Peter Breck

            On Friday morning I memorized the fifth verse of “Allons z'enfants” (Join the Ranks Kids) by Boris Vian. There are nine verses left to learn. 

            I published “Passion for Two”, my translation of “L’Amour à deux” by Serge Gainsbourg on my Christian’s Translations blog and posted the lyrics on Facebook. There are thirteen Gainsbourg songs left in my project to translate his entire works from 1958 until his death in 1991. I memorized the first verse of his song “Dis-lui toi que je t'aime” (That I Love You Now Tell Him). 

            I played my Gibson Les Paul Studio during song practice. It always throws me off switching to the longer neck after four sessions with the Martin because it doesn’t feel like the chords I’m reaching for are in the same place. I audio and video recorded the session as I have since September 1 and will until October 15. There was lots of fumbling and I don’t know if any takes were keepers. I was finished song practice almost an hour later than yesterday. 

            I weighed 87.5 kilos before breakfast, which is the heaviest I’ve been in the morning since September 3. 

            I weighed 88.6 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back.

            I weighed 87.85 kilos at 17:30. September 3 was the last time it was that high in the afternoon. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:30. 

            In the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “Me and Gravity” I saw that last time I got the concert video in synch with the studio audio for my line “just this three ring circus”. But now I see that after that the video of me singing “in my head” is ahead by almost a second so I need to insert some video to push it back. I looked for something with a circus theme starring Buster Keaton and there is video of him performing at a circus in France but what he does isn’t circusy. I stumbled on The Circus by Charlie Chaplin and in it he performs a high wire act, which I think fits for my video. I downloaded it and converted it to WMV, then I imported it into Movie Maker. I edited it down to 40 seconds and I’ll cut it further tomorrow. 

            I uploaded today’s song practice video. These are very large files in the MP4 format and so I might have to convert them all to WMV before I run out of room. I reviewed the video of my September 6 rehearsal up to the 60 minute mark. It was a not bad day of achievement in terms of getting through songs and there might even be some keepers. 

            I had a potato with gravy and the rest of the ground beef chili. I ate while watching episode 5 of The Big Valley.

            Jacob Tanner and his grandson Chad are travelling by wagon with a large amount of money. The story opens with him fighting off a robber on the way. They are headed for the Big Valley and the Barkley ranch. He first meets Audra and Heath and he asks for Thomas. He was an old friend of Thomas and is sad to learn he’s dead but he and Victoria have a happy reunion. Thomas, Victoria, Jacob and his wife Margaret all travelled together to the Big Valley. They were caught in a fire and Victoria was thrown from her horse. Jacob left his wagon to save her but while doing so the horses bolted , the wagon overturned and Margaret was killed. Jacob is the reason the Barkley clan exists. Jacob has been saving for thirty years and he’s now come for the land in Oak Meadows that Thomas promised him. Victoria says that was always his land and he doesn’t need to pay for it but he insists. Meanwhile Jarrod Barkley is negotiating with the state on behalf of the Big Valley to have a dam built in Oak Meadows. The people have put up money towards this project and they stand to gain from the construction of the dam. When they learn about Jacob they are angry. The Barkley family is divided on this issue. Victoria and Heath are with Jacob while Nick supports the dam. Jarrod as a lawyer tries to be objective. Comparisons are made to Thomas Barkley standing up to the railroad even though the railroad also represented progress. Even if the majority profits, if it’s at the expense of the rights of the individual then there is injustice. Margaret is buried in Oak Meadows. The town turns against the Barkleys and there is a brawl at the saloon. The sheriff breaks it up but blames the Barkleys. Jacob has built the framework of a cabin but a mob from town comes out to tear it down. The Barkley brothers come to defend Jacob against the next attack but Jacob is killed in the shootout. Chad is given the money Jacob paid for the land and then sent to be raised by his uncle in Denver. The people want to name the dam the “Jacob Tanner Dam”. Victoria says Jacob would have approved but I don’t think so. It’s actually sickly fucked up to name something that gets built anyway after the murdered victim that tried to stop it. 

            Nick was played by Peter Breck, who was the son of jazz musician Jobie Breck. While studying English and drama he also became a singer in local clubs in Houston. He was discovered by Robert Mitchum who cast him uncredited in Thunder Road. He co-starred in The Beatniks, Portrait of a Mobster. He starred in the films Lad: A Dog, The Crawling Hand, Hootenanny Hoot. His first TV appearance was on Gunsmoke. He starred in the 1959 TV series Black Saddle. He played Doc Holliday on Maverick. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia where he established an acting school called The Breck Academy. He starred in Terminal City Ricochet and Shock Corridor. He had a photographic memory. Someone who clocked the draws of all the TV gunslingers found that Peter Breck had the fastest draw in television history.