Bear Grylls – Born Survivor

Posted on January 2, 2012 by garylongden

Bear Grylls

These are useful tips I have picked up from watching his series:

1. A dead camel can be useful for sleeping inside in the Saraha desert.
2. When leaping off a small ice sheet onto the rigging of a passing ship be aware that the ship may sink the sheet upon which you are standing
3. Raw sheep’s testicles are full of nutrition
4. Rafts, however ingeniously assembled, invariably sink quite quickly
5. When confronted with a forest fire in Alabama you should run through it.Roll around in mud to protect your body, and drench a urine soaked t shirt around your head for protection first
6. Seal skins can be cut and tailored to make excellent singlets in the style of Andy Bell from Erasure.
7. Freshly excreted faeces wrapped in cling film is a good hand warmer in the cold.
8. When entering long mountain single track railway tunnels with no passing places in Oregon, care should be taken that a train is not coming.
9. After bathing in glacial lakes rolling around in snow actually helps you to dry off.
10. Raiding bees nests in Africa for honey without fully covering your face is unwise, their stings hurt.

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The Rise of Poetronica

Posted on January 1, 2012 by garylongden

In early 2011, poets began setting their words to the sound of dubstep and electronica. Almost twelve months on, the signs are that poetronica is here to stay

Skream AKA Oliver Jones


It’s hardly surprising the year is ending with news that dubstep heavyweight Skream is set for a musical collaboration with poet Jodi Ann Bickley. After all, 2011 was the year when spoken word and electronica joined forces, and will surely be remembered for poets putting down their notebooks and turning to the MPC.

The trend began back in February, with the late, great Gil Scott Heron and Jamie xx’s We’re New Here. The two forms have since made sweet, electro-infused music together, with poets embracing the jerky and sometimes downright jarring beats of dubstep and electronica.
Drums Between the Bells, Rick Holland’s collaboration with Brian Eno, released on Warp Records back in July, was dubbed “poetronica” by critics and bloggers.

One of the most successful collaborations of the year came courtesy of Josh Idehen and electronica outfit LV, whose album Routes received rave reviews, an album of the month in Mixmag, and bookings at both poetry events and club nights. Idehen’s lyrics were cut and chopped by LV, a fresh and somewhat backwards approach to production. The result is a fun and fast-paced album that Idehen describes as a “true collaboration”: “Spoken word works with electronica. It can be a lot more accessible; there are less of the conventions found in hip-hop.”

Poet Raymond Antrobus, part of post-dubstep outfit Speed Camera Shy – who this year cemented UK dubstep’s crossover to the US by signing to the independent Californian label Gradient Audio – also thinks a poetic narrative works better with electronica. He argues that dubstep beats are preferred as they don’t drown out the poet’s voice: “Dubstep beats are something you can own, something that makes your words flow organically as they’re not trapped within a 4/4 pattern.”

Jodi Ann Bickley describes her Skream collaboration as incorporating a “classic minimal dubstep beat” to aid her narrative. “A beat has to do whatever suits the poet. I aim towards proper storytelling with a beginning, middle and end, so it has to be minimal. Dubstep beats give me a blank canvas; they aren’t too overpowering and can be calm if I need them to be. Dubstep can create a sense of place just like poetry can.”

So is poetronica here to stay? Musa Okwonga, of the spoken word and electronic project The King’s Will, is an ardent supporter of the term and is keen to look forward. “It’s been an amazing year in terms of productivity and quality,” he says. “There’s definitely been a tipping point, and I’m really excited for the year ahead.”

Kieran Yates • guardian.co.uk 30/12/12
https://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/music/musicblog/2011/dec/30/rise-of-poetronica

The above article appeared in today’s Guardian. It was of particular interest for me as I know Jodi Ann, have watched her grow and flourish on the Brum scene, and have seen Ray Antrobus perform twice this year too. So, how accurate is this article? Is poetronica really on the rise?

Jodi Ann Bickley

Both Jodi Ann and Ray are undoubtedly very talented performers, and warm to multimedia platforms. Jodi Ann has flirted with music right from the start of her public career, her girlish fresh charm is so “on trend” with the raft of talented young British female singers currently enjoying success that the temptation to cross over must seem irresistible. Her writing is fey, kitchen sink, heartfelt and vulnerable, capturing the angst of young adulthood with a veritas that transcends her immediate peers, and reaches out to those who were young once also.

Ray Antrobus

Ray is a different talent, with photography being another passion of his . That need to capture a moment is so evident in his poetry too. He combines the edginess of a man who was out photographing the Tottenham Riots with a male metrosexual openness.

Poetry’s relationship with music goes back to the origins of the form, through Chaucer and to Homer. As soon as stories came to be told, two tools were immediately available, rhyme to help remember words ,and musical accompaniment, in the form of a drumbeat, and then other instruments as technology evolved, to add rhythm and mood. In England, and English, the Minstrel combined the skills of poet and musician and in Europe, as classical music flourished, you could not stop poets of the day having a crack at a hymn.

So, relationship established, when does a poem stop being a poem and become a song lyric? A poem without music is a poem, a poem with music at some point crosses that boundary. As the 20th century popularised amplified music, the great song writing lyricists and musical theatre lyricists chose to ply their trade with music by choice. Folk music and Country and Western similarly chose music as an essential ingredient to tell their stories.

Two things served to take poetry and the craft of lyric writing apart from popular music. The first was the creation of the Billboard Sheet Music Chart in 1940, and then the first record sales chart compiled by NME in 1952. At those points, as mass media broadened artists from the confines of theatres and clubs, a focus for celebrity was offered to television and radio from which the industry has never looked back. The artist and the sound became as important as the song and the lyric, which previously would not have been possible.

Bob Dylan

The fight-back, arguably came with Bob Dylan whose lyrics were so rich, dense and enigmatic, that whilst falling short of conventional poetic standards boasted a lyrical content which none could deny. The Doors set Jim Morrison’s poetry to music although the result was emphatically music and Jefferson Airplane successfully flirted with a poetic/literary form in “White Rabbit”. Gill Scott Heron though was undoubtedly the person who first tried to reverse the trend and put poetry first in his debut album “Small Talk”, with spoken word vocal delivery and African-style congas, containing his defining, seminal “The Revolution Will Not Be televised”.

Brian Eno

It is ironic that Brian Eno should be seen as being in the vanguard of the poetronica movement due to his work with Rick Holland. Anyone who has heard his early Roxy Music involvement with “Sea Breezes” and “Chance Meeting” on Roxy’s eponymous first album, or “In Every Dreamhome A Heartache” from “For Your Pleasure” will have heard the birth of poetronica. His latter Ambient Quintet of albums, starting with “Music for Airports” and ending with “More Music for Films” were also so minimalistic and sparse musically that they almost begged to have vocal accompaniment- but didn’t. Fellow computer based musicians Kraftwerk flirted with poetronica first with “Autobhan” then with “Computer Love” and “The Model” before becoming consumed by conventional mainstream mores. Yet might David Bowie (who included “Right Line Poem” in his “Hunky Dory” Album and “Future legend” in “Diamond Dogs”) claim a credit for his stylophone composed “Space Oddity” at the start of the decade? Indeed the diversity of experimentation was more than you might imagine in the 70’s with Ian Hunter, a far better songwriter and lyricist than singer recording the spoken word “It Aint easy When You Fall” in his eponymous solo album just before punk broke.

Patti Smith

Punk provided unexpected opportunities for poetry that in retrospect were not fully capitalised upon. Patti Smith was the standard bearer with “Piss factory” and her debut album “Horses”, but for whatever reason, she failed to break out of cult idolatry. When Siouxsie Sue was struggling for early lyrical inspiration she simply provided a musical backing to “The Lords Prayer”, and slightly later, I offer you the first genuine slice of modern poetronica, Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman”, in 1981.

But one figure cuts a swathe from the sixties to the present day as a lyricist, and on one album outright poet, and that is Lou Reed. Bathing himself in contemporary literature to the present day, he pioneered a spoken style to rock backing from “Waiting for the Man”, “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Street Hassle” through, “Songs for Drella” his album with John Cale dedicated to Andy Warhol.

Lou Reed

He too released his own ambient album, without lyrics in “Hudson River Wind Meditations” in 2007. Previously in May 2000, Reed performed before Pop John Paul 11 at the Great Jubilee Concert in Rome. Also in 2000, a new collaboration with Robert Wilson called “Poe-Try” was staged in Germany. As with the previous collaboration Time Rocker, Poe-Try was also inspired by the works of a 19th-century writer: Edgar Alan Poe. Reed became interested in Poe after producer and long-time friend Hal Wilner had suggested him to read some of Poe’s text at a Halloween benefit he was curating at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn.] For this new collaboration, Reed reworked and even rewrote some of Poe’s text as well as included some new songs based on the theme explored in the texts. I suspect that Reed, now 70 will be concentrating on the spoken word in his silent years.

Kraftwerk Live


So will poetronica gain traction in the second decade of the 21st century? In a multi-media world there is certainly space for it, whatever that “it” is. There are some great new mainstream lyricists out there, Matt Berninger (The National),James Mercer (The Shins), Devendra Banhart to name but three. There is nothing stopping the likes of Jodi Ann and Ray adding their lyrical prowess to the Dubstep scene which has worked through post-Dubstep to American Brostep ,and creating a poetronica hybrid drawing on the likes of Eno, Kraftwerk and even early Human league and Dépêche Mode to create something new. For me one of the faults of the contemporary popular music scene is that so few artists have anything to say, maybe poetronica can alter that?

Historically, as soon as you put poetry and music together the music wins, and the evolution is conventional music and lyrics. Avoiding that requires discipline, skill and a preparedness to eschew mainstream commercial success. For me, one of the attractions of spoken word poetry is the sparseness of it, the words, the voice and the imagery. It can be tough, and it can be demanding. Furthermore some of the best poets are not the best presenters of their own poetry either visually or in their delivery. Perhaps poets might work a little harder on their own image and delivery too, whatever their chosen platform?

Gil Scott Heron

As a poet I want to set my own pace and create my own landscape. Music is an incredibly powerful form and so presents a catch 22. If it is good it has the power to distract, if it is not ,it has the power to detract. At the point at which it becomes complimentary does it not become a song and lyric? In principle I have no problem with that as an outcome, Heron’s “Small talk” and Reed’s “Songs For Drella” show what can be achieved by using music to support words. But the pitfalls are well established.

So there you have it, the history and the context, and the future of Poetronica is unwritten. I would love to see Ray and Jodi Ann picking up the poetronica baton this year and shall be following their progress as they attempt to do so.

Jodi Ann Bickley blogs under: http://jodiannbickleystinyblog.tumblr.com/
Ray Antrobus blogs under: http://raymondantrobus.blogspot.com/

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Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol

Posted on January 1, 2012 by garylongden


This is the fourth in the Mission Impossible series and it reboots the concept, rivalling the first instalment, and is far better than Missions Two and Three. The choice of Brad Bird as Director was risky, inspired, and has paid off. Bird’s credits are with tv series, and animation on television and the big screen, but he is best known for his work with the Simpsons. That he handles the action so well is a pleasant surprise, the delight is the humour he brings to the film with Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn being given a full supporting role, and injecting a comic element which freshens the story considerably. In several scenes he steals the glory from Tom Cruise, and this enhanced role will surely be an essential ingredient in the next film. He plays Dunn as a youthful Q in the James Bond series but more dynamically than simply as a techno-geek.

Hollywood’s desire to penetrate emerging markets is much in evidence here. A substantial chunk of the film is set in Moscow, Russia is not the bad guy (nor is the United States the good guy per se)and there are enough Russian sub-titles to facilitate a Russian language version with English subtitles. Almost as much screen time is devoted to Mumbai too where the film reaches its climax in a shameless attempt to woo Russian and Indian audiences.

Particular credit should also be given to the role of women in this film. Paula Patton, as Jane Carter proved playing opposite Denzil Washington in “Deja Vu” that she was a very accomplished actress. Here she has a wonderful role as kick-ass agent resolved to avenge the death of a colleague and honey trap. She looks absolutely gorgeous in a powder blue shift dress and jacket, but is deadly too when she kicks off her heels to get down to business. Lea Seydoux, fresh from her success in Robin Hood, has an equally satisfying role as Sabine Moreau, an icy cold assassin on the bad guys team.

The set pieces are uniformly excellent, the opening break out from a Russian prison is particularly well choreographed and staged. Mid film Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt takes stunts to new heights literally, with a human fly scene at the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the film ends with two action sequences in India. The latter, although well played cannot trump the Dubai stunt, but then again there are a lot more people in India to watch the film than Dubai!

A justified criticism is that the plot is pure James Bond, the bad guys steal Russian weapons codes to start a nuclear war with America putting America in the frame by setting up Hunt and his team as fall guys. Furthermore Michael Nyqvist’s role as chief villain Kurt Hendricks is utilitarian rather than character driven so we don’t get a convincing good v evil showdown, but the story itself works satisfyingly enough. Curiously Ving Rhames briefly reprises his role Luther Stickell for a couple of odd minutes at the end which add little to the story, perhaps more was left on the cutting room floor?

In summary a faithful, action-packed and buoyant return to form with a very welcome new comedic dimension to it. Cruise’s maturity in giving Simon Pegg more space in the story, and a willingness to be prepared to act his age, rather than a screen twenty five, does him much credit. I also applaud the fact that the iconic theme tune remains unchanged and the message , should they choose to accept it, still self-destructs in five seconds. The standard for the next instalment has been set high!

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Get Him to the Greek

Posted on December 30, 2011 by garylongden


A dreadful unfunny mess for which Director Nicholas Stoller should take full responsibility . Russell Brand is a charismatic talent, Jonah Hill who plays opposite him as record company executive Aaron Green is not. The equal billing and screen time they receive, presumably for the benefit of American audiences, holes the film below the water line from the start. Hill is not up to it, and is miscast. The visual attraction of a tall handsome louche Brand and a short fat ugly Hill, I can accept. What I cannot accept is the total lazy confusion of what happens around them.

The idea is fine, that of a washed up rock star, Aldous Snow, whose career is to be rejuvenated by a 10th anniversary concert . Green is charged with the task of getting Snow from London to the Greek Theatre in LA. That provides a platform for the straight Hill to be subjected to rock n roll depravity by Brand, but the mix doesn’t work. Hill is not written as a foil for Brand, instead he has equal status and the energy drains from the film with every camera shot of him.

Record Company President Sergio Roma, played by Sean Combs , is a character with promise which is wrecked by overuse of profanity and one dimensional characterisation. Beyond that every stereotype, writing by numbers, and cliché supporting cast that you could ever have hallucinated about in your worst nightmares appears here.

The DVD contains an alternative opening and finale, both of which are far superior to those which are on the final edit. In the theatre version a messy, ambiguous, video shoot for Snows latest single is presented as a potential trailer or promo and is highly irritating. The alternative conventional scene of a country house launch party with the video being screened and other characters introduced makes far more sense. Equally a tedious official finish at the inevitably successful concert is vastly inferior to a quite witty alternative .The many deleted and alternative scenes are testament to the fact that Stoller seriously lost the plot here.

The music is uniformly bad, many scenes are superfluous and boring, and the clichés about a rock n roll lifestyle choke the life out of the story. How Stoller and co-writer Jason Segal could have so succeeded with “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” but failed so abjectly with this is a mystery. Although not the worst film I have ever seen, it is close run thing.

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Jan 2012 What’s On

Posted on December 28, 2011 by garylongden

Mon 2nd SW @N,Newhampton Inn, Riches Street, Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, WV6 0DW.8pm, Poetry, Storytelling and song, Peter Chand hosts.

Thur 5th Yard of Tales,Joules Yard, rear of 53-55 High Street, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7AF.Yard of Tales is a performance storytelling club hosted by Kevin Walker http://www.kevinwalker-storyteller.com

Thur 5th Parole Parlate, Little Venice Worcester 7.30pm. Decadent Divas, plus sundry supporting cast, Lisa Ventura hosts.

Fr 6th Spoken Word & Music The Hollybush The Hollybush, 53 Newtown Street, Cradley Heath B64 5EA Open mic, 8.30pm, free in liveatthebush@yahoo.co.uk, Richard Bruce Clay MC’s, Dave Francis does the beer.

Sun 8th ARTournament’s Sunday Chill,The New Inn in the centre of Gloucester​ (opp M&S) City Centre. 16 Northgate Street, Gloucester​, Gloucester​shire, GL2. UK.First Sunday, £5in, 3pm-9pm. poetry, Comedy and Music.Suz Winspear, Lisa Ventura,James Bunting, amongst many. Anna Saunders hosts.

Sun 8th Buzzwords, Exmouth Arms,Bath Road Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL53 7LX, 7pm,Workshop, Open mic plus Jonathan Davidson, Angela Frances.

Mon 9th Pure and Good and Right, The Sozzled Sausage, Leamington Spa, CV32 4nx 7.30pm, Open Mic with George Hardwick. This month’s guest poet is the dynamic Andy Conner.

Hailing from Birmingham, Andy Conner performs poetry light and dark. Taking inspiration from sources as diverse as Brazilian street children, the First World War and his own inability to concentrate, he has established a wide and eclectic repertoire which guarantees that no two performances are the same, or anywhere near it. Long-established on the West Midlands scene, Andy has also performed in a wide variety of venues nationwide and his work has featured on Radio 4’s ‘Poetry Please’.

An engaging and dramatic performer, Andy attracts uniformly positive reviews, both for his his published work and live performances. His current publications are ‘Red’, a collection of poetry, and ‘Once’, a teen fiction novel, both of which are selling strongly in Britain and abroad.

Andy hates computers with a vengeance, but nevertheless keeps a poorly-maintained website at http://www.andyconner.com

Mon 9th Pub Poetry Nottingham The Canal house, 48-52 Canal Street, Nottingham, NG1 7EH,8pm, : Free in, Open mic, Contact Nick on pubpoetry@nottscomedyfestival.co.uk

Tues 10th City Voices City Bar King Street, Wolverhampton WV 1ST , 7.30pm Set Bill, with Simon Fletcher

Tues 10th Scribal Gathering The Upstairs Room at The Crown, Market Square, Stony Stratford, Milton Keynes MK11 1BE, 2nd tuesday monthly,Entry: free; open mic poetry and music with featured acts,”Stony Stratford’s première spoken word and music performance event. Richard Frost hosts.This monthly meeting of minds will bring together writers, musicians and performers of all kinds to share their talents, entertain each other and evoke the spirit of gathering. Join us…” Sign up for the open mic on the night, or reserve a slot by email: info@scribalgathering.com.http://www.scribalgathering.com/

Tues 10th Tales at the Edge, Bridgnorth, Shropshire,Tales at the Edge is one of the country’s oldest and most established storytelling clubs, meeting at The White Lion in Bridgenorth at 8 pm.

Wed 11,The Quad Derby QUAD, Market Place, Cathedral Quarter, Derby, DE1 3AS Second Wednesday 19.30 Free in, A monthly night of performed poetry for everyone, new performers always welcome or just come and listen, More details from QUAD or contact Les on T: 01332 206 734, http://www.derbyquad.co.uk

Wed 11,Jan Spoken Word Open Mic @ ‘Old Cross’ Pub, Church Street, Stapleford​ NG9 8DA An evening of poems and stories from two local performers – Dave Wood and Richard Young.Sign up on the door for open spots. Anything spoken word is fine lasting between 3 -5 minutes. A great chance to try out your writing in a fun way.Entrance is free. There’ll be a collection for ‘Rainbows Hospice’ and the landlord is kindly organising a beer raffle as a fundraiser for the hospice.The performance will be ‘in-the-round’ in the upstairs room in Old Cross pub

Wed, 11th , The Voicebox, Forman Street, Derby, DE1 1JQ 7.30pm sarah Rundle’s “Gawain and the Green Knight” Gorgeous Gawain, King Arthur’s nephew, rides out in golden armour on his white horse on a suicidal mission. The journey is cold and long and he is constantly ambushed – but the greatest danger comes from his own heart! Love, war and chivalry combine in this classic tale from the court of King Arthur that will have you watching and listening on the edge of your seat!. Sophie Snell hosts.

Sophie writes: “I met Sarah first about 3 years ago when we both applied for a commission – it was a delight to watch her perform then, she was a generous and energetic performer, and all we have heard of this her latest show has been full of praise!” Sarah, when asked how she got into storytelling describes how she got locked in a laboratory but tunnelled her way to freedom. She ran away to drama school and is now an actor and storyteller. Over the last 7 years she has performed in theatres, cafes, museums, yurts and even a Saxon Longhouse!

“Sarah Rundle has made the most enjoyable “Gawain and the Green Knight” I have ever seen. It storms along with an intelligent irreverence, yet is able to be truly magical when wonder is called for. You can sense that this is the result of deeply researched work, every creative choice behind its composition and delivery is considered yet the result is light and deft… It sparkles with a particularly glorious English humour. I’ve not had this much spirited pleasure from anything “Arthurian” since Footsbarn Theatre’s work in the late 1970′s” Ben Haggarty.

“Richly historical and sharply modern, Sarah Rundle’s “Gawain” is a masterpiece of contemporary storytelling. By turns poignant and witty, deeply moving and uproariously funny.” Giles Abbott.

“One of the most raucous and fun raising accounts of Sir Gawain I’ve ever heard. Spiced with modernisms it was lively, and full of beer cellar swagger. Uproarious!” Del Reid in the London Storytelling Newsletter.

http://www.sarahrundle.co.uk

Sat 14th Poets Place, Birmingham Central Library,2pm-4pm, free in:

Poets’ Place: a bi-weekly informal gathering of poets, writers and performers. An opportunity to meet like-minded people, give and solicit feedback, or just sit in a corner and write for two hours.Organised by Birmingham Libraries and Apples & Snakes, Poets’ Place is a monthly informal gathering of poets. It is an opportunity to meet like‐minded people, give and solicit feedback on your poetry, or just sit back and write for a couple of hours without interruption. You can use the Poets’ Place to make new friends, discover
new poets, share and have your work critiqued, make useful connections, set a writing schedule… The Poets’ Place can be whatever you as a poet decide to make of it. Whether you are a published poet, a slam champion, or someone who is just wondering whether poetry might be worth a try, stop by. There is no need to sign up or book a place: just show up with your poems or a blank notebook. There will be someone there to make you feel welcome and advise you on how to make the most of your time there. Occasionally, Poets’ Place will host performances, workshops, film showings and other events. The Poets’ Place is located on the Lower Ground Floor (access via the Netloan Centre).

For more information contact: Nikki Bi, Birmingham Reader
Development Support Officer (nikki.bi@birmingham,gov.uk) or Bohdan Piasecki,
West Midlands Coordinator, Apples & Snakes (bohdan@applesandsnakes.org)

Sat 14th Black Country Evening at Bilston Voices, Cafe Metro, Church St, Bilston, 7.30pm,£7 inc buffet,Dave Reeves, Brendan Hawthorne and Madge Gilbey, as well as the hilarious Fizzog Theatre Company, Emma Rollason doing her Dolly Allen tribute and Derec Mac.Emma P is MC

Tues 17th Poetry Club Giggling Goblin Coffee Shop, Mill Lane, Ashby de la Zouch– 8:30, free in, with a licensed bar and great coffee. T Open mic poetry and folk

Fri 20th Madcap,Creed Street, Wolverton, MK12 5LY Milton Keynes, 7.30pm:Danni Antagonist hosts, Milton Keynes’ most slamtastic spoken word event invites you to come Into The Enchanted Wood…Whether you get there through the back of a wardrobe, on the run from your wicked stepmother, or just falling down a rabbit hole, come into the enchanted forest with Poetry Kapow!, for an evening of rhymes, tall tales and make-believe cabaret.There’ll be our usual magical open mic, spellbinding slam, and fantastic featured acts, with a sprinkling of written competitions, interactive art, and hidden goodies ready to inspire you.Come down to the lovely MADCAP Theatre in Wolverton. Bring your words, your imagination, and some breadcrumbs to trail behind you. Just in case…(And for more of that wonderful photography, go and see Steve Ellaway’s site at http://www.flickr.com/​photos/steveellaway/)

Featuring:

* Slam competition
* Open mic
* Featured artists
* Live acoustic music
* Deep, dark loveliness

(15+ please!)

Contact wood@poetrykapow.co.uk/ 07904 499049 for more details, or check out the website – http://​www.poetrykapow.co.uk/ – for more details about What We Do…

Sunday 22nd Sunday Xpress Doors 1500, Start 16:30 Adam & Eve Bradford Street, Birmingham B12 0JD, Brendan Higgins hosts, Open mic,jameskennedycentral@yahoo.co.uk

Sunday 22nd Rhyme and Tells at the Six Bells in Bishops Castle, Shropshire, 8 pm – 10.30 pm. It is free admission and an open session for poetry, prose and storytelling.

Monday 23rd Shindig The Western PH, Western Rd Leicester, 4th Monday bi-monthly,7.30pm: Headliners and open mic,free in, Jonathan taylor, matt Nunn and Jane Commane host.Crystal Clear Creators and Nine Arches Press invite you to Shindig! Open-Mic Poetry Evening at The Western Pub, Leicester, LE3 0GA on Monday 23 January from 7.30pm. FREE AND OPEN TO ALL! Sign up for open-mic slots at the door. Featured poets for the evening are Jessica Mayhew, John Lucas, Phil Brown and Helen Calcutt.
Jessica Mayhew is twenty-two, and is part-way through her degree at the University of Northampton, where she is studying English Literature and Creative Writing. Apamphletof Jessica’s work called Someone Else’s Photograph will be published by Crystal Clear Creators in March 2012.

Phil Brown teaches English in Sutton and has been regularly writing poetry for about ten years. In 2009 he was shortlisted for the Crashaw Prize and won the Eric Gregory Award in 2010. His debut collection, Il Avilit, has just been published by Nine Arches Press. He is the Poetry Editor for the online magazine and chapbook publisher, Silkworms Ink.

John Lucas’s most recent book is Next Year Will Be Better: A Memoir of England in the 1950s. He runs Shoestring Press.

Helen Calcutt was born in 1988 and grew up in the West Midlands, with familial roots in South West Wales. Her first pamphlet collection is forthcoming next year with Perdika.

She works as a visiting writer for, among others, Creative Alliance, Writing West Midlands, and The Young People’s Writing Squads. She was awarded an Arvon writing Grant in September 2011.


Mon 23rd Poemy Things, Boars Head Gallery Kidderminster,Poemy things from:Ira Lightman, Cliff Yates,Bobby Parkerand Kate Wragg

Tuesday 24th Fizz, Polesworth Abbey, Poleworth, Open Mic and Guest Gary Carr.7.30pm, Free in, Mal Dewhirst hosts.

Tueday 24th Poetry Bites, Kitchen Garden Cafe, York St Kings Heath, 7.30pm, £5, opne mic plus special guest Matt Merritt, Jacqui Rowe hosts.

Tuesday 24th The Telling Space,*NEW VENUE *(relocated from Wem) Mythstories,The Shrewsbury Coffeehouse,5 Castle Gates, SY1 2AE,7pm, free in http://www.mythstories.com contact Dez or Ali on 01939 235500 for further information. A chance to listen or an opportunity to tell.

Wed 25th 42 Gothic, Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy,Lunar Bar, New St, Worcester, 730pm start, free in.

Wed 25th William McGonagall and the Mystery of Loch Ness,Kitchen Garden Cafe, York St Kings Heath, 7.30pm,Poetry, music and mayhem abound in this Victorian comedy-thriller! Dinner-Theatre package, to see in Burns Night!William Topaz McGonagall, poet and tragedian of Dundee, has been widely hailed as the writer of the worst poetry in the English language. A self-educated hand loom weaver from Dundee, he discovered his discordant muse in 1877 and embarked upon a 25 year career as a working poet, delighting and appalling audiences across Scotland and beyond.

“His audiences threw rotten fish at him, the authorities banned his performances, and he died a pauper over a century ago. But his books remain in print to this day, and he’s remembered and quoted long after more talented contemporaries have been forgotten.”http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk/

Presented by “Don’t go Into the Cellar” Theatre Company.

For more information on McGonagall, follow the link.

Thur 26th Bad Language The Castle Hotel, 66 Oldham Street, Manchester M4 1LE,7.30pm, Open Mic plus guest Socrates Adams.Dan Carpenter hosts.

Thur 26th Bilston Voices, Cafe Metro, Church St, Bilston, 7.30pm,£2 in, set bill, Emma Purshouse hosts

Thur26th Hit the Ode, Victoria PH,Birmingham, 7.30pm £5 in, Sue Brown , Luke Wright,Dani Orviz, from Spain headline, Bohdan Piesecki hosts.

Fri 27th Jan Spoken Worlds, Old Cottage tavern, Byrkely St, Burton on Trent, 7.30pm , Free in, Open Mic, Gary Carr hosts.
Sun 29th Sunady Express, Adam 7 Eve, bradford St, Digbeth, Birmingham, 4pm, free in: Open mic, poetry and music

Tues 31st Word Wizards Grove Hotel, Buxton 19.30. Rob Stevens hosts, Open mic three minute slam format More info Poetryslamuk@aol.com
01298 77362/ 0781 3289358

Posted in Midlands Poetry What's On | Leave a comment

The Inbetweeners Movie

Posted on December 28, 2011 by garylongden


I should declare my interest as a huge fan of the television series which surely ranks as one of the best comedies in recent years. Its skill lies in the writing . Although it is set in the present, it also has an Everyman quality about it that appeals to older people too who either witness that behaviour in their children, or remember what it was like being that age themselves. Traditionally feature films of comedy series fare badly. Their fault being to either try to stretch out a half hour episode over 90 minutes, or in simply reheating familiar jokes. This does neither, and instead represents a logical coda to a group of friends who have just finished school prior to going to University or employment.

The familiar themes are here, masturbation, defecation, vomiting and awkwardness with the opposite sex. But this is not an “American Pie” style “gross out” story. It is also about friendship, fun and coming of age. However vulgar they are, the joke is invariably on them. A holiday abroad allows their familiar failings to be exploited in a completely new setting, and it works well. It represents a compilation of all the things that could go wrong for teenagers abroad, and the mishaps arrive thick and fast, each one dispatched before it becomes laboured, a fresh disaster is never far away.

Four girls are introduced with whom they all ultimately pair off with, after the usual false starts. The girls themselves are consistently placed in a good light, although the stereotypes sometimes border on the sexist. Alison (Laura Haddock) is the best written of the four as an intelligent and sassy girl in love with a perfidious waiter but who falls for geeky Will’s quirk charm. Lucy (Tamla Karl) plays the foil for Simon’s blind infatuation with Carli which culminates in an endearing climax to the story. Neil’s love interest is Jane (Lydia Rose Bewley) who is the most one dimensional of the girls, and Lisa (Jessica Knappet) plays the fat girl who ultimately wins Jay, valiantly overcoming a part where the humour teeters on the offensive at times, and is the least satisfying of the pairings as a result.

Far from eking out thin material, several vignettes are frustratingly brief. The Sixth Form Head of Year’s closing speech is a delight, the Brit-weary proprietor of the apartment block oozes potential, and a madcap nutter appears and disappears all leaving us wanting more. Director Ben Palmer, who had previously worked on the television series ,and previously Bo Selecta has, shown himself capable of moving from the small to large screen, and writers Iain Morris and Damon Beesley , both of whom have worked with stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr, have shown themselves adept at combining traditional set piece comic situations with convincing dialogue. All have earned their spurs to have a go at a stand -alone screen comedy.

How well this would travel abroad, particularly America, I am not sure. The characters and humour are very British, which is its charm. Affectionate and warm, the strong characterisation and pacy script is a delight. That this is the end of the road for the quartet isn’t frustrating ,it is satisfying and a fine end to a very good original idea which has runs its course and finished on a high.

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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Posted on December 24, 2011 by garylongden


I thoroughly enjoyed the first Sherlock Holmes and approached this sequel with optimistic anticipation- only to be very disappointed. A budget that had doubled, multiple locations, and the confidence of a well received first instalment should have proved a solid platform for further success. Sadly, Director Guy Ritchie lost his way.

As a pairing, Holmes, played by Robert Downey Jnr ,and Watson, by Jude Law, worked first time around. This time , Jude Law saves the pairing from disaster. I can run with Holmes as a cocaine snorting eccentric, but his eccentricities are so overwrought in this outing that his credibility as a formidable intelligence becomes unconvincing. Although I am happy to see historic capabilities rewritten and reinterpreted, his ability and acumen at street-fighting place an emphasis on the visceral, rather than cerebral which takes the character, for my tastes, far too close to Jean Claude Van Damme and Vin Diesel territory. Those thoughtful deductive powers eschewed in favour of occasional machine-gun analysis.

Rachel McAdams role is reduced to a bit part, and is a peripheral figure. Noomi Rapace instead supplies the glamour in a tentative performance as Gypsy Madam Heron which doesn’t convince. The Villain, Prof Moriarty, is played , uneasily, by Jared Harris whose visual likeness to Richard Stilgoe does not help the cause. Yet all is not lost. Stephen fry is excellent as Sherlock’s brother, Geraldine James has pitifully little screen time as housekeeper Mrs Hudson yet delights whenever she appears, and Kelly Reilly does well in an underwritten role as Dr Watson’s new wife.

The plot is a noisy mess, and is largely threadbare. Swooping camera shots, fast editing and slow motion have their place but quickly the action becomes all, and the law of diminishing returns quickly comes into play. Which is a shame, because when Ritchie gets it right, it can be very good. This time an escape from an arms and munitions works shines as an ever escalating armoury of weapons is employed against them. Indeed it is such a good scene that the final reel, an attempted assassination, becomes an anti-climax.

In summary, the familiar Director’s curse of too much money, too weak a script/story, and indiscipline, with no-one around to say “Guy, No!,” strikes, which is a shame. Ritchie can write good, funny dialogue (see “Lock Stock, etc”)but it is not much in evidence here, he can also handle a good action scene (the dry dock fight in the first film). But here he tries to reinvent the Holmes legend again, but only succeeds in losing the good bits and failing to improve with what he attempts in its place.

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Smoke & Mirrors, Malvern

Posted on December 18, 2011 by garylongden

The vibrancy of poetry events around the Midlands is well documented in Behind the Arras, but nowhere does the poetic muse flourish more healthily than at Smoke and Mirrors in Malvern. Organised by Dee Davidson and Caitlin Belgard. This year has seen performances by John Cooper Clarke, Attila the Stockbroker and Ian McMillan, as well as a cornucopia of local talent, all of whom are included in the Smoke and Mirrors book, which was launched on the evening. The book itself was compiled, and a companion audio recorded, and produced in under a month – a remarkable achievement. But then remarkable achievements seem routine for a couple who led the successful campaign to retain the Malvern Youth Centre, the only community hall in the town, from closure and redevelopment.

Formats can make or break poetry events. Yet Dee and Caitlin like to live dangerously. The performances were to showcase contributions to the book, with the opportunity for performers to add a few others. But instead of fixing a running order, a rolling ballot was in place to determine the order of performance – it worked brilliantly, primarily due to the calibre of poet and material on show , adding an uncertain artistic edge to proceedings.

First out of the hat were the Very Grimm Bros, vehicle for Adrian Mealing accompanied by his “brother” on acoustic guitar. His urbane and distinguished demeanour was the perfect foil for his raw subject matter which took in Police violence, and a tribute to Gill Scott Heron. Nor was Trish Marsh prepared to settle for the routine or mundane. She introduced us to the concept of GITS- great issues of our time, accompanied by placards to prompt audience response. Witty, sharp and fresh, she bounded through the perils of excess carbon emissions and the need for recycling,taking in Bin Laden on the way.

Writing simple, effective poetry is far more difficult than it at first appears. Whenever you hear something which makes you think “I wish I had written that” it is an implicit endorsement. That was my reaction to Ali Oxterby’s ,The Hug, a joyful, and wry exploration of the pleasures, and perils, of hugging. Previously, I had met Brenda Read- Brown , and seen her perform during the day in a library. In the environment of a relaxed, licensed ,evening she was unrecognisable, with two tour-de force pieces , one inspired by her work with prisoners. Dan Duke is a very strong comic performance poet. He fuses a Rowan Atkinesque absurd stage demeanour with a keen intellectual edge neatly balancing fine observation with base belly laughs. Up a GUM Tree about a visit to a sexually transmitted diseases clinic (non-auto biographical of course) epitomised this approach with male members of the audience looking anxiously around worried that they had laughed a little too readily at some of the jokes!

The likes of Heather Wastie,Ray Miller,Ted Underwood,Tim Cranmore,Myfanwy Fox and Catherine Crosswell effortlessly vindicated their selection for publication, with seventeen year old Laura Dedicoat, current Young Worcestershire Poet Laureate, a shining example of emerging poetic talent. The evening closed with a contribution from myself, a batte-of – the-sexes pentalogy duet with the cutting, but adorable, Amy Rainbow, and a delightfully lewd and bawdy contribution from Bill Thomas about eating spare ribs.

Every event has its own characteristics. Smoke and Mirrors trick is to be clever, yet unpretentious, diverse but with a strong poetic core, and performance based whilst never compromising on the stand alone quality of writing, a summary true of the evening, the running event, and the book, which is available, including audio disc for £10 from http://www.versatilearts.co.uk
Gary Longden 17/12/11

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Where You Will Find Me In December

Posted on December 8, 2011 by garylongden

Fri 9th Smart Poets Open Mic Poetry Party Vegd out, 7 Fletchers walk, Birmingham,B3 3HJ.: 7.30pm Guest poet…………..me!

Thur 15th Three Poets walk into a Pub, at Ye Olde White Hart, Kinver,7.30pm, free in, with Theo Theobald , Simon Lee and Heather Wastie

Sat 17th Smoke & Mirrors Launch and performances, Malvern Youth Centre,Malvern, 7.30pm: £3 in A stellar cast, including……….me!

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Word Up – The Drum, Aston

Posted on December 6, 2011 by garylongden

THIS was Behind the Arras’s ridiculously belated first visit to The Drum, which is dedicated to developing and promoting contemporary art and culture of British African, Asian and Caribbean communities.

Its ambitions are bold, as it strives to become a centre of national and international renown , yet still stay firmly rooted within its local community , leading and facilitating the development, celebration, performance and exhibition of the diversity of Black arts and cultures for the benefit of all.

It is a place where contemporary Black arts flourish and are enjoyed, nurturing and broadening the appreciation of these arts for audiences and participants from the whole community – Black and White.

It aims to support the development of contemporary Black artistic practice and involve people from every section of the community in cultural activities that educate, inform, entertain, challenge and delight them. When the evening drew to a close I think that Word Up met those objectives.

Led by the charismatic Keisha C and Cassandra ,the evening majored with black artists, though not exclusively, who were predominantly young, and combined straight poetry, drama, beat box, hip hop, and some songs sung to backing tracks.

CAVERNOUS

Played on a modest (but higher than you might expect) stage, there is a good PA system which is needed in the cavernous surroundings of the foyer and licensed cafe area.

Jon Morley is heavily involved in the Drum and he joined Wole Soyinka to perform extracts from Death and the Kings Horseman . The Drum’s new in-house production is a youth music theatre adaptation of this classic of modern African theatre, set in Nigeria during World War II.

“The King has died, and tonight a sacrificial victim must escort him to the spirit world. As Chief Elesin Oba dances through the market, pursued by an entourage of adoring women, he promises to honour the ancient Yoruba custom of ritual suicide and accompany his ruler on the final journey. Will Elesin do his duty and prevent the world from tumbling into catastrophe? Or will meddling colonial officials precipitate the downfall of his race?”

It was a strong reading, powerfully brought to life by Jon and Wole, the full performances take place on Dec 8th/9th/10th at the Drum.

The other star turn was Mstr Morrison, whose poetic career continues to flourish. Graveyard Shift is a live staple of his, telling the down-market, downbeat, tale of Jasmine and her life in a brothel. A young man, he speaks with the wisdom, and sometimes world-weariness, of someone far older, and with a humanity that always enthralls.

His latest poem, provisionally titled Real Life Heroes, represented another step in his writing evolution as he juxtaposed popular heroes, the sporting ones of whom will come to the fore next year during the Olympics and European Football Championships, with the everyday, unsung heroes of day to day life.

Bambino’s Freestyle Beatbox, Anita’s singing and Kanski’s rap impressed, as did the spoken word offerings of Jade Richards, Shabz Ahmed and Christian. The “Shake the Dust” Youth Poetry Slam is taking place at the Drum on Tuesday 6th December. 01-12-11

Gary Longden

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