Maria Del Mar

            On Friday morning I tried again to find the lyrics for “Paris la nuit”, “Pas pour moi”, “Les petites soeurs”, “Les ponts déchaussés”, and “Le quatrième homme” by Boris Vian but none have been posted. I started listening to his song “S'il pleauvait des larmes” (If it Would Rain Tears) and tomorrow I’ll start working on memorizing it. 

            I memorized the third verse of “Des Ils et des Elles” (Of Hes and of Shes) by Serge Gainsbourg. I almost nailed down the fourth verse as well so I should have the whole song in my head on Saturday. 

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the first of four sessions. I think that over the last few months the leather cord that connects my guitar strap to the neck has stretched because it felt like I was reaching too far to form some chords. I shortened it a bit. 

            I weighed 88.7 kilos before breakfast. 

            In the morning I was still waiting for the package from Amazon. The tracking site had originally said that it would be here by 22:00 on Wednesday. But then at 17:00 that evening the tracking said “Delayed in Transit”. Then it said it again at 19:00. Some people on forums say that “delayed in transit” is code for “lost” but others say they have gotten that notice and still received their package. Later it said “Now expected by June 21” but with no time frame. It adds that if it doesn’t arrive today then the next day I can get a refund. The package came from Calgary to Mount Hope but after that there’s no indication as to where it is. This is another day that I wanted to take my guitar strap to be copied at Perfect Leather but I’m trapped here until I get some word from Amazon. I wish they’d just say it’s lost so I can order another one or buy it someplace in town. 

            I weighed 88.55 kilos before lunch, which is the lightest I’ve been at midday since June 11. 

            I weighed 88.65 kilos at 16:11. 

            Still no word from Amazon about my package. I thought it would be convenient and cheaper to order the volume pedal from Amazon but it’s a pain in the ass and I feel like a fool waiting around all day. From now on if I can get a product that I need in a store then I’ll just buy it there and have it even if it costs a little more. The convenience of having something delivered to my door is canceled out by the inconvenience of waiting for it for days. I couldn’t take a bike ride in case the carrier came and so it’s another reason to be pissed off. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 17:00. 

            In the Movie Maker project for my electric performance of “Mamadou” it took me a long time to get the audio almost lined up with the video but it was just a little behind when I stopped. I should have it done tomorrow. 

            In the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “The Next State of Grace” I synchronized the concert video with the studio audio when I sing “my own broth”. After that it was out again and so I added another 0.70 second clip from the video I shot of the boots dangling on the power line. Now I need to line the video and audio for “noodles to the shape of these words”. 

            In my Audacity project for the recording of Christian and the Lions at Fat Albert’s I finished increasing the volume and deleting the long silences. But I think increasing the volume caused static and caused small parts to be erased. I still have the original recording to compare and see how much of that is already there. 

            So Amazon failed again today to deliver my package. I wonder what the message is going to be tomorrow, if they are going to just keep changing the date or admit that they lost the package. 

            I had a potato with gravy and a chicken breast while watching season 5, episode 6 of Star Trek Discovery. This story has primary elements similar to the story of Isaac from the Bible. 

            The clue to the next piece of the puzzle is a vial of distilled water. Analysis shows it is no different from any other water. Burnham suggests they look for planets suffering from drought. Burnham meets with Kovich and he has found the names of the scientists who hid the clues. That should help to solve them. Dr. Kreel’s specialty was designing weather towers. Burnham asks Zora the computer how many M class planets were on the Romulan trade routes when the vial was created? She says fifteen. Burnham asks how many were so dry they would need to harvest water? She says one and that is Halem’no. On Halem’no is a Denobulan weather tower that manufactures rain and emits a low grade force field that shields the planet’s only habitable region from dust storms. They think the clue is inside. The tower is made to look like a mountain so it will help the inhabitants without violating the Prime Directive by exposing a pre-industrial society to advanced technology. There is an unusual energy field that won’t allow them to be beamed inside so they need to transport down onto the surface. Burnham goes with Tilly disguised as the inhabitants of that planet. The inhabitants think that the mountain is a holy place and call it The High Summit. Burnham and Tilly join a group of pilgrims on their way to pray for rain at the tower. They meet the priest Ohvahz and his daughter Ravah. Ravah informs them that there is a way to enter the temple. There is a race and the winner is allowed to enter. Burnham and Tilly make the formal request to be in the race. Inspired by them Ravah enters the race as well, but to the worried disapproval of her father. Participants are each given a pill that makes them thirsty and they must remain thirsty to finish the race. Water bowls are provided along the way but anyone who drinks is eliminated. Discovery lets Burnham know that they’ve found that there is a control panel near each tower and if they find it they can reset it so that it functions once again to make it rain. On the way Burnham notices an area with yellow moss leading in a certain direction, uncharacteristic of the other coloured moss. She theorizes that could mean there is a control panel nearby emitting radiation and causing the moss to mutate. Burnham steps out of the race to look for it and Tilly continues. In the end the only two runners are Tilly and Ravah. That’s unrealistic since Tilly has gotten very puffy over the last couple of seasons and her body is out of condition. I doubt very much if she could be competitive in any kind of marathon. Ravah collapses but Tilly helps her and they cross the finish line in a tie. Burnham finds the control panel and Adira helps her from Discovery to reset it. Tilly and Ravah have earned the right to enter the temple. Ohvahz thanks them for their sacrifice and then Tilly starts to realize this is not just a privileged visit to the temple. They are going to be sealed inside. The doors close before she can get out. The room they are in will become a vacuum as the weather tower performs its function. They can’t beam Tilly out but they can beam Burnham in. However Ohvahz is in the room where she has to materialize. Burnham says do it even though it’s a breach of the Prime Directive. Inside the temple Tilly sees a symbol on the wall that matches the one on the vial of water. Burnham appears before Ohvahz and tells him the truth about the High Summit. She convinces him to open the door. Ravah is near death but Culber beams down to save her. It starts to rain. 

            Discovery learns that Mol and L’ak have been found and it is given the coordinates. 

            At one point in the story Culber calls up a hologram of his grandmother and she was played by Canadian actor Maria Del Mar, not the Canadian singer of the same name. She co-starred in the series Tek War, Mercy Point, Blue Murder (for which she was nominated for a Gemini Award), Terminal City, and she starred in A Touch of Grey (for which she won a Canadian Comedy Award).