news from kintespace.com ::: Wednesday, November 28, 2007

The poetry of the punk scene was that people who fancied themselves as anarchists could stand up on stage in front of a crowd and start expressing themselves with musical instruments. Standing around all nice and prim like Pollyanna waiting for music classes to return to the public schools is a political statement of submission. The poetry of punk is to just stand up and fight this lack of “proper” and “official” support.

Now couple the poetry of punk and the humble grace of the local African street singer of the urban tangle of concrete and steel—now you are getting closer to Fumilayo, an idea of protest and public expression from seasoned Los Angeles poet Fumilayo Bankole, supported by Leah Luna (bass, flute, percussion) and Chester Whitmore (drums). The compilation of their first effort is called L.A. River.

From her CD Baby page: “She is the anti-American Idol, full of grown-up, insightful lyrics, short on the over-vocalizing and unoriginality so popular these days. She is a unique activist voice with a talent for creating memorable, catchy melodies. Fumi draws on a ten year stint being a high school teacher in Los Angeles, KPFK programming, her personal experience and intense empathy for people in the world who are suffering at the hands of a few. The eleven tracks on LA River are a combination of poetry, acoustic songs and accompanied songs enhanced with bass and eerie sound bites.”

::: Joseph Mayo Wristen: Thinking about You and Your High Flying Ways

::: ::: http://kintespace.com/p_jmwristen0.html

Joseph Mayo Wristen in his efficient words from 2001:

“I’m almost 50 and I haven’t died. Now I have to find away to support myself. If you’re interested in helping a not-yet-dead poet you can go to my web site and check out my work.”

Unfortunately, like many poets in this cruel world on top of the Earth, his web page is no longer active and, again, I am eager to apologize publically for taking so long to attend to his work here in the kinté space.

Our selection, “Thinking about You and Your High Flying Ways” is one of the finest examples of prose poetry I have seen in years (even the grammatical errors help the effect). It would be quite exciting to me to see a poet maintain for hundreds of days a daily journal of such quality.

::: Charlie Rose Inc.: 11 Hours with 11 Famous People (YouTube.com)

::: ::: http://kintespace.com/p_charlierose0.html

The great bit about Charlie Rose is that he needs no introduction. His innovative presence on YouTube.com showcases his one-hour interview with famous personalities.

This presentation features my picks: Toni Morrison, Noam Chomsky, Morgan Freeman, The Dalai Lama, Martin Scorsese, Bill Russell, Steve Martin, Bill Joy, Bill Gates, Harold Pinter and Garry Shandling. Note that the audio tracks may get out of sync with the video tracks over time. Blame Adobe Flash not Charlie Rose.

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