The Great Debate, #632: Is Freestyle Poetry?

Many say it isn't. I say, it depends. One of the arguments against it that I hear the most is that it's unfair to pit a freestyle against a poem that's been crafted over time, edited and revised, etc. If you picked up some slam bias from the "unfair," you nailed the issue. Freestyle is impressive to an audience, generally scores high and, therefore, e=mc2 and freestyle is not poetry! There's also the question of how much of the freestyle is actually improvised, with the inference that the prefacing of a piece that may incorporate pre-existing work as a freestyle…

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X2: X-Men United, lots of fun. What you want from a summer blockbuster and, as an old comic book fan, I think they did a nice job with the characters, particularly laying the groundwork for the Phoenix storyline. Identity was creepy fun with a "twist" ending. I love psychological thrillers and it's got a great cast. Salomé and the kids are sick again! Feels like we haven't gone more than a week without at least one of us being sick the last few months. She stayed home so I had to get the kids ready and to the babysitter myself…

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I think I have officially crossed the line and become completely jaded about poetry slam. I've never been so bored at an event as I was at last night's Urbana Finals. Not that it was a terrible show, mind you. It just didn't have the energy of a FINALS! The host, John S. Hall, sucked the life from the room every time he took the stage and the long setup of the club itself means what ever energy is there dies halfway up the bar. (They had the same problem when they were at CB's Gallery across the street.) The…

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America is stupid. At least the ones that watch American Idol and take the time to vote. I mean, really, what the fuck was THAT last night?!?! Ruben in the bottom two? Trenyce booted while Camouflage Doughboy lives on? That fake jarhead couldn't even hold his head up while Ruben stood out there waiting for the results, knowing it should have been him instead. Bad enough he didn't get a chance to step on a landmine somewhere in the middle of the deserts of Iraq, doing the job he volunteered for, but to sit up there watching two people with…

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Def Poetry is closing

This just in: Def Poetry on Broadway will be closing on Sunday! Not sure how I feel about that to be honest. Not having seen it, I can't really comment but, based on what I've heard from people I respect that HAVE seen it, it's sort of a double-edged sword. Many poets (good ones, at least) felt it was a dumbed-down version of the best of what we do. A polished spin on Friday nights at the Nuyorican a couple of years back, perhaps. Most agree that they failed to take full advantage of the medium and, on top of…

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Apparently, I'm a very bad person. DisorderRatingParanoid:LowSchizoid:LowSchizotypal:ModerateAntisocial:ModerateBorderline:LowHistrionic:ModerateNarcissistic:Very HighAvoidant:LowDependent:LowObsessive-Compulsive:Moderate-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! -- The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Fifth Level of Hell!Here is how you matched up against all the levels:LevelScorePurgatory (Repenting Believers)Very LowLevel 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)Very LowLevel 2 (Lustful)Very HighLevel 3 (Gluttonous)ModerateLevel 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)Very LowLevel 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)Very HighLevel 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)Very HighLevel 7 (Violent)HighLevel 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)HighLevel 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)HighTake the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

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