Susan Travers

            On Tuesday morning I finished memorizing “Marilou sous la neige" (Marilou Under Snow) by Serge Gainsbourg and started looking for the chords. So far I found two sets for the song.

            During song practice I continued to struggle with playing the A chord with three fingers. I only recently noticed after all these years that some strings tend to be dulled when I do it. It doesn’t seem to be just a matter of pressing but more about the angle of my fingers. If I can only master the A chord then I will be able to truly undermine my enemies.

            Around midday I spent an hour washing and scrubbing another section of my kitchen floor in front of the bathroom door and beside the stove. This was not as bad as the previous area that I’d cleaned because there wasn’t any glue to scrape up but there were nonetheless paint splatters and a lot of very black, caked in dirt.

            For lunch I had ranch dip with some cucumber and potato chips.

            In the afternoon I did my exercises while listening to Amos and Andy. This was another rehashed story and the only main difference from the previous one was that “The Lovebirds” is a TV show rather than a radio program. Sapphire loves the show called “The Lovebirds” because the Birds are the perfect married couple who are always happy together. But their example just causes negative comparisons for Sapphire and Kingfish and it causes them to argue even more. Kingfish tries to emulate Mr Bird but every romantic thing he tries backfires. Finally they both go to see the Birds to ask them their secret to a happy marriage. But while talking about it the Birds begin to argue about whose idea the show was in the first place and Mr Bird gets a vase smashed over his head. Their replacements on the show become Kingfish and Sapphire, “The Stevenses”. .

            I took a bike ride. At Bloor and Spadina there was a road worker with a stop sign but an elderly cyclist kept on going. The worker sighed to me, “Thanks for stopping.”

            On Yonge Street south of Dundas a blonde woman was walking slowly in a tight green business suit. She looked around to see if anyone was looking at her and I was.

            At Queen and Spadina there was a busker that I usually see in front of the Eaton’s Centre. He’s usually facing the other way but this time I saw his big sign: “Jesus is Lord” and underneath was written Luke Prosser. At least he had his own name in bigger letters than Jesus, which shows that his priorities aren’t entirely crooked. Maybe he meant that Lord, the singer from New Zealand is Jesus.

            At Queen and Ossington two attractive young women were arguing. One of them smelled very good as I passed.

            I reviewed the best video recordings of me performing “Personne” and decided that the last one, from July 4^th, is the rendition that I’ll upload to YouTube.

            I had a potato, a warmed up steak and some gravy for dinner while watching two episodes of The Adventures of Robin Hood.

            In the first story Will Scarlet tries to rob a man travelling on foot through Sherwood Forest but he turns out to be one of the best swordsmen he’s ever encountered. Boland has just returned from fighting in the Crusade and his intention is to capture outlaws and in particular Robin Hood.  Boland defeats Will but Robin intervenes with an arrow from the bushes and tells Boland to drop his sword but he escapes. Because Boland is such a great swordsman and a knight from the Holy Land, Robin is certain he can bring him to his side and so he cuts him off on his way to Nottingham. They duel for an hour before Boland finally defeats Robin. Robin is asking Boland to join him when two of the sheriff’s men arrive to. They had seen Boland fighting Robin and so they assume he’s on their side but Boland tells them to clear off. The soldiers attack both of them but Boland trips and one soldier has a sword pointed at Boland while the other tells Robin to surrender or Boland dies. Marian is in the woods watching and shoots the sword from the soldier’s hand. The soldiers run away and Robin once again invites Boland to the camp but he says no and leaves. Boland fights his way into the deputy sheriff’s office and says he wants to join him. The deputy is impressed and makes him his new lieutenant. In his new capacity Boland inspects the dungeons and does not like the fact that they are overcrowded and that an old woman prisoner has been left without food for two days because she is suspected of hiding grain from the taxman. The deputy wants Boland to teach him how to defeat Robin Hood. He tells Boland that if he captures Robin Hood the best he can hope for is to be made captain but if the deputy defeats him he would be promoted to sheriff. He tells Boland that he can keep the reward money but he wants it to be himself that beats Robin Hood. Boland teaches the deputy what he can and then a challenge is issued. The deputy says he will release the prisoners from his dungeon if Robin Hood meets him in combat. They meet at a place designated by Robin and fight. The deputy manages to wound Robin but ultimately Robin wins. The deputy expects Boland to attack Robin but instead Boland joins him. He tells the sheriff he doesn’t like the way he treats his men or his prisoners. The deputy is bound now however to go and release his prisoners. Meanwhile Robin and Boland begin fighting again, but this time for fun.

            The second story begins with Sir Nedrick being guided to Robin Hood by a tinker named Wilfred who is pretending he knows where Robin can be found. Wilfred leads Nedrick into and ambush by Sir Hartley and his men without realizing that Nedrick would be murdered. Sir Hartley finds a note from Duchess Constance the mother of Prince Arthur on Sir Hartley’s body asking Robin to meet she and her son at the Blue Boar and to escort them to safety in the north. Will Scarlet hears Nedrick’s death cry and runs to see his body being transported away on horseback. When Robin learns this he must find the murderer before he and his men are blamed. Meanwhile Wilfred, with half of his payment from Sir Hartley is getting drunk at the Blue Boar. When Robin comes to ask Joan the barmaid if any noble strangers had stayed at the inn she tells him that a nobleman had spent the night and had left with Wilfred in the morning. Knowing that Wilfred could not have acquired the amount of money he is spending by ordinary means, Robin questions him. When Wilfred tries to run he captures him and takes him back to camp where he is persuaded to reveal the location of the man that hired him. Will Scarlet goes to the Cross Keys Inn to find out the name of the knight that he saw with Nedrick’s body. He flirts with the waitress and gives her two crowns to reveal the name “Sir Hartley". When Hartley learns that Will is asking about him he and his man confront him and draw arms. Robin shoots an arrow from the window and kills the soldier while Will breaks free of Hartley. Robin sword fights with Hartley as Will fights off another soldier. Robin and Will escape at the same time but a crossbowman creases Robin’s head. Back at the camp the men pretend for Wilfred’s attention that Robin is dead and that they need to call the men off the roads to vote for a new leader. They let Wilfred run away and he tells Hartley what he thinks has transpired. Hartley heads in the direction of the Blue Boar but Robin and his men take a short cut. It’s there that Robin discovers Prince Arthur and the Duchess Constance and learns the contents of the note that Robin never received. Hartley and his men are met and defeated by Robin , Little John and Will, with Robin killing Hartley. Robin and Little John leave to escort the prince and his mother to Northumberland but Robin tells Will he can’t come in case there's another pretty serving wench on the way.

            The pretty serving wench was played by Susan Travers who played the wife of the lead character in the detective series Van der Valk.