The Galaxy Trio

            On Friday morning I published on my Christian’s Translations blog “My Horn Went Crazy”, my translation of “À la manière de Brassens” by Boris Vian. Tomorrow I’ll probably post the lyrics on Facebook. 

            I finished memorizing the 1966 song “Celle-là c’est la meilleure” (This is All for the Best) by Serge Gainsbourg. I searched for the chords but wasn’t surprised to not find them. This song was never on the radio and was only written for a James Bond themed TV skit. I started working out the chords for the intro. 

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the third of four sessions. I’m looking forward to getting it fixed in three weeks. 

            I weighed 86.6 kilos before breakfast. 

            A tooth in the upper left corner of my mouth has not been healthy for years. Several people have suggested that I have it removed and some of them are dentists. I’ve been reluctant to have my mouth take another step towards toothlessness and so I’ve been holding onto that tooth until it starts to hurt. Lately I’ve been feeling more sensitive in that area and so I’ve decided to get rid of it. I’m scheduled for a deep cleaning on May 14 and I anticipate that if that tooth is there it will be more painful and perhaps require freezing, which costs more. I called Dentistry on Queen West to make an appointment for both the extraction and to fix my front filling. Last time I got to see them the next day but they are busier now and couldn’t give me an appointment to do both the extraction and the filling until May 7. 

            I called Biseagal bike shop on Carlaw about getting my Raleigh frame welded where it snapped. Malcolm said to bring it over and so I removed the wheels from the Raleigh and strapped it to my bike trailer with four straps. The handlebar was poking a bit against my right butt cheek as I rode. I think I should have peed one more time before leaving because by the time I got to Broadview I had to urinate very badly. I stopped in front of a Tim Hortons and was even going to just leave my bike without locking it when I lost control and peed my jeans, down the legs, into my shoes and onto the sidewalk. I think at least one person noticed. I couldn’t tell if she was looking at me with sympathy or amusement. I had no choice at that point but to just stand there and finish, then get back on my bike and ride. 

            I rode south on Carlaw looking for 302, but after 320 found myself at 290. I discovered that 302 is one of those side addresses where the units are lined up perpendicular to the street and go back a long ways. I couldn’t see any bike shop but someone came out from another unit and asked if I was looking for Malcolm. He showed me a door that was almost at the very back of the building and once I was inside he told me that Malcolm’s unit is almost at the end of a very long hallway. I finally found Malcolm and it took me a few minutes to unstrap my bike from the trailer. 

            He told me he can’t weld my frame at the point where it’s broken and so he’ll have to replace the dropout plate. He says he might need to replace the plate on both sides. He says he can do it for $130 and the work will have a lifetime warranty. That sounds amazingly reasonable. He told me it should be ready by the end of next week. That’s pretty good since Gordon at Metro warned me that he’d heard it would take at least a month. Malcolm asked me to bring my rear wheel when I pick it up so he can test if it still fits after the work is done. 

            I was smart enough to use the washroom before leaving. Malcolm gave me a fob to use that just looked like a bottle opener. I went upstairs to where the much nicer units are located but couldn’t figure out how to open the door. Fortunately a woman was coming out of the other washroom and I asked her if she knew how to open the door. She used her phone and unlocked it for me. 

            This was a long trip and I had to pee badly again by the time I got to my building. I think my brain decided that it was alright to pee my pants again since they were already soiled. I tried to hold it but it started to come out just before I opened my door. I was peeing as I walked to the toilet and it almost seemed a waste of time to bother but there was still quite a bit. Next time I will need to plan my trip better and stop to urinate as soon as I feel the urge rather than try to hold it all the way. I put on some clean clothes and had lunch. 

            I weighed 85.75 kilos at 16:30, which is the lightest I’ve been in the early afternoon since April 17. 

            I was exhausted from my trip and took a siesta at 17:00. I didn’t wake up until two hours and twenty minutes later. 

            I weighed 86.1 kilos at 19:43 I had a potato with gravy and a chicken breast while watching episode 2 of Birdman and the Galaxy Trio. 

            In the first Birdman story, a new flying tank is being demonstrated when a dirigible with a truck on its underside and grapplers coming from the track grabs the tank and steals it. Later a laser cannon is being tested when an acrobatic strongman swings down on a trapeze, grips the cannon with his legs and swings away with it. Next we see the team of villains all together. They are the Ringmaster, Jobo the strongman, and the Human Fly. They steal the army’s new super power serum. We see that the Ringmaster is also an acrobat as he escapes from the soldiers. The circus team works for F.E.A.R. Birdman’s boss at Inter Nation Security, Falcon 7 with his eyepatch, moustache and pipe, notifies Birdman about the circus themed thefts and so Birdman goes looking for circuses. He finds the Ringmaster and his crew just as they are hiding their dirigitruck. Jobo attacks but Birdman uses a solar beam to destroy Jobo’s improvised club and then dazzles him with an amazna flash. The Human Fly attacks Birdman with the flying tank but Birdman makes the tank so red hot that the Fly has to escape. Birdman is attacked with the laser cannon but his solar blast seems to make it explode, which is probably not what the military would want. Birdman confronts the Ringmaster who drinks the ultra serum and transforms into a super strong giant with the ability to shoot pellets of pure energy from his fingers. He’s too powerful for Birdman but when he’s about to finish him he is attacked by Birdman’s pet eagle Avenger. For some reason he is overwhelmed and then he loses his powers because the serum only works for a few minutes. 

            In the Galaxy Trio story a force from space is melting Earth’s ice caps, causing the oceans to rise. Planet Security Central notifies the Galaxy Trio. They discover the heat rays are coming from the planet Aquious. As they enter Aquious orbit they are attacked by saucers that shoot lasers. The Trio goes out without space suits. Vapour Man fires back with his combustion vapour to disable a ship. Gravity Girl uses her reverse gravity to knock another out of commission. Meteor Man extends his arms and makes his fists gigantic to punch one of the ships into scrap. They beam down to the ocean world and take oxygen capsules so they can breathe underwater even though they don’t seem to need any assistance to respirate in space. As soon as they arrive they are imprisoned in glass bells by the planet’s ruler Lotar. They are dropped to the dungeon but Meteor Man grows and breaks free then releases the others. They find chained to a wall Neptar the rightful ruler of this world before his brother Lotar staged a coup. Meteor Man disables the heat rays that are aimed at Earth. Lotar speaks to the planet via an intercom system with the switch on his throne, then turns it off. The Trio attacks and while Lotar is distracted Neptar turns it back on. Lotar says his subjects are of no concern and they will follow him blindly. This is heard by the population who rise against Lotar. 

            Vapor Man is from the planet Vaporous, and has the powers of just about any vapour, including a freeze vapour. Meteor man is from the planet Meteorus and can make any part or all of his body large and strong. Gravity Girl is actually a princess of the planet Gravitas and has the power to make anything, including herself heavy or light. The animation and writing are not very good but there is a lot of fan art that raises the quality of the teams situations and look. Gravity Girl seems to be a particular fan favourite. 

            In the second Birdman story, at something like the United Nations the king of Saloman and the King of Lampir are signing a peace treaty. The king of Saloman is called away to an important message but is faced with a gun and then tied up. The fake messenger is the Mummer, a master of disguise. He takes on the appearance and voice of the king of Saloman, then goes back to the meeting and declares war on Lampir. Birdman is notified and goes to stop the missiles of each side from reaching the other. He also must stop their tanks without harming the soldiers inside so he melts the cannons. The real king of Saloman is found and Birdman is able to stop the war. Mummer disguises himself as Falcon 7 to tell Birdman to meet him at the police weapon testing grounds. Birdman heads there but noticed something strange about Falcon 7’s voice so he sends Avenger to check on him. Avenger uses his beak and talons to cut the ropes that tie Falcon 7. At the testing grounds Birdman is knocked out by cobalt missiles. Falcon 7 has the grounds surrounded but Mummer disguises himself as Birdman and the soldiers are confused until Avenger shows which is the real Birdman. Mummer escapes with a jet pack and Birdman follows. Mummer hides in a stadium full of people and so he could be anyone of 60,000, so Birdman must wait to fight Mummer another day.