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.

Historic Day!!!!!

Celebrate! Ring the bells! Then stay alert. Who knows what the ousted rascals will do..

Go away Mike Parnell

Stop calling. I am not investing and I don't have any dough. I am not listening to you. It's too late now. Turn off the monthly dial-a-rama and stop usurping the cell minutes on my prepaid tracfone. I'd send back your free book if you guarantee you would stop calling. Although your live sales guys are hard to get rid of on the phone, the auto dial is every bit as irritating.

Ha. I will get a different phone, service and a new number. Good-bye Mike.