My 2011 (poetry and otherwise) in review.

Late yesterday afternoon, my wife and I were dining with friends at a seafood restaurant in Simi Valley.

The food arrived a bit late and we complained to the waiter; he apologized, explained in his defense that he was the only person working in our section of the restaurant and gave us free desserts.

I'll say tbis about the difference between complaining at a restaurant and being outspoken (i.e. violating the tacitly-enforced rule of public silence) about things you aren't happy with in the poetry scene: at least the waiter (or manager) doesn't tell customers to open their own restaurant if they don't like the food and service.

As 2011 ends, I look at my record-of-sorts in poetry and it's mixed.

On the positive side, I submitted to a few online journals and was accepted by most of them.  I did some features in the Bay Area in October (as I have since 2004); they were well-received.

Regarding the negative portion of the ledger: I offended people who were either oversensitive (regrettably, a couple of acquaintanceships with poets were lost) or, to put it mildly, don't like criticism/contrariness from someone they consider an artistic/moral inferior.  And I'm still banned from a venue in Orange County--this mark-of-Cain-of-sorts will enter its ninth year in 2012. 

I retired from the LA scene (not for the first time) in November and became semi-retired after participating in a couple of open-mikes in the last week and a half.

Like a lot of other people, I look forward to an improved 2012.

It will be fifteen years since I first began writing poetry and I hope to have three of my books available for the first time in e-book format.

And I'm planning to contine my support of other poets and poetry institutions; it's what we as writers should and must do.

Last of all: I'm happy to be loved by my wife Valarie and our four cats (counting the neighbor cat who comes over most days each week for food and affection); they keep me going in good days and bad.

CINEMATIC UNDERACHIEVERS OF 2011: THE VIDEO

Best movies of 2011--first draft.

The list below comprises films I've seen as of today. Will post a final list in January. In no specific order: MONEYBALL DRIVE GAINSBOURG YOUNG ADULT TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY INTO THE ABYSS BUCK THE DESCENDANTS THE GUARD MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE JANE EYRE THE TRIP HUGO RANGO SUPER 8 SORT-OF GUILTY PLEASURES: IRONCLAD TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN DRIVE ANGRY HONORABLE MENTION: BRIDESMAIDS CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS PROJECT NIM RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES RESTLESS RAMPART CONTAGION SARAH'S KEY MY WEEK WITH MARILYN THE IDES OF MARCH CRAZY STUPID LOVE

Ten nonfiction books I enjoyed reading in 2011.

In no specific order:
1. FAB: A BIOGRAPHY OF PAUL McCARTNEY by Howard Sounes
2. CONVERSATIONS WITH SCORSESE by Richard Schickel
3. I WANT MY MTV (oral history written and edited by Craig Marks and Robert Tannenbaum)
4. EMPIRE OF DREAMS (Cecil B. DeMille biography) by Scott Eyman
5. THE AGE OF MOVIES: SELECTED WRITINGS OF PAULINE KAEL (edited by Sanford Schwartz)
6. SPENCER TRACY: A BIOGRAPHY by James Curtis
7. THREE CUPS OF DECEIT by Jon Krakauer
8. A BIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE GREAT JAZZ AND POP SINGERS by Will Friedwald
9. FURIOUS LOVE (biography of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton) by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger
10. THE DARK STUFF: SELECTED WRITINGS ON ROCK MUSIC by Nick Kent
and just one more:
11. LIFE ITSELF by Roger Ebert

O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, Mel Gibson and me.

The comment below (written by a former SoCal poet whose name won't be repeated in this post) was probably the most mean-boy remark thrown at me this year:
"Terry, get a life. Your continued attempts at finding any social acceptance and success for over a decade now within the poetry scene have proven time and time again not to be working for you.. maybe its time to throw in the towel.. or try a new approach? I mean seriously your harping on the past and how your treated oh sooo badly by the hosts and critics of the "scene" has marked you as THAT guy.. it brings more attention to you than your work does, and so it blocks anyone from seeing anything else. Does anyone hardly remember that OJ was a football superstar? no. its not really on that grand of a level..but its similar in the way people intake information. you are your biggest obstacle."

Ten good movies you probably weren't aware of in 2011.

Some of these films are now available on pay-per-view, DVD and/or streaming video.

In no specific order:
1. THE TRIP (2011)--feature-length version of the UK television comedy miniseries with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon; a highlight is their dueling imitations of Michael Caine.
2. RESTLESS--dumped by its studio, this Gus Van Sant-directed romance with Mia Wasikowska and Henry (son of Dennis) Hopper has plenty of charm, geuine intimacy and poignance--the antithesis of pumped-up stuff like the TWILIGHT series.
3. BUCK- documentary about the real-life "horse whisperer" Buck Branneman.
4. PROJECT NIM--acclaimed documentary about what happens when a chimpanzee is subjected to being raised by humans; would make a great double bill with RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES.
5. GAINSBOURG--biopic of the controversial French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg.
6. MARGIN CALL--sometimes a bit too much like a stage play, but a gripping drama of how the dump-the-bad-assets mess of Wall Street in 2008 came to pass.
7. THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975--Swedish TV journalists' take on the USA Civil Rights era and its aftermath; interviewees include Stokely Carmichael and Angela Davis.
8. THE GUARD-- just-right mixture of comedy/drama/thriller involving Irish policeman Brendan Gleeson and fish-out-of-water FBI agent Don Cheadle.
9.  MELANCHOLIA--Lars Von Trier's wedding-as-sign-of-world's-end drama features what might be a close-to-career-best performance from Kirsten Dunst.
10. ATTACK THE BLOCK--also dumped by its studio for apparently being too British for US multiplex audiences; fast and entertaining comedy/thriller/sci-fi about inncer-city London youth saving their city from invading space aliens--one of the executive producers is Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ) and Nick Frost (SHAUN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ, PAUL) has a supporting role.

Cinematic Underachievers of 2011.

A list of movies in no specific order (some of them from highly-regarded directors) which were subpar for various reasons, i.e. not enough time or money or too much time and money or massive post-production tampering or overpretentious or underthought.

1. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO 2011
2. MEEK'S CUTOFF
3. SUPER
4. COWBOYS AND ALIENS
5. A DANGEROUS METHOD
6. THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU
7. BEGINNERS
8. DREAM HOUSE
9. GREEN LANTERN
10. THE TREE OF LIFE (somewhere, there's a good 100-minute film to be assembled from the alleged eight-hour version Malick's been touting.)
11. WE BOUGHT A ZOO (family sitcomish Aline Brosh McKenna script--she's best known for THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA screenplay married to Cameron Crowe trotting out all his Greatest Cinematic Hit Characters/Motifs, proving that Crowe-as-filmmaker only had one masterpiece--SAY ANYTHING--and one near-masterpiece--ALMOST FAMOUS--in him)

Music I was listening to this year (in no particular order)

1. The Beach Boys--THE SMILE SESSIONS
2. Adele--21
3. Fleet Foxes--HELPLESSNESS BLUES
4. Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five--THE BEST IMITATION OF MYSELF
5. The Kinks--SOMETHING ELSE BY THE KINKS (reissue)
6. Paul Simon--SO BEAUTIFUL OR SO WHAT
7. Dave Edmunds--SUBTLE AS A FLYING MALLET (reissue)
8. Thin Lizzy--JAILBREAK (reissue)
9. Compilation for MOJO magazine--STICKY SOUL FINGERS [tribute to the STICKY FINGERS album]
10. The Rolling Stones--SOME GIRLS (reissue)
11. Elvis Presley--FROM ELVIS IN MEMPHIS (reissue)
12. Lucinda Williams--BLESSED
13. The Feelies--CRAZY RHYTHMS (reissue)
14. Gerry Rafferty--SNAKES AND LADDERS (reissue)
15. James McCartney--AVAILABLE LIGHT ep
16. Kate Bush--DIRECTOR'S CUT/50 WORDS FOR SNOW
17. Lady Gaga--BORN THIS WAY: THE REMIXES
18. Pearl Jam--TWENTY (soundtrack)
19. Pink Floyd--DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (2011 reissue)
20. Ryan Adams--ASHES AND FIRE
21. Foo Fighters--WASTING LIGHT
22. John Doe--KEEPER
23. Exene Cervenka--THE EXCITEMENT OF MAYBE
24. Paul McCartney--McCARTNEY/McCARTNEY II (2011 reissues)
25. Wanda Jackson/Jack White--"Shakin' All Over" (single)
26, The Decemberists--THE KING IS DEAD