Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #005

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This episode features a discussion I had with Simon from The Slam Idol Podcast.  We talk about the history of poetry podcasting, where we are now,  what are the current trends, and what the future of poetry in tech and social media could be like.

Simon has a lot of great ideas about what he has planned for his long-running and ground-breaking show.  The Slam Idol Podcast started in April of 2005 and has been at the forefront of the poetry podcasting field. He is also the lead founder of The Association of Poetry Podcasting of which I am also a founding member.

I hope you get motivated by this conversation as much as I am and that you too get inspired to think outside the box about new ways to use and spread poetry.

This is a long episode, clocking in at 1 hour and 26 minutes, but it is worth a listen.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• The Slam Idol Podcast
• Slam Idol on Facebook
• SlamStream
• Slam Idol on Twitter
• SlamStream on Twitter

Be sure to visit Simon and Slam Idol and let him know that you’re listening; and voting!

Please leave comments below. I love to hear from you!

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #004

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In light of the recent events in Haiti, I decided to talk about we as poets can use social media as a tool to bring about thoughts, action, and change in the world around us.

Here are the topic points of the discussion.  Listen in for the details and as always I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments, by email, or voicemail. Thanks for listening!

• Lots of news about how Twitter and social media is helping to spread news
  • Current example : The Earthquake in Haiti
    • People sharing ways to respond
    • Texting Haiti to the Red Cross has raised $25 million as of this recording
• Sharing pictures and stories of those on the ground there
• What has been the poet’s response?
  • Writing related poetry
  • Share it online
    • Personal website
    • Email to friends and family
• What is the logical next step?
  • Stepping out of our poetry circles and sharing it on social media (twitter, facebook, etc)
  • Even better : Encouraging others to act
    • Give financially
    • Participate in an event
• Hellicane by PodPoet was an example.  Dealt with the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina
  • Motivated poets to share their poetry
  • Social Media didn’t exist outside of blogs and podcasts
  • Listen to the interview I did with Steven Schultz : Cloudy Day Art #21 from September 2005
• Every poet has their social muse
• Speak on those things that move you to write

“Poets, your words make people think, and when people think, they act, and act by act, the world changes, little by little.”

–NotOneNotTwo via Twitter

“You are the spark of the world’s change, poets. Do not think yourselves powerless, or meaningless. You *have* power and meaning.”

–NotOneNotTwo via Twitter

Other links mentioned:

Haiku for Haiti (via Dragonfly Archives)

Thanks for listening and reading!

Please leave a comment or add to the discussion. Thanks!

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This week’s show features a recording of an interview that I did with poet Gordon Buss over the weekend.  We had a great conversation about poetry, performing, sources of inspiration, and other topics. Gordon also shared three of his poems for us:

• This Is All I Am
• Is It Always Wrong
• Dove

They are all wonderful pieces and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Be sure to stop by Gordon’s poetry site, Ugly Dog Poetry, to read and experience some of his poetry.  Be sure to leave him a comment and let him know what you thought.

Links mentioned in the interview:

• Ugly Dog Poetry (Gordon’s poetry site)
• Indiefeed Performance Poetry
• Slam Idol Podcast

Thanks for listening.  Please subscribe to the show if you like what you hear!

I’d love to read your comments below.

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #3

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In this week’s episode I give my predictions of what the future of poetry online looks like from this point forward.  Here are the key points that I discuss. Listen in above or download the MP3 for the details:

• Before the web, the only way a few ways to share poetry
• Currently poetry is easier to put online than ever before. No technical barriers.
  • Anybody can create a poetry blog
  • Poetry can be posted on sites that aren’t specifically blogs
  • There are poetry specific web communities
  • New forms of sharing poetry are being embraced
• Here is what I believe we’ll see in TwentyTen and beyond:
  • An slight upswing in poetry specific sites targeted at the masses. There is very little upend left.
  • An unavoidable decline in these sites.
  • Poets will host their own writings because of the ease of entry
  • The number of poetry magazines will continue to decline as poets begin to the value of social media to gain exposure
  • More poets will choose to self-publish their poetry books through on-demand sites such as LuLu.com and will stop seeking publishing deals and bulk book orders
    • SEEKING A PUBLISHER IS A WASTE OF TIME
  • There will be more poetry online than ever before because more people are online than ever before. Sharing every aspect of their lives.
  • Poets have an innate desire to share our creation

So, what are your predictions for the upcoming years? Do you agree or disagree with any of the statements that I made?

Let me know in the comments or by calling in to the voicemail line.

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This week’s episode of The Poetry Podcast features the following poets:

• Jen Thorpe of  the “Inside My Head” podcast reading – Three Haikus
• Charly “The City Mouse” Fasano performing “Smiles That Go Ding
  • Listen to or purchase his latest CD/tape here: Charly’s Bandcamp page
• Bruce McRae performing “Netherworld”

Outro music:

Gidgets GaGa – “A Christmas Wish”

Reminder: The Cloudy Day Art Podcast Network productions will be on a winter hiatus and will return to production on Sunday, January 3rd. The first release of 2010 will be on The Poet Tech Podcast.  The next Poetry Podcast will be out on January the 11th.

This gives you four weeks to record and send me your poems!  I’m looking forward to listening and sharing them with the rest of the Cloudy Day Art community.

Have a great holiday season and see you next year!

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #002

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In this week’s podcast I go over the basics of poetry home recording.  Many of the topics discussed will be the subjects of upcoming episodes, so please feel free to ask questions or offer your own personal insights.  I know many of the listeners of this podcast and readers of the blog have had experience in this area as well. Please leave a comment. Thanks!

Topics discussed:

• Show schedule update
• Reasons for recording
  • Share on personal blog
  • Send to a friend or family
  • Record a series of poems to sell via CD or download (future series)
  • Send in for sharing on a poetry podcast
    • Covered basic Audacity how-to video
• How can it help you as a poet
  • Reciting a poem out loud can help you get a better feel of how the piece flows, which may lead you to revise it
  • Listening to the playback of your recital can give you a feel of how an audience member or even a reader receives it
  • Sharing audio of you poetry can help give you exposure if you are trying to promote your works
    • Play on podcasts
    • Audio samples of a CD you have for sale
• Equipment needed:
  • Microphone
    • Internal laptop microphone
    • Web-cam microphone
    • USB microphone (cheap or expensive) ($15-400)
      • (I used a USB mic on very first Poetry Podcast in 2005.)
    • Hand-held dynamic (cheap or expensive)
  • Mixer (only if using higher end microphone)
    • $50-1,400
  • Recording device
    • Computer
      • Audacity (free (PC or Mac))
      • Garageband (free for Mac users)
      • Adobe Audition ($350)
    • External recorder
      • Can be used to record to without buying a mic or mixer
      • No noise from computer components (electronic noise and static)
      • No loss of recordings from software issues (mainly affects longer recordings)
• Process
  • Be familiar with the poem you’re recording
    • Cloudy Day Art #80 “Tips For Reading Poetry Aloud with Don From ClassicPoetryAloud.com”
  • Record in the quietest part of the house possible (in the evening or early morning may be best)
  • Turn off everything (A/C, fans, computers, refrigerators, etc)
    • (Don’t forget to turn it all back on!)
  • Multiple takes if necessary
  • Edit recording
  • Upload and send!
• Other options
  • Phone
    • Audioboo (iPhone)
    • Utterli
    • Voicemail

Thanks for listening! I looking forward to hearing your feedback and suggestions.

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poetry Podcast – Show #87

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This week’s show features the poetry of:

• Robert G. Parent – “The Little Blue Box”
• Fierce – “I Love You” (Courtesy Music Alley)
• Cody Spanbauer – “Burn Black” (Courtesy Music Alley)

I also play a song by Allison Crowe entitled “Choose to Be” (Courtesy Music Alley)

Please be sure to visit the website of all the featured artists and let them know that you heard their works on Cloudy Day Art’s “The Poetry Podcast”!

Let me know what you think of the show in the comments! Thanks for listening.

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Welcome to the first episode of The Poet Tech Podcast!

In this week’s episode we discuss:

• The purpose of The Poet Tech Podcast
• Play a welcome message from Simon from Slam Idol
• Talk about the benefits and distractions of tech and social media
• How we can ensure tech and new media distractions don’t hinder our writing

Links mentioned:

• Article from Psychology Today: “Easily distracted: why it’s hard to focus, and what to do about it”

I would love to hear your feedback on this week’s episode, so please leave a comment, call my voicemail line, fill out the contact form, or send me a message on my twitter!

Welcome back to The Poetry Podcast presented by Cloudy Day Art!  It has been a long time since our last podcast.  I’m so glad that you decided to listen to this week’s show. Take a listen to hear about where I’ve been and where the show, and website, is going.

Featured in this week’s show:

• Racquel Cook shares a poem called “Change” (Thanks to Doug Ramsay!)
• Unspoken with “Thanks to You”
• Suzi Q. Smith with “Dear Huey“
• I share a poem entitled “Mist“
• Outro song “Faking It” by MC Jack in the Box featuring Brad Sucks

Please let me know what you think of the show in the comments!

The Poet Tech Podcast is a podcast for poets and writers about how we use technology, in the broadest form of the word, to create and interact with our works. I’ll discuss everything from computer hardware and websites to pens and paper.

Possible topics:

• How to set up your own website to showcase your writing
• Review of a popular notebook brand
• Interviews with poetry website editors
• How to podcast your writings

I’m looking forward to the launch, so please subscribe and stay tuned!

Wow, that was a lot of words, and there were some amazing words spoken at tonight’s Grand Slam Finals. The final teams were Hawaii, Rochester, NY, New York City, Chicago, and last year’s returning champs, Philadelphia.

There were so many poetry fans packed into the Lincoln Theatre here in Washington, DC that they had to turn folks away at the door. I barely made it inside and was let in after they made room for just a few more after about 100 people walked away from the door. The venue holds about 450 people.

This event was one of the most amazing poetry events I’ve ever been to. Scratch that…it was the most amazing poetry event I’ve ever been to. HBO has been documenting the teams up to tonight’s event, so stay tuned because in a few months time you’ll be able to see tonight’s event and a behind-the-scenes look into what these kids did tonight.

So, congrats again to Hawaii!

I live-blogged the event, so you can read the play-by-play below:

Brave New Voices 2008 – International Youth Poetry Slam Finals!

(07/19/2008)  Powered by: CoveritLive

  

Close

7:11	Ok, folks. thanks for joining me. Still in line outside of theater.

7:17	Ok, chaos at the theatre. Folks, like me, with reservations being turned away.

7:20	There is hope. Line slowly moving.

7:29

I’m in!

7:30	Rochester NY on stage.

7:35

Scores:

7:35	9.1, 9.1, 9.5, 10

7:36	Chicago on.

7:40	9.2, 9.5, 10, 10

7:41	NYC up w/ group piece

7:45

Amazing !

7:46	9.7, 9.9, 9.9, 10, 10

7:46	Philly 2007 champs on stage.

7:47	6 on stage

7:48	Talking about how they haven’t been a team. Disqualifying themselves.

7:50	Performing “Free”

7:53	Standing O from crowd

7:54	9.8, the rest all 10s

7:55	Hawaii up at mic

7:56	2 person piece

8:00	9.6 10 10 10 10

8:05	The theatre is at capacity. 450 attending

8:06	Round 2 begins now

8:07	Chicago on again. 2 poets this time.

8:10	Poem of tragic childhood. We’re all silent

8:10	9.7, 9.8, 9.9

8:11	NYC up w/ one poet

8:15	9.9, rest all 10s

8:16	Philly back up. FYI HBO is filming this for a documentary on Brave New Voices.

8:17	Poem: we are a vessel

8:22	Nice piece on growing up transgendered. 10, 10, 10, 10

8:23	Team Hawaii – two poet piece.

8:25	Piece on the 7 deadly sins. Parts getting laughs.

8:27	The talent at this show amazing! 9.9, 10, 10, 10, 10

8:28	Rochester on w/ a solitary poet.

8:32	Speaking on the tragedies of hip-hop.. The death of hip-hop

8:33	9.5, 9.9, 9.5, 10

8:34	All poets are between 13 and 19

8:35	http://youthspeaks.org

8:35	Team Austin on stage to share a piece between rounds

8:36	Speaking for the late Shannon Leigh

8:41	Shannon Leigh passed away a few weeks back.

8:41	Round 3 begins w/ NYC.

8:46	“Braething polluted air is better than not breathing at all” 9.8, 9.9, 10, 10

8:47	Team Philly up. 4 female poets. “we are doing this for our mothers”

8:51	An ordinary day in the life os a desparate house wife. 9.7, 9.8, 10, 10

8:52	Hawaii up at mic with 1 poet.

8:53	Story of cousin lost to war.

8:57	Judges : 9.8, 9.9, 10, 10 for Hawaii

9:04	Photo from line getting in to theter earlier: http://brightkite.com/00Zkg

9:05	Back from dance break intermission. rochester coming up

9:06	Single poet. Poem about finding herself.

9:10	Everyone was glued to her words. She was in tears. 9.8, 9.8, 10, 10

9:11	ChiTown to the stage. 2 poets speaking.

9:12	One poet reciting names of kids killed in school violence as the two speak

9:15	Standing O from the crowd. “When will they call this a genocide”. All 10s!

9:18	Philly team is up with 3 poets for the final round

9:24	“We dance to keep our feet on the floor” in ref to lynchings. All 10s from the judges. Deserved.

9:24	Team Hawaii bringing three this round.

9:29	Nice piece on the environment and oil greed. Nice change of pace. 9.5, 9.9, 10, 10

9:31	Rochester, NY going with 1 poet this round. Thanks all poets for the love this week.

9:32	Funny piece on lost love.

9:35	Brilliant. Crowd chanting: “Poetry…Poetry…” 9.8, rest 10s.

9:36	Chicago bringing one poet. Crowd showing her much love.

9:37	“Ode to a female MC”

9:41	Yeah…she tore it up. All 10s!!!

9:42	Last team of the night: NYC

9:43	One poet on crutches. Her team mates gathered behind her, arms raised.

9:44	Poem about struggles of disability.

9:45	Crowd starting to raise arms in support around the building.

9:47	“I don’t need to fall to break”

9:48	Another standing O from all of us

9:49	This was a beautiful night of potery. So much love in here.

9:49	We all know what the scores will be.

9:50	Hesitation. Thanking judges.

9:51	Judge spokesman tearing up as reminiscing about the week.

9:52	All 10s as expected.

9:53	Host: This can’t end. Crowd: Let’s go to the White House!

9:54	Mark Barmuti (sp?) about to share a poem. Is this the Barak poem?

9:59	“Here we are the artistic frontline of those left behind”

10:00

Poetry chants one again fill the room.

10:01

All the teams taking the stage.

10:03

They’re still tabulating the score.

10:04

All the poets are singing “This Little Light of Mine” crowd clapping and singing along.

10:05

Now it’s a big dance party as the poets hug and congratulate each other.

10:06

Poets are thanking the judges.

10:08

Poet Sonya Sanchez among the judges. She is speaking now.

10:11

“Sometimes we have to step away to have another day”

10:11

Here we go:

10:12

5th place: Philly

10:13

Roch 4th, Chi 3rd

10:13

NYC 2nd

10:13

Hawaii 2008 champs!!!!

10:21

All poets on stage chanting “BNV ain’t nothin’ to fu** with” Photo http://brightkite.com/00Zkg

10:23

That’ll do it. Thanks for reading. Be sure to subscribe for future updates. Enter your email in the enews box on the front page. Goodnight!!!

10:23