Rosalind Knight

            On Thursday morning I finished working out the chords for "Amour Consolation" by Serge Gainsbourg. Tomorrow I'll run through it in French and English and then upload it to Christian's Translations. 

            I weighed 85 kilos before breakfast. 

            At around 11:15 I left to ride out to The 12th Fret at Danforth and Woodbine. I stopped just before Logan to pee at The Second Cup. At The 12th Fret the Martin Road Series 10D was still there. While I was looking at it one of the staff members asked if I minded that he take my gig bag to the front of the store. I guess they don't want people to put guitars in gig bags and run with them. I asked to try out the pickup and it took him a while to find an acoustic guitar amp. I didn't know that there were amps specifically for acoustics. He said that I could use an electric guitar amp with it but it would sound shitty. When I looked this up later online I typed my Roland Jazz Chorus amp and found that commenters agreed that it's one of the best electric guitar amps to use with an acoustic guitar. 

            I played it for a while. It's weird because every guitar is different and I sometimes can't immediately find where to play chords that I'm used to playing every day on the Washburn. I decided to buy the guitar. If I'd known that it comes with a solid Martin gig bag I would have left mine at home and saved myself the extra thing to carry. I had to take almost everything out of the main part of my backpack and put it into the side of the Martin case, then fold up the gig bag and stuff it into my backpack. I just managed to get it closed. My gig bag with a guitar inside fits easily over my backpack but the Martin bag straps don't loosen as much. I also bought a wall hook for the guitar. I should buy some more because I need to organize all the guitars I have if I'm going to keep them. The sales guy was surprised that Steve's is charging $1200 for the same guitar. My bill came to $1038 and my bank wouldn't let me pay more than $1000 so I had to pay the rest in cash. It's very annoying and so I'm going to contact my bank to see if I can get that changed. I should be free to spend my own money. 

            It was an uncomfortable ride home because the left strap on the Martin gig bag was cutting off the circulation on my shoulder. I had planned on stopping at the supermarket on the way home but my backpack was full so I had to go home first and unload everything, then I rode back down to Freshco. I bought five bags of grapes, two packs of blueberries, some bananas, a pack of five year old cheddar, and a box of spoon size shredded wheat. 

            I weighed 84.2 kilos at 15:00. 

            I took a siesta and must have been tired from my long bike ride because I slept half an hour longer than usual. 

            I weighed 84.6 kilos at 17:15. 

            I got caught up on my journal just before dinner. I had a potato with gravy and two chicken drumsticks while watching season 7, episodes 2 and 3 of The Beverly Hillbillies. 

            In the first episode of this season the Clampetts concluded that the queen of England is broke. They got that impression when they heard that the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary ships had been sold. They thought it meant the queen had to sell off her navy to make ends meet. A con artist had convinced Jed that he could sell him Canada on behalf of the queen and so Jed bought the deed and now plans on giving it back to the queen. They've already shipped the old truck to England so they can drive to Buckingham Palace when they get there. 

            In the second episode Jethro smuggles Elly's pet buzzard Daisy onto the plane. It gets loose in the washroom and attacks Mr. Drysdale. It gets confiscated at customs and the Clampetts head for their castle. Granny and Jethro are all fired up about resuming the War of the Roses. At the beginning of season 6 Jethro was riding around the neighbourhood in a suit of armour looking for dragons. He rode through the rose garden of their next castle neighbour Colonel Dumbarton, who sicked his dogs on him. So now Jethro thinks he's fighting the War of the Roses. When the Clampetts get to the castle, it is near sunset when Colonel Dumbarton always fires the sunset cannon. Granny thinks he's fired the first shot and they prepare for war. 

            The file I downloaded of season 7, episode 3 is corrupted so I had to watch the episode on YouTube. Jethro rigs up a catapult to the back of their old truck and drives over to Dumbarton Castle. He catapults himself over the wall in his armour and lands near Colonel Dumbarton, who challenges him to a joust. Dumbarton is a bit of a drunk and though his daughter Vanessa tries to hide his brandy but he always carries some around. The joust is arranged, Jethro and Dumbarton charge one another and when they collide they knock each other out. But since Jethro struggles to his feet first, the Clampetts win the War of the Roses. 

            Jethro thinks the queen of England is Queen Elizabeth I and has convinced the rest of the family that is the case. To appease the Clampetts, Drysdale forces his secretary Jane Hathaway to dress up as Queen Elizabeth I and to go to Clampett Castle to receive the deed to Canada from Jed. She also officially tells Granny that the Clampetts won the War of the Roses and then she knights Jethro. 

            Vanessa was played by Rosalind Knight, who in her late teens began studying at the Old Vic, followed by an apprenticeship in repertory theatre. Her first film appearance was in Richard III. She played supporting roles in several British comedy films and TV series. She co-starred in Carry On Teacher. 

            Before bed I dug the other sea sponge that I've been keeping in the bottom kitchen drawer. I perforated a baggy with several small holes, soaked the sponge and made a humidifier for my new guitar, which I placed in its mouth.