On Wednesday morning I searched to see if the songs “Soyez amoureux” and “Venez dans mon Coeur” by Boris Vian have been posted online. The titles only appear on lists of lost Boris Vian songs. I memorized the first verse of his 1954 song “À la manière de Brassens” (In the Style of Georges Brassens). George Brassens was a popular singer songwriter and a contemporary of Vian. He covered at least one of Vian’s songs and attended his funeral.
I finished translating the 1965 song “No Man’s land” by Serge Gainsbourg. It’s the singer’s lament that they don’t have a man. I found a recording of the song and sang along with it a couple of times. Tomorrow I’ll begin memorizing it and I don’t think it will take long as it’s a pretty simple song both musically and lyrically. It’s very mid sixties romantic in its style like the kind of London sound that Petula Clark had.
I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the third of four sessions. The machine for the B string has been very stiff and I noticed it’s loose. I partially tightened it with the wrong size Phillips screwdriver and it moved a little better although it’s still going out of tune. I’ve got to get the proper size screwdriver for the machines, although I don’t think that’s what’s causing the tuning issues.
I weighed 85.35 kilos before breakfast.
Around midday I brought in the step ladder and sanded the southeast quarter of the bathroom ceiling. The paper deep depressions in the middle all had the filling come off but the deeper gaps where the wall meets the ceiling remained filled but smoothed over. I think I’ll have time to do the northwest quarter on Sunday but for the rest of the week the days when I would work on the project will be occupied with laundry and taxes, in that order.
I weighed 85.55 kilos before lunch.
In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back.
I weighed 85.4 kilos at 18:00.
I was caught up on my journal at 18:56.
In the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “Seven Shades of Blues” I edited the clip of the wrestling match from Buster Keaton’s Three Ages down to about seven seconds and did the same to the wrestling match between Captain Kirk and the Gorn. I’ll do the same with Kirk’s fight with the Andorian. I still haven’t decided which of those three I’ll insert into the main timeline to correspond with my line, “So wrestle with that angel but never let it lose”. The Keaton clip might be too funny for the mood of that part of the song.
I reviewed the song practice videos of my performances of “Leave the Naïve Alone” and “Laisse tomber les filles” from September 8 to 11. On September 8 I played “Leave the Naïve Alone” on my Gibson Les Paul Studio electric guitar and the take at 58:30 didn’t sound great because of low action. On September 10 I played it on my Martin acoustic guitar and the take at 35:45 was okay. On September 9 and 11 I played “Laisse tomber les filles” on the Martin. On September 9 the take at 40:15 was okay and on September 11 the take at 35:00 was not bad.
I sautéed garlic, ginger, scallions, and mushrooms. I added a bag of frozen edamame beans, two bunches of broccoli and a small jar of salsa. I had a bowl of the stew while watching episodes 12 and 13 of the 1949 Batman serial.
In part 12, as Batman and Robin are pursuing the Wizard at high speed, the Wizard blinds them with a smoke screen so they crash into the bushes. The Wizard’s car is too far ahead now to chase but Batman observes that they are on the road leading to the cliff where they lost the Wizard’s men before, so they head there to see if they can catch a trail. On top of the cliff the Wizard and Neil move the bush that hides the entrance to the cave that leads to the submarine that travels to the cave that is Wizard’s main headquarters. Batman and Robin find no trace of the Wizard on the clifftop. The nearest house is that of Professor Hammil, and Batman decides to pay him a visit. When they get there they start looking around the grounds but Hammil’s butler Carter starts firing at them. Batman jumps him and Carter is surprised because he thought he was shooting at a prowler who broke into the house. They see a man crossing the lawn and go after him. The prowler turns out to be the private detective named Dunn. Batman escorts Dunn back into the mansion and Hammil’s study where Dunn is confronted by Batman, Robin and Hammil. Batman searches him and finds a roll of microfilm inside a cigar. Dunn says it contains photos of blueprints for a neutralizer that Hammil took from the Research Plant without permission. The neutralizer would render the Wizard’s remote control device useless. Hammil argues that the plans are his because he is their inventor. But the research council says the plans belong to the government. Dunn says he found the microfilm in Hammil’s desk. Batman says he’ll turn the film over to the authorities. Later Bruce Wayne delivers the film to the president of the Research Council. Bruce says Batman wants word to get out that the neutralizer parts have already been manufactured and that the microfilm shows how to assemble them. Later Gordon calls for Barry Brown to come in, but Brown refuses to divulge the source of the inside information he so often broadcasts. Gordon gets called away to another office and while he is gone Brown snoops around his desk and finds under a notebook a confidential memo. It says an armoured car will transport the working model of the neutralizer to Culver Hills. After Gordon returns, Brown leaves and from behind a curtain emerge Batman and Robin who confirm that Brown took the bait. Brown broadcasts the information. Later the armoured car is on its way and in the back is Robin. The Wizard’s men intercept it and toss a gas bomb through the roof to force the driver out. Robin breathes through a special portable tube we saw in a previous episode. The Wizard sends his decoy armoured car to continue along the same route by remote control. Wizard’s men are waiting for the gas to clear out before they take the armoured car and so meanwhile they move their car out of sight. But Robin emerges from the back and takes off with the armoured car. The Wizard’s men give chase and at the same time radio the Wizard’s lookout plane above. The pilot starts dropping bombs on the armoured car. The second one is close enough to cause Robin to lose control and the armoured car goes over a cliff. That’s the literal cliffhanger.
In part 13, Robin jumps out just before the armoured car goes over the cliff. The Wizard’s men go down to retrieve the neutralizer but only find they’ve been tricked with an empty crate. Batman picks up Robin. Meanwhile Hammil tells Carter he’s going to surprise the Research Council with his neutralizer and tasks Carter to deliver it. Then the Wizard orders his men to go to Hammil’s house. Hammil gives Carter a case containing the neutralizer but as he is carrying it to his car he is attacked by Wizard’s men and they grab the case. Batman and Robin arrive and stop the men before they can load the case into the car. They get away but leave the case behind. But when the case is returned to Hammil he finds that it’s empty. Meanwhile at Wizard’s headquarters Neil delivers the real neutralizer. Wizard demonstrates for Neil the power that the neutralizer will give him. He points out a disintegrator ray that he already has and says the neutralizer will meet and throw back the disintegrator ray. He shows him what will happen if the beam and the ray meet at the point where disintegration is checked. He puts a device around his neck that is tuned to both machines. Both machines are turned on and the Wizard stands in between them. The result is that the Wizard turns invisible. When the power on both machines is turned off he becomes visible again. The Wizard calls Barry Brown and tells him he plans to acquire the secret plan for the super jet plane. He will appear at 15:00 at the Research Plant. Brown broadcasts that information and the police and Batman prepare to protect the plans. The Wizard arrives in front of the research plant while back at headquarters Neil turns on full power, rendering the Wizard invisible. He easily enters through the gate and the guards see the gate open by itself. A police guard in front of the door is knocked out by a blow from nowhere and his keys are taken as Wizard lets himself in. When word reaches Batman that someone unseen has entered the plant he decides to hide inside the vault. Robin is alone in the director’s office when he is knocked out. A box of explosives floats over to the safe and settles in front of it. Then the invisible Wizard leaves. The explosive blows up and that’s the cliffhanger.
Barry Brown is played by Rick Vallin, who by his late teens was acting in stock productions, on the radio, and in films. He later joined the Pasadena Playhouse. His film debut was in Freshman Year in 1940. His first co-starring role was in The Panther’s Claw in 1942. He co-starred in The Silent Witness, Secret of Linda Hamilton, and in the serials Brick Bradford, Riding with Buffalo Bill, and Adventures of Captain Africa. He starred in Smart Guy.
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