7-line poetry

I am working on a many-faceted collaborative internet-based project right now that will draw on and expand the mythos of Nodal Nim's Rocket Ship. Folks interested in participating in that will be welcome, once it is up and running. For now, I will be delighted to accept a certain kind of submission, a 7-line poem!

A 7-line poem is any poem that follows the following two rules:

1. There are 7 lines.
2. Each line contains a different number of syllables from 1 to 7.

The syllables can appear in any order. The sequence of syllables is the "form" of the poem. There are 5040 possible forms. I'd like to eventually have a poem to represent every one of them.

Here are some examples:

1536472

lunch
in Tentacula
for humans
(experimental or
more regular)
generally consists of
sand fruit

Nodal Nim

=

6245713

This guy says he likes it.
Parked cars,
discount shoe stores
in a tourist town
closed up for the winter months
just
just like that.

Becky Dewing

=

6741253

Gallbladders are useful
but quite unnecessary
they filter stuff
bile
Perhaps
in books they are green
why is that?

Kate Pressman

=

Your 7-line poem submissions, through email, myspace message or comment, or blog comment, are welcome and encouraged! Send 'em my way, friends!

Grind OM 17

.. Robots: the card game > science
.. 2G's
.. in my pocket [request]
.. Deenmark [request] > send me up [request]

((I played 'send me up' in the middle of Deenmark, actually, during the solo mandolin break, and then returned for one last chorus of Deenmark. It was a strange little hybrid ditty that I sang.))

Coffee Planet OM 7

Did the open mic thing for Tiffany, my lady love, who was present at Coffee Planet tonight. Played:

.. 5 songs of fish
.. you and mandolins
.. call it Home
.. 2G's
.. hello, will you be my Sheep?

Prof. Java's!

My last show of 2005 went off without a hitch. It was kind of exhausting, but plenty o' fun. There were some good fun folks there.

Iris requested "POTATO", which is not a song I actually have, but I improvised something fun and silly about potatoes.

During a break, Kristina showed me some lyrics her and her friends had written that they wanted me to sing. So I did! Here are the lyrics they wrote:

Brazilians
You don't speak Spanish
But jump real high
You like to wear white pants
And fight when you dance
Your armpit hair sparkles
Like pretzels on fire
I like to sing about cars.
I'll sing you a song about Brazilians.

I played some minor seventh chords and sang a song about Brazilians. It was neat fun, and I hope it will become a tradition for audience members to write lyrics and give them to me!

I also did three premieres: you and mandolins, no more crisis in Rome, and 2G's.

Here is my set, more or less:

eins
.. will we go out together?
.. level 1
.. in my pocket
.. receptors & peptides > retro helplessness > call it Home
.. Maroon Dots [request]
.. fly this kite
.. shirt thane > you and mandolins [premiere]
.. wow
.. I am systems
.. lapse into memory
.. this ladybug
.. present tense
.. let me in your hole

zwei
.. 5 songs of fish
.. Brazilians [improvised from audience-supplied lyrics]
.. love song 5
.. the slippery toad > javelin head > science
.. candle bird
.. stripes
.. Robots: the card game > rules to Stone Game
.. Collarbone Pharoah
.. no more crisis in Rome [premiere]
.. Pablo
.. yellow things

drei
.. Deenmark [request]
.. e blue apparatus
.. troglodyte
.. send me up > raisins > Alan the Duck
.. you've got your own life
.. 2G's [premiere]
.. deposit 1 tangelo > acrobasebombball
.. Superman has friends
.. 25% more monster > vegetables you've never heard of
.. hello, will you be my Sheep?

Grind OM 16

.. love song 5
.. Deenmark [request]
.. raisins > wow
.. 25% more monster [request]
.. I got RAPS

Flavour OM 6

.. call it Home
.. the slippery toad
.. buzzelling > 25% more monster
.. Superman has friends > will we go out together?

Coffee Planet OM 6 / Illium OM 8

Coffee Planet:

.. Pablo
.. call it Home
.. this ladybug
.. hello, will you be my Sheep? [with Dave]
.. deposit 1 tangelo > vegetables you've never heard of [with Dave]

'Twas plenty fun to play mandolin again. There were lots of people present, and things seemed to go well.

Illium:

.. science
.. troglodyte
.. candle bird
.. 5 songs of fish [request]

I haven't played there in a while. It was ok, but not my best performance. I started to crash during troglodyte.

I scheduled new gigs today, including Daily Grind and Flavour Cafe!

I like

Chicago!

I went there last week, and it is big and neat. My girlfriend lives out there, and since I was delighted to discover during my visit that we are still in love, I will be moving there when I can. Probably this summer. At the beginning. Or at the end. More likely the end.

So I'll be looking for weirdos to come to my shows from a much bigger pool of humans. Starting from scratch that way; might be fun. When I visit home, I'll probably do some shows in Troy.

Anyway, this won't be for a while, and in the meantime, I need to find more gigs... not to mention a better job.

It has been pointed out to me that

I neglected to mention the improvised WALTZ that I performed by request at my last show at Flavour Cafe. It wasn't an especially good song, but the waltzers appeared to be having especially fun, so goodness was had. I have noted the need to write a better waltz for similar requests in future times.

I got a

new mandolin case.

-Yes

p.s. Come to my show this Friday, December 23rd, at Professor Java's Coffee Sanctuary (215 Wolf Rd, Colonie). I play experimental mandolin formulas from 8 to 11 PM! You and all of your ducklings (yes, all of them!) are invited.

YAG Winter Follies

There was a Young Actor's Guild production last night, the somethingth annual Winter Follies, which was this year themed "The Recital." I think we pulled it off decently. I wrote a song for Group 1 to sing, and they did so, as I accompanyed them on mandolin.

I'm hopping on a plane to Chicago tomorrow to see my girlfriend Tiffany. I'm looking forward to it!

This is way cool: The Unknown, a hypertext novel. It is a non-linear collaborative fiction that the reader navigates through hypertext links. I have been enjoying reading it; I'm pondering starting up a similar project myself, possibly with other(s) involved.

And one more link, to a kicking beatdazzling band called Leslie and the LY's.

Coffee Planet OM 5

I played two sets at Coffee Planet. The first consisted only of songs that I hadn't ever played at Coffee Planet and one premiere of a strange little improvisational ditty I came up with on the car ride over.

.. acrobasebombball > rules to Stone Game
.. troglodyte
.. Dave
.. I got raps [premiere]
.. e blue apparatus

My second set:

.. will we go out together? [request] > bodymind > 25% more monster

Dave and I jammed with a fella named Eric, who we had jammed with last week as well. Then, I zipped over to the Illium and did some jamming with a bunch of fellas over there. I think I've been getting better at playing "normal" music on the mandolin through these jams. It's helping me become more capable on the instrument in different contexts.

Victorian Stroll!

Rob Guerin, Maurizio, and I frickin' rocked the Illium today! We jammed out from noon to five (with little breaks here and there), playing Maurizio's songs, my songs, bluegrass jams, and a few classic holiday songs. It was completely packed in there the whole day through, because Victorian Stroll suddenly makes Troy into the most bustling city around. It's really weird that way.

After our five-hour Illium show, we got invited to play at a tiny bar in Little Italy. We got there and set up, but there was some confusion, since there was no audience whatsoever. We played three songs, and the guy that booked us, Rocko DeFazio, let us grab some free food at Flavour Cafe across the street. I had a grilled cheese.

We made some money and had a great time. We'll probably do another show together sometime soon. All in all, it was a successful day.

GZ OM 1

I went to Ground Zero, a venue located in the basement of a dorm building on the R.P.I. campus, for an open mic tonight. It was definitely a unique atmosphere. Everybody knew each other. They chanted and laughed at things I just didn't get. Fortunately, I signed up for slot 16, and by the time my turn came around, I was starting to get used to things. After I played, had some conversations, and danced around, I was really starting to like it there! I will surely go back next semester.

I played:

.. hello, will you be my Sheep?
.. 5 songs of fish

Victorian Stroll tomorrow!

Troy has a bizarre tradition called the Victorian Stroll, in which people strut around downtown wearing Victorian garb and being entertained. I performed some Christmas songs with chorus way back in high school, but I've never been involved with the Stroll in any other way.

This year, however, I'm going to be doing some jamming with Maurizio and Rob Guerin. We're playing from noon to five tomorrow at the Illium. I don't really know what sort of stuff it will be, but I'm looking forward to playing some improvisational mando.

So if you're out strolling, feel free to stop by and check us out.

But first, there's something that might be amazing happening on 3rd Street by the Daily Grind at 10:00 AM. Some sort of mock worker's demonstration, with actors playing labor representatives. It's something independent, not sanctioned by the city, but intended to give a better representation about what the Victorian era was like in Troy, a workers' industrial city. I'm planning to check that out, and I can't say to what extent I will participate.

Almost Awake is also playing tomorrow during the Stroll, probably during the same time frame that I'll be at the Illium. They'll be at Flavour Cafe. You can check them out, too, if you like.

I'm sure there are tons of other things going on as well, but those are my three recommendations for you at this time.

Grind OM 15

.. level 1
.. the slippery toad > 25% more monster [request]
.. Pablo
.. troglodyte

Flavour OM 5 / P4 OM 2

I played at Flavour Cafe.

.. I am systems
.. science
.. Across the Universe [Beatles cover]
.. hello, will you be my Sheep? [with Kyle on conga]
.. love song 5
.. e blue apparatus

I played at Positively 4th St.

.. Robots: the card game > deposit 1 tangelo
.. 25% more monster [request]
.. vegetables you've never heard of
.. wow [request]