John Amos

            On Friday morning in my Christian’s Translations blog I almost finished preparing for publication “L'âme slave” (Slavic Soul) by Boris Vian. I should have it done tomorrow. 

            I uploaded to my Christian’s Translations blog “La plus jolie fille du monde” (The Prettiest Girl in the World) by Serge Gainsbourg and finished preparing it for publication. All that’s left is to post the YouTube audio. I’ll publish it and post my translation on Facebook tomorrow and then look for the next Gainsbourg song that didn’t get finished either because of no French text or audio. 

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the second of four sessions and had to tune it a little about three times. It still sounds good. 

            I weighed 86.55 kilos before breakfast. 

            Around midday I sanded the rest of the underside of the upper shelf that runs parallel to the northern bathroom wall and the rest of the northern wall above the lower shelf. I had filled a big hole next to the left bracket on the northern wall and when it dried there was a big crack that I thought I would need to fill. But it turned out that the crack was only in the drywall compound and it almost disappeared when I sanded it. All that’s left in the northeast corner is the underside of the lower shelf and the walls directly beneath it. That might only take one session so maybe I can get that done on Canada Day. 

            I weighed 86.45 kilos before lunch. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back. It looks like they are getting Yonge Street ready for the Pride Parade on Sunday. 

            I weighed 86.3 kilos at 18:00. 

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

            In the Movie Maker project to create a video for the Christian and the Lions studio recording of Brian Haddon’s “The Ballad of My Chest Cavity” the video was slightly ahead of the audio halfway through the second verse. I needed to find some outside video to push the concert video back a touch. Since the subject of the next line is the alveoli I looked for an alveoli animation. I found a 15 second clip called “Alvioli of the Lungs” and downloaded it with Clip Grab. I converted it to AVI with WinX and then imported it into Movie Maker. I inserted it into the main timeline before the line “till their alveoli are polished so well they shine like pearls in a bronchial shell”. As with the previous video of the lungs, the pulsing of the alveoli was slower than the beat of the song and so I doubled the speed three times”. Next I’ll need to cut out most of the video to resynchronize the concert video with the studio audio. 

            I compared the song practice video of my electric performance of “Laisse tomber les filles” on October 3 to that of September 19 and found that September 19 still looks and sounds the best. I compared October 5 to September 19, and September 19 is still ahead. I compared October 9 to September 19 and it’s hard to decide. September 19 is the best take with the Gibson but there is a lot of traffic noise. I might consider uploading two electric versions just to hear how the two guitars sound in a final recording. I compared October 15 to October 9 and October 9 comes out on top in terms of Kramer versions and September 19 is better as well. So I think I’ll upload both September 19 and October 9 or at least start a Movie Maker project for each of them and see how they sound with the audio and video synchronized. 

            I compared my performances of “Leave the Naïve Alone” on September 2 and 14. September 14 is definitely better. I compared September 18 to September 14 and I think September 18 sounds better even though it doesn’t look as good. I compared September 20 to September 18 and found September 20 sounds as good and looks better. I compared September 24 to September 20, and September 20 is still on top. I compared September 30 to September 20 and on September 30 the Gibson sounds more rattly. I compared October 4 to September 20 and now October 4 is ahead. There are two left to compare. 

            I grilled four chicken legs and had one with a potato and gravy while watching season 2, episode 12 of The Bill Cosby Show. 

            Chet has a TV on an installment plan from Ryan’s Furniture Mart but the TV doesn’t work. He goes to the company to complain and when the first salesman sees him he tells the second salesman that it’s his turn. The second salesman reminds Chet that he’s missed five payments. Chet says he won’t be making any payments until he sees something on the screen. Chet’s account is transferred to a repossession company and a nervous new employee named Swann is given the task of taking the TV from Chet. Swann first tries shows up disguised as a TV repairmen but Chet is suspicious when Swann picks up the TV without checking what’s wrong and says it needs to go back to the shop. Chet recognizes Swann’s manner of speaking from the phone and stops him. They chat and then part as friends. Later Swann shows up saying he quit his job and he’s now selling insurance. Chet is getting ready for a date and he lets Swann make his pitch while Chet is in the bathroom. Swann grabs the TV and heads for the door but Chet stops him. Swann says he’ll be fired if he doesn’t come back with the TV. This is the third job he’s had this month. Later Swann shows up at Chet’s door and tells him he’s now a swim instructor at Dolphin Swim School. Chet comes down to the pool to see Swann is legitimately trying to teach kids to swim. Swann offers to buy Chet dinner and they go first to Chet’s place. But while Chet is getting ready Swann takes the TV. Apparently he had only gotten a friend to let him use the pool. Later Swann shows up at Chet’s door to apologize. Chet lets him in, locks the door and takes his shirt off while Swann starts to panic. Next we see that Swann has come to give Chet a floor buffer that goes out of control when he demonstrates it. 

            Swann was played by Don Knotts. 

            The first salesman was played by John Amos in his first TV role. He was a Golden Gloves boxing champion. He played pro football in Canada and the US before he started to get acting work. He earned a degree in Sociology. He became a stand-up comedian in Greenwich Village. This led to a job as a comedy writer for the Leslie Uggams Show in 1969. He made his stage debut in “Norman Is That You?” in 1971. He then formed his own theatre company and took that same play on tour. He made his film debut in Vanishing Point. He made his Broadway debut in Tough to Get Help in 1972. He played Gordy the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He played James Evans on Maude and then again on the spin-off Good Times. He played the adult Kunte Kinte on Roots (for which he was nominated for an Emmy). He wrote and starred in the one-man show Halley’s Comet and performed it around the world. He co-starred in The Players Club, and Madea’s Witness Protection. He starred in Because of Charley.