Poetry-Arts Confidential

2:08:37 AM EDT
Feeling Worried

Some of you reading this entry probably watched or read tonight's Keith Olbermann COUNTDOWN opinion piece where he opined mightily on a recent George Butch Jr. interview where Butch Jr. defended his record in the Oval Office.  Olbermann built his rebuttal to a have-you-no-shame-sir crescendo where he lambasted Butch Jr. for giving up golf as a way to display empathy with the families of the troops being sent to war (and apparently fabricating a Karen Hughes-esque "better than truth" story that claimed that Butch Jr. gave up golf at a certain point in 2003--unfortunately there exists a Getty Images photo of the Commander In Chief on the links later that year).

If you haven't seen or heard it, here's the link to the text:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24632990/

 

Not that I completely disagree with Olbermann's opinions, but here's a link below to a wet kiss that SLATE columnist Jack Shafer gave Keith in 2003 that proves an old thesis of mine: Olbermann is basically following the herd at MSNBC in that it's safe safe safe to go after an unpopular President.  But during Gulf War II, KO apparently went along with the pro-war herd at a time when that was safe safe safe at the network (keep in mind NBC dropkicked Phil Donahue earlier that year for not being sufficiently prowar).  And this punches a hole in KO's self-mythologizing about being a fearless truth-teller.

http://www.slate.com/id/2082193/

And here are passages of Shafer's article that made me shake my head in dismay:

As coalition troops began their rout of Baghdad in early April, Olbermann returned to form, blending his shtick into the mix as he's always done.

On April 7, as he rolled tape of an Army Humvee battering down a mahogany door at a Saddam palace, Olbermann gave Countdown his SportsCenter best: "And, ding-dong! Avon calling!" Following Iraqi Minister of Information Mohammed Saeed Al-Sahhaf's denials that U.S. troops were in Baghdad, Olbermann deadpanned a shot at his former employers at Fox: "Mr. al-Sahhaf added that he thought his assessment of the military situation was 'fair and balanced.' "

Other great bits of collected Olbermann Countdown shtick:

Good evening. Well, they wanted Saddam Hussein dead or alive, and now they have gotten him exactly that way—dead or alive. …

When they won't fight, the war tends to be over. …

Tough time … to be French and German—as I am.

We are sorry Saddam Hussein can't come to the war right now; please leave a message after the beep. …

The old Europe meets the "axis of evil"; making matters more intriguing, they're talking Shiite.

 

 

 

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3:14:43 PM EDT
Feeling Mischievous

This poem was written in 2004, but is still relevant as a snapshot of how a certain level of poetry in Los Angeles views itself:

POETISTA

 

I hate bad art.

Unfortunately, I live in Los Angeles

and work in the Motion Picture Industry.

So, I help to produce and market

bad art every workday for fifty weeks a year.

 

But there’s a secret life I lead.

My partner and I host a poetry reading

at the most comfortable cybercafe in Los Feliz.

Due to my work commitments, the reading is

only for one day a month.

 

And it’s a very special reading.

To be a truly successful host, one has to book

the best and most literate poets in the city

so there will be an audience of sophisticated,

cutting-edge people-not just the usual coterie of

mediocre coffeehouse poets

wanting to read in the open

and harboring thoughts of featuring

at our elevated venue one day.

 

We have a special way of discouraging mediocrity.

If a bad poet comes too often, we make him or her

feel as if he or she is taking a spot belonging to

someone far more deserving.

It may take a few weeks, but eventually he or she

gets the message and never returns.

 

And need I add that our reading draws a large crowd

of successful poets and influential audience members?

One time, we had an audience of almost 50 people.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to deal with the Fire Marshal

ordering people to leave.

 

I wish you could have been at our most recent reading.

We had a glittering bill of four features-meaning no

open readers!!!! (yay)

There was a comedienne who used to write jokes for Sandra Tsing-Loh,

a Santa Ana poet who bills himself as The Last Liberal in Orange County,

a poet from Westchester who holds $1,000-per-person workshops

and our very special guest: actress AMBER TAMBLYN!!!

 

Truly a fabulous evening of poetry-all the right people were there.

 

Who could ask for anything more?

 

 

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3:58:22 AM EDT
Feeling Chillin'

Given the high value placed on uniformity of critical opinion, you may have been saturated with negative opinions of Larry and Andy Wachowski's SPEED RACER by now (my take: it's worth at least a bargain matinee ticket and nowhere near as awful as you're being led to believe).

The Wachowskis and producer Joel Silver are unlikely to receive a parole from their ongoing season in Hell for not giving audiences a Neo-fighting-the-good-fight-in-the-Real-World storyline in the two sequels to THE MATRIX.  But the promise of THE MATRIX's close becomes an integral part of the plot in SPEED RACER--Speed and family resist the appeals of the evil corporate head who, when rebuffed, gives an angry speech about how races are fixed and it's better to accept that fact and play ball (resembling a similar speech in David Mamet's REDBELT).

Here's where the similarity of SPEED RACER and Los Angeles poetry comes in:

At a certain point in SPEED RACER, Speed has to make a decision as to whether or not to race for the love of racing--instead of just "winning" and gaining all the temporary attention and rewards attached.

I feel like I have to make the same decision with regards to writing and reading poetry in the city of Los Angeles.

Here's a quote from a wise female poet named Mary McIntyre:

"Tell you what I've seen as problem with poetry in this town ever since I arrived--everybody's too busy either obligingly congratulating each other or anxiously awaiting what could be their 'big' moment."

Now that the local scene is shapeshifting towards near-exclusive congratulating and rewarding what was once described in a long-ago L.A. WEEKLY article on poetry as "poets in academia writing for each other", Mary's words above still ring true.

And, perhaps, more than they did when she first wrote them on a local poetry listserve.

 

 

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5:40:10 PM EDT
Feeling Anxious

An op-ed piece from former L.A. WEEKLY writer Erin Aubry Kaplan (now with THE LOS ANGELES TIMES) about Los Angeles poet Eric Priestley:

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-erinkaplan7-2008may07,0,7419516.story

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5:29:25 PM EDT
Feeling Mischievous

David Mamet's homage to mixed martial arts and notions of honor vs. venality--REDBELT--will expand into more theaters tomorrow (May 9th).  I saw the film on Tuesday and thought it watchable, if sometimes overwrought.

Without giving too much away, the fight-scene climax seems to owe something to a similar finale in the Buster Keaton silent boxing-match comedy BATTLING BUTLER.

If anyone has seen both films, feel free to comment.

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5:20:55 PM EDT
Feeling Worried

Regardless of one's position on the War on Terror, this article in USA TODAY (linked onto AOL) about U.S. soldiers being sent into combat regardless of health is worth reading:

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/more-than-43000-unfit-troops-deployed/20080508092909990001

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4:34:30 AM EDT
Feeling Anxious

As the tidalwaves of the recession keep smashing onto the shores of the middle-class...

1. In Northridge, CA, a Wells Fargo bank displayed a group of photos of foreclosed houses for resale (at least a couple of them in the suburb where my wife and I used to live--Granada Hills).  There was also a realtor, eager to nab potential customers, in the bank lobby.

2. In the lobby of the Regal Cinemas in Simi Valley, CA, there is a replica of a gasoline pump--offering "free" gasoline for a year to the lucky winner of the drawing (I didn't notice whether or not this is connected to time-share vacation lodgings).

3. Furniture stores are closing.  People can't afford to buy "nice" furniture.

4. Sharper Image stores are closing.  People can't afford to buy overpriced gadgets and radios with access to High Definition stations anymore.  And they're still costly, even with the Going Out of Business sales.

5. In Glendale, CA, there is a pricey shopping center/affluent housing community called Americana (on the stretch of Brand Boulevard going north, with the venerable Glendale Galleria a few blocks away) which opened two days ago.  It's a sort of sick joke to expect people to travel across greater Los Angeles to Glendale to buy overpriced Ed Hardy clothing after, say, the Grand Opening weekend.  And, remembering the 13 years I lived in Glendale, it's unlikely that the majority of local residents will be shopping at Americana--because they can't afford to buy more than a bargain matinee ticket at the Pacific Theaters 18-plex on the property.

Feel free to use the comment section to add more to the list above.

 

 

 

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4:53:47 AM EDT
Feeling Angry

"It's just politics" department:

Here's a link to Peter Dreier's HUFFINGTON POST column about how Sidney Blumenthal, who used to rail about the "vast right-wing conspiracy" and also helped to derail Bill Clinton's impeachment, is now collaborating with the right-wing to neutralize Barack Obama's candidacy:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/sidney-blumenthal-uses-fo_b_99695.html

And here's a link to a SALON column by Bill and Hillary Clinton-lapdog Joe Conason offering his support and rationalization for Sidney's dirty tricks, while criticizing Dreier:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/05/02/blumenthal/

 

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3:08:50 AM EDT
Feeling Anxious

Here's a link to Nikki Finke's DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY column about the state of the current AMPTP/SAG negotiations, with the producers playing hardball in the same irrepressible way they did with the WGA earlier this year:

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/toldja-moguls-nix-sag-demands/

Of course THE LOS ANGELES TIMES contributed to the please-actors-don't-kill-the-Industry drumbeat just recently with a pro-AMPTP article about how below-the-line crew members are still suffering post-WGA strike.

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5:32:37 AM EDT
Feeling Happy

Passing along this e-mail from Rick Lupert of POETRY SUPERHIGHWAY fame about his annual E-Book Free For All; this year, there are 64 e-books of poetry from various poets--and four of them (THE USE YOUR DELUSION SAMPLER, NOTHING HELD BACK, HOLLYWOOD POETRY: THE DEFINITIVE EDITION and I SAW IT ON TV) are mine.

Here's an opportunity to check out a true diversity of poetic voices.

DOWNLOAD 64 E-BOOKS FOR FREE NOW!

The 4th annual Poetry Super Highway E-book Free-For-All is on now. 64 e-books have been donated by poets from all over the world and they are now available to download for the next 24 hours for free. Click on "E-Book Free-For All" from the main Poetry Super Highway menu to get your free e-fill.

This is a limited time offer...the free download links will disappear tonight at midnight (The evening of May1st) and we'll post a new page letting everyone know how many times each book was downloaded.

So get to that e-book downloading now...it's a free-for-all!

PoetrySuperHighway.com

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