Frederick O'Neal

            On Sunday morning after midnight there was an email from Best Buy and they finally called me Christian instead of Astrid but said I need to call them again. Maybe my edits set off alarm bells even though the edits are the correct information. I’ll have to call them after 8:00. 

            I translated the third refrain and half the twelfth verse of “Ballade de la chnoufe” (Ballad of the Snuff) by Boris Vian. 

            I worked out the chords for the first two lines of the chorus of “Tout l’monde est musician” (Everyone’s a Musician) by Serge Gainsbourg. 

            I called Best Buy one more time as they requested and the person told me she’s sure the problem is with my bank. So I called the Bank of Montreal again and this time the wait time was 5 to 15 minutes and so I waited. I found out that the problem with my Best Buy purchase really was with the bank because the $3200 exceeded my limit. I got them to increase my limit and so now it’s $10,000. I also suggested that they notify customers when a purchase is being blocked and give the reason. As it was I was in limbo for the last two days not knowing why my computer purchase was not being processed. The guy said it was a good idea and filed my complaint. 

            I weighed 88 kilos before breakfast. 

            I was 15 minutes late starting song practice because of my time on the phone and so I finished breakfast first. I played my Epi acoustic for the first of three sessions and it stayed in tune the whole time.

            I cleaned one of my warm mist humidifiers and set the other one working. While the humidifier was soaking in vinegar I removed the painters tape from the east, north and west edges of the bathroom ceiling. As I expected there are some thin strips of white that need to be touched up but unexpectedly at the south west corner a section of paint about the width of a cracker and the length of two slices of bread peeled off the ceiling and the wall. I assume the steam from the shower had something to do with how the paint stuck to the tape there. It’s probably not that big a deal and just a matter of a few brush strokes with each colour to fix it on Wednesday. 

            I weighed 88.95 kilos before lunch, which is the most I’ve weighed in the early afternoon since last Sunday. I had Sky Flakes crackers with peanut butter and five-year-old cheddar. I didn’t have any iced tea but I drank a Body Armour strawberry-banana drink that they gave away at the supermarket a year and a half ago. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. 

            When I got home I was curious and so I spent about fifteen minutes removing the rest of the tape. Most of it came out evenly and this time no paint peeled off. On Wednesday I’ll start touching up the ceiling edges and it shouldn’t take long. I have plenty of the ceiling and the wall paint. 

            I weighed 88.75 kilos at 18:30.

            I was caught up in my journal at 19:42. 

            I finished reviewing the rehearsal cassette tape of Steve Lowe and I at my place. One side has him trying to learn “Spool of the Moon” and on the other side we worked on “Snow on a Poppy”. Neither song became part of the Christian and the Lions repertoire. There are only three more cassettes to review and only one of them looks like a tape of me or my band. I’ll find out tomorrow what’s on it. 

            I had pizza on a slice of Bavarian sandwich bread with marinara sauce, tomato pesto, Genoa salami, and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a glass of Creemore while watching season 1, episode 23 of Car 54 Where Are You? 

            Lieutenant Cushman brings four rookies to the 53rd Precinct to work with seasoned officers. He has used what he calls “The Cushman Method” and has carefully studied the officers and the rookies to make the most compatible matches. Garfield will ride in car 46 with Wallace and O’Hara. Corrigan will ride in car 54 with Toody and Muldoon. Captain Block is surprised by this choice because the last time a rookie was assigned to car 54 he joined the fire department. But Cushman says the matching is of Corrigan with just Muldoon because they are both academics and intellectuals. Corrigan graduated from the police academy with highest marks ever and he is a Harvard Graduate. Muldoon is also a college graduate and was the top man in his class at the Academy. Cushman’s plan is to ultimately have Corrigan replace Toody. Wallace finds it a relief to have someone to talk with besides O’Hara. When Corrigan goes out with Toody and Muldoon, Toody tries to get him to talk about sports but he’s not interested. Corrigan’s rapport with Muldoon begins when Corrigan starts a quote in French by Voltaire: “Il ne se servent de la pensée que pour autoriser leurs injustices” and Muldoon finishes it: “et n'emploient les paroles que pour déguiser leurs pensées”: (They only use thought to authorize their injustices” then Muldoon adds, “and only use words to disguise their thoughts”). Corrigan says Voltaire based most of his essays on the fundamentals laid down by Montaigne. But Muldane doesn’t think he did so consciously. He says they were both confronted by the growing tendency towards materialism. Corrigan asks, “Wouldn’t it be funny if they were both written by the same person?” Muldoon adds, “Like the Baconian theory of Shakespeare” and they both laugh as Toody laughs as well though he has no idea what they are talking about. Then Muldoon quotes Cisero: “O tempora o mores” (Oh the times, oh the customs). They talk about the sad state of modern poetry and Muldoon says, except for a few avant garde poets they are just aping the 19th Century Romanticists. Then they discuss Bernstein’s recording of the Manfred Overture. Muldoon says Bernstein’s approach is contemporary but its energy and intention make it the cyclical symphony it is. Corrigan adds, “What overtones he gives! What long brooding lines!” Toody interjects that Bernstein is just a bandleader but a bandleader is better when he can do more than shake a stick and also sings along with his band like Vaughn Monroe or plays a washboard like Spike Jones. Those are good points. Toody says there are 110 musicians in the New York Philharmonic and the law of averages states that if 70 of them play right they make Bernstein look good. He adds Muggsy Spanier’s Tuxedo Five only has five guys. If one of them makes a mistake Muggsy looks like a bum. After work Muldoon and Corrigan go to Carnegie Hall to hear the Budapest String Quartet even though it’s bowling night. Toody decides to skip bowling too and borrows a volume of the encyclopaedia from the library so he can find something intelligent to talk about. The next day he tries to discuss aardvarks. It doesn’t work and Toody feels left out. He finally decides to transfer to another partner and Cushman matches him with Schnauzer in another car. But now car 54 is passing right by as crimes are being committed. When Muldoon is confronted about this he says he wants Corrigan off his back. He says when Toody talks he talks nonsense and so Muldoon doesn’t have to listen, which allows him to concentrate on police work. But Corrigan’s conversation is too intelligent and distracting. Muldoon and Toody are reunited and happy. 

            Wallace was played by Frederick O’Neal, who started acting professionally in St Louis in 1927. He made his New York debut in 1936 with the Civic Repertory Theatre. He co-founded the American Negro Theatre in 1940, which became the first black theatre company to produce a black radio series. He gave Sidney Poitier free acting lessons. He also co-founded the British Negro Theatre. In 1944 he won the Clarence Derwent award for his Broadway performance in Anna Lucasta. He made his film debut in Pinky in 1949. In 1964 he became the president emeritus of the Actors Equity Association and Associated Actors and Artistes of America. He was on Nixon’s list of enemies.