Gene Autry

            On Saturday morning I translated the third verse of “A Cannes cet été” (To Cannes This Summer) by Boris Vian. 

            I ran through singing and playing “Au charme non plus” (The Charm is Gone) by Serge Gainsbourg and I revised my translation. 

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the third session of four. I’ll be counting Monday as the fourth session because tomorrow I’ll be focusing entirely on the three songs I’ll be doing for my book launch. I think next Friday I’ll take the Martin to the Twelfth Fret to get the action adjusted again. I played a sloppy but not clumsy version of “Paranoiac Utopia” all the way through in one take. 

            I weighed 87.15 kilos before breakfast. 

            Around midday I went to Freedom Mobile and paid for my December phone plan. I ran into Pete Janes who thought my book launch had already happened. I corrected him that it’s Sunday so maybe he’ll come. Then I went to No Frills where all the grapes were too soft. I bought bananas, a pack of chicken legs, a pork tenderloin, a loaf of cinnamon-raisin Wonder Bread (I never buy Wonder Bread but this seems like a new thing so I thought I’d try it), zip lock sandwich bags, a jug of low sugar iced tea, two containers of skyr, a bag of regular Miss Vickie’s chips and another of the sweet chili kind. 

            I had Cheez-it crackers with five-year-old cheddar and a glass of low sugar iced tea for lunch. I didn’t expect the crackers to be so tiny. 

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

            I weighed 86.2 kilos at 18:00, which is the lightest I’ve been in the evening since October 28. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 18:55. 

            I spent about an hour rehearsing for my book launch. After fifteen minutes I got through “Memo to the Heart of Insecurity” without fumbling. It took half an hour to get a clean take of “The Next State of Grace”. I spent the rest of the time before dinner trying to get all the way through “Paranoiac Utopia” and almost did but screwed up near the end. I did it this morning in one take so I know I can do it. 

            I made pizza on a slice of multigrain sandwich bread with Italian sausage pasta sauce and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching episodes 41 to 45 of Batfink. 

            In episode 41, it’s mayoral election day and $20,000 in marked bills have been stolen. Anyone with marked bills is arrested and it turns out that both the chief of police and the mayor each have one. Their opponent is Hugo Agogo so Batfink figures he’s planted the bills to ensure his victory. When confronted Hugo stupidly tries to prove he didn’t plant the marked bills by showing that the marked money bag is empty. Hugo has a gun that shoots campaign buttons. Then he springs the heroes into a ballot box and pushes it over a cliff but it lands on the truck carrying ballot boxes to election headquarters. The vote is almost tied when Batfink and Karate pop out to give their votes and arrest Hugo. 

            In episode 42, Hugo is pretending to be a First Nations warrior because he doesn’t look good as a cowboy. He uses a bow and arrow with a line attached to snag the Riviera tiara from a jewellery store. Batfink and karate confront him and he causes a lead pipe to fall on their heads. He ties them to a stake surrounded by fire and does a culturally appropriated dance around them. Batfink says he’s evil but Karate says he must admit Hugo’s a good dancer. It looks like the heroes will be cooked but suddenly it starts to rain and puts out the fire. Then lighting frees them from the stake. Batfink tells Hugo he was doing a rain dance instead of a war dance. Hugo is put in jail in a prison guard’s uniform because he doesn’t look as a convict. 

            In episode 43, Maestro Fiddle Faddle’s Stratovarius is being guarded by the vicious former wrestler Tiger Gluck. But Hugo has a device that makes Tiger think he is a pussycat and so Hugo gets away with the violin. Batfink discovers that Hugo is behind it and goes to his lair. Hugo makes Karate think he is a puppy, gives him a bone and tells him to bury it. He makes Batfink think he’s a chicken and leaves him a trail of chicken feed leading to a bomb that when pecked will explode. But it doesn’t work and Hugo is captured. Batfink says it would have worked if he’d chosen any other animal but nothing can make Batfink turn chicken. 

            In episode 44, Hugo develops a wand that can turn anything into gold and thinks that his life of crime is over. He wonders if Alexander Graham Bell was this excited just before he invented the Graham Cracker. But it turns out that his wand only plates things with gold. So Hugo returns to crime and uses the wand as a weapon to turn people into gold plated statues before robbing them. Batfink and Karate confront him but he sends Karate down through a trap door and Batfink up through a spring door to be knocked out by the ceiling. Batfink is suspended from the ceiling by his wrists. But Batfink is too high to reach with the wand so Hugo throws it but just then Karate chops through the wall and is plated with gold. But Karate’s chop bends the wand so when Hugo throws it at Batfink it behaves like a boomerang and returns to plate Hugo with gold. 

            In episode 45, Hugo invents a machine that brings his own shadow to life. He sends it off to commit crimes without leaving fingerprints. It also seems to be able to fly. Batfink and Karate confront Hugo and his shadow. Karate can’t hit the shadow but the shadow can hit him and knocks out both Karate and Batfink. Batfink is suspended from the ceiling and dynamite is placed under him. Hugo leaves his shadow behind to push the plunger but just before he does, Karate chops through the wall and shines a flashlight on the shadow. With part of its body erased the shadow runs away. Batfink confronts Hugo who brings Batfink’s shadow to life, thinking he can control it. But Batfink’s shadow is also a hero and it destroys Hugo’s machine. 

            Batfink was co-produced by Golden West Productions, which was co-owned by Gene Autry and former football star Bob Reynolds. Autry eventually took control and the company acquired several radio and TV stations throughout the US. Gene Autry became a telegrapher and used to play guitar and sing during the lonely hours of the midnight shift. One of his customers was humorist Will Rogers, who heard him and encouraged him to go professional. He started singing and yodeling on the radio. His first hit record was “That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine”, which he co-wrote in 1932. He wrote or co-wrote over 300 songs. His first film role was In Old Santa Fe in 1934. His first starring role was in the 12 part serial The Phantom Empire in 1935. The fact that his characters usually had the name Gene Autry contributed to his stardom. Also his singing in his films caused his recording popularity to skyrocket. From 1936 to 1942 he was the highest selling box office star and known as “King of the Singing Cowboys”. Both he and his horse Champion had their own radio shows. He became identified with several Christmas songs and he wrote “Here Comes Santa Clause’. He had his own touring rodeo. He owned the Los Angeles Angels baseball team and was vice president of the American League.