James Mathers

            On Thursday morning I memorized the third verse of “Entre l'âme et l'amour” (Between Love and Spirit) by Serge Gainsbourg. I should have the whole song in my head tomorrow. 

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

            I weighed 86.7 kilos before breakfast. 

            I continued to do research for my final paper, which is due at the end of April 19. I plan to stop doing research and to start writing a week before the deadline. 

            I weighed 86.3 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride. It had been raining all day but had stopped when I headed out, but started up again lightly while I was on my way downtown. It was still not coming down much when I got to Bloor and Shaw but I decided to head south because I didn’t want to get caught a long way from home if it came down heavier. I made a good call because it started pouring by the time I stopped at Freshco. I bought five bags of grapes, a pack of raspberries, a pack of blueberries, bananas, five-year-old cheddar, a whole chicken, a pack of souvlaki, three bags of milk, Full City Dark coffee, Basilica sauce, salsa, and shaving gel. It was raining quite hard on the way home. 

            I weighed 86.3 kilos at 17:30.

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:30. 

            I continued to make notes and research references from the novel Pearl: 

            “My mother preferred the story about the girl who was bound to the Earth by a pair of iron shoes. She was a princess who grew up locked in a tall tower. They sent up her food in a little basket. She longed to see the world outside but there was no way out. One day a terrible war came. The people who used to send her food were all killed or ran away. She didn’t have anything she could use for a rope, so she started to dig through the floor. She drank the rainwater, ate moss and the insects that crawled into the walls. When she finally dug her way to the bottom she didn’t look like a princess anymore. On her feet the girl found a pair of iron shoes stuck there. She travelled north, then south, then east, then west, working anywhere she could, sleeping in barns, until one day her iron shoes had worn all the way through. She saw the ruin of an old tower and children were playing around it. The children told her the story of a poor girl locked in a tower. She told them how she had escaped, and they took her to meet the new king. He welcomed her back to her own country where she lived happily for the rest of her life. My mother meant the princess was her”. 

            The value and power of using personal names and titles is well established in psychology, management, teaching and trial law. It is often referred to as the "Rumpelstiltskin principle". It derives from a very ancient belief that to give or know the true name of a being is to have power over it. An example is Adam's naming of the animals in Genesis 2:19-20. 

I’ll give you two-oh 

Green grow the rushes oh 

What is your two-oh? 

Two, two the lily white boys 

Clothed all in green ho ho 

One is one and all alone 

And ever more shall be, so 

            The lyrics of the song are, in many places, exceedingly obscure, and present an unusual mixture of Christian catechesis, astronomical mnemonics, and what may be pagan cosmology. Many traditions hold that the lily white boys are Jesus and John the Baptist. Robert Graves suggested that lily white boys clothed in green was a reference to the struggle between the Holly King (Winter) and the Oak king (Summer). I think it’s an elfin reference since Elves were said to have pale white skin and to dress in green. 

            I had three pork ribs and rosemary-garlic fries with gravy while watching season 1, episode 6 of Bewitched. 

            In this story a lonely little boy named Marshal with an overprotective mother sneaks away from home every day to hang out with Samantha. She tries to give him strawberries but he says his mother says he’s allergic, although he’s never had a strawberry. Juice is too acid, french toast is too rich. Marshal’s mother comes for him and doesn’t appreciate Samantha’s interference. The Junior League Baseball tryouts are tomorrow and Samantha decides to go with Marshal. She sits in the stands next to Gladys Kravitz, her nosy neighbour who is there to watch her nephew, the star player. Gladys says Marshal’s nickname is Marshmallow Burns. Marshal is set up to try pitching and he is not doing well until Samantha uses witchcraft to cause him to throw impossible curve balls, impressing the coach so that he makes the team. Later she admits to Darrin that she helped him out with magic but just to build his confidence. Darrin warns that her spells will become a crutch for Marshal. They hear a noise in the back yard and find that Marshal is there, having run away from home. He says his mother won’t let him play on the team because baseball is too dangerous. They call Marshal’s mother. Darrin tells her she should remove the trellis from the house because that’s how Marshal climbed down. He says she should also lock him in his room, and keep him out of dangerous rooms like the kitchen and the bathroom. She takes Marshal and warns Samantha and Darrin to stay away from him. But the next morning Mrs. Burns comes looking for Marshal because he’s run away again. Samantha says he must have gone for his first baseball game with the team. They drive her to the ball park but they drive extremely slowly and stall as much as possible so Marshal has a chance to play. Gladys is there with her husband Abner who is doing his crossword puzzle and not watching the game. Mrs. Burns calls to Marshal to take him home but when she hears how well he’s been doing in the game and hears the coach call him to bat she says for him to ahead. Marshal gets two strikes and the third pitch is thrown. He hits it and is running home. Samantha doesn’t think he’ll make it and is about to use magic when Darrin kisses her to distract her. Marshal slides home. Darrin asks Abner if Marshal made it but Abner says, “I was watching you.” The coach finds out Mrs. Burns is a widow and offers to come over and coach Marshal. She says that would be just fine. 

            Marshal was played by James Mathers who is the younger brother of Jerry Mathers, the star of Leave it to Beaver. James Mathers was also a child actor who played supporting roles in many films and made guest appearances on several TV series. He played Benjie Major on the sitcom Ichabod and Me. After graduating film school he specialized in cinematography and formed his own business The Migrant Film Workers. He’s been the director of photography for over 40 films and the first seasons of seven TV series.