Bolt -a Disney movie with some remarkable metaphor

The two dollar movies at Edmund Town Hall are a welcome treat in these days of low budget living. Thursday evening, an acquaintance and I went there to see Bolt, a Disney movie. Although it's animated, and heart-warming Bolt's a different sort of Disney movie. Bolt is a story of a gradual fall from belief, of a journey from blanket labels of good and evil to a realization of the micro-community of friendship and family . It's not a story of finding fame and fortune - but of turning away from it. Bolt, a dog, is "superhero" star of a Sat morning TV show. He doesn't know it's a show. His delusion - that he has certain "super powers" - runs smack into reality in a very funny way.

However Bolt holds metaphor that are needed in this sad world where Religion's blind tenents drive so much death and misery, where greed has ruined a global economy for an unknown number of years to come., where the cult of celebrity flaunts personality disorder and borderline socio-pathic actions as "cool"

Instead of a boy and a dog, it's a girl and her dog. Instead of the usual single parent DAD with his daughter which is a common TV family, this is a short plump little MOM and her daughter. Instead of a bone the dog's favorite toy is a stuffed carrot. Instead of the dog being wildly perceptive and human being hoodwinked - in this case the human knows the score and dog is a true believer. Instead of the hero saving the day - it's a tiny hamster and a discarded disillusioned cat that hold the keys. Instead of "belief" and "super powers" saving the world - it's the reality of a few small beings, just doing what they can.

Mittens is an ally cat (really a de-clawed abandoned house cat), that Bolt meets when he is accidently shipped to New York in a crate of packing peanuts. He thinks the peanuts are his kryptonite and have sapped away his powers. Bolt captures Mittens thinking she is related to the cat characters on his show who were the minions of its evil anti-hero. So he ties himself to her and demands to be taken to Penny. Though Mittens hasn't a clue who penny is, she notices Bolts license-tag says Hollywood CA. So she confesses that Penny is in Hollywood and shows Bolt a discarded tourist map. Off they go on trucks and trains to cross the country. Along the way they meet the hamster "Rhino" a fan of Bolt the superhero. Rhino is viral alright - he is a living infectious mem - a true believer living a a bubble ( a plastic Habi-trail exercise globe). Bolt is reminded of his ideals when Rhino launches off on one of his sermons, determines to use what power he has to find his human (or maybe his humanity instead of his fake "superpower")

It really could be argued that Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino are aspects of the self and are internal.... and together they are a whole personality.

To sum it up, I laughed, I cried, I had stuff to think about afterwards. It doesn't get any better than that. Bolt is a film worth going to see no matter what age grasshopper you might be now ..

-- Mar Walker

A time of pause (plus addendum)

This night I am in the place of quiet where light is dim, and there is a sense of waiting. My mind is a flat expanse leading out of sight on either side, visibility zero ahead.

It is a night from which I cannot escape at this moment. After a time, a few hours, the internal sun will rise. The music will play and all will be well...

Undone - the Shijin set for 08-09

Video from our show "Undone" performed Feb. 13 Shijin at the Cornelia Street Cafe. The show is almost a half an hour. For YouTube I had to break it up into three sections of no more than ten minutes each. The show was filmed by Will Sampson on a JVC video cam. The .mod file it produced was converted to an .mp4 file using MPEG Streamclip and edited in iMovie HD. The exported file from iMovie was a .m4v, with the H.264 codex

Six Shijin on a little stage with big drum set

Yes I am aware it's Valentine's Day. That is not the topic of my post....

This post is about the Shijin's adventure performing our newest set "Undone" in New York City on Friday the 13th... Nothing terrible happened. Nothing scary. No blood at all.....

Instead it was a train-riding, subway-packing, walking-down-the-streets-'n-gawking adventure. Shijin's trip to the Cornelias Street Cafe and back home again lead us by no less than five beautiful subway tunnel musicians some on keyboard, some on guitar - one Andesmata-like group, and one pair of masked mimes. We also noticed everywhere we went there were men scurrying about carrying flowers!!! Especially red carnations and red roses.. After initially walking in the wrong direction, we still arrived early at the cafe - wanted a bite to eat and coffee - BUT NO - the maître d SENT US AWAY! So we went somewhere else for food and caffeine. Too bad. A little corner pastry parlor got our cash instead.

Later people were lined up waiting to get in the Cornelias Street Cafe's downstairs room to read at the open myk. And, Wow, we Shijin just fit on the carefully arranged stage - the six of us along side a big drum set, ready for the jazz event that followed the poetry.... We got a chance to renew our conversations with some folks from the Annual New Year's Day alternate poetry readings (Bowery Poetry Club) and meet a few new poet-friends too.

The crowd -- oh my they were a fabulously attentive audience. You couldn't have wanted a better audience. Afterward, we all had a sumptuous Italian meal at Trattoria (again not at the Cornelias Street Cafe...) Trattoria had a very accommodating maître d who put 4 or 5 small tables together to so our large party could dine.
There were six Shijin and six friends - see the photo where Eli is taking a photo down the row of our tables as I am taking a photo of her.) And such an attentive wait staff! I had the Calamari in Marinara sauce which was perfectly executed, very tender and savory! Bravo Trattoria! (Or should that be Brava.....)

Kaleidoscopic Confluencia - belated report

Belatedly I am adding a note about the Feb 5th 2009 Confluencia reading I participated in at the Naugatuck Valley Community College Playbox Theater, - a series organized by Marianela Medrano Marra and Dr. Daisy Cocco De Fillipis. Thanks so much to both of them.

There was a jazz warmup beforehand, and the line-up of poets was really interesting. I was honored to share the stage with Drunken Boat editor Ravi Shankar, Weselyan's Kate Rushin, also with old friend activist-poet Paula Panzarella and multi-media poem-event creator Kenneth Lindquist Jr. I had a great time and am now a fan of Kate Rushin whose work I had not previously heard!

Kenneth Lindquist had a very unusual slide show and music to go with his poems. He also staged a visual performance poem by moving a box of broken bricks one by one, interacting with them, then standing on them as he read a poem. This left quite a few people scratching their heads in puzzlement.

One of Paula's poems wondered about the politics of being a poet at work, which might be fairly risky depending on where you work. Ravi Shankar made every roar with laughter over a new poem which posed the question what if Walt Whitman were a RAP Artist? It was a hilarious piece of writting indeed and well presented! I read poems from my forthcoming chapbook Tabernacle of Bees which angle around the subject of RELIGION. I was not tarred and featherd - I got mini-eclairs instead. Whew! Though, Kate Rushin cleverly made my day, replying when I was caught tongue tied when an audience member asked why I had used humor in talking about religion. She also praised Elizabeth Alexander's Praise Song for the Day, which some in the audience were eager to disscuss. I really like this poem also. The text can be found on Poet.org

Robert Ross wails at Vivo

If you get a chance, check out Robert Ross at his various locations around the area. Ross has an artful bend to the blues, duets his voice with guitar and harmonica riffs. Ross really made Vivo Bar & Grill at the Maron Hotel jump at a Friday night concert there a few weeks back. Ross also added variety with a skilled player sitting in for some tunes. The guitarist's name was Brian ( possibly a member of the Robert Ross Band). The Vivo hosts an older crowd early and a younger crowd late from the looks of it that night. The Vivo is at 42 Lake Ave East Danbury , CT 06811. There was no cover and the bar keep is friendly.

Concluencia, Feb 5, 2009, 6pm

I will be reading Thursday Feb. 5 for Confluencia at Naugatuck Valley Community College's Playbox Theatre. There are five featured poets and warm up of Jazz.  Should be a good time. Click on the poster for a larger version.