On The Inside Looking In

​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?
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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. 


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Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 01:54 pm (local)
insafemodeSorry, I'll try and up the percentage.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 10:22 am (local)
campana...and i don't even have a sticker.
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Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 01:48 pm (local)
insafemodeI'll trade you the sticker for the car.
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Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 10:25 am (local)
brags2bitchesWho knew how much Delaware rocked? Damn, kids. Damn.

Now you know.

Thanks.
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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.
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Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 01:55 pm (local)
insafemodeWelcome.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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Thu, Feb. 24th, 2005 03:42 pm (local)
scottwoodsYes.


lol
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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.
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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....
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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.
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Fri, Feb. 25th, 2005 08:57 pm (local)
anseliciousdare I ask?
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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. ;)