Sacheen Littlefeather

            On Tuesday morning I finished working out the chords for “La complainte du progrès” by Boris Vian and ran through it in French. It might take longer to go through it in English because I expect there to be slight translation changes on placing the lyrics with the melody.

I found the right set of chords for “Sensuelle et sans suite” (Sensual and Senseless) by Serge Gainsbourg, and of course they’re the simplest ones.

            I worked on my poem series “My Blood in a Bug”.

            I discovered that Yahoo Groups is finished and all the content is gone. That’s where I’ve gotten most of my porn from for years and so it’s a bit of a disappointment.

            Around noon I gathered my bedding and clothing together for another trip to the laundromat. While my things were in the washer I rode down to No Frills to buy grapes and milk. I got home with those things just when it was time to go back and put my things in the dryer. I went home for a few minutes during the tumble dance and ran into my neighbour Benji in the hall. We chatted about Coffeetime moving out at the end of the month and I said I think it’s strange that there’s no sign of them getting ready to leave. Benji said it would probably only take them two or three days.

            I also think it’s weird and more than a little ungrateful that Coffeetime wouldn't post a sign on their door about closing in two weeks along with a note to thank their customers for their many years of patronage.

            When I brought my laundry home I heated a carton of roasted potato and leak soup and added my leftover steamed cauliflower.

            In the afternoon I did my exercises while listening to Amos and Andy. This story begins with Sapphire nagging Kingfish about a new coat she wants Kingfish to buy for her. He’s upset because he doesn’t have any money and asks Andy to walk with him in Central Park so he can calm down. Suddenly they hear a man calling for help because he is drowning in the lake. Kingfish does the valiant thing and pushes Andy in to save the man. The rescued man turns out to be a multi-millionaire named Cyrus Randolph. He gives them his card and says for them to contact him. Figuring Randolph wouldn’t remember which man saved him and wanting the reward for himself, Kingfish convinces Andy that he has duck fever from jumping in the lake and should stay in bed.  When Amos finds Andy in bed he tells him he thinks it’s a scam by Kingfish to get the reward. Andy goes to confront Kingfish and he offers to split the reward money with him. They go to see Randolph who says he doesn't want to insult them by giving them cash and so he'll make out a cheque for $500 for their favourite charity. The make up a charity that pays for college tuition for young men. Kingfish asks Randolph to make out the cheque to his name, George Stevens. Randolph delivers the cheque and Kingfish wants to keep the money for himself but he receives a call from a sanitarium asking if he knows the whereabouts of their patient, Cyrus Randolph, who has a habit of wandering around and writing bad cheques. When Andy arrives Kingfish says he'll give him the cheque for $25 cash. Then Kingfish tells Andy that he’s just scammed him but Andy tells him it was his friend that just called him and pretended to represent the sanitarium.

            I finished editing my video of me singing “Les feuilles mortes” and posted it on YouTube.

            I finished a chapter on the history of Indigenous people in the Canadian Armed Forces from my Indigenous Studies textbook, Ways of Knowing. There is one tribe that doesn’t want to join the army to fight in places like Afghanistan because a warrior is supposed to defend their own territory. I can identify with that.

            I did some translations.

            I had three small potatoes, a slice of roast beef and some gravy while watching the rest of the documentary Reel Injun. It covers the history of native Americans in film from the first films by Edison in the late 19^th Century until the modern era. During the time of silent films Natives were portrayed more positively. But after talkies came in, although sympathetic films were made they made no money. What people wanted was the savage. Very gradually the portrayals became more sympathetic until the 90s when Natives started making their own films. The Fast Runner was groundbreaking because although Natives were making films, this one was absolutely taken from the heart of an indigenous culture. As someone said of The Fast Runner, “It was an inside job”. The documentary also showed the footage of the Oscar speech by Sacheen Littlefeather on behalf of Marlon Brando when he turned down the award. The Natives involved in the standoff at Wounded Knee had been feeling very discouraged but some of them happened to be watching the Academy Awards that night and they were totally uplifted by Marlon Brando and Sacheen Littlefeather. Reel Injun is a pretty good documentary.