I memorized the fifth verse of “Flashback” by Serge Gainsbourg and finished translating verse four. I should have the whole song nailed down tomorrow.
I played my Kramer electric during song practice for the first of two sessions and the B string went out of tune a lot. I think some of its frets need to be changed just like with the Gibson.
My scale said I weighed 88.15 kilos before breakfast and then the batteries were low so I don’t know. But that weight is not out of the ordinary for a Sunday and so it may be accurate. If it’s true it’s the heaviest I’ve been in the morning since June 6.
Around midday I applied a third coat of primer to my round mirror frame. I think that might be enough. I also applied the first coat of primer to the bottom of the lazy Susan that goes on the top bathroom shelf. I’d already done the top on Friday but ended up getting some of the Masonite that I’d used as a drop sheet stuck to the edge of the top. So I had to sand those parts. Next time I’ll put something in between it and the Masonite.
I couldn’t weigh myself before lunch because the scale batteries were still recharging. I had saltines with five year old cheddar and a glass of iced tea.
In the afternoon I took a bike ride downtown and back.
I weighed 87.9 kilos at 18:11. June 8 was the last evening it was that high.
I was caught up in my journal at 19:26.
I uploaded my video of “Divorce the Weather” to YouTube.
I compared the song practice video of my September 22, 2024 performance of “I Love You. Neither Do I” to that of September 4. September 4 looks better and is more expressive. I compared September 26 to September 4 and September 4 still stands out for look and expression.
I made pizza on a slice of multigrain sandwich bread with marinara sauce, tomato pesto, a slice of Black Forest ham cubed, and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching episode 29 of Checkmate.
A ballet dancer named Janine is being followed and threatened by a well connected Mexican man named Arturo Calderone so she calls Checkmate. She receives roses with a card saying they are for her farewell performance. She needs protection but Don and Hyatt can’t help her tonight because they are under subpoena to be in Seattle to testify in a court case. They get retired cop Mike Lambeth to watch her tonight. But when leaving for the airport they find Mike’s dead body in the elevator. Janine is missing but turns up at Don’s door that night. She says she introduced Mike to Arturo so he would know she had protection. But then she left and went looking for Don. She kisses him. He takes her to the police so she can tell them what happened. Don thinks she’s holding something back and she admits it. A man named Prince Stanley Zobienski comes to see Don and offers him $5000 for the Sugarplum. Don has no idea what he’s talking about but plays along and says he can’t help him. Stan pulls a gun, which Don takes away from him. He gives it back to him without the bullets. Arturo is found dead. Janine is abducted. They learn that Mike was killed with his own gun. The dresser at Janine’s dance company falls out of a car in front of Checkmate and she has a package containing the Sugarplum. It’s the Sugarplum Fairy costume from the Nutcracker ballet. It is sequined with a million dollars worth of emeralds. Janine calls Don and tells him to bring the package to the theatre. Don takes the dress to the cleaners and sends the ticket to Dr. Hyatt, then he goes to the theatre. He finds Janine tied to a chair. Stan says Janine has been working with him but she denies it and says she was threatened with crippling. Don calls Hyatt and asks him to have a delivery service bring the package. Jed poses as a delivery man and brings it. Stan and his henchman leave with the dress but they are caught by Jed and the police. Don exposes Janine and says she killed Mike with his gun. She tells Don she really loves him, then he walks away.
Janine was played by Cyd Charisse, who started taking ballet lessons as therapy to build up strength after having polio, but continued studying dance throughout her childhood. She joined the Ballet Russe at the age of 13. Her film debut was in Something to Shout About in 1943 (but it may have been in the short film Escort Girl in 1941). She danced with Fred Astaire in the Ziegfeld Follies movie in 1945. Her first speaking part was in The Harvey Girls in 1946. It was her dancing in Singin in the Rain that made her famous. She co-starred in The Band Wagon, Brigadoon, Something’s Got to Give, Mark of the Renegade, It’s Always Fair Weather, Silk Stockings, The Unfinished Dance, On An Island With You, The Kissing Bandit, Tension, The Wild North, Meet Me In Las Vegas, Party Girl, Twilight For the Gods, Five Golden Hours, Two Weeks in Another Town, and Maroc 7. She said when she danced with Gene Kelly she’d be covered with bruises but Fred Astaire was smooth and agile. Kelly was more creative and stronger but Astaire was the better dancer. Her second husband Tony Martin became her dance partner in cabaret shows and on TV. Her legs were insured for $5 million. She made her Broadway debut at the age of 70 in Grand Hotel but it was a disaster because she couldn’t sing.
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