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ST_MARKS_CHURCH

                                              February 14, 2007


One of the main reasons we hung around
in New York on through New Years, was              I've been impressed
to go to the New Years day St. Marks               with these in the past:
Poetry Reading, a marathon of short
readings and performances from 2pm on to            HOLY_COATS_OF_BLACK
around 2am...
                                                   But Dangerbaby hadn't
                                                   been to one before.

The people doing readings were
almost uniformly excellent...
as always at these events, you
don't want to sneak away for           A block away from the St. Marks,
food for a few minutes, because        an excellent New York-style place:
you keep feeling like you're           a huge, independantly owned
going to miss something.               "deli/dinner" complete with many
                                       busy booths and a jumping take-out
     This time I didn't feel like      counter: we scored two quarts of
     there was any one stand out       some really good soups to go.
     discovery emerging from the
     field of many names...                            Dangerbaby thought
                                   IIJIMA              that was excessive,
     Peter Bushyeager did a                            but we killed
     short reading, but I                              two-thirds at the
     was disapointed to hear      BUSHYEAGER           event, and the rest
     that he doesn't have a                            the next morning
     newer book out...                                 at the B&B...

     But I walked away with
     many entries on the better-
     than-neutral list:

        Kazim Ali
        Tisa Bryant,                                       (And while they
        Max Blagg,                                          were serving
        Nicole Blackman                                     some food in the
        Erica Hunt                                          back room they
        Urayoan Noel                                        were strongest
        Maggie Dubris                                       on coffee and
                                                            cookies.  Terrible
     And particularly                                       chili.)
     impressive was:

        Emily XYZ                     I have to confess,
        Evan Kennedy                  I can never remember
                                      who "Emily XYZ" *is*.
                                      I get her confused
                                      with Amy X. Neuberg...
                                      and maybe Pamela Z,
                                      and I think another
                                      name I'm spacing on.


        Eliot Katz read some
        political poems, but
        in general the politics
        seemed lower-key this
        year...

        Though John S. Hall in a
        preface to his reading
        recommended the "New York
        Review of Books", and        The New York Review,
        I definitely understand      has, for example,
        the point.                   been doing a good
                                     job of pointing out
                                     that the New York
                                     Times has been full
                                     of shit.


As far as the celebrities go,
I was glad to see Penny Arcade...
She talked about trying on a            And the beat-era holdover
hat in the mirror and thinking          Taylor Mead appeared, doing a
suddenly to herself "'Fuck! I'm         spirited, if slurred stand-up
*old*...' And you know, I've been       routine, babbling about
young for a *really* long time."        pedophilia ("some people
                                        flower sooner than others"),
Jim Carroll, looking more spectral      and how it's something of a
than ever, did a short reading of       breakthrough for the United
a piece in memoriam of Gregory          States to show a movie like
Corso ("He volunteered to sleep         "Bare back Mountain -- or
on the wet spot of life.").             Broke Back, or whatever it
                                        was".  He mentions he's just
                                        turning 80: "Sheer luck."


    Patti Smith appeared solo
    (Lenny Kaye did something
    separately, which I'm
    afraid I missed), doing a              Elliot Sharp banged
    somber song about the war              out a credible piece
    deaths.                                of guitar noise...

                                           Philip Glass played one
                                           of my favorite pieces by
                                           him... from 1980?  He
                                           had nothing newer?
                                           (It seemed about twice as
                                           long as it needed to be.)


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