This is the official blog of Northern Arizona slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Begun in 2002, and transferred to blogspot in 2006, FoxTheBlog has recorded more than 670,000 hits since 2009. This blog cover's Graham's poetry, the Arizona poetry slam community and offers tips for slam poets from sources around the Internet. Read CFG's full biography here. Looking for just that one poem? You know the one ... click here to find it.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Lipan Point at the Grand Canyon

North from Lipan Point
NNW
NNE
The Colorado River is down there somewhere


The dark-walled canyon in the distance is more than 1,000 feet deep, deeper than most other canyons in the world, but dwarfed by the 5,000 deep Grand Canyon.
We're in the shadow, waving.

Grand Canyon's Grandview Point

Looking down into Grapevine Gorge



Lyell Butte

Azami at Grandview Point





The rocks where the ravens gather at Grandview Point

Azami at Grandview

I look ridiculous in Azami's winter hat.

The ravens flying high above Grandview Point

Azami and I at Pipe Creek Vista


Pipe Creek Vista
Azami at Pipe Creek Vista
Pipe Creek Vista
Looking toward Yaki Point and the South Kaibab Trailhead

Practicing my three karate stances:
1) The Crane

2) The Chicken

3) The Turkey

Enjoying the Grand Canyon

Other tourists complimented Azami's choice of early-morning wear.
The sun rising higher
The 500-foot cliff beneath Mather Point
The view toward Phantom Ranch
East toward Yaki Point

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Azami and I visit the Grand Canyon

Sunrise over the Grand Canyon on Saturday, March 20
Azami and I camped out in the bed of my Chevy and woke just before sunrise. I look like a marshmallow.
I am not a morning person
However, Azami is a morning person.
The first view of the Grand Canyon from Mather Point
And the sunrise over the canyon rim.
Azami enjoying the sunrise
Mather Point
CFG in the sunrise
Giving the famous "Nicholas Graham grin"

The Klute wins the March 20 Sedona Poetry Slam

Results from the Sedona Poetry Slam

Saturday, March 20, 2010, Studio Live, Sedona, Arizona, 7:30 p.m.

Calibration poet and host Christopher Fox Graham of Sedona, "Hunting UFOs"

Round 1
Random Draw
Maple Dewleaf, of Flagstaff, 25.8 (2:30)
Randy Warren, "An Introduction," of Sedona, 22.1 (3:00)
Jessica Laurel Reese, of the Village of Oak Creek, 25.2 (2:10)
Dain Michael Down, of Seattle, 27.2 (2:16)
Champion Max Boehm-Reifenkugel, of Sedona, 28.5 (2:29)
The Klute, of Mesa, "Adam and Steve," 29.1, 28.1 after -1.0 time penalty (3:23)
Allan Skinneman (aka Geoff Jackson), of Flagstaff, 27.7 (1:54)
Brit Shostak, of Mesa, 27.2 (2:35)

---intermission---

Feature poet: Bill Campana of Mesa.
A member of five Mesa National Poetry Slam Teams, Bill Campana has been to the semi-finals of the National Poetry Slam twice. He has hosted and featured across the Southwest, and continues to write at a feverish pace, always challenging fellow poets to better their craft on the page and the stage.

Campana knows that the only true way to respect culture is to break it into little tiny pieces. He came onto the poetry scene at full power, and suddenly the dry dusty notebooks of lesser poets got burned up in the shockwave.

Campana is the atom bomb that levels ivory towers. He got people excited enough about poetry to come back for more, and to see what would happen next. Soon, the audience was too big for the coffeehouse, a feat unprecedented since Socrates dared the baristas to make him a hemlock Frappuchino.

Sorbet poet: Mikel Weisser of Kingman, "Drunk Guy's Dick"

Round 2
Reverse Order
Brit Shostak, 28.1 (2:55), 55.3
Allen Skinneman, 27.4, 25.9 after 1.5 time penalty (3:32), 53.6
The Klute, "Cereal Aisle Racist," 29.0 (2:36), 57.1
Champion Max Boehm-Reifenkugel, 28.3 (1:50), 56.8
Dain Michael Down, 28.6 (1:31), 55.8
Jessica Laurel Reese, 28.8 (2:42), 54.0
Randy Warren, "I See You," 27.0 (1:51), 44.6
Maple Dewleaf, 27.5, 26.0 after 1.5 time penalty (3:40), 51.8

Sorbet poet Mikel Weisser, "The New Material"

Round 3
High to Low
The Klute, "2012," 29.3 (2:29), 86.4
Champion Max Boehm-Reifenkugel, 29.2 (2:03), 86.0
Dain Michael Down, 29.3 (2:39), 85.5
Brit Shostak, 28.9 (2:02), 84.2
Jessica Laurel Reese, 29.3 (1:30), 83.3
Allen Skinneman, 28.2 (2:53), 81.8
Maple Dewleaf, 28.2 (1:27), 80.0
Randy Warren, "A Life Spent Dying," 28.4, 24.9 after 3.5 time penalty (4:10), 74.0

Final scores
1st: The Klute of Mesa, 86.4, $100
(this marks The Klute's third consecutive victory at the Sedona Poetry Slam)

2nd: Champion Max Boehm-Reifenkugel, 86.0

3rd: Dain Michael Down, 85.5

Brit Shostak, 84.2
Jessica Laurel Reese, 83.3
Allen Skinneman, 81.8
Maple Dewleaf, 80.0
Randy Warren, 74.0

Slam staff
Scorekeeper and Timekeeper: Azami
Host: Christopher Fox Graham
Organizers:
Susan Schomaker, April Holman Payne, Jenn Reddington, Studio Live
Christopher Fox Graham, Sedona 510 Poetry

Thursday, March 11, 2010

One Day Older and Closer to Saturday's Sedona Birthday Party

Miranda Foreman (aka Randi Walters)
and Christopher Fox Graham


will host a joint birthday party at the Willow Way Hotel (Graham's house on Willow Way), West Sedona, on Saturday, March 13.

CFG's birthday is March 12 and Randi's birthday is March 14.

The party starts around 7 p.m. with the major kickoff around 9 p.m. Feel free to bring potluck snacks for all and alcohol refreshments. Fun will be provided. Additional guests welcome.

Gifts optional, but accepted. Rewards will be given in the form of a big sloppy kiss by ... um ... Sam Cavanaugh ... unless he responds to this blog post to say no before then ....

Fight the reaper one birthday at a time ...

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Never ask for a 'venti'; I want a coffee

Danny: Can I get a large black coffee?

Barista: A what?

Danny: Large black coffee.

Barista: Do you mean a venti?

Danny: No, I mean a large.

Barista: Venti is large.

Danny: No, venti is 20. Large is large. In fact, tall is large and grande is Spanish for large. Venti is the only one that doesn't mean large. It's also the only one that's Italian. Congratulations, you're stupid in three languages.

Barista: A venti is a large coffee.

Danny: Really? Says who? Fellini? Do you accept lira or is it all euros now?

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Quesadillas

Azami making quesadillas for dinner at the Willow Way Hotel (our house) artists co-op.

Morning view

The view that wakes up Azami and I in the morning.