Terri Windling's Blog, page 257

Tunes for a Monday Morning

Oh, what wonderful world have I stumbled into where my favorite Portland folk-rock band is working in collaboration with Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, of all people? And whatever alternate planet this is...please, sir, may I stay here? Because this is my idea of heaven.

In the video above, The Decemberists and Gillian Welch sing "Down by the Water," one of the new songs off their terrific new album The King is Dead. I particularly like Jenny Conlee's fine accordion playing on this one.

Below, the band's frontman, Colin Meloy, performs a solo, accoustic version of my favorite Decemberist song(s), "The Crane Wife, Parts I, II, & III,"  based on the very sad Japanese fairy tale of the same name. (Speaking of creative process, as we often do on this blog and in the comments section, it's quite interesting to hear this stripped down version of the songs, before the sounds and textures of the band were woven around it. ) If any of you are unfamiliar with the recorded full-band version, you can hear Parts I & II here and Part III  (my favorite, I think; it just breaks my heart) here. 

And while we're on the subject: I also recommend Jeannine Hall Gailey's poem "The Crane Wife," based on the same Japanese folk tale. I was lucky enough to have an advance look at Jeannine's new poetry collection, She Returns to the Floating World, coming out from Kitsune Books later this year. It contains a number of works inspired by Japanese folklore, and is simply gorgeous, so keep an eye out for it.

For a picture book version of the folk tale, try The Crane Wife by Odds Bodkin, with beautiful art by the great Russian illustrator Gennady Spirin.  And for more information on bird/woman transformation in folklore, read Midori Snyder's excellent article, " The Swan Maiden's Feathered Robe." Oh, oh, that reminds me of another fine poem, "Swan/Princess" by Jane Yolen.

Art by Carson Ellis  for the Decemberists

Here on the hill...

Judging by the comments, a lot of you enjoyed seeing the outside of Marja's studio in addition to her desk inside it...so I thought I'd post another outside picture today, this one of my studio nestled on the side of...

On Your Desk

My friend Todd (a.k.a. William Todd-Jones; husband to Carol Amos, one of the Faery Godmothers in yesterday's post) is away from home at the moment doing research for a forthcoming theatre project up at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Regarding...

On Your Desk

All the desks today belong to a group of six women friends here in my village: Wendy Froud, Carol Amos, Elizabeth-Jane Baldry, Hazel Brown, Marja Lee Kruyt, and me. We've known each other for twenty-plus years, and have long had...

On Your Desk

Our first desk today is located on the other side of my village here in Devon, where Virginia Lee quietly creates an enchanted world full of marvels and magic. Working in a style that is utterly her own, Virginia's art...

Brother & Sister

(Click on the picture for a larger version.) Another picture-story for you today. A copy of the poem "Brother and Sister," and Barth Anderson's response to it, can be found here. Also, Lisa Sock's lovely short film inspired by the...

Speak with conviction...

My dear friend Karen Shaffer passed this one on, and I love it: "Typography," a poem by Taylor Mali, animated by Ronnie Bruce. I send it out this morning to everyone who loves language...as I do, and as Mali clearly...

Transfiguration

from the Desert Spirits series An interesting quote I came across recently: "The beauty that emerges from woundedness is a beauty infused with feeling; a beauty different from the beauty of landscape and the cold perfect form. This is a...

Tune for a Monday Morning

This week's tune is one that always gives me a lift: "I Heard the Angels Singing" by the great blues guitarist Eric Bibb, performing in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. I adore this man. An old piece of mine: The Angel of...

Sunday Morning at Bumblehill

Tilly listens dreamily to Damien & Howard play a waltz.