Alina's Adventures

This year's holiday playlist.

One tiny beautiful world filled with all sorts of brothers and sisters.

A beautiful gift for the girls from Suebee and Pops.

And now, some music....

A short fiction inspired by "Light Enough To Travel", a Be-Good Tanyas tune.

 

I was listening to "Light Enough To Travel", a song on our wedding CD, when the story took shape. Remembering how important it felt to never be owned by Things.

To remain free of Objects.

To keep our love and our lives light enough to travel.

 

 

And then I imagined vows of poverty which intersected somehow with Haiti and mission work. People who were not us but romance can make us anyone. Anywhere. And so I wrote it.

 

 

Read the rest of "People We Saved" online in the latest issue of Gravel Magazine, where you will also find beautiful moments from Kathleen Brewin Lewis, Lee L. Krecklow, and Ege Al'Bege, among others. Meanwhile, here's an old Be-Good Tanyas mp3 for your downloading enjoyment. Right-click and save.

Only In the Past (mp3)

Mary Tylosaur concert at Kentuck Art Night plus Druid City Brewing Company this Saturday.

I think the French word for Mary Tylosaur is super.

The band played live at the most recent Kentuck Art Night in downtown Northport. For those unfamiliar with Mary Tylosaur, here's the skeleton as offered in an interview with The Tusk.

D.C. Moon: guitar and vocals, composer and music director
Sandra J. Hunt: lead and backing vocals, percussion and sass 
Celesta Riner: bass guitar and attitude 
Katie Grayson: keyboards, composer and sex appeal 
Robby Roberts: drums, percussion and general wizardry

When asked to describe the band's sound, D.C. Moon said: 

Noted author John Shirley had this to say: " ‘My Boyfriend is a Zombie' opens the fun rockin' first album by Mary Tylosaur, kind of B-52s meets The Ramones meets Southern rock, with some Cramps happening, too. And fans of my old friend D.C. Moon will recognize his distinct touch here, too, in guitar, vocals and ... ‘The Communists, The Martians and the CIA' (which is a damned funny song). Some vocals by Moon, most of the lead vocals are by the sexily deep-voiced Sandra Hunt. Check it out."

I think the French word for a hot pink guitar is incroyable.

I think the French word for what my husband kept wanting to do is dance.

I think the French expression for what they did is playing down the sun.

I think I'm not speaking French anymore when I say they rocked the spring night.

Free pinot, free oven-baked pizza, and good live music. A few French subtitles. Husbands who want to dance like robot puppets. Pink. Black. Whatever color comes up.

You can catch your own Mary Tylosaur this Saturday night, 8:00 pm, at Tuscaloosa's favorite place to show up beardy (or post-beardy, or pre-beardy, or recently-seen-with-beardy)- the treasure known as Druid City Brewing Company.

If you haven't spent five hours at the Taproom yet, the weekly schedule includes Live Trivia on Fridays at 8 pm and Open Mic on Sundays at 6 pm. Bo and Bob are the best- good people who brew delicious beer. Oh, and one more thing about Druid City Taproom: the saison never stops.

Coryell Casa holiday playlist.

Anna and Prophet thought this was the silliest tree on the tinsel trail.

When it comes to trees and holiday decor, it's all a matter of perspective-- all about how we decide and agree to look at things. 

And while we're looking at things, don't forget to sit and savor the moments. Nothing is perfect. Presents don't replace presence. And love is an ongoing story..... Sing it.

Because everybody needs a holiday playlist.

Human rights on our back porch: Immigration now.

This is all I have to say about the multiple news reports documenting the horrible immigration conditions of Latin American children trying to rejoin their parents in the USA.

Tell true stories. Tell stories of families like mine. Learn the language so you can translate true stories. And stop lying to yourself about immigrants being a lesser form of life than you.

We are all immigrants. No one has earned the right to be sick, oppressed, hungry, or silenced.  

Spending a night staring at spring stars with the Cowboy Junkies.

Something I found on the banks of the Scioto River.

Such a haunting, melodic performance by Margo Timmins and the Cowboy Junkies. I just don't think the firefly-laden dusk would taste the same without it.

Released in 1995, 200 More Miles is not a new album. And yet, there's nothing else I can substitute for the way the strings take over the songs. Nothing I can say except to assure you there are songs you should hear alone, laying in the grass, somewhere between soil and stars.

And in the corner stands a guitar and
lonesome words scrawled in a drunken hand
I don't travel past, travel hard before
and I'm beginning to understand
["200 More Miles"]

["Me and the Devil Blues", Margo's version of Robert Johnson's original]

["State Trooper", a sultry version of Bruce Springsteen's highway tune]

There's something about an afternoon spent doing nothing
Just listening to records and watching the sun falling
Thinking of things that don't have to add up to something
and this spell won't be broken
by the sound of keys scraping in the lock
["Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning", one of my favorite songs of all time]

Then I catch us in the bar-room mirror
with his arm around my shoulder
this girl I see has grown so unfamiliar
and as she stands to leave with a stranger by her side
she can't help but laugh at a life grown so peculiar
["Where Are You Tonight?", a tribute to yearning for a particular shadow]

I think I'll find a pair of eyes tonight, to fall into
and maybe strike a deal
Your body for my soul, fair swap
`cause cheap is how I feel
["Cause Cheap Is How I Feel", a classic if such things can be said to exist]

I don't like his suggestive tone
The way his words drip from his mouth
As he asks, "Can I take you home?"

I don't care how many miles I got
I think I'd rather walk them alone
Than to sit in the back seat
As his eyes in the mirror
Reduce me to flesh and bone
["Floorboard Blues"]

["If You Were the Woman, and I Was The Man", a tears of joy sort of song]

["Pale Sun"]

Just one question I'm dying to ask, you said,
do you know what it's like to be hunted?
["Hunted", a song about what it's like to be a woman in American. A subtle critique of a culture that consumes women.]

["Lost My Driving Wheel", a Beach Boys song turned into a full-bodied love song]

["I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", because Hank Williams Senior can't hold a candle to this fire]

["Misguided Angel", a mind-blowing tribute to the love that shouldn't be.]

Free Alabama Blues Project concert tomorrow in Tuscaloosa.

Who: ALABAMA BLUES PROJECT ADVANCED BAND

Where: Mildred Westervelt Warner Transportation Museum in Tuscaloosa

When: Saturday from 12:00 to 2:00 pm

Why: Because it will rock your socks off. For FREE.

The performance is in conjunction with the museum's Mississippi Blues photo exhibit. Mississippi Hill Country Blues: Photographs by George Mitchell, curated by the Jackson Museum of Art, which will be on display at the museum through April 26.

Admission to the concert and the photo exhibit is free. The Transportation Museum will permanently waive its admission charge, making the museum free for all Tuscaloosa residents to tour and learn about the community’s history. Don't miss out.

An acoustic by The National that I can't stop hearing.

)

Asaf Avidan on tour right now- don't miss him.

)

Here's an acoustic version of a favorite- "Weak"- with the lyrics just below.

Speak, Baby speak 
Tell me I'm weak 
Tell me these promises are not mine to keep 
Tell me I'm ugly 
But tell me you love me 
Tell me you cannot go through this world without me 

Oh I'm, I'm just a tree 
My roots 
Are with her 
But my leaves are falling. 

Heal, baby heal 
Take all the time you will 
I never thought I'd say this but I'm letting go of the bill 
I don't wanna see 
Your face here no more 
Still that doesn't mean that I'm shutting the door 

Oh I'm, I'm just a tree 
My leaves are with her 
But my roots are very well deep

Speak, Baby speak 
Tell me I'm weak 
Tell me these promises are not mine to keep 
Tell me I'm ugly 
But tell me you love me 
Tell me you cannot go through this world without me

Oh I'm, I'm just a tree 
My roots 
Are with her 
But my leaves are falling.

I know these words are tearing you apart 
Still I told you, right from the start 
This is how our little song 
Is gonna play out.

One day, baby, we'll be old.... think of all the stories that we could've told....

Road-tripping across gray Oklahoma.

Somewhere along the way in Oklahoma....

Oklahoma's endless horizons of gray fields and dull colors left me hungry for Alabama green. It seemed as if the vastness sucked the color from everything. 

Stopping for a restroom break near local reservations.

We talked about tornado shelters and sod houses- how many sod houses were built into hillsides and banks, improvised pioneer tornado shelters.

In Aline, OK, the Sod House Museum stands as a tribute to the sod houses built by early Western pioneers. I doodled a worksheet/handout on sod houses for the little people to use as a reference. Having ink pens and paper is always handy on long road trips.

Building a little house on the prairie (Missouri Botanical Gardens)
Houses made of dirt and mud (Gregory LeFever)
Homesteaders (National Parks Service)

Without any trees or valleys to shield us from the wind, we learned to hold tight to papers and bags as we walked around the way stations of Oklahoma. Honestly, we tend to be limited in our thinking about resources. For instance, playing a few rounds of Settlers of Cataan would not have provided us with any insight into living in a state like Oklahoma.

Fortunately, our imaginations stepped in where the books and games left off. Without trees or timber as a natural resource, the wind itself was harnessed and put to use. The landscape was dotted with wind farms. Micah and Milla shrieked to see such large pieces of metal barely moving in the prairie winds. The King and I turned up the music and sang along. Oklahoma burned on forever- the surprising dry, warm air sustained small drifts of what may once have been called "snow". 

We talked about the difference between "snow" and "slush". Then we talked about desolation- and what makes a place feel like home to us. We talked- and we didn't talk. Sometimes the little ones simply sang. Mostly, we waited for the long stretch of land known as "Oklahoma" to end. It seems I couldn't even muster a poem without invoking the word "empty".

Road-tripping through the great state of Texas.

 

TEXAS TRAVEL COLORING AND HANDOUTS (PDF)

A few printables brought along to enhance our long drive through Texas.

Max kept up with the towns and parks on his highway map.

I did my best to co-navigate with the King.

Stopping along the road to stretch and poke ourselves with tumbleweed.

“I have said that Texas is a state of mind, but I think it is more than that. It is a mystique closely approximating a religion. And this is true to the extent that people either passionately love Texas or passionately hate it and, as in other religions, few people dare to inspect it for fear of losing their bearings in mystery or paradox. But I think there will be little quarrel with my feeling that Texas is one thing. For all its enormous range of space, climate, and physical appearance, and for all the internal squabbles, contentions, and strivings, Texas has a tight cohesiveness perhaps stronger than any other section of America. Rich, poor, Panhandle, Gulf, city, country, Texas is the obsession, the proper study, and the passionate possession of all Texans.”

John Steinbeck, Travels With Charley

The kids chased tumbleweed across the hard, dry dirt of Texas.

The sunsets turned the arid landscape into a rum butter pie.

I imagined the sharp sting of scrub-brush scratching summer-bared legs.

The lonesome echo of acoustic guitars left us shivering in the palpable sunset.

New Year's road-trip: Going through ten different states in ten days.

En route to our mountain vacation, we drove through a total of 10 states. Courtesy of the tourism bureaus in each state, the little folks and I walked away with bags of information about American history, geography, geology, economic development, and culture. 

OUR TEN STATES

Missississippi
Tennessee
Arkansas
Oklahoma
Kansas
Colorado
New Mexico
Texas
Louisiana
Alabama

On the way, the King and I learned a few lessons about long road trips, teachable moments, and the importance of multiple good playlists. The take-homes:

Pee outdoors when possible.
Stopping at established restrooms involves walking through gas stations full of candy and glitter intended to seduce your kids (and you) into forking over a small chunk of change in return for some junk. Also, imagine all the germs and viruses you can avoid by just peeing in the woods with the song of a sparrow to lighten your load. So pack that toilet tissue and vow to find nature-made restrooms on your road trip. By the way, snow isn't a problem. In case you haven't noticed, kids will pee anywhere. It's their adult companions that crave the water wasted by those porcelain thrones we call toilets.

Nature journals.
Whenever we stopped at a rest area or even along a scenic piece of road, Max wandered around with his nature journal and made notes. The King provided the latitude and longitude as Max canvassed a brief area for local birds, trees, plants, grasses, and insects. Then, when we got back into the car, he flipped through his field guides and tried to identify each living thing while journaling them into a context (i.e. climate, geography, etc.).

Geocache kits.
Simple as having an iphone, a compass, and a geocaching log. If you have a signature stamp, bring it along as well. There are geocaches aplenty all over these fine United States. It makes a great excuse to pee in the woods for the more inhibited family members.

Printed maps and colored pencils.
Oh the things you can do with just a few maps and pencils. Encourage the writers to list all the towns they pass through on the map and then turn them into a narrative poem. Show little ones how to draw a blue circle to indicate a lake (and then mark them as you pass) or a red square to indicate a barn or a black dot to indicate a cow. Then let them make their own map adding what they observe along the way.

Read-aloud chapter books.
Long car trips are a great time to read that awesome book to a captive audience. Who needs illustrations when the scenery keeps catching your eye? I shared A Finder's Magic by Phillipa Pearce with the crew, while Max read chapters from the original Winne the Pooh by A. A. Milne aloud to the girls.

Water bottles.
Skip the juice boxes and other sugar-laden laxatives- water is the best possible drink for the road. It saves big folks the frustration of spills, sticky luggage, and endless restroom stops. Kids tend to drink water when they are thirsty, while they will often drink juices to satisfy hunger or a craving for sugar. Keep it simple. Milk at night and water during the day.

Apples and clementines.
Bring along washed apples and seedless clementines. The little folks like to peel their own in our family. As for the apples, what could make a better all-around snack?

Scissors, glue sticks, and white drawing paper.
Using all those fantastic resources procured at each stateside rest area or travel office, cut out pictures of landmarks or places in each state and pass them (along with glue stick and paper) to the little people to make their own state-based collages. Alternately, let them tell stories by cutting their own pictures and pasting them to white paper (reimaged as a blank storyboard). Then, when you make your next stop, tell everyone that he or she has to pick up all the paper scraps around their chair and put them in the trash bag if they wish to "get off the bus", so to speak. Consider cleaning up as a ticket (a get-out-of-van-free-card). 

White cardstock and stamps.
Make your own postcards using glue sticks and travel brochure cut-outs. Let the kids write a message on their creations and then use your iphone to look up addresses. Put on a stamp and drop them off at the next post office box you see. 

Good music and playlists.
There are so many ways to tie the music to the state you are visiting. For example, some cities are mentioned in songs. Travel brochures will mention which musicians hail from their state, so add a few locals to your playlists. Use the songs as segues for discussions about history and culture. Or just find a few favorite sing-alongs. We use Spotify rather than mp3s or ITunes because we can find any song in world and enjoy it without having to "own" it. You can also find lots of stories and songs for kids. 

Poems and inspirations.
Find beautiful words to add to the mix when whimsy is conspicuously lacking. The little people may or may not show interest, but it will probably stir your soul just right. Keep your own journal of impressions and observations. Everything you see becomes part of the story you discover together. 

Using markers to explore patterns.

Max decided to doodle some "edgy embroidery patterns".

Intrigued, Micah asked him to "teach" her how to make her own patterns.

Milla stood by and offered constructive criticism of their efforts.

Pinka took this opportunity to poop on the kitchen floor.

This is why- if you had shown up at the Castle in the past thirty minutes- you would have found me on my hands and knees, scrubbing the tile floor with a sponge while singing along to Chris Cornell's Songbook. "Call Me A Dog" suited the scene perfectly.

The Alabama Blues Project Fundraiser, or how Max got a fancy new harp.

Because he lost his backpack with his harp, chess notebook, and several expensive field guides contained within, I purchased a new harp for him- one that cost five times as much as the one he lost. I'm not good at incentives.

He looked forward to playing with the spontaneous combustion of the soul sisters- but the soul sisters were sick. Imagine our fun fortune when he got the chance to play with the Blues Project Intermediate Band. 

Even the chapped lips couldn't stop him from the thrill of those wooden reeds. In fact, he rushed to the restroom to wash his mouth before touching his lips to his harp. Explanation: "Mom, you know that chapstick can clog the reeds..." I can't remember if he added the provisional "Duh". 

After explaining the sad story of Trayvon's death to him, Max finally agreed that wearing his hoodie during the performance might not be advisable. On the other hand, he said he wanted to wear his hoodie whenever he walked in a park or a street in memory of Trayvon. (Sheesh- the Max has an even stronger sense of justice than his mother...)

Candlelight, a steady dose of blues, and the soft glimmer of a brand new harp that nothing can keep you from playing- what more can we ask of life?

 

What he does in his free time.

This is what Max does for fun- he composes modern piano music. I should know by experience that living with a composer is not for the faint of heart...

Why we love the The Alabama Blues Project.

 

There's Max with his harmonica, his new best music-making friend, thanks to the Alabama Blues Project Summer camp. I can't say enough about this experience.

The CS Monitor carried an article describing the Alabama Blues Project as a "change agent", and we are inclined to agree. And add our own exclamation points. Here's the background:

The Alabama Blues Project was co-founded by Bond in 1995 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. It is now a nonprofit group directed by Paula Demonbruen. This year, it began providing instruction in five Tuscaloosa after-school programs, in addition to its blues club for children and programs in other schools in Alabama.

In July Ms. Demonbruen led the annual summer Blues Camp in Tuscaloosa. Former camper Jonathan Blakney, 20, came back to help teach.

"It comes out of African music," he says of the blues. "Some of the African beats and rhythms survive."

Field hollers, spirituals, work songs, simple ballads, and shout and chants were among the 19th-century forms that evolved into the blues.

Mr. Blakney and Blues Project program director Cara Lynn Teague describe how early blues players made homemade instruments. Wires were hung on a wall to create a stringed instrument, a plow handle attached to a washtub and strung with rope became a washtub bass, and tobacco tins were used to create a harmonica-like instrument.

At the summer camp, the children learn about specific blues musicians. Lowell Jeff, 13, gives a report. "This is about Microwave Dave," he says. "His first gig was in a local church in Texas."

  

You can hear blueswoman Hattie B. clapping just behind us- she's been part of the Tuscaloosa blues community for a long time and she made no secret about how much she enjoyed this event.

Thanks to the inspiring art teachers which worked with the kids on visual representations, the walls were of the performance hall were lined with self-made album covers for each of the music artists present. 

Here's Maggie Slough's amazing self-portrait.

Max poses with his awesome album cover.

Max's band warms up for their performance.

Yes, we're going to do it again- and again... for the incredible combo of local history, music, and art.  Max is still nagging me to sign him up for the fall session, and homeschoolers who have an interest should contact Cara because I know they are currently planning to work with homeschoolers more, and our excitement makes a good incentive. The website is mere mouse-click away.

Decoration Day music and traditions.

It's hard to read an Alabama author who doesn't somehow mention the tradition of Decoration Day. Joey Brackner describes it as follows:

Decoration Day is an annual observance at many privately owned southern graveyards during which families gather to clean up the graveyard, reconnect with family, and honor the memories of their ancestors.

Sometimes the terms "Decoration Day" and "Homecoming" are used synonymously. However, homecoming instead can be the equivalent of a founder's day for individual churches. The term appears to be more commonly used to describe similar activities in the southern portion of the state and among African American communities throughout the state, where the focus is less on the cemetery and more on food and social activities.

The exact origins of Decoration Day are unclear, although traditions of eating in cemeteries and decorating graves are found in other cultures. The tradition seems to predate Memorial Day (once known as Decoration Day) and Confederate Memorial Day, both of which have a military focus. At some point, the warm months between March and September became the preferred season for commemorating the dead among southerners. These months are the slower period in the agricultural year, between planting and harvest, so more people were available to help with cemetery maintenance. In addition, American Protestants may have consciously chosen a cemetery memorial holiday apart from the Catholic All Souls Day on November 2, which also features floral decorations and feasting. The availability of fresh flowers also may have been a reason to select the early summer season. Because the date, usually reckoned by a particular Sunday in a particular month, varies by cemetery, families can easily participate in several Decoration Days in their region.

Tuscaloosans who would like to witness it up close and personal need only drive to Brookwood, where Little Hurricane Baptist Church still honors those who have gone before us in this way.

And then there is the influence on music. At least two bands from Alabama- The Drive-By Truckers and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit- feature Decoration Day in recent albums. Now Decoration Day playlists are hitting the semi-mainstream.

You can download the Mason Jar Collective's free album, Decoration Day: Volune 2, online at Noisetrade. Good stuff from great songwriters who know that the best song always includes a story. 

Free audio story of "The Secret Garden".

A coloring page from Johanna Basford's The Secret Garden Coloring Book.

Frances Hodgson Burnett's entire book, The Secret Garden, is available for free download by chapter at Storynory. It is the classic story of a spoiled girl who learns to love life, people and nature when she discovers a secret garden and the life within it. Such a lovely bedtime story for those nights when the munchkins need more than a picture book...

Nick Cave and his Ship Song Project.

It's one of that songs that always raises the tiny hairs on your arms.

Thus, being able to listen to so many wonderful artists combining their voices in a tribute to Nick Cave's extraordinary song forces me to confront the existence of little hairs on the back of my neck as well. Stupefying. 

The strings and the violin solo at the end- wow. In 2010, the Sydney Opera House recorded a version of "The Ship Song" as a tribute to an iconic song and an iconic building. You can watch the documentary on the project online.

This version of the song, which combines the voices of Concrete Blonde, Eddie Vedder, Nick Cave, and others, is one of my all-time favorites (though Lissie's acoustic version figures up there as well). 

Gershwin gives us "Summertime" to see and feel.

Gershwin was not content to bring jazz to the concert hall- he also wanted to bring similar band music to the stage. So in 1933, Gershwin began composing a piece he hoped would bring the incredible style of the African American spiritual to life. The piece took the tempo and flavor of a lullaby. 

In 1935, the opera Porgy and Bess drew crowds impressed and fascinated by the new "American" opera music. Gershwin wrote the music based on a novel by DuBose Heyward. In it, "Summertime" was a special aria that moved the audience and the opera in a way reminiscient of the African American folk tunes Gershwin so admired. 

The lyrics were written by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based, although the song is also co-credited to Ira Gershwin by ASCAP.

Summertime,
And the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’
And the cotton is high

Oh, your daddy’s rich
And your mamma’s good lookin’
So hush little baby
Don’t you cry

Composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim has characterized Heyward's lyrics for "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now" as "the best lyrics in the musical theater". The song is recognized as one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music, with more than 33,000 covers by groups and solo performers.

One the most famous performers of "Summertime" is jazz lady Ella Fitzgerald. This video of her performance was filmed on February 11, 1968 at the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin. Fitzgerald was on a 21-city tour of Eastern and Western Europe, presented by Norman Granz. She was accompanied by the Tee Carson Trio, with Carson on piano, Ketter Betts on bass and Joe Harris on drums.

To hear Louis Armstrong's contribution to this sultry, summertime-hazy piece, you can listen to Satchmo's duet with Ella Fitzgerald. If it doesn't give you chill bumps, I'm not sure anything will. 

Then listen to Billie Holiday's version, as well as those of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, who riffed on a standard and brought more than the music to life. Just scroll down the songlist and you'll find the performances. By the way, there's nothing like listening to Gershwin while writing a journal entry about Gershwin....

Learning about George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue".

We started with a little online listening fun on George Gershwin, provided courtesy of Classics for Kids with a worksheet to match. Or boot. Or something along those lines. 

Since the "Rhapsody in Blue" caused quite a stir when it was first performed in 1924, I thought we would explore it in depth a little bit. To learn more about George and his famous rhapsody, Max read and discussed Matt Naughtin's Program Notes for Gershwin's "Rhapsody". It provided a context for what was so revolutionary about the Gershwin's piece and how it helped to "make jazz respectable" by bringing it into a concert hall.

We reviewed musical details about his piece using the handout/worksheet I've uploaded below, which includes all the details I discovered about this piece and it's relation to "American" music, as well as the musical innovations introduced with the first performance of the "Rhapsody in Blue". 

GERSHWIN'S "RHAPSODY IN BLUE": READING AND QUESTIONS (PDF)

Then Max spent some time writing in his journal about something "secret that concerns Gershwin" while I weeded the garden with the girls. Again. A day's weeding is never done.

ACOUSTIC VS. ELECTRIC RECORDINGS

Then we discussed the difference between the original 1924 recording, which is an acoustic recording. This original recording is as close as we can come to being present at Whiteside's musical revolution on that magical evening. You can listen to this acoustic version as well in two parts for free online at the Internet Archive. 

1924 Recording, Part I
1924 Recording,  Part 2 

Then in 1927, Ferde Grofé re-orchestrated the song, and Gershwin again recorded it with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra. With a slower tempo and much better sound quality, this became the most popular version of the song. Listen to it online and compare the difference between the way the two recordings sound.

1927 Recording

We talked about which one we preferred and how the original version is not the one that became famous. Then we talked more about jazz- its history, its meaning, and its development over time. 

Since Max couldn't get enough of George, we watched the old-timey tale of the "Rhapsody" below, which also includes a version playing in the background. 

We wandered around the following places due to our fascination with Mr. Gershwin, whom we learned was also a very good tap dancer, according to his brother, Ira Gershwin.

Ira Gershwin talks about his brother, George (YouTube)
Jazz Learning Unit Playlist (Spotify) 
The Official George and Ira Gershwin Website 

Loving Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires: The guys who give Walker Percy.

(Photo credit: The End of Irony)

A few years back, I saw Lee Bains in his former costume as a Dexateen or something in-between. Bains' pulsating stage presence reminded me of how Bruce Springsteen used to fill out his jeans in better days. After returning to Birmingham in 2008 following his New York college days, Bains joined the Dexateens, "a Tuscaloosa institution whose raggedy union of cock-eyed rebel pride and forward-thinking fury proved to be the perfect apprenticeship for a confused Southern boy, raised on Skynyrd and schooled in Faulkner".

Bains continued to play with them for two or three years, including the Hardwire Healing album, before the band itself crawled off in different directions. But Lee Bains isn't going away. And the sparks are now flying with The Glory Fires, a Birmingham-based band whose chemistry sizzles with Bains' paprika-inflected growl.

Granted, he had me at "Walker Percy". Though we parted ways when Bains lets the girl who got away get away with way too much, including his Percy. After scratching my head, I was relieved to discover that the Percy was safe on a shelf in their relationship space.

What girl ever forgets they guy who introduced her to Walker Percy? Not this one. Shoot, I married him.

Now our shared shelves are stacked with everything he ever wrote as well as books he may have gotten around to writing. Our most recent daughter's middle name is "Percy", a tribute boure for 9.75 months of hot Alabama afternoons. She is steeped in bonfires and honeysuckle vines.

In an interview, Bains talks about that Walker Percy book:

 I guess I think “Everything You Took” is pretty Southern sounding. Hah. The reasons I mentioned Walker Percy were: one, I really did lend my girlfriend a Walker Percy novel that still sits on her bookshelf, and, two, it’s an opportunity to establish a context. When I was in school studying literature, I relished those moments when the writer makes an allusion to the Bible or Shakespeare or Dickinson or the Velvet Underground or whatever. It’s an opportunity to see the artist as being in conversation with other artists.

In the song itself, a church choir would not be out of place. The conversation with cultural context involves more than literary references- it involves a form of ransom. Bains suggests that he would give up some very important "things" for her "mercy".

But baby we've been leeping this little fires so long burning
I don't think I'd be a fool to think that they'd last
Go on keep my tshirts
Well you can go on keep my books
Each small hope that you give me
Makes up for everything you took
You can keep my Walker Percy
You can keep that Tshirt my brother got that time he saw the Ramones.." 

In his songwriting, as Bains explains, he speaks for himself:

I think it’s dangerous to speak for other people. Even if you have good intentions and are trying to speak for some forgotten segment of the population, you wind up effectively silencing that group by putting your own words into its collective mouth.

If you haven't had the pleasure, I suggest you make it priority this summer to spend at least one firefly-laden evening with Lee Bains III and whatever he's cooking. Good, homegrown stuff.

Don't miss Cory Pennington's video for "Ain't No Stranger".
Hear them live online at the FMA.
See what the folks at the Rolling Stone prefer. 
Watch "Opelika" live and acoustic in the Well That's Cool studio. 

Driving through Dixie: The playlist.

Hayes Carll.

We've been doing lots of wandering along Alabama backroads lately. And the wandering would be nothing without the melodies to do thinking in our stead.

 

A quick note on the artists and tunes. Guy Clark, Neko Case, and Bob Dylan were made for aimless drives and wanderings. Morphine, the Pixies, and Cary Ann Hearst said a few things that needed saying on a good drive, so I added them as welI.

Lots of Hayes Carll. I couldn't love Hayes Carll more if I found out that he was putting on a New Year's eve burleqsue with Shovels & Rope. Oh, that's right- he did. 

A Bob Dylan kind of day....

The King is resting, and I am procrastinating on all the sock sorting in the plans. Our bedroom is filled with that crisp, post-rain light that reveals every bundle of dust bordering the stacks of books on the floor.

All in all, it's a Bob Dylan kind of day- a day that straddles the line between poetry and blues. Listening to Bob is like hearing the story of the last American century in a song. His lyrics offer the best of what living in freedom means- the ability to question official narratives and owe your allegiance to nothing so abstract as a flag. And if "The Death of Emmett Till" doesn't shake you up a little, then you are only half-alive.

Bob recorded "With God On Our Side" in 1963- and its heartbreaking message echoes today in this light-covered bedroom. Don't get excited- Bob was not a "pacifist", which is a pretty rigorous ethical framework- but his "politics" emerged from the attempt to tell our history as it was lived by those Americans rarely included in the official version of events.

WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE by Bob Dylan

Oh my name it is nothin’
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I’s taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that the land that I live in
Has God on its side

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side

Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
l’s made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side

Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don’t count the dead
When God’s on your side

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side

I’ve learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It’s them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we’re forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God’s on your side

Through many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side

So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God’s on our side
He’ll stop the next war

Metaphysics: The Spotify playlist.

Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that investigates the general nature of being or reality, especially the being of the sensible world, God, freedom, and souls. It is sometimes synonymous with "ontology", though some philosphers would shun me for saying this.

In case you are like me and need a special amount of time each day considering metaphysical questions like: Can there be aspects of reality that are in principle unknowable? What is consciousness? Is it purely physical? Do we have those immaterial bodies known as souls? What is intentionality? Could it be a purely physical phenomenon?If so, then what on earth would ethical culpability involve? Is reality determined or does free will have a place in causation? What is freedom under these circumstances? then, here is the playlist to match the mood. 

After the playlist, I added a few notes about each song and its potential as rubric or vehicle for metaphysical speculation. Because I'm crazy like that.

 

"I wanna see the thing in itself, I don't wanna see nothing else.
I wanna see the thing in itself, I don't wanna think no more...
One suchness, ten thousand things"
Akron / Family is serious about metaphysics.

Eef Barzelay makes me wonder how we can feel something as intentional as "love" towards something we declare to be "unknown". Is there anything that is actually unknown enough to give rise to "love"?

The Stars want you to "use that head and stop to think a little, just cause you're crazy doesn't mean that you're free.."

Devendra Barnhart really stumps me with the "eyes are the stems of space" thing.

Rancid ventures into the diving area with their little quip- "nihilistic feelings are movin', if I try real hard, I'll see right through them." I want to keep this at the level of metaphysics without wandering into the realm of superhero syndromes and I resent Rancid for making it difficult for me to keep them separated. 

Willy Mason wants me to think that "the cards are stacked" and that I "don't know what I'm running from". His hard-edged fatalism leaves little room for manuveur. 

Quantic really flirts with epistemology unless you take this song to be about the nature of consciousness. Specifically, is "a presence felt" a way of knowing or is it a symptom of thinking and imagining? How do feelings relate to consciousness?

PJ Harvey's instrumental, "The End", sits you squat face-to-face with the big question- What is the end?

The Pixies make an interesting connection between watching TV and the destruction of the atmosphere. Considering this requires something akin to consciousness.

Goran Bregovic' and Eugene Hutz (of Gogol Bordello) offer their take on utopia. Quantum utopia, like most utopias, lies on the cusp of questions about free will and determinism. Does the setting up of a specific rules system model have any chance of working effectively in the realm of human social and political behavior? Is human free will the penultimate party pooper for social schemers?

The Cowboy Junkies take a hard line on the question of the supernatural. For them, the supernatural does not exist apart from the mind which creates it. Their conclusion: Demerol is more chemically accurate and ascertainable than God. I can think of a few existentialists who would disagree with their method while accepting their conclusion.

The Dave Matthews Band, as suggested by the King, throws a wrench in my speculations since I am now forced to consider how my species' evolutionary history turns consciousness into a spectrum.

Bright Eyes wants to know about time, and he doesn't avoid astrophysics. I like that in a song.

M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel distract me with the ethereal fuzz. I spend a large amount of time trying to decide if my shadow is a separate object with its own existence or merely an adjective to describe the way the light occupies the space around me. 

Playing the 5 Questions Game with the Voodoo Saints.

It's not often that one gets to hear a favorite local band playing live for a fantastic local burlesque show, but such was the case in this case. I'd owned the Voodoo Saints CD for awhile, but hearing them live at the Pink Box Burlesque still somehow blew my combustile little mind.

Feeling saintly, John and Nathan answered five questions for me the other day. Granted, one of their answers was not entirely gratifying for personal reasons, including a small amount of cash and a personal ego trip. 

QUESTION #1: It caught my eye that your album was recorded in Cherokee Hills Studio. Since we live in Cherokee Hills, my kids and I place bets on which house this studio might be. Where was the mysterious Cherokee Hills Studios and how did you end up recording there?

JOHN: Well, Cherokee Hills is the street that the album was recorded on.  A very close friend of ours let us record at their house for the session…so we'll just leave it there…but you're on the right track. 

QUESTION #2: It looks like the mystery will continue.... Now I have to ask the underwear question- five bands or musicians on your playlists right now.

JOHN:  I think this would be impossible for me to answer on the groups behalf.  Everyone that plays within the band definitely has their own unique tastes as well as common grounds.  But we are all fairly eclectic listeners.  Personally, I have been listening to: Tedeschi Trucks Band, Alabama Shakes, Gary Clarke Jr., The Beatles, Mahalia Jackson.  

NATHAN: Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto, Dizzy Gillespie, Caetano Veloso, Lee Konitz, Mal Waldron. 

QUESTION #3: I enjoyed you guys at the Pink Box Burlesque show. The history was made palpable by your music.  don't think most bands have the experience of playing for a burleqsue in their repertoire. Has playing live for the PBB  influenced your music in any way?

NATHAN: I really wouldn't say that either of us are influenced by each other.  We enjoy working with Mama Dixie and the cast of the PBB, but there's no influence going on.  We just try to hit a wide variety of music that applies to each designated show, and make a complete "product" (or "theme") for each and every show.  Wherever that takes us is where we'll go.  So stay tuned and attend the next PBB show to find out. 

QUESTION #4: Why New Orleans jazz?

JOHN: Well to be quite honest, the band started as a one time thing.  We had some friends that decided to throw a “Prohibition” themed party in the fall of 2010.  They asked us if we would mind playing a few tunes during the festivities.  As a result a quick group started out as a joke playing some really, really old Jazz tunes.  Unexpectedly, we were asked how long we had been together and when and where we would be performing again... and we said "We've been together for about 20 minutes.  This was just thrown together!"  After that night, we decided to pursue the group seriously, and the rest is what you hear.

QUESTION #5: Indeed. Most interesting place you've ever played and why on earth you played there?

JOHN: Besides the group's inception at the "Prohibition" party (which is pretty weird to have a group start out from a fluke), the most interesting place we've ever played would have to be in the studio at WVUA for their Tuscapalooza on-air music festival.  As we were playing, there was a band that literally broke up at the studio, and they were slated to go on after us. So, we were asked to keep going, and it was more of a good time for us in the studio.  Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler! (Let the Good Times Roll!).

The Voodoo Saints. If you'd like to catch them live, the Saints play at Chloe's Cup Coffees & Teas every Tuesday from 6:00-8:00PM. If you catch them with the PBB at the Green Bar later this month as a result of this post, just buy me a local beer so I can continue my study of Prohibition. If you don't live in Tuscaloosa, then you should visit for something besides the football- something like this.

In the meantime, take a listen to my favorite tune from their album. It slinks, slithers, and grins its way straight across whatever room you happen to inhabit.

Walk On Guilded Splinters (Voodoo Saints)

A few others to stream (with a reminder that you can find more on their website). 

The Pink Box Burlesque....

A chat about redwood trees: The podcast.

Redwood Trees: A Conversation

Redwood National Park was established on October 2, 1968 along the coast of Northern California. Together with California’s Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith and Prairie Creek Redwood State Parks, The Redwood National and State Parks protect 45% of all remaining Coastal Redwood trees. 

Max wanted to make this podcast to inform other kids about redwoods and how "cool they can be if they survive". It came up as an option after we read Jason Chin's book (click on the image below) and I asked him a few questions about what he had learned. Our conversation doesn't even cover half the book's rich content, so I encourage you to read it for yourself and share it with your family.

FOR PRESCHOOL AND KINDERGARDEN 
3 Different Redwoods (PDF) plus The Redwood Rap (YouTube)
Redwood Trees Coloring Page (JPG)
Redwood National Park Coloring Page (PDF)
Redwoods Bingo Game (PDF) 
Redwoods Tracks Activity (PDF) 
Marbled Murrelet Coloring Page (PDF)- letter M
Coho Salmon Coloring Page (PDF)- letter S
Exploring Redwoods (YouTube) 
Redwood Edventures  

FOR THOSE WHO CAN READ AND WRITE
> Have You Ever Seen A Red Tree? plus Teacher's Guide (K-2, PDF) 
Have You Ever Seen A Real-life Giant? plus Teacher's Guide (3-5, PDF)
Have You Ever Seen Something Thousands of Years Old That's Still Alive? plus Teacher's Guide (6-8, PDF)
Redwood Trees: Three Ancient Wonders (PDF)
Interactive Redwood Forest (Online Activity)
How Tall Is A Redwood? Worksheet (PDF) 
Imagine Redwoods Activity (PDF) 

Plastic sails and longboard love.

This morning, Kevin harvested some of that evil bamboo which is taking over our neighborhood. He dropped by this afternoon to show us what he had been working on. You have to see it to believe it, which is why I made this educational, informative, public-service video.

And kids, don't forget to ask your local city council members to ensure your safety by building a skatepark in Tuscaloosa. Because it's long overdue.

Wendy's Whistle: The playlist you've been waiting for.

Funny how I find myself missing those friends who love the CDs you burn for them because you just know they need to hear those songs. I did actually name a playlist after a friend- Wendy's Whistle- who lives out In California now. And now I'm sharing the song titles with her per request. Love and friendship mean assuming the playlist stands in for conversation. Keep whistling, Wendy.

BOOTY SWING - Parov Stelar

I think this one is obvious.

HOME - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes

GREENWICH MEAN TIME - Charlotte Gainsbourg

HOLD ON WHEN YOU GET LOVE AND LET GO WHEN YOU GIVE IT- The Stars

My favorite song right now- just the right amount of yippee.

START ME UP - The Folksmen

I confess to a secret fantasy of you driving around in California (or riding your bike) with this one blaring from the stereos. The fantasy is even better when it takes place in Los Angeles near Rodeo Drive.

IN A WORLD GONE MAD - The Beastie Boys

"Now don't get us wrong 'cause we love America 
But that's no reason to get hysterica 
They're layin' on the syrup thick 
We ain't waffles we ain't havin' it" 

Brings back memories of the good old "war on terror" fever in DC.

WONDERLUST KING - Gogol Bordello

An anthem. Just that. An anthem.

SMOKE IT - The Dandy Warhols

Because I had to include a Dandy song, but I couldn't remember which other ones I'd given you...

PASSIN ME BY' - The Pharcyde

Fact: Old school can be good school.

STILL - Moonlight Breakfast

Because you would appreciate the latest pop act out of Romania. That's a compliment.

DON'T WASTE MY TIME - Heart Attack Alley

Riot grrrls are gone, but independent women still rule.

THE LIGHT - Jsan and the Analogue Sons

Sunshine and good conversations with gas station attendants.

LONGANISSE - The Liminanas

Cheeky girls and clever instrumentation.

CHINATOWN - Destroyer

The right sort of daydreams to get from here to there.

GREEN RIVER - M. Ward

Barefoot girls dancin' in the moonlight...

LOVECRIMES - The Afghan Whigs

Greg covers Frank Ocean and says with an eye to Angela Lansbury.

CHEZ KEITH ET ANITA - Carla Bruni 

Carla Bruni is a jack-of-all-trades and a smart species of dame. 

LADY ON THE WATER - Blitzen Trapper

Everyone needs a cheesy love song by a recovering hipster.

SUPERNATURAL - The Cowboy Junkies

Margo Timmins' voice will never be genetically matched. I couldn't help closing down shop with her amazingness.

Max's Intro to Drama podcast.

Max has been busting my bumpers to help him do a weekly podcast for at least a few weeks now. I thought, "Hmmmm... what if he podcasted his drama worksheets for the day"? Sure enough, Max was game (so long as we were able to include a few boings and other noises).

The result is the mp3 below- just click to play or right-click to download. And hey, you can use it with those worksheets from earlier today! Ain't life grande?

An Introduction to Drama

Love letter #97: 10 "best" music albums everyone should own.

RABBIT SONGS by Hem

"Restless stars through the trees 
Enough to fall to our knees 
Make no sound so no one sees" 

Idle (The Rabbit Song) (mp3)
Download Hem's newest single for free.

TUNNEL OF LOVE by Bruce Springsteen

"It ought to be easy ought to be simple enough
Man meets woman and they fall in love
But the house is haunted and the ride gets rough
And youve got to learn to live with what you can't rise above
if you want to ride on down in through this tunnel of love.."

Tunnel of Love (mp3)

S / T by David Pajo

 "How far you are when close
How near to me when gone
The dark is full of ghosts
That howl into the dawn
That howl into the dawn
The sky has opened
The power is down
Deserted in this town
High lonesome moan"

High Lonesome Moan (mp3)

THE TRINITY SESSION by Cowboy Junkies
+
 THE CAUTION HORSES by Cowboy Junkies

"There's something about an afternoon spent doing nothing
Just listening to records and watching the sun falling
Thinking of things that don't have to add up to something
And this spell won't be broken
By the sound of keys scraping in the lock..

Maybe tonight it's a movie
With plenty of room for elbows and knees
A bag of popcorn all to myself,
Black and white with a strong female lead
And if I don't like it, no debate, I'll leave..."

Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning (mp3 from The Caution Horses)
Dreaming My Dreams With You (mp3 from The Trinity Session)

I CAN HEAR THE HEART BEATING AS ONE by Yo La Tengo

"Feeling like a kid again, my eyes are glued to the floor
I hope I mumbled goodbye as you walked out the door
The damage is done"

Damage (mp3)

 MIDNIGHT DRIFTER by the Whiskey Folk Ramblers

Moanin' Rag

THE LION'S ROAR by First Aid Kit

I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June
If you'll be my Gram and my Johnny too
No, I'm not asking much of you
Just sing little darling, sing with me

Emmylou

 THE TRAGIC TREASURY: SONGS FROM A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS by The Gothic Archies

"The Gothic Archies is the Gothic rock-bubblegum pop band of celebrated songwriter Stephin Merritt, also of The Magnetic Fields, The 6ths, and Future Bible Heroes. Merritt is the only member although he hopes to acquire more soon. What makes this band different from The Magnetic Fields is that any glimmer of hope is absolutely extinguished. The current Gothic Archies project is The Tragic Treasury: Music for "A Series of Unfortunate Events", a compilation of theme songs written for each of the 13 volumes of Lemony Snicket's "Series of Unfortunate Events" book series."

Smile! No One Cares How You Feel (mp3)

 HISTOIRE DE MELODY NELSON by Serge Gainsbourg with Jane Birkin

Nothing compares to Serge and Jane. They are the best of the best. And this album influenced so many musicians from Beck to house- it deserves its own space on your shelf. The layers of beats and sounds, the textures, are intoxicating.

 

Cargo culte (mp3)

 

Please sample the tunes and enjoy. Some of them exist in a format that doesn't allow me to use the webplayer, so you just have to download to sample. Then hop on over to iTunes or your preferred indie music distributor and get the pay to play so this poor mother doesn't get into any financially excessive trouble.

Yoga with the kids and smiles all around.

Whoever first realized that yoga is just as awesome for kids as it for adults deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. Seriously. We've been using Baron Baptiste's book with yoga for a while now, but rising enthusiasm made a it a more regular part of our day.

This morning, Max positively beamed after half an hour of Shanti Generation yoga (yes, you can stream it on Netflix). As it turned out, his devotion to his practice led him to forsake math for an extended period of poses on the living room rug. 

IF I WERE- Sammie Haynes

Thanks to the Childlight Yoga Blog for sharing this song and lyrics. Although the song works best in a class format, it can also be prepared by homeschooling families for working partners upon their return to your castle. But performance should never be forced. One of the greatest things about yoga for kids is that it is not competitive and doesn't force shy wildflowers into recitals.

If I Were (written by Lisa Flynn, music/performance by Sammie Haynes)

If I were the sun, (reach up)
I’d shine down on you. (fold forward, reaching for toes)
If I were a rose bud, (hands behind ears, elbows touching in front)
I’d open for you. (stretch the elbows out wide)
If I were a puppy, (down dog)
I’d wag at you. (lift one leg and shake) 
But since I am a child, (hold one hand down, palm facing floor)
I’ll sing for you.  (bring hand to mouth, then away)

If I were a star, (star pose)
I’d twinkle for you.  (rock from side to side, from one foot to the other)
If I were a penguin, (heels together, toes out, hands at sides, fingers out)
I’d waddle to you.  (‘waddle’ in place.)    
If I were an eagle, (eagle pose)
I’d soar to you.  (stretch out arms and legs to ‘soar.’)
But since I am a child, (hold one hand down, palm facing floor)
I’ll sing for you. (bring hand to mouth, then away)    
And since I am your child, (point to self, to parent, then palm to floor)
I’ll give you hugs too!  (hug self or run to parent to hug!)

From Little Lotus Kids Yoga Flashcards.

More free yoga with kids if money is not on your mandala:

Relaxation scripts (Relax Kids)
My First Yoga: Animal Poses for Kids app (iTunes)
Robot relax script with visual (Om-azing Kids)
Kids Yoga: Bedtime Rhymes video (YouTube)
Yoga games for kids (Yoga in My School)
Dr. Seuss-inspired yoga pose printable (Om-azing Kids) 
Pose of the week (Yoga Kids)
"The Benefits of Yoga for Kids" (Greenchild Magazine) 
Peace tree visualization printable (Om-azing Kids)
Joytime yoga warm-ups (Joytime)
Good behavior in yoga group social story (Om-azing Kids) 
Om-azing Kids Yoga tunes (Soundcloud) 
Yoga for Kids with Autism video (Shiva's Centre) 

Salutations to a slug: The playlist.

When Max took out the trash today, he had a little surprise for me- "Look what I found in the trashcan, Mom!" Indeed, a plump old slug. We watchd and studied (more on that later) Mr. Mendelssohn for quite some time- long enough to notice the slinky way in which he slimed around truly deserved its own playlist. So here it is. Just click on the song title to hear the song or download the tune.

MUSIC FOR SLUGS:
THE PLAYLIST INSPIRED BY MENDELSSOHN CORYELL

Playing with pastels playlist.

Pastels have been the order of the day- from my strange neon pastel nape to the pastel candyland on black construction paper. No pastel play is complete without a playlist....

NEW DELIRE- Serge Gainsbourg

BORN A MAN- Clem Snide

WALKING MY GARGOYLE- The Gothic Archies (mp3)

BUNHILL FIELDS- Amor Dias

STORY OF AN ARTIST- M. Ward

Princess Bluegrass and the Snowman.

Or just Princess Bluegrass herself, the girl who knows better than her "breeding" to question the alignments of money and power. Lev Tolstoy just may have been on to something...

Princess Bluegrass came to my doodling mind while listening to a Solomon Burke song in the background. When I saw him in concert during one of my pregnancies (yes, I was the waddling pregnant woman you saw at that concert), this song really captured my attention.

 

NONE OF US ARE FREE by Solomon Burke (mp3)

I wonder what story Max will tell about Princess Bluegrass.... Maybe I'll play this song for them in the background as color and interpret. In my mind, I see blues and greens and maybe some black as well. I love it when we all color the same page "in secret" and then, at the end, show each other the results so we can admire the different possibilities of something as simple as a coloring page.

 

Y is for yo-yo (and Yo-Yo Ma).

Our coloring page for the alphabet book from yesterday.

Y is for yo-yo (PDF)

And then there's the background music for coloring and chatting:

Simple Gifts by Allison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma

 

Little Red Riding Hood: Our take on it.

Patrick was willing to play, so we completed our very unpolished reading of Little Red Riding Hood.

Little Red Riding Hood

Auden, a new year, trains, and a song in between all of it.

Patrick and Tino pose at the train station between one year and another.

FLESH AND BLOOD by Joe Henry (mp3)

Here are the last two sections of WH Auden's "For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratio", written 1941-42. Section III was read as the sermon at Canterbury this past Sunday and it moved us in all the right ways. I added the final section because it seemed a fitting beginning for the new calendar year.

III
Well, so that is that.
Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes -
Some have got broken – and carrying them up to the attic.
The holly and the mistletoe must be taken down and burnt,
And the children got ready for school. There are enough
Left-overs to do, warmed-up, for the rest of the week -
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted – quite unsuccessfully -
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers. Once again
As in previous years we have seen the actual Vision and failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away,
Begging though to remain His disobedient servant,
The promising child who cannot keep His word for long.
The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory,
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension at the thought
Of Lent and Good Friday which cannot, after all, now
Be very far off. But, for the time being, here we all are,
Back in the moderate Aristotelian city
Of darning and the Eight-Fifteen, where Euclid’s geometry
And Newton’s mechanics would account for our experience,
And the kitchen table exists because I scrub it.
It seems to have shrunk during the holidays. The streets
Are much narrower than we remembered; we had forgotten
The office was as depressing as this. To those who have seen
The Child, however dimly, however incredulously,
The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.
For the innocent children who whispered so excitedly
Outside the locked door where they knew the presents to be
Grew up when it opened. Now, recollecting that moment
We can repress the joy, but the guilt remains conscious;
Remembering the stable where for once in our lives
Everything became a You and nothing was an It.
And craving the sensation but ignoring the cause,
We look round for something, no matter what, to inhibit
Our self-reflection, and the obvious thing for that purpose
Would be some great suffering. So, once we have met the Son,
We are tempted ever after to pray to the Father;
“Lead us into temptation and evil for our sake.”
They will come, all right, don’t worry; probably in a form
That we do not expect, and certainly with a force
More dreadful than we can imagine. In the meantime
There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair,
Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem
From insignificance. The happy morning is over,
The night of agony still to come; the time is noon:
When the Spirit must practice his scales of rejoicing
Without even a hostile audience, and the Soul endure
A silence that is neither for nor against her faith
That God’s Will will be done,
That, in spite of her prayers,
God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph.

IV
CHORUS

He is the Way.
Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.

He is the Truth.
Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.

He is the Life.
Love Him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.

Love letter #44: Spike Mason's Widening Circles.

Spike Mason's album, Widening Circles, brings Rilke into the room as a song. 

The words, sung by the 2012 National Jazz Award winner Kristin Berardi, are an English translation of poems penned over a hundred years ago by the German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. The music is composed in a style that is a synergy of jazz and classical music.

"The writing came slowly" says Mason, "I worked for eight years on the music, and over that time the words have weaved their way into my life. I knew I couldn't get in the way of these poems - the music had to cushion and support the lyrics, all the way through. If I moved toward overpowering them, the structure and meaning would simply collapse."

It is beautiful, wistful, and the perfect gift for a few on my Christmas list. Thanks to Spike for telling me about it.

D is for dogs, daffodils, dots, and doves.

I've been remiss about posting our daily alphabetting lately, so here are two sheets for B and E to "catch up". Phrases with onomotopoeia are great ways to teach the alphabet because munchkins get to hear the sound of a letter expressed different ways side by side.

B is for Bubbles and blowing (PDF)

E is for Eagle (PDF)

Today was devoted to the letter D. Of course, dots make a great starting point (okay, pun intended) for exploring the letter D because dots are the beginning of every letter you trace and try to right. Dots and arrows, the art of handwriting.

D is for dove and dots (PDF)

Then we listed to "I Like the Flowers" for free online- a great round which explicitly mentions daffodils. Beatboppers offers the free mp3 if you're willing to give them your email address.

D is for daffodil (PDF)

Then we moved into the realm of Max's favorite critters- dogs. Micah colored the dog page and rhyme and she and Milla wistfully discussed their desire for a "puppy like Maddie". We'll see what Santa does with that wish.

D is for dog (PDF)

For a little background music, here's the song that made Milla dance like a Ukranian folk-dancer this morning. It's quite appropriate given her current sniffles. The best remedy for a sick baby is a good song about snot.

BOOGERS - DAVID ROVICS

Crafting a tribute to Charlie Parker: A feather for Yardbird.

A feather for the Yardbird.

Crafting often begins with a person in mind. In this case, the person is a jazz musician who always played as if a feather lit his cap. So the green vase holds an eternal feather for Charlie Parker, who changed the language of jazz so we could continue to speak it. What keeps Charlie relevant is his influence on the development of bebop, particularly with respect to rhythm.

A little meat for your gristle. The earliest, preformal type of jazz, also known as the "cakewalk" style, relied on the half-note pulse. The rise of the ragtime style brought was tied to the syncopated half-note. In the New Orleans style, syncopation gradually divided the pulse until it emerged as the even four in Louis Armstrong's music. But the rhythmic basis of Parker's bebop is an eighth-note. 

"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."
                - Charlie Parker 

Charlie leaned on Lester Young's flexible use of the 4/4 pulse and a more freely moving rhythmic impulse in creating his melodic lines. But he also imported the urban, southwestern blues idiom popularized by Count Basie's orchestra as the emotional and even technical basis for his work. 

Listen to "Parker's Blues" (below) which Charlie recorded with a young Miles Davis and you can't miss the blues behind the movement.

 

Parker's Mood (mp3)

The sax never runs of things to say- and ways to say it as emphatically as a livid woman in high heels rapidly crossing a room. To learn more about the Bird and his influence on jazz greats including Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, take a pee at his website.

 

The end of summer playlist.

 

LA ISLA BONITA - Laura Barrett
(via Cover Lay Down, original by Madonna)
For my niece, Isla, who is as bonita as life gets. 

BLOOD LOSS - Horrible Crowes
(via More Cowbelle)
For all the elderly who have captivated me with their stories this year. 

LOW DOWN MONKEY BLUES - Tom Waits and the Replacements 
(via Big Rock Candy Mountain)
For my husband, who loves winning combinations. 

RUIN - Cat Power
(via 3Hive) 
For the Tuscaloosa City Council who isn't thinking longterm about the Eastern Bypass. 

YOU CAN CLOSE YOUR EYES - William Fitzsimmons
(via Cover Lay Down) 
For all the wildflowers we've picked and all the fields we've laid across this year. 

WHERE IS MY MIND - Trampled By Turtles 
(via Cover Lay Down, original by The Pixies) 
For Filip, who was with me when I first asked this question. 

SHE IS STILL MY WEAKNESS - My Darling Weakness
(via Lonesome Music) 
For lovers of parlor songs and zombies. 

MOTHER NATURE'S SONG - Bill Evans
(via Cover Lay Down, original by The Beatles) 
For the munchkins, who should know the words. 

MY INTERNAL DIN - I Was Totally Destroying It
(via Those Who Dig)
For Mary, because pots, pans, and milk let-downs bring you to mind. That, and these girls would get on your nerves.

RIDING IN MY CAR - Bruce Springsteen
(via Cover Lay Down, original by Woody Guthrie) 
For the Coryell family spaceship that gets us from here to the lark. 

VERONICA BLUES - Horse Feathers
(via This Mornin' I Am Born Again) 
For Suebee and Pops who like similar things. 

MY OLD FRIEND, THE BLUES - The Proclaimers
(via Cover Lay Down, original by Steve Earle) 
For the red carpet which finds me there, blue. 

THE OTHER SIDE OF TOWN - The Gibson Brothers
(via Cover Lay Down, original by Steve Earle) 
For Holt, where we found ourselves frequently. 

CAN'T CHANGE ME - Lydia Loveless
(via More Cowbelle) 
For Bunica, because's she right on the metaphysics but wrong on the microcosm. 

DO RE MI - Uncle Tupelo
(via Cover Lay Down, original by Woody Guthrie) 
For Micah, who can't stop singing. 

YOU ARE MY SISTER - The UnThanks
(via Lonesome Music) 
For Carla, because blood is blood. 

MOUNTAIN TUNE - Trails and Ways 
(via Those Who Dig)
For Matt and Sarah I just can't quite put my finger on it. 

SURE N'UFF N' YES I DO - Ralph Stanley
(via Those Who Dig)
For those who live on Crescent Ridge Road. 

LITTLE BLACK STAR - Hooray for the Riff-Raff
(via More Cowbelle)
For Milla, who's "just like her daddy". 

5 songs and a pastel picture on the theme of a David Brower quote.

"We must begin thinking like a river if we are to leave a legacy
of beauty and life for future generations."
David Brower 

The Dreaming Moon by The Magnetic Fields

Stay a Little Longer by The Prine Valley Cosmonauts with Neko Case

Spanish Pipedream by Avett Brothers (John Prine cover)

Chalk it up to the blues by Big Sandy and The Flyrite Boys

Make Another Tree by Eef Barzelay

Jason Isbell sings about Alabama pines.

3rd Annual Johnny Shines Blues Festival this weekend in Holt.

Amos Kennedy made the poster, and Friends of Hurricane Creek are proud to support our local blues musicians of the feisty sex. Family-friendly backyard blues with food, drinks, and good times. A few years ago, we brought a blanket and lawn chairs and alternated between dancing and just hanging out. All proceeds go to the Johnny Shines Foundation. Here's a little from the Shines himself to get you in the mood....

I Make You Happy- Johnny Shines and Snooky Pryor

John and Sarah Kelly, father and daughter, melodies interwoven.

John's daughter, Sarah, recorded a song he wrote about two years ago with him- it makes me happy. If you listen closely you can hear the katydid's in the background.  If you visit John's blog, you can watch colors packed tighly in metal tubes come to life as he arranges them on canvas. 

Free podcasts from the Enoch Pratt Free Library.

I first heard of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in a small book about HL Mencken. Supposedly, it was one of his favorite nooks in the world. It might become one of mine, as well. After scouring their free podcasts, what follows are the most savory findings of my virtual feast. 

Chuck Palahniuk reads from his novel, Pygmy.
Gary Marcus talks about his book, Kluge, and the "haphazard construction of the human mind".
A smorgasborg of fairy tales about food. 
Fairy tales about dragons from the Fairy Tale Festival.
Ralph Nader talks about his latest book. 
Sandra Steingraber talks about how chemicals have become a family matter. 
An hour with Andrei Codrescu, reading, talking, barking. I miss him on NPR.
Truth and Reconciliation: A podcast about peace in a community.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee tells her story. 

Next on the list- free audiobooks.

Sail hard, die old: A podcast with two guys who sail for a living.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page for a podcast with two sailors who love what they do and do just what they love.

Kevin and Michael take it easy on the way out from Key West.

Michael catches beautiful food.

Unidentified lady and three sailors enjoy Key West.

Sail Hard, Die Old- An Interview with Two Sailors

Sail Hard, Die Old (mp4)

You can touch base with Kevin Gray on his Facebook Page, Pray4Wind.

A free EP is fine by me.

Songs From the Watershed is the name of the new EP from The Story Of, a progressive pop band from Austin. And you can download it online for free right here.