no flavour, but it's servedtall pewter dishcreamy textureperfect temperaturemay have nutsor knotschocolate or mochachips on shoulderor drips melting over the edgethe counter's always cleanand the stools swivelsometimes you can spend a few dayslingering other times its a revolving doorand dizzy is the juke box tunethe flavour is indescribableand irresistable

nicely phrased, judih. literary, culinary, & ever-ready.

Now With 40% More LitKicks Flavor!And what is that LitKicks flavor? Bacon, obviously. But no matter how much I wish it might, I don't know whether or not bacon counts as a genre. Though I think it can, obviously. I mean, bacon. Come on.I guess I think that perhaps there's more of a unity amongst the writers than an overarching theme to the writing itself, if that makes sense. And I think the unity stems from the fact that the vast majority of writers here are unknown by the big bad publishing world, yet are still driven to create and share. Because there has to be some way to get writing out there, and obviously the New Yorker doesn't give a damn about anything that's even remotely interesting.As an example.Or maybe Bac-Os.One or the other.

Literature in the Round"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet;"~Shakespeare

Liquidthe mellow taste of rainsinging of mountain streamletsmore often oceanic: the foamy-white tops of thewaves, rolling, linked, calling, memorizing, particle dancemurmuring at night, talking 'bout lives that wereand will be, spilling at sunny beaches, waking insilent unseen vastness, comprising new dreams ofnew beings, sundown, sunrise, consciously coveringthe deep inheritance, but softly caring, caressing the surface,loud and oh so still at times as well, knowing like nightliquid like in dreams and rivers, muddy tiptoesliquid like in trancy quicksilver, tellurized new shores andadvents, liquid like in trajectories of distant stars that breednew minds, accepting, coloring, patient, a chance for flowing, liquid, a smell, a touch, a sentiment,liquid wildsatisfaction lingering transcendencesuspense and hopesadriftand sometimes the air, the sky,hot snaky soilthe distancewailing flavor Certainly not post-something, especially not post-Beat (if this can exist at all)sometimes the flavor You feel when suddenly listening to a megafogor find a flavor/label for the impression You get from the coverof Action Poetry...allhungry searchingwhat was it for Jamelah ?Bacon

Pizza Toppings for the Internet Age1. For a real label, I'm thinking either Web Lit, Net Lit, Cyber Lit, Net Beats, Web Lit Tribes, something like that, because this generation has to be the first one in which a writer could conceivably start out, grow, and publish on the internet. There are certain characteristics of literature on the internet that didn't exist before. Maybe even nick the word Burroughs liked: Interzone.2. For a food, I would say pizza. That's my favorite food. You've got your three basics: dough, sauce, & cheese. I haven't decided which topping represents Levi, Jamelah, or Firecracker. But then, on top of that, all of us who contribute are an unlimited variety of topping.

Oohhhhh, good one!Words in Cyberspace

this kicksI was startin'to Jones for ajudih poetry fix.

How about Action Sizzlersin the cyber frying pan Jamelah.

Tappers of the Cyber Action...blastin' through endless waves of cyber grace!

Bringing home the bacon on endless waves of cyber grace is sounding better all the time.

What We Need is a CriticAll throughout the history of art and literature it was the critic who coined the phrase that defined a movement. What we need is a journalist to jump on the Cyber Space Rage we have been layin' down round here for ever so long, cause we be way past Beat, I mean can't ya feel the heat, my keyboards been sizzlin' and I'm smellin' bacon, pure chancha.

A large pizza with everything including anchovies. What we have here is cyber rage in the internet age and we are cookin' Mr. King. How's it doin' tonite my friend? I'm listenin' to J.J. Cale and gettin' wired.

Yes, Bacon's 'Idols of the Cave' come to mind. Oh wait, that is meta-meat.

a rose is a rose is a roseg stein

labelsYou don't have to be a journalist to assign labels, here are some:. an icecream (sure, I will expect for dulce de leche & lemon, but fortunately there are all the flavors). a fresh air deriva. a beautiful mistake

good, pizza!: I like the image and I also like pizza.

Hi Arcadia -- what is a fresh air deriva? Just curious.

Turkey bacon. Because we're different.

Well, I think some of us have opinions about turkey bacon.

taste test:(one last pull on the bottle,for old time's sake.) ===================What's the flavor? microwavelasagna, flash-frozen (pausefor the camera,) T minusfifteen minutesto make an overdonemess. That's all I know howto cook these days, anyways, my mother never taught me how to bake like Plath, or how to pour a drinklike Dylan Thomas. I'm not sure what Ginsberg was into cookin', but we all know about Burroughs, don't we? I've been told the Eskimoseat meat raw, slabs of fat--and the New Guineans like to call us westerners, "juicy pigs". We certainlysqueal that way, don't we-- I understand that Christians eatChrist, and that the Jainists won't touch anything after darkfor fear of accidentallyswallowing a gnat. In my part of town,nobody thinks that muchabout what they put into 'em--make it cheap and fast, add a lot of sugar and a dashof caffeine, and they'll suck anything down. I'm no different. A nice plump pig at the trough,a rat in bucket of garbage. What's the flavor of an American dream?Check the gutter in New Orleans. Let's hit the road, Jack--there's a burger joint up ahead, on Route 66, there's also a diner with wonderfulpie, and they'll put it right in your face, Jack, mud-pie for everybodysliding off Big Sur into the Pacificsunset, what's the flavor of twilight,how do you eat the stars and the serpent of darkness?What's the flavor of your ownrattle-tail? Grind it outwith your boot on the pavementand walk away, tasting the rain that's about to fall.

I Don't KnowI never really thought about grouping people in the today; it has always seem easier to do in the yesterday. Although when i was a punk, I guess I thought of myself as part of a movement, of sorts. But it wasn't long before I realized it was the partying that attracted me to it.This internet collaborative writing thing certainly feels more like a party to me than a movement. I think Action Poetry was probably closest to being a movement, or group, or something. Maybe it is the Action Poetry Age?

in a wordpermamentnosing out the shadow of changeembracing all the sameWHAM RULZ!

got the shakesi need my litkix fix

firmamentlike da planetshe'named forearth(mouth full)

A Label for TodayI think a label could be chosen and would stick to all of this writing business we're doing here on the 'net. The label of course wouldn't describe all of the writing that's taking place at this time, but it could be associated with the characteristics of writing on the 'net, and the current phase of the English language that we're in, etc. Characteristics of the action poetry-ish era would be references to Wham! and food groups; writing in first person, and the sickest slang.Since no food or words or language-fest will ever move me like music, I choose to make tonight's label (drumroll & passing the envelope) ..."Jamiroquai" -in honor of my favorite stuff that seems to have dropped off the planet.ta-da!

neo-beat.netWhen your correspondent typed in "neo-beat.net", he received:We didn't find any Web pages matching the following criteria:Containing this query term: neo-beat.netfresh starts every daybeginnings 24/7new year's 3-6-5Your poster remembers a 1967 newspaper photo of a San Francisco ceremonial funeral for the hippie with longhaired pallbearers carrying a coffin. H.S. Thompson said in his 1960s article "The Hippies" that when mainstream media covers the absolute-latest-newest, it isn't anymore.Your correspondent first heard the contemporary term punk in the pages of Newsweek in the mid-70s. By then, music industry suits had pre-packaged it as New Wave and remembers shortly thereafter hearing "Take Me To The River" by the Talking Heads and The Police's "Roxanne" on central Minnesota Top 40 radio, which still played country and some polka during the day. Punk was a reaction then; and now that it's mainstream, is retro-punk, post-punk, rap-punk or however the product--which used to be called music--is being positioned or marketed."Post-", "retro", and "modern" are cliched, and cliches should be avoided as Orwell very well advised.neo-beat.net suits this place well as evidenced here by today's suave raw-flesh fresh postings.

Soup's On!"Do you think LitKicks has a flavor? Yes! It is a hodgepodge of flavors perfectly seasoned. My Mom used to have an expression when finances were tight. She made "Rock Soup" which was prepared by simply throwing leftovers and anything edible in the pot. If unexpected guests dropped in at meal time, her response, "no problem we'll just throw another rock in the soup." I specifically like that on this site we are a mixed up lot, from young to old, philosophically, spiritually, nonspiritual, free thinkers, up-tighters, ethnically, culturally, linguistically, geographically. This mix creates a unique flavor: Call it soup, and if anyone new shows up, well we can always use another rock in the pot!Is post-beat a word? Post-Modern? Transgressive? Modern? Retro daydreamers? Can you label us as a whole and more importantly, do you think that label would stick?"What do you think? Is there a label or name that fits in this case? If so, what would it be?I'm not too up with labels, of course they are handy tools when one needs to sum up something in a unique, descriptive way. I think because the members here are so diverse, it would be next to impossible to label the whole lot and make it stick. That's a good thing. So, sorry, I can't come up with anything unique and designing catch phrases has never been my strong point. I rather like the name of this site as being descriptive as to the common thread we have, we get our kicks out of written words decorating pages. Pure Art.

So far, I think I like your answer the best.

Well, Bob Holman said that LitKicks has "found a new way to make an anthology open, free, and eternally interesting." So how about freeopen? Or Open Web?

hmmmmm. . .Is that like permafrost? Because I think that would be a good label for LitKicks.I can see it now -- LitKicks, we're kind of like permafrost!Yep, a good label indeed.

I can help you with "deriva":deriva, f. drift, deviation off courseTo see the word deriva in some cotext, you can read the song "El jangadero", the author -I think- it

you should check out Baconmania.com, a site dedicated to baconophiliacs, with pictures, stories of bacon chowing festivals, and even a poem in honor of pig meat cut thin enough for greasy breakfast morsels. Interestingly enough no mention of the BLT though, a serious oversight if you ask me.

Cool, a new word I can use. Thanks.

Post-BeatI like the hype/flavor of "Post-Beat". If it is not a word, I would like to use it as slang and declare "Post-Beat" part of the lexicon. We take up the tail-end of the last fifty years. So it fits. I met some of the principals and am declaring "Post-Beat" to you. Yes, kind folks and gentle people: The "Post-Beat New Age" has begun.All you have to do is post the page, and wax sage.

Ya know if I could pin it down I'd call it "Action Poets", plain and simple, all spiced and seasoned for sure, and as a matter of fact it is my religion.

Mixin' in the IngredientsI guess the thing is, are we a movement..can you label us? If someone stuck us all in a room, they would notice how different we all are, but we have that writing thing in common. So some journalist or old cultural studies professor or passerby author would come up with some snappy label for us, to throw to society or the presses. I would not say Beat-worshippers though, that would be a bit much. And post-Beat is a great word yet the Beat movement was in the past.. but still, many are still influenced by it.The LitKicks crew would inevitably be called Retro Funky Stylistic Writers. Some would protest this, but few would deny. Actually I don't like labels too much; I don't know what we would be called.To conclude, LitKicks is a stew --light and chunky with spices from six continents filled with words, and every emotion. The differences may be an acquired taste to those new to it. But, all the same, that's what makes it taste good.

the first and last post-beat poemWe tried to open a digital hole in the pastWith words and sick baud ratesAnd dog-eared books as chisels.We stomped on ourselves, and othersFor interfering with the myths and the magicians who made 'em.Kerouac died in his sleep so he did. Ginsberg died in his sleep so he did.I will die in my sleep so I will.

I tend to agree about labels...I don't know why we need them? Labels are restricting and confining, it's just another way to make people comform to the rules and 'the system' My favorite part of Litkicks was the spontaneity and freedom of expression!

You Know Those......Chiquita banana labels? yeah, that's an appropriate label, I think.As far as flavour, I'd have to say LitKicks is a pungent and precocious gold. With a sprinkle of brother/sister-hood. And a fuckin' cherry on top. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must away to my petunia garden.

I thought this was about "flavor of the week."What the hell is flavour? Is that like flavour flave?Davey's confused.

The sooner you fucking Americans learn how to spell nice and proper, the sooner we can just get on with our whole Canadian-American love-orgy. Wouldn't that be nice?Hold on...do you spell "wouldn't" with no "U"???? Do you spell love with a goddamn capital "hate"??Anyhow, I'm glad to see you.

No more movements...The Internet is not a fitting movement in literature. Furthermore, it has drastically reduced the chances of there being any such movement in the western world again.Had I followed my heart to an MA in literature, instead of my head to a JD in law, I would have written my thesis on this very subject.One of the things that I found most intriguing about the modern and beat movements was the difficulty that the individual authors had getting published. There was a constant struggle to find acceptance among the "legitimate" publications of the day. Though they maintained their own publications, and became editors throughout the industry, many of these authors did not receive critical acclaim, or wide spread acceptance, until they got into the pages of the "cultural elite"... the mainstream magazines.This struggle proved to be a testing ground. Though they purported to bring a new style, a new life, to literature, they still craved validation by the institutions they sought to overthrow. They wanted to be passed the torch, not to wrest it from their predecessors.The Internet has eliminated this testing ground. People can post/publish their work all over the place. While some sites have and use professional editors, the vast majority do not. There is no longer a standard against which works are judged. No guardians at the gates, and no sages waiting to pass down their torch.The instant access to, and distribution of, the new myriad of styles has had the general affect of diluting literature. There is too much out there, all at once. Literature is no longer forged in the dialectic of the editing rooms ... it is spewed, wholesale, simultaneously, from the mouths and hands of thousands ... millions even.Where does Litkicks stand in this miasma? I found the site through my interest in the Beats. I kept coming back because of the nuggets of gold that could be found after sifting through the forums/boards. I don't think that the site does any more harm than the Internet as a whole, but I also feel that without more self-restraint the internet generation will have no chance of formulating a meaningful literary movement.This implicates the question: Are literary movements necessary or even good at all? A question I am not looking to answer here and now.