Kerblog - in your bag / with bombs in Beirut

Imagine having to make that decision, under extreme pressure of war as it surrounds you with explosions and screaming voices of people in pain. Having to create that ultimate list: what do I carry with me, should I have to leave the safety of my home? if I cannot make it back again, or if my house meets its demise under a bomb attack, what few material possessions must be in the bag i shoulder?

I remember my friends Liz B and Jennifer H, who both survived the big earthquake in L.A., back in the mid-1990s. They each had their precious cargo enumerated and stashed closely within reach for every time that new tremors started to rock the floor beneath them. Flashlight, bottled water, jacket were on both their lists. I remember my friend Treb, who survived the earthquake and subsequent hundreds of after-shocks that hit Taiwan in 1999. He told me that he was like a robot, programmed to rush to the stairwell of his apartment, at the slightest hint of a tremor. I can imagine those instincts being somewhat akin to what I feel my body doing whenever I hear those tornado warning sirens blasting in my neighborhood.

If you were to rush for survival, away from your home, what would be in that clutched precious pack on your back?

A 30-year old man, with a young son, is bunkered down in Beirut, Lebanon. He blogs daily, at least, and on many days, it seems that he posts to KERBLOG with the desperate frequency of a migraine-delirious person reaching for painkillers through the day.

Many, many of us (thanks to Ken Shimamoto for directing me to KERBLOG) are reading the fervent and honest postings of artist Mazen Kerbaj as he tires and tries to survive the violence in his beloved home city. The COMMENTS section of his blog is one of the most actively-used that I've ever seen. It is very touching to read these comments and know of the worldwide compassion and concern that are STREAMING LIVE on the www. Though we push these square plastic keys to type our words, the emotion and passion come through quite un-plastic. Just a few minutes on KERBLOG and I am reminded of how much we truly are one and the same as human beings----well, most of us, anyway.....

And now, here is the text which accompanies the drawing by Mazen Kerbaj [above]. By the way, Kerbaj has given the okay for folks to distribute, repost, publish his work--for the cause.



my life in a bag [posted Saturday, July 22, 2006 at mazenkerblog.blogspot.com]

each time i leave my flat, i take with me:

my passport and evan's one
a mini-disc recorder + microphone
2 t-shirts
2 underwear
2 pairs of socks
a notebook and pens
my trumpet
binoculars
a book
tobacco
a small camera
a lighter
a usb key
a toothbrush
4 batteries

Upcoming app deadline: Gift of Freedom Award for Women Fiction Writers

Waaaaa. I was all hype to work on my application for the 2007 Gift of Freedom award, an annual grant ($50 K!) presented to a committed woman writer in support of a specific literary project. But, for this funding cycle, they're only considering FICTION writers. And I wanted to apply as a creative nonfiction/poetry writer. Oh well. Maybe next year.

So all you women FICTION writers who could use fifty-thousand dollars to have the freedom and time to work on a substantial work of fiction in the next two years, now's the time to APPLY! For more information about the Gift of Freedom award guidelines and other projects of this worthy foundation, just click here to read the A ROOM OF HER OWN FOUNDATION Summer 2006 Newsletter.

"To be selected for the Gift of Freedom, women applicants not only must demonstrate their talent, but also their motivation. We are looking for women who have solid creative goals and a specific project to accomplish during the two-year term of the grant. We are also interested in helping women who have a track record of commitment to their art and who are also making a substantial effort to be self-sufficient."

Todos Somos Todos Sufriendo Ahorita

DFW International Community Alliance and the Dallas Peace Center invite you to join other North Texas organizations and individuals to express our shared grief by participating in a Silent Tribute for the Dead in the Lebanon Conflict.

* bring flowers as a symbol of solidarity * light a candle during the memorial
* sign condolence books to be sent to the presidents of Lebanon and Israel
* express yourself on the Peace Wall at the tribute site

The following organizations have confirmed their participation and support thus far:

Saints Constantine and Helen Antiochian
Orthodox Church
Albanian American Community Center
Unity Church of Dallas
Colombian Association of the Metroplex
United Sikhs
Islamic Association of North Texas
Foundation for Pluralism
Islamic Association of Carrollton

Silent Tribute for the Dead in the Lebanon Conflict
Sunday, July 23rd - 3pm to 4pm
Ferris Plaza (at the corner of Young & Houston Streets, in front of Union Amtrak Station)
Dallas, TX

There was a beach

I want to wake fully rested at 9pm. Pulling on the simplest of clothes, I do not bother with a comb or lipstick. More important is the music, a burned cd of Julieta Venegas songs, and maybe 2 sweaty bottles of Mexican beer. Quickly I deliver myself to the ocean waters, where under the fullest of summer moons, i am to join my friends in a swoon. We will be lavish silhouettes after midnight, watching la luna curtsy over the rooftops, which propels us to bare our thighs to the night and to the waves. There is laughter, it tinkles like doves with bells, and there is sangria to simmer our throats. One by one, the water takes us, a liquid lover who gives way when we bend our spines to the moment. The food is fruit and I am hungry, after all. Lunada, lunada, at the seaside with my silken sea nymph sisters, move so slow. When I am likened to a mermaid, I feel my long dark tresses clench me like cornsilk and my legs wrap together tight like a velvet rope, brown and muscled.

There was a beach, I saw the moon, we swam in water, I was a mermaid.

Thank you, Gabriela.
Thank you, diosa de la luna.

[after first Lunada at Gaby's house and backyard swimming pool with only the most luscious of sistren-friends...]

they all seem to froth at the mouth

i had an amazing run of friendship-enhancing soul-to-soul conversations with several buddies this weekend. like i told the last one, Kelsie, over lunch today, "i feel like i just robbed a bank." friday night, saturday night, sunday night, and monday afternoon. four friends in a row---four longwinding, longwinded spiels of spilling our guts and walking away unwounded....

Many thanks and muchisimas gracias a JM, ILS, RS, and KTP for their honest sincerity in the era of lies and karmic bankruptcy. You guys also saved me a buncha money cuz i didn't have to go out and fake some pseudo-pleasure at a bar, show, or movie house.

"They all seem to froth at the mouth." That's a great line from KTP's blog DIRTVERSE. Talking alot can be a little like frothing at the mouth, que no? But without the rabies thing.

THIS is my 4th of july

_This_ is my 4th of july
this is my freedom
this my penance.
i circle the stupa
swoon many times to
encircle the stone mandala
while the outer circle of attending monks, worshippers,
and other praying Tibetans circumnavigate quietly
down below, even the mountains have
done their clockwise wraparound, with
full-body prostrations of rock and dirt--
a puja which encloses us in earthen embrace.

i smell freedom and peace, up here on the
stupa stone and can feel a lightness,
as if many souls are taking flight,
mumbling with malas, bowing with beads.

around me, i see many hopeful
humans, crouched & huddled lovingly,
like people squatting on airplane wings, defying
gravity. asking questions, watching the sky.

i want to push with them, push this envelope of
humankind possibility. dare to want something
bigger than breath.

a deep sense of peace is what i feel here and now; so i say,
this is my independence day, here is where my
sparkle alights.

and i make no claims to territory or turf, my homeland
is my heart my soul focus is
to spend better time contemplating
eternal truths--when i find them on the horizon
like the skyline of the Himalayas.

I feel now divorced from and so undevoted to the national pastimes
half a globe away:
baseball, hotdogs,and apple pie.

Even so, i can really (hallucinate) the smell, taste, and sound of
barbecue pits taking flame & daddys nationwide
putting: ribs on the pit, burgers on
the fire, and bubba in the wading pool...

i would wish one silent rhapsodic
pass around this stupa for any American
seeking freedom. for every white house
bigshot seeking to create new world order.

hey,
order already exists--here. And it's
anything but new.

Peace be upon all my beloved friends & family
in the states; I wish them/YOU all
a happy holiday:
filled with togetherness, hope, and secure
comfort of spirit-self.


---written on sunday, july 3rd, 1999---
on the stupa at Boudnath, just before sunset.
This stupa is the largest in Nepal. from where
i sat--and i was there for hours--i think i actually
saw it: the big one, Mt. Everest!

A different kind of July 4th memory

And i would be very remiss if i didn't mention that today also marks the 20th anniversary of almost getting my ass severely (and perhaps fatally) kicked by some teenaged wild childs in the "City of Brotherly Love". Philly, South Street, after midnight, July the 4th, 1986. I was riding in a late-model, stylin' car which belonged to my friend Debbie's boyfriend. Debbie, James (my boyfriend), and I were heading home after hearing some live music, when a gang of street punks stormed the car, pummeling the windshield with bricks, and stomping the hood and trunk. I got my window and door closed and locked in time, but Debbie--who was behind the wheel--only managed to lock the driver's side door before a swarm of fists and arms shoved in through her window grabbing at her, at her purse, at me, etc. It happened oh-so-fast, and I realized that if they had managed to get the car doors open, we would have been dragged to the sidewalk and given some crazy brotherly love.
I managed to pen a short poem about this violent attack, but can only remember one line from it: "Must we to the frown lair gather to consummate foul weather?"

Within 48 hours of the Philly incident, I was safe and blissed out at the Rainbow Gathering in the Allegheny National Forest in northern PA. From the concrete jungle to the fern forest, my first trip to Pennsylvania showed me both how to get wounded and how to get healed. The forest, and the experiences I encountered there, definitely left a better impression.

Be fase and make siwe choices today, por favor!

MY FORT WORTH ==> Critical Mass bike ride - today @ 6:30pm!

The JULY RIDE happens today, amigos/as!

Meet downtown (FW) at the ITC bus/train depot on Jones Street (near 9th Street). 6:30pm is when we roll together, tearing down the streets* of Cowtown.

Critical Mass is now a legendary tradition--in empowerment via pedal-powered street riding--which first started in San Francisco over 10 years ago.

Bike culture makes any city more beautiful cuz bicycling makes no pollution and facilitates more face-to-face friendliness.

BYO: wheels, water, spirit of resistance

* "Tearing Down the Streets" is also the title of this awesome book by local prof Jeff Ferrell.

resting on nalgas or laurels

relief. rest. recuperation.

i've been telling folks that i'm kinda resting on my laurels, which is another way of saying that i'm chilling and recovering from a hard busy spring-into-early summer season. lately, though, i've been feeling like i'm really friggin' lazy. that's because i am super hard on myself and don't like to lay around without a project for very long.

now for a fact-check, in the form of a short list of recent accomplishments, in order to justify my self-imposed embargo on overworking:

1. I just got notification from the TEXAS COMMISSION ON THE ARTS that my name has been added to their Performing Artist Touring Roster--a nice endorsement from the biggest arts agency in Texas which will, hopefully, get me more gigs around the state.

2. I've just produced--with the hired help of Logan Gilpin, who's good and FAST--my first dvd demo, complete with sound (poetry with music) and video (performance documentation) files and the requisite bio-data, press clippings, etc. It's about time i put something like this together in order to shop it or ship it around to arts presenters. It's pretty cool!

3. I just met the recent NALAC (National Association of Latino Arts and Culture) grant application deadline! I submitted a proposal for my bicycle love story, a "hiphopera" or "bicycle theater performance" which is titled SHE: bike/spoke/love. This work-in-progress needs a little money love (i.e., funding) in order to truly launch the way i envision it. Vamos a ver si NALAC likes the proposal enough to grant me some support.

4. Faculty members at TCU have asked if they can include one of my poems (“Home Away From Home: a land proclamation in 5 parts”) in the freshman class orientation "colloquium" this coming fall semester.

5. I triumphed at the NPN (National Performance Network) showcase in early June, performing my original dramatic monologue "Malinchuca" for a very responsive audience at Richland College's Fannin Hall. My friend and fellow artista, Karen X had this feedback for me:

"Heh ho, you Rock-the-House-Bad-Ass Performance Artist You!!!! Tammy, that was just a phenomenal, phenomenal, I tell
you, performance."

So, then, not two days after the NPN gig, it happened. As it always seems to happen--just after a show or project has ended--i check my email and new opportunities surface. One was a call from up north and another was from a contact in south Texas. Basically, I am now going to be considered for a performance slot at a future Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz festival in Chicago at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, and I am also now invited to do a 4-day artist residency at Texas A&M University in Kingsville, thanks to a friend who's now teaching there.

I feel humbly blessed and also pleasantly reminded of the wealth of the universe.

So, lemme go on with my resting and recuperating; it is summer hiberation season after all...


Today's recommended reading: Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke AND the Tao Te Ching.
It's great to finally give myself a chance to read some things of substance that require stilling my body and forgetting the multitask orientation drive.

Capoeira da rua in FW back in February

It occurs to me that I never followed up with information about the "Carnival de Palabras" that Sound Culture (my production org) hosted back in the February month. If you can imagine--and it may be hard, this being July and all--it was a very cold and icy day back on February 18th, the day of the show. I remember packing my car to the gills--hasta que i threw in blankets, pillow, crockpot, and food fixins--just in case I got ice-stuck at the Rose Marine Theater. When I finally left mi casita, I drove like a turtle in an igloo: very slow and very shivery--passing the occasional ice-bound car which had either stalled or gotten into a fender-bender. (That high bridge, just north of the Courthouse, that crosses the Trinity was particularly SKETCHY...) When I safely made it to the Rose Theater, I parked right outside the front doors and threw my beers into the outdoors ice chest--that is, the trunk of the car--and thanked the deities for letting me make it there in one piece. I woulda kissed the ground, except that I was afraid my lips would get stuck there.

Anyway, the photo above was taken by Dallasite Sondra Beamon, freelance artist/photographer/graphic designer (gotta give credit...); it's of Da'Shade Moonbeam playing the berimbau while Enrique C and Da'mon S do a capoeira encounter as footage from a capoeira doc runs in the background.

Oh, those folks--Da'Shade, E, D, Andrea M, and the rest of the performance crew drove in from Austin that very morning. Impressive that they braved the cold and the road conditions to keep their gig commitment. We ended up with a fair number of people in the audience that evening, some driving from Dallas and Plano just to get out of the house and see something different. In the following photo (also taken by Sondra B), a roda (pronounced "hoda") is happening onstage wherein all the capoeiristas form a circle as two people at a time enter it to do a head-to-head. Members of the audience were invited onstage to join the roda and kick up their heels.
Following the performance in the theater, we all commenced to party in the gallery with a reception for artist Solange Mariel and the Austin performers. Poet and girl-of-the-road Oxossi agreed to be body painted by Sondra Beamon--with words of a Brazilian Portuguese poem. It was a fine show, all in all, and I was pleased that everyone there expressed nary a regret about having to drive icy roads to be with us. Ajua!

Nepal Tammy - th' other blog

I am happy to announce yet another anniversary (this would be the 7th) of my monsoon summer in Nepal, by inviting you to check out my travel journal (work-in-progress) at:

http://nepaltammy.blogspot.com/ or just click aqui.

This blog chronicles my life--what I remember of it--in Nepal during monsoon season 1999. I arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, on the 10th day of June -- officially noted as the first day of the monsoon in the KATHMANDU POST English-language daily.

My intention is to physically transcribe all my scribblings, poems, and what-not from my journals and travel notes SPECIFICALLY during June-July-August in order to summon the experience and vibe--if you will--of that trip. In other words, I work on this project ONLY in the summer time, and I make the postings available in roughly chronological order. (Yeah, kinda like re-living the trip...)

Check in, as you like, at the blogspot address above.

Namaste.

porch people

Says Flagstaff-based poeta, Logan Phillips in a recent email: "The foto turned out pretty well, it works best just to remind me of that beautiful morning, rather than capturing anything especially special... but that's what all good fotos do, I think. I like that porch of yours."

That's Logan, me, and Claudia Acosta decorating the top steps...

Yep, that paint-peeled old wooden porch of mine has been a veritable throne to many of my compadres and comadres passing through town on some tour, research investigation, convention or other. When Jason and Shani lived in the hood as neighbors, they would often porch-sit with me over a coupla brews and rolled Buglers. If I wasn't home, they'd even show up, cuz they didn't have a porch of their own and just liked sitting on mine. That's how welcoming this Fairmount Ave. porch has been over the ages.

Vicki Monks sent me this foto, taken back in January, when she and poet-visual artist-film actor Richard Ray Whitman spent a weekend in FW to check out Avedon's "In the American West" photo exhibit and some of the other local museums.

Vicki, an award-winning journalist who focuses much of her attention on environmental issues, might be visiting my porch again this week, as she is making plans to attend the Investigative Reporters and Editors conference in Fort Worth which runs from June 15th-18th.

You can check out some of Vicki's journalism online, via this portal or download the audio for "Carbon Black" an NPR report that earned her an SEJ (Society of Environmental Journalists) 1st place award in 2005.

And, if you're ever in the hood and have only the goodest intentions, stop by. My porch is your porch.

The storms of heaven drench me sometimes

It is doing an injustice to all the other stellar go-down-in-history weekends i’ve ever lived to write this, but i have to say:

This past weekend was pretty exemplary, in terms of “putting out” and “taking in”, and yeah, i know that just read like i’m referring to a highly carnalized three days of debauchery--but that’s not what i mean here.

I performed on Friday night, at the National Performance Network--southern regional meeting--showcase, that just happened to be scheduled in Dallas this year. Which meant that a Dallas partner in the NPN had the honor and responsibility of putting together the confab’s final night performance thingy. So, Vicki Meek, artistic director of the South Dallas Cultural Center, invited me and eight other performing artists of her choosing (thank you, Vicki!) to give a taste of D/FW’s range of performative offerings. I chose to do a monologue I’d written about 10 years ago--commissioned by Mexic-Arte in Austin--for a specific actor to perform, so I’d never memorized or performed the thing (5 pages!) myself. But since that was my choice, I put my all into it. (It took me a month to get the whole thing down, comfortably, and I owe my cat Grace a big fat thank you for putting up with me for the countless hours I paced the house, in character, working my lines, as she--had no choice--listened)

Anyway, Friday was the big night and I rode into Big D--the showcase was at Richland College, a rather pleasant little oasis of green and greenhouses, ponds and fountains--with fellow performer Laney Yarber, who’s done some pretty innovative things in performance art--in Dallas, San Antonio, and Cowtown. Her choice for a presentation this night was “Lake Worth Pagan” which includes footage of a guy who believes that Lake Worth is the most important archaeological site in the world.

Come performance time, I felt pretty good, and had even decided to perform in the audience area--rather than onstage--for most of my 10 minutes. I think that was a good choice, as I saw many people come back into the theater from the lobby, rushing to hear who was mouthing off in both English and Spanish. Well, it was me, cuz, you see, my character, “Malinchuca”, is plenty pissed, and she only has one monologue--5 pages or 10 minutes--to defend her honor and name, as well as to try to set a few things straight. In the middle of the monologue, I noticed some familiar faces in the audience: Lisa Suarez, director/actor with Jump-Start Theater (San Anto) [ note: that’s not a misspelling, that’s how Chicanos abbreviate San Antonio, with the accent on the A in “Anto” ] and Kerry Kreiman, tireless director and choreographer of Contemporary Dance Fort Worth. They gave me good energy with their attention, and I am thankful they were there.

After the program ended, I got out of costume, packed up my things, and headed out to the theater lobby for the post-show reception, where Vicki had told us performers to bring our “promo press packets”--to give to the NPN arts partners should they show any interest in us. At this point, I felt a little weird, kinda like a prize pig in an auction house. Well, this little piggie stood off to the side, chatting casually with the friends (thanks, Rupert, Karen, Judy!) who showed up to support me. But after a minute, Vicki started rushing up to me, with increasingly frequent interruptions of “I need another packet. Give ‘em the dvd, they’re from out-of state...!” It was, actually, pretty wonderful that Vicki wanted to act as talent agent in this little slice of time. I certainly wasn’t going to march up to somebody and demand that they invite me to gig at their venue.

The coolest thing did happen, though. Melissa, Foulger, associate artistic director of probably the best performing arts venue in Atlanta--7 STAGES--approached me and gave me her card. I’ve been on the 7 Stages mailing list for years and have always been impressed with the themes and experimental nature of the work they present. Melissa told me that 7 Stages is looking for more work by Latinas, and then requested one of my promo packets and dvds. Kewl. Sixto Wagan, performing arts director of DIVERSEWORKS in Houston also gave me his card, so the ball's in my court for a follow-up. DiverseWorks is one major nut that I have yet to crack in the state of Texas, as i've already jammed and performed on most of the stages here that produce innovative and cutting-edge work (McKinney Arts Contemporary, Undermain Theater, Bath House Cultural Center, Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, Jump-Start, South Dallas Cultural Center, Women and Their Work, La Pena in Austin, Mexic-Arte, Teatro Bilingue in Houston, for starters.).

The Prez and Vice Prez of Richland College came up to meet me and wanted my promo packet, indicating they are now schedulilng for 2007-2008. Wow, after all that potty mouth I presented on their campus stage, these guys weren’t offended by my work. Okay, these guys now rate high in my Big Chief Tablet. The executive director of Knoxville, Tennessee’s, CARPETBAG THEATRE chatted me up, as did Alice Valdez, exec. director at MECA (Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts) in Houston. It was all quite a whirlwind of promise and props, accolades and introductions. And I only got to snag one lone piece of a brownie from the reception table during all this hubub. It didn’t matter. I was so relieved to have gotten through my 10-minute solo, and was so basking in the afterglow, that all I really needed then was some champagne and my bed.

Of the other performers who showcased that night, I was most pleased to finally meet and watch Ms. Venus Opal Reese (an artist named after both a planet AND a gem better be able to back that up with some skillz....right?), who was quite incredible. She moves like yards of silk off a treetrunk in a windstorm--fluid, swift, graceful--and her voice is strong with integrity, yet melodic and affable. She is quite the scholar, with at least two Master’s degrees, and she currently teaches (Aesthetic Studies) at the University of Texas at Dallas. We need to get her on a stage here in FW sometime soon.

When I arrived back in FW (thanks again, Laney!), I drove over to the Black Dog for a celebration drink and a bit of local mirth before heading hard for my pillow. Before I knew it, I was drawn into the fanfare for the touring act rocking the crowd. They were an Austin trio of chingona musicians: bass, drums, guitar. That’s Heather, Nina (aka Punjabi), and Adrian. Simple and straight-ahead instrumentation, but damn could they play. I thought drummer (Punjabi) was the most amazing until Ms. cordless-guitar-Adrian started seducing us with screeching solos that could equal that of any seasoned acid-rock axe-handler of the male persuasion. She was really good. And then, the bass player, she had a spotlight moment as the audience demanded that the band play “Vampire” again, where she takes the lead vocal and nails it for a performance that had the whole crowd up on their feet.

As dear barkeep Jim R brought me a complimentary (thanks, dude) gin & tonic, I asked him if he’d ever seen a standing ovation at the Black Dog. He grinned and shouted, “only if there’s a fire!” There was virtual pandemonium in the house as people swarmed the band with hugs and accolades. (Was this displaced Maverick fan energy?---the Mavs did have Friday night off, after all...) It was a major lovefest at the Black Dog, as our actually quite-savvy Friday night audience stood and recognized that there was some pretty bad-ass music coming at their ears, thanks to these 3 rockin’ Austin women. Jim R told me later, they’ll be back. He booked ‘em the first time, and he’ll be sure they come to the Dog again.

Oh, their name: Adrian and the Sickness. Their myspace portal? Right here. They’re scheduled to play in Denton on August 17th, so maybe we’ll see ‘em back in the 817 ‘round then.

By the end of the night I was ecstatic, with icing on my cake, a swirl of gin & tonic flooding my system, and a night of great performance (mine as well as the girl band’s) under my belt. Nothing but my pillow, after an achingly strenuous week, could top that.

BUT THEN--not two days later, before the weekend was up, I got to bliss out over another freaking wonderful musical experience. The scheduled REQUIEM show at some joint in Denton was cancelled, so a quick-acting Cri (aka Nobody) made a couple of calls and set up an impromptu show at 1919 Hemphill within two hours' time. I love that about non-proprietary performing arts spaces; there was no big hassle to get REQUIEM a stage and an audience--thanks to a bulletin with the 411 that Cri posted on myspace.

Oh, REQUIEM is a band affiliated with Crimethinc, an association of anarchist collectives, projects, etc. Go here to read up on 'em. The set they played at 1919 Hemphill reminded me of the best of the best hardcore punk moments I've ever had, and I'd say that that's saying alot...

It was so intense, so invigorating, so LOUD, that i swear I could feel the nerves in my face pulsating minutes after their set ended.

I have to also mention that REQUIEM's drummer was another truly-amazing woman musician. My cup runneth over, here in FW, cuz I got to see/hear TWO rockin' bad-ass woman drummers in ONE single weekend.

That's gotta be a historical breakthrough or something.

Robert Karimi's "Self--The Remix" in Austin & San Anto

We met and learned of one another's work in Austin first, and then in San Anto. We made quick friends and performance allies. We knew alot of the same Chicano/a film and music scene people. Robert Karimi, Guatemalan-Iranian brilliant-boy of the stage, is someone I've always felt deserved the props he's gotten. That man works AND COOKS his damn ass off. One of the last times I was in Chicago, he was debuting a live cooking show performance satire. He's one male who's not afraid to wear an apron in public.

I have this special memory of the time he emailed--back when he was a (seriously-frenetic but effective) high school English teacher in Newark, California--to let me know that about "200 students had NOT read the Austin local newspaper," but had read my poem "Manslaughter"--which was a poetic account of a homicide that had gone down in Austin long ago. In other words, he was teaching my poem to his hs kids. Eventually, he hooked up a teaching/performance gig for me at that high school during my first trip to the Bay Area, where those very kids who'd read my poem got to share the original work they'd been inspired to write after reading "Manslaughter." I love moments like that, when I get to see how my work might make a difference for somebody.

But, right now---I SO wish that I could hop down to Austin to check out Robert's performance at RESISTENCIA BOOKSTORE tomorrow night, June 10th. Guess I'll just have to keep up with his upcoming shenanigans (he's got a few gigs in Anchorage this month...!) via his myspace portal at KARIMI.

Oh, he's also doing SELF--THE REMIX at Jump-Start Theatre in SA as part of the 2nd Annual Teatrofest, a city-wide celebration of Chicano/Latino performance and theater.

666 Literary Event '''''afterglow'''''

666 thing went VERY well, despite the sweltering heat that sent most folks to the ice chests for bottles of "Wicked Ale" which i'd bought specific. for the occasion. lots of stimulating and instigating word was evoked; Tommy Atkins' piece went over
well, as well as the words of new-to-us wordsmiths Trevor Richardson (who says that "Fight Club" author what's-his-face is coming to Big D later this month...) and Jen Cooper (partner to Marcus L).

By the time i got home this evening, after it all, I had an email from Tommy expressing thanks for my reading of his piece (he wasn't present tonight) cuz he'd already gotten kudos for the work from someone at the Metrognome, and Christopher Photog (what's his last name?) had left a voicemail message sharing props and encouragement.

Right now, the Dallas poet Max Blair is snoring big-time in the next room (but he'd given me notice, so it's not going to disturb me) and I'm munching on afterthoughts about a well-spent evening masticating 666 theory--literarily--with some pretty friggin' fine writers in the 817, 214, 972, and 682.

Also in the house tonight: FW Slam team 06 member Chuck; former Slam-teamer A.D. (Anthony Douglas), organic farmer/philosopher/storyteller Kendall McCook; Firehouse Gallery matriarch and FWAC arts goddess Lori Thomson; singer/keyboardist Devin Adams; The Shortest Distance songwriter and Fascist Watch film series coordinator Ramsey Sprague; and Angelique the angel wing-maker and performance dream-weaver. It was definitely something unprecedented for the M'Gnome.

More to come, believe it or not. We'll keep spreading the word, when it's summer and hot.

Literary 666 Event - tomorrow, Tuesday 6/6/06 in FW

666, as a number, is so loaded, so symbolic, in so many different ways,
that we just couldn't turn the calendar page tomorrow
without doing some kind of commemoration...

AND SO IT IS.....

the LITERARY 666 event of the century is
taking place at
7:30pm on June 6th, 2006

with contributed work/performances by the following D/FW folks:

Tommy Atkins (of The Great Tyrant)
Kendall McCook (poet, storyteller)
Ramsey Sprague (songwriter, The Shortest Distance)
Moises Silva (poet)
Jen Cooper (writer, educator, singer)
m.m. harris (poet, New Orleans evacuee)
Trevor Richardson (prose-fiction writer)

with visual art by Junanne Peck

and featuring Max Blair (member, Death List 5)
performing "How to Spot the Signs of Satan"

+++++++++++++++++++++

Metrognome Collective Arts Space
1518 E. Lancaster
in near southside (a few blocks east of I-35)

7:30pm on 6/6/06 !

It's a BYOB, folks, but we'll have some eats&drinks available as well.

Spread the 666 word and hope to see you tomorrow...

Workshop at 3pm, Film at 7pm - Today, June 4th in FW

Filmmaker and somatherapy workshop facilitator Nick Cooper is in the Metroplex this weekend to spread the SOMA word/theory/practice.

Here's a blurb about the documentary film screening tonight at 7pm at 1919 Hemphill:

"With difficulty walking, and half-blinded from torture by the Brazilian military dictatorship, 79 year-old Roberto Freire continues to develop somatherapy, completing his life's work. Incorporating the ideas of Wilhelm Reich, the politics of anarchism, and the culture of capoeira angola, Soma is used by therapists organized in anarchist collectives to fight the psychological effects of authoritarianism. Nick Cooper travelled to Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Bahia, and São Paulo to find the exercises, principles, voices, and movement of somatherapy."

The workshop starts at 3pm and lasts for several hours---also at 1919 Hemphill. Here's what Wikipedia has to offer about "Somaterapia", this body- and mind-freeing therapeutic practice:

"Somatherapy was created by the writer Roberto Freire in the 1970s as a group therapy, based on the research of the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. With the objective of freeing the individual to be more creative, the exercises in Soma work with the relationship between the body and emotions are evident in the work of Reich. They work with concepts based on the vital organisation of the self stemming from Gestalt therapy. Other essential ingredients in Soma are the studies of Antipsychiatry related to human communication and the Brazilian martial art / dance Capoeira Angola. Soma groups last a year and a half, with frequent sessions, including usually one full weekend per month for the entire group, as well as frequent capoeira classes, study sessions, social activities, and two self-organized group trips. These times together allow the participants to build and develop the group dynamic, in line with the principles of Anarchism. The originality of Soma stems from the fusion of pedagogy and politics within the therapeutic process, in which pleasure and freedom construct the notion of health which combats the neurosis of capitalism in our globalised society.

Soma in practice

As a therapy with an anarchist ethic, Soma seeks to understand the socio-political behaviour of individuals starting from what happens in their daily lives. Authoritarianism is reproduced in social micro-relations through games of power and sacrifice. Therefore, capitalist values such as private property, competition, profit and exploitation need to be considered as more than mere questions of market and ideology. The influence of these values on social relations (love relations, for example) cannot be denied. The results of the authoritarianism of the Government and the State are reproduced in feelings (jealousy, possession, insecurity) and situations (competition, betrayal, lies). For Soma therefore, politics begins in everyday, microsocial situations."

Check it out. Today in FW - one day (and evening) only!

National Performance Network (NPN) showcase next FRIDAY, June 2nd

I am one of nine performing artists in the Metroplex who have been invited to perform in a showcase for the NATIONAL PERFORMANCE NETWORK.

Here are the 9 invited performers/performing groups: Teatro Dallas, Amon Rashidi (Rapademics), David Marquis, Uriah Elion, Will Richey, Venus Opal Reese, Tammy Gomez, GNO, and Laney Yarber.

Vicki Meek, artistic director of the SOUTH DALLAS CULTURAL CENTER near Fair Park, is the person who invited us to perform in this showcase. The South Dallas Cultural Center is an arts partner--or member performing arts venue--of the NPN, so because the Regional Meeting is to happen in Dallas this year, she's the one who's setting up the June 2nd show.

Here's Vicki in her own words: "We will present you at Richland College's Fannin Performance Hall on Friday, June 2.  The showcase will start at 8 pm and conclude at 9:45 pm.  Each artist will have 10 minutes maximum. Even though this is for a regional meeting, meaning only the Southern partners will be in attendance, your work will be known beyond the region since so much of how an artist gets booked has a lot to do with word-of-mouth accolades from other NPN partners. 

I am very excited about presenting you to my fellow NPN partners since I know the calibre of talent your work represents.  The DFW area artists you represent need to be known outside Texas!  The South Dallas Cultural Center strives to create those opportunities whenever possible."

So---my friends and readers--I am pretty stoked to have been included on this roster of performers. I'm gonna do my best, with a 9-minute (i timed it last night) monologue titled MALINCHUCA. Almost hard to believe that I wrote this piece over 10 years ago, and that I've never performed it myself, though 2 different actresses have taken on the role--under my direction.

A bit of background: Dona Marina, also known as “Malintzin” and “La Malinche”, attained mythical stature because of her association with Hernan Cortes--as his personal translator during the conquest of Mexico. In MALINCHUCA, Dona Marina reappears as a mad-as-hell ‘chuca with a tongue-lashing for historical revisionists.

I was commissioned by MEXIC-ARTE MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY in Austin to write MALINCHUCA--the script--in 1994, when it was first performed for an SRO audience. This work went on to receive a first-runner-up award in the Fort Worth Hispanic Playwrights' Festival in 2001.

Support the South Central Farmers in L.A. !

An URGENT update from Tezo, spokesperson for the South Central Farmers:

Greetings to all our supporters and allies and thank you so much for your support.

We have information from reliable sources that the Sheriff's Department will be evicting the farmers and supporters on-site very soon, and daily now there is an overwhelming presence of police helicopters circling in what appears to be their preparations for the eviction. The only way to prevent this is to grow the numbers of supporters both inside and outside the farm gates.

There are now nightly candlelight vigils taking place at the farm at 7pm. We are asking everyone here in Los Angeles to come down to the farm and stand with us in solidarity!!!

Come down and bring food, water, candles, flashlights and your passion for the largest urban farm in the United States!

If you can't join us, please spread the word to everyone you know. Create phone trees and email blasts and remind everyone that if every Los Angelino just gave $1 we could save this place.

In the last 24 hours, hundreds of thousands of dollars has been committed by so many of you to help save the South Central Farm, but unfortunately we are still far short of the amount we need. What we really need is time, and we are running out of that too.

Contribute your donations at either this or this site--NOW!

And stay up-to-date by calling the HOTLINE at (866) SCFARM1.

There is still time for a miracle! Let's save this national treasure!

In solidarity,

Tezo, for the community of South Central Farmers
______________________________________________________

Background: Since 1992, the 14 acres of property located at 41st and Alameda Streets in south Los Angeles have been used as a community garden or farm. The land has been divided into 360 plots and is believed to be one of the largest urban gardens in the country. According to a Free Speech Radio report, the South Central Farmers grow enough food to feed "roughly 350 families" on an ongoing basis. The land ownership has changed a little over the past six years, and now the current owner is demanding that the farmers--the current tenants--pay up $16.5 million or face eviction. (Of course, Wal-Mart figures into this, as the corporation is reportedly offering to pay at least that amount of money to have this land.) So here we have another David v. Goliath scenario, and many folks and activists and urban farming advocates are drawing connections between what just went down in Atenco, Mexico (the federales went in after some "ugly-looking" flower sellers and basically declared war on poor Mexicanos trying to make a living.

Here's an excerpt from an article by reporter Ruth Vela:

"Mexican police attacked flower vendors in San Salvador Atenco on May 3rd, as the vendors tried to sell in their usual area, now a future site of a Wal-Mart.

The flower vendors were occupying the space in the Texcoco market when they were assaulted by police. The next day before dawn the vendors returned with supporters from the town of Atenco to confront the police and reoccupy their space.

The police again responded with violence, this time using batons and tear gas.

Some 3,000 federal police surrounded the town of Atenco. They were later joined by state and local police. The troops proceeded to launch so much tear gas that the town was engulfed in a cloud. Some protesters were then arrested while others were able to escape and hide."

[The article can be read in its entirety here. Another, more recently-published article by Vela, focuses on the impact of the Atenco situation on the women who were taken into police custody there.]

+++++++
So, you may not want to make a connection between what happened in Atenco and what is now going down in L.A., here in the States. You may be ultimately thrilled that Wal-Mart is looking into selling organic food in its stores, even as its unchecked growth as a multi-national corporation sends the small-scale growers and sellers scurrying off the land Wal-Mart covets. Once again, community is deprioritized as capital satisfies its greedy urges. But, at this moment, a vigil and concert are happening on the South Central acreage and folks like Julia Butterfly, Joan Baez, and Darryl Hannah are showing up in solidarity with the encamped farmers. The people are not going to quietly succumb...

One more info-link

Film casting call - at the Metrognome on Thursday, June 1st

The Metrognome Collective will be hosting an open casting call next Thursday (June 1st) from 3pm until 9pm for an indie film that will be shot in Fort Worth. The film will be produced by Zumpango Films, which might be an established film production company, but I'd never heard of it before this week.

If you are interested in auditioning for a part, the information is on the ZUMPANGO FILMS website.

Blurb from the casting call notice:

"Zumpango Films presents MOS 8411, the story of one Marine's complicated relationship with life and death - from behind the recruiting office desk. The film explores the internal struggle of a man bound by honor and duty to recruit the best and the brightest for an uncertain future away from the familiar violence of the 'hood."