Dick Foran

            On Monday morning I finished working out the chords to "Eau et gaz à tous les étages" (Gas and Water on All of the Floors) by Serge Gainsbourg. I uploaded it to Christian's Translations and had it edited and published on the blog within minutes because it's such a short song. I started memorizing Gainsbourg's song "Pas long feu" (Literally "Not Long Fire" but meaning "Not For Long"). I noticed it has the same music as the previous song. 

            I weighed 89.6 kilos before breakfast. 

            At 11:15 I went online to enrol in the upcoming term's courses at U of T. The first one I tried to enrol in was Introduction to Indigenous Literature but apparently that course doesn't exist this term. When one types in ENG252 there's nothing, but if I removed the last "2" I saw a list of all the English courses that start with "25" and there was nothing about Indigenous Literature. So I started from "21" and worked my way to the end of "29" but there was still nothing. I started again with "31" and finally found ENG371 Topics in Indigenous, Postcolonial and Transnational Literatures. Since nothing showed up for "38" or "39" I enrolled in ENG371 for January. I also picked Introduction to American Literature for January, leaving Introduction to Shakespeare as the only course I would have to take this fall, but when I looked at my Winter timetable there was a conflict. So I moved Introduction to American Literature to the Fall and that leaves ENG371 by itself, which might be a better idea anyway because it looks hard. For some strange reason Introduction to Shakespeare will be entirely online while the other courses are in person. 

            I weighed 88.8 kilos before lunch. I had kettle chips, salsa and yogourt. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Yonge and Bloor. When I got back Shankar was standing outside of our building so we chatted for about half an hour. Shankar mentioned that our neighbour Benji looks like Swami Visnudevananda who I studied yoga under and he really does. Later I found a picture of Visnudevananda on my phone and took it out on the deck where benji and Shankar were chatting. Benji doesn't think it looks like him. I wound up standing out there with them and talking for almost two hours. 

            I weighed 88.8 before dinner. I worked on my cover letter to Exile Editions. I think I'll consider the draft done and then see what Albert Moritz thinks of it. I want to send my cover design with it but I don't know if that's appropriate for a cover letter. I looked for my cover but couldn't find the file. The one I found was an incomplete version. I found it later in another folder. 

            I made a new batch of gravy from the roast beef drippings I'd saved. I had some with a potato and two chicken drumsticks while watching two episodes of Mayberry RFD. 

            The first story was the final one set in Palm Springs, California. Howard sees the neighbour from the big house next door coming out to get his paper and goes over to introduce himself. The man is polite but not interested in Howard and tries to get away several times. When Howard hears the man's name is Walter Michaels he recognizes him as a famous movie producer. That day Howard, Sam, Mike and Goober go to a cowboy breakfast and when their host sings "Old Paint" they recognize his voice as that of the once famous singing cowboy King Beaumont. King is trying to get back into pictures and Howard exaggerates when he tells him that he's friends with Walter Michaels. The next day King shows up at the house where they are staying with a film screenplay for a new cowboy picture. He wants Howard to show it to Michaels. Howard reads the script to Sam, Mike and Goober and they love it. The next morning Howard ambushes Michaels again when he comes out for his paper. After pestering him for a while he convinces Michaels to meet them the next afternoon to look at the screenplay. At the meeting King comes with his aging movie sidekicks Jennie Mae and Shorty and they act out a scene from the script. After they are done Michaels politely advises that they wait a couple of years before singing cowboys catch on again. After Michaels leaves King is about to go but Sam, Goober and Howard ask him to stay and sing for them.

            King Beaumont was played by real former singing cowboy Dick Foran, who started out singing for big bands and then on the radio. His first starring role was Treachery Rides the Range. He starred again in Song of the Saddle and California Mail. But just as in this story the singing cowboy faded from popularity and he had to settle for secondary roles in westerns and horror films. 

            Jennie Mae was played by Jeanne Bates, who started out as a model and later played the lead in the radio series "Whodunit" and was famous for her scream. Her first film was The Chance of a Lifetime in 1943. Her next movies were horrors and noirs such as "Shadows In The Night" in 1944 and being the first victim in "Return of the Vampire". She played Diana Palmer in The Phantom serials. She played Mrs X in David Lynch's Eraserhead.

             In the second story Goober's fifteen year old niece Beverly comes to visit and Goober is extremely overprotective of her. He tries to entertain her with activities that would only impress a much younger girl. When she is hanging around Goober's gas station she meets a local teenager named Tommy. Tommy wants to ask Beverly to the school dance and asks Millie for advice because he's never been on a date before. Millie says to call her and ask. Meanwhile Millie tells Beverly that Tommy is going to ask her out and Beverly really wants to go. But when Tommy calls Goober answers the phone and tells him to stay away from Beverly. Millie tells Goober he is wrong to deny Beverly the kind of fun teenagers want to have. Finally Goober gives in but insists Tommy bring her home right after the dance. But as bad luck would have it Tommy runs out of gas and they don't get back until 0:13. Goober doesn't believe that Tommy ran out of gas. His friends urge him to be more trusting and he finally gives in, giving Tommy tickets to the church picnic to take Beverly.