No One Else Can Spell Your Name, Either

​Last night's iWPS finals in Worcester was a blast. Me vs. mstegosaurus, vs. androidlustre vs. Bill Macmillan vs. Ryk Macintyre vs. Urban vs. Ruff Draft vs. Raphael vs. Su Millerz vs. The Silent One. Not a single person diluted the robot.

Bill took the title to represent Worcester, but I think most of the people there will agree that androidlustre really won. Out of all the performers, she's the only one who didn't choke at all. I got up ready to perform "Waiting for the Fall" and somehow started slamming "Bitter Jesus" which I don't even have memorized. I got through it, but it certainly wasn't a polished performance. Morris boggled "Poem for Ammon Taylor" so badly, that after about twenty seconds, he scrapped it in favor of the bunny piece, which he performed flawlessly. The Ryk seemed really nervous in all four rounds. A far cry from his usually brilliant performances. Bill gave a really poor performance of his Millenium Manifesto (not one of my favorite poems anyway), and his performance of The Silent Poem seemed rusty. Su went about thirty seconds over time in the two minute round with a piece that went 1:32 when we practiced it at her house. Corrina never faltered, never missed a line, and her poems were, as usual, awe-inspiringly beautiful, even when they're ugly.

I'm glad Bill will be representing Worcester. IMHO, he is the best poetry organizer New England has ever offered (with the possible exception of his wife, asthecrowflies). He's a good poet, a dedicated slammaster (though he'll be retiring soon...sniffle), and an extremely supportive audience member. I wish every scene had a Macmillan or two.

That said, I'm sad that Corrina won't be going. I really thought she should have won last night.

Su and I drove the dart home through the freezing rain and I was met at the door by Oz and a very drunk Delisile. During the course of our conversation she confessed her love for me and told me I "look like a (word I will not type)." @v@ Great googledy-moogledy. Other favorite quotes from Delisile last night (as told by Oz): as the Jeff Robinson Trio was setting up at the Lizard Lounge (a process which takes about a half hour) Delisile turned to the drummer and said "I don't know why you guys take so fucking long. Take your shit out of the boxes and just play." And, as Oz was telling us how the Milky Way is currently eating other galaxies, I asked if he was talking about the local slam venue The Milky Way (home to the Amazon Slam), and Delisile shouted "I can't spell my name!!!" Good times. Good times.
Current Mood:  amused
Current Music: Work, work, work. Gotta go to work, work, work.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 08:37 am (UTC)
radioactiveart: Hmmmm....Well, I'm sorry I missed it, flubbed poems and all.

On second thought, I'm not sure I am sorry. I've reached an absolute point of no return on this slam stuff, I think...
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 08:41 am (UTC)
akamuu: Re: Hmmmm....I think you would have enjoyed it. Even with the flubs. There was some good poetry. Raphael was a solid poet. Unfortunately, the judges didn't seem to enjoy his delivery. It's a shame. Kids these days are proving they're better writers than adults these days.

I think you would have had a good time, though. No slam drama. Just a fun competition.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 08:47 am (UTC)
radioactiveart: Re: Hmmmm....Raphael is a solid poet. And Corrinna is one of my favorites...has been for years. 

That said -- it's the mechanics of the whole thing that really get to me these days. I find slams in general to be just too fucking slow and not conducive to listening to the work.

I'm really getting old, I think.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 11:02 am (UTC)
akamuu: Re: Hmmmm....Maybe it's that slam is getting old, not you. I still like the fact that you only have one listen to judge a poem on its worth. It forces you to be somewhat accessible. That said, I agree that it does rob some poets whose writing warrants repeated exposure.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 12:10 pm (UTC)
radioactiveart: Re: Hmmmm....Maybe that's it...I find myself reluctant to be as linear as, say, a Jack McCarthy these days; that's not a jab at Jack, of course, more a statement of where I'm headed. 

Jack of course can be complex without losing linearity. I can too; it's just not what I want right now. And assuredly, it's not what I want to hear.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 02:51 pm (UTC)
campana: Re: Hmmmm...."...one listen to judge a poem" works in a large scene. in mesa, repeat judges get to hear repeat poems up to 25 times a year...and give it a higher score every week.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 08:51 am (UTC)
radioactiveart: Re: Hmmmm....And by the way -- I can't imagine Delisile drunk. At all.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 10:59 am (UTC)
akamuu: Re: Hmmmm....It's hysterical. Even when you've been awake for about twenty-four hours, and want to do nothing more than sleep, you feel obligated to stay up and listen to her rants.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 09:02 am (UTC)
thisisstarsorry i missed it. ryk and krysten were just not answering their phones. i didn't realize until just now thay they're both with a "y". that amuses me far more than it should.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 09:04 am (UTC)
bajatierra: heyI need your new number backchannel so I can start bothering you again.
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Mon, Jan. 5th, 2004 01:02 pm (UTC)
kattullusy'know, reading this entry made me realize how long it has been since you've posted one that's happy. I've know I've said it before but

Welcome back!