SWEET CHARITY AND HENRY ROLLINS: I'm not going to gloss over and put a happy face on this first issue, because it kinda pissed me off. The turnout for the Hurricane Katrina Relief Benefit on Tuesday at Outwrite was pathetic. All the little twink fembots fled the store and those who stayed around lingered on the periphery because they didn't to want to get ensnared in the event in case they got bored and wanted to leave. It's too damn bad, because it was a good show. Hats off to Franklin Abbott for putting it together and Philip Rafshoon, owner of Outwrite, for letting us hold it there.
Dustin Brookshire got things rolling with his edgy poetry about coming out and his search for the perfect man (I think he might have gotten a date out of the evening from a cute guy who was actually civilized enough to hang around and listen). Robin Kemp made an emotional appeal for donations to help all her friends who are great poets, writers and teachers in New Orleans and read their work. Lucas Mire performed an acoustic set of music, which was very good. He's got an Everything but the Girl vibe going on, and I was so impressed I bought his CD. Good stuff. Check him out.
After a short break we came back with Marian McDonald (who I left out of this post accidentally when I first wrote it...mea culpa, Marian!)Theresa Davis (brilliant as always) and Jennifer and Denton Perry gave us some cool jazz tunes and Denton jammed away behind me over two of my poems. I always love working with them...it just seems very natural. We have a good vibe.
At the end of the evening, Robin took matters into her own hand and went around the store with a basket asking for donations. I haven't heard a final total, but I hope we at least made a few hundred bucks. The money was going to help the glbtq community (including poets and writers) in the Gulf Coast area.
Maybe everyone is just about out of charity. This has been a rough year: the tsunami, the bombings in London, the two hurricanes and the earthquake in Pakistan. Maybe people are just numb and don't want to think about it. I understand the desire to just forget, but I can't. I'm not wired that way, and it pisses me off when you cannot even sit for two hours and at least show some support for your fellow glbtq brothers and sisters who have been suffering after the hurricanes. Anyway...
So last night, I went with my pal and fellow poet Cleo Creech to see Henry Rollins spoken word tour at Variety Playhouse. I'd seen Henry perform on TV, but never live. DAMN! What a great show. He began the evening by calling Dubya a "coward and a pussy" and I knew the next couple of hours were going to be a treat. Henry doesn't do poetry...it's all storytelling and ranting..and he does it very well. This is a smart man. While many have tried to dismiss him as another whiny liberal, he just got back from his sixth USO tour in Iraq and Afghanistan. He's a major supporter of the troops, but he hates Dubya and the current administration. He did spot on, word-for-word impersonations of Dubya and some of his ridiculous comments. Henry also riffed on babysitting and told a nearly 45 minute long story about traveling on the Trans-Siberian Express train across Russia. Brilliant stuff!
I was supposed to perform at Cliterati's fifth anniversary show last night, thinking Henry would be done in plenty of time. Who knew he'd foam at the mouth for nearly three hours? By the time I got to Cliterati, the evening was wrapping up, so I made my apologies and chatted with some folks before I came home and fell into bed totally exhausted. I'm so glad it's Friday I could just vomit.
Can I just say how thrilled I am that Dubya's nomination of his personal lawyer/ass-kisser Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has sent his conservative base into a lather. They are demanding he withdraw her nomination and Dubya keeps putting his foot deeper and deeper into his mushmouth. "People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers," Bush said Wednesday. "They want to know Harriet Miers' background ... And part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion." Oh, Dubya, when will you ever learn? The entire conservative party is not made up of Christian right wing nutjobs and these kinds of comments even scare the hell out of them. The Dems have pretty much just sat back and smiled while the Republicans roil. Oh, and if you haven't read Harriet's missives to Dubya on The Smoking Gun website, it's a real primer in what ass-kissing is all about. Oh, and the Harriet Miers blog continues to crack me up.
Dustin Brookshire got things rolling with his edgy poetry about coming out and his search for the perfect man (I think he might have gotten a date out of the evening from a cute guy who was actually civilized enough to hang around and listen). Robin Kemp made an emotional appeal for donations to help all her friends who are great poets, writers and teachers in New Orleans and read their work. Lucas Mire performed an acoustic set of music, which was very good. He's got an Everything but the Girl vibe going on, and I was so impressed I bought his CD. Good stuff. Check him out.
After a short break we came back with Marian McDonald (who I left out of this post accidentally when I first wrote it...mea culpa, Marian!)Theresa Davis (brilliant as always) and Jennifer and Denton Perry gave us some cool jazz tunes and Denton jammed away behind me over two of my poems. I always love working with them...it just seems very natural. We have a good vibe.
At the end of the evening, Robin took matters into her own hand and went around the store with a basket asking for donations. I haven't heard a final total, but I hope we at least made a few hundred bucks. The money was going to help the glbtq community (including poets and writers) in the Gulf Coast area.
Maybe everyone is just about out of charity. This has been a rough year: the tsunami, the bombings in London, the two hurricanes and the earthquake in Pakistan. Maybe people are just numb and don't want to think about it. I understand the desire to just forget, but I can't. I'm not wired that way, and it pisses me off when you cannot even sit for two hours and at least show some support for your fellow glbtq brothers and sisters who have been suffering after the hurricanes. Anyway...
So last night, I went with my pal and fellow poet Cleo Creech to see Henry Rollins spoken word tour at Variety Playhouse. I'd seen Henry perform on TV, but never live. DAMN! What a great show. He began the evening by calling Dubya a "coward and a pussy" and I knew the next couple of hours were going to be a treat. Henry doesn't do poetry...it's all storytelling and ranting..and he does it very well. This is a smart man. While many have tried to dismiss him as another whiny liberal, he just got back from his sixth USO tour in Iraq and Afghanistan. He's a major supporter of the troops, but he hates Dubya and the current administration. He did spot on, word-for-word impersonations of Dubya and some of his ridiculous comments. Henry also riffed on babysitting and told a nearly 45 minute long story about traveling on the Trans-Siberian Express train across Russia. Brilliant stuff!
I was supposed to perform at Cliterati's fifth anniversary show last night, thinking Henry would be done in plenty of time. Who knew he'd foam at the mouth for nearly three hours? By the time I got to Cliterati, the evening was wrapping up, so I made my apologies and chatted with some folks before I came home and fell into bed totally exhausted. I'm so glad it's Friday I could just vomit.
Can I just say how thrilled I am that Dubya's nomination of his personal lawyer/ass-kisser Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has sent his conservative base into a lather. They are demanding he withdraw her nomination and Dubya keeps putting his foot deeper and deeper into his mushmouth. "People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers," Bush said Wednesday. "They want to know Harriet Miers' background ... And part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion." Oh, Dubya, when will you ever learn? The entire conservative party is not made up of Christian right wing nutjobs and these kinds of comments even scare the hell out of them. The Dems have pretty much just sat back and smiled while the Republicans roil. Oh, and if you haven't read Harriet's missives to Dubya on The Smoking Gun website, it's a real primer in what ass-kissing is all about. Oh, and the Harriet Miers blog continues to crack me up.
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