On Tuesday morning I memorized the third verse of “S'il pleauvait des larmes” (If it Would Rain Tears) by Boris Vian.
I uploaded “Des Ils et des Elles” (Of Hes and of Shes) by Serge Gainsbourg to my Christian’s Translations blog. I edited and published it, then posted my translation on Facebook. There are 23 Gainsbourg songs left to learn, and I’ll start memorizing his “Litanie en Lituanie” (Litany in Lithuania) tomorrow.
I played my Gibson Les Paul Studio during song practice.
I weighed 88.3 kilos before breakfast.
Around midday I rode downtown for an early bike ride because today was the first day I could pick up my diploma from the University of Toronto. I rode to Yonge and Bloor, then south to College, and west to King’s College Circle and Simcoe Hall. We were instructed online to enter at the back doors on Galbraith Road, probably because of the ongoing pro-Palestine protest at the front. There was security at the Galbraith door but those coming for their diplomas were greeted by a woman who checked our student cards and then directed us through the doors. The first thing I did was use the washroom that I found on the way. At the end of the hall a student greeted me and also wanted to see my T card, but that was so he would know my name. I waited in line at the turn of another hallway. The guy came out and handed my diploma to another student at a table in front of the Convocation office. She found my name on a list and had me sign my name next to it, then she handed me my diploma and said, “Congratulations”. The other student also said, “Congratulations” as I passed. My diploma was in a big envelope supported by cardboard. The laptop pocket of my backpack was just big enough to fit it without bending it. My diploma reads: “This is to certify that Christian Christian has fulfilled the requirements of the University of Toronto and has been admitted under the authority of the Governing Council of the University of Toronto to the degree of Honours Bachelor of Arts”. Not bad for a high school dropout.
I weighed 88.6 kilos before lunch.
I took a siesta.
I weighed 88.55 kilos at 16:00.
I was caught up on my journal at 17:00.
In the Movie Maker project for my electric performance of “The Post Colonial Breakdown” I slightly tweaked the synchronization of the audio and video. I established an ending and cut out everything after. I added a fade to black and a threshold effect that made it look like how I remember acid trips. I published the movie and then uploaded it to You Tube. That finishes all the acoustic and electric videos I wanted to make for “Mamadou” and my translation. I’ll eliminate those songs from my daily practice and add “Quand j’aurais du vent dans ma crane” and “When I Will Have the Wind in My Hollow Skull”. Tomorrow I’ll start reviewing the videos of my song practice performances of “La jambe de bois” and “The Wooden Leg” to find which ones of those I’ll upload to YouTube.
In the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “The Next State of Grace” I imported the videos I shot of myself singing the song on the street a couple of days ago. I placed them both at the end of the timeline. Then in the main video I cut out bits of the concert video to synchronize it with the studio audio for my line, “Oh when oh when will I ever learn”. Then it goes out of synch again for the line, “I can’t get to heaven with wheels that don’t turn”. I then went to the street videos and isolated the three times I sing that line. The last one looked the best so I copied it and pasted it into the main video. By magical coincidence it was perfectly in synch with the studio audio.
I uploaded to YouTube the still video I made of my June 22, 1994 performance at the Fat Albert’s open stage. I added it to my June 22 blog post. Then I made a digital recording of another one of my cassette tapes. This has a rehearsal with Brian Haddon of my song “Sixteen Tons of Dogma” and an interview with me on the Howl radio show.
I grilled two T-bone steaks and had one with a potato while watching the series finale of Star Trek: Discovery.
Burnham wakes up inside the structure that contains the Progenitors’ technology. There is a long bridge leading to a bright light and either side of the bridge is lined with windows leading to other worlds. She touches one of the windows and gets sucked off the bridge and down into a rocky stormy world where the wind is so strong it blows the rocks around. She is attacked by one of the Breen soldiers that got sucked inside the portal earlier. She tells him they can help each other but he won’t listen so she knocks him into an abyss. She has a virtual computer with her that determines when the next gust is, then she jumps and rides it to catch the edge of the bridge and climb back up. Then she’s attacked by the other Breen but Mol kills him. Mol has a bad wound in her leg and Burnham tosses her a dermal regenerator. She persuades her to lower her weapon so they can work together. But shortly after that Burnham attacks Mol and they have a long fight on the bridge and through various windows to other worlds. Burnham promises her she’ll do everything in her power to bring L’ak back. Burnham discovers that life can materialize spontaneously in this place beyond time and space. The technology is the whole place. They approach a centre disk. A table materializes and several triangles appear. Burnham quotes the phrase she learned while acquiring the last clue, “Build the shape of the one between the many”. Burnham hears Book communicating with her from the shuttle and she tries to connect. But while she is distracted Mol knocks her out. Mol organizes the triangles into one triangle but the energy fills her, paralyzes her and causes violent explosions within the portal and without, potentially damaging one of the blackholes. Book’s shuttle tries to lock onto the portal but can’t. Culber suddenly gives him calculations that allow it to be done. He is a doctor but is accessing knowledge of physics from his melding of consciousness with the physicist Janile on Trill. It works but the shuttle only has enough power to keep the portal out of the blackhole but not to pull it back to Discovery. Burnham regains consciousness and pulls Mol free. Then she arranges the triangles with a triangle of negative space in the middle. She is transported to a different version of the same place where she is and meets one of the Progenitors who tells her she’s been waiting for her. She says she died billions of years ago but their minds can communicate in this space. Burnham asks about bringing L’ak back to life and she says a new being can be created that would be genetically identical to La’k but would have none of his memories. She says they didn’t create the technology but found it here. They used it to create life throughout the galaxy but don’t know where it came from. She says Burnham will become the technology’s steward. Burnham says she’s imperfect but the Progenitor says we all are. Burnham says she needs to think about it. The Progenitor returns her to her own present and says she can choose to come back to train as the technology’s steward later.
Meanwhile Discovery is trying to get close enough to the portal to catch it with a tractor beam. Then forty Breen fighters arrive. Rayner first tries to evade them but then decides they have to fight them before saving the portal. Book asks for a shuttle so he can try to save Michael. Dr. Culber says he’ll go with him. The shuttle leaves. Tilly has the idea to lure the Breen fighters into the plasma region then double back and ignite the plasma. It works but then the Breen dreadnought arrives. Rayner wants to know if the spore drive can cause another ship to jump. First Stamets says it’s impossible but then figures it out with Adira’s help. They quantum entangle the spores and separate them. They separate the saucer and secondary hull of Discovery and position them on either side of the dreadnought then jump and send the dreadnought so far away it will take twenty years to return.
Saru is in a shuttle with Nahn and they intercept Primarch Taran’s fleet to convince her to not try to recruit the late Primarch Ruhn’s soldiers because it could result in war with the Federation. He offers her alternative means of achieving the Breen throne. She turns around.
Book beams Burnham and Mol onto the shuttle. Then they all get back to Discovery with the portal. But Burnham says they need to let the portal go into a blackhole because no one should be able to use it. She somehow convinces all the Federation that her decision is the right one. That’s just such a weak conclusion to this quest. They knew from the start that they were seeking the power of creation but when they get it and realize that it’s the power of creation they say they can’t take responsibility for it. They could have figured that out in the first place and not looked for it.
Kovich is going to hire Mol as an operative. He also reveals that he is a time agent named Daniels. Saru and T’rina get married. Burnham and Book declare their love for one another and then flash forward twenty years. They’re married and have a son who is about to take command of his first starship. Burnham is taken to Discovery where she has a conversation with the sentient computer Zora and they leave the dock to travel to deep space and then just leave Discovery and Zora alone to wait for something. I guess this was meant to be a continuing story because that’s a dumb ending.
The Progenitor was played by Somkele Iyamah, who co-starred in The Wedding Party and The Arbitration. She starred in the Nigerian TV series Gidi Up. She manages her sister’s fashion brand Andrea Iyamah.
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