I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the second of two sessions. I video and audio recorded the session as I’ll be doing every morning until October 15. I made it all the way through “Sixteen Tons of Dogma” without any major mistakes and a couple of other songs might have come through relatively okay.
I weighed 87.2 kilos before breakfast.
I rode down to the Parkdale Community Legal Clinic to ask if anyone there could witness my signing of my publishing contract. The receptionist confirmed what I suspected, that anyone can witness a signature. She said using a lawyer would just complicate the process. I asked if I need to provide contact information for the witness so she looked at the contract and said all that’s required is a signature. The only contact info I need is at my end so in the extremely unlikely situation that there would be a dispute I can ask the witness to appear in court.
My upstairs neighbour Sean had said he’d witness my signature but he never got back to me.
I weighed 87.7 kilos before lunch, which is the lightest I’ve been in the early afternoon since last Friday.
As I was heading out for my bike ride I saw David the beggar sitting in front of the Dollarama, so I went over and asked if he would witness my signature. I told him he’s the most dependable person in the neighbourhood since one can always find him. I said an employer looking for dedicated employee should recognize that and hire him to run their warehouse. He signed above my signature on both contracts and I headed out for my ride.
I was looking for a post office to buy an envelope and I went into one on Bloor between Dufferin and Dovercourt. While I was looking at the envelopes someone called my name and it was my friend Lee, who used to work at the old post office at Queen and Dovercourt before it closed and now she works at this one. I figured running into her was auspicious and so I decided to not only buy the envelope but to address it and send the contract while I was there. She was excited to hear about my being published. She asked the truck driver to wait while she got my mail ready to send. I gave her a hug before I left. I finished my ride downtown and back. I wore jeans instead of shorts for the first time in a couple of months.
I weighed 86.7 kilos at 18:15. That’s the least my weight has been since August 23.
I was caught up on my journal at 19:09.
I uploaded to YouTube the video I created for the studio recording of my song “The Next State of Grace”, plus another upload of the same video for the studio audio with drums.
Other than uploading to my computer the videos of my daily song practice, I’m three days behind to review them. I haven’t listened to any of the audio recordings I started on September 1.
I had a potato with gravy and a warmed up T-bone steak while watching season 8, episodes 21 and 22 of Bewitched.
This is a two part story. In the first, Tabitha is looking at her father’s collection of George Washington memorabilia. She wishes she could take them to school for show and tell. Esmerelda tries to make copies of the buckle and button from a book about Washington but winds up summoning Washington. At first he thinks he’s dreaming. While Esmerelda tries to remember her spell so she can reverse it, Samantha tells George that she’s a witch. He asks how fair the thirteen states and Samantha amazes him that there are fifty now. Darrin shows him his picture on the $1 bill and then shows Lincoln on the $5. George assumes Lincoln must have been a greater president to be honoured on the $5. Samantha says more people see the $1. Samantha leaves George alone to make him some tea but he wanders off and ends up in a park where he gives a speech on reserving the spirit of resistance to a gathering of about twelve people. But a cop comes along and says he has to break up the rally unless he has a permit. George reminds him that they are allowed the right of free assembly under the constitution. George draws his sword on the cop. The cop pulls his gun and arrests George. He’s charged with causing a disturbance, holding a meeting without a permit and assaulting an officer and bail is set at $2000. The sergeant says the hearing will be in four weeks. George protests because the constitution guarantees the right to a speedy trial. Darrin pulls some strings and moves the hearing up to tomorrow and it will be a hearing in the judges chamber. Esmerelda remembers her spell and reverses it, sending Washington back to his own time. But then she sees that she sent George back without his shors and tries to send those back as well. But in trying to reunite George with his shoes she ends up bringing him to the shoes rather than the shoes to him. She also brings along Martha Washington.
In the second story, when Darrin sees that Esmerelda has brought back George Washington along with his wife, he yells at her, causing her to disappear. George however is glad to be back because he does not want to miss the opportunity to defend himself at his hearing. The next morning Samantha is able to summon Esmerelda. She’s been brooding on Pluto but she now remembers the spell. But she’s told not to send them back until after the hearing. Larry comes to drive Darrin to work and meets George and Martha. Larry suddenly gets the brainstorm to use Washington’s name for their campaign to sell Whirlaway washing machines. He wants to change the name to Washington Whirlaway washing machines. George is interested and so he comes along to read the copy. Washington meets Mr. Jameson of Whirlaway. George remembers there was a Corporal Jameson in his regiment at the Battle of Long Island. Jameson says, “He was my grandfather’s grandfather!” George says, “He was a coward. He was courtmartialed and drummed out of service”. George reads the copy but when he gets to the point where he has to say that Whirlaway is “America’s finest” he wonders if it really is. If his name is to be used he won’t have it tarnished by falsehood. They agree that Whirlaway is merely as good as the others but not the best and so George refuses to say it’s the finest. Larry’s company loses the account but that doesn’t bother Darrin. Later George attends his hearing with Samantha as his defence. She points out to the cop that George’s sword is ceremonial and not sharp. The cop says he could have still been hurt by being struck by the sword. George reminds him of his right to resist false arrest and the right to free speech. The cop calls him a radical and says he was addressing a rally without a permit. Samantha asks how many people make up a rally and reminds him there were no more than twelve in this case. Samantha says it doesn’t matter if he’s really George Washington or not since he reminds us of what he stands for. The judge dismisses the case. A little later Esmerelda sends George and Martha back.
George Washington was played by Will Geer, who had a Masters Degree in Horticulture and had the habit of raising all of the plants mentioned by Shakespeare. He began performing in tent shows and on river boats. His best known role was as Grandpa Walton on "The Waltons" (for which he won an Emmy). He was also a political activist, a communist and folksinger who travelled with Woody Guthrie and Burl Ives on tours of the work camps in the 1930s. He introduced Woody Guthrie to Pete Seeger. He was blacklisted for refusing to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. He was cast as Slim in the Broadway production of “Of Mice and Men” by Steinbeck himself. He formed the Theatricum Botanicum Repertory Theatre in Topanga Canyon, California. He was the former boyfriend of gay activist Harry Hay. He created the role of Mr. Mister in the play "The Cradle Will Rock." He received a Tony nomination for his role in "110 In The Shade." He played Mephistopheles in the radio play "The Plot to Overthrow Christmas" and acted in the radio soap opera "Bright Horizon." He played the part of Bear Claw in "Jeremiah Johnson." He co-starred in the film Salt of the Earth, which was made entirely by blacklisted film artists.
No comments:
Post a Comment