http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/12/cheney.ap/index.html

no stealing, you pirates — i am gonna use it somewhere. 😉

“anybody that sure of himself can’t possibly be a real artist”

I liked this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020901725.html

So I’m asking you — “who is it for?”

1.
I drank three Busch Lights today because it was the only “beer” where I was. I’m curious: is this actually considered beer anywhere by anyone?

2.
I had a couple of slices of a pizza today that included French fries as a topping. The ‘za rocked. Anyone ever heard of fries as a topping?

As you can see by these questions, I had kind of a trivial day. No complaints, though.

Feb 16th:
7pm @ Barnes & Noble City Center-White Plains, NY
Open Mike [6:30pm Open Mic sign up]

Barnes & Noble-City Center

230 Main Street

White Plains, NY 10601

This is curated by the estimable zorkisnotapoet.

Feb 19th:
From New York to Nantucket: featured performance at a Teen Slam on Nantucket.
Teen Slam
2-4 PM
Nantucket Atheneum

March 6:
Jester’s Cafe, Westfield MA. A long running Monday night series run by dkeali_i.

March 29th:
Cantab, Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA. Everyone knows the Cantab. It’s a Wednesday, it’ll be a late night, there will be Scotch. Be there.

Anybody else want this broken down jalopy on their doorstep, holla. (And I’m not talking about my car.)

This entry is about art disguised as a guitar geek post, so bear with me if you will.

I mentioned in a earlier post that I had recently sprung for a new guitar that was unlike any I had bought before — a big blonde maple dreadnaught, where I’d been used to smaller guitars and jumbo-shapes in warm woods like cedar, mahogany and walnut.

As I was playing the new instrument and liking it a lot over the last couple of weeks, I began to notice that the sound was a little too bright for what I’d been looking for — but that the punch and volume of the instrument were dead-on.

In particular, I noticed that the guitar was strung with light strings that made an awful lot of string noise. I also thought the trebles were so bright as to be brittle when played hard. There was even a small amount of fret buzz. If I was to get exactly what I wanted from the instrument, I might have to do some work to it.

I took myself to the guitar shop today and explained the issue to the guy behind the counter. He immediately tried to talk me into the need for a setup — maybe a truss rod adjustment.

Here’s the thing: as much as I love guitars, I’m not a gear head per se; I love them for what they can do for me without needing or desiring any more tech knowledge than is needed to play decently. I’m not a professional musician, I’m a poet who has a passion for music. (Antique guitars, of which I have several, I love for their stories and history. But that’s another issue.)

So I became concerned that my instinct — that a set of phosphor bronze medium strings would solve the problem — was off. But I stuck to my guns, resisted the urge to turn it over to the shop, and bought the strings I thought would do the trick.

I just finished removing the brand new lights and putting on the bronze mediums…and I was right. The guitar now has enough of the brightness to make it sing and ring, but the bass has deepened and the slappy twanginess has all but vanished. I suspect that even that will disappear as the top opens up (meaning that as it’s played in the sound will develop, for those uninitiated into this stuff).

This may seem obvious to some of you, but it was a good reminder to me: there are times when you have to reach past your self doubt and reach for the thing you know will solve your dilemma. Although it may seem like folly to some to spend for a new set of strings to replace another new set of strings, I know there are players out there who will understand me when I say that we should never compromise on the tools we need to do our work, and to understand that the received wisdom of guitar techs, old-school poets, established painters and other approved sources is a starting point only. There are times to listen, and times to reach.

It was a small moment, but a good one. I think I’ll play now, if you’ll excuse me.

the display of an acute awareness of your own depth is an expression of your shallowness.

if someone were to want a DVD done to use to help promote themselves as a poet, what is recommended — a live performance, a “video resume,” or some mix of both? How much does one of these things cost to do it right?

I’m thinking of using an agency to help with college bookings and have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing. I want to know what I should be expected to provide.

Happy birthday, my dear aurorabell! May your day be Spikey and bright!

And oh, a belated birthday to theklute. I kept meaning to post something witty, but I ended up not posting as I was not witty. Sadness.

I have been through every scrap of paper and blank book I own and can’t find the SPEAK themes anywhere.

Can one of y’all post em for me?

Grrr…

I just realized that the last three slam events I’ve been to (2005 iWPS, 2005 NPS, 2006 iWPS) were all excellent.

It is just possible I may have misjudged the moribund nature of the Beast.

I mean, I heard crap in all three events, but the good stuff I heard was pretty damn good.

This year’s revelation, in the bouts I heard, was Ryler Dustin from (I’m almost sure) Seattle. Intense writer, good delivery. Nice guy too. It will be interesting to see he if he stays involved with slam, as his work is not representative of a lot what you hear these days. I think that’s a good thing.

There are a lot of others to mention, but I’ll do it in the natural course of things as I go along.

I performed four times: twice in the sacrifice slam (“MWSB” and “Punk”), once in the men’s reading (“Nuggets,” a new one — OFF PAGE!), and once as a sacrifice on the second night (“Punk” again — I would have preferred to have done something else but it was a two minute round and the only thing I had that I knew would fit and had the necessary energy was “Punk”). That might be the most I’ve read at any slam event since 1999.

I’ll be in Austin for sure, since I’m determined to award the Ken Hunt Prize this year. Which means I might have to go to Slammasters, I suppose…

Amazing how wiping my hands of a thing never lasts.

because I am evidently an idiot…

how the FUCK does one use the PSI website?

I come back all energized from Charlotte. I decide I’ve got to post something about the Ken Hunt Prize to the membership lists.

I try to sign on. I get told I don’t have my password right.

I decide I must have forgotten it. I send for a new one.

I get the new one. It works, I go into my account, I set my own password.

It works, lets me see my private messages. I sign out, try it again. Still works.

Get back in, change my e-mail on the account.

Try to access the forums. Tells me only users “with special access” can do that.

OK…Sign out, try it again. Nope, password doesn’t work. Find out my account has been deactivated because I changed “vital Information.” OK.

Reactivate account. Try to sign in. Password doesn’t work.

Send for a new one? I don’t think so. Think I’ll cool down a little first.

There is one incorrect fact here, of course…it’s “Inuit,” not “Eskimo.”