Podcast Episode 8 now available

Smell a vision podcast episode 8
8/5/07 - 22/05/07

Events
Wednesday 9th May, Loose Muse, Poetry Cafe, Betterton Street,

Saturday may 12th, Lazy Gramophone Presents, The Luminaire, 311 High St Kilburn, 8pm £7/£9 info@lazygramophone.com www.lazygramophone.com

Saturday 12th, The Cellar, hosted by Niall O'Sullivan, the Poetry Cafe, Betterton St £5/£3

Thursday May 24th, Farrago Slam, 7.30 at the RADA Foyer Bar, Malet St, WC1, £6/£5, farragopoetry@yahoo.co.uk


Poetry from
Aoife Mannix, reading from her book, Elephant in the Corner, available from www.tall-lighthouse.co.uk

Peter Donally, reading from his CD Rhymes of the Racker, more information from mandpdonnelly@eircom.net

Interview with
Donal dempsey

Problems with iTunes feed

I've been trying to get the podcast re-listed in the right category on iTunes, and ended up submitting a new feed, and in the process breaking the old one. If your having problems not receiving any updates in iTunes, delete the podcast and re-subscribe, either from the link on the right or search in iTunes for smellavision.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

Dominic

Smellavision Podcsat episode 7

I've just put out the most recent podcast, brim full of poetry this episode, there's Dave Bryant and The Bros. grim and an interview with Michael Wyndham, who we had on last episode. I reckon I now have 25 subscribers, I need to get more flyers out there, and some posters too.

And you've heard it here first - I've just begun to plan a live event, to 'launch' Smellavision, it will have six or so of the poets I've featured here, and be in a central London location, with a few open mic slots, to give me time enough to plan and promote the night, I imagine it will be on around September, most likely to coincide with episode 15! Anyway, on with the show notes



events
Night of the Living Dolls
wed 23rd May 8pm Old Crown Pub, 33 New Oxford Street, www.vintageposion.co.uk

Lazy Gramaphone, the Macbeth, 70 Hoxton Street, Wed 25th April, 8pm, www.lazygramaphone.com

Four Pack, BAC Lavender Hill, Thurs 10th May 9pm, www.applesandsnakes.org

3rd May 7.30pm, Basement Theatre, Lately Bar, 175 West End Lane, NW6 (no contact details)

Farrago London Slam, 28th April 7.30pm, GBS Theatre, RADA, Malet St, www.myspace.com/farragopoetry

London Liming, Friday 27th April, The Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, 8pm - 12am, www.renaissanceone.com

26th April, Broadcast, hosted by Roddy Lumsden, Poetry cafe, 22 Betterton Street

review Aoife Mannix Elephant in the Corner
www.tall-lighthouse.co.uk

Frank Burton Collected Words CD
www.frankburton.co.uk

Poetry from David Bryant
www.myspace.com/davebryantpoetry

Interview with Michael Wyndham

poetry from The Bros grim
www.brosgrim.co.uk

It's my birthday

Now, I'm one for parties and getting down, and especially on my own birthday, but today has snuck up so quickly, that I don't really feel like it's really here - also I normally take the day off work, but not this year.

It's a birthday meal for me tonight - my favourite, Spaghetti Bolognese!

Dom

Vote for me at slamidolpodcast.com

My entry in this new slam is up for voting - I could be the first poet to win two slams in a row - actually I don't know if thats true, but I'd love to win it twice, Simon sent this post through.

Hello Poets,

The voting process for the Slam Idol podcast, in which you're a competitor, starts today, and will run for about a week.
Spread the word and get everyone you know to visit the web-site at http://slamidolpodcast.com and give each poem marks out of ten. It's important the voters give a fair vote to all 6 poems, otherwise their votes will be discarded.
Please also spread the word to other poets you know that might like to participate in future contests.
Now would be a really good time to resume your audioblogging to share your thoughts on the voting process and the other poems in the contest.
Subscribe to Slam Idol podcast or keep visiting the web-site for updates.
Good luck!

Simon.
http://slamidolpodcast.com
http://poetrypodcasting.org

P.S. Slam Idol will be 2 years old tomorrow!

Podcast Episode 5 - Notes

I should have been doing this for the previous Podcasts, but better late tan never. here follows the notes and web addresses that I mention during the show.

If any corrections need to be made please do not hesitate to contact me.

If you have anything you would like to include in future shows, again, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ver Poets (St.Albans) Open Competition 2007 visit: http://www.verpoets.org.uk

Poetry on the Lake International Poetry Competition 2007.  Info: poetryonthelake@yahoo.co.uk   tel: Gabriel Griffin (+39) 347-8464227 www.communigate.co.uk/lakes/poetryonthelake

Pulsar, Year 2006/2007, Poetry Competition  Address for information, entry forms and submissions - Poetry Competition Administrator, Pulsar Poetry Magazine, 34 Lineacre, Grange Park, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 6DA,   UK.

Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition 2007 SAE for details to;
The Competition Secretary, Ware Poets Competition 2007, 48 Highbury Road, Hitchin, Herts. SG4 9SA or e-mail warecomp@waitrose.com

Iota Annual Poetry Competition For further details visit: http://www.iotapoetry.co.uk

http://books.guardian.co.uk/poetryworkshop/0,,1314872,00.html

http://www.seattlest.com/archives/2007/03/14/microsoft_and_the_business_of_poetry.php

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2034425,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=10

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/03/after-cooking-recipes-yahoo-india.html

http://www.brosgrim.co.uk/

http://www.poetictales.com/ Mervin Scott's site

This is living

I'm a bit of a techno freak - ok maybe not going so far as to graft bits of circuitry to my arms, but I like to have the latest gizmo - so here, sitting alongside my wireless network, sits my new PS3. Finally my HD TV has some quality content (except for the Sonic the Hedgehog game i bought), but I sat down last night to watch the new James bond, in glorious 1080i HD goodness. Even the girlfriend was impressed - and not only by that blonde blue eyed killer.

In keeping with my poetry theme - my PS3 id is smellavision - if you see me online blowing away chimera in Resistance fall of Man, come shake hands!

Dom

The dot com revolution

So what have I been doing. Firstly I've been 'casting, that's podcasting, Jethro. I've been recording a poetry show, with news, reviews, performances and interviews. I've done three shows so far - and one compilation of how I got started with audioblogging (I was let down at the last minute for an interview - and had to go with what I had!).

I know the first and second shows were quite raw, the third show improved somewhat, and the fourth (or fifth show actually), when it comes out, is even more honed. I've got trailers and idents for the group I belong to.

There's a link further down this page to the association of poetry podcasters, and a rotating graphic link to all the poetry podcasters with that organisation.

I had intended to do this show on a monthly basis, and I suppose in the heat of doing something new, I've been getting something out weekly - I do know this will slow down soon. In the mean time though I'm having fun!

On a professional note -
Event Organisers - I will read out Poetry Event information, email your flyers to smellavision@mac.com, try and get them to me as early as possible.
Poets - I will accept any recordings for inclusion on the show, and if you'd like to be interviewed we can do that too.
Publishers - I will be reviewing books, pamphlets, CD's, performances, any submissions will be fairly (if amateurly) reviewed, but mostly I'll be reviewing the books and stuff that I've bought!.

All that needs to be said is where to go -

smellavisionpodcast.com, the poetry podcast for all the senses.

Blogging is so passe, dahrling.

Ok - so I'm not the best blogger in existence - but i've enjoyed what I've been doing for the last two weeks, enough to seriously consider becoming a bit of a podcaster - so I've created a feed, uploaded it to iTunes, and you can subscribe to what will hopefully be a weekly poetry podcast here.

You can also subscribe directly through iTunes here

Day 10 - finally got there

Helen

Caught up in your gravity well,
caught up in our very own big bang,
for those few years that you were the centre of my life,
and everything revolved around you,
when we lay on our backs at night,
watching satellites, spin past in the sky,
watching for the one, bright, light, that was the Shuttle,
in orbit for the very first time,
when we spoke of the principles of geometry,
and theories of relativity
and string theory, ties more
than my sticky, pocket bound fingers
it furls my tongue, leaves me twisted
folded upon myself,
n-space, not Euclidean space,
but cold vacuous space.
Like the space between us in our bed,
in the last days of our relationship,
when our gravities were so polarised,
we repelled each other.

We lay awake, on opposite sides of the world,
yet in the same room,
and stared up at the same night sky,
realising that the world had stopped spinning,
that the sun had stopped shining,
that we were being tossed
from our warm womb by our own inertia,
being sucked away by the cosmos’s vacuum.
Then things changed.
No longer were you the centre of my world,
No longer did I revolve around you,
but, my world, had become the centre of my world
I could do nothing but think about myself,
become me-centric, my orbit, erratic
going from never having missed a trick,
to a self obsessed lunatic.

Like continents, we slowly drifted apart.

until that day, I looked up, to see you there
in your familiar place, like you’d never been away.
What then brought you back?
what papal decree? what wishful dream?
did you see me descending
through my own circles of hell
through my saturnalian rings
was it the end of time?
or was it the remembered promise
that you would be mine?
I’m just grateful you took me back
pulled me to you, comforted by your warm skin
Whatever, I must leave it unquestioned
unobserved, un-quantified
I am too afraid to ask,
to open that box,
to determine a state of flux,
to stroke Schrodinger's cat.

I can’t trust that a love returned
can ever be the same,
as that first time, when we lay,
on new dew dappled grass,
in the morning of our lives.
While here, at even song,
I hold your hand in silence,
your thoughts, somewhere,
and mine,

somewhere else.

Day 9

And the competition is drawing to a close - I read my poem at Unplugged tonight, and got a good response, you can hear it as Day 9a on the player to the right. I then toodled off home, and made some more minor adjustments.

Day 7

I'm back from my trip to Ireland, all refreshed and smooth of skin from excessive use of the hotels sauna and steam room, and free moisturisers, and having recorded and edited my poem over the last few days, have uploaded the podcasts to the flash player on the right hand side of this page. Also, I've done a bit of a mind map of the poem to help me think out the process.

Slam Idol Audio Blog

Day 3

I'm off on holiday for a few days, and will record while I'm away, and post when I get back.

Dom

A gig, a gig, my kingdom for a gig.

Now, i hope that title is not legal and binding, but following on from my successful competition winning entry, I have been asked to do two ten minute slots! First up is Wednesday 28th at Borders book shop on Oxford Street, and then another slot in May at Farago poetry Slam at RADA.

Life is good. I don't know why I didn't see that before!

and the winner is....

I was named the winner of the latest round of Slamidopodcast.com's poetry slam last night. It feels great to have won something, and firstly I'd like to thank all those that took the time to vote for me, thanks to Simon for hosting the event, and thanks to the other poets for making it such a good competition.

For a while I was thinking of retiring the poem 'all the girls...', but you know, it may get a new lease of life yet!

So what now? At last I'm able to put something on my poetry CV, and that should make submitting work to magazines a bit more worthwhile, and thats what I want next, to get something published. Also I'd hope that I could get a five minute set somewhere, some night, but that means getting out there, schmoozing the hosts, and making a name for myself - somehow I don't think letting my poetry do all the talking for me is enough. There was a night last year, at a rooftop party in LA, when I met the writer, Jimmy Palmiotti, who gave me some advice, ' have the balls to belive in what you want to say, and then have the balls to say it, and never apologise for what it is you've just said' I've kinda paraphrased him, but it's something that has stuck with me this year, and it's the attitude I need to maintain to make some headway in this writing business.

So, whats next? A new slam idol competition - this time an audio blog over a ten day period writing another poem. I'm usually quite quick in dashing off a poem, so making it last ten days might be tough - or it might show me how to hone a poem in new ways. My first thoughts are to do something more media savvy with the poem, some video, some music, something more web 2.0, a scoial network of a poem! I'll be posting something here over the next few days - then I'm off to Ireland for a long weekend - I'll bring something to record my thoughts.

Keep coming back!

Thanks

Dominic

Starlight (or Cycling at night through Hyde park)

Blue shift,
twin pulsars rotate
and spin
in this gravity well.
Doppler
red shift,
I lose sight of
red stars as they fall,
over the edge of the universe.
Dim swollen yellow giants
float by me
I free fall through stars
blinded and burnt by their light
I free fall through pieces of some dying sun
each and every one
burning
like lithium on the skin
tearing and blistering
till I am bloated and puss ridden.

The bright light battles against the dark
and I am left
cycling at night
through Hyde park.

Changes

She said she was going through some changes,
and then she went through some changes,
some minor rearrangements
just tiny adjustments
to an already perfect life.
She changed the time of the setting sun
the tides, ebb and flow were reversed,
and the leaves on the trees
changed to another shade of green.

She changed the bird song to be more in tune,
and then she changed the moon,
she changed the words in my book
she changed how the world looks
she changed me from short to tall
Just some minor rearrangements “That’s all”

And after all the changes she made to me
what was left
was not so much me, as she.

On the Download

I have the tools
and the where with all
with just a few clicks
and swift mouse moves
running peer 2 peer software
through open ports
below the firewall
searching for
something I missed in the cinema
or some tunes I’ve heard on the radio
or a band I’ve seen
on video screens
or a missed episode of a tv show
or the winners of the Brits
or Oscar nominees
I’m a pirate of the
virtual seven seas

and I’m stealing you,
bit by bit

Gallery Life

White walls and
veneered floors
the squeak of sneakers
and the hissed voices
of mothers
calming children
refusing to appreciate
great art or sculpture
even at the sponge-like
age of four.
Sunday supplement educated parents
egged on by peer review
and colour wall charts
set their children on orbits
that will far surpass their own
but like all orbits
will decay
and burn up in the sun.

Interview with a vampire, erm, er, poet

Slamidol Interview

You can listen to my interview with Simon Toon on the above link. I'm really pleased with some of the comments he made about me, some great compliments. I am a little 'less-than-fluent' at times, erm-ing and err-ing my way through some of the questions, and mis-quoting the title of my own poem! I think I may have got a taste for a life of fame, at the very least Simon has convinced me to podcast a little more - and get a few more audio mp3's out on this blog.