The Blog of Amanda Earl

a new site

2009-04-19T10:56:00.002-04:00

lovingly and brilliantly designed by Charles
to keep up with all my various shenanigans

www.amandaearl.com

Bywords Spring Reading

2009-04-15T11:08:00.002-04:00

2pm
Sunday, April 19
Dusty Owl Reading Series, Swizzles Bar and Grill, 246-B Queen Street

launch of the spring issue of the Bywords Quarterly Journal, starting our 7th year.
With readings by
Heather McLeod,
Colin Morton and
Claudia Coutu Radmore
and music by John Carroll

followed by the Dusty Owl's Open Mic and Object of Desire Contest hosted by Steve Zytveld.

the cover art for the spring BQJ was created by Gatineau visual artist Hélène Girard.

A Farewell to Blog

2009-03-04T21:08:00.001-05:00

after six years of blogging, i’ve decided to end my regular blogging activities. it may be that on occasion i put up an announcement, but that’s it. i’m not going to delete this blog or my other blogs.

thank you to all of you who’ve been following this blog. i’m looking forward to becoming just a reader of blogs. i’m sure i’ll pop up on line in various nooks and crannies. in the meantime i’m focussing on the study, reading, writing and publishing of poetry.

merci et bonne nuit, mes amis.

Scalawags & Rogues at the Owl

2009-03-02T09:30:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the Dusty Owl Reading Series hosted Jim Christy, author of Scalawags: Rogues Roustabouts, Wags and Scamps—Brazen Ne’er Do-Wells Through the Ages (Anvil Press, 2008).

Jim punctuated his entertaining stories with entertaining poems reminiscent of the Beats. He read a story about encountering an eccentric Russian count, Count Navratillini, who he’d met when he was a runway 12-year old kid. He also read a brief paragraph from the book about le Comte de Waldeck:

“On the occasion of his one-hundredth birthday, Jean-Frédéric Maximilien, Comte de Waldeck, led an American journalist to his fifth-floor painting studio in Montmartre. The young woman was winded by the climb whereas the Count, over six feet tall, ramrod straight and breathing easily, apologized for not being as sprightly as he used to be. ‘I sleep well and eat like a wolf but my legs are lazy these days, due to an old rattlesnake bite.’ "

In the book there is a plethora of eccentric rule breakers, including one of my favourites, Kiki of Montparnasse, kiki being French argot for an eager and willing vagina. Naturally that caught my attention right away. The stories are succinct and entertaining, representing a bygone era and Christy was an interesting man in his own right; he’s described as a literary vagabond, has written about Bukowski, who said about Christy “You remind me of Malraux,” has written 24 books. He’s been called a dormant anarchist, troublesome and cranky… someone who probably has a lot of stories yet to be told. I hope he comes back.

I have to say that the Dusty Owl is the perfect place for reprobates of all description. Christy fit in very well.

And jwcurry made a rare appearance at the open mic, reading poems to do with trains, since he’d heard that Christy was someone who’d jumped trains. the poems Curry read were full of sound gymnastics and his performance of them was entertaining and compelling. this is what i like about open mics, the surprise of a really good quality reading and piece of work.

Coming up at the Owl on March 15 is Call Me Katie, the band formed by Monty Reid, Sarah Hill and Mike Rivoche with some poetry hopefully thrown in as well. I want to hear Luskville Mud again. Swizzles where the Owl is hosted is the kind of bar where you’d expect to experience an Elvis sighting. Maybe at Call Me Katie.

And then on March 29, the Owl celebrates its 5th anniversary at Swizzles. expect surprises. expect evil Steve with voices choreographed by Christopher Doyle of Dog and Pony Sound. His participation giving the Owl the best sound for readings in Ottawa. rest assured, there are more scalawags, reprobates and rogues coming to the Owl.

Urban Graffiti X: this is not your tea and crumpet CanLit

2009-02-18T04:24:00.009-05:00

Urban Graffiti is published by Greensleeve Editions out of Edmonton. Volume X is a packed issue of great fiction, some cool photography and a bit of poetry too. Mark McCawley is the publisher/editor of the magazine. Mark says "Urban Graffiti is an irregularly published litzine of transgressive, discursive, post-realist writing concerned with the struggles of hard edged urban living, alternative lifestyles, deviant culture - presented in their most raw and unpretentious form."

If this is volume X, i’m assuming there are 9 more and i’d like to get my hands on them. The stories in X (thankfully the issue is available on line) are what are keeping me up at 4am. They are gritty; each one is unique and each one presents an aspect of humanity that society is fucked up over.

In Philip Quinn’s story, Transformer, we have murder in the voice of a serial killer. It’s chilling and brilliant. It’s disturbing to me that i feel compassion for the main character. i love being messed with like that.

In Bart Plagenta’s Beer Mystic: a novel of inebriation and light, we have forbidden desire of a jaded yet romantic drunk in love with a sixteen year old girl.

In Bill Brown’s Green Liquid Soap. we have incest between brothers, sadistic abuse, the consequences of bullying, the possibilities for revenge.

In Neale McDewitt’s tale, Anger on the Outskirts of Arcadia, we have obesity, anger, degradation and fucked up desire.

The language is powerful, tight, lyrical yet unsentimental. These stories make me want to write fiction again. All of these stories will likely wake you up in some way; they will keep you awake at 4am. if a story can do that, in my opinion, it is highly successful. the fact that Urban Graffitti X has managed to do that all the way through its thirty something pages is not just a success, it’s a bloody miracle.

You can read this on line for free over at the Greensleeve Editions blog. And you should. Right now. I’m excited that there is another publication,that, like Front&Centre (published by Black Bile Press in Ottawa) takes up the challenge of publishing stories that are not sweet and pretty Canlit tea with grandma as the snow falls.

I’m still haunted by this from Philip Quinn,’s Transformer:

“One night I picked up this red head. I pulled my part out and she sucked it, moaning like she actually enjoyed it.

I put my hands around her neck and tried to twist her into something else.
She didn’t become something else. She just went stiff, resistant, made it very difficult to work with her. Then I had to stuff her into a green garbage bag to keep her out of the way.

I decided to plant her in the ground like a flower. Two weeks later, I saw a hand sticking out that an animal had gnawed at.”

Talented Tongues at the Elmdale Tavern tonight

2009-02-15T05:28:00.003-05:00

7:30 pm, Elmdale House Tavern, 1084 Wellington Street

$6, featuring the charming and seductive Luna Allison

the tall, handsome and sexy Ritallin

and love anarchist Amanda Earl.

plus an open mic.

come join us in a post-valentine evening to celebrate sex, love, lust and debauchery.

[photo by Charles Earl, 2005]

The Factory Reading Series

2009-02-13T12:17:00.002-05:00

last night at the Ottawa Art Gallery’s Firestone Gallery was formidable in the French sense, which means fantastic and not formidable in English as in intimidating. Three DC Books affiliated authors read, two coming from Montreal and one from Toronto.

Angela Szczepaniak started off the evening with excerpts from her wonderful book Unisex Love Poems (Punchy Poetry, DC Books, 2008). She read a recipe for a honey combed heart, some deranged antics from the heroine of the book, Butterfingers, a typeface comic, appealing to all us font geeks in the room and there were many font geeks in the audience, i assure you, and a suite of etiquette advice. i was thrilled by the inventiveness of her work and also thrilled that there is a publisher out there willing to take on such fun stuff in Canada. Punchy is off to a great start. I've already really enjoyed Stuart Ross's Dead Cars in Managua (2008), another in the series.

Eva Moran read next from her novel Porny Stories (Punchy Writers Series, DC Books, 2008). the excerpt was crazy, original stuff with quirky characters and a kind of satire of Harlequin and chick lit at the same time. Eva’s writing had panache, imagination and skill. i was again enthralled by the inventiveness and unique character of the work. i wish i’d had a chance to talk more to Eva who has said in an interview with the Danforth Review that sex is her favourite subject. Since it is mine too, we had that in common. And I rarely meet anyone else brazen enough to say that out loud.

Lastly Jason Camlot, the editor of the Punchy Poetry Series, came up to read from three of his poetry collections: Attention All Typewriters (DC Books, 2005), The Animal Library (DC Books, 2000) and The Debaucher (Insomniac Press, 2008) as well as a new poem about playing Charlie Brown in a high school play and getting drunk and stoned with Linus. i have to say i loved Camlot’s work. it was playful, silly, witty, sensuous and provocative. I always say I’m not a big fan of rhyme, but when it’s skilfully done and playful as is Jason’s in The Debaucher, it can be exquisite fun. As he says in his long poem from the book: (and i apologize for not being able to format the spacing correctly):

Rhyme makes poetry debauch.
It leads a line regrettably astray.
It jars us off into apposite thought.
With sound, rhyme makes things touch that shouldn’t touch.
Caresses move from hand to knee to crotch
O so quickly when rhyme’s allowed to have its way.
And then everything changes instantly.
Adjacent thoughts that had been friendly and pragmatic,
now set aflame by rhyme, become dramatic.
A rhyme can give a word radical new meaning
When Byron rhymes bottle with Aristotle,
it makes me want to drink metaphysics
ice cold, on a hot day, without a glass.
It makes me want to drink beer until I’m sick,
I mean really puking so it’s coming out of me like
liquefied petroleum gas,
like those undergrads up in Montreal for the weekend from U Mass
(those guys are friggin’ hilarious)
who drink until they pass out on the grass
next day wake up with shards of beer bottle glass
stuck in their ass

-----
you’ll have to buy the book to enjoy more…

i also really enjoyed the poem he read from the Animal Library, “Kit Schubert Meets Kitsch Man” It was so inventive and imaginative. I wanted to buy Attention All Typewriters too, but there weren’t any more copies, alas ;)

In his interview in Open Book Toronto, Jason says that the poems from the Debaucher "will appeal to readers who have been led astray, enticed into doing something stupid, at least once in their lives, and who look back at such moments with fondness." this describes me to a tee. we need more debauchers in Ottawa or at least regular visits.

In his Danforth Review interview from 2005, Jason says he hopes that readers will love a poem here or there the way he loved certain Beatles songs when he was twelve or certain Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, the Smiths songs when he was twenty-two. and i have to say, i’m there. i loved many of his poems when i heard them and i’m looking forward to a chance to read them at leisure. over and over again, just like i do with a Bob Dylan song, still, at 45. (my age and not the old 45 rpm singles)

the New Stalgica, February edition

2009-02-10T10:11:00.001-05:00

took place last night at the Café Nostalgica and it was loads of fun. after a brief open mic which featured both poetry and prose by a handful of us, including Joseph Hutt, one of the students in Seymour Mayne’s Poetry/Creative Writing workshop, and Ryan Hume, who played his Zombie song, which is always a crowd favourite (and mine). After this there was a performance of “The Death of the Good” by the theatre group, Black Hand. It was a zany and fun way to start the night.

Christine McNair read from a selection of new poems which focussed on ghosts and miscommunications. Christine has been a feature for a few readings this year already: Ottawater and Bywords, but this time i felt she had more time to read in depth. I’d really like to see a chapbook or book by Christine soon so that I can take my time to read all the accumulation of interesting images and pause to contemplate. I’m looking forward to hearing Christine again later in the year as part of Tree’s Hot Ottawa Voices reading in July.

Was also great to hear Stephen Brockwell again. He read mostly from the Real Made Up. And this is a book I really love; it’s creative and full of play and skilful experimentation. He mentioned that new poems for him are usually about three years old. I wish he’d read from some more recent material. On the other hand, this particular audience would have been completely unfamiliar with his work, so his choice made sense and gave them a great idea of how excellent his writing is, hopefully inspiring them too, as he inspires me.

It was good to see the mostly university student audience get exposure to contemporary creative work. I expect that this doesn’t happen much in their classes. I know i was most surprised to learn that poets are actually alive and living in Ottawa.

People came from the crowded and noisy back room to hear the poets, which is a great compliment. For a Monday, the place was more than packed. J.P. Laflèche co-hosted with Sean Moreland, and skilfully handled the sound, which was particularly important as things got rowdy.

The evening ended with music by Line Dezainde, who goes by the nick name Zing, Zing since people have always had trouble pronouncing her last name. She was backed up by Click Here Host, Mitchell Caplan. I coveted both their guitars, but never got a chance to ask Line more about hers. Line had some interesting lyrics and playful songs and Mitchell did a fine job on backup, occasionally throwing in vocals as well. Line is also a visual artist, working in a variety of forms.

I’m jazzed by seeing writers i’ve never heard read at the open mic. I’m jazzed by the variety of talented and creative artists based in Ottawa. i’m also relieved to glide effortlessly across the city from Chinatown to Sandy Hill on a beautiful red and white bus. phew.

The next edition of the series takes place the second Monday in March. I’m eager to see what Sean will cook up next for us.

Bywords Warms the Night, Sunday Feb 1, 2pm

2009-01-30T07:42:00.003-05:00

[cover photo for the Bywords Quarterly Journal, Vol 6, No 4 by John W. MacDonald]

A fund raiser in support of the Cornerstone Shelter and Housing Program
Sunday, February 1, 2009, 2pm
Dusty Owl Reading Series
Swizzles Bar & Grill, 246-b Queen Street

Launch of the winter issue of the Bywords Quarterly Journal with poetry readings byChristine McNair, Claudia Coutu Radmore and Carol A. Stephen and music by Andrea Simms-Karpall donators will receive a copy of the issue and our thanks.

All genders welcome

What we're looking for is MONEY:
$21=7 meals;
$100 = counselling;
$75 = housing search help
$200= computer training.

Cornerstone provides emergency shelter and supportive housing for a diversity of women. Our services are offered in an environment which promotes dignity and a sense of hope. We are committed to public education and advocacy. We strive to increase safe, affordable housing and to end homelessness.

The Urgent Need:
1,337 women became homeless in Ottawa in 2007 and Cornerstone was only
able to serve 500 of them due to shortage of space;
We turn away 10 to 15 women each night.
Those women are staying in unsafe and sub standard living conditions or on the street;
Today there are 9,370 households waiting for affordable housing; a 7 year wait.
A little help goes a long way:
Gifts and donations help make our services possible.

further info: Amanda Earl: tel. 613 863-1364;
site: http://www.bywords.ca/; e-mail: editor@bywords.ca;

for Cornerstone: Yvonne Garvey, Resource Development Manager, Cornerstone Shelter and Housing for Women; 172 O'Connor St., Ottawa, ON K2P 1T5; Tel: 613-237-4669 ext.1 & 5 http://www.cornerstonewomen.ca/.

Ottawater 5.0 Launch Tonight

2009-01-29T09:12:00.002-05:00

Thursday, January 29
Ottawa Art Gallery, Arts Court , 2 Daley Ave.
doors 7pm; reading 7:30pm

Ottawa-based contributors who may or may not be reading (it's always a surprise):

Cameron Anstee
Michael Blouin
Stephen Brockwell
Monique Desnoyers
Amanda Earl (yes, i am reading)
Ben Ladouceur
Marcus McCann
rob mclennan
Christine McNair
Colin Morton
Jennifer Mulligan
Pearl Pirie
Roland Prevost
Monty Reid
Shane Rhodes
Sandra Ridley
Rob Winger

colour your world with the colourful Ottawater 5.0 today and check out the vaRiotous writing and art. you'll enjoy yourself.

Messagio Galore Take VI

2009-01-25T20:16:00.003-05:00

took place Saturday night at the City Hall Art Gallery as part of Max Middle’s A B Series. the room was packed despite the bus strike, despite the cold, despite the $15 cost, despite the fact that it was a Saturday night. the audience was receptive and rapt during the performance of this latest edition of Messagio Galore. jwcurry was the creator , compiler and choreographer of the event and of the Messagio Galore series of performances that have included Rob Read, Nicholas Power, Maria Erskine, Laurie Fuhr, Ross Priddle, Max Middle and more. Messagio Galore comes from Frank Zappa’s Massagio Galore, “a swirling musique concrete melody set to a propulsive synthetic vamp. it is arguably his earliest & dense work involving programmed nonsyntactical sound produced by mouth, its musical component pretty much a support structure. There have been many composers working with the notion of the sprechgesang but fewer writers have approached the question of what happens to "words in freedom" except in isolated clutches (DaDa in Zurich, Italian & Russian Futurism, the later French Lettristes." – jwcurry. there’s a great write up of a previous MG here.

performing on saturday night were jwcurry, John Lavery, who has been involved in MG and in the Max Middle Sound Poet previously, Roland Prevost, a first timer with MG, Carmel Purkis, another person whose been involved with MG performances of the past, Sandra Ridely and Grant Wilkins, both first timers.

as Rod Pederson said in his summary of the event, the time flew by. it was like listening to a virtuoso performance by an orchestra, complete with conductor/maestro jwcurry and various groupings of solos, duos, trios and full sextet. sound poetry compositions that i have heard (and i admit to having only experienced a handful of performances--the Four Horsemen, the Max Middle Sound Project, Jaap Blonk and Messagio Galore) are much like musical compositions with concentration on timing, sounds coming together and separating with crescendos and diminuendos in the performance, moments of silence and moments of cacophony. some works were done as tightly controlled pieces requiring much rehearsal while others were improvisational. attention was paid to discreet units of sound and to repetition, to word play. timing was sometimes comic, fortuitous accidents such as missing a page from the script (during bpNichol's "hour three" (thanks, Carmel for the correction!) were handled with ease and playfulness and all was mesmerizing.

according to the programme, not all of the pieces were intended as sound compositions but were chosen for properties that made them potentially viable as sound pieces.

i very much enjoyed the whole evening. everything was a highlight for me but i’ll mention a few that particularly stood out:

John Cage’s Lecture on Nothing (USA, 1949), performed by the entire group throughout the evening, serving as a structural frame to separate the segments of the evening. it set the tone for the evening, the joy of sound and its silences, the pleasure of nothing. “i have nothing to say and i’m saying it.”

How the Pigs’ Music Works, Frank Zappa (USA, 1994), performed as a trio by John Lavery, Roland Prevost and Carmel Purkis. turns the song into a kind of play. i haven’t heard the song but makes me go back to take a listen. it felt like a poke at the manufacturers of jargon and the double speak we have to listen to day in and day out.

sounds’ favorite words, Paul Hines (1986) , performed by jwcurry. i agreed with all of the words. damn my retention that i can’t remember a one of ‘em. Carmel gave me a few just now though: "blue pencilled, baby microscope, mutt .... and of course, their all time favorite, inkling"

The Man on the Flying Trapeze, Spike Jones/Doodles Weaver (USA, 1947), performed by jwcurry. a reinterpretation of each line, with the words changed, based perhaps on the idea of mishearing words.

She Was A Visitor by Robert Ashley (1967-thanks Carmel for the title!) toward the end, Maria Erskine, who has been a part of MG before and was in town from Toronto for the evening’s performance, came up to perform with the group. it was an eerie and ethereal part of the night. the piece being about a woman who committed suicide. Carmel tells me "It wasn't in the program, because it was a sort of add on to the night, somewhat outside of the cage of the Cage. A surprise gift to the audience - and us :)"

getting there rapid, jwcurry/Qaani Lore (Canada, 1989?) performed by Carmel Purkis and Sandra Ridley, in lament of the current bus strike.

The Tibetan Memory Trick, traditional arranged by the Phlorescent Leech and Eddie (Howard Kaylan/Mark volman; USA, 1975) and performed by the sextet. i love this. i’ve heard Carmel and jwcurry practising this over and over in pubs, on street corners. it’s also referred to as the announcers’ test and has been performed by people such as Danny Kaye.

other pieces included compositions by bpNichol, by F.T Marinetti and more. it was an incredible night. the success of such a performance depends on not only the performers but also the engagement of the listeners and this was a very engaged and attentive audience. afterward Max drew wonderful door prizes for books by bpNichol, Coach House Books packages, gift certificates to Irene’s Pub and more. there were munchies, drinks, good company and great performances. yes, that’s what the A B Series is becoming known for. it’s one of the most nurturing series and the most creatively inspiring in this town right now. hats off to Max Middle, the instigator.

the performers were exhausted but had the look of wild eyed angels after having accomplished impossible feats. i hope they are still celebrating. magnums of champagne to them and especially to jwcurry.

if you have the chance to go to the next Messagio Galore, and i do hope there is a next one, you have to drop everything and go. it will make you engage with words and with sound on a very different level to what you are used to, and for those of us trying to write anything at all, isn’t that what we’re trying to do?

next in the A B Series and co-presented by Kevin Matthews is Hear from Melbourne, four of Australia’s hottest performance poets: Emilie Zoey Baker, Sesan M. Whelan, Alicia Sometimes and Justin Ashworth with the Young Griot Collective and Max Middle, February 6, 2009, 7:30 pm, NAC Fourth Stage; tickets $18 available from Max via http://www.abseries.org/ or the NAC box office.

Memories of Steve Sauvé

2009-01-17T17:19:00.006-05:00

[photo by Charles Earl]

Charles and i first met Steve at Café Nostalgica back in the fall of 2001 when Kristy McKay and Trevor Tchir began the Thursday Night Open Stage for Music and Poetry. I hadn’t read much before and was pretty nervous and so was Steve. The audience was full of students, mostly intent on the music and the drink and each other. Getting them to pay attention to poetry was no easy feat, but it wasn’t long before everyone was laughing at Steve’s spoken word pieces, mostly autobiographical, making fun of his trouble getting girls or his thinness or geekyness. The open stage was a mixed bag of poetry, with various styles, lots of angsty woe is me stuff or smut or comedy or serious poems about snow and flowers, we had it all. Along with the musicians, we became a pretty tight community and Steve was very much part of the community.

in 2003, Trevor decided we should record a live CD, Thursday Heroes. we had a fantastic time during the recording. Steve was wonderful and funny, in fine form. His poem, Sweetest Marie, is on the CD. Others on the CD are Kristy McKay, me, John Gillies, Max Middle, Kris Northey and musicians Trevor Tchir, Emil Pelletier, John Carroll, Peter Webb, Kevin Grant, Rozalind MacPhail, members of the now Soul Jazz Orchestra and others. i’ll never forget how much fun it was to be part of that community and how much i learned about performing, a lot of it from seeing Steve develop his style.

in 2004 after Trevor and Kristy moved to Alberta, Charles and i mostly stopped going to the open stage at Café Nostalgica, so we didn’t see much of Steve, but when we heard he was in the hospital for open heart surgery, we went to visit him. i still remember laughing with him over his body being too long for the bed in intensive care. even then he was laughing, trying to make the best of things.

during his recuperation and after that we didn’t see Steve much, just off and on at readings over the years. i followed his livejournal blog. i was so happy when he and Faye met. both very strong creative forces, both loving people.

like for many artists, Steve was constantly in and out of work, trying various stuff. at one point Charles ran into him near his office in the east end, where he was doing manual labour. we were both very worried about Steve at that point, but somewhere along the line, even work was getting straightened out. he’d started at Algonquin College where he’d discovered a love and talent for graphic design. he got work at NRCan and things seemed to be going great.

i’m not much of a follower of spoken word but i was always pleased to hear when Steve did well at the slams and he was on the Capital Slam team more than once from what I understand.
i witnessed his meeting of jwcurry at the Ottawa Writers Festival a few years ago when we were there to see a documentary on the local poetry scene. i can’t remember who was wearing the Frank Zappa t-shirt, John or Steve, but they were quite excited to find mutual admirers of Zappa. i remember smiling at the meeting, two people from very different sides of the literary community, but with something in common.

then just recently, in August, Warren Dean Fulton came to town and organized a wondrous pub crawl “In Search of Harvey, the 1st annual pooka pub crawl” Steve decided to come along. It was ages since we’d seen him, so it was a great opportunity to hang out, get drunk together and write poetry.

i know it seems at times like there are quite a few differences and groups within Ottawa’s literary community, but Steve made his mark on the community at large and this goes a long way to showing that we’re really all in the same family. i respect what Steve achieved with his poetry and admire the closeness of the spoken word community here. they’re good folks and they care very much and support one another as they did with Steve.
on behalf of Charles and myself, i send love and condolences to Faye and all those who knew Steve. we share in the celebration of his memory.

a toast to Steve Sauvé.
(October 12, 1975-January 17, 2009)

jeff buckley

2009-01-14T14:37:00.001-05:00

Debut of the New Stalgica on Monday, January 12, 2009

2009-01-07T21:18:00.003-05:00

a new reading series hosted by Sean Moreland at Cafe Nostalgica, 603 Cumberland Street

# 1 features

Jamie Bradley
Amanda Earl
John Gillies
Marcus McCann
Sean Moreland
Sandra Ridley

Sean says "Launching a new monthly poetry event for 2009, on January 12, six explosively excellent local poets willbe sharing a variety of their work in a carnivalesque cabaret....Subsequent events will be on the 2nd monday of each month, and will feature 1-2 featured readers followed by an open mic."

photo by Charles Earl

end of year wrap up

2008-12-31T00:00:00.003-05:00

i’m writing this entry as i’m listening to the beautiful music of Sirena Huang, an 11 year old violinist. The sound of the violin for me evokes the colour purple, mostly dark shades flirting with navy blues, blacks and blood red. i can’t play a violin and i’m never going to be able to, and i don’t want to even try. sometimes i can eek out a lovely chord progression on the guitar.
just now a flock or was it several flocks of pigeons flew past my balcony window over and over again, black on white powdered snow falling. whenever this happens i always try to take a photo, but i can never capture their movement. or at least it doesn’t translate into the beauty i see when they fly by.

i was planning on writing up a tally of accomplishments for this entry, something that would have numbers, a list of places where i’d read and been published this year, but then i got distracted by the violin and the colour purple and the black pigeons flight over white snow and the idea of creativity and unlikely things coming together, so…instead i’ll just say…it’s been a good year. thank you for enriching it with your beauty, your intelligence, your creativity, your compassion, your kindness, your intensity and your flare. thank you for making me savour the spring, even on this dark winter evening.

for auld lang syne, my dear

recap meme: start of first post of each month in 2008

2008-12-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

from Pearl

December - it was an interesting time.

November - in honour of today’s American election.

October - in celebration of the release of The Bootleg Series, Vol 8, Tell Tale Signs

September - rant about Citizen's lack of poetry coverage

August - Pearl Pirie and I will be reading to promote the upcoming above/ground press fifteen anniversary event

July - the blue sky people are complaining about the rain

June - for only $10 a year. that means you get everything john curry produces that year in the 1 cent series for the measly sum of ten smackers

May - Adam Getty read this afternoon at Plan 99 at the Manx

April - Kate Sutherland has issued a challenge; she would like folks to post entries about poetry

March - Stephen Brockwell was the featured reader at the Dusty Owl yesterday

February - um...it may be more like croaking. i've got a cold and my voice is really awful

January - The first reading of the year that I attended was the Dusty Owl, featuring Toronto short story writer, Kate Sutherland.

Peter F. Yacht Club-Xmas Party and Issue Launch

2008-12-24T11:57:00.003-05:00

Sunday, December 28, 2008

The Carleton Tavern (upstairs)

223 Armstrong Avenue (at Parkdale Market)

7pm doors; 7:30pm reading

launch of the 5th anniversary issue

featuring anarchy, madness and the apocalypse

lovingly hosted by Amanda Earl

with readings by

Cameron Anstee, Amanda Earl, John Gillies, Ben Ladouceur, Marcus McCann, rob mclennan, Jennifer Mulligan, Pearl Pirie, Sandra Ridley, Stephen Rowntree...

and perhaps more...and leftover xmas cheer brought to you in the form of pitchers and oversize bottles of beer...

Strap on your super slider snowskates and slip on over to the Carleton.

Happy Tenth Anniversary, Front&Centre Magazine

2008-12-22T07:23:00.003-05:00

Issue #20 of Front & Centre marks the magazine’s tenth anniversary and to celebrate editor/publisher Matthew Firth includes a free beer ticket so that you can have a beer with him sometime.

I’ve been a follower of the publication for a few years now. It’s published by Firth’s small press, Black Bile Press, which also publishes chapbooks. Black Bile is located in Ottawa and is run by Firth without any kind of government funding.

Firth’s own writing style is plain-spoken, unadorned and gritty and that’s the style of F&C. The other editor of F&C is Bill Brown, a talented Ottawa short fiction writer. Short stories published in F&C tend to deal with the down and outers, the poor, the marginalized, the mentally unstable, those in broken marriages and so forth. In addition there are the reviews. Firth and Brown are the primary review writers but on occasion, other frequent contributors to the magazine write the reviews. The reviews are usually about short fiction, sometimes a novel or two, mostly from the small press world. Some of the books are fairly obscure in mainstream literature. The reviews can be biting. Firth and gang do not put up with anything syrupy or sentimental. The reviews though sometimes harsh are honest and unpretentious. Front&Centre has introduced me to a variety of writers who I’ve never heard of because they aren’t reviewed or published in mainstream fiction.

One of the things I noticed in Issue #20 is that many of the contributors have also been published by The Puritan, a former local literary prose journal, now based in Toronto. I recently spoke with an F&C writer who asked me if there was something in the water in Ottawa because of the fact that we have so many good small press publishers here. Front&Centre is definitely a striking example of good publishing and writing.

Issue #20 of F&C is my favourite so far. Of particular note was Bill Brown’s story “Opera Quiz” about a man’s relationship with his Thai boy toy who perhaps is more than just a boy toy after all. Brown’s writing is smooth and definitely not sentimental, with its references to golden showers and ass play. That’s one of the things I love about F&C, it doesn’t shy away from sex. That’s one of my issues with mainstream literature and if you’re a regular reader you’ve heard me remark on that time and again, so I won’t harp on that again.

Other particularly noteworthy stories in Issue #20 were “the Devil” by Turkish writer Jansek Berkok Shami, a fable-like tale about a woman whose marriage has ended. The Devil takes bones from her skull and uses them to make chess pieces. Quirky stuff.

My favourite story of the issue is Kingston writer Christina Decarie’s” Hot Ketchup and Vinegar” about a homeless woman who is helped out by a hippie. Her savouring of the fries he gives her made me want to rush out and buy a bag. Decarie’s story is an example of what I mean by not sentimental. She’s portraying a poor, downtrodden homeless woman, but she doesn’t resort to clichés and she doesn’t let us feel sorry for the woman. There’s compassion but not condescension. I’ve seen Decarie’s fiction before in the Puritan and now I intend to go back and read it some more.

As I mentioned Black Bile Press also publishes short fiction in chapbook form. The latest batch included three chapbooks, and the most memorable of these for me was Edmonton writer Mark McCawley’s “Sick Lazy Fuck” about a man who ends up committed in a mental ward. Like with Decarie’s story, you get inside the head of the main character/narrator. His life sucks and he’s just going through the motions trying to cope. This means not flushing the toilet after a bowel movement when the nurse gives him a hard time and letting the resident nympho patient fuck him every chance she gets.

If you’re looking for good fiction, honest reviews and a hell of a good magazine, you should get yourself a subscription to Front&Centre and buy a bunch of gift subscriptions for your buddies, so that it’ll be around for another ten years. You can also find single copies at Venus Envy from time to time and from the Bywords.ca online store.

A toast to Matthew Firth who devotes time I know he doesn’t really have to Front&Centre. And to Bill Brown, co-editor. Thanks for all you do. And I do plan on claiming my beer in exchange for that red ticket tucked into the issue, but I promise to order something cheap and domestic.

oh and a ps...this year i've been reading a lot of short stories, in particular taking a dip into the Penguin Anthology and the New Quarterly/Canadian Notes and Queries and been bored, bored, bored. yep, more stories about winter, more taking tea with Grandma, endless references to World War 2 again. F&C gives me hope. nuff said.

WHAT KIND OF OTTAWA DO YOU WANT? (Ottawa Citizen, 19 Dec 2008, Page F4)

2008-12-19T07:46:00.004-05:00

I urge everyone to respond to Ken Gray of the Ottawa Citizen who asks us what kind of city we want. E-mail him at kgray@thecitizen.canwest.com

Here's my answer:

Dear Mr. Gray,

In regards to your column on what kind of city residents want, thank you for asking. Ottawa is unique in Canada in that it is not just a city but also our nation’s capital. While the latter is important, it is the former status that I would like to address. I want Ottawa to shape its identity as a city in order to be a vibrant and enjoyable place where people want to live.

In that regard, here are a few things on my xmas list:

I want to live in a city where arts and culture are valued and treated as essential. This means investment in facilities such as the Ottawa Art Gallery, the Ottawa School of Art, the School for Photographic Arts Ottawa, local theatre, and festivals such as the Ottawa International Writers Festival and the Ottawa Folk Festival. It also means providing funding to individual artists and writers who live in the city and contribute to making this city vibrant.

I want to live in a city where our downtown is as car free as possible. Areas such as the Byward Market and Sparks Street should be traffic free. More bike paths and bike racks would be a good idea too. I think there should be incentives not to own or drive cars in this city.

I want to live in a city with a vibrant and busy downtown. That means allowing bars to be open late, allowing more night clubs in the Byward Market, more cafes, more downtown theatres, more venues where one can go to see various styles of entertainment. I want to see more shops such as used clothing stores, record stores and bookstores, cafes devoted to knitters and crafters. I’d like to see more 24-hour stores and cafes, laundrymats and bus service.

I want to live in a city with good bus service. One of the issues for me has always been OC Transpo’s tendency to want every bus to go through the downtown core. That isn’t necessary. Also it doesn’t make sense that almost all downtown buses have to travel on Albert and Slater streets, clogging up the roads. Buses should be travelling on more of the downtown streets, making transit a more accessible option. Right now if you want to travel east on Somerset past Bank, for instance, there are no bus options. In some cities, such as Winnipeg, buses have been free in the downtown areas. That would be a good way to encourage people to move around downtown from Elgin Street to the Market, which would help local business.

I want to live in a diverse city that celebrates all cultures, ethnic groups and sexual orientations. I want Bank Street to become a gaybourhood so that we can celebrate the GLBT community.

I want to live in a city that promotes and has a healthy attitude toward sexuality. I’d like to see more community health centres in the downtown core, more places where one can receive anonymous HIV testing and counselling. I’d like to see more sex shops like Venus Envy in Ottawa, more clubs that offer adults the opportunity to celebrate sex and sexuality. More resources available to teens so that they can learn about sex in a bias free environment.

I want to live in a city that takes care of people who have to live in poverty. I want to see care and attention given to the homeless and support given to those who are trying to break free from drug and alcohol addiction. I want to live in a city where the police force is compassionate and not too quick to use force on the disadvantaged. I want to see more opportunities available in the downtown area to donate food and clothing, more boxes like the Salvation Army boxes, which have disappeared in the downtown area. I want to see more money given to organizations like the Cornerstone Women’s Shelter, which provides emergency shelter for homeless women downtown but doesn’t have enough facilities to accommodate the increasing numbers of homeless women or women running from domestic abuse.

I want to live in a city with parks and recreational facilities and green space. I’m alarmed at the rate of new luxury condominiums that are springing up in the downtown core or at Lebreton, taking up beautiful riverfront space. We need more community gardens, more places for composting in the downtown core.

I want to live in a city with a good library system, where the libraries are open seven days a week from early in the morning to late in the evenings. I want the auditoriums and spaces in libraries to be used for seminars and literary readings.

I want to live in a city where the mayor is compassionate towards the people, sees social services and culture as fundamental to the city’s well-being. I want to live in a city where the mayor can work with people not always be in a position of conflict and confrontation or stubbornness. I want to live in a city where the mayor allows experts such as labour negotiators to do their job.

Finally, one of the things that I think was a big mistake in Ottawa was amalgamation. Rural and urban concerns and requirements are quite different and I think both communities are being treated poorly under amalgamation; therefore, I want to live in a smaller city, one that doesn’t include the outskirts of Gloucester, Nepean and beyond.

Thank you for giving me an opportunity to think about this issue. At a time when the City ofOttawa is undergoing one of its worst periods of esteem, thanks to a very divisive mayor with no real vision for the City, what you’ve suggested is particularly important. I look forward to reading the responses from others.

regards,

Amanda Earl

WHAT KIND OF OTTAWA DO YOU WANT?
KEN GRAY
Ottawa Citizen
19 Dec 2008

During an interview I had recently with noted author and academic Richard Florida, I asked him how he would market Ottawa. Mr. Florida replied with a story about the great urban critic Jane Jacobs. He asked her post9/11 how she would develop the World...read more...

Canada’s Sexiest Artists-all genres, all genders list

2008-12-17T02:47:00.000-05:00

sexiest artists that are in or have passed thru Ottawa…

Theatre

Wajdi Mouawad, Playwright and Artistic Director of the NAC French Theatre
i heard him speak at the Vote Culture Town Hall Meeting this fall; he was inspiring and passionate.

Jessica Ruano, theatre student, creator of the Ottawa Arts Newsletter, cultural activist
first met Jessica at the Café Nostalgica open set on Thursday nights when she was still at Canterbury. i knew she would be a dynamo and she hasn’t disappointed me yet.

Visual Arts / Graphic Comics

Emily Falvey, independent art curator, writer of both poetry and prose, brilliant and beautiful.

Patrick John Mills is a visual artist and gallery owner who i saw painting a mural at the Ottawa Art Gallery’s art auction a few years ago. yes, i have a thing for redheads and gorgeous intense art.

Kim Hoang, just met her at the recent small press fair; talented and bursting with creative energy.

Colin White, also made his acquaintance at the fair. sexy hair and witty comix.

Fiction

Mike Blouin, also writes poetry, but it’s his novel Chase and Haven, that has me enamoured and that Tom Waits hat and silver hair. yes, darling, silver is sexy. in hair and of tongue.

Matthew Firth, the publisher and editor of Front&Centre Magazine, an expert short story writer with a dark and temperament that is irresistible.

Megan Butcher= fiction, poetry and blogging for this lithe and sensitive kindred spirit who bares her soul regularly on her blog.

John Lavery for his gift of the tongue both in words and song.

Photography

Dante Was Here, a new coterie of photographers that includes my sexy mate, Charles Earl, Yannis Souris, Azimir Burzic, Peter Juranka, Robert James, Eric Fruhauf, Menno Spijker, Bob Acton, Maureen Murphy, Natasha Penknovich and Caroline Gomersall; many of them were recently part of an exhibit at the Armada Club in the Byward Market and the pics were smouldering and sexy. they meet regularly to critique and exchange tips.

John W. MacDonald-it’s that sweet and innocent smile and the not so innocent Nikon

Poetry

Sandra Ridley, Marcus McCann, Stephen Brockwell, rob mclennan, Monty Reid, David O’Meara, Christine McNair, Anita Dolman, Jennifer Mulligan, Gwen Guth, Kate Hunt, Shane Rhodes (and probably a bunch more i’m forgetting)

all of these writers create new and amazing work i admire; some like rob and Jennifer are renaissance artists, they publish too or work in other genres, such as film, fiction, reviews, essays, interviews, music , theatre and more. beautiful on the inside and out.

the University of Ottawa English Department

do they put something in the water there? PhD students, sessional lecturers and professors are beautiful and intelligent writers and organizers:

Jamie Bradley, Sean Moreland, Robert Stacey (and probably more i haven’t met yet ;)

Ottawa Arts Review – Marc and Tiffany et al…
good to see the energy of these two, but we need more issues, don’t tarry…

Carleton University

– In/Words staff
Cameron Anstee, Mark Sokolwosi, Peter Gibbon, Ben Ladouceur

The Moose and Pussy

Jeff Blackman and Kate Maxfield for being courageous and creative and having the initiative to start up a magazine about ….sssssh sex.

Music

Melissa Laveaux, Phil Lafreniere, Mike Yates and the Candidates, John Gillies, Glenn Nuotio, Andrea Simms-Karp

Storytelling and Spoken Word

Ivan E. Coyote

weren’t we lucky Ivan was here for a bit to entertain us all?

Luna Allison, a beautiful and talented new addition to Ottawa.

Kevin Matthews, Greg Frankson and Free Will

no, i’m not into spoken word, but these guys…for them, i’d enjoy it…words too. spoken and unspoken.

Karaoke

Dog and Pony Sound-Christopher Doyle and for his sexy words and sound at the Owl on Sunday afternoons.

Just passing thru

Natalie Zina Walschots, Steve Heighton, Suzanne Buffam, Daniel Allen Cox, Maria Erskine, Nathaniel G. Moore, Jay MillAr, Gustave Morin, George Murray, Leigh Nash, Robert Priest, Ron Sexsmith, William Neil Scott, Sherwin Tja, Michael Winter, Matthew Zapruder
please come back!

Ex-Ottawans

Kristy McKay, Trevor Tchir, Andrew Faulkner, Spencer Gordon, Jeff Fry, Laurie Fuhr, Warren Dean Fulton, Melanie Little, Peter Norman, Rozaline MacPhail, Wanda O’Connor, Adam Petrashek, Melissa Upfold, Lisa Slater
please come back!

Newbies

Alastair Larwill and Ryan Hume have shown up this year at open mics charming and entertaining us all.

who else should be on the list and which artists will help Ottawa lose the dour, anti-arts reputation and sex us up in 2009? it could be you....

Top Ten Poetry Whatzits of 2008

2008-12-16T07:30:00.001-05:00

[includes books, chapbooks, journals, broadsheets…what have you]

Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (Book Thug, Department of Reissue, 2008)

Every Way Oakly, Steve McCaffery (Book Thug Department of Reissue, 2008)

Matter, Meredith Quartermain (Book Thug, 2008)

Night Scenes, Lisa Jarnot (Flood Editions, 2008)

Open Letter, bpNichol + 20, Thirteenth Series, Number 5, Spring, 2008

Off the Fly, Gustave Morin, Griddle Grin Publications, October, 2008

The Sharon Thesen Issue ,The Capilano Review 3.5, Spring, 2008

After Rilke, To Forget You Sang, Mark Goldstein (Book Thug, 2008)

Force quit, Marcus McCann (The Emergency Response Unit, 2008)

Sandra Ridley, Lift (JackPine Press, June, 2008)

--

Most innovative publisher – Book Thug

Best on line poetry site and resource – Ditchpoetry.com

2008 Top 12 Top Ten Songs

2008-12-15T22:26:00.000-05:00

January - the Cornflakes Song – (feat Glen Phillips) Dick Prall

February – Piano Blink (Las Manlicious Version) Hawksley Workman

March-the Greatest Fire – Violet Lyal (Out of Pocket Compilation)

April-Heaven and Alchemy - Siouxie

May-Start Wearing Purple – Gogol Bordello

June-New Romantic – Laura Marling

July-Feels like Rain – Buddy Guy

August-Black Rice - Women

September-I Adore You, Esperanza Spalding

October-Born In Time – Bob Dylan

November-Ronald McRaygun-Dayglo Abortions

December-Visions of Johanna – Bob Dylan

Top CD for 2008 – The Bootleg Series, Vol. 8, Tell Tale Signs, Bob Dylan

Best site to get free and new music: www.zunior.com

Best music podcasts: CBC Concerts On Demand

December top ten

2008-12-15T21:36:00.001-05:00

1. Visions of Johanna from Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan
2. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands “
3. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues, I’m Not There Soundtrack, Cover by Ramblin’ Jack Elliott
4. Love Minus Zero / No Limit, A Nod To Bob, Cover by Eliza Gilkyson
5. Falling Slowly, Once,the Soundtrack, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
6. When Your Mind’s Made Up, “
7. I’m Not There, I’m Not There, the Soundtrack, Bob Dylan
8. Sing A Song For You, The Dream Belongs To, Tim Buckley
9. Buzzin’ Fly, Dream Letter, Tim Buckley
10. No Need To Cry, FurnaceRoom Lullaby, Neko Case

cadged from Pearl's blog

2008-12-14T17:08:00.000-05:00

Your rainbow is strongly shaded red.

What is says about you: You are a passionate person. You appreciate energetic people. You get bored easily and want friends who will keep up with you.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.