friday, nov 16, 2001
one hour is what it took for me to get from escondido down to the urban grind tonight.. so what's with all this southbound traffic at 5:30 pm now?? man, if I hadn't had a show to run tonight, I think I'd have pulled over at borders, ordered up a tall iced chai, and waited it out, catching the new sam phillips'
fan dance on their listening station.. so, made it to the urban grind in time to set up, and get our 5 judges picked (hoping that more than just the 6 poets in the hat would sign up to slam).. looks like it'll be a slow night, but at 7:40 we began, with still just 6 poets signed up.. however, as I pointed out to the just slightly less than 50 folks out in the audience, we're certified by how many people come to the slam, not by how many sign up for the mic.. I only wished there to be some stiffer competition for one of the poets signed up tonight (more about him later).. anyway, judging tonight were dave blue, lately a regular at the open reading out at red's espresso; from our days out at the rendezvous, judi patterson and her friend suzanne both agreed to judge, though they told me later that they have more fun watching than judging (go figure, huh?!).. and rounding out our judges fot the evening- from t-rod's camp, carla & ikenna.. now, speaking of our days at the rendezvous, one of the original poetry scene stealers agreed to be sacrifice for us tonight- our former webmistress (she gave me this website for xmas two years ago!) sandra vannoy.. she got herself a sweet 23.6 on her perfectly-memorized piece.. ok, first poet up tonight was jeremie zulaski- I hated to pull his name first since he's never slammed before, but then.. 4 of the 6 poets signed up tonight have never slammed before! the other three newbies tonight were heather bliss & chris mosher, who came together; also rita grant, who came in 2nd tonight with a cumulative 53.6, and took home $13- not bad for her first-ever slam! before I go any further, I should mention that SD slam vet micki adams placed 3rd; ok, it was a 57.53 score which gave a 1st-place finish tonight for local legend jimmy jazz, who hopefully made hisself some cd sales tonight in addition to the slamtastic $31 we paid out to him! we also put $18 more dollars into the team fund as well.. thanks hillcrest for your consistent generosity; special thanks to my other half, life-partner bob for score-keeping tonight, and hope to see you next time, nov 25, the sunday after thanksgiving..
sunday, nov 25, 2001
it's thanksgiving weekend.. downtown will be chaotic tonight. the airport, the train station, the bus depot- all will be thronged with people coming back from all sorts of places- it's a good night to stay close to hillcrest, be thankful and gather in peace..
ah hell, let's slam! fulfilling his community service by judging tonight, was recent 1st-place winner matt weatherman; other judges tonight included another past winner, the evergorgeousshannon perkins, as well as
lisa, ryan, and at his first ever SD slam, one of the judges from last year's national poetry slam up in seattle, michael..
ok, linda bauer sacrificed for us tonight, and grabbed herself a 19.35- let's get on with tonight's lineup.. we had only one slam virgin tonight, john dutterer, a regular at the open reading and now possibly a regular at the slam.. veterans included tom p aka "ming the merciful" and no he didn't garner himself any extra points for that fabulous stage name.. speaking of fabulous stage names, up next, at her 2nd SD slam- kaivalya; lizzie had us all say her name a few times (as a mantra perhaps) just cuz it's such a beautiful word.. also slamming tonight were micki adams as well as chris mosher and here's a story for you- this being only his 2nd-ever slam, had he not gone over the time-limit, would have come in 4th tonight.. so watch out for this guy, he's gonna rule some day! in actual 4th place tonight was crowd favorite flo somerville with a cumulative 47.6; coming in 3rd, with a 48.43 cumulative (and what's up with her snagging both 6's and 9's from the judges?! guess ya either hate her or love her, or maybe it was just one of those weirdass nights..) "she throws like a girl"- give it up for sally bonn.. also from last year's slam team (along with sally, that is), placing 2nd tonight with a 55.25, and pocketing 8 bucks- chris vannoy, reprising his everpopular "cruise to l.a." piece.. and in 1st place, with a cumulative 56.34 and winning $21, sacramento slammistress and former college classmate of lizzie wann- angelaelizabeth boyce.. we retired angela's poem "crank call" for the period of one year, and look forward to seeing her at the judge's bench at a future slam, the next time her is in town to visit her family..
next slam is friday, dec 14- it's a pajamaslam, which means you come dressed to slam, or judge, in your pj's.. why? we're not really sure why!? maybe because so few people made it to the halloween slam in costume.. or maybe cuz it's that flannel time of year.. hey, any excuse to go out in public wearing pajama's is right.. oh, and while we're at it, we're asking everyone to bring a donation of canned food for the
san diego food bank.. we'll be looking for you at the slam!
btw- here's pictures from last month's slams..
your slammaster
and faithful servant,
ro'ss.
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