August 20, 1995: My daughter and I played in the warm outdoors

Thirty years ago today

            On Sunday my daughter and I enjoyed playing in the warm outdoors together.

Marion Ross

            On Monday morning my arm was better than it has been since I strained it while lunging for a falling mug. 

            I continued to edit “L'année à lenvers” (The Year in Reverse) by Boris Vian in my Christian’s Translations blog to prepare it for publication. 

            In Movie Maker I published my “Notre Dernière Chance” photo montage video and uploaded it to YouTube. I noticed while at YouTube that they had blocked my Batgirl 3 video but had made public my Batgirl 4 video. 

            Then I uploaded the text of “Notre Dernière Chance” by Serge Gainsbourg, the chords and my translation to my Christian’s Translations blog. I started preparing it for publication and will probably have that done tomorrow. 

            I played my Kramer electric during song practice and it only needed to be tuned at the beginning and end. Tomorrow I’ll start a two session stretch of playing my Martin acoustic. 

            I weighed 87.38 kilos before breakfast. 

            I shaved and showered and I think I got most of the primer paint off me from yesterday. 

            I weighed 87.45 kilos before lunch, which is the heaviest I’ve been in the early afternoon since August 4. 

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

            I weighed 86.6 kilos at 17:45. 

            I worked on the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “Paranoiac Utopia”. The concert video continues to drag behind the studio audio and so every few words I have to delete some of it to bring it forward. In the final chorus I managed to synchronize the concert video with the studio audio for “I feel”, “I can see forever””, “midst this blindness I”, “feel I can see for…” At that point the “doo doo”s begin and I synchronized the video with the audio for the first one. The first stage of the “doo”s at the end follow the pattern of a verse just like they do at the beginning. The camera is further away from me during that part and it’s hard to tell if the video and the audio aren’t lined up, plus for a while the camera is not shooting me at all. When it returns to me I have just begun the final dramatic singing of the “doo”s and I’m on the third “doo”. At that point the audio is definitely ahead of the video. So next time I’ll delete some of the video of Csilla playing the bongos until they are synchronized. . I might have the audio and the video lined up by Tuesday. If so then I can start shooting my Parkdale video on Wednesday. 

            I compared the song practice video of my acoustic performance of “Coiffure by Eliza” on October 14 to that of September 6 and September 6 looks better and is more expressive. So the September 6 version is the one I’ll upload to YouTube. 

            I compared my September 7 electric performance of “Eliza” to that of September 17 and the September 17 video looks better, sounds better and the Gibson is more in tune. I compared September 19 to September 17 and September 17 is the better looking video. I compared September 23 to September 17 and September 17 looks better, plus at the end of September 23 there is a siren. I compared September 29 to September 17 and although September 17 looks better I am more expressive of September 29, plus I use the volume pedal. I compared October 5 to September 29. September 29 is better but the Kramer has a less rattly sound and so I might do what I did before and make one video with the Gibson and one video with the Kramer. September 29 is the best Gibson take so now I’ll see which is the best with the Kramer. I compared October 9 to October 5 and October 9 looks good but I use the volume pedal instead of the tremolo bar. So I’m going to upload both September 29 and October 5. 

            I compared my September 2 electric performance of “Coiffure by Eliza” to that of September 8 and September 2 looks and sounds better. There are eight more to compare. 

            I had two small potatoes with gravy and a chicken leg with skyr and dill while watching episode 13 of The Brady Bunch. 

            All six children now have the measles. Carol calls Mike at work to let him know. Then she automatically calls her family physician Dr. Porter while Mike instinctively contacts his Dr. Cameron. When the boys see Dr. Porter they refuse to be treated by a woman and when the girls see Dr. Cameron they are horrified about the idea of being touched by a male doctor. Mike and Carol tell the doctors they will make a decision soon about which of them they will choose. In the end they decide to use both doctors. Then when Porter and Cameron return they announce they are going into practice together. Cameron was played by Herbert Anderson, who played the father of Dennis the Menace. 

            Porter was played by Marion Ross, who took drama lessons as a teenager. She acted in college productions and then worked in summer theatre in San Diego. She landed a contract with Paramount and appeared in a unbilled parts in movies. She made her film debut in Forever Female in 1953. She co-starred on Life with Father from 1953 to 1955. She made her Broadway debut in Edwin Booth in 1958. She was in her mid 40s when in 1974 she was cast in Happy Days and became a star. The show lasted ten years. She then starred in the series Brooklyn Bridge. I posted my Batgirl 5 and Batgirl 6 videos on YouTube. Batgirl 5 was accepted but Batgirl 6 was pending copyright approval at bedtime.

August 19, 1995: My daughter and I waded in the pool at Kew Gardens

Thirty years ago today

            On Saturday I spent the day outside with my daughter, playing with the hose in the back yard and then wading in the pool at Kew Gardens.

Oscar Rudolph

            On Sunday morning I uploaded “L'année à lenvers” (The Year in Reverse) by Boris Vian to my Christian’s Translations blog and began preparing it for publication. 

            I finished my “Notre Derniere Chance” Movie Maker project of fitting 100 images in a photo montage video for the song. Tomorrow I’ll publish it and upload it to YouTube. Then I may have time to upload the text of “Notre Derniere Chance” (Our Final Chance) to Christian’s Translations. 

            I played my Gibson Les Paul Studio during song practice and it went out of tune quite a bit. It’s starting to go out on the B string similarly to how the Martin did before I had it upgraded with new frets. 

            I weighed 87.4 kilos before breakfast. 

            Around midday I laid out the drop sheet in the bathroom, covering the toilet, the sink and the floor as far as the tub. Then I brought in the stepladder and painted the first coat of primer on about two thirds of the ceiling and two thirds of the upper parts of the walls. It was pretty messy because I’m a slob, but since I’m priming everything I didn’t need to be that careful about spilling on the shelves. I might be able to finish putting the first coat of primer on the ceiling, the walls, the door and the frame on Tuesday. I think that everything is going to need at least three coats of primer and I should have that done by the end of August. Best case scenario I’ll have all the painting done by the end of September so in the fall I might be able to start tackling the kitchen. That’s a big job but I’m hoping I’ll have those big gaps in the southwest corner filled by the end of the year. 

            I weighed 87.4 kilos at 14:00. 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 87.4 kilos at 18:00. I think that’s the first time I’ve weighed exactly the same in the morning, early afternoon and evening. 

            I was caught up in my journal at 18:53. 

            I worked on the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “Paranoiac Utopia”. The concert video continues to drag behind the studio audio and so every few words I have to delete some of it to bring it forward. In the final chorus I managed to synchronize the concert video with the studio audio for “is”, “slippery with”, “ice in”, “summer weather and amidst”, “all”, and “this blindness”. I might have the audio and the video lined up by Monday. Then I can start shooting my Parkdale video. 

            I compared the song practice video of my acoustic performance of “Coiffure by Eliza” on September 10 to that of September 6 and I think September 6 looks better. I compared September 16 to September 6 and find that September 6 is the better video. I compared September 22 to September 6 and September 6 is still ahead. I compared September 26 to September 6 and September 6 remains on top. I compared September 28 to September 6 and still September 6 stands out. I compared October 2 to September 6 and the earlier one continues to dominate. I compared October 8 to September 6 and there’s still something special about September 6. There's one more take to compare. 

            I made pizza on a slice of multigrain bread with marinara sauce, tomato pesto, a chopped New Zealand grass fed beef burger, and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching episode 12 of The Brady Bunch. 

            The family is preparing for their first Christmas together and the biggest event of the season will be Carol singing in church on Christmas day. But suddenly she comes down with laryngitis and the doctor says she needs to rest. Various cures are tried but it doesn’t look like she’ll be able to sing in church. At the department store Cindy goes to see Santa and tells him the only thing she wants is for her mommy to get her voice back on Christmas. Cindy is so cute that the store Santa can’t help telling her she’ll get what she wants. Mike is mad at him for making the promise but he says he couldn’t help himself. Mike tries to tell Cindy not to get her hopes up but she has absolute faith because Santa promised. On Christmas morning Mike hears Carol singing in her sleep and she has her voice back. 

            The episode was directed by Oscar Rudolph, who started as a child actor in the film Little Annie Rooney. He directed Rocket Man, Twist Around the Clock, Don’t Knock the Twist, and The Wild Westerners. I tried to upload my Batgirl 2 video to YouTube but it was blocked over Copyright. I tried Batgirl 3 and 4 and they were pending when I went to bed.

August 18, 1995: I performed on the Leslie Spit Treeo's open stage

Thirty years ago today

            On Friday evening I performed on the Spit Fridays open stage that was hosted by The Leslie Spit Treeo in the back room of The Cameron House on Queen West.

Sherwood Schwartz

            On Saturday morning I was groggy when I got up because I’m still not used to sleeping on my right side. My left arm felt about the same as the day before. 

            I ran through singing and playing “The Year in Reverse”, my translation of “L'année à lenvers” by Boris Vian. Tomorrow I’ll upload it to my Christian’s Translations blog and begin preparing it for publication. 

            I worked on my “Notre Derniere Chance” Movie Maker project, fitting the images with the lyrics and with the changes in the wave form on the audio timeline. The 100 images took up seven minutes when I started but I got them down to five minutes for the two minute song. I might have the montage video done tomorrow. 

            I played my Martin acoustic during song practice for the last of four sessions and it stayed in tune the whole time. Tomorrow I’ll begin a two session stretch of playing my electrics. 

            I weighed 86.9 kilos before breakfast. 

            Around midday I rode down to No Frills. Their grapes were very cheap but they were from the United States and so I got five bags of Canadian cherries instead. I also bought two packs of raspberries, a Canadian watermelon, some bananas, a pack of five-year-old cheddar, a rack of pork ribs, a strawberry-rhubarb pie, mouthwash, a container of skyr, a sack of potatoes, and a bag of Miss Vickie’s chips. 

            I weighed 87.2 kilos before lunch. I had saltines with five-year-old cheddar. 

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

            I weighed 87.3 kilos at 17:45. 

            I was caught up in my journal at 18:54. 

            I worked on the Movie Maker project to create a video for the studio recording of my song “Paranoiac Utopia”. The concert video continues to drag behind the studio audio and so every few words I have to delete some of it to bring it forward. In the final chorus I managed to synchronize the concert video with the studio audio for “greeting is a curse and kind words”, “are an even”, and “greater evil. Queen Street West”. I might have the audio and the video lined up by Monday. Then I can start shooting my Parkdale video. 

            I compared the video of my September 27 acoustic song practice performance of “Eliza” to that of September 15 and I think September 27 is better, plus it’s already in Movie Maker. I compared October first to September 27 and found that September 27 looks a lot better. I compared October 7 to September 27 and October 7 looks better, plus my guitar is more in tune. I compared October 11 to October 7 and October 7 looks and feels better. I compared October 13 to October 7 and October 7 is the winner. That’s the acoustic version I’ll be uploading to YouTube. 

            I compared the video of my September 4 acoustic song practice performance of “Coiffure by Eliza” to that of September 6 and I think September 6 looks and feels better. 

            I made pizza on a slice of multigrain sandwich bread with marinara sauce, tomato pesto, a chopped New Zealand grass fed beef burger, and five-year-old cheddar. I had it with a beer while watching episode 11 of The Brady Bunch. 

            Both Marcia and Greg have been nominated to run for student body president. The first conflict comes over use of the telephone. The parents deal with this by giving them each half an hour a night. Both parents try to help both kids with their campaigns. Greg makes recordings of slogans to play over the school intercom and Marcia writes notes for her slogans. Greg’s tape is erased and Marcias notes disappear. Each accuses the other but it was easy to accidentally erase one’s own recordings on those machines and Alice admits she threw away Marcia’s notes because she thought they were scrap paper. They practice their speeches in front of the family but none of the boys applaud Marcia’s and she starts crying. Mike reminds the kids that they are going to be a family for a lot longer than Marcia or Greg will be in office. Carol reminds Marcia that she’s a year younger than Greg and will have future chances to run for student body president. In the back yard Greg is planning with his campaign manager Rusty while Marcia happens to be eavesdropping from behind a tree. Rusty suggests they start a nasty rumour about Marcia. Greg threatens to knock Rusty’s head in and then he fires him. The next day when the candidates make their final speeches before the school assembly, Marcia announces that she is stepping down because Greg is the best candidate. 

            The Brady Bunch was created by Sherwood Schwartz, who was a pre-med student and then received a masters degree in Biological Sciences. In 1938 he started as a joke writer for the Bob Hope radio show. During WWII he wrote for Armed Forces Radio. After the war he became a writer for the radio version of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Moving to television he became the head writer for The Red Skelton Show and received an Emmy award in 1961. He created Gilligan’s Island in 1964. He created It’s About Time in 1966. When he was auditioning kids for The Brady Bunch he put toys on his desk. If the kids were distracted by the toys he didn’t consider them for the parts.

            I finished my Batgirl 26 video, editing all the scenes from season 3, episode 26 of Batman so that it only contains the scenes that feature Batgirl. Then I published it. That completes my Batgirl video project. I uploaded the Batgirl pilot to YouTube because no one else has posted it there. 

August 17, 1995: I went to Steve Lowe's show at the Indigo

Thirty years ago today

            On Thursday night I went to Nik Beat’s open stage at the Indigo Café to see my former bandmate Steve Lowe’s feature.