I worked out the chords for the third verse of “Elle voulait toucher du pognon” (She Wanted a Little Money) by Boris Vian. I think the fourth verse will complete the pattern and then verses 5 to 8 and 9 to 12 will have the same chords as 1 to 4.
I memorized the third verse of “L’île enchanteresses” (The Enchanted Isle) by Serge Gainsbourg. There is only one verse left to learn.
I weighed 89.75 kilos before breakfast, which is the lightest I’ve been in the morning since July 24.
I played my Kramer during song practice and it stayed in tune most of the time.
I rode to No Frills where the grapes were on sale but they were too soft so I didn’t get any. I bought a pint of blueberries, a half pint of blueberries, some bananas, a pack of five-year-old cheddar, Sensodyne toothpaste, a sirloin tip roast, bacon and maple barbecue sauce, saltines, spoon sized shredded wheat, two containers of skyr, and a bag of Miss Vickie’s chips.
I weighed 90.85 kilos at 14:10. September 25 was the last early afternoon when I was so easy on the scale. I had peanut butter and five-year-old cheddar on saltines with a glass of lemonade.
I took a siesta and slept for almost two hours. I got up too late to take a bike ride.
I weighed 91.2 kilos at 17:20.
I was still one day behind in my journal and worked on catching up.
I made pizza on a slice of multigrain sandwich bread, with marinara, tomato pesto, oven potato wedges, and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a glass of Creemore Lager while watching episode 10 of the TV series Custer.
Three prospectors have found a hunk of gold worth $300 (over $7,000 today). The one named Samson kills the others. Suddenly Sioux warriors step out of the bushes and then Crazy Horse. He asks. “For this you kill?” Samson says for enough gold he’d do anything. Crazy Horse says he knows where there is much more gold. Samson says if he has the gold he’ll help Crazy Horse buy guns and ammunition. Crazy Horse says he only wants one thing in exchange for access to the gold. He wants Samson to bring him Custer.
Samson rides to Fort Hays where Custer and the 7th Cavalry are testing a new Gatling gun. It fires for a while and then jams. Samson approaches Custer and they know each other. Samson says during the Civil War the Gatling gun was supposed to replace a whole company of riflemen, but he never saw one that worked well. Apparently Samson works as a scout and was assigned to scout for the proposed Sioux Reservation. He tells General Terry that making a treaty with the Sioux and getting them onto a reservation is a long way off. He tells Terry and Custer that he’s pretty sure there’s a motherlode in the middle of the Black Hills. Custer reminds him that the hills are sacred to the Sioux and prospecting there would be an act of war. Sam says if he were allowed to go in to survey the land and then stake it out as government land, prospectors wouldn’t be able to touch it. Terry says he doesn’t have enough men for that. He asked the government for more men and they sent him a Gatling gun. Samson says he just needs a detail of men for two days. Custer says a detail wouldn’t be enough unless they could take the Gatling gun with them. Terry says they can do it.
After a day’s ride they make camp. We see Sioux sneaking around the camp. Custer checks on the guards and finds Hansen is missing. Custer is attacked by a Sioux and then another. He kills them both.
They can’t find Hansen, and Samson suggests he deserted. He tells Custer he never did care for his men but only himself.
After they break camp we see Crazy Horse watching. We also see that his warriors have captured Hansen.
Once they reach the foot of the Black Hills they make camp. Samson knocks out the guard named Johnnie, ties him up and brings him to Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse says his men can’t fight the Gatling gun to take Custer, so Samson has to destroy it. Samson goes back to the camp and pretends that he’s just discovered Johnnie missing.
After another day’s ride California Joe the scout sees up ahead Hansen tied up and alone. He says its an old Sioux trap. Custer moves in with a couple of men to cut Hansen free and then the Sioux attack. There is one trooper alone getting ready to fire the Gatling gun but Samson knocks him out and removes the firing pin. Captain Keogh sees Samson escaping with a horse, a pack mule and the supplies. Custer says they are going after Samson. Custer and his men enter a canyon to try to catch up with Samson and there they see Johnnie staggering alone until he collapses. When they go to help him they are ambushed by Sioux. They take shelter behind some rocks and fight them off. But then more return. Custer sets up the Gatling gun to point in their direction to bluff Crazy Horse into thinking it’s still a threat. It works, as Crazy Horse observes the gun then orders his braves to ride away.
Samson shows the firing pin to Crazy Horse and says the Gatling gun won’t work without it. Crazy Horse says he doesn’t know how that gun works and the piece of metal could be anything. Crazy Horse asks why Custer pointed the gun at his warriors if it doesn’t work. Samson says he was bluffing.
Crazy Horse and his men are preparing to attack so they engage in drums and dancing before dawn.
Custer puts Keogh in command and heads off alone. He sneaks into the Sioux camp and confronts Samson who is by himself as the Sioux dance. He tells Samson they can’t help him because they couldn’t hear him over the drums. He tells Samson he’s taking him back. They fight and it looks like Samson is winning. Custer is on his back with Samson on top but they are on the edge of a cliff and Custer flips Samson over to fall to his death, While they were fighting Custer removed the Gatling gun firing pin from Samson’s pocket.
The next morning Crazy Horse’s warriord surround the 7th Cavalry and position themselves on high rocks. Custer sneaks back into his own camp as the shooting starts. Custer needs to draw Crazy Horse’s braves closer and so he devises a trick. One by one during the battle, his men pretend they are hit and collapse on the rocks or on the ground. Custer collapses over the Gatling gun. The Sioux charge forward perhaps for scalps. When they are close Custer stands up and orders his men to fire while he mans the Gatling gun and mows the Sioux down. Crazy Horse of course escapes.
At the end we hear California Joe singing “Just Before the Battle Mother”, which was written by George F. Root in 1864. It was sung by Union Soldiers during the Civil War. It was also popular amongst the members of the British conservative cult The Primrose League and was also traditionally sung during Victoria Day celebrations in Canada during the late 19th and early 20th Century. There was also a parody called “The Song of the Coward” that was popular among the Union troops as well.
Samson was played by William Windom, who after WWII was stationed as part of the Allied Occupation of Germany. While in Europe he studied at Biarritz American University in France and got involved in theatre. He trained at the American Repertory Theatre, with whom he made his Broadway debut in 1946 in rotating productions of Henry VIII, What Every Woman Knows, John Gabriel Borkman, and Androcles and the Lion. He made his TV debut in The Philco Television Playhouse in 1949. In the 1950s he divided his time between theatre work and television. He made his film debut in To Kill a Mockingbird. He co-starred in One Man’s Way, Now You See Him Now You Don’t, Goodbye Franklin High, Space Rage, and Fool’s Parade. He starred in Funland. He co-starred in the series The Farmer’s Daughter, My World and Welcome To It (for which he won an Emmy for best actor), Murder She Wrote, Parenthood, and Sonic the Hedgehog. On My World and Welcome To It he played a James Thurber type character and years later he had a one-man show in which he played James Thurber. He played Commodore Matt Decker in the 1967 Star Trek Episode The Doomsday Machine. He was a tournament level chess player and won numerous sailing trophies.
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