Results tagged “poetry”

San Francisco Poet Laureate Diane DiPrima -- who is co-hosting the San Francisco International Poetry Festival that kicks off tonight with a party on Jack Kerouac Alley in North Beach -- provides us with our afternoon palate cleanser today. This is a bit of film taken of her reading at the Naropa Institute back in the late 70s/early80s, from a poem she wrote for her grandfather.

Like a comet, or a certain Venetian art fair, the San Francisco International Poetry Festival only comes around every two years, and the second biennial fest kicks off tomorrow with a party in Jack Kerouac Alley in North Beach and the gathering of poets from two dozen countries. The festival will be co-hosted by San Francisco Poet Laureate Diane DiPrima and Poet Laureate Emeritus Jack Hirschman, and a special honor will be given to another Poet Laureate Emeritus, Lawrence Ferlinghetti (who'll be reading at the main stage event on Friday at the Palace of Fine Arts). Though that's the official kickoff, there is actually a screening tonight at Koret Auditorium at USF of a documetary about Jack Hirschman directed by Matthew Furey. All the festival's events are listed here, so for all you frustrated haiku composers out there, you might want to go have a listen to some masters.

MUSIC: Rock veterans Tortoise, who defy categorization, are promoting the release of their first album in five years, Beacons of Ancestorship. Fellow Chicagoans and Thrill Jockey labelmates, Pit er Pat, open.

MUSIC: Raunchy rockabilly fave Reverand Horton Heat will heat up the Great American tonight with Danish psychobilly band The Nekromantix, who describe themselves as "Elvis meets the Wolfman."

Leilani Labong, conducting an interview for the most recent 7x7, tried her damndest to get Garrison Keillor (who was just at City Arts & Lectures on Saturday) to admit that his new collection of love sonnets is just pornography in disguise. She asked asinine things like "Is there any part of you that considers the racy element a rebellion against your public persona?" and "Your more erotic sonnets steer clear of raunch. Was this important to you?" and "Do you have a quality that has a remarkable effect on women?" It sounds as if Leilani thought she was interviewing someone else -- Ron Jeremy perhaps? -- and not the godfather of homespun, old-timey, Minnesota storytime. Who would imagine Garrison effing Keillor would ever be capable of writing anything that resembled "raunch," let alone ask him if this was important to him? But sure, maybe we need to read one of the "racier" poems to know why Leilani went there.

FILM: Check out the original Inglorious Bastards by Italian director Enzo Castellari, which inspired the partial premise of Tarantino's upcoming version. Incidentally, Tarantino is a very bad speller. The original remains perhaps the biggest and toughest war movie in European cult film history. Action legends Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson and Bo Svenson star as the leaders of a gang of condemned criminals who escape from an Allied prison camp, only to find themselves 'volunteering' for a suicide mission deep inside Nazi occupied France.

Were you aware that we have a Poet Laureate? Well, we do, and even though poetry doesn't sell so well these days, it's still out there and can provide a calming break from watching 30 Rock and reading blogs. Kay Ryan, our current Poet Laureate, is a writer of condensed, brief poems that take on big ideas, in a style not unlike Emily Dickinson. Buy tickets here to see her tonight at the Herbst, and/or read one of her poems after the jump.

In an attempt to compete culturally with more richly textured areas of California (i.e., San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Buttonwillow), San Jose is looking to land its first poet laureate. According to the Arts Council Silicon Valley (who knew?), there is "a vibrant poetry scene in Santa Clara County that doesn't get a lot of recognition." (Again, who knew?) Think you know what rhymes with purple? If you're a published poet who has lived in Santa Clara County for at least five years, you can give it a shot. The gig is a two-year term with a $4,000 stipend, which includes community outreach as well as churning out the occasional haiku or sonnet. The deadline is Feb. 17. You can apply at www.artscouncil.org.

SFist reader Emily Alexander sent us this brilliant poem she found on Bart car. In related news, Wilton Antonio McGlory is now SFist's unofficial poet laureate.

Are you a poet? Do you know it? (Ouch.) Well, Poets Eleven, a citywide poetry contest showcasing prose created by residents of each of San Francisco's 11 districts, above, is now accepting submissions. You work will be scrutinized by San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman, so snap on your thinking and creativity caps, kids.

Those wacky comedic troupe kids over at SPF7 honor two-time Oscar-winning Yalie and secretly Sapphic actress/director Jodie Foster with "poetic poetry poems" as performed by a spot-on Foster look-alike. (Good Lord, that was a lot of hyphening. Whew.) She's no Meg Tilly or Jewel, but then again, who is? Anyway, check them out. (One more after le jump!)

-- Salute Day of the Dead: Before tomorrow's Dia de los Muertos celebration and march, be sure to check out this pre-party featuring music from Steve Taylor-Ramírez, Theresa Perez, and Drew Harrison. Begins tonight at 9:30 p.m. at RetoxSF; $7.

A warning: Let's just assume that all of the links in this post are gloriously NSFW.

-- Laura Gibson: We'd hate to genre-ize her lovely sounds, but neo-folk songstress Gibson -- who uses such tools as trumpet, viola, and musical saw in addition to her sublime vocal cords-- sings delicate siren songs that will have you crashing at her feet. She performs along with Musee Mechanique (Portland) and Snowblink starting at 8 p.m. at Rickshaw Stop; $8.

-- Augie March: Australia band, crooners of the catchy "One Crowded Hour," will be playing at 8:30 p.m. at Slim's; $15.

-- Scott McCloud: Experimental and wildly popular comic artist and novelist (Making Comics) speaks tonight at "Evolution of the American Comic Book". Rory Root (owner, Comic Relief) and Andrew Farago (curator, Cartoon Art Museum) also speak. Starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Commonwealth Club, 595 Market; $7-$20.

-- 756. [SFist for links]

-- Greg Behrendt: SF-native, author of He's Just Not That into You (comfortingly known to many a confused single gal as a symptom of Peter-Pan Syndrome), and comedian takes a break from his talk show to make you snicker/slap your knee. The sheer hilarity starts at 8 p.m. at Cobb’s Comedy Club, 915 Columbus; tickets are $25.

Prolific, ornery, talented, unpredictable, easy on the eyes, genius, bastard - there are many ways to try and describe Ryan Adams, but at this point if you've heard of him, you've probably formed some sort of opinion. In his new single "Two" he sings: "I got a really good heart, I just can't catch a break." Whether or not you buy that, we're still loving his new CD. Easy Tiger is built on the careworn love songs with memorable melodies that he does best, with no gimmicks or interludes. Bring your broken heart to hear him perform live on Monday night at the Herbst Theatre or on Tuesday at the Berkeley Community Theatre. We're giving away a copy of Easy Tiger to get one lucky winner fired up for the shows. (Contest ends 7/24; winner will be notified via email.)

-- Writers With Drinks not only boasts an awesome substance-abuse party, but overlaps it with readings from some of your favorite local and national (that is to say, usually New York City- or LA-based) scribes and novelists. Who knew writers like to drink?

Who ya got? The cowboy or the samurai? That's the question posed by the Asian-American Theater Company's Cowboy v. Samurai, a story about two Asian-American cowboys in Montana who fall in love with the same Korean-American new girl in town. Our Gothamist cousins liked it when it played in New York. 2 p.m. at the Thick House (1695 18th Street, x Arkansas), $20.

We don't say this lightly, because there are really a lot of great artists coming out of the Bay Area, but we do have a current favorite: Birds & Batteries. We've been telling you about this co-ed quartet for a little while now, and our expectations for their new record were really high. Thankfully it's good news: we love I'll Never Sleep Again. It's still the B&B we met on their last release, but this time the woeful steel guitar and Mike Sempert's deep drawl are buffered by better production, including warm bursts of synth so thick you could hold them in your hand. The record starts out by making the simple, straightforward Neil Young classic "Heart of Gold" into an existential epic, and we love the song "Starclusters" so much that it's secured a solid entry in our top 10 tracks of the year. One lucky winner will get a Birds & Batteries prize pack, including two tickets to the CD release party on Wednesday night at Cafe Du Nord, a limited edition copy of the CD with silk screened artwork, plus a poster from the show. Enter to win (contest ends 6/25; winner will be notified via email).

A photo of San Francisco's new bandshell under construction in Golden Gate Park.

--CounterPULSE is hosting Paint Out!, a breast cancer fundraiser with comedians, slam poetry, and women getting their chests painted ($50 mininum donation to get painted). 3:30-7:30, $25, 1310 Mission St. (x 9th).

Week Around The -Ists

It's Sunset Magazine's Celebration Weekend! (For some reason, Sunset Magazine sent this event to our sister site Phillyist instead of us, and Phillyist was kind enough to forward it along.) Stop by their "publishing grounds" at 80 Willow Road in Menlo Park from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a smorsgasbord of Western-lifestyle events, like live music, cooking events with celeb chefs like Paul Bertolli, a home tour, and -- the main reason why we're into this in the first place, sample their newly-created drink, the Sunset-Rita. Is that like SFist Rita?

SFist interviews David and Edie Ichioka, makers of the documetnary "Murch" about film editor Walter Murch, now showing at the San Franicsco International Film festival

Total number of people pictured in this week's Swells society column: 47. (We almost counted the mannequin at your right!)