish on his first day in New York when Kingfish tries to pick his pocket. The main story was pretty lame because it was so familiar. It was just about Madame Queen suing Andy for breach of promise because he cancelled their engagement to date his secretary, Miss Blue. The case is thrown out when Madame Queen’s long lost husband shows up in court.

            In the early years of Amos and Andy, Freeman Gosden, who played both Amos and Kingfish, also did the voice of Madame Queen. But from 1941 until the end Lillian Randolph was Madame Queen. Randolph worked in film and television from 1930 until the late 1970s. She played supporting roles in It’s A Wonderful Life and she is known for her character of Birdie on The Great Gildersleeve radio and television shows.

            I took a bike ride and on Bloor, in the west end I came up behind someone that looked familiar. I was pretty sure it was Melissa from Bike Pirates and I recognized the raccoon tail under her bicycle seat from long before I met her there. I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure but she came up beside me later and introduced herself, along with another Bike Pirates volunteer that I recognized named Tim. They said they’d just closed the shop. I said I haven’t needed as many repairs lately because I haven’t been riding as hard as I used to. She said that they aren’t doing repairs at the shop these days because of social distancing and I said that I’d read that on their website. We said goodbye and she went on ahead but I passed at around Ossington.

I went to Yonge and Bloor, down to Queen and then west. I stopped at Bay to take a few pictures of the homeless guy and his tent.

            When I got home I got caught up on my journal.

            I had an egg and a slice of toast for dinner with a beer. I tried to watch some shows that I started downloading a year ago but none of the data had been downloaded enough to play, and so I deleted them. Instead I watched two episodes of The Adventures of Robin Hood.

            In the first story the outlaws are short of money for the winter. Meanwhile Marian is visiting her uncle the Earl of Rochedale. Marian learns that Rochedale is in a dispute with the Earl of Northgate over the border between their two estates. Each claims the patch of woodland between them as their own. Northgate wants to use it for hunting while Rochedale is a vegetarian who wishes to enjoy it as a nature preserve.

Remembering that Robin and his men are short of funds, Marian proposes that the two earls enter archers in the contest at the fair and the winning sponsor would lay claim to the property while the winning archer would take the 100 crowns prize money. They both agree and then Marian introduces Rochedale to Robin. Rochedale is impressed until he learns that Robin is an outlaw and calls the deal off. But Robin learns that his man Lawrence used to be an actor and after he hears him imitate Rochedale he forms a plan for Lawrence to go to the sheriff as Rochedale to ask for a safe conduct pass for Robin to keep him from being arrested at the contest. The sheriff is swayed by the promise of 500 crowns and writes the pass. But Marian is not aware of this and persuades her uncle to go to the sheriff to ask for a pass for Robin. When the sheriff discovers there are two Earls of Rochedale he tries to arrest Robin at the contest because the pass was achieved under false pretences, but after Robin wins Rochedale tells the sheriff the other man was acting on his behalf. The sheriff lets Robin go but he asks for his 500 crowns, of which Rochedale knows nothing. The sheriff wants to re-arrest Robin but Marian asks him if he bartered a man’s safety for a bribe. The sheriff lets Robin go.

In the second story Baron Mornay comes to Robin Hood to ask him to travel to Scotland to get 500 crowns from King William to release him from certain obligations he owes to King Richard. Robin has to pose as a nobleman but noblemen do not carry longbows and so he brings Friar Tuck along to carry his weapon. On the way they are attacked by a band of Scottish outlaws led by a woman named Meg. They are captured but when Robin learns that their leader is Duncan the highlander, Robin tells them he and Duncan are friends. Robin has to prove he is who he claims by shooting a quince off of Tuck’s head. At their camp Robin won’t tell Duncan why he is in Scotland and so that night Duncan sneaks into Robin's bag to find the documents. He reads that Robin will be dealing with King William, who is like Prince John for Scotland. Duncan plots to not let Robin take the gold out of Scotland and plans an ambush. Robin gets the gold from William but William also plans to have his men disguised as outlaws ambush Robin in the same place as Duncan to get the gold back. When the ambush occurs Duncan’s outlaws end up fighting William’s fake outlaws and Duncan’s band wins. Robin tells Tuck to play dead and he takes all of the gold from the chest and places it under Tuck's robes. Then he fills the chest with wild flowers. Duncan pretends to have rescued Robin and they carry Tuck’s body towards camp. But the going gets rough and they stop at a hermit’s hut to pay him to bury Tuck. They leave the body with the hermit and head for camp. After they leave Tuck and the hermit and the hermit is digging, Tuck gives the hermit a fright when he comes to life. At camp Robin dines with Duncan and Meg and she reminds Robin of the outlaw custom that Duncan learned from him by which the guest pays for the meal with half of what he is carrying. Robin opens the chest and gives Duncan half the flowers and the chest. Robin collects Tuck and they head back for England with the gold.