Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006, 12:53 am  
Bah! Corchety Slam Review (Sans Crotch)Worcester's judges tonight sure loved them some misogony and stand up comedy. I'm shocked that their team came out as good as it did (and it is a good team), given how across the board terrible the judging was. We had judges who flirted during people's poems, judges who shot dirty looks at poets during the slam, and one judge who, at the end of the night, said loudly to her friend "I hate poetry, I don't even know why I'm here." Apparently, to try and fuck up what was a generally good slam, that probably would have been spectacular without her crap judging (and with pretty much the same end results for the team)). Kudos to sapienza for handing out low scores for the night.

Despite pulling for Sean, who got totally shafted in the first and second rounds, the biggest disappointment for me was seeing Nick Davis do the only absolutely brilliant poem of the night about pigeons and Beck, getting a fairly low score and not making the team, while he got a higher score with his ode to bad hygeine. The higher scoring poem was funny, and a great read of the room, but I really wanted the Beck/pigeon poem to get him on the team. The mostly female judges, however, would rather hear "I only cheat on girls who deserve it", "I'm an asshole" yadda yadda soul yadda essence yadda soul cliche cliche misogyny yadda yadda crapfest "poem". Ehhh, it's just a slam. I just hold higher expectations for Worcester. 

That said, morthsha & bad_gary totally rocked the room all night, and urbanitis did a gutsy new piece that I didn't particularly like, even before he dropped it, but it was a ballsy choice, and he's got so many poems that I wish I wrote, that I'm just glad to see him on the team. I still feel bad about knocking him out last year. I was also bummed that theryk & the artist formerly known as Giggelz (sp?). But neither of them read the room well. That, or they both showed some artistic integrity and did the poems they wanted to do.

Also good to see the Worcester regulars & hot_rod_poet. Been too long. Sorry I was in such a crabby mood.
Link
 Leave a comment | 14 comments
Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006 07:55 am (local)
therykI'm having a little trouble reading your sentence. Still bummed about last night. I thought I did well, but the judges didn't think so. I just don't get what I did wrong...
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006 09:43 pm (local)
akamuuTHe sentence should be I was also bummed that theryk & the artist formerly known as Giggelz didn't score higher.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006 09:16 am (local)
hot_rod_poet: it's like we went to two different shows...Were there other "misogynist" poems besides the last one? I put it in quotes because, though I think there are some misogynist (or a least very demeaning, woman-negative) lines, that's not the focus of the poem. I didn't register any other pieces that hit that way...maybe I missed them.

I agree--sapienza was a kick-ass, consistent judge, and I told her so afterwards, just so she didn't think my heckling was serious. And the pigeon poem was the most brilliant thing of the night. He only missed 4th by 0.1.

And a judge who hates poetry is a great judge. A judges who flirts during poems is annoying, but if the poets are boring her, they aren't connecting with her. Slam is supposed to connect with the audience. Maybe I'm too used to weekly bar slams where the judges are half-wasted or had to get cajoled into judging, and the scores don't really matter, but they didn't seem all that bad to me. I didn't necessarily agree with them, but they were consistent.

That slam, as most are, was won and lost in the first round. There was a 1.3 point separation between 4th and 5th after that round, and those top 4 were the four who made the team, though Nick's heroics nearly changed that. If people wanted to win, they should have known what to do after the first three poems--after morthsha & badgary got big scores for Funny-With-A-Point, it was obvious that it was going to be an entertainment night, not Deep Poetry night. theryk's second piece was my second-favorite piece of the night, but as soon as it was over, I said to Alex (paraphrase) That was a great poem. It's now going to get screwed by the judges, and unfortunately, I was right.

Seems like, this year more than others, all the big shows have favored funny, entertaining material over the more heartfelt or intricate stuff.

Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006 02:06 pm (local)
urbanitus: Re: it's like we went to two different shows...Seems like, this year more than others, all the big shows have favored funny, entertaining material over the more heartfelt or intricate stuff.

It would happen the year I was wanting to do all heartfelt and intricate...
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006 02:16 pm (local)
hot_rod_poet: Re: it's like we went to two different shows...well, you didn't have to bust out the Revolution in the Kitchen piece, so you didn't go ALL the way to the other end of the heartfelt-to-entertainment continuum.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Jun. 6th, 2006 12:42 am (local)
urbanitus: Re: it's like we went to two different shows...Hey! That's one of my most serious-minded pieces. It's an allegory referencing the rise of the Zulus against the British.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Jun. 6th, 2006 01:17 am (local)
hot_rod_poet: Re: it's like we went to two different shows...And pepto bismol is the geneva convention. Sure.

That guy playing guitar with the banjo pegs is friggin' cool. It has led me to an hour of YouTube and Myspace, starting with him, and then going off on random internet insomniac tangents.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006 10:19 pm (local)
akamuuBe proud of the fact that you have the range to do both. Most slammers don't.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Jun. 6th, 2006 12:39 am (local)
urbanitusI think I might be. When I first started slam, I figured if I couldn't be good, I could at least be loud. Then it was weird. Now, perhaps its: If I can't be good, I can at least be diverse.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006 10:17 pm (local)
akamuu: Nah, the show was the same, you just have bad...I mean different tasteYou didn't find the rest of the poem misogynistic? Hmmm. We appear to get different gists in poems. You find Hagan's "rip your tits off" line to be misogynistic, whereas I find it to be poorly conceptualized feminism. Overly violent. Unnecessarily shock/schlocky, but not misogynistic. Ehhh. 

Mainly, I've heard Bobby Gibbs for the last couple of years, and never heard anything that I didn't find either tired or distasteful or both. His "I used to be an asshole poem" just irritated me. His writing is very reminiscent of Christopher Johnson when Christopher Johnson used to suck. So, there's hope at least. Christopher is now one of the better slam writers in New England. As for his "I'm writing a poem about..." poem? Here's my standard response "Dear Poet writing about how you're going to write a poem. Please shut up and come back when you've succeeded in writing these poems. If they're half as good as you think they'll be, I can't wait to hear them."

I blame Taylor Mali and Billy Collins for the popularity of this phenomenon..

I agree with your "go funny if you wanted to win" sentiment. I knew which 3 poems Ryk wanted to do, and as much as I like the new poem, I was crossing my fingers whispering "Nietzsche", hoping he'd go funny. He didn't. He did the poem he wanted to do, and he didn't make the team. Oh, well. That saddens me, but it doesn't ruin my night.

I disagree with your "a judge who hates poetry is a good judge." Sorry, a judge who hates poety when they walk into a venue and is a good judge in theory, but they rarely have an epiphany leading them to learn to enjoy poetry. Usually they leave hating poetry even more. They don't have a good time, the poets don't have a good time being judged by them. Basically it encourages hack writers. Do you really think that's a good thing? It's a poetry slam. If you don't like/get poetry, go to a hip-hop club or an 80's karaoke night, or a movie. See Sean's Journal for the exact quote from the girl.

If the judge in question had started talking during the middle of Sean's poem, I would have agreed with your statement that he should have held her attention. She didn't. She began talking before he took the stage. She did the same thing for one of Ryk's poems. She was a poor choice as a judge. Granted, whoever picked the judges probably didn't know that when (s)he was choosing.

Here's another thing. There seems to be a movement in slam hosts to make judges "diverse" as possible. If you have a room that's 80% white men, is it really necessary to have three female judges? Simone does it to. If there's one black audience member at The Cantab, they're a judge. I get it, I just don't like it. I think judges should be representative of the audience. The Lizard Lounge doesn't pick the two white people in the audience to judge a slam, and they shouldn't.

That said, I much prefer the Berkley CA way of picking judges. Everyone who walks into the slam gets one half of one of those double sided carnival tickets, they fill a bowl with the other halves. Voila, judges who are actually chosen randomly. Charles Ellik should teach a seminar on how to run a poetry slam.

Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006 10:22 pm (local)
akamuu: Ugh. Typos.I really need to edit comments before I post them.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Jun. 5th, 2006 11:59 pm (local)
hot_rod_poet: Re: Nah, the show was the same, you just have bad...I mean different tasteYou didn't find the rest of the poem misogynistic?
Nope--I re-read it last night when I got home, after so many people had a bad reaction to it (and I've heard it a couple times before). It's about being afraid of getting hurt again, but still going back to somebody who you feel safe with and love, in spite of yourself. It's not empowering to women--he admits that his way of reacting is hard and cold, and that he doesn't want her to trust him, but not-postive is not necessarily demeaning. If anything he damns himself and apologizes to her, that one button-pushing line excepted.

Mainly, I've heard Bobby Gibbs for the last couple of years, and never heard anything that I didn't find either tired or distasteful or both.
Bobby's work is not overly original, but there is a place for what he has to say, and I respect the fact that he does really well without stage theatrics, just letting the words do their thing.

As for ars poetica--I dislike it too, but it seems to be an unavoidable thing in this slam game. I can't diss on it too bad, or I'd be a hypocrite (I've won too many slams with my silly Spit This piece, which is a poem about poetry that makes fun of poems about poetry).

You find Hagan's "rip your tits off" line to be misogynistic
Nope--I think that particular line is just gross and violent. I have no further public comment on this topic. 

Sorry, a judge who hates poety when they walk into a venue and is a good judge in theory, but they rarely have an epiphany leading them to learn to enjoy poetry.
I don't care if they learn to enjoy Poetry. I just want them to enjoy MY poetry more than the other people's. Would they rather eat a pound of moose shit or a pound of ferret shit? I agree--it does often encourage hackery, though (the judging, not the shit-eating)*. Most people who hate poetry watch too much television, and it takes sound bite reflections of crappy television to penetrate their softened brains. Occupational hazard. Unless you have all celebrity judges (which encourages cliqueyness), you roll the dice on shitty judges. I suppose you could quiz the judges better beforehand, too.

Wouldn't it be cool if the judges could get judged by the audience after the first two rounds? Two judges get fired between rounds. Loudest booing selects them. It'd probably encourage score creep, unfortunately.

Everyone who walks into the slam gets one half of one of those double sided carnival tickets, they fill a bowl with the other halves.
That'd never work. Simone would have to draw about sixty tickets before she found five people who had actually stayed in the venue to see the slam. Number 47? No? Number 18? No? Number 79? No? Shit, it's almost 12:30 and we haven't started yet...Number 3? 91? 21? 21! Yes! Only four more! Number 66? 13?
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Jun. 6th, 2006 12:11 am (local)
hot_rod_poet*I was going to do a footnoted reply, but that's really lame and it was a stupid point anyway.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Apr. 1st, 2008 10:11 am (local)
stefan11If you get those msgs --

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FRIEND!!

​Been an odd slam season for me. I'm generally not feeling the work around me, and I can't stand any of my old stuff. I dropped out of Cantab finals because I just don't like it there right now. Can't place why. The poetry is superior to the Lizard, Simone is an awesome slam master, I do well there, I love Judy and the regulars, and while the open mic does go on for about eighty hours too long, it's still pretty decent. I just don't enjoy going anymore. So I dropped out of Cantab in favor of Lizard. And last Sunday I made The Lizard team. And last Tuesday, I dropped off. On a personal level, I like everyone on The Lizard Team, but if I had to listen to their poetry for four months, people would have been killed. Also, they never write group pieces or go to rehearsals or any of those things that bond a team. I'm not slamming for finals stage or proving points, I slam when I enjoy the company I'm in. I wouldn't have enjoyed Lizard 05, though I suspect they'll do really well.

So...Worcester?

I called Sou last night for what uppage, and she mentioned a last chance slam. She also mentioned the people qualified for Worcester finals, and while they might not outscore Lizard, I'm more partial to their work.

So Worcester.

The Last Chance Slam rocked: java_poet, anselicious, urbanitis & a whole mess of other quality writers...and one not so quality writer. urbanitis floored me by doing four FOUR brand new poems during the slam. They were all amazing. He got totally robbed by that asshole carpetbagger who won. That would be me. I did four never slammed for a team before poems: "Drunken Conversations at Hampshire College", "Love Happens" (formerly Motion Sick), "Bitter Jesus Finds Religion" and "Sirens of the West Nile". "Sirens" is waaaay old, but this was the first time I've ever felt comfortable enough to slam it in an important slam & it held its own.

So, on to the real finals. The only negative of the entire night: the scores were way too high from the get go. Only two scores below a 29.0 the entire slam. The final round, only one poet got below a 29.7. The poetry was great, but not THAT great. Shira, who won the slam, fucken floored me. She is so good it should be illegal. In a night where the scores were more varied, I think she should have and would have won by about five points or so. Just wow. badgary completely rocked it in second place performing three poems I wish he'd perform more often, and he performied them flawlessly. tastelikemud was also hardcore impressive in all three rounds. I was not. Having burned my 3 best recent poems in The Last Chance Slam, I decided just to slam what I had memorized that didn't make me ill: no This Is, no cutting or slicing, no math, no bookshelves, no hacks, no Someone Said, no Son of Words, nothing comfortable. I made a very poor decision to open with "Fuck/Insomnia", and while a 29.0 is usually a great score, it was low enough to pretty much eliminate me from the competition. "Body Sulfur Potential" went over well enough for me to gain some ground (29.5), but since the last round's low score was 29.7, it didn't matter that "Final Draft For The Moment" got a perfect score. So did three other poems.

I really need to come out to Worcester more. Not to slam, but to be reminded of how good slam can be. I'm sure it isn't consistently this good, but to even do this once in a while...Lizard hasn't been this good...ever, there have been some wonderful slams back when Oz, Kwesi, Thema, J*Me, Bryonne & co slammed, but they were well performed slams, Worcester was all around wonderful. The Cantab has probably an equal level of quality, but it's drowned out by the it's too late starting time, and the thirty some odd person open mic. Hard to keep an audience for a slam when they've been subjected to nearly three hours of poetry, no matter how good the three hours are.

So the Worcester Team is Shira, badgary, tastelikemud, and Bobby. Don't watch out for them at nationals, WATCH them at nationals. You may learn something. I did.
Link
 Leave a comment | 5 comments
Mon, May. 23rd, 2005 04:45 am (local)
urbanitusby doing four FOUR brand new poems during the slam

Thanks, but it was actually only three new pieces.

The second one was written last year.. although I screwed it up badly enough that it nearly resembled a new piece.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, May. 23rd, 2005 06:54 am (local)
january_embersLOL... well, you pulled it off, 'cause I thought it was a rewrite rather than a screw up, and I've *heard* that piece before.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, May. 23rd, 2005 08:39 am (local)
hot_rod_poetshira is scary good. if an NPS ever occurs where the audience listens to the poetry, she could absolutely wreck an Indie Finals. even if the audience didn't listen to the poetry, she could STILL absolutely wreck an Indie Finals.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, May. 23rd, 2005 10:38 am (local)
theryk: well, i'm sadI hope I'm not part of what you don't like about Cantab...

I hear you on the open-mike length list, though I'm not sure what to do about it that
wouldn't require slow-change. maybe a solid cut-off time for signing up.

anyway, I enjoyed your performances last night, and I was thrilled to NOT be in that slam. Maybe if I had been, I'd've risen to that level of excellance, but from the outside it looked like the stress of it might spontaneously ignite some of the audience as well as the performers. Yikes.

i knew when my stumble through the Danny poem got a 28.whatever that score creep was only going to have a point, point-and-a-half range from base scores. The difference between 29.9s and 30s was finer than Xeno's comb tooth.

i agree with you on all the other salient points of the night.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, May. 23rd, 2005 05:10 pm (local)
rwgillI really need to come out to Worcester more. 

Well duh!

​The best week of features I've seen in Boston in five years should be enough to balance the worst fucken non-NPS slam I've ever been a part of.

Kevin Mahoney at The Cantab Lounge put on an absolutely brilliant piece of performance art involving audience interaction (and not in that "When I say poetry, you say slam" lameass way), cross-dressing, and even some damn fine poetry. Behind the stage was a poster for his new book "Serendipity is a Son of a Bitch". Every time he did a poem that didn't go over well with the audience, or something even more creepy than his usual fare, one of his friends would come up and change the price of the book. It started at 19.95, and near the end of his set, it was all the way down to 6.95, when he stripped out of his usual accountant suit, revealing a flowery sun dress. At this point, one of his friends took the stage, glowered at him, and marked the book down to sixty-nine cents. Brilliant. I had the unenviable position of sitting next to his mother. Why is this unenviable? Kevin has a poem that he performed during his feature about his mother approaching him wearing nothing but combat boots and offering him sex. I guess if you raised Kevin, that sort of thing doesn't surprise you, but it made me uneasy.

Sunday at The Lizard Lounge, delisile was a last-minute fill in for Mahogany Brown, who broke her ankle recently. delisile did an amazing story type feature, where she weaved her non-slam poems into a multi-voiced piece about a painter who falls in love with a dream. The story was narrated by special guest, Oz. A-fucken-mazing, especially given that it was a last minute project that they threw together in a week.

I'm tempted to write that all the really good people in Boston, are getting away from slam. But there's still your mom_star, your Eric Hagen, your Alice, but they're not doing as well as they should be. 

Last night, Afro Dysiac won the slam, and I dislike his Saul Williams derivative crap almost as much as I dislike Art's "I'm a better poet than God" shit. But that's what Lizard Lounge audiences want. Sure, I win there all the time, but only when I do "Hacks" or "Truth is a Revolution" or "Bad Sodomy". When I attempt to do actual poetry, it tanks.

This is not to say the Lizard Lounge should like my poetry. I've heard friends mention that they've "lost their faith in the Boston scene" because the lowly audiences of Boston don't like their high and mighty art. I think that's a load of shit. If an audience doesn't like your work, it's either because you suck or because you're going after the wrong audience. That's what's disappointing me, what I do is no longer relevant to slam audiences. So why should I waste their time performing new stuff that they won't enjoy, or worse, giving subpar performances of slam pieces that I no longer enjoy doing?

This is why I won't be trying to make The Cantab Team this year. I'll do three new poems in the semifinals, and likely be knocked out. Even if I don't get knocked out, I plan on hosting, not participating in, the finals.

As for the Lizard? I won't make it. Last night's audience reminded me that I've never won a slam at The Lizard that involved a black poet with political pieces. Never. And with Chris Johnson (who is amazing this year, he's come a long way from "I can slam, but why" and "I fuck chicks with my poetry"), Marlon Carey (who's still the same old Marlon), Afro Dysiac, Art, and Ross qualified already, I don't stand a chance. And frankly, I won't be on a team if I don't like the poetry of the other team members? What's the point? 

Also, no women have won a LL slam this year. Of course, neither Iyeoka nor delisile have slammed, but a couple of weeks ago, mom_star and diana4poetry got absolutely robbed by Hassan (you may know him, he only has three poems, and he's been doing them for at least eight years: "I, Carnivore", "Ciao, Ciao Baby" and the other one that's not as good as those two).

Blah.
Current Mood:  apathetic
Link
 Leave a comment | 17 comments
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 02:16 pm (local)
johnpowersADAM YOU ARE EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH SLAM!!!!

GAH BLARPGIFINUDITIDDLE! %()R#&*)

Just kidding.

"If an audience doesn't like your work, it's either because you suck or because you're going after the wrong audience."

I think this is a perfect way of putting it and I agree. I wish I were a witness to the great poetry you saw. I am jealous and unmotivated lately to search out good work. I'll get there.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 02:22 pm (local)
radioactiveartOr, you're ahead of them.

This happens pretty rarely.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 02:40 pm (local)
johnpowersTrue true. But doesn't being ahead of your audience mean they are the wrong audience for you at that moment in time? But then that brings the question of what if you're ahead of ALL of the audiences? Gah.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 02:47 pm (local)
radioactiveartGah, indeed.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 03:53 pm (local)
akamuuThe only time I can think of where a poet was truly ahead of a slam audience was when George McKibbens was in Boston. We gave him no love because his poetry seemed mean and judgmental. The sort of poetry most of us are writing now, and doing well with.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 02:43 pm (local)
stefan11"I guess if you raised Kevin, that sort of thing doesn't surprise you, but it made me uneasy."

Did you sense she was uncomfortable? ~curious

I would suggest -- try to make the team with the new stuff.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 03:48 pm (local)
akamuuShe was definitely uncomfortable. Lots of drinking. Though, maybe she's just a drunk. Who am I to judge?

As for going out for the team, it's entirely possible that I will make the team with new stuff. You never know what the judges are going to feel on a given night. But I have no desire to be the bitter, judgmental guy who goes to Nationals, and spends the entire time miserably picking apart the bad poetry that will inevitably make it to the finals. I did that last time, and I'm not proud of that. 

For me, I think it's better to take time off from slam. If I end up writing the sort of thing that I think will go over well, I'll come back to it. Or if I decide I miss the community. To go nationals, there shold be some sort of desire to spend time enjoying the show, otherwise you're just masturbating on a stage where the audience doesn't want to watch your stuff.

At iWPS, a poet who I sort of like, told me he wasn't having a good time because he didn't make the finals stage. When I asked, "Well, apart from that, are you having a good time?" He said "No. I come here to win. If I don't win, I don't have a good time." I have never and will never go, just because I want to win. I go to enjoy myself, and if I'm not enjoying the poetry, I should just stay home and communicate with my slam friends via Livejournal, and let someone else go to Albuquerque.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 03:55 pm (local)
stefan11I understand, I really see your point of view. Last year I did not try out for our team and I had a blast in SL.

I do not know I'll try for the team this year, maybe I will just travel for kicks, maybe I'll help with coaching.

I used yo be more idealistic about the slam. I think these days I am more realistic, and I have more fun. 'hope to see you in ABQ.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 02:44 pm (local)
sashashsure, but don't you think we have a responsibility as poets (NOT as entertainers, mind), at some level, to teach? to elevate people's expectations? one of the reasons i feel so bad leaving the boston scene is the old 'you can't change it by leaving it' philosophy.

i'll grant you that you can't just expect them to come with you, but c'mon. there IS work that is more challenging than other work. this is not to excuse the poet from her responsibility to clear communication. but you said it yourself: do "actual" poetry at the lizard, and it tanks. what is "actual" poetry supposed to be, then, if not more challenging in some way than the "fake" stuff we're all bitching about?

what i'm saying is this: if the poets are not willing to take on the task of pushing their home audiences' taste and openness forward, then what are we doing? to me, it's the same question of craft: to balance experimentation against accessibility. kwesi davis does it. mom_star does it. in a lot of ways, patricia smith does it. good lord, mstegosaurus does it. bernard dolan, postmaudlin, monkeypudding, buddy wakefield... the list goes on.

savvy?
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 02:50 pm (local)
radioactiveartTo teach? No.

My responsibility is to write and deliver the best work I can do. 

I like connecting with the audience, but communication isn't only through accessible channels; sometimes, presence and sheer repetition of a style or trope will create the accessibility.

If my audience isn't there, sometimes my job is to create it.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 03:03 pm (local)
sashash: rightthis is a better articulation of what i mean to say.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 03:29 pm (local)
myainselI think my responsibility as an artist is to be true to my art. My responsibility as a socially aware person is speak truth & to try to bring some of what I see to light in a way that may help people consider what I believe are important ideas about politics, culture, or philosophy. My responsibility as an entertainer is to try and entertain.

These are seperate roles that intertwine and often conflict with one another.

There are as many objectives for art as there are artists, and I find it counterproductive to generalize most of the time. There's room for everyone under the tent.

When I write, I try to be accessible because I hate obscurity for the sake of obscurity. However, what I write now is informed by many years of background in poetry and requires a level of familiarity and attention that's not what most slam is designed for--which is a first-time poetry audience. 

This is not to denegrate poets whose work adapts well to slam. Some musicians have a gift for crafting pop songs with substance & bringing the audience to them. Some only appeal to a few. My love of Stravinsky doesn't interfere with my love of Elvis Costello or Pamela Means. 

I don't care what box it's in as long as it's good and I hold pop-music & classical-music artists in equal regard for mastering their chosen forms.

For me personally, this means that what I'm writing right now is pretty dense and perhaps a little hard to grasp if you're not with me from the beginning and willing to go where I'm going--but hopefully it pays off in depth. 

I spend too much time writing these days to devote much time to memorization and blocking and I don't really feel bad about it because I want the audience to put the writing first, not the theatrical aspect. 

Not everyone will like what I do. Dream Corridor will bomb in a slam and get fours. These reactions are fine. It doesn't mean that I feel slighted or that I need to change my writing to win that audience back. There's nothing wrong with that audience or my writing, we just want different things.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 04:04 pm (local)
akamuuApart from two weeks in April of 2000, Kwesi's envelope pushing was laughed at or ignored by all of the poets in Boston. If he was lucky, he got 7s on nights when Tommy Mendez, Michael Brown, the Okoawos, Simone, and I were getting 9s. His making the 2000 team was a beautiful fluke brought on by the fact that Michael chose slam poets as judges: Sean Shea, Simone Beaubien, Kim Jordan, Seth Jarvis, Leah Gardener. If the judges had been random people, that team would have been Oz, Iyeoka, Corrina, and Tommy.

Corrina being the only real envelope pusher of the group.

As for the rest of the list, I agree that all those names are full of impressive writers who push the boundaries of slam. Do they all do it with poetry? Depends on your opinion. You could easily argue that Patricia Smith writes great monologues. If you've ever tried to read Buddy's material on page, it sucks. It's fucken brilliant performance art, but it's not poetry.

Even given that, do you know how many years Buddy tried to make the Seattle team, and failed? Not when he was young and not that talented, but when he was writing groundbreaking performance art like "Pretend", he couldn't even make the team. He had to compete as an indy for the NPS in his own state. And even though he got lots of love for doing "Pretend" on the finals stage, he didn't make it there as a competitor, he was part of the preshow.

The only poet I've seen who's pushed the performance and poetry envelopes and managed to stay successful is mstegosaurus. And I get the impression that he's as jaded as I am these days.

Another thought: Pushing the envelope and staying true to your style until the slam audience comes to you is fine and dandy when you're new to an area. But I've been on six slam teams, four of them here in Boston. If they're not going to acclimate to my style now, then they're probably not going to, ever.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 04:37 pm (local)
hot_rod_poet: Ramble warning...Thoughts from throughout the thread, in no good order:

The Boston crowds are pretty acclimated to your style, as much as any whoever-walks-in-the-door crowd can be. I don't think it's any stretch to say that you've been more successful at winning or placing well than anybody else in Boston this year. Even reading out of your notebook last month at Cantab, you were right there against some really good material from Dawn.

The slam crowd at Lizard often likes to be told how think. I've always said of my poetry that it's overly didactic and that you have to be pretty drunk to NOT get it. My success in some venues as a result of that unfortunately lulls me into complacency, and I don't push my craft as much as I should. You know I try to write on unique topics, but that doesn't mean I push unique form or style. I'm writing one piece for finals rounds that is really different. Didactic, but with a style/oratory gimmick I've never heard anybody use before. It'll either kill, or fall too far outside the accepted norm-of-the-night and get killed. I'm not too worried about reading it though- I'm fine with reading material that the crowd might not enjoy. I'm cocky like that. On the rare occasions that I slammed this winter, it was with shit I wrote that day, or during the open, or had half-memorized. I'm ok with losing, and I'll always have a good time doing it, as long as I'm with friends or getting drunk with strangers while doing it.

I don't know which team to try hard for. If you'd asked me six months ago (and why would you, i know- it's rhetorical), I would have told you Lizard, but I'm not seeing the people on the qualifier list that I had hoped to. Particularly, zero of the great female performers who either aren't there, or aren't winning there.

I'm pissed I missed another good show last night. I skipped Cantab on Wednesday because I didn't want to hear a bunch of shit from the mic about my boycott of the 8x8, but I missed Kevin's performance. I drove by Lizard last night at 9:00, but figured it would be quiet holiday crowd, and was tired after the ride home from Maine. If I knew it was Delisile and Oz, I wouldn't have hesistated.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Mon, Mar. 28th, 2005 04:38 pm (local)
akamuuCorrina being the only real envelope pusher of the group. is a lot harsher than what I meant to type. 

Oz is a very talented envelope pusher as well, he just knows when and how far to push it without offending the sensitivities of an audience. He's the perfect balance between good writing, and slam sensibilities.

While I don't think much of Iyeoka's actual writing, she certainly knows an audience, and how to push their buttons in her own way. I can't think of any other slammers who do quite what she does, though I certainly wouldn't call it envelope pushing.

And, Tommy? I wish I'd gotten to know him better as a person before he left for TX, but as a slammer, he was a pretty by-the-book formulaic writer when he was in Boston. He knew exactly what the Cantab audience wanted to hear, and he spoon fed it to them every week.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Mar. 31st, 2005 03:14 pm (local)
hot_rod_poetDid you see the qualifier list today from Lizard? Looks like there could be some serious weeding out (or, depending on the judges, some serious non-weeding out) in that first semi. And since most of the male poet "regulars" are in that first one, it may give not-yet-qualified female poets like Adina, Dawn, and Iyeoka a good chance of making the finals.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Mar. 31st, 2005 07:54 pm (local)
mstegosaurus: The Other One"I Am Intimate with My Brush", his love poem to his toothbrush. 

Incidentally, maybe you should coach this year. That's what I'll be doing, it looks like.

​I just got an e-mail from Blithe House Quarterly telling me that BHQ staffer Ken Hunt, [BHQ associate publisher, 2003-2004], performance artist,
poet, and activist died today from complications of brain damage. 

(from the e-mail): 
I spoke to his lovely sister Susan on the phone, and she told me there is an
autopsy being done to learn what happened to him on Saturday when he was found unconscious near the El train station. When I know more information, I'l forward it to you and you can pass it along to those who want to know.

Right now we're talking around of putting a public memorial event [in Chicago] next week to remember Ken, by inviting his friends and peers to read/perform or reminisce about Ken's work, and his life. As soon as a date and time is planned, I'll let you know. Anyone who wants to help organize this is welcome to talk to me, Scott Free (homolatte@scottfree.net), or Kurt Heinz (kurtericheintz@yahoo.com). I want this
memorial to be a group effort, and dont want anyone to feel
excluded or out of the loop. So pass along the info, and if
you have
a venue [in Chicago] you'd like to recommend, please do so by replying
to these emails (and attaching more contacts.) or by
forwarding it. {I hope his friends in Washington state, Texas and New
Mexico do something for him as well. I'll be participating in the
Chicago memorial.-- Aldo]

Right now I'm suggesting having the memorial at Big Star
Cafe, it's
the same space that Scott Free's Homolatte has been at,

(I am checking on the availability of Big Star - Scott)

, since it seems a focal point of Ken's life and a
lot of his friends locally know the space.
Big Star Cafe 1439 W Jarvis. Jarvis L stop - walk east
(southeast corner of Jarvis and Greenview) [in Chicago].

I could try to record the event and post it online so the
people who cant make it to the memorial in Chicago can
listen in and share.

Another idea I wanted to put out is instead of sending
flowers, to make donations to a charity that Ken Hunt would
have liked money going to. Anyone have any suggestions? It
would be nice if it were some sort of
poetry/journalism/hiv/gay/art organization.

(I'll make an announcement about this to the Homolatte
group when the decision has been made - Scott)

Anyone who wants to reminisce on Ken Hunt's work can do so
by visiting the wonderful page done by Kurt Heinz at http://voices.e-poets.net/HuntK
Current Mood:  depressed
Link
 Leave a comment | 10 comments
Tue, Mar. 22nd, 2005 07:23 pm (local)
ocvictorWait. Ken died. Is this for real?

Holy shit.

Is there anywhere I cna find more information, an obit or somesuch.

Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 22nd, 2005 07:26 pm (local)
akamuuIt's real. I'm looking for more info now, but I'm...not handling this well.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 22nd, 2005 07:30 pm (local)
ocvictorI know what you mean. I haven't even processed it yet.

Wow.

I've e-mailed Scott and Kurt.

Take care.




Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 22nd, 2005 09:08 pm (local)
akamuuYou, too, Victor. If I find out anything, I'll send it your way.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 22nd, 2005 10:07 pm (local)
ocvictorDitto.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 22nd, 2005 07:30 pm (local)
mom_staroh no.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 22nd, 2005 08:09 pm (local)
multimediagrl: Oh my GOD.How awful! What a sweetheart!
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 22nd, 2005 09:52 pm (local)
bajatierraHoly crap. 

Please get me more info when you have it. I definitely want to do something.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 22nd, 2005 10:17 pm (local)
insafemodeOf course. I'll post here, as soon as I get more info.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Wed, Mar. 23rd, 2005 01:53 pm (local)
sashashoh my god.

​I assumed the contract in Mesa was written by one of the slammasters. I still say that I understand why the contract was written, even if I don't agree with its extreme measures.

I also wish ragan luck in starting a new venue in the tri-city area. I hope he finds a community more supportive of his vision of slam than the current venues in Mesa can offer.
Current Mood:  why do I even care?
Link
 Leave a comment | 8 comments
Wed, Mar. 2nd, 2005 10:02 pm (local)
sashashhaving just read over the rules at ragan's journal, i gotta say i disagree. i think the list outlined by folks like phil, charles & bill all make a hell of a lot more sense. when you send the message that the community is a bunch of children by making the rules reflect that, the community won't respond positively. in fact, i'd be surprised if, protest or no, there's no team this year because of that list. enforcing a list of reasonable rules with serious consequences is a different tactic entirely.

i like bob & dave, both. i'm offended by the list.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Wed, Mar. 2nd, 2005 11:00 pm (local)
tabor36I've refrained from partaking in Ragan's LJ because I'm trying to settle this in person with the offended parties. I sent this to the AZ listserve:

I spent a lot of today thinking about what has transpired the in last day or so.

My original intention of letting Cat run the team this year was to for one alleviate some of the pressure of the team from Bob and myself. We do a lot as it is. It would be nice if Bob and I could stick to running are respective venues, and let someone else run the team. I back Cat and her "rules of engagement" for the team because Bob and I gave her that power.

That being stated I do have a duty as a representative of the poets in my community. I do not want to push away people or alienate them. There is obviously some backlash to the rules that Cat came up with. I would like to solve this problem and not start a bridge burning festival. There are too many people I love and respect within this community that I wish could get on the same page.

Please, as a favor to me, could we all meet at sometime and someplace and work this out. It is this kind of drama that keeps people away from slam. As a slammaster I have a duty to bring people in, not push them away.

-dave

p.s. hi Adams
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Mar. 3rd, 2005 03:41 am (local)
akamuuI apologize for assuming that you and/or Bob made this contract. I had a feeling my support of the contract would go over like a wet fart in white pants, but I felt someone should come out in support of you and Bob, and since you and Bob were part of the few people who actually supported me while I was down there, I decided to write this entry. I should have taken the fact that my LJ was in read-only mode when I originally wrote this as a sign not to post it at all. Oh well, what you gonna do?

I really do hope things work out there. And I'm quite sincere in wishing ragan luck in starting his own venue. It's hard work, especially given what seems to be the prevailing attitude toward organizers in AZ.

May the next Mesa Slam Drama be the need to enlarge The Anthology Cafe in order to fit all the people who want to support your slam.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Mar. 3rd, 2005 09:40 am (local)
tabor36Well we are doing O.K. right now. Essenza is back up to about 40 to 50 people a week and $50 for first place. Anthology has picked up and is averaging around 25 people. We have a few new slammers that are working hard to get better and better almost on week to week basis.

The ego department is still annoying. It is a good thing I had four of my wisdom teeth yanked last week. It gives me less teeth to gnash.

Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Mar. 3rd, 2005 12:01 am (local)
spacekadette: The most ironic post everWell it might be one thing if Bob had implemented these rules. He has been behind the Mesa scene for something like 12 years. But, these are the rules of a relative newcomber who's being supported because she was appointed to the this job and no one wants to second-guess that decision. 

But whatever. You're one to talk about supporting the community in Mesa.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Mar. 3rd, 2005 03:27 am (local)
akamuu: Re: The most ironic post everActually, I am one to talk. I was completely supportive of Mesa Slam while I was down there. More than anyone except Bob, Bill, and Patrick. I missed one slam during the five months I lived down there, and that was for the final Red Sox game of the season. You only showed up when I begged you to come out and slam, remember?

That said, I was wrong to assume that Bob and David wrote the contract.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Mar. 3rd, 2005 11:58 am (local)
spacekadette: Re: The most ironic post ever"Actually, I am one to talk. I was completely supportive of Mesa Slam while I was down there."

Going the slam (even if it's all the time), hosting slams, etc. isn't the same as supporting the slam community - anybody with free time can do that. It takes a level of interpersonal involvement and mutual respect.

I don't always have the free time to devote to attendance or participation, but what I do have is the later - the sense of community. Always. And this is why I'm welcomed back again and again - people know where my heart is, even if my face is not always there. 

This isn't really my fight, as I really wasn't around when you were here, and I don't want to base feelings on hearsay. But I just don't see how you can say you were so supportive of the Mesa slam community. If you were, why is it that you aren't welcome back?

​Highlights in slam this calendar year:

*iWPS: a well-run event full of more well-performed, well-written poetry than I've seen in a long time. Sure, there was still a whole heap of shit to wade through, but pound for pound (not like Ezra Pound at all, thank you) there was a higher percentage of quality work at iWPS than there is in your average Norton Anthology.

*Protest Cookie

*Workshopping with mom_star

*I'm not in AZ

*Interpretive dance with ahimsajain to the tune of java_poet's work during an open mic at the iWPS

*Who knew how much Delaware rocked? Damn, kids. Damn.

*The editor of The Boston Daily Metro is named Saul Williams. No shit. Sha-clack-clack. 

*Tonight's Cantab Slam filled with people like Richard Cambridge, mom_star, hot_rod_poet, and Kit (formerly Laura Yan). I won it (on a time penalty against mom_star...she was amazing tonight) using mostly not my traditional slam stuff (I've only ever slammed "Where is the Mango Princess?" against Morris before, and I don't think I've slammed "42" since I lived in Vermont).

Lowlights in Slam This Calendar Year

*I'm becoming too jaded and cynical to really enjoy myself. It's not that slam is sucking more, it's that my attitude toward it is.

*That my favorite venue (Lizard Lounge) only respects the poetry that I'm least proud of.

*That I perform the poetry I'm least proud of anyway, because it wins slams.

*That I even give a fuck about winning slams. I know it's a scam, it's one of the reasons I've always enjoyed it. It's hard to get angry about losing something when you realize it's just a brilliant bullshit format designed to foster interest in poetry. Still, I find myself getting frustrated watching slams, especially if I'm not in them. It's like I feel that all judges should share my opinion of everyone's work. God, what a boring world that would be (though the readings would be, you know, way better and stuff). I want my rampant score apathy back!

*Stage names are getting stupider and more pretentious by the year. Who thought you could get more pretentiously named than Poetri? Versiz? Da Real One? You know, I like the first two people I named, and have never met or had any interaction with the third, but those names...great googledy moogledy. Morris has a cool stage name, Big Poppa E is amusing, I won't begrudge names like Chunky or P-Nut Butta (though I will laugh when I see them together), but names that reference the fact that you're a writer or that you're some sort of "golden child" or "prophet" (*please note I am not making the profit pun*...fuck). Some days, the only thing that keeps me from tearing out all my hair is knowing that Tranzit Thawt had the self-respect to morph into Christopher Johnson. Next time I slam against a pretentious slam poet name, I'm going to slam under Poetaster Curmudgeon.

**Side Note**: It has come to my attention that certain poets in Mesa, AZ have offered a certain female from Boston $250 to put a Mesa Slam sticker on my car. What the fuck, guys? Since when do I have a car?
Link
 Leave a comment | 19 comments
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 06:29 am (local)
sapienzano longer all gay porn stories. Seriously, it's only like 93% gay sex stories, now. 
damn it, adam. damn it. 


Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 01:54 pm (local)
insafemodeSorry, I'll try and up the percentage.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 09:15 am (local)
ex_johnnylex316Da Real One... wasn't he the cheater from NPS this year? The one who went on to indies knowing that he only got in on a technical fluke? Oh, stage names can be so deceiving. "Future," for example, I hope will be anything but for Slam.

There have been some great poets with really unfortunate stage names.There's a fine poet in DC called "Anonymous." ("I loved your books, especially 'Primary Colors' and 'Beowulf.' Sorry about your drinking problem.") When I first heard of the poet "Exodus," I groaned (perhaps anticipating my own flight from the venue)... then he ended up being drop-dead amazing. But in general, it's the biblical-themed stage names that bug me the most... "13 of Nazareth," for example. You're a slam poet, not an apostle. 

My emcee poet's stage name is going to be "1/2 Def." Or maybe I should go the biblical route, like "Ekkklesiasteez."
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 09:31 am (local)
hot_rod_poetI know it's not all gay sex stories- I do read it from time to time, and you've written some great stories in there. I just happened to pick a particularly graphic day for my first read. For what it's worth, I don't really like hearing stories about any of my friends' sex lives. Unless I happen to be involved in them, of course.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 01:53 pm (local)
insafemodeI understand completely. If I have to read one more entry about how Roger Bonair Agard gets laid ever five minutes!!! Ummmm. You don't happen to know of any sites where Roger Bonair Agard mentions his sex life in intricate detail, do you? I'm betting he's written about a move or two that I haven't heard of.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 10:22 am (local)
campana...and i don't even have a sticker.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 01:48 pm (local)
insafemodeI'll trade you the sticker for the car.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 10:25 am (local)
brags2bitchesWho knew how much Delaware rocked? Damn, kids. Damn.

Now you know.

Thanks.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 10:54 am (local)
diva_dotI think those of us from Delaware were the only ones who knew. And as Beverly just said, now everyone else does. :)

Danke schoen, darling, danke schoen.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 01:55 pm (local)
insafemodeWelcome.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 11:27 am (local)
dokuritsuNext time I slam against a pretentious slam poet name, I'm going to slam under Poetaster Curmudgeon.

coffee out my nose, ears, and navel.

i've noticed a spike in the number of poems about poetry lately. i used to hear more about people's gender, ethnicity, or sexuality.. but it seems to me that now all i hear about is the transcending power of the word. 

do you think that the proliferation of poems about poetry is just an extension of the unavoidable identity poem, trading physical attributes for occupational? or is it maybe a general stagnace with approachable topics ("i used to write love poems, but then i met androidlustre") so people are more compelled to write about writing? why or why not?
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 01:11 pm (local)
myainselI think it comes and goes in waves, like numbered sections, overkill on epigraphs, rashes of the Form Flavor of the Day, skirt lengths or ponchos...most of which I'm patently guilty of at some point.

Except the ponchos. I hate those things.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 01:59 pm (local)
insafemodeI think it's a cheap, easy way to get an audience full of poets to identify with you. I've certainly been guilty of writing self-referential poems, myself. I think it's just one of the stages writers go through, especially when they get into slam. It's an entirely forgivable stage that has resulted in some incredible poems. It just seems to me that a number of potentially talented writers are stuck in this "writing and performing poems about writing and performing poetry" stage for years, and that's a damn shame. There's a particular poet at The Lizard Lounge who only writes self-referential poetry poems, and he does well. Some people love poetry about poems. Of course, some people like haiku. There's no accounting for taste. ;)

I like haiku.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 03:42 pm (local)
scottwoodsYes.


lol
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 05:09 pm (local)
mstegosaurus"*Who knew how much Delaware rocked?"

*Raises hand*

Seriously, you gotta go do a gig down there-- that was maybe like androidlustre's and my most fun show last year.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 11:23 pm (local)
mom_starYou were great, but I promise to kick your ass in the next slam. :)

Seriously, though, the next time we workshop, it should be more you than me. You gave me some wonderful direction, and I feel indebted to you. However, I fear that concentrating on what you want to concentrate on will probably mean you'll continue to beat me....
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 11:53 pm (local)
insafemodeI want to concentrate on controlling the Lord of the Peepee Dance next time. There are very few slam poets who have a really good sense of choreography (I'm thinking Kwesi David, Chris August, Buddy Wakefield, and Gayle Danley), I think we should see if we can figure out a way to avoid happy feet or the dreaded tummy-rubbing or word-hookage.

I was going to make a post in your journal regarding the Ansel debate, but LJ won't let me post (maintenaince), and I'm taking that as a sign.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 25th, 2005 08:57 pm (local)
anseliciousdare I ask?
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Wed, Mar. 23rd, 2005 04:11 am (local)
dj_muse: BUSTED!I wondered what the hell you guys were doing over there that night at IWPS. It looked like bad kung fu fighting or something. 

Of course, I was over at the coffee bar, so what do I know. ;)

​I'm perhaps getting too jaded to enjoy slam as a participant. Luckily, I got to enjoy some spectator time and socializing time to make it worthwhile.

Tonight I filed my first ever poetry protest. Nothing malicious. No one did anything evil. A simple mistake was made that altered my rotation, my poem selection, etc. I would have felt much better if it had been some shithead that I had a grudge with, or was amazingly stupid. Unfortunately, it was someone really cool whose work, friendship, and general demeanor, I worship. Filing a protest sucked. Sucking more, knowing that there was nothing that could be done. I was all set to sit in my seat and fume as the next poet got up, but that next poet was named Bluz, and his poem was THE highlight of our bout. Well written, well-performed. It made me smile in ways sappy slam poetry never makes me smile. So kudos to Bluz, congrats on being #1 at the end of day one of competition.

I worked myself up so much over round one that I completely changed my delivery for Deconstructing Freedom, improving it vastly, but pushing it just over the time limit. The time penalty moved me down another space in the rankings. Unhappy Adam is now somewhere in, I think, the top half by not very much. Otherwise it's the bottom half by not very much. Either way, hovering around the middle.

My bout went a little heavy on the Victim Poetry. Either the writer or their close friend or relative is the victim of some osrt of social stigma. Even I fell into it by doing "Deconstructing Freedom." Luckily, some of the Victim Poetry in my bout was very well written. The ONLY poet who performed two non-Victim poems was Burlington VT's Geof Hewitt, who, naturally, came in last for doing non-Victim poetry. That was a pity.

After the bout I was in, was The Killer Bout: Roger Bonair-Agard, lowhumcrush, emceereeree, aurorabell, rialisticprose, randomcelestial, Chris August, Christobell, Michael Guinn, and Dan Vaughn. I'm tempted to make all sorts of "she was robbed in this round" and, "how the hell did he outscore her" comments EXCEPT that the scores were extremely tight: all poets were within a point until the last two poets. It was really luck. No one got robbed. No one coasted. The bout just was what it was: a slobberknocker.

On the Awesome Side, the winner of the bout? Chris fucken August. Congrats, Chris, you earned it. The other poets were on the top of their games performing, for the most part, excellent work.

After the slam was a Sex Sells Reading (kinda like an erotic slam ends up, not like an erotic slam is supposed to be) that featured, among other things "a hiccuping nut", various things that shouldn't be done with food, The Shane, and asthecrowflies's amazing performance of both "Girlfriend", AND Brenda Moosey's "Anaconda."

And Zork ordered a ton of pizza for everybody, which made my stomach happy, as I'd previously only eaten candy hearts since I arrived in Worcester. They don't provide the nourishment that human hearts do.

I know I promised gossip, but there isn't a lot that's fit for public consumption. No one's inappropriately hooking up in front of me. I have not seen any nudity at all. Shit, if it wasn't for birthday festivities, no one would have been entertainingly drunk/hungover yet. So far the biggest drama is the "Impeach the Asshat" t-shirt drive; I am Swiss on the subject.

The venues rock the casbah. Big ups to javabill, mom_star, newpoetik & crew. I haven't had this much fun watching poetry since The Venice Beach vs. 2 other teams bout in Chicago in 99. I love the ability to do a headstand in one venue, fall over and land in another. No one even had to worry about the snow until the end of the night.

I'm entirely too tired to be writing this update. Best of luck to almost everyone in tomorrow's bouts. Those not being wished luck, don't take it personally. It's not that I don't like you, I just don't want you to finish higher than me.

The Tattler would be so ashamed of me. Hopefully I'll summon the effort to make shit up tomorrow.
Current Mood:  exhausted
Link
 Leave a comment | 11 comments
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 04:41 am (local)
radioactiveartThere may be some "Impeach Asshat" stuff you may not be aware of.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 04:46 am (local)
akamuuWell, if it's the personal stuff, I'm aware enough to know that I don't like it, but I don't think it's relevant to the word "impeach." If it's PSI stuff, you're probably right, I'm probably ignorant. But it seems there could be something more constructive to do than make obscure t-shirts about it.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 04:50 am (local)
radioactiveartIt's the second, and it made me feel great to wear it.

Petty as fuck, and I don't care. It's aimed at one person, and it seems to have done its job.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 04:54 am (local)
akamuuOk, as long as it serves its function.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 08:01 am (local)
twosnoos: WTF?If these t-shirts have a meaning outside of LJ and the personal then what is it?
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 09:05 am (local)
radioactiveart: Re: WTF?sorry, folks...

an indiscretion on my part to have referenced it. in retrospect, the t-shirt is more a personal message on my part to the party in question about something i know that no one else need know, or that anyone can do anything about now.

and that's all you're gonna get.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 09:41 am (local)
radioactiveart: Re: WTF?And now, in retrospect yet again, I'm thinking that in general, this post was crass rancor on my part.

I've got no way to definitively prove or disprove anything to anyone's satisfaction but my own; even if I did, the info is too outdated, now, to matter.

I don't regret the t-shirt as it reflects a personal opinion; I do regret bringing up that opinion here without substantiation for the rest of you to examine. That would, of course, render me...Republican, at best.

So you can take this as a apology; and I will make personal amends with that party on Saturday, if I see him; later, if I do not.




Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 05:21 pm (local)
diana4poetryDoll, I always love your recaps... I wish I was there.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 1st, 2005 08:34 am (local)
insafemodeThanks. Will we be seeing you at The Lizard anytime soon?
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Wed, Feb. 16th, 2005 10:14 am (local)
brags2bitchesAdam,

I friended you on my LJ. Please return the favor.
Looking forward to staying in touch.


Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Unscreen - Freeze - Track This - Unscreen to reply
Select: 
Sun, Feb. 20th, 2005 11:22 am (local)
penny_playerAdam, I am setting you up for June, I have a date and details to be a feature at the Storytellers event I do and you can have as much time as you want. IT would be for the tenth of that month. Let me know if that is good
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Mar. 1st, 2005 08:33 am (local)
insafemodeJune tenth or so would be great, just let me know what date you end up picking.

Thanks.

​National Poetry Slam Events have always felt false to me. Three hundred people shaking hands and telling each other how wonderful they are. This is MY shortcoming, not the event's. I just don't believe there are that many nice, friendly people in the world writing slam poetry. On the other hand, I CAN and DO believe that sixty individuals who have no support group save each other (no teams, no entourages, no coaches) can be honest when they have a little love fest. Tonight was a love fest.

I arrived a bit early to the iWPS on account of how angry I was becoming at a certain institution, and how sitting in my house was not helping things. So by 6:30 I was in the back office of the Bijou Theatre in Worcester, filling poet bags with special gifts (no, not the smelly kind you find in diapers). I was playing catch up with asthecrowflies, javabill, newpoetik, and rwgill as I packed the bags. When I was done, I noticed a lot of really cool poets I hadn't seen in ages had begun to trickle in poetryslam, buddywakefield, lowhumcrush, hairy_lamb and a whole mess of people without LJs.

After unsuccessfully trying to hook up my wireless modem in the hotel (hotel is having some issues, not my computer, for a change), Jose de Gouveia, java_poet, randomcelestial & I headed back to The Bijou to catch the end of The Last Chance Slam.

Congrats to hairy_lamb for winning the final(?) spot. Runner-ups for the next available slots include Kit (formerly Laura Yan of the girlsnqueers, which confused the fuck out of me when we "met"), Mekai (probably spelled wrong...sorry), and anselicious. I'd like to say how wonderful a slam it was, but I was so overwhelmed by the volume of cool people I've been missing, that I didn't give it the attention it deserved.

A little bit apres-slam, the birthday girl, aurorabell showed up, and mom_star, imsonshyne, asthecrowflies, lowhumcrush, Zork, and a cute gay boy whose boyfriend was downstairs (sigh), holed up in a hotel room eating cake and drinking until we were kicked out of our room. Is that a new slam event record? All we were doing were singing happy birthday, discussing vaginal birth stories, dry thumbs, and smoking out the windows of the non-smoking room. Seriously, it was under an hour. They didn't kick us out of the hotel, though, they just moved us downstairs.

During the move, asthecrowflies & I bunny hopped home to chez Macmillan, where we chatted with javabill into the dangerously close to the slam time limit hours of the morning.

I also had the pleasure of seeing rialisticprose, thesilentone, badgary, january_embers, Just Cause, Jesse from Worcester sometimes Burlington, Corbet Dean, ted_badger, and buddy_wakefield, who asked me if the bar he'd wandered into was a gay bar. Not being from Worcester, myself, I was unable to confirm or deny that the bar down the street from the Bijou is full of attractive gay men. ("well, I'm delirious, so maybe they weren't attractive"-- Buddy Wakefield)

Another highlight: hot_rod_poet suggesting a new series of Poet Bingo Cards. I promise the next entry will have less LJ User tags, and more exciting info, like scores, gossip, and internal drama.

akamuu Worcester Review Reference Free since 2001.
Current Mood:  content
Current Music: Bisquit purring
Link
 Leave a comment | 14 comments
Thu, Feb. 10th, 2005 08:56 am (local)
theryk: hey!you didn't even mention me, bitch.
Of course I wasn't there (will be tonight though...)
still, aren't I always in your heart?????
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 10th, 2005 09:13 am (local)
akamuu: Re: hey!Always. At least, ever since you wrote that love sonnet chain about me.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 10th, 2005 10:05 am (local)
theryk: Re: hey!oh yeah....that love sonnet chain...uh, I got it right here...no wait...i must've left it in my other pants....

i'll get right on that, chief...

see you tonight?
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 10th, 2005 09:50 am (local)
radioactiveartAnd I gather I wasn't there either...
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 04:04 am (local)
akamuuSorry, Tony. I'd swear that I wrote you in, along with The Delaware crowd. Forgive me. It was lack of sleep, not lack of your importance.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 10th, 2005 11:09 am (local)
asthecrowflies: for your records, DearMekai (probably spelled wrong...sorry)

i have it!
i saw her name in print! it's Mecca.

xoxoxoxoxox
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 04:04 am (local)
akamuu: Re: for your records, DearWooha!
Thank you.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 10th, 2005 12:25 pm (local)
johnpowersMay I repost your post?
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 04:02 am (local)
akamuuAbsolutely.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 10th, 2005 02:32 pm (local)
hot_rod_poetwow. ya'll take this name-dropping thing seriously...
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 10th, 2005 04:10 pm (local)
sapienzaserious as death.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Thu, Feb. 10th, 2005 04:11 pm (local)
sapienzawow! it's like i was there! 

thanks, adam. the lj version made me smile.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 04:07 am (local)
akamuuGlad I could make you smile.

Wish you were here.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Fri, Feb. 11th, 2005 07:49 am (local)
sapienzame, too. i haven't seen you in far too long. 

GOOD LUCK!!! i have a good feeling about all this.
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Wed, Feb. 16th, 2005 04:59 pm (local)
icarusboySo I'm all late and wrong responding, but it took a hot minute to find your LJ.
There was possibly-going-to-a-potential-gay-bar-with-maybe-they-were-and-maybe-they-weren't-attractive-gay-men without me? Ouch.

​On Sunday night, the worst assortment of non-biased judges I've ever seen selected the iWPS representative for The Lizard Lounge. That being me. *waves*

Now I live fairly close to Worcester. So close that I even get down there every now and again, and get to hang out with ultra cool people like The Macmillan humans and cats. I've even got a show coming up in January at the museum that penny_player runs. *waves again*

Theoretically, hopping the T back and forth to Boston during the iWPS would be no big deal. It's affordable, and heated, and can be entertaining with the right mix of drunken commuters. But I'd rather not do it. Is there anyone in Worcester with couch or floorspace still available? I can cook, do dishes, and I even bring my own pillow with me. While drinking and doing drugs isn't a normal part of my repertoire, I do indulge sometimes, and promise not to tell you or any of your friends about any health risks involved. If you don't care, it's not my business.

I'm a 27 year old gay white writer, who only brings flings back to his own apartment, unless the host(ess) has asked to be entertained by awkward gay courting, a phrase which I shall never again use in my life. I write poetry. Sometimes what I perform is not poetry, but didactic lecturing geared to help me win slams with horrid judges (see first sentence). I will not spend my time in your house practicing poems in front of a mirror or cursing at my stopwatch. I will also not tell you how you should write/perform/live your life.

While I may want to stay the day after the festival to see the Java Hut slam, I do have my own place in Boston that I pay for, so I won't end up as a fixture on your floor for the entire month of February unless you're really lonely and don't mind my obsession with Cherry Coke and Livejournal.

And if you can read this, I like you and probably your poetry (there are a couple of you I haven't heard read in years...or ever...stare stare stare), and would love to spend a few days in February at your house gossiping about all of the good/bad poetry we encounter. 

Non-cannibals a plus.
Custom Friends Groups: Worcester iWPShit
Link
 Leave a comment | 9 comments
Tue, Dec. 7th, 2004 09:57 am (local)
radioactiveartIf it's any help, if this doesn't work, I'm likely to be getting a hotel room. Free floor space is available there.

Find other alternatives first though -- this may change.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Dec. 7th, 2004 10:05 am (local)
asthecrowfliesdid you say you'd do dishes?? you can SO totally stay here!
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Dec. 7th, 2004 10:05 am (local)
asthecrowflies: ps -& congratulations =)
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Dec. 7th, 2004 10:17 am (local)
akamuu: Re: ps -Thank you. I wish I could say I did it with art, but honestly, I did my least favorite piece in order to ensure that my least favorite poet didn't win the slam. The poets who actually did poetry (J*Me, Tranzit Thawt [yes, Tranzit did one of my favorite poems by him in the first round...then sold out in round 2, just like J*Me & I]) got absolutely robbed.

Two poets should be proud of their performances: Joyce & a newer guy named Ross. Both of them were totally robbed.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Dec. 7th, 2004 12:20 pm (local)
asthecrowflies: Re: ps -i totally have to make it out there to catch tbe show. my hours calm down considerably in the middle of January - we'll make a date in a few weeks & i'll meet you out there?


Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Dec. 7th, 2004 10:14 am (local)
akamuuI love to do dishes. I even talk dirty to them as I towel them off.
Link
Parent - Thread - Edit - Delete - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Dec. 7th, 2004 12:20 pm (local)
asthecrowflies!!HOTT!!

you're on!
Link
Parent - Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Tue, Dec. 7th, 2004 02:52 pm (local)
java_poetMight be able to stay here. dish doing sounds awesome.
Link
Thread - Delete - Spam - Screen - Freeze - Track This - Reply
Select: 
Wed, Dec. 15th, 2004 10:03 am (local)
akamuuShould things not work out with The Macmillans (someone, I won't say who, is spreading a rumor that once Sou found out I was willing to do dishes, she started planning a catered after party every night, replete with hundreds of dishes), I'll be in touch.