Awhile back, I wrote about local poetry icon Rick Lupert's current book WE PUT THINGS IN OUR MOUTHS. It was a mixed review--but if you want to balance it with a somewhat-rave opinion, here's icon/poetry trainspotter G. Murray Thomas weighing in:
http://poetix.net/reviews.htm
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Re Toronto's upcoming G20 summit
Later this month, world leaders will gather in Toronto, Ontario for the G20 summit.
Here's an example of a protesters-come-together link:
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
And here's the Official reaction:http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/784285--g20-summit-security-to-be-massive
And there's a lot of disgruntlement over an artificial lake constructed for the occasion:
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5480816070832499989
[later, Canadian officials claimed the lake had only a five-figure cost]
No doubt, the US media's G8/G20 coverage will focus mainly on authorities vs. protesters. But the apparent $1 billion (in Canadian dollars) cost of the occasion--plus the ratio of actual accomplishments to rhetoric of the nations meeting there--make this an event for everyone to pay attention to.
Here's an example of a protesters-come-together link:
http://g20.torontomobilize.org/
And here's the Official reaction:http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/784285--g20-summit-security-to-be-massive
And there's a lot of disgruntlement over an artificial lake constructed for the occasion:
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5480816070832499989
[later, Canadian officials claimed the lake had only a five-figure cost]
No doubt, the US media's G8/G20 coverage will focus mainly on authorities vs. protesters. But the apparent $1 billion (in Canadian dollars) cost of the occasion--plus the ratio of actual accomplishments to rhetoric of the nations meeting there--make this an event for everyone to pay attention to.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Coda: Reactions to I'LL BE YOUR DEAD MAN....poem.
To start with, I sent my I'LL BE YOUR DEAD MAN FOR THE EVENING poem to the co-host of the SoCal venue (which will be unnamed here) described in the piece. At first, his reply was a variation of the "start your own venue" comment that poets tend to resort to when faced with feedback they don't want to hear. I wasn't politic in my reply (though I said something positive about him as a publisher/entrepreneur--I've bought a few of his books/anthologies of other poets), complaining about the self-abuse/self-entitlement/members of the "club" feel of most of the open-mikers. He responded with a "you can't control an open mike" remark (not at all what I was saying), and ended the back-and-forth with the Facebook equivalent of hanging up on a caller.
In essence, the piece was written as a way of airing my discomfort with a place with a sense of "we're better, more astute, more literate than you." One of the first pieces of conversation I happened to hear was a couple of male poets wondering whether to participate in the open-mike or be like "common people"--which led to about 90 seconds of riffing on the Pulp song of that name.
There was one older man (looked to be in his 60s) on the open mike. So it wasn't completely young people in privileged revelry. [And I forgot to mention the slam poet on the open mike who, a long time ago, read a poem at another venue with a cheap, tasteless laugh-line about "seeing Angela Lansbury naked."]
It's just that my perception of the venue was that, for a first-time (and likely only-time) attendee, it wasn't very welcoming to newcomers. In fact, I don't even remember hearing any formal announcement of open-mike--so I'm guessing that you had to ask someone or know already who the open-mike MC for that part of the evening was.
So, that's my story about how I'LL BE YOUR DEAD MAN FOR THE EVENING came to be written. And it was meant to be more general than specific, since poets/the public are likely to encounter similar poetry venues in most cities/college towns--where you're not so much welcomed as made to jump through too many hoops to get the attention of the scenesters/ringmasters present.
In essence, the piece was written as a way of airing my discomfort with a place with a sense of "we're better, more astute, more literate than you." One of the first pieces of conversation I happened to hear was a couple of male poets wondering whether to participate in the open-mike or be like "common people"--which led to about 90 seconds of riffing on the Pulp song of that name.
There was one older man (looked to be in his 60s) on the open mike. So it wasn't completely young people in privileged revelry. [And I forgot to mention the slam poet on the open mike who, a long time ago, read a poem at another venue with a cheap, tasteless laugh-line about "seeing Angela Lansbury naked."]
It's just that my perception of the venue was that, for a first-time (and likely only-time) attendee, it wasn't very welcoming to newcomers. In fact, I don't even remember hearing any formal announcement of open-mike--so I'm guessing that you had to ask someone or know already who the open-mike MC for that part of the evening was.
So, that's my story about how I'LL BE YOUR DEAD MAN FOR THE EVENING came to be written. And it was meant to be more general than specific, since poets/the public are likely to encounter similar poetry venues in most cities/college towns--where you're not so much welcomed as made to jump through too many hoops to get the attention of the scenesters/ringmasters present.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Time for another Larry King-esque Random Topics post.
1. Seems to me that CNN, as it heads into Year 31, ought to not listen to media gossips advocating a boost in the amount of "opinion" shows because they seem to be a better short-term fix than the network's usual passive center-right "neutral" retell the Official Story programming. Perhaps more shows like, say, Fareed Zakaria's GPS, might be better--news shows with actual news and analysis. And a de-emphasis on personality-driven shows (which began when dull-but-attempting-to-be-substantive Aaron Brown was deposed for more conventionally-network-friendly Anderson Cooper, who only seems to be truly useful when on location) defintely wouldn't hurt.
2. Am I too sensitive, or is it okay to be offended when SiriusXM considers Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman" part of the "Jukebox of Cheese" on its 70s channel?
Thursday, June 3, 2010
New poem: I'LL BE YOUR DEAD MAN FOR THE EVENING
I'LL BE YOUR DEAD MAN FOR THE EVENING
I wanted so much to like it.
I kept my mind open and transparent and walked down those stairs into the ornate club and once the open mike began I felt like I was tied to a Catherine Wheel and made to watch an enormous circle jerk where almost all the poets talked about how they knew each other and the look-how-cool-we-are-ness rolled off the stage like a special-effects fog.
You don't know me that well and vice versa but one time I did you a solid and you did the same for me by telling me something I needed to hear and I remember waving at you, hoping you'd come over and make me feel like I did a good thing by coming all the way out and being supportive and perhaps I was being childish when you didn't because when you're in a room with friends there are so many people wanting your time and friends take precedence over aquaintances and strangers.
I wanted ever so much to stay past the floor show and see the Main Event I drove a few miles to witness but, as I kept spinning on my Catherine Wheel, I started thinking of all the things I hate about poetry-- about how strangers aren't always made to feel welcome and that I'm not sitting at the Cool Table and may never be invited to the Cool Table and getting very tired of entree to the Cool Table being determined by who publishes you, who you're BPF's (Best Poetic Friends) with, whether or not you've won the Go-Kart Prize, whether or not you're Academic enough, whether or not your writing is bloody or merely pomegranate-juicy enough.
Sometimes, when I feel like crying like Disney's Ugly Duckling, I wonder which is worse-- being an outcast by design or by group vote, or being accepted and wondering when the popularity will stop and people turn their attention to others and the key light never shines on you again no matter how supportive you are of others with your money and time plus providing MFA recommendation letters and pullquotes for their latest books.
A few hours ago, I untied myself from the Catherine Wheel and walked back up the stairs and out into the cold night air. Something tells me you didn't care whether or not I was gone becaise there were more than enough people worthy of your time. And that's the way it is.
I wanted so much to like it.
I kept my mind open and transparent and walked down those stairs into the ornate club and once the open mike began I felt like I was tied to a Catherine Wheel and made to watch an enormous circle jerk where almost all the poets talked about how they knew each other and the look-how-cool-we-are-ness rolled off the stage like a special-effects fog.
You don't know me that well and vice versa but one time I did you a solid and you did the same for me by telling me something I needed to hear and I remember waving at you, hoping you'd come over and make me feel like I did a good thing by coming all the way out and being supportive and perhaps I was being childish when you didn't because when you're in a room with friends there are so many people wanting your time and friends take precedence over aquaintances and strangers.
I wanted ever so much to stay past the floor show and see the Main Event I drove a few miles to witness but, as I kept spinning on my Catherine Wheel, I started thinking of all the things I hate about poetry-- about how strangers aren't always made to feel welcome and that I'm not sitting at the Cool Table and may never be invited to the Cool Table and getting very tired of entree to the Cool Table being determined by who publishes you, who you're BPF's (Best Poetic Friends) with, whether or not you've won the Go-Kart Prize, whether or not you're Academic enough, whether or not your writing is bloody or merely pomegranate-juicy enough.
Sometimes, when I feel like crying like Disney's Ugly Duckling, I wonder which is worse-- being an outcast by design or by group vote, or being accepted and wondering when the popularity will stop and people turn their attention to others and the key light never shines on you again no matter how supportive you are of others with your money and time plus providing MFA recommendation letters and pullquotes for their latest books.
A few hours ago, I untied myself from the Catherine Wheel and walked back up the stairs and out into the cold night air. Something tells me you didn't care whether or not I was gone becaise there were more than enough people worthy of your time. And that's the way it is.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Some films to create your own Dennis Hopper retrospective with.
Some suggestions for at-home cineastes who want to program their own Dennis Hopper festival before museums and revival theaters follow suit:
EASY RIDER, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, TRUE ROMANCE, APOCALYPSE NOW ORIGINAL AND/OR REDUX, RUMBLE FISH, BLUE VELVET, HOOSIERS, BACKTRACK [one of Hopper-as-director's most idiosyncratic films with a spectacularly diverse cast including Hopper, Vincent Price, Joe Pesci, Bob Dylan and Jodie Foster], OUT OF THE BLUE, THE RIVER'S EDGE, ELEGY, SPEED, COLORS, WATERWORLD.
THE LAST MOVIE--a rather controversial art-and-life-imitate-each-other curio from the days (specifically 1970-71) when Universal Pictures gave Hopper, Peter Fonda and Monte Hellman carte blanche to make low-budget counterculture extravaganzas--isn't on DVD yet, but will be worth seeking out for the serious Hopper appreciator. Brad Stevens of the British Film Institute makes a case for THE LAST MOVIE's artistic validity in this article: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/exclusive/dennis-hopper-obituary.php
Also, KID BLUE (a 1972 comedy-Western with Hopper as a man who doesn't fit in well with early 20th-century life) is worth a look if it resurfaces on Fox Movie Channel.
EASY RIDER, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, TRUE ROMANCE, APOCALYPSE NOW ORIGINAL AND/OR REDUX, RUMBLE FISH, BLUE VELVET, HOOSIERS, BACKTRACK [one of Hopper-as-director's most idiosyncratic films with a spectacularly diverse cast including Hopper, Vincent Price, Joe Pesci, Bob Dylan and Jodie Foster], OUT OF THE BLUE, THE RIVER'S EDGE, ELEGY, SPEED, COLORS, WATERWORLD.
THE LAST MOVIE--a rather controversial art-and-life-imitate-each-other curio from the days (specifically 1970-71) when Universal Pictures gave Hopper, Peter Fonda and Monte Hellman carte blanche to make low-budget counterculture extravaganzas--isn't on DVD yet, but will be worth seeking out for the serious Hopper appreciator. Brad Stevens of the British Film Institute makes a case for THE LAST MOVIE's artistic validity in this article: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/exclusive/dennis-hopper-obituary.php
Also, KID BLUE (a 1972 comedy-Western with Hopper as a man who doesn't fit in well with early 20th-century life) is worth a look if it resurfaces on Fox Movie Channel.
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