On Monday morning I finished working out the chords for “A Cannes cet été” (To Cannes This Summer) by Boris Vian. Tomorrow I’ll run through singing and playing it.
I worked out the chords for the chorus of “Amour jamais” (“No More Romance”) by Serge Gainsbourg.
I played my Gibson Les Paul Studio electric guitar during song practice and it pretty much stayed in tune through the whole session. The action was where it should be and it sounded the best it has for a long time.
After song practice I headed down to the Canadian Tire in Uppity Village and found the same model of Honeywell warm mist humidifier that I bought back in the early fall. I bought it and immediately rode to the post office to ask if I could just mail the package without wrapping it. I found out that I could and so I mailed it via express to my daughter Astrid in Montreal. When I got home I found that I’d only been gone for 45 minutes. That was almost as quick as when I bought the humidifier for my daughter at Best Buy online. That product never arrived while there’s a chance the one I mailed will get there tomorrow.
I weighed 84.95 kilos before a late breakfast at 12:10.
I weighed 85.8 kilos before lunch.
In the afternoon I took a bike ride but didn’t go all the way downtown. It started snowing as I was climbing Brock Avenue and by the time I got to Bloor and Ossington I figured that if I went downtown there might be enough accumulation for the road to start getting slippery. So I turned south and almost immediately the snow started falling more heavily. I often seem to make the right decision about things like that.
I weighed 85.65 kilos at 17:23.
I went to bed early last night and so I spent the time before dinner getting caught up on my journal. I was caught up at 20:34.
I had a potato with gravy and a slice of pork tenderloin while watching season 1, episodes 23 and 24 of Batman.
In episode 23, Madame Soleil’s Wax Museum is about to unveil her latest exhibit, the figure of Batman. But behind the curtain is a wax replica of The Riddler instead, holding a gun. At its feet is a tape recorder that addresses the audience with two riddles: “What is black and white and red all over?” and “What has branches and leaves and no bark?” Then the figure turns from side to side as it shoots a red liquid at the crowd with the gun. Commissioner Gordon calls Batman. Robin figures out the riddles. The answer to the first is a book and the solution to the second is a library. Batman concludes that the Riddler’s plans would need to involve the biggest library in Gotham and so they head there. Meanwhile the Riddler is in his candle factory hideout with his gang: Matches, Tallow and the lovely Moth. Riddler reveals why he stole the mannequin of Batman. It’s because he smuggled inside of it from France the universal solvent, which can eat through anything. With it the Riddler can enter any vault. At the library Riddler places a lighted candle on a book shelf, which lures the guard and when he blows it out the smoke renders him unconscious. The Riddler uses the solvent to break into the library vault where the most priceless books are kept. Batman and Robin enter the building and the librarian guides them to the book vault. Riddler finds the book “The Lost Treasure of the Incas”. Batman and Robin enter the vault and the usual fight takes place with the heroes as usual knocking bad guys into things that are old and valuable. Riddler sprays Batman and Robin’s feet with a glue that sticks them to the floor but then he accidentally sets off the fire alarm and so he can’t stay and take advantage of the immobility of his enemies. Batman uses some kind of heat ray to free their feet. Batman takes a sample of the solvent from the hole in the vault to analyze. The Batcomputer finds sodium, uranium and nitrogen, spelling “sun” so they conclude they need to go to Madame Soleil’s Wax Museum. In the museum the Riddler and his gang are posing as a revolutionary era fife and drum quartet. But Riddler’s fife is a blowgun and Batman and Robin are knocked out. They load the heroes into their van and then Riddler steals the Batmobile. Riddler says there is an ancient riddle inside the book he stole that will lead him to the lost treasure. Back in the candle factory Batman and Robin are suspended over a vat of the universal solvent and slowly lowered to be dissolved. That is the cliffhanger.
In episode 24, the Riddler and his gang have to leave the room where Batman and Robin are suspended because the fumes are too much. Once they are alone Batman recognizes a chemical formula written on an open barrel as being explosive. There is a beam of sunlight coming in through a window. As he and Robin are dangling there he spins them both so that his highly polished belt buckle reflects the light into the explosive and causes it to blow up, knocking them free. Riddler calls Commissioner Gordon and leaves him a riddle: “What has four legs, runs day and night but never gets anywhere?” Batman concludes that it’s a reference to the lion fountain outside the Gotham museum. Inside the museum the Riddler is there with his gang in a section where there are several Medieval torture devices. Riddler is looking for an ancient Incan sarcophagus in which is hidden the lost treasure. Batman and Robin arrive at the museum but it is locked. There must be a door somewhere that Riddler dissolved open but they don’t think of that. There is an upper window but it’s too small for Batman. Robin climbs up to get in with the intention of coming downstairs to open the door for Batman. But Matches and Tallow attack and Robin can’t fight both of them, so he is captured. Batman breaks in the back shipping door of the museum with a battering ram on the front of the Batmobile. Robin is tied to the Medieval rack. Riddler finds the sarcophagus and begins applying the universal solvent to break it open. Exposing it to air will destroy the mummy but Riddler only cares about the treasure. Batman arrives and the big sound effect fight ensues. One by one Batman traps each member of the gang in a Medieval torture device. Riddler is attached to the wheel while Batman lectures him about becoming a respected citizen. Batman puts out the candle before it can finish heating the solvent enough to open the sarcophagus.
Madame Soleil was played by Ann Ayars, who was the star soprano for the New York City Opera from 1943. She starred in the film Fiesta. She co-starred in Dr. Kildare’s Victory, Apache Trail, and Nazi Agent. She sang and acted the part of Antonia in the 1951 British film The Tales of Hoffman. She taught voice and piano at the Mount San Jocinto College in California from 1968 to 1987 and staged 19 full length operas there. She was made a professor emeritus.
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