May 4th, 2012 at 1:14 am (spoken word, odd stuff, poetry, God, Cats)
Jubilate Agno (Latin, "Rejoice in the Lamb") is a religious "list" poem by Christopher Smart, and was written between 1759 and 1763, during Smart's confinement for insanity in St. Luke's Hospital, Bethnal Green, London. The poem was first published in 1939, under the title Rejoice in the Lamb: A Song from Bedlam, edited by W. F. Stead from Smart's manuscript, which Stead had discovered in a private library.
Perhaps the most repeated and cited portions of of Jubilate Agno concern themselves with the unique affection Smart had for his cat Jeoffry, which is repeated here.
Music bumps at front and end are from the Gregorian Chant "Christus Factus Est", taken from the Old Time Radio Free Podcast collection
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April 28th, 2012 at 11:19 pm (spoken word, History, WW2)
This is a slight deviation from what I normally put up on Airy Persiflage. This post is a reading of the text of a leaflet dropped on Nazi Germany by RAF bombers in the Summer of 1942. Although famed Strategic Bomber visionary Arthur "Bomber" Harris signed it, he subsequently denied its authorship.
I apologize for not attempting this in a proper British accent; it did seem called for considering the subject matter. However, my first attempt was so comical I thought it took away from the sense of the piece!
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April 25th, 2012 at 10:15 am (spoken word, Weird Fiction, Surrealism, Sardonic Words)
Past followers of Airy Persiflage (and oddly enough there might be a few), probably realize we are great fans of the rambling discourse of Mr. Frank Key, of HOOTING YARD fame, and the author of several fine monographs which have occasionally contributed material for audio reads here on Persiflage. Mr. Key has been kind enough to say some nice words about Airy Persiflage on the Hooting Yard, I was honored to hear the encomiums continue on a recent broadcast of Hooting Yard on Resonance FM 104 in the United Kingdom. Mr. Key played the version of Ambrose and Mister Ploppo we recorded on 27 July 2011. I was honored to be included!
Here is the relevant link:
HOOTING YARD APRIL 22 SHOW
From what I hear on the recording, other segments of Hooting Yard material we have recorded may show up on Resonance FM in the near future.
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April 19th, 2012 at 4:24 pm (NASA, Space, Shuttle)
A little change of pace for this week. My son Garrett, whom you may have heard on a couple of short story reads on Airy Persiflage before (he was the voice of Ambrose in "Ambrose and Ploppo", recently) and I were at the Udvar Hazy museum in Chantilly, Va today to watch the Shuttle Discovery arrive at her new home, and to say goodby to the Shuttle Enterprise. I recorded a little audio of Discovery moving down the track to go nose to nose with the Enterprise. It was a historic moment, seeing two shuttles that close together.
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April 13th, 2012 at 1:20 am (spoken word, Humor, Science Fiction)
The following amusing, short piece was written by Mr. Terry Bisson and first published in Omni Magazine in April of 1991. This story was nominated for a Nebula Award
The full text is available on East of the Web, HERE. Please give it a read.
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April 10th, 2012 at 11:36 pm (spoken word, Weird Fiction, Humor, Sardonic Words, Texas)
I'll make no bones about it, Mr. Joe R. Lansdale is one of my favorite writers, bar none. I had wanted to screw up the courage to ask permission to record a shorter piece of his for a very long time now, but didn't know how to go about it. Well, sometimes, you just have to ask, I reckon. Mr. Lansdale very graciously gave me permission to put this shorter piece up (recently available on the "free stories!" section of his website, but out of rotation now). I love this short story. Like a lot of Joe's stuff, full of melancholy, observations about life and not a little bit of humor. I hope I didn't screw it up. Thank you, Mr. Lansdale!
THE WINDSTORM PASSES, copyright, 1986. Recorded with permission of the author.
If you like Joe's stories, I recommend EDGE OF DARK WATER, recently published, which I just picked up. It's a cracking good read.
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February 3rd, 2012 at 7:32 am (Humor, History, Civil War, Slavery)
In August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee, wrote to his former slave, Jourdon Anderson, and requested that he come back to work on his farm. Jourdon — who, since being emancipated, had moved to Ohio, found paid work, and was now supporting his family — responded spectacularly by way of the letter seen below (a letter which, according to newspapers at the time, he dictated). As a postscript, it turns out that Jourdon and Mandy lived to a ripe old age, and had 11 children! Nothing is recorded as to whether they ever visited Tennessee again.
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January 7th, 2012 at 3:41 am (odd stuff, Surrealism, Sardonic Words, Ubu Roi)
French proto-absurdist playwright Alfred Jarry was a lifelong cycling enthusiast. He habitually wore cycle-racing clothes, referring to his bicycle as "that which rolls." That is Mr. Jarry himself in the picture above.
Background Music: Max Ernst's Red Nightmare by Rubber Band Banjo. Used under Creative Commons.
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December 26th, 2011 at 2:30 am (Weird Fiction, Christmas, Science Fiction)
The Best Christmas EVER was a Hugo Winning story from 2004, by James Patrick Kelly.
It tells the story of a pivotal Christmas for a man who happens to be the last man on earth. I found it powerful, fitting for the season, and a little sad.
Enjoy, and Happy Holidays.
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July 27th, 2011 at 11:59 pm (spoken word, Weird Fiction, Humor)
An unintended Frank Key double header tonight.. as Frank commented on Facebook that he would like to hear me recite THE CRUEL SEA, which is a long string of tortured adjectives from the Hooting Yard website. Without further, ado, we present:
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