Friday, January 2, 2009
Do Tell! Storytelling at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Akbar Imhotep, All Grown Folks, Birds of a feather, Really?, Storytelling // 1:38 pm
Starting tonight and going through tomorrow evening, the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center will host “Do Tell… a gathering of story lovers,” a storytelling showcase.
While I am uneasy about event titles with ellipses, “Do Tell” looks pretty neat. Even better — two of the Wren’s Nest Ramblers, Akbar Imhotep and Curtis Richardson, are on the docket.
(Curtis doing his thing in our storytelling garden, captured by Michael Cogliantry)
Interestingly enough, only one hour of the storytelling is designated as “stories for families and children.” Printing mistake or bucking that whole “children love stories” trend? Either way, color me intrigued!
You know I love anything hosted at a fine arts center that threatens to veer off into blue territory.
Think you’ll go? Me too. Find tickets here.
Comments: 1Brer Rabbit Stories by Akbar Imhotep
Posted by: lain // Category: Akbar Imhotep, Brer Rabbit, Joel Chandler Harris, Storytelling // 1:13 pm
Akbar has been telling stories at the Wren’s Nest since the beginning of time.
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But only now have I gotten my hands on his album of Brer Rabbit stories. We’ve got ‘em for sale at the Wren’s Nest, but I’ll also put the stories up on our main Stories page.
Here, listen to these two stories while I’m fooling around, getting the rest uploaded.
Akbar Imhotep — How Brer Coon Gets His Meat
Akbar Imhotep — How Brer Bear Lost His Tail
The echo in the recording wasn’t my idea, no sir, but I’ll take it.
Comments: 0From Denver, Colorado to Salt Lake City, Utah — Three Quick House Museum Stops
Posted by: lain // Category: Denver, House Museums, Laramie, Ridiculous Demands, Road Trips, Storytelling // 7:04 pm
Thanksgiving: We had another long day of driving ahead — 532 miles to Salt Lake City.
We considered imposing on our hosts — “Hey! Why not invite us to Thanksgiving dinner with your extended family!” — to stay another day and really see the sites. But frankly, I’m not that excited about house museums.
Thanksgiving week is perhaps not the best time to tour house museums because they’re not so much open as they are closed. In some ways, this was helpful — at this point in the trip Susie wanted nothing more than to be out of the car, and Hazel had conceded defeat. In other ways, well, we didn’t get to go inside too many museums.
Regardless, we hit the road and stopped by three museums en route to Salt Lake.
First, the home of “Unsinkable” Molly Brown.
Fans of the film Titanic will no doubt remember Molly Margaret Brown as the unforgettable something something. I still haven’t seen that one.
The exterior was surprisingly graphic.
Just down the street was the Byers-Evans House Museum.
It had decidedly less frontal nudity than the Molly Brown House. Both houses have what looks like an excellent location: the heart of the Golden Triangle Museum District. I’ll have to go back.
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Farther up the road, we looked for the Historic Governor’s Mansion in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Unfortunately, I really had to go to the bathroom, so we gave up and headed straight to Laramie. We stumbled upon the Historic Ivinson Mansion.
It’s the home of the Laramie Plains Museum.
By this point it was snowing and getting dark, and we were so over Wyoming.
Not far before the Utah line we stopped at the Flying J in Rock Springs for Thanksgiving dinner.
We had grilled chicken sandwiches. They were reasonable.
Topics Discussed: Bailey White’s Thanksgiving Stories on NPR, How Butch Cassidy Was a Real Dude Surprisingly Enough
Comments: 3Wren’s Nest Housekeeping
Posted by: lain // Category: Atlanta, Road Trips, Storytelling // 2:16 pm
- Today I obtained a building permit from the good people down at Atlanta City Hall. I only had to see nine different people to get it! Work on the Wren’s Nest will begin Monday.
- Our house museum road trip from Atlanta to Salt Lake City begins Sunday. Updates will be posted here starting Monday. If you don’t hear from me, that just means that the part of America I’m in doesn’t have internet.
- Next week the Wren’s Nest will be closed on Thanksgiving, but open during all other regular hours. Miss Woodie will be telling stories on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
- We just sent out our “This Close to Winter” Quarterly e-Newsletter. If you didn’t get it, just shoot me an email. I’ll put you on the list.
The Pace Publishing Company and the Wren’s Nest Publishing Company
Posted by: lain // Category: Baby Pictures, Birds of a feather, Historic Preservation, Marketing Tricks, Shameless Promotion, Storytelling, Wren's Nest Publishing Co. // 11:49 am
This morning I gave a talk at my high school about the Wren’s Nest Publishing Company.
I was a little nervous. I’ve never spoken in front of that big an audience before. Plus, they were way outside my usual target demographic (namely: Stately Dames, ages 72 - 86).
To make the Wren’s Nest a little more relevant to the students of Pace Academy, I brought out the big guns. My published works from the Pace Publishing Company, circa 1989, were included in the presentation.
I’ve included one of the better works below. Enjoy.
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(The End)
If this does not inspire students to contribute to the Wren’s Nest Publishing Company, I do not know what will.
Comments: 1Victorian Christmas at the Wren’s Nest - Come On Over!
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Atlanta, Birthdays, Events, Joel Chandler Harris, Storytelling, Victorian Christmas, West End // 3:06 pm
Because we here at the Wren’s Nest know holiday schedules fill up fast, let us formally invite you to the most Victorian Christmas in town!
Need convincing? Here’s what lies in store for you on Sunday, December 7th between 12 and 4pm:
- Storytelling!
- Treats!
- Activities for children!
- Mrs. Shakespeare’s famous hot chocolate!
- Tours of the home!
- (163rd) Birthday Cake!
And best of all, it’s free! Even the treats.
Here are some pictures from last year to prove I’m not lying about the treats.
Comments: 2The Howard School Brings the Adorable and the Brer Rabbit Stories
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Herding Cats, Storytelling, Tar Baby, When Babies Ramble // 2:46 pm
First of all, Happy Halloween! I hope you’re having a spooktacular day. We totally are.
The Howard School visited today, and brought a hearty amount of awesomeness in the form of 21 second graders (we think). They were a hoot.
Nannie and Jeri gave them a tour of the Wren’s Nest, Donald gave them a performance of the Brer Rabbit stories, and I provided them with a mess of Brer Lion t-shirts. Lain sat around and put his feet up.
In return, the kids performed their own versions of the Brer Rabbit stories on our stage.
The children had crafted papier-mâché masks of various characters and “acted along” as their teachers read from The Classic Tales of Brer Rabbit.
Here’s one of the masks, up close and personal.
Below is Brer Rabbit (and family–you can understand the need for poetic license when you have 21 fidgety players) stumbling upon the tar baby.
Pretty convincing, if I do say so.
My favorite part of the performances were when the students, instructed to repeat after their teacher, would boisterously yell stage directions. For example:
TEACHER: (with repeat-after-me emphasis) And then Brer Fox said, puffing up his chest, “I’m–”
2-3 CHILDREN: (with passion) PUFFING UP HIS CHEST!
TEACHER: (chuckling) I’m going to cook you in a stew!
1 CHILD: (timidly) I’m going to cook you in a stew?
I loved it. Thanks for a great day, Howard School!
Comments: 4Wren’s Nest Rambler Donald Griffin is a Fellow! A Lunt-Fontanne Fellow, That Is
Posted by: Amelia // Category: Donald Griffin, Gussying up, Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship, Storytelling, Ten Chimney Foundation // 2:28 pm
One of our esteemed storytellers, Donald Griffin, has been chosen for a totally prestigious fellowship. Not to brag or anything.
Donald was chosen amongst actors from all over the country to be part of the Ten-Chimney Foundation’s Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program. In order to be considered, you must be nominated, which Donald was by the Alliance Theatre.
Here’s his blurb:
Well said, Susan Booth. Here’s Donald doing his Wren’s Nest thing–
The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story
He’s not just Susan’s secret weapon!
Help us congratulate Donald on his achievement. He gets to go to Wisconsin with a stipend, for goodness sake!
Comments: 5Rudy Ray Moore — Dolemite, The Signifying Monkey, and Brer Rabbit
Posted by: lain // Category: Brer Rabbit, Hip Hop Musings, Rudy Ray Moore, Storytelling // 12:23 pm
Rudy Ray Moore–comedian, actor, singer, and the “godfather of rap”–passed away last week. He was 81.
Remember Dolemite?
That’s Rudy Ray Moore.
On Friday, the New York Times published his obituary. After chronicling some of his more foul-mouthed and explicit exploits, the obit points out–
Mr. Moore could be said to represent a profound strand of African-American folk art. One of his standard stories concerns a monkey who uses his wiles and an accommodating elephant to fool a lion. The tale, which originated in West Africa, became a basis for an influential study by the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., “The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism.”
In one of his few brushes with a national audience, Mr. Moore, in a startlingly cleaned-up version, told the story on “The Arsenio Hall Show” in the early 1990s. Other characters he described were new, almost always dirtier renderings in the tradition of trickster stories represented by Brer Rabbit and the cunning slave John, who outwitted his master to win freedom. (emphasis mine)
If we ever become museum with a curator and extra space, maybe we could develop an exhibit that explores Brer Rabbit’s influence in blaxploitation films and hip hop.
There’s quite a bit, really. From Brer Rabbit of Coonskin to B-Rabbit of 8 Mile, the influence of the trickster using his wits and his words is hard to underestimate in hip hop and its forbears.
And though Rudy Ray Moore may have been a little more vulgar than the folktales he updated, let’s not forget that Brer Rabbit himself was no saint.
For example, consider Brer Rabbit’s frequent visits to the house of “Miss Meadows and de gals.”
Miss Meadows and the gals live together in one house, have no visible means of support, and are often courted by Brer Rabbit, despite the Misses and Little Rabs at home. Smoking cigars and playing piano weren’t the only things they were doing, I’m sure.
Comments: 0CNN en Español at the Wren’s Nest — En Familia Video
Posted by: lain // Category: Atlanta, Brer Rabbit, Fame and Fortune, Joel Chandler Harris, Storytelling, Uncle Remus // 6:56 am
Have you ever wondered what the Wren’s Nest looks like in Spanish?
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8245944374249364941Me neither.
But, this particular episode of En Familia (as opposed to its usual tripe*) is pretty cool. It’s about storytelling around the (spanish-speaking) world. We talked about this in August. You remember.
Things to look for — Akbar plays a prominent role, and then Amelia, Jeri, and I have small cameos. If you stick around to the end and look closely, you can see that I forgot to wear socks that day.
Finally, recall that we were worried about if anyone in Spain or Latin America had heard of Brer Rabbit or Joel Chandler Harris.
Welp, turns out that CNN Producer Kevin’s intern–from Chile–was all like, “OMG I totally have that exact book at home!” And she speaks for 350 million people, so obviously our worries were assuaged.
* I’m kidding, CNN. Sheesh.
Comments: 2