Arthur Batanides

            It's been three days since I've seen a bedbug and today marks a week since the last pest control treatment, during which time I've only found two. So far so good. 

            On Wednesday morning the mobility of my right arm during yoga in some ways wasn't any better than the day before. After about three tries I can lift my arm straight up in front of me and then move it slightly to the right. I surprised myself in being able to go up into the shoulder stand but that's less from the mobility of my shoulder and more from my elbow healing. 

            I memorized the third verse of "La p’tite Agathe" by Serge Gainsbourg. 

            I weighed 89.2 kilos before breakfast. 

            I cleaned the top of my muffin pan and so now I have just the rim and the bottom to do. While I worked I listened to Johnny Cash and June Carter's "Carrying On" album from the late 60s. On the album is the least Country version of a song Cash ever did. They sing "What'd I Say" and it seems to be more inspired by Ray Charles's rendition. Cash doesn't really have the right kind of voice for this genre but June can pull it off. 

            I weighed 89.1 kilos before lunch. I had Breton crackers with old cheddar and a glass of lemonade. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Bloor and Palmerston, then went south to Dundas and to Ride Away bike shop to see if they had brakes to replace the ones that broke in my accident last Friday. They didn't have the centre pull caliper brakes but they had side pull ones that would fit. It took the guy about twenty minutes to put them on and it cost me a reasonable $54.21. I took Palmerston to Queen and rode home with a working set of front brakes. The back ones are okay but they could use an adjustment because they don't have a fully firm grip right now. 

            My elbow hurts a little less now from the vibrations of going over bumps. It also can bend twenty degrees further than it could in the first three days after the accident. 

            I weighed 89.4 kilos at 17:45. 

            My two Fall courses: "Introduction to Shakespeare" and "Introduction to US Literature" start next week. There's already reading for the US stuff, including "The Declaration of Independence." For the Shakespeare course the professor wants a weekly email before Mondays at 8:00 containing comments or questions about Shakespeare. I assume that won't be required before the introductory lecture. The text for Shakespeare is The Complete Penguin Shakespeare but the syllabus says we can use any complete Shakespeare as long as it has footnotes. I downloaded six different versions from Library Genesis but only the last one had proper footnotes. I think that I should put some of my projects on hold until December so I can focus on reading and studying. 

            I read most of The Declaration of Independence. At one point it talks about Indian savages not caring about women and children. It's interesting that all that people remember is that one line about all men being created equal while all the bullshit in the document is ignored. 

            I heated the meat, beans and peppers on rice that David brought me a few days ago. I added hot sauce and washed it down with a beer while watching two episodes of Gomer Pyle. 

            The first story introduces Lou Ann Poovie, who eventually becomes Gomer's girlfriend. It begins with her singing in a nightclub while Duke and Gomer are at one table and Carter and Boyle are at another. Lou Ann is gorgeous and both Duke and Carter are determined to meet her. Both men tip the waiter to deliver Lou Ann a message to come to their table but Duke tips four times as much and so Lou Ann gets his message. Gomer and Lou Ann immediately hit it off especially after learning that they are both from the same general area of North Carolina. Duke and Carter wait for Lou Ann outside the club while Gomer gets on a bus, but they don't see Lou Ann getting on the same bus until it's too late. Gomer walks Lou Ann home and they talk on her front step for a long time. She invites Gomer to dinner at her place the next night. Gomer sings her "500 Miles" and it makes her cry. She says he reminds her of her boyfriend back home who wanted to marry her but she wanted to pursue a singing career. At the end of the story she decides to go home and get married but obviously it doesn't work out because she'll be back in seven episodes. 

            Lou Ann was played by Elizabeth MacRae. 

            In the second story Carter is sent to run a recruiting booth in Hollywood. Gomer shows up to visit him but ends up scaring away a potential recruit by being too honest about how tough the Marine training is. Carter gets called away for a couple of hours and lets Gomer mind the booth as long as he simply tells potential recruits that Carter will be right back. Under no circumstances is he to try to recruit anyone. But while Carter is gone there is a bank robbery nearby and the thief stops at the Marines booth and pretends to look at the brochures to avoid the cops. Since there's a jeep nearby ready to take recruits to the processing centre the crook decides to join and so Gomer signs him up. Only later when Carter comes back does Gomer realize that he might have provided a criminal with a getaway. Gomer and Carter go looking for the robber at Marine facilities but Gomer keeps thinking he recognizes the man's black bag and keeps getting the wrong person. Carter cuts off a truck carrying Marines on the road but it turns out they are all women. Finally they find the guy but his black bag is empty. But then Gomer grabs the man by his jacket and accidentally rips open the lining to reveal the entire bank haul. 

            The crook was played by Arthur Batanides, who played Mr Kirkland on Police Academy. He played Lieutenant D'Amato on an episode of Star Trek. He tended to either play tough villains or parodies of tough villains on popular TV series like Time Tunnel and Get Smart. He was married to model Midge Ware for ten years and then to Anne Rasmussen.