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Wailing away on the wall of the strand
Today's sunset was a stunner. The air turned an incredible mauve and gold-hulled violet, right above the horizon: such a neon intensity, it would have lowered oppressively if it hadn't been so rich, like an entire skyful of afterimage. The clouds had that sketched-charcoal and sandbar three-dimensionality, where you seem to look out over rather than up into them, and in a few minutes the colors visible between the trees had all faded into the apple-green, backlit blue I associate most of all with winter twilight. There is an almost imperceptibly thin new moon there now, a nail-scratch of light on the sky. And this afternoon, I walked from the con hotel down Summer Street to South Station, over the water with the sun crumpled up on it and the brilliant clarity of the air and the light that requires an entire nineteenth-century school of painting to reproduce accurately, in shafts, where even the clouds are luminous; bridge-struts, pylons, cells of sky-blue mirrored over and over in skyscraper windows. I don't see enough skylines in my ordinary life. I love them. I wish I could take photographs.
We packed up the table in the dealer's room this morning, so I had a chance to attend two panels—what makes vivid writing and what defines American rather than British fantasy—and have lunch with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nineweaving, converse properly with matociquala for the first time in over a year, and meet kayselkiemoon in person. (Lunch with farwing yesterday was also awesome. And a man came up to me and asked if I'd modeled for the painting on the cover of Jane Yolen's Once Upon A Time (She Said), which I had not, but I was still honored.) I read Ilario last night, and Elizabeth Hand's Saffron and Brimstone this afternoon, and both were excellently worth it. I met several people whose names I should have taken down. All the traditional hallmarks of a con in only a few hours . . .
I have three different songs stuck in my head. How does this happen?
We packed up the table in the dealer's room this morning, so I had a chance to attend two panels—what makes vivid writing and what defines American rather than British fantasy—and have lunch with
nineweaving, converse properly with matociquala for the first time in over a year, and meet kayselkiemoon in person. (Lunch with farwing yesterday was also awesome. And a man came up to me and asked if I'd modeled for the painting on the cover of Jane Yolen's Once Upon A Time (She Said), which I had not, but I was still honored.) I read Ilario last night, and Elizabeth Hand's Saffron and Brimstone this afternoon, and both were excellently worth it. I met several people whose names I should have taken down. All the traditional hallmarks of a con in only a few hours . . .I have three different songs stuck in my head. How does this happen?
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Yes, you make that beautifully clear. Wow.
I have three different songs stuck in my head. How does this happen?
Perhaps you're a mashup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_%28music%29) artist waiting to happen?
A while ago, I had a song called "Renholder" by A Perfect Circle stuck in my head as well as a song called "Migrations" by Jocelyn Pook. I quickly realised it was because they were exactly the same song. Different recording session and different musicians, but I played both mp3s simultaneously and it was like listening to a single mp3. A Perfect Circle claims there's is an original song, so they ripped off "Migrations" and to this day I seem to be the only person who's made a note of it.
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I do not think a mashup of Michael Penn's "Walter Reed," the Pogues' "Turkish Song of the Damned," and Martin Carthy's "Hog-Eye Man" would be the unholiest thing ever, but it would be pretty strange.
A Perfect Circle claims there's is an original song, so they ripped off "Migrations" and to this day I seem to be the only person who's made a note of it.
Congratulations? That is bizarre.
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So I see--i'd only heard the Pogues song before. Thanks for the mp3s--they're good.
Congratulations? That is bizarre.
I'll claim a victory of sorts. Now that I've been reminded of the existence of sendspace, you can compare for yourself;
Here's the Perfect circle song (http://www.sendspace.com/file/pu1xci), off their album Mer de Nom, and the Jocelyn Pook song (http://www.sendspace.com/file/cqy524), which I got from the Eyes Wide Shut soundtrack.
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You're welcome. "Walter Reed" is one of the songs behind "Chez Vous Soon," and I love Martin Carthy.
Here's the Perfect circle song, off their album Mer de Nom, and the Jocelyn Pook song, which I got from the Eyes Wide Shut soundtrack.
I'll have to listen to them more carefully: I'm not convinced that their melodic lines are identical, but they are certainly close. I think the chord progression might be the same. ("Migrations" reminds me of Dead Can Dance.)
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Hmm. What's "Chez Vous Soon"? Forgive me if it's something I ought to know, I have a bad memory for titles.
and I love Martin Carthy.
Is that song about anal sex? I did a search and found multiple versions of it, including a page that snootily explains how several versions of its lyrics were dirty and cleaned up by collectors--the explanation's followed by a very short version of the lyrics. But it still contained the line about Mary shelling peas, which I'm pretty sure is about masturbation.
I'm not convinced that their melodic lines are identical, but they are certainly close. I think the chord progression might be the same.
Well, I've not listened to them especially carefully, and I know almost nothing about music, but it's the same song, I tells ye!
"Migrations" reminds me of Dead Can Dance.
I've yet to hear any Dead Can Dance.
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Sorry; a story of mine published in Not One of Us #35. It was written in November and December 2005, and halfway through I discovered Michael Penn's Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947, at which point "Walter Reed" sort of wired into the soundtrack for me. It's also partially about my friend Nora, who died while I was writing the story—past the point at which I knew what would happen to one of the characters, but there's a scene at the end that is almost taken from life. I think it's one of the better stories I've written, but I also know I might still be too close to tell, and I don't know when that will wear off.
Is that song about anal sex?
The liner notes explain, "A hog-eye was apparently a type of barge used in the canals and rivers of America from the 1850’s onward. Thus, 'hog-eye man' was used in derogation by the deep water sailors who used this chantey at the capstan. Many of the original verses to this chantey were far too obscene to have ever found their way into print," which really doesn't help with tracking down the original obscene meanings. These are the lyrics to Carthy's version as I transcribed them:
Oh, hand me down my riding cane
I'm off to meet my darling Jane
And a hog-eye
Railroad navvy with his hog-eye
Steady on the jig with a hog-eye
Oh, she wants the hog-eye man
Oh, the hog-eye man is the man for me
Sailing down from [indecipherable] sea
Oh, he come to the shack where Sally did dwell
He knocked on the door and he rung her bell
Oh, who's been here since I been gone?
Railroad navvy with his sea-boots on
If I catch him here with Sally once more
I'll sling my hook, go to sea once more
Oh, Sally's in the garden sifting sand
The hog-eye man sitting hand in hand
Oh, Sally's in the garden punching duff
Cheeks of her arse go chuff, chuff, chuff
Oh, I won't bear a hog-eye, damned if I do
Got chiggers in his feet and he can't wear shoes
Oh, the hog-eye man is the man for me
He is blind and he cannot see
Oh, a hog-eye ship and a hog-eye crew
Hog-eye mate and a skipper too
So I have no idea about the specifics, but there's definitely sex in there. Knocked on the door and rung her bell? Ahem.
I've yet to hear any Dead Can Dance.
Randomly selected from the two albums I like best:
"The Host of Seraphim," "Song of Sophia," "Ulysses," The Serpent's Egg (1988)
"The Song of the Sibyl," "Fortune Presents Gifts Not According to the Book," "Radharc," Aion (1990)
If you're interested in more, I'll gladly send it. I have also Dead Can Dance (1984), Within the Realm of a Dying Sun (1987), and Into the Labyrinth (1993).
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I'd like to read it some time. I just need to figure out how to order that issue . . . I think the coffee's wearing off . . .
"A hog-eye was apparently a type of barge used in the canals and rivers of America from the 1850’s onward. Thus, 'hog-eye man' was used in derogation by the deep water sailors who used this chantey at the capstan.
I initially assumed "hog-eye" meant "anus"--sort of like "brown eye", especially with the juxtaposition of the arse chuffing. Hmm. I wonder if "Arse Chuffing" could be the title of a sixteenth century porno from another dimension. Anyway, hog-eye might of course still have two meanings . . .
Knocked on the door and rung her bell? Ahem.
And a riding cane for Jane. Heh.
Randomly selected from the two albums I like best:
Thank you. I've just started listening to them, and so far so good.
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Not One of Us #35 is available at Shocklines and The Genre Mall. "Chez Vous Soon" is, for both literary and personal reasons, one of my favorites among the stories we've published at Not One of Us.
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There is no one like you.
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That was pretty much stream-of-consciousness, although I had to think over "gold-hulled" for the sense of sunset light laid under the color of the sky, until I realized how the horizon curved into it. I have a useless brain that way.
There is no one like you.
Thank you . . .
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Glad you had such a pleasant-sounding time.
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Do you ever come to Boskone?
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I've never before, but I'd not mind doing so, sometime.
Not been to a con in years, truth to tell, and only once or twice even then.
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Dammit.
Oh, and apparentl(ee) (apologies, this keboard has no letter-before-Z), the wife has known
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There's still Readercon!
Oh, and apparentl(ee) (apologies, this keboard has no letter-before-Z),
How did that happen? Typewriter keys going out, I understand . . .
the wife has known farwing a long time. Did ou meet at Boskone?
No, we've known each other for years. She worked at Enchantments—the short-lived science fiction and fantasy bookstore in Lexington Center, where I had a job for about six months in tenth grade before it closed—and at Pandemonium and, very sadly, I cannot at the moment remember if we went to high school together, but we've certainly been friends since that age. How does
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...
It's a small world, is it not?
ALSO. Now that we have an entire spare bedroom for you, you'll have to come visit soon.
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Prrrr.
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I love skylines, too. my favorite moment of riding the T in Boston is when the red line train starts crossing the Charles, and the city falls away and I can see river and horizon and sky. I love it. in all seasons, but especially when the water is covered with flocks of sailboats. one of these springs I'll stop being lazy and go rent a boat.
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Likewise!
one of these springs I'll stop being lazy and go rent a boat.
You should. I went sailing on the Charles with a friend of mine for the first time this summer, and it was great.
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mmmm, sounds good. I have long been jealous that the part of the Charles through Boston and Cambridge is happier than the CT river around Hartford and Wethersfield. you get down to Middletown and it's fine, but Hartford not so much. although part of my trouble is there aren't any community boating-type places in the area. I live in a town with a cove, but is it a happy cove? no! can my dogs swim there? no! ah well. :)
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I did see the wafer-thin chip of moon the other day though. The sunset wasn't as brilliant this far into the Midwest though.
From the photos I've seen of you, I can certainly see why someone would ask you that question about the Jane Yolen cover.
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They're not always like this. The most spectacular, flaming ones seem to be in winter; I'm not sure why. Summer sunsets are the more drawn-out, lingering kind.