"Mighty" Mike McGee's Electronic Place of Himself.
Typings of a well-traveled, talky, funny, hobo-poet.
In October 2010, poets Mindy Nettifee (LBC), Brian S. Ellis (Boston) and I toured up the west coast from Long Beach, California to Vancouver, B.C.
It was fantastic. So we’re doing it again, but a little bit bigger.
We’ve added Jon Sands (Brooklyn) to the mix and will be touring the entire month of February.
We’ll be bringing our awesomeness across the country. We’re still booking some of the last dates now.
All of our information is at our website: Whirlwind Company
And here’s our press kit to inform venues you want to book us: WC Press Kit
Click here to join our Facebook group.
See you on the road!
This entry was written by , posted on 18 January, 2011 at 8:28 PM, filed under Poetry Tour and tagged brian ellis, jon sands, mindy nettifee, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, whirlwind company. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Live from Minneapolis, MN…
For about the last two years, I’ve fantasized about putting together a truly comprehensive, non-Poetry Slam, Inc. website or wiki on the topic of poetry slam. My biggest drawback has been time and motivation. It is amazingly difficult to get amped-up about a community that only gets amped-up between April and August[!] (as they field teams to compete at the National Poetry Slam.)
I had found a dead wiki on poetry slam and wanted to revive it, but I gave up realizing it would become a time suck and would only fulfill this very personal need to have complete access to the history, lists, who’s-who bios, and stats of the poetry slam world.
Granted, there are so many poetry slams throughout the world. Some are reliably consistent, like the one run by Ko and Rayl at Substanz in Munich, and some exist for one night only. But because there are so many events and no real online source to discover all of them, to keep that information organized and accessible, I feel there is a need for some sort of slam database.
Then I noticed a Facebook wall post by poet and web-head Lindsay Stone for her brand-spanking new site SlamProfile.com So I checked it out and realized that this may be just what the poetry slam world needs.
It is without a doubt a Myspace/Facebook for performance poetry and I believe, if it catches on, it could be the source for poetry slam information, poet profiles and networking. There is no reason for people and poets not to check it out. You can post your audio and videos there, and one does not have to be logged-in to access those files either. That alone should be enough to get poets off of Myspace…
SlamProfile.com has a lot to offer poets, even right now in its earliest stage. I was the 41st poet to join, the water is warm and there is plenty of room. If it catches on, it should feel like a viable, valuable social networking tool for poets in no time.
Go check out SlamProfile.com and add “McGee” as a friend. Tell them I sent you.
And thank you, Lindsay Stone. You’re doing awesome things with it.
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 9 July, 2010 at 3:50 PM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged facebook, myspace, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, slamprofile.com, social networking, twitter. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Hey, poetry slammers and regulars. Please read and enjoy this list. Feel free to add to it in the comments. In the spirit of roasting my homies and with lots of love:
You might be a slam poet if…
…the only team you’ve ever been on included 3 other poets.
…you prefer judging someone silently, in a corner and pouting, rather than with numbers.
…you call running away from responsibility and commitments “going on tour.”
…you think your homemade book of poetry might be worth more than $5.00.
…you think someone will actually read said book of poetry.
…you have made a pact to never date another poet, but break that pact at the drop of a pants.
…you think 8.5 out of 10.0 is a low score.
…you bank all of your vacation time each year to go to the National Poetry Slam.
…you tell everybody at the National Poetry Slam that you’re on vacation and getting paid to be there.
…you wouldn’t dare go to the National Poetry Slam if you had to pay for it yourself.
…you are planning a tour as an excuse to move to another city.
…you sign up at literary readings and open mics to “blow them away” with your “performance skills.”
…you hope that [insert poet name] is going to be at [insert event] because they complimented your work that one time and you were sure they were hitting on you.
…you think a viable career path is: 1. Make a slam team; 2. Win Nationals; 3. Get record/movie/TV deal; 4. Become friends with celebrities; 5. Return to perform at local slam as a huge favor to the scene.
…you love conscious hip-hop AND some country.
…you’ve beaten other people in a competition of words with a poem about unity and peace.
…you’ve met Mos Def.
…you’ve bragged to others (who’ve never heard of poetry slam) that you’re on a slam team.
…you have many recipes for ramen noodles, cheap booze and own a counterfeit monthly bus pass.
…you think your poem about oral copulation can not only win a poetry slam, but also change the world’s view on sexuality.
…you think performing in three to ten venues a year is getting your work “out there/making a difference.”
…you are proud of your lowest score ever.
…you have cried for losing a poetry slam.
…you want to be the next Bukowski, Ginsberg and/or Kerouac.
…you are the next Plath.
…you are seeking fame and notoriety through pretty/vulgar three minute rants.
…still have a Myspace account because it’s where people can listen to your “tracks.”
…the old slam guard won’t acknowledge you.
…you wrote poetry at a coffee shop instead of going to college.
…you have five memorized poems and three of them “do well.”
…you’re “looking” for an agent, but don’t do stand-up, play an instrument, do magic/hypnosis, sing or juggle.
…you slept with anyone in Berkeley, California between 1998 and 2006.
…you’ve toured through Los Angeles and lost money.
…you watched Shane Koyczan’s Olympic performance on YouTube.
…two meals in one day and free drinks is “livin’ it up.”
…you can’t remember that one poet’s name, but you just love them to death.
…you complain about Starbucks, McDonald’s, or WalMart, but can be found at one at some point throughout the year.
…you have Kinko’s/copier experience and have been called “a connection.”
…you have tried out for every team in your region because people are expecting to see you at the National Poetry Slam.
…you wonder how your poems would fair in a New York/Boston/Chicago/Berkeley poetry slam.
…you look forward to traveling with people you can’t stand to an event full of people you can’t stand.
…you snap your fingers when something is good or someone is screwing up.
…you prefer your poetry scene to your own family.
…you’ve ended a full day at an all-night diner with a plate of fries or mozzarella sticks, a glass of water, surrounded by poets, all excited about the event you just left, and thought, “Man, what a great night.”
I guess I am a slam poet.
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 8 July, 2010 at 3:49 AM, filed under Poetry Slam Events and tagged humor, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, poem, poetry, slam poet list, you might be a slam poet. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
For you poetry slam experts, nerds and aficionados…
What is the fairest method of scoring a poetry slam without using the 0.0-10.0 scoring system that also has the least potential for manipulation?
I’m listening.
Been talking with Tony Brown about it. We got into too much math and my brain is now swiss cheese.
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 2 July, 2010 at 10:51 PM, filed under Poetry Slam Events and tagged Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, slam judging, slam scoring. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Kitchen Session #14 starts on Saturday, May 22 at 8:00pm Eastern Time.
The video below is streamed live from Worcester, Massachusetts.
There will be a host of opener poets performing never-before-read work, then a mini-feature from Tony Brown. Our feature tonight is RC Weslowski of Vancouver, B.C.
Your host with the most to roast is yours truly, Mike McGee.
This entry was written by , posted on 22 May, 2010 at 11:24 AM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged kitchen-sessions, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, poetry, rc weslowski, Vancouver, Worcester-Massachusetts. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Heading home now from Manchester, New Hampshire with Aisha Hiba Naseem and our valiant driver Bill MacMillan. The poetry slam final was a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed playing emcee for my first time ever in NH.
Your 2010 New Hampshire Slam Team is:
Wil Gibson
McKendy
Beau Williams
Roller Girl
Jeff Stumpo
Alternate: Krista Mosca
There are rumors this line-up may change due to some players also contending in other poetry slam finals, but this is the high-to-low of tonight’s results in ManchVegas.
I started of the night by dusting off Jimmy Awesome and busting out with a bit of the lip-sync/puppeteering.
Also the judges — four of whom had never attended a slam prior to tonight — scored the poets between 19.6 (lowest) to 26.7 (highest!)
I was thoroughly impressed. No matter how hard the audience booed a 6.2, that same judge held their ground. I was proud.
Artie Moffa was my score keeper. A good man to have as a bout manager.
Slammaster Mark Palos has a great scene in NH. I always have a good time at his venues. If you’re heading through New England, keep Manchester on your radar. I think this team could make a good showing at NPS this year.
Tonight was good times. Good times, indeed.
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 8 May, 2010 at 8:00 PM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged grand slam final, manchester, mancouver, new hampshire, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, slam free or die. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Heading home now from Manchester, New Hampshire with Aisha Hiba Naseem and our valiant driver Bill MacMillan. The poetry slam final was a lot of fun. I thoroughly enjoyed playing emcee for my first time ever in NH.
Your 2010 New Hampshire Slam Team is:
Wil Gibson
McKendy
Beau Williams
Roller Girl
Jeff Stumpo
Alternate: Krista Mosca
There are rumors this line-up may change due to some players also contending in other poetry slam finals, but this is the high-to-low of tonight’s results in ManchVegas.
I started of the night by dusting off Jimmy Awesome and busting out with a bit of the lip-sync/puppeteering.
Also the judges — four of whom had never attended a slam prior to tonight — scored the poets between 19.6 (lowest) to 26.7 (highest!)
I was thoroughly impressed. No matter how hard the audience booed a 6.2, that same judge held their ground. I was proud.
Artie Moffa was my score keeper. A good man to have as a bout manager.
Slammaster Mark Palos has a great scene in NH. I always have a good time at his venues. If you’re heading through New England, keep Manchester on your radar. I think this team could make a good showing at NPS this year.
Tonight was good times. Good times, indeed.
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 8:00 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged grand slam final, manchester, mancouver, new hampshire, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, shows, slam free or die. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Most people who read my entries — be them posted at Mike McGee Town (mikemcgee.net), Facebook (rss fed notes), or LiveJournal — all know that I am a touring poet and a big supporter of spoken word events. I really do try to get out to shows as often as possible. I try to buy as much merch from poets as much as I can afford, and hopefully as much as I want to have those poems in my home.
I hear about shows like Jersey Shore and Cleaning Up After The Kardashitians and any other work of video art pummeled out of our satelites, and it makes me sad. I even watch Law & Order and am so depressed by the end of each episode. They’re feeding on our basest emotions without requiring much thought or self-resolution.
THE most important aspect of my discovery of spoken word culture has surely been the plethora of events to attend, participate and support, and all the bad television and loneliness I get to avoid.
Granted, I enjoy the occassional vegg-out session of bad TV, but it rarely overshadows the joy and inspiration I get out of most spoken word events.
I say all of this because I know so many people who know me and my work, but never go to events. They only support local spoken word when I come through town.
I urge everyone reading this to go to more events. Support more readings! Support local spoken word ORGANIZERS! Support touring poets. Pick one day a week and go to an event, alone or with a friend. Become part of a scene.
I went to the nearby Barnes & Noble this afternoon with Bill MacMillan. I am always compelled to peruse a bookstore’s poetry section, which is actually usually just one shelf. I have a backlog of unread books and am on a budget, but I still policed today’s poetry selection. I do it to see if any more of my friends are being stocked, get an idea of how popular poetry is in the area, and to see what level of poetry they supply. Worcester B&N’s poetry shelf is small, meek and beginner-level.
This made me so sad. To see Maya Angelou flopped over Keats. Bukowski all alone on a barren shelf. Meager. Pathetic.
I’m not saying there needs to be a store of only poetry publications — which would be awesome! — I am just saying that since I’m a hard sell on most things, and was so very drawn to spoken word after a few months, I think others could be too.
Go. See. Hear. Experience others. Express yourself. Do something different. If you don’t know where to begin, ask me and I will help you (everyone reading this will help you) find a venue close to home.
We may even be able to find you a ride.
If you cannot find one in driving distance: Build one.
———
Word to the nerd.
PS… I miss you, Gabs.
This entry was written by , posted on 21 February, 2010 at 8:55 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged performance, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, poetry events, poetry slams, spoken word, support. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Most people who read my entries — be them posted at Mike McGee Town (mikemcgee.net), Facebook (rss fed notes), or LiveJournal — all know that I am a touring poet and a big supporter of spoken word events. I really do try to get out to shows as often as possible. I try to buy as much merch from poets as much as I can afford, and hopefully as much as I want to have those poems in my home.
I hear about shows like Jersey Shore and Cleaning Up After The Kardashitians and any other work of video art pummeled out of our satelites, and it makes me sad. I even watch Law & Order and am so depressed by the end of each episode. They’re feeding on our basest emotions without requiring much thought or self-resolution.
THE most important aspect of my discovery of spoken word culture has surely been the plethora of events to attend, participate and support, and all the bad television and loneliness I get to avoid.
Granted, I enjoy the occassional vegg-out session of bad TV, but it rarely overshadows the joy and inspiration I get out of most spoken word events.
I say all of this because I know so many people who know me and my work, but never go to events. They only support local spoken word when I come through town.
I urge everyone reading this to go to more events. Support more readings! Support local spoken word ORGANIZERS! Support touring poets. Pick one day a week and go to an event, alone or with a friend. Become part of a scene.
I went to the nearby Barnes & Noble this afternoon with Bill MacMillan. I am always compelled to peruse a bookstore’s poetry section, which is actually usually just one shelf. I have a backlog of unread books and am on a budget, but I still policed today’s poetry selection. I do it to see if any more of my friends are being stocked, get an idea of how popular poetry is in the area, and to see what level of poetry they supply. Worcester B&N’s poetry shelf is small, meek and beginner-level.
This made me so sad. To see Maya Angelou flopped over Keats. Bukowski all alone on a barren shelf. Meager. Pathetic.
I’m not saying there needs to be a store of only poetry publications — which would be awesome! — I am just saying that since I’m a hard sell on most things, and was so very drawn to spoken word after a few months, I think others could be too.
Go. See. Hear. Experience others. Express yourself. Do something different. If you don’t know where to begin, ask me and I will help you (everyone reading this will help you) find a venue close to home.
We may even be able to find you a ride.
If you cannot find one in driving distance: Build one.
———
Word to the nerd.
PS… I miss you, Gabs.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 8:55 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged performance, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, personal updates, poetry events, poetry slams, spoken word, support. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Is Flickr the best free spot to start posting all of my images?
I have so many photos. I need help with what I should be doing with my images before I upload them all and recommendations on where I should display them on the web.
THE MAN IN SLAM PHOTOGRAPHY
A lot of newbie poets don’t know about David Huang. Along with Vadim Litvak, he was one of the co-founders of the San José Poetry Slam. David was constantly putting his camera in our faces while we were getting our poetry legs. He and Vadim David, with the help of Ekabhumi (poet formerly known as Charles Ellik) put together the first San José Slam Team for National Poetry Slam competition. This is where David really got to get his camera out to shoot poets. Anyone having attended NPS between 1999 and 2005 probably had their image taken by him and posted on his now defunct PoeticDream.com. He must’ve taken 100,000 photos, if not more. I’m sure so many of them never ended up being seen by the poetry community.
David got an image of me the first time I competed in a poetry slam in San José. I cannot find it now, but it shows a larger version of me, with way too much hair from the neck up — a neck you wouldn’t know I had. He took dozens more over the years, then found different interests and continued down non-poetry paths. Then he disappeared. I haven’t seen or heard from David in years. I’ve heard some stories though.
So many poets used his images as avatars, userpics, headshots and whatnot, often without permission. I asked him if he ever charged them for use and he said no, but he wished poets would offer some reimbursement since he had to pay out of pocket to host them online. He said Corbet Dean paid professional prices for use of his images as a thank you for use of them, not realizing he was the only one to pay. I don’t know if anyone else ever offered David some cash, but I would imagine it was never enough and it probably helped in deterring him from future poet photography projects.
MY PHOTOGRAPHY
I love, love, love taking photos with my Nikon. I cannot say it enough. I have probably 10,000 images backed up on two hard drives. I want to put them all online for people to see and use, but I have to admit, the idea of people using them without at least asking or crediting my work. I really have no interest in making money from it as it is just a big hobby, but I suppose eventual reimbursement from those using them to for promotion would make sense.
I need recommendations for how to do all of this online. Is there a way to display the images and charge for larger downloadable versions of them? How might I add a watermark to them? Has anyone made a photo page on WordPress?
Any and all recommendations would be welcome.
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunny up.
This entry was written by , posted on 10 February, 2010 at 4:18 PM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged image hosting, nikon D80, Performance Poetry and Spoken Word, photography projects, poet portraits. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.