"Mighty" Mike McGee's Electronic Place of Himself.
Typings of a well-traveled, talky, funny, hobo-poet.
I spent the beginning of this week decompressing from last Friday’s Oversocial Mofo Revue. Only the second one held so far and another sell-out crowd. Perez and I have hit upon something here in San José. The every other month schedule must have something to do with it.
I followed Mofo with a pleasant weekend of relaxation with the occasional session of friends. I love open mics and the one at Philz Coffee in downtown San José is pretty handy. I spent this last Monday night there with Tristissima, my roommate William, and various open mic-ers. A lot of swell talent seems to land there from time to time.
I overslept a bit on Tuesday and was rushed by my godsend-of-another roommate Charlie to San José International Airport. One Houston layover and six hours later I ended up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. My good man Ronnie Stephens met me at the pick-up curb and we immediately drove two hours to Fayetteville, Arkansas. So much for Tulsa.
I spent 48 fantastic hours in Arkansas. I am aware that I may be one of the only people to ever use that phrase. I got to catch up with the Stephenses, Russ Ritter and Doug Shields and eat some great food.
I was in town to perform at the University of Arkansas Coffeehouse Open Mic and Poetry Slam. I watched the open mic, did a 35 minutes set, then hosted the poetry slam. It was packed and electric throughout the night. Don’t sleep on Fayetteville. They’re excited about words.
In the morning, Ronnie and I headed back to Tulsa. I hadn’t slept after my gig, so I slept pretty hard on the ride to the airport. I felt bad dozing off on Mr. Stephens, but he’s too kind and generous to ever complain about me. He really should though. One Houston layover and ten hours later I ended up back in San José.
I met Perez to discuss Mofo. Listened to a poem he’s been stuck on for a while and his new edits made it perfect. He’s such a good writer. We joked around a bunch and talked about women. We ate pizza and called it a night. At home I watched an episode of Futurama and dozed off.
This morning I woke up at 7:04am and saw William off to work. I made some brown rice and coffee. I took some phone calls and washed clothes, dishes and surfed the tres-dubs. Before I knew it, William was home and we watched a few episodes of Mr. Show.
My self-imposed exile indoors got me a bit stir crazy, so William and I have come to this café near the house. There is a very tiny live music performance happening. A man is playing the blues, switching between an acoustic and a steel guitar depending on the song. The three people left in here are bobbing and tapping to his tunes. They either have nothing better to do or are pretending they came for him.
I am drinking decaf because it is almost 10:00pm and I want to sleep again. The musician has no idea that I am blogging about how horrible his music is. I feel guilty saying so, but it’s an important detail to my subtle week. It’s also a closing capper to a decade-plus of open mics and live performance. I’ve sucked on stage before, most certainly.
But he sure is making me think. I should put a dollar in his tip jar. Not for his talent, a redemption. My unspoken two cents for all the bad open mic performers I’ve seen this month alone. This guys number 51, I’m sure, so he gets the dollar.
It’s been a good week.
This entry was written by , posted on 20 November, 2010 at 2:11 AM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged arkansas, open mics, San-Jose-California. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
1/365 (Count reset for missing yesterday… I always realize I forgot to post an hour after midnight! fuck… What to do, what to do?)
I fly to Salt Lake City tomorrow. I get to hang with Jesse Parent. He’s cool and has Worcester cred. He’s gonna show me the Mormon Temple like a tourist. (MUST take photos.) Then I am off to Denver for a show at Johnson & Wales University on Thursday. I’ve been there before and I had a blast last time. Denverites: Spread the word!
I have many gigs to tend to. Click here for updated dates. Looking forward to rocking some schools and Denver Poetry Slam. Will have a few days of free time next week. I was hoping to go to Fayetteville, Arkansas for a day or two, but the cost of travel makes it very difficult to get out there. I miss Fayetteville and my peeps there. Will have to get there this year.
Shit. I really need to hit up the whole mid-west. Big time. Texas to Minnesota. Like mad.
GAMING
I am bringing a Magic deck with me. If you play, lemme know, bring your deck. We’ll make it happen. I am also down for Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, and Bananagrams, but you’ll have to supply them.
YOUTH WORKSHOP
Ken Arkind is working out a youth poetry performance workshop for me to facilitate in Denver this weekend. Should be good times. Will update with information soon.
CHICAGO IS MINT AND BOSS
After my last mid-west school on March 19th, I think I am just going to catch a train and ride to Chicago. One: Because I love Chicago. Two: Because I love trains. If anyone wants to ride the train with me, come! Let us ride the train and play games. I need to see Chicago peeps like mad.
ON A RADTASTIC NOTE
Got a call tonight from my friend John. I wedded him and his wife Audra last August in Milwaukee, my very first wedding. They wanted me to know that I will be an uncle this year as they have gone made themselves pregnant. I am so very happy for them and their child as they will be incredible parents.
Babies having babies, man. Babies having babies.
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunnies having bunnies, man.
This entry was written by , posted on 8 March, 2010 at 8:37 PM, filed under Travel and tagged arkansas, batesville, chicago, colorado, comedy shows, denver, illinois, live performance, performances, salt lake city, slc, spoken word shows, uncle mike, utah. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
1/365 (Count reset for missing yesterday… I always realize I forgot to post an hour after midnight! fuck… What to do, what to do?)
I fly to Salt Lake City tomorrow. I get to hang with Jesse Parent. He’s cool and has Worcester cred. He’s gonna show me the Mormon Temple like a tourist. (MUST take photos.) Then I am off to Denver for a show at Johnson & Wales University on Thursday. I’ve been there before and I had a blast last time. Denverites: Spread the word!
I have many gigs to tend to. Click here for updated dates. Looking forward to rocking some schools and Denver Poetry Slam. Will have a few days of free time next week. I was hoping to go to Fayetteville, Arkansas for a day or two, but the cost of travel makes it very difficult to get out there. I miss Fayetteville and my peeps there. Will have to get there this year.
Shit. I really need to hit up the whole mid-west. Big time. Texas to Minnesota. Like mad.
GAMING
I am bringing a Magic deck with me. If you play, lemme know, bring your deck. We’ll make it happen. I am also down for Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, and Bananagrams, but you’ll have to supply them.
YOUTH WORKSHOP
Ken Arkind is working out a youth poetry performance workshop for me to facilitate in Denver this weekend. Should be good times. Will update with information soon.
CHICAGO IS MINT AND BOSS
After my last mid-west school on March 19th, I think I am just going to catch a train and ride to Chicago. One: Because I love Chicago. Two: Because I love trains. If anyone wants to ride the train with me, come! Let us ride the train and play games. I need to see Chicago peeps like mad.
ON A RADTASTIC NOTE
Got a call tonight from my friend John. I wedded him and his wife Audra last August in Milwaukee, my very first wedding. They wanted me to know that I will be an uncle this year as they have gone made themselves pregnant. I am so very happy for them and their child as they will be incredible parents.
Babies having babies, man. Babies having babies.
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunnies having bunnies, man.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 8:37 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged arkansas, batesville, chicago, colorado, comedy shows, denver, illinois, performances, salt lake city, slc, spoken word shows, Travel & Touring, uncle mike, utah. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
This week has been intense. Not having a laptop sucks for me. I am so addicted to computers, it is not humorous.
But riding around Tennessee and Arkansas with Russ Ritter has been super. Really truly. We started at the University of Memphis on Tuesday, Hendrix College in Conway, AR on Wednesday, ASU-Beebe last night, and now we’re at our hotel in Batesville for my gig at Lyon College. The audiences have all been medium to huge and enthusiastic to say the least. Especially Hendrix and Beebe. Wow! What great kids they all were. And they all hung out after my set, which is by far my favorite part of touring.
I am going to chill out in Fayetteville with Russ this weekend, and then I have one more Arkansas school to go before I hit Kansas City again.
———
The Individual World Poetry Slam is going on right now and I am sad not to be there. It’s making me homesick for Canada. It’s phenomenally unfortunate scheduling that is keeping me away from the one place I really want to be right now — Vancouver. Vancougar. Vansterdam. VanCity. Jean Claude VanDamn!. East Vancouver is such a home to me. I know there are about a hundred American slammers righ now, totally digging the scene that has acquired so much of my heart.
Reasons I belong there right now:
1. It’s closer to my girlfriend than I’ve been in months. I’d find a way to get her there, were I there. We’d make out hard, among other things.
2. It’s my title that’s on the line, but I have enough titles…I may try for it next year in Columbus because Columbus is rad.
3. I could help the American poets learn the Canadian ways. “It’s called a tuque, not a beanie.”
4. Poutine at Belgian Fries. Black Plague beer at Cafe Deux Soleils.
5. So many rad poets there all at once, and so many of them are so good on stage.
6. Commercial Drive.
7. Stanley Park. Ask anyone there how to get to it, because you must see it before you leave.
8. Nanaimo bars. Find one and think of me when you eat it. Diabetic coma inducers. When you orgasm, you can thank me.
9. Canadians. Much cooler than we give credit.
10. The Vancouver Slam scene: best in the west.
I could list my predictions as to who the finalists will be, but that’s not fair. I can say that I am pulling for too many people to make sense out of the twelve final slots. In all honesty, I would like to see Alvin Lau make it, as well as C.R. Avery, Dan Leaman, Patrick Swan, JohnMark, Marc Marcel, and Kim Johnson. I am missing so many people because I do not have the full list in front of me.
If I could pick a winner, it would be RC Weslowski hands down. I just discovered he qualified to be in the competition and that made my day. I cannot choose anyone else because Randy is my favorite poet. Ever. Always. The skill he has on and off stage is remarkable, which is why I am remarking, and why I’ve had a webpage for him for some time now. http://www.mikemcgee.net/weslowski.html If he grabs the title, I’d be just as proud as all of Vancouver will be.
I do truly hope Jamie Kennedy DeWolf makes it to finals. Our history slamming against each other in the SF Bay Area is long and old, and so I know his work very, very well. He is the only poet whose work has ever intimidated mine. Seeing his name on a sign-up list at a slam back in 2000 was the scariest thing a Bay Area poet could experience. Nobody looked forward to slamming against Jamie, especially me. He’s gotten a lot of crap from the slam community for his style, volume, methods and topics. He’s one of the hardest working poets I know and he has grown so much over the years. I hope that gets noticed at this competition. I am really pulling for him.
Of course, there are all of the heavy hitters like Sonya Renee, Buddy Wakefield, Anis Mojgani, Ed Mabrey, Andrea Gibson, and Joaquin Zihautenejo. I’d just like to see what they’re doing this year, and then point and laugh at them if they’re repeating the same stuff, because that is whack. I love them all, but that would be considerably whack.
Good luck to all slammers this week in Vancouver. No matter the results, soak in that city because it’s awesome, and that’s probably where I’ll be living in the next few years.
———
Word to the nerd.
2007: Go for it!
This entry was written by , posted on 2 February, 2007 at 4:24 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged arkansas, college, individual world poetry slam, iwps, rc weslowski, tour, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.