2006 November | Words & Tricks

All you Literature Lovers:Exclusively Available Here for a Limited TimeFree Poetry! Come and Get It Please

November 27th, 2006 | 1 Comment | Posted in Poetry by Chris Pommier

I’ve been unwilling to post my poetry to this blog as simply a text post, but I’ve wanted to share it with my readers for a while. So, I’ve come up with a compromise. I’ve uploaded and made available for free four of my poems at box.net, a handy little free Ajax-built file hosting/sharing website. They are in .pdf format, so you will need a PDF reader.

I’m going to keep them here and active until December 8th, 2006. If you know any other poetry lovers, or writers (and aren’t we usually one and the same?) please share this post and the link with them. I would love to here from you, as well.

What is strong, what is weak in these poems? What sorts of poetry do you like? Love? Rhymed? Dark? Prose? Found poetry? Share your interests with me and also, if you have any of your own poetry to share, please post a link to it in the comments section, or just email it to me.

Thanks.

I Survived My First Poetry Reading in Years

November 27th, 2006 | 5 Comments | Posted in Poetry, Writing by Chris Pommier

This past Sunday I participated in my first poetry reading since i lived in across the street from Dolores Park in San Francisco in th late ’90s. I went a couple times to a bar around the corner on Valencia whose name I forget and would read for three minutes. I remember the cavernous space, the stage and microphone and the luiquid green and blue spot that turned the patrons, most of whom were drunk or nearly drunk into a dim mist. I especially remember the curator motioning the “cut! cut!” motion across her throat as I went over my time and I remember thinking, people really do that?

By contrast the PRISM reading this past weekend was held at a coffeehouse in one of the most beautiful buildings dedicated to the literary arts that I know, OpenBook. I could read for up to an hour. Now, I ask you, what kind of sadistic writer would subject her or his audience to a whole hour of their poetry? Not I. Considering the special sort of trauma that public speaking visits on my brain, I was not prepared to read for more than 20 minutes.

It turned out well I was told. My partner and several of my friends came. Besides them there were maybe 10 or 11 people. The other featured reader was poised and delivered a good reading. His poetry is well worth checking out. His name is Steve Mueske. Below there is a link to his website on the left-hide side of this page under the Poets & Authors heading. He reminded me that humor in poetry is a good thing.

I’m looking forward to the next two readings I have lined up. December 18th at Intermedia Arts in Uptown and January 24th at Intermedia Arts as well. I’ll post specifics soon.

Do come.

Impeachment, Nancy Pelosi and Israel/ Palestine

November 22nd, 2006 | 2 Comments | Posted in Uncategorized by Chris Pommier

Nancy Pelosi has her work cut out for her. She has a Congress to clean up, many of her crop of new Senators are young and inexperienced, and she lost the battle for John Murtha. For the record, I don’t believe this was a “stumble” as reported by Time. To me it seemed like a carefully choreographed dance, rather than a knockdown drag-out fight. Do I have any sources that support this? No, it’s just a feeling.

Then there’s impeachment. She’s going to have to answer to many progressive democrats and others who feel that we have farther to go as a nation. Pelosi has said that democrats are not interested in revenge and many respond that the idea of “revenge” is a red herring. Impeachment is not about revenge, but about holding those who are in positions of power ultimately responsible for the lies and spin that lead to war. Impeachment is about discovering the depth and breadth of those lies.

Pelosi also faces another major challenge. For those who watch the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Pelosi has been an influential figure in shaping the debate. Recently, with her anticipated move to Speaker of the House and the media coverage of the Middle East which has been slowly acknowledging that the war on Iraq is not simply about Iraq, but also about Iran, Israel, Palestine, Syria, et al., Pelosi’s feelings toward Israel in particular have come under some scrutiny.

It remains to be seen whether she can be less the idealogue and more a leader for peace in the U.S. and abroad.

Annotated Links

The Pelosi-Harman Fault Line

Nancy Pelosi and Jane Harman have been on a collision course for some time. They are both very tough-minded, opinionated, media savvy Democrats on the rise, and they have been knocking into each other for some time while still feigning mutual admiration …

The Huggington Post

Is the “Israel lobby” distorting America’s Mideast policies?

Two leading academics have tried to break the taboo against criticizing Israel’s powerful U.S. lobby. It’s a worthy aim, but their clumsy argument may backfire.

For Pelosi, Israel is Personal
“She [Pelosi] likes to say that, growing up in Baltimore, she went to a bar or bat mitzvah … JTA also quotes a speech that Pelosi gave before an AIPAC crowd three years ago. Talking about her Jewish son-in-law, Pelosi told the crowd: …

NJDC’s Blog - http://njdc.typepad.com/njdcs_blog/

Jim Kirwan - Pelosi Revisited
by FOREIGN PRESS FOUNDATION
Nancy Pelosi, the darling Democrat from the Bay Area who leads her party in the House. Pelosi’s recent speech to the Israel-American lobby AIPAC, the second largest lobby in Washington, was monumental - truly unparalleled in its candor. …

FPF - HENK RUYSSENAARS - http://forpressfound.blogspot.com

New Blog on Orchid Culture, Pictures, Tips and Tricks

November 20th, 2006 | 4 Comments | Posted in Uncategorized by Chris Pommier

My partner Jonah just launched a new blog called The Armchair Orchidist in which he writes articles for the beginning and intermediate orchid grower who longs to successfully grow their plants indoors. Apparently it can be quite complicated to induce these plants to flower. He’s got such a green thumb, though, let his experience help you succeed! He also posts gorgeous pictures of the plants, as well as tips, tricks and reviews.

I’m helping him focus, market and design his blog. All the writing he does himself. Please check it out and comment. I will be posting here about the process of building the content for the Armchair Orchidist, as well as marketing it.

Latest Links: Israel - Palestine

November 19th, 2006 | 1 Comment | Posted in Uncategorized by Chris Pommier

International”>Protest Forces Israel to Call Off Gaza Airstrike
Israel halted an airstrike against the house of a suspected Palestinian militant after neighbors surrounded the building.

NYT > International

Welcome the New Neighbors:
An ambitious new group blog called Good Neighbors is “designed to increase dialogue and understanding between all of the neighboring countries in the Middle East including Jordanians, Lebanese, Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Saudis, Iranians, and Syrians on a cross-country level, as well as to increase understanding, respect and dialogue among the various strata of society within our countries.” Quite a challenge.

Pajamas Media

NAM Awards Winner: Ray Hanania
The writer has received a New America Media Ethnic Media Award for 2006 for a series of humorous commentaries on Israeli-Palestinian relations, reprinted here. NAM recognized outstanding ethnic media reporters this week in Washington, D.C.

news.newamericamedia.org

Israel Encourages Citizens to Return to Homeland
For the first time, Israeli government officials are touring the United States and Canada to help Israeli immigrants connect to employment opportunities and invite them to return home.

news.newamericamedia.org

WSU law professor candidate protested
A pro-Israel group says the son of a prominent Palestinian intellectual should not be considered for a law professor post at Wayne State University, and local leaders of Palestinian and Arab descent say the effort is part of an attempt to marginalize their community in Metro Detroit.

Stateline.org

palestine journal: 16 november - the lame duck massacres
soooo… while the lame-duck congress in the US goes ahead with passing some of the most draconian laws yet, like the one they passed yesterday that makes protesting animal cruelty at a circus or an animal lab a terrorist act (!) — which, by the way, goes right along with their stated priorities of ‘who is a threat’…… ie. not bin laden or the saudis who fund him…. but instead, as the FBI has stated publicly on multiple occasions, their ‘Number One Domestic Terrorist Threat’ is the ‘animal liberation front’, an organization that has never ever been charged with killing or hurting anyone, but whose only purpose is to rescue animals from cruel conditions (!)….

Portland Indymedia

Israeli aircraft strike Hamas car
Israeli missiles hit a car carrying Gaza militants, injuring several people, after Palestinian rockets hit Israel.

BBC News

Kill Hamas Now: “They … have to disappear, to go to paradise, all of them, and there can’t be any compromise.”
“Israel’s deputy prime minister [Avigdor Lieberman] on Saturday said Israel should assassinate Hamas’ leadership, ignore the moderate Palestinian president and walk away from international peace efforts, the latest in a string of hard-line positions voiced by the newest member of the Cabinet.”

(Breitbart/AP)