The Best American Poetry

Harebrained "Page Eight"

Did anyone else watch PBS Sunday evening at nine pm to see David Hare's much ballyhooed all-star-cast British drama on the fashionable subject of intelligence and espionage? The weakness of the play is the McGuffin. It is out in the open -- the playwright did not have the Hitchcockian good sense to keep it concealed or to bury it in the plot. What is the shocking secret that could bring the Prime Minister to shame, and that forces him him to avoid being blackmailed by promoting a Home Secretary to Deputy Prime Minister? It is just that the heads of His Majesty's government (read Tony Blair) knew that the arrogant cowboys across the Atlantic were obtaining vital information by tortuting prisoners in camps. The suppressed info is not all that shocking on the one hand and on the other it lacks the moral urgency and clarity of the secret that, for example, haunts Joe Keller in Arthur Miller's "All My Sons." What are they pissed off about, those who would be righteous in England's green and pleasant land? Is it that the Yanks are using torture? Or is it that the info obtained therefrom, including possible terrorist activity in England, was not properly shared with the Brits? If you answer with the former you can't also be bugged by the latter without quoting Emerson on a foolish consistency, blinking and downing your Scotch and soda. All that talent -- all those fine actors, Michael Gambon, Judy Davis, Bill Nighy, Rachel Weisz -- with so little to show for it. -- DL

One-Season Wonders (by Laura Orem)

Back in the day, before the Internet and five million cable channels and YouTube and Netflix, television viewers were pretty much at the mercy of network programmers. Of which there were then three: ABC, NBC, and CBS. In the late 1960s, they were joined by PBS; in the early 1980s, by CNN. CNN, however, being an all-news channel, there was little chance of getting emotionally attached to any of the programming.

Otherwise, every season television viewers ran the risk of becoming deeply involved with a show, only to have it canceled after 13 or 26 weeks. (Yes, dear readers, once upon a time, a season was half a year long.) And canceled meant canceled: shows disappeared into the ether, never to be seen again - until the Web arrived to save the day, as long as the master tapes hadn't been erased. (This almost happened to Monty Python's Flying Circus. The BBC were getting ready to pitch the originals when Terry Gilliam, no fool he, bought them for almost nothing.)

One such show was Our World. Broadcast on ABC during the 1986-1987 season, it was a news magazine hosted by the journalists Linda Ellerbee (right) and Ray Gandolf (below left). Each program featured a short but significant era in American history, and explored the historical, political, artistic, and pop culture context of the time with interviews, film clips, music, and commentary. Ellerbee and Gandolf were wonderful hosts - old-school journalists who eschewed spin, but humorous, warm, and cognizant of their audience's intelligence. It was a terrific show, stylish, smart, fun, and informative. It also had the misfortune of airing opposite one of the most popular programs in television history: The Cosby Show.

It is difficult to know what goes on in the minds of television programmers. Our World got rave reviews from critics, educators, and viewers alike, but it could not compete with the juggernaut that was The Cosby Show's audience. News programs always have smaller audiences than entertainment programs; ABC must have known that and known that Our World would never match Cosby's numbers. In fact, over the course of the season, Our World did not lose any viewers; those who loved it, loved it and stayed loyal. But instead of moving Our World to a different time-slot and maybe building its audience, ABC canceled it after one season.

I've been pissed at them ever since.

I thought Our World was gone forever, until a couple of weeks ago, when I found it on YouTube. The only reason it's there is because a YouTuber uploaded it from old VCR recordings. (God bless you, vistavuelounge.) Below is part 1 of the first episode: "The Summer of '69." You also get the benefit of some vintage '80s commercials (no such thing as DVRs back then), but they're fun, too. Then I've included the links to the rest of the episode - you can find other episodes by following them back to YouTube. (And no laughing at Linda Ellerbee's ginormous glasses. I bet you had a pair just like them.)

I wish ABC would release Our World on DVD. It's the least they could do. I've been waiting almost 30 years.

 

 

 

 

Epsiode 1, Part 2

Episode 1, Part 3

Episode 1, Part 4

Episode 1, Part 5

Episode 1, Part 6

Episode 1, Part 7

Samantha Zighelboim says, "Why don't you write about things that make you happy?" (Ray DeJesús)

During a conversation with Samantha the other day, it was suggested that my next post simply be about things that make me happy. Below, you will a find a harum-scarum list of some of the things that happen to make this crazy cat smile. This one is for you, Sam.

1. Books by Rod Smith: Deed, Protective Immediacy, Music or Honesty, In Memory of My Theories, et al
2. Reruns of Three's Company
3. Jim Jarmusch
4. Books by Rachel Zolf: Human Resources, Masque, Neighbour Procedure, et al
5. Claire Donato's chapbook and website: Someone Else's Body and somanytumbleweeds, respectively
6. Supermachine Magazine          
7. Books of Ben Mirov: Ghost Machine, I is Vorticism, Vortexts, et al
8. Maggy Poetry Magazine
9. 1913: a Journal of Forms
10. The work of Mark Bibbins: Sky Lounge, The Dance of No Hard Feelings, his work at The Awl, his apartment
11. Elaine Equi's whimsy and brilliance
12. The Melvins
13. The Ramones
14. The Smiths
15. George MacLarty
16. Vanessa Place
17. St. Mark's Bookshop
18. Telephone (eited by Sharmila Cohen and Paul Legault
19. My dog, Zoe
20. My cat, Mischa
21. Street punk, crust punk, pop punk, chaos punk, anarcho-punk
22. Maximum Rocknroll magazine
23. Victor Hernández Cruz's Maraca (Coffee House Press, 2001)
24. Robert Fernandez's We are Pharaoh (Canarium Press)
25. Laura Minor's music, poetry
26. The Song Cave (Edited by Ben Estes and Alan Felsenthal)
27. Flying Object, Hadley, Mass-Dynamite people
28. LL Cool J
29. Christine Kanowink's red hair
30. Augury Books (Edited by Christine Kanowink and Kate Angus)
31. Roger Federer
32. Leah Iannone's New Jersey
33. Chesterfield cigarettes
34. Pall Mall cigarettes
35. Gin
36. Women (Is this a bad thing?)
37. Jaime DeJesus' letter To Ken Davidoff, of NY Newsday fame, regarding newspaper versus magazine in sports.
38. Angry Samoans
39. Cafe Danton-Paris, France
40. The work of Paul Legault: The Madeline Poems, The Other Poems (got a sneek peek)
41. Ted Berrigan
42. Buster Keaton
43. Laurel and Hardy
44. Al Pacino
45. Jeff Bridges
46. Chocolate egg creams
47. The Queers
48. The Krays
49. Packages
50. Marianna's laugh
51. Panick Attack!: Art in the Punk Years (Merrell Publishers, 2007)
52. Howie Pyro's Intoxica Radio
53. Destroy All Movies!!! The Complete Guide to Punk on Film (Fantagraphics Books, 2010)
54. Jeff Johnson's manuscript: Filmography
55. Pornography (Video tape, dvd, internet, any will do)
56. K. Silem Mohammad's Sonnagrams
57. Airplanes
58. Notebooks
59. Martin Beeler's poetry
60. Michel Gizzi (RIP)
61. Peter Gizzi
62. Semi-colons
63. Klonopin
64. Ampersands
65. The Verrazano Bridge
66. Tony Manero's hair
67. Any mention of the television show Small Wonder
68. Winnie Cooper
69. My mother's latina/Brooklyn accent
70. Georgina's whispers
71. Long autumn rides with Karen Cervasio Kolyer
72. Hüsker Dü
73. The photos of Dash Snow
74. Hans Peter-Feldman
75. The idea of Los Angeles
76. Jessica Madison's smile
77. Ariel Kates-Harris' "Rad!"
78. Ashleigh Allen's booming laugh
79. Dean, of Cafe Loup fame
80. Natalie Portman
81. Maggie Q
82. Disliking Madonna
83. My suspicion of folks who hate television, but watch Hulu all day (Thanks, Christine)
84. Dad
85. Bensonhurst, circa 1990 and earlier
86. Coney Island High (No longer)
87. CBGB's (No longer)
88. The Truents (NYC punk)
89. Popcorn
90. My adopted niece, Elizabeth Collins
91. Cursing in English
92. Cursing in Spanish
93. Meliza's "Cawfee"
94. Rachel's Penelope Cruz and Julia Louis-Dreyfus
95. Allison Power's hair
96. Allison Tray and Maria
97. Little House on the Prairie (TV show)
98. Root beer
99. Poems
100. Ernest Borgnine
101. Popeye
102. Illiana and Amanda
103. Smeltz
104. Joe Weil's mind
105. Ron Silliman
106. Charles Bernstein
107. PennSound
108. EPC (Electronic Poetry Center)
109. Modigliani
110. Susan Bee
111. Grollier Poetry Book Shop
112. The old Bowery
113. Bernadate Mayer 
114. Aram Sarayon's Minimal Poems (Ugly Duckling Presse)

Samantha Zighelboim holds an MFA from Columbia University. Her poems, translations, and book reviews have appeared in Maggy, Thumbnail, TheThe Poetry Blog  BOMB, Rattapallax, and The People’s Poetry Project.  Recently, she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize on behalf of Thumbnail. She received an honorable mention for the 2010 Bennett Poetry Prize at Columbia University, sponsored by the Academy of American Poets.  Currently she’s working on her first collection of poems, and lives in New York City with her cat, Buddha.

Song:

 

"As tensions -- and lobsters -- boil over": Last night's premiere of 24-Hour Restaurant Battle (by Stacey Harwood)

So last night was the season premiere of the Food Networks 24 Hour Restaurant Battle and our great friend Gabriella Gershenson (above, right, with host Scott Conant) is one of the judges.  To mark the occasion, Belinda Chang, wine director at The Modern, and John Winterman, Maitre D' Hotel at Daniel, hosted a party in Gabi's honor.  I could probably stop right there and tell you that however you might imagine the gathering to have been, you would fall short.  We stepped off the elevator and all we had to do was follow the sounds of a great party in progress:  talking and laughter punctuated by the regular "pop" of a champagne cork. The buffet  was set with platters of smoked fish, cured meats, terrines, and generous slices of foie gras, my favorite food in the world.  Belinda and John kept glasses filled and circulated with tubs of caviar that they invited us to eat in the manner of the pros:  with one fist slightly closed, put a half ounce on the soft skin between the first knuckle of your forefinger and the first knuckle of your thumb. Then slurp it up. More, please.

A highlight was catching up with photographer Noah Fecks, who with partner Paul Wagtouicz maintains the stunning and highly entertaining The Way We Ate.  More on Noah and his various interests and enterprises to come.  And we met Christine Deussen with whom David traded fond recollections of Kenneth Koch, their former Columbia professor. (Deussen Global represents France's Alsace region, home of the Strasbourg Cathedral, dry Riesling, and tarte flambe.)

But the main event was 24 Hour Restaurant Battle so at the appointed time, we gathered around the TV to watch the premiere.  The competition follows two teams of aspiring restaurateurs as they conceive, plan and open their own restaurants, all within 24 hours.  Gabi, whose experience as a journalist and editor covering the New York City food scene for Time Out New York and who is now a senior editor at Saveur magazine, weighs in on the likelihood that a contestant's restaurant would make it in the bare-knuckle restaurant world. The premiere episode features teams of ex-lovers who try to put aside their differences so they can make their culinary dreams come true. ( From the teaser:  "as tensions -- and lobsters -- boil over, one team discovers their flame hasn't quite been extinguished.")

No spoilers here.  You can watch a rerun of this first episode on Saturday at 4:00 pm and future episodes on Thursdays at 10:00. 

The New York School 24/ 7 on Cable TV

Last week in London I met with Mark Ford and concurred enthusiastically when he said that a cable TV station dedicated to the New York School would be a good idea. Jenny Quilter would serve as anchor at NYS headquarters and would moderate "Breakfast with James Schuyler" among other shows.

Some programs immediately come to mind as ideal for their time slots. "Lunch Walk" with Frank O'Hara (theme music from Poulenc's "Perpetual Motion"), "Happy Hour" with John Ashbery (theme music from Elliott Carter), and the aforementioned "Breakfast with James Schuyler" with Guests such as Barbara brought to you by Tiptree Gooseberry Preserve. Lewis Saul will compose music specially for the opening and closing credits weaving in fragments from JS's poem "June 30, 1974." Also, we plan to air  "Gardening with Jimmy," at 3:30, hosted by Susan Baran and Marc Cohen with visits by C. North, E. Myles, et al, "Morning Prayer" with Anne Porter daily at 7 in lush interiors depicted by her husband, and "Fairfield's Opinions," Sundays at 11 AM, in which, against a backdrop of incredible seascapes, the painter airs his views on subjects ranging from cancer cures to risk-averse investment strategies. Maureen Owen will host "Telephone," with each show devoted to a phone call of note. Bonus feature: the poets' answering machine announcements and selected messages.

The "Harry Mathews Wine Hour," "Looking at Lookiing" with Jane Freilicher, and "Looking at the Dance with Edwin Denby" (hosted by Anne Waldman) are in the works. I have not yet consulted with Ron Padgett to determine whether he will produce and star in "The Tennis Court Coach" in the pilot of which Ron explicates Ashbery's The Tennis Court Oath in relation to the historical events preceding the actual tennis court oath in Paris in 1789.

For "Koch and his Circle," Kenneth Koch and friends will collaborate on poems and act in Koch's plays and skits such as "Keats and His Circle" set in Hampstead Heath in 1819. Harvard and Columbia students will receive course credit for regular viewing.

Larry Rivers and the Climax Band will play sets  on weekend evenings at 9:30, 11, and 1 AM. We have been encouraging David Shapiro to bring his violin, Charles North his clarinet, and Larry Fagin his expertise on great girl singers of the Big Band Era, such as Louanne Hogan.

Vincent Katz will host a weekly "Studio Visit"  featuring such painters, artists, and collage makers as Trevor Winkfield, Joe Brainard, Alex Katz, Joan Mitchell, the late Nell Blaine, the late George Schneeman, Jim Dine, Darragh Park. New work will be displayed by Star Black, David Shapiro, Susan Wheeler, Marjorie Welish, many others.

James Cummins will executive-produce and serve as chief writer on a brand new series of "PerryMason" courtroom dramas where everyone speaks only in sestinas.

Special consultant: Paul Violi (see his poem "Triptych"). Bureau chiefs: John Tranter in Sydney, Pyotr Sommer in Warsaw, Amy Gerstler in Los Angeles, David Trinidad in Chicago, Alice Notley in Paris, Terence Winch in DC, James Cummins in Cincinnati, Paul Hoover in San Francisco. Denise Duhamel wil report from Miami, Karin Roffman from West Point, Tony Towle from the taxi, and Nin Andrews from the AWP Conference. David Shapiro will be himself. These are just preliminary thoughts. More to come. This is as they say in French a "work in progress." (Like Finnegans Wake.) Suggestions welcome. -- DL

The Time Suck: A Bit O' Live, Pre-Globes Blogging [by Emma Trelles]

 
6:21 pm -  Ryan Seacrest is killing minutes on the red carpet by pretending to be interested in Jennifer Love Hewitt.

 

6:23 pm -  Seconds after her pre, pre-show commentary ends, Giuliana Rancic, the E! channel's chief reporter (for lack of a better word), has already switched into a strapless black gown. I wonder how many more dresses she'll cram into the evening. I have no idea who's the hot blond Aussie she's interviewing (above). Neither does she.

 

6:25 pm -  I wish Mark would come home and make martinis.

 

6:37  pm - Seacrest talking makeup with Mark Salling from Glee, who appears to have grown a strip of soul patch over his noggin. A slew of  Gleester girls preening on the carpet. Real celebs must be dawdling in their black Priuses until the kids clear out. Wait, there's Alec Baldwin!

 

6:41 pm -  Baldwin sounds sort of torchy. Is he finally out? I hope so!

 

6:45 pm - Scott Caan is a wee man who just peered down Giuliana's decolletage. Non-celeb g.f. doesn't notice. Wake up, woman.

 

6:46 pm - Elisabeth Moss's skin (at left)  resembles a pearl mousse made exclusively for the Kraken (at right). She must sit around rubbing La Mer into her pores all day. How many more months until Mad Men returns?

 

6: 50 pm -  Ricky Gervais in big black sunglasses talking about how he's going to knock a few brews back before he hosts the Globes. "Beer's not an alcoholic drink in England."

 

6:51 pm -  Just realized I'm on DVR time! My painstaking chronology is all off. Arghghgh

 

6:55 pm - Staggering down the carpet in Davy Crockett hair extensions and netted couch pillows - Helena Bonham Carter. Oh dude, she's wearing two different color shoes.

 

6:58 pm -   Why is E!   teasing the trash triplet Kardashians in a big pop up box  while the immaculate Natalie Portman is floating up the stairs? She looks like a petal in that pink draped gown, and I'll forgive the Conehead updo because a) she's pregnant and still is b) wearing red stilettos.

 

7:03 pm -  Jason Segal looking ooold. When did that happen? Maybe I've been living in the past with too much Freaks and Geeks (Bless you IFC). Jimmy Fallon next to him, also looking more doughy than his years allow. Both of them are strangely aspiring to Mad Men Brylcreem hair, but on them it looks more storefront mannequin than dashing Draper. Maybe I'm just evil because Mark just told me that there's no Vermouth.

 

7:04 pm -  Time to look for wine.

 

7:09 pm - Three quarters of  The  Fashion Police (missing the awesome Joan Rivers) are making nice-nice about Helena Bonham Carter (so quirky! such an original!), but you know they're going to shred her like wolverines on their next show.

Quote of the Day

"What is a lyricist except a poet who has the possibility of making cash?"

Steven Colbert to Stephen Sondheim, 12/14/2010

Don Draper Fan Club Rankings [by Jane Mahlzeit]

Jane Mahlzeit of Duke University has released the unofficial tally of Don Draper Fan Club members ranking the ladies with whom Don has enjoyed conjugal relations in descending order of fugworthiness:

Megan
Rachel Menkin the Jewish heiress (Bloomingdale's?)
Suzanne Farrell (the schoolteacher not the dancer)
Dr. Miller
Betty (January Jones)
the bohemian painter who becomes a smack addict
the blonde rich girl in the back of the cab
the prostitute who knew what he wanted
the prostitute who cost $30 when Lane Pryce and Don were alone at Xmas
the comedian's wife
the secretary who quit

Note: Joan, Peggy, and Lois are not eligible as neither one of them has slept with DD (yet). 

Mad Men Last Night (Spoiler Alert)

I rooted for the Jets to good effect
though I had to switch channels
when the score was 14-0
to learn that Don would tell
his secret to Fay after G-men
visit Betty on a routine security
check and the week's anxiety
is diminished only temporarily
when the two tickets for the
Beatles at Shea Stadium
on 15 August 1965
make him a hero again to
daughter Sally, who is just
like Don in crucial ways, and
meanwhile Joan (or her fictitious
daughter) has an abortion
and Roger loses the Lucky
account and Pete has to
give up the aviation account
and Pryce's girlfriend is
a black Playboy bunny and (listen
do you want to know a secret)
his father is a monstrous brute
so I found out only later that
the Jets won the Mets beat
the Phillies and the Yanks smote
the Red Sox at the last possible
moment, proving God exists
-- DL

Even More Mad Men Haiku

Peggy and Draper:
Companions in misery,
Sleeping on the couch.

A mouse, roach, vomit,
a fight. Just another night
at Sterling Cooper (Draper Price).

Drunk Duck’s love story.
We were in love. She’s a whore.
Just like the others.

-- sdh