Matrimony in San Francisco

Here's another little poem-film to get you ready for Scary, No Scary.

You Must Choose Between Floating Eternally in a Buoyant Cage of Hummingbird Bones Down a River of Lava or a River of Blood from Zachary Schomburg on Vimeo.

What I've been listening to: 

The Antlers Hospice

The Antlers In the Attic of the Universe

Apples in Stereo Science Faire

Bill Callahan Sometimes I Wish I Were an Eagle

Built to Spill Perfect from Now On

Cactus Cooler The Farmboy EP

Cass McCombs Not the Way

Dirty Projectors Rise Above

Galaxie 500 Today

Son, Ambulance Euphemystic

Sunn O))) The Black One

I've been watching hysteria films for 3 weeks straight now for my film class. I'm a little paranoid. I'm surrounded by coffee shop patrons at the moment and I find myself looking for signs of soul-lessness. I'm convinced one guy is a communist zombie. I'm pretty sure he just called the barista his comrade. I'm going to call the president.

EKF and I have a collaborative poem in Volume 2 of the poetry journal, Matchbook, published by Small Fires Press. It's hot. 

In honor of Independence Day, I am taking over Inknode for a fortnight starting this weekend. I am the new government (guest-editor) and I am calling all the shots. I've lined up five poets. So check in when you can. And be careful, I'm going to take over your online magazine next, so protect your passwords. 

Upon walking to the Bill Callahan show.

If you're going to be in Seattle anytime soon, and if you love the same kind of stuff I love, you should visit this new bookstore owned by Summer Robinson called Pilot Books. Small press and poetry books. I'll be reading there this fall. And if you watch this video you can see some Octopus Books (Eric's and Julie's) on the display wall.

O Portland Bike Fest

(last photo courtesy of EKF)

Pre-Order is the New Order

Scary, No Scary (hardcover limited edition)

I'm teaching a summer film class at Portland State called Cold War Hysteria Films that I designed after a class I took at once from Dr. Gwen Foster at the University of Nebraska. Here is the list of films we're going to watch: 

The Red Menace (1949)

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

The Whip Hand (1952)

My Son, John (1952)

War of the Worlds (1953)

I Led Three Lives (1953-56, TV Series)

Them! (1954)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)

A Day Called X (1957)

No Down Payment (1957)

Attack of the 50ft Woman (1958)

North by Northwest (1959)

Red Nightmare (1962)

Panic in Year Zero (1962)

Last Man on Earth (1964)

Fail-Safe (1964)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Any suggestions?

 

Have you been following PressPressPress? There are some pretty good summer chapbook sales going on at Cannibal Books and Greying Ghost. 

I have some translations of Andrei Sen-Senkov's poems over in the new Harp & Altar. 

In Omaha, riding in the 'Stang.

3 things I want to tell you:

(1) At Powell's Bookstore yesterday there was a little girl who climbed all the way to the top of this ladder employees use to shelve books up high. She was standing there on the top rung and it looked dangerous. The mother spanked her and said, "You do not climb on other people's ladders." I thought maybe she was missing the point. (2) I think I may be becoming addicted to Q-tips. (3) My vehicle reached 111,111 miles on the odometer on my way to class this morning. I watched it happen. There it was, for a whole minute or so, just all ones. 

Happy 2oth Birthday, Sister.

EKF has a poem in the Oregonian, which will be read by every body in Oregon except inner city Portland hipsters. 

Tuned Droves got some attention over at Oranges and Sardines. 

I just sent off the third draft of my Ph.D. comp exams to my readers. Here are the titles of my two essays: "The Real Phantom Limb: The Poetics of Absence in the Surrealism of Breton, Reverdy, and Eluard" and "Virtually Sincere: Flarf, the New Sincerity, and the Post-avant"

记住。

Today I will finish up this latest draft of my Ph.D. Comprehensive exams. I will buy a present/card for my sister and send it to her in the mail so that it arrives in time for her birthday. She will turn 20. I am now 32. I had a dream last night about Mathias. He was in the pain zone but I was too busy saving cats in the closet. I have to grade my students' portfolios this weekend. I have to grade my other students' film analyses this weekend. I have been writing a very long prose poem lately. I have a painting in my head that I want to paint and maybe I will do that next week after I get my grading done. Last night EKF and I went on a walk to get ice cream but we ended up getting tacos instead. It was sunny out for a while but now it is cloudy. I have been reading about 5-10 poetry manuscripts (which were submitted to Octopus Books) every night before I go to bed. Today I will both take a shower and eat cheap sushi for lunch, but not at the same time. Sometimes I feel a little like that picture at the top of this post, like now. 

I walked around Portland today.

I graded some papers in the park during a little league baseball game.

I returned She's Gotta Have It to Movie Madness. 

I took Order and Adventure in Post-Romantic French Poetry back to the county library.

I deposited $30 into my bank account.

I listened to a few new albums at Jackpot Records, but I didn't buy anything. 

The Black Hole. This seemed to be the fan favorite of my poem-films at my poem-film reading last night. 

Someone in the neighborhood has three phone numbers, and has lost a hen. 

My top 10 favorite beverages: 

1. Water

2. Diet Soda

3. Beer

4. Juice

5. Lemonade

6. Iced Tea

7. Mocha

8. Chocolate Milk

9. Milk 

10. Frozen Margarita

Honorable Mentions: Smoothie, soy milk, hot tea

As of today, my fantasy baseball team, The Mendoza Lions, is in first place (out of 19 teams) in my poetry-nerd league, ahead of this guy, this one, this one, this one, this one...

I think the Big Hunk is my new favorite candy bar. I'm eating one right now. It kinda makes my teeth hurt, but in a way I can endure. Sometimes I look at the packaging and think I see Big Chunk, but it's Big Hunk. 

Next Tuesday night, I'll be showing some of my poem-films over at the new Portland living room poetry reading series, If Not for Kidnap. I'll ask you some questions and you can ask me some questions. Then we'll eat some chips. 

Here are some pictures I took in Portland of things that say things.

Octopus Books is getting some attention over at Micro-Review Mondays on the Black Ocean blog. See? See? One of those books (Julie Doxsee's) is not sold out and can be purchased here or here or even here, if you must. 

I got the first issue of Tammy in the mail yesterday. Tammy is very Canary-inspired. Some parts of my long poem 1977-2050 are in it, including the very first part. 

I recently read the first two chapbooks from Cinematheque Press, Until the Lantern's Shaky Song by Joshua Marie Wilkinson and Little Visceral Carnival by Philip Jenks and Simone Muench. They both made me very excited about poetry for the week. Speaking of JMW, you should also get his The Book of Whispering in the Projector Booth, if you know what is good for you, just out from Tupelo. And while you're in there, you should get GC Waldrep's Archicembalo. And speaking of Cinematheque, EKF and I will have a little collaborative chap forthcoming called Team Sad. It's kinda emo.