I’ve long been intrigued by the supposed liquefaction of the blood of St. Januarius in Naples. Part of the purpose of this article was to debunk the common notion of a clash between religion and science; since the “miracle” (as the Vatican is eager to stress) has nothing to do with Catholic doctrine, and the proposed explanations are not testable.

The article appeared in the July 2006 issue of Fate. But you can read it, since someone has posted the whole thing over here…

These seven songs were written in 1999. I was particularly interested in setting metered verse with changing meters, and in a rich two-part texture. Many of them were, inevitably, concerned with loss, given the recent death of my father, and my mother’s declining health (she died shortly afterward).

The seven songs are:

“Calico Pie” by Edward Lear: on the birds, fish, and mice, who “never came back to me.”

“True Love” by Walter Ralegh: a particularly intense lyric by that intense gentleman, closing with “true loue is a durable fyre in the mynde euer burnynge; neuer sycke, neuer ould, neuer dead, from itt selfe neuer turnyng.”

“Written in Disgust of Vulgar Superstition” by John Keats: a denunciation of religion, and a hope for its demise.

“Sonnet 28” by Giles Fletcher the Elder: a sweet song from one of the earliest English sonneteers, set here as a canon with shifting meters.

“Ed Kistner” by Ed Kistner: an undertaker’s ad from 1925, reminding potential customers that “Ed Kistner is a very kind-hearted man, to him you can always appeal. He goes and gets his corpses at very high speed, riding in his big automobile…”

“The Silly Bee” by Robert Devereux: a bitter Elizabethan fable of disappointment at court.

“To Electra” by Robert Herrick:  a brief address to the absent lover, “to kisse that aire, that lately kissed thee.”

In the early ’80s, Bill Irwin, Michael O’Connor and I sometimes worked together under the name “Murdoch.” I don’t remember where the name came from; I think Bill may have dreamed it. In 1981, Bill and I played a run at the Mickery theater in Amsterdam under that name. The photos were by Bob van Dantzig; the program is below.

“We All Will Do the Hukilau in Heaven” was a bit of lyrical theology, envisioning heaven as a vacation in Hawaii. It was part of a show by Doug and Barb Roesch, American Excess, examining televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. It appeared at NYC’s Middle Collegiate Church in 1986.

Barb Roesch did the choreography; the chorus was Jane Setteducato, Stephany Willman, Sean Kelly, Martin Gould, Laurelie Kilmartin, and Lissy Trachtenberg.

We also did this number later that year on Mike’s Talent Show, at the Public Theater. And I’ve also written a version with viola obbligato that I’ve sung from time to time.

Barb died in 2009; at Doug’s request, I sang it at her memorial service.

Walter and Danny talk things over in this one-pager from Carousel Comics (2004).

You should always sketch your motel room when you’re on the road.

The Regard of Flight was taped for the PBS series Great Performances in 1983. Here I am in a press photo with Bill Irwin, Michael O’Connor, and Eddie Gray.

Adrian was Doug and Mike’s acting teacher in “Doug and Mike’s Adult Entertainment.” I made him; Carol Brys made his costume. All of his students were also in his group therapy sessions, which led to some complications. He sometimes appeared as Mr. Corndog, a costumed mascot for a corndog stand, that being his only acting experience.

This song was suggested by a photo of a two-headed kitten that appeared in the Fortean Times. You can find it in The Doug Skinner Songbook and on the album That Regrettable Weekend. Here’s how it begins.