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Sun, 15 January 2012
Happy New Year! That's a bit late for American listeners, but it's a little early for Chinese listeners. Because Chinese New Year (aka Lunar New Year) is celebrated this year on Jan. 23 (Year of the Dragon). The exact date varies considerably from year to year (It will be Feb. 10 next year.) because it's based on a different calendar system. Anyway, the dragons knew when to come visit us, just in time for Dragon Appreciation Day (Jan. 16th) - all four of them, appearing in our Chinese story "The Four Dragons", which we even named after them. Being skittish around dragons because of their more sinister character in Western folklore, we wouldn't dare not name it after them. It's a tale about how four dragons in very ancient times tried to persuade the Jade Emperor (the supreme god of ancient Chinese folklore) to send water to earth because the people were enduring a terrible drought. We come to you from Myrtle Beach, SC, where we spent a day chasing and battling a dragon at MagiQuest, an interactive electronic fantasy adventure that you just have to see for yourself sometime. There are many different quests and adventures you can go on, collecting (virtual) objects with the aid of your magic wand, which you get to take home with you. It's like helping to create and act in your own fairy tale. Gung Hay Fat Choy! Dennis (Yellow Dragon, Black Dragon, Jade Emperor, Farmer, Earth People) and Kimberly (Narrator, Pearl Dragon, Long Dragon, Earth People, Guard)
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Thu, 15 December 2011
This fairy tale from Germany offers a fanciful explanation for why we decorate Christmas trees. It comes from Germany, one of the two countries where the tradition originated (the other was what was then called Livonia) about 450 years ago. But it was based on older customs and traditions going back to ancient Egypt. And we discuss the surprising history of Christmas trees. We're coming to you from Greenville, SC where we've become rather familiar with Christmas trees lately. And we relate our recent adventure doing an activity that we normally don't associate with this time of year: whitewater rafting at the fabulous U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC. We hope your holiday season is a big splash. Happy Listening, Dennis (Count Otto) and Kimberly (Everyone Else)
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Wed, 16 November 2011
"The Baker's Dozen" is a holiday story from the Dutch settlers of upstate New York, about a stubborn baker who learns an invaluable lesson about generosity. The story commemorates St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6) a day to honor a legendary figure who also figures prominently in another holiday later in the month. Many people would be surprised to learn that St. Nicholas was a real person; and they'd be even more surprised to learn where he came from. He lived in the Fourth Century on the island of Lyra, which was then owned by Greece but later became part of Turkey. He was a rather small fellow who apparently had a broken nose. About a thousand years ago, his bones were smuggled to Italy to protect them from invaders, and they've been kept there ever since. But just recently, the Turkish government requested that Italy send them back so they can be put to rest in the place where he was born. Nicholas was well known for his generosity, which included the habit of leaving coins in people's shoes - thus the tradition of gift-giving in December. Many legends arose around him, and his fame spread to other countries. Among the Dutch, he became known as Sinterklass, which later became the English Santa Claus, and the legends about him blended with traditions from Norse mythology, including the use of reindeer. Dutch settlers in America celebrated St. Nicholas Day by eating cookies shaped like him. We come to you from Winston-Salem NC, after spending October enjoying the beautiful foliage and the haunting season in Massachusetts, and sending time with our son Zephyr in Rhode Island. And we tell you about our most recent ziplining adventure and our pilgrimage to Mayberry. Happy Listening, Dennis (Baker, Boy) and Kimberly (Narrator, Old Woman, Mother, St. Nicholas)
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Sat, 17 September 2011
"The Book Of Magic", from Russia, is one of the stories in the manner of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", about someone attempting magic and getting in over his head. And the solution involves a trick very common to folklore about magical spells. This yarn is a bit spooky, because we're getting into the "spirit" of Halloween early. We come to you from New Jersey, where the floodwaters from Hurricane Irene have receded just in time for us to end our summer library season - much later than usual, even though we started much earlier than usual. We discuss our recent trip to New York City, where we took a bus tour of Manhattan and saw "Billy Elliot" on Broadway. The show still has us tapping our feet! P.S. Nominations for Podcast Awards are now open. Please nominate your favorite podcasts this week. We'd be honored if you'd consider Activated Stories for the Cultural / Arts category. Thanks! Happy Listening, Dennis (Visiting Soldier, Varioius Spirits) and Kimberly (Narrator, Home Soldier, Various Spirits)
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Mon, 15 August 2011
“Lin Po Po” is often called the Chinese Red Riding Hood, as it features a wolf masquerading as a grandmother. But it also bears similarities to other popular European tales, notably The Three Little Pigs. We offer it especially for Grandparents' Day (Sept. 11) and Chinese Moon Festival (Sept. 28). Not only is the story from China, and not only does it involve a grandmother, but even the moon makes a cameo. We come to you from Dedham, Massachusetts as we wind down our summer tour. We recently took an introductory class on the flying trapeze at Jordan's Furniture store in Reading, Massachusetts. Yes, a furniture store. Jordan's has several outlets in New England, and they're unlike any other furniture stores you've admired rocking chairs in. Practicing what they call “shoppertainment”, each store offers something unique to entertain the visitors. The store in Reading is the only one to offer trapeze lessons, operated by the Trapeze School of New York which, obviously, also has several locations. For nearly 2 hours, we were swinging from a trapeze with the greatest of ease and doing back-flips in mid-air. We even got to do some catches. And we can't wait to try it again. Ready...Hup! Happy Listening, Dennis (Narrator, Child 2, Wolf) and Kimberly (Narrator, Mother, Child 1, Child 3) |
Sun, 17 July 2011
The Two Princesses is a folktale from India that you probably haven't heard before, but listening to it, you may get a sense of deja vu. There are many similarities between this story and about half a dozen other stories that you definitely are familiar with. See how many of them you can name. Put your answers in the comment section or call our hotline (800)429-6576 so we can play your answers on the next podcast. We recorded this podcast in Pennsylvania, having just performed at the library in Williamsport - our first time there since 2004. While in Williamsport we dropped by the Little League Museum, beside the baseball stadium complex where the Little League World Series is played. We also saw the Grit building, which still bears the name of the legendary good news newspaper, though its offices were relocated to Kansas several years ago after 111 years in Williamsport. And we talk about the fantabulous City Museum in St. Louis, where we spent a blissful day climbing the walls. And the tunnels. And the airplanes. And the strange, twisting crawl spaces in abundance. Not to mention sliding the slides (one of them ten stories tall), swinging on the swings, watching a circus act, and all manner of marvels guaranteed to make you forget about the real world for a while - even root canals. Happy Listening, Dennis (Narrator, Second Princess, Ogre, Attendant, Son) and Kimberly (Narrator, First Princess, Ranee, Mrs. Ogre)
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Sun, 19 June 2011
“Rumplestiltskin”, as told by the Brothers Grimm, is one of the classic fairy tales about a supernatural creature who comes to the aid of a damsel in distress and demands a stiff payment (classically a first born child) unless the damsel can guess his name. We come to you from northern Arkansas near the White River (which we mistakenly call the Buffalo River, which is not far away) after having performed at a series of libraries in the area. We also volunteered to help with the clean-up after the disaster in Joplin, Mo. Our summer tour is well underway, having started in the Reno, NV area in May, where we encountered snow. And now we are sweltering in the Midwestern summer. We always did go in for variety. Happy Listening, Dennis (King, Rumplestiltskin, Servant) and Kimberly (Farmer, Cobbler, Miller, Daughter, Narrator)
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Mon, 16 May 2011
This month we bring you the Italian folktale Misfortune, about a young woman who has just that, and is called just that (she's called Misfortune, not Just That) thanks to a mean hag who follows her around, lurking in the shadows, and undoing everything the girl tries to do. Until Misfortune confronts her misfortune. We come to you from Reno, NV, one of our perennial stops on the tour. When we open our new production here this month, it will be about the dozenth time we've appeared at the Washoe Co. Libraries, beginning with our first year in business back in 1988. But at the moment, we're hunkering down constructing props and sets and costumes, oh my. And rehearsing. Hope to see you at a show this summer. Happy Listening! Dennis (Narrator, King, Hag, Weaver, Servant, Prince) and Kimberly (Queen, Daughter, Beggar Woman and Assorted Animals) |
Mon, 21 March 2011
“The Twin Brothers” is a story from the former Czechoslovakia about two brothers who looked a great deal alike, and therefore were sometimes mistaken for each other. This is a motif that many writers have used, including of course Shakespeare. And as in most of these narratives, the brothers help each other out – or in this case, one rescues the other, aided by a magic sword and a talking fish. Doesn't every set of twins have those? We come to you from Arkansas, fresh off our treks to Nashville and St. Louis with our son Zephyr along much of the way – he provides a guest voice on this podcast, just like the old days. We talk about our adventures wall climbing in Nashville, and attending a haunted attractions convention in St. Louis. And Zephyr brings us up-to-date on the new literature-inspired attraction at the amazing place where he works. Happy Listening, Dennis (Narrator, Second Twin, Woodcutter), Kimberly (Mother, Hag, Innkeeper, Princess), Zephyr (Fish, First Twin) |
Tue, 15 February 2011
This Norwegian Folk Tale is being presented especially for this harsh winter and in preparation for the windy March to come. It involves a motif common to many folktales: a young traveler is taken advantage of by an innkeeper twice, but the third time proves the charm. We come to you from Chattanooga, TN, having made our way from Charleston, SC., where we saw the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley (the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, which occurred in 1864) and the Charleston Tea Plantation (the only tea plantation in North America). From there, we went to Atlanta, and saw the former home of Margaret Mitchell, a pioneering female journalist and author of the classic novel "Gone With the Wind". We also toured the Center for Puppetry Arts, which showcases puppets old and new from all over the world, ranging from shadow puppets to puppets constructed from found materials to classics like Punch and Judy to the latest hight-tech animatronic contraptions. Needless to say, there is a great deal of coverage of the extraordinary career of Jim Henson. Just west of Georgia is the rustic retreat of Historic Banning Mills, which has a fantastic zip-lining course, and we were blissfully walking and zipping along among the clouds (almost) for several hours. And here in Chattanooga, we've toured two caves (Ruby Falls and Raccoon Mountain) and the famous Rock City, and took a ride up (a mile up) the side of Lookout Mountain on the Chattanooga Incline Railway. And oh yes, how could we pass up the International Towing and Recovery Museum? Happy Listening! Dennis (Boy) and Kimberly (Mother, Wind, Innkeeper) |
