Quarantine Bedtime Stories

There is much to say; I'm gonna record a bit of it.

We already know everything, it has just been hidden from us.

There is much to say; I'm gonna record a bit of it.

We already know everything, it has just been hidden from us.

There is much to say; I'm gonna record a bit of it.

We already know everything, it has just been hidden from us.

There is much to say; I'm gonna record a bit of it.

We already know everything, it has just been hidden from us.

There is much to say; I'm gonna record a bit of it.

We already know everything, it has just been hidden from us.

Starting w intro, brief thoughts on the Invasion Genre, which was a thing in Britain from fin da sieckles, then died in 1914.

Comments upon the two best-known things of that genre.

Also somewhat on P.G. Wodehouse, whose wikipage (attached below) is extraordinarily thorough.

The man lived from 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975. That's a LOT of history to've seen, and been old enough to experience the FIRST decades of the 20th century, up through ..... The Godfather (1972), one point of relation. Set in the 1940s, just after WW2.  If Wodehouse ever happened to see that film, he would be in some SMALL segment of folx who remembered the years of WW2 AND WW1.

Typing up, inspired feeling. Ahab Elijah the 450 prophets, and Jezebel.

Connections to much else. Zimri Omri. And Baal.

Typing up, inspired feeling. Ahab Elijah the 450 prophets, and Jezebel.

Connections to much else. Zimri Omri. And Baal.

Starting w intro, brief thoughts on the Invasion Genre, which was a thing in Britain from fin da sieckles, then died in 1914.

Comments upon the two best-known things of that genre.

Also somewhat on P.G. Wodehouse, whose wikipage (attached below) is extraordinarily thorough.

The man lived from 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975. That's a LOT of history to've seen, and been old enough to experience the FIRST decades of the 20th century, up through ..... The Godfather (1972), one point of relation. Set in the 1940s, just after WW2.  If Wodehouse ever happened to see that film, he would be in some SMALL segment of folx who remembered the years of WW2 AND WW1.

Starting w intro, brief thoughts on the Invasion Genre, which was a thing in Britain from fin da sieckles, then died in 1914.

Comments upon the two best-known things of that genre.

Also somewhat on P.G. Wodehouse, whose wikipage (attached below) is extraordinarily thorough. 

The man lived from 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975. That's a LOT of history to've seen, and been old enough to experience the FIRST decades of the 20th century, up through ..... The Godfather (1972), one point of relation. Set in the 1940s, just after WW2.  If Wodehouse ever happened to see that film, he would be in some SMALL segment of folx who remembered the years of WW2 AND WW1. 

Since starting this podcast, I've begun offering to record stories for friends and family, as gifts -- something unique and hopefully entertaining, like the rest of this series, but specifically given as a gift. In this case, a late one: my mom never read Kafka's "Metamorphosis", and requested that I record it for Mother's Day.

Obviously, this is late, but -- seeing as I've just begun these bilingual readings -- I am gonna go through the story in its original German!

The link below has dual text (English on the left, and German in the right-hand column).

I've mentioned before, that midrashim are essentially biblical fanfiction;
in this episode, one of the things I'm doing is examining the one linked below,
which has the source-link below the inset tale:

Ten things were created on the eve of the Sabbath at twilight,
and these are they: 

1. [1] the mouth of the earth
2. [2] the mouth of the well
3. [3] the mouth of the donkey, 
4. [4] the rainbow
5. [5] the manna
6. [6] the staff [of Moses]
7. [7] the shamir
8. [8] the letters
9. [9] the writing
10. [10] and the tablets. 

And some say: also the demons, the grave of Moses,
and the ram of Abraham, our father.      And some say: and also tongs, made with tongs.

Continuation of return to STAR MATERIAL.

I am deeply irritated at my laptop having lost the 40-or-so windows I had up,
because of stupid glitchy shit.   Will write a better/more relevant description for this later.

This story IS public-domain, despite its late date relative to most of my recordings thus far.

That's because of pulp-fiction magazines, something with copyright laws. Lucky for us :)

I just read Algernon Blackwood's "The Wendigo" (1910), and in going through the Wikipage for that story, discovered that it was #3 on R.S. Hadji's list of the "13 Most Terrifying Horror Stories"  (link below, for that full list). And coming in at #8 was something called ........    "PIGEONS FROM HELL!!!"

So, y'know.

It's a long and hilarious diatribe, and will take awhile in any case,
so I'm not gonna stop to do a substantive intro, just making sure
that this goes out with the source-link and my Twitter handle :)

Yes, 

It's a long and hilarious diatribe, and will take awhile in any case,
so I'm not gonna stop to do a substantive intro, just making sure
that this goes out with the source-link and my Twitter handle :)

Since starting this podcast, I've begun offering to record stories for friends and family, as gifts -- something unique and hopefully entertaining, like the rest of this series, but specifically given as a gift. In this case, a late one: my mom never read Kafka's "Metamorphosis", and requested that I record it for Mother's Day.

Obviously, this is late, but -- seeing as I've just begun these bilingual readings -- I am gonna go through the story in its original German!

The link below has dual text (English on the left, and German in the right-hand column).

Since realizing that I can audiobook in other languages (which I'm familiar with enough to read the text, which is the most important thing in this medium), I've done a few Grimm fairytales, and last night recorded a biblical chapter (1 Sam. 15) that had been the very first podcast I did -- check the bottom of the list, concerning The Ban.

The site www.qbible.com helpfully has the original text in one column, transliteration in the middle, and English on the right side of the page, all of them with copious clickable notes on etymology and subtexts. And this story, this epic poem, is in part notable because of its dense tense and riveting language.  There's more to say about the history surrounding the poem itself (which predates the rest of JUDGES by some hundreds of years), but I'll save that for the podcast itself.

I want to do Kafka (my mom wanted me to do "Metamorphosis" for Mother's Day, so now I'm gonna do that in the German original:) , and also Freud. The latter of whom will actually be discussed in this podcast, cuz of the surprisingly Freudian imagery in the climax of this tale.

My very first podcast was a loose reading/discussion of this chapter,
from the remarkable SAMUEL SAGA (which is usu AKA "the Books of Samuel"),
which I chose for a few reasons: it is a great introduction to the dynamic of Saul and Samuel,
and -- as I said in my first episode, and will say again in this one -- several other things.

But there is a primary color to this chapter, and it is RED.

Which is, when we get right down to it,
why I felt it was the most important note
upon which to start this podcast.
_____________________
As per my last few podcasts, where I'm reading the Grimm tales in their original German,
I am returning to this chapter for the fun of trying it in [transliterated] Hebrew.

The one I just recorded, before rolling into this'un, was "Rapunzel",
and the linked page had a two-column translation (English & German, side by side),
which I thought was pretty neat.

The site THIS is from, though, goes a step even further: it has THREE columns,
the first with the actual Hebrew, the middle (most crucial for this podcast) is transliteration,
and the column on the right is English.

Definitely gonna have to use this site again/ongoingly, in this capacity:

My experiment with phonetic-audiobooking (i.e. I can pronounce the language more reliably than I can actually parse it idiomatically) continues, with another Grimm tale -- unintentionally, a great starting point, cuz listeners likely know a neutered version of this evening's tale -- that of RAPUNZEL.

Keep an eye out for anything macabre that they left out of Tangled.

After reading Red Riding-Hood in German earlier in the evening (during which I noted a few other stories I can audiobook in other languages!), I was gonna do one of the Tevye Stories by Sholom Aleichem -- called "the Jewish Mark Twain" in his time, which is an apt contemporary analogue. As I type this, also, both of those are punny noms-de-Plumb.  Like Gorky or Bezdomny, but Russia will come another night.

I can read German and pronounce it fairly well, and the language is similar to Yiddish (although I learned Yiddish before studying German) -- but I cannot read Hebrew letters consistently, so that's not possible   :-/   I couldn't find a transLITerated copy, so I'm going with a translation.  Also attaching a book of the originals which IS online (archive.org), and all in Yiddish, written in Hebrew lettering and with some pictures.  Flipping through, I found a neat one of Tevye wagging his finger at his horse.  PAGE 109   :)

OK, new experiment with this fabulous format and freedom, and how I've been audiobooking stuff.

To wit: public domain fiction, with my inclinations towards fantasy and horror.

But tonight's (whenever) reading will be my first NON-ENGLISH audiobooking.

I took German in college, and -- while I flobbled in French -- found that (cuz of prior familiarity with Yiddish), German came to me easily.

Although funnily enough, the summer-intensive-German class I took was primarily taught aloud, and with us having conversations in the language, and studying vocabulary.

Which sadly, but interestingly, meant that when I went to continue in the fall, I was more fluent in SPEAKING than I was in reading actual literature in this language, and thus   :-/   wasn't able to do Intermediate German (and Beginner was too slow, now).

But......

It has just JUST occurred to me: while I keep butchering French names and vocab in these recordings, I know that my German is accented properly. Which means that -- although I can't independently read and grok stories IN German, as I read, or discuss complex ideas or undertones -- I can still actually RECORD stories in that language, and we will both learn things in the process.

Of course, I'm starting with the Brothers Grimm, and
tackling the original "Rotkäppchen" seems ..... appetizing.
____________________________________

Returning to GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, continuing Voyage Four.

As before/always, I'm side-noting and rambling, & gonna start with Orwell
(recently found his essay on Gulliver = "Politics Vs Literature", Oct. 1946),
and his perspective on the caustic genius of Jonathan Swift.

I ordered a physical copy of GULLIVER yesterday, so I can flip through it properly.

However long this quarantine lasts ........   I'm gonna do this entire book.   For one thing

ALL ART IS PROPAGANDA   =    https://www.amazon.com/All-Art-Propaganda-George-Orwell/dp/0156033070

Quick note now, cuz I've got an energy-spike into doing another reading. Been tired this week, trying to get goin' and whatnot.

This is a horror-yarn by Algernon Blackwood, whose name I know as an inspiration on H.P. Lovecraft, but whose works I confess I haven't read.

But am about to do so, starting with a tale recommended to me by a friend with excellent taste....

This evening's tale is a bit unusual, as things continue to GET more unusual.

It's come to my attention in the most peculiar way,
and genuinely .......   you're gonna see. Whatever this thing looks like
by the time I hit PUBLISH NOW, and Anchor sends this podcast out.
      (Recognizing that the readings take it outta me -- cuz I'm
engaging with the stories -- I'm starting to write these essays FIRST, so that
that I can publish right after I record, with the description and story-links already lined up:)

--------------------
Now.
  As to WHY this one is gonna be unusual.

For awhile, these podcasts have mostly been audiobooking (with my Asides) of
of public-domain fiction, but although I'm deviating and speaking spontaneously &
& googling words as I go,
mostly I'm reading the story that I've hit Record in order to tell.

This one is different.
----------------------------
I was writing something in the summer of 2017,
about the Salem Witch Trials (1692), and ergotism in the rye.
The theory that the plague of madness and apparent witchcraft,
and the violent hallucinations, were basically food poisoning by ergot in the rye,
which is a thing that happens to the grain sometimes after a wet summer.
-------------------------------------------------------
I was sent this little Nachman tale by a friend, just cuz I mentioned the guy,
no other connection or knowledge of what's above this so far, as you're reading this.

And he ABSOLUTELY knew about and understood this thing, although they couldn't pin it down.

It's a cute little fairytale-ish thing, like all of Nachman's stories, but it isn't a hidden moral.

This is actually an attempt to capture something they .........   it is literally spine-tingling. 

I can explain it more fully aloud, and if you're reading this you probably heard that first.

......... but for that to happen, I've gotta hit Record.           \\\\\   9:58pm, May 3rd. 2020.

Everyone knows that thing about Gulliver getting shipwrecked on a land of tiny people.

Yawn.  Seen that endlessly, and Swift would be FURIOUS that that was all anyone remembers of his masterpiece.

So -- as with the rest of this podcast -- I'm here to correct that longstanding atrocity.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
We're starting at CH. XI of PART THREE  (Gulliver's visit to Laputa and elsewheres),
the last chapter of that part.    That's to orient everyone into the world and character of the narrator,
before we launch into PART FOUR of Swift's epic satire.

We are going to the land of the Houyhnhnms.

Returning -- after his cheerfully zany and cutting FABLES -- to  
Ambrose Bierce's piercing and poignant TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS.

I wanted to publish "Killed at Resaca" (see below, in the podcast-list),
so I can record a Civilian-tale also -- "An Adventure at Brownville"  --
and have both available for listeners who might not be curious enough to click this link:

Returning -- after his cheerfully zany and cutting FABLES -- to
Ambrose Bierce's piercing and poignant TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS.

I want to publish this one (one of the Soldiers), so I can record a Civilian-tale also,
and have both available for listeners who might not be curious enough to click this link:

In a way, Covid-19 led not only to my (and everyone) starting a podcast, but actually the main thrust of it as well.

I started out with some vague ideas about what I could do that might be unique, formatted so that it won't get boring for me, and that hopefully will be amusing to listeners. It's evolved into bedtime-storytelling, but in fact this began with another tale by the author of this evening's short horror tale.

That other story (which you can find in the list of my episodes!) was "The Masque of the Red Death", which is about a giant masque-ball happening during a time of plague, after the Prince Prospero and his courtiers have locked themselves into a remote castle. The Covid-parties were still happening then (March 2020), and that reckless idiocy brought that story to mind.......

"The Cask of Amontillado" is another old nightmare (from the same slim terrifying book of Poe stories which I encountered at age 10), that only gets better with age. Definitely worth the long trip into the cellars, for a taste of that rare vintage.

If you prefer to take the recommendation and skip the record, here is the link:

It is 2:12am on May Day, 2020, and after finishing my audiobooking of Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Lodging for the Night" (1877), I am writing the descriptions for some unpublished-but-recorded tales. Like this one, right here right now!

"The Beetle Hunter" is a peculiar tale from Conan Doyle -- a mystery without Sherlock anywhere in sight, that has intrigue and danger and beetles.

If you prefer to take the recommendation and skip the record, here is the link:

This is where the time-travel-aspect of my OCD-podcasting is gonna kick up a notch. Cuz I've had a number of stories recorded but unpublished (cuz they needed this accompanying essay, and link to the story), and as I type this -- two ay-em, of May Day -- I've got the right energy and focus to circle back and do those now.

So. Although this story was recorded on 4-21-20, and it's being published momentarily (5-1-20), the sequence of publication will be outta whack from when the different recordings were made. It makes sense to me, and I hope it will amuse you.

If you wanna take the recommendation and skip the audio:

It is 1:50am on May Day, 2020, and after finishing my audiobooking of Robert Louis Stevenson's "A Lodging for the Night" (1877), I am writing the descriptions for some unpublished-but-recorded tales. Like this one, right here right now!

And weirdly, serendipitously: this found-amongst-the-dead-man's-papers story covers the days from April 17 for a few days/months, and I recorded it ON four-twenty, including a diary-entry with that same date (from a century or so ago). What're the odds, right?  

"The Terror of Blue John Gap" is one of Conan Doyle's horror tales (linked below), and -- while I already pondered, in recording "The Horror of the Heights", whether Lovecraft may've run across that story .......    This one, from the same collection, almost SMELLS like an H.P. Lovecraft horror-in-the-darkness yarn. I talk about it in the recording, so will leave on that note.

If you prefer to take the recommendation and skip the record, here is the link:

 I've begun listening back over these podcasts as my own bedtime stories, after late-night recordings ........