December is here, it is perfectly clear
Minnesota beat Wisconsin Saturday so hope is restored, the heart is lightened, and I am ready to enter the darkness of December unafraid. I got up early Sunday morning, grateful for the sensor in the bathroom that switches on the light when my physical form breaks an invisible beam. “Let there be light,” as the Creator once said, though He Himself has excellent night vision, and it felt good to be recognized as I stepped, half-asleep, over the threshold and all was made clear, the sink and mirror, the shower, the towel rack, and my target below, and I thought of Wisconsin and let fly....
Go to Garrison Keillor and Friends on Substack to read the rest of THE COLUMN >>> Become a member of THE BACK ROOM on our Substack page for exclusive access to News from Lake Wobegon stories, archived goodies, excerpts from unpublished works, previews of other works, a second weekly column, and on occasion, a full-length video stream of a show from 2015 to 2016. Also, if you shop in the store, THE BACK ROOM subscribers receive 20% discounts. (Subscription to The Back Room: $6 per months or $65 annually.) |
|
This week on "A Prairie Home Companion" A classic show sure to get your foot a-tapping as we travel back to 2010 with special guests The Imposter: Elvis Costello, and Solas’s great Dubliner John Doyle. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman), vocalist Jearlyn Steele, Rich Dworsky and The Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band, plus the latest News from Lake Wobegon. Join us Saturday for a listen via our Facebook page at 5 p.m. CT (or click the link below).
Highlights include “Slow Dance with Josephine,” featuring Elvis Costello alongside the powerful Jearlyn Steele, John Doyle crooning “Little Sparrow,” “Falling in Love Again,” with GK and Jearlyn, Elvis Costello tackling “You Hung the Moon,” plus Guy Noir, English Majors, a few sound effects, and a hilarious medley of Hanukkah tunes from Rich Dworsky. Listen to the Show >>>Like our Facebook page >>>
More about this week’s featured guests
In 1977, a young London pub-rocker named Declan McManus signed with Stiff Records, changed his name to Elvis Costello, and recorded his first album, the Nick Lowe-produced My Aim Is True. It won the Rolling Stone Critics Poll for best album, and rock critic Greil Marcus wrote that Costello “emerged … as one of the unquestioned originals of modern pop music.” More than four decades later, he still is. In 2003, Elvis Costello was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “Winter Song” >>>View available music >>>
Born in Dublin to a family of musicians, guitar virtuoso John Doyle was playing professionally by the age of 16. A few years later, he moved to New York City and was a founder of the celebrated Irish/American band Solas. After leaving Solas in 2000, John had a successful solo career as well as collaborations with artists from Liz Carroll and fellow Solas alum Karan Casey to Tim O’Brien, Linda Thompson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and so many others.
“Merry Christmas to All and Goodnight” >>>View available music >>>
Jearlyn Steele grew up in Indiana and first sang with her siblings (as The Steele Children). After she left home and moved to Minnesota, one by one the rest of the Steele kids followed. They started singing together again as The Steeles, and now music is the family business. Jearlyn also hosts Steele Talkin’, a Sunday-night radio show that originates on WCCO in Minneapolis and is heard in some 30 states across the U.S. “In the Garden” >>>View available music >>> Garrison often does parody songs on the show. Here are the lyrics to WikiLeaks from this classic show:
I’ve been reading the WikiLeaks documents
I couldn’t believe what I read
I read the cables you sent to Washington
The terrible things you said.
You told them I danced at a wedding
Gave the bride a lump of gold
And I hang out with a blonde from Ukraine
Who is 27 years old.
Baby, I’ve been good to you
And now you’re talking trash
You said I was carrying a suitcase
With 52 million in cash.
But what truly broke my heart
Was your secret directive
That I should be cut out of the loop
Because I am ineffective.
Ineffective. How subjective.
I’ve been kind to you and very protective.
I’ll hire a detective to prove it’s not true
I know that I’ve had a big effect on you.
Wooo wooo wooo wooo woooo
I forgive that you told the Egyptians
I’m on certain powerful prescriptions
And that you told the Israelis
I get drunk on pints of Bailey’s
I forgive that you told Hillary
That I smell like a distillery
That’s from a very selective perspective
But you think I’m ineffective????
Moi?
Ha ha ha.
Baby I’ve been good to you
And this just blows my mind
It’s hard to bear but it’s all right there
On the front page of the Times
Come back to me, baby
My arms are open wide
Take off your specs, I’ve got some effects
That I have not tried.
And don’t tell anybody
Top-secret this must be
You’ve been deeply effected as no one suspected
And you are connected to me.
|
|
GARRISON KEILLOR and COMPANY Events The holidays bring about a great time to gather together with old friends. And with that in mind, Garrison and Company are hitting the road to sing a few holiday classics and share a few stories, limericks, and poetry. We hope you can come gather with us to celebrate the season! View the tour schedule >>> A limited number of tickets remain for Garrison Keillor’s Book Reading and Book Signing of his NEW book, Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80.
December 7 at 7:00 p.m.
Virginia Street Swedenborgian Church
170 Virginia Street
St. Paul, MN
|
|
The Lake Wobegon Virus Softcover |
Now in paperback. Bestselling author and humorist Garrison Keillor returns to one of America’s most beloved mythical towns — a town beset by a contagion of alarming candor.
A mysterious virus has infiltrated the good people of Lake Wobegon, transmitted via unpasteurized cheese made by a Norwegian bachelor farmer, the effect of which is episodic loss of social inhibition. Mayor Alice, Father Wilmer, Pastor Liz, the Bunsens and Krebsbachs, formerly taciturn elders, burst into political rants, inappropriate confessions, and rhapsodic proclamations, while their teenagers watch in amazement. Meanwhile, a wealthy outsider is buying up farmland for a Keep America Truckin’ motorway and amusement park, estimated to draw 2.2 million visitors a year. Clint Bunsen and Elena the hometown epidemiologist to the rescue, with a Fourth of July Living Flag and sweet corn feast for a finale. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| From the Archives: The Best of 1982 (newest CD release) |
Mr. Keillor’s tales of the fictional Lake Wobegon, Minn., its people, and the businesses that “sponsor” the show are the ties that bind the show together. Listeners share in the ups and (mostly) downs of the Lake Wobegon Whippets baseball team, study the menu of Dorothy’s Chatterbox Cafe, wonder how Lake Wobegon’s favorite daughter, Barbara Ann Bunson, is doing at the University of Minnesota, cheer the attributes of Powdermilk Biscuits (made from whole wheat grown in the rich bottomlands of the Lake Wobegon valley by Norwegian bachelor farmers).
From the Archives is a deep dive into the PHC archive, unearthing stories season by season. And here is the collection featuring the stories from 1982. Lake Wobegon experiences extreme cold and shuts people in their homes to feuds, frustrations, plumbing issues, and other crazy antics. There are memories of romance with Donna Bunsen at the laundromat and the Diener boy’s first drag on a cigarette, landing his car in the pond. In fall, we hear about the demise of Irene Anderson’s 20 oz. tomato and the avalanche of squash from the attic. Christmas is nearly perfect with the exception of Einer’s reading of the Gospel. 3 CDs.
Newest release, available to ship December 1. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| LAKE LIFE Shirt We are who we are and we know it! Now you can proclaim yourself a resident of “the little town that time forgot and decades could not improve,” knowing with a wink that you are “above average,” like the rest of us. 100% cotton shirt is available in sizes S–XXL. Get the Shirt >>> |
|
|
|
|
