THANKS!

This website wishes to thank the thousands of websters (web-readers interested in word-play) world-wide
who have visited or regularly visit our website, so here goes:

     Afrikaans……………..dankie

	Albanian……………...faleminderit

	   Arabic………………...shokran (shoukran)
 
	     Cantonese of China…..doh jeh

               Danish………………..tak
 
              	 Finnish……………….kiitos
 
              	  French (Parisian)…….merci
 
              	   German………………danke
 
              	    Greek (Modern)……...efharisto
 
              	     Hawaiian……………..mahalo

    Italian………………...grazie
 
     Japanese……………...arigato

       Polish………………...dziekuje
 
        Russian………………spasibo (spassibo)

         Spanish………………gracias
 
          Thai…………………..khawp kuhn

            Yiddish……………....a dank aych
 
              Zulu………………….ngiyabonga 

As we hillbillies say, “Thankee. ‘Nuf said.”

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Another Comedy Piece
THE WASHINGTON POST’S STYLE INVITATIONAL
Washington Post readers were asked to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter (some entrants changed more), and supply a new definition.

Here are the winners for 2010:

1. 1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating, and which, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of starting an affair.
3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.
8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease.
9. Karmageddon (n): its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer, Dude.
10. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day drinking only things that are good for you.
11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.
12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
14. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.
15. Ignoranus (n): A person who's both stupid and a butthead.

FOR STORYTELLERS’ INFORMATION

As promised last month, we e-publish the second half of the contents of an e-mail announcement many of our storytelling friends and colleagues may have missed. Yawp.com/stories/ receives no compensation for this favor to our storyteller webreaders, and we do not necessarily endorse the website mentioned below.

StageandScreenMarketplace.com is entirely funded by participating entertainment professionals, we are able to provide:

a site that is clear, uncluttered and free of the twists and turns designed to parade visitors past a stream of unrelated advertising.

a site that does not allow pop-up ads to distract visitors.

a site that does not give "free" listings for the purpose of using entertainers as "internet bait" for lucrative, but often unrelated, advertising opportunities.

a site that refuses to charge outrageous yearly fees. [This is their opinion. The fee is $52.00 per year.]

a site that does not encourage artists to list in categories where they do not belong just to increase revenue.

a site that reduces listing expenses by creating categories based on what an artist is and what he/she does for a living. We have not designed a website that forces entertainers to have multiple listings to indicate what types of venues and events they would like to work.

a site that is set up so that artists that travel nationwide can list themselves in such a way that they do not have to pay extra listing fees for every region they travel to.

a site that does not take a percentage of an artist's fee or a "cut" of anything that an artist sells.

a site that gives entertainers the respect and dignity of always being able to use their own names rather than submit to the humiliating practice of being known by a number (Jazz Band #3, Country and Western Band #11).

a site that allows direct contact with a lister.

a site that does not monitor who contacts a lister.

a site that does not intercept (and record) contacts and only then forward them to listers.

a site that allows professional artists and entertainers to be seen by producers, directors and talent buyers from every entertainment medium.

a site that equally supports those working in front of an audience and behind the scenes.

a site that supports entertainment educators, writers, artists, technicians, craftsmen and industry stores by bringing them all together in one place.

Richard and Judy encourage you to investigate this site and this offer. Patricia Fleming has printed “real book” directories before, and we have utilized that service from her in the past.

GOOD NEWS FOR AUGUST HOUSE

August House Book of Scary Stories

Headline News recently reported that one of America’s top on-line booksellers is now selling more downloadable “books” for Kindle and iPad than real books printed on paper. While I, Richard, consider this a tragedy (that’s a rant for another day), it means that more of my and Judy’s old August House books and audio [cassette] products are newly available as downloads. [Look at our Bibliography/Discography page on this website and then go to Amazon.com].

Our most recent “real book” project was a single great urban legend in the August House Book of Scary Stories (or AHBoSS as we fondly refer to it in the tiny office in our home.) The book…a real book printed on paper…recently received two prestigious awards.

ForeWord Magazine announced at The Book Expo in June that it was presenting a Silver Award to AHBoSS as part of its Book of the Year Awards. In addition, Storytelling World [magazine] announced that AHBoSS would receive a Storytelling World Award in the category: Storytelling Collections. We are very excited and proud of the recognition from these two organizations.

August house is now ordering the third printing for AHBoSS. The collection only contains one of our stories, which you already have if you own Scary Story Reader, but if you would like to read the very positive reviews that AHBoSS received from Kirkus, School Library Journal, Midwest Book Review and the Art of Storytelling Show, please visit AugustHouse.com.

And whisper, “Ah, Boss!” as you do.

THE HEAD ON THE HIGH ROAD

More News About Audio Projects

Originally released in 1993, Richard and Judy’s second August House audio cassette tape of ghost stories form the American Southwest, “The Head On The High Road” won a Parents’ Choice Award ®, the Youngs’ only audio project to win such a prestigious award. The award was presented in 1994 and the cassette had a long and profitable run. With the decline in popularity of cassette tapes, the “album” went out of print in 2008, after fifteen years of popularity.

Not available from the publisher since 2008, the Youngs are now the only outlet still selling “The Head on the High Road.” New, unopened copies are available at Amazon.com for as much as $35.00, but the Youngs still sell them at their original list price while supplies last. If you’d like to finish out your collection, or replace a tape that’s worn out from listening on night-time car trips and at preteen sleep-overs, you can still order “…High Road” for $12.00 plus $2.50 shipping and handling, by check or money order, to Judy Young, P.O. Box 1300, Kimberling City MO 65686-1300.

As said in Booklist, “Richard and Judy Young are remarkable narrators.” Order now before these ghostly audio tapes disappear forever.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Another Comedy Piece
The 2010 Washington Post Neologisms Contest
Readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words.

1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs (opposite of Coffer.)

2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.

3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.

6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which a lady absent-mindedly answers the door in her flimsy nightgown.

7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle (n.), olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence (n.) the specialized emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly-receding hairline.

Bonus: Frisbeetarianism (n.), [not a real word, but voted back by popular demand]: The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

CRITTERS COME TO CALL – PART TWO

A Bloggish Storytelling/Anecdote Memoir by Richard Alan Young

Possums: big rats with an attitude. They are native, and their habitat is threatened by invasive armadillos. Don’t like ‘em, but they’re neighbors. Armadillos are uninvited aliens. Lots of good folk-tales about Opossums, though. Here’s a hillbilly joke in Latin: Rufus: Potes nominare bestia vere inutila? Claudius: Posum! (Rufus: “Are you able to name a truly worthless animal?” Claudius: “I am able to!”) Read it again out-loud if you have to.

Rattlesnakes: I’ve killed two, a diamondback on Sugar Mountain south of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and a velvet-tail in Newton County near Hemmed-In Holler. That was over forty years ago, though. I’ve seen dozens of copperheads in the Ozarks, including one at Lost Valley that a Czech tourist friend of mine tried to photograph until I pointed out that its mama was probably nearby.

Foxes, Coyotes, Wolves: We’ve got beautiful red foxes in the woods near our home, but we see them less and less as bright lights and traffic sully the woodland beauty we moved here for. Coyotes are common; just two years ago we saw the most beautiful female coyote dead on Highway 76. She had rust upper and a white belly. She was stunning. Wish she could have lived. Tempted to take her skin, but we didn’t. When the Peruvian folkdancers were staying in Branson West, I identified the howls of coyotes in the woods and they were impressed. Wolves: there are wild wolves in Missouri, but the two near our home escaped from a roadside zoo attraction. (The attraction received bad national attention two years ago when a tiger mauled a teenaged worker.) No matter how much we liked the idea of wild wolves, we were relieved when the land owner (who rents to the zoo) organized a hunt and shot them before they could do any real damage.

When Judy and I go to big city grade schools, we take poster/photos of animals so the kids know what we’re telling stories about. Some of the children have only ever seen dogs, cats and roaches. So sad!

Tarantulas: these big spiders grow in the wild here in Southwest Missouri, and up until about ten years ago, they were a very special part of autumn. On foggy mornings in the fall, the huge fellows would walk slowly across the backwoods paved roadways, raising their long legs very high and looking elegant in a sinister sort of way. We, of course, and all the locals, slowed down and let them cross. Flatlanders swerved to squash them. Another reason to not like flatlanders very much.

The times, they are a-changin’.

FOR STORYTELLERS’ INFORMATION

This is an e-press release sent to storytellers nationwide, but some of our friends may have missed it. We e-republish it solely to be of assistance to our storytelling friends. Yawp.com/stories/ does not profit in any way from, and does not necessarily endorse, the below-referenced website.

StageandScreenMarketplace.com knows that it is very important for a storyteller to stay connected to their professional community by appearing on storytelling websites. But because storytellers can do so much more than tell stories, it is equally important for them to join the larger entertainment community on websites that promote performers from all branches of the entertainment industry.

Storytellers can recreate characters, make history come alive or provide cultural and ethnic entertainment that reminds us of where we (or our neighbors) came from. Storytellers can serve as motivational speakers and inspire all of us to be more than we can be. They can sing or dance for children and the elderly or work as MC's or promote products at trade shows and conventions. In short, they are not limited to the classroom, the festival or the library.

For this reason Patricia Fleming (who has edited print Entertainers Directories for years) is inviting all of you to visit her new website and look at the categories that are available to you at Stage and Screen Marketplace.com, where [she] believe[s] [she] can create a respectful and professional online community for those that make their living in the entertainment industry.

The biggest problem that [those] at Stage and Screen Marketplace see is a "fragmenting" of the entertainment community into individual websites that specialize in promoting only certain types of entertainment. The obvious drawback of this trend is that there is strength in numbers and when you begin to pull the puppeteers, the Country and Western Artists, the Storytellers and the Magicians away from the entertainment community as a whole, the larger community weakens and the smaller off-shoots get lost.

The purpose of Stage and Screen Marketplace is to bring together all of the artists, craftsmen, technicians and performers that make up the entertainment industry. It is our goal to make Stage and Screen Marketplace the "go to" site for entertainment professionals coast to coast.

This is not a "free" website, nor is it a website that promotes amateurs, part-timers, hobbyists or fans. [Its] listing fee is $52.00 per year. All talent listing on Stage and Screen Marketplace must have their own private website displaying a professional approach and dedication to their life's work.

Patricia Fleming

Cody Pajkos' Stage and Screen Marketplace

P.O. Box 459 Naperville, Illinois 60566-0459

1-630-369-6843

(Chicago Metro Area)

More on this website next month, provided only as a service to our storytelling friends. This is information only, and not an endorsement of the site.

TRIGGER MAY COME “HOME”!

On Wednesday and Thursday, July 14 and 15, 2010, Christie’s Auction House in Manhattan sold the contents of the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum. The museum had been in Victorville, California, and was moved to Branson, where it enjoyed great success for several years. As the economy turned downward, the difficult decision was made to close the theater and museum and sell off the contents, which were owned collectively by the Rogers Family Trust. The rules of the Trust governed the disposition of the collection. Included in the auction were the taxidermed skin of Trigger in a magnificent pose wearing one of Roy’s favorite saddles, which had been expected to bring up to a quarter of a million dollars, and the taxidermed skin of Roy’s crime-fighting dog Bullet, on which an estimate of bidding of several thousand dollars was given.

We are truly delighted to inform our web-readers and Roy Rogers fans everywhere that after sitting stuffed and mounted for more than 40 years in a museum, Roy Rogers' horse Trigger and dog Bullet will be TV stars once more. Rural cable network RFD-TV bought Bullet for $35,000 (ten times the estimate!) on July 15 and Trigger for $266,500 (more than the estimate and more than a quarter of a million dollars!) a day earlier at the auction in New York City.

RFD-TV owner Patrick Gottsch said the Omaha, Nebraska-based cable network will begin airing old Roy Rogers movies on Saturdays starting November 6, 2010. The movie cowboy's son, Roy Rogers Jr. (Roy and Arline Rogers’s natural son, Branson performer and friend of Richard Young, whom he knows as “Tiny”), will introduce each film, as Trigger and Bullet stand in the background. "The goal is to introduce Roy Rogers to a whole new generation of kids," Gottsch said.

While Gottsch also said, “…children will be able to come to RFD-TV's new headquarters in Omaha to visit the famous horse,” there are plans for Trigger and Bullet to go on a one-year, national tour to 48 states in the coming year, before being put in a more permanent location in Omaha!

What a treat it would be for Trigger to “come home,” however briefly, to Branson!