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| Photo by Harley Deuce |
Showing posts with label poet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poet. Show all posts
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Christopher Fox Graham Portrait #1 by Harley Deuce
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, Mark Palos, Slam Free Or Die
Poet Mark Palos from Slam Free Or Die, (Manchester, N.H.), performs during a cipher at on the street in Cambridge, Mass., during the 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14 - after the Cambridge Police politely advise the poets to not applaud or cheer.
Shot in on the street outside 496 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.
Monday, September 12, 2011
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #7
A poet in a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.
Shot in on the street outside 496 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.
If you can help me identify the poets in some these clips, please comment.
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #6
A poet in a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.
Shot in on the street outside 496 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.
If you can help me identify the poets in some these clips, please comment.
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #5
A poet in a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.
Shot in on the street outside 496 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.
If you can help me identify the poets in some these clips, please comment.
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #4
A poet in a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.
Shot in on the street outside 496 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.
If you can help me identify the poets in some these clips, please comment.
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #3
A poet in a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.
Shot in Le Meridian Hotel, Cambridge.
If you can help me identify the poets in some these clips, please comment.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet Brando Chemtrails
Poet Brando Chemtrails from Denver's SlamNuba performs during a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14. Shot in on the street outside 496 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.
SlamNuba won the 2011 National Poetry Slam. Brando is one reason why.
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet #2
A poet in a cypher from 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.
Shot in Le Meridian Hotel, Cambridge.
If you can help me identify the poets in some these clips, please comment.
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet J.G. The Jugganaut
Poet J.G. The Jugganaut performs during a cypher at Le Meridian Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., during the 2011 National Poetry Slam, Aug. 8-14.
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, poet Electric Jon from the Toronto Slam Team
Electric Jon from the Toronto Slam Team performs during a cipher at Le Meridian Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., during the 2011 National Poetry Slam.
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Photo by Matt Toth/Toronto Poetry Slam Electric Jon from the Toronto Poetry Slam |
National Poetry Slam 2011 cypher, Gray Brian Thomas
Gray Brian Thomas performs a a poem outside Le Meridian Hotel in Cambridge, Mass., during the 2011 National Poetry Slam.
An excerpt:
"... Fathers would pour gallons of themselves
into small square bottles, then take the bottles
to local liquor stores
and place them on crude shelves
the liquor store owners
would give the fathers back their paychecks
in small
but gracious increments ..."
I got to know him better at the afterparty in the hotel where he performed in the cypher.
At NPS 2011, the Salt Lake City team made semi-finals and Thomas quickly produced a small chapbook, "A Better Word is Needed" which I proudly acquired.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Slam Tutorial: Embrace Your Impediments - The Lisp
George Watsky featuring and hosting at the 2010 Collegiate National Poetry Slam Finals at the Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston.
You have a lisp? A stutter? A stammer? It didn't stop King George VI from rallying the English people to resist the Nazis and it shouldn't stop a page poet from slamming. We find ways to cope when the goal outweighs the cost. I have a stutter, but I have a sing-song way of shifting my voice when I slam, so that it appears to be my speaking voice but actually emerges as though I'm singing like the way I speak.
If your fear is a lisp, George Watsky knocks it out of the park by over emphasizing the lisp with this great poem.
So someone said to me the other day I’ve got a lisp.
A stranger you know they said I’ve got a subtle lisp and I should know I sound a little stupid doing spoken words when all my words have "S" in them are spoken so absurd.
And I’m not upset, okay it just sucks.
You think you’re speaking normally for two decades and then shucks;
find out your stuff sounds like a stanza of Severus Snapes toughest parseltounge is pronounced by daffy duck.
So I will say this.
My subtle lisp is not sinful. I’m not sorry Saturday, I’m not sorry Sunday; I’m spiritual and when I speak I celebrate the Sabbath seven days a week.
I've got special S sauce all smothered on my skull walls like a tossed salad so silk screen the Sistine ceiling on my soft pallet.
I sing along with super seensters reciting Sufjan Stevens songs in skinny jeans.
Dance salsa with soccer moms sneaking out in skimpy see-through sarongs.
I will answer your questions in stout with my sexy subtly lisping sparkling incisor small.
What’s my surname? Watsky.
What’s my size? Stocky.
My city? San Francisco it’s so sweet now slow.
See, I’ve heard some steamy stories of oral sex but I’m not stretching to say one time, I made a lady climax by speaking an S-y section of a Shakespeare sonnet in her split legs general direction.
I scribble all S Essays I shred them and sprinkle the whole S ashes. My speech doesn’t give a spotted sea snail if it passes. I slipped pass straight F’s to straight S’s in my classes because my speech stay second semester senior status.
Seriously so so so so soon, so sick sixth grade kids call me sofa king I’m on tongue steroids, slammin with the Sammie Sosa swing, so tight I sleep upright in a small cell in Sing Sing and sail the seven seas on Steve Irwin’s sting ray while your speed boats sinking.
[. From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/g/george-watsky-lyrics/s-for-lisp-lyrics.html .]
It’s still too soon.
Anyway screw an S.S.O.S I’m straight S.S.S for save someone’s standards. Studied at Emerson the school of savage speech.
Sup Stanford?
I spit sexier than Summer Sanders, Sarah Silverman, Susan Sarandon, Sissy Spacek, Sally Struthers, and Selena, spooning, in a 6-way same sex all S celebrity civil union.
So, you can slander the gay lisp and I will slip you a solid list of friends, or 60% of Emerson; who, lisp or no lisp, will stop, spit, stay pissed, and start all over on the racists.
You can save the South Korean stereotypes, the Sambo shtick, the sexist shit is sickening.
And if you suppose your speech is normal, its cause your impediment is listening.
Speak for those of us with something special. Something that sets us aside from my accent havers, my stammerers, my Southerners, my st-st-stutterers, yes I will spit it sick and stick to never skipping S.
Cause I was, sucking on a soup spoon and I suckled it to sterling silver simple supple super soaker staying watching sister sister scenage syllables coming esophagus move over there’s this place in second place isolate oxygen there’s no stopping this I start this step of speaking you should see that I will not desist
I’m sorry cuz see, If you don’t like a subtle lisp, but you can simply suck on thissssssss
Watsky was featured on Season 6 of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry on HBO. He was the 2006 Youth Speaks Grand Slam Poetry Champion, 2006 Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam Champion, and performed in a record six consecutive Youth Speaks Grand Slam Finals. The last three of those audiences, all topping out at over 3,000, were the largest ever for poetry slams anywhere in the world. In 2009 Watsky was one of three poets who performed live on FOX at the NAACP Image Awards in honor of Simmons’ lifetime achievement award, and in 2011 he performed live as a guest on the Ellen Degeneres Show on two separate occasions.
Watsky has made strides to bring his poetic sensibilities to the theater world. His one-man show "So Many Levels" has been presented in Boston, San Francisco, Vermont, and at the Hip Hop Theater Festival Critical Breaks series in New York City. He has also been featured at the San Francisco and Washington, DC arms of the Hip Hop Theater Festival. He played the title character and co-wrote a 2004 adaptation of Dante’s Divine Comedy for the Living Word Festival and his stage play "Harold’s Fall or King Will" is the recipient of the 2009 Rod Parker Playwriting Fellowship.
Taking it to the page and stereo, Watsky’s debut poetry collection and CD, "Undisputed Backtalk Champion," was published by First Word Press in 2006. Edited by novelist Adam Mansbach, the book is currently in its fourth printing. As an emcee, Watsky has performed on both coasts with his band Invisible Inc. The trio’s self titled album, a blend of jazz and hip hop, features R&B sensation Passion. George’s self-released debut, Watsky, reached as high as #7 on the iTunes Hip Hop albums chart.
An honorary graduate of the Centre for Sustainability Leadership in Melbourne, Watsky has emerged as part of a vanguard of artists involved in the sustainability movement. The inaugural Speak Green winner for poetry on climate change, Watsky was twice invited by Robert Redford to perform in Sundance, Utah. He served as host of Green Mic in San Jose, Calif. and of the culminating concert of Powershift 2007 in Washington, D.C., and performed at Rock the Debate in Oxford, Miss., prior to 2008′s first presidental debate. His work has brought him to the opening plenary of Green Cities 2008 in Sydney, Australia, and Greenbuild Chicago, where he took the stage immediately before President Bill Clinton.
Touring while finishing his college education on a condensed schedule, Watsky has performed at conferences and universities in more than half the states in the U.S., and two in Australia, appearing at some of the nation’s most notable venues, including the Apollo Theater, the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, the San Francisco Opera House and the Shrine Auditorium. He has shared billing with Beyonce, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt and Mohammed Ali.
Watsky graduated from Emerson College with a B.A. in writing and acting for the ccreen and ctage, studying with Keith Johnstone, Ken Cheeseman, Robbie McCauley, Sarah Hickler, Amelia Broome and Andrew Clarke.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
nodalone: biopic of the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team
nodalone
Originally from East Lansing, Mich., Shaun Srivastava, aka nodalone, moved to Flagstaff in 2008 to attend Northern Arizona University.
While quietly writing poetry for many years, nodalone has only recently begun performing his spoken word at slams and various events throughout Arizona.Preferring to use his platform to address current political, cultural, and social issues, the poet gives a performance that captures the power of the issue in a personal and passionate style.
He will complete degrees in both exercise science and psychology in 2012, with plans to pursue a master’s degree in psychology.
Video by Tara Graeber
FlagSlam poet nodalone features at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30
Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.
The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.
All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.
The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.
Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.
For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
poets mourn the loss of beautiful David Alan Blair
Blair performs "Behind the Garage" at TEDxDetroit
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| David Blair Sept. 19, 1967 -- July 23, 2011 |
Blair was an award-winning, multi-faceted artist: poet, singer-songwriter, writer, performer, musician, community activist and teacher. In the words of Metro Times journalist Melissa Giannini, “Blair focused his work on the hope that rises from the ashes of despair.”
A 2010 Callaloo Fellow and a National Poetry Slam Champion, his first book of poetry, Moonwalking, was recently released by Penmanship Books. Blair, as a solo artist, and with The Urban Folk Collective, self-released more than seven records in the last ten years. His most recent album, The Line, with his band The Boyfriends, was released in 2010 on Repeatable Silence Records.
Throughout his life, Blair performed at venues, large and small, across the nation and around the world. He was nominated for seven Detroit Music Awards, including a 2007 nod for Outstanding Acoustic Artist. He was named Real Detroit Weekly Readers Poll’s Best Solo Artist and The Metro Times Best Urban Folk Poet. In 2007, he won the Seattle-based BENT Writing Institute Mentor Award.
Blair performing "Little Richard Penniman Tells It Like It T-I-S" on the steps of the Motown Museum - Detroit Shot By Matt Wisotsky Edited By Jeff Cenkner
As well as being the recipient of numerous awards, he taught classes and lectured on poetry and music in Detroit Public Schools, The Ruth Ellis Center, Hannan House Senior Center, the YMCA of Detroit, and at various universities, colleges and high schools across the country.
Blair has friends and fans on almost every continent. He will be greatly missed by the loved ones he left all too early. He is preceded in death by his father, Herbert Blair. He is survived by his mother, Hildegard (Smith), siblings Herbert Blair (who resides in Pennsylvania), Tony Blair (New Jersey), Walter Blair (Florida), Joy Blair Swinson (New Hampshire) and many nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles.
And every raindrop falling from the skyis like a tribute to the blue skies following behind,And every raindrop falling to the seais like a testament to a new life that will come to be.~Blair
(from the song “Every Raindrop”)
The David Blair Memorial Fund has been set up to help defray the costs of his memorial service. Donate here. Any funds raised beyond these immediate expenses will be used to create a fund in his honor for Detroit artists in need of healthcare. More information on David Blair’s memorial can be found at www.dblair.org.
Blair performs "My name is Karl" at Seattle Poetry Slam
I returned his hospitality a few years later when Blair and his band, Blair and the Boyfriends, came through Flagstaff and Sedona in 2009, performing at FlagSlam at The Mad Italian. I can still remember him across the table with me and his band eating pizza at The Hideaway in Sedona. He had a great laugh and such positivity in the air around him.
Blair performs "Detroit"
Do him one last honor and watch him perform one his poems.
He will be missed.
Fa Una Canzone
Fa una canzone senza note nere
se mai bramasti la mia grazia havere.
Falla d'un tuonó ch'invita al dormire,
dolcemente, dolcemente facendo la finire.
Fa una canzone senza note nere
se mai bramasti la mia grazia havere.
Falla d'un tuonó ch'invita al dormire,
dolcemente, dolcemente facendo la finire.
(Sing me a Song
Write a song with no black notes
if you ever wanted my favor.
Write it so that it will bring me to sleep,
make it end sweetly, sweetly.)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Valence: member of the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team
Valence
Tyler Sirvinskas, aka Valence, is a poet among other things.
Valence has been a slam poet since 2010 and new to the format of slam, but not to the art of writing.After living 14 years in Chicago, he has spent six years and counting in Arizona.
"Ordinary as Mountaintops"
by Valence
from the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"
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Photo courtesy of Tara Graeber Valence will perform at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, July 30. |
And there’s nothing I wouldn’t give to see beneath the surface,
but I’m accepting the fact I’ll have to ask you what it looks like —
I’m an unreliable narrator too, so I won’t hold it against you
when you don’t give yourself enough credit
If your only regret is that you didn’t start diving,
climbing those underwater mountains sooner, then I’d say
you’re the kinda sinner that makes saints look impossible
beautiful sinners all bound to bear weight alone
the lining of your heart may be stone, and precious beyond measure
so remember it isn’t just saline coming out of your tear ducts
it is mountain spring runoff
your tears melt from ice
and give life to the soil
so continue drying your eyes
you have the kind of hands that could grow beautiful roses
makes me wish I was your first rose …
to know you like your mother did,
to know you like your firstborn.
I wish I’d been your imaginary friend,
your last greatest loss collecting dust
but I’m only a man and I don’t have that power
to see and feel your life as if it were ours
but I’m trying to climb.
I wanna know how you managed a head in the clouds
but your roots like a mountain so deep underground
I wanna breathe the thin air up there
where you see the world from,
because life is a climb and we haven’t got long
it is only to the hearts of our friends that we hold on
please call me your friend, so when it’s all said and done
I know I’ll live on,
it will show in the soft purple stripes on your roses
grown with mountain spring runoff.
We remember our loved ones for the places they take us
when we see from that clifftop through their favorite angle
That’s why I grow roses, to color the landscape
that absent hands led me to once, in the past
and I know I never said, but my first stargaze after we met
I fancied the night sky just some strange arrangement
that the asteroid belt was only god’s theremin.
It sings to us now in the form of a sunset.
Copyright 2011 © Valence Tyler Sirvinskas
FlagSlam poet Valence features at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30
Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.
The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.
All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.
The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.
Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.
For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich: member of the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team
Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich
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Photo courtesy of Tara Graeber Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich will perform at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, July 30. |
Now at 18, she is staring into a world of open doors, not sure of which ones to walk through. She believes that life is all about fun and happiness, and we must learn to make it just that.
Like a child, she’s constantly curious and eager to see what life’s all about, and eager to find out. Writing is one of the many ways she expresses her audacity for life. Performing her poetry for three years now, she believes that slam poetry isn’t just a competition, but a tool, one to be heard.
Video by Tara Graeber
"Set Me Free"
by Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich
from the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"
from the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"
I want a man,
Who knows the difference between a bitch and a woman …
Who knows that if he ever tried to treat this woman like a bitch he wouldn’t have a female dog on his hands,
He’d have a psycho killer,
BOY I ain’t no dog,
Don’t let my age fool you,
’cuz I ain’t no little girl,
I am a woman,
And I shall be treated like it,
’cuz boy,
I got my eyes set to kill,
And I’m hunting for my thrill,
Enjoying my free will,
I won’t take your bullshit just ’cuz you’re handing it out like candy,
’cuz yea, I gotta sweet tooth,
But your shit’s sugar-free,
Baby, I want someone naturally sweet,
None of that fake shit for me,
’cuz I’m beyond fed up dealing with your childlike tendencies,
Treating drama like your drug of choice,
It’s like Ritalin to your ADD,
You gotta constant twitch for that fix,
But drama for me,
Is like an old nasty habit I kicked,
I wanna kick you,
Like an old nasty habit,
’cuz I’m tired of playing with these boys,
I’m getting bored of these games,
Like board games,
You’re repetitive and easy,
And really not that much fun to play with,
So give me a man,
Who’d treat me like his job, and get down to business,
Who’d work me the right way as if he was getting paid,
Who’d push all the right buttons like memorizing my phone number,
No speed dialing,
Who could use his tools,
Who could aim with his gun pull the trigger and BANG!
Kinda like cupid’s arrow but a little more forceful,
Who knows how to smoothly touch you,
Like waves washing up on a shore,
Who doesn’t just try to grab you like a kid in a candy store,
I want more.
I want the puzzle pieces to fit together perfectly,
Don’t try to shove ’em if they don’t work,
Treat my body like a wet dream,
Don’t you dare wake up from me,
I wanna be your sanctuary,
Like a black
congregation
singing gospels,
Shout “Hallelujah!”
Treat my lips,
Like precious
Flagstaff tap water after living in Nigeria for a year,
Sip it.
Enjoy it.
I want you to listen to me because if my lips are precious, then so are my words,
Baby hear me roar!
And you are man,
So roar louder!
’til your lungs give out,
And when we can’t speak anymore we’ll talk with our bodies,
I want to be treated like your favorite swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated,
“Please, don’t bend the pages”
Not like a Tonka truck,
Don’t just try to drive me,
’cuz we’re all born into this life running in first place,
’cuz it’s race to the end,
Or a march to the death,
But no one even stops to look at the scenery anymore,
I want my scenery,
’cuz it’s a long journey,
So please,
All you boys of the world understand,
It’s nothing personal,
I’m just not the type to give in,
’cuz I’d rather be eased into it,
’cuz I keep my hurricane of a soul locked behind my fierce eyes,
I keep my lightning bolt of a heart chained up in my rib cage,
I’ve been longing to be set free,
Set me free,
But all you boys do is put in the key,
I need a man,
Who can turn it,
And open the door,
Set me free.
Copyright 2011 © Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich
FlagSlam poet Taylor Marie Kayonnie-Ehrlich features at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30
Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.
The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.
All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.
The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.
Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.
For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
nodalone: member of the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam Team
nodalone
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Photo courtesy of Tara Graeber nodalone will perform at the Sedona Poetry Slam on Saturday, July 30. |
While quietly writing poetry for many years, nodalone has only recently begun performing his spoken word at slams and various events throughout Arizona.
Preferring to use his platform to address current political, cultural, and social issues, the poet gives a performance that captures the power of the issue in a personal and passionate style.
He will complete degrees in both exercise science and psychology in 2012, with plans to pursue a master’s degree in psychology.
Video by Tara Graeber
"Line in the Sands"
by nodalone
from the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"
from the 2011 FlagSlam National Poetry Slam team chapbook "Gossamer Outrage"
At this very moment
in this great state of Arizona
we have congressmen sipping brandy
out of crystal clear snifters with white supremacists
up in Kingman
correlating Mexicans with empty bunk beds
in private prisons that haven’t even been built yet
laughing amongst themselves
comparing the thread counts in their satin sheet disguise
while their allegedly more educated children size up
ivory husk flecked business cards on wall street
and strategize
on how to sell credit default swaps and derivatives
and scams as grand as Egyptian pyramids
trying to tell college kids
staying up all night searching for scholarships
that the “American Dream”
is still alive
even though we can’t seem to escape the fact that it reeks
of formaldehyde
all while the powers that be perpetrate “patriotic ideas”
like repealing the 14th Amendment
to better protect the American public
from the imminent tidal wave
of little brown “anchor babies” and such nasty liberal tactics
as the “Dream Act” that they fancy to frame in a Pandora’s Box called amnesty
so what does one power broker of cultural purity say to the other?
“oh. I know,
we’ll call it SB 1070”
better get your papers, please
matter of fact I think this is a fake ID
step outta the car, Pedro, and get down on your fucking knees
start praying to that blond-haired
blue-eyed Jesus the same way
Governor Jan Brewer does every night before she slips off into her sweet slumber
resting comfortably on her California King sleep number
tallying migrant worker fatalities like counting sheep
before they’re sent off to slaughter
it’s time to tell our “glorious” war hero of a senator
that this country will not be reduced to Berlin
in the mid 1980s
metal walls and electric fences need only be reserved for cattle in this country
you would think that John McCain would be able to better understand
what it means
to be wrongfully imprisoned
simply for crashing in another man’s land
what was that he said again?
“finish the dang fence already?”
desperately pandering to
hypermedicated
understimulated
overweight
postmenopausal baby boomer blank faces
hiding behind the thick irony of straw gardening hats used to lynch Lipton tea bags
who can’t even navigate their way through a subway to order a ham sandwich
so who you gonna stand with?
NPG Cable and Cox Communications don’t collectively control enough
bandwidth
and there are not enough like-minded activists in this great state
to halt the implementation
of this blatantly racist legislative injustice
how much longer must we wait?
until we see Sheriff Joe Arpaio
dressed in standard-issue
Maricopa County pink jumpsuits sporting
stainless steel shackles enraged
developing strain polyps encaged
behind miles and miles of 20-foot tall chain-link fences
why don’t we just erase the border altogether
and sever the umbilical cord that is funneling federal funding
to that double-wide tractor trailer mechanical combine
of ignorance and hate
that is raping lady liberty and get back to
what that statue on Ellis Island really means
to be that faint glimmer at the end of the tunnel
for those families willing to risk their lives
so their children can grow up to one day realize
that opportunity
is more than that just an abstract term in the middle of an English dictionary
so why does it seem so quiet?
you should be rocking back and forth red in the face and screaming
hell, you’re already on top of the mountain
why don’t you go home and
Google Jim Crow and
come back next week and start shouting
because you see the truth is
history …
is gonna judge our generation
not by what we believed in,
but by what we didn’t.
Copyright 2011 © nodalone Shaun Srivastava
FlagSlam poet nodalone features at Sedona Poetry Slam on July 30
Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a poetry slam Saturday, July 30, starting at 7:30 p.m. featuring the four members of the Flagstaff National Poetry Slam Team.
The slam follows on the heels of the recent premiere of the documentary poetry film “Louder Than a Bomb,” offering Sedona audiences a live poetry slam to watch, judge or even compete in.The four-poet team will share the stage with some of the Southwest's top poets pouring out their words in an explosion of expression.
All poets are welcome to compete for the $50 grand prize.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 the day of the event, available at Golden Word Books and Music, 3150 W. SR 89A, and online at studiolivesedona.com.
The team will also have its new 28-page chapbook "Gossamer Outrage" available. All proceeds from ticket and chapbook sales help the 2011 team - Northern Arizona's 10th – fund its trip to Boston to represent our region of the state against 71 other teams at the National Poetry Slam in August.
Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona.
For more information, call (928) 282-2688 or visit http://studiolivesedona.com.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
GumptionFest V searches for artists for festival Sept. 11 and 12 in Sedona
GumptionFest V
- Fifth annual event takes place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 11 and 12.
- Activities last all day at several venues along Coffee Pot Drive.
- Admission is free. All art and music is supplied by donation.
- All amateur and professional artists are invited.
- To volunteer, participate or for more information, e-mail GumptionFest@gmail.com.
- After four years of promoting the grassroots arts community of Sedona and the Verde Valley, GumptionFest is looking to fill its artist ranks for the festival.
GumptionFest V searches for artistsThe fifth annual GumptionFest arts festival takes place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 11 and 12.
Led by festival founder and director Dylan Jung, the organizers are opening the search for artists, volunteers, sponsors and vendors.
The event includes activities for all ages, including art workshops and activities for young children and teenagers.
For the last four years, GumptionFest has been run as a grassroots street festival block party with a budget built on donations and goodwill.
Artists, organizers and staff aren't paid, yet the festival still has no trouble coordinating the huge volume of artists who want to contribute.
The festival simultaneously operates five venues along Coffee Pot Drive, with more than 100 artists, 40 bands and 40 solo musicians performing. Average turnout numbers about 1,200 attendees.
At the inaugural GumptionFest in 2006, the goal was to provide a full-day experience showcasing the best of the local amateur, young, underground and under-the-radar artists that call the Verde Valley home. They share the stages with local and regional professional bands and artists.
The second and third GumptionFests added an additional day to accommodate all the artists and bands who wanted to participate, while the 2009 event added a third day.
The guidelines for submission are simple: Anyone who creates art in any form is eligible.
The lineup of past years has included local musicians like Liquid Theory, Yin Yang & Zen Some, Radio Dogma, the Tarantulas, Goldmund, Dave Harvey, the Dry River Yacht Club, DJ Nate Metro and Chris Spheeris. Regional acts from Phoenix, Flagstaff and Prescott also clamor to participate.
Painters, sculptors, visual artists and photographers have art on display.
A poetry open mic also showcases the spoken word and page poets from around Northern Arizona and the Verde Valley.
For GumptionFest 5: Raiders of the Lost Art, organizers are looking for visual artists, photographers, dancers and dance troupes, musicians, bands, theater groups and poets who want to be a part of the festival for either one or two days.
Talent levels are not important: participants should range from full-time professional artists and musicians and published poets to recreational artists, part-time photographers and those who pen poems in private journals.
Youth and teen artists are also strongly encouraged to participate whether they aim to become professional artists as adults or just create art, write poetry or play music to pass the time.
Volunteers are also needed this year, so even those who don't play an instrument, paint, sculpt or write poems can help and be a part of one of the largest free arts festival in Sedona.
To participate, volunteer or contribute as a sponsor, contact GumptionFest@gmail.com or visit GumptionFest on Facebook.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Poets Schedule at GumptionFest 4
GumptionFest 4 Poets Schedule
All times are subject to change but probably won't. Be sure to pick up a schedule the day of the performances for any updates. Musicians: Please e-mail gumptionfest@gmail.com if you have any changes or questions about scheduling.
- Sign up with Christopher Fox Graham when you arrive (My hubs will be GFHQ/Art Gallery or the Cabaret Stage).
If you don't know what I look like by now, I'm the dude to the right. - I won't assign anyone in advance for Saturday or Sunday except GF staff. This is to ensure I have poets present. Find me as soon as you arrive and you want your slot.
- Poets will fill the space between bands. The timing is based on the bands' schedule. Poet times are approximate.
- Once you have your slot assignment(s) get to the venue at least 20 minutes before, as some bands may run short or go long.
- Contact the stage MC when you arrive so he or she knows who you are and that you're present.
- As soon as the band finishes, the host will announce you. Get up there quick. Plug your events or merchandise.
- You can preview your poem, banter with the crowd, etc., but just remember that you have limited time.
- Start performing. The previous band will be breaking down behind you and the next band will be setting up.
- You are the distraction for the audience, and your mission is to ensure there is no break in the artistic performance, so ignore the distraction and own the stage. When the band is ready, finish your last poem and get off the stage quickly.
- If you read your three poems and the band is still setting up, you're still the act. Read another. Entertain the crowd until the band is ready.
- The whole audience may not be paying attention. There's no need to be a jerk about that, but keep in mind that someone in the audience is always listening, so keep going. The audience would rather hear you than watch techs anyway.
- I will try to match poets with bands to ensure the biggest crowd for you, i.e., introspective poets get solo guitarists or tamer acts while shock-and-awe slam poets will get rowdy crowds.
- The poetry is uncensored, but the festival is all ages. There is no need to censor yourself, just be aware. You have to deal with angry parents.
- If you have raunchy poetry with strong language, let me know and I'll book you in a more adult-orientated slot.
- Merchandise: Sell whatever you can or want but you're responsible. If you want to set up a booth, contact Dave Harvey and Melinda at Creative Flooring, 928-204-5542. A booth is $50.
- Greenroom at the GumptionFest HQ and Gallery at 2020 Contractors road is open to performers and poets. You can leave your gear here. Donated coffee, food is available for poets and performers in the Greenroom.
- Open Mic: The open mic is available whenever. Take advantage.
Friday, September 4,
GumptionFest Kick-Off Party at Ken’s Creekside
| Band | Poet (Rough. I may see about multiple poets) | ||
| | | ~5:50 | |
| 6:00 | Jay Fout & Keith Martini | ~6:50 | |
| 7:00 | Jake Payne | ~7:50 | |
| 8:00 | Julia Jordan w/Dinora Walcott | ~8:50 | |
| 9:00 | Busker Eaton | ~9:50 | |
| 10:00 | Decker & The Doppelgangers | ~10:50 | |
| 11:00 | Deepa (Flagstaff) | | |
Saturday, September 5,
GumptionFest 4, Day One
Oak Creek Brewery | MC: Jessica Laurel Reese, Jen Valencia | ||
| Band | Poet | ||
| | | ~11:50 | |
| 12:00 | Moonstone (Chicky & Tommy) | ~1:20 | |
| 1:30 | Decker & The Doppelgangers | ~2:50 | |
| 3:00 | Busker Eaton | ~4:20 | |
| 4:30 | Deepa (Flagstaff) | ~5:50 | |
| 6:00 | Clover (Flagstaff) | ~7:20 | |
| 7:30 | OptimistiChaos | ~8:50 | |
| 9:00 | Yin Yang & Zen Some | ~10:20 | MC Antranormus and The Canyon Animals |
| 10:30 | What Laura Says Thinks & Feels (Tempe) | ~11:50 | MC Antranormus and The Canyon Animals |
| 12:00 | Dry River Yacht Club (Tempe) | | |
| GumptionFest Cabaret Tent | MC: Christopher Fox Graham | ||
| Band | Poet | ||
| | | ~10:50 | |
| 11:00 | Mikel Weisser | ~12:20 | |
| 12:30 | Ryan Biter (Flagstaff) | ~1:50 | |
| 2:00 | Eric Miller | ~3:20 | |
| 3:30 | Jazz Bedouins | ~4:50 | |
| 5:00 | Haiku Death Match | ||
| 6:15 | Carrie Kohnya (6:15) | ~6:25 | |
| 6:30 | Radio Dogma | ~7:50 | |
| 8:00 | Professor Big Swinger | | |
| Devi Yoga Outdoor Stage | MC: Walker Marchal | ||
| Band | Poet | ||
| | | ~12:20 | |
| 12:30 | Julia Jordan w/Dinora Walcott | ~1:50 | |
| 2:00 | Jake Allen (San Diego) | ~3:20 | |
| 3:30 | Lindsay Dragan (Flagstaff) | ~4:50 | |
| 5:00 | Courtney Nicole (San Francisco) | ~6:20 | |
| 6:30 | Jake Payne | ~7:50 | |
| 8:00 | Skin Deep | | |
| Studio Live | MC: Jennifer Reddington, Suzy Schomaker, April Payne | ||
| Workshop/Band | Poet | ||
| 10:00 | Beginner Mini-Laughing Yoga Class | ||
| 10:30 | Performance Poetry Workshop w/ Mikel Weisser | ||
| 12:00 | Bellydance Workshop w/Habib | ||
| 1:00 | Technical Vocal Workshop w/ Susannah Martin | ||
| 2:00 | Blues Dawg | ~3:20 | |
| 3:30 | Summer Cygal | ~4:50 | |
| 5:00 | Ralf Illenberger | ~8:40 | |
| 9:00 | Concert w/ Freedom, Jake Allen and Näthan $15 Door | ||
| Creative Flooring Open Mic Tent | MC: | |
| 12:00 | AZ Dunan Ensemble | |
| 4:00 | Open Mic (Sign Up) Any musician, poet or performer is welcome to perform. | |
Saturday, September 6,
GumptionFest 4, Day Two
| Oak Creek Brewery | MC: Jessica Laurel Reese | |||||
| Band | Poet | |||||
| | | ~12:20 | | |||
| 12:30 | Luminaria (Flagstaff) | ~1:50 | | |||
| 2:00 | Ray Reeves Band (PHX) | ~3:20 | | |||
| 3:30 | Damn Close (Flagstaff) | ~4:50 | | |||
| 5:00 | MOS Funnel (Chicago | ~6:20 | | |||
| 6:30 | The Ominators | ~7:50 | | |||
| 8:00 | GumptionFest Afterparty Dirty Water Jump Band, The Devil Whale (Salt Lake City) David Williams & Glade (Salt Lake City) Jake Payne | Poets as needed | | |||
| GumptionFest Cabaret Tent | MC: Christopher Fox Graham, Kathy Perry | ||
| Band | Poet | ||
| | | ~11:50 | |
| 12:00 | Linda Ayers (30min.) | ~12:30 | |
| 12:45 | Mikel Wiesser (30min.) | ~1:15 | |
| 1:30 | Kelly Cole w/Kayt Perlman | ~2:30 | |
| 2:45 | Habib (2:45) | ~2:50 | |
| 3:00 | William Hoshal Quartet | ~4:20 | |
| 4:30 | Jason Vargo w/ Eva George | ~5:20 | |
| 5:30 | Women Divine, a capella and rhyme, | ~5:50 | |
| 6:00 | Sam Cavanaugh | ~7:20 | |
| 7:30 | Kenzo | | |
| Devi Yoga Outdoor Stage | MC: Walker Marchal | ||
| Band | Poet | ||
| | | ~11:20 | |
| 11:30 | Stephen Sokola | ~12:50 | |
| 1:00 | Two Suns | ~2:20 | |
| 2:30 | The Sirens | ~3:50 | |
| 4:00 | Larry 4 Life | ~5:20 | |
| 5:30 | The Time Bandits (Tucson) | ~6:50 | |
| 7:00 | Dave Harvey & Friends | ~8:20 | |
| 8:30 | Freedom | | |
| Studio Live | MC: Jennifer Reddington, Suzy Schomaker, April Payne | ||
| Workshop/Band | Poet | ||
| 10:00 | Beginner Mini-Laughing Yoga Class | ||
| 10:30 | A capella Singing Workshop w/ Wendy Davis | ||
| 12:00 | Writing our way to Happiness” Writing Workshop w/ Martha Entin | ||
| 1:00 | Intro to Fingerstyle Guitar Workshop w/Rick Cyge | ||
| 2:00 | Hank Levine | ~3:20 | |
| 3:30 | Connie Fisher | ~4:50 | |
| 5:00 | Third Point | ~6:20 | |
| 6:30 | Baba Shibambo | ||
| Creative Flooring Open Mic Tent | MC: | |
| 12:00-6:00 | Open Mic (Sign Up) Any musician, poet or performer is welcome to perform. | |
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