Virginia and Lee McAlester’s excellent book A Field guide to American Houses begins like this:
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“Domestic Buildings are of two principal sorts: folk houses and styled houses. Folk houses are designed without a conscious attempt to mimic current fashion. Many are built by their occupants or by non-professional builders, and all are meant to provide basic shelter, with little concern for presenting a stylish face to the world.”
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This passage brought to mind one such house I had the privilege to visit when I was an adolescent. My mother worked for an insurance company that sold debit insurance. This meant that part of her job was to collect premiums on a regular basis. I rode with her on one of her collection days when we pulled up to a three room tarpaper shack. Though the materials were not as substantial as in some houses this home was, as I remember it, powerfully civilized. The gentleman who lived there lived up to the title.
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I realized that talking to my mom, Joan, about that day would be a great run through of an interview. I went over to her addition, set up the recorder and we talked about it for a good ten minutes. I forgot to take record off pause so we ended up doing another take. The recording is below.
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Thanks mom for helping me to get my basics down and as always for being a great sport as I fumble through my first interview.
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6 comments:
Joan is really good at this.
Why not talk with her about the beginnings of the backyard theatre and post it onto 104c?
She's real good at this. Dang!
When you interview do you walk to different parts of the room to ask different questions? Its pretty cool that your voice comes from all over the place. Its strange and weird at the same time.
Tar paper is really difficult. And Joan is really good at this.
Great Idea! She is good at this I agree.
I was thinking I might begin in earnest to create a history portfolio for the Schoolhouse. It would be a great test subject and fun as well. An interview with Joan about the theatre would be a natural subject to include and a copy of that would belong on 104C.
Now if I can only find the Ray Savage who was born in the schoolhouse...
The variance you're hearing in my voice is coming from me trying different things as far as mic placement. I like it best when my voice is in the background. It leaves the spotlight on the interviewee and I think, unlike in those bizzare presidential press conferences, one can still understand what I am saying.
Am I being to rigid? What do you prefer?
It is snowing like crazy here.
Snow. Hurrah!
Rigidity? Well, I know you, man. I mean, I don't know what to say to that, really. You're doing a whole lot better than I would. We're all old brothers and sisters. In each other we hear the genius and the clown in chorus. I just try to celebrate both, otherwise one voice feels left out, then it gets the better of me. As for you I am terribly biased because I like you too much.
So, with that, I agree about the interviewer's mic voice, dim but audible. (Although, a bizarre press conference format might be fun someday, especially if shouted questions in different voices.) I enjoyed your role this go around. Its always a practice of relaxing.
A funny side note (that will grow into a paragraph). The more I achieve a relaxed presence on stage, the less my audience understands the work. Not all, but many. I think Americans like to see everyone working, overworking, overacting, stressed out even. We love the obvious. There's that press room for you. Or contractors who do things so fast they do the same thing three times. They're working hard though, it looks admirable. Let's not even start in on all those white shirts who never move but make millions. But they worked real hard in schools that cost a lot of money. We admire that too.
I admire the tar paper house.
Do you remember the old man Lee who lived next door to our Truckee house? That house was also unreal. A maze of living.
I can't wait to hear more. This is a real good format.
I just walked away thinking about relaxed interviewers. Conversationalists. Listeners. How about Studs Terkel?
In the same way I have a hard time laughing at really amazing comedy -I have a hard time opening my mouth to praise Studs Terkel. Here is a guy who is most relevant because he saw the relevance in others. Add to that his given name and the city where he chose to call home and you have a whole rack of larger than life to choose from. What a hero he was!
Thanks B. for your encouragement, honesty and friendship.
(Lee would have been great to interview. As would Tony Deluca.)
Thought I had better clarify that as far as i know Tony D . is still in the running. :-)
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