What’s New for the 8th of December: Elizabeth Bear fiction; some holiday related offerings including new music from The Unthanks, Americana tinged jazz, Polar Express, and more

We think of forgiveness as a thing. An incident. A choice. But forgiveness is a process. A long, exhausting process. A series of choices that we have to make over, and over, and over again. — Elizabeth Bear’s Ancestral Night

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I can hear the wind driven sleet hitting on the windows, so I’ll limit my wandering to the inside of the Kinrowan Hall, but first I think I’ll sit down in the Kitchen, get some breakfast — a bacon cheddar bap, an apple and a big mug of Darjeeling tea will do — and watch what’s going on…

I see a book Reynard reviewed, Big Book of Bacon, is now sitting on Mrs. Ware’s corner desk. I think he got it from her so it’s come full circle. And I see several bottles of our Kinrowan Special Reserve Pear Cider is on her desk with a note from our Steward that they’re to be packaged up and sent to Riverrun Farm in appreciation for their providing honey for our ciser (half cider, half mead) bottling this year.  Hmmm… I spot a copy of Sleeping Hedgehog that has a loving look at a recent book, Children’s Games in Street and Playground by Ioan Opie, the British folklorist. Been meaning to read our copy of that work.

Ahhhh I see they’re discussing how many American style buttermilk biscuits they’ll need with that beef stew for the eventide meal. And I see one of the Several Annies, Rebekah, is being asked by Mrs. Ware if she’d like to join her staff when she gets done with her Estate, errr, Library apprenticeship in two years. She’s the one who introduced us to wonderful Jewish baked treats.

Oh and I see that someone has been mushroom hunting, so the beef stew will have these tasty morsels in it. Barrowhill beef is always a treat no matter how it’s used.

Now let’s get started with this edition…

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We’re looking at just Elizabeth Bear’s fiction this outing. Now we can’t possibly include all the reviews here that we’ve done, so I’m picking just some for here.

First up is her really not space operas, Ancestral Night and its not quite sequel Machine. Gary reviewed both. He says ‘Ancestral Night is the tale of Haimey Dz, a nominally lesbian engineer on a little salvage tug whose ship mind is named Singer and which is piloted by her friend Connla Kurucz. Both Haimey and Connla live nearly full time in zero gravity, so of course their bodies have been modified in many ways, including replacing their feet with “aft hands.” The three of them make their living in the vastness of interstellar space by going to the rips in spacetime caused by unsuccessful transfers out of white space back into Newtonian space, and salvaging the wrecks they find there … if there’s anything left or worth salvaging. ’

In the second one, he says, she ‘is playing a long game in Machine, the second installment in her White Space series with third, Folded Sky, out this June. The series is shaping up to be an exploration of those dark places – not to say dystopian spaces – that are always found around the edges of any apparent utopia. Via that path she’s casting her eye on some of the current ills facing humanity in the 21st century — and tossing out some thoughts about how we might resolve some of those issues before it’s too late.’

Cat has a look at two novellas in what he hopes will be an interesting series: ‘As I write this review just before Election Day, there have been but two novellas released in the fascinating Sub-Inspector Ferron series “In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns” and “A Blessing of Unicorns”. I’m not sure how I came upon the first novella but it was a superb story, both in terms of the setting and in the characters that Bear has created here, including a parrot-cat called Chairman Miaow.’

Kestrell looks at a novel of decided Shakespearean tones: ‘Elizabeth Hand’s new novel Illyria follows in a long tradition of science fiction and fantasy stories which reference the works of Shakespeare, particularly the romances, and Hand’s lyrical writing style is a wonderful fit for the dark romance she sets out to tell. The romance tells of the relationship between two cousins, Maddy and Rogan, but like that of the twins Viola and Sebastian in “Twelfth Night” to which the title Illyria alludes, the relationship between Maddy and Rogan proves to be a powerful touchstone for drawing together all the “big ideas” of love, ambition, and conformity to family and social expectations.’

Richard has zeppelins for us in New Amsterdam: ‘ There is no more surefire signifier of the alternate history novel than the zeppelin. One giant commercial dirigible hanging in the background is all you need to say “This world is not our world. This is a place where things are/were different.” And, often enough, a signifier is all the zeppelin remains. They’re cool, they’re different, and they’re background.’

Without telling us a damn thing about the novel, Robert has high praise for high praise for one of her works: ‘Elizabeth Bear has started to scare me. All the Windwracked Stars packs a terrific wallop, and any artist who can achieve that level with any consistency is frightening indeed. There’s a degree of honesty that any artist has to achieve if they want us to pay attention beyond the moment: they can’t be afraid of the hard places. Bear’s there.’

Next is her Promethean Age novels.  he begins his review this way: ‘Blood and Iron is the story of what turns out to be the latest battle in an ongoing and centuries-long war between the Courts of Faerie, whose power is of song and bindings and innate gifts, and the Magi of the Prometheus Club, whose magic is a thing of arcane knowledge and iron weapons, against which the Fae have little recourse. Both sides, of course, are fighting in self-defense.’

Of the second, Whiskey and Water, he notes: ‘The nice thing about reading the first volume to a really good new fantasy series is that when you reach the end, you know the story’s not over. The nice thing about getting your hands on the second volume is that now the waiting is over.’

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We  remember the winter afternoon that Elizabeth carefully tended a pot of turkey stock that many hours later would become one of the most tasty turkey veggie soups ever encountered by anyone ‘ere. Later that week, I got to interview about all things culinarily that interested here ranging from her ideas picnic basket and what make a great winter hearty meal to the perfect brownie. You can read that wonderful conversation here.

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It’s not actually a graphic novel or comic, but The Polar Express is lavishly illustrated and Christopher just raved about the 20th anniversary edition. ‘A child on the cusp of losing their belief in Santa and the magic of Christmas is the protagonist of (and perfect target audience for) The Polar Express. This book brings that struggle into the light as it makes the case for believing and magic. Its potent magic lies in the utter simplicity and clarity of the story line combined with the phenomenal illustrations.’

Richard gave a mixed review to yet another entry in the Batman comics universe. ‘Ultimately, Gotham Underground is fun but slight, a too-complicated treatment of a cool idea that would have benefited from a streamlined approach. Batman and continuity completists will enjoy it, others might find themselves bewildered by the cast of thousands and innumerable interwoven subplots.

Raspberry dividerIn new music, Gary has good words for the latest release from The Unthanks, their first ever winter holiday album. ‘On In Winter you’ll find old favorites, obscure traditional songs from rural villages, and some created by The Unthanks in traditional style. All of course featuring the unique vocal stylings of Rachel and Becky Unthank, and especially the divine harmonies of the sisters and their bandmates.’

Gary also liked All Species Parade, a new one from jazz and Americana violinist Jenny Scheinman. ‘It’s a musical homage to her native Humboldt County, California, to which she returned in 2012 after many years in New York. While making several albums in the meantime, she’s been contemplating just such a project, and it finally has reached fruition.’

From the archives, Craig appreciated a children’s album by actor Jessica Harper: ‘Hey, Picasso is a collection of 12 original songs inspired by classic paintings. Unlike most music written for children, Harper doesn’t patronize her audience. She has the enviable ability to write songs with catchy hooks that both children and adults can appreciate. Her simple (but not symplistic) lyrics are fun, memorable, and easy to sing along with …’

Judith, claiming some Scottish DNA of her own, reviewed what she introduced as ‘… three great and relaxing albums from the Land of Sheep In the Road.’ They are Coila’s Full On, Drinkers Drouth’s A Tribute (with Davy Steele), and Margaret Stewart and Allan MacDonald’s Colla Mo Rùn.

Lars was flummoxed by The Essential James Galway. ‘So we have a double CD with a brilliant flute player, probably one of the best in the world, playing with some of the world’s best orchestras, but delivering something that is totally pointless to anyone who truly loves music. I think I will go out and look for a CD of Galway playing complete concertos for flute and orchestra instead. Hope there are some available.’

Leona, an accomplished fantasy author who usually reviewed Food & Drink for us, was moved to review The Ditty Bops’ self-titled CD after seeing them live. ‘Listening to the CD after the show, I continued to be impressed, although I do think their live show is slightly better due to the intense energy Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald put out during a performance. Without their presence, the songs are pleasant to listen to, occasionally attention-getting, but not nearly the same stand up and take notice music that I heard that day in Portsmouth.’

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Sometime ago Elizabeth did a great favour for us and narrated a story of hers, ‘The Chains That You Refuse’. When doing some cleaning up of our media server, the Infinite Jukebox,  I found it again, so here it is for you to enjoy! Please do not repost it a we exclusive rights to use of it.

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Eggnog

Raspberry dividerA Québécois band introduced eggnog to this Estate back in the Fifties by its French name lait de poule (literally, “hen’s milk”). Eggnog’s a deceptively easy drink to make and consequently a bit hard to get precisely right.

They were staying here longer than expected as we got a blizzard that shut down the road leading to the train station, so we hunkered down and they played music, skied a lot and just enjoyed themselves. So let’s talk about eggnog.

Eggnog’s history is a bit uncertain. Well more than a bit uncertain. Our Québécois visitors of course claimed their French ancestors many centuries ago were the first to combine milk, eggs, spices and some form of spirits to create a boozy, sweet drink that was wonderful cold or warm. Their claim is as reasonable as the British claim in that both could be true.

We makes ours with eggs, cream, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. Oh and of course (for the adults) a healthy amount of rum. It’s important to let it age a day or so before imbibing it as the spices release their flavours better if we do.

So we start making it in eary December and keep it going until Candlemas which seems a good time at this Estate to be thinking of Winter giving way to Spring.

Oh and a certain Winter Queen has a favourite eggnog recipe that we use here quite often.

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What’s New for the 24th of November: Norwegian winter holiday music, archival jazz, new roots music from around Europe, and more; books and what not about things fictional & medæival

The voices of cold reason were talking, as usual, to deaf ears. — Brother Cadfael’s Penance (Ellis Peter’s Chronicles of Brother Cadfael series)

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That lovely aroma is the smell of apple pumpkin tarts baking in the Kitchen a few hundred or so feet down this floor from the Pub. That spicing? Cinnamon and nutmeg of course. And lots of butter of course. One of the perks of being the Pub Manager is that it is quite close to the Estate Kitchens so that no matter when the sudden urge to grab a bite occurs I can head that way quickly and procure something delicious. And of course I can smell every one of those ever so tasty things being conjured up there which is another great perk indeed!

Indeed Mrs. Ware and her oh so talented Kitchen staff spend much of  the period from late November right through to lambing season providing lots of edible treats that are placed around Kinrowan Hall and the grounds as well, such as peanut butter dark chocolate fudge behind the bar in the Pub; s’mores ready for roasting in the warming hut out by the Mill Pond; and carefully wrapped clay pots of smoked turkey, rice  and veggie soup in the Barn for those doing outdoor chores in this cold weather, to name but a few of them.

Now let’s see what I’ve got for you in this edition….

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Cat says ‘Politics are always a bitch. And Murder in the Cathedral demonstrates this reality quite well. Generally thought to be the best of T.S. Eliot’s five plays, Murder in the Cathedral is about the murder of Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas à Beckett in 1170 in his cathedral. But it’s really about the now long-concluded struggle in Britain between secular and religious authorities that was still raging at that point in time. It is a dramatization in verse of the murder of Thomas Beckett at Canterbury, which over the years has become more important than it really was.’

Elizabeth looked at a unique shared story narrative: ‘The Medieval Murderers (authors actually: Michael Jecks, Susanna Gregory, Bernard Knight, Ian Morson and Phillip Gooden), after pooling their talents on The Tainted Relic, have done so again with The Sword of Shame. As in Relic, each author contributes their own murder mystery, written within the time period of their choice and with their own characters, with the only catch being that each story revolves around the same object.’

Mia says ‘Since Ellis Peters started it all with her Brother Cadfael series, the medieval mystery genre has exploded in popularity: Candace Robb’s Owen Archer series; Margaret Frazer’s Sister Frevisse mysteries; Edward Marston’s Norman Domesday tales. Noted for her historical novels, such as the marvelous The Sunne in Splendour, Sharon Kay Penman entered  the fray in 1996 with The Queen’s Man, a murder mystery centered around Justin de Quincy.

The unacknowledged bastard son of a bishop, Justin stumbles across a dying man with an important message for the queen — none other than Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, mother of the reigning King Richard and the scheming Prince John — and is drawn into the intrigue of Eleanor’s court at Winchester. Becoming the queen’s man, Justin is charged with solving the murder, which, with the help of a motley crew of sheriffs, innkeepers, and lovely double agents, he does.’

And speaking of Cadfael, she looked at that series as well: ‘The unacknowledged bastard son of a bishop, Justin stumbles across a dying man with an important message for the queen — none other than Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, mother of the reigning King Richard and the scheming Prince John — and is drawn into the intrigue of Eleanor’s court at Winchester. Becoming the queen’s man, Justin is charged with solving the murder, which, with the help of a motley crew of sheriffs, innkeepers, and lovely double agents, he does.’’

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Mucking about the net one quiet afternoon, I chanced upon an interesting sounding article, Tofi Kerthjalfadsson’s Recreating Medieval English Ales, (a recreation of late 13th – 14th c. unhopped English ales). The author says that ‘These recipes are a modest attempt to recreate ales that are not only “period”, i.e. pre-17th century, but is actually medieval. These ales are based on newly available evidence from the late 13th and early 14th centuries.’ It’s an entertaining look at just what it takes to replicate these  ales.

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Richard looks at what is a now a “best beloved”for many here: ‘For those who haven’t seen the filmed version of the play (and shame on you if you haven’t), stop reading right now and go watch the bloody thing), The Lion In Winter details one rather dysfunctional family’s Christmas gathering in France. Of course, the family is that of Henry II of England (including Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard the Lionhearted and the future King John, among others); the invited guest is Philip Capet of France, and the holiday gathering takes place at Henry’s castle of Chinon.’

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No, not medieval but the setting and even the characters though they be wee mouses are set then and are a version of that time, so April reviews the first volume in an ongoing series by David Petersen: ‘The year is 1152, treachery is afoot, and the Mouse Guard, defenders of all mice, must suss out the traitor in their midst before the Guard is destroyed. So goes the basic plot of Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, a graphic novel collection of Petersen’s award-winning comic. And just so there’s no confusion, Mouse Guard isn’t a nickname or colloquialism — the protagonists really are mice, the small, furry rodent kind.’

Raspberry dividerIn new music, Gary reviews two new albums of traditional Norwegian winter holiday music. ‘If you’re looking for some winter holiday music that almost totally avoids the familiar and yet is still recognizable as yuletide music, here are two that fit the bill, one by a longstanding Norwegian folk trio, the other by a Nordic supergroup of sorts.’ Read his review of Berit Opheim’s Helgasong, and Gjermund Larsen Trio’s Christmas Sessions.

Gary is enthusiastic about two archival jazz releases coming out just in time for the holidays and your year-end lists: guitarist Emily Remler’s Cookin’ at the Queens, and pianist Bill Evans’s Live in Norway. Of the former, he says, ‘Remler is such a joy to behold with her clear, classic tone, impeccable technique and creative soloing. In early listening, I find the quartet portion of this set the most inviting, but from first note to last Cookin’ at the Queens is essential.’ And of the latter, he notes, ‘This trio is focused and energetic, pushing each other to heights on a program of familiar Evans pieces.’

Who doesn’t like a good compilation? Gary reviews a new one that sounds very good. ‘The German label Folk Galore, part of the CPL-Music group, has put together this year’s compilation of top tracks from the group’s 2024 folk music releases. Folk and World Music Galore Vol. 3 is, as usual, a good way to sample some of the excellent and exciting folk and world music releases. A fine way to introduce yourself to this varied music coming mostly out of central and northern Europe that doesn’t get much exposure in the Americas.

Gary also reviews two albums that blend European and Middle Eastern instruments and styles. First up is Wishamalii’s Al-Bahr: ‘World renowned Finnish pianist Kari Ikonen joins with Palestinian-Jordanian singer, composer and oud virtuoso Nemat Battah, and Ethopian percussionist Abdissa “Mamba” Assefa on this soulful collection of songs that center ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts and the plight of refugees and immigrants.’ Next is Aylin’s Soulgarden’s Bu Bir Demdir: ‘ I’m a big fan of Turkish psychedelia, and Aylin’s Soulgarden shares some of that music’s DNA, particularly the liberal use of analog synthesizers, but overall it has more of a feel of pop and indie folk-rock tossed in a blender with melodic Turkish songcraft.’

From the archives, Brendan delved into a sampler of World music: ‘The Music of Nubenegra showcases the achievements of these remarkable artists. There are a total of twenty tracks from almost as many releases. Individually, each of these songs seem to illustrate a particular tradition. Yet, taken together, there seems to be a common thread of Mediterannean — and especially Spanish — culture and its influence on the Americas.’

David appreciated Vishwa Mohan Bhatt & Sandeep Das’s Indian Delta: ‘It is not danceable, you will not be whistling the tunes, or snapping your fingers even though a maestro of percussion is present. It is meditative, beautiful, challenging and the mohan veena cuts through like a sabre. World music for people looking to experience something new!’

Gary found a lot to like on John Prine’s post-throat-surgery album Fair & Square. ‘The songs are prime Prine. Featuring strongly are tales of lovable losers like the guy in “Long Monday,” “sittin’ all alone on a mountain / by a river that has no end” pining over a lost love; or the fellow in “I Hate It When That Happens To Me,” who gets arrested for climbing a tree naked because his girl left him; or the codger who has learned to take a little mental vacation to the “Other Side of Town” when his wife starts criticizing him.’

Gary also was impressed by the reissue of the debut album of American folk icon Odetta. ‘Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues reveals Odetta’s influence on the second generation of folk singers, particularly Joan Baez (in choice of material and approach to singing it) and Bob Dylan (in the recognition of the blues as a timeless and boundaryless folk art form). I daresay this recording holds up better than the early efforts of those two.’

Pat enjoyed the self-titled album from Halali, which consists of fiddlers Hanneke Cassel, Laura Cotese and Lissa Schneckenburger. ‘The influences are evident here in the tune selection. For the most part, traditional standards like “Paddy’s Trip to Scotland” and “The Humours of Westport” are thrown in with tunes from Brian Pickell, John Morris Rankin, Michel Bordeleau and Jerry Holland, all played in a style reminiscent of the big Scottish fiddle bands popular in recent years.’

‘Habib Koite’s rich guitar playing and complex, poetic lyrics make Muso Ko an album of literary proportions,’ Patrick says. ‘Throughout the 16 tracks, the immensely talented Koite tackles prostitution, work ethics and morals, politics, the dangers of cigarettes, and the respect and welfare of children. A Herculean effort, but one that the Senegal native tackles with ease, all the while making music that’s as listenable as it is danceable.’

And Patrick had mixed feelings about Lama Gyurme and Jean-Philippe Rykiel’s Rain of Blessings: Vajra Chants. ‘I don’t think this is a bad CD at all. I do think you need to be in the right frame of mind to listen — or have the patience to let the music take you there. Since that is a part of what meditation — and Buddhism — are all about, I would have to say this work serves its purpose quite well.’

Peter has turned in a lot of Celtic music omnibus reviews, and they always cover a lot of ground and are very informative. Says Peter: ‘I don’t think it is either right or fair to file Celtic music all under one hat, as the variety in these albums illustrates. In this review I look at a double handful of them, all different in their own way.’ Read his review of Carreg Lafar’s Profiad, Robin Flower & Libby McLaren’s Steelhead in the Riffles, Ken Kolodner’s Journey to the Heartland, Various artists’ The Independence Suite, Brendan Begley’s We Won’t Go Home Til Morning, Rosie Shipley and Matt Mulqueen with Peter and Trevor Shipley’s At Home, Rosheen’s Musique Celtique, Dochas’s The Second Glance, Iain MacKintosh’s Gentle Persuasion, Jim Reid’s Yont the Tay, and Finlay MacDonald, Simon McKerrell, & Chris Gibb’s Highland Games.

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Our What Not is of a Dragonish manner which is fitting as medieval lore is full of the creatures, so let’s have Camille start off for us: ‘Like every Folkmanis puppet I’ve so far seen, the Baby Dragon Puppet is a marvel of workmanship for the price: carefully stitched seams, articulated wings, darts along the inside of the limbs and belly to allow for movement and keep shape. The tag tells us it’s made in China, so we know who to thank.’

Mia finishes off with a look at four of Folkmanis’s creations, to wit Blue Dragon, Green Dragon, Three Headed Dragon, and Phoenix and she says, ‘Oooooh, shiny! I have a box of dragons here! Folkmanis makes the best puppets ever, and their dragons are some of the finest of their puppets.’

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It’s not medieval really but it’s sort of.  Or least it could be sometimes. The band’s Malicorne, which Gabriel and Marie Yacoub formed in the fall of ’73.

Gabriel had been a member of Alan Stivell’s band, playing folk-rock based on Breton music such as ‘Kost Ar C´hoat’ which was performed Germany on the 11th of May 1975, but Gabriel and his wife decided to focus more broadly on French trad music, which is why Steeleye Eye Span’s the most apt comparison in British folk music to them, as both are decidedly electric folk. Well sometimes again.

So let’s now hear ‘Pierre De Grenoble’ which is also the name of what I consider their best album. It was recorded at Hunter College in New York State on the 21st of July ’84.

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Pudding

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Her name was Bronwyn ap Tewdwr and she was our guest judge for the annual pudding contest. ‘A pudding contest?’ you ask. And I say, ‘Why not?’ Real pudding, like real ale, is a long way from the packaged puddings that litter grocery stores. And watching a group of talented folk making tasty food is something I always appreciate!

The contest, which covers both sweet and savoury puddings, is held annually in the Fall. So Mrs. Ware and her Kitchen staff start planning for this by finding interesting ingredients and picking the judge from among the culinarily inclined people that she knows. That person gets a week here gratis and a generous stipend as well.

(You cannot pitch yourself as a judge, as that gets you disqualified. And Mrs. Ware is quite above being bribed even if she has a weakness for Turkish Delight ever since she was a wee girl and read the Narnia books for the first time.)

Now I’ll admit that my only pudding of interest is a dark chocolate one made with bittersweet chocolate. But then I like a dark chocolate bread pudding as well. Maybe even better. The only thing I’ve ever tasted better than that pudding was a dark chocolate bread pudding infused with Madagascar vanilla and a hint of cardamom. Ymmm!

We Swedes have a long tradition of making puddings from scratch. My momor, my maternal grandmother, every Autumn made an apple and almond pudding using a tart apple variety with just vanilla and cinnamon for spicing. Served with warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was quite wonderful.

Bronwyn decided that though she officially is the arbiter for this contest, anyone interested should have a say. The actual contest took place in what’s called the canning and drying kitchen, as it’s set up exclusively for that purpose. It’s in a building that’s strictly two-season use only as we drain the water before the first real freeze takes place. It’s got two Viking gas stoves, each with eight burners, two sinks for water and cleaning up, and lots of work space.

We started in late morning with sets of four pudding makers, each given ample time to create their pudding from scratch. That group created a pudding using our pear cider; a blackberry and graham cracker pudding, as those bushes were still bearing; a breakfast pudding with bacon, cheddar cheese and mushrooms; and what the Yanks call an Indian pudding which is made with cornmeal and molasses.

Before we wrapped it up many hours later, we’d seen made and had sampled puddings such as black pudding and haggis pudding, groaty pudding (soaked groats, beef, leeks, onion and beef stock), kugel, a Yorkshire pudding, steak and kidney pudding, and several spotted dick and a suet and fruit based concoction. There was even a stellar Christmas pudding that Mrs. Ware said she’d be making for our Christmas eventide meal.

There was a three-way tie for best pudding between the breakfast pudding, the pudding using pear cider and the kugel, which was the work of Rebekah, a Several Annie, one of Iain’s Library Apprentices, from Israel.

All in all everyone was happy with both the food and the comfortable companionship in a contest no one took too seriously. Most of us went for a long walk afterwards to work off the feeling of needing a good nap this engendered.

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What’s New for the 10th of November: a grab bag of books from our favorite authors; Richard Thompson and Stephane Grappelli on film; music from all over; and comfort food

He tried to reconstruct the story in his mind, but it kept getting confused, bleeding into itself like watercolors.― Catherynne M. Valente’s The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden

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I’m in the Kitchen enjoying a very late evening snack of hot cider and a just-baked apple and Riverrun cheddar cheese tart. A member of our staff’s playing music by piper Kathryn Tickell and right now it’s the set of ‘The Magpie’, ‘Rothbury Road’ and ‘The Cold Shoulder’ which Memoria, our Library app, tells me was recorded at the Washington, D.C., Irish Folk Fest on the second of September, fourteen years ago.

I always enjoy Kinrowan Hall best when it’s at its quietest, which is why I’m oftimes down in the kitchen late in the evening, or walking outside just after dawn breaks. And now I see my mug needs refilling before I finish off this edition… Now let’s see what I’ve got for you…

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Gary says he liked Per Pettersen’s Out Stealing Horses even better the second time around. ‘At its most basic Out Stealing Horses is a story of war-induced trauma and its generational effects on society, families and individuals. Petterson is a highly skilled writer, and the translation by Anne Born captures the story’s nuances quite well. Petterson’s spare prose style perfectly matches Trond’s dry, buttoned-up personality and the difficulties he has in coping with unfamiliar emotions and situations.’

Gary liked Arkady Martine’s A Desolation Called Peace even better than its prequel, A Memory Called Empire, which he reviewed last time. ‘With her first two novels, Arkady Martine has emerged as the author of some of the best military/political science fiction of the era. Her memorable and not always likable characters capture and hold our imaginations as they navigate a host of big meaning-of-life questions in life-or-death situations. This is space opera for the ages. I have high expectations and many questions that I hope are met in the next installment. Like, I wonder if I’m right about the kittens?’

Charles de Lint’s Yarrow: An Autumn Tale gets a loving look by Grey: ‘Cat Midhir has stopped dreaming. People assure her that it isn’t possible, that she just doesn’t remember her dreams, but Cat knows they’re wrong. Where her dreams have been, there is only heaviness and loss. For Cat, this loss means more than it would to most of us, because she is that rarest of all dreamers, a person who returns to the same dream every time she sleeps. In her dream world live her truest friends and her only source of inspiration for the books and stories that have won her acclaim in her waking life…’

Jennifer loves the new Daniel Pinkwater from Tachyon, Jules, Penny & the Rooster, another goofy and comforting middle-grade chapter book about the enchanted forest in Jules’ back yard. And yes, there is a magic turtle!

Leona gives an incisive review of Black Is the Colour of My True-Love’s Heart, an Ellis Peters novel: ‘Originally published in 1967, ‘this is a book of music, of silence, of words; it has love, hate, and all their analogues. Myths and facts combine to wrap the storyline in a heavy cloak of authenticity. This is a story of high passion and cool deliberation; it dances through the morals and minds of another age and gives the reader a wide window into the world of folk music and ballad-singers.’

Emma Bull’s War for The Oaks with a battle between the Fey and some of we mortal humans that is settled using music on Midsummers Eve. It also features music from Cats Laughing, or perhaps Cats Laughing plays music from the novel. I’ll need to ask Will which it is… Ahhh he says the band comes after the novel. Oh and we’ve got the trailer made for a film version of the novel didn’t happen which has some of the music in the novel. Michael has a lovingly detailed review of it here.

Steven Brust, a musician himself, brings us, in collaboration with Megan Lindholm, The Gypsy, which — well, as Robert puts it: ‘There are three brothers who have become separated. They are the Raven, the Owl, and the Dove. Or perhaps they are Raymond, Daniel, and Charlie. They are probably Baroly, Hollo, and Csucskari. One plays the fiddle, one plays tambourine, and one has a knife with a purpose.’

Down the decades, we’ve reviewed most everything Patricia McKillip has published, so it’s only fitting that we finish off this time with a review by Richard of her latest book: ‘With Dreams of Distant Shores, Patricia A. McKillip delivers something that is not quite your typical short story collection. While the point of entry is a series of shorter pieces, the collection builds to and is anchored by the lengthy novella “Something Rich and Strange”, with an essay on writing high fantasy orthogonal to the usual tropes. The book then ends with appreciation of McKillip’s work (and the stories in the collection) by Peter S. Beagle, an elegant coda to a warm, thought-provoking collection.’

Richard looks at a novel from a beloved writer: ‘Peter S. Beagle’s latest, Summerlong is an exercise in masterful, hopeful heartbreak. Deeply steeped in mythology yet relentlessly modern (if a bit sentimental), it tackles the big questions of love, compromise, dreams, and what you might do – or forgive – in the face of the sublime.’

Zina ends our book reviews with Charles de Lint’s What the Mouse Found and Other Stories: ‘Ah — two of my favorite things, paired in one slim volume. (Sorry, I’ve always wanted to use the phrase “slim volume” somewhere.) Fairy tales and Charles de Lint. The postman dropped the package through the door this afternoon. Just a bit later, here I am at my computer. I couldn’t not read it right away, could I?’

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We asked a number of folk we know what is your comfort food? Is it a bowl of your mother’s fish chowder Or a warm doughnut dusted with powdered sugar? Comfort food is as individual as each of us. And here is Deborah Grabien‘s reply:

Well, it’s an odd thing: as a cook, I think all food is comfort food.

No, I’m not being difficult. It’s just that I love to cook, and I don’t cook anything I don’t also love to eat, unless I’m cooking for a large crowd. The whole thing about food is that — like air and water — it’s one of the great imperatives. Sex is brilliant, but you can go without it your entire life with no ill effects, and in fact, many do. Try going without food, air or water, though, and you’re in serious trouble.

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Gary was quite taken with the DVD of The Richard Thompson Band’s Live At Celtic Connections, from that Glasgow festival in 2011. It featured a big band doing numbers from Thompson’s 2010 release Dream Attic plus a second set drawn from his 40-some-year career solo and with former wife Linda. ‘This was not an average night, with a good crowd of Glaswegians, a road-tested band and the charged atmosphere of Celtic Connections. This one is a must-have for any Thompson fan,’ Gary says.

A labor of love is how Gary describes the making of the DVD about the great jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli: A Life in the Jazz Century. The film purportedly contains all known footage of Grappelli’s partner Django Reinhardt, as well as footage of Grappelli ‘making music with the likes of Yehudi Menuhin, George Shearing, Duke Ellington and others. Many other figures from his life contribute interviews, and rare clips of Art Tatum, Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang, and Gregor and the Gregoriens are included.’

leafiesIn new music, Gary had high praise for Trendafilka’s For the Olives: ‘Trendafilka is an 11-piece women’s vocal ensemble singing a repertoire based on traditional folk songs of Eastern Europe — the Balkans, the Baltics, the Caucasus, and the Eurasian Steppe — all places with rich traditions of polyphonic singing.’

From the Archives, Craig said The Saw Doctors’ first album after a long pause reflects the band members’ maturity: ‘But The Cure is not a big mope fest. As people grow and mature so should their songwriting. The same band that embraced the “Where’s the Party?” (another cut from <i>Sham</i>) attitude are now embracing concepts like fatherhood (“Your Guitar”), which in turn reminds them of the “Wisdom of Youth” in the form of a power ballad that contains some of the album’s best guitar work.’

David reviewed two albums featuring lots of fiddling, Lissa Schneckenburger’s Dance, and Oliver Schroer and the Stewed Tomatoes’ Freedom Row. Of the former, he says, ‘I found my feet tapping, my fingers popping as I listened. The music is subtle, essentially acoustic, just guitar and fiddle for the most part.’ And of the latter, ‘The sound is virtually seamless but the fiddle is the driver here. The music is played by a band in the same way that Duke Ellington’s Orchestra played. Duke might have played the piano but the orchestra was his main instrument, and that could be the best way to describe what happens with the Stewed Tomatoes.’

David also got a kick out of John Stewart’s Havana. ‘The songs are vintage Stewart, simple chord structures, catchy but subtle melodies, and lyrics both straitforward and honest. Stewart is singing more like recent Johnny Cash these days. A bit breathy, deep and a little wobbly…but true and captivating.’

Judith found lots to like in a various artists album with lots of guitar: Six Strings North Of The Border is an instrumental collection of tunes from Canadian guitarists. Often record companies compile showcases of their own artist, but some of the guitarists here record via Borealis and some don’t. All the selections are good, and range from Celtic to World Fusion to Old Time, plenty of variety: something for everyone.’

She also enjoyed 3 Ravens by a Scottish group: ‘Malinky’s style is contemporary traditional and carries whatever power it has in strings and bellows and flat goatskin. Though not as loud and driving as some bands (particularly those with pipes or bass) it is a solid band with great musicians and an interesting menu, and 3 Ravens is a sure bet for almost any reasonable Scottish music enthusiast.’

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Later on, I was entertaining myself this afternoon by doing searches for music on the Infinite Jukebox, our Media server, and decided to see if we had anything by Procol Harum. To my considerable delight, I found a bootleg of them called Transmissions ’69 (live) though that was all I could find out about it when I went online. Delightfully, it had their “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” on it.

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Brandy (A Letter to Tessa)

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A letter from Lady Alexandra Margaret Quinn, Head Gardener here in the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India, to Tessa, her botanist friend who is on an extended collecting trip in the Ottoman Empire and elsewhere.

She copied her letters into her Journal and her will stated that they should be shared after her death.  Alex as she preferred to be called lived to be well over a hundred and indeed outlived her beloved Queen. She was Head Gardener for sixty years and died while overseeing the blessing of the first planting of the growing season from what we think was a cerebral hemorrhage from the way it was described by Those who saw it.

This letter which you can read here concerns the addition to the Estate of producing apple brandy.

Dear Tessa,

I must confess that I just got over a headache brought on by drinking more than a bit of a most excellent apple brandy that we laid down ten years ago. We were celebrating  the birth of a daughter to a couple who works here, Ingrid and Jacob. It’s their first and she takes after her mother in both her blue eyes and flaxen hair.

Our idea for doing apple brandy came to use from a Several Annie whose family in Normandy in the northwest of France was fond of Calvados, their version of apple brandy that is produced as a rather coarse, rough brandy that must age for several years to acquire its flavor, amber color and the right amount of alcohol  which our Brewmaster, Sven, says is ideally between 40 and 43 percent.

Sven got the distillery equipment that he needed to produce it from France and didn’t The Steward  complained about the cost as he approved the funds transfer to our agent in Normandy.

We sampled it after the preferred two years of aging, then at five years, and now at ten years. Sven figured long aging would make it more smooth, less biting, and he was right. Sipped cold, it’s simply wonderful. And all too easy to drink while sitting by the fireplace in the rooms of The Steward near a roaring fireplace on a bitterly cold winter night.

We were also celebrating the occasion of Angela who is being promoted to Lead Publican in the Green Man Pub now that her baby is past nursing, the first woman to hold that post. She’s been studying for several years now with the retiring Lead Publican whose moving back to Glasgow so he and his wife can be near their grandchildren.

As always, I’m looking to your return as I’m missing you very much.

Love Alex
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What’s New for the 27th of October: The Byrds Live, Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix, Some Excellent Music Reviews, Folkmanis Puppets of an Autumnal Nature, The Mouse Guard begins…

It was time to be honest with myself. To survive all the shame this world will throw at you, you have to hold yourself tall, look your accuser straight in the eye. Even if it’s your own face looking back at you — Nalo Hopkinson’s New Moon’s Arms

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Here in this quite remote Scottish Estate where the nearest town’s a good thirty-five miles away, the group of less than thirty souls here year round forms a community that’s at its most cohesive when the weather turns decidedly cold and oftimes unfavourable to travel. This ‘hunkering down’ is a gradual process that starts in early Autumn and doesn’t really end ’til after lamb season in April as it’s hard to be a good host when you’re covered with blood, shit and other stuff that’s unpleasant in general.

Pumpkins are versatile food here, so you can help us harvest them now that our first light frost has passed; likewise apples and potatoes need harvesting and proper processing for the uses they’ll be put to. Gus, our Head Gardener, uses for staff anyone physically healthy and able to be properly picky at what they’ll be doing.

All work and no play makes Gutmansdottir an unhappy girl indeed, so there’re contadances pretty much weekly here. Tonight a visiting band, The Black Eyed Susans, are playing. But first, let’s see what’s in this edition such as the book reviews all on works by Nalo Hopkinson…

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Jennifer, aided by guest reviewer Rich Bynum, looks at the two latest collections of short fiction by Nalo Hopkinson from Tachyon Publications. She regrets that a review of every story–even of just her favorites–would run almost as long as a Hopkinson story, but by damn these are all good.

Jennifer also talks about the things she loves in Nalo Hopkinson’s The New Moon’s Arms, which is less a fantasy novel than women’s fiction with magical realism.

Jessica has a neat look at the  Mojo: Conjure stories:  “The best thing I can say about this book: whatever expectations you have going in, they’ll be shattered coming out. If you think that you’ll like it, you’ll love it. If you think that you’ll love it, you’ll really love it. And if, like me, you think that it will be interesting and not bad, you are in for a shock. I’ve reread some of my favorite tales already, and they still haven’t faded. Their voices are still fresh and true, and reading them I am still conscious of the skillful storytelling I’m honored to read and the fact that the storytellers have created a world where their presence is invisible. They’ve created a world that could be our own.“

Lenora found this work to be, errrr, interesting: “ In many ways, The Salt Roads is less satisfying than Nalo’s previous work because it’s more ambitious. It takes a trickier narrative form, takes chances with characters and situations, leaves large parts of its conclusions ambiguous, demands that the reader make some of the connections themselves. It’s weaker than her previous books, but only because she tried to do even more with it. I enjoyed many parts of the book; the richness of words, many of the characters, the way the worlds contrasted — and matched. The many links to history. It’s a cliché to say “even a weak book by Author X is better than most books out there,” but in Nalo’s case, it remains true. I may not be as satisfied with The Salt Roads as I’d hoped, but it is still a good, flawed, book that took chances, failed at some, and won out with others.” 

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As cooler temps become the rule of the day, Denise takes a look at Trader Joe’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix. She found it a lovely way to start the day, and perhaps even enjoy the evening; “…if you’ve a mind, a splash of Kahlua and/or Bailey’s wouldn’t be amiss.” Now go see what she thinks cocoa lovers should give this one a try.

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April reviews the first volume in an ongoing series by David Petersen: ‘The year is 1152, treachery is afoot, and the Mouse Guard, defenders of all mice, must suss out the traitor in their midst before the Guard is destroyed. So goes the basic plot of Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, a graphic novel collection of Petersen’s award-winning comic. And just so there’s no confusion, Mouse Guard isn’t a nickname or colloquialism — the protagonists really are mice, the small, furry rodent kind.’

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Brendan enthusiastically reviews Mimi & Richard Fariña’s Pack Up Your Sorrows. ‘There are many reasons to get this CD: as a remarkable record of time past, when a substantially large group of very talented musicians converged on New York City and forged their own memorable sound; as the record of someone who was bound for greatness and died way too early. But clearly the most important is that it is just great music …’

David says that Stephen Stills’s Turnin’ Back the Pages, a compilation drawn from his Columbia recordings of the mid-70s, changed his mind about that period of Stills’s career. ‘Stills’s perfectionism, his juxtaposition of rock with Latin beats, his rich harmonies and his fiery guitar playing make me sit up and take notice.’

He also reviewed the soundtrack album from the U.S. Civil War film Gods and Generals. ‘An altogether useful package then, is this Gods and Generals soundtrack. A couple of fine tunes by artists whom we here at Green Man are fond of; some moving and evocative orchestral pieces; the involvement of Mark O’Connor and Paddy Moloney and a collection of video material to add to our collection. Not an everyday listen, but one I am glad to have in my library.’

Peter gives us his usual thorough coverage of four albums of English folk and folk rock: Assembly Players’ A Kynaston Ball, various artists’ Strange Coincidences in Speciality Tea Trading, Mary Humphreys & Anahata’s Sharp Practice, and Tickled Pink’s Terpsichore Polyhymnia. ‘These four CDs represent things you might hear around the folk clubs, sessions and festivals this summer. There are plenty of people around telling you what you should read this summer, so think of this as your summer listening.’

Rebecca dug into a clutch of diverse recordings: Patrick McGinley & Family Style’s Patrick, Family & Friends; Bob Neuwirth’s Havana Midnight; and Graham Parker’s Deepcut to Nowhere. Regarding the latter, she says, ‘
Personally, I find this a very accessible collection of music. The tunes are lively and easy to follow, and the lyrics are interesting and comprehensible. The overall mood is discontented, rueful, sometimes even angry.’

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Our What Not this time is about the Folkmanis Puppets of an Autumnal Nature, or at least that’s how Cat defined them. They were the ones Cat asked Folkmanis specifically to send and then he handed off to various staff members for review. So here’s the review of these wonderful puppets which are definitely worth your time.

The Worm in Apple puppet gets reviewed by Robert: ‘One of the more unusual items to cross my desk from Folkmanis is their Worm in Apple Puppet. It’s a nice, big apple — not shiny, since it’s made of plush, but it is very appealing — unless you count the small green worm peeping out of a hole in the side.’

Next up Denise looks at the  the Chipmunk in Watermelon puppet. While she’s as entranced as ever by this company’s creations, there’s one quibble. ‘Mine looks as if he’s suffering from agoraphobia. Exo-karpoúzi-phobia, maybe?’ Read her review to find out what’s going on…

She finishes off with the Mouse in Pumpkin puppet: ‘All hail the spice! Pumpkin everything is the rule of the day this time of year, and I’m all for it. Give me my pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pies,spicy roasted pumpkin, and pumpkin crumble. And okay, a PSL or two while we’re at it, though I’m more a Chestnut Praline Latte gal myself. So when Folkmanis decided to indulge my love of the orange squash, my grabby hands eagerly shot out. And I’ve been snuggling with this adorable puppet ever since.’

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The season in turning, so why a song to see you off that celebrates it that turning? It’s ‘Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is a Season)’ by Judy Collins who sung it at The Newport Folk Festival, fifty five years ago. It was written by Pete Seeger in the late Fifties and first recorded in 1959. The lyrics save for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the final two lines are the first eight verses of the third chapter of the ‘Book of Ecclesiastes’. The Byrds also recorded it and you can hear them sing it here. This version was recorded at the Boston Tea Party fifty five years ago.

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A Kinrowan Estate story: All The World’s A Stage

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From The Sleeping Hedgehog, date unknown. No idea if it’s a story retold there, or a true story transcribed into written form. Not that it really matters, does it?

There, my friend. I am not good company tonight, but if you can stand the long face, I’ll buy the rounds, all right? Here, Reynard — a pint for this compassionate one, the poor bastard…

No, sure it will be all right. Surely. It is just that…you know they say that the world is a stage, yes? Vesti la giubba, vesti la giubba! The sad fruit of hate, the agonies of grief, the cries of rage, the bitter laughter. We breathe the air of this lonely world along with everyone else, and we hold up a mirror — but which is the reflection?

The stage and the world. As Signor Shakespeare said — are they not the same thing? We think, no! they are not, surely they cannot be…yet disaster strikesin a mockery of our mockeries, like mirrors reflecting mirrors over and over again, until you cannot tell where life starts and then art continues on, or perhaps it’s the other way around. Which is art? Which is life? Reynard, give me another? No, it’s all right, you know I can hold my drink, I’ve been drinking since before you were whelped! Another for you, my friend?

Ah, don’t look so worried, you. Surely it will be all right. Our company…we follow the grand tradition, the great art, yes…we are one of the few companies left of the Commedia dell’Arte, we are! Each performance different, the story the same, but everything fresh, each night new… We each have our roles, our specialty, each of us has studied long and hard.

Yes, I am Arlecchino, sometimes I am Truffeldino. Someday when I am a bit older I will master Pedrolino as well, or perhaps he will master me — but Arlecchino, he is my favorite and always has been. Troublemaker, servant, go-between, clever boots…that’s me! Your servant, my master!

Ah, my master. Well, he is our director, he is a great clown, a subtle actor, a genius of improvisation! And a good businessman as well; he owns our company. Ah, my friend, I am worried. We came to this great city, was it years ago now? Surely not…but now, they shout for us as the kings and queens of the stage!

Tragedy and comedy, both the mirror image of the other… He has a terrible temper, but he is honest, my master is, you can trust him.

She is beautiful, you know, my master’s wife. She is much admired. Much admired. She is sometimes my Columbina, sometimes she is Isabella. She is very clever as Columbina, her improvisations are very good.

Look at the time. I will have to be at the theatre soon. Reynard, one last one for the night. Perhaps just a bit of that whiskey. A sniff of water.

Yes, I am worried. It is this damned place, it turns everything around. Do we become our roles, or do they become us?

But surely it will be all right.

Come down later to see the performance tonight, the? For some reason, I’m actually dreading tonight, I don’t know why. I will feel better if you are there in the audience, my friend. I must go, for, as they say, the show must go on, no matter how we feel, the?

Ridi, Pagliaccio!

 

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What’s New for the 13th of October: Elizabeth Bear tends a pot of turkey stock, Groot and Rocket Raccoon, A Video and Fiction set in India, Tasty music reviews, and music from Irish trad band Clannad

Nothing happened. We stitched in silence. At least we stitched without words. Having nothing else to listen to, I began to hear needle points puncturing cloth, threads drawn through, again and again, as rhythmically as breathing. Our breaths mingled with the sound, as though breath became thread, air became fabric. I stitched another corner carefully, thinking of other corners: in doorways, at field gates, walls joining at the edges of a house. My stitches pulling them together, reinforcing them… knowing how it was done, whatever it was they were doing, would be knowing how it could be undone… — Patricia A. McKillip’s Solstice Wood

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Finch ‘ere. I’m filling in as Reynard, our Barkeep, is off travelling with his wife Ingrid, our Estate Steward, this week.

Care to have a pint of our new All Hallows Eve Ale? It’s quite good. I’ve been getting stellar comments about it from those who’ve had a few pints. Bjorn, our Brewmaster, always seems to enjoy creating new Autumn libations more than those he does for the other seasons. And he’s hinting that he’ll be doing an authentic Octoberfest beer very soon but he’s kept everything a secret from even me.

Iain is running through the tunes that Red Robin will be playing later this evening in the Sanctuary as he’s the caller. Two violinists, one smallpiper plus a mountain dulcimer player — all from Ashville, North Carolina — and it should be quite tasty to dance to.

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So here’s some genre and mystery novels of set in India.

Cat leads us with alternative history novel, The Peshawar Lancers, in which the British Empire decamps to India: ‘The much more Indian than English culture is a brilliant re-visioning of British history that reads like vintage Poul Anderson, particularly his Dominic Flandry series. It features rugged heroes — male and female — vivid combat scenes, exotic locales, and truly evil villains. Hell, it even has Babbage machines, the great analytical engines that Sir Charles Babbage never built but which also play an important role in William Gibson and Bruce Sterling’s The Difference Engine.’

Cat also looks at a rather interesting audiobook: ‘Golden Age is the story of Torchwood India and what happened to it. It is my belief that the best of all the Torchwood were the audio dramas made by BBC during the run of the series. Please note that it was BBC and not Big Finish that produced these despite the fact that latter produces most of the Doctor Who and spinoff dramas. This is so because the new Doctor Who audio dramas were kept in-house and these productions were kept there as well, though Big Finish is now producing the new Doctor Who adventures as well.’

Donna leads her reviewing off with four novels in a murder mystery series set primarily in India (The Last Kashmiri RoseRagtime in Simla, The Damascened Blade and The Palace Tiger): ‘These books by British writer Barbara Cleverly form a murder mystery series. Although I have read other serial fiction and other murder mysteries, this is my first encounter with this particular combination. I found the first two books in a recent remainder catalog at prices much reduced from their original suggested retails. They were sufficiently enjoyable to prompt me to seek out the next two, which are readily available from the usual on-line sources. They are probably also available in the mystery section of any relatively large bricks-and-mortar bookstore, if you prefer to shop that way. They all run about 300 pages in length and are relatively quick reads — probably good fare for summer travel.’

The novel Gary looks at is set in a richly imagined future India, Ian Mcdonald’s River of Gods. And it’s a bloody good read as well: ‘You can hold whole universes in your hand, between the covers. And as with those old faery tales, you need to pay attention to books like River of Gods. They contain important truths, hidden inside entertaining stories.’

Gary now looks at a story by a master storyteller: ‘The world is groping for a new mythology, one that makes sense in a world that has seen nuclear devastation and sent humans to the moon; a world that encompasses both communications satellites and children starving to death in the midst of plenty. Perhaps the new mythology will be found in the multiple collisions of cultures, histories, arts and religions; maybe it will be birthed through the agency of pop culture, which has supplanted classical music and art. Or so Salman Rushdie seems to be saying in his sprawling, entertaining and challenging novel, The Ground Beneath Her Feet.’ 

Tammy Moore has a review particularly worth noting if you read River of Gods: In Cyberabad Days, author Ian McDonald returns to the technologically brilliant, parched and i-Dusty India of 2047, an India first visited in his award-winning novel River of Gods. The seven stories collected in this volume follow the rise and fall of this new India, from the luxurious, robot-monkey guarded palaces of the super-rich to the slums where the robotwallahs rule like tinpot gods.

Raspberry dividerIain has a rather special treat for us as he interviews one of favorite authors: ‘We here at Green Man remember the winter afternoon that Elizabeth Bear  carefully tended a pot of turkey stock that many hours later would become one of the most tasty turkey veggie soups ever encountered by anyone ‘ere. Later that week, I got to interview her about all things culinarily that interested here ranging from her ideas picnic basket and what make a great winter hearty meal to the perfect brownie.’

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Richard brings us Bend It Like Beckham,  a film about ‘…Indian cooking, cultural absurdity, family love, and an abiding desire to play what the English call ‘the beautiful game’…’ That game, of course, would be football; what we in the States call soccer. What happens when a young Indian girl dreams of playing football like English football star David Beckham? Culture clash, among other things — but Nathan says that ‘[t]he underlying theme of culture clash is better because it is underlying, rather than politicised and angry. Instead of favouring either the Indian or the English culture, the writer shows how the two manage their uneasy coexistence.’

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Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak’s Brundibar gets a review from Rebecca: ‘Pepicek (very small) and Aninku (his sister, even smaller) have a problem: their mother is very sick. The doctor told them to go to town to get milk, but how can two children who have no money buy milk? And how can they get money when they have nothing to sell? They could sing for money … except that Brundibar (Czech slang for bumblebee) can sing much louder than two small children, and he chases them off. With the help of three talking animals, three hundred schoolchildren, and eventually the whole town, they chase off bullying Brundibar, get money and milk for their mommy, and so are happy again.’ M

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Brendan enthusiastically reviews Mimi & Richard Fariña’s Pack Up Your Sorrows. ‘There are many reasons to get this CD: as a remarkable record of time past, when a substantially large group of very talented musicians converged on New York City and forged their own memorable sound; as the record of someone who was bound for greatness and died way too early. But clearly the most important is that it is just great music …’

David says that Stephen Stills’s Turnin’ Back the Pages, a compilation drawn from his Columbia recordings of the mid-70s, changed his mind about that period of Stills’s career. ‘Stills’s perfectionism, his juxtaposition of rock with Latin beats, his rich harmonies and his fiery guitar playing make me sit up and take notice.’

He also reviewed the soundtrack album from the U.S. Civil War film Gods and Generals. ‘An altogether useful package then, is this Gods and Generals soundtrack. A couple of fine tunes by artists whom we here at Green Man are fond of; some moving and evocative orchestral pieces; the involvement of Mark O’Connor and Paddy Moloney and a collection of video material to add to our collection. Not an everyday listen, but one I am glad to have in my library.’

Peter gives us his usual thorough coverage of four albums of English folk and folk rock: Assembly Players’ A Kynaston Ball, various artists’ Strange Coincidences in Speciality Tea Trading, Mary Humphreys & Anahata’s Sharp Practice, and Tickled Pink’s Terpsichore Polyhymnia. ‘These four CDs represent things you might hear around the folk clubs, sessions and festivals this summer. There are plenty of people around telling you what you should read this summer, so think of this as your summer listening.’

Rebecca dug into a clutch of diverse recordings: Patrick McGinley & Family Style’s Patrick, Family & Friends; Bob Neuwirth’s Havana Midnight; and Graham Parker’s Deepcut to Nowhere. Regarding the latter, she says, ‘Personally, I find this a very accessible collection of music. The tunes are lively and easy to follow, and the lyrics are interesting and comprehensible. The overall mood is discontented, rueful, sometimes even angry.’

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Our What Not this week is a collectible from Guardians of the Galaxy, namely a figurine of Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Says Cat: ‘Accurate representations of Rocket Raccoon, best known from the two Guardians of the Galaxy films are difficult to find without spending a lot of cash on the accurate one-sixth scale models costing in the hundreds of dollars. I wanted one such figure largely because I thought that Rocket and Groot were the most interesting characters in those films.’

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Let’s finish this edition off with a tune by Clannad, a band often derided by Irish trad music lovers as just a New Age band because of their later recordings  but give a listen to ‘Down By The Sally Gardens’ and I think you’ll agree that they do Irish trad rather well.

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A Kinrowan Estate story: Autumn is Here (A Letter to Anna)

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Dear Anna,

I thought you’d appreciate this copy of Ciaran Carson’s Last Night’s Fun: In and Out of Time with Irish Music, which is the best book ever done on Irish traditional music. I particularly like the chapter on what to have for breakfast after an all-night session!

The cooler weather that autumn brings here is very similar to the weather there is in Stockholm. The Steward has ordered the usual check of the fireplaces and he went one step more with having all of them cleaned even though they weren’t due until next autumn. Everyone’s taking the prediction of a much colder, more snowy winter seriously. We’ve even prepped a heated space for the Irish Wolfhounds as it might be too cold even for them.

Tamsin was pleased with the prep work Gus did for the owls so that they might have warm homes this Winter. I still don’t know why she attracts a larger than normal number of owls, but she once jokingly, at least I hope it was meant that way, suggested reading Alan Garner’s The Owl Service.

As you know, we don’t raise beef here but trade for it with the Riverrun folk. And Mrs. Ware made a lovely dish from some of this year’s beef last night — a brisket braised in apple cider with baked butternut squash and very tender carrots. She made use of the second harvest of pumpkins (the first are a variety grown only for use in Bjorn’s spiced pumpkin ale) to make pumpkin tarts. And she says she’ll have pumpkin muffins in the morning as well! Ymmm!

Plans are being made for the usual winter activities here — I see notes up for Curling teams, Old Norse and French reading groups, and the chess group is reserving space in the Reading Room twice a week. Someone, I think it’s most likely Finch, is offering lessons in border pipes.

Your sister has yet another group up and running — Solstice, which has her on violin, Finch on border pipes, and Astrid on cello. It’s got a very sweet sound, more Nordic in sound than Leaf & Tree. They’re more interested in doing a recording than touring, so I suspect we’ll be treated to concerts here as they fine tune this group.

Lastly I should note The Steward approved your request to be a Scholar-in-Residence in Nordic Languages for next year. You’ll be selecting the person who holds the position for Winter ’19. The usual stipend plus expenses and quarters applies. Ingrid only  requested only that a background in Beowulfian studies would be nice.

Affectionately, Iain

Raspberry divider

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