Monday, February 28, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Poetry reading attendance, rain and Los Angeles.
In the spring of 1998, the first poetry reading I attended was at the now-long-gone Midnight Special on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica (a Benetton store is now occupying its former space).
That night, there was a heavy rain--part of the El Nino system. In spite of the rain, there were at least 25-30 people gathered (sitting or standing) in the back room to attend, read and be supportive of each other.
Last night, there was a moderate-at-best rain in Santa Monica. I was part of the Rapp Saloon reading inside the International Youth Hostel next door to the Buca di Beppo Restaurant (which occupies the space of a former Pussycat "adult movie" theater).
By my estimate, there were about eleven people there, tops--myself included.
Perhaps someone can comment on the differences between Los Angeles poetry attendance in 1998 and 2011. I'm too depressed writing this to add anything further.
That night, there was a heavy rain--part of the El Nino system. In spite of the rain, there were at least 25-30 people gathered (sitting or standing) in the back room to attend, read and be supportive of each other.
Last night, there was a moderate-at-best rain in Santa Monica. I was part of the Rapp Saloon reading inside the International Youth Hostel next door to the Buca di Beppo Restaurant (which occupies the space of a former Pussycat "adult movie" theater).
By my estimate, there were about eleven people there, tops--myself included.
Perhaps someone can comment on the differences between Los Angeles poetry attendance in 1998 and 2011. I'm too depressed writing this to add anything further.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
It's coming: Anthology of Orange County poets and their fellow travelers.
Saw this poetry volume listed on someone's blog recently: Don't Blame the Ugly Mug: Ten Years of Two Idiots Peddling Poetry from Tebot Bach.
No comment; if you've read this blog in the past you know what I think of both the Ugly Mug in Orange, CA in general and one of the Two Idiots in particular.
I will make a wider comment to note that the OC poetry scene tends to thrive on social conventions of the kind Jane Austen and Edith Wharton wrote about (not necessrily admiring them)--plus, it brings up creepy memories of the trailer I saw for the cult horror film THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE.
No comment; if you've read this blog in the past you know what I think of both the Ugly Mug in Orange, CA in general and one of the Two Idiots in particular.
I will make a wider comment to note that the OC poetry scene tends to thrive on social conventions of the kind Jane Austen and Edith Wharton wrote about (not necessrily admiring them)--plus, it brings up creepy memories of the trailer I saw for the cult horror film THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Re passing of Lamar Fike--Elvis Presley entourage member.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110219/ap_en_mu/us_obit_memphis_mafia_member
http://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Albert-Harry-Goldman/dp/0070236577
http://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Albert-Harry-Goldman/dp/0070236577
http://wn.com/Albert_Goldman
Lamar Fike was one of the sources for Albert Goldman's bile-filled 1981 biography of Elvis Presley titled ELVIS.
Pro-and-con views of Fike on an Elvis fan site:
http://www.elvisnews.com/news.aspx/lamar-fike-passed-away/13116
http://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Albert-Harry-Goldman/dp/0070236577
http://www.amazon.com/Elvis-Albert-Harry-Goldman/dp/0070236577
http://wn.com/Albert_Goldman
Lamar Fike was one of the sources for Albert Goldman's bile-filled 1981 biography of Elvis Presley titled ELVIS.
Pro-and-con views of Fike on an Elvis fan site:
http://www.elvisnews.com/news.aspx/lamar-fike-passed-away/13116
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Borders will close 200 stores--a list and a post-mortem.
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/st_borders0216_20110216.html
What I'm about to write wouldn't have passed the Literary Correctness test in, say, the year 2000.
Back in the day, no one would have imagined the corporate book chains of Borders and Barnes and Noble (then underpricing many independent stores out of business) would face the store-closings and bankruptcy filings of one-decade-plus-later.
And, to give one example, you certainly couldn't go into the now-quite-dead Midnight Special Bookstore in Santa Monica and carry a bag from either of the Independence-Slaughtering Corporate Behemoths.
In terms of my experience, there were (and are) good and bad Borders stores. Some of them had better stocking of nonbestsellers than others; some also had a fairly deep selection of CDs and DVDs (until the Great Culling of 2008-09). And some stores had more friendly, helpful staff members than others (who will be nameless, but employed certain young-and-sometimes-older people who thought of customers as something to be endured).
As poetry gatherings in L.A. are concerned, three of the earliest readings I look back on fondly were those taking place in Westwood, Santa Monica and Glendale. The Westwood and Santa Monica stores are now closed; the Glendale store made the dreaded List of 200.
In reading the death list, I was disappointed to discover the imminent closing of the store at the Pike in downtown Long Beach--they have a Wednesday reading and actually stock local icons such as Gerald Locklin.
Also, I was semi-surprised that the Northridge Mall store (which has suffered from sometimes below-par staff and is more run-down than it used to be) was spared. It gets a fair amount of shoppers, but I was guessing that Borders would have pulled the trigger to get out of their lease with the mall owners.
It will be interesting to find out--for all the media whining and moaning about imminent death of brick-and-mortar bookstores and overemphasizing the sales figures of e-books--whether independent and second-hand stores will again gain the deserved traction they lost in the past decade.
What I'm about to write wouldn't have passed the Literary Correctness test in, say, the year 2000.
Back in the day, no one would have imagined the corporate book chains of Borders and Barnes and Noble (then underpricing many independent stores out of business) would face the store-closings and bankruptcy filings of one-decade-plus-later.
And, to give one example, you certainly couldn't go into the now-quite-dead Midnight Special Bookstore in Santa Monica and carry a bag from either of the Independence-Slaughtering Corporate Behemoths.
In terms of my experience, there were (and are) good and bad Borders stores. Some of them had better stocking of nonbestsellers than others; some also had a fairly deep selection of CDs and DVDs (until the Great Culling of 2008-09). And some stores had more friendly, helpful staff members than others (who will be nameless, but employed certain young-and-sometimes-older people who thought of customers as something to be endured).
As poetry gatherings in L.A. are concerned, three of the earliest readings I look back on fondly were those taking place in Westwood, Santa Monica and Glendale. The Westwood and Santa Monica stores are now closed; the Glendale store made the dreaded List of 200.
In reading the death list, I was disappointed to discover the imminent closing of the store at the Pike in downtown Long Beach--they have a Wednesday reading and actually stock local icons such as Gerald Locklin.
Also, I was semi-surprised that the Northridge Mall store (which has suffered from sometimes below-par staff and is more run-down than it used to be) was spared. It gets a fair amount of shoppers, but I was guessing that Borders would have pulled the trigger to get out of their lease with the mall owners.
It will be interesting to find out--for all the media whining and moaning about imminent death of brick-and-mortar bookstores and overemphasizing the sales figures of e-books--whether independent and second-hand stores will again gain the deserved traction they lost in the past decade.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)