December 29, 2006

You've got three days to submit some work to Jessica Smith for the Outer Voices 2008 Anthology of Younger Poets project if you haven't done so already: "There's another small stack left to consider, and we'll be considering submissions till Jan. 1, 2007."

December 29, 2006

McCoy Tyner Quartet at Yoshi's (Decemeber 28, 2006).

McCoy Tyner won the grammy for best jazz instrumental album in 2005, and his piano playing last night showcased all of the skills he has come to be known for over the course of his career (which includes a significant stint in John Coltrane's Quartet).

Joe Lovano was on sax & Jeff "Tain" Watts was even better than when I saw him with Brandford Marsalis several years ago.

Bassist Jeffrey Chambers stood in for Christian McBride who was absent from the line up in order to speak at James Brown's Apollo Theater memorial. Chambers rounded out this ensemble as if he'd been on tour with them for years.

McCoy Turner Quartet (with McBride returning) will be at Yoshi's until Jan. 1. If you can't catch them, you can hear them live from Yoshi's on npr New Year's Eve.

December 27, 2006

Excellent interview with Stan Lee (ie. Mr. Marvel Comics & creator of Spiderman).

December 26, 2006

an interview with Denise Duhamel

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an interview with Adonis

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an interview with Danila Davydov

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Tom Beckett interviews CAConrad

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an interview with Pierre Joris

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an interview with Kent Johnson

December 24, 2006

Got the traditional Christmas lasagna in the oven and a leg of lamb marinating in the fridge. The lasagna is a hold over from the 17 years I was vegetarian. My sister and I started doing one every Christmas back when we both lived in Athens, GA in the mid-90s.

12.25.06

Had to phone my mother up to figure out when you put potatoes & carrots in with the roast. I'm feeling very domesticky, worrying about roasts and all.

December 23, 2006

Helped Chris S. move into the Creamery. (poet & shit hot drummer) Dillon Westbrook provided the truck (Chevy s-10). Hadn't seen Dillon since his days at West Coast Girls' College. Talked with Chris a little about Barrett Watten, who I'm discovering in the wake of the Juliana comment. What makes Watten L to the A to the N to the GUAGE, exactly? seriously. Halfway through Watten's Progress. 15 lines to each page. Each page divided into 5 line stanzas that end with ". . ." implying a further discussion. So far, I like the work, as some of it resonates with concerns I have with poetry some 24 years after its writing (text written in Oakland 1982-3; published 1985).

December 23, 2006

3 earthquakes in 4 days. 3.7, then 3.7 last night, then the one that just happened 10 minutes ago (3.5). Ah, the Hayward fault.

December 21, 2006

Okay, so I know that a 3.7 earthquake isn't that much around these parts, but it's the biggest I've been in--I've been in a grand total of 2 now; the other was a 3.1 earlier in the year. Other than knocking some books off of the shelf, not much to report other than the horrifying noise that accompanies quakes that no one ever told me about, the lingering effects of which apparently cause nightmares and kindle an interest in a deeper understanding of tectonics.

December 17, 2006

New Yipes! at 21 Grand, featuring Lauren Shufran, Kevin Killian, music by aero mic'd & videos by Wayne Smith

Preamble A. Curator David Larsen spoke.

Preamble B. Then Brent Cunnigham & Neil Alger of Hooke Press spoke.

1. Then a pair of videos by Wayne Smith.

2. Lauren Shufran braved a cold and delivered some fabulous lines: "language acts organically as pain killer."

3.0. David Larsen decorated the stage with two candelabras that were about 4 feet tall, each holding 3 candles. He then strung two strands of Xmas lights around them. It was very Charlie Brown, but cute.

3.1. aero mic'd--a laptop, guitar, drum trio--began their set with Kevin Killian recounting an American childhood in France and the annual coming of the "Christmas Owl" who it turns out was Marc Chagall; this for me was the evening's highlight. aero mic'd's set then turned new musicy for a spell (in a good way), then ended more poppy (ie. 4/4 beat) with added vocalizations by Anne McGuire.

4. Kevin Killian read from his book of amazon.com reviews --called Selected Amazon Reviews--as well as from several serial poems. He is a very charming reader, not in that creepy Tristan Tzara "charming and delicious" way, but in the way that when he reads lines about having butterflies around his crotch you don't feel creeped out, and the room laughs.

5. A final video by Wayne Smith.

6. The walk from 21 Grand to 11th Street and Broadway to catch the #82 bus that included overhearing a woman on her cellphone talking about bullet casings around her house, a shooting at the #51 bus stop on 14th Street & Broadway which caused police to cordon off an entire downtown city block, then a half hour wait for the #82 bus driver to return to the bus after checking out the crime scene.

Add these two to my pile mentioned two posts ago:
Lauren Shufran, Burrow (Hooke, 2006) 48 pages. $10.
Kevin Killian, Selected Amazon Reviews (Hooke, 2006). $10.

December 17, 2006

Samih Al-Qasim, Sadder than Water: New & Selected Poems, trans. Nazih Kassis (Ibis, 2006). 179 pages. $15.95.

This bilingual collection brings together poems from Samih al-Qasim's (b 1939) some 30-odd books of poems. Recognized as one of the more prominent Palestinian literary resistance figures, his poems often (at least in those presented here) depict the struggles within his nation within a nation:

"Excerpt from an Inquest"

--And what do you call this country?
--My country.
--So you admit it?
--Yes, sir. I admit it.
I am not a professional tourist.
--Do you say "my country"?
--I say "my country."
--And where is my country?
--Your country.
--And where is your country?
--My country (ll. 1-11)

December 17, 2006

All my grades are finally turned in. Now I get to focus on that stack of books on my desk that I've been neglecting these last few months. That and go to 21 Grand to see Kevin Killian tonight. Maybe even fix that slow leak that's been in my rear bike tire for the past week. Plans for tomorrow include an early morning ride through the Oakland Hills, then some afternoon shopping for much needed art supplies.

December 15, 2006

While I'm fretting over Oaklandish things, the Arks are still around (between the High Street & Fruitvale Bridges into Alameda), but seem to be still on the demolition block. One of the residents had a one-shot blog. I've posted on the Arks before (4/25/06 & 7/12/06) but haven't heard or read anything new since. The Arks apperently were Oakland artist central: where the vaudevilian, painterly, dancerly, writer, artist types hung out at one time or another. Jack London used to spend some of his nights sleeping on couches (repeatedly).

December 15, 2006

A central part of Oakland's Chinatown--the much more authentic version of its tourist-centric cousin across the Bay--is apparently on the market to the highest bidder.

The Oakland Tribune reports today:

The city is selling about 55 commercial units in the plaza, as well as 90 parking spaces, for an asking price of $45 million. The sale would exclude 200 residential condos, 50 affordable units, the Asian Branch Library and the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. . . The city intends to sell the property to the highest qualified bidder in a sealed-bid process due Jan. 31, said Ted Dang and Carl Chan, who are brokering the sale. The Oakland City Council will then review the bids and choose the bidder within approximately 30 days . . . The business owners — many of whom own and work at their shops six or seven days a week for long hours and are familiar with the community — want to keep the plaza a vibrant center of Chinatown. As it is, the rent is already too high, [a merchant] said. His monthly rent, $25,000, pays for his 4,800-square-foot drugstore, which includes a pharmacy and post office.

December 14, 2006

For a while I've been following Geof Huth's "Letters to a Young, Imaginary Visual Poet" that he posts over at dbqp. #24 appeared Wednesday. You can check out #1-20 here.

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Simon DeDeo's "Towards an Anarchist Poetics" in Absent Magazine 1 (2006).

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Richard Brautigan ebook.

December 13, 2006

Lou Reed's working with Julian Schnabel

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Ba Jin on Emma Goldman

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Mary Oliver has 2 in the top 10?

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Baseball in Iran

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An interview with the MC5 (July 1969)

December 13, 2006

Alehouse 1 (2007). 147 pages. $12.

My contributor's copy came in today. From this initial issue, it's apparent that editor Jay Rubin appreciates both rhyme & form. Robert Allen Jr.'s lead-off poem "Empties," according to the contributors notes, was written for an AA meeting (somewhat ironic given the journal's title):

So many, like me, have blamed their sins
On drinking too much; still, nobody wins.
Never wanting to face the truths inside,
When the bottle was empty, I thought I had died (ll. 1-4)

That so many other poems in this volume utilize rhyme & form shows an editorial bent (if not preference).

What makes this more exciting than the usual poetry mag upstart is the space given to poetics & essays. There are 8 poetics & criticism pieces, including an introduction to 18th Century Japanese Buddhist poetry that sets the stage for a much deeper appreciation of David Kaplan's translations of Dai Ten Kenjo's poems set to Ito Jakuchu's woodcuts. The originals (woodcuts with poems) are reproduced and underneath are Kaplan's translations. These, for me, form the highlight of the issue.

My review of Julie Gamberg's The Museum of Natural History (Eastern Washington Univ, 2006) graces pages 135-7.

December 13, 2006

Patrick Dunagan's (11/30) level of critique for Bay Poetics is problematic. His sexualization (and apparent faniscination with the sexualities) of the Bay Area poetic community included immediately undermines his claim that he "read[s] poetry for poetry’s sake."

December 12, 2006

After more than a year and a half, my hair was finally long enough to donate to Locks of Love, a charity program that gives wigs made of donated hair to children who for one reason (like chemo) or another (like Alopecia) have lost their hair. My hair will go out in tomorrow's mail.

December 11, 2006

It's Sha's birthday and she's asked me to come up with two lines of "beautiful poetry" to inscribe on the i-pod I plan to buy her. Apple apparently engraves up to two short lines of text. This is proving more difficult than I think it should be. I have been for the last few years actively attempting to de-sentimentalize my writing. Now, when needed, everything with any emotion is coming out trite & corn-ball and getting scrapped the second I come up with it. Yep.

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On the upside, I borrowed six volumes of Can You Dig It? The 70s Soul Experience (Rhino, 2001) from the library tonight.

December 11, 2006

December 7, 2006

Eric Glick Rieman at Stanford Univ

October 25th for Chicago Calling

December 3, 2006

Took it easy today and re-read Richard Brautigan's, In Watermelon Sugar (Delta, 1968). It's an easy read to get through in one sitting. The first time I read this was at the insistence of one Courtnie Noelle from San Diego; as she was also a big proponent of Joni Mitchell's Blue, I was, at the time suspect; though now, both have prominent spaces in my re-read/re-listen to piles.

The opening lines of In Watermelon Sugar are sparse, haunting, and yet set the pace for the narrative that follows. Here could perhaps be an argument for this work entire being an extended prose poem:

In WATERMELON SUGAR the deeds were done and done again as my life is done in watermelon sugar. I'll tell you about it because I am here and you are disteant.

Wherever you are, we must do the best we can. It is so far to travel, and we have nothing here to travel, except watermelon sugar. I hope this works out (1).

December 2, 2006

When I worked in the Geargia State Univ. Law Library in the late '90s, I borrowed a volume of poetry from one of the librariarians (Joe, who catalogued in the back). It's title was something like The Flying Monkeys of Gravity. Does this ring a bell for anyone? There's a section involving Chaplin & coffee grinders that I'd like to reread.
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Found it: it's Stephen Bluestone, The Laughing Monkeys of Gravity (Mercer UP, 1995):

"Oliver's Pratfall"

All bricks must fall on Oliver Hardy's head,
and the imperishable storm do harm to Lear;
Isaac must live to know his place in his father's heart;
let him see how it stood when the knife was out.

Let it all now come to a settlement--
after so long, things should be final and true,
like the hard pavement of Cordelia's lips
or the infallible timing of God's angels.

Just look, for example, at Oliver Hardy–-
he's still sitting there on the shattered hearth
while the laughing monkeys of gravity
drop brick after brick on his too-soft head.

Where's his good friend Stanley, his pal?
Right now he's elsewhere, anywhere but where
bricks are falling and the world puts dents
in the skull of someone he loves more than himself.

The monkeys and the angels keep playing,
but Hardy doesn't move–-he stares into himself,
waiting for the laughter to stop, furious
at Stanley, unable to think of anyone else.

November 30, 2006

According to the thermometer on the fridge, it's 47° F (8.3° C) in the studio tonight and bound to get colder. I mean, it's nothing like the Blizzard of '78 in Montreal, where my uncle Ronny had to shovel a passageway out of the house because we were shut in by a snow drift (which if memory serves correctly he did in shorts, being from the Northwest Territory and all). I live in Oakland (1); I've only seen snow here once, and it was the kind of snow that melts before it hits the pavement, just a few early morning flakes really. But I've got-to-got-to buy some better gloves and an extra blanket or two this weekend.
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(1) Tonianne, lifelong Bay Area resident and allstar human being, remembers about three inches of snow in February 1976.

November 30, 2006

post by Paul Deppler over at American Book Congress:

Xenophon

When someone asked [Socrates] what seemed the best pursuit for a man, he answered: "Doing well." Questioned further, whether he thought good luck a pursuit, he said: "On the contrary, I think luck and doing are opposites. To hit on something right by luck without search I call good luck, to do something well after study and practice I call doing well; and those who pursue this seem to me to do well. And the best men and dearest to the gods." he added, "are those who do their work well; if it is farming, as good farmers; if medicine, as good doctors; if politics, as good politicians. He who does nothing well is neither useful in any way nor dear to the gods."

~Xenophon's Memorabilia, III. 9/ 14-15.