Operation Raven is here!

[mollyringle]

Thanks so much to everyone who volunteered to be a pinch-hitter, but as it turned out, every last one of the original volunteers came through! Everyone's so great. Come here; group hug.

So here it is for your downloading pleasure. Read along below, and marvel at how Poe brought out the cute and/or sexy in everyone's voices. Great job, all!

Happy Halloween...

- - -

Titles - lemonlye and Zach (age two and three quarters).

gavinworld: Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

Starr: While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

mikailborg: " 'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door;
Only this, and nothing more."

lalael: Ah, distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

Runswithlag: Eagerly I wished the morrow; vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow, sorrow for the lost Lenore,

ekatarina: For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore,
Nameless here forevermore.

shmuel: And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me--filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

krazycat: So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating,
" 'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door,

zonga: Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door.
This it is, and nothing more."

hess42: Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
"Sir," said I, "or madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

serai1: But the fact is, I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

katymulvey: That I scarce was sure I heard you." Here I opened wide the door;--
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Amanda, age 6: Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;

Ben, age 7: But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word,

astroman_rich: Lenore?, This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word,
"Lenore!" Merely this, and nothing more.

all_timeqb: Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping, something louder than before,

dirae: "Surely," said I, "surely, that is something at my window lattice.
Let me see, then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore.

kalquessa: Let my heart be still a moment, and this mystery explore.
" 'Tis the wind, and nothing more."

kirstenfleur: Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven, of the saintly days of yore.

snorklewacker: Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door.

new_iconoclast: Perched upon a bust of Pallas, just above my chamber door,
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

maidenjedi: Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,

bluesound: "Though thy crest be shorn and shaven thou," I said, "art sure no craven,
Ghastly, grim, and ancient raven, wandering from the nightly shore.

Minyaliel: Tell me what the lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore."
Quoth the raven, "Nevermore."

halfmute: Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning, little relevancy bore;

lemonlye: For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door,

radiofreecarbon: Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as "Nevermore."

The full text of "The Raven" is here.

Comments

[astroman-rich.livejournal.com]

WooHoo! Another excellent job by everyone!

[wandererrob.livejournal.com]

The... was... awesome! :D

Seriously, great work everybody! And of course Lemonlye for putting it together. I do however have to know 2 things:

1) what is the background music? I oved it and it was the perfect ambience!

2) what are the chances snorkelwhacker and bluesound will record the hwole hting someday? :) Everybody did great, but those 2 really struck me.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Go us!

By the way, I loved your reading of the word "Lenore"--both the two different ways you said it. So sincere and nuanced. :)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

1) It's actually ancient medieval church music composed by Hildegard von Bingen, performed by the Kronos Quartet. When done by string quartet it does pass pretty well as somber Victorian, doesn't it?

2) Heheh. They do have awesome voices. Maybe someone will hire them for audiobooks--they'd do great. I met bluesound in person when I visited the UK, and as you can imagine, I didn't mind at all when he wanted to tell long stories. :)

[peripety]

Wow, everyone was excellent! Loved the music, too. Thanks for putting it all together - I really enjoyed listening :)

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

That was ace! really well put together. Your son is adorable! :D snorklewacker has an amazing voice. It must be great to be him and just every day get to speak in that voice. Or maybe not. "I would like a coffee, please." "Gasp! Your dulcet tones overwhelm me!" "Yeah... cream, please." Also, bluesound has that great well-bred Edinburgh-region accent - but manages to avoid the nasal sound that sometimes comes with it. I also think that halfmute read pleasingly creepily.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Cool! Thanks on behalf of us all. :)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Z is still saying "The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe!" for no particular reason every so often. :)

Heheh...I think it would be fun to have a voice like that too. Maybe the lucky ones can enlighten us as to whether it's actually a burden.

As I told halfmute, I thought he and his cohort Minyaliel sounded like hot vampires from some movie. Not bad at all!

[wandererrob.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the accent just gave it that added something extra. Really a new dimension to add to a longtime favorite of mine.

[wandererrob.livejournal.com]

kirstenfleur has a nice subtle accent in there too that I enjoyed. :)

[bluesound.livejournal.com]

Thanks :) The whole thing? I've always had problems reading things aloud, mainly because my brain keeps inserting and re-arranging words. So if you don't know what I'm reading it sounds fine. I had about 20 shots at reading it right before I was able to read without extra thous creeping in.

[bluesound.livejournal.com]

It's a Fife accent. Oddly once a posh family from Fleet thought I was from Newcastle. It is one of the funniest things I have ever had said about me. They were the type of people who thought the UK ended outside the home counties.

Although some odd Glasweigan pub manager thought I was from England because I was at work and was talking without any slang words, as this used to often throw some people down south.

[bluesound.livejournal.com]

I pity anyone who has to tolerate me for a prolonged period of time!

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

Newcastle?!

You're a wee bit further north than I thought - my apologies! Evidently my ear isn't that well attuned to the nuances of the Scottish accents... The only place in Fife I've been to is St Andrews and they sound a bit different (though admittedly I think I only met about 3 people from St Andrews - the rest were all students!).

[snorklewacker.livejournal.com]

Wow! I love the finished product! The music is sublimely creepy--I'll be using that for next year's haunted house, for sure. :) I loved the creepy edge to halfmute's voice--I've always found quiet-and-whispery to be shiver-inducing--and I liked the bass buzz in radiofreecarbon's closing, too. Great performances from all! (By the way, the intro cracked me up!)

I'm completely flattered by the compliments, particularly in light of having knocked those lines out at 23.20 EDT on the night of the 28th! Guess there's something to be said for working under pressure. *grin* I'm also a bit embarrassed: I'm genuinely flattered by the compliments towards my voice, but...err...that's not my daily speaking voice. If you rang me on the phone, you'd hardly recognize me from that clip most days, unless I've had several cups of coffee. I just started reading the lines, and that was the voice that came out--perhaps I should use that at Starbucks next time, for fun! :) Meantime, this project made me go back and read 'The Raven' in its entirety...perhaps the whole thing is a good project for next year, just for fun. :)

Oh, and bluesound: not only does your accent ROCK, but that user icon is great! :)

[kirstenfleur.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

I was worried it would come out quite Strine- but evidently my reciting accent is different from my normal speaking accent.

[kirstenfleur.livejournal.com]

That was fantastic!
Well done for putting that together, Molly, and awesome background music. Gave it a nice creepy feel.
Also, cutest opening titles ever. :)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I can think of many worse people to tolerate. And they're not all car salesmen or politicians, either!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

The kiddo, hubby (radiofreecarbon), and I thank you. :) And there now, after all these accolades, aren't you glad you joined in?

Poe really does seem to bring out the cool dramatic voices in people. I wonder what Gorey's "Gashleycrumb Tinies" would do? Hmm...

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Thank you for joining in! I never guessed your accent was "Strine"--it seemed lightly British to me, was all. Pretty, either way!

Hee, yes, it's not every toddler who can say "Edgar Allan Poe." We're so proud. :D

[shmuel.livejournal.com]

Nice. Well done, everyone! And thanks for putting this together, Molly!

[gavinworld.livejournal.com]

Sounds great! It was fun participating.

[snorklewacker.livejournal.com]

Oo, Gorey! Sounds like next year's project is already in planning! ;)

Bravo!!

[peggycafecafe.livejournal.com]

Well done everyone! Much better than that really bad version I saw at OSU by the interpretive arts people. *shiver*

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Thanks for joining in! Glad you enjoyed it.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Thanks for joining in!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Someone suggested Gashlycrumb Tinies, and I admit it appealed greatly to me... :)

Re: Bravo!!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, we weren't wearing leotards, which always helps. (Or if we were, you didn't have to see them.)