France Nuyen

            On Tuesday I memorized the sixth verse of “Les frères” by Boris Vian. There are nine verses to go. 

            I posted “Dreams in X-Ray”, my translation of “Amour puissance six” (Love to the Power of Six) by Serge Gainsbourg on Facebook. I memorized the first verse of his song “Made in China”.

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the first of two sessions. 

            I weighed 85.4 kilos before breakfast. 

            I finished reading Bored of the Rings. Frito is back home and suddenly several people from fairy tales come to his door asking him to go on another quest. He slams the door and takes shelter in his home. 

            I read chapter 10 and 11 of The Hobbit. Bilbo and the dwarves spend a lot of time waiting to figure out how to get in the secret door of the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo finally sees the keyhole in a certain light and the door is opened with the key. 

            I weighed 85.4 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. 

            I weighed 85.1 kilos at 17:20. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:10. 

            I read up to chapter 16 of The Hobbit. Bilbo goes down into the mountain where the dragon Smaug is sleeping on his treasure. Bilbo steals a goblet and takes it back to show the dwarves. When Smaug wakes he notices the goblet is missing and he is angry. Later Bilbo goes back down thinking Smaug is sleeping but he is not. Bilbo is invisible but not to Smaug’s nose and ears. They have a conversation but when Bilbo goes to leave Smaug singes him with his breath. Later Smaug attacks the nearby Elf village but an archer named Bard is instructed by a thrush to shoot the dragon in a soft part of his underbelly. He does so and kills him. Now the elves think they should have some of the treasure. Thorin the dwarf is now king of the mountain but with only 13 dwarves and a hobbit to defend it. He sends ravens to take messages to other dwarves to bring an army. Bard reminds Thorin that some of the treasure was stolen by Smaug from the elves but Thorin refuses to give it up. Bilbo sneaks away to negotiate with Thorin. 

            I heated oven fries and made chili from Romano beans and salsa. I had the chili on the fries while watching episode 7 of Amos Burke: Secret Agent.

            Banister, a scientist with a photographic memory who has been working on top secret projects for the US must be kept in custody for a year so he doesn’t leak any secrets. But his great mind is bored and his only companion is a guard who is lousy at chess. Banister boobytraps the basketball they play catch with and it contains sleeping gas. Banister escapes to the South Pacific and Burke’s mission is to either retrieve Banister or kill him. 

            Burke goes to the island of Tiamoto (I don’t think it’s a real island). At a bar he pays the bartender for information about Banister. He talks with Happy Tuava who says he’ll see him at his hotel later. He talks with Zeeni who says Happy can’t be trusted because he works for Mr. Sin. 

            That night someone drops a cobra into Burke’s room but he wakes up and shoots it. He catches Happy outside his door who tells him Mr. Sin will see him at his estate in the jungle. Burke goes by boat with Zeeni. Sin is a dwarf in brown face made to look like he’s from India and he has a private army. One of Sin’s guests is Lady Constance who says Sin is protecting her from her husband who is trying to kill her. Sin says he is in the business of providing refuge. Zeeni admits she doesn’t like Sin but says she can’t leave and can’t say why. Later she reveals that Sin injects her with a poison and gives her one antidote pill per day. Someone tries to kill Burke with a poison dart but he sees them in the mirror and dodges. Burke catches Juan Bagulesco, who says he’s there to buy Banister and sell him back to the States. Sin keeps banister in an elevated cage in his dungeon. Two of the guests are Chinese agents also there to bid for Banister. Kara works for Mr. Chen and she asks Burke to get her to the US. Burke finds some pills in Sin’s desk. He catches Zeeni bringing some milk through Sin’s office. He knows that Banister only drinks milk. She takes him to the dungeon where he tries to free Banister but a sonic alarm goes off that knocks Burke out. When Burke wakes he is taken to Sin’s office to bid for Banister. Bagulesco outbids everyone at $2 million but the cheque he gives Sin is in Burke’s name because they have agreed to collaborate. Kara is mad and it turns out she is Chen’s boss. She has Chen attack with a spiked armband but Burke outfights him and pins him to a wall by his spikes. Sin doesn’t honour the sale because he can keep selling Banister. Burke is knocked out and wakes up strapped to a table with his head secured so his neck can’t move. He is given the Chinese water torture unless he offers US government secrets. There is no evidence that Chinese water torture works and it may be more a fictional invention than anything else. It has been found that it’s probably more the head restraint than the actual dripping water that serves as an effective torture technique. Experiments with someone simply holding still without restraint under dripping water has shown no adverse effects. While Burke is restrained Lady Constance wanders in. She at first thinks that Sin has captured Burke to protect her from her husband. Burke informs her that her husband has been dead for two years. There is a current edition of Who’s Who in Sin’s library and her husband who was a very wealthy man would be in the book if he were alive. Who’s Who lists the most prominent people of Britain. Lady Constance lets Burke free. Burke and Constance got to the dungeon to set Banister free but first he turns off the sonic alarm. Sin goes to the dungeon and Burke turns the alarm back on. Burke sets fire to Sin’s house. Sin stays behind to get his money and is trapped in the fire. Burke and his friends escape. Burke reveals to Zeeni that the pills Sin gave her were salt pills and the injections were sugar and water. Banister has to return to custody for the rest of his year with the same guard. 

            Zeeni was played by France Nuyen, who was the original star of The World of Suzie Wong on Broadway. Her first film appearance was in South Pacific. She had a brief affair with Marlon Brando in 1960. She was married to Robert Culp for three years. She co-starred in A Girl Named Tamiko, The Last Time I Saw Archie, Dimension 5, and The Joy Luck Club. She played the title role in the Star Trek episode “Elaan of Troyius”. She was in the cast of St. Elsewhere during the last two seasons of the series. She was a victim of child abuse and in 1986 she earned a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology. In her practice she worked with abused children, abused women and women in prison.