Once you're close to 17 syllables, count them with your accent as it's not 100% accurate to Western American dialect, as in this:
oh one one oh one oh oh
one oh, you're pwned, bitch
Haiku Death Match at Sedona's GumptionFest IV on Saturday, Sept. 5.
Indiana Jones
jumped the shark when Lucas and
Spielberg "nuked the fridge"
"nuke the fridge", verb phrase: Nuke the fridge is a colloquialism used to refer to the moment in a film series that is so incredible that it lessens the excitement of subsequent scenes that rely on more understated action or suspense, and it becomes apparent that a certain installment is not as good as a previous installments, due to ridiculous or low quality storylines, events or characters.
The term comes from the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in which, near the start of the movie, Harrison Ford's character survives a nuclear detonation by climbing into a kitchen fridge, which is then blown hundreds of feet through the sky whilst the town disintegrates. He then emerges from the fridge with no apparent injury. Later in the movie, the audience is expected to fear for his safety in a normal fistfight.
Fans of the Indiana Jones series found the absurdity of this event in the film to be the best example of the lower quality of this installment in the series, and thus coined the phrase, "nuke the fridge".
The phrase is also a reference to the phrase "jump the shark", which has the same meaning, only applied to a television series instead of a film series.
Your kiss is better
Big Poppa E is one of poetry slam's greats. He was among the first slam poets I ever saw, way back at Mesa's Essenza Coffeehouse in 2000, when most of my fans were still in elementary school. If you enjoy slam, there are a number of books to have on your shelf, not the least of which is Big Poppa E's Greatest Hits: Poems To Read Out Loud "A special collection of dynamic performance poetry by Big Poppa E, perfect for high school and college speech students to use in competition or anyone who mistakenly thinks they hate poetry! BPE is a spoken word artist and three-time HBO Def Poet who melds rhythmic verse, stand-up comedy, and dramatic monologue into explosive works that skewer pop culture, politics, and the pain and beauty of relationships. His musings have led to appearances on BET's The Way We Do It sketch comedy series, National Public Radio, and CBS's 60 Minutes (although, truth be told, he was only on for about three seconds... but still...)."
All the world's problems
The new updated GumptionFest IV Web site just went live!
Stuck on a boat
Haiku Death Match at Sedona's GumptionFest IV on Saturday, Sept. 5.| Sedona Area Poetry Events Upcoming poetry events provided by Sedona 510 Poetry | |
| Thursday AUG 20 6-7:30 p.m. | Poetry Salon – poets & writers needed Held on the first and third Thursday of each month, Poetry Salon is for all those writing or wanting to write creatively – prose, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, essays, songwriting, and all other written forms. Moderated by award-winning author and poet Gary Every, each meeting will emphasize different aspects of the craft of creative writing, including writing exercises and group discussion. The Well Red Coyote Creative Writing Salon is meant to provide a safe place for writers to share their work with other writers. What united them all is a passion for written and spoken word. All writers, at all level, are welcome. Listeners are also welcome. Well Red Coyote, 3190 W. Hwy. 89A (at Dry Creek Road), Suite 400, West Sedona. For more information, e-mail Every at ccoledamion@aol.com. |
| Tuesday AUG 25 5-7 p.m. | Sedona Poetry Open Mic – open mic poets needed Now more than five years old, the Sedona Poetry Open Mic has regularly hosted amateur, professional, performance, page, published and closet poets. All poets, spoken word artists, lyricists, songwriters, rappers, MCs, comedians and storytellers are welcome. If your art can be spoken, come and speak. Nearly 1,000 different poets have spoken on stage since the open mic was founded by its host, veteran slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Java Love Café, 2155 W. Hwy. 89A (next to Harkins Theatres), Suite 118, West Sedona. To sign up, call Graham at 928-517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com. |
| Friday AUG 28 6-10 p.m. | Art Has Power – slam poets needed Yavapai College’s Verde Valley Campus hosts a Poetry Slam and Battle of Bands. The poetry slam will be broken up between live bands. All poets are welcome to attend and compete. Hosted by Christopher Fox Graham. Yavapai College, Verde Valley Campus, 601 Black Hills Drive, Clarkdale. For more information, call call Graham at 928-517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com. |
| Thursday SEPT 3 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. | Poetry Salon – poets & writers needed Held on the first and third Thursday of each month, Poetry Salon is for all those writing or wanting to write creatively – prose, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, essays, songwriting, and all other written forms. Moderated by award-winning author and poet Gary Every, each meeting will emphasize different aspects of the craft of creative writing, including writing exercises and group discussion. The Well Red Coyote Creative Writing Salon is meant to provide a safe place for writers to share their work with other writers. What united them all is a passion for written and spoken word. All writers, at all level, are welcome. Listeners are also welcome. Well Red Coyote, 3190 W. Hwy. 89A (at Dry Creek Road), Suite 400, West Sedona. For more information, e-mail Every at ccoledamion@aol.com. |
| Friday SEPT 4 6 p.m. to midnight | GumptionFest IV pre-party – performance poets needed The three-day GumptionFest kicks off at Ken’s Creekside, 251 Hwy. 179. The night begins with Sedona’s favorite singer/songwriter Jake Payne at 6 p.m., followed by prolific jazz trio Busker Eaton, guitarist Brandon Cameron Parks-Decker, Flagstaff’s eclectic band Deepa, and the Tempe experimental band, the Dry River Yacht Club. Between all the acts, GumptionFest organizers want a few poets to perform a poem or two in the slots as the bands change the stage. Poets should be performance-oriented, relatively high-energy and able to captivate a drinking crowd. To sign up, call poetry coordinator Christopher Fox Graham at 928-517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com. |
| Saturday SEPT 5 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. | GumptionFest IV – all poets needed GumptionFest IV revs into gear with Sedona’s annual grassroots arts festival. Now in its fourth year, GumptionFest is one of the city’s More than 100 musical and performance acts will fill the six stages at five venues for the better part of 15 hours. We will need performance poets, slam poets, page poets, spoken word artists, stand-up comedians, improve comics, rappers, MCs, hip-hop artists, verbal ninjas lyrical pirates to fill slots between bands. Poets will need to fill 3-minute to 20-minute slots between acts with a mixture of poetry. Poets can have experience entertaining large crowds or not — the key point is showcasing the diverse poetry community in Sedona and Northern Arizona. Published page poets, slammers, hip-hop MCs and lyrical entertainers are welcome to sign up and take a slot. To sign up in advance, call poetry coordinator Christopher Fox Graham at 928-517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com.. |
| Saturday SEPT 5 ~5 p.m.~ | GumptionFest Haiku Death Match – haikusters needed Every year, GumptionFest adds a new poetry event. For GumptionFest IV, the poetry highlight will be a Haiku Death Match in the style of the National Poetry Slam. The Haiku Death Match is a staple of the National Poetry Slam and brings in the best and brightest “brief” poets to prove their mettle in 17 syllables or less. Poets will need around 30 haiku to be able to compete the full bout (They’re super easy to write). For tips on competing in (and winning) a Haiku Death Match, a historical summary of both the ancient Japanese and modern American art form, as well as guidelines for GumptionFest’s first Haiku Death Match, visit Gumptionfest IV Will Have a Haiku Death Match. For further updates on GumptionFest poetry and the Haiku Death Match, visit http://foxthepoet.blogspot.com. To sign up, call poetry coordinator Christopher Fox Graham at 928-517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com. |
| Sunday SEPT 6 | GumptionFest – poets needed GumptionFest will wrap up with a final day of performances. Poets are needed all day long to fill in slots between acts. As poets will likely be performing at different venues from previous days likely in front of completely different audiences, poets can repeat poems with little fear. To sign up in advance, call poetry coordinator Christopher Fox Graham at 928-517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com. |
| Tuesday SEPT 8 5-7 p.m. | Sedona Poetry Open Mic – open mic poets needed Now more than five years old, the Sedona Poetry Open Mic has regularly hosted amateur, professional, performance, page, published and closet poets. All poets, spoken word artists, lyricists, songwriters, rappers, MCs, comedians and storytellers are welcome. If your art can be spoken, come and speak. Nearly 1,000 different poets have spoken on stage since the open mic was founded by its host, veteran slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Java Love Café, 2155 W. Hwy. 89A (next to Harkins Theatres), Suite 118, West Sedona. To sign up, call Graham at 928-517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com. |
| Friday SEPT 11 7:30 p.m. | Sedona Poetry Slam – slam poets needed, $100 prize Sedona’s Studio Live hosts a high-energy poetry slam Friday, Sept. 11, starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10. All poets are welcome to compete. After three rounds, random judges in the audience will judge the best poet, who will win $100 and three minutes of glory. The slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at four National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2006. Slammers will need three original poems, each lasting no longer than three minutes. No props, costumes nor musical accompaniment are permitted. The poets will be judged Olympics-style by five members of the audience selected at random at the beginning of the slam. The top poet at the end of the night wins $50. Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive. For more information or to register, call Graham at 928-517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com. Video from previous poetry slams are available at www.YouTube.com/FoxThePoet. Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, Sedona. For more information, visit www.studiolivesedona.com. Tickets are $10, available at Studio Live or Golden Word Books, 3150 W. Hwy. 89A. |
| Thursday SEPT 17 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. | Poetry Salon – poets & writers needed Held on the first and third Thursday of each month, Poetry Salon is for all those writing or wanting to write creatively – prose, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, essays, songwriting, and all other written forms. Moderated by award-winning author and poet Gary Every, each meeting will emphasize different aspects of the craft of creative writing, including writing exercises and group discussion. The Well Red Coyote Creative Writing Salon is meant to provide a safe place for writers to share their work with other writers. What united them all is a passion for written and spoken word. All writers, at all level, are welcome. Listeners are also welcome. Well Red Coyote, 3190 W. Hwy. 89A (at Dry Creek Road), Suite 400, West Sedona. For more information, e-mail Every at ccoledamion@aol.com. |
| Saturday SEPT 19 5-10 p.m. | Sedona Showcase – performance poets needed The Sedona Showcase is an invitation-only performance night featuring some of Sedona’s best and brightest acts. Featuring poetry, music, dance and theater, the Sedona Showcase has been an artistic staple in Sedona’s summer arts scene for more than five years. Founded and hosted by Daniel Holland, the Sedona Showcase takes place at the outdoor stage at Szechuan Martini Bar, 1350 W. Hwy. 89A, Suite 21. The Sedona Showcase is looking to incorporate more performance poets. To sign up, contact Holland’s co-host Christopher Fox Graham at foxthepoet@yahoo.com. |
| Tuesday SEPT 22 5-7 p.m. | Sedona Poetry Open Mic – open mic poets needed Now more than five years old, the Sedona Poetry Open Mic has regularly hosted amateur, professional, performance, page, published and closet poets. All poets, spoken word artists, lyricists, songwriters, rappers, MCs, comedians and storytellers are welcome. If your art can be spoken, come and speak. Nearly 1,000 different poets have spoken on stage since the open mic was founded by its host, veteran slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Java Love Café, 2155 W. Hwy. 89A (next to Harkins Theatres), Suite 118, West Sedona. To sign up, call Graham at 928-517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com. |
| For more information on any event, call Christopher Fox Graham at 928-517-1400, e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com, or visit http://foxthepoet.blogspot.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/FoxthePoet | |
In my head, my life:
one long song-and-dance sequence
and my moves: flawless
Haiku Death Match at Sedona's GumptionFest IV on Saturday, Sept. 5.
When in doubt, zombies make great topics for haiku. They embrace our fear of death, our love of the macabre, and our sense of humor. Zombie haiku have a rich history, as odd as that sounds, by other famous poets:
TOD CAVINESS
If they weren't already, by now everyone is jealous of Shappy Seasholtz and Robbie Q. Telfer. Between this and the Decathlon Slam, they run the two best parties at Nationals, but they take their work seriously. Well, seriously enough to delegate, anyway.
So it is that we nerds become bullies, thinning the herd with stumpers about Harry Potter and The Terminator films (or in my case, comics).
Sally Ryan for The New York TimesCHICAGO — Slam poetry was invited into the White House last month and it is also the focus of the recent HBO documentary series “Brave New Voices.” So you might think that the originator of the poetry slam, a raucous live competition that is more likely to take place in a bar than in a bookstore, would be feeling rather pleased these days.
But from his base here at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, Marc Kelly Smith expresses mixed feelings about the growing popularity and respectability of the art form that he created almost 25 years ago. From the start, he envisioned slam poetry as a subversive, thumb-your-nose-at-authority movement, and he wants to ensure it stays true to those origins.
“At the beginning, this was really a grass-roots thing about people who were writing poetry for years and years and years and had no audience,” Mr. Smith said recently, just before his weekly Sunday night slam at the Green Mill. “Now there’s an audience, and people just want to write what the last guy wrote so they can get their face on TV. Well, O.K., but that’s not what people in this country, from Marc’s point of view, need. We’ve got too much of that. This show wasn’t started to crank out that kind of thing.”
Like it or not, Mr. Smith’s concept has become a global phenomenon, especially among young people, who, helped by exposure to hip-hop, seem more comfortable with the idea that poetry belongs both “on the stage and on the page.” Slam poetry has been incorporated into school curriculums across the country; more than 80 cities now compete in the annual national championship; and similar contests are springing up in the most unlikely places, most recently on Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean.
“I think that perhaps Marc sees this as snowballing out of control,” said Susan B. A. Somers-Willett, author of “The Cultural Politics of Slam Poetry” and a slam poet herself. “This is something that started in Chicago as a group of oddballs who wanted to do some pretty avant-garde things, but over the years, as it entered the commercial sphere, it has gotten more and more homogenous and started catering to a demographic mainstream.”
The poetry event that President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, hosted at the White House on May 12 was a “jam” rather than a slam, perhaps to distance it from the sometimes boisterous atmosphere that Mr. Smith promotes. The evening included performances by two college-age slammers who have appeared on “Brave New Voices” and by Mayda del Valle, a slam poet from Chicago who won the national slam competition in 2001.
The Chicago connection is not coincidental. As Ms. Somers-Willett put it, “Chicago is America’s poetry city, with a rich, rich tradition of orality and performance-oriented poetry that goes way back,” at the very least to Carl Sandburg and Kenneth Rexroth in the first decades of the 20th century.
The Poetry Foundation, which publishes Poetry magazine, also has its headquarters here, and in April set up a Chicago Poetry Tour that includes 22 sites around the city. (An online version of the tour can be downloaded at poetryfoundation.org.) One of the stops is the Green Mill, Mr. Smith’s artistic home since 1986.
“What Marc Smith has achieved here and around the world is remarkable,” said Stephen Young, program director of the Poetry Foundation. “The slam movement summons a lot of energy and has taught some traditional poets a thing or two about how to read their poems in public.”
Yet Mr. Smith and his disciples still raise the hackles of what he refers to as “the academic poets,” on both sides of the cultural wars. Amiri Baraka, a Marxist who is known for his politically provocative poetry, has said, “I don’t have much use for them because they make the poetry a carnival” and “elevate it to commercial showiness, emphasizing the most backward elements.”
On the other side of the divide, Jonathan Galassi, now the honorary chairman of the Academy of American Poets, once described slam poetry as a “kind of karaoke of the written word,” while the critic Harold Bloom has called it “the death of art” and complained of “various young men and women in various late-night spots” who “are declaiming rant and nonsense at each other.” George Bowering, a former poet laureate of Canada, condemns slams as “abominations” that are “crude and extremely revolting.”
Mr. Smith seems to relish such attacks. The initial impulse for slam poetry, he acknowledged, came from his disdain for the conventional poetry readings he attended when he first began to study the craft.
“I went to them, and they were stupid and horrible, with nobody in the audience, and somebody up there onstage throwing all these allusions around, acting as if it’s a crowded room and he’s communicating,” he said. “So I started looking at these poetry readings like, ‘These people don’t know what they are doing.’ And they didn’t, which gave me the confidence to say, ‘Well, I can do that.’ ”
A college dropout, Mr. Smith, born in 1949, worked for more than a decade as a surveyor and construction worker. At the same time he was also writing and reading poetry, verse from Walt Whitman, Wallace Stevens and Robert Frost, all of whom he admires, to Ezra Pound, “who I hated, because, what is he saying, you know?” But when asked about influences on the slam style, he mentions the singer-songwriter Tom Waits first. On hearing songs by Mr. Waits, like “Putnam County,” he said, “it was like: ‘What was that? Wow.’ ”
To spread his version of the slam poetry gospel, Mr. Smith has recently released two books, “Take the Mic” and “Stage a Poetry Slam,” which he wrote with Joe Kraynak. In addition, the Sunday sessions he leads at the Green Mill are broadcast nationally on Sirius XM satellite radio.
He also continues to refine the show here, which consists of an initial open-microphone set, followed by a performance by an invited artist and finally the competition. But since “the competition from my point of view is meant not to be serious, but a mockery,” the first prize is $10, which is an improvement over the Twinkie he used to offer.
“The gimmick here has always been to entertain you and then pow, put it right in you,” he said. “Slam is a serious art form that seems like it’s just a big, goofy thing. But it’s deadly serious. Why do it? Why do any art if you’re not going to bring out of yourself the thing that is most vulnerable and most precious, that has to be said? Why do something unless you’re really trying to get at what it’s really about? And that’s what this show is.”
RIP John Hughes Haiku
Seeking Solutions Haiku
Prepared Haiku