Name:Scott Country:United States State:Tennessee Birthday:9/19/1966 Gender:Male
Interests:Bukowski, Burroughs, Ferlinghetti, Kerouac, Harry Potter, HR Giger, Poppy Z Brite, Dead Can Dance, Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Die Form, Love Spirals, Faith & the Muse, My Dying Bride, London After Midnight, Shadow Project, Theatre of Tragedy, Project Pitchfork, Type O, Skinny Puppy, Disturbed, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, Front 242, ClockDVA, Thrill Kill Kult, Sinatra
I got an email yesterday from the Fox Theatre in Atlanta/Ticketmaster. It was for a ticket presale for Carlos Mencia. And it just happens to fall on our wedding anniversary. I said, "Hmmm." I dug around a little further and then emailed Jen, asking her if she'd like to see a couple of shows in Atlanta for an anniversary weekend. And she seemed delighted by the idea!
So, our fifth wedding anniversary is coming up in early September. After that date, we'll be heading toward six years of marriage together! These days, that's not too shabby. And to celebrate our anniversary weekend, we'll be heading to Atlanta, where we'll be staying in the Renaissance Atlanta Hotel Downtown (a Marriott hotel that's kind of swanky). That Friday night, we'll be seeing a very late show at the Fox Theatre (.2 miles from the hotel) featuring ... Kathy Griffin! We really like her Bravo shows. We have balcony seats for that, as I think the show tickets had been on sale for a few days. But Jen swears these balcony seats will be better than the seats she had for the Tori Amos concert she went to a while back. Then, the next night, on our anniversary, we'll have pretty awesome seats to see Carlos Mencia, a comedian we both love! The seats will be front center midway back in the orchestra section. I got such good seats because of this presale special I was offered, complete with a password to purchase them! I imagine this will sell out, so I feel good about us landing such great seats. I don't know what else we'll do while we are there in Atlanta, but it might be nice to visit the great High Museum, which Jen's never been to! We're really looking forward to this weekend.
Today, I'm not going to blog about anything negative. I'm not even going to blog about anything else. I am going to post another music video though. This one's in honor of Jen. See, she and I have wildly different musical tastes. Suffice it to say, she HATES most of the music I listen to (Disturbed? No way, for her...), and she tends to be stuck in the '80s much of the time. But that's OK, as I sometimes get nostalgic for '80s music too. So, today's video is "It's My Life," by Talk Talk. Very different from the stuff I have been posting. I hope you enjoy, and that everyone has a fabulous day!
Yes, it's true! Another new Charles Bukowski book is close to being released!!! Check it out! Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook will be released by City Lights Books in September. I'm so excited I can hardly think. Here is the description from Amazon's site:
Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), one of the most outrageous and
controversial figures of twentieth-century American literature, was so
prolific that many important pieces were never collected during his
lifetime. Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook is a
substantial selection of these wide-ranging works, most of which have
been unavailable since their original appearance in underground
newspapers, literary journals, and even porn magazines. Among the
highlights are Bukowski's first published short story, "Aftermath of a
Lengthy Rejection Slip"; his last short story, "The Other"; his first
and last essays; and the first installment of his famous "Notes of a
Dirty Old Man" column.
The book contains meditations on his
familiar themes (drinking, horse-racing, etc.) as well as singular
discussions of such figures as Artaud, Pound, and the Rolling Stones.
Other significant works include the experimental title piece; a
fictionalized account of meeting his hero, John Fante ("I Meet the
Master"); an unflinching review of Hemingway ("An Old Drunk Who Ran Out
of Luck"); the intense, autobiographical "Dirty Old Man Confesses"; and
several discussions of his aesthetics ("A Rambling Essay on Poetics and
the Bleeding Life Written While Drinking a Six-Pack [Tall]," "In
Defense of a Certain Type of Poetry, a Certain Type of Life, a Certain
Type of Blood-Filled Creature Who Will Someday Die," and "Upon the
Mathematics of the Breath and the Way"). What is ultimately revealed is
an unexpectedly learned mind behind his seemingly off hand productions.
Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook is
essential reading for Bukowski fans, as well as a good introduction for
new readers of this innovative, unconventional writer.
OMG!!! It all sounds so amazing. And it'll be another huge (300 pages) book! I'm especially interested in the "several discussions of his aesthetics" mentioned here. See, certain people are always complaining that his poetry is not really poetry. These tend to be people who haven't read a poem written since the 19th century, in my opinion, and are stuck on Keats and some of the others. Loosen up a little, folks! You may be too rigid on line breaks -- God knows there's a crapload of you out there who are -- but Bukowski wrote meaningful, real-life, down-in-the-dirt POETRY, tons of it, and he could spin a mean line! So, look forward to this book coming out in September with me and rejoice!
Currently Listening October Rust By Type O Negative "My Girlfriend's Girlfriend" see related
What is something you feel you can do better than anyone else?
Well, I have an answer, but it is past tense, not present tense. I used to feel that I could publish my poems "better" ( as in more frequently, more prominently, more successfully) than virtually anyone else in the world!!! And to be honest, I proved it. For decades, I wrote daily, and I submitted poems daily, often to a good 10 magazines a day. For years. And I was wildly successful, in many ways. Not New Yorker successful, but good, solid literary journal successful. Over the years, my poems (as well as short fiction, essays, and academic papers) have appeared in literally hundreds of journals, in 26 countries and five languages! That's a pretty good track record, IMO. On top of that, during a 16 year period, I had 15 poetry collections published, and that's not too shabby either, IMO. Some sold well and went through multiple printings while others fizzled out, but that's the nature of the game. Among the literary journals my work has appeared in are The Minnesota Review, Wisconsin Review, Pacific Review, Hawaii Review, Poetry Ireland Review, Chiron Review, Lullwater Review, Arkansas Review, Asheville Poetry Review, and Southern Review. Those are just a few of the print journals my work has appeared in. I've also had a ton of stuff published online as well. I won't list those publications here though. I already feel guilty for tooting my own horn too much. But, hey, that was the featured question, and I answered it, so there you are....
I was browsing around ESPN.com this evening when I got home from work when I happened upon an utterly stunning news article about Tennessee All American basketball player, Chris Lofton. The headline read, "Tennessee's Lofton Quietly Faced and Beat Cancer." I obviously had to read the story immediately. The story tells us that Chris Lofton got testicular cancer about a year ago, had to have a very painful procedure and go for regular radiation treatments, leaving him weak and sick for quite a while. And NO ONE KNEW!!! (OK, his parents and the coaches knew, but no one else did, not even his teammates!) He internalized his pain and fear and made it through, often crying himself to sleep at night. His parents, who live in Kentucky, couldn't even come visit him because it might have drawn undue (media) attention, which he didn't want. Fortunately, it seems that Chris is now cancer-free and that's wonderful, because he is really a great young man and a heck of a basketball player.
While this story is in itself pretty amazing, I wish this information had been public, because poor Chris Lofton had to endure some awful criticism this past year. Including from me, both on my blog here and verbally to others around me. And now I feel ashamed. See, Chris Lofton is one of the greatest basketball players in Tennessee history, if not even college basketball history! He ended his career last month as the third leading all time three point shooter in NCAA history!!! That kid could shoot it, and from anywhere. He was an All American and won countless games on last second shots for the Vols over his four year career. He had a stellar junior season, averaging close to 21 points a game and winning SEC Player of the Year honors. Everyone expected his senior season to be that good too, if not even better.
But it wasn't. He started the year off looking pretty darn bad. After conference play started, his game picked up, but it tailed off badly in the playoffs and it wasn't a pretty way to end such a spectacular career. He still led the team in scoring, but at only about 15.5 points per game. His shooting percentage slumped too, and frankly, he just was no longer that go-to guy we'd all come to love and respect. Everyone, including me, still loved the kid, but wanted to know what the heck was wrong??? I mean, he just wasn't the same player and it was deeply disappointing. Now we know. The poor kid had cancer! He dropped about 15 pounds, didn't get to work out at all for quite a while, got winded easily, and his game was impacted by that, as would be the case for anyone. Frankly, I can't believe the courage he had to go out there and do what he did in the face of that dreadful disease and mounting public criticism. So, I just want to publicly apologize now for dogging him occasionally this past year. He'll never see this blog and that's OK, and I didn't know what he was going through either, but I feel like crap now and I am proud that he was a UT Vol and I wish him nothing but the best in the future. Here's to a great NBA career, Chris!
Since it's Sunday, I thought this would be an appropriate question. Should Christians be allowed to purchase and display their own license plates on their vehicles? That could be a tad controversial, right? But that's exactly what's going on in Florida. Certain legislators are attempting to allow a car tag that says "I Believe" with a cross and a stained glass window as the backdrop! That just blows my mind. Talk about state-sponsored religion! For Christians who want this to happen -- well, I never understand why most don't consider this -- how would you feel seeing a Star of David on a car tag with a line that says "I Don't Believe"? What about the Muslim symbol praising Allah or advocating jihad? That'd be nice too, wouldn't it? Where's it going to stop? Or will the only one allowed by the government be a Christian one? If so, that's got to be the most illegal, unconstitutional, unethical thing I can think of, practically. We came to this country, originally, to escape being told how to worship and what to worship -- for religious freedom, one that wasn't state-sponsored or endorsed. And now we're reverting to this? It makes me ill.
Most all of you know that my wife is Jewish. How's this comment from one of the legislators who voted AGAINST this measure:
"It's not a road I want to go down. I don't want to see the Star of
David next. I don't want to see a Torah next. None of that stuff is
appropriate to me," said Skidmore, a Democrat who voted against the
plate in committee. "I just believe that."
I understand the point this person is trying to make, but it rings of complete anti-Semitism to me. What this person is saying is they don't want the Christian car tag because, in actuality, they don't want to be forced to see a Jewish one in response. Nice. It's 2008, folks! Which is weird, because at times, it feels like it's becoming an 18th century America. It's bad enough to see anti-choice car tags in my -- and other -- states. I want to see pagans start clamoring for their right to a license plate. Maybe a nice goat sacrifice on the car tag, huh? Maybe then, these darn fundamentalists who think they run the country will see how rude, ridiculous, and inappropriate -- as well as offensive -- their attempt at state-mandated religion really is....
Feel free to discuss this issue amongst yourselves. Please do not feel obligated to make personal attacks on me for my thoughts on the subject....
True
I don't know what else we'll do while we are there in Atlanta, but it might be nice to visit the great High Museum, which Jen's never been to! We're really looking forward to this weekend.
