Cannonball Adderley

            On Saturday morning I worked out the chords for most of the third verse of “L'amour en cage” (Love in a Cage) by Boris Vian. The first three verses should set the pattern for the rest of the song. 

            In my Christian’s Translations blog I finished editing “La Robe de Papier” (The Paper Dress) by Serge Gainsbourg and published it. I posted my translation on Facebook. The next song from my Gainsbourg project that didn’t get finished because the audio wasn’t available is “Turlututu Capot Pointu” (Something like “You Kill With Your Car”). 

            I played my Martin acoustic guitar during song practice for the first of four sessions. It just needed to be tuned in the beginning of my 90 minute rehearsal. It feels like the action is rising but it’s still playable. 

            I weighed 86.6 kilos before breakfast, which is the lightest I’ve been in the morning since June 28. 

            The landlord called but I didn’t answer. I checked his message and he said he’d be starting to tear down my walls on Monday. Later he slipped a notice under my door: 

            Dear Tenant (Unit 3), 

            As previously discussed, renovations on your unit will commence on Monday, July 14th. These improvements are being undertaken to enhance your property and to address issues related to water leakage into the commercial unit below, as well as to mitigate any pest concerns. 

           We had offered to accommodate you in a nearby motel for two weeks during the renovation period, which you have declined. As a result, please be advised that contractors will be on-site daily between 8:00 AM and 7:00 PM to carry out the necessary work. To ensure a safe and efficient renovation process, we kindly request that your unit be kept clean and accessible. It is essential that the contractors are provided with a safe and unobstructed workspace. Please note that access to the unit cannot be denied during this period. 

           Thank you for your cooperation and understanding. 

           Sincerely, 1392494 Ontario Inc. 

            Then he knocked and when I opened the door he told me the contractors are coming on Monday. I said, “I don’t think so”. I told him he needs to specify in for detail exactly what he plans to do and why. Then I said he needs to provide proof that these actions are necessary. He started shouting and swearing at me. I put what I told him in writing and emailed it to him, also again offering to do the renovations myself at my own expense but while maintaining the vintage plaster walls. I sent all this information to the student lawyer who’s been “helping” me but I wonder if I should be just getting a real lawyer. I’ll decide after he responds. 

            I rode to No Frills where I bought three bags of green grapes, a watermelon, a pack of Canadian strawberries, two packs of Mexican raspberries, some bananas, two pack of five-year-old cheddar, a strawberry-rhubarb pie, a loaf of cinnamon-raisin bread, two containers of skyr, and a bag of Miss Vickie’s chips. 

            I weighed 86.75 kilos before lunch at 14:04. That’s the least it’s been in the early afternoon since June 25. I had saltines with five-year-old cheddar and a glass of iced tea. 

            I tried to take a siesta but I couldn’t sleep because of worrying over the situation with my landlord trying to destroy my home. 

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

            I weighed 85.5 kilos at 18:00. June 24 was the last evening when I was that light. 

            I made both iced coffee and iced tea for tonight because it’s going to be too hot for hot stuff. 

            I was caught up with my journal at 19:03.

            I worked on 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”. I lined up the concert video with the studio audio at the beginning of the final chorus for the line “keep on making love to you”. Then it went out of sync again for “When just one grain of those silver sands”. During that line I sing “Baba daba doo bap bad aba doo way” and so I brought in another clip of the singing monkeys from the 1930s cartoon “Swing Monkey Swing”. Then I synchronized the audio and video for the line “and I could take you by the hand” and they stayed lined up for “Just one whiff” but then went out of sync for “One little sniff”, so I’ll probably need to bring the monkeys in again. 

            In my “2024-10-04 Song Practice” Movie Maker project I worked on trying to bring the audio and video in sync for the beginning of the final take of “Leave the Naïve Alone”. But the video is from part B of the session while the audio covers the whole session. I started “Laisse tomber les filles” in part A and so it was a bit confusing trying to find the audio that corresponds with part B. When I stopped to have supper the audio was in that space between A and B. I’ll probably have them lined up tomorrow. 

            It was too hot to use the stove but I already had one cooked sausage in the fridge and so I made a cold sandwich with the sausage, five-year-old cheddar, a sliced pickle and Dijon on multigrain sandwich bread. I had it with a beer while watching part 2 of the Bill Cosby interview about The Bill Cosby Show. 

            His character Chet Kincaid had a different mother for season one than season two. Lillian Randolph was the first and Beah Richards was the second. Fred Pinkard, who played Chet’s father was only two years older than Bill Cosby. The show was shot on a Warner Brothers film lot rather than where they normally shot TV shows. Because of that the crew had to be in the film union but there were no black people in that union. So the black members of the crew that Cosby hired had to take a 16 week course before they could get their union cards. He mentioned a hair dresser from the first season but didn’t name her. According to IMDB that would probably have been Hazel Washington. She refused to get her union card and so he had to let her go. She was replaced by Eddie M. Barron. Cosby mentions that Chet’s sister in law was played by Olga James and she was married to Cannonball Adderly. He played on some of the soundtrack of the show. Cosby directed three episodes but didn’t really like directing. He didn’t mind telling directors what to do but not directing itself. 

            Cannonball Adderley played sax for Ray Charles in the 1940s. He moved to New York and in 1955 formed a group with his brother Nat. Miles Davis noticed him and asked him to play for his band. In the 60s he got into electric jazz and put out the albums Accent on Africa and The Price You Got to Pay to Be Free. He acted on an episode of Kung Fu. He is best remembered for the song “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”.