Review #46 5/05
Title: Beatlick News April '05
What is it: Long running (since 1988!),16 page Poetry and Arts Newsletter
Technical Quality: Average to above average. Eight interesting black and white photos, a couple illustrations, easy to read text, and nice page layout. Innovative Quality. Nothing here that hasn't been done before in other newsletters.
Review: New Mexican arts newsletter by publisher Pamela Hurst, and Editor Joe Speer has for its mission statement: "The mission of the Beatlick News' Poetry and arts newsletter is to network with poets and writers around the world.
We seek to serve the poetry community by distributing news about events, talented writers, and literary opportunities. We publish the highest caliber of literature that we can find." How did this chatty and reader friendly newsletter match up to its missions statement?
Overall the 6 fiction and prose pieces were above average, the 7 poems were below average , and the extras for readers and other writers were scanty but helpful. The printed poems had the same problems that most contemporary poetry has - either it was unfathomable (why then write in English? Why not make up a language?) Or it was clear but not well expressed or didn't have much to say. The best poetry, in my opinion, is that which can do both well - a great message, well expressed. None here did that.
The fiction pieces did much better. There was "Words of Wisdom" by Emma J. Wisdom on assorted aspects of writers and books with this quote from a 1917 book by William J. Long, "If you think a strong thought or a wise thought and want it to be remembered, you must give it poetic expression." And fiction such as these two: "In My Town", about a maybe? alien with some odd behavior, and "Mr. And Mrs. Smith" about a battling couple and a finder's keepers lottery ticket. Plus a moving tribute to the late writer Charles Ulibarri from Albuquerque - 1956-2004.
As to the extras there is news on the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, "Hot Tips" on other indie publications, and the Beatlick Poetry Calendar. All helpful stuff, but I would have liked more info on publications seeking writers and what they are looking for. The Beatlick News is moving away from print with the next issue on a ĒD, so that "we can throw our printer away - no more 30 to 40 dollars a whack for ink cartridge." Hopefully with that room they can build a substantial writers resource to go along with their good prose. Advice: pick better poetry, reprint classic poetry from the public domain (to show what to aim for), be open to poetry that doesn't look normal - the best stuff will be breaking new ground - and continue to network with other indie poetry publications.
Contact Info: Beatlick News
940 1/2 W. Van Patten
Las Cruces, NM 88005
www.beatlick.com
beatlickjoe@yahoo.com
publishingpamela@yahoo.com
Overall Grade: 3.4 out of 10.0
Review #47 5/05
Title: 5 Speed
What is it: 50 page Poetry Chapbook by Klyd Watkins. $5.
Technical Quality: Above average with a glossy color cover of the inside of his '92 Dodge Dakota!
Innovative Quality: Average. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Review: In reviewing poetry, I look for 3 things - first can I understand it. Yes. The message of these poems was clear. Second does he have something to say. Yes again. The bulk of these poems have some connection with Radnor Lake, near his home in Nashville. That area of nature, is his muse and spurs most of the poems here - 12 of 24. But I also saw in these poems that there was a wide range of ideas and situations that went beyond just the lake poems (though those are the best). There is a softball game, a day at the 'Y', his 43rd anniversary, etc. Third does it say it's message in a poetic way ( not just prose divided into lines). A qualified yes. For the most part it does. Sometimes the divisions of lines seems arbitrary, and sometimes it seems more like prose than poetry, but at its best it works on that level too. So far so good.
Let me give some lines that I think work on all three levels:
'It (the Twin Towers) holds wailing/ in/ a thousand idioms"/
(Radnor Lake, 9/21/01 Second Observation Deck)
or,
"With his goatee soft/ he rubs into
her cheek/ exuberance /
and love as deep as the molten center/ of the earth
(3/21/02 bob comes in from work - a poem of a father's love for his 3 year old daughter)
The intro by Stephen Thomas says,
"... Klyd Watkins makes the reader feel all of a sudden that the ordinary is a swirl of strangeness, charm, color and charge that habit has just barely kept from exploding into its proper mythic dimensions." I think that that is true on his best poems. And it's those that I want to talk about. They are all , excluding the poem "3/21/02 bob comes in from work"; those that center around Radnor Lake in some way.
I'll best illustrate them with this short complete poem: Radnor Lake, 2/18/2000 - Laveta E. Swift Bench
Onto
the chestnut oaks
gray sides
lichen spatters
colonies of
ruffled jade-
every flake
a shop bright with labor.
Or this excerpt from Radnor Lake, 9/21/01 Second Observation Deck:
Some bird singing // a desperate or just /
agitated/ triplet/
over and/ over/ it is insisting on something/
its cry beautiful It fades.
His gift is the ability to see clearly ,
report it in a way
that alerts us to something we never saw before ,
and do so in a detached and Zen like calm manner.
He gets high marks for the poems that accomplish that
and most do here - with little filler in the rest.
I'll leave you with one more excerpt that suggests much: It's an active day / There are five speeds of wind (12/02/02 South Lake Trail - Overlooking the Lake)
Contact Info: The Temple Bookstore
40 S Colville
PO Box 1773
Walla Walla WA 99362
www.thetemplebookstore.com
Overall Grade" 5.0 out of 10.0
Title: Black Grass
What is it: CD single by David S. Pointer.
An advanced single from the forthcoming album, White Hot Pistol on CPR Records.
Technical Quality: Fine recording.
Innovative Quality: Nothing new here.
Review: First the music - Drum track never changes. Bass riff bounces around in a cool almost James Brown funky and soulful way, but no chord changes - a nice organ part comes in the last minute of this 4:18 track. The music sounds like a fast dance track that needs a bridge or a change up of some sort. The vocal is a growly, double tracked or reverbed yelling voice - rap/recitation of lines that I could not understand. The chorus and most often repeated line seems to be something like "black grass fee da bone." And I'm only sure of the first two words because they are the title. Other snippets that I understood were "reports for vocal duties" plus some assorted nautical terms.
All together the music is technically played well but is way too redundant and desperately needs a bridge, and the growly voice that repeats the title line way too much, though passionate, cannot be understood. Overall recitation pyrotechnics, and funky bass don't cover up a too repetitious song with no discernable lyrics.
Contact Info:
David S Pointer
803 M.W. Main
Murfreesboro, TN 37129
dspointer@hotmail.com
Overall Grade: 2:3 out of 10.0
Title: Not My Small Diary #12
What is it: 2 volume indie comic anthology featuring the work of 74 indie cartoonists, with the theme of all entries being "after midnight -late night diaries." Note each volume is a whopping 96 pages with192 pages total for both, all for $5 + $1 shipping. A very good value.
It does contain some mature content.
Technical Quality: Above average. Good looking zine begins with solid cover illustrations by DaveK. Cartoon quality in the text, is mixed with most (but not all) entries being artistically well done and professional looking.
Innovative Quality: Above average. The covers have pages that are bound with silver twist ties, writing in glitter, and pasted on drawings - which adds up to a very nice fresh looking set of zines. Also innovative quality in the range of artists and styles featured in this anthology, plus I like the idea of a theme, after midnight , for all entries.
Review: Want to know is, what's happening in the world of indie cartoons? This huge 2 vol. set is a way to see samples of many of zines best, plus many new artists too. The theme of the set is thoughts and experiences of the cartoonists after midnight. They range in subject matter from drinking and getting high and regretting the hangover, (a lot of that ) to late night confessions of fears and worries, to an occasional moment of real joy and contentment. Throughout is a refreshing honesty, something zines are known for - I never for once thought that anyone was making anything up or saying anything they didn't really experience and believe.
At times the art was poor but the subject matter good, or the art was good but the artist didn't have much to say, or neither was very good (though that was seldom), or both the art and subject matter was fine. It's these last works that matched both good drawing skills and art talent, with something solid to say; that I'd like to spotlight.
They included:
Suzanne Baumann's story "Written 12/22/1987 (drawn 2/2005)" about late night outings that can be scary for young women in the big city. Hob's entry,"The Drip" about the moral dilemma of a possible mistake of a night shift nurse in an intensive care unit.
Ian Carney (writer) and Sugar Buzz's (artist) "Late Night" a story about brothers recalling a night of fighting and revenge (very innovative art work here - my favorite). Tim Doyle's "The Attack of the Squirmies" about the politics of getting and holding front row seats at a club concert. Matt Fagan's "Late Nite Donkey Show", about late night painting that turns to a moment of inner bliss. Andrew Goldfarb's funny "One O'Clock in the Morning of A Goldfarb" in which a night glimpse of a monster turns out to be an opossum. Shawn Granton's "Is That Your Man Purse? An Exploration of the Portable Lifestyle." Matt Holdaway (illus. by Bobby Tran Dale) "Fiero GT!"about a dangerous car chase with the police. Onsmith Jeremi"s "Witnessing a "Fall-down" about a drunk falling onto the subway tracks. Hellen Jo's "Sometimes When I Just Can't Sleep" and the things she does until she can. Dave Kiersh's untitled look at his desire to be an artist versus day to day work demands. Patty Leidy's untitled page that discusses "... that time between the deepest dark and golden dawn..." Carrie McNinch's "Camminare Dopo Mezzanotte" a night in Rome. Dan Moynihan's "Things To Do in the Suburbs After Dark #1". Jeff Plotkin's "The Sun Never Sets Online" about instant messaging with people all across the world. Dave Roman's untitled look at "all nighters'. Jim Siergey's "The Night I Met Mickey" about being knocked out at a Residents concert by a doctored drink. Ben T. Steckler's "My Demons Torment Me!" about his strange demons such as "I am all the money you've wasted on the Lottery!". Raina Telgemeier's , late night journey to a quiet spot. Scott Thigpen's "After midnight I think about things and map them out..." and Yul Tolbert's unconventional dreams. As you can see there is a lot of gold in the collection with many others that may prove to be other's favorites . All in all a fun look at a lot of underground cartoonists work in a myriad of styles for a very low price with very little filler.
Contact Info:
Delaine Derry Green
1204 Cresthill road
Birmingham, AL 35213
Delangel3@hotmail.com
mysmallwebpage.com
Overall Grade 5.5 out of 10.0
Review #50 5/05
Title: Secret Language by Molly Barker
What is it? Hardback book of 176 pen and ink drawings illustrating 6 stories. (1997)
Technical Quality: Well made book. Her art work is above average specially in her compositions and her ability at illustrating words and concepts .
Innovative Quality: Above average in using pictures to tell a story with little or no dialogue - much like a silent film in art.
Review: This book of pen drawings tells 6 stories through mostly pictures and a little bit of added dialogue - dialogue that reads much like haiku or concentrated code phrases. The art work is a mix of fine art drawings and a looser cartoon style - with many of the best features of both. The first notable thing is her use of line - short and long pen lines fill up every section of each drawing. The y swirl like Van Gogh's starry night (or Thomas Hart Benton's work). They flow across the page or around a character like a river. Streets, objects, people, all are in flux and seem to flow. Her art is full of short lines that build up a place or scene. I speak in somewhat vague terms because it is hard to describe her style of drawing in any other way. (I encourage you to search out the cover on the internet to see for yourself) She pictures usually poor people with sombre long faces and extra long hands, who walk through city streets in fogs of alienation. Some are crazy, some are profound, some search for sanctuary, many look like monks. Perhaps summarizing the stories will explain this book better.
Story one , 'Heads', is about the shock of seeing a squirrel trying to escape a forest fire on a TV nature documentary, and how it bothers the young girl watching it. Story two, 'Fathoming', treats the city library as a retreat from the edgy and somewhat disturbing outside world. A sample of the captions reads "Everyone is living in different layers. / There's a feeling of caves all joined up." Story three, 'Inwardly', starts at the library and expands like a dream. A sample caption reads, "Breathing between words." Story four, Jarbled". In a parking lot a stranger cries, 'Shoot me .You can't kill me. Heh. Heh. I'm already dead.' As pedestrians walk by. Story five, "Might', about 2 girls who sneak into the library and find great joy, "Everyone who hunkered down / will unfurl." Story six, 'Dream', about a girls grandfather who sings a joyous song after his death! All in all these surrealistic stories find great joy in poor times and in an alienated city. The style of art is exhilirating and worth looking at over and over again. The cartoon like aspects with all the repeated pen lines, is very expressive and highly emotional. The added text supports the pictures. Highly recommended as a classic of cartooning.
Contact Info:
City Lights Books
261 Columbus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94133
www.citylights.com
Overall Grade: 6.7 out of 10.0
Review # 51 6/05
Title: Rolling Stone Magazine #974
What is it? : Long running music and more magazine - May 19,2005 issue.
Technical Quality: Good.
Innovative Quality: Almost none. Nothing here that is new or innovative. Illustration art work is below par.
Review: Magazine once touted as being a cultural guide for a generation is now half ads and the rest fluff, and there may be a serious scandal that tie the two together. I counted 56 total pages of ads in the 100 page magazine. Because this review covers the entire magazine, ads are reviewed too. And ads as content makes this issue's content extremely poor .Note the pop up ad in the middle for Camel cigarettes. Something for the kids? Pretty scummy. But much more unsettling than even this, is that every musical performer ad has an article or a review somewhere else in the magazine: It seems to this reviewer that one must buy an ad to get an article in the magazine - and the bigger the ad the bigger the article. If this is why there is coverage of every performer who buys and ad, then there is a real problem of journalistic integrity. If this is not the reason - then there is a real problem of the obvious appearance of lack of journalistic integrity. Either way it looks very bad. All music ads in this issue for performers (in order) include: Dave Matthews Band full page ad . Also see 1+ page major review - page 73. Bruce Springsteen full page ad . Also see half page major review - p. 86. Joe Perry quarter page ad. Also see quarter page review - p. 78 Robert Plant quarter page ad. Also see full page interview p. 32 and review p. 76. Elvis Costello half page ad. Also see review p. 83. Mike Doughty quarter page ad. Also see review p. 80. EVERY ad for a musician or group, has a review and or story.
Rolling Stone gives every indication that musicians must buy their coverage. Now lets look at coverage section by section. 1 Letters: soft - no real issues discussed. 2.Rock and Roll - Lots of coverage of dino rock acts: Paul McCartney ( barely a whimper that concert tickets for Paul are up to $250, and he's being sponsored by Lexus! What's this - the Bleed 'um Dry' tour? And this is Rolling Stone that used to rebel against everything); Neil Young, Elton John, Mariah Carey, Sting, Willie Nelson, resurrection of Lollapalooza concert, etc. Plus some bits on new acts: King Tubby, Mike Jones (one of the few black performers mentioned anywhere in the magazine), Coldplay, etc. All pieces were fluff pieces praising the aritists or press releases written by their publicists. It's hard to tell which - but clearly never a discouraging word! And almost all of it is about the stars not their music - as if the actual music wasn't that important - a side note. There is also a piece that compares Sirius with XM satellite radio. They praise both. 3. Q and A. A soft interview with Robler t Plant. Then "Random Notes with photos of Hilary Duff, Justin Timberlake, Avril Lavigne, etc. 4. Incoming. Here the magazine makes fun of Evangelists, "God and Man In Kentucky", and the Pope , "Ill Pappa; but later treats the FILM "Kingdom of Heaven" with reverence. Also note the 'straight face' reporting on important (?) stories such as the Chart of Plastic Surgery. 5. National Affairs: Here in "The Quagmire" we have the only serious reporting in the magazine, and it seems as out of place as a NYT op-ed piece in "The Inquirer". Two issues are discussed, 1 - the Iraq war is going badly, 2 - the different factions involved. The coverage seemed serious but in the end, very lite, incomplete, and badly structured. 6. Orlando Bloom: a puff piece on the "Kingdom of Heaven' star. Where the author says, "I thought it was gorgeous Epic." No chance of the interviewer asking a tough question after that. Then a tabloid type picture story of Motley Crue's new tour. 7. Jack Idema : a confusing story about a shadowy figure in Afghanistan - difficult to read, and I lost interest fast. 8 Young Hollywood. Puff pix and press releases of new stars and starlets. 9. Reviews: There were 54 reviews, 1-4 stars. They were soft to say the least. There was only one 1-star review, for Paris Hilton's film "House of Wax", seven 2-star reviews, and two 2 and 1 half star reviews. That leaves FORTY FOUR 3-4 star reviews.
Note all musicians featured in ads got 3 or better stars. 10. Charts. These seemed fair though there was no explanation of how they were determined. Overall half ads, half fluff, a real disappointment. And a real danger here that the coverage is ad driven. Also it's important in what they didn't cover too - no look at music conglomerates, unethical behavior, over priced product, or even more importantly how rock has become everything it started out opposing - and so has Rolling Stone! Real quotes: "Emile Hirsch, An actor rediscovers his inner skateboard demon." "Radio fans frustrated by shrinking playlists, niche formats and painfully long commercial breaks have more options than ever." (And later in the story they write this with a straight face) "the industry is fighting back with a $28 million ad campaign ... and print ads in Rolling Stone" (Note 'Garbage' is also the name of a band) "Radio welcomed their return giving the first single, the guitar-driven "Why Do You Love Me,' heavy aiplay eight weeks before the album's April 12th release. "It's refreshing to hear Garbage on the radio again," says 99X/Atlanta program director Leslie Fram..." No I didn't make any of that up.
Contact Info:
letters@rollingstone.com
Overall Grade: 00.4 out of 10.0
Grading system: 9-10 Highest grade - Life's work of a master (ex. Collected plays of Shakespeare, collected symphonies of Beethoven) 8-9 Single best work of a celebrated master's career. 7-8. Best work of an era or genre or decade. 6-7 Best work of the year. 5-6 Very good. 4-5 More good than bad. 3-4 Average amount of good = amount of bad. 2-3 Mostly bad with some redeeming parts. 1-2 Nothing redeemable. 0-1 So bad it is offensively bad and outrages the reviewer for taking up that time in his life - just awful.
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