"Mighty" Mike McGee's Electronic Place of Himself.
Typings of a well-traveled, talky, funny, hobo-poet.
My dearest tomboyfriend has a crushing disability and needs a back brace. They cost a shitload. You can help her Brace Herself. <—Click here to check out amazing and actual works of art donated for auction. By bidding, you can get great works of art AND help someone ease their pain AND possibly help correct a debilitating condition. You also get my deepest gratitude.
Help me spread the word and website far and wide: http://braceherself.blogspot.com
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 21 August, 2011 at 7:23 PM, filed under Canada, Projects & Ideas and tagged disability, fundraiser, support, tomboyfriend, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Happy June, everybody! My whole life, as far as I was concerned, summer began on June 1st. Once we got into the warm J-months, it was summer for me. So welcome to McGee Season! Hope this one’s a good one.
IN NEW YORK
Just made it to Zork’s & LV’s new house in White Plains, NY. Doing a bunch of shows here tomorrow — namely the White Plains Library tomorrow night at 7pm. Then off to Manhattan for the THE INTANGIBLE GRAND SLAM featuring EBONI HOGAN & yours truly on Thursday Night, and the Nuyorican on Friday at 10pm. Let’s hang.
AN IDEA ON MERCHANDISE
Due to the fact that I stopped selling CDs about two years ago primarily because CDs are quickly becoming the dodo bird of technology, and a pain in the ass to produce and carry, I’ve been rethinking my means of transferring mp3s.
My albums available include:
Mike McGee Is Beautiful
Live in Exeter, England
Live in Denver
Miscellaneous
Anyone who brings a flash drive of 1gb or larger, or their laptop, to any of my shows from now on, I will gladly load any or all of these four albums onto their media for $3 each. This means I don’t ever need to carry another disc again and neither do you. I think this may be the smartest way to sell tracks on the road. I understand the desire to have something tangible to take home, which is why I also have a book for sale…
VANCOUVER, B.C.
I will be in Vancouver to attend Lisa Slater’s & Kyle Mallinson’s wedding on June 18. Because Kitchen Sessions have been so fun at home in Worcester, I wanted to bring it to places I love. I will be holding a East Van Kitchen Session #1 at the Foxy House on Saturday, June 19. Due to noise issues, the show must end by 10pm. So we will start at 7;30pm sharp. I am not sure who else is traveling through Van that weekend, but they should contact me and be a part of it. I will host. Sign up will be between 6:30 and 7:20pm for up to two poems each, or a song (I mean, it is Vancouver.)
I will stay in Van through my feature at the VanSlam on Monday, June 21, where I will also sell books and mp3s…
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 1 June, 2010 at 10:48 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged east van, kitchen-sessions, merch, mp3s, nuyorican poets cafe, United States, Vancouver, white plains. 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.
Yesterday was fantastic. My good old friend Feff and his fiance Adriana had caught a cruise ship from L.A. to Vancouver. Three choppy, nauseous days by sea, apparently. Made it to downtown Vancouver by 8am yesterday. I met them in Chinatown. Their first time in Van.
We wandered around checking out various incongruous parts of Vancouver. RC Weslowski met up with us in Gastown and we wandered up Main Street. Not the best day for walking, as we’d stop every fifteen minutes for cover from the rain.
It was so awesome to be with such good friends from different worlds. It was like showing family an old, favorite haunt. Seeing Feff and Adriana in a setting I love so dearly was sublime.
We stopped at Old Town Cafe at Main and Broadway and talked and talked. I stood to use the restroom at one point and, while I waited, I watched the three of them chat and chat and get along.
We parted from RC and made our way to Cafe Montmartre for Thundering Word.
Later they kept commenting how much they really liked RC.
I signed up to read and we met a number of my friends there.
The featured performer was Hilary Grist. Never heard her music before, but I became mesmerized with her voice and songs. She sat at a keyboard and played these lovely tunes, accompanied by another singer-violinist who filled in with harmonies and strings. They were wonderful.
After the show, I approached Hilary to buy her CD. I flipped out when she told me that her husband is Mike Southworth — the man who recorded T.O.F.U.’s second album. That recording process was so wonderful, it endeared us to Mike. His studio in Vancouver is fantastic. What a neat coincidence!
Hilary said she knew my work because after each T.O.F.U. session, Mike would bring home the newest tracks to play her out of excitement. So neat. Glad I bought her album. It sounds great. As it should — Mike recorded that as well. Look up Hilary Grist! She’s Hilary Great!
TODAY
I am going to head up to a cafe on Commercial Drive and sit and watch people and the weather. I will attend Magpie Ulysses feature tonight at the VanSlam.
TOMORROW
I Amtrak it back to Everett, Washington for one last day hanging with Art.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 5
I fly to Chico, California — one day before my show there.
THURSDAY, MAY 6
Show at Chico State University. Whitney Dining at 9:00pm.
FRIDAY, MAY 7
Amtrak to San Jose. Probably won’t get to hang out. Pretty much straight to the airport most likely.
SATURDAY, MAY 8
Depending on travel, I will fly to Manchester or Boston. The ultimate goal is to get to Manchester to host their Poetry Slam Grand Championship.
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 3 May, 2010 at 7:56 AM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged commercial drive, travel round up, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
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Late last night I posted a fun entry for NaPWriMo. Check it out—> http://mikemcgee.livejournal.com/232594.html
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 1 May, 2010 at 10:28 AM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged cafe deux soleils, commercial drive, mike mcgee live, sunday's best, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Tonight: Seattle Poetry Slam Finals (not performing)
Monday, 4/26 – Hanging with family.
Tuesday, 4/27 – Seattle Poetry Slam Feature
Wednesday, 4/28 – Train to Vancouver, BC. NO GIGS. Van-cation. May attend Thundering Word on Sunday. Attending Magpie Ulysses VanSlam feature on Monday.
Tuesday, 5/4 – Train to Everett, WA
———
Word to the nerd.
This entry was written by , posted on 25 April, 2010 at 1:53 PM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged everett, seattle, shows, shows, vacation, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Tonight: Seattle Poetry Slam Finals (not performing)
Monday, 4/26 – Hanging with family.
Tuesday, 4/27 – Seattle Poetry Slam Feature
Wednesday, 4/28 – Train to Vancouver, BC. NO GIGS. Van-cation. May attend Thundering Word on Sunday. Attending Magpie Ulysses VanSlam feature on Monday.
Tuesday, 5/4 – Train to Everett, WA
———
Word to the nerd.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 1:53 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged British Columbia, everett, seattle, shows, shows, vacation, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
PORTLAND, OREGON
Since I’ve notified everyone in Worcester, Massachusetts, for the most part, and told my family in California, I figured I might as well make it known that I intend to move from Worcester, Mass. to Portland, Oregon. Probably this summer.
Barring anything that might make me move sooner, I am thinking that since the fall is a major touring season for me, I’d like to try to get settled on the west coast by September. I miss my family too often to live this far away now. I gave myself a year to live here and my family understood, but it’s getting harder to be this distant.
My father’s side of my family lives in Washington. My mother’s side lives in California. Oregon is a good central location. I have very close friends in and around Everett, WA who I love to visit, as well as in Eugene and Corvallis, OR.
LOTS OF THOUGHT
I want my family, given and chosen, to travel more. Shit — I want everyone I know to travel — but they are a sedentary lot down there in Silicon Valley and up in the Seattle area. If I move to a place they can get to in one flight or train, or even a 12 hour drive, they just might do it.
I’ve been considering this for sometime now, ever since the Elephant Engine Revival Tour last autumn. We spent a pretty solid week in Portland and I fell in love with the city itself, caught up with a surprising amount of friends in the area, and realized it’s proximity and low cost were key to being closer to San José and Vancouver, B.C., the Cities of My Heart.
Portland is a 1h:45m flight to San José and generally very cheap. Portland is also about 6-8 hours by train to Vancouver, or a 1h:10m flight straight through. Seattle’s an easy stop. Boise’s awesome and easy to get to as well.
MY TIME IN WORCESTER
I feel I’ve experienced as much growth in Worcester in the last 13 months as I did in the previous five years on the road. So much of it is thanks to Bill MacMillan and Tony Brown — my brothers from other mothers. I feel like I can be me and I like the me that I’m becoming thanks to the people who have become my New England family. My roommate Melinda Lee is the shit, plain and simple. I have felt very much at home here thanks specifically to Missy Mitchell, Dave Keali‘i MacKenzie, Sou MacMillan, Alex Charlambides, Liz Heath, Cyndi Keeley, Rushelle Frazier (before she moved), Heather MacPherson, Danielle Carriveau, Mark Palos, Sam Teitel, Roger Mindfucker (our cat), Anne O’Neill, Simone Beaubien, Danny Balel, Emily Mele, and a host of other people in New England. I haven’t forgotten any names, I just didn’t want to turn this into an acceptance speech. I will surely write that entry when I do actually move.
WHAT BOTHERS ME MOST
I am sad that so many others promised to visit me in my home while I was here and will have absolutely failed to do so before I move. I am just glad Finneyfrock and Weslowski are coming to do there own respective Kitchen Sessions this spring. And they’re coming from the WEST COAST… At this point, I will be too busy to really host anyone else before I move… Very, very saddening.
PORTLAND IS RAD AND GETTING RADDER
With the growing number of Write Bloody authors living and moving to Portland, it’s a perfect spot for a northern WB hub. We can put on shows/readings, get the ball rolling on events and brainstorm future projects. The city pushes the arts, has a fantastic transit system (which is a HUGE sell for us rare non-drivers), and loves their bicyclists, an activity I’ve missed since my Schwinn cruiser days in downtown San José.
Portland is alive and electric. It excites me. I feel I could be there even if I didn’t know anyone, although, it does also feel very, very transient. I think people come and go like mad, which is my plan as well. The gray skies will get to me in due time, but at least it doesn’t snow very often.
I think people should travel and really try living in other places. It’s easier than it seems and there are a number of people who do it enough to advise newbies. I said I would give Worcester a year and it turned out to be more. I will probably give Portland a year. I think it’s a good idea. You really get a feel for a city when you’ve spent a year there.
WHERE I TRULY BELONG
Of the entirety of the Bay Area, I would really only live in San José/Silicon Valley, but it’s three times the cost of living in Worcester. I am one of San José’s biggest fans, but I have spent 27+ years there (prior to touring) and I really just want to see more places and try out new environments for a while. I will return to San José, but I need just a little more stability and a girl-partner who is also a huge fan of Silicon Valley. And they would have to be a fan of it because anyone who didn’t grow up there has a hard time seeing it’s greatness. I couldn’t love a human baby as much as I love Silicon Valley.
Silicon Valley Example of Greatness #2,482: 300 days a year of sunshine. 300. Yep.
SILICON VALLEY vs. PACIFIC NORTHWEST
There are really only a few places I feel I belong in a living situation and they are Silicon Valley and the Pacific Northwest (Eugene, OR to Bellingham, WA… Vancouver is the Pacific Southwest to Canadians.) I belong in Vancouver. I am so very much at home in Vancouver, but the cost of living there is fuckstupid, especially for an American. With my constant travel, I’d have to fly from Vancouver to U.S. destinations pretty often. I tend to have to book flights on short notice. I just did a sample search and a ONE-WAY flight two weeks from now from Vancouver to Denver is $309-USD. However, one-way from Seattle to Denver is $101-USD. Prices for Canadian flights to the U.S. are almost always three-times U.S. prices, across the board. I could bus it down to Seattle whenever I had a flight, but making the right bus-to-flight connection is a bitch-and-a-half and pretty costly over time. It’s a 2h:30m ride and you have to cross a border every time. I’ve done it and I despise it.
Vancouver Suckiness Example #2: Three short days a year of sunshine.*
I’d be better off living in Seattle, but Seattle has always felt like Vancouver Light. Aside from the awesome poetry people who live there, Seattle feels very, very sad. It is almost like 60 to 70% of the city is depressed. I feel it whenever I am there. The Seattle spoken word scene is pretty stellar thanks to Daemond Arrindell and Youth Speaks Seattle, but a thriving poetry scene is one of the last reasons I would move to a city. If it were my first reason, I’d be living in Vancouver already.
I did seriously consider moving to Bellingham, but it was only because I like the Poetry Night crew and their proximity to Vancouver, B.C.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles is a congested maze and nearly impossible to navigate without a car, but I do like it more than I did five years ago. I have some very close friends down there, but the traffic alone kills me. I don’t know how anyone does it. It seems to me to be the place so many people go to realize their dreams, only to get stuck in a job they despise and eventually abandon their reason for moving there. Success in the arts in L.A. must be limited to a very lucky/determined 2% of the population — if that.
There is so much sadness in L.A. and such a shattered spoken word and poetry scene. In all of my touring I have only ever lost money in Los Angeles. I’ve been paid a few times, but I feel like it was always out of Rob Sturma’s pocket and not really from the community around him. And merch sales? Doubtful. I think so many people are always broke in L.A. because they have to save their money to buy gas and keep their car running. I only ever go there to visit friends. Any gig I get is merely an attempt to deflect some of the cost of travel. But seriously, If I am wrong about L.A., please tell me so. If there is a growing spoken word scene I don’t know about, let me know. Da Poetry Lounge is always a fun gig for me, but it pays irregularly. A lot of poets would like to tour through L.A. but everybody outside of it has no idea where to start.
Orange County seems to have a decent reputation for gigs, but it’s one giant suburb.
Long Beach is the home of Write Bloody and Snoop Dogg, and it’s about an hour away from L.A. I can dig Long Beach, but it’s still too similar to the rest of Southern California. It’s a nice place to visit. All of it really is, but if you have no family there, it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle.
THE MIDWEST
Chicago has always been a possibility, but one of the reasons I intend to leave New England is based on my ever-growing spite of the cold. I can handle rain and chill, but to-the-bone-kind-of cold really wears on me and keeps me inside too often. The cold here in New England starts in October and last through April. I have had two seasons of it. I would just be moving into a similar weather system in Chicago, which also has a summer humidity index that makes me want to punt fat babies. I could really only live there in the spring and autumn, if they show up. I love Chicago, but I would only live there for the people I knew and the fact that Chicago has THE BEST FOOD IN THE WORLD, but I would eventually despise the city for its weather.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
Chicago is, without a doubt, THE HOME for funny poets. For me, the spoken word scene there has always been a draw for this reason. If you want to be a funny poet and like cold-ass winters and humid-ass summers, Chicago is the place for you. Male, female, emale, wemale — whatever — they are hilarious. Maybe it’s the food and weather. Being well fed and in constant sweaty/freezy conditions must help mold the humor… I am serious. Think about it. If you know the poetry slam/spoken word universe, Chicago has to be the funniest American scene. Germany is very, very big on humor in their poetry, as is Vancouver, but I think Chicago sets the standard as a scene. Hmmm.
I love you, ChiTown. I do, I do.
TIMELINE: JUST TALKING IT OUT
Since I have a bunch of travel this spring, I am going to try to spend as much time in Worcester this summer as I can. Depending on my finances, I will probably move toward the end of August, but I won’t know for sure.
I really don’t want to move while it is hot, so I may have to push it closer to June, which would kill my summer plans here, but would probably be a wiser move. I don’t make as much touring in the summer as I do in the spring and autumn. I would spend money to survive all summer, then spend money to move. I have gigs lined up this spring that would make a June/July move very easy. I am at a loss. I just don’t know.
What would be awesome is a road trip/poetry tour move. Any takers?
———
Word to the nerd.
*I am kidding… Sort of.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on 15 February, 2010 at 1:23 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged British Columbia, california, chicago, illinois, left coast, los angeles, massachusetts, moving, oregon, personal updates, portland, relocating, San-Jose-California, spoken word, Vancouver, Worcester-Massachusetts. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
SHANE KOYCZAN @ THE VANCOUVER OLYMPICS
Holy shit. Wow.
I gotta say, when I heard Shane closed out the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony with a revised version of his poem, “We Are More” it was the first time I’ve ever regretted not having broadcast or cable television.
Does this mean his poem was translated into a dozens of languages? NEAT!
Even though I missed it, I am confident in his skill to get the audience to listen. Miss ya, brother.
GABRIELLE BOULIANE DAY
Rachel McKibbens posted this on Facebook:
The Buffalo mayor made a memorial proclamation that Valentine’s Day is officially going to be “Gabrielle Bouliane Day” in Buffalo, forever, starting Sunday. Rec-a-nize!!!
So awesome.
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunny up.
This entry was written by , posted on 13 February, 2010 at 3:56 PM, filed under Uncategorized and tagged 2010 winter olympics, British Columbia, buffalo, gabrielle bouliane day, new york, shane koyczan, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
SHANE KOYCZAN @ THE VANCOUVER OLYMPICS
Holy shit. Wow.
I gotta say, when I heard Shane closed out the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony with a revised version of his poem, “We Are More” it was the first time I’ve ever regretted not having broadcast or cable television.
Does this mean his poem was translated into a dozens of languages? NEAT!
Even though I missed it, I am confident in his skill to get the audience to listen. Miss ya, brother.
GABRIELLE BOULIANE DAY
Rachel McKibbens posted this on Facebook:
The Buffalo mayor made a memorial proclamation that Valentine’s Day is officially going to be “Gabrielle Bouliane Day” in Buffalo, forever, starting Sunday. Rec-a-nize!!!
So awesome.
———
Word to the nerd.
Bunny up.
Originally published at Mike McGee Town. You can comment here or there.
This entry was written by , posted on at 3:56 PM, filed under Personal Updates and tagged 2010 winter olympics, British Columbia, buffalo, gabrielle bouliane day, new york, shane koyczan, Vancouver. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.