Monday 22 May 2023

Cookie Gilchrist


            On Sunday morning I ran through singing and playing "The Final Waltz", my translation of "La Dernière valse" by Boris Vian. On Monday I'll upload it to Christian's Translations to prepare it for blog publication. 
            I memorized the fourth verse of "Mon père un Catholique" (My Dad Was Catholic) by Serge Gainsbourg and almost nailed down the final verse. I should have the whole song in my head on Monday. 
            I weighed 85.7 kilos before breakfast. 
            Around midday I tried to use a ruler to compare the action on my Washburn and my Martin guitars. Sometimes the Martin strings looked slightly higher and sometimes the same, but the main point is that it's harder to press down on even a simple chord with the Martin. I've read that Martin's are shipped with notoriously high action because the guitars are especially popular with Bluegrass players, whose sound is accentuated by high action. All I get from high action is high frustration. 
            I researched leather crafters to visit next week to see who can make me the kind of guitar strap that I want. Some of them might be open on Victoria Day and so I might check out one or two. 
            I weighed 85.6 kilos before lunch, which is the heaviest I've been at that time in thirteen days. 
            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. 
            I weighed 84.7 kilos at 17:15. 
            I was caught up on my journal at 18:32. 
            I compared the videos of my performances of "Baby Pop" on June 19 and 21. On June 19 I'm sometimes buzzy on the last chord of the chorus but it's less noisy in terms of traffic than on the 21st so I'm going to say June 19 wins the comparison. I compared June 19 to June 25 and while I play the chords better on June 25 I think the 19th is a better performance, with better light, so June 19 wins. I compared June 19 to June 29 and it sounds like on the 29th the guitar is slightly out of tune, plus the lighting is darker and there's a little more traffic noise, so June 19 wins again. I compared June 19 to July 3 and July 3 was a better performance but there was traffic noise at the end and so I'll still favour June 19. I compared June 19 to July 5 and July 5 was darker, with more traffic noise and my hand went against the guitar and made a non musical noise between verses. So June 19 wins again. There is only the July 9 performance of "Baby Pop" left to compare with June 19. I'll do that tomorrow and make a decision. Then I'll compare the performances of my translation, "Dance to Baby Pop". 
            I tried to find a video clip of lightning coming out of a book but after searching for almost an hour with various word choices, nothing came up. I know I've seen it but it's just a matter of remembering the name of one of the movies where such an effect was used. I'll try again tomorrow. 
            I made pizza on Greek flat bread with Basilica sauce and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching season 8, episodes 24 and 25 of The Beverly Hillbillies. 
            The first story continues from the previous one. Jed has sent Shorty back to the hills but the single young women that he lured to the Clampett mansion by turning it into a hotel are still there. Jethro wants to go see the girls in their bedrooms and so Jed locks him in the cage. Among the women is Jean Bell who Drysdale promised to give a ride to work. Shortly after Drysdale comes to his office Jean's two gigantic professional football playing brothers come looking for her because she didn't sleep at home last night. They don't believe she's living in a mansion for a dollar a day and so Drysdale gives them the address so they can see for themselves. Drysdale calls Jean to tell her she has the day off. Jean wants to help out around the house while she's there. Her brothers arrive and find her in the back stirring a cauldron over an open fire and it doesn't look good to them because it seems like slavery. They leave without telling her they were there and go to confront Drysdale. They make him come back to the mansion. Drysdale finds Jean making possum pie in the cabin and he forces her to stop so her brothers won't see. Then he begins dragging her away to return to the bank. But as they are passing the cage that Jethro had been in she runs inside and locks the door, saying she won't leave until she explains the situation to Granny. Her brothers find her in the cage and a few minutes later Granny finds Drysdale in the cage. He can't get out because Jean's brothers made him swallow the key. 
            The second story is the first of a new one. Elly May and Jethro come home to announce that they saw Honest John Shafer on the street but he was gone before they could get out of traffic to talk with him. There are flashbacks from him selling Jed Central Park, the Statue of Liberty and the Algonquin Hotel and then giving them back the money. 
            Next we see Shifty Shafer knocking on an apartment door and looking for Flo Shafer, his wife. She's happy to see him but he has a confession. She says if he married somebody else it's okay. He says it's not that. She says if he has a girlfriend it's okay. He says it's not that. She says if he joined a mob it's okay. He says it's not that. He tells her he's gone straight and that's something she can't forgive. He tells her the story of how he fleeced the Clampetts for $ thousands but was overwhelmed by their kindness. Flo says the only cure for his infection of honesty is for him to take those same hillbillies for a bundle. Shifty shows up at the Clampett home and they are thrilled to see him again. He tells them he is there to clear up the smog. He plans to drill a hole in the San Bernardino Mountains and set up a giant fan to suck the pollution out of LA. Jed insists on helping John out with his project so he goes to Drysdale's bank and takes out half a million in cash. Drysdale is clinging to the sack and won't let go unless Jed tells him why he's taking out the money. The only thing Jed will tell him is that it involves drilling in the San Bernardino Mountains. Drysdale thinks Jed has struck oil again and so he starts buying land in the mountains. Jed gives John the money and he leaves. Next we see Shifty telling Flo the story but when she asks where the money is he says he gave it back. She flies into a rage, throwing everything at him until he leaves. 
            Jean's brother Cookie was played by Cookie Gilchrist, who after high school played for several Canadian Football League teams as a linebacker. He helped the Hamilton Tiger-Cats win the Grey Cup in 1957. He was offered a chance to join the NFL because of his Canadian success but he got romantically involved with a white woman in Canada and so the NFL wouldn't hire him unless he ended the relationship. But the new American Football League couldn't afford to be so fussy and signed him up. He was the first great power running back in the AFL and helped build the league's reputation, doing for it what Jim Brown was doing for the NFL. He joined the Buffalo Bills and led the league in rushing. He is still the ninth leading Bills rusher of all time. He led the league in scoring during his three years with the Bills. Some say he was the best blocking running back to ever play football. But he quit because of disputes with management and joined Denver. By this time he'd passed his peak and he ended his football career in Miami. He turned down being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame, although he loved the Canadian fans, but cited racism on the part of the management. In 1974 he founded the United Athletes Coalition of America to help retired players. He organized a benefit concert at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto in 1975 featuring Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, and Ike and Tina Turner. His autobiography was titled The Cookie That Did Not Crumble. He donated his brain to the Canadian Sports Concussion Project.




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