Thursday, November 30, 2006

wrapping it up for the night

Okay...phew. What an evening.

What have I been up to? Well, wait 14 days and see what I've been doing with my spare time. See you at the book and CD release party on the 14th.

In the interim: Good night.

marshalling my forces

Tonight, I will set new levels of raw adrenaline, emotions, endurance, glory and accomplishment.

Comparable only to a remarkable weekend I spent with a beautiful woman in Venice Beach.

Watch for some news...the poet raises his eyes, the Amomancer begins the dance.

The Beasts beat the Gods

Well, the war of words is over...and "Beasts of Legend" wins by a landslide.

It's not that the other two pieces from THE LAST ROMANTIC VERB did not have defenders or champions, it is just that most felt that of the three choices, musically, lyrically and in terms of my performance, that one was closer to a real orgasm, you know, the kind where you lose control of your limbs and moan in Latin.

And that's good, right?

Actually, I almost have to agree. Listening to the three pieces again, with the comments of the reviewers in mind, it is just such a strong piece. KISSES FOR KARMA is great, but it is just a single work, barely three minutes in duration. THE GODS OF LOVE, LIVE AT KYRIENAR is but five and a half minutes, but contains three works, but some people prefer the more studio, less organic feel on "Beasts...". So there you have it.

My son, Dante, called last night...he wanted to talk about Runescape, the online game he and I and his brother Elric have begun playing together. We had a very nice talk...and then Elric came on and wanted to continue the conversation and also discuss the cellphone he wants for Christmas.

The thing that makes the whole story amusing is that I was about five feet from a shower when he called...so I conducted the entire 40-minute conversation laying on my back with my arms full of towels.

Oh, and Elric? Having worked in a school...the answer on the phone is "No". I agree there are times and places where a 13 year old can benefit from having their own phone. But the opportunity for the level of abuse of that privilege far outweighs the possibility that you are going to be kidnapped by aliens who will, in all ignorance, not see that you have a phone on you while they are transporting you to the mothership.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Note to CNN: Stretching a point isn't news

Theology 101 for CNN: Pregnancy is not what made Mary, the fiance of Joseph the carpenter, the Virgin Mary. It was the fact that she became pregnant by means other than doing the wild thing after a late night party.

I saw a headline on CNNs website: "Life Imitates Art".

It seems that 16 year old actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, who plays the Virgin Mary in the new movie "The Nativity", is now pregnant by her 19 year old boyfriend.

I didn't realize that the Virgin Mary had a 19 year old boyfriend. Oh, she didn't? Then "life imitates art" might be stretching the point a bit.

I am not judging the actress, in a nation where a sizable portion of children are now born out of wedlock (mostly because as a society, we have seen heterosexuals make a lawyer's game of divorce to the point that the institution is not valued anymore, contrary to the paranoia by the Religious Right that somehow homosexuals are defiling the institution when they want to make a commitment and have it solemnified by the state or the church) there is nothing particularly shocking about a sexually active child (16 is under 18, legal definition child) getting pregnant by her boyfriend. I still believe that children should be conceived and born in a stable relationship, and marriage, both legally and religiously, was designed for that purpose

What is going to be interesting is to see how much hay the 24 hour news channels are going to make over either the vilification of this young woman or the "eerie parallel" that the girl who played Jesus' mother is now going to be a mother. Hey, guys, I understand Julia Roberts once played a character who drove a car...and now...she drives one in real life. Eerie...

Get real, kids. Why not report about Britney Spears' seeking custody of her children during her quickie divorce from some guy whose name is already a trivia question, announcing she's "ready to party" and hitting the town with Paris Hilton? I would love to be in family court the day those two losers go at it over who makes a better parent, any sane judge would rescue the kids and declare them orphans. But we will get 24 hour coverage on all of this, just reinforcing to our kids the notion that marriage is not worth a bucket of warm piss.

Hand-wringers: We should let gays marry...they couldn't mess up or defile the institution any more than we have. They might actually do better, they seem to have some sense of value for it.

No Civil War in Iraq

Good news, people. Official word from The White House is that the American Civil War never really occurred, there was just some "significant factional infighting" for a time.

Next up: World War II will be reclassified as a "lover's spat" and the Holocaust will heretofore be listed as merely a "domestic dispute".

Can we quit lying to save face? The Administration spokespeople (I feel sorry for Tony Snow, I really do...his credibility has been shredded by taking the Press Secretary job) just somehow think that if they refuse to admit the truth (isn't that fundamentally the same as a lie?) then the unplesant facts will go away and people will still love them.

Tell that to the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who are spilling spilling blood and giving lives on foreign soil for a war that never should have been, an act of arrogance and violence more to prove the masculinity of a single pathetic figure than to achieve any true political, humanitarian or even economic purpose.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Asking for feedback on a representative track of the CD


Just looking for some old-fashioned feedback. You can comment here, or drop me a line.

We're doing a major urban renewal project on the old City of Legends...and there are decisions to be made.

Not the least of which is which of three different clips from THE LAST ROMANTIC VERB will be used as the sample clip from the section on that CD...

here are the choices:

Kisses for Karma. This sweet, 3 minute and 15 second reverie on the decisions we face in loving has a very great charm for me, despite the rather jarring horns midway through.

and

Beasts of Legend. An intense and spawling work (15 and a half minutes long!) with several poems in it: "My Electric Lady", "Brisant Revelations", "Shards of Light", "Radiant Tigers", "Aureate", "Pellinore (watching from across the room)" and "glass roses". That incredible bridge just before "Radiant...". Maybe too long, too complex.

and

The Gods of Love, Live at Kyrienar. The Gods come down to play in this virtual concert. Five minutes and 38 seconds, containing "Monument", "Phoenix & Golem" and the defining moment that is "TRANSCENDENCE".

So, which should I use? I see the good and the bad in each. The person who comes up with the best reasoned argument for any one of the tracks gets a free book.

too many ideas...

I realized as I sat down this morning to blog that it is not that I don't have any ideas for the topic, I have too many. I need to sort those out and prioritize, as I find most audiences have a problem with anyone who writes about too many things.

It rattles our need to keep things simple. We actually consider a lack of complexity a virtue. Of course, this means that even nature is lacking in virtue, as most things that actually work are more than one-cause-and-one-effect-and-there-ya-go!

I worked with a new class last night and in the course of the evening went around the room and had everyone in the room interview a partner. The number of people who came forward and said they wrote poetry was surprising. I asked one of them my classic protege qualifier as to what poetry was to them:

"Is it a hobby, a job, a career, an obsession or a religion?"

He answered "At one time it was a passion, an obsession, but I seem to have lost it since my divorce."

I reassured him that the muse was merely taking a vacation. I once had that happen for several years, leading up to my auto accident, when it came back with the roar of a panther and a vengeance. Whether or not you view what happened in my personal life at the time as a good idea or a dumb one, you have to admit, when the muse came back, she came back with galleon of gold for ransom for my soul.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Greetings from the other 99%?

A study published last week indicates and concludes that 1% of the World Wide Web is made up of pornography. Hmm...that actually sounds low, considering the junk mail spam I get daily, but maybe it is just a louder 1%.

I'm not shocked at that number. Walk into your local convenience store or newsstand. I dare say more than 1% of what is on the rack is classifiable as such ("sexually explicit or exploitative material with no redeeming social value"). At the local mom and pop convenience store, mom and pop must be pervs, because just about everything on their newsstand is named for some euphemism for some part of the female anatomy. Or is a car magazine.

I am always stunned by the array of magazines out there, the narrow band of a niche market some must fill. How many different golfing magazines can the market sustain? "Pro wrestling entertainment" magazines? Well, it all comes down to advertising revenues. If there are enough advertisers willing to buy ads, no matter how small the market is, the magazine continues.

The fact that more young Americans can identify Paris Hilton or Jessica Simpson than Martin Luther King Jr. or know the nickname for the latest celebrity coupling more than they know how their Senator voted on stem cell research says a lot about our culture. Ah well.

We live in an era of those who contribute nothing to culture or society make as much noise as possible to create the illusion of value. The internet has opened the media to the public, but there are days I wonder if the public is anything more than self-involved narcissists, just take a look at the proliferation of "critique" sites, where all you do is comment on the works of others, be it TV or films or other websites. A large portion of the critiques are just people trying to show how clever they are by accusing others of being unclever.

Yikes!

But, anyway...maybe we need a broader definition of pornography. Maybe "anything of no cultural value". But to whose culture? And what defines value? Are blogs then of no real value? Poetry is considered of no value by some (usually people who play video games all day, and of course, I consider the vast majority of video games of no value). I guess we can't easily come up with a definition of the value of something to culture.

My brain hurts, now.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

The Naked Contents

My turn to leak my own information.

The final mixdown for "The Naked Reads" has the following poems:

The Unicorns
Pink Jade: A Summoned Fire
Warm Breath Stirs Soft Flesh
Love is an Howling Beast
blossoming into the night
Sonnet: The Well of Life is Love Without Fear
Point of Contact
The Faerie (Strange, but Beautiful)
The Taste of Remembrance
Behind the Facade
From the Parapet
Spooning in the Dark Snows
The Lover
The Taste of a Shy Smile
The 5th Song of the Amomancer
Sacred Smile
Night of a Thousand Colours
In the memory of lovers
Dare We Cross the Rubicon?
Penny Arcade
Feralities
None But the Phoenix

I admit, I had a blast performing some of them. "Feralities", in particular, was...er...fun to do.

I should be getting my shipment from Lulu in the next week, so those of you who have pre-ordered will get yours in the next two weeks. Sorry for the brief delay!

And again, thanks to Pam (or is it Ron?) for the idea to do a straight-up spoken word CD.

Goodnight, all.

RONIN lineup

We have the final line up of poems for the book RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE!

61 monsters of the poetic arts, 61 sobs of pain and shouts of defiance.

Yay! Whee! Yippee-ki-yay...hold it, I'm not from Jersey.

Here they are:

GLASS SAMURAI
LOVE IS AN HOWLING BEAST
I AM
CARTOUCHE
ASHES AND AUGHT
BRAGI TO FREYA, ON HIS DEATHBED
SONNET: WAITING FOR THE PENTECOST
WILL ALONE
RASCAL’S WAGER
THAT’S GOING TO LEAVE A MARK
BRAVE AND CONSTANT HEARTS
PHOENIX AND GOLEM
PRISONER OF THE MOUNTAIN
GREAT, GREY TOMORROW
SHADOWBOX DRAGONS
THE SEARCHING FOR A DREAM
THE RESOLVE OF AN EARNEST LOVER, ADRIFT
TITAN
SHADOWS IN THE SHADE
THE PHILOSOPHY OF DREAMS
THE SPHERE IS FACETED
SHE DANCES AWAY WHEN I AWAKE
HAUNTED
SISYPHUS AND PROMETHEUS
THE JESTER OF HEARTS
DEEP AND HUNGRY POCKETS
IN THE SHADOWS OF AN ANCIENT CITY
FLESH FAILS
ELYSIUM’S ILLUSIONS
PONDERING THE DARKNESS
VOLITION
I WILL SLEEP ALONE
INFIDELITY
EVOLVING INDIFFERENCE
ALAS, THE FLOWERS WILTED
OF FALLEN AND FALLING ANGELS
A VILE ATTAR
AMONGST THE CASTLED ROCKS (a cycle, includes:)
THE WOUND
DRAIN ME DRY
THE TASTE OF YOUR LIPS
A TRICK OF THE STONE
SHELTER IN THE CLIFFS
HER WAY INTO MY LAIR
LEGENDS, PAINTED IN FADING PIGMENTS
NO ANGEL CALLS
TORN FROM THE FLESH
NONE BUT THE PHOENIX
RISE
RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE (a cycle, includes:)
A RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE
CAN YOU KISS WITH CONSCIENCE?
I SEE YOU IN COLOURS PERFECT
HOW ACHE MY HANDS
SHALL I UNLEASH THE DRAGON?
FEED FIRE TO THE PHOENIX
RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE (REPRISE)
TRANSUBSTATIATION, PART THREE
HOLD THE BRIDGE
BACKSTAB
THE FAERIE: STRANGE BUT BEAUTIFUL
GLASS ROSES
TOPKNOT

You might recognize a few of the pieces, but most will be strange even to the most devoted reader. These are as exciting and elite of a collection of his works as I have seen, just brutally earnest works from which the pain and hope and dreams and despair rise off of like the fragrance of a corpse lily, beautiful but troubling.

He still isn't letting me see who it is dedicated to...damn him.

At Issue with Rev. Al Sharpton

I am going to get some pretty strong response to what I am about to say, but I have to say it. I am obliged to say it.

The Rev. Al Sharpton has said he refuses to accept comedian Michael Richard's apology for a racial charged series of remarks he made when he lost control at a performance in LA last week.

Sorry, Rev. You have a choice, accept the apology, or remove your title. The Bible, which your title hangs upon, instructs us very clearly to accept all apologies. I agree there needs to be more than a apology, both for the sake of the people who have been insulted and for the comedian's own spiritual and psychological well-being.

But Jesus, the guy whose name you invoke everytime you write your name, instructed those who followed His teachings to forgive everyone. There is a debate as to whether you can forgive someone if they don't ask for forgiveness, but once they ask, you have to give it.

If you were Senator Al Sharpton, or President Al Sharpton, or Al Sharpton, Esq., I would not take exception with your words. But you are 'the Reverend'. This is a compulsory act for all Christians, forgiveness is automatic, even as God forgives us.

Yes, it is a pain in the neck, forgiving people. There are many people I have had to spend long hours dealing with anger towards. People who have harmed me, my family and my loved ones. Ex wives. Mass murderers. Televangeists who own luxury cars. Spammers. But, just as we can and must separate our Christian love of everyone from whether or not we like the person, we must separate the societal and personal penalties for our actions from the forgiveness that is demanded of us.

Even the Lord's Prayer, one of the simplest and best known elements of the Christian faith, invokes "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."

I have no issue with anyone taking issue with Michael Richard's tirade. I, myself, have great issue with his words. I have also great issue with anyone wishing to keep the kettle boiling in the face of direct commandment of their own faith to forgive him and move on.

There is nothing constructive to be gained by not forgiving him. There is no healing without forgiveness. Please, Rev., find it in your heart to forgive. For your own sake and those people, myself included, who have admired your passion and ministry.

National Poetry Month 2007 Bookings and PSAs

I'm opening my schedule now for readings and signings in conjunction with National Poetry Month in April, 2007. I usually don't start planning until after the New Year, but I sometimes find that a bit awkward, as the planning is sometimes more complex than anticipated.

I will listen to any proposals for venues and gigs in the Continental United States during that month...if I can chain several events together that are in a path or in an area to make things more sensible from a planning or economic viewpoint, so much the better. Money trumps sanity, though...paying gigs (unless there is a really intriguing element to a venue or purpose, I am susceptible to curiosity- or vanity- fueled ideas) rule.

So, check with your local schools, coffee houses, jails, writer's clubs, colleges, churches, book clubs, car dealerships, health clubs, brothels, literary societies, bars, radio stations, clubs, ice cream parlours, lingerie stores, libraries, book stores, festivals and courtyards. I like working corporate events (they often pay enough to allow me to take free events for worthy causes). I cooperate with local media. I don't mind being used as a fund-raiser. And I can promise a show. The shyness I have with women, one on one, doesn't exist when you give me a stage and a follow spot.

E.J. says it is because I don't like imposing on people...you never know when you are with a woman if she's there for you or just out of politeness...when you're being paid to show up and show, you know your purpose.

I have actually gotten used to a microphone. And I take requests, bringing specific reading lists depending on the venue (I never read "Warm Breath Stirs Soft Flesh" in churches). I can tailor my selections to the sociological/metaphysical/political or tear it up with a list that will cause a spike in the local birth rate nine months later.

Hey, who doesn't want a "living legend" (according to Lupi Basil of "Emotions" magazine) or the "Romantic Poet of the Internet" (according to Yahoo) to raise the roof, turn down the sheets and run amok through the local gentry?

I bring books, CDs and a certain class to the joint. And I've had my shots.

What's my dream month? I'd like to do three or four colleges, a couple of jails, a corporate event or two. Something out of the ordinary, unexpected, yet to be defined. I'd like to get on Lex & Terry's radio program for a bit promoting the month (I'd be happy to write something special for Kim). A political fundraiser. A conference or two on causes I believe in. A well-paid private event (imagine me doing a society birthday, anniversary or wedding reception). I want to open a baseball game with a reading of the National Anthem. I want a month that just raises the bar for the next year.

So, get to work. I will be writing and editing and honing my performance skills...you get the easy part.

I will also be doing a series of audio PSAs for National Poetry Month, if your local radio station needs one, drop me a line...they should be ready in January for free distribution.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Saturday reveries and looking down the road

Yes, I am disappointed that the WVU Mountaineers did not beat USF, but...hey, if all games were a foregone conclusion, we wouldn't have to play them, right? Congratulations to USF for a fine, young program. Next year, watch out.

I am right now working on the final edits for the new books...don't worry...I am on schedule and almost complete. I have pushed myself to the limits of my attention span and physical endurance to see just what lays beneath the veneer...and I am not displeased with all my discoveries. I'm a little cranky right now, but that is do to just distraction issues. I'll be fine once the last few pages are done and I can rest. I plan to enjoy myself at a corporate Holiday Party this coming Saturday, perhaps even make some adjustments to my social situation. Time will tell.

I have had some correspondence this week with Molly McKnight, the nice lady who invited me to be a judge for the Frontiers in Writing (Texas Panhandle Writers' Convention) 2007 Poetry Chapbook Contest. I'm glad I accepted and have gone the further step of accepting an invitation to attend and beginning to negotiate with local venues for a reading. I'd like to do one in conjunction with the local Barnes & Noble, but you know me...I am pretty omnivorous when it comes to reading venues.

I have taken under advisement a notion to write an entirely new and fresh volume of poetry at the convention, to be immediately submitted to a POD publisher for immediate publication and release. I recall Harlan Ellison's old stunt of writing a new short story during a science fiction convention, while sitting in public in a clear tent or pavilion.

E.J. still thinks it is pretty funny I have been honored, invited or feted in just about very state, it seems, except West Virginia. I tell him that it is okay, I don't like beer, anyway.

I do have to get my head clear for the CD and Book release party on the 14th of next month in Fairmont...I want it to be in a perfect frame of mind for that.

technomasturbators

Does anyone ever receive an unsolicited email with a fake return address, advertising some penny stock, and go out and invest in it? Are people really that stupid? Or are the email terrorists who bring real commerce and communications to a crawl or a halt in some deluded notion that they can get risk spamming people somehow themselves the victims fast talking snake-oil salesmen who are peddling websites and autoresponders and email lists (for the last time, guys, I do not even read German, have breasts or invest in Chinese stocks).

It is like when I get "job offers" over my email, using stolen AOL email addresses. Yeah, I'm going to trust my financial future and career path to someone who won't even buy their own domain and use their own return address.

Today an email of mine to a friend at AOL got reflected, either because webmail.registeredsite.com brought up a new server without registering it with AOL's blacklist, or because too many people have been sending auto mail from websites that use that particular webmail server as their dummy return route.

I'm delayed, but not truly perturbed with AOL. They're doing what they can to control the freaks, geeks and self-involved technomasturbators who think that they can get in everyone else's way because they feel like it.

I'll wait until later today to send the email. Yawn. I actually have a life. This doesn't effect the books and CD and I need to wrap up this weekend.

By the way, best of luck to WVU today against USF. I want a bloodbath, with Slaton and White setting school and NCAA records that will stand until next week against Rutgers.

Friday, November 24, 2006

A Quick Update

A good day yesterday...spoke with the boys, got a message to Peri, heard from a few friends I had not heard from in a bit and met with Tag to finalize the new book, PSALMS OF THE MONSTER RIVER CULT.

I hate to be boring, but I have so much to do today, I will be more communicative later or on the weekend.

So little time, so much to do.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Thanksgiving (That's the way God Planned It)

This past year saw the death of music legend Billy Preston. sometimes considered the "fith Beatle" or even the 6th man in the Rolling Stones, he also worked with people like Little Richard and had a very successful recording career on his own (and you know that song "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker? Billy wrote that.)

As I write this I am listening to his piece "That's The Way God Planned It". A lively and evocative piece of R&B gospel. One line in this song always pierced me:

"I hope you get this message
When you won't, others will.
You may not understand me
But I'll love you still ."

His life had great ups and downs, like the life of any creative artist who wears his emotions and beliefs and talents on his sleeve should be.

Art should not be created by cowards.

And the message of these words, that regardless of whether or not you understand his message, that God is in control and everything is going to be okay, is a reassuring one. But, even those whom could not or can not or will not accept the notion of a God who is benignly in control, or even a God, or even that there are people who can love without being loved in return, he'd still love. Because religion should not be left to the organizations and the ministers and the prayer breakfasts and the megachurches with their big-business bookstores and TV broadcasts, but the hearts of earnest believers.

It is that kind of love, that charity (which is what it means), that makes me grateful. That and the talents of men and women like Billy.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Some of the people I am grateful for in my life:

My daughter, Peri, and her husband, Brian. Their friend, who are so supportive of them. My son, Elric, with or without a flu shot. My son, Dante, who is probably going to be smarter than me, I just hope he doesn;t turn that incredible brain pan to poetry.

My ex-wife, Jan, who did a fine job of raising the kids after I got stupid. To my other ex, for the lessons I learned and the good times we spent together. To her mother for her fierce support for her only child. To Sydney, for an unflagging joy.

To my parents and my siblings.

To Karla, Robin, Nancy, Brigit, Alisha, Kristina, Amy, Jennifer, Aurora, Sarah, Maggie, Dar, Ginger, Luisa, Ellen, Lauri, Maxx, Carole, Rosa, Mary, Stephanie, Heather, Alisa, Mari, Nordette, Jade, JD, Margie, Kate and everyone who ever loved, was loved, or inspired with a word, a thought, a look, a smile or a kiss. What an amazing world this is.

Oh, and God. It may be my life but it is your universe. Thanks for letting me in the game.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Things I am thankful for (part 2)

I've added the flyer for the party on December 14th to the website...you can check it out at www.cityoflegends.com.

More things I'm thankful for? Hmmm...there's a lot. I believe in gratitude. I earnestly believe it should be one of the primary emotions towards God, not greed or fear or hate, which seem to be so prevalent in the image of the Christian Faith in the media, and perhaps to some degree deservedly so.

I could have died so many times along the path, accidents, disease, homicide. I've been shot at. I had a faithless lover admit having unprotected sex with a dealer in exchange for a handful of drugs. I've thrice, at least, run fevers that red-lined thermometers. I've had my vehicle t-boned at 70 miles an hour.

I have some scars I cannot and will not allow to be explained, their presence is a very intimate reminder of this remarkable life that I am grateful for.

I have had, regardless of what some may think, remarkable luck in life and love. Remarkable, at least in part, because I do not think I am automatically entitled to anything.

I am grateful for what I have seen, felt, heard, touched, tasted, experienced and imagined in this life. I am thankful for this life.

And it is far from over...it is difficult getting back on my feet after the last few years. My wounds, emotional and fiscal, are mostly self-inflicted, or at least due in part to trusting the wrong people too much and too well. But I believe in the force of the will, the Will I am. Nancy used to say that where there's a William, there's a way.

I believed in her. So, I must believe in me. And remember to be grateful, tomorrow, for the poetry, the dreams, the kisses, the magic, the fire, the snows, the words, the visions, the books, the music, the touch, the smiles, the dreams, the hugs, the curve of a woman's hip, the warmth of a friendly dog's breath, California nights looking out over the city of Los Angeles, deathly silent mornings sitting in a snowdrift in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the purposeful pain of a discovered but unpleasant truth, the poems found in common words, the sound of a lover's sleeping breath, the eloquence of truth, the beauty of time, the grace of lachrymose moments, legendary nights in Venice Beach, the quintessence of the amomancies born in a city of legends I carry within me.

I am...overwhelmed with delight at my life. Grateful. Thankful. Humbled.

Legislators of the World

I ran across this essay by accident, when following a humourist's mockery of both it and the bland and banal masses of web-based poetry.

Adrienne Rich, in The Guardian

Both the essay and the attack upon it are accurate, which is not unusual, as there is always a shred of light in dark and visa versa. We have allowed the artform to become overrun with too many pale shadows of the quality, but I have no doubt that, in time, the forces of memory and the marketplace will clear the chaff from the grain.

We also have the academic poetry bastions, with their state legislated budgets of the university presses being used as vanity presses for the professors, to keep them feeling beloved and immortal, even if the only people buying their books are their students who are required to do so for the class the professor teaches.

I have had people come up to me in bars and at parties and ask me to recite a poem for them. I usually ask them what their profession is and ask them to demonstrate it for me, right then and there (unless she is particularly pretty, then I compose something on the spot in hopes of impressing her out of her underwear...hey, I have a reputation to protect). And that is actually a mild response, considering my views on the essence of a poetry. A more proper response would be for me to ask them to explain to me their religious views, in detail, including defending their faith against any and all questions I might have about it, loudly and for the assembled crowd.

Poetry to me is a religion. And, just as I am disgusted by all the pretend Christians I have encountered in the pews along the road to this moment, people with hate and fear in their lives and hearts and eye, pretending to follow a God who forbids hatred and fear, so am I dismayed, disturbed and even angered by the imitation, the dilution, the bastardization of poetry.

Are poets the "legislators of the world"? I'd like to think that the memes we launch may impact the cultural and socio-political landscape. After all, the quote is "You campaign in poetry and govern in prose" not "You campaign in comedy and govern in solemnity" (actually, considering some of the more recent elections in the USA, it is more "You campaign in solemnity and govern like a clown").

But in any case, the blog, the web, these have not killed poetry, just allowed the masses of mediocrity a more ready stage. In time the quality will bear out, or at least, I hope so.

As a legislator of the world, I cast my vote for hope. And love. And peace.

This is not a spam blog

Bizarre. I go to do an entry into my blog this morning and there is word verification turned on for the submission of an entry.

Why? Automated systems have determined that my blog has the characteristics of a spam blog.

A what?

A spam blog.

On the one hand, I'm a bit bemused, since I fight against spam comments all the time, and I have to put up with massive crap from spammers who not only flood my e-mail mailboxes, but also hijack my domain name as a return address to the point that cityoflegends.com has, from time to time, been blocked by well-meaning but fuzzy-logic'd tools sold to prevent spamming.

On the other hand I am offended, as no one likes to be suspect (Yes, I know, the innocent have nothing to fear...the same logic used by police when they want warrantless searches approved).

And, finally, I am relieved, as this gives me a topic for today's blog. I am just glad I didn't try and do a submission via email (mailing it in sometimes is a necessity when I am not at my desk)...as it would have probably been rejected. Sigh.

Yesterday I got in the mail a collection notice from a company name Afni Collections. They were loking for money on a Verizon bill I never owed from almost a decade ago. Funny, I paid that bill off when I switched carriers. How can I be so sure, I mean, that was a while back? Because four years later, Verizon allowed me to get a new contract with them, something they would not have permitted if I had still owed them money.

I went to the web and looked up the collection company. Thousands of claims have been filed against them by people claiming they were harrassed for past Verizon and Sprint bills, all of them from the distant past, further back than most people keep records, making argument difficult. Bills they say they know they didn't owe. I have seen a lot of information recently about bogus collection agencies, which acquire dubious debts, even manufacture them. I am not sure if these guys at Afni are frauds, or if they were sold bad files (I worked, for a while, for a collection agency, you don't want to know how sloppy the evidence they require of a debt before going psycho on a debtor).

But I am resolute that I am now just one of the thousands, even millions, being threatened with collection action for something I do not owe. And I am furious.

Which was going to be my topic this morning, before the "spam blog" automated police jumped me.

And it is a pain, being "The Romantic Poet of the Internet" and on the day before Thanksgiving, having to write about crap like these things.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Today's Schedule

Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy. Busy.

"Don't you know that you are a shooting star? And all the world will love you just as long, as long as you are?"
- "Shooting Star", Bad Company

Monday, November 20, 2006

the way of the Amomancer

There is a point where will alone propels the frame of the machine of flesh that is the chariot of our sentience and spirituality.

Will alone

We recognize it in oaths we make
to ourselves and before God,
claiming we will defeat the greater powers
of hate or fear or ignorance or passivity,
filling our cavities with the oil of cloves
we pressed for this eventuality.

The tempering fire.
It roars with scores of coals of souls
we plucked from the grounding earth,
part of the birth of a newly, truly ordered world.
A place where hurled epithets
splinter on the bending curl of our hope.

Will alone is regent, reagent,
gentle in the manner of rain, which before the wind
blasts the rocks until they fall, in time
to be washed to the bottom of the seas,.
As we please, we do. As we do, we are undone,
as the sun cannot penetrate the oceans.


William F. DeVault. all rights reserved.

I have a friend. Perhaps I would, if the will were hers or I was of baser metal as such to play the cards in a manner to usurp her will, be more than friend, but then I would no longer be me, but a shadow fiend, unworthy of the powers of the flowers of the fields of Arbol, where my dreams sleep even when I wake.

She is beautiful, but troubled, for there is grief and cause for grief in her life. I will act for her, as she requests, in all honor, in her difficulties, although it pains me to be aiding her just to let her into another man's arms.

But the pain purifies and penances the poet, buying back another grain of his sandstone soul from the bottom of the seas, where the disease of arrogance swept them, kept them, to be bartered, a grain of sand for every drop of blood, every lost kiss.

For this is the path of the Amomancer, the Ronin in the Temple of Aphrodite.

Much to be thankful for (part 1)

This being Thanksgiving week here in the US, I figured it would be a good time to count my blessings, to list some of the things I am grateful for.

* That I have three beautiful, bright and loving children who are healthy and strong.

* That my parents are still with us and healthy.

* That my siblings are all alive and well.

* That God, in His or Her infinite humour, decided to give me my talent as a poet, but no "users' manual".

* My ex wives are both strong, competent people whom, on the balance, I have been blessed to know.

* Book and CD sales, while not astronomical, are intriguing.

* I was able to attend my daughter's wedding in Santa Barbara in September and she married a really nice fellow whom I have honest affection for.

* So far, my streak of indestructibility seems to be holding up. Still waiting for the "Kryptonite Blonde (or Redhead or Brunette)" to show up and make me regret ever having said that.

* Every day the City of Legends Radio podcasts get accessed by more and more people.

* I have friends I can trust and enemies whom you can judge me by their reasons in opposing me.

* Memory and reasoning speed are still within benchmark parameters.

* Weight is down, strength is up and endurance is improved.

* The Democrats regained control of the House and Senate!

* My catalog of poetry survived the tumult in Mississippi.

* My band, The Gods of Love, have given me a new outlet and a new audience.

* My faith in God, in the holy church of poetry and the value of love, remains unshaken.

All in all, much to be thankful for.

William F. DeVault
---------------
website: www.cityoflegends.com
blog: cityoflegends.blogspot.com

A picture that didn't make the cover

Yawn. Stretch. Scratch.

Monday morning.

Why am I thinking of the line from "99 Luftballoons" that goes "The war machine springs to life, opens up one eager eye..."?

Five of the seven items I wanted to complete yesterday, I completed, including the podcast last night. I deferred one of the items until Wednesday evening...the other? Oops...will try and get it complete today.

I would like to take this opportunity to officially thank Sarah Chadwick Spiker, the model for the cover of RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE for her contribution to the sanity of the last few weeks. I wish her a long and glorious career. Here's a shot from the photo shoot we did that didn't make it to the cover fo the book...

Clarifying further my blather last night about personally delivering books and CDs...it has to be domestic. I am proscibed from travelling abroad, a little thing that has kept me more than once from accepting particularly high-paying overseas assignments for work or promotion of my books. The wall is there, I just deal with it.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

The New Podcast and a Promise to Deliver

The new podcast of "From Out of the City" is now up and available for your listening pleasure.

And I mean pleasure, as this week's show features selections from the new CD THE NAKED READS.

Included in the show are my "naked" readings of
THE UNICORNS
PINK JADE (A SUMMONED FIRE)
THE FAERIE (STRANGE BUT BEAUTIFUL)
BEHIND THE FACADE

To give it a listen, swing by City of Legends and head to the "Radio" page...

while you're there...you may want to hit up the bookstore and get yourself a copy or ten of everything. If you order more than 100 copies of anything, I'll personally deliver it!

www.poetsliteraryagency.com

I got an email earlier today from a young poet, looking to me for guidance about a literary agency they have seen repeated ads for on the web:

www.poetsliteraryagency.com

I wrote him back, telling him what I knew, then decided I should post the same info on here.

There are a lot of people out there who prey on talented souls. A lot. It's the Salieri Effect. Those who are mediocre will try to tear down, destroy or even profit off of those who have the talent, the ability, the drive. Leeches attach themselves to the most robust of hosts.

And, of course, they even prey on those souls they can delude into thinking they are talented, their money spends the same as the talented and is sometimes easier to separate them from.

I did some research on the this "Poets Literary Agency" (they are part of an umbrella group of con artists that also run the organizations The New York Literary Agency, The Christian Literary Agency, The Children's Literary Agency, Stylus Literary Agency and The Screenplay Agency)...and I could say a great deal about them here, but I will defer to the inestimable James D. MacDonald at The Absolute Write Water Cooler:

Concerning The Poets Literary Agency

I have some great anecdotes about frauds perpetuated against poets on the web and in the world. I recall when a young woman took over the Poets Place on AOL after I had passed on the job (I'm a poet, not an admin). She had been running the chat room for about a month when she was approached by a group holding a "writers conference" in Washington, DC, wanting to present her with a "lifetime achievement award". Pretty good for a person who had never had a poem published, even self-published, and had been running a chatroom for a few weeks. They were just looking to get free promotion from her.

I don't make fun of people who do get conned. God knows I know enough poets who have fallen for the Poetry.com ripoff con. Not me, thank God, but many, many others.

Be careful out there, keep control of your fate, keep an eye on your rights, don't give someone money after they say there's no charge.

the flyer for the party

The flyer for the Party can be accessed here

Two down...5 to go...tick tick tick tick

Got the first round of flyers for the CD and Book release Party on December 14th printed and delivered to the nice people at the Book n Bean...

This is two of the seven items on my list. Five to go.

Darfur Deteriorates

While Emperor Bush fiddles with how to save face when his entire Administration has been repudiated by the American people, the situation in Darfur is disintegrating. Read this update from The Christian Science Monitor:

Sudanese Government Blocks Aid and Journalists

History will record the United States and the West as arrogant bystanders, unwilling to invest as much time in halting a genocide as they do in propping up failed regimes that promise oil or other military leverage in exchange for death to their enemies. We are political prostitutes, selling our name, our legitimacy, even the lives of our noble service men and women for a sense of entitlement unearned by the politicans who deluded the masses into voting for them based on ridiculous sideshow issues.

We are a failed experiment in might makes right. The United States has become the archetypal preening buffoon, mesmerized by their own power and prettiness to the point they just sit in an illusion and fondle themselves. Even Tony Blair has begun the long, slow road of recovery of dignity for his sycophantic behaviour.

all that matter is that you are willing

I recall a story once told by the Rev. Billy Graham about willingness to do the right thing. It impressed me. It impressed me so much that I see slivers of it in my attitudes, so if he ever needs evidence of a subtle effect in a man's life, he need look no further than here.

The story is of a feudal lord who is dying. Fearful of death he summons his jester, his fool (did you know the word "fool" is specifically forbidden in the Bible as a derogatory name to call someone? Look it up...), as he knows this man is a Christian and knows what must be done to save his own soul.

The jester, knowing his master is a proud man, given to concerns for appearances, tells him that, in order to achieve eternal life he must go down to the pig sty and roll about in the mud while calling out the Lord's name.

The master sends his jester away, unwilling to do such a thing.

Three days later the master summons his jester and asks for his help. He wants his help in going down to the pig sty, as he is ready now to do this.

The jester declines, reassuring him "All that matter is that are were willing."

So often we are not in the right place at the right time, but we have the willingness to do what is necessary. Sometimes even appearing to others as having done the wrong thing, or at least something trivial or ridiculous.

But what really matters is in your heart.

You know, despite semantic games, you aren't born with a soul. As you achieve sentience, awareness, you come in contact with the Almighty and in this you are given the opportunity to show your willingness to do what is right. And, when the flesh fails and your body passes, God will continue your awareness, your consciousness, as I believe it to be. I don't condemn others for seeing the world, the universe, the nature of the soul and of God differently, but I know what I believe, what I know.

As you were willing to do what was asked of you. Not what was pragmatic, or expedient, or politically or socially correct. "God judges hearts, not your applause" I wrote, decades ago.

Don't pray for money or power or even eternal life. Pray for knowledge of the path you should walk and the strength to walk it.

Shaken, not stirred

Yes, I went and saw "Casino Royale" last night. Quite nice. I will need time to reflect to determine where it sits in the ranks of Bond films. It is better than any of the Roger Moore films, but that requires little effort. Most of them were rank and silly. It is interesting to see the evolution of the special relationship between M and Bond, and his developing misogyny. In the end you still do not know for sure who to trust or what to think...what it must be like to live your life in such a world.

Today is a grinder day...I have made a list of seven things to complete today, knowing that it is impossible to complete all of them, but resolute in going for it...I will fill you in at the end of the day as to where I succeeded and where I failed.

I need to deliver the flyers for the book and CD release party to the Book and Bean today, also put some up around town...some writing and editing chores are out there...and I am herding cats trying to get all the peers and editors I can, who are willing, to complete blurb projects fr me...if you have been overlooked and would like to contribute, cross-pollinating your projects at the same time, let me know.

A good friend of mine called last night, in hysterics...her boyfriend had borrowed her car and was out drinking with his buddies. She called him and he hung up on her...she is worried both about him and the car...and she is just a native worrier (she just had a cancer scare). So, I spent some time on the phone getting her down to a slow insane simmer.

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Defector in the Cola Wars

I have had enough with Coca Cola playing "hide the Splenda". And, let's be honest, Pepsi One leaves an aftertaste in your mouth like sucking on a wino's beard.

Diet RC got pulled when the bully boys at J.D. Searle and the big soda brands decided profit margin and margin share was worth more than brain lesions and liver cancer in a few thousand people.

DPSU has sat on its hands and spun while Splenda versions of Diet Dr Papper are still nowhere on the horizon.

So, me?

As I write this I am seated at my desk with a bottle of Tradwinds Diet Sweet Tea, with no sign of Aspartame anywhere near me. I got tired of the metabolic depressant effect of that sweet tasting toxin, plus the mouth lesions and undoubted internal damage being done every time I drink something with no calories but bubbles.

I am a defector in the Cola (or Soda) Wars.

This is one poet who wants to live long enough to meet his grandchildren, fall in love at least one more time (and give the lady several decades of total fawning devotion). I have a stated goal of overseeing at least the first 100 books of my writings, and at my current scheduled pace, that means health for another 20-30 years.

And, let's face it...a kiss is so much nicer than the best case of bladder disease.

So, Aspartmae is out, long live the compromise forced on me by corporate polluters who find it convenient to poison their customers as long as their celebrity endorsements and sporting event concerts keep the cattle at the trough.

Pittsnogling Pittsburgh as an escape from poetry

When I am overworked I get the blahs. Stress blahs, where I do stuff like turn off the microphone in the middle of a recording session and go search the web to find out where Kevin Pittsnogle is now playing.

Really.

I was going to call this post "Looking for Mr. Pittsnogle" or perhaps "Where in the World is Kevin Pittsnogle?" or even...well, you get the point.

But instead, it turned into a chance to learn something new, so I am going to decide after I wrote this piece as to what to call it.

Last I had heard, the illustrious and well-meme'd West Virginia University Mountaineer Basketball star had gone undrafted, gotten a few pro tryouts and was with the Celtics.

I was behind the news curve. Turns out the Celtics, worried about ever developing personality as a team, released the tattoo'd wonder and he signed with the Pittsburgh Xplosion.

Who?

They're the Pittsburgh franschise of the Continental Basketball Association, in competition with teams like:

In the American Division:

Albany Patroons
Indiana Alley Cats
Minot SkyRockets

and in the National Division:

Butte Daredevils
Great Falls Explorers
Utah Eagles
Yakama Sun Kings

Expansion is coming next year (2007-2008) with the addition of:

Atlanta Krunk Wolverines
Bend, Oregon
Hawaii Volcanoes
Lethbridge Canadians
Los Angeles Aftershock
Miami Majesty
SoCal Legends
Spokane, Washington
Vancouver Dragons
Seattle, Washington

The league is actually the heir to the ABA, lists itself as the "Oldest Professional Basketball League in the World" and they view themselves as sort of an unaffiliated farm team system for the NBA, where players can hone their talents and show what they've got.

They have some interesting rules that vary from the NBA, including the fact that you cannot foul out of a CBA game, after your 6th personal, every time you foul, the other team gets a free-throw. This could be interesting, in practice.

The CBA was the first league to use the three-point shot (starting in 1964) and thus seems a great home for the so inclined Kevin Pittsnogle, who I hope at least makes a mark on the CBA as WVU quarterback Major Harris managed to do on the Arena Football League.

But I still want to see Kevin make it to the big show. I think he has the talent, the drive and the personality to be a star. Add to that the fact that he is a genuinely nice person, and in this era of arrogant, spoiled, self-indulgent sports clowns, that would be a nice relief.

Now, where'd I throw that microphone?

goodnight

Almost midnight.

A good day.

Got sprayed by cologne by a young woman who wants me to move in with her. I'll consider it.

My old friend, Stephanie Fenter, surfaced. She shot the cover of "Love Gods...".

Finalized the cover of "Ronin..."

Earned my rest. Gonna take it.

'nighters.

Friday, November 17, 2006

The Store: An unadulterated pitch for the holidays

If you are still cruising for Christmas gfts that will be memorable, magical and unique...you should check with the CityStore at cityoflegends.com. We've repriced many of the CDs and books just for the holiday season...and you get the works custom autographed and with free shipping! You could order at least the books via Amazon.com or bn.com or your local bookstore, but here you get them cheaper and custom autographed and with free shipping.

Included in the list of items available:


RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE.
The latest and greatest. A worthy volume of verse that explores the code of the romantique in a world not always given to love.


NEMICORN.
The second CD, including 'Darfur (Jesus Wept)', "A Passion, Unrelenting' and 'Right Set of Lips'.


THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES.
Let's face it, whether I want it to go away or not as a chapter of my life, the public loves reading this 'novel length poetic diary of a love affair'. On sale more than ten dollars less than it is through Amazon.com.


THE NAKED READS.
A stream of romantic and erotic poetry, ready to play backdrop to your fantasies.


THE LAST ROMANTIC VERB.
The CD that started it all. From the startling rock of 'Wordslinger' to the intimacy of 'Glass Roses' an indelible audio time capsule of poetry and music.


Get them now, in time for the holidays. The prices are low, the stocks are full, we're ready to go.

Phew, I have that out of the way.

A Friday morning battleplan

As we speak my Dad is replaying the WVU-Pitt "Backyard Brawl" from last night, and chuckling to himself. Final score? 45-28. Guess who won? Yeah, the team with the Sophomore tandem where either could lay a reasonable claim to being a Heisman finalist. Slaton and White, both Sophomores. Pitt and Louisville and Rutgers and the rest of the Big East get to worry about them for another two years.

Sorry, guys. We won the recruiting lottery two years ago. Here's our tickets. Pay up.

Pat White threw and rushed for over two hundred yards. Each. Not combined.

Steve Slaton? He rushed for over 200 yards. And caught passes for over 100 yards.

Next topic: Spoke to Peri last night. Called and had a pleasant talk with my daughter last night. The best relationships in this life are those that always seem to pick up where they left off. I had that with my friend Dave McCoy, we'd be busy for months, one of us would pick up the phone and it would be like we'd just had lunch an hour ago. I was sorry that I had a hand in the alienation of that relationship, but such is life.

Peri says she and Brian are doing well (he is in a play right now and was out) so we discussed her brothers (my sons), her tastes in musical theatre (I got them tickets to Molly Ringwald's "Sweet Charity" as part of their wedding present) and the television shows "The Office", "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip", "Heroes" and "Lost". We're both taken with the middle two. She's a big fan of "The Office" (which I understand, but having lived that environment for years, it sometimes is a little too resonant).

Next topic: New films this weekend. I haven't been tot he cinema in several weeks, missing some films I actually have been wishing to see. I think I shall, over the next week, get caught up. I will reward myself for completing key milestones in finishing up the current book and CD projects and the planning of the book and CD launch party on December 14th.

First up? "Casino Royale" and "Happy Feet".

Yeah, I know, I'm weird. Bite me.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

a sense of accomplishment

We've settled on the cover, we've settled on the poems. We even have a layout. Wow.

It looks like "RONIN..." goes to my publisher this weekend.

I think I want to pursue a few blurbs, nail down the exact billing of the cover model and do a victory lap edit. There was something precious, something holy, something purifying about this project.

It was a strange labour of love, as it lacked a muse, a unifying presence, which is alien to my writing. Instead, the unifying force was, by very definition, the loss of love, the absence of just such a presence. The anger, the mourning, the wistful restlessness.

In some ways I will always treasure this above all my other books.

In some ways, I am glad to have it nearly behind me. People will poke through it and ask who inspired this poem or that poem, this mood or that mood, who shadowed me and whom did I shadow, turning one's face from the light of love.

I am not become cynical or sinister by these experiences, I am merely more aware of the nature of the fire any lover must walk to, walk on, walk through, if they are to love. I am scarred and bloody, but the light of my couer rage is, if anything, brighter and bluer and truer than ever before. I have learned hard lessons, and accepted them as necessary to evolve.

I am penitent and confessional in my flaws and failings, but defiant in my belief in love. I will die, as my own glass samurai, with a smile on my lips and a memory of the scent of lover's hips in the eloquent silence of the rest that follows a time of intimacy and communication via the ancient brain with the ascendant heart of mortals, seeking their own transcendence.

On December 14th, 2006, with the official release of this book, the Ronin comes to seek his redemption in the honor of the romantique. Many decades before the fall, and uncertain as to how many masters he has yet to serve to prove his heart and honor, but ready to take up his swords, again.

For tonight, I relax and celebrate the accomplishment. Alone and in silence, as introspection has become my drug of choice in these times. It is not a pleasant high, but it is an honorable one.

the way of the controlfreak

This may be the final cover to RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE, my rapidly impending book of poems about loss, disillusionment and romantic love in the face of turmoil and doubt. And the triumph of the honor of the romantique.

Yes, honor. I think that this is an underplayed concept in society, especially Western society, where the pragmatism of the moment often outweighs the sanity or purpose of long-term vision. Under the code of the Samurai, did you know that it is considered more honorable to obey the orders of a corrupt master than a good one? It demonstrates how highly you value loyalty, which is the key virtue of Bushido. Intelligence, humanity and courage are considered the next tier of virtues, but loyalty is considered the most essential.

Of course, by now, you've seen, what, about 100 different possible covers? It must seem like it. I won't bore you with the evolutionary steps to this one, including the one without any cover text, which I liked, but was talked out of.

Oh, and the cover model? I will be asking her today if I can release her name. I know she is trying to work her schedule so she can be at the book release party at Book and Bean in Fairmont on December 14th...I think she wants to sign some books. And, she should be there, as I think she adds a great deal to the cover.

As usual, I had 143% control over the book, including selecting the model, taking the pictures, processing the cover designs via Photoshop, and selecting not only the content poems but their format and layout. Call me Mr. Controlfreak.

The funny thing is, I spend so much energy making decisions on things that matter to me, I often just slough off decisions that I feel are not essential for me to waste binary calculations on ("Paper or plastic" is usually greeted with "Indulge yourself", for instance.)

A little peek at the peaking chaos

I had to tighten and tuck the use of FreeFind on the www.cityoflegends.com website yesterday. As it does link to this blog, we were getting very hefty as to number of pages being indexed, so I actually excluded the blog from the FreeFind spider and re-indexed. Let me know if you have an issue with this.

I'm in the 11th hour on three different projects. I don't think I have ever had that many projects come to a point at once. It is proving to be an interesting study in my breaking point and decision making capabilities.

Two movies open tomorrow that I have been eagerly anticipating: "Happy Feet" and "Casino Royale". I could use the distraction, but have matrixed my obligations to my projects to make sure that enough gets done before I indulge myself that I do not fall behind (I have been so busy it has only been in the last several hours that I have been reminded that next week is Thanksgiving).

The special pricing on my books and CDs at The City of Legends Bookstore will continue at least for a few more weeks, with PSALMS OF THE MONSTER RIVER CULT and RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE being added this weekend.

On the topic of the latter...I may have one more crazy Ivan to undergo regarding the cover. Stay tuned...an inspiration hit me last night. And you know me and the muses.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Mission Accompished

I tried saving the picture under a different colour storage format. Voila!

I'm not going banck and cleaning up the previous probs, as that would make this narrative confusing to the linear reader.

But, here 'tis. Let me know what you think. I am going to have a hard sell with the model, who doesn't much like this particular headshot, but I have a reputation as an arrogant, one-track-mind negotiator when dealing with my projects, to protect.

Browser blues

I usually browse with Safari, so sometimes various browser compatibility issues crop up. I am annoyed, in a word, today, by one.

Yesterday I uploaded a draft version of the final cover for RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE to this blog.

I got an email from Dan McTaggart letting me know that all that shows in his browser was a large, red "X". The image shows fine in Safari.

So I fired up my Firefox. It doesn't even show the "X".

Aigh! I guess I need to play with Preferences. But, more importantly, people coming to my blog are not seeing what I want them to see. That is annoying.

If anyone has any guidance, I am issuing them as JPGs via PhotoShop. I just tried to pull the file up, straight, from Firefox, and it informs me that it "contains errors" and doesn't display. It didn't define the errors, it just said "errors".

More on this later.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Nordette's Guess Who

My friend Nordette Adams just sent me this link...it's a little guessing game she set up on her website.

If you don't know who #4 is, despite the terrible, terrible picture...shame on you.

#2 makes me want to move to New Jersey.

Nordette's Guess Who

Maybe the final cover for RONIN?

With some cleanup left to do, this seems to be the leader of the pack as to the cover of the book RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE.

It is a compromise, something I rarely do. The layout is the one preferred by the model, the headshot (which I took, by the way) is my favourite of the lot. We're still tussling on a few details.

Such is life.

Diet Coke with Splenda Blues

I just spent several minutes on the phone. First, with the regional Coca-Cola bottler, then my local distributor.

I was trying to find out where I might find Diet Coke with Splenda, which seems to be a fool's errand of late. Having successfully driven the superior Diet RC with Splenda off the market, by virtue of their greater marketing muscle, Coca Cola now seems quite content to marginalize the Splenda market.

Sort of like when Wal Mart moves into an area, drops its gas and convenience store competition prices to the point that all the local Mom and Pop gas stations and convenience stations go out of business, then raise their prices again.

It sucks, but it is part of the bully power of large corporations, where quality and invention is back seat to marketing and muscle. Right not making might, but might making right. Which is probably why technology has not advanced at the clip anyone would have foreseen thirty, forty, fifty years ago...technology is now in the hands of those with marketing degrees and market share to protect.

And we? Well, we Americans get stuck with liver damage and brain lesions from Aspartame.

More on this topic? Check out the book "Fast Food Nation" or the movie of the same name, coming out in the immediate future, to see a vivid depiction of mass market corruption.

Monday, November 13, 2006

topknot

Well, this has been a day. Early orders for NEMICORN exceeded my most ambitious expectations.

I am, in a word, delighted. Advance orders for THE NAKED READS were nearly as robust.

And the response to last night's podcast, especially the rocked out rendition of "How Would You Have Me Touch You?" was feverish.

As Mao Tse Tung said "There is great disorder under heaven and the situation is excellent". Chaos is my friend, my lover and my brother. Nancy (Psyche) was right about me, more than she wanted to believe. I am at my best when the world explodes around me, as I have talents best suited to that environment. God has a sense of humour, to create in mortals the conflicts of nature and nurture, of passion and the priest, of nurturer and dreadnought. I am smiling, the grim lipped smile of knowing, or at least imagining, the outcome.

topknot

I have dwelt too long in a place of subtle and stagnating peace,
knelt for too long, asking for the sands' release.
This ronin is ready for the fields of battle again.
It is where I am at peace with my nature.
I am not a creature of reflection but resurrection,
constantly burning away the layers of prayers
to find the real soul beneath the tinfoil wrappers.
Tears melt barren bones when wept in purifying pain,
a moment born of a purposed moment of truth.
The fifth word rebuilds four corners on three wishes,
the blade swishes in air apparent. And I step into the shadows.


William F. DeVault. all rights reserved.
from the City of Legends book "Ronin in the Temple of Aphrodite"

podcasting in the salt mines

This is my 1,375th post to my blog. Yeow! Just thought I'd mention it. Cash donations not required. Don't make a party.

Glad I got the podcast out last night...I was tired and struggling to get it done, but made it. The process is a little time consuming...let me clue you in on it.

I record the show. Seeing as I generally hate the sound of my own voice, a pain in and of itself. And that's after I come up with a reason or theme for the show. Let's call this an hour.

Then I drop it from Garage Band to iTunes, then spin it back up as an MP3 after listening to it, again, to make sure it converted correctly. About a half hour to an hour, as I have to listen to the new file.

I then go to archive.org and go through their process for registering and uploading the file and the information. Then I wait while they process it...usually only about 10-15 minutes. Then I have to listen to it again. Once or twice the file has been corrupted during the upload, and that's not cool. But, presuming everything goes as it should...

I then have to modify the Radio and Index pages on the City of Legends website. Then set up the RSS Feeder to make the feed available to iTunes Music Store. Upload the new pages to the 'City. Another 15-20 minutes.

Then I need to make sure to promote the new feed on my Google Groups Mailing List. And blog about it, here. And sometimes even plug it on the band's MySpace page.

That's another twenty-30 minutes.

Total time, about 3 hours, if all goes well. Fortunately there is nothing I am addicted to on television on Sunday nights, but sometimes I am just tired, so it can be a chore. But, for the thousands of people who weekly listen to it, I hope my passion and commitment comes through and all is well.

I have this overwhelming urge to fly to California and feed my daughter, her husband and their friends some pancakes. I wonder where the nearest iHop is to them.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

How would you have me touch you? Hard (rock) or soft?

The new podcast is up.

Just promise me that when you listen to it, you will have your volume down below 11. I refuse to take responsibility for permanent eardrum damage when the rocking version of "How Would You Have Me Touch You?" cranks up. The invocation of that sweetly romantic and seductive poem as a hard-edged rocker is a bit...um...startling.

City of Legends Radio

Cover #3

Okay, I suck at self-restraint (how I have remained celibate these past nearly...sheesh...three years is a mystery for the ages).

Here's cover variation #3 for RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE.

Stop laughing. I'm addicted to creating things. Funny...this one and the first one uploaded with the red shifted to blue...the second one was fine. I have no idea why, but such is life.

I have low tolerance for boredom and waiting (Ronin V2)

Here's a second possible cover for RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE.

What can I say, I got bored?

Yes, it is the same model, and she will have a major say in which one I use (I am just hoping that after calling my daughter in a few minutes and finishing the podcast for the week I won't have any mental energy left to do a third cover...)

The book itself is pretty straight-forward. Poems about romantic disillusionment, lost loved, unfaithful lovers, cracked ideals and the pain of withdrawal and loss.

You know, human life.

But all against the notion of the lover as samurai, sworn to the code of Aphrodite, to love and to cherish and to dare to try again and again to love and be loved.

"Ronin" sneak peek


It's a rough mock-up, the special effects need cleaned up and some rough edges ironed out, and I need to get final say from the model (I promised her approval rights), but I wanted to tempt you all with the rough draft of the cover for RONIN IN THE TMEPLE OF APHRODITE, my next book of poetry.

Ready?

You sure? A note right here, the colour looks wrong on the upload, not sure why...maybe because the file is so honking huge.

Okay, no peeking.

Comments accepted, even invited.

The Bank of America / MBNA version of U2's "One"

I saw this on E! Television's "The Soup" and had two reactions:

1) Total horror and revulsion that someone would butcher such a marvelous song for commercial purposes

and

2) Nostalgia.

Yes, nostalgia. I used to work at high levels in corporate America, may yet go back to that (my creditors and my ex wife would appreciate that). I recall at the MFS/WorldCom convention in San Francisco, one of our marketing reps (a lovely and talented young woman) had a side job as an aspiring country singer and had made a song out of the name of our CEO, Kirby Pickle (I am not making this up)). She performed the song, with full stagecraft, which was wonderfully sappy and designed to actually make us feel good about our positions as members of a cult of personality (CoP). Most businessmen believes themselves to be the CoP equivalents of rock stars and sports figures.

For those of you not familiar with standards in most large corporations, this sort of conduct is actually quite normal. During that convention we had ceiling-high tower speakers blaring out each executive's "theme song". Mr. Pickle's was "We Will Rock You". Freddy Mercury, I am sure, was spinning in his grave. The audience played along with the whole thing, as these were the guys who signed our checks and it would've been a long walk back to DC.

Yes, it is a bastardization of art, and art by a band that takes itself seriously (I wonder if the authors and performers of this version took the time and trouble to ask U2 for legal or at least moral permission for what I am sure they themselves would've considered an homage, not a parody). On the other hand, they do take themselves seriously and in a world full of pain, despair, hunger, war, genocide, interracial conflict, class warfare, religious wars, terrorism, abortion, political gridlock, the BCS ratings and receding harilines, it is nice to see someone willing to take the time to sing the praises of...credit cards.

I guess everyone has to believe in something.

The Store is reborn and my padfolio goes missing

The new store is up, with the pared-down selection and the special holiday prices...you may note that we are not carrying any of the iUniverse-published books this year (not even my bestselling "101 Great Love Poems"). I have had some problems with that publisher meeting deadlines and I have no desire to shortchange readers looking for a sure thing for Christmas.

At this moment...to be amended later, we have

THE NAKED READS ($10.00)
THE LAST ROMANTIC VERB ($10.00)
NEMICORN ($10.00)
on the CD side and

THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES ($25.00. Amazon charges $37.00!)
THE MORGANTOWN SUITE POEMS ($12.00)
MIDNIGHT MUSE IN A CONVENIENCE STORE ($16.00)
for the books

We'll be adding
PSALMS OF THE MONSTER RIVER CULT
and
RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE
in about a week.

So, get out your debit and credit cards and buy some books.

I'm a bit under the weather today, still fighting the cold. PLUS, someone stole my notebook at the job site. An oxblood leatherette padfolio, I had received it as a gift from a company I had previously done consulting with, which is now defunct, "Source Consulting". It had some sentimental value, plus a lot of notes, receipts, poetry fragments, etc, inside. It has the company name embossed on the outside, so no one can use it around the office without being obvious.

Bummer.

Well, I am going to take a nap. I hate being sick. Blech. But I did finish up my vocals to Izzy's challenge. Check out the podcast tonight to hear what strangeness I brought and wrought.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Who is Kathryn Plambeck and why do you think I am she?

Not a day goes by but that I do not get spam. Most of it is addressed to "Kathryn Plambeck" at my email address.

I wish I knew who this mystery woman was/is/or will be. But the odds are more she is just a randomly-generated name, established by an email address harvester to lend some validity to his email lists he sells to unsuspecting, even gullible, entrepreneurs.

I don't plan to buy anything from these emails. They even usually have my age, gender, marital status, homeownership status, state of domicile and penis size wrong, even the ones that do not think my name is "Kathryn Plambeck".

The truth is, almost know one buys anything from unsolicited emails, but companies around the world sell their services, packaging harvested addresses, and sometimes even using fraudulent return email addresses to make it seem more likely you'll at least open and read the content.

It doesn't work, but as long as there is a new generation of gullbile souls springing up every few days, anxious to make their millions on the web, as they have been told they will if they just sit through this seminar, buy the software, use this mailing list...there will be victims. Both the buyers of these lists and email and marketing services, the legitimate owners of the email addresses being used for return addresses and then get blacklisted by well-meaning but ridiculously over-zealous anti-spam tool vendors (who also sell products that do not exactly do what they say they are doing), and the sad faced targets who have to delete delete delete this crap every day.

Not to mention with millions, even billions, of these emails going out every day, the bandwidth gets polluted and slowed and the internet as a whole suffers.

But as long as there are gullible people and greedy people, these things will be the craptastic tag-alongs to progress in human communications.

Sigh.

I hab a code

Yep. Cold is still with me. (sniff) (snort)

And I, like some deranged glass samurai, am going to go sit in 50-degree weather with a 50% chance of thunderstorms and watch (hopefully) WVU beat the living crap out of Cincinnati as penance for having allowed Louisville to win last week.

If I die from pneumonia, there are several people I will be coming back to haunt.

Forgive me if I am behind on my emails...I have been flooded and am low on energy reserves. (snort) (snarfle)

Tomorrow is my photo shoot with the model for the cover of RONIN... here's hoping it goes very well. I plan to have the draft cover by late Monday.

Yeah, if I am still alive and not dead from pneumonia.

Idiot. (sniff) (snrt) (hack...hrrrr-ack)

Friday, November 10, 2006

ordering specials for the Holidays

Want to save the aggravation of Holiday shopping, at least in part? Whether you are looking for gifts for Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Solstice or Saturnalia, we can help.

We'll be doing some special holiday pricing at the City of Legends Bookstore starting this weekend...including the opportunity to advance order

THE NAKED READS (CD)

RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE

and

PSALMS OF THE MONSTER RIVER CULT (my collaborative book with Daniel S. McTaggart).

Add to that the usual fare in the store (which will also be on sale), including
THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES (for just $25.00...cheaper than you can get it at Amazon or Barne&Noble.com, even with discounts!),
the CDs THE LAST ROMANTIC VERB and NEMICORN,

THE MORGANTOWN SUITE POEMS and, of course,
Dan McTaggart's MIDNIGHT MUSE IN A CONVENIENCE STORE

We'll be offering free shipping, custom autographing (for free, as well) and prompt delivery in plenty of time for the holidays.

If you have a literate friend, family member or lover, or even just someone who likes to listen...here's a real opportunity to spend less time in the shopping mall in the next several weeks.

The store is at www.cityoflegends.com and the special pricing will go into effect on Sunday, November 12th. Quantities are infinite, but time will run out! We will also include some freebies for you extremely motivated early shoppers.

a reflection on sports fans

I'm not a die-hard sports fan. I actually laugh sometimes at people who subsume their egos to the activities of others, pretending that the actions of strangers in isolated contests of skill or strength actually should have weight in their lives.

A bystander, a spectator, seems particularly silly when shouting "We're #1" when they had no involvement other than as background hoise. I don't recall static ever winning a Grammy.

But, having been raised largely in Morgantown, West Virginia, the home of West Virginia University (not just a "passing through because I got a job at the university" type, I have roots and family here) I do care how the Mountaineers do. Not on the scale of my brother, Mark, the sports statistics nut who established and runs the website mountaineerstats.com or my brother David, who competes with Mark over who can have the coolest collection of WVYU athetics memorabilia, but I do like to see them do well.

Despite the predictions of bad weather, I am going to the WVU-Cincinnati game tomorrow (smart move for a guy recovering from a bad cold, eh?) and I am intrigued at the mathematics involved in who will win the Big East Conference title if Louisville, Ruthers and WVU all win out their remaining games.

All I can say is "good luck and I hope the games (particularly the one tomorrow) are exciting and worthy contests". The guys crying in their beer when their favourite team loses don't always realize that the players are human beings. Most of them are hoping for careers in their sport. They get hurt, they win, they lose, their success at the collegiate level will affect whether or not they get a shot at professional jobs int he sport. Take it easy on them, okay? If you want to get upset or angry about something meaningful, I can give you a list...all of the things on that list are more important on the global scale than who wins a football or basketball game.

But there is an impact to lives on the fortunes on the field, and it is to the athletes and their coaches. Not some drunk guy in section 17. Or sitting at home, watching his new TV he got instead of braces for his kid.

Remember, all of you, there is a real world out there. Diversions are nice, even necessary, but show some consideration for the guys actually doing the heavily lifting and be respectful of the players and coaches, even of the opposing team.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Rutgers 28 - Louisville 25

I am right now watching the Louisville versus Rutgers skirmish on ESPN. Wow.

As an alumnus of WVU, I wish we'd played it that tough...but we get our shot at Rutgers in a few weeks.

Final score: Rutgers 28 - Louisville 25

Wow. Let's hear it for the Big East in college football. It's anybody's conference now.

the sonic boom of a Nemicorn

Feeling a bit stronger this evening. Then I got home and found waiting for me the first shipment of NEMICORN.

I am listening to it now. By the way, did I mention we went ahead and got a barcode for it through an independent record house? Yeah, I'm going out on a limb, I know...but it is pretty incredible.

Of course, this is early in the arc. God knows what the final path will be.

We are beginning to assemble plans for the party on December 14th at the Book'n'Bean in Fairmont. The flyers start going out and up this weekend. We'll have books and CDs galore ("au go go") and are going to make it ground zero for the latest burst of pure energy in the digital renaissance.

To quote Tank in "The Matrix"

"It's a very exciting time."

I am listening to the CD as I write this...Izzy just struck it up on "Thunder over Valhalla". It is weird to take a CD out of a jewel case, see my name on the label, drop it into my CD player and listen to my voice. Very surreal.

"Pink Jade - Soft as Dawn"...damn, it actually came together. I am amazed.

"Love Gods"...you know that piece was supposed to be about finding love with my second wife, when I had lost faith. The irony of it, reflected not only in the words but the legion of voices, all built upon my thoughts and perspectives, that share the words in this recording.

"Wild and Defiled, Along the Way"...now THAT kicks ass. My vocals are not perfect, but they show evolution...I had not imagined myself capable of such real expansion, diversification.

"Darfur". Wow.

The matchup of "Once Again, The Nemicorn" and "A Passion, Unrelenting" to end the CD is just breath-taking. I am, I think, still off balance from what I have wrought.

In this moment, I feel like Chuck Yeager on that October morning in 1947.

a "glass samurai" morning

I'm up.

I'm up.

I'm up.

Bleah, to quote Snoopy.

Bleah.

I hate the mornings when I couldn't sleep well the night before. Got a lot done last night (could not record the vocal track to the new piece as my voice was ragged from the cold. Of course, who knows, it might have ended up being the most popular recording I'll ever make just for the timbre of it all.

I did let E.J. know that, yes, "Glass Samurai" would be one of the pieces in RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE. It's a solid piece, with a great flow to it. I think he's posting it this morning to his blog of my works Amomancer if you haven't read this one before.

12:49 am and I am wide awake

An interesting side effect of being marginally ill for me is insomnia. I feel too good to just lay there and moan, and too bad to doze off.

Grumble. Grumble. Grumble.

So I have been editing, writing, researching, working on the new piece for the show, catching up on correspondence and...yes, I admit it...I ran the vacuum cleaner under my computer desk. You could hear the death screams of the dust bunnies.

I am very gratified by the political turns of events over the last twenty four hours...very gratified indeed. Again, special congratulations all around, especially to the upcoming Madame Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. Now in two years, maybe we can have a Chief Executive who goes to the same restroom and then we'll be able to start bragging that we are as progressive as all the other nations that have entrusted their highest positions to women.

Still a bit reeling from the reading Tuesday night. But, we've got the tread on and will just pull harder.

Working on cover concept layout for RONIN IN THE TEMPLE OF APHRODITE. Back to it. Yawn. Stretch.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

a fragment of a lyric...

Listening over and over and over again to Izzy's little musical challenge, the following nugget of a start of a seed of a lyric came to me...

"There's no way to remember
There's no way to forget
There's no way to change what happened when I got hard and you got wet"


Is this to be the start of the lyric for this piece? I wish I knew...the thought went offline when the phone rang.

It is certainly evocative...

We shall see.

Rockets, Ronins and remarkable times


The amazing Nordette Adams sent me a link to yet another piece that mentions my name...Mark 'Rahkyt' Rockeymoore's Afrofuturistic Visions. I would check it out if I were you.

Of course, if I were you...I'd have some explaining to do to your significant other.

Some peek of the cover to "Ronin in the Temple of Aphrodite"? Let me just hint vaguely...chonmage, a girl named Sarah, a katana and the brand of a ronin.

These are remarkable times...let's make them more than just memory, let's make this era one that inspires envy and awe in future generations.

writing for the music

Izzy answered my rhetorical question about the number of tracks on his challenge musical composition I'm working with (I had asked how many drums there were...)

Three separate electronic drumsets. And, for the record, two electric guitars, one synthesized bass and a very independent cymbal.

I hate Izzy. The rhythm and pace of the piece is atypical for my work, so I am having to write something original for it. How? I am listening to it over and over again to absorb the rhythm, the feel of it...I find 4 clear breaks where vocals can slide in without having to shout down that funky, lightning-fast bass guitar previously mentioned. I've rhythm'd it out and it does have a measured structure. When I close my eyes I see the blonde guitarist from Aretha Franklin's "Freeway of Love" playing (she had a bouncy, infectious energy, in the second or two you actually see her in the video, that stuck with me).

Then I will reflect on it, let it merge with my preconscious to find an image, a metaphor, a phrase that mixes well...then I will write, probably in a single burst, the full lyrics. The phrase "No way out but up" just popped into my head...maybe as a title, maybe as a line in the piece.

And...we're off...

The open microphone blues

Not happy with last night's open microphone. When I go to the store, there was no sign of an event, literally, no signs. Tag showed up and with the help of a very efficient (and quite lovely) store employee we did the set up and began the vigil.

At five after the appointed hour (7 pm), Tag and I read the poems we had brought and I gave him one of the gifts I had brought to give to anyone who read, in accordance with my promise to gift anyone who read. At 15 after, we put everything the way we found it and left.

I received an email a few hours later from someone who showed up after we left, wanting to know what happened, as she found no sign of the event.

Like I told the manager I spoke with, having endured touring for a book where at least one store forgot we were coming and did no publicity and had not set anything up, I can keep a sense of humour about this. I don't take it personally...despite a recent imposition of myself as their host-in-residence for these events, there had been no mention of me in any of the publicity I had seen.

Now I can focus on the book and CD launch party next month. That is me-driven.

While I'm babbling, a hearty congratulations to the winners of the elections yesterday. I am sure the Pretendent is right now a little annoyed that he will no longer get a rubber stamp for the policies of madness he has stood behind these past six years.

Copyright © William F. DeVault | All Rights Reserved