Playlist: Folkwagon

Simon & Garfunkel - A Poem on the Underground Wall

Amy MacDonald - Poison Prince

Mumford & Sons - Little Lion Man

Megan Spellman - In this corner...

Ani DiFranco - Cradle And All

Del Vezeau - Blackhash

Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller - Lochaber to Argyll

Dan Tyminski, Harley Allen, & Pat Enright - I am a Man of Constant Sorrow

Remains

For those of you who are still reading/subscribing:

1. My computer died in early November. I've been borrowing a laptop, but haven't bothered to post here on it. I now have a new laptop of my very own, an HP dv4t, and I'll return to posting. Expect updates on

2. Poetry. diluvium is getting a thorough vetting by my chair right now. I'm not going to comment on that process, as I consider it something to be kept between my advisor and myself. But poetry and the editing process is definitely on my mind of late.

2b. Poetry. It's about time I start weighing in seriously on the prose/scholarly portion of my diss. I've had thoughts tumbling around for a while now, but have concentrated my efforts on the creative section. No more (or at least not to the exclusion of the scholarly stuff). Might as well put some of those thoughts up here while I'm working through them.

3. Also expect my thoughts, whether you wanted them or not, on Windows 7. I don't have it installed yet, but a free copy is coming because of the timing of my laptop purchase. I'd gotten quite used to Linux Mint, so switching back to Vista has been odd. Good news - I don't have to hack into my own iPod Touch anymore (i.e. I can run iTunes again, though I miss Amarok 1.4). Bad news - It's slower than Linux Mint. Good news - the Search option isn't as powerful as Gnome-Do (i.e. it doesn't learn which programs, folders, and files I access most often), but it's actually finding all my files correctly this time. Bad news - need to get used to fewer customization options again.

Music of the moment: Woodchopper's Ball by Woody Herman. "Blue Flame" and "Goosey Gander" are awesome. "Blue Flame" especially.

Are you looking for a song?

If you're a songwriter looking for a quirky love song, I've had this chorus bouncing around in my head for a few months. I've got verses to go with it, but am holding all but the first back as bargaining chips.

Verse 1, part 1

I was always straight-laced

You always liked to follow a plan

I was brought up in a flow-chart faith

You were brought up at your father's right hand

Chorus

We said we'd just get a little stoned...

Next thing you're wakin' up next to me

And I'm wakin' up in Mexico

One clear note

You may or may not have noticed the weeklong break. Been productive. Here's a rare share, two central poems from diluvium. These are part of a conversation that represents a pivoting moment. Noah's wife has begun to leave her depression, having realized that she can take control of her own life. Noah is still in the doldrums, and these two poems are the part of the conversation where she says something that finally gets him to realize that he, too, has the power to endure.

It's the hitting,
not the bottom,
that hurts, mistakes
cause for symptom.

I was wrong.
Go below.
Put your pain
in one clear note.

This moment, incidentally, contradicts an earlier, snarkier note from her that said nobody goes into the underbelly of the ark in order to create art, but to shovel shit. She then spends her own alone time down there and does in fact come to a realization (for which you'll have to wait for the book). Now she can both apologize and stand over Noah on real terms.

Been singin' Blues all this time.
Yes, I been singin' Blues all this time.
Baby, I been singin' Blues all this time
and it never crossed my mind

that the Blues ain't all
about lack.
Singin' blue means you
ain't faded to black.

I've been working on various song lyrics in my head over the past few months, and it's really unfortunate that I'm tone deaf. Some of them are funny ("We said we'd just get a little stoned... / Next thing you're wakin' up next to me, / and I'm wakin' up in Mexico"), some are not. I've been listening to a lot of Blues, which is a useful lyrical format for diluvium, tight-packed with witty wordplay in the best of it. I'm not sure if I'll have to go back now and make Noah more of a Bluesman throughout.

Playlist: ch33rup

For when I want to go from bad mood to doing the robot through the use of somewhat grindy/gritty electronica and/or hip-hop. Also, I got my head back on my shoulders and am linking to Last.fm where available for all these songs.

Playlist title: ch33rup
Length: approximately 19 minutes

Artist - Song

Muse - Supermassive Black Hole (team9 remix)
Nikk Shifter - Trippin' on Acid Lines (write me for this mp3, which I got off mp3.com back in the days when it was a site for sampling the work of independent artists)
Micronaut - Northern Style Kung Fu
Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
The Beastie Boys - Intergalactic

Playlist: Turtlenecks and iPhones

Current playlist, which will expand over time

Playlist title: Turtlenecks and iPhones
Length: approximately 40 minutes

Artist - Song

The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour
Feist - I Feel It All
Beck - Gamma Ray
Shirley Ellis - The Clapping Song
Duffy - Mercy
A Tribe Called Quest - Excursions
Us3 - Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)
Fiona Apple - Criminal
Sara Bareilles - Come Round Soon
Beston - I Think I'm Falling In Love Again
Cat Power - New York

All that Jazz

Last Thursday, I participated (unexpectedly) in a fundraiser for Jazzmouth, the upcoming poetry, music, and art festival in Portsmouth. I'd attended in order to see some new poets, to contribute a few bucks, to hear a couple of poets who already interest me, and to indulge in a newfound love for live jazz.

I've never been fond of jazz. Blues, absolutely. Sit me down with a recording of Howlin' Wolf or Muddy Waters, and I'm in hog heaven. The jazz I heard on the radio in Chicago was always too light for me. I'll read poetry that is intellectual without having heart, but I can't take music that's all head and no gut. Hypocritical? Probably. But it didn't change the fact that the closest I'd get to improvisational music was, well, 8-bar blues and a decent guitar solo in a rock song.

I'd been proud of this fact. The only autobiographical note in all of "ADD TV" is the line that kicks the whole thing off: "My music is not jazz / but rap." I'd performed a one-off poem at Mic Check once that lauded the grounded improvisation of Blues over what I perceived to be an elitist and ironically mindless following of jazz - "Famous poets always talkin' 'bout jazz / Famous poets always' talkin' bout jazz / Famous poets, they love to talk about jazz / But baby, I wear a Bluesman's hat."

I realize at this moment that I'm still capitalizing Blues but not Jazz.

Then I attended Beat Night, at which Groove Bacteria, which seems to range from 5-10 musicians, takes instruction from a poet and responds musically. Now, I'd been to the Green Mill in Chicago on nights when the three-piece (piano, bass, drums) band backs up the open mic. But I'd never seen anybody except Marc Smith really work well with the band. Maybe I just went on the wrong nights. But at Beat Night, I finally heard someone say, "Play like the house is underwater" and heard that from the band AND the poet. I finally heard someone say, "Punk gospel" and saw the poet come alive because of the music in a way I hadn't seen before (I mean this literally in this case, having seen another well-done performance of this particular poem by this particular poet).

At the end of the regular portion of the fundraiser, there was room for an open mic, so I signed up. I walked up to the mic planning on doing something light and funny. I'd performed at Beat Night before, but did "ADD TV" and not to music. I can't do that piece to music (the musicians agreed). At the last moment, I decided to do "Wooden Boys and Deadlier Toys," with the request to the band "A music box that was in a fire." Not only have I never performed that poem better, but I got ideas on how to improve it, from a fellow poet in the audience and from within my own head. I finally got the improvisation, which is something I've been exploring in my spoken word lately.

And, to my surprise, not just from my own performance but the other readings that night, I'm starting to enjoy Jazz.

Out of Sequence

Kate and I went to a local bar called the Press Room on Saturday to listen to a 14 piece band play music from the Depression. As in "Brother Can You Spare A Dime" and "One Meatball." It was great. We then watched Springsteen rock the Superbowl halftime show (on TV).

Every kid who wants to grow up to be a musician/singer/rockstar needs to watch Springsteen live and listen to a good jazz band interpret old songs. This weekend was an exercise in letting the music/performance flow through you - you might not get every note right, but good gods you're having such a great time up there that it's no longer about ego, even as your body is the instrument through which people are entertained/moved.

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I will go back and comment on the ordering of those four poems from a couple posts back. Promise.

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Anybody else out there have songs that just kill other songs for you? If I put my whole collection on shuffle and end up listening to, for instance, The Cranberries' "Zombie," I just can't listen to anything light and poppy afterwards for a good long while. That particular song is just so intense and dark and "real" that most other contemporary music feels like some kind of betrayal to listen to.

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No. No you're not.

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At poetry slams, there's an effect whereby one poet can draft another's energy, but it only lasts so long. For example, the first poet up does a funny poem. The second does a funny poem as well, one that is just about as good or better than the previous, and the audience reaction is better than if the second poem were a one-off. This drafting effect can go three, four poems at the most before there is almost invariably a downturn in energy and the poem-topic/style has to shift or suffer the increasing wrath of the audience.

I realize now that I designed certain poems like "ADD TV" to be draft-breakers. It's so unlike most of what I'd see on stage that it would break the slam's momentum. It's not an easy poem to follow insofar as the next poet can't go "Ah, I've got something funnier than that poem's funny parts" or "I've got something that refers to pop culture in more ways than that poem." At the same time, it's not "Zombie." Nobody is left feeling as though they would be wrong in trying to top it somehow.

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Mike Guinn has a poem that begins "There will be no more funny poems tonight" and goes on to describe some of the horrible things he witnessed as a social worker. It often works. All other poets are afraid/respectful enough of what he says to not try to be funny on that same stage.

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When Springsteen took the stage at halftime, did the physical presence of a stage matter as far as his owning the space? I mean, if he had just rocked out on the grass, would we have reacted as strongly to him? I mean, not because that's an inappropriate place to play rock and roll, but because it would have appeared to be on loan to him? Or did he channel energy such that he could have taken over any space in which he played?

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[This space reserved]

iPod shuffle game/survey

This game has been floating around for a while, apparently. I didn't join in when sixteen or thirty different friends all jumped on it in Facebook. But since I turned 29 yesterday, I feel the need to do something absolutely silly. Here's the deal:

Put your iPod on shuffle and press next song for each question. Put the song that pops up on the question.

That's it. I am now prepared to be embarrassed.

Shuffle iPod Survey

How am I feeling today? All in my Head (Marie Brown)
How do my friends see me? Pedestal (Portishead)
What is my best friend's theme song? Che cosa accade, signori miei? (from Il barbiere di Siviglia)
What is the story of my life? Track 19 (a blank track off Buddy Wakefield's album Run on Anything)
What is the best thing about me? Title Track (from Death Cab For Cutie's We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes)
What is today going to be like? A Martyr For My Love For You (The White Stripes)
What is in store for this week? One Last Vow (DeVotchKa)
What song describes my mom? Instinct Blues (The White Stripes)
What song describes my dad? Tomorrow (Death Cab For Cutie)
To describe my grandparents? How To Save A Life (The Fray)
How is my life going? Paradise (Vanessa Carlton)
What song will they play at my funeral? I Got Gone (Buddy Wakefield)
How does the world see me? We Looked Like Giants (Death Cab For Cutie)
Will I have a happy life? No Sunlight (Death Cab For Cutie)
What do my friends really think of me? Vienna (The Fray)
How can I make myself happy? Roads (Portishead)
What should I do with my life? Demon Seed (Nine Inch Nails)
What is some good advice for me? Evolution Revolution Love (Remix) (Tricky)
How will I be remembered? Reptile (Nine Inch Nails)
What is my signature dancing song? A Cure For Destiny (Stephen Sargent)
What is my current theme song? What Sarah Said (Death Cab For Cutie)
What does everyone else think my current theme song is? A Thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton)

LIFE STORY:
Opening Credits: Evening At Lafitte's (Squirrel Nut Zippers)
Waking Up: Track 22 (another blank track off the Buddy Wakefield album)
First Day At School: How It Ends (DeVotchKa)
Falling In Love: People Ain't No Good (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)
Fight Song: If Yo' Shit Was Togetha' (Joaquin Zihuatanejo)
Breaking Up: Track 21 (yet another blank off Wakefield)
Prom: Just for Now (Imogen Heap)
Life's OK: Sour Times (Portishead)
Mental Breakdown: Thursday (Morphine)
Driving: Prelude to a Kiss (Duke Ellington)
Flashback: On The Alamo (Duke Ellington)
Getting Back Together: Suddenly I See (KT Tunstall)
Wedding: Come All You Weary (Thrice)
Birth of Child: Winter (Tori Amos)
Final Battle: In the Highways (off the O Brother, Where Art Thou soundtrack)
Death Scene: Ma bravi! Ma benone! (Il barbieri di Siviglia)
Funeral Song: Black Hair (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds)
End Credits: Amputations (Death Cab For Cutie)


Huh. Some of those are actually pretty funny.