When the wrong poem is the wrong poem

It was another great night of poetry at Writer's Block. After a short, but healthy, open mic - nine poets were competing in the slam.

I drew sixth, which was a good spot for me.

Read that angry poem I mentioned a few days ago. Had some good fury going. Messed up a line or two but still finished in second for the round, which meant I went second, after Vernell in round two.

I had a couple of poems on my side board to choose from. Both new, one never read. I mistakenly went for the topical Talking Swine Flu Blues.

It went over like Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters.



I fell from second place to sixth. Must stop over analyzing and go with what I had this morning, before I had the bad idea this afternoon. Live and learn, again.

Congratulations to Vernell, who won. Scott came in second. Louise and Rachel W. tied for third. It was Rachel's first slam!

Next slam is on May 20th. The Grand Slam, for Nats is May 27th. May is going to be a crazy month.

The Panther Crawl

The comedies of Ealing Studios have a real charm and wit. They also have a soul. I got a box set from the library of their earlier, little shown films that I'm sure will enthrall me over the next few days.

First up, I watched Whisky Galore, the first film directed by Alexander Mackendrick, the director of one of my favorite films, The Ladykillers.

It's 1943 and a remote Scottish island has run out of whisky. Then, a cargo ship containing 50,000 cases of the nectar runs aground. Before it sinks, the residents of the island snatch a few cases for themselves.



The excise taxmen are brought in to investigate. There are a couple of sweet romances, an awesome scene in which the residents sing as they're getting drunk for the first time in a long while. It's a very funny movie. I'm not very familiar with the cast, but I did recognize Joan Greenwood. Can't wait to watch this again with my girl so she can translate some of it as the accents can be a bit thick which, combined with 1948 sound, can be a bit tough for me to pick out.

A few years ago, there was an attempt to remake this beloved film, it did not go over very well.

There are four more films to watch. Maybe over the weekend, or I'll wait a bit longer to savor these wonderful comedies.

Girl, do you ever blink?

I bought a VCR at a friend's garage sale yesterday. I was not sure it worked, but the price was worth the risk. Heck, the RCA cable I bought cost more than the player.

Hooked it up and it seems to work ok. I played the first few minutes of A Hard Day's Night because it embodies all that is good in the world. It's a nice thing to have when my son needs a desperate form of entertainment. There's a lot of kids stuff on tape here, and we'll probably go through it to see what still plays and what does not.

Something I did play for him today is a personalized Dora the Explorer video. I think his grandmother or great-grandmother bought it for him when he was two or three.



He's been walking around the house with the tape in his hand. Looking at it with longing. And I felt bad because I had nothing to play it on.

Just so you know. I hate Dora. Her blank stare. Her learned helplessness. Her lack of self reliance. Her lame friends. Can't stand the kid. But, for my son, I make sacrifices. So I played the tape.

He payed some attention to it. It's a special episode and his name is edited in so it sounds like nails on a chalkboard. One of his old pictures is used in a major plot point. It's kind of cool, sweet and creepy all at once.

A lot may be happening this week. A lot is happening this week. April is leaving in a spring. May 2009 is going to be one busy month.

I have a tracking number

I have to admit my day was better than the six months pregnant women who was walking in the woods, got chased by a bear then hit by a car.

By checking a wrong box on a form, it cost $41.95 to send said, corrected, form 3,600 miles in two days. That's a lot of stamps.

Live and learn, and continue to wait.

In other news, it looks like I'm going to be interviewed about the Arts Fest gig on WCBE. The interview is next Thursday. Not sure on the air date but I'll let you know.

Earlier, I went to dinner at a Chinese place. I've been such a wreck today the fortune cookie slipped out of my hand and hit the floor. It broke open.

Here's what the fortune said:

"Good news from afar may bring you a welcome visitor."

The fortune is now on the refrigerator. I swear if the thing had lottery numbers on it I'd have played them.

The Speed of Things

It's over. 6-5 Detroit. An absolutely brutal too many men on the ice penalty led to a power play goal with 46 seconds left. Crappy way to lose a game. A loss for the home team means the season is over. I would have liked to see the Blue Jackets win one game at home, for themselves, the fans, the uniform. The Blue Jackets played hard, coming back to tie after being down 3-1, then 5-3. The crowd did not give up, it was the loudest it's ever been in Nationwide Arena, but the bounces and calls went the Red Wings way - and Osgood had been on fire in net. Tonight, though, they have found some chinks in his armor.

This was one heck of a hockey game. The Blue Jackets left it all out there. Even Russell and Modin had goals. Easily the most intense game the Blue Jackets have ever played. No shame in losing to an obviously better talented Red Wings team.

It's a fine learning tool for next season though.

Got to hand it to the crowd. They were loud and supportive all night long, even when they were down two goals.

A lot going on behind the screen here. Stuff to worry about. There's a lot of work to do. Got the lawn mowed after work. Going to be a glorious weekend and I do not want to do anything other than enjoy the weather, and start cleaning.

One of the weirdest things about this year so far is that the two best books I've read have been poetry. More on this as I form it.

Catharsis that left me shaking

Wrote what may be the angriest poem I've written to date today. Went to Cup O' Joe after work to build on what I scratched out between processing books, then formulated more of it in the car while waiting for a train to go by. Sometimes the thoughts and the process turns up my adrenaline so high. It was hard to catch my breath. It may be a piece of junk, we'll see, but the experience of writing it was intense.

Read a couple of books. One of them is the worst fiction I've finished this year. It's about the Arbuckle murder trial. I was unimpressed with the author's locker room talk. Then found out he was a college football player at Auburn. Which may explain that but not all the misogyny. He tried to be clever by inserting Dashiell Hammett into the plot. It does make historical sense as he was a Pinkerton operative and worked on the case. While that was the most interesting part of the book, the graphic and unnecessary violence toward women put me off. Even the solving of the murder, and the placement of a certain newspaper citizen mogul and his paramour into the solution was weak. Heck, I hated this book which is another work of fiction on Arbuckle and still found it more entertaining than this piece of dreck.

The new book by Michel Faber is a bit more satisfying.



It's a slim volume, well anything of his is slim in comparison to The Crimson Petal and the White, which you should all have read by now. In The Fire Gospel a down on his luck linguist discovers a set of manuscripts in a bombed out statue in an Iraqi museum. He smuggles them out, translates them and discovers they are the work of Malchus, a man who was actually witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus and reveals some information that changes the course of Christianity. But this is no Da Vinci Code (and hey, Dan Brown's new one is coming out in September) and Faber uses a lot of dark wit and situations to form a quick, but ultimately blase conclusion. I enjoyed the book, but it's a trifle. I really need to find something I can sink my teeth into right now. Because changes are a coming.

As the Blue Jackets Lose, Again.

Returned home safe and sound from Long Island today. Put the bags down and checked the answering machine (yes, I still have one of those) and there was a message from an old Live Journal pal. Ziggy was in town for the day, and was at Goodale Park. So I got some food into my son and headed out there, still unpacked. It was good to finally meet her and her son.

Getting laundry done, and plotting a cleaning schedule. Even organized some poems, as June is just around the corner and May is going to be a whirlwind of activity. I'll be getting blown all over the place just like at Robert Moses yesterday.



Surf was up. It was bright, cold and windy out there.



We had a very good time east. Saw some people we have not seen in awhile. Parents look good. My son was quite social, to the delight of my Mom. I cannot say enough how good he was. He behaved beautifully, through layovers and waiting in line to being driven around in an electric car by a seven year old girl - he was wonderful and I'm so proud of him.

Hope I can stay up to watch the webcast of Glasvegas at Coachella. Big day tomorrow as the FA Cup semifinals are on. Go Everton. Please?