Fresh Threshold

            On Monday morning I re-approached my translation of “Variations sur Marilou" now that I have a better sense of the rhythm and the rhymes. I made progress and I will probably have it done on Tuesday morning.

            I’ve been having a rough time tuning my B string for the last few days. The machine head for that string gets very stiff right at the point where it would be in tune and when I try to turn it there it often jerks just past that point until it's slightly too high. My left thumb and index finger get quite sore from just trying to repeatedly twist it back and forth until I can budge it just the small amount that is needed.

            Around midday I washed and scrubbed the part of the kitchen floor that is just in front of the bathroom door. That area was so filthy that I only cleaned three boards before the water in my bucket was black. I also washed the little marble topped stand that I recently moved next to the door. I think that before I do any more of the floor in that section that I’ll have to first scrub the bathroom door on the outside where it’s been splattered with stuff from being next to the stove that has been sticky enough to catch some of the last of the cat hair in my place.

            For lunch I had a can of tuna with salsa and half a bowl of potato chips.

            In the afternoon I did my exercises while listening to Amos and Andy. This was the last show of 1953 and they would only be on the air for another year and a half. In another mostly rehashed story there is a “Lucky Buck" contest going on. Every week the winning serial number for a dollar bill is posted in the paper and whomever has that bill gets $500. Kingfish has a list of his serial numbers as well as those of Andy and Amos. He discovers one morning that Andy’s number is the winner and he immediately works on a scheme to get Andy’s bill away from him. First he reminds Andy of the recent news that the US dollar is now only worth sixty cents but then he tells him that Eisenhower wants to increase it to eighty cents and so Kingfish’s job is to take people's sixty cent dollars and give them eighty cents for each one. Andy gives him two one dollar bills but neither one is the right one. Then Amos comes in and tells Andy that he won the $500. Andy says he will put his dollar in a safe place until he collects his prize. Kingfish knows that Andy keeps his valuables under a floor board in his room and so he tells him that he’d like to spend the night at his place because they don’t get to spend enough time together. That night Kingfish pretends to be sleep walking and takes Andy’s dollar. The next day when Andy sees his dollar is missing he realizes that Kingfish stole it. Kingfish sees Andy coming with a big stick and when Andy arrives Kingfish pretends to be on the phone ordering a coffin. He tells Andy that he is dying of a rare disease and the only reason he took Andy’s dollar was so his friends could throw a big party for him when he's gone. He says he wants Andy to deliver the eulogy and that they should do a practice run. So Kingfish lies down on a table and closes his eyes while Andy gives a speech. The next day when Kingfish tries to claim his $500 he is told that it was already claimed by Andy. Andy tells him he picked his pocket while he was on the table with his eyes closed.

            I took a pleasant bike ride to Bloor and Yonge, south to Queen and then home.

            I listened and watched to the nine versions of “Le temps des yo-yo" and the eight versions of its translation “The Time of Yeah Yeah Yeah” that I recorded in June and early July and was disappointed to hear that I hardly ever played the Gm7 chord properly. I’ve been doing this song every day for a couple of years at least and never realized that I haven’t been hitting that chord precisely most of the time. I pulled out my guitar and tried it and saw that some of the strings are dulled. It’s weird because I thought this one was one of the songs that I’d nailed down and was ready to upload, but I realize now that I really have to practice that chord and try recording the song again next year.

            I grilled the four chicken legs that I got from the food bank and had one with a potato, a sautéed zucchini and some gravy while watching two episodes of The Adventures of Robin Hood.

            In the first story Little John is ambushed by two soldiers. He escapes but tumbles down a steep hill and breaks his leg. When Robin finds him he is badly in need of a doctor but the usual one they use in Nottingham is away. Friar Tuck knows that Dr Guido Benvolio, a famous surgeon from Italy is visiting a local nobleman named Sir George Woodley.  They take Little John there and the doctor begins to treat him. Apparently this type of leg break is life threatening and Benvolio says he is the only doctor in Europe that can operate and save Little John. But Woodley’s squire informs the sheriff that an outlaw is being treated in his master’s home and so the soldiers come to take Little John into custody and to arrest the doctor. The sheriff tells Benvolio that it is against the law to treat outlaws but the doctor argues that human law requires that all men be treated equally. Benvolio is imprisoned and Robin comes to rescue both the doctor and Little John. He manages to set Benvolio free but is not able to get Little John away and in a sword battle he severely wounds the sheriff. Later the sheriff’s lieutenant comes blindfolded to Robin’s camp and asks that Benvolio come to save the sheriff’s life. Robin sets the condition that Little John be released but the officer refuses. At first Robin says he will not allow Benvolio to leave the camp until Little John is freed but Benvolio says that makes Robin the same as the sheriff. Robin realizes this is true and tells Benvolio he is free to go. Back in Nottingham Benvolio says he will only operate on the sheriff after he treats Little John’s wounds and the outlaw is carried to the edge of Sherwood Forest. At first the barely conscious sheriff refuses but then he gives in and both his life and Little John’s are saved.

            In the second story Tuck discovers that a travelling raffler named Sharpe is running a lottery scam. He goes from village to village convincing the people to buy tickets for a draw in which the winning number wins a bag of prize money. When the winning number is drawn from the barrel by a member of the crowd the number is always fifteen and only Sharpe’s accomplice Frisby has the wooden disk marked with the number fifteen. Later Sharpe and Frisby are arrested in Nottingham but when the sheriff learns of their scam he wants in on it so he can raise money for Prince John. He tells Sharpe that half the prize money will go to the prince and that he and Sharpe will split the rest after Sharpe pays his fine and the various taxes. The result would be that Sharpe and Frisby would walk away with very little. When the tickets are sold Sharpe and Frisby try to escape with the money but are captured and imprisoned. As the day of the draw approaches Robin has an identical barrel and wooden disks made and on the day he brings it to Nottingham. In disguise he tells the soldiers he’s delivering pig feed and then sets the stable on fire. In the confusion Robin sets Sharpe and Frisby free and with Marian’s help he switches barrels on the sheriff so that when Marian draws for him the tickets are all blanks and the sheriff is forced to refund everyone’s money.