Lesley Gore

            On Friday morning I memorized the second verse of “Le temps passe” (Time Goes By) by Boris Vian and that’s half the song. 

            I posted the lyrics to “Dance and Swing to the White and Black Blues”, my translation of “White and Black Blues” by Serge Gainsbourg on Facebook. There are three songs left in my Serge Gainsbourg project to translate all of his songs from 1958 until his death in 1991. I memorized the first verse of his song “Unknown Producer”, which is also called “L'homme de l'ombre” (The Man of the Shadows). I don’t seem to have done a translation of that song but merely wrote down someone else’s translation as a guide. I translated the first verse and there are only two left. 

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the second of two sessions and the B string continued the pattern of going out of tune while showing itself to be in tune on the tuner followed by me taking it out of tune to put it back in tune properly. It just takes a few seconds of strumming to knock it of tune. I’m taking it to Li’l Demon today to hopefully get the problem fixed even if I have to leave it there for a while. Hopefully he won’t tell me it’s my imagination like the luthier at the 12th Fret. 

            I weighed 85.65 kilos before breakfast. 

            Around midday I packed up my Martin and took it to Li’l Demon but Gian, like the luthier at The 12th Fret couldn’t hear anything wrong with my guitar. Even when I tried to demonstrate when it was in and out of tune he couldn’t hear the difference. It’s very frustrating to have people who seem to have a better ear than me telling me that my guitar is in tune when I know it isn’t. He even suggested I just buy another guitar if I don’t like the way the Martin sounds. Maybe Gian just isn’t very good with acoustic guitars. He seems to be good at fixing electrics. Eventually he got frustrated with me and pretty much asked me to leave. I’m determined to find a solution to this problem but I don’t think I can do it in the winter. I can’t cart my guitar around in the freezing cold to other shops on the chance that I’m going to be told the same thing. I’ll have to wait until the weather warms up and just play it as it is until then. I suspect the problem is that the intonation is off and the saddle needs to be moved closer to the fretboard. 

            I weighed 85.65 kilos before lunch, which is the lightest I’ve been in the early afternoon since January 9. 

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

            I weighed 85.15 kilos at 18:26. That’s the least it’s been since January 8. 

            I was caught up on my journal at 19:28. 

            I made four more frames for my second rainbow wave animation and started working on a fifth.

            I reviewed the song practice videos of my performances of “Les Sucettes” and “Annie C’s Aniseed Suckers” from September 25 to 27. On September 25 and 27 I played “Les Sucettes” on my Martin acoustic guitar. On September 25 the take at 20:15 wasn’t bad. On September 27 the take at 31:15 was okay but there might have been a couple of wrong chords. On September 26 I played “Annie C’s Aniseed Suckers” with my Martin and the take at 22:15 was okay. 

            I had a potato with gravy and a slice of roast beef while watching season 1, episode 40 of Batman. 

            This story begins with Robin giving a speech at a high school graduation that concludes by telling the class that the most important part of higher education is to obey the law and support the police. Yuck! But as he leaves the stage we see that Catwoman is there with her gang, as well as her new protegee Pussycat. But Pussycat wonders why she’s there since she’s just a rock and roll singer. Catwoman reminds her that she’s 20 years old and over the hill as a rock singer. She sends her after Robin, and so Pussycat blocks his way. She tells him she wants to be alone with him. His voice goes up an octave when he responds, “Alone with me?” She says she can see an important part of his education has been neglected. He asks what she wants and she answers, “Only you” then scratches him with a cat claw. He is drugged with cataphrenic and suddenly his personality transforms into its opposite. Chief O’Hara comes up to say hello and Robin pushes him into a wall. Commissioner Gordon calls Batman and so far no one knows that Catwoman is behind this. But while Batman is at police headquarters Catwoman invades Wayne Manor with the help of Robin. One side effect of the drug is that Robin doesn’t remember that he is Dick Grayson and doesn’t recognize his Aunt Harriet or Alfred the butler. Robin ties up Alfred while Pussycat binds Harriet. Catwoman’s men blow the safe and take the $200,000 that’s inside. Robin feels dizzy and faints. They take him and escape with the money. What an ass Julie Newmar has! Back at the Cat Lair Pussycat is cleaning a background music record because she wants to try singing to it. Catwoman tells her she’s too short to be a singer. She tells her to go ahead and sing to the record but she won’t listen. She sings “California Nights” by Marvin Hamlisch and Howard Liebling. Catwoman returns and tells Pussycat it was very nice, then asks if she’s gotten it out of her system. She answers, “For the time being”. Catwoman says they need another $800,000 and Batman, in that order. Catwoman calls Gordon and tells him to plug her into the Bat Phone. She warns Batman that if he tries to stop her next series of robberies she will kill Robin. He tells her she is odious, abhorrent, and insegrevious. She tells him that dealing with him has increased her word power and expanded her vocabulary. Batman refuses to cooperate so Catwoman tells him it’s curtains for Robin and hangs up. Her men are counting the money they have stolen so far and Catwoman says they need $1 million in small bills to purchase the plans for the Gotham mint and they are $700,000 short. Later in the decrepit apartment of Pat Pending the world’s richest and cheapest inventor he tells his assistant Rudy that he’s just completed the formula for a universal solvent. But Rudy asks what he could keep it in and Pat realizes he can’t develop the chemical. Rudy speaks in a voice that is clearly an imitation of that of Stan Laurel. He tells Pat he also can’t build his perpetual motion machine because it would put millions of people out of work. Pat keeps all his money in his mattress. Catwoman and her tabbies arrive to knock the two out and take Pat’s money. Gordon goes to see Pat in the hospital and learns that Catwoman mentioned something about a prince getting weighed. Gordon remembers that tomorrow morning Prince Ibn Kereb of Gedallia has his annual weighing in ceremony at his embassy ballroom. The prince will be on one side while paper money will be placed on the other until it is the prince’s weight, and that amount will be given to orphan charities. The next morning the weighing in is underway. Catwoman and her gang enter to begin robbing the place but Batman emerges from behind a curtain and urges Robin not to steal the money. Robin doesn’t recognize Batman. Batman fights and defeats Catwoman’s tabbies and then confronts Robin. Robin attacks Batman and since Batman refuses to fight him, Batman ends up on the floor. Catwoman and her gang escape in her Catillac while Batman follows in the Batmobile across the bridge to New Guernsey where Catwoman has her Catlair West. Batman pulls up outside and calls Gordon to say, “I seem to have found a second Catlair”. Outside there is a big sign that reads “Secret Entrance to the Catlair West” and another with an arrow that says, “Catwoman’s in here”. Batman enters to find Robin tied to a chair. Robin says, “Holy nick of time Batman! I’m glad you’re here!” Batman is happy to see that Robin has been playing possum. But after he frees Robin two of Catwoman’s thugs come up behind to knock Batman out with cattle prods and Robin laughs. Batman wakes up tied to the floor with a blade suspended above him that is held back by a rope that Robin is prepared to cut. Catwoman tells Batman that if he helps her she’ll let him up but if not he’ll be beside himself. He refuses to be her partner and so she tells Robin to start cutting, which he does. That’s the cliffhanger. 

            Pussycat was played by Lesley Gore, who was discovered at a party by Quincy Jones, who signed her to Mercury Records and produced “It’s My Party”, which became a big hit when she was seventeen. This was followed by a string of other smash records such as “Judy’s Turn to Cry”, “Sunshine Lollypops and Rainbows”, and the proto-feminist anthem “You Don’t Own Me”. She was the only female solo act to perform in The T.A.M.I. Show concert film. She performed in the movies Ski Party and The Girls on the Beach. The producer of the Bat man TV series was her Uncle Howie Horwitz. She co-wrote with her brother “Out Here On My Own” for the movie Fame, which was nominated for the Best Song Academy Award but was beaten by “Fame”, which her brother also co-wrote with Dean Pritchford. She hosted several editions of the TV newsmagazine In The Life. She was the inspiration for the movie Grace of My Heart about a closeted lesbian pop singer. She was partnered with Lois Sasson for 33 years until she died.