Alex Chilton died today of a heart attack. He was 59. I saw him play twice, first at Staches, a small club in Columbus. It was a very loose night. Alex was in a good mood, bumming cigarettes from audience members. He even took requests. I yelled out "Volare" and a couple of songs later it was played.
The second time he opened for the Counting Crows at the Newport. This was not his crowd. It was too big and inattentive. He did show up a similar white outfit, and channeled Adriano Celentano with this song. He was awesome.
The rockers, from the session players like Larry Knectel and backup singers like Lesley Duncan are leaving us quickly now, and way too soon.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Shane MacGowan has Teeth Now
I do not know much about North Korea, few do as it's a country and culture that keeps hidden in the dark. Their regime, in an appropriate use of the term, should die in a fire.
Learned a bit how sad and horrifying life is there after reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick. The book is an oral history of six people, their lives, loves and belief in a system that brainwashed the population and eventually betrayed them. There is a lot of bleakness and at times the book is hard to read. Depictions of starvation and food deprivation will do that to you. A few more pictures of the people interviewed would have helped in putting faces to the story but I understand how difficult it would have been as some of the defectors still have family struggling in the north.
In other news, the Ohio State Hockey Team did not renew coach John Markell's contract. After fifteen years of inconsistency, he's been let go. I called it in a post I made about this very subject last year around this time. Now speculation about who the next coach begins. Going to be an interesting off season, for the wrong reasons. Again: I have no grudge or animosity toward Markell, but it was time for him to move on. I wish him well and am glad he was coaching the team during a very rough transition. He ran a clean program, recruited and successfully taught many young men. He should be proud of that accomplishment.
Learned a bit how sad and horrifying life is there after reading Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick. The book is an oral history of six people, their lives, loves and belief in a system that brainwashed the population and eventually betrayed them. There is a lot of bleakness and at times the book is hard to read. Depictions of starvation and food deprivation will do that to you. A few more pictures of the people interviewed would have helped in putting faces to the story but I understand how difficult it would have been as some of the defectors still have family struggling in the north.
In other news, the Ohio State Hockey Team did not renew coach John Markell's contract. After fifteen years of inconsistency, he's been let go. I called it in a post I made about this very subject last year around this time. Now speculation about who the next coach begins. Going to be an interesting off season, for the wrong reasons. Again: I have no grudge or animosity toward Markell, but it was time for him to move on. I wish him well and am glad he was coaching the team during a very rough transition. He ran a clean program, recruited and successfully taught many young men. He should be proud of that accomplishment.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Mourning
Ron Lundy died yesterday at the age of 75. Lundy was one of the five voices of my life between the ages of five to thirteen. He was a disc jockey on WABC radio.
With Bruce Morrow, Harry Harrison, Chuck Leonard and Dan Ingram, these guys on the radio every day had their fingers on the pulse of New York City and beyond. WABC's signal, 50,000 watts of clear channel power, went up and down the east coast.
Lundy was class, they all were. This station was one of the main reasons I went on to seek a career in radio. They are why I know so much about music. It was important and I am sad to hear that Lundy is no more.
Rest in peace. You made New York the greatest city in the world!
With Bruce Morrow, Harry Harrison, Chuck Leonard and Dan Ingram, these guys on the radio every day had their fingers on the pulse of New York City and beyond. WABC's signal, 50,000 watts of clear channel power, went up and down the east coast.
Lundy was class, they all were. This station was one of the main reasons I went on to seek a career in radio. They are why I know so much about music. It was important and I am sad to hear that Lundy is no more.
Rest in peace. You made New York the greatest city in the world!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
WoW Day Two and Finals
Congratulations to Eboni Hogan. Women of the World Poetry 2010 Champion. That was one impressive bout last night. I took pictures, but they suck, and they're not worthy of the poets. So they will not be posted here. I did put a few on Facebook, they're not for the whole world to see.
What I am going to talk about is the good, some bad, and little to no ugly thoughts on the weekend, based on what I saw and felt. There were some individual poets who stood out for me, and I have to share my feelings about them.
Chauncey Beaty - Third place, congratulations. After one sentence of your first poem on the finals stage I saw some amazing growth. You're not the same poet you were in Columbus.
Lauren Zuniga - Someone who I had heard of but never saw until La Fogata. Very accessible work, really enjoyed it.
Megan Rickman - Gave me her CD outside of Barley's this morning. Sidewalk love. You rocked it six.
Gypsee Yo - The best pregnant Albanian poetry slammer ever! Seriously. One of the most passionate poems of the weekend. A heart gripping poem about being a refugee.
Nicole Homer - I saw her talking to a wall outside in Berkeley, getting ready for her bout. She was awesome this week.
Sierra DeMulder - Totally floored me at Zanzibar. She and Amy Everhart delived a one two punch of poetry on that stage that will be hard for anyone to beat, ever.
Amy Everhart - Finally introduced myself to her at Zanzibar before the bout. Thanked her for beating me. She is a paragon of humility.
Dee Matthews. If there is one poet who I would have to pick as my favorite of the weekend, it is definitely her. I had never seen her before, heard some great things about her, and ended up judging her bout. She wiped me out. Why bother doing poetry after seeing that? I'm not a big fan of persona poetry, but she does that. Holy shit she does that. I could go on and on about how amazing she is.
Tristan Silverman - I told the people at La Fogata she'd be moving on, and I was right. She was on the finals stage.
Rachel McKibbens - Your poem for Gabrielle had the audience in tears. A massive thank you.
Laura Yes Yes - You brought it. Boy did you ever.
Andi Kauth - Your first poem, a love poem, at La Fogata was one of my favorites of the weekend. Thank you.
Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz - I introduced myself, said I loved her book on slam and promptly forgot the name of it. Doh! She is loved by everyone it seems and in watching her play with her friends and seeing her rip it onstage I can understand why.
Syd Malicious - Best arms of the weekend. Lovely poem about working in Tanzania got her in the competition when she won the last chance slam.
Lucky 7 - Made me laugh. Hard. At La Fogata. Word play and doobies, awesome!
Megan Thoma - Please, do not punch me.
Barbara Fant - You broke my heart out there. Next time. You know this.
Sara Brickman - For the 'dick don't go into crazy' line. You and Megan Thoma are the speccy poets.
Dusty Rose - Best Maggie Gyllenhaal look alike.
Inky - You fought back with you one minute poem at La Fogata. That's a comeback!
Finally to Vernell Bristow and Gina Blaurock. You angels, you represented Writers Block and yourselves. I could not be prouder of you both!
More good: The Lincoln Theater. I had not set foot inside before. What an amazing facility. First class all around. The sound blew away the nasty sound at Wheeler Hall in Berkeley. Could not ask for a better venue. Everyone who worked there last night (from the ushers, to the people doing the set and lighting) deserves a round of applause. Professional does not begin to describe how perfect it all was.
The bad: Zanzibar. Your sound sucked. The size of the venue did not bother me, especially after performing in a venue the size of a boxing ring in Berkeley.
Surprisingly good. La Fogata. Very large and cool space upstairs. Great place for an event.
The ugly: Haters. For those who ripped on the judges. Too damn bad. That's slam. And to one who ripped on the poster for the event (too white and pretty) and the 'beauty vs. brawn slam' as sexism and an easier way (of dealing with patriarchy) to get through the day. Why not show up at the event instead of hiding behind your computer screen? Guess it's easier that way.
You were awesome but I forgot your name - The woman who hosted the bout I judged.
Who I missed not seeing most - Rose Smith. She had to have been incredible Friday night to climb the ladder.
You guys rock award - Beverly Wilkinson, Louise Robertson, Joanna Schroeder.
Best Star Trek computer voice of the weekend - Karrie Warrala.
A disappointment. No Columbus poets on stage during finals. Chauncey lives in Atlanta now and does not count. Next year!
The other cool place I'd never been in Columbus until last week. Barley's basement. What a great space. Kept looking for Stuart Sutcliffe's ghost.
To my wife. Thank you for putting up with my bloviating.
To everyone and everything I forgot. That was a large glass of Laphroiag I was drinking last night.
Edit**Someone I completely forgot, and should not have - Liz Woods. Who worked her tail off organizing venues and did everything asked of her with such quiet brilliance and competence that I did not see her footprint. That's how good she is.**
One more thing. Next year WoW is in Columbus again.
The mic is waiting.
What I am going to talk about is the good, some bad, and little to no ugly thoughts on the weekend, based on what I saw and felt. There were some individual poets who stood out for me, and I have to share my feelings about them.
Chauncey Beaty - Third place, congratulations. After one sentence of your first poem on the finals stage I saw some amazing growth. You're not the same poet you were in Columbus.
Lauren Zuniga - Someone who I had heard of but never saw until La Fogata. Very accessible work, really enjoyed it.
Megan Rickman - Gave me her CD outside of Barley's this morning. Sidewalk love. You rocked it six.
Gypsee Yo - The best pregnant Albanian poetry slammer ever! Seriously. One of the most passionate poems of the weekend. A heart gripping poem about being a refugee.
Nicole Homer - I saw her talking to a wall outside in Berkeley, getting ready for her bout. She was awesome this week.
Sierra DeMulder - Totally floored me at Zanzibar. She and Amy Everhart delived a one two punch of poetry on that stage that will be hard for anyone to beat, ever.
Amy Everhart - Finally introduced myself to her at Zanzibar before the bout. Thanked her for beating me. She is a paragon of humility.
Dee Matthews. If there is one poet who I would have to pick as my favorite of the weekend, it is definitely her. I had never seen her before, heard some great things about her, and ended up judging her bout. She wiped me out. Why bother doing poetry after seeing that? I'm not a big fan of persona poetry, but she does that. Holy shit she does that. I could go on and on about how amazing she is.
Tristan Silverman - I told the people at La Fogata she'd be moving on, and I was right. She was on the finals stage.
Rachel McKibbens - Your poem for Gabrielle had the audience in tears. A massive thank you.
Laura Yes Yes - You brought it. Boy did you ever.
Andi Kauth - Your first poem, a love poem, at La Fogata was one of my favorites of the weekend. Thank you.
Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz - I introduced myself, said I loved her book on slam and promptly forgot the name of it. Doh! She is loved by everyone it seems and in watching her play with her friends and seeing her rip it onstage I can understand why.
Syd Malicious - Best arms of the weekend. Lovely poem about working in Tanzania got her in the competition when she won the last chance slam.
Lucky 7 - Made me laugh. Hard. At La Fogata. Word play and doobies, awesome!
Megan Thoma - Please, do not punch me.
Barbara Fant - You broke my heart out there. Next time. You know this.
Sara Brickman - For the 'dick don't go into crazy' line. You and Megan Thoma are the speccy poets.
Dusty Rose - Best Maggie Gyllenhaal look alike.
Inky - You fought back with you one minute poem at La Fogata. That's a comeback!
Finally to Vernell Bristow and Gina Blaurock. You angels, you represented Writers Block and yourselves. I could not be prouder of you both!
More good: The Lincoln Theater. I had not set foot inside before. What an amazing facility. First class all around. The sound blew away the nasty sound at Wheeler Hall in Berkeley. Could not ask for a better venue. Everyone who worked there last night (from the ushers, to the people doing the set and lighting) deserves a round of applause. Professional does not begin to describe how perfect it all was.
The bad: Zanzibar. Your sound sucked. The size of the venue did not bother me, especially after performing in a venue the size of a boxing ring in Berkeley.
Surprisingly good. La Fogata. Very large and cool space upstairs. Great place for an event.
The ugly: Haters. For those who ripped on the judges. Too damn bad. That's slam. And to one who ripped on the poster for the event (too white and pretty) and the 'beauty vs. brawn slam' as sexism and an easier way (of dealing with patriarchy) to get through the day. Why not show up at the event instead of hiding behind your computer screen? Guess it's easier that way.
You were awesome but I forgot your name - The woman who hosted the bout I judged.
Who I missed not seeing most - Rose Smith. She had to have been incredible Friday night to climb the ladder.
You guys rock award - Beverly Wilkinson, Louise Robertson, Joanna Schroeder.
Best Star Trek computer voice of the weekend - Karrie Warrala.
A disappointment. No Columbus poets on stage during finals. Chauncey lives in Atlanta now and does not count. Next year!
The other cool place I'd never been in Columbus until last week. Barley's basement. What a great space. Kept looking for Stuart Sutcliffe's ghost.
To my wife. Thank you for putting up with my bloviating.
To everyone and everything I forgot. That was a large glass of Laphroiag I was drinking last night.
Edit**Someone I completely forgot, and should not have - Liz Woods. Who worked her tail off organizing venues and did everything asked of her with such quiet brilliance and competence that I did not see her footprint. That's how good she is.**
One more thing. Next year WoW is in Columbus again.
The mic is waiting.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thoughts on WoW: Night One
Women of the world preliminary bouts went on last night at three Columbus venues. We camped out at La Fogata. The first bout was stunning as most of the poets were unfamiliar to me. I was impressed by the work of Lauren Zuniga, Sara Brinkman, Theresa Davis and Lucky 7.
In bout two Gina and Vernell were battling it out with some amazing poets, including defending champion Rachel McKibbons. Vernell came out flying in the first round and ranked first. Gina was in sixth. Really liked the work of Andi Kauth, who did one of the few love poems of the evening. The big theme of the night was domestic violence being bad.
The emcee was Phoenix from Cleveland, and she was riding the judges when she thought the scores were low. Guess that's how they do it up there. You know I prefer a low scoring slam to high, but that's the difference of slam.
Vernell was up first in round two, the one minute poem. She's asking me for advice on whether or not to do a serious or funny poem. I could not read the judges. They seemed to be wanting the serious work, but not too serious. Not sure if they had a sense of humor. So she does the serious poem and by the time it's over Vernell's off the stage and the judges do not know what to do.
Looking at my scribbles it looks like Andi Kauth won the second round. Respect to a poet named Inky, who started her round one poem and lost it in the middle. Despite several times to attempt to get it back, she was unable to complete it. I could relate. In round two, she nailed it. Went up to her and said that's how you get back on.
The second night of the prelims is tonight. This will decide who gets on the stage of the Lincoln Theater on Saturday. The battles continue.
In bout two Gina and Vernell were battling it out with some amazing poets, including defending champion Rachel McKibbons. Vernell came out flying in the first round and ranked first. Gina was in sixth. Really liked the work of Andi Kauth, who did one of the few love poems of the evening. The big theme of the night was domestic violence being bad.
The emcee was Phoenix from Cleveland, and she was riding the judges when she thought the scores were low. Guess that's how they do it up there. You know I prefer a low scoring slam to high, but that's the difference of slam.
Vernell was up first in round two, the one minute poem. She's asking me for advice on whether or not to do a serious or funny poem. I could not read the judges. They seemed to be wanting the serious work, but not too serious. Not sure if they had a sense of humor. So she does the serious poem and by the time it's over Vernell's off the stage and the judges do not know what to do.
Looking at my scribbles it looks like Andi Kauth won the second round. Respect to a poet named Inky, who started her round one poem and lost it in the middle. Despite several times to attempt to get it back, she was unable to complete it. I could relate. In round two, she nailed it. Went up to her and said that's how you get back on.
The second night of the prelims is tonight. This will decide who gets on the stage of the Lincoln Theater on Saturday. The battles continue.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Even the Sac Drew a Time Penalty
Night one of WoW is completed. Despite a last minute venue changed, everything ran smoothly. Much respect to Beverly Wilkinson for doing some calm work under pressure to get it done. Thanks to Barley's for providing a wonderful space.
I put my A/V skills to the test helping set the PA up. Hey, that cord was not plugged in! That and a little crimp in a loose wire and it was all functioning.
Read in the open mic, was one of the few dudes to do so. Felt like sharing.
The Last Chance Slam was tight. Two poets with perfect scores led after round one and when the dust settled after the second round Sid Malicious won and Blaire from Cleveland took second. Both poets earn a slot in the prelims. Well done.
I was very impressed with a row of poets who, I think, came from Minnesota. Very sincere work performed.
I was not impressed with a number of people in the back, who insisted on talking rather loudly while poets were reading. Take it upstairs or shut up cretins!
The preliminaries to Women of the World start tonight. Want to wish the local women who are participating all the luck. Yes, I'm openly rooting for my hometown ladies.
Vernell Bristow representing Writers Block
Kim Brazwell representing Writing Wrongs
Gina Blaurock
Barbara Fant
Rose Smith
It's on!
What are you waiting for?
http://wow.poetryslam.com/
I put my A/V skills to the test helping set the PA up. Hey, that cord was not plugged in! That and a little crimp in a loose wire and it was all functioning.
Read in the open mic, was one of the few dudes to do so. Felt like sharing.
The Last Chance Slam was tight. Two poets with perfect scores led after round one and when the dust settled after the second round Sid Malicious won and Blaire from Cleveland took second. Both poets earn a slot in the prelims. Well done.
I was very impressed with a row of poets who, I think, came from Minnesota. Very sincere work performed.
I was not impressed with a number of people in the back, who insisted on talking rather loudly while poets were reading. Take it upstairs or shut up cretins!
The preliminaries to Women of the World start tonight. Want to wish the local women who are participating all the luck. Yes, I'm openly rooting for my hometown ladies.
Vernell Bristow representing Writers Block
Kim Brazwell representing Writing Wrongs
Gina Blaurock
Barbara Fant
Rose Smith
It's on!
What are you waiting for?
http://wow.poetryslam.com/
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