Rainy Day Folklore

The incrementally artistic communiqués and missives of a frustrated folklorist var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-35428485-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Check out this study away program for summer 2014. Pretty sweet if you like cool things. 

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Training Day 2

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Memorial, 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Birmingham

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

The Birmingham Sunlights at the 16th Street Baptist Church

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Seeing this tomorrow night...

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

The definitive history of Halloween by folklorist Jack Santino. Enjoy.

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Let it begin...

[fancycwabs]

Still time to come to Nashville to see the Chuck Palahniuk and Rick Riordan face each other in single combat this weekend. Also, Octopoberfest!

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Be there or be poorly read. Don't forget to stop by the Headquarters Tent in the center of the plaza. Say hello, and buy a t-shirt.

Rumor has it, we have hoodies this year...

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

About your name...

Hey son,

In about five months, you're gonna see the harsh light of day for the first time. You're gonna scream and cry, wear a ridiculous hat, and be fawned over by very tall (to you) people. It's gonna be weird. 

So...about your name.

You're gonna be saddled with it for the rest of your life. Your mother and I are agonizing over finding something you won't mind too much, as we've all but given up on finding a name you'll love from the word go. We've thought of ancestral names, family names, geographic names, names that sound good with your middle and/or last names, names that signify something, names completely without meaning, literary names, artistic names, vintage names, modern names, classic names, trendy names, I am simultaneously obsessed with, and sick to death of, looking at names. 

All this to say, whether you love it or hate it, I want you to know we gave it a lot of thought. And though in the end I expect we'll come up with something agreeable, sonorous, and something my family can pronounce properly, I have a feeling you're going to be called Stinky Van Armrollsoffat for at least six months (heredity is a bitch). Can't wait to tell your first girlfriend about that...

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

The finished mantle and shelves

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Bobby Keys, Dan Baird, and Brad Pemberton in the library courtyard.

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Personification of Stupid

Walking with the lady in downtown Memphis. Saw a guy in a wife-beater with a busted eye. One triceps tattoo said "white" the other said "power"... Sometimes, dudes deserve their ass whoopins. Idiot.

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Why should the government support the arts?

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies produced an exceptional document answering this question here.

While there are a number of reasons outlined in the document (created by people who have dedicated their lives to the arts), to my mind the most important among them is this: federal and state support of the arts and humanities provides access to the arts and humanities to underserved populations. I have some experience with this.

I grew up in a town of under 1200 people. The unemployment rate was over 30%. Fewer than 20% of the county's population lived above the poverty line. The nearest university was 70 miles away. There was no theater, no concert hall, no public auditorium besides the grandstands at the county fairgrounds and the school gymnasium.

Because of state/federal support for the arts and humanities, I heard lectures from college professors, saw a professional ballet company and symphony orchestra, and watched a professional Shakespeare company perform Romeo and Juliet (got to meet the actors too).

These events were held during school (for students, for free), and again for the public during the evening with a ticket costing anywhere from two to five dollars. When the Louisville Ballet performed in my hometown, attendance to the performance was greater than the population of the city limits.  

Without federal/state support for these programs, they wouldn't have happened. Period. No one in my county could underwrite them. The market couldn't afford them. 

And it was, in part, because of these programs I went to college, earned an advanced degree in the humanities, and have spent the last ten years making sure everyone, EVERYONE, in my state has access to a variety of programs...programs the market can't/won't support.

I think that is worth less than a tenth of one percent of my (and your) taxes.

Yes, artists can get by without government assistance. Audiences can't.

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Maron and Me. My shirt is about 11 years less jaded…

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Detail

[rainydayfolklore-blog]

Mantle and face frames are done. Weekend accomplished.