styles they come and go


chord #15, by anders krisar

* A Real Life Joe Gould: If you live in NYC, or plan to visit soon, this is something to consider: Story Corps, "a national project to instruct and inspire people to record each others' stories in sound.

"We're here to help you interview your grandmother, your uncle, the lady who's worked at the luncheonette down the block for as long as you can rememberÂ?anyone whose story you want to hear and preserve.

"To start, we'll be building soundproof recording booths across the country, called StoryBooths. You can use these StoryBooths to record broadcast-quality interviews with the help of a trained facilitator. Our first StoryBooths opened in New York City's Grand Central Terminal on October 23, 2003, and the oral historian Studs Terkel gave a rousing speech, which captures the heart of the project.

"We've tried to make the experience as simple as possible. We'll help you figure out what questions to ask. We'll handle all the technical aspects of the recording. At the end of the hour-long session, you'll get a copy of your interview on CD. And thanks to the generous contributions of our supporters, all this costs only $10."

You will also have the opportunity to donate a copy of your cd to the project and to the Library of Congress. Be sure to listen to the excerpts provided on the site. Its a fascinating and worthy project.

In addition to the booth at Grand Central, there is a mobile unit that istravelingg the US right now, and on July 12, 2005, they will open a booth at the World Trade Center site, for people to discuss September 11, 2001.

* Listen to a sample of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy singing "Puff the Magic Dragon," which will be released in July.

* Fear Is What Quickens Me
-- by James Wright

1
Many animals that our fathers killed in America
Had quick eyes.
They stared about wildly,
When the moon went dark.
The new moon falls into the freight yards
Of cities in the south,
But the loss of the moon to the dark hands of Chicago
Does not matter to the deer
In this northern field.

2
What is that tall woman doing
There, in the trees?
I can hear rabbits and mourning doves whispering together
In the dark grass, there
Under the trees.

3
I look about wildly.


[oh, and of all things, yesterday I was ticketed -- well, actually the nice fucking cop let me off with a warning -- for "not crossing the street between the white lines," that's right, for j-walking: at 5:00 pm at the corner of 14 & I. Of course, while the nice fucking cop was writing up my warning, about 90 percent of the people crossing the street were also "not crossing the street between the white lines."]