Charlie Ruggles

            On Wednesday morning I ran through singing and playing the first half of "I've No Regrets", which is my translation of "J'ai pas d'regret" by Boris Vian. I'll finish that tomorrow and might have time to upload it to my Christian's Translations blog. 

            I memorized the fourth verse of "C’est rien, je m’en vais, c’est tout" (It’s nothing, I’m done, I’m gone) by Serge Gainsbourg. There are three more verses left to learn. 

            I weighed 84.3 kilos before breakfast. 

            I went up to David's place to check on everything. His rosemary still doesn't need watering and I think that David might have drowned the roots. I stuck a nitrogen stick into the soil to see if that would help. 

            I spent at least an hour reading David Copperfield. Barkis dies and then it is learned that Emily has run off with David's friend Steerforth because she wants to become a lady. This is treated by everyone as if it is a bigger tragedy than Barkis's death. Their reaction is disturbing considering that she is a young woman of age and should have the right to make her own decisions and mistakes. Mr. Pegotty is now going to search the world to find her and perhaps kill Steerforth when he does.

            I weighed 84.6 kilos before lunch. I had rice crackers with five-year-old cheddar and a glass of limeade. 

            In the afternoon there was a snowstorm going on and so I didn't take a bike ride. 

            I weighed 84.4 kilos at 16:10, which is the heaviest I've been at that time in two weeks. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 16:57. 

            I spent about three hours reading David Copperfield and made it to page 538. David and Mr. Peggotty go to see Mrs. Steerforth about her son running off with Emily. She says the idea of Emily becoming a lady is impossible because she is out of her class. She has no sympathy for Emily and has disowned Steerforth. Miss Dartle thinks Emily should be branded for her transgression and publicly whipped. David confesses his love to Dora and they become secretly engaged. David's aunt reveals that she is financially ruined so as David is an unsalaried apprentice at his job he has to find other work. He gets a job as a secretary for his retired old schoolmaster. He also begins studying shorthand so he can work as a court stenographer. Even Mr. Dick gets a job copying documents. 

            I made two patties from ground chicken and grilled them in the oven. I put one on a toasted slice of Bavarian sandwich bread with chili sauce, Dijon, and horseradish, and had it with a beer while watching season 4, episode 12 of The Beverly Hillbillies. 

            In this story Mrs. Drysdale's father comes from Boston to Beverly Hills. Margaret prides herself on her family coming from Mayflower stock and valuing culture over money but Mr. Farquar is secretly a gambling addict. Mr. Drysdale knows about it but protects his wife from the truth. Meanwhile Margaret wants to shelter what she thinks are her father's refined sensibilities from the Clampetts, but when he hears they are hillbilly millionaires he thinks they are ripe for fleecing. 

            He goes over to the Clampett mansion and engages Jed in a game of poker for matches. He says each match is worth $1000 but Jed says he is getting robbed in Boston if that's the price for them there. Farquar wins a big pile of matches from Jed but then Granny joins in and wins everything back. When Jed tells Farquar about their billiard room, which they use for fancy eating, Farquar informs them of a game that can be played on the tables for matches. But Jed's deadeye shooting skills with a gun transfer to pool and he turns out to be a great pool player from the first time out. 

            Mr. Farquar was played by Charles Ruggles, whose first theatrical experience was as a superintendent for the Alcazar Theatre. He eventually started appearing on stage with the company. His first film appearance was in the silent movie The Patchwork Girl of Oz in 1914. His first talking picture was Gentleman of the Press. His mother was shot and killed in 1924 when she came between her husband and another man. He co-starred with Mary Boland in a series of comedies in the 1930s, such as If I Had a Million, Six of a Kind, Ruggles of Red Gap, and People Will Talk. He co-starred in Bringing Up Baby and It Happened on Fifth Avenue. He starred in the 1949 sitcom The Ruggles, and the 1950s sitcom The World of Mr. Sweeney. He won a Tony Award for his performance in the play The Pleasure of His Company and repeated his role in the film version. He was the narrator of Aesop's Fables on The Bullwinkle Show. He has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 

           

            I searched for bedbugs and found none.