happy guldern hollerdays!
welcome to the omega hour! as a useful tool for this informational message, i have included all links at the bottom of the email, like some kind of appendix.
i am busy as all get out - bus' it:
COMEDY
on tuesday, december 23rd, i am performing poetry at the exceptional and successful stand-up comedy show by brother dan runs called Chicago Underground Comedy. deets:
at the Beat Kitchen
2100 W. Belmont
Chicago, IL 60618
Tickets are $5, on Tuesday nights. Inquiries may be made by contacting The Beat Kitchen at (773)281-4444. The Beat Kitchen is located 1 block west of the Damen/Belmont intersection.
Tuesdays:
Doors open at 8:45 PM
Shows to start at 9:30 PM
ENCYCLOPEDIA SHOW
the first ever encyclopedia show happened on december 3rd at the gorgeous Chopin Theatre. shanny jean maney and i cohost and curate this variety show that invites all artistic genres to contribute creative pieces in a verbal encyclopedia. the first entry was entitled "A is for Bears" and it was a smashing success.
in the link appendix below you can find: a link to the facebook fanpage where much original content is being posted, a youtube of Benny the Bearcat (Benny is an actual bearcat, or binturong, and he showed up to read a poem at our show. i am not even lying and you should watch the video if you don't believe me!), some work i performed at "A is for Bears" can be found on the TimeOut Chicago podcast, and there was also a lovely article written in TOC for our show.
here's the blurb for the next encyclopedia show:
Young Chicago Authors (YCA) brings to you The
Encyclopedia Show – "Two the Moon," at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W
Division, on Wednesday, January 7, 2009 at 7:00pm. Tickets $5 at the
door. All ages.
With music, poetry, visual art and spoken word on the topic: The Moon.
Featuring (Contributor – Topic):
Anis Mojgani (Two-time National Poetry Slam Individual Champion - Portland, OR) – Moonwalkers.
The Luna Blues Machine (Music) - Luna Blues!
Bill Struss (Phi Rho Pi double gold medalist) – Astrology
Amy David (2-time member of the Green Mill slam
team) – Lunacy
A.D. Jameson (Fiction writer and DePaul instructor) –
Moon Geography
Cassie Sparkman (Director of the Poetry Center's Hands
on Stanzas) – Harvest Moon
Corey Schultz (Slammaster of the Normal,IL poetry slam)
– Lunar Space Elevator
Melanie "George" Decelles (3rd Place team member at youth poetry nationals) – Lunar Gravity
Iggy Mwela (Creator of the Words in Action Poetry Series) – Mooning (v.) re: Naked Fannies
Rik Vasquez (Youth Mentor and Slam Coach for hire)
- Moon Treaty/Constitution
Kiara Lanier (Singer-Songwriter) –Sea of Tranquility
Aly Bosetti (visual artist - Portland, OR) – Life native to the Moon
Ralph Hardesty (Rhetoric Instructor at Cornell University - Ithaca, NY) – Moon flower
Kurt Heintz will return as the Fact-Checker, Dan Telfer will enlighten us with new moon research, there will be a pinata and a Werewolf.
SHAWNIMALS
i am becoming more deeply involved with the brilliant folks over at shawnimals by the day. we are beginning a very ambitious and exciting new project for 2009 called "Professor Island," so please keep your earholes free of debris to find out more info on that (you can visit the brand new shawnimals.com for details!).
and please, if you are looking to buy a Nintendo DS game for christmas, i urge you to buy Ninjatown DS - the video game i co-wrote for shawnimals. it's getting great reviews, selling well, and has been translated into 4 languages! below is a link to MSNBC's top 10 nintendo DS games of 2008, where our game is listed and even mentioned in the subtitle! note the review says, "the writing is funny." hooray life!
FUTURE
here's a brief rundown of the big stuff that awaits me in 2009:
- i will be one of the three acts performing in the Dollar Store Show on friday jan. 9th at 7PM at the Hideout. the cost is a dollar. i stole the idea for the writing assignments for the encyclopedia show from this show, but they're not bitter!
- i am featured in two anthologies through derrick brown's Write Bloody publishing house -
The Junkyard Ghost Revival Anthology and the forthcoming
The Good Things about America. the former book has 6 poems of mine, the latter has one poem and i also cowrote the introduction with cristin o'keefe aptowicz.
- decomP magazinE will be publishing two of my poems ("We Are Devo" and "Like Staring into a Freaky Time-Mirror") in their february issue. my aforementioned good pal cristin o'keefe aptowicz will be featured in that same issue!
- in february, i will be one of the featured performers in the poetry center of chicago's annual live show "No Love for Love." the headliner this year is david rakoff and i will try not to be too giddy at him when we meet. i will be calm and collected and we will become best friends for all of forever.
2008, DEAD
that's alls i gots. it's been a productive year and i'm looking forward to the new one. i hope you are loved this holiday - my bet is that you are.
stay warm.
LINK APPENDIX OF GLORY
Chicago Underground Comedy: http://chicagoundergroundcomedy.com/index2.html
Encyclopedia Show Fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home/pages/The-Encyclopedia-Show/38303333739
YouTube of Benny the Bearcat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YAhP2tY_x8
TimeOut Chicago blog:
http://www3.timeoutny.com/chicago/blog/out-and-about/?p=10563TimeOut Chicago article:
http://www.timeout.com/chicago/articles/books/69140/encyclopedia-noun MSNBC Ninjatown DS review:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28165100/?pg=2games_holiday_081212_NintendoNew Shawnimals Website:
http://www.shawnimals.com/The Dollar Store Show: http://dollarstoreshow.com/
The Write Bloody Store: http://www.writebloody.com/store/index.html
Junkyard Ghost Revival video: http://vimeo.com/2230082
decomP magazinE: http://www.decompmagazine.com/
"No Love for Love" with the Poetry Center of Chicago: http://www.poetrycenter.org/pcc_events