Elizabeth MacRae

elderly man with morning stroll essentials

mala beads and Timmy's double double 

            On Sunday morningI memorized the third and fouth verses of "J'ai des locataires" (I Am A Landlord) by Serge Gainsbourg. 

            I got an email asking me to fill out a disclosure form before my shot tomorrow. It seemed to me odd that they didn't have me fill it out before booking my appointment. 

            I weighed 89.3 kilos before breakfast. 

            In the late morning I used construction glue to attach one of the four pieces of the broken handle of the Troll mug made by my late friend William "Scooter" Baker. Benji came out on the deck and asked me why I don't just buy a new one. After twenty minutes of holding it in place it fell off as soon as I flipped the mug upright. I put it back on, turned it on its side and just left it to hopefully set. 

            Last year I wrapped the remains of my old, colourful wool blanket around the concrete block I use to hold my apartment door open and sewed it a bit to hold it together. The blanket keeps the block from scratching the floor, plus it's decorative. Today I spent more than half an hour sewing the blanket around it a little more securely. 

            I weighed 89 kilos before lunch. I had my last Montreal style bagel toasted with tomato and five year old cheddar, plus a glass of lemonade. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Yonge and Bloor. It was supposed to be hot out but the breeze made it comfortable. I was expecting more cyclists taking advantage of the nice weather but there weren't a lot. I weighed 89.4 kilos when I got back. 

            I worked on my poem series "My Blood In A Bug." I worked on my Movie Maker project of making a music video for my song "Instructions For Electroshock Therapy." I deleted some of the parts of the concert video where I'm playing guitar before the vocal because in that section I only want the parts where I'm shown playing Am G Am and there are only three. I inserted some more clips of the electrical cords I animated. I counted that in the studio recording I play Am G Am six times before the vocal. I've already got the first time matched with the concert video so next I will match the second time in the video with the third time in the studio audio. Then I'll match the last Am G Am in concert and audio just before the vocal. 

            I worked on editing the photo of me in costume from Halloween of 1987. 

            I had eight potato and pea samosas with a beer for dinner while watching two episodes of Andy Griffith. 

            In the first story, after Howard takes on the role of master of ceremonies at a lodge meeting the town is very impressed with his abilities as a comedian. They suggest that he appear on Colonel Tim's Talent Time, a local show broadcast from Mount Pilot. Howard lifts jokes from a book but peps them up with references to real people in Mayberry. He says that Andy is such a relaxed sheriff that his office has an unlisted number; he says Goober uses both hands when he's driving a girl on a date and that's why he drives with his feet; he says that in Mayberry there are three forms of communication: telephone, telegraph and tell Floyd; he says Aunt Bee's family came over on the Mayflower when the immigration laws weren't strict; he says Clara Edwards's father fought with Persing and her grandfather fought with Teddy Roosevelt because her family couldn't get along with anybody. Everyone but Andy is insulted and they give Howard the cold shoulder. But then people start coming to Mayberry to look up the characters that Howard made famous. Clara gets asked to speak at a historical society and Goober gets more business at the filling station. Howard apologizes to his friends and says he won't go back on the show but they all say that they want him to do another show. 

            In the second story Andy wants to bring the Big Brother program to Mayberry to help out a promising student named Tommy Parker who is not applying himself. He thinks Howard Sprague is the perfect choice and Howard agrees to do it. Howard goes to meet Tommy where he lives with his older sister Betty. Howard is studying for his civil service exam and so he suggests to Tommy that they study together three nights a week (I thought Big Brothers were supposed to do fun things with their adopted little brothers). Tommy agrees but he is actually playing Howard. Betty is an attractive woman who works as a taxi dancer in a club in Mount Pilot but she has to take a long bus ride to get there and back. Tommy cons Howard into thinking that he's gotten him into good study habits and gets him to start driving Betty to work. That way Tommy can goof off and so his performance at school doesn't change. Howard begins to spend all his time with Betty and neglects his own studies. This has a reverse effect on Tommy and he feels bad for Howard and decides he doesn't want to fall behind like he is. In the end Tommy starts to study on his own and Betty helps Howard to study. 

            Betty was played by Elizabeth MacRae, who played Gomer Pyle's girlfriend for three seasons and also the girlfriend of Festus on Gunsmoke for three seasons. She appeared on more than fifty TV series. She sang "C'est si bon" on Gomer Pyle. She also had roles on General Hospital and Days of Our Lives.