David Sheiner

            On Thursday morning I searched for more chords to “L'amour en soi” (Love in Essence) by Serge Gainsbourg. But none have been posted other than the ones I found on La bôite a chanson (Song Box) yesterday. I worked them out for the intro and the first line and I hear entirely different chords than those posted. Also while the set I found has just two chords all the way through, I’m hearing four. 

            I weighed 88.45 kilos before breakfast, which is the heaviest I’ve been in the morning since September 23. 

            Yesterday I sent an email to Gian at Li’l Demon Guitars to inquire about the progress on repairing my Kramer that I brought in on August 23. Last night there was a response that my guitar has been ready for a month. He had said he was going to email me but now wrote that he’d called me several times. I don’t turn on the ringer on my phone and so I wouldn’t have heard it. I checked all the calls I received since August 23 and none were from the phone number on his website. There were also no text messages or voice mails from him. Today at around 12:30 I went there and brought my Gibson along. Gian fixed the switch on the Kramer and reversed it so it’s down for the neck pickup. I only use the neck pickup and before when I was strumming I would accidentally hit the switch to the bridge pickup. He charged me $70. I also had him look at my Gibson to find out why it’s going out of tune so much. He discovered that my bridge is sitting 180 degrees from where it should. The big grooves were holding the small strings and the narrow grooves were holding the big strings. He turned it around and also made a few other adjustments including raising the action a bit. I paid him $80 in cash. We agreed that he should only contact me by email from now on. I would have liked to have played my Kramer sometimes during this year’s recording project, which only has twelve days left. 

            I weighed 88.6 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and stopped at Freshco on my way back. Their red grapes were over $6.50 a kilo but I found a price match with No Frills where they’re only $2.18 a kilo so I bought seven bags. I also got two packs of raspberries, bananas, two backs of five-year-old cheddar, cream cheese, and a pack of Full City Dark coffee. 

            I weighed 88 kilos at 18:45. 

            I got an email from Richard Olafson telling me that my book is being printed and that he’ll be sending me my ten author’s copies soon. He said he gives authors a 40% discount for any additional copies. I told him I would definitely buy more at that rate when my copies are gone. He also said he’s having the launch on November 24. I assume that will be at The Supermarket in Kensington Market but I asked for confirmation so I can promote it properly. I also need to know how much time I’ll have on stage. 

            I was caught up on my journal just in time for dinner at 20:40. 

            I had a potato with gravy and the end of a pork tenderloin while watching episode 25 of The Big Valley. 

            A carnival style variety show has come to Stockton and the owner Mr. Mortenson has staged a street demonstration. He introduces the main attraction, a singer named Liberty Keene as being known as the songbird of Sacramento and tells them they can hear her tonight. Heath is in the audience and seems to recognize her. Another man in the audience who appears to be drunk calls out, “Let’s hear something now!” Mortenson tells him they can’t do the whole show on the street. The drunk insists on hearing a sample, then he pulls out a pistol and says, “Are you gonna start singin or do I start shootin?” He shoots the feathers that are decorating her hair four times before Heath jumps him. Then Heath is told it’s all part of the act and the shooter is introduced as The Great Ambrose the sharpshooter. Heath sends Liberty a note inviting her to dinner after the show. It turns out that Liberty and Heath were childhood friends and when she hears his story of becoming part of the Barkley family she compares it to Great Expectations. Then she reveals to Heath that she is actually married to Ambrose. Heath walks her home and at her door Ambrose steps out of the shadows, somewhat drunk and pulls his gun. He says he never kills but could place a bullet so life is not worth living. He tells Heath that his wife has a passion for young, rich men but she always comes back to him. Liberty and Ambrose go inside and shut the door. Inside Ambrose is hitting Liberty and she screams. Heath breaks down the door. Ambrose smashes the lamp and puts the room in darkness. Shots are fired. The sheriff happens to have heard the shots and enters to find Heath with his gun drawn and standing over Ambrose’s dead body. He says, “I killed him”. Liberty says to Heath, “Don’t look like that darling. It was the only thing you could do”. Heath is arrested on suspicion of murder. The next day Jarrod bails him out and plans to defend him in court. Heath goes to Liberty and insists she stay with his family until it’s all over. As the trial unfolds the papers are eating it up and the public is enjoying Barkley privilege being undermined. Then Liberty says she killed Ambrose and that in the darkness Heath didn’t see her fire the shot. District Attorney Archer challenges how she could have hit Ambrose in the dark. She says she’s a very good shot. He asks her to demonstrate her marksmanship but her hand is shaking and she misses. Later Jarrod learns from Mortenson that Liberty really is an expert shot. Jarrod gets permission from the judge to exhume Ambrose’s body to remove to bullet that killed him. They already have a bullet from Heath’s gun and the two bullets are placed on each side of a scale. If the scale balances then it means Heath’s was the only gun fired. But the killing bullet is lighter. Liberty realizes she has been exposed as the killer. She grabs a gun and shoots out the light, then runs to the street. She gets in a wagon and Heath goes to her. She can’t shoot him and lets it drop. Then she faints in his arms and it turns out that she has been mortally wounded but I don’t see how. Shots were fired after she shot out the lamp so maybe she was hit but there was no indication of that as she ran for the carriage. She gives a very poorly acted death speech. It’s a really stupid ending with the prosecutor offering to let the Barkleys beat him up but Jarrod offering to take him fishing while Heath laughs. 

            Archer was played by David Sheiner, who made his TV debut in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet in 1950. He made his Broadway debut in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter in 1958. He made his film debut the same year in The Mugger. He played Roy in the film The Odd Couple. He played Guido in The Stone Killer.

October 4, 1994: A private investigator read pornography at my open stage

Thirty years ago today 

            On Tuesday evening I went to the Gladstone Hotel early to meet the co-owner Allan Appleby so I could get some more chairs for the Art Bar. Adina came early too and helped out. That night during my Orgasmic Alphabet Orgy writers open stage we had a little party for Mary Milne since it had been her birthday the day before. I performed my “Song for the Girl with a Name Like a Bell”. A woman named Pam Stewart, who was a private investigator doing some work nearby, came in to read some pornography.

Bert Freed

            On Wednesday morning I memorized the tenth verse of “Allons z'enfants” (Join the Ranks Kids) by Boris Vian. There are four verses left to nail down. 

            I finished memorizing the third verse of “L'amour en soi” (Love in Essence) by Serge Gainsbourg. I searched for the chords and found a set on La bôite a chanson (Song Box) but it says the entire song is F minor and E flat all the way through, which I doubt. I’ll search some more tomorrow and then I’ll start working them out myself. 

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the second of two sessions. I audio and video recorded the session as I have since September 1 and as I will continue to do until October 15. It took several takes to get a good take of “Vomit of the Star Eater” but it only took a couple of takes to get a not bad version of “Sixteen Tons of Dogma”. Tomorrow I’ll begin a four day stretch of playing the electric guitar during song practice. It looks like it’ll be the Gibson because my Kramer has been in the shop since August 23. 

            I weighed 87.75 kilos before breakfast. 

            I weighed 88.9 kilos before lunch, which is the heaviest I’ve been in the early afternoon since September 22. I had Triscuits 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 88.1 kilos at 18:00. That’s the most I’ve tipped the scales in the evening since September 23. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:45. 

            In the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “Me and Gravity” I worked on synchronizing the old concert video with the studio audio for the fourth verse. The audio was always a little ahead of the video and so I had to cut bits of the video timeline every few words to keep lining them up. I made it into the fourth chorus and had the same problem. I synchronized the video and audio for the first two lines and I’ll continue tomorrow. 

            I uploaded today’s song practice videos. I reviewed another half hour of the September 12 video and finished for the night. 

            I made pizza on naan with Basilica sauce and made a fence in the middle of french fries and five-year-old cheddar with an egg in the centre. I had it with a beer while watching episode 24 of The Big Valley. 

            Jarrod is just riding out from the house when he encounters a man named Gil Anders who says he’s an old friend of Heath’s and he’s been looking for him for three years. Jarrod tells him to wait for Heath at the house and starts riding away when there is a gunshot and Gil is on the ground. Two deputies come riding up and one shows Jarrod a wanted for murder poster with Gil’s picture and a $500 reward. They say they are taking him to Coreyville to stand trial. Jarrod says they aren’t taking him anywhere in his condition but one of the men aims a rifle at him. Just then Nick rides up with his gun drawn. Jarrod tells them they’re trespassing and so they leave for now. Jarrod and Nick take Gil to the house and send for the doctor and for Heath. Dr. Merar says Gil needs a transfusion and Nick volunteers. According to Wikipedia early transfusions were risky and many resulted in the death of the patient. By the late 19th century, blood transfusion was regarded as a risky and dubious procedure, and was largely shunned by the medical establishment. There were however isolated reports of successful transfusions towards the end of the 19th century. This story is supposed to take place around 1880 and the doctor would have known nothing about blood types and so giving Gil someone else’s blood would have been a gamble. Heath is summoned but when he arrives and sees Gil Anders he tells everyone to let him die. Jarrod tries to talk with Heath but he says to send Gil back to Coreyville. Jarrod reminds Heath that Coreyville is run by Ben Colter the hanging judge. The deputies return with the sheriff but Jarrod tells them they need a search warrant and the judge in Stockton is away for the next two days. Heath explains his attitude towards Gil to the family. Heath, Gil and a teenager named Willie Martin were heading for Nevada across the desert to prospect for silver. They were attacked by Umas and lost all but one. They were down to one skin of water. Gil waited until they were asleep and ran off with the horse and the water. Willie died of thirst. Heath’s family still thinks Gil needs a trial. Heath is upset that no one is siding with him and so he leaves to stay in the hotel in Stockton. Jarrod heads for Coreyville to find out the truth before handing Gil over to deputies from there. Jarrod talks with the sheriff who says there were no witnesses to the murder of the schoolteacher Horus Ames but everybody knew Gil did it. At the hotel the clerk tells Jarrod they are full but Jarrod tells him he is risking fine or imprisonment because if he is denying someone a room when there is a vacancy he is in violation of California state law. Later Jarrod is playing poker with some locals and offers them $100 to tell him why Gil killed Horus. They quietly deal Jarrod out of the game but the bartender tells him to talk with Amy Colter. Jarrod goes to his room where Ben Colter’s nephew Matt is waiting for him with two men. Matt tells Jarrod to leave town and when he refuses he is beaten unconscious. Jarrod is trapped in his room with men waiting for him on the street. Matt’s wife Amy comes to him, helps him get away and shelters him in the schoolhouse. Meanwhile the Barkley family has not received the promised telegram from Jarrod and so Nick decides to go to Coreyville. On the way he stops in Stockton and convinces Heath to come along. The next morning Amy tells Jarrod that Horus Ames was killed because of her. She was spending innocent time with him discussing books but one night when she returned a book to him Matt jealously attacked and killed Horus. He threatened to kill Amy as well. Jarrod says he will write out what she just said and she agrees to sign it. Jarrod is headed for the stage when two men grab him and are about to throw him under it. But Nick and Heath stop them. Matt fires at the brothers then they all draw at the same time and kill him. Judge Colter says he wants them thrown in jail but the sheriff finally stands up to him and refuses. Amy steps up as a witness and says they were defending themselves. Heath returns home and goes to hear Gil tell him that he’s been searching for three years to tell him that he was scared in the desert and did a horrible thing. The guilt has been gnawing at him all this time. He just wants Heath to believe that he would give his life to do it over. Heath believes him.

            Judge Colter was played by Bert Freed, who began acting in university and made his Broadway debut in 1942. His film debut was in Carnegie Hall in 1947. He played Rufe Ryker on the TV series Shane. He was the first actor to play Columbo and that was on the Chevy Mystery Show in 1960. He directed one episode of T.H.E. Cat. He died while on a fishing trip in Canada in 1991.

October 3, 1994: It was Mary Milne's birthday and we walked her dog on the beach

Thirty years ago today

            On Monday I posed from 9:00 to 16:00 at the Ontario College of Art. I saw an interesting video with no people but only objects bumping into each other and setting off chemical reactions. It was Mary Milne’s birthday so I called her. She drove out to pick me up and we took her dog Bill for a walk on the beach. Then she went out with her friend Fiona.

Peter Haskell

            On Tuesday morning I wasn’t quite able to memorize all of “L'amour en soi” (Love in Essence) by Serge Gainsbourg but I should have the whole song nailed down tomorrow. 

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the first of two sessions. I audio and video recorded the session as I have since September 1 and as I will for two more weeks. It took several takes to get through “Vomit of the Star Eater” and “Sixteen Tons of Dogma” but I think I got good versions of each. The take of “Sixteen Tons of Dogma” may be the best so far, the gain on the guitar was a bit high on the audio interface compared with the vocal. 

            I weighed 87.8 kilos before breakfast, which is the most I’ve weighed in the morning since September 23. 

            Since my free student version of Microsoft Office is expiring on October 3 I decided to buy it today. The main thing I needed was Word but Microsoft offers the whole package in two main options. I could buy it once a year for $100 or buy a one time package for $160. Since I used Word 2000 for twenty years I don’t see the need of annually renewing the app so the latter option seemed much better to me. After tax it was about $190 and it downloaded while I was having lunch. 

            I weighed 87.75 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and on the way back I stopped at Freshco. I took some money from the bank machine and used the washroom. I checked out their grapes but they were too soft and so I walked over to Metro where they were a little firmer and a little cheaper. I got five bags of red grapes and a pack of two artisan naan. 

            I weighed 87.75 kilos at 18:00. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 19:15. 

            In the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “Me and Gravity” I added all my clips of Buster Keaton falling to fill up the time of the third chorus. Then I cut out several seconds of the old concert footage to synchronize the video when I sing “Some have stayed a night or two / Some even stayed the whole month through / It seems they’d either gotten lost / or fallen in that well”. I shout that last line and extend the final word but I do it slightly longer in the concert video, thus putting the end of the line out of synch with the audio. Next time I’ll cut a little bit of that extension out of the video. 

            I uploaded today’s song practice videos and reviewed another five minutes of the one from September 12. 

            I grilled a small pork tenderloin and had a quarter of it with a potato and gravy while watching episode 23 of The Big Valley. 

            Heath’s childhood friend Ward Witcombe has been borrowing money from him ever since they renewed their acquaintance after Heath came into wealth as a member of the Barkley family. So far he has leant him $300, which in modern money would be over $9000. It’s starting to annoy him and when Ward comes to him while he’s breaking horses he tells him that if he busts a bronco he’ll give him $100. But Ward has no experience and is thrown into a fence, resulting in his legs being paralyzed perhaps temporarily but maybe permanently. Heath feels guilty and begins to help out Ward and his wife Nora around the house, doing all the work Ward never got around to doing. An old boyfriend of Nora’s named Ben Keel from when she worked in a saloon comes to visit after finding out Ward is incapacitated. He tries to rape her but Heath arrives and beats him up. Later Keel and two friends are in the local saloon when Heath’s brother Nick comes in for a beer. They have been spreading a rumour that Heath has been acting as a husband for Nora in every way since Ward has been laid up. Nick fights and beats all three of them. Heath escorts Nora to church but then Deacon Pursey comes to tell Heath’s mother Victoria that the congregation thinks it’s inappropriate considering the relationship they are rumoured to have. Victoria threatens to tell the church minister about this and sends him packing. Heath continues to do renovations to Ward’s house and meanwhile we see that Ward is secretly able to walk. Ward is concealing his recovery to give himself an edge in order to prod Heath’s conscience to get a large sum of money from him towards a timber investment in Montana. He says he needs $5,000, which would be $154,000 in modern money. Heath gets his family to agree to give him the money to help Ward. When Heath is on the way with the money Nora discovers that Ward can walk. She says she’s going to tell Heath and he begins to strangle her. She grabs a gun and they struggle, resulting in Nora being shot and killed. Ward puts her on a couch out of sight and returns to his wheelchair. Heath arrives with the money and then for some dumb reason Ward pulls a gun on him and stands up. He tells him Nora is dead and he’s going to have to kill him too. Heath looks at Nora and sees she’s still alive. That surprises Ward enough for Heath to disarm and overwhelm him. Ward goes to Denver and Nora moves away somewhere with a new outlook on life and a feeling of freedom. 

            Ward was played by Peter Haskell, who earned a BA in English from Harvard. He was planning on studying law when he was cast in the off Broadway play The Love Nest. His TV debut was in Death Valley Days. He was a regular on Search for Tomorrow and Ryan’s Hope. He co-starred in the TV series Bracken’s World. He played Sullivan in two films of the Childsplay horror series. He starred in The Legend of Earl Durand.

October 2, 1994: Adina and me smooched on the Secret Beach

Thirty years ago today

            On Sunday I met Adina in my neighbourhood and we went for a walk down to Secret Beach. We sat on the rocks that jut out into Lake Ontario and I started kissing her. Then we went back to my place and necked until it was time for her to go home.

James Whitmore

            On Monday morning I memorized the second verse and chorus of “L'amour en soi” (Essential Romance) by Serge Gainsbourg. It may only take me one more day to nail down the whole song. 

            I played my Gibson Les Paul Studio electric for most of song practice until my high E string broke so I switched to my Martin acoustic to finish. I audio and video recorded the session as I have since September 1 and will continue for another 15 sessions. I made it through “Vomit of the Star Eater” in one take and it might be the best one so far. “Sixteen Tons of Dogma” went okay too although I think I hit a wrong chord but it wasn’t a dissonant one. 

            I weighed 87.5 kilos before breakfast. 

            I weighed 87.85 kilos before lunch. 

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

            I weighed 87.9 kilos at 17:52, which is the most I’ve weighed in the evening since last Monday.

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

            I changed the high E string on my Gibson. 

            In the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “Me and Gravity” I needed some outside video to fill up the timeline occupied by the third chorus. In the old concert video the camera moves away from me and focuses on my then bass player Arjan. But since Arjan is not in the studio recording it doesn’t make sense to focus on him. The camera is on him for the entire chorus and so I needed some video to replace him that was more appropriate to the theme of the song. I started searching for more clips online but then I realized I probably already have enough from the Buster Keaton video that I downloaded. I recopied it to the end of the timeline and edited out everything that doesn’t show Buster being a victim of gravity. I ended up with about seventeen seconds of clips. I inserted the first one into the main video and tomorrow I’ll add some more. 

            I uploaded today’s song practice videos. I finished reviewing the September 11 videos and watched and listened to the first ten minutes of September 12. 

            I had a potato with gravy and two chicken wings while watching episode 22 of The Big Valley.

            An old man named Handy Random is riding his mule named Jughead through an orange grove and singing, “You ain’t much of an animule. Your head is hard, you’re a plumb dern fool but I’ll admit one thing of course, you’re a dern sight better than a horse”. Suddenly two men start shooting at him, although deliberately high to miss him. Handy doubles around with his shotgun and shoots and wounds one of them. Handy hears another rider approaching and has his gun ready. Nick recognizes him as the man who killed the one who murdered his father, Tom Barkley. He invites Handy back to the house to be their guest for a few days. Audra and Jarrod are delighted to see him. Jarrod explains that it was the sons of Ezra Craddock who were shooting at him because they consider that orange grove theirs. The Barkley and Craddock property has always been divided by Green Creek but a flash flood moved the creek over so the Barkley orange grove is now on the other side. Craddock is a radical Christian who believes god gave him the orange grove. The dispute has been taken to court but won’t be determined for six weeks. Meanwhile the oranges are ready to be harvested now and would earn $5000. On top of that Craddock plans to cut down the orange trees to turn the land into pasture. Handy suggests taking the grove by force but Nick says they don’t need a range war. Then Jarrod and Nick learn to their dismay that Handy actually wounded one of the Craddocks. Heath comes in and is introduced to Handy. He recognizes him from somewhere and refuses to shake hands. Nick goes to see Craddock to smooth things over but Craddock is convinced that Handy works for the Barkleys. He says that up until now his boys have been aiming high but from now on they’ll shoot dead centre. Later Handy offers to take care of the problem with his shotgun for $500. Heath’s family asks him to explain his attitude towards Handy. Heath says Handy makes his living following feuds or starting them. A couple of years ago both Heath and Handy were involved in the Lincoln County Wars (This was a conflict made famous because of Billy the Kid’s participation). It didn’t matter which side you were on because if you brought someone’s saddle to the paymaster as proof of a man’s death you got $25. Handy made money by shooting people on his side in their backs. Heath got drygulched (ambushed) and shot in the back by Handy’s shotgun loaded with carpet tacks and horseshoe nailheads. Handy ran up with a knife to finish him off but got a rifle butt in the head. Later Handy turned in Heath’s saddle anyway. Jarrod and Nick confront Handy and ask him to move on. Heath is finally able to stir Handy’s memory about where they met before. Handy tells him he’d better kill him the next time he sees him because that’s what he’ll do to him. He also declares that he’s going to work for Craddock and apologizes in advance for killing Jarrod and Nick if they trespass. Handy goes to Craddock property, disarms his sons and makes them lead him to the house where Craddock agrees to hire him. Heath learns that Audra has gone to reason with Craddock and he heads over there. Craddock tells Audra that he’d be willing to compromise on this issue if she would marry his son, but she turns him down and leaves. She meets Heath on the trail. He hears Handy’s mule bray, grabs Audra and dives for cover just before Handy fires. Handy is stalking them just as Joe Craddock rides up. Handy swings and fires, killing Joe. Heath shoots Handy and as he’s dying he offers his regrets. He says he’s cold but as Heath is taking off his jacket to cover him, Handy grabs his shotgun to shoot him, but Audra kills Handy with a pistol. She’s in shock but Heath consoles her and says Handy’s been dead for a long time. Craddock is grateful for being avenged and offers to let the Barkleys harvest the oranges. 

            Handy was played by James Whitmore, who earned a BA from Yale in 1944. After WWII he studied at the American Theatre Wing under the GI Bill. He made his Broadway debut in Command Decision in 1947, for which he won a Tony Award. His film debut was a co-starring role in The Undercover Man in 1949. He was nominated for both Academy and Golden Globe Awards for his performance in Battleground. He starred in The Next Voice You Hear, Them, Black Like Me, Will Rogers USA, Give Em Hell Harry, Bully, and The Adventures of Mark Twain. He co-starred in Mrs. O’Malley and Mr. Malone, Above and Beyond, Crime in the Streets, and The Relic. He starred in the TV series The Law and Mr. Jones. He co-starred in the sitcom Temperatures Rising and in Mister Sterling. He starred in the Twilight Zone episode “On Thursday We Leave for Home”. He won an Emmy for his guest appearance on The Practice. He coached James Dean in an acting workshop in the 1950s.

October 1, 1994: I didn't keep my daughter overnight because I had a date the next day

Thirty years ago today

            On Saturday I had my daughter for the day but it was cold for the season so we might not have gone out to play. I don’t think she stayed overnight because on Sunday I had a date with Adina.