hallawayjoe

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hallawayjoe
Andyland

2002-09-24 11:35 PM
Summer of Slam

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Mood:
I Slam for Islam, well not really

This is my slam team experience remembered loosely since I didn't keep records or daily notes over the Summer. June and July for the most part were eventless. There wasn't much going on in the way of slams or team competition. I was in Las Vegas and my team mates were either in Phoenix, Flagstaff, or travelling around. After Arcosanti, we were apart for two months until the Cactus Slam was held in Mesa outside the Essenza Coffeeshop. The Slam was between Denver, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Flagstaff, Mesa and a back up team for Phoenix.
We came in fifth out of six teams. I did Don't Go Outside Testosterone, It's Spermicide Out There, and got a lot of praise, but a not high enough score for our team (27.5)

Later that night we went to a diner and read poetry inside until we were asked to leave. There were about 15 of us. Julie Elefante put Madeline, Bakeem, Karen and me up for the evening.

Then came August. August 9th I drove up to Flag and parked at John Kofonow's house, then John, and I drove down to Phoenix where we picked up Logan, and met up with Suzy, then we went to the Desert Rat Slam in Phoenix. It was a ambitious event with a short film about commodification of art, and then the slam started. We didn't fare so well losing to Mesa, Phoenix and Tucson in that order. But it was good practice.

Suzy Lafollette and Taneka Stotts (Mesa) drove up to Minneapolis, Logan, Dom, John and I flew up early Tuesday Morning. We were all dreary eyed sleep deprived when we got there but we had to wait to check into the hotel so we walked around the city, registered at Kierans. Minneapolis is set up around the Nicolet Mall... a long pedestrian strip that lines the middle of the downtown area. Most of the venues were centrally located and within a few blocks of the Mall. The first day was rather uneventful. The most interesting thing on the first day was browsing at the Barnes and Nobles and in the poetry section there was a book called POETRY GRAND SLAM FINALE by Alan MacDougall. A deceased Las Vegas and wandering poet who once tried to kick me in the nose. I didn't buy it, but will eventually. Even though I didn't like him, he was a good poet. That night I woke up and headed down to South Beach for the opening ceremonies. Many people were there but I kept to myself for the most part, had a few drinks. Next day was the Limerick introductions. We did a team limerick centered around the Suzy and the Strap Ons idea... no one really got it. Or it wasn't as good as we thought it was. That night we had our first bout at Daddy Rocks against NY-Urbana, Baltimore-Washington D.C. and West Palm Beach. We came in last. Urbana stood out even with a reserved performance. Taylor Mali did his Voice of America voiceover poem, George McKibbens did Circus, Shappy did Sensitive Poetry Boy, and Celena did one that I don't remember the title of... I should have bought her book! For Flagstaff, Suzy started out with Long and Hard, and I took the second rotation with Big Hair and Logan did The Truth about Why I stay on the Road, Dom closed with Biscuits.

Our scores weren't bad. I mean we were in 2nd place after two rounds. But Big Hair got a 26, and we would have had to each average a 27 or 28 to win 1st or 2nd. We did not benefit from score creep, and I think, tho Big Hair is funny, well performed, it has a narrower audience. You have to love or hate Hair Bands from the 80s to get it.
Demographics... So New York ended up with 110 pts approximately, and we had 100. We went to Kierans and saw Chicago Wicker park face Denver in the later bout.

Thursday was nicer to us. I didn't do much that day either, but that night we caught the first bout at Kierans, Watching Connecticut upset Vancouver and Dallas. Then we went up against Albuquerque, Sacremento, and Ann Arbor.

We decided to have me lead off, Dom go second, Logan 3rd, and Suzy close it out for us. This rotation worked great. We came in second for the night. I opened with a 28.4, and Dom (New Piece) and Logan( a new poem- I forgot the title) scored 27.8s, and Suzy's Mignon got a 29.9.
Albuquerque had a group piece that gave them a 29 in the 2nd, and Don McIver did an excellent Poem in the third to secure their victory. They are coached by Danny Solis, one of the legends from the Slam Nation movie. Still we beat Sacremento and Ann Arbor. Ann Arbor had quite a bit of experience, and had 2001 semi-finalist Matthew Olzman, and Sacremento had 2001 finalist Angela Boyce, so it was still quite a feat for us.

Flagstaff also took team bragging rights for Arizona once again, coming in 35 out of 56 teams. Mesa and Phoenix ranked lower, still, Phoenix's slammaster Brandy Lintecum won the Slammaster's Slam, and Corbet Dean from Mesa came in 2nd in the Individual competition. That's 2nd out of the 230+ poets competing. Corbet is also a Christian and a cop, two things that aren't very common in the slam world.

So, We were very happy with our 2nd bout. All four of us doing new poems composed within the last month or two. Friday, I finally got to one of the sideshow events. Actually two. I went down to Glueks where I met up with my friend Jenny who lives in Minneapolis, and sat with the Klute, and Holly from Mesa and we watched the 5th wheel slam. I got to see how slam ups the level of performance, as I saw Megan Milligan from Las Vegas deliver a poem she had been doing for almost a year to the best effect yet. She is now a big contender for the 2003 Las Vegas Slam Team. Later, I competed in the Nerd Slam, hosted by Urbana's Shappy. It was a lot of fun, and I edged out 3-2 in thumbs, Rachel Hyman, from the Boston Cantab team in a head to head competition. I did my Testosterone poem, and even though, she is more smarter than I, something about masturbation gives me the edge when it comes to being a nerd. Turns out, no winners or losers, Shappy had presents for everyone, and turned it into a showcase rather than a slam. Karen Lumos, from Las Vegas, and long time Poetry Cohort, and chapbook partner in crime won her round too. Something about us Western Nerds! That Night Henry Sampson asked me to judge the showcase bout between Austin, Oakland, and Chicago Wicker Park. This bout was to be scored using Midwestern Slam Rules They use a ranking system with varied time limits rather than the olympic point system. Thus, I ended up giving low scores to Big Poppa E, and Soul Evans. OUCH! but, hey, it's just a slam. I gave a 2 to Lucy Anderton's primary group piece. I gave 1s to Ishe Yi Park and Mack Dennis. Oakland won the bout. It sucks to have to judge friends. There were two other judges, but still... They could see my scores. I was up close. That night, Urbana put on a sizzling performance edging out Long Beach, Providence, and Houston to move on to the finals. Taylor had Political Poem nailed, George did the Father's Sermons one, and Shappy did "I am that Nerd" They all backed up Celena Glenn on "I Nail My Palms" with beatboxing and vocables, and harmonizing while Celena singed out her words. It was quite amazing.
It was raining out that night, but Don McIver and I wandered over to the Quest club for the Semi finals, where in a nailbiter, Corbet tied for sixth place.

Finals night at the Orpheum. A cold chilly day, for Summer, Flagstaff got up close to the stage where we were only 6 rows back or so. The Indy Finals were first, and to me, I was moved by Rives and Corbet, impressed by Sekou, and Kamal and Shane. I won't give details. New York did the same set as the night before, with one exception, George McKibbens joined Taylor on How to Write a Political Poem making it a group piece. It got them an early lead. Detroit was amazing especially Mike Ellison and Blair. Becky was great too. Seattle was on fire with Jeremy Richards. Morris Stegosaurus got screwed, but he had to go first in the whole bout. The Nuyorican was as strong as ever, and Kamal saved his best piece for the team. Blair went last with his operatic piece, and that was the only thing that could possibly top the Urbana group piece. By .1, it was enough to force a tie. Both teams decided to share rather than go to overtime. Marc (so what) Smith, the founder of slam gave a final poem to send us off with, about helping people climb the mountain. Inspirational. Finally everyone, or many caroused over at the First Avenue, where they had the stage sectioned off for poets. Many of the poets got to look out over the dance floor and pretend that they were Prince. Well I did anyways. No air guitar, tho, Forgot how to play.

Long Plane trip back. Hung out with Team Mesa who were on the same flight. Corbet had a premonition that we would not make it back. We landed safely. Whew!

So the slam was a huge blast. I have rambled on and on, and have long since ignored the rules of grammar. Well. Sayonara.

Oh last but not least, I got to host a slam bout at Espresso Roma between San Diego and Las Vegas. It was a lot of fun. I also got a poem published in Pearl... to be out in 2003. And Taylor Mali, on behalf of the Urbana Series, and Bowery Poetry Club invited me to feature at a slam. That is to be in January. I will definitely go to the Guggenheim and Metro when there.

Oh fine, that is enough for now.
Sorry if I mispelled or stuff.

Highlights: Bill Campana giving me a thumbs up. Danny Solis giving me a thumbs up, Corbet Dean giving me a thumbs up, Marc Smith giving me a thumbs up, Bowerbird giving me a thumbs up. Now if only I can win the Nobel Prix Car Race.

Problem is I drive too slow. I mean 25 in a 55.

Okay... stop rambling... go to bed Mr. Holier-Than-Gout!

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