Gunilla Hutton

            On Thursday morning I finished running through singing and playing the last two verses of my translation of "Que tu es impatiente la mort" (We Are So Impatient for Death) by Boris Vian and then uploaded it to my Christian's Translations blog. 

            I worked out the chords for the chorus of "Charlotte Forever" by Serge Gainsbourg. I think the rest of the song probably has the same chords that I've already worked out and so it shouldn't take long to finish it now. 

            I played the Kramer electric guitar for song practice and video and audio recorded the session. As usual on the second day of playing the Kramer I was more comfortable than the first and I think I might have come up with some not horrible takes. Even "Sixteen Tons of Dogma" was possibly completed without having to hang its head in shame. I broke this year's record and made it all the way through "Leave the Naïve Alone" before the camera timed out, although it wasn't a great take of the song. This was the last time this year that I'll record while playing the electric. For the next two days I'll play the Martin and then it will be over. I will be alternating every few days between the acoustic and the electric during song practice once the recording project is done but I'll start using my amplifier just to bring the Kramer up to the volume of the Martin without amplifying my voice. 

            I weighed 85.3 kilos before breakfast. Around midday I walked over to the hardware store to buy some Murphy's Wood Soap. It used to also be called Murphy's Oil Soap but now the name is Murphy wood cleaner. While I was there I also wanted to get a decent pair of scissors. I was told that they sell them behind the counter and wondered if that's because they are a theft risk. I said I was looking for scissors with a guarantee because I was tired of garbage scissors. The only kind they had with a warranty was Fiskars and that's a lifetime warranty. I figured if they are guaranteeing their product for a lifetime they must mean business, so I bought them for $19. They get good reviews online too. 

            I weighed 85.4 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and stopped at Freshco on the way back. The cherries were on sale so I got seven bags. I also bought strawberries, bananas, five-year-old cheddar, a rack of pork ribs, a whole chicken that was $5 off because it was best before this date, Nabob coffee, kettle chips, Irish Spring soap, and a pack of Sponge Towels. 

            I weighed 84.7 kilos at 17:45. 

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

            I listened again to the drum tracks for my song Sleep in the Snow. I didn't want to delete any since this is me playing drums and I hardly believe I was able to do that. But I moved two of the tracks of the snare and cymbals out of the folder. That left one cymbal track, one track of keeping the beat on the skins and then the wild track where I'm trying to be fancy. I'm going to try to synchronize all three and then mute parts that I don't want. First I'll try it in Ableton.

            I scanned a few more colour negatives from March of 1987, mostly street shots but especially fire escape shapes. 

            I cut up the chicken into legs, breasts, wings, and spine and grilled the parts with paprika. I had a leg with a potato and margarine while watching season 3, episodes 2 and 3 of Petticoat Junction. 

            In the first story we are introduced to Oliver and Lisa Douglas, although Green Acres aired the week before this. But they stay one night at the Shady Rest before moving to the Haney farm that Oliver has purchased. Meanwhile Joe has gotten a notice to report for jury duty but he doesn't want to go. Since Oliver is a lawyer Joe tries to get advice on how to get out of jury duty. Oliver tells him jury duty is an honour but he does accidentally inform Joe that he would need to find someone to take his place and so he picks Kate. While Kate is in Pixley Joe learns that he won a TV set in a raffle. Bobbie Joe says she hopes it's coloured and Joe says if it isn't they can always paint it. The problem however is that the raffle ticket is in Kate's suitcase and Joe is not allowed to see her while she is deliberating as part of a jury. He tries to communicate through the window but Kate closes the shades. He puts a note in a hamburger but Kate eats it. He sends the dog down the chimney with a note and then falls down himself before getting thrown out. The trial ends in time for Joe to get the ticket but it turns out that the TV set was stolen by the person who was on trial and he is the one who raffled it off. 

            In the second story a lawyer comes to the Shady Rest to announce that a former guest of the hotel has died and left $200 to Betty Joe's dog. The dog buys Betty a baseball glove, a purse for Kate and butcher meat for himself, his dog friends and especially his dog girlfriend, Lisa Douglas's dog Mignon. Meanwhile Betty Joe is directing a play for a charity event to raise money for playground equipment. She decides that the actors in the play will be her dog as the hero, the dogs of the other student volunteers in supporting roles, plus Mignon as the leading lady. It's a spy thriller and Betty's dog pulls Mignon over a wall in a basket before the evil German shepherd Coldfinger can capture her. 

            The new Billie Joe Bradley was played by Gunilla Hutton, but only for the third season. She was born in Sweden but raised in Texas. She later became a star of Hee haw, appearing in 301 episodes, second only to Roy Clark. In the 70s she released four singles. She was the long time mistress of Nat King Cole. She married disc jockey Allan Freeman and they were together for 43 years.