Jay Jostyn

            On Monday morning after midnight I tethered my old phone to the new computer because the old phone is connected to the wifi of the Shambhala restaurant downstairs. I couldn’t use my new phone because it’s connected to my Bell wifi network, which was down due to a fibre issue. My new computer immediately went with the wifi from the phone without needing any clicking to connect them. I installed Google Chrome and logged in to my Google account and then all my stuff appeared, like my Gmail and my blog. Next I needed to get Microsoft Office but it kept trying to sell me a package. I finally found the package that I’d already purchased last year and downloaded that. It’s a long process and I assume it got done but I went to bed at 2:00 so I’ll check it after midnight tomorrow. 

            I didn’t get to sleep for quite a while after going to bed and got up at 5:00 as usual. 

            After yoga I continued to edit “Tout l’monde est musician” (Everyone’s a Musician) by Serge Gainsbourg in my Christian’s Translations blog to prepare it for publication. I should have it done and posted tomorrow. 

            I memorized the fourth verse of “Ballade de la chnoufe” (Ballad of the Snuff) by Boris Vian. 

            I weighed 87.9 kilos before breakfast. I only had juice and black coffee because I’m not allowed solid foods before my colonoscopy on December 16.

            I was about to start song practice when the Bell technician called and said he’d be here in ten minutes so I waited without playing. After more than ten minutes I could see that he was parked up O’Hara but he didn’t come to my door for at least another five minutes. He looked at my router and said the problem is outside and so he had to go to the main box. I saw him drive west on Queen. I started song practice with my Kramer electric for the first of four sessions. I was about halfway through when I saw the technician walking up Dunn Avenue and calling me as he crossed the street. I let him in and asked where the main box is and he said it’s just south of Queen on Dunn Avenue. I asked about the box with the mural on it across O’Hara and he said that’s a Rogers box. He told me they also have small boxes like that but the main one handles 600 accounts. I asked about business and he said there is actually less work nowadays because people are using cheaper options than Bell. He said to some degree the technology is less glitchy these days and that also contributes to work for technicians slowing down. He got my internet working again and so I probably won’t need to tether the new computer when I turn it on after midnight. 

            I mixed the first packet of the Pico Salax with 150 ml of water and mixed it for three minutes. It’s citrus flavoured and so the taste is okay but the consistency isn’t pleasant and so I drank it as quickly as possible and chased it with two and a half glasses of orange juice. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and on the way back I could feel the Pico Salax kicking in. When I got home I had to rush straight for the toilet with my jacket still on. I was there for a while so I undressed while I was sitting there. 

            I weighed 87.5 kilos at 18:30, which is the lightest I’ve been in the evening since October 12. 

            I drank the second packet of Pico Salax at around 18:30. About half an hour later I farted liquid and soiled my underwear before going to the toilet again. It looked like I shat orange juice. 

            I was caught up in my journal at 19:55. 

            I felt another fart coming on and headed for the toilet in time. 

            I did some online Christmas shopping for my daughter. She’d mentioned to me that Noel’le Longhaul was her favourite artist and that she liked her painting “In the Nervous Light”. She also has fond memories of a poster of Alex Colville’s “Horse and Train” that I bought her from the AGO about 25 years ago and so I got that for her as well. Actually I find most of Colville’s paintings to be cold and lifeless but there is something magical about his “Horse and Train”. 

            I reviewed the song practice video of my Martin performance of “Ne me quitte pas” on September 11, 2024 and the take at 1:15 was not bad. 

            I had a liquid supper of two glasses of chicken broth and a cup of Earl Grey tea while watching the second season premier of Car 54 Where Are You? 

            The Secret Service arranges for a police escort for President Kennedy from Idlewild Airport to the United Nations. The NYPD commissioner insists that Kennedy be driven in a police car by New York’s finest officers. He assumes that since they have been together for ten years that as a team Toody and Muldoon must be a well-oiled machine. Captain Block is worried that Toody will lose control on hearing he will be escorting the president but he is cool about it while Muldoon faints. It turns out that Kennedy is Muldoon’s hero and he is overwhelmed by the responsibility. Secret Service Agent Cordner is assigned to investigate Toody and Muldoon and rides with them on some test runs. Every time the president is mentioned Muldoon gets car sick and finally has to pull over to throw up. Muldoon needs some anti-car sickness medication but he can’t go to the doctor himself because there will be a report and he will be disqualified as the president’s driver so Schnauser pretends to have the problem and gets the medication to give to Muldoon. But on the next test run Muldoon is very sleepy because of the medication. He is driving at 8 kilometers and hour and gets passed by someone driving 12 kilometers an hour so he stops him for speeding and then falls asleep on his car while writing the ticket. Then Schnauser on Muldoon’s behalf is prescribed antidepressants which Muldoon takes and while being briefed on his assignment can’t stop laughing. Finally Cordner holds Toody and Muldoon at gunpoint until after the president is safely back in the White House. 

            Secret Service Agent Hollander was played by Jay Jostyn, who attended the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. He was the first poetry reader for the Moon River show on WLW radio. He was the second vice president of the Catholic Actors Guild of America. He starred in the radio series Foreign Assignment. He starred in the hit radio series Mr. District Attorney from 1939 to 1952. He co-starred in The Parker Family from 1939 to 1944. He starred in the 1958 TV series Night Court USA.