Do Gummi Bears Dream of Rubber Passion Fruit?
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
These, and a whole bunch of other candidate cards are included in packs of 2008 TOPPS Baseball cards. Kinda crazy. Kinda doesn't make sense. But it's also kinda cool._________________________
ADDENDUM
I couldn't help myself. I went and ordered the complete set of 12. There was one vendor selling it for $17.99, which convinced me I needed to act now; considering the rest are selling it for at least $10 more.
Labels: PRIMARIES
¶ 1:43 PM 2 comments
A's vs. Rays
.
After buying the cheapest tickets available (Plaza Reserved, $9) we waited 2 innings and took some seats in the second level just behind home plate. James Shields had already given up 2 HRs and was about to give up another to the BIG HURT (not in picture). Score: 2-0, A's
Much later, around the 10th, we go on down and take seats right behind the A's dugout. Jason Hammel is trying to excel at relieving after beginning the season as a starter. Score: 5 -5
Another angle. Same score.
Manager Joe Maddon (in front, on left)! You may remember that in in June of '07 I awarded Mr. Maddon the coveted prize of BEST EYEWEAR IN BASEBALL.
Evan Longoria hits a two-run HR in the top of the 13th! (this photo was taken much earlier, actually. And I know I look funky, but I've grown humble in my old age.) Score: 7 - 5, Rays
Evan Longoria, Fox Sports Florida wants to interview you! You're a HERO!
Future ultra-super-all-star.
After buying the cheapest tickets available (Plaza Reserved, $9) we waited 2 innings and took some seats in the second level just behind home plate. James Shields had already given up 2 HRs and was about to give up another to the BIG HURT (not in picture). Score: 2-0, A's
Much later, around the 10th, we go on down and take seats right behind the A's dugout. Jason Hammel is trying to excel at relieving after beginning the season as a starter. Score: 5 -5
Another angle. Same score.
Manager Joe Maddon (in front, on left)! You may remember that in in June of '07 I awarded Mr. Maddon the coveted prize of BEST EYEWEAR IN BASEBALL.
Evan Longoria hits a two-run HR in the top of the 13th! (this photo was taken much earlier, actually. And I know I look funky, but I've grown humble in my old age.) Score: 7 - 5, Rays
Evan Longoria, Fox Sports Florida wants to interview you! You're a HERO!
Future ultra-super-all-star..
I have to say, I love going to the A's ballpark because Oakland doesn't support their team and I can go and hoot and holler for some team from Florida and be allowed to strut all over the place, taking any goddamned seat I want. When I go to the Oakland Colliseum, I am KING.
.
Actually, when I jumped up and cheered for Evan's HR in the top of the 13th we were still behind the A's dugout and some fans there got pretty pissed off with me. We promptly moved over to behind the Rays dugout and were suddenly surrounded by about a dozen Rays fans . We assumed they were wives and family (had to be -- I'm positive I'm the ONLY unaffiliated Rays fan in all of CA), as James Shields and Evan Longoria are both from CA.
.
Great fucking game. Got home at 12:30am. I may go again tonight and just try to get behind the Rays dugout a little earlier.
Labels: baseball
¶ 8:57 AM 0 comments
Monday, May 19, 2008
.
I was actually able to keep from playing Baseball Mogul today and so I finished writing my latest book. Working title:
Another possible title is STILL, which might actually be the best and most appropriate title. Only thing is, is that my first three books have so many S's in their titles, I just don't know. But STILL would also be cool because it's the title of Joy Division's posthumous 3rd album, which actually works with the book, too, I think.
Hmmm, maybe this book is called STILL, despite how much more fun the first title up there is. Or maybe I'll call it HUMANS & HORSE SHIT.
Okay, so I just finished writing my latest book, HUMANS & HORSES or HOW I KICKED THE HABIT & LEARNED TO LOVE THE GUN or STILL. Look for it to never be published and to never be on a bookshelf in a bookstore near you soon.
I finished this damned book. Huzzah.
I was actually able to keep from playing Baseball Mogul today and so I finished writing my latest book. Working title:
Humans & Horses
or
How I Kicked the Habit & Learned to Love the Gun
or
How I Kicked the Habit & Learned to Love the Gun
Another possible title is STILL, which might actually be the best and most appropriate title. Only thing is, is that my first three books have so many S's in their titles, I just don't know. But STILL would also be cool because it's the title of Joy Division's posthumous 3rd album, which actually works with the book, too, I think.
Hmmm, maybe this book is called STILL, despite how much more fun the first title up there is. Or maybe I'll call it HUMANS & HORSE SHIT.
Okay, so I just finished writing my latest book, HUMANS & HORSES or HOW I KICKED THE HABIT & LEARNED TO LOVE THE GUN or STILL. Look for it to never be published and to never be on a bookshelf in a bookstore near you soon.
I finished this damned book. Huzzah.
Labels: HOW I KICKED THE HABIT AND LEARNED TO LOVE THE GUN, HUMANS AND HORSES, STILL
¶ 6:03 PM 0 comments
Saturday, May 17, 2008
CAConrad reviews my echap, MUCH LIKE YOU SHARK:
.
"I find myself larger than I am and floating in oxygen and light
I
a drinker
and lover of the dark"
--from the book
FANTASTIC BOOK! AND IT'S A FREE PDF*, WHAT, ARE, YOU, WAITING FOR!
"how quick I am despite my heavy conscience" he writes much later in the poem. It's been a long time since I've read and liked a poem, or anything, where the poet/writer compares themselves with non-human animals to find the world to see themselves. Usually there's an endless listing of similes, which make me cringe and stop reading.
This could be set to music, I think, with the poet reading, better than most poems around. It begs for such a thing to happen. Here's a favorite color passage:
"in the water garden
of our bodies
the red sometimes
takes over the blue
and the vessels
still move"
A HUGE FAN of Smith's book THE SINGERS, I was excited to see this PDF available from Dusie on Goodreads.com, and am glad to have given it a nice, slow, drink. And the water in this poem is part blood, and blood of the poem is like all blood, the PH of ocean water, thus.... How many samples are too many samples? I mean, do people get angry if you use too many? Well, I want to use one more, even though the whole poem awaits to be sampled, frankly, but its readers:
"but I’ll speak now
I’ll speak for you and me
since it’ll one day be our innards
they’ll be judging:
I cannot claim that I didn’t know better
and I never meant to hurt a thing
but I cannot explain
desire
anymore
than you can cause time to stop
Time to stop.
oh how I just wanted things to slow down"
OK, so, can you HEAR it set to music with me now? You would have to be tone deaf to not hear it, and if you are tone deaf I'm sad for you.
CAConrad
http://CAConrad.blogspot.com
___________________________________
*There's a link to it in the "more of me" section.
"I find myself larger than I am and floating in oxygen and lightI
a drinker
and lover of the dark"
--from the book
FANTASTIC BOOK! AND IT'S A FREE PDF*, WHAT, ARE, YOU, WAITING FOR!
"how quick I am despite my heavy conscience" he writes much later in the poem. It's been a long time since I've read and liked a poem, or anything, where the poet/writer compares themselves with non-human animals to find the world to see themselves. Usually there's an endless listing of similes, which make me cringe and stop reading.
This could be set to music, I think, with the poet reading, better than most poems around. It begs for such a thing to happen. Here's a favorite color passage:
"in the water garden
of our bodies
the red sometimes
takes over the blue
and the vessels
still move"
A HUGE FAN of Smith's book THE SINGERS, I was excited to see this PDF available from Dusie on Goodreads.com, and am glad to have given it a nice, slow, drink. And the water in this poem is part blood, and blood of the poem is like all blood, the PH of ocean water, thus.... How many samples are too many samples? I mean, do people get angry if you use too many? Well, I want to use one more, even though the whole poem awaits to be sampled, frankly, but its readers:
"but I’ll speak now
I’ll speak for you and me
since it’ll one day be our innards
they’ll be judging:
I cannot claim that I didn’t know better
and I never meant to hurt a thing
but I cannot explain
desire
anymore
than you can cause time to stop
Time to stop.
oh how I just wanted things to slow down"
OK, so, can you HEAR it set to music with me now? You would have to be tone deaf to not hear it, and if you are tone deaf I'm sad for you.
CAConrad
http://CAConrad.blogspot.com
___________________________________
*There's a link to it in the "more of me" section.
Labels: MUCH LIKE YOU SHARK
¶ 10:08 AM 0 comments
Thursday, May 15, 2008
BOTH BOTH READING, Tormorrow, Friday the 16th
.
from JOHN SAKKIS:
Friday May 16, 7pm
415 Pierce St. #3 (between Oak and Fell)
San Francisco
BOTH BOTH means LOVE...
i'm very excited to be bi-coastally (all the way from Brooklyn) hosting Julian Brolaski and Tracy Grinnell for the next BOTH BOTH (5/16/7pm).
i'm also San Franpsychotically stoked to announce that local SF hero, Lauren Kohne, will be gracing the walls of my apartment with new art works/ installation.
this BOTH BOTH is the magazine issue...just like the old print format; 2 writers/ 1 artist
per usual some cans-o-beer will be provided but please bring your own liquor of your choice. and per usual snacks will not be provided (the economy!) so bring your brown bag lunch if you want to eat.
w/
Julian T. Brolaski is the author of the chapbooks Letters to Hank
Williams (True West Press, 2003), The Daily Usonian (Atticus/Finch
2004), Madame Bovary's Diary (Cy Press 2005) (under the name Tanya
Brolaski).
Brolaski lives in Brooklyn where zie is an editor at
Litmus Press and writing zir dissertation on rhyme and the poetics of
authority in medieval, Renaissance and Apache poetries.
E. Tracy Grinnell is the author of Some Clear Souvenir (O Books 2006) and Music or Forgetting (O Books 2001), as well as the limited edition chapbooks Leukadia (Trafficker Prees forthcoming 2008), Quadriga, a collaboration with Paul Foster Johnson (gong chapbooks 2006), Of the Frame (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs 2004), and Harmonics (Melodeon Poetry Systems 2000).
She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she teaches writing and edits Litmus Press and the journal Aufgabe.
San Francisco based artist Lauren Kohne creates sculptural art-pieces. She investigates social structures, habits and standards through materiality in bookmaking, painting, mixed and multi media pieces. Her work has been shown in Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as published in various poetry chap
from JOHN SAKKIS:
Friday May 16, 7pm
415 Pierce St. #3 (between Oak and Fell)
San Francisco
BOTH BOTH means LOVE...
i'm very excited to be bi-coastally (all the way from Brooklyn) hosting Julian Brolaski and Tracy Grinnell for the next BOTH BOTH (5/16/7pm).
i'm also San Franpsychotically stoked to announce that local SF hero, Lauren Kohne, will be gracing the walls of my apartment with new art works/ installation.
this BOTH BOTH is the magazine issue...just like the old print format; 2 writers/ 1 artist
per usual some cans-o-beer will be provided but please bring your own liquor of your choice. and per usual snacks will not be provided (the economy!) so bring your brown bag lunch if you want to eat.
w/
Julian T. Brolaski is the author of the chapbooks Letters to Hank
Williams (True West Press, 2003), The Daily Usonian (Atticus/Finch
2004), Madame Bovary's Diary (Cy Press 2005) (under the name Tanya
Brolaski).
Brolaski lives in Brooklyn where zie is an editor at
Litmus Press and writing zir dissertation on rhyme and the poetics of
authority in medieval, Renaissance and Apache poetries.
E. Tracy Grinnell is the author of Some Clear Souvenir (O Books 2006) and Music or Forgetting (O Books 2001), as well as the limited edition chapbooks Leukadia (Trafficker Prees forthcoming 2008), Quadriga, a collaboration with Paul Foster Johnson (gong chapbooks 2006), Of the Frame (Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs 2004), and Harmonics (Melodeon Poetry Systems 2000).
She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she teaches writing and edits Litmus Press and the journal Aufgabe.
San Francisco based artist Lauren Kohne creates sculptural art-pieces. She investigates social structures, habits and standards through materiality in bookmaking, painting, mixed and multi media pieces. Her work has been shown in Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles as well as published in various poetry chap
Labels: both both reading series
¶ 11:09 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
.
Just read the first half of Michael Palmer's SUN, and I'm feeling good about poetry again. At least for this second. ¶ 10:12 PM 0 comments
Just read the first half of Michael Palmer's SUN, and I'm feeling good about poetry again. At least for this second. ¶ 10:12 PM 0 comments
.
This balmy weather got me to put together a long playlist featuring only NITZER EBB, FRONT 242, DEPECHE MODE, and SNOG, while I drink Bud Light Lime.
I feel like I'm back in Brawley, CA.
______________________________
ADDENDUM LINK
Holy shit. The woman on the right was my first boss. I was a referee and coach for pewee roller hockey when I was 16. I also had to set up the rink and supervise and stuff. ¶ 6:13 PM 0 comments
This balmy weather got me to put together a long playlist featuring only NITZER EBB, FRONT 242, DEPECHE MODE, and SNOG, while I drink Bud Light Lime.
I feel like I'm back in Brawley, CA.
______________________________
ADDENDUM LINK
Holy shit. The woman on the right was my first boss. I was a referee and coach for pewee roller hockey when I was 16. I also had to set up the rink and supervise and stuff. ¶ 6:13 PM 0 comments
Monday, May 12, 2008
Friday, May 09, 2008
.
John Sakkis informs me that they have received NIGHT SCENES by Lisa Jarnot over at SPD, but both Lisa Jarnot and Flood Editions are suspiciously quiet about the whole thing.
¶ 12:00 PM 0 comments
Thursday, May 08, 2008
FROM KATALANCHE PRESS:
.
We're pleased to announce a new release from Katalanche Press, published in collaboration with Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs:
Phototherapique by Kimberly Lyons(saddle stapled, 44 pgs.)
$7.50
Check it out at our website, along with a sample poem:
http://katalanchepress1.blogspot.com/
Purchases can be made through Paypal, or by check (payable to Michael Carr) sent to:
Katalanche Press
c/o Michael Carr
50 Plymouth St. #1
Cambridge, MA 02141
We're pleased to announce a new release from Katalanche Press, published in collaboration with Portable Press at Yo-Yo Labs:
Phototherapique by Kimberly Lyons(saddle stapled, 44 pgs.)
$7.50
Check it out at our website, along with a sample poem:
http://katalanchepress1.blogspot.com/
Purchases can be made through Paypal, or by check (payable to Michael Carr) sent to:
Katalanche Press
c/o Michael Carr
50 Plymouth St. #1
Cambridge, MA 02141
Labels: katalanche press
¶ 11:08 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
.
Does anyone know why everything in my sidebar has been dropped to the bottom of the page? I haven't changed anything in the template, I don't think. ¶ 11:32 AM 0 comments
Does anyone know why everything in my sidebar has been dropped to the bottom of the page? I haven't changed anything in the template, I don't think. ¶ 11:32 AM 0 comments
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
SOME PICS FROM TEXAS
.
That's Colby Rasmus on 1st. He's supposed to be the next great thing to hit the bigs. He was batting .220 at this time. Pa-shaw. And the other guy is Lance Niekro. He had his shot with the Giants but blew it, and now he's a career minor leaguer. My nickname for Lance when he was on the Giants was "Neekers".
¶ 1:44 PM 0 comments
That's Colby Rasmus on 1st. He's supposed to be the next great thing to hit the bigs. He was batting .220 at this time. Pa-shaw. And the other guy is Lance Niekro. He had his shot with the Giants but blew it, and now he's a career minor leaguer. My nickname for Lance when he was on the Giants was "Neekers".
¶ 1:44 PM 0 comments
Monday, May 05, 2008
.
I've been writing what may be a book for maybe a couple months now. I don't see an end to it. Or, I don't feel an end to it. Not that that's really important, but maybe it's necessary. I don't know. Anyway, I'm posting this section that I wrote today from the untitled book in hopes of maybe sabotaging myself. Either the book will end because I went and showed a part of it (because I have often ruined something by showing it too early), or it'll be recognized as a stand-in for a real book (a fraud). Whatever. Here's a time-stamped poem from some fucking stupid ass book I'm writing. I know for sure it's not as good as the last one I wrote. But whatever:
Eight bells rung
EIGHT BELLES is down
we ran
a tight race
on cracking ankles angling in
the finish line like fish on it
were tripping
up themselves
on baitless hooks because baitless hooks
were
THE END—
the Where we’re supposed to get
gathering the nails
in my feet,
EIGHT BELLES,
for remembrance of the EARTH
and place-
ment
and the race
we’re in
a whole planet
ready to be
shot
for pulling up LAME.
I already cannot
rest myself
for a splinting
I haven’t a LEG to stand on
the splintering of my bones
happened
at the starting gate
or with the whipping
perhaps the torture
of another 4 years
of some politician
.........I can’t recall
...............my bells are ringing
...............the horns were sounding
...............the crowds are cheering
...............and my legs did fail
specifically my ankles
...which will break
...andcrumple
like papier-mâché
I was never meant
to capture the lead
the led in my teeth from all that cotton candy
and caramel
and neglect
a season of soap operas
and a season in the sun
tastes like second place
I’m made out of br i tt le
I’ll squeal for a meal
a trough
THE DEATH OF ME
FINISHING FIRST
.....a trainer
.....to beat me
.....into
.....submission
...............I only WANT to win
but a brushing
is often
nice
If I were in Kentucky I would have made
a wheelchair
for broken horsies
all ready
where’s the spoils
for a slight victory? Why must you
feel this need to put a bullet
in the back of my head?
Or would you kill me with a sledge hammer?
Wouldn’t it be neater
just to put
too many sleeping pills
in my feed?
Why must I hear the bells ring?
They don’t tell you this in Sunday School,
but that’s the sound of
angels screaming,
not the sound
of giggling
bellies.
What would you have done
if I finished first?
With my
deterioration?
My EIGHT BELLES
of the ball
we are
merely
past
and this is no PROM
and, sadly, I had no money
for yr corsage.
And I hate to disappoint
so many
with how cheap I am.
What could we have done
to make it last?
Not begun?
The choice is placed
in the sound
of a
gun.
.............................My kingdom,
.............................for a horse.
..........“She ran the race of her
..........life. She went
..........out
..........in glory.”
..........“She didn’t get
..........bumped.”
..........“She’s our family.”
...
¶ 11:12 PM 2 comments
I've been writing what may be a book for maybe a couple months now. I don't see an end to it. Or, I don't feel an end to it. Not that that's really important, but maybe it's necessary. I don't know. Anyway, I'm posting this section that I wrote today from the untitled book in hopes of maybe sabotaging myself. Either the book will end because I went and showed a part of it (because I have often ruined something by showing it too early), or it'll be recognized as a stand-in for a real book (a fraud). Whatever. Here's a time-stamped poem from some fucking stupid ass book I'm writing. I know for sure it's not as good as the last one I wrote. But whatever:
Eight bells rung
EIGHT BELLES is down
we ran
a tight race
on cracking ankles angling in
the finish line like fish on it
were tripping
up themselves
on baitless hooks because baitless hooks
were
THE END—
the Where we’re supposed to get
gathering the nails
in my feet,
EIGHT BELLES,
for remembrance of the EARTH
and place-
ment
SOME KIND OF
MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT
and the race
we’re in
a whole planet
ready to be
shot
for pulling up LAME.
I already cannot
rest myself
for a splinting
I haven’t a LEG to stand on
the splintering of my bones
happened
at the starting gate
or with the whipping
perhaps the torture
of another 4 years
of some politician
.........I can’t recall
...............my bells are ringing
...............the horns were sounding
...............the crowds are cheering
...............and my legs did fail
specifically my ankles
...which will break
...andcrumple
like papier-mâché
I was never meant
to capture the lead
the led in my teeth from all that cotton candy
and caramel
and neglect
a season of soap operas
and a season in the sun
tastes like second place
I’m made out of br i tt le
I’ll squeal for a meal
a trough
THE DEATH OF ME
FINISHING FIRST
.....a trainer
.....to beat me
.....into
.....submission
...............I only WANT to win
but a brushing
is often
nice
If I were in Kentucky I would have made
a wheelchair
for broken horsies
all ready
where’s the spoils
for a slight victory? Why must you
feel this need to put a bullet
in the back of my head?
Or would you kill me with a sledge hammer?
Wouldn’t it be neater
just to put
too many sleeping pills
in my feed?
Why must I hear the bells ring?
They don’t tell you this in Sunday School,
but that’s the sound of
angels screaming,
not the sound
of giggling
bellies.
What would you have done
if I finished first?
With my
deterioration?
My EIGHT BELLES
of the ball
we are
merely
past
and this is no PROM
and, sadly, I had no money
for yr corsage.
And I hate to disappoint
so many
with how cheap I am.
What could we have done
to make it last?
Not begun?
The choice is placed
in the sound
of a
gun.
MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSERACE!
.............................My kingdom,
.............................for a horse.
..........“She ran the race of her
..........life. She went
..........out
..........in glory.”
..........“She didn’t get
..........bumped.”
..........“She’s our family.”
...
¶ 11:12 PM 2 comments
So, Nine Inch Nails (who fell by the wayside, I think, after THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL), last year released perhaps their best album of all time, YEAR ZERO. Shortly thereafter, NIN re-released a collection of live studio performances of some older songs and some new songs and instrumentals called, STILL, which quickly became my second favorite NIN album (tied with PRETTY HATE MACHINE). And THEN, shortly after that, Trent Reznor released a collection of 36 instrumental tracks called GHOSTS I-IV, which I had serious doubts about, but which I absolutely love. And they offered it for download at the seriously reasonable price of $5. It's one of the most listenable electronic instrumental albums I've ever heard, and it's got a great ambiant mood to it. It's 36 tracks and I can actually stand to listen to all 36 tracks in one sitting.So, now, after all of that, all within a year of each other (or so), Nine Inch Nails now, apparently, has another brand new album called THE SLIP. And, get this, they are offering it FOR FREE dowload at nin.com. A whole studio album, and they're just giving it away! Just to say thanks to their fans.
I find this very encouraging. Big rockstars who already have money coming out of their ears are taking control of their music by ditching the labels and releasing and distributing it themselves, thusly making the music affordable, or they go and do something rad like NIN has and give it away. Which is something similar to what Radiohead started with IN RAINBOWS when they allowed us to pay whatever we felt was fair, or to just download it for free.
I'm digging the whole thing. And NIN has re-earned my respect.
I haven't had the chance to download THE SLIP yet, as I'm at work, but they've got some of the tracks up on their MySpace page. It sounds a little more typical of recent NIN than YEAR ZERO or GHOSTS had, but it sounds pretty good. And it's fucking free, so, there ya go.
Friday, May 02, 2008
.
My tax rebate went directly, and completely, toward my credit card debt.
Does this stimulate the economy?
Where's yr rebate going?
But thanks to this rebate I now can actually fucking see the light at the end of one of the two big debt tunnels of my life. It shan't be long now before I get this credit card paid off for good; and I'm still in a shitload of debt!
Yes!
I would like to thank the U.S. RECESSION that does not EXIST for giving me money and helping me get out from under the evils of CITIBANK. If you ever need to apply for a credit card, steer clear of CITIBANK. They have been nothing but HUGE ASSHOLES for the 10 years I've had this fucking card.
They have THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE. If you ever try to talk to a CITIBANK employee you will be greated with the COLD SHOULDER. You can almost feel them spitting down on you thru the phone from their great heights of HA-HA-HA-WE-GOT-YOU-TO-SIGN-UP-FOR-THIS-CREDIT-CARD-WHILE-YOU-WERE-LIVING-ON-CAMPUS-AND-AWAY-FROM-HOME-FOR-THE-FIRST-TIME-AND-HAD-NO-JOB-AND-HAD-NO-IDEA-WHAT-YOU-WERE-GETTING-YRSELF-INTO-AND-ALL-YOU-GOT-WAS-DEBT-AND-A-STUPID-JIM BELLUSHI-SHIRT pedstals of the great big debt-makers. You half expect them to hang up on you, but only after they've repeated vehemently "CAN'T HELP YOU!". And CITIBANK will DICK YOU OVER every fucking chance they get.
So, don't ever get a CITIBANK credit card.
THE END ¶ 12:47 PM 4 comments
My tax rebate went directly, and completely, toward my credit card debt.
Does this stimulate the economy?
Where's yr rebate going?
But thanks to this rebate I now can actually fucking see the light at the end of one of the two big debt tunnels of my life. It shan't be long now before I get this credit card paid off for good; and I'm still in a shitload of debt!
Yes!
I would like to thank the U.S. RECESSION that does not EXIST for giving me money and helping me get out from under the evils of CITIBANK. If you ever need to apply for a credit card, steer clear of CITIBANK. They have been nothing but HUGE ASSHOLES for the 10 years I've had this fucking card.
They have THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE. If you ever try to talk to a CITIBANK employee you will be greated with the COLD SHOULDER. You can almost feel them spitting down on you thru the phone from their great heights of HA-HA-HA-WE-GOT-YOU-TO-SIGN-UP-FOR-THIS-CREDIT-CARD-WHILE-YOU-WERE-LIVING-ON-CAMPUS-AND-AWAY-FROM-HOME-FOR-THE-FIRST-TIME-AND-HAD-NO-JOB-AND-HAD-NO-IDEA-WHAT-YOU-WERE-GETTING-YRSELF-INTO-AND-ALL-YOU-GOT-WAS-DEBT-AND-A-STUPID-JIM BELLUSHI-SHIRT pedstals of the great big debt-makers. You half expect them to hang up on you, but only after they've repeated vehemently "CAN'T HELP YOU!". And CITIBANK will DICK YOU OVER every fucking chance they get.
So, don't ever get a CITIBANK credit card.
THE END ¶ 12:47 PM 4 comments
Thursday, May 01, 2008
.
After 15 years THESE GUYS are still just so fucking good. Most bands seem to lose "it" by that point. The Cure, for instance, after WISH became pretty shitty. Only a couple songs off of REGRET from New Order were any good, and almost everything they've done since that has been weak. U2 has been dripping shit from their pores ever since ACTHUNG BABY!. I mean, to follow up ACTHUNG BABY! with ZOOROPA? They just completely fell of the table with that one and haven't been the same since. Billy Corgan tried to bring the Smashing Pumpkins back and failed. That new album is mostly pretty bad. The list of bands that had some really phenomenal beginnings only to peter out into being totally inconsequential and BORING is almost endless. But Radiohead are still fucking amazing. In fact, even though I had a bad first reaction to IN RAINBOWS, I now think it's probably my favorite record of theirs. It's damn near perfect.
¶ 2:25 PM 5 comments
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
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When I was in Texas the weekend before last I stayed with my friend, Chris Grant (who I've known since 1995 or '96), his wife, Kelly, and his 19-month-old daughter, Eliana. Chris lives in Pfluggerville, which is about 20 minutes outside of Austin. Anyway, he's the Sports Editor there for the local paper and he runs a little column in it called "GRANT'S TOMB". Not sure what tombs have to do with sports, but that's what he calls it. While there we went to some triple-A ballgames in Round Rock, where the Express (the Houston Astros affiliate) plays. It was a damn fine experience. Minor League basseball kicks ass and the Express have a terrific little ballpark called Dell Diamond that's on par with many Major League ballparks-- it's just much smaller. And we had awesome seats just three rows behind the dugout on the firstbase line. Anyway, Chris wrote a little about that for his most recent installment of GRANT'S TOMB. Here it is, for yr reading pleasure:
When I was in Texas the weekend before last I stayed with my friend, Chris Grant (who I've known since 1995 or '96), his wife, Kelly, and his 19-month-old daughter, Eliana. Chris lives in Pfluggerville, which is about 20 minutes outside of Austin. Anyway, he's the Sports Editor there for the local paper and he runs a little column in it called "GRANT'S TOMB". Not sure what tombs have to do with sports, but that's what he calls it. While there we went to some triple-A ballgames in Round Rock, where the Express (the Houston Astros affiliate) plays. It was a damn fine experience. Minor League basseball kicks ass and the Express have a terrific little ballpark called Dell Diamond that's on par with many Major League ballparks-- it's just much smaller. And we had awesome seats just three rows behind the dugout on the firstbase line. Anyway, Chris wrote a little about that for his most recent installment of GRANT'S TOMB. Here it is, for yr reading pleasure:
______________________________________________
by Chris Grant
I had the great pleasure to spend three straight days at the Dell Diamond recently and while I'm sure there will be some dispute, I would like to crown myself (and my ball-game watching friend from California Logan Ryan Smith) the Express’ top two fans.
Believe it or not, it was not all that hard for us to earn the title. While the Express certainly have plenty of fans, I get the feeling there are few ‘die-harders’ among them and that makes me (and Logan as well) a little sad. You see, every baseball team needs die hard fans. High school teams have them, college teams do too and of course so do major league ball clubs. I guess it’s harder for minor league franchises, to attract a hardcore fan base, with the constant change of players, but that should not be an excuse. There is no need for idle chatter all game long, or a mass exodus of fans starting in the sixth inning. The Express are a first class operation with great players and a wonderful park and they deserve a first class following.
Thus, it is my plan (and Logan’s as well, even though he is working from his home office in San Francisco) to provide the Express with the die hard fans they so richly deserve. After appointing ourselves the team’s No. 1 and No. 2 fans (there’s some dispute as to which of us ranks where, but take our words that we’re numbers one and two) we quickly rounded up the Express’ third best fan, my daughter Eliana Grant.
Once the nouveau bandwagon was in tact there were other orders of business. We had to select a favorite player. Third baseman Mark Saccomanno was our unanimous choice. The guy has a great glove and a reliable bat. If you don’t like the ‘Big Sacc’ then you must not like baseball. In fact, ‘Sacc’ is such an impressive player one has to wonder how it is he’s not playing for the Astros. I suppose Mark Loretta and Geoff Blum are okay players but give me a break. Saccomanno is 27 years old and he’s coming off a year where he hit 22 home runs and drove in over 80 runs. He’s not getting any younger and it’s time for him to get his shot.
However, enough of the soap-box standing. Our second order of business was to come up with a rally cry for our beloved Express. I hate to say it, but this one we found to be a bit more difficult. In the end all we ended up with was something like, “go Express, woo, woo.” You know, like a train whistle. Hey, if you think you can do better, please do, we could use some help here.
Our final task proved to be the most difficult. It was to root the Express to victory. Apparently the team is kind of mired in a horrible stretch where the losses are outnumbering the wins, thus we did not get to take part in any victory celebrations. This, however, did not dash our spirits. After years of rooting for the Red Sox (me) and Giants (Logan) we realize being a fan is not always a good time. That, however, does not mean any of us are abandoning ship.
So, if you’re not too busy this summer, perhaps you’d like to join us out at the old ballpark. Maybe if enough folks fall in line behind the Express’ top three fans we can turn the Dell Diamond into the most hated place for opposing teams to play. Maybe we can give Saccomanno and his mates the home field advantage they need to win the Pacific Coast League. And maybe the higher ups working at the Express will recognize us as the great fans we are and offer us the chance to throw out the first pitch before some game.
A number one fan can dream, can’t he?
¶ 10:17 AM 0 comments
I had the great pleasure to spend three straight days at the Dell Diamond recently and while I'm sure there will be some dispute, I would like to crown myself (and my ball-game watching friend from California Logan Ryan Smith) the Express’ top two fans.
Believe it or not, it was not all that hard for us to earn the title. While the Express certainly have plenty of fans, I get the feeling there are few ‘die-harders’ among them and that makes me (and Logan as well) a little sad. You see, every baseball team needs die hard fans. High school teams have them, college teams do too and of course so do major league ball clubs. I guess it’s harder for minor league franchises, to attract a hardcore fan base, with the constant change of players, but that should not be an excuse. There is no need for idle chatter all game long, or a mass exodus of fans starting in the sixth inning. The Express are a first class operation with great players and a wonderful park and they deserve a first class following.
Thus, it is my plan (and Logan’s as well, even though he is working from his home office in San Francisco) to provide the Express with the die hard fans they so richly deserve. After appointing ourselves the team’s No. 1 and No. 2 fans (there’s some dispute as to which of us ranks where, but take our words that we’re numbers one and two) we quickly rounded up the Express’ third best fan, my daughter Eliana Grant.
Once the nouveau bandwagon was in tact there were other orders of business. We had to select a favorite player. Third baseman Mark Saccomanno was our unanimous choice. The guy has a great glove and a reliable bat. If you don’t like the ‘Big Sacc’ then you must not like baseball. In fact, ‘Sacc’ is such an impressive player one has to wonder how it is he’s not playing for the Astros. I suppose Mark Loretta and Geoff Blum are okay players but give me a break. Saccomanno is 27 years old and he’s coming off a year where he hit 22 home runs and drove in over 80 runs. He’s not getting any younger and it’s time for him to get his shot.
However, enough of the soap-box standing. Our second order of business was to come up with a rally cry for our beloved Express. I hate to say it, but this one we found to be a bit more difficult. In the end all we ended up with was something like, “go Express, woo, woo.” You know, like a train whistle. Hey, if you think you can do better, please do, we could use some help here.
Our final task proved to be the most difficult. It was to root the Express to victory. Apparently the team is kind of mired in a horrible stretch where the losses are outnumbering the wins, thus we did not get to take part in any victory celebrations. This, however, did not dash our spirits. After years of rooting for the Red Sox (me) and Giants (Logan) we realize being a fan is not always a good time. That, however, does not mean any of us are abandoning ship.
So, if you’re not too busy this summer, perhaps you’d like to join us out at the old ballpark. Maybe if enough folks fall in line behind the Express’ top three fans we can turn the Dell Diamond into the most hated place for opposing teams to play. Maybe we can give Saccomanno and his mates the home field advantage they need to win the Pacific Coast League. And maybe the higher ups working at the Express will recognize us as the great fans we are and offer us the chance to throw out the first pitch before some game.
A number one fan can dream, can’t he?
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
SMALL TOWN XII IS SOLD OUT
So you sat on yr hands unable to part with that whopping three dollars and fifty cents, and now you get NO SMALL TOWN XII!!! None for you!
Issue 12 has left the building.
So you sat on yr hands unable to part with that whopping three dollars and fifty cents, and now you get NO SMALL TOWN XII!!! None for you!Issue 12 has left the building.
Labels: small town
¶ 10:54 AM 9 comments
Friday, April 25, 2008
Artifact presents:
Rae ARMANTROUT
C.S. GISCOMBE
Alli WARREN
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Rae ARMANTROUT
C.S. GISCOMBE
Alli WARREN
Saturday, April 26, 2008
6pm
***New Location:
Oakland Art Gallery
Frank Ogawa Plaza
199 Kahn’s Alley
Oakland CA 94612
***New Location:
Oakland Art Gallery
Frank Ogawa Plaza
199 Kahn’s Alley
Oakland CA 94612
Labels: readings
¶ 4:46 PM 0 comments
CALIFORNIA PSA
.
Vote NO on 98 June 3 to Save Rent Control
Prop 98--a statewide measure on the June 3 ballot--will end rent control in San Francisco and all of California on the day after the election if it passes. Come June 4, there would be no rent controlled apartments anywhere which anyone could move into. Tenants with rent control now would not be safe, either. Prop 98 will also end just cause eviction protections, meaning landlords will be able to evict tenants just to get a higher rent. Without rent control or just cause eviction protections, landlords will be able to raise rents on tenants as much as they want to & as often as they want to or they can evict tenants for any reason or for no reason. If Prop 98 passes, thousands--tens of thousands, really--will be displaced from San Francisco and the city will change into an enclave for the wealthy.*
Vote NO on 98 June 3 to Save Rent Control
Prop 98--a statewide measure on the June 3 ballot--will end rent control in San Francisco and all of California on the day after the election if it passes. Come June 4, there would be no rent controlled apartments anywhere which anyone could move into. Tenants with rent control now would not be safe, either. Prop 98 will also end just cause eviction protections, meaning landlords will be able to evict tenants just to get a higher rent. Without rent control or just cause eviction protections, landlords will be able to raise rents on tenants as much as they want to & as often as they want to or they can evict tenants for any reason or for no reason. If Prop 98 passes, thousands--tens of thousands, really--will be displaced from San Francisco and the city will change into an enclave for the wealthy.*
_______________________________
*Not that it isn't, pretty much, already.
¶ 12:10 PM 1 comments
Thursday, April 24, 2008
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from the comment boxes to an article on cnn.com that asked if Hillary was deluding herself in stating she has the popular vote, where she includes votes from both Florida AND Michigan in her favor and dismisses all caucusses:
No Jack she’s too busy taking money from her supporters to pay off the debts her campaign has incurred. She has had 2 objectives since she learned FL and MI would not stand. To get her debt paid off ( notice she has not been able to do so) and to ruin Senator Obama for November so that she can run against McCain in 2012.She’s politically savy. She knows the numbers.
That's pretty interesting. I hadn't even thought of that. Could Hillary really be staying in the race till the end because she needs to gather money from her supporters to pay off her campaigning debts? Considering the Clintons have been involved in nefarious money scandals before, I wouldn't put this beyond her; especially since it's technically legal, and thusly easy. But the other idea this commenter puts forth is admittedly "conspiracy theory"-esque, but considering the fact that she's got a long list of lies-- or as she likes to call them "misspeaks" --I can see her and her team actually playing it this way so that she wouldn't have to wait to run again in 8 years, instead she tries to ruin Obama in order to allow McCain to win in November, and then she can run against him in 2012. Far-fetched, sure, but Hillary and her completely dillusional, wicked, and twisted, self-serving logic, are not above such a tactic.
Not that anything she can do will prevent Obama from beating McCain in November. She's just ruining her political future. I think it's something called hubris.
I'm looking forward to her running into the desert after she's stabbed out her own eyes because she has slept with her mother and had babies with her.
from the comment boxes to an article on cnn.com that asked if Hillary was deluding herself in stating she has the popular vote, where she includes votes from both Florida AND Michigan in her favor and dismisses all caucusses:
No Jack she’s too busy taking money from her supporters to pay off the debts her campaign has incurred. She has had 2 objectives since she learned FL and MI would not stand. To get her debt paid off ( notice she has not been able to do so) and to ruin Senator Obama for November so that she can run against McCain in 2012.She’s politically savy. She knows the numbers.
That's pretty interesting. I hadn't even thought of that. Could Hillary really be staying in the race till the end because she needs to gather money from her supporters to pay off her campaigning debts? Considering the Clintons have been involved in nefarious money scandals before, I wouldn't put this beyond her; especially since it's technically legal, and thusly easy. But the other idea this commenter puts forth is admittedly "conspiracy theory"-esque, but considering the fact that she's got a long list of lies-- or as she likes to call them "misspeaks" --I can see her and her team actually playing it this way so that she wouldn't have to wait to run again in 8 years, instead she tries to ruin Obama in order to allow McCain to win in November, and then she can run against him in 2012. Far-fetched, sure, but Hillary and her completely dillusional, wicked, and twisted, self-serving logic, are not above such a tactic.
Not that anything she can do will prevent Obama from beating McCain in November. She's just ruining her political future. I think it's something called hubris.
I'm looking forward to her running into the desert after she's stabbed out her own eyes because she has slept with her mother and had babies with her.
Labels: VOTE OBAMA
¶ 3:36 PM 5 comments
Towns I Visited Recently On My Trip To The Country of Tejas
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Pfluggerville
Austin
Lockhart
Shiner
Round Rock ¶ 11:51 AM 2 comments
Pfluggerville
Austin
Lockhart
Shiner
Round Rock ¶ 11:51 AM 2 comments
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
BOOK 6 by ALAN DAVIS (House Press)
from HOUSE PRESS
$6 (convienently so)
GO GET IT!
from HOUSE PRESS
$6 (convienently so)
GO GET IT!
Labels: House Press
¶ 2:19 PM 0 comments
PSA
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Nearly all issues of small town are on the brink of being sold out (except for 4, which I think there are still plenty of). There's something like less than 5 copies left of most of the rest. So hurry up and get buying before it's too late.
Nearly all issues of small town are on the brink of being sold out (except for 4, which I think there are still plenty of). There's something like less than 5 copies left of most of the rest. So hurry up and get buying before it's too late.
Labels: small town
¶ 11:56 AM 0 comments
from CARRIE HUNTER and YPOLITA PRESS:
Read some poems from the chapbook here:
http://mtd.celaine.com/barbarajanereyes.htm
If you don't trust paypal (be careful what you click!) let me know and I will send you my mailing address.
And also let me know if you would like a review copy, or would rather not know about any of this.
Forthcoming, sooner or later, hopefully sooner, but probably later: Suzanne Stein, Gina Meyers, Nicholas Manning, and Matina Stamatakis.
Happy Easter!
.
Read some poems from the chapbook here:
http://mtd.celaine.com/barbarajanereyes.htm
If you don't trust paypal (be careful what you click!) let me know and I will send you my mailing address.
And also let me know if you would like a review copy, or would rather not know about any of this.
Forthcoming, sooner or later, hopefully sooner, but probably later: Suzanne Stein, Gina Meyers, Nicholas Manning, and Matina Stamatakis.
Happy Easter!
Labels: ypolita press
¶ 11:49 AM 0 comments
