Paul Reed

            On Wednesday morning I memorized the fourth verse of "Love On the Beat" by Serge Gainsbourg. There are three verses left and so I might have the song in my head during the weekend. 

            I weighed 84.2 kilos before breakfast, which is the lightest I've been in the morning in a week. 

            I got up to page 221 of Frankenstein. Most of Victor's weird family has either been directly or inadvertently killed by his creature as revenge against him for having been a bad parent. He murdered Victor's bride on their wedding night. Because Victor is clueless it didn't occur to him that "I'll see you on your wedding night" meant that Elizabeth was being threatened. He thought only to defend himself. So now Victor is bent on revenge and follows his creature further and further north, not realizing he is being lured to the Arctic where the creature doesn't feel the cold as much. The creature even leaves food for Victor so he will survive to continue following him. Finally Victor dies on Captain Walton's ship and the creature comes to say goodbye. Captain Walton is engaging with the creature in the last few pages. Walton is affected by the creature's ugliness but he is the only one in the novel who doesn't react violently to it. There are five pages left. 

            I put all of the under-the-sink storage items back where they belong. 

            I weighed 84.6 kilos before lunch. I had saltines with five-year-old cheddar and a glass of limeade. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Bloor and Bathurst. It was snowing but not enough had accumulated to make my way slippery, except for one moment while crossing Ossington on Queen when I felt my back wheel suddenly slip sideways about a millimeter. 

            I weighed 84.2 kilos at 17:00. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 17:56. 

            I finished reading Frankenstein and then made some handwritten notes towards my presentation, comparing Frankenstein with A Vindication of the Rights of Women and Tarzan of the Apes. The working title of my presentation is "A Vindication of the Rights of Monsters". 

            I made pizza on naan with Basilica sauce and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching season 5, episode 8 of The Beverly Hillbillies. 

            Granny is at war with the Beverly Hills Smog Commission. I don't think there was any organization by that name but in the 1940s there was a Smoke and Fumes Commission in Los Angeles. Later that became the United Air Pollution Division. Anyway, in this story there is a Smog Commission and the commissioner is Mr. Tinsley. The dispute is over the fumes that are created by Granny's making of lye soap. Mrs. Drysdale has complained and since she has contributed $500 to Tinsley's re-election campaign, he is making Granny's soap making an issue. Drysdale suggests that Jed run against Tinsley for commissioner, so Jed starts a campaign with the help of the family. The similarities between Jed and Abraham Lincoln are played up and Drysdale even gets Jed to dress like Lincoln. Later when Tinsley finds that Jethro has invented an attachment to reduce air pollution in cars, he says he'll let Granny make soap. But then he finds out that the filter that goes onto the pollution reducing attachment is enormous and it seems to give off even more fumes than a car. 

            Tinsley was played by Paul Reed, who started out as a radio singer. He didn't make it to Broadway until the age of 31 but then appeared in several shows, including "Guys and Dolls", "The Music Man", and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying". On TV he became a cast member for "Caesar's Hour" and "Sid Caesar Invites You". He is best known for playing Captain Block on "Car 54 Where Are You?" After that he was a regular on "The Cara Williams Show". 

            I searched for bedbugs and found none.

February 23, 1993: Cheryl was sick so there was a substitute teacher in the first period

Thirty years ago today

            On Tuesday I worked all day at Central Technical School. Cheryl was sick and so there was a substitute teacher in the first period. At noon I called Nancy but one of her parents gave me a message that she didn't need me to take care of my daughter that day. I sat in the studio through lunch and worked on projects. I went home at 15:15 where I watched TV, worked on projects, and cleaned up.

Black Squirrel with a White-tipped Tail

            On Tuesday morning I listened to the only two recordings that seem to be available of "Fugue" by Boris Vian to compare them and figure out how to learn the rest of the song. They are slightly different but both are missing three lines that I have in text form. I'll just have to guess how those lines might be sung and finish memorizing the song. 

            I memorized the third verse of "Love On the Beat" by Serge Gainsbourg and made some adjustments in my translation to fit the internal rhyme. 

            The black squirrel with the white tipped tail is extremely aggressive with many of the other squirrels and often chases them along the wire. It's faster than most of the others too. 

            I weighed 84.3 kilos before breakfast. 

            I read up to page 143 of Frankenstein. There are only about 80 pages left and then I'll start working on my presentation for March 7. 

            I weighed 84.4 kilos before lunch. 

            I took a bike ride to Bloor and Bathurst in the afternoon and on the way home stopped at Freshco where I bought three bags of cherries. Katarina the cashier asked, "No grapes?" I said, "They're all soft." The cherries weren't in great shape either. 

            I weighed 84.5 kilos at 17:15, which is the most I've weighed at that time in a week. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 17:54. 

            I got up to page 194 in Frankenstein. After hearing his creature's story, Victor agrees to create a mate for him. He travels to Britain to do it and sets up a lab on an island in Scotland. He creates the female version of the creature but at the last minute destroys her. But the creature is watching and tells Victor that he'll see him on his wedding night. Victor goes out on the ocean to dump the remains but is caught in a storm. He ends up in Ireland where he is arrested for murder. He discovers that the corpse is his friend Henry. Victor spends three months in prison before evidence acquits him. His father takes him back to Geneva to marry Elizabeth. There are thirty pages left. Of course I've read this book several times already. 

            The landlord came with the fixtures. He wrestled with installing the new kitchen faucet all through me making dinner, eating dinner and washing up. He decided not to install the bathroom fixture until Friday. 

            I had a potato with gravy and a beef pie that had been in my freezer for months. I ate while watching season 5, episode 7 of The Beverly Hillbillies. 

            This is a continuation of the previous story. The gorilla that the Clampetts freed from the zoo has been in constant conflict with Granny because she is trying to force it to do chores. Finally he picks her up and throws her smashing through the front door to land outside in the driveway. She gets up and asks, "Had enough?" The gorilla runs away. 

            The Clampetts all decide they miss the other gorilla, Herbie, although they don't realize that Herbie is Tom Kelly in a gorilla suit. Jed comes to see Drysdale about it while Tom is there in his office. It is agreed that Herbie will come and stay with the Clampetts but he has a special diet and can't do chores. Herbie makes himself Elly May's pet so he can watch her swim and dance with her. Jed and Granny think the food Herbie is eating is a form of cruelty. There are snails, toadstools, and giant red spiders. The "spiders" are crabs and they wouldn't look any different from the crawdads that the Clampetts eat. Granny has also made toadstool soup on several occasions. 

            Jed tells Drysdale to tell Tom that he wants to buy Herbie from him. When no one is looking Tom takes off the mask and tells Drysdale to put on the suit. He'll just turn down Jed's price and they can leave together. But when Jed offers Tom $10,000 he takes it and drives away, leaving Drysdale in the gorilla suit to do chores. Drysdale runs after the car. 

            I searched for bedbugs and found one clinging to the side of a groove on the lower right side of the outer edge of the frame of the old exit door at the head of my bed. It was black and didn't look alive. It fell like a piece of dirt and it was dry and fairly dark inside. I shouldn't be finding any since pest control sprayed the spores over a month ago.

February 22, 1993: In the aftermath of the storm the subway train spent about five minutes at every station

Thirty years ago

            On Monday morning the aftermath of the snowstorm wreaked havoc on public transit. I could see the streetcar was stuck down the road and so I caught the bus to the subway. But the train crawled and spent about five minutes at every station. I was surprised that I was only half an hour late for work at the Ontario College of Art. It was the third week of posing in the post-apocalypse-themed set. We got started an hour late and the other model, Diana Dufretes told me about a vivid, mystical vision that she'd had. Something about a dancing golden god passing rings from limb to limb. Throughout my lunch break I wrote in my diary. The teacher started the afternoon with a glazing demo, during which time I got caught up. I got Diana's birth data except for the hour, which she said she would find out. I learned that she had a boyfriend. Too bad.

Frankenstein's Monster's Education

            On Monday morning I had the first 24 lines of "Fugue" by Boris Vian memorized. I have extra lines in the text of the rest of the song while the recording I have finishes shortly after line 24. I'll check out the Pauline Julien recording to hear if it's different. 

            I memorized the second verse of "Love On the Beat" by Serge Gainsbourg. It's a long song because of the repeated chorus. I guess it was meant to be played in discotheques. 

            I weighed 85 kilos before breakfast. 

            David knocked on my door and thanked me again for looking after his place and for the aloe vera plant. He insisted on giving me another $100. He asked me for a beer and so I gave him a can of Creemore. 

            The landlord came and looked at my kitchen faucet. I showed him that the one in the bathroom is loose and so he says he'll replace them both tomorrow night. He gave me a notice that pest control is coming on Friday afternoon for the follow up inspection from the treatment last month. 

            I read up to page 102 of Frankenstein. Victor's youngest brother has been murdered and evidence was planted on the family servant Justine. Victor believes the creature he created and rejected did the crimes. While climbing in the Alps he is met by his creation. 

            I weighed 85 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Bloor and Bathurst and on the way home I turned on Gladstone to go to Freshco but then saw the empty parking lot and remembered that today was a holiday. Instead I stopped just before my place at Queen Fresh Market where I bought a large pack of strawberries and two packs of blueberries. 

            I weighed 84.3 kilos at 17:00. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:18. 

            I read up to page 122 in Frankenstein at the point that the creature is describing his self education by observation. I did some research online to find any parallels between that and the education of Georgian era girls. 

            I had a potato with gravy and three chicken drumsticks while watching season 5, episode 6 of The Beverly Hillbillies. 

            Jethro has the idea that the family needs a gorilla. He wants to teach one to do his chores while Elly May wants one to wrestle with. Jed calls Drysdale who says he'll do anything for him without knowing what will be asked. Since he can't get a real gorilla, Drysdale hires gorilla imitator Tom Kelly. The idea is that Tom will behave so ferociously that it will scare the Clampetts away from wanting a gorilla. But it just makes them want to tame it more. Granny takes a switch to the gorilla and makes it do chores. When Drysdale gets Tom alone he takes off the costume and says he quits. Drysdale says he'll have a suit on his hands. Tom gives Drysdale the suit and leaves. Drysdale puts on the costume but when told to do chores he escapes in Jane's car. The Clampetts go to the zoo to get another gorilla. 

            For the fourth night in a row I found no bedbugs.

February 21, 1993: I took my daughter sliding but she just played with her shovel

Thirty years ago today

            On Sunday I got up at around 9:30. Nancy's mother brought my daughter down at 10:30. She was glad to see me and right away wanted to play with tools. I wanted to take advantage of the snow and so I gradually got us both ready and we went out. She took her shovel and broom with her and didn't seem interested in sliding. She just shoveled snow for an hour and went back in by her own choice. We played, had some breakfast and I put her to bed for her nap at about 14:30. While she was sleeping I cleaned up, read some old funnies, and chronologized some historical data. I was cooking when she woke up at around 18:00 and she just wanted to be held for the first fifteen minutes. She wanted to play before we ate. At 20:00 I took her through the snowstorm back to her mother's place.

Leon Ames

            On Sunday morning I memorized the first verse of "Love on the Beat" by Serge Gainsbourg. 

            I weighed 85.3 kilos before breakfast, which is the heaviest I've been in the morning in 48 days.

            I read the first few sections of Frankenstein that take the form of Captain Walton's letters to his sister. There is the account of the crew's first sighting of the creature in the Arctic and their rescuing of Victor Frankenstein. He's about to start telling his story. 

            I weighed 85.2 kilos before lunch. That's the most I've weighed at that time in two weeks. I had saltines with five-year-old cheddar and a glass of limeade. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Bloor and Bathurst. 

            I weighed 84.4 kilos at 16:45. 

            The landlord still hasn't come to fix the leak in my kitchen, so I still have to use the little bathroom faucet and sink for everything. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 17:34. 

            I spent almost two and a half hours reading Frankenstein and made it to page 75. A few months after rejecting his creation because it was not beautiful, Frankenstein learns that his younger brother has been murdered. 

            I made pizza on naan with Basilica sauce and five-year old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching season 5, episode 5 of The Beverly Hillbillies. 

            This story is the aftermath of the previous one. The con artist Colonel Foxhall has been apprehended but his accomplice Rita Rio is still on the lam. Lieutenant Richards brings Foxhall to Jed for him to be identified but there is confusion. Foxhall tells them that Richards is the fraudster and so the cop is taken to the basement and spanked by Granny. 

            Meanwhile, Rita, still posing as Emaline, convinces Jethro to help her evade the police. He hides her in a guest room and she asks him to help turn her into a city girl so she won't be recognized. Of course she already is a city girl but Jethro still thinks she's a dumb country girl. She changes to a sexy dress, puts her hair up, and puts on make-up and Jethro doesn't recognize her. She says she needs a city name and Jethro says, "How about Chicago?" She says, "I mean a Christian name" and Jethro says, "How about St. Louis?" 

            Rita goes to Mr. Drysdale posing as a special investigator. She brings Emaline's cuckoo clock camera and demonstrates how Emaline got the incriminating photos of Jed by getting incriminating photos of Drysdale. Later Colonel Foxhall comes to Drysdale with the photos and says he needs to pay $50,000 for them or Emaline gives copies to his wife. But then Jed walks in with the copies that he intercepted from Emaline. Emaline tells the Colonel that they'd better cooperate since she already got a spanking from Granny. 

            Colonel Foxhall was played by Leon Ames, who toured with amateur theatrical companies for years before making it to Broadway. In his first film he had a co-starring role in "Murders in the Rue Morgue". He co-starred in "Stowaway". He starred in "Cypher Bureau" and "Panama Patrol". He co-starred in "By the Light of the Silvery Moon". He starred in the sitcoms "Life With Father" and "Father of the Bride". He played Gordon Kirkwood on 40 episodes of "Mister Ed". He was one of the 19 actors who formed the Screen Actors Guild and served as president for twelve years. He owned four Ford dealerships. 

            

            For the third night in a row I found no bedbugs.