Step and the Jordans will be reading tonight at the Garrison Ale House in Fredericton at 8.
On August 13th, Vagabonds will be appearing both at Chapters in Fredericton from 7-9, and at Fusion in Woodstock at 8:30. We’ll be splitting the group that night, and I’ll get back to you with who is going where a little closer to the date.
There’s no admission cost for these events.
Some of us NB Vagabonds will be making an appearance or two in August. We’re reading on Thursday the 13th at Chapters in Fredericton, from 7-9. Then on Friday the 14th, and also in Woodstock as part of the Dooryard Arts Festival.
If that weren’t enough, on July 27th, Jordan Stewart, Jordan Trethewey and Step Taylor will be reading at the launch of Nonymous’ 4th issue, at 8 o’clock in the Garrison Ale House on Queen St., in Fredericton. Readings go perfectly well with a cold pint of Picaroons’ Melon Head or Garrison’s Raspberry Wheat.
A dramatic tribute to Edward Gorey that didn’t quite make it into “The Broken Spoke” show.
(Actor 2 enters with a book, skimming text silently, then not so silently.)
Actor 2: Lucy asleep in her bed…. yada yada… where is the lamp?… who cares?… bats and spiders… typical gothic fare… Dracula, stake through the heart… there’s gotta be something better than this. (Turns page.) Ah. (Beat.) Prologue: It was February 30th. The day after vacation and the day before break. (Beat.) How can that be? (Reading on) Chapter one: Basil and Rhoda trounced each other with Singapore canes.
(Actor 1 enters in black clothing holding two Singapore canes. She creeps up behind Actor 2.)
That’s a very sensational way to begin a story. It’s all mens rea and no motive as far as I can tell. Couldn’t they start out squabbling over tea? “I don’t want that filthy orange pekoe. Run along to the corner store for some Portuguese Empire.” You know, something. This mutual beating is unqualified nonsense. Doesn’t happen like that.
(Actor 1 smashes Actor 2 in the back of the head with her cane. She falls to the ground, rubbing her head. The book lands several feet away from her.)
Actor 1: Ha!
(Actor 2 returns to her feet, still wobbly from the blow. She seems transformed as she grabs a cane from Actor 1.)
Actor 2: Ox!
(Actor 2 whaps Actor 1.)
Actor 1: Clod!
(Actor 2 whaps Actor 1.)
Actor 2: Bum!
(Actor 2 whaps Actor 1.)
Actor 1: Ninny!
(Actor 2 blocks Actor 1’s shot as she is particularly incensed by this name and smacks Actor 1’s legs out from under her.)
Actor 2: Dog!
(Actor 2 raises her cane as if to finish off Actor 1 but stops abruptly.)
Actor 1 (playing narrator): When they heard a noise behind the wall!
Actor 2 (out of character again): What wall?
(Actor 1 points to the audience.)
Actor 1: And a large vagabond pooch dashed into view.
Actor 2: Doggy!
(Actor 2 pats her lap for the dog to come. It does. Actor 2 mimes getting tackled by a large dog.)
Dog: Crash!
Actor 1: Pup-pup!
(Actor 1 makes for the dog, petting it and subsequently getting licked.)
Dog: Liiiick!
Actor 2: Basil and Rhoda bickered over their zoological playmate.
(Actor 1 grabs the dog by her collar and pulls.)
Actor 1: Ugh!
(Actor 2 pulls at the dog’s tail.)
Actor 2: Ack!
(The two have a dog tug-of-war.)
Actor 1: Mine!
Actor 2: I’ll arrange for a biscuit feeding.
(The dog snaps its jaw at Actor 1 to scare her away.)
Dog: Snarl!
Actor 2: Whoopee!
Dog: Slurp! Slurp!
Actor 2: I am without biscuits at present.
Dog: Growl!
Actor 2: The doggy was most resentful of Basil and Rhoda.
Actor 1: We can squire you to a wealth of nummies.
Dog: Yip yip!
Actor 1: Hip hip!
Actor 2: They leapt onto the doggy.
Dog: Arf.
Actor 1: Gravy!
Actor 2: And doggy galloped out of the yard.
Dog (horse-like): Neigh!
Actor 1: Giddyap!
Actor 2: Weeeeeeeee!
Actor 1: After that, they nearly ran off a wharf into the snappy ocean.
Dog: Ruh-oh.
Actor 2: Lubberly!
Actor 1: Goodness!
Actor 2: Doggy opted for the cliffs instead—
Actor 1: And a hefty seagull muttered as they went by.
Seagull: It’s the choosy ones that starve.
Actor 2: Along the way they saw a great many expired fish.
Actor 1: Scaly sweetmeats!
Actor 2: But as the dog was in a hurry, they did not stop for coastal confection.
Actor 1: Boo!
Actor 2: Doggonit.
Actor 1: Just then the tide came in.
Actor 2: And the friends were subject to a nasty vortex.
Dog: Paddle!
Actor 1: Ick!
Actor 2: Crud!
Actor 1: The doggy swam mightily.
Dog: Paddle!
Actor 2: And they were nearly beheaded by loose rusty car parts.
Actor 1: Yipes!
Actor 2: Oh custard!
Dog: Rough!
Actor 1: Which were followed by a school of bully stingrays.
Actor 2: Ooo!
Actor 1: Jinkies.
Actor 2: The doggy swung his tail at them
Stingray: Zap!
Dog: Why me?
Actor 1: To mixed results.
Actor 2: But the tide fortuitously retreated
Actor 1: and the stingies had to say goodbye.
Stingray: Adieu!
Actor 2: Soon the friends were at the end of the ocean.
Actor 1: There Rhoda found she had misplaced her thirty-six trussed silk ascots.
Actor 2: Undue! (Beat.) And Basil’s pocket watch had been discharged by a soggy pack of cigarettes.
Actor 1: Queasy head rush.
Actor 2: They soon journeyed through a long shadowy tunnel
Actor 1: where there were a great many migratory bats and a smattering of gargoyles.
Bat: Buenas noches!
Gargoyle: Garrr.
Actor 2: Basil clipped all their wings with a miniature trebuchet inexplicably found in his other pocket.
Bat: Eeee.
Gargoyle: Oooy.
Actor 1: The dilapidated tunnel collapsed as they came out the other side.
Actor 2: Dip.
Actor 1: Flop.
Actor 2: Errant steerage led them through the front door of an elephantine house.
Actor 2: Slip!
Actor 1: Creep!
Dog: Donk.
Actor 1: Inside they spotted numerous relics.
Actor 2: Basil pinned a license plate to his overcoat.
Actor 1: Rhoda fiddled with finials and figurines.
Actor 2: The doggy gnawed on oil paintings.
Dog: Pah!
Actor 1: Hohoho.
Actor 2: Lelele.
Actor 1: In a vast family room they found a contingent of kitty cats.
Cats: Yoo-hoo.
Actor 2: Pretty.
Actor: And the doggy evaporated.
Dog: Slushy poof.
Actor 1: And landed squarely in the cat’s ceramic water dish.
Cat: Siiiiiiiip.
Actor 2: Basil and Rhoda returned to the front yard to compose themselves.
Actor 1: Respire.
Actor 2: They discovered a plague doodad atop the door
Actor 1: which said “Basil and Rhoda’s Cat Spa, established in the year 1703.”
Actor 2: Schizophrenic!
Actor 1: How very inviting!
Actor 2: As it began to snow, the children stuck out their tongues.
Actor 1: Cometh!
Actor 2: Tasty.
Actor 2: Basil and Rhoda detected a hint of doggy in their falling cocktails.
Actor 1: Yip!
Actor 2: Yap!
Actor 1: They transmogrified into mongrels and ran into the cat spa.
Actor 2: Growl!
Actor 1: Snarl!
(Actors 1 and 2 run offstage as if dogs.)
…among other things, is a new poem of mine (see Carson’s Page). Yes.
I’ve been pretty quiet here of late, because I went back to school in January to learn technical writing, and to brush up a bit on my (admittedly limited) web design/development skills. As a result, I’ve had little in the way of free time, and have produced even less fiction than usual.
I’m done classes until September, and I’m trying to get back in the habit of writing fiction every now and again, which usually means right before we have a Trust meeting. I banged out the start of something a couple of weeks ago, and, while I’m not actually sure what it’s going to be, I’m pretty excited about it. It was spawned after reading this article by Doug Saunders in The Globe & Mail just before Canada Day, about some of the myths that make up the Canadian national identity (whatever that actually is… I’m just from Canada and live here, I don’t really identify with it beyond that).
So whatever I’m writing, it’s in the future, in the north, and it’s somehow going to have to address the Arctic territorial claims made by Canada, the US, Russia, Norway and Denmark. It should be a lot of fun to write, and might possibly make Ryan Griffith’s head explode.
Hey eveyone,
The Campeye Comet has set up a site for our brother and sister scribblers in Toronto. We are proud as parents to hear that their workshop group is underway and the monthly Trust reading series is going well and finding the support of open ears. Check out their stuff in the LINKS at the right.
Cannonball
Hello visitors,
Inscribed: A Magazine for Writers has graciously published me again. This time they have included my poem Wooden Silhouettes in the July 2009 issue. Please check it out, they house lots of great work from around the globe:
http://www.inscribed.org/archive/msw/html/Vol4Issue7/
Cheers, JT
