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Sporadic Readings' Reviews
Cafe Expresso Roma introduced D.J. Mei to accompany the regular open mike poets last night. Everyone seemed to agree that this experiment went very well as the D.J. adapted to each reader accentuating the evenings poetry with upbeat rhythms.
The host for the night was Chad Reynolds, who read short, mostly humorous pieces between readers, like his ``Letters to God,'' and even though L.A. poet Larry Jaffe didn't make it out as expected, Borderlines Saturday night feature poets, Frank Andrick and Mike Grosse, made a surprise appearance--rather apropos considering their usual preference of reading poetry over a variety of music styles.
Some other highlights of the evening were young Allen Isaacson's spontaneous narrative that actually went somewhere, (quite a feat for his tender age) Bruce Isaacson's performance, including a tribute to a San Francisco poet/legend and a reading of Julia Vinograd's ``Listening to the Radio,'' in anticipation of her upcoming feature at the Enigma Garden Cafe this Friday night. Shelley Hicklin's new political side resurfaced in a venomous commentary of the state of corporate America, far over-shadowing the background music. Bakeem Lloyd read some much anticipated (and much appreciated) new poetry and was quite at home with the jazz accompaniment. Andy Hall took us on a comedic journey into the heart of California, and a Cafe Roma favorite, Trish, closed the reading with fresh poetry, including her ``I want attention, look at me'' take on the children of the poets present.
For an afterhours wind-down, many of the poets regrouped at Cheers and discussed the night and some up and coming local events/features including:
Julia Vinograd this Friday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Enigma Garden Cafe, and Saturday, May 27 at 7:00 p.m. at Borders (Sahara and Decatur)
Frank Andrick and Michael Grosse this Wednesday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m. at the Enigma Garden Cafe, and Friday, May 26 at 7:00 p.m. at Barnes & Noble (Maryland and Katie)
Hello fellow scribes and scholars. Well school may be out for Andy Hall, who received his gift of a novelty degree and a card signed by nearly all of us at the beginning of this Saturdays Border Lines Poetry Reading, but school was definitely in for the rest of the night. [Well, he received a leather document bag, a bottle of champagne, some prosperity incense, a pen, two nice shirts, and a mug complete with the life advice `first the pants, then the shoes.' (Thanks to the generous contributions of our fabulous and supportive community of poets.) The novelty diploma is still in the works.*] "School" was the topic this week and I, Breeze, was your substitute teacher filling in for Danna Banana. Of course I had to get a "Tardy slip" for not showing up until 8pm after leaving the Mosh Pit at Sam Boyd's Stadium during Static X and forgoing the headliners Godsmack, Cypress Hill and Stone Temple Pilots to fulfill my commitment and to be with my good friends at Borders.
Danna picked a great week to bump up the start time to 7pm. However all was saved by our groups ability to fly on Auto-pilot until I could arrive, Stephen and Karen et.al. got together a sign up list and started the first round. By the time I arrived we were on a break and ready to announce Frank and Mike, our feature presentation who treated us to a definitive style of poetry accompanied by some avant-gard background sound recordings for a different sort of presentation than most of us are used to.
For those of you who either missed their presentation or would like to hear more, be sure to catch them at Enigma Garden Cafe this Wednesday May 24, 2000 at 7ish, and again at Barnes and Noble this Friday May 26, 2000 at 7pm. We concluded the evening by completing the first round with some last minute additions.
Some went on to after hours eats while a fair number of us ended up at the Orleans Bowling Center for three full games of Tenpins. We supped in the lounge while waiting to be called to our lanes and then proceed to see who was the best poet-bowler. Stephen took the first game hands down, but soon we all began to come into our own. The second game looked close until Andy's Turkey blew us all out of the water to give him game 2. The last game was blurred by a few beers but from what I recall I started with 2 strikes and went downhill from there. I believe Nancy ended up with the High Score for game 3 and we all got out of there around 2am. [Well, actually Stephan again won game three with a whopping 188, Andy was second with 130, and Karen was third with 129.**] Poor Karen never quite revisited her glory days in the bowling league of her youth. But there were high fives all around no matter what the score was and good comradery abound.
Next weeks theme is "Flying". So if you're a fly girl or a fly guy put on your levitation boots and start writing, who knows, I may actually show up on time next week. See you all then, if not sooner. Breeeeeeeeeze :-)
* * *
* Correction by Karen Lumos, who was not tardy and did not miss this
gift exchange :)
KIDS' NIGHT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!
Thank you, Renee Christy, for your fabulous feature (she had the kids in the palm of her hand) and thank you to all participating poets. We had a surprise visit from Officer Harry "Sweet Feet" Fagel whose amazing rendition of Green Eggs and Ham had the kids (and grownups) howling! Karen wound tales of PowerPuff Girls and The Tick, Barbara recited a Puffin ditty, and about 10 little girls shared their work with the audience. [Annie's Note: Here are some of their poems :)] We welcomed Girl Scout Troop 4, Steve's daughter, Autumn, Breeze's daughter, Summer, and one of Lucy's ballet classmates, Sherry. The kids munched chocolate chip cookies and begged to read more, but the night was growing late.
Afterward, approximately 13 poets & 3 progeny went to Blueberry Hill for late night nibbling.
NEXT WEEK AT BORDERLINES: The theme next week is NOT "Family" as I had announced last night, but instead, per Renee's reminder, the theme is April Fool's.
Hellooooooo Fellow Poets!
Last night at BorderLines we had tons of fun -- emotions were running high and everyone was wound up...maybe it's because spring is almost here, but we had 18 readers last night and the dynamics were exploding!
Good News: I've heard a rumor that Perks went out of business, but there's a new owner opening up in a couple weeks who wants the poets back! The restrictions at Borders have become confining for many of our group, so this could be a really awesome thing. We'll see!
We had some fabulous "hair" poetry last night, follwing the theme, particularly Karen Schier[h]off's [aka Lumos] braiding poem and book-signing poem. A fabulous time was had by all.
Watch for an upcoming announcement later today or tomorrow in regards to Kids' Night next week!
And just for a Sunday chuckle, my hair poem is below --
for my favorite Babarian,
"Hairball"
You are a hairball
stuck in my throat,
I have tried for ten months
to cough you up.
I don't really like you
but I can't get rid of you
I almost forget about you
then
Hack!
there you are again
Hack!
there you read again
Hack!
there I go again
Hack!
I hate you
Hack!
I want you
Hack! Hack! Hack!
Get outta my throat
Get outta my face
Get outta my life
or just give in again
and
let
me
swallow
you
whole.
Crosby, Lloyd at the Barnes
a review by Andy Hall
Greg Crosby's reading was transcendent, particularly his piece on Tecopa Hot Springs and his musings on soundwaves and whether they might travel as far as light. His poem reminded me of the Carl Sagan novel, Contact. What would happen if our voices were heard years later by advanced beings? His reworking of the Christmas Carol, was a reminder that Scrooge is really a generation gap between a father and son. Crosby proved a beaming poet with national potential for representing Las Vegas' original artistic view. A poet who recognizes the social and political importance that poetry can impress.
There was a very good crowd at Barnes and Noble considering also that there was little time for any publicity. I hope that folks also attend Bakeem Lloyd's reading on the 31st of March. Bakeem blends his Kaaria persona mixing classical allusions with Jazz poetry. His poems take on political as well as personal themes that can be quite steamy, showing that it's okay to be a Romantic in the 21st century, in fact it is necessary.
Karen Lumos <karen@cs.unlv.edu>