Angkor Karela

            On Saturday morning I memorized the first refrain of “Le régiment des mal-aimés” (The Regiment of Broken Hearts) by Boris Vian. 

            I finished memorizing “J'ai déjà donné” (I Already Gave) by Serge Gainsbourg and made my first search for the chords but none turned up. I’ll try again on Sunday but I doubt if I’ll find them and so in that case I’ll start working them out. 

            The two sparrows are still mating on the wire outside my window. The male went there and waited impatiently for her and kept flying back to the side of the building to coax her out of the nest. She finally came out and they had sex a few brief moments. When he’s on top of her he often loses his balance. I think every creature on the planet looks clumsy while having sex. 

            I weighed 86 kilos before breakfast.

            Around midday, I left for the supermarket, and outside of my building I saw old Caesar, who lives above my bedroom and living room. I said hi and he asked me if the landlord had fixed the electronic lock that lets the mailman in, but I said he hasn’t. Then I asked Caesar if he has bedbugs. He confirmed that he does and that he told the landlord about it a year ago, but Raja did nothing. That explains a lot and now it’s almost certain that all the bedbugs in my place have come from Caesar’s apartment. Probably too when pest control came to David’s place above my kitchen once last year and found no bedbugs, then came three weeks later and found an infestation, chances are they came from next door in Caesar’s place. I told Caesar that the landlord just got out of the hospital and he said, “Good! I hope he dies!”

            At No Frills I bought red leaf lettuce, a zucchini, Cremini mushrooms, green onions, grape tomatoes, three bags of avocados, two pints of raspberries, a red mango, two honey mangos, five bags of red grapes, Arm and Hammer toothpaste, shampoo-conditioner, Sunlight dish detergent, olives, I’d thought I’d bought two cans of peach slices but one of them turned out to be fruit cocktail, soymilk, and coconut-based ice cream. There was also a vegetable that was so beautiful I had to buy one. It was green like cucumber and the same size but the shape was curved and it was covered in rows of short, curved spears, alternating with ridges, and it reminded me of the design of some of the Buddhist temple spires at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The vegetable is called an Indian karela. I think the common name is “bitter gourd.” 

            Besides me, the only other person at No Frills not wearing a mask was a young guy stocking shelves in aisle one. I saw they didn’t have Arm and Hammer toothpaste on the shelf and I asked about it. He went to the back and got me some. I thanked him and he said, “No worries boss!” 

            I weighed 86.1 kilos before lunch. I had an avocado, tomato, cucumber, scallion, and olive salad with olive oil, and fig balsamic dressing.

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Yonge and Bloor, south to Queen, and home. I stopped at The Horseshoe Tavern to pee. The walls of the washroom are covered in corrugated aluminum, making it look more like a shed.

            I weighed 85.7 kilos at 17:30. 

            I worked a little bit on my essay but I didn’t get much done. I’ll have more time on Sunday and Monday.

            I made an avocado, tomato, cucumber, scallion, radish, mushroom, and olive salad with olive oil and fig vinaigrette. I ate while watching an episode of Astro Boy. 

            The story begins with individuals suddenly going into convulsions and collapsing. Two reporters on their way to investigate cut through an alley and test their cameras as they go, but accidentally take a picture of a strange, bearded man. He pulls a gun and demands to have their camera. Astro Boy arrives and the man runs away. Dr. Elefun develops the film and there are no pictures but there is indication of high levels of radiation. 

            Astro Boy and Elefun attend a lecture by Grey Dorian, who spent thirty years on the Martian penal colony mining uranium. Later Dorian goes to visit Dr. Geiger. Geiger is an old scientist and he and Grey were once research partners long ago. They are the same age but Dorian looks like a young man. Dorian is wearing a ring that he says carries the same energy as the sun. 

            The reporters are being chewed out by their editor for not bringing back the photos he sent them to get. One of the reporters tells the editor that he looks like a movie star. He asks which one and the reporter says “Lassie.” 

            Later at a party, Astro Boy and Elefun meet Dorian, who tells them that he and Dr. Geiger were doing research work in the field of cosmic radiation and looking for the source of all life, the secret of immortality. But Dorian and Geiger parted ways when Dorian wanted to experiment on human beings. This is why Dorian was sent to the penal colony on Mars. Dorian says that on Mars he began to experiment on himself and he discovered the secret of eternal life. 

           Suddenly Dorian has an attack of convulsions and falls but then gets up and runs away. Astro Boy goes after him but encounters another man collapsing from convulsions. Geiger goes to Dorian’s home to confront him and Dorian has another attack. Geiger pulls a gun and says he understands that the cosmic rays are stronger on Mars but now on Earth Dorian needs to drain the life from others in order to stay young. Dorian admits that he does this and that his ring is the conduit. Dorian grabs Geiger, who collapses. The energy transfer causes Dorian to become a hairy, humanoid beast monster. He smashes through the window and escapes. Astro Boy goes after him and out in the country he finds him attacking the two reporters. Astro Boy smashes Dorian into pieces, but the parts are still moving and joining back together. Astro Boy lures the monster onto the high-tension power lines. Astro Boy’s robot body can handle the electrical current and so can the monster at first but the line breaks and the Dorian and the live wire fall into the water together and Dorian is destroyed.