January 22, 1996: I was looking for a new place

Thirty years ago today 

            On Monday if I didn’t work I probably looked for a new place to live.

Jake LaMotta

            On Tuesday morning I continued trying to memorize the ninth verse of “Ballade de la chnoufe” (Ballad of the Snuff) by Boris Vian. 

            I started memorizing the final monologue in Zizi Jeanmaire’s performance of “Les millionaires” by Serge Gainsbourg. 

            I weighed 88.5 kilos before breakfast. 

            I played my Martin acoustic during song practice for the first of two sessions. It went out of tune a lot more than usual but not even close to how badly the electrics are going out these days. 

            Around midday I went over to Home Hardware walking with my bike trailer. I wanted to buy the Blue Bliss colour paint but in French it’s called Euphorie Bleue so I told them I was there to get high and they thought I was weird. The 3.85 liter cans were on sale for $32.97 while the 911 ml cans were $21.00. I don’t think I need that much but I think it’s better to have too much so I got the big can. I also bought a new roller, a new brush, some Frog Tape, and two jugs of cleaning vinegar. I used my new digital Scene card for the first time. I had time to put some Frog tape on the vent part of my fan casing. I plan to paint the casing Blue Bliss (turquoise) but the vent grate as Crazy in Love (pink). I’ll start tomorrow. 

            I weighed 89.1 kilos before lunch. 

            I took a siesta and then took a bike ride. The sun was still out and when I got to Bloor I checked my phone. As I suspected I’d only slept half an hour and left an hour earlier than usual. I rode to Ossington and Bloor. When I got home I went back to bed for an hour while my upstairs neighbour was stomping on the floor again. 

            I weighed 89.15 kilos at 17:35, which is the heaviest I’ve been in the evening since last Tuesday.

            I was caught up in my journal at 19:06. 

            I recorded from cassette through audio interface to Audacity and then extracted to my hard drive side one of the last part of my first 20,000 Poets Under the League slam, hosted by Cad Lowlife. 

            I reviewed the videos of my song practice performances of “The Deserter” on September 28, 2024 and October 12 of the same year. In both cases the final takes weren’t bad. I think my whistling was a little better on October 12. I’m not going to render it in Movie Maker though. I’ll do it better in the next recording project. 

            I reviewed the video of my song practice performance of “Why I Drink” on September 12, 2024 but the camera battery charge ran out before the last three words. 

            I had the good parts of two small potatoes with gravy and a slice of roast pork while watching season 2, episode 25 of Car 54 Where Are You? 

            Danny, a gangleader whose schemes always fail decides to copy the crimes that are written for a show called Crime Busters. Bugsy, one of the gang members points out that the crooks always get caught but Danny reminds him that the host always points out what the crooks did wrong in the end. So all they have to do is copy the crime and correct the mistake. But while they are watching Crime Busters and making notes, Toody is also watching the show. 

            The next day when the police are called in to investigate, Toody solves the crime without remembering that he saw it all on TV. The Inspector is impressed with Toody’s detective work. The next week there’s a bank robbery based on that week’s episode, which Toody also watches and solves unconsciously. Now the inspector specifically calls Toody in to help and Captain Block is relegated to taking notes. 

            The next week the crooks watch the show again, this time about a museum robbery but this time Muldoon removes the knobs from Toody’s TV because they are supposed to be reading books on crime detection and taking notes. After they’ve studied four hours Muldoon puts the knobs back on and they watch a production of Hamlet. So when Toody is called in to solve the museum robbery he only thinks that the uncle who is the king of Denmark committed the crime. 

            The next day at the Federal Broadcasting Company they realize that a gang of crooks is copying their episodes of Crime Busters. To avoid accusations of instigating crime the president orders Crime Busters off the air and replaced by Peter Rabbit. 

            Toody realizes that he got his crime solutions from Crime Busters because a gang has been copying the shows. He and Muldoon decide to try to stop the gang by watching Crime Busters that night. The TV listings still have Crime Busters on the schedule with the subject being a warehouse robbery. Both the gang and the team of Toody and Muldoon watch Peter Rabbit stealing cabbages from farmer Brown and still think it’s an episode of Crime Busters. Toody concludes the crooks will be robbing Brown’s produce warehouse and calls the inspector. When the inspector and the commissioner hear Toody talking about Peter Rabbit they think they are wasting their time but then the gang shows up all wearing bunny costumes and they are caught. 

            Bugsy on this episode was played by played by Jake LaMotta and he played other characters (mostly gang members) on other episodes. When he was a child his father forced him to fight other boys for the entertainment of his friends. He learned to box while in the reformatory for attempted robbery. In his 14 year career as a professional boxer LaMotta was only knocked out once. He won the Middleweight Title and held onto it twice. He was the first fighter to beat Sugar Ray Robinson although he only beat him once out of six times. His ability to win fights came more from his capacity to take punches with one of the greatest chins in boxing history and just to stay close and keep scrapping until the other guy was down rather than having any precision skill at punching. He admitted to once throwing a fight because of Mafia involvement in the sport. His autobiography was called Raging Bull and the film starring Robert DeNiro was based on it. To prepare for the film DeNiro trained with LaMotta. LaMotta said DeNiro has the makings of a champion boxer and he could train him if he ever wanted to give up acting. DeNiro won an Oscar for his performance. LaMotta said the three toughest boxers he ever fought were Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Sugar Ray Robinson. He said he fought Sugar so many times it’s a wonder he didn’t get diabetes.

January 21, 1996: I spent the day with my four and a half year old daughter

Thirty years ago today

            On Sunday I spent the day with my four and a half year old daughter.

B.S. Pully

            On Monday morning I finished memorizing the first monologue in Zizi Jeanmaire’s performance of “Les millionaires” by Serge Gainsbourg. The second monologue should be a lot easier as she’s asking someone simple questions and some of them are in English. 

            I weighed 88.7 kilos before breakfast. 

            I played my Kramer electric during song practice for the last of two sessions and it went out of tune a lot. 

            I was sitting naked in front of my computer watching a video before going to the bathroom to shave and shower when my landlord and a bunch of guys walked in. I’m not shy about being seen naked but I hate my landlord coming in uninvited. I walked up to him nude and confronted him about coming into my place without permission. I took satisfaction in knowing it embarrassed the fuck out of him and I’m pretty sure he’ll think twice before just coming in from now on. He claims he knocked but he usually knocks a lot louder. He was walking with a cane and so maybe his knocking hand was occupied. Anyway they were there to check on the smoke detector and so I put my sweat pants on and the guy came back a few minutes later to just poke it to see if it works. Maybe the third guy was Raja’s son helping him take the garbage to the dump to further pollute Canada. If not for that incident I might have had time to treat one of my leather bicycle seats as I’ve been planning to do. Maybe I’ll have time to do that on Thursday now. 

            I weighed 89.7 kilos before lunch, which is the most I’ve weighed in the early afternoon since last Monday. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride but didn’t go downtown this time either. There’s a very narrow cowpath in the middle of the ice on the Bloor bike lane. I didn’t slip but I didn’t want to risk it so I only went as far as Ossington. I stopped at Freshco on the way home where I bought seven bags of red grapes, a pack of toilet paper, and a pack of Sponge Towels. I did a price match on the grapes with Real Canadian Super Store at $4.39 a kilo. Priscilla reminded me that I could have gotten a big discount on the toilet paper with a Scene Card. I always thought it was a scam. When I got home I looked up how supermarkets make money with Scene cards. It seems that they only make a profit if the deals for card holders compel people to buy things they don’t normally buy. I guess it could happen with me but it might not. I went online and got a digital Scene card to keep on my phone. 

            I weighed 88.95 kilos at 18:30. 

            I was caught up in my journal at 19:37. 

            I recorded from cassette through audio interface to Audacity then saved to my hard drive side 2 of the recording of the 2nd set of my first 20,000 Poets Under the League slam, hosted by Cad Lowlife.

            I reviewed the video of my song practice performance of “Le déserteur” on September 15, 2024 but the camera battery charge ran out before I could finish. 

            I had a potato with gravy and a slice of roast pork while watching season 2, episode 24 of Car 54 Where Are You? 

            Toody and Muldoon coach a Police Athletic League basketball team of boys but the team is playing poorly. One of the reasons is that one of the players, Joel has his bar mitzvah approaching and he’s depressed because no one is coming. Everybody likes Joel but they hate his father Pokrass the nasty landlord more than they love Joel. Toody promises that not only will he and Muldoon come but they’ll have the synagogue packed. But they can’t find anyone that wants to be in the same room with Pokrass. Katz the butcher would rather die. He says mentioning Pokrass in his shop will spoil the meat. He said he froze in a Pokrass building for nine winters. He says the lease says painting every two years but not your apartment but Pokrass’s. Tenants also have to serve him supper. Mrs. Kramer says she’ll dance if Pokrass is run over by a truck. Even Schnauser won’t go because Pokrass is his brother in law’s landlord. Toody and Muldoon go to see Pokrass and tell him what a nice kid he has. Pokrass says he’ll grow out of being nice. Pokrass says he sent out 50 invitations and got 54 rejections so this will teach Joel that people are undependable. They go to see the rabbi and he calls his friend the Catholic priest who says he’s on a picket line in front of one of Pokrass’s buildings demanding heat. On the day of Joel’s bar mitzvah Toody and Muldoon have still found no one to go. They are about to leave for the synagogue when Captain Block tells them they have to escort several prisoners to night court. Toody gets the idea to take the prisoners to the bar mitzvah on the way to court. Some of the prisoners also don’t want to be in the same room with Pokrass but they are forced. When Pokrass sees people come in to his son’s bar mitzvah his heart starts to melt. Then Schnauser, Katz, Kramer and several others and their families arrive and they are surprised when Pokrass says, “Welcome friends!” After that Pokrass cuts everybody’s rent by half and turns up the heat. This is definitely a fantasy story. Toody and Muldoon are about to confess that they brought prisoners to Joel’s bar mitzvah but Pokrass says he already knew that and when they get out of jail he’s going to give them all jobs. 

            Pokrass was played by B.S. Pully, and the “B.S.” in his stage name actually stood for “bull shit”. He started as a burlesque comedian with blue material. He made his film debut in Four Jills in a Jeep in 1944. He created the role of Big Jule for the original Broadway production of Guys and Dolls and reprised that part in the movie. He co-starred in Nob Hill, and Within These Walls.

January 20, 1996: I spent Saturday with my daughter

Thirty years ago today 

            On Saturday I spent the day with my daughter

Sally Demay

            On Sunday morning I continued memorizing the ninth verse of “Ballade de la chnoufe” (Ballad of the Snuff) by Boris Vian and the last five lines of the first monologue in Zizi Jeanmaire’s performance of “Les millionaires” by Serge Gainsbourg. I’m pretty sure I’ll at least have the latter nailed down on Monday. 

            I weighed 89.2 kilos before breakfast. 

            I played my Kramer electric during song practice for the first of two sessions and it went out of tune a lot. The last time I played it a couple of weeks ago it hardly went out of tune at all. 

            Around midday I cleaned the warm mist humidifier that’s been working all week and started the other one going. I also started cleaning my cool mist humidifier. I didn’t finish either machine before lunch. I’d descaled the warm mist but didn’t have time to rinse it so I just left it soaking in water. 

            I weighed 89.65 kilos before lunch. I had saltines with peanut butter, five-year-old cheddar and a glass of iced tea. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride. There was a narrow path on the Bloor bike lane. My wheels slipped a bit when I was going over one of those metal ramps they put up for some reason on the bike lane. I decided to only go as far as Ossington and then went south to Queen and west to home. 

            I weighed 89 kilos at 18:00. 

            I finished cleaning both humidifiers. 

            I was caught up in my journal at 19:01. 

            I recorded from cassette through audio interface to Audacity, then to my hard drive, side one of the recording of set two of my first 20.000 Poets Under the League poetry slam that was hosted by Cad Lowlife (now known as Cad Gold Jr.). 

            I reviewed the video of my song practice performance of “The Deserter” on September 6, 2024 but the camera battery charge ran out before the song was finished. 

            My upstairs neighbour Jacob was blasting his music and I thought he’d just turned his speakers to shoot out of his window again but I looked out the window and he was down on the street with a blaster. He had the speakers up against the glass of the Shambala Tibetan restaurant and he was also banging on the glass. Then the cops showed up and he tried to get back inside our building but they grabbed and handcuffed him. He immediately calmed down and turned on the charm. It must have worked because after half an hour or so they let him out of the back of the patrol car, unlocked his cuffs and let him go. 

            I made pizza on a slice of multigrain sandwich bread with marinara sauce, tomato pesto, a chopped grass-fed beef burger, and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a glass of Creemore while watching season 2, episode 23 of Car 54 Where Are You?

            Muldoon and Toody are still trying to help out Charlie Adamopolis (just called “Charlie the drunk” in this episode), who spends every night in a cell because he can’t stay off the booze. They bring him in without arresting him and Captain Block complains about being in the hotel business. Toody and Muldoon have gotten the precinct Helping Hand Committee to give Charlie money. The last time it was $75 to pay tuition for TV repairman classes but he used it to get drunk. The next day he’s released and he apologizes. Toody immediately wants to help him again and eventually Muldoon gives in too. But Charlie starts talking about all the bars he’ll pass and gets drunk just describing the drinks. 

            Toody decides giving Charlie money won’t work but they need to instead get him a job. Schnauser reminds him that they got him a job at the funeral home and he drank the embalming fluid, then they got him a job at a barbershop and he drank the hair tonic. They get him a job at a bakery but the baker decides to make rum cake. He gets a job in a garage and drinks the anti-freeze. They decide Charlie needs to get in shape before he can get a job so they take him to a gym. The trainer sweats the poison out of him and has him, rowing, skipping and lifting weights. Then they give him an alcohol massage and he gets drunk again. 

            Toody looks for a job for him where the employees don’t drink and finds the diamond cutting business. They get him a job at McNaughton and Vandermeer Diamond Cutters but decide to check in on Charlie on a regular basis to make sure he’s staying straight. But they don’t tell the people at the company why they are there other than a random check. Charlie goes two weeks without drinking but the constant police checks are making everyone at the company nervous. The diamond cutters’ hands are shaking and so they begin drinking to steady their nerves. The company heads start boozing as do the clerks Miss Powntleroy and Miss Tizzy. When Muldoon and Toody come in they find the only one sober is Charlie. 

            Charlie helps them through and they are determined to stay sober. The boss lights up a cigar but the lighter is empty and so they ask Charlie to get the lighter fluid, then Charlie gets drunk again. 

            Miss Tizzy was played by Sally Demay, who was born on the same day as Betty White. She studied ballet and ballroom dancing. Her dance instructor was Sid Moore, who drew her into show business. At the age of 14 she was passing for an older woman and part of a comedy dance team called Demay, Moore and Martin on vaudeville. Her mother died when she was 15 and at 16 she married Moore. In 1938 she and Moore appeared in the film Skyline Revue. They toured Europe just before WWII then Sally did a solo act while Moore was in the armed forces. After the war they toured for ten years until Moore retired and Sally started acting. She played Mammy Yokum in a tour of Lil Abner. She was in the Broadway show How Now Dow Jones and then formed a group with female cast members called The Wall Street Widows. She did commercials for Scope, Tootsie Pops, and Doan’s pills. She had a recurring role on the soap opera The Doctors. Her memoir was called Almost Famous.

January 19, 1996: I performed on the Leslie Spit Treeo's open stage

Thirty years ago today

            On Friday evening I performed on the Spit Fridays open stage hosted by the Leslie Spit Treeo in the back room of the Cameron House.