A small selection of the haunting, plaintive, wild, human, soulful songs of Tommy Johnson and Robert Johnson, two blues musicians who sold their soul to the devil at the crossroads.
Magpies Mix Tape: Soul-selling Stories
Magpies
I am a filmmaker, illustrator, graphic designer and copy editor.
In This Our Land
In this our land we have a term for suffering, shege. The proverbial phrase seeing shege is a present participle tense that describes the action of going through it — suffering. And there’s levels to it you see, because in this our land we’re all in the same hell, just different levels.
Ezra Jack Keats: The Joy of Being Alive
“My book would have him there simply because he should have been there all along.”
Abbott and Atget
“When one embarks on an uncertain venture, silence is often an ally,” Berenice Abbott’s philosophical tribute to Eugene Atget’s work
An Interview with Matt Roberts
So the sense of the ephemeral quality of life and the knowledge that the present and soon-to-be-gone can inhabit the same frame may come to play in my work.
June Issue, 2023
A collection of all the articles we’ve published over the past month, for those who like to savor their Magpies’ tidings as an issue.
Letter From the Editor, June 2023. The Wood Between the Worlds
At various times in your life you might find yourself back in the wood between the worlds.
Better Things, Maybe
And suddenly we saw everything differently. The simplicity of the story seemed significant, even profound. The simplicity of the language seemed elemental, important. The repetition made beautiful, resonant little circles of words. And everything we’d learned about writing was bullshit.
Voutie-o-roony-mo
“Like, voutie-o-roony-mo means super extra happy and good. It means everything is voutie, like roony-o, you know.” – Slim Gaillard
Wabi-Sabi: Peter J. Ketchum
Wabi-sabi embraces the natural cycle of growth and decay. The life of an object and its impermanence are evidenced in patina and wear, including rips, any visible repairs (scotch tape or glue) or additions: pen, ink, stains, pencil marks.
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