Archive for November, 2007

Kids will be kids will be terrifying.

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While there’s a whole laundry list of things I’m afraid of, there are two that really shine in the house museum context. The first, arson, will be well covered next week, so I won’t get into that here.

(Except to say “look at this!” — there. Done.)

The other is children. Sure they’re adorable and full of life, but they’re also small, sticky, and often unable to read.

What this means for us are people who are easy to lose track of, ready to touch, pet, and sit on all sorts of things that have been painstakingly preserved in order that people should never sit on them again.

To be fair, it may not entirely be the fault of the children in scenarios like these, and some blame is certainly owed to the adults who bring ‘em over. I mean, ask 11-year-olds what they think of when you say “museum” (as Lain and I did last week) and you get answers like “boring”, “quiet”, and “you can’t touch anything”.

Perhaps it’s because the Wren’s Nest, this Nation’s Most Exciting House Museum (trademark pending) blows those first two stereotypes out of the water, children and adults alike forget the third.

(You would be amazed at how many people try to use this bathroom, despite multiple signs telling them it’s really, truly, not an option.)

Now, don’t get me wrong– kids are our bread and butter, and we like them a lot. But heavens, when you see one about to leap into a 150-year old chair or pee on an antique, your opinion changes in a flash.

And that’s why I’m happy to report that there are currently 50 children running around and having a grand old time — outside.

Podcast Number Two

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Our second podcast, “Same Old Story, Same Old Song,” is now online.

Whether you (a) want to listen to our storytellers for fifteen minutes or (b) want to find out what a podcast actually is (it’s like a radio show) or (c) have been aching to hear my sonorous voice (ahem), this podcast is for you.

The format is this–we talk about a particular aspect of storytelling and intersperse the talking with with three examples, each (so far) from our Wren’s Nest Ramblers. Then, the big finale is a full story by our Ramblers. Many of you might just want to fast forward to that part (5:48), while others may relish in hearing just how scared I am behind a mic.

If you’re really into the latter part, then feel free to listen to our first podcast, “The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story.”

If you do indeed end up listening, let us know how you feel via the comments. We’re new at this. Any direction, compliments, or criticism is much appreciated, and chances are excellent that your opinion will directly effect the course of future podcasts. Anyone from the Georgia Podcast Network, we’re looking at you.

EDIT 4:41 PM: Oh!  I forgot to mention that the story on this podcast is told by the unparalleled Woodie Persons.  She’s not (yet) been featured on this website, but we’re working on it.  In the mean time, she is both amazing and highly recommended!

Wren’s Nest Featured in the Washington Post

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…along with five other Georgia writers’ homes.

(photo by Wren’s Nest frequent photographer Erik S. Lesser)

Pretty good article if I do say so myself, and it’s always nice to have the Wren’s Nest’s picture prominently displayed. The article will be in tomorrow’s print edition, just in time for the birthday of occasional blog-commenter Scotty.

Here’s the link to the article.

Should you want to just read the part about Joel Chandler Harris and the Wren’s Nest, read the first paragraph, the first couple paragraphs on page 2, and the last page.

Should you want more information on the other house museums, I’ve included some helpful links below.

Alice Walker (background info) (museum pending)
Carson McCullers (background info) (museum)
Erskine Caldwell (background info) (museum)
Flannery O’Connor (background info) (museum)
Margaret Mitchell (background info) (museum)

They’re Gonna Put (Lain) in the Movies!

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They’re gonna make a big star out of (Lain)!

The Wren’s Nest’s own Executive Director got one step closer to his overreaching goal of celebrity status today. A natural on camera (naturally flustered, that is), Lain was filmed for a documentary about the West End and Westview neighborhoods here in Atlanta. Big time!

(The crew, doing what they do best: making Lain nervous.)

Lain answered the crew’s questions about the West End in general and the Wren’s Nest’s current and historical role therein.

While it’s always funny to hear Lain talk about how people react to his role as an Executive Director of a historic house museum (see: incredulously), it’s even funnier when Lain is talking about his work in a Very Professional Sense with a backwards baseball cap.

They asked him to remove the hat, for lighting purposes. He couldn’t, due to the fact that showing his atrocious hat hair on camera would have prevented him from ever being taken seriously again.

(A narrowly-missed tribute to Alfalfa.)

While I can’t provide you any information about when this film will be available for viewing, or how to find it, I do encourage you to seek out every media reference to the West End you can find in the meantime. You have several hundred hours to spare, right?

Taking our show on the road

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People call Lain and I a lot of things: charming, good looking, dashing, hilarious, a “young punk” (Lain only), genius, humble, even “qualified”. But today we were called something so unprecedented, so exciting, so confusing– we were beside ourselves.

Folks, we were called PROFESSIONAL BLOGGERS. Egads!

(Yep, these two totally non-awkward people.)

As part of a Writer’s Conference at Inman Middle School, today we spoke to an energetic eighth grade class about the merits of blogging. Once we got past Lain’s “cool” last name (they were finishing up MacBeth), we dove right into the exciting and money-filled world of professional blogging. Or, you know, what we do.

We mainly focused on what makes a blog different than other written sources, types of blogs, what makes a good blog, and why it’s totally hip to be a blogger. We’ll be repeating our shtick two more times this week.

The students all chose topics they were passionate about and wrote mini-blog posts, which they then edited with a partner and presented to the class. Topics included Colts v. Patriots, Homework v. No Homework, T.I. v. Lil Wayne, Randy Moss v. Va Tech, the attractiveness of Chris Brown, the musical stylings of Chris Brown, the dancing ability of Chris Brown, and Classic Rock v. Alternative Rock.

(Professional eye-catcher and middle school girl favorite, Chris Brown.)

Lain and I somewhat arbitrarily chose our favorite blog, included below. Guest blogger Kiera Hicks wrote a treatise on the merits of recently incarcerated rapper T.I.

“I think T.I. is better than Lil Wayne because his lyrics talk about his life and what he has been through.

He doesn’t talk about a lot of sex, he is honest, he doesn’t smoke a lot, and he helps out his community and tries to make his life better.

Lil Wayne doesn’t have music for adolescents. Lil Wayne’s appearance to me is very unprofessional. I have never seen Lil Wayne wear anything other than a Bape Nape, pocket, white shirt, jeans, and shoes.

T.I. has a professional style of dressing. T.I. has his own style.”

(Indeed.)

Kiera, the moment you trade your love for T.I. for a love of turn of the century folk writers, give us a call.

Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah-Day

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Looks like we’ve finally gotten our video issues sorted out. What better way to celebrate than with a clip from the ne’er-released-on-home-video film, Song of the South.

Folks call or come to the Wren’s Nest all the time wondering if we are indeed the Song of the South museum.

To these type questions and comments my stock response is this: “Have you heard of Pearl Harbor?” And of course they answer yes. Then, “Well what about Pearl Harbor starring Ben Affleck?” And then–”No, we do not sell the film.”

The degree of conflation of Song of the South (1946) and the Uncle Remus Tales (starting in 1876) is astonishing. With perhaps the exception of Gone With the Wind, the confusion between the source material and the film is unprecedented, in my humble opinion. No doubt this is because very few people have actually seen the film in the last 60 years.

Last weekend in San Francisco Amelia and I happened to eat at a diner that had Who Framed Roger Rabbit on the television.

The waiter behind the counter made it clear that he was a film enthusiast, and I mentioned that this film was a direct descendant of Song of the South, and he said, “Well yeah, but it’s just so terribly racist.”

It was unclear whether or not he’d actually seen the film, but this sort of confident dismissal happens all the time.

I’ve no shortage of opinions on the film, but today I’ll just leave you with some facts–

• The Harris family sold Disney the rights to adapt the Harris versions of the Brer Rabbit stories for $10,000 in 1939.
• Clarence Muse, a black actor and screenwriter, quit working on the film because of the screenplay’s treatment of black characters.
• Song of the South debuted at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on November 12, 1946.
• Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1948.
• James Baskett (Uncle Remus) was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 1948 for his portrayal of Uncle Remus.
• James Baskett was the first live actor hired by Disney.
• The film is not banned, it’s just not been made available; Disney has re-released the film in theaters in 1956, 1972, 1981, and 1986. Up until 2001, the film was available for purchase in various international markets.

Have you seen the film? What do you think?

Links for further exploration–

AJC Article on Song of the South and the Wren’s Nest

Song of the South fan page with extensive links

The Wren’s Nest Ramblers versions of the Brer Rabbit stories

You’ve Been an Uncle Remus to Me

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Did anyone else watch The Office last night?

Stanley, the only black employee of Dunder-Mifflin’s Scranton branch, tells everyone he’s gotten a better deal at the Utica branch and will be leaving them. Nobody wants him to go.

Andy, left, played by Ed Helms, explains, “You’ve been like an uncle to me. Like a kind, old …Uncle Remus.”

(I wonder if he ever visited the Wren’s Nest when he was a wee chap growing up in Atlanta.)

Later in the episode, Michael Scott bemoans the loss of his only black employee, and can hardly stand dictating a want ad–

“Wanted: middle aged black man with sass. Big butt. Bigger heart.”

The staff of the Wren’s Nest thought these scenes, and this particular episode, were hilarious. What did you think? Did you cringe? Or was it just funny?

I think a lot of the Joel Chandler Harris stuff, Uncle Remus in particular, strikes people in two very different ways.

I can’t tell you how many folks sheepishly ask about the Wren’s Nest, “Gee, well, is Uncle Remus …isn’t that racist?” I get just as many very angry-sounding phone calls telling me that the Uncle Remus stories are hilarious and about as far from racist as possible, gall durn it.

We tend not to dwell on this argument here at the Wren’s Nest, but I will point you to one earlier post, as well as a picture on our brochure–

This illustration was from the first printing of Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings in 1880, and Joel Chandler Harris did not like the pictures his publisher chose at all. In fact, he believed that the depiction of Uncle Remus was demeaning and condescending.

It didn’t do his character the least bit of justice.