I offer you two true stories weaved into one narrative about symbols. With symbols, messages are constantly distorted and clarified, lost and created.
The specific symbol addressed in this narrative is the US 20 Dollar Bill. Before meeting the two men, who are combined into one character in my audio story, I had always looked at the 20 and paid attention only to the number. Sure I found the number to mean more than “20”: what is 20 dollars to a ten year old, to a twenty year old; what is twenty dollars in Columbus, in New York City; what is twenty dollars in 1989, in 2009? And of course I have heard the complaints concerning the presence of “God” on money. But if I am a hypocrite to speak out against American Capitalism and still gladly use its currency, then I suppose I can be a hypocrite with my lack of religious faith and still inadvertently push its message. The detail that these men find controversial is the portrait of Andrew Jackson on the 20.
Both of the actual accounts took place in local coffee houses. And, to be honest, they are stories that I have retold in local coffees houses. In order to recreate this atmosphere, I use my own voice, speaking in a natural manner, with the sounds of a coffee house in the background.
Citation Report:
Acclivity. “Neigh3.fac.” 12 June 2006. Online audio clip. Freesound.org. Accessed 5 October 2009. <http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=19813>
Jim Reeves. “Paper Moon.” Moonlight and Roses. RCA Records, 1964. Vinyl.
Osivo. “Stirring-teapot.wav.” 3 December 2006. Online audio clip. Freesound.org. Accessed 12 October 2009. <http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=26478>
Paul McNelis. “Ripping-paper-5.wav.” 16 August 2009. Online audio clip. Freesound.org. Accessed 6 October 2009. <http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=77574>
Prosounder. “Galloping Horse.wav.” 25 March, 2007. Online audio clip. Freesound.org. Accessed 5 October 2009. <http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=32679>
Ravelite. “R09-0001 praça dos leões.wav.” 31 July 2009. Online audio clip. Freesound.org. Accessed 17 October 2009. <http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=76753>
