R.I.P. Hootenanny

It appears that the word "hootenanny" is one of several that were struck from the dictionary last year. We will now have to call them something else.

Such as "acoustic music/song-singing get-together on a porch in Arkansas that was amazing fun until Jeremy picked up his banjo and ruined it but then the pipes and whisky made up for it once he stopped."

Or maybe something a little shorter. I think "front porch shindig" might do.

Better suggestions?

An Almost Mugging

As you may or may not know, my youngest brother David is in Italy for the semester. A few days ago he was at the train station in Sienna, and he was headed to the W.C. before he got on the train. On his way to the W.C., someone grabbed him violently and started shaking him, at which point David freaked out because he thought the Gypsies were coming to kill him. Then, just when he was getting ready to fight for his life, his attacker started laughing hysterically and released him. When David turned around he was shocked to see the Ruskie. Apparently, the Ruskie's job is in a slow period so he's in Italy for a month. David is showing him around Florence today.

Hybrids

Not the cars. Here's a thought, though: take one part of a story, and insert it in another.

Examples:
Clyde from An American Tragedy goes to England, and meets Elizabeth Bennet of Pride and Prejudice. She gets pregnant, and he pushes her out of a canoe to her drowning death.

Captain Ahab visits Mary Austin in Land of Little Rain. They wander the desert together, and Ahab attempts to destroy the Grand Canyon by filling it in. He dies flinging himself into it. Alternate: Moby Dick visits Mary Austin in Land of Little Rain and dies promptly, filling the desert with the smell of a rotting albino whale corpse.

A slight shift:
Environmentalists and Pentecostals exchange epistemologies. Pentecostals oppose dancing because there is a global shortage of it, and it is contributing to climate change. Environmentalists oppose SUVs because God might.

Any more ideas?

Happy Birthday Mr Stevenson

I do not remember when I first read Treasure Island. What I remember is rediscovering it. One day at my grandmother's house when I was ten or twelve I uncovered a set of books while nosing about. There were several classic titles in the set, but I immediately seized Treasure Island because I had read it before.

When I opened it, however, I remember that I felt cheated. This edition was full of wonderful, colorful illustrations. Nothing at all like the poor line drawings in the book I had checked out from the library. But not only were they wonderfully done, as I reread the the story that afternoon, I discovered they were accurately done. They depicted the scene as it was actually written.

This simple fact commanded a tremendous respect from me as a young boy. I felt that Mr Wyeth, in contrast to most illustrators, was doing his job. He was painting the image that Mr Stevenson had imagined when he wrote the story. His illustrations didn't fight my imagination; they complemented it.

In reading the story, I knew that Jim climbed up into the rigging and Israel Hands was after him. I knew also that Jim had two pistols and Israel Hands had a knife called a dirk. But the rest of the image was fuzzy. I had never seen a tall ship. I didn't really know how to picture it in my mind's eye. But once I saw Mr Wyeth's illustration, I knew. And I feared for Jim more than ever, for he was truly in a precarious position. I could see it.

Of course, Jim escapes, but it still bothers me whenever I see him with just one pistol. That's not the way the story goes. Any fool who can read knows that.

Lately

I have been tinkering with this mix for over a year now. It began as a simple compilation for country driving, an excuse to put a couple of songs about Elvis on the same disc. The roadtrip that originated the first draft is long past, but the idea has lingered with me. In my mind, it has now evolved into a strange meditation on remembering and reimagining parts of my father, my father-in-law, and my grandfather in the face of love and loss and death.

My Old Man
.... . ... . ... . ....
Volume 1
1. Main Title Theme : Bob Dylan
2. One Life Away : M. Ward
3. He Was the King : Neil Young
4. Elvis Presley Blues : Gillian Welch
5. My Winding Wheel : Ryan Adams
6. Wagon Wheel : Old Crow Medicine Show
7. The Cuckoo : Hem
8. Poison Cup : M. Ward
9. Turkey Chase : Bob Dylan
10. Harrisburg : Josh Ritter
11. Things that Scare Me : Neko Case
12. Dusty Boxcar : Gillian Welch
13. The Hardest Part : Ryan Adams
14. You Don't Make It Easy Babe : Josh Ritter
15. The Coo Coo Bird : The Be Good Tanyas
16. Trampled Rose : Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
17. Old Man : Neil Young
18. I Taught Myself How to Grow Old : Ryan Adams
19. Knockin' on Heaven's Door : Bob Dylan
. ... . ... .
Volume 2
1. To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High) : Ryan Adams
2. Chinese Translation : M. Ward
3. I've Been Everywhere : Johnny Cash
4. Rollin' and Tumblin' : Bob Dylan
5. White Freightliner Blues : Gillian Welch
6. Oh My Sweet Carolina : Ryan Adams & Emmylou Harris
7. Lawrence, KS : Josh Ritter
8. Bob Dylan's Dream : Bob Dylan
9. I Dream a Highway : Gillian Welch
10. I Hear Them All : Old Crow Medicine Show
11. I Want to Sing that Rock n' Roll : Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
12. To Go Home : M. Ward
13. Empty Hearts : Josh Ritter
14. Pearls on a String : Ryan Adams
15. Black Eyed Dog : Nick Drake
16. Dead Man : M. Ward
.... . ... . ... . ....

If you want a copy let me know. I'd be happy to send you one.