62 million people voted for George Bush in 2004.

59 million voted for John Kerry.

500,000 Furbies were sold in two months.

The “developer” of the Pet Rock sold 5 million of them in six months. He made a dollar per rock.

“American Idol” has increased in popularity almost every year since its inception. In its fifth year of broadcast, 2006, ratings were up 15% over the previous year.

All of the above have spawned imitators, many of which have had nearly equivalent success.

I’m currently doing some freelance writing in a desperate attempt to make extra cash.

I spent a lot of today researching the real estate market in Blaine, Minnesota.

Y’know…it was kinda fun. It’s not super high pay, but it’s something to do…and always a challenge to figure out what to say about something I know next to nothing about.

Last week, I wrote short travel articles on Vermont, Rhode Island, and New York State. Weird facts:

— In Vermont, public nudity is legal but public disrobing is not.

— New York State is the home of the oldest working cattle ranch in the US. It’s on Long Island.

— Rhode Island (this shouldn’t be a surprise to the locals, esp. the goth crew) has the grave of Mercy Brown, who was dug up and staked as a vampire in 1892. Her story may have inspired the character of Lucy Westerna in Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”.

Gotta love it.

Because I’m feeling guitar geek-like. I’m playing more guitar than doing poetry right now anyway, what with the Bell’s Palsy and all (it’s coming along although the nerve regeneration is PAINFUL).

Anyway, here are the two electrics I’ve been prattling on about: The Regal archtop and the new-to-me Fender Duo Sonic.

The archtop was a flea market purchase — I think I paid 100 bucks for it. I’ve been doing extensive research, as it’s unlabeled. It seems to be a Harmony made but not Harmony branded guitar, probably made for either Regal or Gretsch sometime in the late 30s or prewar 40s. Shares certain characteristics with the Monterey and Cremona lines (campana take note).

Construction details, especially the tuners, the bindings, the f-hole shape, and the metal tailpiece, suggest a date of 1938 at the closest, as it matches instrumentsfrom that year I’ve found online.

The shape of the headstock is a Harmony tipoff, but a label stain on the headstock (currently covered by the oh-so-ironic skull and crossbones decals I added) looks like the label that Regal used, so I usually call it a Regal. The headstock was also used by Gretsch on guitars Harmony made for them in that period, but I’m not so pretentious as to call it a Gretsch.

The pickup is a late 40s/early 50s DeArmond I bought for 40 bucks off eBay and had installed. The weird wiring and the pickguard-mounted controls were done that way deliberately to reduce invasive procedures on the instrument; not elegant, but also not entirely inauthentic for the period and it works just fine. It’s got a wide tonal range through my small Vox amp, and the pickup is HOT (feeds back fairly easily so I’ve got to be careful how close to the amp I stand when I play). Big-ass vintage V-profile neck is another age tipoff. Great blues/jazz instrument. I use it mostly through a clean channel as an acoustic/electric, and from there it then offers lots of tonal variation if I want it.

The Fender, as I said in the earlier post, is a 90s reissue of a mid Fifties/early 60s instrument. You can see the difference in scale between the two (that’s neck length, essentially, for those among you uninitiated into this level of guitar geekery). Snarly little fucker with no frills. I was getting a great blues/funk vibe on it last night when I was goofing around on it before bed.

I also mentioned playing the Strumstick, a cool little three stringed instrument by the man who brought us the Martin Backpacker. Kinda like a really, really small walkaround dulcimer. Here’s a link to the man’s site and his instruments:

http://www.strumstick.com/

I tried to get a shot of Icchus with the guitars, but he’s cranky after having his breakfast and wanting to sleep now…as I do. Back to bed for a brief nap then onto the day…lots to do.

Enjoy, and thank you for indulging me…

I recently re-took possession of my Fender Duo-Sonic, which I had picked up a few years ago at a yard sale for about 100 bucks and promptly lent to thisrabbit and then forgot about. I’d never even played the thing! (No harm no foul to Sou — I was pleased it was getting used, and then as I said, I kinda forgot it existed. I’m a fairly focused acoustic player anyway and was just looking to fool around some, so I never missed it.)

Last night my friend a_solitaryman came over and we jammed out for several hours — I don’t play with other people often and it’s always a revelation to see what kind of muscle memory and familiarity I really do have with the instrument when I’m just playing along and following a much better player. Chris got on the electric and I switched back and forth between my big dreadnought and a Strumstick. It was a lot of fun.

I need to do more of this, and I’m thinking that there may be an opportunity to add a little of me on guitar to Duende in spots. Faro’s a much better musician than I am, so I haven’t felt the need — but it might be fun.

For the guitar geeks among you: the Duo-Sonic is bascially a two single coil pickup Mustang without the dive bomb bridge, and is also a small instrument — a 3/4 scale neck or about 22 inches or so. Mine is a Mexican made reissue from the mid 90s; they were originally made from the mid Fifties to the mid Sixties. This one’s in mint condition, and has bite and great action. Best known as the instrument used by both Patti Smith and Dean Ween. Mine is in classic Fender black and white.

I’m going to be playing it more now, I think — branching out a bit from my acoustics and my other electric, the hollowbody 40s era Harmony/Regal (indiscriminate, no label) with the added vintage DeArmond pickup. That’s a great instrument, but more suited to jazz/blues than to snarly punk and rock, which the Fender is perfect for.

I’m listening to a dancehall compliation right now. I love dancehall. I don’t understand 80% of what’s being said, but the rhythm makes my toes hop.

There are certain types of music that I love without recourse to understanding the lyrics — qawali singers, flamenco, fado. This falls in that category.

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The posts from NPS this week made me wistful, but I’ve realized that it’s not my place anymore. Life’s too short for me to wade through all the mediocrity and the formula to find the gems.

The struggle for me, I think, who came into slam as a performing poet (rather than coming to poetry through slam) is to find a way to be more than a slammer in a community with relatively little connection to the larger art form.

Sadly, I think my audience is still, in large part, the slam world; but how do you maintain a career of any sort with it as a feature performer (not as an organizer or host) when you don’t want to be part of that aspect of the scene, the aspect that most seem to care so much about?

I don’t know. Frankly, any grand pronouncements about trying to reform slam, create a senior circuit, etc., are beyond me right now. And NPS doesn’t need reform; it’s just what it is, and less than I want in an event.

I won’t say I’ll never attend NPS again, although I can’t foresee that happening. I’ll likely go to IWPS again as I think the poetry is better overall. Not sure about the WOW slam — still don’t love the reserved legacy spots. Think I’ll investigate going to things like the Dodge instead — more my speed these days.

And of course, trying to feature where and when I can, and working with Faro as much as possible.

If someone wants to run with the Ken Hunt Prize, that’s up to them. I couldn’t do it this year and if I don’t go back to NPS it seems pointless for me to be involved with it.

I’m not angry, not bitter, not railing against the world here. If anything, I’m laughing at myself for thinking anything I could do would ever change anything about something so many people love and which makes me so crazy/angry. I’ve wasted too much time on this.

I’m glad you all had a good time, and I hope you continue to do so. I don’t want to convert anyone or change anything. Right now, I’m thinking of NPS the way I would something like Burning Man — an interesting subcultural phenomenon that might have interested me once, maybe even excited me, but doesn’t hold much interest anymore.

It was fun though. Thanks for the ride.

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Have I mentioned that I love dancehall?

1. Slam Charlotte, NC
2. Killeen, TX
3. NYC louderARTS (Bar 13)
4. Denver, CO Slam Nuba
5. NYC Nuyorican

I don’t have scores or anything; newsflash from Gotpoetry.com.

Danny Sherrard of Seattle won the Indy title last night.

I wasn’t there, so I won’t comment other than to say congrats to the winners and that personally, I’m sad that louderARTS (my other poetic homeland; even though I’ve never slammed or been a regular there, it’s still my favorite slam other than Worcester) didn’t come in first.

Any news yet?

Read and comment here or there…

http://dj-muse.livejournal.com/123146.html?style=mine

that I saw John Waters riding a bike in Provincetown on Wednesday. Positive it was him.

He didn’t make the stir that the nearly naked men did walking down the street a half an hour later, but it was still cool.

Just got back from Nantucket and Provincetown, where we watched people from various subcultures wearing funny clothes and doing strange ritualized things.

And to think we could have been in Austin.

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My facial paralysis is no better. I keep straining to smile but the most I can manage is a twitch in my left cheek that you can’t see unless you’re staring at me. I think I understand something about amputees’ ghost pains now — I feel like I look like the Joker when I smile, but nothing happens.

My mouth isn’t working right — I bite my lip constantly, sometimes to the point of blood, and I’ve become a very indistinct speaker. I sound pretty much like Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama and have taken to saying “Hooray!” a lot because it’s the funniest thing I can manage.

My left eye’s drooping and waters constantly — it doesn’t close well when I sleep, either.

Not good. I know it’ll be better eventually, but this is embarrassing to say the least and frankly, the strain of trying to keep my face looking “normal” without drooling and weeping all over myself is pretty tiring. I want it to be over soon, and with less pain (the nerve is regenerating and when it gets cooking it twitches imperceptibly to others but with a pretty good amount of discomfort to me).

Add to that the two days of walking around that’s aggravated my foot injury a bit and I’m not a happy camper.

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Taking the ferry from Nantucket to Hyannis this afternoon, I watched a young woman reading one of those celebrity magazines and the titles of the articles have got a poem brewing in me…keep yer eyes peeled…

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I also broke out my old film SLR for the trip. Can’t wait to see what I managed to remember about taking a decent picture.

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Home now, exhausted, and ready to sleep…see y’all later.