And a happy June to everyone!
Summer approaches and so does our 24-Hour Summer Slumberfest 2009, the
second annual event I started with David Perez. It was born out of my half-assed December 2007 attempt to read poetry for 24 hours straight. I made it about 18-hours with a huge nap in the middle. Luckily, it lead us to a new idea.
Ten months later, David and I decided to replicate the event, but knew we had to open the mic to anyone that wanted to perform.
24-Hour Summer Slumberfest 2008 was a hit last September. MACLA, also the home of the San Jose Poetry Slam, was the perfect venue for such an endeavor. We had nearly 200 people stop by, and had a parliament of 30+ people most of the time. To take a nap at 3:30am, and to wake up an hour later to see that the crowd laying around you has grown is a sight to behold. It was indescribable fun to have such confirmation for the Slumberfest.
San Jose’s just the right setting for an event of this kind. The people want it–nay–need it and MACLA’s more than happy to pursue just about anything to promote art in all of its forms. It has been a purveyor of art for sometime now, and is the true home of spoken word in Silicon Valley. There is none higher.
Last year David mentioned his interest in bringing more international performers to the Slumberfest, and being a low-cost event, we certainly could not fly people out to attend. It’s quite literally a slumber party with a stage, a few mics, a pile of blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, food (all sorts!) and a couch or two.
But dammit! We live in Silicon Valley! We’re poets and artists who are also tech nerds. There must be something we can do to bring the world to MACLA.
SOLUTION: Skype + projector + wall + camera = INTERNATIONAL SLUMBERFEST!
If you think, “Man, this sounds like fun, but I can’t fly to San Jose, California (although you really should), but I do have a Skype account and I do have a webcam and I do have internet access and I do have poetry or music that is or isn’t mine and I do like the idea of reading it aloud…” Then you’re all set to be a part of the show! Join us from your very own country, province, state, cafe, school, bar
kitchen or bedroom.
We are signing people up for Skyping or those interested in just showing up to perform. Anyone outside of the United States will get priority with time slots. If you’re interested, look up the event listing on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/kpuwej, or comment here with the the general time slot you’re interested in.
Slumberfest 2009 runs from June 5 to June 6 – 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday.
Slots may be less than 15 minutes, but not more than 15 minutes, depending on demand. The later the better. It will be easier to get a slot at 6am then at 11pm. Pay close attention to the difference in time between your time zone and Pacific Time.
http://www.timeanddate.com/
Examples:
“I am Joe Davis. I am a poet. I live in San Jose. I will attend in person. I would like to sign up between 6pm and 7:30pm. My email address is XGHKIG at HJJIY dot COM.”
“Hey, Slumberers! I am Suzy. I live in the UK. I am a musician. I would like to play my songs over Skype sometime between 3am and 5am Pacific Time. You can reach me at SUZY at SUZY dot COM.”
David and I will be working everything out for the rest of this week, and you will get a response with your time slot and explicit Skype instructions by Thursday, June 4 or the morning of June 5.
There will be lots of laying about, aside from David and I hosting and filling in empty slots on the mic. It is recommended that if you bring food or beverage, please bring enough to share.
NO BOOZE OR DRUGS. This is a clean event. We’d love for you to get high on life instead.
24-Hour Summer Slumberfest 2009
MACLA
510 South First Street, Between William and Reed in Dowtown San Jose
Free street parking after 6pm.
Meters in the daytime.
Suggested donation: 5 to 7 bucks.
Original time slotted was 7pm to 7pm, but scheduling forced us an hour ahead. It is 6pm to 6pm.
Various prizes and games for those who volunteer and stay the whole 24-hours.
Get plenty of rest beforehand and be sure to bring plenty of water if you intend to stay up.
We will attempt to webcast the event throughout, but due to issues in the past, we can make no promises. Check back to this blog throughout
the week for more info.
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 2 June, 2009 at 6:00 AM, filed under Podcast, Writing and tagged 2009, 24-hour, 24-Hour Open Mic, all night, barefoot coffee roasters, Bay Area, downtown, event, festival, live bands, live music, live performance, live poetry, macla, marathon, mike mcgee, Music, open mic, pillows, poet, poetry, san josé poetry slam, San-Jose-California, sleep over, sleeping bags, sleepover, slumber fest, slumber party, slumberfest, snacks, spoken, spoken word, summer, sweetness. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
And a happy June to everyone!
Summer approaches and so does our 24-Hour Summer Slumberfest 2009, the
second annual event I started with David Perez. It was born out of my half-assed December 2007 attempt to read poetry for 24 hours straight. I made it about 18-hours with a huge nap in the middle. Luckily, it lead us to a new idea.
Ten months later, David and I decided to replicate the event, but knew we had to open the mic to anyone that wanted to perform.
24-Hour Summer Slumberfest 2008 was a hit last September. MACLA, also the home of the San Jose Poetry Slam, was the perfect venue for such an endeavor. We had nearly 200 people stop by, and had a parliament of 30+ people most of the time. To take a nap at 3:30am, and to wake up an hour later to see that the crowd laying around you has grown is a sight to behold. It was indescribable fun to have such confirmation for the Slumberfest.
San Jose’s just the right setting for an event of this kind. The people want it–nay–need it and MACLA’s more than happy to pursue just about anything to promote art in all of its forms. It has been a purveyor of art for sometime now, and is the true home of spoken word in Silicon Valley. There is none higher.
Last year David mentioned his interest in bringing more international performers to the Slumberfest, and being a low-cost event, we certainly could not fly people out to attend. It’s quite literally a slumber party with a stage, a few mics, a pile of blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, food (all sorts!) and a couch or two.
But dammit! We live in Silicon Valley! We’re poets and artists who are also tech nerds. There must be something we can do to bring the world to MACLA.
SOLUTION: Skype + projector + wall + camera = INTERNATIONAL SLUMBERFEST!
If you think, “Man, this sounds like fun, but I can’t fly to San Jose, California (although you really should), but I do have a Skype account and I do have a webcam and I do have internet access and I do have poetry or music that is or isn’t mine and I do like the idea of reading it aloud…” Then you’re all set to be a part of the show! Join us from your very own country, province, state, cafe, school, bar
kitchen or bedroom.
We are signing people up for Skyping or those interested in just showing up to perform. Anyone outside of the United States will get priority with time slots. If you’re interested, look up the event listing on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/kpuwej, or comment here with the the general time slot you’re interested in.
Slumberfest 2009 runs from June 5 to June 6 – 6pm Friday to 6pm Saturday.
Slots may be less than 15 minutes, but not more than 15 minutes, depending on demand. The later the better. It will be easier to get a slot at 6am then at 11pm. Pay close attention to the difference in time between your time zone and Pacific Time.
http://www.timeanddate.com/
Examples:
“I am Joe Davis. I am a poet. I live in San Jose. I will attend in person. I would like to sign up between 6pm and 7:30pm. My email address is XGHKIG at HJJIY dot COM.”
“Hey, Slumberers! I am Suzy. I live in the UK. I am a musician. I would like to play my songs over Skype sometime between 3am and 5am Pacific Time. You can reach me at SUZY at SUZY dot COM.”
David and I will be working everything out for the rest of this week, and you will get a response with your time slot and explicit Skype instructions by Thursday, June 4 or the morning of June 5.
There will be lots of laying about, aside from David and I hosting and filling in empty slots on the mic. It is recommended that if you bring food or beverage, please bring enough to share.
NO BOOZE OR DRUGS. This is a clean event. We’d love for you to get high on life instead.
24-Hour Summer Slumberfest 2009
MACLA
510 South First Street, Between William and Reed in Dowtown San Jose
Free street parking after 6pm.
Meters in the daytime.
Suggested donation: 5 to 7 bucks.
Original time slotted was 7pm to 7pm, but scheduling forced us an hour ahead. It is 6pm to 6pm.
Various prizes and games for those who volunteer and stay the whole 24-hours.
Get plenty of rest beforehand and be sure to bring plenty of water if you intend to stay up.
We will attempt to webcast the event throughout, but due to issues in the past, we can make no promises. Check back to this blog throughout
the week for more info.
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on at 6:00 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged 2009, 24-hour, 24-Hour Open Mic, all night, barefoot coffee roasters, Bay Area, downtown, event, events, festival, ideas, live bands, live music, live performance, live poetry, macla, marathon, mike mcgee, Music, open mic, pillows, Podcast, poet, poetry, san josé poetry slam, San-Jose-California, sleep over, sleeping bags, sleepover, slumber fest, slumber party, slumberfest, snacks, spoken, spoken word, summer, sweetness, writing. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
HOME
About to pack for my short flight from Los Angeles to San José. I will be in Silicon Valley for a few days, involving two shows.
Have had an amazing few weeks on the road. A lot of it filled with Derrick Brown, Vancouver, B.C. and Honolulu. Not too shabby.
Derrick and I held a bookparty (“book release” sounds lame, like I’m putting my books back out into the wilderness, which, technically, I am–but no) in Honolulu on May 11, and in Long Beach on May 16. They were both jammed in with sweet nugget-y peeps of all sorts and walks. It was good to see Dante, Lindsey and Bobby who came to the show at {open}, a fantastic book shop run by Shea & Sé.
TANGENT: Totally listening to all of the Arcade Fire I have on my Mac.
My buddy Dante, whom I lived with in San José in 2005, whom also supplied the sweet comicbook sketch of Spherical Man and Feedbag in my book, has also written a nice review of “In Search of Midnight” at craveonline.com. Good articles there. Lots to read. His review ismore a general state of what he thinks of me, which is also good. Says a lot for spoken word.
SUMMER
Derrick Downtown Brown and I are embarking on a Euro Tour together (“European, I’m A Peein’ 2009″) in June-July. I have many dates coming up, and no-dates-on-purpose from July 14 through mid-August. Then I’ll close out August with some Chicago time.
MUST SEE
Saw Star Trek twice this month. Whoa. Dang. Son-of-a-Yes! The best action-adventure I’ve seen in years. Such quality entertainment. When they make prequels to this one in 20 years, people will complain that they don’t compare to the original 2009 version.
SHOWS
(From Slammaster, Kat Dietrich) Ladies and Gentlemen, the time to crown a new hero is upon us. For months we have watched poets grab awe inspiring victories and ego crushing defeats. Now that the dust has settled, now that the casualties have been cleared, 10 poets remain standing to face off in the ultimate showdown known as the San Jose Grand Slam! That’s right folks, San Jose Poetry Slam finals are here! This TUESDAY, May 19th, our top scoring poets will come together, battling it out not only to crown our Grand Slam Champion, but also to select San Jose ‘s 2009 Slam Team. The team will go on to represent San Jose at the National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach , Florida . These Poets (selected by you) will go up against teams of poets from 80 other cities across the US and abroad, slugging it out for the title of National Poetry Slam Champions! But that’s not all; the Grand Slam will be hosted by San Jose’s own Mighty Mike McGee!!! Don’t miss out on this blockbuster poetry event! In fact, bring every one you know! As always, we will have poets, poetry, and beer (brought to you by our illustrious sponsor, Faultline Brewery)! We look forward to seeing you again.
~Kat Dietrich & Chris Bundy
San Jose Poetry Slam @ MACLA 510 S. 1st Street San Jose , CA . 7:30 PM Doors Open
8 PM Show Starts (the magic begins!) Tuesday, May 19th $6 at the door
ALL PROCEEDS GO TO SENDING THE TEAM TO NATIONALS!
San José Team Finalists: Clay Courchain, Kat Dietrich, Kristina Roberston, Patrick, Danny D., Dave Perez, Chris Bundy, Kevin Sparks, Jen G, Scorpiana X, Wes Moots
BOOKPARTY!
Want to buy a book from me in person? I will be performing at Barefoot Coffee in Santa Clara (5137 Stevens Creek Blvd. at Lawrence Expwy)
Friday, MAY 22. FREE SHOW. 7:30pm. Books are $15.00. Barefoot Coffee is the deliciousest.
Can’t make it to Barefoot? Well, I just noticed this: http://www.amazon.com/Search-Midnight-McGee-Handbook-Awesome/dp/0982148828 Whoa.
–––––––––
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 19 May, 2009 at 5:36 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged barefoot coffee roasters, bookparty, derrick brown, macla, mike mcgee, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, San-Jose-California, spoken word, star trek, sweetness, tour, write bloody. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Mike McGee & The Barefoot Irregulars! Tonight!
The idea tonight is to get as many irregular poets – people who rarely or never read – to read one of their poems live and out loud. It’s rookie night between 8 and 9 of the PM, followed by a one hour set by me from 9 to 10.
If you think it’s your night to break your live poetry cherry, then be at Barefoot before 7:5?pm, find me and ask me for the sign up sheet. Word! I will cut off the list at 7:5?pm, and start the show right away.
If you’ve never read a poem to an audience, I recommend coming out tonight. The regulars of The Foot are awesome at listening and very supportive. I hope you find it in groin to be there.
And the coffee’s amazing! Try the French toast!
Barefoot Coffee Roasters
5237 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 248-4500
http://www.barefootcoffeeroasters.com/
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 19 April, 2008 at 3:02 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged barefoot coffee roasters. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Mike McGee & The Barefoot Irregulars! Tonight!
The idea tonight is to get as many irregular poets – people who rarely or never read – to read one of their poems live and out loud. It’s rookie night between 8 and 9 of the PM, followed by a one hour set by me from 9 to 10.
If you think it’s your night to break your live poetry cherry, then be at Barefoot before 7:5?pm, find me and ask me for the sign up sheet. Word! I will cut off the list at 7:5?pm, and start the show right away.
If you’ve never read a poem to an audience, I recommend coming out tonight. The regulars of The Foot are awesome at listening and very supportive. I hope you find it in groin to be there.
And the coffee’s amazing! Try the French toast!
Barefoot Coffee Roasters
5237 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 248-4500
http://www.barefootcoffeeroasters.com/
Originally published at Posted on MikeMcGee.net. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on at 3:02 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged barefoot coffee roasters, personal updates. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Mike McGee & The Barefoot Irregulars! Tonight!
The idea tonight is to get as many irregular poets – people who rarely or never read – to read one of their poems live and out loud. It’s rookie night between 8 and 9 of the PM, followed by a one hour set by me from 9 to 10.
If you think it’s your night to break your live poetry cherry, then be at Barefoot before 7:5?pm, find me and ask me for the sign up sheet. Word! I will cut off the list at 7:5?pm, and start the show right away.
If you’ve never read a poem to an audience, I recommend coming out tonight. The regulars of The Foot are awesome at listening and very supportive. I hope you find it in groin to be there.
And the coffee’s amazing! Try the French toast!
Barefoot Coffee Roasters
5237 Stevens Creek Blvd, Santa Clara, CA 95051
(408) 248-4500
http://www.barefootcoffeeroasters.com/
———
Word to the nerd.
2008:
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on at 2:48 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged barefoot coffee roasters, barefoot irregulars, performance, poems, poetry, santa clara, spoken word. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Reposted from http://mikemcgee.livejournal.com:
Hey, all.
As some of you may know, I will be reading poetry for 24-hours this weekend at MACLA in downtown San José.
Get all your info at MACLA’s site: http://www.maclaarte.org/
As I get closer to the event, the more I realize how prepared and unprepared I am in certain aspects of this performance. I am none too worried, as it is an experiment, and the main goal is to put focus on poetry and spoken word for an entire 24-hour period. I am especially pleased to be doing this in San Jose
*The coffee will be supplied by Barefoot Coffee Roasters of Santa Clara. Yay!
*Many people have opted to attend the whole show with me, which I encourage. The more the merrier. I recommend that you bring pillows, sleeping bags, blankets, snacks and such. Like a sleepover, only weirder.
*I will not turn anyone away if they cannot pay the cover. The costs are merely a recommended donation, really.
*Those of you with children, I am scheduling a foul-free children’s stories reading around noon on Sunday, for two hours. That’s definite.
*The schedule program will be posted here within a couple of days.
*You too can hold your own 24-hour reading in your very own town on April 5-6, 2008! Take the Scott Woods’ Challenge! Click here for more info.
Big thanks to scottwoods for the inspiration to do this, and the help and info he’s given me.
I am in the process of scheduling the whole series and have concluded that it would be easier to have large sections of relatively random readings during the late night hours. Nothing will be set in stone for that time, just me, armed with loads of poetry.
I have well over 300+ chapbooks, but I’d love to have more to read.
tabor36, I am most certainly reading the retail poem of yours you gave me years ago. I still love it.
So if you have a poem you think I should read, please feel free to email it to me, text only, no attachments to mightymikemcgee at gmail
Don’t be afraid! I will probably read it.
Emails should include:
Subject: My Poem For McGee’s Show
Name of author
Year written
Background of poem (optional)
Title of poem
Poem
If you know of a poem by a poet I may not know of, please send them my way as well. Let them know you did so if they are within contact. Please be sure to send the name of the author and any pertinent info you deem necessary.
Please have your poems in my inbox by 7:00pm on Saturday, although, in theory, if I am able to check my email during the show, I will probably read anything that comes in during the set. Not guaranteed though.
I will not answer my phone during the show, but I may read text messages to the audience.
I am stoked!
–––––––––
Word to the nerd.
2007: Go for it!
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 19 December, 2007 at 10:10 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged barefoot coffee roasters, downtown, macla, performance, San-Jose-California, spoken word. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
A strange*, productive** December:
*Got mugged with Joshua Walters last week on my way to (and a block away from) the Berkeley Poetry Slam. They took my wallet and Joshua’s cash. Joshua and I were and are fine. Be careful, East Bay. No pity please, we’re seriously fine, but people need to know what’s up around that area.
**Updated http://www.mikemcgee.net to be powered by WordPress. I think it’s looking good, but it will change a lot over the next year.
*/**Deleted my Myspace account after threatening to do so for about a year. I’m a douche, but I feel liberated.
*/**Went through such emotional growth with Miss Knowles that, by almost breaking up, we’re stronger than ever. Anyone else go through something like this?
**Anytime I’ve been in San Jose this year I’ve been very diligent in giving away most of my possessions. I’ve yard-sold my shit at Barefoot Coffee Roasters. I’ve donated stuff to thrift stores. This time, I gave Goodwill a shit-ton of my clothes, mostly stuff a size or two too big for me. I hope to keep only my sports collection and the bare minimum of what I need to enjoy my life of stuffs.
*I’ve been eating too many hamburgers. This unusual craving will not die. Denny’s hamburgers no less.
–––––––––
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 8 December, 2007 at 2:21 PM, filed under Personal Updates, Uncategorized and tagged barefoot coffee roasters, being a douche, berkeley poetry slam, december, denny's, girlfriend, goodwill, less shit, miss knowles, mugged, wordpress. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
A strange*, productive** December:
*Got mugged with Joshua Walters last week on my way to (and a block away from) the Berkeley Poetry Slam. They took my wallet and Joshua’s cash. Joshua and I were and are fine. Be careful, East Bay. No pity please, we’re seriously fine, but people need to know what’s up around that area.
**Updated http://www.mikemcgee.net to be powered by WordPress. I think it’s looking good, but it will change a lot over the next year.
*/**Deleted my Myspace account after threatening to do so for about a year. I’m a douche, but I feel liberated.
*/**Went through such emotional growth with Miss Knowles that, by almost breaking up, we’re stronger than ever. Anyone else go through something like this?
**Anytime I’ve been in San Jose this year I’ve been very diligent in giving away most of my possessions. I’ve yard-sold my shit at Barefoot Coffee Roasters. I’ve donated stuff to thrift stores. This time, I gave Goodwill a shit-ton of my clothes, mostly stuff a size or two too big for me. I hope to keep only my sports collection and the bare minimum of what I need to enjoy my life of stuffs.
*I’ve been eating too many hamburgers. This unusual craving will not die. Denny’s hamburgers no less.
The rest is re-posted from http://www.MikeMcGee.net:
I used to record quite a bit of spoken word. Taking on my own podcast last year (http://mikemcgee.libsyn.com) has really gotten me back into the swing of recording voices.
Over the last year, I’ve become very good friends with a very skilled singer/songwriter named Travis Bilenski. We hang out at the greatest coffee shop in the Bay Area (maybe even the west coast).
[By the way, my friend and confidant, Ben Henderson, formerly of my favorite San José band – Delta Activity – wanted me to mention that he is standing next to me as I write this.]
Anyhow, TB and I decided to try to make a good record of his tunes. They are lovely and sad and marvelous and need to be heard. So earlier this week, we started some recording test sessions and have come up with some swell results.
Click here to listen to “Church Music” by Mr. Bilenski, or right click the link and download it for your collection. It is not mixed or mastered, but merely a raw recording of one of my favorite songs of his, and I believe others may enjoy it too. These sessions should parlay into a full on live album, as tonight we just recorded seven of his songs in front of a nice crowd here at Barefoot Coffee Roasters in Santa Clara, Calif.
Let Travis know what you think of his stuff at his Myspace profile: http://www.myspace.com/doesntrhymegood
Good things are coming out of this boys hands and mouth and I really hope people tune into him. He’s a very bright light.
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on at 2:21 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged barefoot coffee roasters, church music, live performance, recording, santa clara, travis bilenski. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I used to record quite a bit of spoken word. Taking on my own podcast last year (http://mikemcgee.libsyn.com) has really gotten me back into the swing of recording voices.
Over the last year, I’ve become very good friends with a very skilled singer/songwriter named Travis Bilenski. We hang out at the greatest coffee shop in the Bay Area (maybe even the west coast).
[By the way, my friend and confidant, Ben Henderson, formerly of my favorite San José band – Delta Activity – wanted me to mention that he is standing next to me as I write this.]
Anyhow, TB and I decided to try to make a good record of his tunes. They are lovely and sad and marvelous and need to be heard. So earlier this week, we started some recording test sessions and have come up with some swell results.
Click here to listen to “Church Music” by Mr. Bilenski, or right click the link and download it for your collection. It is not mixed or mastered, but merely a raw recording of one of my favorite songs of his, and I believe others may enjoy it too. These sessions should parlay into a full on live album, as tonight we just recorded seven of his songs in front of a nice crowd here at Barefoot Coffee Roasters in Santa Clara, Calif.
Let Travis know what you think of his stuff at his Myspace profile: http://www.myspace.com/doesntrhymegood
Good things are coming out of this boys hands and mouth and I really hope people tune into him. He’s a very bright light.
This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on at 4:47 AM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged barefoot coffee roasters, church music, live performance, recording, santa clara, travis bilenski. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
