Curt Massey

            On Wednesday morning I finished the first draft of my translation of "J'ai pas d'regret" (I've No Regrets) by Boris Vian. 

            I worked out the chords for the intro and the first couple of lines of "Haine pour aime" (Hate for Mate) by Serge Gainsbourg. 

            It was snowing again during and after song practice. 

            I weighed 85.5 kilos before breakfast. 

            At 11:00 I downloaded my midterm test. In person this would have taken two hours but this way it took me six hours just to write a short essay on the first question. Excluding taking a siesta and having lunch and dinner, the whole test took me about ten hours. Here are the passages and what I wrote about them: 

            A. Senior, “The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream”: “Mama,” he said, “Ice cream.” “Chile! Yu mout full an yu talking bout ice cream aready!” Tears started to trickle down his cheeks. “Now see here. A bawl yu wan’ bawl? Doan mek a give yu something fe bawl bout, yu hear bwoy. Hm. Anyway a doan know if there is money for foolishness like cream. Have to see yu father about dat.” His heart sank, for the day before he had heard his father complain that there was not enough money to buy all the things they needed at the Harvest Festival Sale and did she think money grew on trees. But everyone knew that Papa saved all year for that day, for the town vendors came and spread out their wares under the big cotton tree – cloth, pots and pans, fancy lamps, wicks and shades, readymade clothes, shoes, shoelaces, matches, knives, cheap perfume, plastic oilcloths for the table, glasses with birds and flowers, water jugs, needles, enamelware, and plaster wall hangings with robins and favourite bible texts. … (CoV 485-6) 

            In Olive Senior's "The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream", the mystery of the untasted treat of the title allows it to serve for Benjy as a promise of rescue from feelings of abandonment by his mother. But because ice cream is a magically strange unknown he cannot ask for it in question form but can only try to conjure it by repeating its name as a type of mantra. Ice cream exists as a dream outside of Benjy's life that offers the hope of displacing the nightmares that his mother used to chase away with her embrace. But now Benjy is outside of his mother's arms because he has been displaced by the new baby. He now imagines ice cream as a replacement for the sweet milk of his mother's affection that he has been denied (CoV 480). The dream of this wonderful confection has been planted in Benjy's mind by his imaginative dream-loving sister Elsa who says that ice cream is like the best dream come to life (CoV 480). Ice cream as a waking dream for Benjy becomes frozen in his consciousness so much that it looms as a towering entity. This is evidenced by his repeatedly speaking the name of the treat several times in single sentences, as when he says to his sister many times, and his mother once, "ice cream"(CoV 485). To say, "Mama, ice cream" rather than something like "When can I have ice cream?" reflects the ungraspability of ice cream for Benjy. He does not understand what it is and does not fully trust that he will have it, because he is told that the fulfillment of his desire is dependent on whether his father is willing to make the purchase. Benjy feels his dream of ice cream is threatened by his father's complaints about money, which combined with his father's emotional distance, make him worry that ice cream for him will be displaced by the list other things that need to be purchased at the festival (CoV 479-480). Because of this Benjy cannot ask for ice cream in question form but rather only invoke its name. 

            I took a quick glance around the little apartment. It was dark in there. The only light was from the kitchen, and from four candles stuck in pop bottles on the living room windowsill. The living room held one small, rump-sprung couch, two aluminum chairs, and a tiny card table. The gaudy flower-print cloth that barely covered the table was faded from years of being ironed. I was surprised; the place was spotless, if a little shabby. I perched on the edge of the love seat. His head poked round the corner. “Yes,” he said, “that’s right. Siddown on the settee and rest yourself.” Settee. Oui. In his own home, he spoke in a more natural accent. “You from Trinidad, Mr. Morris?” His face crinkled into an astonished grin. “Yes, doux-doux. How you know that?” “That’s where my parents are from. They talk just like you.” “You is from Trinidad?” he asked delightedly. “Is true Trini people come in all colours, but with that accent, I really take you for a Canadian, born and bred.” I hated explaining this, but I guess I’d asked for it, letting him know something about my life. “I was born here, but my parents are black. And so was I, but I’ve had a body switch.” A bemused expression came over his face. He stepped into the living room to take a closer look at me. “For true? I hear about people doin’ this thing, but I don’t think I ever meet anybody who make the switch. You mean to tell me, you change from a black woman body into this one? Lord, the things you young people does do for fashion, eh?” (CoV 182-3) 

   

            In Nalo Hopkinson's "A Habit of Waste", Cynthia reveals a longing for her old physical identity when she feels compelled to tell Mr. Morris that she had a body switch. After informing him that she recognizes his Trinidadian accent because her parents are from Trinidad, he simply observes that she seems to be "Canadian, born and bred." Cynthia the narrator at this point claims that she "hated explaining" that she was born black, but this rings false because all she needed to do was to confirm that she was born in Canada. As Morris had already acknowledged, there are white people from Trinidad so there was no logical reason for Cynthia's confession other than a desire to uncover her history for this grandfatherly black man who had revealed himself to her. Cynthia had been welcomed into Mr. Morris's home and was surprised by its cleanliness. Perhaps this was one of the factors that motivated her to come clean with him. But homes and bodies can be analogized, especially in a science fiction story about body switching, and we see that Morris also alters his identity inside and outside of his apartment. Cynthia observes this when she hears that Morris speaks "in a more natural accent" in his home. This relaxation of identity on Morris's part is what compels Cynthia to open up about her own identity. In this world where bodies can be moved in and out of, visiting his home is the symbolic co-occupation of his body. Because Morris is Trinidadian, like her mother, and a stranger, like a mother is to her fetus, Cynthia is metaphorically inside of Morris's womb and we see that in the end this results in a type of rebirth when she visits her parents for Thanksgiving dinner. She re-embraces some of the traditional Trinidadian foods such as cocoa tea that she had been avoiding after having been reborn with a better sense of her own black identity, despite living in a white body. This new sense of her old identity is accompanied by a revelation that "You've got to work with what you've got", which if that truth had dawned on her earlier, she would never have switched bodies (CoV 188). 

            Identify and explain two ways in which Kachru’s “Three Circles of English” model directs your literary interpretation of May, "The Wizard of Khao-I-Dang". 

            In Sharon May's "The Wizard of Khao-I-Dang" the story within a story that centres on a Thai bar owner's spelling of "Bamboo Garden" and the correction of it by an Australian customer reflect two aspects of Kachru's "Three Circles" model and tie into interpretations of the story. In the story there are immigration agents are from the inner circle of English country of Australia where the dominant language of English long ago displaced Indigenous languages. Their interpreter and the narrator of this story is from Cambodia and the story takes place in Thailand. According to Kachru's model, Cambodia and Thailand are considered to be part of the expanding circle of English countries because they were never British colonies but there is an increasing interest among their populations to learn English as a second language. In May's story the Thai establishment called "The Bamboo Garden" is where the immigration officers and the interpreter/narrator go for drinks after work. The hand-painted sign for the restaurant/bar has been misspelled as "Bambu Gardin"(CoV 287). This reflects something that might logically occur in an expanding circle of English country. English is not the first language of the owner of the bar and there are no laws in Thailand that require that he spell "bamboo garden" correctly. But because Thailand is an expanding circle country and the bar caters to English speaking clientele, he has made a gesture towards English readers recognizing his sign by using the Latin alphabet and by having a basic understanding how those letters can be pronounced. No English speaker would not understand that "Bambu Gardin" is meant to mean "Bamboo Garden". The immigration officer named Richard decides to correct the bar owner's spelling of "bamboo garden" and ironically does so while mis-pronouncing a Thai word (CoV 293). Just as most Thai's that own a bar with an English name would not misspell it, most Australians would not be so arrogant as to try to educate the owner in English spelling. But just as the Thai mistake is logical for an expanding circle of English country, Richard's error of judgement also makes sense for someone from an inner circle of English country. He comes from a country where he has been taught how to spell in English and now he has a job in which he can have a drastic impact on other people's lives by deciding who can or cannot immigrate to Australia. It is perhaps that sense of privilege that compels him to bleed his attitude of judgement into English correction during his off hours. 

            I made pizza on a slice of Bavarian sandwich bread with Basilica sauce, some cut up roast pork, and seven-year-old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching season 2, episode 11 of The Beverly Hillbillies. 

            Granny is making lye soap and the fumes are killing nearby vegetation, including Mrs. Mildred Drysdale's hibiscus. Mildred comes to see Granny and tells her that if she doesn't do something they are going to have to take out her hibiscus. Granny thinks that Mildred's hibiscus is an internal organ and that the doctors are proposing surgery. Granny exclaims, "Don't let them cut you!" 

            Mildred informs them that she is having a garden party and tries to tell them she wants them to be inconspicuous, but they misunderstand and think she is inviting them. Mildred goes to her husband Milburn and he says he'll solve the problem. Then he hands the problem over to his secretary Jane, as usual. 

            Jed thinks that a garden party is like a barn raising party and that they'll be gathering to make Mildred a garden. Jane explains that's not the case and she tries to ask them not to go. But they insist they are going because they think Mildred asked them to. Jane says if they insist on going they have to do her a favour. 

            She dresses them all up in formal garden party clothes. Mildred doesn't recognize them at first. Granny has brought a couple of jugs of moonshine and a pot of possum sausages, some chitlins, and crawdad dip. 

            Mildred moves the Clampetts over by the pool to host the overflow of the party, but it's her means of getting them out of the way and so they are sitting alone. They put some moonshine in Mildred's bland punch. Suddenly Granny notices an alligator in the pool and not realizing it's only inflated; she fires her shotgun at it. Everyone comes running over from the party and when they realize there is punch with alcohol in it they stay. The guys get a look at Elly and the girls get a look at Jethro and suddenly there's a party hosted by the Clampetts. The violinist picks up the pace and everybody dances. The only one unhappy is Mildred. Even Milburn and Jane come and do the twist. 

            The violinist introduced himself as Curt Massey, and he was played by Curt Massey. His sister was country singer Louise Massey and he played violin in her band, The Westerners in several western movies. He had two radio shows, "Curt Massey Time" in 1943 and "The Curt Massey Show" in 1949 (Also known as Alka Seltzer Time). He wrote and sang the theme song for Petticoat Junction. In 1961 he received a special Emmy Award for his career on radio and television. 

            

           I looked for bedbugs and found none.