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  • Old Dude Goes to a Show

    Five minutes after the lights go down
    I hear a familiar rustling two seats over.
    Someone’s making things happen.
    I’m a little stressed but not surprised
    when a hand in the darkness offers
    two white pills.
    “No thanks,” I say, false cool, thinking:
    “I am old dude.”
    The hand withdraws.
    A minute later, I ask:
    “What was that? ‘E’? Ecstasy?”
    “Altoids.”
    And I nod a short,
    tight nod,
    as if that was my second guess.

  • Righteous, Stressed-Out Daddy-o

    "Hey Potty-Mouth!
Like,
stop expanding
my toddler's
vocabulary."
    shouts my inner, angry
uptight beatnik
to this guy sitting two rows back.
    And I toss an espresso over
one shoulder into the eyes
of this small-smiling fuck.
    I maim him with
my poetry.
    I thunder him
with cartoon thoughts
    in my inner,
angry, uptight
beatnik mind.

  • The Gravity’s Rainbow Deathmarch, Week 1, thread 1

    Welcome to the end of week 1! Got any insights on the first 50 pages? Advice for the weary? Complaints about bunions? If you’re on the march, this is the spot to share, to care, and to shout out.
    (I should also say, for them what’s interested in qualifying toward Poobah status and fabulous GRDM prizes, this also marks the first week that “counts,” stats-wise — the league has ruled last week as sort of a warm up.)
    Next Tuesday: Let’s meet back up at page 113 (132 in the Bantam edition) a week from today — it’s the section that ends: “tarnished silver crown….”
    If you missed last week’s thread, be sure to check it out — a number of entertaining comments were dropped off just yesterday, including an entirely unexpected bodyslam on Kurt Vonnegut, jr.
    Thanks much for joining in and see you at the tarnished crown,
    -CV

  • Crime scene

    "Live for today,"
he said
"We're all going to die."
    "Especially you,"
she replied.
    It was a short conversation.

  • The Gravity’s Rainbow Deathmarch: Our First Few Steps…

    Today it begins — our first few steps on “The Gravity’s Rainbow Deathmarch.” And I will admit the obvious — that I’m a little intimidated by this old book. But I can share this as well: the last two days, I went off on a little scouting mission — read the first few pages — read them aloud to my better half, in fact, while she tried to sleep. And dang if they weren’t entertaining. At least to me. I had no idea there were so many ways to prepare a banana.
    Let’s make the target for this week a touch shy of 50 pages — we’ll make camp at page 47 and the line “time for home.” [update: this is page 54 in the Bantam edition]
    If any of youse have any other words orf wisdom regarding the first handful of pages, or good natured advice for your fellow marchers, please use this entry as an open thread fer shoutin’ out.
    Thanks and gulp and see you next Tuesday and…here we go,
    -Cecil
    (For those hearing about this for the first time, you can find all the details — the gameplan, the prizes, the whole sheebang, by going to “The Gravity’s Rainbow Deathmarch” category page. In short, around 20-30 of us are going to try to read this thing in roughly 50 page chunks/week. And for them that make it through and drop a comment here most weeks, there will be glory, and yes, the possibility of a free Pat Benatar CD and/or a mug. All are welcome — Gravity’s Rainbow loves company.)

  • Shaq Diesel and Me

    Last night I dreamt that Shaquille O’Neal dropped by my house. He had a lot on his mind and he was looking for a distraction — a chat, maybe a movie. I was happy to see him.
    We talked for a bit, Shaq and me. Then California Representative Maxine Waters showed up, and she was even more beautiful in person. We were both really struck by her grace and her dignity, her almost shimmering presence.
    After Representative Waters left, Shaq Diesel and I sat down to watch the movie Sideways. He really liked the part where the one guy lies about why he’s so late. And we both laughed at the scene with the alligator in the back of their car. That was crazy! It was a living alligator! But before too long, Shaq got up to go home.
    It wasn’t that it was a bad movie, he told me. It was just a little bit boring, alligator and all. And he had a lot to do the next day.
    Shaq’s a very busy guy.

  • He acts like a man with a mistress

    Cell phone calls in
    public toilets.
    Smelling funny.
    Mysteries.
    “What? What?”
    But there’s no mistress.
    No jealous second life.
    Just
    nervous habits.

  • The Best Things in Life Are Free

    Here’s another one of them there standards, with keys and vocals and antique steamer howl and yes, perhaps, yes indeed: the sound of time itself. It’s a confusing, some might say outrageous sentiment for this holiday week: The Best Things in Life Are Free, written by B.G. DeSylva, Lew Brown, and Ray Henderson back in 1927.
    time: 2:08 seconds; specs: 1.9 MB
    Press Play to play.

  • The Gravity’s Rainbow Pause That Refreshes

    We’re right around 30 people strong and launch is next week. If you haven’t yet purchased a copy of Gravity’s Rainbow, and you intend to deathmarch, now’s a great time to pick one up. One thing you don’t want to do is show up for a Gravity’s Rainbow Deathmarch without Gravity’s Rainbow.
    See you back here next week for the starting line….
    -Cecil

  • Progress

    In the future
    all our children
    will be born
    with carpal tunnel.