December 15, 2006
...it Tolls for Thee...
I was staying with my sister in Atlanta earlier this week. She lives a stone's throw from Oglethorpe University, and it dawned on me that Oglethorpe has a carillon. A carillon is a set of bells hung in a tower that are struck by a carillonneur to produce music. They're generally at least two octaves, and vary widely in size and range. Certainly not Bach on the Passau Cathedral pipe organ, but pleasing nonetheless. Which fact got me to recollectizing that Stone Mountain has a massive carillon of some 732 bells. A magnificent thing. Loogit:
Hidden in the trees, sure, but trust me, it's a beautiful beast. Plays every day, too. It was commissioned by Coca-Cola for the 1964 World's Fair in New York, and when the fair ended the following year it was donated to Stone Mountain, whence it sit.
Hey: here's something else about Stone Mountain: when the Ku Klux Klan was reformed in 1915, it was atop Stone Mountain. A cross was burned, and Nathan Bedford Forrest's grandson emceed that particular roast. The owner of Stone Mountain gave the Klan a permanent easement, too, so they could conduct whateverthefuck kind of black masses they held in those days. Why, the Klan, including the Knights of Mary Phagan, even held fundraisers for that pretty carving you see. When the State bought the mountain they had to find a way to get rid of the easement, so they condemned their own property and let it escheat to themselves. No more Klan.
But back to carillons. There are carillons all over the country, and I was thinking how nice it would be to visit a few during my travels. Like the Bok Sanctuary carillon in Lake Wales, Florida.
Maybe I could do the Great North American Carillon and Strip Club Tour 2007, or something. Bribe the carillonneurs into playing the music I'd heard at the Naked Babe a Go-Go Club the night before, for instance. I wonder how Steve Miller's Fly Like an Eagle would sound on the Smith College carillon. Nice, I'm thinking. And having the carillonneur get a lap dance during his performance of I Gave my Love a Cherry could add a sweet Marquis de Sade angle. I'm always improvising the classy touch for my sojourns like that. What makes them so special.
Or, obversely, I could visit sites of famous Klan rallies instead. Sweep the metal detector for old manacles and such. I'm actually pretty flexible at this point.
Either way I should probably start at Stone Mountain, eh?
Stone Mountain seems to have everything you're looking for... 'cept maybe the strippers.
Posted by: Jean at December 15, 2006 10:08 PMI have heard the carillon bells of Princeton, New Jersey, and of Antwerp, Belgium...both magnificent.
Combining the beautiful music of the bells with lap-dances and weenie-roasts? Aw, hell, yes.
Posted by: Elisson at December 16, 2006 12:30 AMTry watching Birth of a Nation with the soundtrack to Blue Velvet. That might obtain the desired effect and save you much money.
Posted by: Jack Straw at December 16, 2006 12:30 AMI lived in Passau and, back then, you could hear a daily organ concert at the cathedral for 10 Pfennig which, back then, was about two and a half cents. Shows you how long ago I lived there -- way before the lap dancers showed up.
Posted by: Jim - PRS at December 16, 2006 4:02 AMPlaying the carillion is like boxing- you hit these levers with your fists. (actually, the heels of your fists) It's amazing to watch, because the best carillion players are serious atheletes, and even they're sweating after a while.
Maybe naked sweaty carillion strip-a-go-go? with monkeys. Might be hard to find a qualified stripper who can play the carillion well, but it's essential to the theme. Make it so, number one.
The Fugue in D minor, by the way, is haunting on a carillion. If you close your eyes you can feel Death sharpening his scythe for you.
Posted by: og at December 16, 2006 6:37 AMYou could probably lure the girls from Strokers in nearby Clarkston to do an out-call at the Stone Mountain Carillon. Just have to make sure you have some Bon Jovi sheet music and some crack and I think you'd have it.
You never call when you're in ATL. Bastard.
Posted by: rankin' rob at December 16, 2006 10:19 AMWhat about that timeless classic "Smack That" that all the kids are singing? That might inspire some dancers to be sure....
Posted by: holder at December 16, 2006 11:05 AMWell if you're going to start with the Klan's carillion in GA, then for balance you have to end with the Smith College carillion in Northampton, MA.
But you know what they say about Smithies. They probably won't do a lap dance for you but they might let you watch them - um - dance with each other.
Posted by: Libby at December 16, 2006 12:41 PMI've seen those at Stone Mountain and didn't really know what they were.
The Klan tries to march every year in Newport, TN. We had to organize a diversity festival to keep them away. Yeppers...it's Klan Kuntry. Cocke County...Come for the Klan Rally, but stay for the cock fighting.
I'm not sure if the Clermont Lounge girls would travel all the way to Stone Mountain for you. But they are your best bet since The Lamp Post closed down in Savannah. I really need to do a flashback piece about the one time I stumbled in there.
The Charleston Bessingers is one of my fav's though nothing really beats The Pink Pig. If I'm ever up Memphis way, I'll definitely check that place out.
Posted by: Rosie at December 17, 2006 4:26 AMThe Dutch gave us a carillon that stands right next to the Iwo Jima monument in DC. Prety neat.
Posted by: Jinxy at December 17, 2006 7:30 AMThere's a crazy guy that has a mobile carillon in Texas. You can find him at http://www.castinbronze.com/
For enough cash, you could probably get him to play at a strip club.
Posted by: John at December 18, 2006 11:14 AMSo how come you didn't let the Blown-Eyes know you were in Atlanta? I'm only about seven miles away from Oglethorpe.
Posted by: Denny at December 18, 2006 3:41 PM