Samhain, Zombie Shuffle & Wendy Rule

Saturday, May the 1st was Samhain, a time of the year to celebrate the end of the harvest, prepare for the winter and pay respects to ancestors. At this time of the year the veil between our world and the underworld is believed to be thinnest. Some celebrate this festival with bonfires and food and honor their ancestors. Others celebrate it as All Hallows Eve or Halloween.


So perhaps ironically/or perhaps even aptly? I went to the Melbourne Zombie Shuffle (which was certainly ghoulish!). This is rather crazy event, which began 4 years ago, where thousands of mad Melbournians join together dressed up as zombies and shuffle through the city!!! Covered in blood, gore and spattered with brains they chant "aaargh brains" and "what do we want?.... BRAINS.... when do we want them?.... BRAINS". This is certainly an amazing sight and a lot of fun. Of course it was the perfect photo opportunity, so please enjoy some of the portrait type pics I took.


Later in the evening, I went to Wendy Rules album launch "Guided By Venus" which was held at The Toff on Swanston Street in the city. Quite a good little venue with an upmarket sprit/wine list, but the music was definately what made the evening. It was a night of delicious, beautiful, memorable music combining folklore, mythology and magic. The sounds were so lush, and standing in a room of beautiful people drinking red wine was a very warming experience indeed..... just the perfect way to celebrate Samhain!


And to top it all off, my neighbour gave me pomegranates as a gift today from her tree.....now it's time to find a recipe ... perhaps steamed fish with pomegranate seeds.... yum

So all in all a lovely weekend..... may this autumn continue to be colorful and eventful!

Briony

Mary Gauthier- Relinquished Child

Last night I went to see a gig at the East Brunswick Club with Mary Gauthier - an American folksinger/ alt-country singer from New Orleans. To be honest I had never heard of her before but her performance was amazing, inspiring, comical, reflective and passionate!! It was certainly a journey......

Her newest album "The Foundling" from which she played the majority of her set, reflects the journey of a relinquished child. As I lack the ability to sum this experience up myself, I will take the liberty of using words from her website:

"Those familiar with the bones of Mary Gauthier’s life may find it difficult to choke back the emotion of the album, from the Gypsy-flavored opening of the Gypsy-flavored opening of “The Foundling” (“a baby unwanted, unloved, and unblessed/ Left on a doorstep, an unbidden guest”), to the upbeat bluegrass groove on the bittersweet “Good Bye” (“I hit the wall then I hit the highway/ I’ve got the curse of a gypsy on my soul”); from the crushing phone conversation with the mother who refuses to meet her, “March 11, 1962” (“You say that I’m a secret, nobody knows/ And you can’t talk about it now, and you really gotta go,” co-written with Liz Rose), to the final epilogue of “Another Day Borrowed” (“I shook my fist at my father’s rage, I cursed my mother’s sadness/ But every home I tried to call my own, washed into a river of madness,” co-written with Darrell Scott)." (www.marygauthier.com)

I think you get the feel! What was interesting about the night too was that my friends mum came all the way from Frankston specifically to see Mary Gauthier. The reason being, she is a relinquished mother, giving up her son in the late 60's/early 70's (bit unsure of details). She was catholic, unwed and when she gave birth was convinced by the nuns and partially drugged up to sign him away for adoption. She has since made contact, but I believe her son has a lot of identity/relationship issues perhaps due to his so called "abandonment". I think Mary's songs would have resonated deeply......

That being said, we all had a wonderful time.... It was a night of good people, wonderful music, a story of a life journey and the infinate human capacity to believe in love!! :)

Love and light

Briony

Dreadful Wind and Rain- A Traditional Murder Ballad

(Note: Please check out the music video at the bottom of this post as it is rather good in a random type way!)

The Dreadful Wind and Rain

There were two sisters came walkin' down the stream
Oh the wind and rain

The one behind pushed the other one in

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

The Millers son gave the youngest a gay gold ring

Oh the wind and rain

Didn't give the oldest one anything

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

They pushed her into the river to drown

Oh the wind and rain

And watched her as she floated down

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

Floated 'till she came to a miller's pond

Oh the wind and rain

Mama oh father there swims a swan

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

The miller pulled her out with a fishing hook

Oh the wind and rain

Pulled that fair maid from the brook

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

He left her on the banks to dry

Cryin' oh the wind and rain

And a fiddlin' fool come passing by

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

Out of the woods came a fidder fair

Oh the wind and rain

Took thirty strands of her long yellow hair

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

And he made a fiddle bow of her long yellow hair

Oh the wind and rain

He made a fiddle bow of her long yellow hair

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones

Oh the wind and rain

He made fiddle pegs of her long finger bones

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

And he made a little fiddle of her breast bone

Oh the wind and rain

The sound could melt a heart of stone

Cryin' oh the dreadful wind and rain

And the only tune that the fiddle would play

Was oh the wind and rain

The only tune that the fiddle would play

Was oh the dreadful wind and rain

Lyrics: Traditional

Music: Traditional - Played by Garcia/Grisman

Photo: Meg