Barking for Daniel Thompson
It's been a busy past few days - but also very cool. Geri and I attended two poetry events. The first was a Daniel Thompson memorial reading at the Barking Spider Tavern on Tuesday 8 July.
The gig was emceed by Ray McNiece and his Tongue-in-Groove band. Geri and I arrived about a half hour late, thanks in part to severe thunderstorms that blew our patio furniture into the yard as we were about to leave home (chasing our big umbrella made me feel like Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain).
Sprinkled throughout Ray's performance were readings and reflections by several other artists, including Tim Joyce (formerly of Cleveland, now of Cape Cod), Barry Zucker, Dianne Borsenik, Jennie Cheeks, and Gail & Eric Buchbinder (creators of the Daniel Thompson film documentary Famous in the Neighborhood). The night was of course dedicated to Daniel, Cuyahoga County's Poet Laureate, who died in 2004. I had planned to read my "Rapists" poem, followed by Daniel's "We Are All Gunmen" - but there was not enough time. It was appropriate, though, that the folks who knew him best were the ones who got to read.
In addition to being a great poet, Daniel Thompson was a fearless civil rights activist, a tireless advocate for the homeless and other disadvantaged folks, and much more. But to really appreciate the man and artist, I recommend you visit these two sites:
http://www.agentofchaos.com/daniel_thompson/index.html
(part of Steven B. Smith's agentofchaos site featuring dozens of Daniel's poems and other goodies)
http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.HonoringDanielThompson
(a 2004 biographical tribute to Daniel by Cool Cleveland).
Here are a few photos I took at the Spider. But silly me, I forgot until halfway through the event that I had my camera in my bookbag, so I failed to get decent pictures of Tim and Gail. Heck, I didn't even photograph Geri or myself. So you know I wasn't totally with it... lol.
Buddy Ray
Stay tuned... I will be blogging soon about our second poetry event of the week, where we encountered the legendary Smith and Lady at Mac's Backs on Wednesday. But I have to run and tend to a few other important matters first.
Tonight (Thursday), from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., we will be at the Literary Cafe in Cleveland - and it's going to be a quadruple treat. We'll see Smith and Lady again, and hopefully hear them read during the open mic part of the night. We'll also see featured readers David Smith and T.M. Göttl. David is one of my favorite MySpace writers (under his nom de blog Handsome Duke Deal) - and since he lives in California, this will be my first time meeting him in person. I have, on the other hand, had the privilege of seeing T.M. read a couple of times - and in addition to being a fine poet, she is one of the most passionate and captivating performers on the scene. I've never been to the Lit before, but several great poets who've read far and wide tell me it's one of their favorite venues anywhere. We'll see....
For more on the Literary Cafe, please check out their site: http://literarycafe.net/
The gig was emceed by Ray McNiece and his Tongue-in-Groove band. Geri and I arrived about a half hour late, thanks in part to severe thunderstorms that blew our patio furniture into the yard as we were about to leave home (chasing our big umbrella made me feel like Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain).
Sprinkled throughout Ray's performance were readings and reflections by several other artists, including Tim Joyce (formerly of Cleveland, now of Cape Cod), Barry Zucker, Dianne Borsenik, Jennie Cheeks, and Gail & Eric Buchbinder (creators of the Daniel Thompson film documentary Famous in the Neighborhood). The night was of course dedicated to Daniel, Cuyahoga County's Poet Laureate, who died in 2004. I had planned to read my "Rapists" poem, followed by Daniel's "We Are All Gunmen" - but there was not enough time. It was appropriate, though, that the folks who knew him best were the ones who got to read.
In addition to being a great poet, Daniel Thompson was a fearless civil rights activist, a tireless advocate for the homeless and other disadvantaged folks, and much more. But to really appreciate the man and artist, I recommend you visit these two sites:
http://www.agentofchaos.com/daniel_thompson/index.html
(part of Steven B. Smith's agentofchaos site featuring dozens of Daniel's poems and other goodies)
http://www.coolcleveland.com/index.php?n=Main.HonoringDanielThompson
(a 2004 biographical tribute to Daniel by Cool Cleveland).
Here are a few photos I took at the Spider. But silly me, I forgot until halfway through the event that I had my camera in my bookbag, so I failed to get decent pictures of Tim and Gail. Heck, I didn't even photograph Geri or myself. So you know I wasn't totally with it... lol.
Buddy Ray
Dianne
Jennie
Barry
Ray's eyes blazing with poetry
Discover more Daniel Thompson in these books available through my Amazon store:
Stay tuned... I will be blogging soon about our second poetry event of the week, where we encountered the legendary Smith and Lady at Mac's Backs on Wednesday. But I have to run and tend to a few other important matters first.
Tonight (Thursday), from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., we will be at the Literary Cafe in Cleveland - and it's going to be a quadruple treat. We'll see Smith and Lady again, and hopefully hear them read during the open mic part of the night. We'll also see featured readers David Smith and T.M. Göttl. David is one of my favorite MySpace writers (under his nom de blog Handsome Duke Deal) - and since he lives in California, this will be my first time meeting him in person. I have, on the other hand, had the privilege of seeing T.M. read a couple of times - and in addition to being a fine poet, she is one of the most passionate and captivating performers on the scene. I've never been to the Lit before, but several great poets who've read far and wide tell me it's one of their favorite venues anywhere. We'll see....
For more on the Literary Cafe, please check out their site: http://literarycafe.net/
Neato - yr like a poetry journalist with these - I hope more people from the scene discover yr blog.
Thanks for the sweet words. Hard for me to be anything other than subjective.
Peace,
K
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Thank you very much, Lady!
Looking forward to seeing you again tonight....
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you should remind folk on cleveland poetics of your on-site poetic observances.
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Good idea... I've just posted a message there.
Thanks for your friendship, feedback and inspiration.
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Mind? Any mention is a good mention
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Cool! Rock the house....
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Sounds like you guys had a blast!
JC if ever you are in my town you need to check out Down Town Fredericksburg, They have some awesome little coffee shops & pub's with music & poetry, lots of historic places to see too.
I bet you and Geri would love it!
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Thanks, Angela! Sounds like a very cool spot - too bad we didn't know of it when we were in Virginia last summer. But I'd love to go back soon - and I look forward to checking out Down Town Fredericksburg.
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You must have been out of it to not pull out your camera... LOL...
Thanks for the low down on your doings.. sounds like your having a blast and meeting some very cool folks...
Wishing you all the best.,,tonight.
It also sounds like you have a ton of support out there... that's very cool too.
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Thanks, Chris! I think my brain was a bit waterlogged.
But as Shakespeare and a million others have said, "All's well that ends well."
Looking forward to seeing you Saturday at the Brandt Gallery reading!
Oh - and I forgot to mention in the blog that Ray and Dianne should both be at the Lit tonight as well. So it will be a sextuple treat. Wait! That doesn't sound right... lol.
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Wow, thank you, JC, for the photo and link to my page-- It was a super reading, and I'm just sorry that you didn't get to read. This has been a spectacular week for poetry here in Cleveland, and you were great, reading last night at Mac's Backs. I'm really lucky; I get to enjoy the readings twice: once in person, and then again, through your wonderful blogs. Thank you!
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Thank you, Dianne! I very much appreciate your kind words and getting to hear you read.
I'm particularly grateful that you bought a copy of my Bloggerel....
You were the first to do so! Muchas Gracias!
I will have copies with me tonight, if anyone else is interested.
It's the first volume by Crisis Chronicles Press, my foray into the world of publishing.
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are you going to put "bloggerel" for sale here so people who don't live closer can purchase a copy?
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Yes! Am hoping to post something about that in the coming week....
I'm still a bit amazed that anyone wants to buy it... lol.
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good. save me a copy.
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Already have one with your name on it....
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does that mean it's autographed or has a post it on it?
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Autographed... but I can add a Post-It to it if you'd like.
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well, a post it could help with the provenance and make it more valuable should the copy ever go up for auction at sotheby's
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sounds like a splendid time and also as if i've got some friend requests to send out.
tonight sounds wonderful as well.
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Thanks, mb!
It's too bad you don't live closer. Would be cool to hear you read yours live, too....
For everyone interested:
I'll be posting one of my favorite Meribeth works on the Crisis Chronicles library sometime in the coming week.
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Dugg this!
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