Down to Business!

Although it is my great pleasure to discuss theremin practice and giant chickens, I feel obliged to also use my humble web presence to collect my poetry goings-on. Here are two of those:

1. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the wonderful poet
Kate Greenstreet for including me in her first book interviews.

2. If you will be attending AWP, I hope you'll come to The Apache Cafe on Saturday, March 3 at 7:00 PM. I'll be reading as part of the Pilot, Black Ocean, Octopus, No Tell Motel reading. It promises to be a good time for all.

Twin Cities Photo Project #1

I guess 14 feet tall was an overstatement, for those who I've told about these roosters. But 9 feet, easy.

I have been passing these guys for a couple of years now; they stay in a little yard ornament shop a couple miles from my home. And while I can't imagine the yard they would be absolutely beautiful in, that may just be a lack of imagination on my part.

Recently, I've been thinking about these guys in a new light. Here's my logic: if I had them hanging around in my front yard, I just feel like robbers would take a look and say, "Huh. I bet there's nothing in that house that we want." Or, at least, it would be a select group of robbers who'd be drawn to them.

(These are not fiberglass statuary, by the way. They seem to be formed from some type of resin.)

I would also like to point out that it was warm enough today for me to exit my car just to take photos of giant plastic chickens. that's melting snow on the sidewalk! Melting!

Theremin Update #1

It is shameful, next to a photo of the fabulous Clara Rockmore, to boast about this, but I JUST PLAYED "MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB" ON MY THEREMIN!!

When I got it a couple days ago, I scared my bandmate J over the telephone with the terrible noises I was making on it.

I was also concerned because when I stood on the other side of the instrument and tried to play it in reverse, I sounded better. I thought this might be one of my dexterity issues since I was originally left-handed. (Left handedness is a mark of the devil, or so believed the elderly farm couple who babysat me, and so I was "retrained".) I still do some things backwards; for example, I waited tables as a lefty and did not know it until somebody pointed it out. It hadn't occurred to me that I might need a left-handed theremin, or even that such a thing might exist! But, happily, it turned out that the volume bar had simply been assembled backwards, and so when it was fixed and I resumed my practice today, I made less horrific sounds.

I'll have some instructional videos in a couple days. But if you had a theremin in your living room, I would defy you to patiently leave it alone!

I'm going back to practice some more. I wonder what I'll play next!

This Just In...

LUSH: A POETRY ANTHOLOGY AND COCKTAIL GUIDE

SPOUT PRESS ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE PARTY FOR LUSH: A POETRY ANTHOLOGY AND COCKTAIL GUIDE Show at the Nomad World Pub Features Readings By Local Literary Celebrities and showcases bands from local indie label Afternoon Records.

Minneapolis based Spout Press announces the release party for LUSH: A Poetry Anthology & Cocktail Guide at the Nomad World Pub on Thursday, February 15, 2007. The show will feature readings from the anthology by local literary celebrities with musical accompaniment, chances for audience members to write a poem for performance that very night and drink mixing – from the stage. Both a cocktail guide for poets and a poetry guide for bartenders, LUSH begins with poems. Within each poem is a cocktail. Along with each cocktail is a recipe. Contained within this mixture are comics from local artists. This anthology includes old friends of Spout Press such as Jeffrey Little and JoAnna Rawson who dropped in and decided to stay for a night cap. They are joined by Kim Addonizio, Stephen Burt, Paula Cisewski, Joanna Fuhrman, Sheila E. Murphy and many other nationally known poets. This collection represents some of the best in contemporary poetry, and is equally comfortable on a coffee table, beneath the bar, or shelved along with favorite poetry anthologies.

In addition to the readings, music will be provided by bands from the celebrated local label Afternoon Records (www.afternoonrecords.com), featuring A Night in the Box and Battle Royale. A spokesperson for Spout Press says “We feel very lucky to team up with Afternoon Records – they are major players in the future of music in Minneapolis.” Pulse of the Twin Cities has called Afternoon Records “the premier force” in music for the younger crowd in Minneapolis.

The Nomad World Pub is located on the West Bank at 501 Cedar Ave S. Minneapolis 612.338.6424

About Spout Press: Spout began as a quarterly literary journal in 1989 and has garnered a national following, publishing the finest in contemporary experimental writing. It is the longest running and most stable literary journal in the Twin Cities area. In 1997, Spout expanded into Spout Press and has published the titles A Definitive Guide to the Twin Cities in Poetry and Prose; i’m right here; The Hotel Sterno; Blink; Beware; The Book of Arcana; and LUSH: A Poetry Anthology and Cocktail Guide.

Et tu, Blogger?

I have been trying to respond to comments for three days now. It won't let me. I transferred over to this "new blogger" and it has stolen my thunder.

Thoughts? Advice?