Penultimate scene in "The Empire Strikes Back" if made as a silent film in the 1920s

Fucking awesome.

"An Introduction," by Randy Warren

An Introduction
By Randy Warren
performed at the Sedona Poetry Slam in June

Well first to start it seems appropriate to let you know
that I was sent to help you all remember who you are.
I know to some of you I might begin to look familiar;
that’s because we all go back together very far.

The only difference that there is between us is
I can remember all this shit while your amnesia remains.
It’s not to say that I’m superior;
I simply made the choice to be the one
to help you out of your brains.

So right now, just sit back, and relax, and reflect,
and take a deep breath, let it out and do it again.
It’s me your old pal Randy, I just came back to help you all
and you can trust me ‘cause we’re all friends.

Now all you need to know about yourself, at least to start,
is that you all are basically alone in a dream.
And you can wake up any time you know,
it’s not that there’s some external factor,
some mind-control beam.

You just like it this way
with the balls all in play.
You like the sea of probabilities
with you as the “X”.

But let me tell you,
when you stop playing the victim
then you’re basically God,
and life is basically sex.

The first thing you gotta do,
is let go of being you.

You’re gonna be you anyway,
and this’ll give you more room to play.

‘Cause you’re basically a hologram,
a projection of I-Am-That-I-Am.

And when you let your human go,
then you will instantly start to
know, and grow, and flow, and show
yourself all that you need to know
so you can start to let it go
and feel good all the time, although
there will be times when you’ll say “no”
‘cause you’re addicted to the Show.
The up and down, the ebb and flow,
is all just food for your ego,
let it go, let it go, let it go,
let it go go go go

Go within and you will see that you create reality
by your perceptions and projections
you make it real.

And now the next step is for you to drop the act
and stop reacting to the stimulus
as if you’re a seal.

If there’s a God, then He’s an It, and It’s a They,
and They are Us,
no wonder we all think so much of ourselves.

The other side of that is we’re all really God,
we all forgot while we were occupied enjoying ourselves.

And now, it’s time for us
to drop all the bullshit and just be Awesome.

And I am here to see
the spinach in the teeth of your soul,
and help you floss’em.

So that’ll do it for now, my name is Randy,
like I said I came to help you all remember who you are.

If you have questions you can reach me via email,
or to contact me directly you can wish upon a star.

Before I leave I wanna leave you with something
that’ll help you feel better,
when you feel very bad.

A simple truth that I have tested time and time again,
it’s guaranteed to lift you up when you’re feeling sad.

(deep breath!)

If there’s a God then God is you and you are God
and there is no separation, just two names for the same.

So anything that happens,
must be what you want to happen,
otherwise how could it happen,
no one to blame.

So when you find yourself resisting the present,
lamenting and resenting what is lain at your door,
just take a moment to remember you are God
and as a god you have good taste,
you only choose what you adore.

And in this moment you have chosen
you are perfectly aligned with All That Is
all of the time, you know.

There is no other truth,
that is the way it is,
there is no other way,
there is no other truth to know.

So even in the shittiest of times
it doesn’t change the simple fact
that everything is always Perfection.

And if you see the world as shit,
it may occur to you
that maybe the problem’s
your shitty perception.

And if you want to live a life of joy and happiness
the first and only step
is just to let it all in.

And when you finally let the pain fall away,
all the joy will rush in,
and life will truly begin.
My name is Randy and I came here just to be the one
to tell you all the things that you all already know.

And now that I am here,
you just relax and have no fear,
it’s time to crack another beer
and enjoy the show!

Copyright 2010 © Randy Warren

According to his bio, Randy Warren is an ascended master of the material illusion. He has come to Earth to assist in smoothing the transition into the new age. While here, he enjoys many forms of expression, including poetry. Feel free to contact him and offer him money for his myriad talents.

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 artists

The 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.

Bill Hicks: A 30-30 rewrite poem, by Paulie Lipman

Bill Hicks: A 30-30 rewrite
by Paulie Lipman

Humorist Mark Twain said that
there is no humor in Heaven
Comedian Bill Hicks replied that Hell
will always have the best musicians

The only difference
between a comedian and a humorist
is that a comedian is more
damaged

Bill,
they
called you angry
You
were always in good company
Even Jesus
embraced rage's jagged blossom
as he evicted every thief squatting
in his father's house

Anger
is a gift
The cracked glass spark
that bursts in the chest of every great leader
doomed to the enlightenment that we
as humans, are capable of so much
more
but we run from every opportunity
to realize it
Love
is the fact that they never stop trying
to tell us

Laughter and Happiness
are two jilted lovers
at best

Bill
It's been 16 years
since Cancer's soft ravage
devoured your voice
Your mantle has grown dust
and your every heir apparent
knows only bitter,
cynical indifference mistaken for
righteous Anger
Love
for gullibility
I
counted myself among them
but there was no heart
to our hands
only dull, blustering thunder
inarticulate
and
too clumsy for incision
It tookyour sharp fingers
to slice through my sternum
and choke throttle my heart
back into lightning again
destructive
but illuminating
damaged
and hopeful

They call me
angry
I
am in good company

Copyright 2010 © Paulie Lipman

I have always enjoyed Paulie Lipman from Denver. He encapsulates the Denver scene, having been on six teams. I have slammed against him and seen him feature a few times.
His poem "Potential" brought me to tears at the National Poetry Slam this year in St. Paul, Minn. That goes far to say in that it is not a particularly emotionally heart-wrenching poem in an of itself, it was just a fucking good poem that touched me right then. That's good showmanship. Lipman is a great performer and a good-hearted poet, one whom I highly recommend seeing if he tours to your city.

Paulie Lipman has been at this spoken word thing for about six years. Lipman has been a part of six Denver National Slam Teams (including 2004's second-place team and 2006's National Poetry Slam champions)

Lipman has extensively toured the United States and a little Canada including many schools, from grade school to college and youth correctional facilities. He was recently published in the National Poetry Slam collection "High Desert Voices."

He also appears as the voice of Neal Cassady in the upcoming documentary “Neal Cassady: The Denver Years.” And, he can’t wait to meet you.

Pick up Paulie Lipman's new album, Inobservant at www.twistandshout.com

Read more: www.myspace.com/paulielipman

David Wile reported missing

Glendale police are searching for a missing 30-year-old former Sedona resident reported missing by his family over the weekend.

David Ian Wile, 30, a resident of Sedona from 1995 to 2006, was last seen at his home in Glendale on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 14.

Wile was scheduled to attend and photograph a competition later that afternoon at Paragon Dance Studio in Tempe.

Wile is believed to have gone missing, along with his 2003 silver Honda Accord sedan, after 11:30 a.m. He has family and friends in the Sedona area.

Wile is a white male, 5 feet, 10 inches tall, with brown eyes and brown hair, weighing 180 to 190 pounds.

If you have any information regarding Wile's disappearance or whereabouts, contact the Glendale Police Department or local law enforcement.

Mesa poet Lauren Perry headlines Sedona Summer Poetry Slam on Saturday, Aug. 28

The Sedona Summer Poetry Slam will explode at Studio Live at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 28, presenting three rounds of poetic competition as poets battle for pride and $100.

Between rounds, the audience will be entertained with a feature performance by Lauren Perry, one of the Arizona’s best slam poets.

Perry is a wildcard poet, who hails from Elgin, Ill., but has made a nest in Phoenix. Performing on Mesa National Poetry Slam Team in 2006, 2009 and 2010, she is coming up from behind with tricks in her sleeve and sharp teeth in her smile. Not to be taken lightly, she’s been the Women of the World Poetry Slam representative twice, for Phoenix in 2009 and Mesa in 2010.

The lover and creator of ZombiErotica, this year was Perry’s crowning of Ms. Zombie Beauty Queen 2010 and she has been a returning favorite of the Phoenix Valentine’s erotic festivals.

She hopes to continue spreading the loving words that one does not have to play nice to leave a mark.

Unleashing a Tommy gun spray of fast-spoken bullets, “Monsters” is her first chapbook after releasing her debut CD “Running Backwards” in 2008 and “Horror Couture” in 2010. After eight years of rabbit feet and swearing like a sailor, Lauren Perry is brought to you be Lucky Vision in techno-color dreams.

All poets are welcome to compete in the slam.

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 $100.

Poets who want to compete should purchase a ticket in case the roster is filled before they arrive.

The slam will be hosted by Sedona poet Christopher Fox Graham, who represented Northern Arizona on the Flagstaff team at five National Poetry Slams between 2001 and 2010. He has hosted and competed in poetry slams and open mics in Sedona since 2004.

Graham has performed in 40 states, Toronto, Dublin, Ireland, and London, and wrote the now infamous “Peach” poem.

Founded in Chicago by construction worker and poet Marc “So What?” Smith in 1984, poetry slam is a competitive artistic sport. Poetry slam has become an international artistic sport, with more than 100 major poetry slams in the United States, Canada, Australia and Western Europe.

For more information or to register, call Graham at (928) 517-1400 or e-mail to foxthepoet@yahoo.com.

Tickets are $5 online or $10 at the door.

Home of the Sedona Performers Guild nonprofit, Studio Live is located at 215 Coffee Pot Drive, West Sedona. For more information, visit www.studiolivesedona.com.

See video from previous poetry slams at www.YouTube.com/FoxThePoet.

For more information about the worldwide phenomena of poetry slam, visit www.poetryslam.com.

I won slam bingo at the 2010 National Poetry Slam finals

I won slam bingo with the Wile E. Coyote poem by St. Paul's Shane Holley, the second poet in the fourth round.

St. Paul wins 2010 National Poetry Slam, second year in a row

Host: Nazelah J. Jeffries is a talented and energetic performance poet, actress and vocalist based in Oakland, Calif. Born in Bamberg, S.C., nazelah had a love of performance from a very early age, taking her first dance lessons at the age of 4; at 5, she practiced for days in the mirror hoping to audition for the musical motion picture “Annie!”, only to be disappointed when the auditions never even came near her tiny town.

Nazelah discovered Poetry Slam in 1999 and began to compete, subsequently going to the National Poetry Slam Competition five times on various Bay Area teams. More recently, she and her husband, poet Dahled, produce the Oakland Poetry Slam & have coached Team Oakland to Nationals the last three years. Since 2000, she has been hosting many Bay Area spoken word events as well. She is a gifted emcee, and producers and performers alike are put at ease by her demeanor; she is currently working on two chapbooks, as well as a musical collaboration and a video project. Her love of hip-hop translates onto the stage.

- - - Round 1 - - -

Nuyorican: Jamal St. John, 27.4
Austin Neo Soul: Scott Frank, 25.9
Durham, N.C., four-poet group poem, 27.0
St. Paul: Six is Nine, 28.0

St. Paul leads 28.0 at the end of the first round
(2) Nuyorican, 27.4, -0.6
(3) Durham, 27.0, -1.0
(4) Austin Neo Soul, 25.9, -2.1

- - - Round 2 - - -

Durham, N.C., Dahsan, 26.2, 53.2
Nuyorican: Kenneth Arkind, 27.0, 54.4
St. Paul: Guante, 27.4, 55.4
Austin Neo Soul: duo, 25.9, 51.8

St. Paul leads 55.4 at the end of the second round
(2) Nuyorican, 54.4, -1.0
(3) Durham, 53.2, -2.2
(4) Austin Neo Soul, 51.8, -3.6

- - - Round 3 - - -

St. Paul: Sierra DeMulder, 27.0, 82.4
Durham, N.C., duo poem, 26.9, 80.1
Austin Neo Soul: Scott Frank, 26.3, 78.1
Nuyorican: Jarrod Singer, 27.1, 81.5

St. Paul leads 82.4 at the end of the third round
(2) Nuyorican, 81.5, -0.9
(3) Durham, 80.1, -2.3
(4) Austin Neo Soul, 78.1, -4.3

- - - Round 4 - - -

Austin Neo Soul: trio, 26.8, 104.9
St. Paul: Shane Hollen, 27.6, 110.0
Nuyorican: 27.1, 108.6
Durham, N.C., 27.7, 107.8

St. Paul wins with a 110.0
(2) Nuyorican, 108.6, -1.4
(3) Durham, 107.8, -2.2
(4) Austin Neo Soul, 104.9, -5.1

The championship team of Soap Boxing, St. Paul's Poetry Slam:
Khary J. (aka "6 is 9") is a playwright, teaching artist and poet who is glad to represent St Paul for the fourth time. He's proud of the poetry the Twin Cities is consistently producing, and hopes to remain a part of the scene in various ways in the future.

Kyle “Guante” Myhre has been Grand Slam champ of Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Madison, and was part of the 2009 National Poetry Slam champion Saint Paul team. As a rapper, he's a member of the Tru Ruts crew and has shared the stage with Talib Kweli, Sage Francis, Brother Ali, Zion I and many others. Guante is currently serving as arts coordinator of the Canvas, a Saint Paul teen arts center, and continues to lead workshops through the MN Spoken-Word Association. For more, see www.myspace.com/elguante or El Guante's blog.

Sierra DeMulder In addition to winning the 2009 National Poetry Slam with Saint Paul, Sierra DeMulder ranked 9th at the IWPS, 11th at WoWPS and coached Macalester College to Final Stage at CUPSI 2010. She was awarded Best Female Poet at CUPSI 2009 and in January 2010, her first full-length manuscript was published by Write Bloody Publishing.

Shane Hawley is a spoken word artist who dabbles in hip-hop and stand-up comedy. He is a four time member of the Minneapolis National Poetry Slam team, and a former Minneapolis Grand Slam champion. He has opened for national acts such as P.O.S, Dessa Darling, and Jeremy Messersmith. As a St. Paul native, he is eager to represent his city in his city at the 2010 National Poetry Slam.

Photos from MinnesotaMicrophone.com
Bios from www.Soap-Boxing.com

FlagSlam's bout tomorrow

Tomorrow, our bout is thus:

Seed 32, Mental Graffitti - Chicago, Ill., rank 2 105.7 points
Sead 34, Life Sentence Slam - Fairfield, Calif., rank 2, 104.2 points
Seed 49, FlagSlam - Flagstaff, Ariz., rank 3, 104.2 points
Seed 70, Ocotillo Slam - Tucson, Ariz., rank 4 100.1 points

National Poetry Slam rankings after two days

NATIONAL POETRY SLAM 2010

St. Paul, MN August 3-7

ROUND 1 RANKS
Team Rank Total Score
1 The Nuyorican Slam Team - New York City, NY 01 117.7
02 Boston - Cantab - Boston, MA 1 114.3
03 Soap Boxing - St. Paul, MN 1 114
04 Atlanta Art Amok - Atlanta, GA 1 113.8
05 San Francisco - San Francisco, CA 1 113.7
06 ABQSlams - Albuquerque, NM 1 112.1
07 SlamCharlotte - Charlotte, NC 1 111
08 Fort Worth Poetry Slam - Ft. Worth, TX 1 109.6
09 San Diego Slam Team - San Diego, CA 1 109.3
10 Loser Slam - Long Branch, NJ 1 109
11 SlamRichmond - Richmond, VA 1 108.8
12 Slam Nuba - Denver, CO 1 108.5
13 Slam New Orleans - New Orleans, LA 1 107.9
14 San Francisco - San Francisco, CA 1 107.4
15 Team Dallas - Dallas, TX 1 106.2
16 Java Monkey - Decatur, GA 1 104.4
17 Slam Free or Die - Manchester, NH 1 103.4
18 Bull City Slam - Durham, NC 1 102.3
19 Empire MindState - Pomona, CA 1 100.6
20 SlamRichmond - Richmond, VA 2 112.8
21 Intangible Slam - New York City, NY 2 112.8
21 Denver Mercury Slam - Denver, CO 2 112.8
23 Eclectic Truth - Baton Rouge, LA 2 111.7
24 Poets Anonymous - Delray Beach, FL 2 111.1
25 San Jose Poetry Slam - San Jose, CA 2 110.7
26 Vancouver Poetry Slam - Vancouver, BC 2 108.7
27 VIP - Houston, TX 2 107.9
28 Berkeley Poetry Slam - Berkeley, CA 2 107.7
29 Puro Slam - San Antonio, TX 2 107.6
30 Austin Poetry Slam - Austin, TX 2 107
31 Milwaukee Poetry Slam - Milwaukee, WI 2 106.8

32 Mental Graffitti - Chicago, IL 2 105.7
33 louderArts - New York City, NY 2 105.4
34 Life Sentence Slam - Fairfield, CA 2 104.2

35 Austin Neo Soul - Austin, TX 2 103
36 Brass Knuckles - Los Angeles, CA 2 102.7
37 Santa Cruz Poetry Slam - Santa Cruz, CA 2 99.1
38 Writing Wrongs - Columbus, OH 2 98.8
39 Dallas Poetry Grind - Irving, TX 3 111.1
39 Urbana - New York City, NY 3 111.1
41 Punch Out Poetry Slam - Minneapolis, MN 3 110
42 Madison Slam - Madison, WI 3 108.4
43 Second Tuesday Slam - Portland, ME 3 107.7
44 Neo/Byte This Slam - Detroit, MI 3 107.5
45 Seattle Poetry Slam - Seattle, WA 3 106.8
46 11th Hour Poetry Slam - Washington, DC 3 106.5
47 Houston Poetry Slam - Houston, TX 3 105.6
48 SlamMN! - Minneapolis, MN 3 105.3
49 FlagSlam - Flagstaff, AZ 3 104.2
50 Slam Nahuatl - Richmond, VA 3 102.8
51 Steel City Slam - Pittsburgh, PA 3 102.7
52 Mesa Slam Team - Mesa, AZ 3 101.9
53 Hampshire County Slam Collective - Amherst, MA 3 101.7
54 Green Mill Poetry Slam - Chicago, IL 3 101
55 Slamarillo Poetry Slam - Amarillo, TX 3 99.5
56 Salt City Slam - Salt Lake City, UT 3 98.6
57 Ozark Poetry Slam - Fayetteville, AR 3 96.7
58 Killeen Poetry Slam - Killeen, TX 4 110.6
59 Piedmont Poetry Slam - Winston Salem, NC 4 109.8
60 Punch Out Poetry Slam - Minneapolis, MN 4 107.9
61 Mill City Slam - Lowell, MA 4 107.5
62 HawaiiSlam - Honolulu, HI 4 106.7
63 Oakland Poetry Slam - Oakland, CA 4 106.5
64 Portland Poetry Slam - Portland, OR 4 106
65 Boise Poetry Slam - Boise, ID 4 105.1
66 Red Dirt Poetry Slam - Oklahoma City, OK 4 102.6
67 Writers Block - Columbus, OH 4 101.9
68 Silver City Slam - Silver city, NM 4 101.3
69 Piedmont Poetry Slam - Winston Salem, NC 4 100.5
70 Ocotillo Slam - Tucson, AZ 4 100.1
71 Spokane Poetry Slam - Spokane, WA 4 99.1
72 Toronto Poetry Slam - Toronto, ON 4 97.8
73 The Percolator Slam - El Paso, TX 4 97.1
74 WORDPULP Poetry Slam - Oklahoma, OK 4 96.5
75 Palatine Poetry Slam - Palatine, IL 4 78.8
76 Team Cleveland - Cleveland, OH 4 0


Bout 12 - ( Tues - Camp 9 PM ) - Houston's score was adjusted after the resolution of a protest.
Bout 16 - ( Wed - Wild Tymes 7 PM ) Team Cleveland's rank and score were adjusted after protest.

FlagSlam 2010 National Poetry Slam teaam

FlagSlam 2010, Christopher Fox Graham, Brian Towne,
Frank O'Brien and Ryan Brown.

How I became the fourth poet on FlagSlam's nationals team

So here's how it went down: The original FlagSlam team was Ryan Brown, Brian Towne, RahMah Mercy, Johnny P. and alternate Chris Harbster.

Harbster drops. Team still OK.

Johnny P. drops, but Frank O'Brien, who only recently moved to Seattle, took his slot. Team still OK.

I volunteer to work NPS as a venue manager, so I'm set to travel to St. Paul, Minn.

Brian and Ryan fly to St. Paul, Frank takes the Greyhound. I get to the Phoenix airport.

RahMah bails. Team is now a poet short with no backup. They can compete, but receive an automatic disqualification. I competed at FlagSlams in Flagstaff and earned points toward the Grand Slam, but not enough to compete. But I am the only FlagSlam poet in St. Paul with any points not on the team.

So I have a conundrum: Do I come to rescue of my home team in their hour of need by filling the slot, and hope to do as well as them despite have not practiced for NPS? The three poets have come all this way but would effectively be dead in the water with 2 DQs no matter how strong they are.

Or do I keep my word to NPS volunteer coordinator Jenn Parks and serve as the venue coordinator, thereby serving the whole Poetry Slam Inc. community?

I asked for a lot of advice, but after speaking with Steve Marsh, PSI's executive director, I received a green light to join FlagSlam - he said PSI would rather lose a venue manager than lose a team. A venue manager is a lot easier to replace than a team, he said.

I was really excited to be a volunteer this year. I had a lot of fun as a bout manager at NPS 2003 in Chicago and I would have enjoyed working the venues all four nights. If there was another poet who was eligible, I would have preferred them to fill the slot. But as it stands, it's either me or the other three members of the team came to St. Paul essentially to perform an open mic.

Thus, I am the fourth member of Team FlagSlam. We have a shot at semi-finals now because Brian, Ryan and Frank are all strong solo poets.

Wednesday, 7 p.m.
Bout 16 - Wild Tymes

ABQSlams
(Albuquerque, NM)
FlagSlam
(Flagstaff, AZ)
San Jose Poetry Slam
(San Jose, CA)
Team Clevel

Thursday, 9 p.m.
Bout 35 - Wild Tymes

FlagSlam
(Flagstaff, AZ)
Life Sentence Slam
(Fairfield, CA)
Mental Graffitti
(Chicago, IL)
Tucson Ocotillo Slam
(Tucson, AZ)

I'll be National Poetry Slam 2010 venue manager at POP!

For the National Poetry Slam, I will be the venue manager at Pop!, a restaurant bar two blocks from the hotel. I'll get to see 24 different teams in 6 bouts, including both Canadian teams, Toronto and Vancouver.

For one of the semifinal bouts, I will be the venue manager at the McNally Smith Auditorium.

Tuesday

Bout 2 - POP!
Lionlike MindState
(Chino, CA)
Salt City Slam
(Salt Lake City, UT)
Toronto Poetry Slam
(Toronto, ON)
Writing Wrongs
(Columbus, OH)

Tuesday

Bout 8 - POP!
Brass Knuckles
(Los Angeles, CA)
Hampshire County Slam
(Amherst, MA)
Slam New Orleans
(New Orleans, LA)
Spokane Poetry Slam
(Spokane, WA)

Wednesday

Bout 14 - POP!
Mental Graffitti
(Chicago, IL)
San Diego Slam Team
(San Diego, CA)
Silver City Slam
(Silver city, NM)
Slam Nahuatl
(Richmond, VA)

Wednesday

Bout 20 - POP!
Green Mill Poetry Slam
(Chicago, IL)
Salt City Slam
(Salt Lake City, UT)
Slamarillo Poetry Slam
(Amarillo, TX)
Vancouver Poetry Slam
(Vancouver, BC)

Thursday

Bout 26 - POP!
Boise Poetry Slam
(Boise, ID)
Houston Poetry Slam
(Houston, TX)
Madison Slam
(Madison, WI)
Nuyorican Slam Team
(New York City, NY)

Thursday

Bout 33 - POP!
Fort Worth Poetry Slam
(Ft. Worth, TX)
Neo/Byte This Slam
(Detroit, MI)
San Diego Slam Team
(San Diego, CA)
WORDPULP Poetry Slam
(Oklahoma, OK)

Friday

Semifinals: McNally Smith Auditorium

I'm a volunteer at the National Poetry Slam 2010

Just received word that I will be a volunteer venue manager at the National Poetry Slam in St. Paul, MN, next week. Four days of work at one venue to make sure the bouts run smoothly.

Rock on!

See you all at NPS!

Grapevine Canyon, Nevada

Azami and I just downloaded these photos off a camera from our trip to Bullhead City and Kingman for a class I taught at Mikel Weisser's schools in April. After class and before the open mic, Mikel took us to Grapevine Canyon in nearby Nevada, right across the Colorado River.

Life in a Day

My Jedi sense says something important is happening today ....

Life in a Day is a crowdsourced documentary film comprising an arranged series of video clips selected from 80,000 clips submitted to the YouTube video sharing website, the clips showing respective occurrences from around the world on a single day, July 24, 2010.

The film is 94 minutes 57 seconds long and includes scenes selected from 4,500 hours of footage in 80,000 submissions from 192 nations. The completed film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2011, and the premiere was streamed live on YouTube. On October 31, 2011, YouTube announced that Life in a Day would be available for viewing on its website free of charge, and on DVD.

Psychoanalysis v. the Irish

"This is one race of people for whom psychoanalysis is of no use whatsoever."

-- Misattributed to Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), but certainly true nonetheless, speaking as a part-Irishman.

See the Big Easy

This is from part of a poem about Hurricane Katrina I found recently and decided to finish.

See the Big Easy

The journalist in me
wants to see the Big Easy
it’s not every day that a city
gets wiped off the map

there are stories that need telling
how two men survived on a rooftop
eating pigeons
when the canned food ran out
until a neighbor they had never known
carried them away
or the family of six that let secrets spill
for the first time in years
when they faced the end
and saw bodies floating by
the mystery of the man
with six shots in the torso
and two in skull
— his killer had to reload —
but what happened to change me
from homeowner to corpse?
there are stories that need telling
and my hands are aching
to tell them a world blinded
by the sheer numbers

Baltimore, what would you do?
Seattle, how would you behave?
St. Louis, how would you collect your dead?
Los Angeles, would your rage subside
for the sanctity of touch?

Atlantis sank
Pompeii turned to ash
conflagration mythologized Troy
reduced Rome to Nero’s fiddlesticks
ended London’s Renaissance
doomed Windy City bovines
erased Dresden’s heart
eviscerated Coventry, Darmstadt, Pforzheim, Brunswick, Stalingrad, Hamburg, Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima and Nagasaki
but the vanity of men
rebuilt them into new glories

each one will die in the old ways
or new, undreamed catastrophes
or ironically appropriate calamities
imagined only by trite screenwriters
yet those with the wherewithal
to hold on by fingernails
will merely collapse in the absence of men
fossilizing our bones in their bellies
before Fenrir swallows the sun
the vault of heaven falls
and grass covers all

I want to see how the end may come
interpret the foreshadowing doom,
behold the ego of man
smote by Mother Nature’s gloved fist
to remind us of our insignificance,
lest we forget
stand in the French Quarter
feel the wafting sin evaporate from the gutters
and understand right retribution
only witnessed before in Sodom and Gomorrah
I want to see the death of one great city
barely hiccupping back to life
before I, too, succumb to my personal tragedy
let me hear the jazz funeral tunes
echo over the eaves of abandoned tombs
when there are no saints left to go marching in

Love Me Like a Cowboy

Love me like a cowboy
without cell phones or central heating
we’ll ride horses down city highways
pass Lexuses and BMWs
waiting for the lights to change
I’ll hoster my six shooter
except for trick shots
and love you dawn till dusk
then love you more
the Old West is a sunrise away
if we ride toward the sunset
we’ll ride the next day
in chaps and 10-gallon hats
on dapple greys or duns

imagine us shooting up the local tavern
making love in high-priced restaurants
and city subways
as if we were only watched by prairie dogs
hunts the suburbs for lost gold mines
and make camp in the middle of the expressway
I’ll ride shotgun while you
use a long rifle on lawyers
to thin out the herd

imagine us always having
a setting sun toward which to ride
a rolling prairie to call home
a pair of horses to carry us
from Deadwood to heaven to Virginia City
and a West forever wild

Ryan Brown wins the June 12 Sedona Poetry Slam

Results from the Sedona Poetry Slam

Saturday, June 12, 2010, Studio Live, Sedona, Arizona, 7:30 p.m.

Calibration poet and host Christopher Fox Graham of Sedona, "She Begs For Poetry"

Round 1
Random Draw

Liana O'Boyle, of Sedona, 23.1, after 2.5 time penalty, 20.6 (3:50)
Brit Shostak, of Mesa, 26.3 (2:50)
Tristan Marshall, of Mesa, 27.2, after 0.5 time penalty, 26.7 (3:13)
Champion Max Boehm-Reifenkugel, of Sedona, 24.8 (2:47)
Rowie Shebala, of Gallup, N.M., 23.9 (2:01)
Bill Campana, of Mesa, 26.8 (3:04)
Shi'ike, of Cottonwood, 27.9 (3:08)
Tufik Shayeb, of Mesa, 25.7 (2:45)
Mickey Randleman, of Tucson, 26.5 (2:41)
Lauren Perry, of Mesa, 26.4 (3:00)
Ryan Brown, of Flagstaff, 26.9 (2:55)
Evan Dissinger, of Flagstaff, 26.7 (2:23)
Mikel Weisser, of Kingman, 23.4 (1:03)
Doc Luben, of Tucson, 26.3 (3:09)
Randy Warren, of Sedona, 27.5 (2:51)

---intermission---

Between rounds, the audience will be entertained with a feature performance by the Klute, one of the country’s best slam poets and an Arizona artistic treasure.

The Klute, aka Bernard Schober, competed at the National Poetry Slam six times, for the Mesa Slam Team in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006, and the Phoenix Slam Slam Team in 2008 and 2009. He has led two of those teams to the NPS semi-final stage, ranking him among the best of the best nationwide. He was also the Mesa Grand Slam champion in 2005 and 2010.

In an era when most artists and poets shy away from confronting politics, the Klute stands apart.

He has earned a reputation for in-your-face political commentary and over-the-top humor targeting Neo-Conservative politicians, crass laissez-faire commercialism and Goth subculture.

Originally from south Florida, The Klute writes almost exclusively in free verse, making his poetry conversational and relevant to even those who see poetry as something to avoid.

Standing more than 6 feet tall and always bedecked in a black trench coat, the Klute is hard to miss. When poetry escapes his lips at full blast, he’s hard not to hear.

The Klute has released three poetry chapbooks, "Escape Velocity," "Look at What America Has Done to Me" and "My American Journey," which prompted a cease and desist order from the attorneys of former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

“Despite the heat, [The Klute] wears a black trench coat almost everywhere he goes and if the setting permits, he’ll blast through enough slanderous commentary to make Andrew Dice Clay blush,” according to Phoenix 944 Magazine. “Today, his addiction for getting in front of the microphone and spitting out everything from a Dick Cheney haiku to a long-winded prose on race car driving to the late Hunter S. Thompson is as strong as his love for vodka and absinthe. If anyone’s seen ‘The Klute’ in action, they’d know it. If they haven’t, they must.”

Round 2
Reverse Order

Randy Warren, 24.5, after 1.5 time penalty, 23.0 (3:39), 50.5
Doc Luben, 24.7 (2:57), 51.0
Mikel Weisser, 23.0 (2:24), 46.4
Evan Dissinger, 25.2 (3:09), 51.9
Ryan Brown, 28.2 (3:05), 55.1
Lauren Perry, 26.7 (3:09), 53.1
Mickey Randleman, 26.4 (2:52), 52.9
Tufik Shayeb, 25.2 (2:49), 50.9
Shi'ike, 24.2, after 4.0 time penalty, 20.2, (4:29), 48.1
Bill Campana, 24.2 (2:49), 51.0
Rowie Shebala, 25.8 (2:55), 49.7
Champion Max Boehm-Reifenkugel, 26.9 (1:54), 51.7
Tristan Marshall, 27.2, (2:48), 51.5
Brit Shostak, 25.4 (2:22), 51.7
Liana O'Boyle, of Sedona, 25.0, after 1.0 time penalty, 24.0 (3:25), 44.6

Round 3
High to Low

Sorbet poet: Kayt Perlman

Ryan Brown, 27.9 (2:26), 83.0
Lauren Perry, 25.6 (2:56), 78.7
Mickey Randleman, 26.2 (2:47), 79.1
Evan Dissinger left the slam early
Champion Max Boehm-Reifenkugel, 26.7 (1:38), 78.4
Brit Shostak, 26.0 (2:23), 77.7
Tristan Marshall, 23.9 (3:01), 75.4
Doc Luben, 25.2 (2:55), 76.2
Bill Campana, 23.4 (3:09), 74.4
Tufik Shayeb, 23.1 (2:21), 74.0
Randy Warren, 26.5, (4:07), 77.0
Rowie Shebala, 23.3, after 0.5 time penalty, 22.8 (3:14), 72.5
Shi'ike, 26.6 (2:40), 74.7
Mikel Weisser, 22.7 (1:16), 69.1
Liana O'Boyle, 23.4, after 1.0 time penalty, 22.4 (3:25), 67.0

Final scores
1st: Ryan Brown, 83.0, $100

2nd: Mickey Randleman, 79.1

3rd: Lauren Perry, 78.7

Champion Max Boehm-Reifenkugel, 78.4
Brit Shostak, 77.7
Randy Warren, 77.0
Doc Luben, 76.2
Tristan Marshall, 75.4
Shi'ike, 74.7
Bill Campana, 74.4
Tufik Shayeb, 74.0
Rowie Shebala, 72.5
Mikel Weisser, 69.1
Liana O'Boyle, 67.0
Evan Dissinger, 51.9* (only competed in 2 rounds)

Slam staff

Scorekeeper and Timekeeper: Jessica Laurel Reese
Host: Christopher Fox Graham
Organizers:
April Holman Payne, Jenn Reddington, Studio Live
Christopher Fox Graham, Sedona 510 Poetry