Duke Fishman

            On Monday morning I finished working out the chords to “Le temps passe” (Time Goes By) by Boris Vian. I ran through singing and playing it in French and started revising my translation. That might take a couple of days. 

            I worked out the chords for the chorus and the third verse of “Tandem” by Serge Gainsbourg. I’m pretty sure the fourth verse is the same as the second and after that it’s just the chorus repeated, followed by an instrumental and the chorus again. I might have it finished tomorrow. 

            I played my Gibson Les Paul Studio during song practice for the first of two sessions. 

            I weighed 85.2 kilos before breakfast. 

            At around 11:30 I headed up to Topcuts at Yonge and St. Clair to get a long overdue haircut. The roads were not as clear as I would have liked and I might have avoided going out if this had been simply a recreational bike ride. This was my first time I’d ridden my new Surly beyond a short test drive. The brakes are so firm that it’s a little scary on slippery streets, especially since I’ve been used to breaking a little more slowly. I like the fact that the gears are all on one side and that I don’t have to do combinations to find a chosen gear. It took me 40 minutes to get to Yonge and St. Clair, which is pretty good on snowy streets. Amy was just starting with the customer before me when I got there at 12:10. 

            I had a date to have lunch with my friend Brian Haddon at 13:00 and emailed him that I might be ten minutes late. It turned out that I was another ten minutes late on top of that, but I only got there about ten minutes after Brian did anyway. 

            We went to the Artful Dodger on Isabella. He had fish and chips, I had a burger and we shared a pitcher of Creemore. He said he’s been reading my book of poems Paranoiac Utopia and so far my poem “Insisting on Angels” stands out for him. That’s interesting because Nick Cushing has mentioned that poem as his favourite from my book as well.

            Brian suggested I add links to ekstasiseditions.com on all my YouTube posts of the musical versions of the poems from that book so people can order the book online. We were there until after 16:00. 

            I rode up to Canadian Tire to find a Balaclava and they had only one knit balaclava for adults left. It had gotten quite cold and so I wore it on my way home. 

            I stopped at Freshco to buy grapes but they were all too soft so I walked across the street to Metro where some were relatively firm and I got six bags. 

            It was almost 18:00 when I got home and really too late for a siesta but I got sleepy and laid down at 18:15 with the intention of getting up at 19:45. But I didn’t wake up until 21:05 and it was too late to cook dinner, so I had Miss Vickie’s chips with salsa and skyr with a glass of orange juice while watching season 2, episode 57 of Batman. 

             The story begins with Alfred in a gallery purchasing a painting for Bruce Wayne. Joker comes running into the gallery with paint guns raving that it’s an outrage against art. He indicates paintings and responds to each one with judgements: “ugliness”, “monstrosity”, “horribility”, “you call that art?”, “disgusting”, “worse and worse”. “This ugliness must be destroyed!” “Down with ugliness!” “Away with dullness!” One gun shoots red and the other green and he sprays both at the same time at every painting. Alfred calls Harriet and asks her to tell Bruce that he’s found a painting called The Laughing Man. Bruce recognizes the signal and he and Dick head for the Batcave, change to Batman and Robin and head for the gallery. They arrive and shortly knock out the Joker and his men. But Oliver Muzzy the artist loves how Joker modernized his paintings. Joker is pleasantly surprised when Muzzy tells him his work is magnificent. He asks Joker to share the profits and Joker agrees to a 50-50 split. Batman has to let the Joker go since doesn’t think his paintings have been ruined. Later Joker is invited to enter the Gotham City International Art Contest. Since Bruce Wayne is a friend of Baby Jane Towser, who will be the judge of the contest, that Bruce will be at the event to keep an eye on the Joker. The next day at the art centre Baby Jane introduces the five competitors: The Spanish artist Pablo Pinkus, Jackson Potluck, Leonardo Davinsky and his monkey assistant, Vincent Van Gauche, and the Joker. The artists have three minutes to complete a painting. Potluck puts his paint in a wheelbarrow, sits in it, then rolls around on the canvas on the floor. Davinsky’s monkey throws paint balls at the canvas, Van Gauche paints with his feet. Potluck throws the paint on directly from the cans. Joker’s canvas remains blank while he mixes his paint and merely gestures at the canvas with his brush. He declares it finished without touching it with any paint. There are three judges including Baby Jane. Joker says his work is titled “Death of a Mauve Bat”. One of the judges asks “Where is the bat?” Joker says the bat is dead. It died in 1936. Jane says it’s symbolic of the emptiness of modern life. Jane overrides the other judges and declares Joker to be the winner. Joker announces that he is opening a new art school and he is now accepting applications for the Joker Art Institute but only for millionaires. Jane is the first to sign up. Bruce Wayne also asks to join. He asks Joker if he’s going to test his artistic talent first but Joker says the rich, the well born and the able all have talent. At the school Joker likes all his students’ work except for that of Bruce Wayne. Bruce is working in clay. Joker says a three year old could do better then adds a bunch of clay at the top and smashes it down. Bruce says that is the level of a three year old. Joker says, “I do the jokes around here.” Bruce says, “That was one of your better ones”. Suddenly Joker’s men come in with guns and take everyone hostage. Ransom notes have already be sent. All of the students own Renaissance art collections and they will be delivered to him in exchange for their lives. Robin gets word that the class has been kidnapped. The police don’t know where the school is located but Bruce is wearing a tracking device and so Robin goes downtown by bus since he’s too young to drive the Batmobile. Robin arrives and starts fighting and Bruce also joins in. It’s really just like any fight between the dynamic duo and a group of henchmen as Bruce is fighting with the skill of Batman, which isn’t very logical if he’s trying to protect his identity. But both Bruce and Robin are captured. Robin is tied to a mobile with spinning, sharpened palate knives that slowly descend towards him. Bruce is nearby tied to a chair. That’s the cliffhanger. 

            Pablo Pinkus was played by Duke Fishman, who worked every summer for 42 years as a lifeguard in Avalon, California. He was known for strolling the main street barefoot, wearing nothing but skimpy bathing trunks and a captain’s hat. In 1949 he began shaving his head and wearing a gold hoop earing in his left ear. That’s not uncommon today but at that time it was something no one else did. It is rumoured that he was the inspiration for Mr. Clean. He had supporting roles in several TV series and films.