The annual plea for forgiveness re the Ugly Mug situation of 2004.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=10150155171782775&id=706507774&aid=289335


Dear Steve, Ben and Phil,

First of all, congratulations on the DON'T BLAME THE UGLY MUG anthology.  It's a milestone you all should take pride in reaching.

And once again, I'm writing you to again ask for forgiveness regarding misbehavior on my part in 2004 resulting in banishment.

At this point, I'll address people individually.

I'm sorry to have disrespected you, Steve.  And I'm also very regretful it happened after a reading while most of the audience remained in the room.

Also, I owe Phil an apology for not closing my mouth and listening when he was trying to impress on me the magnitude of what happened.  It was wrong of me to talk back like I did.

Of course, I'm aware of questions of "credibility" since I've petitioned publicly and privately for this banishment to end--and I've expressed disappointment and hurt when it hasn't happened.

In my defense, I'd like to restate my respect for all three of you by reminding you that I've never returned to the Ugly Mug since September of 2004.   Whatever can be said, I've done my best to abide by that edict.

And it must be said that I attended the Ugly Mug between 2000 and 2004--with only the one incident of wrongful behavior to my discredit during that four-year period.

Recently, I read this statement about the Ugly Mug and the reading "They care deeply about poetry, and community, and realize the two aren't mutually exclusive."

I'd like to think that forgiveness is an integral part of all communities--especially poetry.

It's safe to say that my behavior, upon returning to Wednesday readings, would be exemplary and nondisruptive like it was between 2000 and 2004.

I very much hope we can all stop being perennially upset at each other and solidify the community that poets and business owners work so hard to achieve.

Yours sincerely,
Terry McCarty

RIP Sidney Lumet: Serpico Trailer

Re the immediate future of LA/OC poetry readings--and how to make it brighter.

Not much to say in this post except that it's going to be a rough late spring and summer regarding gasoline prices--and one can only hope that if people want to go to a poetry reading, then they'll either carpool or take MTA buses/light rail. It's a lot better for the poetry hosts and the venues than not going at all.

It would be nice to see SoCal readings thrive in adverse economic conditions and not be underattended to the point of risking extinction.

SALON's Laura Miller interviews NYT poetry critic David Orr.

http://www.salon.com/books/poetry/index.html?story=/books/laura_miller/2011/04/05/david_orr

Here's a fascinating passage from the interview:

You have a fascinating chapter, titled "In the Fishbowl," about the social and economic situation that professional poets work in. I have to say, the poetry world in itself can be daunting to the nonspecialist. You might tentatively mention a poet you like to an expert or a member of the poetry world, and they'll look at you as if you just gushed over a greeting card. You don't even want to admit to having any kind of taste because you're afraid it'll be the wrong taste.

I've been that kind of person before, and I'm ashamed of it.

I often write about the sociology of the poetry world, and some readers like it and some don't. I think that it's important to do because people don't know where poems come from. I find that when people do get a sense that poetry is written by human beings and that these human beings are under various pressures through the world that they inhabit, just like everyone else, usually people are much more sympathetic to poetry.

Really? Because my impression is that there is a lot of knee-jerk complaining about the poetry establishment, and that the people who make those complaints are not very sympathetic to the communal pressures of the poetry world. You hear a lot of gripes about how everybody knows everybody else and that there's a lot of log rolling.

Well, one of the things I want to show in that chapter is that the kind of behavior that those people complain about has been going on for a long, long time. A lot of really good poetry has arisen either in spite of or maybe because of that kind of behavior.

Poets (including great poets) have always been cliquish and have always fought with other poets.

Yes. I think it's useful for general readers to see that so that they see poetry as a human art, not as something that just arrives on a lightning bolt from the clouds.

There are people who don't like this, and who really cling to the idea that poetry should never talk about the dirty underside. But I find that a little familiarity with the dirty underside actually makes everyone more comfortable because otherwise you just sit around denying the reality.

Here's a review of Orr's book:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anis-shivani/beautiful-and-pointless-poetry_b_847197.html?ref=fb&src=sp#sb=607664,b=facebook

OC's The Two Idiots reading--the truth is somewhere between these two poles.

From a former OC poet/tastemaker:
Hosts Ben Trigg and Steve Ramirez have created something powerful and important there in Southern California. Readings that last that long are rare, and readings that last that long and have hosted such a wide range of new and established poetic work are even more rare. Even after all of these years, "Two Idiots" remains my favorite reading in the country, not least because Steve and Ben are two of my favorite people. They care deeply about poetry, and about community, and realize the two aren't mutually exclusive. This reading has been the heart of Southern California poetry for years, and here's wishing them many more years of doing great work.


From a poster on Yelp:
I appreciate that the Ugly Mug supports creativity.  Many of the poets I've heard there are very talented, as well.  Unfortunately, during multiple visits, I have felt like an unwanted guest in somebody's home. Sometimes it feels a bit like an "in" clique and if you're not in, you're out.

As for me, I'm "out" for the rest of my life (won't go into it again here)--but, because I know a few of the poets who have performed there, will buy the DON'T BLAME THE UGLY MUG anthology (with a cover designed by OC poet/artist Leigh White) nonetheless.

TRIBUTE TO KAY RYAN

In honor of National Poetry Month, a reading of Kay Ryan's "Killing Time."

WHAT HENRY FONDA SAID

TRIBUTE TO JACK SHAFER #3--BLUES FOR A STREET POET