Saturday 28 January 2012

The Ferryman


Dear Listener,

Here's your direct link for episode 23 of "Stories from the Borders of Sleep."

Turpin Whittington has a few problems: an unusual name, complete deafness in his left ear and an uncontrollable tendency to get lost in fairy-land; but somehow he makes good. Here is a tale of a strange thing that happened to him on his way to school. You'll meet a couple of interesting characters and you'll learn about "tree wine", which I thoroughly recommend you try some time.

The soundtrack for this week's podcast features some beautifully ethereal flute from Suzanne Teng's "Enchanted Winds" album.

Enjoy the story and have sweet dreams until next time ...

Saturday 21 January 2012

The Unhappy Body by Lord Dunsany


Dear Listener,

We are back and starting this year with something slightly different that may happen again if the response is positive. Before I continue, here is a direct link to the MP3 if you need it.

Every so often, we'd like to unearth a long-forgotten gem by another author, whose work has come to rest in the the public domain, and to give it the "Borders of Sleep" treatment. This is inspired by the wonderful narrator, Xe Sands, and the brilliant #GoingPublic project that you can read about here and listen to on soundcloud. Every Friday, there is fresh audio material there from the public domain and creative commons.

So here is a strange tale of a conversation between a soul and a body who don't get on too well. It was originally published in 1910 by the Irish author, Lord Dunsany, whose full name was, "Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany." His imagination was as wild and far ranging as his name; as the collection from which this story is drawn (A Dreamer's Tales) amply demonstrates. You can read some more on Project Gutenberg.

The soundtrack for this weeks episode is from the album Glass Desert by Harlan Williams. Great music for mind-travel!

Well then, please let us know if you do or don't enjoy this week's offering and, until next week, wishing you ...

Sweet dreams ...