Stanley Beck

            On Saturday morning I memorized the fourth verse of “Litanie en Lituanie” (Litany in Lithuania) by Serge Gainsbourg. There’s only half a verse left so I should have the whole song done on Sunday. 

            During song practice I tried out my new Boss FV-50H volume pedal for the first time and it works. It’s a learning curve less about the pedal itself and more about the timing of playing it. I think I can set the maximum volume a little higher. I played my Gibson Les Paul Studio until the A string broke about halfway through and I switched to the Kramer. 

            I weighed 88.25 kilos before breakfast. I checked my Amazon account to track my order of the Boss FS6 dual foot switch and found that it’s been canceled. I checked online banking and saw that no money ever went out to buy the item. I’ll just get it from a music store now because Amazon is too problematic.

            In the late morning I went to Freedom Mobile and paid for my July phone plan. 

            I hauled my bike trailer to No Frills where I bought four bags of red grapes, three bags of cherries, bananas, two T-bone steaks, Basilica sauce, a jug of low sugar lemon iced tea, a jug of orange juice, olive oil, and two bags of Miss Vickie’s chips. I price matched the cherries and grapes with the Freshco flyer and got them quite a bit cheaper but my bill was still high. 

            I weighed 88.4 kilos before lunch. I had saltines with five-year-old cheddar and a glass of low sugar iced tea. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. 

            I weighed 87 kilos at 17:15. 

            The light wasn’t bad this evening and so I went out with my tripod and my camera to look for characters. I’m trying to find interesting people to lip sync for the video I’m creating for my song “The Next State of Grace”. I need a few people to pretend to sing “sit here and wait for the next state of grace” and “line up and wait for the next state of grace”. There’s very loud Polish guy named Santino who is definitely a character that I’ve seen around Parkdale for years. He shouts “kurwa” and “opa” a lot and sometimes blows a whistle. He was standing in very good light and I asked him if he wanted to be in a video for my song and I said I would pay him $10. He seemed interested but said he needed more medication first because he was almost finished his beer. Finally he said he didn’t want to do it tonight. His vest is covered with pins and badges. He asked me if I was left or right, then he pointed out that on the left side of his vest he has communist symbols and on the right he has conservative representation. He even has a couple of swastikas and something with Hitler’s name. He pointed at it and said, “I see nothing wrong”. If I shoot a video of him maybe I’ll do it from the neck up. I walked west to Sorauren and back but didn’t see anyone else interesting enough to shoot. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:30. I reviewed the song practice videos of my performances of “La jambe de bois” and “The Wooden Leg” from August 21 to 28. On August 21 and 27 I played “La jambe de bois” on my Martin acoustic guitar. On August 21 the take at 3:15 in part B was not bad but there was washed out light. On August 27 the take at 3:30 in part B was not bad, there was low traffic noise and it looked good. On August 22, 26 and 28 I played “The Wooden Leg” on the Martin. On August 22 the take at 6:15 in part B was not bad. On August 26 the take at the beginning of part B looked and sounded good. On August 28 the take at 6:00 in part B was pretty good. On August 24 I played it on my Kramer electric but the take at 13:30 in part B was not great. It’s weird how often when the video looks good it sounds better too. 

            I made pizza on a slice of multigrain sourdough bread with Basilica sauce, two sliced chicken kebabs, and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching season 4, episodes 4 and 5 of Bewitched. 

            In the first story Darren gets woken up after midnight by the sound of someone playing electric guitar outside of the bedroom door. He’s dressed as a 17th Century minstrel and says he’s waiting for an audience with the queen. Remember that Samantha is now Queen of the Witches and that she holds court after midnight. He explains he needs a quiet place to practice because it’s too noisy downstairs. He plays The Witches Anthem” “Off we go into the wild black yonder”. Darrin says that’s a direct steal from the Air Force song!” “Really? Where do you think they got it?” Darrin storms downstairs to complain. Samantha sends everyone away. She’s mad because Darrin agreed that he was okay with her after midnight audiences. After Samantha goes to bed all the witches appear again and are grumbling about Darrin. Endora says she has a plan to get rid of him. The next day after Samantha leaves to volunteer for the church bazaar, Darrin is alone. But Endora appears in another part of the house with Samantha’s identical cousin Serena. Endora gives her Samantha’s dress, hair colour and hairstyle and has her enter from the front door, telling Darrin that they had enough volunteers at the church and sent her home. She starts teasing Darrin and tells him to come for a kiss but keeps disappearing and appearing nearby. Then she causes him to trip. Mrs. Kravitz comes for a cup of sugar and Serena makes her shoes disappear, causing her to drop the sugar. Serena says she’s tired of pretending to be mortal and of submitting to Darrin’s will. Darrin is confused and asks advice from Larry who has been married longer. Darrin has been married four years and Larry tells him that for the first four years a wife is submissive but after that the stage begins where she thinks she’s a queen. Darrin asks Larry to talk with Samantha and find out what’s bothering her. Darrin leaves Serena and Larry alone and Serena immediately goes over to give Larry a big kiss on the mouth. Then she begins flirting with him. Larry leaves, telling Darrin he has a problem. Serena puts on the royal robes and convenes the royal court even though it’s the middle of the day. Then she puts on a mini skirt and says she’s going shopping. Darrin reminds her that she’s a wife and mother. So Serena puts on a housecoat, puts her hair up in curlers and is missing a front tooth. Abner Kravitz comes with a cup of sugar and says Gladys called and told him to bring it before Samantha returns from the bazaar. Suddenly Darrin realizes that he’s been dealing with Serena and decides to teach her a lesson. But then Samantha comes home and Darrin is very aggressive with her. He gives her a slap on the ass. Samantha brought home a lemon meringue pie but Darrin smushes it in her face. Then Samantha conjures a pie smushes it in Darrin’s face. She conjures another one but Darrin grabs it. He chases her and throws it but she ducks and it hits Endora in the face. Then Serena appears and Darrin realizes his mistake. Samantha also understands and throws a pie in Serena’s face. Serena tastes it and says it’s not bad and then Darrin and Samantha try it and agree.

            The minstrel warlock was played by Stanley Beck, who played Ernest in the film John and Mary and Artie Silver in Lenny. He produced the movies Straight Time, Death Valley, and Man Woman and Child. He played Ed Busby in the premier of the play Days and Nights of BeeBee Fenstermaker. 

            In the second story Samantha buys a coat with a mink collar. Darrin has a mixed reaction, He complains about the price but says she can keep it. He leaves for work. Endora thinks Darrin is a cheapskate. She decides to make Darrin such a miser that Samantha will leave him. She casts a spell and at work Darrin penny pinches to an extreme degree, such as telling his secretary to use the other side of memos. He comes home and does the same, such as turning all the lights out except for the one lamp that’s being used. When she can’t reason with him she realizes he’s under a spell. They have Darrin’s client Mr. Bigalow and his wife for dinner. Bigalow is a penny pincher too until Samantha accidentally fumbles a spell meant for Darrin. Bigalow becomes a spender much to his wife’s relief after twenty five years of being a Scrooge. Samantha lets Bigalow stay that way and changes Darrin back. Darrin reveals that he only reacted strangely to Samantha buying the coat because he’d already bought one just like it as a surprise.