Jimmy Hawkins

            On Thursday morning I finished working out the chords for "Vieille Canaille" (Old Rascal) by Serge Gainsbourg. Tomorrow I'll run through playing and singing it in French and English and maybe have time to upload it to Christian's Translations. 

            I did my first recording of song practice with the new cable in the Martin and it didn't disconnect once, so maybe Brian was right that the cable was the issue. 

            I was adjusting the length of the cord that I use to tie my guitar strap to the top of the neck and the cord slipped and caused my guitar to fall on its head. When I picked it up it was still in tune but later it started going out of tune a lot on the B string, so I don't know if the drop damaged the machine for that string or threw the neck out of wack. On the last few songs it didn't go out of tune, so I guess I'll just have hear how it behaves tomorrow to know if I need to get it repaired. Maybe it's just that the humidity seems to have jumped while at the same time being cold. Near the end of the session Ableton crashed for a while and then started showing the wave forms again. I think that I'm playing the Martin better and getting used to it. I didn't do very many takes of "Megaphor" but I did several of "Sixteen Tons of Dogma". One of those takes was good but with one small error at the end that made me restart.

            I weighed 86 kilos before breakfast. 

            Around midday I measured and cut some thin sheets of fiber board that I had laying around to fit them into the depression in my kitchen floor in front of the counter and the stove. It looks like I have enough to fill that space. Once I have it filled I'll glue the pieces down and then look for tiles to glue on top. 

            I weighed 86.1 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride but it started raining and so I turned south at Bloor and Dovercourt intending to just go straight to Freshco. But by the time I got to College the rain stopped and so I headed east on College to Yonge, down to Richmond, up Peter, and then west to Gladstone where I stopped at Freshco. They had grapes outside of bags for the first time, which is a good idea. That way I don't buy a bag with firm grapes on top and soft ones at the bottom. I got two packs of strawberries, a pack of blackberries, bananas, two packs of five-year-old cheddar, a bag of kettle chips, a bag of Nabob Full City Dark coffee, and a jug of limeade. They had a sign for Cashmere toilet paper on sale but the shelf was empty. I pulled a box down from the top and opened it. I took it with my other groceries to get it scanned and the cashier said it was twice as much as the sale price. I think it was the pack that was on sale but maybe in the box it's not set to scan as on sale. I went back and got another kind. 

            I weighed 85.5 kilos at 17:45. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:45. 

            I reviewed the video that I shot this morning. Sometimes it seems I haven't improved in my playing since last year and sometimes it seems I have. The different guitar does make it more difficult but hopefully will make it better eventually. 

            I reviewed the videos of me performing "Like a Boomerang" and "Boomerang" from July 8 to July 15 of last year. For "Like a Boomerang", July 8 was pretty good, for July 10 and 12 the song didn't get recorded because the battery timed out, and on July 14 it was cut off near the beginning. For "Boomerang" July 9 was okay, July 11 and 15 were pretty good, July 13 didn't make it on. Now I have to re-review the ones I noted as pretty good. For "Boomerang" that will be June 19, 23, 25, July 3, July 7, 11, and 15. For "Like a Boomerang" I'll compare June 20, July 2, 4, and 8. 

            I imported the AVI of Faust into Movie Maker and made it into a movie in the WMV format. Then I imported that into my project for creating a video of my song "Instructions for Electroshock Therapy". I put it on the end of the timeline and removed the introductory credits. I kept the part that shows "god" with a book. I'll edit it some more tomorrow. 

            I had a potato with gravy and a chicken leg while watching season 1, episodes 8 and 9 of Petticoat Junction. 

            In the first story Billie Joe has a date with Junior to the dance but forgot that her date wanted her to find a girl to go with his friend Roger. Her mother suggests Bobbie Joe but Bobbie Joe doesn't want to go because she'd rather read. Kate thinks Bobbie needs to get out and meet boys and so she insists that she be Roger's date. Kate explains that boys are like rhubarb. At first they are strange and after you try them they are still strange but then you're hooked. But Bobbie just wants to talk about poetry and Aristotle so Roger finds her boring. At the dance Billie Joe flirts with both boys and they give her all their attention and so Roger ignores Bobbie. Bobbie leaves the dance early and gets a ride home. Kate sets about training Bobbie to be flirtatious and to flatter boys with bullshit complements. She teaches her how to wear tight dresses, and to walk sexy. The result is that Bobbie becomes as appealing to boys as her sister. I found this episode disturbing. Kate might as well have jumped ahead and taught her daughter how to fake an orgasm. 

            Roger was played by Jack Bannon, who was the son of Bea Benaderet who starred as Kate.

            In the second story two young men named Arthur and Lowell are riding the Cannonball to Pixley to rob the bank. Arthur is the leader and Lowell is his nerdy yes man. But when the train stops for dinner at the Shady Rest they learn that the next day is the Cannonball's monthly bank shipment day. They decide to spend the night at the Shady Rest. The next day Kate and Joe are also riding the train to Pixley. Arthur and Lowell block the track with railroad ties. They are wearing masks but Lowell lets their identities slip by calling Kate "Mrs. Bradley". Charlie the engineer, Floyd the conductor and Kate are not fazed by the robbery because they don't consider themselves in danger. Joe on the other hand is fearing for his life. They have guns and Arthur warns he has an itchy finger. Floyd asks if he's tried soaking it in Epsom salts. They open the chest and there are nothing but deposit slips and no money. Kate consoles them by saying if they open an account they'll have a lifetime supply. Charlie tells them there's blotters, paper clips, and they can also steal the gorgonzola cheese and the fertilizer that are there in the baggage car. Floyd tells them they can rob the safe at Kate's hotel so they go there but inside there is only the hotel cat and her kittens. Arthur says for everybody to empty their pockets and hand over their valuables. Kate says it's time to make dinner and the robbery can wait. Charlie and Floyd have to go fire the train but tell Arthur they'll be back for dinner. Arthur gives up and so does Lowell. They stay for dinner and forget about trying to be crooks. Joe brings a patrolman that he flagged down but he just finds two boys wearing aprons and helping with the dishes and so he leaves. Kate has their guns and has one for dessert because it's made of licorice. 

            Lowell was played by Jimmy Hawkins, who played Tommy Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life. He played Donald Ruggles on the early TV sitcom The Charlie Ruggles Show. He played Tagg Oakley on the Annie Oakley TV series, and Shelley Fabares's boyfriend on The Donna Reed Show. He co-starred in Girl Happy and Spinout. He produced the movie "Evel Knievel", the Emmy winning special "The Fiftieth Anniversary: Motown Returns to the Apollo". He wrote five books about the movie It's a Wonderful Life.