Vito Scotti

            On Saturday morning I worked on editing the chord placement of “Mangos” by Serge Gainsbourg on my Christian's Translations blog. I should have it published tomorrow. 

            I weighed 87.6 kilos before breakfast. 

            In the late morning, I went down to No Frills. Most of the grapes were too soft but I found three bags of red ones that weren't too bad. I got a big bag of imperfect apples. I also bought a strawberry-rhubarb pie, Greek yogurt, and skyr. 

            I weighed 87.5 kilos before lunch. I had Breton crackers with five-year-old cheddar and a glass of blackberry drink. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride but my left knee was bothering me and so decided to ease back. I just rode to Dovercourt and Bloor and I only used the lightest middle gear for the whole ride. I weighed 88 kilos when I got home. 

            I read chapter nine of Salvage The Bones. Daddy is too sick to prepare for hurricane Katrina and so all the kids chip in, except for Skeet, who prepares for Katrina just for his dog and her puppies. Esch has a confrontation with Manny over her pregnancy but he denies responsibility and so she attacks him. She and Manny try to break into the white people's farmhouse for supplies but it's too well boarded up.

            I read Act 3 Scene 4 of Othello. Iago has begun to make Othello believe he's being cuckolded by Cassio. He says he shared a bed with Cassio and Cassio began kissing him in his sleep and calling Desdemona's name. Also, the handkerchief that Othello gave Desdemona, which was Othello's family heirloom that he claims is charmed, was accidentally dropped and picked up by Emilia then given to her husband Iago. Now Iago tells Othello that he saw the handkerchief in Cassio's quarters. Othello now wants Cassio dead and maybe Desdemona too. 

            I made pizza on naan with Arabbiatta sauce and extra old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching an episode of The Addams Family. 

            In this story, Mama has taken up painting. Gomez loves her work but she wants an unbiased eye. He brings in the art critic Bosley Swain who clearly hates Mama's paintings but just says she requires instruction. Gomez tries to reach Pablo Picasso in Spain but winds up getting in touch with a lazy painter named Sam Picasso. Picasso gladly comes to the United States for free room and board. He pretends to teach Mama while leeching off the Addamses. Swain comes again and reveals that Sam Picasso is a failed painter but this inspires Gomez and Morticia to try to help Picasso to start painting again. They lock him in a studio. He keeps trying to escape but keeps getting caught. Wednesday shows up in his studio having got in through one of Pugsley's secret tunnels. Picasso escapes while Wednesday stays and paints. Lurch catches Picasso and brings him back. Gomez and Morticia think that the paintings that Wednesday has done are by Sam Picasso and they call Swain again. He says they are works of genius and gives Picasso a great wad of money for them. Wednesday continues to paint and her parents think she is imitating Picasso. 

            Sam Picasso was played by Vito Scotti whose mother was a star of Italian theatre in New York and he began to act from childhood on. He developed a style inspired by Commedia dell'Arte. He did pantomime on the nightclub circuit and in the 1950s began doing film and television. He was usually typecast as heavily accented Italians but was known as a man with a thousand faces. He created the thick spectacled sleazy pawnshop owner named Geta for the series Mike Hammer. He starred as Luigi Basco on “Life With Luigi.” He played Rama on the children's show “Andy's Gang.” He played the cook in the movie “How Sweet It Is.” His was the voice of the Italian cat in “The Aristocats” and he played the manager of Vesuvio's in “Get Shorty.” He was also an accomplished chef.