Education and Inspiration through the ancient art of storytelling!
And the winner is… “An American Idiot.” One of the best new musicals anywhere! Yes, I am exuberant by nature, but I cannot say enough about this brilliant music, the astounding choreography, the intriguing use of video, the chemistry of the ensemble, and the amazing music. Did I say the songs are stupendous? In case you were wondering, the music is great. (I bought the sound track and I am listening to it now as I type this!)
When this Green Day album was first released Bush was president, the twin towers had just come down, American Idol was in ascension, and America was lost in a fog of distortion and media manipulations. This album, like very few of the many others who have been so acclaimed, truly captured the angst and frustration of a generation, but it also did something more, namely it bottled that rage and love and fear in a set list that let a faint glimmer of light leak out from under the helmet clamped tightly onto the heads of so many. The album was written with a theatricality and broader story line that should make The Who’s Tommy weep, redefining Rock Opera.
In hindsight, it was only a matter of time before it was staged.
The most brilliant aspect of this opera is that there is very little spoken dialogue. The story is most clearly conveyed in the dance, staging, pantomime, and emotional interpretation of the lyrics. For that matter Roger Daltry isn’t the only one weeping, Puccini and Mozart are also sighing with envy.
Loud? Yes. Rowdy? Yes. Profane? Yes, again. But the story line reaches up out of the particulars of the dark decade we have barely survived and gives us some sense of hope that the universal struggle for identity and community is worth it. To string together the words of several songs: even though, “your faith walks on broken glass,” “it’s not over ‘till you’re underground,” “we are all born into a world of doubt, but there’s no doubt I figured out I love you. I feel lonely for all the losers that will never take the time to say what’s really on their mind.”
I am in NYC tonight and just returned home from the theatre where I saw "Bloody, Bloody Jackson" an emo-rock musical about the president I most love to hate, Andrew Jackson. I love this show. The future of Broadway is here with terse lyrics, hilarious political satire, rocking music, and at it's heart, the real reason we study history, so we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. I often say, I love history, warts and all! When we whitewash the truth and candy coat history we do everyone a dis-service. This show is more than a little brash with lots of profanity and loud rowdy music. It tells Jackson's story with hip modern humor and even hotter tunes. When other reviewers say emo rock, know that the songs are dark, suicidal, "Life sucks, mine in particular."
I bought my ticket about an hour before the show and good thing I called it in… by the time I got there it was sold out! Luckily for you, they have extended the show until the end of May. Luckily for me, the usher asked if I wanted to move down front, so I was third row center!
Two favorite moments: There is this dweebish history teacher in a wheel chair that comments on scenes while they take place, funny yet intrusive, insightful yet annoying, at one point Andrew Jackson just points his pistol at her and shoots. I said, “Thank you.” And the President looks at me and laughs, pointing his pistol at me! The next song has a line, "sometimes you have to shoot the storyteller!"
This was all the encouragement I needed. When Andrew Jackson was telling the Sauk Warrior Black Hawk that he was going to erase all Indians from this land, I mumbled “We are still here.” At first I thought that this was uncalled for and I felt a little embarrassed. This was soon confirmed, as this absurdist comedy moved towards one of its more powerful moments, when Black Hawk refused to sign the treaty.
In the end, I must admit, though a hilarious, laugh-out-loud look at history, there is a dark underbelly that belies the core idea that if we learn from our past we won’t repeat the mistakes of our forebears.
Buy a ticket to NYC and see this show!
April 6, 2010 – Today really was the perfect day on the Illinois River! I picked up a friend of mine in Peoria about 8:00 am and we headed south towards Havana, IL. We met a third friend at Dickson Mounds Museum, near Lewiston. They have an insightful temporary exhibit on Abraham Lincoln’s early years in Illinois. There were period photos of his friends and colleagues and several stories I did not know. Dickson Mounds Museum really gets it: A museum is more than a box of stuff; a good museum is a collection of stories and the better job you do of telling the story the more successful the museum!
One of my favorite pieces in the permanent collection is a wooden dugout canoe discovered just a few years ago. Looking at this beautiful piece of functional art it is easy to imagine some village elder a thousand years ago who sank his canoe on purpose during the winter so it would not freeze and thaw and crack. But maybe he did not make it through the winter and no one knew where his canoe was buried. A thousand years later there was a record drought. Someone was fishing along the river and saw something unusual poking up out of the mud. A little digging revealed a traditional American Indian dugout canoe that was then generously donated to the museum.
The balcony is also the best view of the newly restored wetlands surrounded by the big curve of the Illinois River where it meets the Spoon River. It is easy to imagine this place as the Mound Builders saw it long before we came. Thousands of coots, northern shovelers, pintails and mallards agree. I am glad the museum opens early, (8:30 – 5:00), so we take our time and the museum and still have plenty of time to get out on the river.
After our visit to the museum we decided to get out on the river and see the wilds of Illinois for ourselves. One friend helped us shuttle cars before heading home. Two of us headed up to Duncan Mills and put our kayaks in on the Spoon River for a 12 miles trip down the Spoon out onto the Illinois River, we took a short diversion up towards Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge and then we landed right downtown in Havana.
Within moments of paddling downstream we began seeing an amazing array of birds: there were dozens of mated pairs of wood ducks in the peak of spring plumage; a pair of bright blue belted kingfishers were fluttering overhead in what appeared to be some sort of courtship dance; a pileated woodpecker was hammering a percussive territorial warning to any rivals within earshot; an immature bald eagle swirled in a thermal over a cornfield near the river; several owls seemed to be startled by our passing and made a rare daytime appearance; and out over the Emiquon Preserve there was a large flock of more than 100 white pelicans circling high in a cloudless sky.
We also saw a slew of beaver dens, both bank dens and one large mound of twigs and sticks. There were dozens of turtles sliding off of logs as we paddled past, then their little heads would poke up out of the water to see if the coast was clear! A garter snake swam across the river in front of us swimming under Barry’s kayak to get away. Though we did not see any, there were clear signs of deer, coyotes, raccoon and otter in the countless animal tracks sprinkled all along the shoreline. But the coolest close encounter of the animal kind was a dark brown mink with a black furry tail. As we glided along, the mink popped up along the crest of the bank. We froze, allowing the strong spring current to push us silently downstream. The mink was walking along the bank less than 10 feet away, seemingly unconcerned about our presence. For 20 or 30 feet we passed next to each other before the mink disappeared into its den. We both gasped in disbelief. As if to confirm our amazement, the weasel popped its head back up out of its den and watched us glide away down river!
We paddled out of the Spoon River into the Illinois River just above Havana. Visible to our north there is a 6000 acre restored wetlands, The Emiquon Preserve managed by the Nature Conservancy. Across the river is several thousand acres of Chautauqua National Wildlife Refuge. There are a few hundred acres of state owned property, The Frank Bellrose Preserve, and the river itself connects us to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Gulf of Mexico…
It is awe inspiring to be one small mammal paddling a nine foot kayak in the midst of such a large expanse of water that connects the Spoon River with the oceans of planet earth!
After pulling our boats out at the landing in downtown Havana we filled our bellies with a quick drive through at Subway’s and our gas tank at Thornton’s before making the surprisingly short drive back to Peoria. It truly was just another glorious day on the Illinois River Road!
Last weekend I was at the Iowa Storytelling Festival in Clear Lake Iowa. The event begins with Ghost Stories told on an authentic paddlewheel boat,The Lady of the Lake. She is a beauty. I shared the stage with a Norwegian Lutheran Iowa Farm Girl, JoAnne Lower, who started the evening with a truly spooky story about a ghost she encountered in an old farm house when she was a little girl. She investigated the death of the old man and appeased his final wish so he haunted her no more. It ended with a spooky blessing that was both scary and filled with joy. Speaking of joy, the daughter of storytellers, Rick and Sadarri Saskill, Autumn Joy, is my new favorite teller. She has incredible poise for a teenager and when the whole family is drumming and singing and talking everyone is caught up in a storytelling celebration. This family of tellers creates a portable party wherever they go!
Like most folks, I do not think I am very photogenic, especially with a few extra pounds and more than few gray hairs, but I love this picture of a sincerely joyful older man! It was taken earlier this summer at the Sun Foundation's camp, Arts and Science in the Woods and just recently e-mailed to me, (thanks Sharon).
May we all age well and often be caught grinning unabashedly!
Last weekend I was at the Dubuque Eagle Fest in Iowa. One of the oldest and largest such festivals in the Midwest. In addition to telling Eagle Tales I also gave a special performance of Audubon's Eagles. The World Bird Sanctuary was there presenting their wonderful live bird of prey show. They always do a great program with a lively balance of education and inspiration. When their hawks, owls and vultures fly about the room everyone says, "wow!" in a hushed breathe. We saw lots of eagles, had a great day on the river, and made a few contacts so I will be back in Dubuque for the Midwest Birding Festival October 17, 18, 19, 2008!
The Web at Dragonfly Pond wins a National Award!
One of the oldest environmental groups in the nation, The Izaak Walton League, has chosen my book as the Conservation Education Book of the Year! They gave the book a really nice review in their magazine and I have been invited to be a keynote speaker at their national conference next summer! Click on the title to order an autographed copy!
40 DAYS OF GRATITUDE
WOW! What a whirl-wind of an autumn! This fall I logged countless miles! From the Holly Springs, Mississippi Hummingbird Festival to the National Science Teachers Conference in Denver, from the Chickasaw Nation Early Childhood Education Fiesta to the Murphysboro, Illinois Apple Festival, I am grateful for all the hosts, organizers, audience members and workshop participants who make this work so rewarding.
I send a hardy and sincere thank you to all of you who listened well, sang along, played the theater games in a workshop, had the courage to tell your own tale, and especially those who invited me to share my talent and did the hard work of organizing an event! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Our church is sponsoring forty days of gratitude from Thanksgiving into the New Year. One of the few clichés that I love: An Attitude of Gratitude! Every day I look for things that I love, often share praise with those around me, and even in a sticky situation look for the things of value I can learn from the experience. For what are you grateful?
THANKFUL FOR MY FAMILY!
I spent Thanksgiving with both sides of my extended families. Thanksgiving Day, my wife, twin daughters and I went out to Roseville to visit with her family. Her Aunt Jean makes the best homemade noodles, served with fresh roast turkey and gravy spilled over everything, it is hard to imagine anything tasting better. Then on Friday we drove to Toledo to have a feast with my mom, four brothers and their families. My mom claims it is the first time in more than a dozen years that we have all gotten together for a meal at her house. I do feel blessed to have such a wonderful family. Thirty-one of us shared in the feast.
All through the day we laughed, ate hors’ devours, shared stories, feasted on turkey, poked fun, ate pie, laughed and ate some more! My brothers are all avid hunters and fishermen. We quickly fell into a conversation about ice fishing. My little brother Gary talked about a crappie so big he had to enlarge the hole in the ice to get it out and this reminded me of one of my favorite tall tales told by my Uncle Joe:
ICE FISHING
I will never forget ice fishing with my Uncle Joe out on Lake Erie. I don’t know if you have ever been ice fishing, but imagine cutting a hole in the ice, sitting on an upturned bucket, on the ice, and an icy cold wind is howling down across the lake, straight from Canada. We did not have one of those fancy fishing shelters, with a heater, microwave, TV and satellite receiver. We just sat there on the ice with our little pop-up poles. I was freezing! About the only thing I was catching was a cold!
I looked over at my Uncle Joe and he’s catching them left and right. I’m not catching any! He’s catching big ones and little ones. I have not caught one. It took me a while to get up my courage, but finally I asked, “Uncle Joe, what’s your secret? Why are you catching so many fish and I’m not catching any?
“Arg-grumble-grumble-arg.”
(Talk with your hands over your mouth, shivering, like you are really cold and have a mouth full of marbles.)
“Come on Uncle Joe, please, tell me your secret, why are you catching fish and I’m not.”
“Arg-grumble-grumble-arg.”
“Please, what is your secret?”
(Spit up into your hands, cough to clear your throat and then say:)
You have to keep your worms warm!
FAMILY STORIES
The Holidays are a great time for collecting Family Stories. Take a pad and paper, schedule in advance and spend some quality time with your elders collecting the stories of your ancestors. If you follow this link,Lesson Plans, you will a lot of ideas for using family photos to collect family stories, information on conducting an oral history interview and how to turn your notes into a story. I am also a fan of www.ancestry.com where my cousin Makali has been doing some of my homework for me. I plan to visit my Aunt Irene and my father in Tennessee later in December to add to the web site. What I like about the Ancestry web page is that it is a community effort and we all benefit from each others research.
I have also presented several family literacy nights this month. I love the bubbly excitement when a room full of 300 parents and their children are all telling stories at the same time. For more about hosting a family literacy night please visit Family Literacy Night or Contact Fox
Steamboat Coming! Steamboat Coming! Steamboat Coming! Black Smoke Fills the Sky!
That is a song I will never get tired of! Could you imagine spending two days floating up the Illinois River on an authentic paddlewheel boat? As the Riverlorian and cruise director for the Spirit of Peoria riverboat I spend almost every Monday and Tuesday from late May through October telling stories on this gorgeous packet boat.
Pere Marquette, the French explorer, said, “Europe has no river to compare to the beauty of the Illinois.” And most passengers agree!
In addition to performing, I lead nature hikes and a history hike. Telling stories along the trail is very different from stage craft. It is fun to play with the audience and be spontanious, because it seems every week something else is blooming or the conversation leads to a new discovery for me as well as the hikers.
Today, on the boat, we had several families with kids who especially enjoyed the ghost stories. I do love the moment in Mark Twain’s favorite story, “The Ghost with the Golden Arm,” when I speak slowly and softly, “Give me back my golden arm…” and then I scream “YOU GOT IT!” and the whole audience jumps! There was one boy in the front row who was so frightened he later said , “I like it when you made me jump out of their skin!”
You can find Twain's version of this story on my web page: How to tell a story. I will warn you he uses an antiquated black dialect, but with a little adaptation you can make the story your own. Start practicing now, Halloween is coming! I will also say that I have learned a little trick to add to Mark Twain’s advice. Early in the story I make aloud explosion or thunder and lightening sound to scare the audience and figure out who is easy to scare, so I can pick on that person when I scream “YOU GOT IT!”
Think about joining us on the riverboat some time soon! Spirit of Peoria
This is the summer for finishing our backyard wildflower garden. For Father’s Day my family bought me 70 prairie plants from Prairie Queen in Morton Illinois. (I highly recommend them for the quality, diversity of their plants, but especially for their expertise and friendly service!)
Some of the gems we acquired include scarlet monarda, rattle snake master, compass plant, pale purple cone flower and black eyed susans. A few plants we bought that I have never grown and I am excited to learn more about include monkshood, prairie violet, (Illinois’ State Flower), prairie smoke and lead plant.
The eventual goal is to make half of our back yard a prairie and the other half a forest, with a transition zone that includes Carolina spicebush and sumac. I have already planted about twenty trees including pecan, tulip poplar and a few varieties of oak.
The best part is the spiral path that we are building. Like the Celtic symbol triskela, or an old labyrinth with winding paths that have no beginning or end; the stone path path is an opportunity for meditation, contemplating our connection with the wild world. Check back in a few years to see how my garden grows.
Gardening is more than hobby for me; I have written several articles on Butterfly Gardens. And you may also know that I have written activity Books including Exploring Prairie Wildlife. I am having a summer sale on this book, buy a classroom set and receive a special discount of 25 for $40, that’s less than $2 a copy!
If you would like to learn more about prairie plants, native landscaping or restoration efforts there are lots of great lesson plans, planting guides and information about prairie wildlife on-line.
www.prairies.org is the place every one should begin. There are games for kids, photos of prairie plants and information about visiting a local prairie. There are also lots of links to other great web pages.
What are the wildflowers of your area? How can you landscape your yard to reduce watering and weeding, save you time, labor, and money and help the environment, reduce pollution and provide habitat for local birds and butterflies?
Today, we visited one of the largest prairie restoration efforts in the country, The National Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in Prairie City, Iowa. My daughter Lily and I snapped photos of some of our favorite flowers that were in bloom. I also took a few photos at a smaller restored prairie at Apple River Fort in Elizabeth, Illinois where I presented a program on Native American Games. These pictures are sprinkled through this article. Thanks Lily!
