Renzo Cesana

            On Friday morning I memorized the fifth verse of “S'il pleauvait des larmes” (If it Rained in Tears) by Boris Vian. I memorized the third verse of “Litanie en Lituanie” (Litany in Lithuania) by Serge Gainsbourg. I revised my translation based on a better understanding of the rhyme scheme. There is only a verse and a half left to nail down and so I might even have it all in my head tomorrow. 

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the second of two sessions and the B string kept going out of tune. This happened a couple of weeks ago and the problem somehow corrected itself the next day and it stayed in tune to a reasonable degree. But this was very frustrating and sometimes it went out of tune as soon as it was tuned. I think I have to take it back to The Twelfth Fret today to have it looked at and perhaps adjusted. 

            I weighed 88.45 kilos before breakfast. Around midday I packed up my Martin and rode to The Twelfth Fret at Danforth and Woodbine. I stopped at the Second Cup at Logan to pee. When I got to The Twelfth Fret Brian immediately looked at my guitar and observed that the action was very low. He said that wouldn’t necessarily cause my B string to go out of tune but speculated that maybe the string vibrating against the neck could take it out. He raised the action and then I tried out my guitar, playing several chords in which I hit the B string hard. That would have easily taken it out of tune this morning at home but it stayed in tune there. There is a difference in environment between the Danforth and Queen west near the lake. When I tuned the Martin later in the evening the B string was still in tune. 

            I weighed 87.6 kilos at 14:24, which is the lightest I’ve been in the early afternoon since June 11. 

            I weighed 88.55 kilos at 17:00. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:00. I would have gone out with my camera this evening to find people to sing “sit here and wait for the next state of grace” and “line up and wait for the next state of grace” so I can synch it with the video I’m making of my song “The Next State of Grace”. I saw from my window the animal man walking around and I plan to approach him to see if he’ll let me shoot some video of him doing the song. But it was a very cloudy evening and I want to do it on a night when there’s some nice afternoon light. He seems to be around Parkdale all the time these days and so there’s no rush to ask him right away. There are also plenty of other Parkdale characters I can potentially capture as well. The forecast for tomorrow evening is cloudy and rainy but Sunday and Monday are supposed to be nice. 

            I reviewed the song practice videos of my performances of “The Wooden Leg” and “La jambe de bois” from August 16 to 20 of last year. On August 16 I played “The Wooden Leg” on my Martin acoustic guitar and the take at 9:45 in Part B was pretty good and looked good. On August 18 and 20 I played it on my Kramer electric guitar. On August 18 the take at 11:45 in part B was okay but there was traffic noise. On August 20 the take at 9:30 in part B was one of the best electric versions and it’s already synchronized in Movie Maker. On August 17 and 19 I played “La jambe de bois” on the Kramer. On August 17 the take at 6:30 in part B was okay but there was some traffic noise and I fumbled a lyric. On August 19 the take at 11:00 in part B was one of the best. This is synchronized in Movie Maker. 

            I moved some more photos from my main hard drive to the Samsung SSD.

            I grilled six chicken drumsticks and had two with a potato and gravy while watching season 4, episodes 2 and 3 of Bewitched. In the first story Endora is babysitting Tabitha when a warlock postman arrives to inform her that an event in her honour at the Taj Mahal has been moved from two weeks from now to today. Endora brings Tabitha’s toy soldier to life and to human size to serve as a substitute babysitter but it can’t speak and can only nod its head in agreement. When Endora leaves, Tabitha says to the soldier, “Juice. Drink” but he doesn’t seem to understand. So Tabitha brings her Barbie type doll to life and she communicates to the soldier, but also without speaking. At work Darrin is about to take Samantha to lunch when Larry introduces him to a client named Bob Chase. Larry is surprised to learn that Darrin and Bob are old friends and that Bob is coming over for dinner that night. Larry hints that he’d like to come for dinner too and so Darrin invites him. By the time Darrin and Samantha come home Tabitha has brought several of her toys to life and they are all partying in the nursery. Because Samantha can’t break the spell without Endora, Darrin calls Larry and cancels the dinner date. But he can’t reach Bob because he and his wife are already on their way. Larry is worried that Darrin is chummy with a client because he plans to start his own agency. He decides to call Bob and invite him to dinner but learns he’s on his way to Darrin’s place. Larry decides to drive by. He looks in the window and when he sees the toys dancing he thinks it’s a costume party. The soldier notices Larry and Larry beckons him out. Larry thinks the soldier is an employee named Max and since the soldier nods to every question he thinks it’s a confirmation. Larry takes the soldier to a bar for a drink. Darrin and Samantha find the bar where he’s taken the soldier. Samantha has learned the spell from Endora and turns the soldier back to a toy so Larry thinks he’s been talking to a toy all night. 

            In the second story, Larry’s firm is courting the Romani Foods account. The president’s representative Mr. Arcarius tells Darrin he should be able to speak some Italian when he meets Romani. Darrin is struggling to learn from language records but is not doing well so Endora casts a spell that causes him to be able to speak Italian fluently. But the side effect is that Darrin loses the ability to speak English. Romani is impressed but wants Darrin to speak some English too. He is insulted when he acts like he can’t. Samantha gets Endora to reverse the spell but she doesn’t do it completely. Darrin begins talking English but with an Italian accent. Of course Romani finds this even more insulting. Then Endora completes the spell reversal and Darrin covers by telling Romani he was deliberately mocking him to prove the point that the campaign they are offering him will not mock the Italian culture.

            Arcarius was played by Renzo Cesana, who was an actor and playwright in Rome before moving to the States. He created the radio programs Art Linkletter’s Party, Stop That Villain, and The Radio Hall of Fame. He wrote the songs “Buy a Bond for a Soldier for Christmas”, “Roses and Champagne”, “Don’t Be Afraid My Darling”, and “Halfway to the Stars”. He was best known as the seductive star of a TV series called The Continental, which has been parodied for years, most famously by Christopher Walken on Saturday Night Live. He opened his own advertizing agency. He co-wrote the Roberto Rossellini film Stromboli. He made two hit records in which he recited rather than sang the lyrics: “Walk the Lonesome Night” and “The Crime Scene”.