Rusty's World

Did you hear about the new Canadian National Slam Champions?


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So, I was away for a couple of weeks because I went out to Victoria and forgot my LJ password, with no access to the e-mail that I set the account up with (it is my work addy). I still had Facebook so if anyone follows my words of witless wisdom on there you have heard this already...
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It looks like the Anniversary Show will become a set spot in our schedule. It was certainly popular and is far enough away from our other 'special' shows that it can still stand on its own.


Get ready for the Capital Slam Sixth Anniversary Show, coming in October 2010!

Saturday was the Anniversary Show.

Wow.


And WOW.


So good.


We had a small hiccup when John Akpata cancelled (hope you are feeling better, John!), but then Mehdi Hamdad showed up! He had previously been invited to perform, but informed me that he had a conflict. The conflict unconflicted and he fell right into the lineup!

Greg (Ritallin) was a great host and brought that sense of history to the proceedings.

Poets: DJ Morales, Festrell, Free Will, Nathanael Larochette, Mehdi Hamdad, Rusty Priske, Danielle K.L. Gregoire, Poetic Speed, Open Secret, Brandon Wint, Thomas McKinley
Sac Poet: Chris 'The Future' Tse

When Greg drew for the first round he said, "The first poet on stage was a member of Team Ottawa in 2007, and 2008 and..." that's when I knew it was me.

My first thought? "Ah crap. I have to go first."

Oh, as an aside... since I saw this show as a celebration and not a competition, I forgot to get judges and a scorekeeper. :)

We scrambled and got them, but that meant the judges weren't given the score creep lecture.

Good thing I didn't care about the scores! :)

Seriously, though...

I did When I Feel Poetry, to help plug the new CD (we sold a bunch!). It was fun. The scores were okay for a normal night, but not a star-powered show like this.
Danielle went next and scored a little better etc.
Then Komi went up, announcing a team piece.

For those scoring at home: team pieces are illegal at Capital Slam. This show was a celebration where the scores don't count for anything. So we didn't care that it was illegal.

Ikenna and Brandon went up with him and did a piece they have been working on and... holy crap.

HOLY CRAP.

He got a perfect 30 and the scores stayed high from then on out.


Another note from the first round: I don't think Will's speech came off the way he meant it. I think he was encouraging new people to step up, and not encouraging Komi, Ikenna and I to get out of the way. At least I hope that is what he meant. :)

BIGGER first round moment:

At the end we played 'Heart' by Steve Sauve. 'Nuff said.



Interesting note:

We did the show 'finals' style where everyone went up both times. IF we had done it like a regular Slam, the top five scores in the first round were:

Komi (Poetic Speed) and DJ Morales (Vocab) tied with perfect 30s. (Yeah for DJ being back!)
Ikenna and Nathanael were 3 and 4 but I can't recall the order.
5th was Thomas.


The second round was in the reverse order of the first so my 'unlucky' opening draw meant I got to go last. In the end, that made the draw WELL worth it (not scoringwise, but pfffft.)


By the time we got to the end I was so happy.

I went up on stage and said, 'Somebody ask me something!'

Danielle called out, 'Why Art?'

I said, 'Good question! I heard asked 'Why Art?'... etc.'

As I did the poem, people from throughout the Merc were joining in on key lines and really shared the love. I felt really appreciated. It was awesome.

Instead of leaving the stage when I was done, I ducked behind the DJ booth (let's hear it for DJ O'G!) and told Greg I wanted to speak when he was done.

While Josie totalled the scores, greg invited Will and Mehdi on stage to do a group version of Boom Clap. It was a blast.

The Top 5 were:

Poetic Speed (TWO perfect 30s!)
Open Secret
Nathanael
DJ Morales (also TWO perfect 30s, but she got a 1.5 time penalty in the 2nd round)
Danielle K.L. Gregoire!

Greg did his thank yous and gave me the stage. I whiffed on the joke I was planning, ("This is my Russell Simmons impersonation") but threw out big thank yous to Greg, Elissa, Danielle, Nathanael and everybody else.

I also then turned our gaze forward to shows featuring Chris Masson and C.R.Avery in November.


I am now wondering if we should do an Anniversary show every year.

I just got the phone call telling me we could pick up the new CDs!


They are ready to go and we will be selling them for the first time tomorrow, Saturday, October 17th and the Capital Slam 5th Annviersary Show at the Mercury Lounge!


Doors open at 6:30 and the show runs 7:15 to 10pm. $7 for the show. $15 for the CD.


See you there!

This Saturday is the 5th Anniversary of Capital Slam and I just got confirmation of a poet that I NEVER thought we would have back for the show.


Making you wait in anticipation...

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(Inside joke in the title compliments of Ken Kicksee)


I went to Bill Brown last night to catch Emily Kwissa's first ever feature. I wasn't going to compete because I didn't want to just trot out the same 1 and 2 minute poems that I did at the Bill Brown Anniversary show last month.

Greg's mic stands (and some other stuff) were still at our place so Greg came by to pick me up to go to the show (Ruthanne had choir practice), so while I was waiting I flipped through my poetry book and found an old poem that I have only performed once (like two years ago) that would work when read and fits into two minutes.

So... I decided to slam!

About that...


Amidst moving etc this month, Greg forgot to make a Facebook event for this show and so it was only advertised at other shows and through an e-mail he sent to the group.

Proof positive of the effect of Facebook events.

When the time for the show came, there were seven poets signed up, and six audience members... including the feature, her mom, and her two young siblings.

Yeah.

More people came it later, but by then Greg held a pow-wow with the poets and the slam was canceled. Instead we had a showcase where all the poets (including Greg) did a piece, then Emily did her feature, then we all did a piece again.

It was still a good time and when Emily went up, more people had arrived so she was playing to a decent, and appreciative, group.

In addition to Emily, the other poets there were: Ritallin (obviously), me (double-obviously), Open Secret, Prufrock, Ken Kicksee, Sean O'Gorman, Sir Realist (Nathanael Larochette), and first time poetry-performer Liz Parker!

I scrapped my 1 and 2 minute poems and did I Want To Believe and 1968.

Emily's set was solid. She did (and I don't know the names, sorry) the poem about how we she listen to her 16-year old voice, the one about her father, the one about her CFM boots, and two I hadn't heard about the school system and a love poem to the human race. The first was a good message while the second was some kick-ass poetics.

The only note to Emily (and Sean O'G and anybody else who wants to take spoken word seriously) MEMORIZE YOUR POEMS!

I'm not saying you can't read sometimes (I certainly do... not generally while slamming, but still...), but the difference in audience connection is a huge stumbling block. I know Emily can do it, and I really think it is what is stopping O'G from stepping up as a top voice on the scene.

After the show, everyone left except for Greg, Heather and I (that is DJ Aunt Heather to you!) while the musical act started. Ruthanne came and picked Greg and I up after about 15 minutes of decent accordion playing and painful caterwauling. I'm not saying who it was because she was from out of town anyway and I don't want her finding this post by doing a name search, because that would suck, but man, was it bad.

Anyway... next up:

CAPITAL SLAM 5TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW! OCTOBER 17TH! DO NOT MISS IT!

Oh, and one more inside bit... "duck"

YAY!

Saturday was the first Slam of October and it was a great how!

Danielle was great at getting the word out and we got a really good crowd.

Danielle's feature was so much fun! She had guests perform each poem with her. I joined in on Sage in a Stroller and it was a blast!

The Slam itself had FIVE female slammers! We have been trying to get more women to come out so this was amazing! The return of Festrell! Josie Frank! Cathy McDonald-Zytveld! And the slam debuts of DJ Aunt Heather and...

RUTHANNE EDWARD!!

Woo-hoo!

Ruthanne slammed for the first time with her Viola Desmond piece and it was awesome! She drew first, unfortunately, but still finished 8th! Yay!

Since we had a tie for 5th after the first round, we had 6 in the second round and it ended with:

1. Open Secret
2. Poetic Speed
3. Festrell
4. Josie Frank
5. Loh El
6. Dini

Great night.

Of extra note was that Festrell's second round poem was written during the break and was a love poem for Danielle. The key was the part where Faye said that Danielle and people like her taught her that she could go on after Steve died.

It was incredibly touching.


Sunday was another Danielle feature - this time at Dusty Owl!

This feature was a little different since she performed with her baby on stage. Still fun and t'was a nice was to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I performed at Dusty. I did 1968 and a new piece that I wrote before the show sitting at the Tim Horton's. It is called I Want to Believe. I like it but I haven't timed it yet, so it may need to be edited down.

I have a lot of performances to prepare for in the next two months:

Oct. 17th: Capital Slam 5th Anniversary Show
Oct. 21st: Friendly Slam at CP Cinemas (feat. Sean McGarragle and Chris Gilpin)
Nov. 7th: Capital Slam feat. Chris Masson. I plan to slam at this one.
Nov. 10th-14th: Canadian Festival of Spoken Word in Victoria. I am the team alternate so I won't be competing, but there is an alt. showcase that I will perform at.
Nov. 21st: Capital Slam feat. C.R. Avery. I actually won't be back for this show. Ruthanne and I will be staying in Victoria for a little extra time.

Whew!

There is a sign up on the washroom door here at work that discusses a serious issue... but I can't help but notice the grammar.

(Note: I am not making fun of the topic of the sign... just the grammar)


The sign reads:


ONE IN FIVE CANADIANS WILL DEVELOP CANCER
ABOUT ONE IN FOUR WILL DIE



Really? I would think that it would pretty close to four in four (leaving the possibility of a secret Mad Hettie or Hob Gadling living in our midst...)

So I already had a good bounceback from my somewhat negative poetry experience so I didn't really feel any lingering malaise when I went to the Slam on Saturday.

If I had, it would sure be gone now!

It was our first 'regular second monthly slam' which is just getting its legs so the relatively low turnout doesn't worry me too much.

Ah, who am I kidding. I freak out if we don't sell out every show. We have got to rebuild the momentum we had last year.

So we had not scheduled a feature (the plan is for an extended open mic or freestyle jam at the second show) but Jaburabe (seplling?) from the Readnex Poetry Squad was in town and how often can we have a wicked New York poet do his thing for us? So we booked him. Nate was unavailable so we had Free Will host for us.

Brandon Wint was the only open mic volunteer so after Will did sac we went to the 8 poets competing. We announced that all 8 would go to the second round, since we had the time and it was go time!

I drew the awesome spot and got to go last. I did Blue, Black & Red and it went over really well. It was the CapSlam debut... despite having the idea sitting in my head for three years and having the poem in my book for four months, I had only read it once at Dusty Owl and performed it at the Bill Brown Anniversary After-Party. I scored really well, getting a 29.6

As an aside, score creep was not a huge factor, yet going last was still huge for me. I tried to figure out what the difference was and why my delivery was so good (which it was, if I do say so etc. I just felt really comfortable.) and I think it is the ability to relax through the show and listen to the other poets etc. By the time I went up I felt the audience was good and I was chill and it came out EXACTLY the way I wanted it to.

At first there was a three way tie for first as there were 3 29.6es, but then I found out that the scorekeeper had written down the times for each poet, but hadn't actually deducted the time penalties for the two who went over... who just happened to be the other 2 29.6es (Ritallin and Chris Tse).

That meant I got to go last in the second round as well.

The second round went really well with some great poetry. I performed 1968 as my second CapSlam debut (I read it at the C.R. Avery potluck in Almonte and at the Bill Brown Anniversary show) and it went over big! I messed up one line, but it was very early and I recovered.

It was really cool to hear the reaction from the audience to each poem. I was getting the kind of moans and 'yeahs' etc. that you really like to hear, you know? In my second poem it sounded like I had our feature 'hooked' with the first line:

#I was born during the Tet Offensive as the mighty Americanos learned what Sun Tzu knew about playing in another team's backyard.#

It was sweet.

I scored another 29.6 and picked up my second ever Capital Slam victory (and third ever Slam victory... the extra one was at a 'Fun' Slam out in Carleton Place).

The final run down was:

1. Rusty Priske (ME!!)
2. Brad Morden
3. Chris Tse (he actually scored the same as me but he had a 1 point time penalty in the first round)
4. Mehdi Hamdad
5. Ritallin (He read a cool new poem in the second round, but his memorization wasn't there yet. I think it is going to be a great piece, though)
6. Thomas McKinley
7. Sean O'Gorman (once he gets his presentation 'up to grade' he is going to move up fast. He is a really good writer.)
8. Graham Coles (brand new to Capital Slam but a good writer!)

I have a new blog post at http://jrsw.wordpress.com/ about the legacy of tragedies.



Also, with all due respect to Patrick Swayze, it seems wrong to me that he gets so much coverage upon hsi death (which I am fine with) while Jim Carroll gets so little.

Hoist a non-addictive beverage in honour of Jim!

The Slam last weekend was tough for me. It was a good show, but there was some personal stuff that made it difficult.

There is nothing like a couple of great shows to get past that!

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Our very own Arts Pusher, Jessica Ruano, has done an article about where to find out about Arts in Ottawa. It includes links to pages I frequent like blogs by Nadine Thornhill, Kate Hunt, and John MacDonald.

Check it out:

http://getguerilla.ca/component/content/article/216

http://nadinethornhill.wordpress.com/

http://freerangeprint.tripod.com/

http://www.johnwmacdonald.com/blog/


Oh, and http://jrsw.wordpress.com/

All right, not really. It isn't really an arts blog regardless.

But... you should still read it. So there. :)

over at The Four Amigos: http://jrsw.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/the-wonderful-world-of-marvel/

You know when you decide you are going to get something and then, despite all the lead time in deciding to get it, have tog et it RIGHT NOW?

Yeah. I have decided to buy a Netbook. Now I'm trying to figure out when I can get one, at the earliest opportunity.

Point #1 (which is not what the title of this post is about... I mean, it is a bummer to me, but I don't consider it a travesty or anything. I"m sure deserving people got...) Canada Council Grants. I went 0 for 3 (one for my CD project and two different ones for the Capital Poetry Collective). I heard Scribeology was also turned down. I look forward to hearing who got the grants.


Point #2 (and the one that I was referring to in the title of this post)

Larry O'Brian was aquitted.

What a joke. Not only did he offer a political appointment in exchange for concessions during the election, but he ADMITTED to doing so.

So, how could he get off?

Well, it appears that it isn't illegal to offer political appointments in exchange for personal gain.

You read that right.



So, it is now official: I have NO faith in our political system any longer. When you can do things that are obviously corrupt and slimy without even PRETENDING that there is a recourse against you, that shows that the system has failed... or, more importantly, our society has failed.

Anything goes. Evil has won.

Bureaucracy by night.
Bureaucracy on the left.
Bureaucracy on the right.

Hey look kids! Someone is trying to do something good! Let's smash them!


(and no, I'm not talking about work...)

I am in one of my lulls. I have things I could be doing... productive things... but I have a hard time caring.

Work is really getting me down. I feel like it sucks the life out of me... and I don't really know why. My job is not that bad. I am happy to have it, I suppose.

I just want something else. Not a different job. Just something else.

GenCon is coming up, which is always fun, as I get to slip into the world of half-assed celebrity. Yet I am not looking forward to it.

That's not true. I AM looking forward to it. What I'm not looking forward to is coming back to work when it is over. That is always hard and I am starting at a pretty low launching point. It isn't as bad as coming back from CFSW, but it is the same idea.

Leaving the magic of a life
Of Art and beauty behind
To return to computer screens
And fabric walls
And staff meetings
Where creativity is misdefined
As problem solving
And art is something inoffensive
Put on a boardroom wall
Because some expert said
It was 'conducive' to something or other