See the ghost fly over the sea

[sovay]

kraada came to visit on Friday and brought me roses and bread—circus roses, whorled amber-red and yellow, and eight-grain bread from the Hungry Ghost Bakery. This is maybe a perfect description of him.

Last night I watched Casablanca for the third time. I am still in love with Claude Rains. My grandfather remarks that he can't watch even scenes from the movie without remembering how it felt to see Casablanca for the first time in the middle of World War II; how it felt in 1942 to hear "La Marseillaise" drown out "Die Wacht am Rhein." He was a student at the time, but his eyesight kept him out of military service—never mind leaves, he nearly hadn't known trees had branches until he got his first pair of glasses. Hirshke, you're blind as half a bat . . . He worked in an ink-making plant and finished his dissertation and my mother was born in 1946. And by the time I saw Casablanca, this was all family stories: in the past. For me.

This afternoon, since the latest scene was my responsibility, I worked on the collaboration with greygirlbeast. I have no idea how all the pieces of this story are going to fit together; I don't even know the title. But I'm enjoying the process.

I seem to have several songs from Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys steadily stuck in my head, on rotation. I may have to buy the entire set after all.

Oh, you pinks and posies
Go down, you blood red roses, go down . . .

Talk to fleurdelis28 about King Arthur.

Comments

[sovay]

Any suggestions?

For traditional stuff? The Starboard List's Songs of the Tall Ships / Cruising 'Round Yarmouth, The Young Tradition's Chicken on a Raft, and pretty much anything by Gordon Bok or Stan Rogers; North Wind's Clearing and Home in Halifax are favorites of mine. I am much less up to date on modern stuff, although the Pogues' "Turkish Song of the Damned" and Sting's "Valparaiso" have been taking turns.

Hm. Earlier in the year, I made a two-CD mix of chanteys, ballads, and sea-songs for some friends of mine, mostly composed of the traditional artists mentioned above with some others like Waterson : Carthy, Spiers & Boden, and Great Big Sea for variety. If you're interested, I could send you copies. Think of it as a sampler . . .

[crowgrl.livejournal.com]

Would you? That's incredibly generous of you to offer. Thank you!

I could return the favor with music as well??

[sovay]

Thank you!

You're welcome! Let me know if I got the right e-mail address . . .