Dan Seymore

            On Thursday morning I memorized the third verse of "Lola Rastaquouère" by Serge Gainsbourg. I should have the final verse nailed down on Friday. 

            During song practice my Washburn went out of tune a little more often than the day before. Since it was set up and overhauled in Quebec it's now the E string that goes off more than the B. 

            I weighed 90.1 kilos before breakfast. 

            In the late morning I took a bike ride to Yonge and Bloor and on the way back I stopped at Freshco where I bought seven bags of cherries, a pint of strawberries, a watermelon, Columbian coffee, a strawberry-rhubarb pie, a pack of five year old cheddar, three bags of milk, two cans of peaches, two containers of Greek yogourt, a container of skyr, Ritz crackers, Wheat Thins crackers, and some Arm and Hammer toothpaste. There was a big line-up for Catarina's check-out and no one was at any other cashier, I guess because it didn't look like there were any. I walked over to the far end and found Nancy's cash open. I guess nobody noticed her because she's a small woman. My items cost almost $100, I guess mostly because of the cherries. 

            I weighed 88.1 kilos before lunch. 

            I took a siesta and slept for an extra half an hour. 

            From about 17:00 on I worked on revising the manuscript for my book of poems "Paranoiac Utopia" based on Albert Moritz's suggestions. 

            I weighed 88.8 kilos at 18:15. 

            I rubbed eight chicken drumsticks with olive oil, salt and curry powder and grilled them in the oven. 

            I finished my manuscript revisions just before dinner and sent them to Albert. 

            I had a potato with gravy and two drumsticks while watching two episodes of "Mayberry RFD."

            In the first story Sam's cousin Vince brings a failed racehorse named Gingersnap to the farm for Sam to sell for him as a saddle horse. But Bee doesn't like the idea of Gingersnap not being a racehorse like he's trained to be. So when Sam almost has a buyer for the horse to serve at a girl's school she sabotages the sale by saying Gingersnap likes to buck sometimes. Bee enters Gingersnap in a race with a $3000 purse, hires the smallest jockey she can find, forbids him from using the whip and instructs him to feed Gingersnap a lump of sugar just before the race. Gingersnap is slow out of the gate and is far behind until halfway through the race, then he passes all the other horses just before crossing the finish line. It's pretty unlikely that Bee would be able to win without knowing anything about horses and without the horse training before the race. 

            In the second story Sam needs farm hands for his corn harvest and Andy suggests that he hire recently released prison convicts. Fingers is a reformed pickpocket and Lucky is a former gambler. Aunt Bee is reluctant at first but gives in. The way that Bee, Sam and Emmett trust them with the temptations of money and vehicles drives Fingers and Lucky nuts. On Sunday they are coaxed into going to church with Bee and Sam but when they are there they enthusiastically sing along with "Bringing In The Sheaves." The pastor mentions that the women's club is trying to raise money for a public swimming pool for the children. They already have $500 and need another. Fingers and Lucky know that Bee is hiding the money in the cookie jar and later Sam and Bee find the jar and the garage empty. Fingers and Lucky go to a high stakes poker game in Mount Pilot run by Big Louis with the intention of using the $500 to win the rest. But big Louis catches Lucky cheating. Then Lucky explains why he needs the money just before Andy and Sam bust in. Big Louis gives Andy and Sam an extra $500 just to prove he's as good a person as Lucky and Fingers. Since the game hadn't really started yet no one is arrested and Fingers and Lucky's intentions are good so they aren't arrested. 

            Big Louis was played by Dan Seymore who was typecast as villains for most of his career. He was the nemesis of Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca", "To Have and Have Not" and "Key Largo". He started out as a song and dance man in burlesque shows and as an emcee in New York nightclubs. He made three appearances in "The Adventures of Superman" TV show and two in "Batman".