What do American Idol and poetry slam have in common? A little bit of irony to set it up first. As a kid, I was notorious for always being late. Not a few minutes late, either, but often an hour or more. Because my mother was pretty strict, I knew 5 minutes was as bad as 5 hours and so always pushed it past its limits. After I became too old for the belt, I spent a lot of time on punishment. One of the more extreme came two days before I was supposed to take my road test for…
1. Call me a sap but last night's Survivor catapulted the show back to the top of my favorites list. Rob proposing to Amber, before the winner was declared, was one of the coolest TV moments ever. EVER! 2. There was more drama, humor and energy in last night's three-hour finale than in the last three seasons of Friends. 3. For all those complaining about reality shows being bad for TV and being of lesser-quality than its scripted counterparts, Survivor is the George McKibbens that shoots that theory down. 4. Speaking of George, the Urbana trio has appropriately dropped out…
1. TGIF! Finally. Heading up to Providence, RI tomorrow for a long weekend of nothing more than relaxing. Saturday dinner with the MacMillan trio of Worcester will be fun. Might hit Roger Williams Park on Sunday. Definitely the crepe place off Thayer we found a couple of years ago. If it's even still there. Possibly up to Boston for Marché? Wish it was going to be a little warmer, though. 2. Pat Tillman. Hate the war, respect the soldier. Especially one that voluntarily signed up knowing he was going to be fighting in a war, walking away from millions of…
A public apology to Helen Yum for not getting downtown to wish her farewell last night. :-( I tried, really I did, but between Sunday's trip to the zoo and all the walking I did yesterday, by the time we'd gotten the kids ready for bed and I picked up the laundry, I was exhausted. She's one of a handful of poetry people - as in, the ones I like above and beyond the poetry scene - that I'd go out of my way for, but I just couldn't do it last night. Another apology to everyone else I've stood…
This whole 5×3 idea that Taylor came up with for the National Poetry Slam – 5 teams, 3 POEMS per bout as opposed to 3×4, or the more recent 4×4 – isn’t necessarily the death of Nationals as some have lamented. It is, however, a flawed band-aid that emphasizes the competition in a way that has the potential to divide local scenes more than the usual inanity inherent to the format. It is also indicative of PSI’s failure to coalesce as a legitimate organization.
One of the bigger problems with this system is the fact that it was insitituted THIS year, completely untested beyond a last-second dry run between meetings a couple of weeks ago. Add to that the fact that now up to 80 teams can compete but it’s still first-come, first-serve registration with minimal requirements* for certification. Instead of making room for new slam scenes for previously unrepresented areas, I bet many of those additional 16 slots will go to larger areas’ B and C teams. Teams started by or made up of veteran carpetbagging poets that bounce around a particular region attempting to qualify for as many teams as possible.
As for the 3 POEMS distinction, it wouldn’t be an issue if that translated to 3 POETS per team. Unfortunately, in their wishy-washy, John Kerry-like manner, they voted to amend Taylor’s proposal to allow slammasters to decide locally whether to send 3, 4 or 5 poets. And there’s nothing mandated that this be determined at the beginning of the season. In other words, if popular Joe Veteran comes in 4th or 5th place, that slam will likely send a 4- or 5-poet team. If unpopular Eddie Newbie takes that 4th or 5th spot, though, that slam has the option to claim broke and choose to send a minimal 3-poet team instead. Given PSI’s spineless penchant for staying out of local issues, this is a senseless can of worms to have opened.
1. There's something about the concept of The Swan that really turns my stomach. 2. If George Huff isn't in the top three of American Idol, America deserves a daily primetime version of The Swan. 3. Despite his accent, which is getting inexplicably stronger each week, I'm rooting for Boston Rob on Survivor: All Stars. 4. Anyone blaming Russell Simmons for "lowering the bar" in the slam scene via Def Poetry needs to do some soul-searching and question whether or not there's a little latent racism to come to terms with. 5. Bad poetry sucks, regardless of its subject matter,…
1. 3-day weekends that become 4-day weekends due to nasty viruses suck. 2. Crazy Wilson is my new [South] American Idol. 3. I don't remember the circus being such a musical production. Other than the lions and horses (booooooorrrrrrring!), though, it was a pretty exciting show. Especially the daredevilly stuff. 4. Ringmaster Kevin Venardos quite possibly has the coolest job in the world. 5. My "Original Broadway Cast Recording" of Barnum arrived today. I'm listening to it now. Don't hate! 6. Old Navy owns my soul. 7. The NASDAQ is under 2000 and the Dow is flirting with dropping below…