d/y ethereal radio broadcast #16: brut

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I was in France or Switzerland, in a store looking out on a
cobblestone street of a quaint village. I'd received a toy xylophone
in the mail that had been sent by David Bowie, saying to come visit
him at his recording studio. But it was a form letter with my name
stamped on it. Apparently he had sent many people the same xylophone
with the same request, saying that he was working on a new record,
and anybody with some ideas should come and visit him. I thought,
"Yeah, he'll take everybody's ideas, and then we'll never hear from
him again." The more I pondered this, the less benevolent the gift
became, and I looked closer and realized it had been sent to me by
mistake. The package was actually addressed to some wealthy people,
because an elaborate note was attached signed by his assistant, Coco.

Then I realized the shop I was in was actually a drug store. I
started to explore my surroundings, and sat down with someone in the
back. It was David Byrne. I was nervous, as I didn't know what to
say to such a big star. So I picked up a perfume bottle next to me
that was shaped like the head of King Tut. I showed it to him and I
said, "Isn't this neat?" That seemed to break the ice. That seemed
to break the ice, and we then proceeded to drink the perfume from
large tumblers full of crushed ice. We were getting along very well,
and I noticed that the back of the store was actually my
grandmother's house, and I realized that I was back in West Virginia.

"Do you want to go take a walk around the town, " I asked him.
"There's lots of authentic, old-fashioned country stuff we can look
at." He said OK, and we went out of the house, and outside was an
endless maze of country store full of dry goods and the like, all
stored in turn-of-the-century containers. I lost David Byrne in my
fascination for the surroundings, and I never did think of any ideas
for that other David. I decided right then and there that I was
better off alone, and would never speak to anyone named "David" again.

- Ann Magnuson (1988)

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