On The Run
I still haven't mentally returned from vacation, still haven't gotten back into the LitKicks swing. I've been running around a lot, actually, as well as working hard behind the scenes on a new software platform for the site that has so far only succeeded in breaking the Action Poetry pages (they will be back soon, I promise). More soon! Till then ... links:
1. I first spotted New York City "character poet" Bingo Gazingo at the Bowery Poetry Club in 2002 doing a crazy improvisation about his lust for an R&B singer named "Mariah Canary". I then caught many more unhinged performances at the Bowery by this elderly Queens rhymer, who, I'm sorry to hear, passed away on New Years Day. The world of poetry may not long remember Bingo Gazingo, despite a brief long-ago moment on MTV, but I hope every poetry nightclub in the world has a weird old geezer like him around to liven up the room.
2. "We are not slumming here, or surrendering to the carnival of the web. Quite the contrary. We are hoping to offer an example of resistance to it." Really! Just by showing up, they're going to do all that? The New Republic has launched it's new book section The Book with a big blast of self-congratulation.
5. Jim Morrison's favorite beatnik cafe.
6. LitKicks poet Mickey Z. will be introducing his new book Self Defense for Radicals at Bluestockings Bookstore in New York City on January 23.
7. Rani Singh, an old friend, has finally published a book about the oddly great Harry Smith.
8. Matthew Landis, another old friend who used to write for LitKicks as "Situationist" (no, not "The Situation" ... "Situationist"), is now blogging here.
9. George Orwell on P. G. Wodehouse (via @drmabuse).
10. Scott Esposito ponders writers vs. commentators.
11. The Millions asks a few bloggers to name the best literary readings they'd ever attended. It's a good question, and I had to pause for about three seconds before coming up with my own answer. Then I remembered seeing Allen Ginsberg. The kind of full-body, whole-soul performances he delivered -- funny, dead serious, totally in the moment -- set a standard for me that no other performer has yet matched.
3 reponses to "On The Run"
Hey Levi (and any other Lit Kicks folks who may remember me). Thanks for the link to my blog! Also wanted to let you know I am going to be reading, along with the rest of the New Philadelphia Poets (a group I am a member of: www.newphiladelphiapoets.com) on January 16th at the Bowery Poetry Club from 6-8pm. It'd be great to finally meet you and anyone else who may want to come out.
All the best,
Matt Landis!
Hello Levi,
The opening line of your last memoir chapter was like a line ripped out of Seymour Krim's heart.
Don't know forgotten Beat writer Seymour Krim? Nobody does. That's why I put together Missing a Beat: The Rants and Regrets of Seymour Krim. You're gonna love him and especially his downbeat masterpiece, "For My Brothers and Sisters in the Failure Business."
Congrats on a great site.
best,
Mark
Maybe when I retire I'll move to the Village and geezer out.
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