Brit Lit

            On Monday morning I finished memorizing “Bourrée de complexes” (Buried in Complexes) by Boris Vian and tracked down the first set of chords. I also looked for the chords for “Variations sur Marilou” by Serge Gainsbourg. Only one person posted a set but they were the exactly right chords, at least for the introduction and the first verse. I see if they fit the rest of the song on Tuesday.

            At 10:15 I went onto Acorn and enrolled in my courses for the 2020-2021 term at U of T. I’ll be taking Introduction to Canadian Literature in the fall and Introduction to British Literature parts one and two in the fall and winter.

            Around midday I moved the filing cabinet from between the bathroom and the hallway and scrubbed a section of the kitchen floor in that area. There are still seven boards left to clean leading up to the wall in that part of the room. After that I'm going to have to clean the wall and the light switch plate between the door and the hall, which means I’ll have to shut the power off for a while so I don’t get a shock.

            For lunch I had a can of tuna with chili paste and potato chips.

            In the afternoon I did my exercises while listening to Amos and Andy. This episode seems to have been Frankensteined together from two previous stories. The Kingfish has new neighbours while at the same time there is a cat burglar robbing the apartments in his building and there is a $500 reward for the culprit’s capture. While visiting the new neighbours to see what he can mooch off them Kingfish finds a gun in a drawer. He concludes that Hayward is the cat burglar and so he plots to get the reward. He has Andy leave a message with Hayward to meet Kingfish at the lodge hall. They have prepared a trap for Hayward. Andy tells him that Kingfish is in the basement but when Hayward makes his way down there is a wire across the top step which causes Hayward to tumble down the stairs and get knocked out. Hayward is bound and gagged while Kingfish heads to contact the police. But before Kingfish can leave there is a phone call from Sapphire telling him that she found out Hayward is a police lieutenant who has been investigating the cat burglar and discovered that it is the janitor. He plans to arrest the man that night. Since Hayward doesn't know that Kingfish plotted this scheme he tries to incriminate Andy by convincing him that he has been hallucinating Kingfish’s involvement since Kingfish has been away on a cruise the whole time. But Kingfish slips up when he says that he didn't know anything about the policeman tied up in the basement, and since Andy had no idea Hayward is a cop he knows Kingfish is trying to trick him. Kingfish places an anonymous call so the police can find Hayward. Kingfish however comes home to find that his place has been robbed by the cat burglar, since Hayward has been detained from making the arrest.

            I took a bike ride. A big woman in a pink helmet, was riding hard and passed me on Bloor just after Dufferin. I could have passed her but I don't ride that hard anymore. Just after Bathurst a car was parked on the bike lane and the cyclist ahead shouted, “Bike lane asshole!” and gave him the finger as she rode on. The driver stuck his head out his window and yelled, "Fuck you pink head!" Why can't I be a great communicator like those two?

            It wasn’t so hot that I couldn't use the stove and so for dinner I boiled a potato, steamed some kale, heated a pork chop and some gravy and ate my meal while watching two episodes of The Adventures of Robin Hood.

            In the first story Little John comes to The Blue Boar complaining of a stomach ache. Just then a wandering silver tongued quack healer shows up and convinces Little John that his elixir will cure him. He drinks it and feels better. Oswald says he is travelling on to the fair in Bigham and Little John follows him there because he wants to buy a supply of the potion. In Bigham the Baron Barclay‘s soldiers demand a five crown fair tax of any hawkers or buskers but Oswald only charges pennies for his potions and says he wouldn’t pay it anyway since the last time he was there this was common ground. The soldiers begin to arrest Oswald and Little John steps in to defend him. It takes several soldiers to take him down and drag him off to the castle dungeon. Oswald goes to Robin and they plan together a rescue for Little John. Oswald says he can pose as a doctor and so Robin comes as his servant. Although Baron Barclay is an extremely healthy man it takes just minutes for Oswald to convince him that he’s dying. Robin locates Little John but Barclay carries the key around his neck and so they have to get him in bed and administer a sleeping potion. Just as they achieve that and get the key, Barclay’s captain recognizes Oswald as having been at the fair. Robin and Oswald knock out the captain and two guards. Oswald then convinces all of the soldiers that they need a health inspection while Robin frees Little John. They escape just as the captain undoes his bonds and has the men chase them. Back at Robin’s camp Oswald confesses to Little John that the cure he gave him was made entirely of water.

            In the second story Robin and Friar Tuck are invited to a feast at the home of Lord Woodstock. He is one of the few lords that Robin can visit and he usually has sumptuous meals. But when the dish is brought out it consists of a melange of dried items gathered from the English woods, including dandelion, burdock, asphodel, cassia, clover, and acorn. He calls it Ambrosia Nova and says it was invented by a French monk. He has been feeding himself and his servants with it for months and is convinced that he and they are getting healthier and stronger. His servants secretly tell Robin they are getting weaker and need his help.  Robin notices that Tuck’s donkey Helen has eaten through a sack to get at the stuff. Also the pigs of Woodstock’s neighbour Goldfinch follow Robin and Tuck to get some. Robin borrows the pigs and divides them up to do a scientific experiment. He feeds one group the ambrosia and the other regular pig feed. The ambrosia group grows twice as large. Meanwhile Robin secretly brings game to Woodstock’s servants so they can get their strength back. It turns out that Woodstock has come to believe so strongly in the ambrosia is because it is so cheap to make and he has fallen on bad times. When Goldfinch finds out what wonderful pig feed the ambrosia is he offers to do business with Woodstock. Woodstock says this calls for a feast but says sadly he has nothing to offer. Goldfinch points at one of the fat pigs and says that he does.