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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Remember the Open Room?

Been sent some interesting names for the show so far, with early favorites Performance Anxiety, Breaking Form and Word of Mouth. Send more.

Haven’t heard back from Jackie Sheeler yet about the length of tomorrow’s feature so I’m getting a little antsy about my set. There’s a big difference between 20, 30 and 45-minute sets. I don’t like 20-minute sets as I never feel like I get in a good rhythm and always have to leave out a couple of my favorite poems. 30-minutes is solid, enough time to present a range of work without feeling rushed. 45-minutes can be daunting as you have to really nail your flow to keep the audience engaged but it’s also a fun challenge. The longer the set, the better feel for a poet’s style and range you get. Three-poem slam wonders generally flounder past 20 minutes as the bombast gets old and the lack of depth becomes more and more apparent.

I’ve been reading through a lot of my old stuff recently and was surprised by how long it’s been since I’ve read some of them out loud. Read Celluloid Childhood at Acentos on Tuesday and, despite the obvious rust, remembered that it was one of my favorite pieces at one point. The combination of pushing for the new in slam with allowing my own output to take a back seat for so many years has left me in the weird position of having to reconnect with almost all of my work as if it were brand new. Hopefully tomorrow is at least a 30-minute set so I can do a nice mix of the old and new. Well, newish! 😉

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Continue ReadingRemember the Open Room?
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Happy Anniversary to us!

Yesterday was our 5th Anniversary! There was a point last year when that seemed like a milestone we might not reach. Weird thing about stress, when there's no specific source that you can address directly, it can turn inward and devour you. If 2002 went in the books as a down year in the marriage market, then 2003 has definitely been a bullish run with no signs of slowing down. The key to the metaphor is you have to be in it for the long haul. Market timers should just stay single. In light of the recent move, we decided…

Continue ReadingHappy Anniversary to us!
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Wednesday is new comic book day!

So I've gotten into yet another flame war with Danny Solis on the poetry_slam list. Why can't I just leave that shit alone? The whole PSI thing, I mean. Solis is this big-ass, dreadlocked Mexican poet, currently out of Albuquerque, NM. If you saw SlamNation, he's on the Austin team, in that fun little group piece they do. Not someone you want to piss off, especially if he's been drinking. The irony is, as much as I've virtually fought with him over the years, I think he's a pretty good guy. He's a very good poet with a strong sense…

Continue ReadingWednesday is new comic book day!
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

What the hell, all the kids are doing it...! THREE THINGS THAT SCARE ME: Blind loyalty Apathy Money (as in too much of it) THREE PEOPLE WHO MAKE ME LAUGH: Michael Savage (you HAVE to laugh, o'wise, you have to take him seriously) Isaac (esp. when he's mad) Shappy THREE THINGS I LOVE: My wife & kids Our apartment Helping people THREE THINGS I HATE: Blind loyalty Apathy Money (when it's unfairly distributed) THREE THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND: How planes fly Third eyes Keanu Reeves' career THREE THINGS ON MY DESK: Pictures of my wife & kids Shea Stadium Replica…

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An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Fulano, Live!

Have you ever heard me live? Fulano. Listen to the live version, recorded at the 1999 NPS Semi-Finals when we were facing the Nuyorican in the most intense slam I've ever been in. The studio version, done on minidisc in Soft Skull's original Shortwave store in Tonic, sucks. There's also the nycSLAMS and 5 PAST 13 CDs, with Prodigal Son and Breathless, respectively. Catch me in person in a rare NYC feature on Friday, July 25 at the Cornelia Street Café. That's the closest I get to self-promotion! Have a nice weekend. :-)

Continue ReadingFulano, Live!
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

What ever happened to Surge Frost?

I met with Cristin last week for the interview for her upcoming book on slam and, after nearly three hours, we'd only gotten up to the 1999 Nationals! Hadn't thought in-depth about the early days in ages but sitting with Cristin, one thing led to another, one story uncovering another uncovering yet another, and I was both surprised at how much I remembered and, even moreso, at how integral a part of my life the whole scene had become in such a short time. The first two years in particular were some heady times, from my first slam in July…

Continue ReadingWhat ever happened to Surge Frost?
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

“A metaphorically transcribed poem.”

"I Killed Biggie Smalls" UPDATE: one of the people emailed back saying my poem had been posted in a forum on www.notoriousonline.com - a fan site for B.I.G. - and caused a bit of a hubbub. I logged in to check it out and apparently somebody had come across the poem and posted it, asking "what's up with that?!?" to which someone else responded, "Could this be a metaphorically produced poem?" (Stop laughing!) Someone else posts my name and email address and says, "I say we email this sucka and ask him wassup." (I said stop it!) Two of them…

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