Victor D. Infante's Blog, page 194
July 26, 2010
Uhm, yeah ...
Reports the Associated Press:
Heavy storms and scorching temperatures have failed to deter rock bands from performing at an outdoor stadium in St. Louis, but a bombardment of pigeon droppings proved too much for the Kings of Leon.
The band halted the Friday night concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre after three songs when the infestation of birds in the arena’s rafters dropped their onslaught of feces.
A statement from the band’s management company, Vector Management, said bassist...
Heavy storms and scorching temperatures have failed to deter rock bands from performing at an outdoor stadium in St. Louis, but a bombardment of pigeon droppings proved too much for the Kings of Leon.
The band halted the Friday night concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre after three songs when the infestation of birds in the arena’s rafters dropped their onslaught of feces.
A statement from the band’s management company, Vector Management, said bassist...
July 25, 2010
"Doctor Who"
I am in love with this incarnation of Doctor Who. Oh, I've been a fan since the beginning, certainly, and endured the substandard episodes (because with Doctor Who, there are always a few clunkers) but the success of a season, and indeed, in a new Doctor, is always in the how well it succeeds over time, and in the dismount. Russel T. Davies, for all his brilliance and vision, was usually at his weakest tying everything together. Good character bits, a few good whiz-bang effects, but often a l...
July 23, 2010
The Westboro Baptist Church vs. Pretty Much Everybody
"The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn." —Martin Luther
As pretty much the entire Internet has noted, the Westboro Baptist Church came to the San Diego Comic-Con, and found itself faced with a crazy it was utterly unprepared for.
This particular group has a habit of picking targets that are going to react ... emotionally. You picket a dead soldier's funeral, and you get outrage. You picket a Lady Gaga ...
As pretty much the entire Internet has noted, the Westboro Baptist Church came to the San Diego Comic-Con, and found itself faced with a crazy it was utterly unprepared for.
This particular group has a habit of picking targets that are going to react ... emotionally. You picket a dead soldier's funeral, and you get outrage. You picket a Lady Gaga ...
July 22, 2010
Things to Think about When Considering The Great "Paris Review" Poetry Purge of 2010
I find myself absolutely fascinated by The Paris Review's decision to un-accept about a years' worth of backlogged poems, as chronicled so ably by Daniel Nester on the blog, We Who Are About to Die. I feel for the poets who had their acceptances repealed. I really do. If it were me, I'd probably be devastated.
But the one, striking question that comes to mind is, does The Paris Review, with a new editor and a new poetry editor, have an obligation to run those pieces? As noted, it appears to ha...
But the one, striking question that comes to mind is, does The Paris Review, with a new editor and a new poetry editor, have an obligation to run those pieces? As noted, it appears to ha...
July 21, 2010
July 20, 2010
Nov3rd: The Final Issue ...
I'm a little speechless. And really, I think I've said all I have to say. Thank you for an amazing five years, and rest assured, I'm quite certain you'll be seeing the people behind Nov3rd in new projects, maybe sooner than you'd think.
For now, we've got a great last issue, with Mindy Nettifee looking back at JFK, Scott Woods pondering Zardasht Osman, Tony Williams talking Graham Greene, Elizabeth Ross-Harrison talking Arlen Specter and Phil West watching America watch Ragan Fox on Big...
For now, we've got a great last issue, with Mindy Nettifee looking back at JFK, Scott Woods pondering Zardasht Osman, Tony Williams talking Graham Greene, Elizabeth Ross-Harrison talking Arlen Specter and Phil West watching America watch Ragan Fox on Big...
July 19, 2010
Poets Asylum
Thank you, Worcester. No, seriously. Thank you for pushing me toward a more challenging set, for making me want to not sleepwalk a bunch of standards for my feature. Tonight was terrifying, and exhilarating, and damn-well rewarding, and the presence of the Worcester Youth Slam Team kids rocking it so hard in the open mic only made it better.
Tonight's Set List:
*LA Lays Down (From memory)
*The Difficulty Discussing Poetry in Israel, by Sarah Wetzel (from the forthcoming issue of The November...
Tonight's Set List:
*LA Lays Down (From memory)
*The Difficulty Discussing Poetry in Israel, by Sarah Wetzel (from the forthcoming issue of The November...
July 18, 2010
As Nov3rd nears its end ...
... I find myself reflecting on its beginning. We were deep in Dubya's second term, and in the midst of the Katrina mess. It was a tense, anxious time, but then, aren't they all? Here's what I wrote in the first lead editorial:
It's the sort of catastrophe that "transcends politics," or so we're told. It's a phrase we hear a lot passing the lips of the best and the most naïve and the most world-weary, each for their own reasons, I'm sure, but even (especially) in the...
It's the sort of catastrophe that "transcends politics," or so we're told. It's a phrase we hear a lot passing the lips of the best and the most naïve and the most world-weary, each for their own reasons, I'm sure, but even (especially) in the...
July 17, 2010
Odds and Ends ...
Well, I've put together a fairly ... ambitious ... set for my feature Sunday at the Poets Asylum. We're not talking "Tony Brown Rip Up Set" territory or anything, but it is a fair amount of material and sections of material I've not read in public before, as well as a few old standbys and other offbeat odds and ends. It's entirely possible the whole thing will end in tears. Even if it works!
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Not a whole lot else to say right now. Rather consumed with the last issue of The November 3rd Club ....
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Not a whole lot else to say right now. Rather consumed with the last issue of The November 3rd Club ....
I write like
