Topics

1

General Discussion / Carpool lists for NPS 2011

« on: July 31, 2011, 12:13:55 PM »

Hi everybody:

We've posted carpool/rideshare lists for NPS 2011 on the official Facebook page. You can see the listings here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=155008287906868

That page will take you to sub-sections such as "from points NORTH," "rides from the AIRPORT," etc. I decided to go with Facebook instead of these esteemed forums (a change from previous years) because these forums tend to be for PSI members and insiders, while the Facebook page casts a wider net. For stuff such as carpools, we're looking to reach as many people as possible.

Don't let the price of gas keep you from cheering on your team at Nationals. Get a road buddy and get to Boston!

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General Discussion / Passive Touring?

« on: May 24, 2010, 05:33:12 PM »

Every so often I'll notice one or two "slam luminaries" in my home venue, not featuring or anything, just soaking it all in. Maybe they've come to see the feature, maybe they had hoped to feature but the scheduling didn't work out, or maybe they came to listen and learn. I don't know how many have come expressly to listen, but I like that idea.

I'm not a slam luminary, but I'd like to go on a listening tour this fall. I'm thinking two weeks, six to eight cities, suitcase, railpass, that sort of thing. Wind up someplace far and fly back to Boston...or maybe just stay put someplace far and see how that goes.

Mike McGee and others have written extensively, and well, on how to tour as a "touring poet," but not all of that advice seems relevant to the kind of passive touring I have in mind. For example, I'd have no scheduling pressure: if I missed the train to Springfield, I might miss the Springfield reading, but the Springfield reading wouldn't miss me. On the other hand, I'd be unable/unwilling to avail myself of the Touring Poet Hospitality Network, since I wouldn't be singing for my supper.

Have any of you done this kind of tour before? What did you learn?

What are the must-see venues, slam or otherwise? I'd like to visit a blend of national powerhouses and "best-kept secrets."

While any road trip is a test of serendipity, I'd prefer to help serendipity out by focusing on reliable, established readings where a guy from out-of-town can be reasonably sure of getting a seat.

Anybody know of back-to-back kind of events, where I could attend (for example) a workshop one day and an open mic the next day? Spending multiple days in one town would let me do some touristy stuff...and possibly some laundry.

Thanks in advance for any links or suggestions.

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General Discussion / Poetry Events During/Near South by Southwest?

« on: January 14, 2010, 02:48:23 PM »

I'm probably attending the SXSW festival this year (mid-March, Austin, TX), and would love to check out the local poetry scenes while I'm in town. I'm inquiring as a listener and open-mic reader.

Mr. Mike Henry, sir, I'll be E-mailing you shortly.

I know of Austin Poetry Slam @ Ego's, Austin Neo Soul, and the group piece showcase. Any other poetry events happening in/around Austin that week? Last year, they had a non-profit mission statement poetry slam, which I swear I am not making up:

http://www.sxsw.com/node/1510

Thank you in advance, everybody!

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General Discussion / Pact: Open mic at your snowed-in airport

« on: December 23, 2009, 04:01:11 PM »

Those of us flying into/ out of the Midwest this Christmas weekend are probably going to spend a lot of time stuck in airports. It's supposed to be Snowpocalypse out there. I'll be passing through Cleveland, Chicago, and Minneapolis, so I'll be right in the thick of it.

If I'm stuck at an airport for more than two hours, I'm going to organize an open mic then and there, right in the terminal. I encourage any other snow-bound poets to do the same. I will cast a pretty wide net: singers, poets, comics, salespeople with PowerPoint presentations on their laptops, jugglers, etc.

Local TV news reporters always love to do stories of snowed-in, defeated travelers at Christmas. But I'll bet a variety show in an airport would break out of B-roll establishing footage and get its own segment on the news.

Plus, I mean, haven't you always wanted to say "Man, the open mic I hosted in (Chicago/ Milwaukee / Pittsburgh) was so rough, everybody in the joint had to go through a metal detector before we could start the show!" I can't be the only one who wants that kind of thing on his slam resume.

Understand I'm not rooting for terrible weather, delayed flights, and long lines of frustration. I'm just letting you know what I plan to do about it should that come to pass.

This could totally become a movement or something.

Merry Christmas!

5

General Discussion / Regional Ride-share boards hosted on these forums?

« on: December 21, 2009, 05:11:53 PM »

So. What if there were standing sections on this forum where poets could work out carpools to poetry shows?

Boston (well, er, Cambridge) has two PSI-certified slams. Cantab and Lizard. Wednesday and Sunday. There are  like a zillion different busses and subways and bike paths that can get you to these places from anywhere in Boston.

But if you live outside of Boston, certainly if you live outside of the I-95 beltway that rings Our Fair City, you might not come see us. We might be missing out on some great voices.

Conversely, there are other certified PSI slam venues kind-of sort-of near Boston: Providence, Worcester, Amherst, Manchester. Plus there are a lot of other slam-friendly venues. Simone and I came up with about a dozen places where a spoken-word poet in Boston might want to cut her teeth.

There are probably Boston poets who would love to get out more, out to those other venues, but they never get to those venues because they don't have a car, or they can't afford the gas, or whatever.

I was about to propose that Cantab implement some sort of ride-share bulletin board, either a physical bulletin board we'd display next to the open mic list, or an HTML/SQL bulletin board we'd keep on our Website. But now I wonder if it should be here on these forums.

We'd split the USA (And Canada) into some regions, maybe do something cool with Google maps.

What do you folks think? Would enough people from enough scenes avail themselves of that kind of service? Would it boost PSI enrollment? Would it add a lot of stupid server traffic? What do you guys do in your communities when a big poetry show rolls in a few towns over from where you live?

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General Discussion / Third Annual NorthBEAST Regional W&YI Poetry Slam this Weekend (12/4-12/5)

« on: December 03, 2009, 10:40:01 AM »

The NorthBEAST Regional is a competitive poetry event held this year on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH. Nationally registered slam venues from New England and beyond are invited to compete for bragging rights, poetic glory, and a spot at the 2010 National Poetry Slam.

Come out to watch the fun on Friday, December 4, as poetry teams from all over the northeastern U.S. deliver all the tricks of storytelling, theatre, stand-up comedy, and cold hard poetry to wheedle points from judges selected from the audience.

Then, on Saturday, December 5, feel free to join in at our daytime workshops and open mics to try your hand at performance poetry yourself. Finally, on Saturday night, we’ll present the top eight poets of the weekend, plus wildcard representatives from Cambridge's Lizard Lounge and Lowell's Mill City poetry slams, for a ten-poet battle royale for the NorthBEAST 2009 individual title!

Tickets to both nights' events will be available at the door for $5 per night (with a 2 night pass available on Friday night for $8). Cash only; no credit cards or personal checks. All ages welcome; be advised some poets use colorful language.

This event is co-sponsored by Southern New Hampshire University and The NH Writer's Project and we thank them greatly for all their assistance!

Website: http://www.slamnews.com/northbeast

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General Discussion / Limerick Slam at IWPS?

« on: October 01, 2009, 09:11:02 AM »

Is the limerick slam still happening at IWPS? It used to be listed here
http://iwps.poetryslam.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70:list-all-events&catid=14:festival-guide&Itemid=63
but today it is not.

I've been practicing for this slam for weeks. No kidding. I'm really looking forward to it.

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General Discussion / Alternatives to Host Hotel

« on: September 09, 2009, 02:50:00 PM »

To Ekabhumi, Steve, Scott, and Powers That Be, please please please feel free to take this message down in a hot minute if any of you feel it is disruptive, because nothing could be further from my intent.

It appears that the host hotel is filling up quickly (as of this posting there are still King-Bed rooms available). The hotel is http://www.hotelshattuckplaza.com

If the host hotel fills up (again, it ain't full yet! Go there first!) then it starts to make a whole heap of sense for people to seek out one or two other hotels and carpool/ bunk together. It would be a shame if there were fifty poets staying at the host hotel and then another fifty lonely poets scattered throughout the Bay Area.

So, if the main hotel fills up, I'd hope people would use this thread to coordinate their searches for lodgings and transportation. We can all go our own way on Priceline and I'm sure some of us will, but it would probably make for a much more fun/ green/ affordable event if we coordinated.

Quoted below is Ekabhumi's excellent, from-the-horse's-mouth advice on lodging in SF/Berkeley.

Folks, I won't be able to answer all of these distance-related questions.  There are hundreds, maybe thousands of hotels in the East Bay.  This particular hotel is as far away from our venues and you can physically get and still be in Berkeley.

Here are some general guidelines:

All the hotels in downtown Berkeley are decent, expensive, and walkable.

There are a number of hotels and motels along University Avenue, which is fine if you have a car.  You can catch a public bus, they run all night, but it'll take you half an hour to get to the venues.  You could walk it if you have hiking boots and 45 minutes to spare.  Most of those will be about a $5 cab ride one-way.

I do not suggest any of the motels or hotels on San Pablo Avenue, especially as you head South into Oakland.  Though cheap, it can be an unsavory area.

Emeryville has several LARGE hotels.  They have shuttles.  Emeryville also has a city shuttle bus that runs all night for free and will drop you off either at McAurther BART (two stops from Ashby BART in Berkeley) or at the Bus line that runs all night and goes straight to the venues.  This is NOT walking distance.  It's about a $7 cab ride one-way.

Downtown Oakland (and Jack London Square) has several large hotels.  If you get a hotel on Broadway Ave, you can catch BART or bus back in to Berkeley without any transfers.  Buses run all night, but BART stops at midnight.  It's about a $10 cab ride one-way.

San Francisco has MANY hotels, and many of them aren't as expensive as you might guess.  You can easily catch BART across the Bay for a $7 round trip.  But remember, the BART stops at midnight and it's a $30 cab ride one-way.

There are sometimes apartments and houses for rent for short periods.  Team Oakland usually does this when going to Nationals.  If you have a group of people, it's often much less expensive than a hotel, just as close, plus you can get all kinds of extras like kitchens and pools.  This is up to you, I haven't done the research.

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General Discussion / All I Ever Wanted to Know About ISBNs (But was Afraid to Ask)

« on: April 06, 2009, 01:06:54 PM »

Hey, since there are a lot of chapbook authors and a few small presses here...

How does a fellow go about getting an ISBN for a book?

I work for the the world's largest publishing company, and you'd think we'd just keep stacks of ISBNs in the supply closet along with the PostIt notes and the proofreading pencils, but turns out it's not like that.

I'm coauthoring a book and we're getting excited about it.  We may need an ISBN so we can sell it through more "established" channels.

Also, if a fellow is a dues-paying PSI member, and he re-upped last fall at the associate level, and he has coauthored a pretty cool book of poetry and wordplay, but his coauthors are neither slam poets nor PSI members... can he (they?) still sell the book via the PSi store?

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General Discussion / Poetry in Singapore?

« on: February 27, 2009, 02:29:55 PM »

Hi everybody.

Anybody have any leads on readings or slams in Singapore?  My Google search turned up a slam at the Zouk nightclub, but the last mention of it happened way back in 2006.

I'd prefer a slam, but really any sort of open mic would be okay.  Thanks.

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General Discussion / NPS bulletin board

« on: July 15, 2008, 08:00:27 PM »

In happier days, I used to go to a lot of outdoor folk music festivals.  A hallmark of such festivals was a large cork bulletin board by the first aid tent where people would post stuff such as:

Joe Davis! We're in the green tent over by the really big tipi. Come say hi, Sharon & Gary.

Anybody have a spare 1L propane tank for a Flame-o-matic grill? My dumb husband forgot ours. Our cell phone # is 555-1234

I'm going into town Tuesday afternoon on a food run.  Plenty of room in the van if anybody wants to come with; we're the blue Dodge caravan parked by the trampoline guy.

Nowadays, I suppose even the folkies have done away with thumbtacks and markers and just wiz-bang everything with their laptops and Blackberries.

Another hallmark of folk festivals is that everybody in your group gets together the night before and spreads everything out on the driveway so that some consolidation can take place: Hey, maybe just one charcoal grill would be enough for the five of us, huh?  Let's stash the other two in the garage and free up some space in the van. Pretty sure one can of bugspray will do it for us, too.  And leave the guitar amp at home; there's no electricity out there, dude.

Anyway, NPS isn't a folk festival, and Madison is hardly the back woods of the Berkshire Mountains, but still I wonder if we could use this forum to pack a little lighter and travel a little smarter.

I'm nervous about everybody just posting willy-nilly though, because the thread would become unmanageable.

Maybe something like

Thread for travel:  People needing rides/ people offering rides/ people going sightseeing and looking for company, etc.

Thread for gear: I'm bringing this [big heavy thing]/ anybody have a [big, heavy thing] I can borrow?

Thread for local expertise: I know a good auto mechanic in Madison, I need a reliable babysitter in Madison, etc.

Again, I'm kind of thinking out loud. People on teams are probably already doing this on a smaller scale, but the Internet is really good at putting small ideas onto larger scales, right?

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General Discussion / Food at Nationals?

« on: July 07, 2008, 01:29:53 PM »

I'm trying to budget for Nationals, and I'm curious what people do, food-wise. The host hotel doesn't offer free breakfasts, so that means restaurant meals for breakfast-lunch-dinner x 7 days = something like $350-400.

I can bring that down a bit by buying an small cooler once I get there, shamelessly raiding the ice machine down the hall, and keeping some fruit/yogurt/cold drinks in my room.  There's a grocery co-op down the street from the hotel, and a Market Basket about eight blocks away.

Don't get me wrong, I know that restaurant meals are one of the best ways of turning new people into good friends, and I'm looking forward to breaking bread with you folks many times next month.  I just don't want to break the bank if I can help it.

NPS veterans?  I'm sure other people have creative solutions for stretching your food dollars.  (I know that many of you plan on drinking all of your meals, but those aren't necessarily the "creative solutions" I'm looking for.)

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General Discussion / Travel advice for NPS 2008?

« on: May 04, 2008, 12:51:31 PM »

Hi everybody!

I'm a poetry-slam newbie who hopes to travel to NPS 2008 and see what all the fuss is about.  I'll be going as a spectator or perhaps a volunteer (something to do) so I don't think I need to be there for slam orientation or registration.  Do volunteers go to orientation?

The dates are Aug 3-9.  I'm planning to fly in the afternoon of August 2 and fly out the morning of Aug 10.  Is that what people do?  Do I miss a lot if I fly in the morning of August 3rd?  It would save me about $100 in airfare, plus shave one night (~$120) off of my hotel bill.

I'm registered with Dasha Kelly's mailing list, so I think I'll get the final schedule when she has it.  But gas prices being what they are, I'd like to book my flight as soon as possible.

Thanks.

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General Discussion / Chapbook tech question

« on: April 21, 2008, 09:22:27 AM »

This has little to do with poetry slam and much to do with chapbooks.  I made a new chapbook this weekend.  It's my fourth chapbook; I make them at home on my laser printer, and all of them have the same problem: The cover smudges a lot.

I use super-thin office copy paper (30% post-consumer recycled, happy Earth Day!) for the interior, usually 20lb stock.  That works very well.  For the cover, I use 67lb cover stock.  I think the cover stock is so thick that the fuser element in my laser printer doesn't sufficiently heat the paper, so the toner wax never fully melts onto/into the paper.  The books look great in my living room, but I'll toss a dozen in my bag, head to a reading, and when I arrive the covers are all smudged and, sometimes, hard to read. 

My home laser printer is kind of bargain-basement, so sometimes I print my chapbook covers at work (shh!).  Same deal.

I can print the covers on my ink-jet printer, but ink bleeds and smears when it gets wet.  Condensation from the plumbing drips constantly on the merch table, so everything we sell at the Cantab has to be water-proof.

I tried ironing my covers after they came out of the printer, with mixed results.  Some of the words are now good and fixed on the paper, not smudging at all, and some of the words are good and fixed on my ironing board.  I'm a bit worried that when I next iron my shirts, I'm going to iron poetry into them.

I own a bunch of chapbooks from other poets, and they all have thick covers and no smudging, so clearly other people have solved this problem.  Best practices, anybody?  I'm happy to give free chapbooks to anyone who offers a workable solution.

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General Discussion / What's the slam scene in Philadelphia?

« on: February 22, 2008, 05:02:14 PM »

Can it really be that my hometown, the fourth or fifth-largest city in the US, has no regular poetry slam?

I know that UPenn has a strong reading series at Poets' House in West Philly, and a Google search reveals a fair number of open mics (some poetry, some whatever).  And this summer I know there was some sponsored slam by Adidas and Rockport shoes ()  But there doesn't seem to be anything regular or PSI-affiliated.

Understand that if I'm digging into some misbegotten tale of intrigue, it's purely by accident.  I just find it odd that there are 2 weekly slams in Boston/Cambridge, but none in Philly.