Austin...Tuesday was...
..sleeping in to catch up. Shopping. I looked online and found out about a T-Mobile Hotspot prepaid card that is good for 7 days and costs 19.99. You have to go to an actual T-Mobile store (not a T-mobile dealer, as I found out) and you buy the "card," which in my case was the number and pin that allow you to credit your online account with the 7 days credit. I had to go to 2 malls to get it. I also got a new pair of Vans (they had a vans store at the first mall) - orange Koi slip-ons that are sooo sweet. They're a womens' shoe, which the guy at the store said has riled the men who want a pair (understandable, they're shweet), but that is just fine with me. I resisted the urge to buy the "pool shark" slip-ons, too. Also got some Aveda perfume spray (since I forgot my perfume and didn't want to get too stinky in the hot) with lavender, clove and other scents - very nice.
After all that driving around, I went back to the hotel, regrouped, had some ice water and caught up on the news for a bit. Then it was time to change and head off to Ego's for the bouts. I grabbed a bit of dinner on the way and then got to Ego's before the first bout started.
By the second bout (Manchester was in the first bout,
urbanitus did a very nice job, as did his teammates), it was damned hot in there. I don't know if the Air Conditioning shut off or what, but it was damned ridiculously hot in there. A ton of people were crammed in the main room, and everyone wanted in for the second bout.
Columbus Writer's Block, Columbus Black Pearl (grudge match?), Berkeley, Richmond and Seattle. Talk about a really tight match. Like I said, everyone wanted in. I'd forgotten Seattle was in that bout (and Richmond, sorry) - I was wondering why Buddy Wakefield was hanging around during that first bout! I hadn't remembered that he was Seattle's guy - or maybe I thought he wasn't doing it this year because he'd be gone for much of the early part of it touring with Sage and company. But there he was, and his team pulled first in the first round - ouch. Yes, Buddy did the poem about having the biography on his bedside table (I forget the name, sorry) in the first slot and the low score was a 7. *double ouch* The high score I think was maybe a low 9 - and there was an 8 or two in there. In other words, there wasn't much they could do to recover from that. Score creep ensued in a huge way, and Writer's Block pulled the final slot in the first round. The women on that Writer's Block team are awesome, and one of them went first - amazing poem, and I think she pulled the first (or second?) ten of the night.
The subsequent rounds skewed way political, and I have to admit, that by the end I was thinking about Tony's discussion on LJ about political/war poems and the bad/good. Berkeley did team pieces on the war/9-11 and antiterror in the last two rounds, and ended up pulling ahead of Writer's Block early rounds lead to win it, with WB taking second and Black Pearl taking third. I was really a bit annoyed that they did two pieces on basically the same subject, and FWIW, I thought their second piece was a bit contrived and the ending really wasn't "stuck" in my opinion. I mean that in a gymnast "sticking" the landing on a jump, if you get my drift. But they got I think three tens on that last poem, and once again I was struck by "what wins slams" and what I consider "good writing."
Some things really grated on me last night, and I'm afraid I've turned into a "slam snob" before I've even really started (and may not). When Ed Mabrey did that poem he's done before and got to the "Laughter into slaughter" line (which got the expected audience reaction), all I could think of is a game of scrabble when you find some cool way to switch the word around and get all the points for the other word for just a letter - and I was thinking "yeah, but you still only added one point" which is a bit dorky, but that's what stuck in my head. There are so many cliches flying fast and furious in a slam, even one at "this level" that I'm back to remembering the "bad poetry" bingo card and wanting to carry one to the bout to keep me amused instead of annoyed.
Finding out that Cantab finished third in their bout just cemented my opinion on the matter. Like the guy I was talking to in the fist bout said to his friend, "it's going to be one of those slams, again" - which was just what it sounded like. *sigh*
I suppose I'm firmly coming down in the camp of "it's not about the points, it's about the poetry." I'm really feeling this one, and hope to bring my best as a DJ to the finals so it doesn't totally fall into all those slam poetry/def poetry jam stereotypes overall. Or at least not in the music part of it?
All that said, I'm willing to donate to sending Tony to Nationals next year to be the sacrificial poet at the finals. :)
Did the Erotic Reading DJ gig for Scott, who said he was tired, and asked me to fill in. I'd forgotten how much stuff he has to do - he really did look tired for a bit - hope you got some rest, friend!
Got to bed at around 4am. Got up at noon. Had a spinach and mushroom omelet (very good) at an IHOP up the street for breakfast. Turns out there are no Waffle Houses in Austin - will have to stop at one in Austin on the way back if I want that Pecan Waffle, after all.
Working on the music library (importing/cleaning up stuff I recorded before I left) and bringing in stuff from MP3 CDs and starting to arrange my "crate" for finals. Used the vinyls for time control functions last night and was *not* happy with the way they didn't work to advance through the tracks - will have to look over the manual to see what I wasn't doing right. I'm supposed to run sound tonight at Ego's. Somehow the sound got really lost in the second round last night - it may have been because they set it in the first round and in the second I noticed they had the front door open, maybe that was it. I'm going to try and make the sound decent, because that's what I do. It's not the Bose system, but it'll have to do. :)
Gotta be at Ego's at 6 or 6:30, I think, so I'd best get off and do some other stuff. Here's to another fun evening.
After all that driving around, I went back to the hotel, regrouped, had some ice water and caught up on the news for a bit. Then it was time to change and head off to Ego's for the bouts. I grabbed a bit of dinner on the way and then got to Ego's before the first bout started.
By the second bout (Manchester was in the first bout,
urbanitus did a very nice job, as did his teammates), it was damned hot in there. I don't know if the Air Conditioning shut off or what, but it was damned ridiculously hot in there. A ton of people were crammed in the main room, and everyone wanted in for the second bout.
Columbus Writer's Block, Columbus Black Pearl (grudge match?), Berkeley, Richmond and Seattle. Talk about a really tight match. Like I said, everyone wanted in. I'd forgotten Seattle was in that bout (and Richmond, sorry) - I was wondering why Buddy Wakefield was hanging around during that first bout! I hadn't remembered that he was Seattle's guy - or maybe I thought he wasn't doing it this year because he'd be gone for much of the early part of it touring with Sage and company. But there he was, and his team pulled first in the first round - ouch. Yes, Buddy did the poem about having the biography on his bedside table (I forget the name, sorry) in the first slot and the low score was a 7. *double ouch* The high score I think was maybe a low 9 - and there was an 8 or two in there. In other words, there wasn't much they could do to recover from that. Score creep ensued in a huge way, and Writer's Block pulled the final slot in the first round. The women on that Writer's Block team are awesome, and one of them went first - amazing poem, and I think she pulled the first (or second?) ten of the night.
The subsequent rounds skewed way political, and I have to admit, that by the end I was thinking about Tony's discussion on LJ about political/war poems and the bad/good. Berkeley did team pieces on the war/9-11 and antiterror in the last two rounds, and ended up pulling ahead of Writer's Block early rounds lead to win it, with WB taking second and Black Pearl taking third. I was really a bit annoyed that they did two pieces on basically the same subject, and FWIW, I thought their second piece was a bit contrived and the ending really wasn't "stuck" in my opinion. I mean that in a gymnast "sticking" the landing on a jump, if you get my drift. But they got I think three tens on that last poem, and once again I was struck by "what wins slams" and what I consider "good writing."
Some things really grated on me last night, and I'm afraid I've turned into a "slam snob" before I've even really started (and may not). When Ed Mabrey did that poem he's done before and got to the "Laughter into slaughter" line (which got the expected audience reaction), all I could think of is a game of scrabble when you find some cool way to switch the word around and get all the points for the other word for just a letter - and I was thinking "yeah, but you still only added one point" which is a bit dorky, but that's what stuck in my head. There are so many cliches flying fast and furious in a slam, even one at "this level" that I'm back to remembering the "bad poetry" bingo card and wanting to carry one to the bout to keep me amused instead of annoyed.
Finding out that Cantab finished third in their bout just cemented my opinion on the matter. Like the guy I was talking to in the fist bout said to his friend, "it's going to be one of those slams, again" - which was just what it sounded like. *sigh*
I suppose I'm firmly coming down in the camp of "it's not about the points, it's about the poetry." I'm really feeling this one, and hope to bring my best as a DJ to the finals so it doesn't totally fall into all those slam poetry/def poetry jam stereotypes overall. Or at least not in the music part of it?
All that said, I'm willing to donate to sending Tony to Nationals next year to be the sacrificial poet at the finals. :)
Did the Erotic Reading DJ gig for Scott, who said he was tired, and asked me to fill in. I'd forgotten how much stuff he has to do - he really did look tired for a bit - hope you got some rest, friend!
Got to bed at around 4am. Got up at noon. Had a spinach and mushroom omelet (very good) at an IHOP up the street for breakfast. Turns out there are no Waffle Houses in Austin - will have to stop at one in Austin on the way back if I want that Pecan Waffle, after all.
Working on the music library (importing/cleaning up stuff I recorded before I left) and bringing in stuff from MP3 CDs and starting to arrange my "crate" for finals. Used the vinyls for time control functions last night and was *not* happy with the way they didn't work to advance through the tracks - will have to look over the manual to see what I wasn't doing right. I'm supposed to run sound tonight at Ego's. Somehow the sound got really lost in the second round last night - it may have been because they set it in the first round and in the second I noticed they had the front door open, maybe that was it. I'm going to try and make the sound decent, because that's what I do. It's not the Bose system, but it'll have to do. :)
Gotta be at Ego's at 6 or 6:30, I think, so I'd best get off and do some other stuff. Here's to another fun evening.