based

What is Confessional Poetry? It is when you set yourself up for the big fall, when you get daring enough to tell all. Sylvia Plath, Anne Saxton, the perverted Allen Ginsberg; Robert Lowell, whom I have several books by, was a little calmer in his verse than those poets I just mentioned. Often the I is used or You in Confessional poetry. I find most of this poetry is unflattering, and that is why I do not do a lot of it; it wasnt meant to be. It is usually personal and autobiographical. The poet usually is speaking to you directly, the reader. When I read Plath, her confessional style seems more fantasy than fiction, but be that as it may, it is her soul talking; one must forget the themes and subject matter in confessional poetry, it explores certain details, processes past emotions, events, the author is actually exploring and processing his life in front of you. When I do this style of poetry, I try to take my first thoughts, and chain them together; somehow I already I know where I am going. One must eliminate meekness, modesty, or discretion. The poet comes out on top; because of self-revelation while in the process of creating this style of poemespecially if it is free verse.

The question has arisen, Why do they write it? and a fair question that should be answered perhaps more from a psychologist, than a poet, for at times one needs to be brutally honest. I was a licensed counselor for many years, and working with folks in, clients in the hospital, one thing I often had them do, to fight their demons, and so forth: write on paper about it. Any length, and then reread it, over and over if necessary. It seems to clear the brain, and makes the guilt duller. Some of my patients wrote 20-pages. After a while, the issue is not as important as it used to be, thus, the process of exposure, and acceptance has taken root. This is my view of course, and I think it can be placed into this area of Confessional Poetry, not for everyone. It gives perspective, if anything, and can be interesting to the reader. For Anne Saxton, this style of poetry reduced her madness. For me I believe it is simply a form of processing old events, and enjoying the trying times I had in yeas past, and how I see them now.

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

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Just hear me out when I say to give Spam a second chance. Not the spam that claims to grow body parts, asks for your bank account number, or promises wealthy sums from Nigerian royalty - but all those “read this, this is really funny” emails you receive from your friends and family (sources you trust!) who seemingly have nothing better to do. I used to ditch them without reading them until it occurred to me that, as a humorist, I might actually find some good ideas in here. Note that I said good “ideas” not good “jokes.” Now I view these funny emails as a goldmine of story and joke ideas. Even if you’re not a humorist, most of us want to (and should want to) add humor to our presentations. Here’s where you can find some. I’m not a fan of lifting material - even if the author is anonymous. But I do look at these things to see if I can find a way to turn them into different jokes that I can claim as my own - to turn jokes into stories - to take cartoons and turn them into verbal jokes.

And if you are an avid student of comedy like me, you will study them to find the themes. Humor is not so much about finding the funny in life, but finding the truths in life. These jokes will give you the truths to which you can create humor. Ask yourself, “What is this joke/cartoon/funny story saying about women (or whatever the subject)?” It may be saying that women think of a million things at once while men think of one thing at a time. No, this isn’t a funny, it’s a theme. You can write hundreds of jokes based on this one theme alone. I’m not going to show you how - that’s another article. So give these funny spam emails another chance and build a large portfolio of funny material - you’ll never laugh so much while learning. Until we meet again - Stay on the funny side!

Kelly Swanson

Staying on the funny side…

http://www.kellyswanson.net

kelly@kellyswanson.net

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After I had left the Shattered Thought team to get my own lunch I was kind of in my own world for a little bit. Inside the mind of this nerd I was already pondering what to do with the videos, how frequently I should put them up, looking at pictures I had taken and how I would put those up and which ones I would throw away.

The next bout was not scheduled for a few hours so when I finished eating I debated if I should stay or head back to the hotel. My mind was made up as I left the restaurant and met the Shattered Thought team again. They were looking for a spot to relax, practice and be prepared for there next bout. We made our way to a nearby park where the team sat down, talked about there previous performance and what they need to do in the next performance. This was easier said than done as food was still on there mind.

Apparently the free lunch they got was not so great so many of the team members were still hungry. It was decided they would get something to eat after they had practiced for a while, so that is what they did. Peanut practiced and did a great piece yet the team had a discussion about his piece. It was
decided not to be done as the subject material would have been too risky. I saw DTyme rehearse a piece that he would later do to great applause. Asia had some difficulty practicing. Although she is not nervous on stage, she did say she was intimidated to rehearse in front of Cuban and DTyme. Asia, Shelell and DTyme practiced a piece as well that was not performed. Cuban offered his advice to the team as they practiced and got ready. A short while later the team was ready to eat and perform.

The team made their way to the next venue ready to compete against teams from Compton, Maryland and Chicago. All teams did really well in this small, well lit venue. Yet I feel I must apologize for something that you will soon see. In my decision not to go back to the hotel I was not able to charge my camera. So although I was able to take pictures, I had only enough power to record one performance only. This was the first one done by the Shattered Thought team by Cuban and DTyme called “Running.” A great piece that got the crowd pumped and excited. Yet I missed some more remarkable pieces by Asia, DTyme and a team piece with Cuban and Peanut.

Asia’s piece, completely free-styled and made up on the spot, got great points,
and won the admiration of everyone in the room. That it was free-styled I didn’t learn about until the train ride home. DTyme did a piece that he had practiced in the park earlier to loud applause. The team ended it with Cuban and Peanut who’s piece was very well done in timing, performance, and expression. The crowd erupted in applause and this competition was a no brainer. Team Shattered thought won this bout followed by Chicago, Compton and Maryland.

After this venue the teams hung around outside, talked with one another and showed love and respect to all the competing poets. A film crew from London came around to talk to the Shattered Thought team. They have been filming
the event for a documentary to be released there. They got an amazing freestyle by Peanut and Cuban. All team members were talked to and of course, promoted their cd’s and web pages. I tried to get the email address of the filmmakers but I was unable to do so. So if you guys are reading this, get in touch with me!!!

After this was done we had a quick short ride on the train back to the hotel where the team got ready for the next days competition and I got ready to document some more events.

I woke up the next morning, checked out of the hotel and proceeded to the
venue. At least I thought I went to the right spot. I arrived early knowing when the team was set to compete and took some pictures. What I didn’t know is that I was in the wrong spot. When the team was set to compete in ten minutes and had not arrived, I knew I was in the wrong spot because not only had they not arrived, but none of the other teams had came either. I called Cuban and found out I was at the place of the Finals, not the quarter finals. I made my way to the event where Cuban got me a wristband to make sure I could get in.

I went inside took my seat ready to watch the teams compete. Shattered Thought was set to compete against teams from Hawaii, Denver, New York and Seattle. The first team to go up in the first round was Shattered Thought. Cuban and DTyme did their piece “Running” which got a good reception but did not impress the judges as much. Next to go up for the Shattered Thought team was Asia who did her piece “He Loves Me.” This got a great reception the first time she did it, but at the quarter finals the roof came off the building. People stood and started a chant of “Ten! Ten!” She was rewarded with a few tens for her poem. DTyme went

up next and performed a solo piece that was also well received by the crowd. Last was Cuban, who did “Blue, Brown, Green Eyes.” The love story was received well by the crowd but alas team Shattered Thought would not win this bout. New York would win this one again sending them to the finals and the Shattered Thought team to the sidelines to watch and cheer.

Because I had already checked out of the hotel, had a three hour drive, and had to work the next day, I said my goodbyes to the group. I took the train to the hotel and made my way home. My head was already filled with what I would do with the videos, images and what I would write.

I wanted to talk about my experience and that is what I did (am doing). It was a great atmosphere, full of tension, drama, excitement and laughter. The people were great, the poets were amazing, and the experience was nothing but positive. It was a pleasure to watch the Shattered Thought team do what they do first hand. It was a pleasure to watch a live performance of theirs, and to see the crowds react to their thought shattering poetry. My experience was a great one, one that I can’t wait to experience again.

Abel Garcia
http://www.shatteredthought.com
Author and Web Designer

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The loss of a loved one is the hardest thing that you will ever have to go through in your life, and you might find that at many times you feel hopeless. There are lights at the end of every darkness in life and the death of a loved one is no exception. There are many ways to deal with the death of a loved one, and there are many things that you can do to help yourself or to help someone else who is dealing with death. The use of bereavement poems can greatly help someone, or yourself, cope with the loss that is facing them.

A bereavement poem is a poem that you can use in a eulogy, a remembrance service or on a memorial site as a way to deal with the death of a loved one through imagery and words. When you are having a service, when you need something to get you through it, or when you are looking at words to have posted somewhere in memory of your loved one, a funeral or memorial poem is something that you might want to think about.

There have been many in memory of poems that have been written in the past for many situations. There are funeral poems for the loss of parents and grandparents, or children, or friends or other family members. Each memory poem has the potential to speak to your heart and to the hearts of the people who have lost loved ones. A memorial poem is designed to help with the coping process.

When you are thinking about poems for funerals, there are a couple things that you want to remember. Poems for memorial services should somehow have reference to the person that you have lost - their life, their loves, their faith or something that they loved. You want to be sure that the poem you have chosen is one that is going to speak to you and speak to the other grieving family members.

A well-chosen funeral poem can be something that you hang on to for a long time. You may want to consider printing copies of the memorial service poem to keep and to give to others who want to keep it. By having this poem with you and keeping it along with photos of your loved one either in a scrap book or on an online memorial website, you have words that you can always go back to for a memory. Writing down feelings either in prose or in poetry is highly recommended as a way to deal with severe grief.

All of the memories that you have wrapped up in a certain person can be easily expressed with a well chosen funeral poem and you will be able to keep these words as a memorial for a long time to come. Share a poem with others in hopes of helping them deal with their grief over losing a loved one. It is only by dealing with the grief that comes with losing a loved one that you can truly come out on the other side and learn to live your life again.

~ Ben Anton, 2007

Healing Through Bereavement Poetry - Read about grief counseling and dealing with loss on the Valley of Life website.
The website also provides a safe and happy memorial location online where you can celebrate your loved one’s life.

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Entertainment. A term as broad as the Grand Canyon, as deep as the Atlantic Ocean and as delightful as a kid who’s just been let loose in a candy store. Ever since man can remember, he has been in search of new ways to be entertained. In the old Roman days, it was seeing a lion take off the head of a gladiator. In modern times, it’s reality television. There are more types of entertainment than you can possibly imagine. Some of it, even suitable for children.

In the following series of articles we’re going to try to stay away from the usual dull definitions of certain types of entertainment, like “What is a play?” and questions of that nature. Instead, we’re going to focus on some of the greatest entertainers and events of our times. These events cover a broad range of categories from TV to movies to music to theater, to the circus and so on. Entertainment itself may very well be one subject where you could write a thousand books on it, all the size of War And Peace. And let’s not forget historical re-enactments as a form of entertainment as well, though not traditionally considered theater. Many of these re-enactments take place in historically significant cities and towns throughout the world, especially in the United States where Civil War re-enactments are regularly held in towns like Gettysburg.

Getting back to more traditional forms of entertainment, we’ve had the pleasure of hearing such great singers perform in concerts from all musical styles. We’ve heard the great performances of Enrico Caruso, one of the greatest operatic tenors of all time. We’ve heard the greatest rock and roll band ever, The Beatles, perform live at Shea Stadium in New York. We’ve heard Clay Aikin perform the Neil Sedaka song, “Solitaire”, after which Neil Sedaka said, “I just lost my song forever”. We’ve heard Cher sing one of the greatest versions of the National Anthem ever at the Super Bowl. And of course there was Robert Preston, arguably the greatest Music Man of all time, singing “76 Trombones”.

But singers don’t hold a monopoly on the entertainment industry. We’ve seen some great acting performances as well, both live and on TV and in movies. We’ve seen George C. Scott’s electrifying performance as General Patton and then his refusal to accept the award for best actor at one of the most talked about Oscars of all time. We saw Gregory Peck becoming Atticus Finch in “To Kill A Mockingbird”, a performance that would win him an AFI award as the greatest hero in movies of all time. We saw Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh in the classic movie “Gone With The Wind” where Gable delivered one of the greatest and best known lines in movie history, “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”.

These moments are but a speck in the vast timeline of entertainment history; a history so rich in moments that a time capsule of them would need to be buried on a planet ten times the size of our own Earth. In the coming articles we’ll take a more in depth look at some of the greatest entertainers and events of our time.

You won’t want to miss this.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Entertainment

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