First drafts of poetry, as well as commentary on poems, poets and poetry-related randomonia.
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…
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…
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…
Looking for parking in the morning so completely sets my day off on the wrong foot! Looking for it in Brooklyn Heights on a Monday morning - where after driving around for 30 minutes, you stick it on a meter and cross your fingers you'll ONLY get a ticket - sucks like a five hour open mic in the park where the swings are off-limits and there is no shade. I'm a little poetry'd out at this point. Since last Monday, I've been at a poetry reading every day except for Wednesday. Haven't done that since '98 when I used…
When I first came on the slam scene, I ranted a lot. In my poetry, I mean. Or what I was passing off as poetry. :-O My free write from yesterday was turning into something interesting by the end of the day, too complex to finish before Urbana, and I wanted to read something new in their open mic. Sitting in my old home, Botanica (bizarre now, sans smoky haze), I scribbled out a good ol' rant while thinking of the morons lined up outside of Tower Records the other day for Madonna who pulled her video American Life from…
What ever made me think that I'd find convenient parking when I decided to drive in this morning? Ended up in a parking lot after driving around for 20 minutes looking. Planning to avoid Hartsdale while Salomé and the kids are gone so I had to pack a bag this morning to get me through Saturday at least. Was planning to go to the Mets game tonight but it's kind of cold and I'm barely avoiding being sick as it is. Went to Acentos last night, tired as hell. Mondays are killer and Tuesdays should have me in bed early…
Blame it on the rain? Maybe. It certainly messed with our turnout last night. I'm thinking my having to be sober through it all is what really set ME off, though. The anniversary show was both a moderate success and a raging bust all at once. I had the whole night laid out on a tight schedule that required us to get started at 7:20pm but with the bad weather, the turnout was light and slow to build. Had to kind of wing it throughout the night and was never particularly happy with how things were going. With my stomach…
