I worked out the chords for the intro and the first verse of “Epsilon” by Serge Gainsbourg, as well as the break between the first and second verses.
I weighed 85.2 kilos before breakfast.
In the late morning, I went to Freedom Mobile and told the clerk I had some bad news. He asked, what the problem was and I said, “I have to give you some money.”
After paying for my phone plan I went to No Frills where I bought four bags of black grapes. As I was selecting the firmest ones a young woman asked me if I was making wine. I said I just like to snack on grapes in front of the computer. She suggested that I try freezing them and said they taste like candy that way. I tried it later and tasted one. It was okay but I think it would be better on a hot day.
I also got a pint of strawberries, a pint of blueberries, a pack of four chicken legs, three bags of skim milk, and a bottle of mouthwash. In the lineup next to mine, a woman was asked if she collected PC Points. She said no but she asked the woman behind her if she wanted her points. She held out her phone and got them. That was a nice gesture.
I weighed 85.4 kilos before lunch. I had crackers with five-year-old cheddar and two breakfast sausages, with a glass of raspberry lemonade.
In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Yonge and Bloor. I went south on Yonge to Dundas and then west to University. I turned right, thinking absent-mindedly that Stapes was north of Dundas. I realized my mistake when I saw Toronto General in front of me and turned around.
Staples’ best deal for monitors was an HP 60.5 cm screen FHD, IPS Freesync for $180. It was normally $40 more and the sale would end on May 3. I’ll check out Canada Computers on May 1; Walmart and The Source at the Dufferin mall on May 2, and if those places don’t have a better deal I’ll come back to Staples on Tuesday to take advantage of the last day of the sale.
Outside Staples, on the southeast corner, there was a big pro-Palestine rally. The speaker was talking about how in a free Palestine, Muslims, Jews, Christians, and even atheists would be able to live in harmony. As I left Staples the rally became a march up University Avenue. They were chanting, “Down with Zionism”, “Shame on Israel”, and “Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea.” That last rhyming chant is done at every pro-Palestine rally. The river is Jordan and the sea is the Mediterranean.
As I was unlocking my bike I saw that folksinger Elizabeth Block was taking part in the rally. She was wearing a t-shirt that read, “Jews against Israel.” I don’t know if she recognized me but we smiled at each other as she was struggling to get onto her bike and ride along with the march. She’s getting pretty old and might be pushing 80.
A little while after I got home the fire alarm started loudly blapping in my building. Benji knocked on my door because the alarm for our floor is right outside his door and so he found it particularly disturbing. It wasn’t so bad from my place because there were a couple of walls between me and the sound. I went upstairs and there was a bit of smoke. David had his door open and I knocked to talk to him. He said he’d been cooking and had all the windows open. It didn’t really smell smoky in his place. I’ve had my place full of smoke without the detector going off because mine is in the living room. Benji thought the alarm could be stopped by pushing the button on the smoke detector in David’s apartment but I didn’t think so. I don’t know if the fire department received a signal or if the people in Popeyes called them, but a fire truck showed up after a few minutes. There were at least five firemen who came upstairs. They looked around and saw there was no fire. They went out on the deck and one of them exclaimed, “What a building this is!” They went downstairs and figured out how to turn the alarm off.
I weighed 85 kilos at 18:00.
If not for the hassle over the alarm I might have had time to work on my Movie Maker project. But as it was I didn’t get caught up on my journal until it was time to make dinner.
I had a poached egg, heated naan, seven breakfast sausages, and a beer while watching two episodes of Astro Boy.
In the first story an unmanned machine that tunnels through the centre of the Earth for the first time, comes out the other side with a strange star symbol carved into its surface. Since no one at the other side put it there it suggests that there are sophisticated people living inside of our planet. Astro Boy offers to pilot the machine on a second journey and Astro Girl insists on coming along as well. Somehow she is allowed to come even though her method of working the controls of the machine is to close her eyes and go “eenie-meanie-miney-mo” before pushing any buttons. But they also have a stowaway. Reed Daily the reporter snuck on board before they left.
Far below the surface, they find an underground ocean. They also encounter tribal people with primitive weapons who attack until their leader says to stop. His name is Doodal and his people are the Deros, who descend from the continent of Atlantis. Doodal takes them to King Dooba. Astro Boy notices that their hard rock statues are smoothly carved with no chisel marks. Doodal explains that they have something called rock smog, which dissolves rock and they can use it for carving or clearing tunnels.
That night at the feast there is a staged battle between warriors but after a signal from Dooba the two men stumble and “accidentally” try to stab Doodal with their swords. Astro Boy pulls Doodal mostly out of the way and so a sword only injures his shoulder. He takes him back to his quarters and Doodal reveals that he is the real king of the Deros, descending from a long line going back to ancient Atlantis.
Reed decides to help Dooba wage war on the surface because that would make a greater story for his readers. Astro Boy digs into the Earth and changes the route of the tunnel so it leads back down. Then they learn that lava is flowing down to the city. Astro Boy tries to warn Reed and Dooba but they don’t believe him. When the lava comes Dooba saves Doodal. Astro Boy collapses from low power but Astro Girl carries him and Reed back to the ship, which floats on the lava to the surface and out through the mouth of a volcano. They leave the ship and it falls back down the tunnel but they are rescued by Dr. Elefun.
In the second story, Astro Boy and Dr. Elefun accompany archaeologist Dr. Usurper to the Andes mountains where strange objects have been seen flying and then mysteriously disappearing over the Inca pyramids. Elefun, Astro Boy, and Usurper fly to the Andes and travel up the trail towards the top. Astro Boy flies ahead to check how much further and while he is gone Elefun and Usurper fall down a trap door where they find a secret entrance to the temple.
On the altar of the temple, they find a large amount of gold, and they meet an old man named Keepoo and his two assistants who are the guardians of the temple. Keepoo then demonstrates their plan to retrieve all of the Inca treasures that have been stolen from them throughout history. He has the power of psychokinesis and he plans to use it to float the treasures out of the museums. Strangely, Dr. Elefun’s reaction is that such a plan would be theft, even though the treasures belong to the Incas. Usurper however decides to help the Incas with their plan. When Elefun protests, Keepoo floats him away.
Meanwhile, Astro Boy also falls through the trap door and when he finds Usurper he is told that Elefun had to go back to the Institute for an emergency but left orders for Astro Boy to help him. Usurper develops a machine that will amplify Keepoo’s mind over matter power by a million. They use it to make the temple pyramid break free from the mountain and become a floating ship that flies over the Earth as they remove the treasures from all of the museums.
Astro Boy says the treasures belong to the museums now and he’s going to stop them but Usurper uses the machine to trap Astro Boy in chains that he cannot break. When the pyramid returns to the Andes, Usurper says now he is going to keep all the treasures for himself, then he pulls a gun and shoots Keepoo. He forces Keepoo’s assistants to continue to help him with their powers and they fly away to do more robbing.
Keepoo crawls to where Astro Boy is chained to the wall. Astro Boy tells him there’s jet fuel in a suitcase on the floor in front of him. Keepoo can’t physically open it but he uses his power to do so and floats it to Astro Boy who now has the strength to break free.
Astro Boy finds Dr. Elefun being worshipped as a god by a mountain tribe because of his big nose. Elefun has his followers take care of Keepoo then they think of how to stop Usurper. Keepoo’s assistants wear blindfolds and cover their ears when they use their powers so they won’t be distracted by their senses. But their noses are not covered. When Elefun’s worshippers bring him a roast pig Astro Boy carries it away to the floating pyramid and places it in front of the assistants. When they smell the delicious pork the pyramid begins to crash. Usurper fights Astro Boy with his machine and forces him into the ocean but he returns. Astro Boy cuts the pyramid free from the floating island and carries it back to the Andes, Usurper is found by the natives and they begin to worship him as a god. He now has all the gold he could want but they won’t let him leave to spend it.
There is no evidence that psychokinesis works. It has three laws of physics working against it: The Inverse Square Law, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and The Conservation of Momentum. As Marcello Truzzi says, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.” The Canadian magician James Randi offered a million-dollar prize for anyone who could prove such claims under test conditions. Many tried and none were successful. The mental power required for it to work would need to be enough to change the electrical forces that atoms already obey. Yet almost a third of people in the United States believe it’s possible.
I felt very tired at 22:30 and so I went to bed, with the intention of finished writing in my journal after I’d slept for a while and got up to pee.
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