Thursday, 12 December 2024

John Gentilella


            On Wednesday morning was considerably diminished although I still had a lot of phlegm. I worked out the chords for the second line of “A Cannes cet été” (To Cannes This Summer) by Boris Vian. 
            I worked out the chords for two thirds of the chorus of “Variations sur le même t'aime” (Variations on the Usual I Love You) by Serge Gainsbourg. I’ll either have the whole song done tomorrow or at least I’ll be down to the final verse. 
            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice and it sounded horrible. I just brought it back from the Twelfth Fret where Brian set it up because the action was too high and it sounded a lot better before. It’s very frustrating to travel an hour each way twice and to have it constantly out of tune. It’s a great guitar and it should be a joy to play but as it is it makes me want to cry. There must be someone downtown who knows how to properly set up a fucking Martin. I’ll take it to Gian at Li’l Demon and see what he can do. 
            I weighed 86.15 kilos before breakfast. 
            Around midday I started looking for a similar humidifier to mine to send to my daughter Astrid in Montreal. I first tried the Honeywell store and got to the point of purchasing it when I saw there was no option for Canadian shipping. I did the same with Ebay and there were only US states listed. I tried Canadian Tire but they wouldn’t ship outside Toronto. I tried the nearest Canadian Tire to my daughter’s address but it looks like the only humidifier like mine is at the Uppity Village location near my place and there’s only one left. Finally I was able to buy one through Best Buy and it might even get there on Thursday. 
            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. 
            I weighed 85.45 kilos at 18:30, which is the lightest I’ve been in the evening since December 3.
            I was caught up on my journal at 19:30. 
            I worked on the first frame of the second wave of the rainbow animation for the video I’m creating for the studio recording of my song “Seven Shades of Blues”. It’s taking too long so I’m going to try to speed up the process next time. 
            In the Movie Maker project for my October 1 song practice I cut out small parts of the audio to synchronize it with the video. I’m just a microsecond behind. 
            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 91 to 95 of Batfink
            In episode 91, Hugo Agogo has developed a teleportation device, which he is using to commit crimes. Batfink finds Hugo on the road juggling bags of stolen money but he keeps disappearing. They go to his lab. Hugo sends Karate down a trap door and he comes up tied to a giant fire cracker. Hugo sends Batfink to places all over the world. With just seconds left before Karate is blown up, Batfink comes to save him. Hugo doesn’t understand because he sent him “There”. Batfink explains that the last “There” he sent him to was There, New Jersey, which is just seconds away for Batfink to fly. So the unnamed city where Batfink lives and fights must be New York. I don’t think there’s a town named “There” anywhere. 
            This episode was co-animated by John Gentilella, who animated Popeye for many years. He was known for his dynamic but expressive style. He was considered to be the best of the Popeye animators. He also animated Charlotte’s Web, the 1967 Spiderman series, and Fritz the Cat. 
            In episode 92, former bowling champion Bowl Brummel now uses his bowling skills for crime. He bowls a bowling ball sized bomb to blow open a jewellery store and the jewels just fly into his bag. Batfink’s super sonar finds Bowl’s hideout in an old bowling alley. Bowl knocks Karate out with a bowling ball bounced off a wall. He catches Batfink with his automatic pin setter. Batfink becomes the head pin in front of nine pins that are filled with nitro. Bowl rolls a ball towards him that will explode the back pins but Batfink uses his super sonar to flick the switch to cause the pin setter to pick the pins up so the ball rolls under them. Bowl is arrested. 
            Episode 93 is called “Fleiderfink” based on the opera “Die Fleidermaus”, which means “The Bat”. Flitter Mouse is another term for a bat. 
            In this story opera star Frederico Fenootz receives a letter from which when opened emits a gas that causes him to lose his voice. Behind it is his understudy Harold Hambonay who will now take over the part. Batfink gets a similar letter and also loses his voice. Batfink and Karate find Harold’s home. Harold plays them his recording of “The Jewel Song” from the opera Grossinger, with super loud speakers that slam together and knock them out. There is a “Jewel Song” in Faust but I can’t find an opera named “Grossinger”. They are tied together under a beaker of acid and Harold is going to sing a perfect F# above high C, which will shatter the glass. But his voice shatters the heroes’ brass bonds. Harold restores Batfink’s voice so he can tell him what happened. Batfink tells Harold he always sings flat. 
            In episode 94, a green man named Blankenstein shoots a gun that wipes people’s memories. The jewellery store owner leaves his son in charge and Blankenstein wipes his memory. Then he tells him that he’s his son and then he takes away the valuable jewels. Batfink finds Blankenstein’s home with his super sonar even though there’s a big sign outside that reads “Blankenstein”. When Karate enters, Blankenstein hits him with his blank beam and then tells him he works for him. Then he wipes Batfink’s memory and tells him he’s a villain. But Batfink looks at his I.D. and learns he’s a good guy. Karate is easily convinced he’s a bad guy and the two fight until they slam their heads together and remember everything. Blankenstein’s blank gun is empty and so he is arrested. 
            In episode 95, Whip Van Winkle uses whips to steal a purse, a billfold and a cop’s gun. Batfink locates Whip in the woods. Whip ties up Karate with a whip, then he trips Batfink and knocks him out. Batfink is tied up and placed in a hammock that stretches across a chasm. Then Van Winkle uses his whip to rock the hammock while singing until Batfink falls. But during his plummet Batfink breaks free. He says Whip’s terrible singing woke him up. Whip tries to get away but Karate swings one of the whips and knocks him in the head with the handle.

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