Jim Carroll Poems and Personal Thanks

Tonight is the Jim Carroll Tribute & Dead Poet Slam at The Dirty Gerund at Ralph’s Rock Diner (9pm; 148 Grove Street, Worcester, MA)

I want to read a poem of his, or more specifically, his awesome story "A Day At The Races," the one about he and his lover pulling crabs from their pubes and racing them across a seedy room. He read it when my buddy Erik Berg and I saw him read at Villa Montalvo in 2001. It was a fun night, indeed. Definitely became a fan of his.

I got a signed copy of Jim Carroll’s "Living at the Movies" that night, but I gave it away to a friend. (Geoff Trenchard, methinks?)

In my years of collecting, publications always find their way out of my homes and backpacks. Once I’ve read something, I usually give it away. I think it’s a "don’t want to much weight on my back for the next few weeks." Chapbooks are light = chapbooks make it home with me.

My philosophy is that books should always be read. Always. NEVER having a chance to collect dust. NEVER. Own no bookshelves. Instead, I have a very limited CD rack, modified to hold chapbooks/self-published works. Chapbooks are very sentimental to me, even though I despise making my own.

Now I’m curious: Do YOU have any of these chapbooks of mine?

333 (2000) [maybe 100 copies in print]
WILL EAT FOR FOOD (2004) [300-400 in print]
POCKETFUL OF AWESOME (2004) [300-400 in print]
ROCK THE MIKE (2004) [300-400 in print]
SOFT-HEARTED LOUDMOUTHS UNITE (LIMITED ILLINOIS EDITION, 2006) [54 in print]
NO SHOWERS ‘TIL TORONTO (with Robbie Q. Telfer, 2008) [100? in print]

Does anybody have the text for Jim’s "A Day at the Races?" If so, post it as a comment for others to read. I will make up for it by buying a copy of his book online this week. Other’s should as well.

Not a big deal, really. I have a handful of poets I could read in the slam as well.

Just hope we know how to honor all of our poets who pass on.
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For those of you who commented on my last post (http://mikemcgee.livejournal.com/177286.html), I love you all. Will respond to each comment today, once I have more ‘puter power.
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Word to the nerd.

This entry was written by Mike McGee, posted on 21 September, 2009 at 1:23 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged a day at the races, death, died, jim carroll, poet, tribute. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.

24-Hour Summer Slumberfest 2009

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.
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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.