Cloudy Day Art Podcast Network

How to Be Alone – Video Poem by Tanya Davis

Will — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 01:05:42 +0000

As you know, I love a great poem joined together with a great video.

I recently came across this amazing piece by poet Tanya Davis on YouTube (with over 1.5 MILLION views as of this writing). Her poem pairs perfectly with the style and eye of film maker Andrea Dorfman.

It’s an instructional video that teaches us how to be comfortable in solitude. Not only that, but how to really go out of your way to really embrace it.

As as self-realized introvert, this video makes me all warm and fuzzy inside and pulls a gentle smile to the corners of my mouth. Tanya’s words really speak from a soul who has come to terms aloneness. Though it isn’t clear if she has struggled with it at some point or has always just embraced it.

What do you think?

Lunch Poem – Video

Will — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:59:25 +0000

Here’s a nice poem put to video. I like how the video creator, Andrew Kamp, let the sounds bleed through to Tracy K. Smith’s poem so that both became part of the other. Some poetry videos tend to be words laid on top of video with no real interaction.

Well done.

…

The Most Effective Writing Prompt

Will — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 01:58:29 +0000

Earlier today a friend, and fellow poet, Thom Ingram posted a tweet on Twitter that said:

“You Can” for @WillBrown at http://poetguru.com“

Rightfully intrigued, I followed the link and found a poem entitled “You Can” for Will Brown.

It was a short poem that I interpret to mean that you should always be ready to receive inspiration. Not only that, but to somehow capture the thought, the seed, and save it for later. For a time when you can be alone and plant that thought again in your mind.

But that was not the important part.

The greater realization came from the fact that Thom reached out to inspire a fellow poet.

As poets, in order to be effectively inspired, we must link arms with other poets. Friends that, whenever you have any contact with them, ask you if you are writing. Gordon Buss asked me this very question a couple of days ago in an email. I was inspired then as well.

But inspiration can only go so far. As Thom says in the last lines of the poem: “Your pen before ink runs dry. Sins to just think.”

Image Credit

The Only Thing You Can Change

Will — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:33:46 +0000

You can’t change your entire life.

You can only change your next action.

—

You can’t change a relationship with a loved one.

You can only change your next interaction.

—

You can’t change your entire job.

You can only change your next task.

—

You can’t change your body composition.

You can only change your next meal.

—

You can’t change your fitness level.

You can only start moving.

—

You can’t declutter your entire life.

You can only get choose to get rid of one thing, right now.

—

You can’t eliminate your entire debt.

You can only make one payment, or buy one less unnecessary item.

—

You can’t change the past, or control the future.

You can only change what you’re doing right now.

—

You can’t change everything.

You can only change one, small thing.

And that’s all it takes.

Reprinted from mnmlist

Suitable Poetry – Fry and Laurie

Will — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 03:56:11 +0000

A humorous sketch from the BBC comedy “A Bit of Fry and Laurie“, which I never heard of until Simon from Slam Idol interviewed Stephen Fry a few years ago about his book “The Ode Less Travelled: Unlocking the Poet Within
” (aff). I still need to purchase that. American fans may recognize Hugh Laurie from his role in the current television show “House“.

Enjoy:

…

The Kindle and the iPad – The Poet’s Perspective

Will — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 02:06:40 +0000

Much has been said about the coming of Apple’s iPad as the time-stamp for the impending death of Amazon’s Kindle. Point and counter-point have been given across the web, in print, and new and old media.

I, for one, I believe that the two can both peacefully coexist in the fast moving market of e-readers. In fact, I now own both devices and am equally pleased with both when it comes to the purpose that they serve.

Len Edgerly in his latest podcast episode of The Kindle Chronicles mentioned that he distinguished between the two users by the term “serious readers”; a term that just makes sense when it comes to discerning which device works best for each individual person. Serious readers are people who like to read books for an extended period of time. They make time to separate themselves from the world by immersing themselves into the world that they are holding in their hands.

On the other side, the casual reader is perfectly content to read just a few pages at a time whenever the moment hits them. The things that bother serious readers about the iPad are not a factor for casual readers. Screen glare, the iPad’s weight, and eye-strain are things that will rarely affect someone who only picks up the iPad for short bursts of reading.

This is where the poetry consumer comes in.

People that read poetry typically don’t sit with one book of poetry for long periods of time. Our readings tend to come in bursts. Have you ever sat down and read dozens of poems in one sitting?

For me, the battle between the e-readers purely from the poetry reading perspective is not a battle at all. It is as simply a choice of which medium is available for me to use at the moment I decide to read. The choice could be paper, a magazine, a blog, my computer, my iPad, or my Kindle.

Currently, poetry publishers are deciding that for us. Most poetry is being published traditionally (magazines, journals, books, blogs, and web), but a few publishers are riding the technological wave with their poets. Electronic delivery, currently primarily by PDF, is giving great opportunities for some. However, the selection on both the iPad and Kindle seem limited. In some cases it is because the publisher isn’t getting the books into the digital marketplace and in others it is the technological constraints of the market itself that provides a hurdle the the individual author must first overcome.

Here’s what I foresee in the very near future for the digital market. Application developers will pair with poetry publishers, both publishing houses and individuals, to create applications that dismantle such hurdles. Look to digital providers such as LuLu.com and others to lead from the front.

So, in the end, which device is better for the poetry consumer. Either. It depends on what your other reading habits are. Serious readers will prefer the Kindle or Barnes and Noble’s Nook. Casual readers will prefer the iPad or one of the other potential tablet computers coming down the stream.

I am concerned with the poet who is seeking a means of delivery. I hope you consider all avenues to share your works.

Kate Tempest – End Times

Will — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 02:17:38 +0000

There are some spoken word artists who absolutely stun you with their performance. Kate Tempest is one on those artists.

Her presence is pure emotion when she is on stage and her words pierce your soul and intertwine with your emotions as she speaks. Amazing.

Listen to her poem “End Times” in this video and tell me what you think.

I found this video over at Viral Verse –another great site for quality poetry videos. Be sure to stop by, check out their videos, and subscribe!

Despite Death Threats, Poet Hissa Hilal Speaks for the Silent

Will — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 02:32:34 +0000

Saudi Arabian poet Hissa Hilal recently took part in a poetry competition for an Abu Dhabi TV show called “Million’s Poet“. The name comes from the fact that the top poet receives a one million dollar prize. I could go into a five paragraph post on that alone, and perhaps I will eventually, but the most remarkable part of this story is that she performed at all.

Hissa received death threats as the result of her appearances on the show and for the words she spoke. She didn’t just speak poems of love and nature, but she chose the opportunity to speak about issues of women’s equality in a region where the phrase is scoffed at and demeaned. Her courage in this competition earned her and the women of the region more than that one million dollars could have ever purchased.

Every time we speak out what we as poets believe, we speak for those who have the same thoughts and words, but don’t have the means to share them. We have our open mics, blogs, podcasts, books, and magazines to speak truth as we know it. We have the opportunity to reach more people than some will ever reach in their entire lives.

Embrace that, poet.

Here’s a video from ABC Nightly News where Hissa Hilal is featured as the Person of the Week. I hope it inspires you.

Here’s an article from ABC as well, in case the video is regionalized by ABC: Person of the Week: Poet Hissa Hilal

Moving Poems – A Great Web Site for Good Poetry Videos

Will — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 03:19:07 +0000

I recently wrote a post about the lack of good video poetry available to viewers and how we sometimes have to search through multiple videos before we actually find a good one. Well, poet Dave Bonta of Moving Poems has done most of the hard work for you.

Moving Poems scours the web for great examples of poetry put to video and video worked around poetry. Dave decided to start the site “in part to learn how to make better video poetry”.

What I like best about the site is that he doesn’t just post the video, but he gives good insight on why he likes it and even interesting tidbits about the video.

A good example is the information he provided about a couple of Walt Whitman poems that were recently featured in televised advertisements here in the states. I had seen the Levis commercial featuring “Pioneers! O Pioneers”, but wasn’t aware of all the discussion taking place about it on the web and media. I definitely recommend taking a look at the full article.

Here is the Levis ad that was mentioned:

Let me know if you come across a good video that you think others here would enjoy. I’d love to share it!

Let me know in the comments or via Twitter!

Hello Poetry – Web Site Review

Will — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 03:15:32 +0000

Cloudy Day Art listener Paul Badger recently turned me on to a relatively new poetry community site called Hello Poetry.

I’ve seen my share of sites that prompted poets to come online, share their poetry, and interact amongst the community. Some have been good and some have been bad. What separates the good from the bad, in my opinion, comes down to how the site founder handles a small set of criteria (in top of my head order):

Site design
Community involvement
Showcasing poems and poets
Providing incentives to poets to comment on other’s poetry

Hello Poetry does a great job in all these areas. Lets hit each of these specifically to explain further.

Site Design

I know. This can’t be the most important thing to look at when reviewing a poetry site. But it is very important. You consciously evaluate whether a web site is good or bad with the first few seconds of the home page loading. It’s a fact.

The web design crew at Hello Poetry have succeeded in creating a beautifully minimalist web design devoid of heavy graphics, banner ads, and the gaudy colors that we see on many poetry community sites (I’m guilty at times, too). The first thing you see center page is a short description of the site with an immediate call to action to read a featured, random poem. Nice.

Community Involvement

Click on the “Community” link at the top of the page and you are taken to a page split into a few different sections:

“Suggested Poems”: Featuring two poems from users (not sure how those are chose)
“Poems by recent interest“: Appears to use recent comments and views to showcase
“Members most active this week“: A list of hyperlinked poet names. You can click the poet’s name to go to their profile page which contains a great deal of info about him or her:
- Short bio
- Newest poems
- Top poems
- Words used ~ Shows, in tag cloud format, the most used words by the particular poet. Cool! This is helpful for the poet and for the reader to gauge the basic mood of the poet’s writings
- Groups they are a member of
- A poet Q&A created that is pulled from questions that the poet chooses to answer in the “Discussions” area of the site.

All these areas practically beg the reader to explore, comment, and contribute to the site without being too overbearing.

Shocasing Poems and Poets

Hello Poetry has enabled an automatic background process they call “Exposure” to promote poets and poets throughout the site. Here’s how they define it on a recent blog post:

Keep in mind that even though exposure is now handled automatically, the same ideas apply as before. Your work will be exposed more often if you read and give thoughtful reactions to poems, and do other positive interactions on Hello Poetry. This keeps everyone on a level playing field and gives something in return to those contributing the most to the community.

So, the more you are involved in the site, the greater your chance of poetry being exposed. I have read discussions both pro and con of this technique, but it seems to work overall.

Providing Incentives to Poets to Comment on Other’s Poetry

This goes hand in hand with their “Exposure” algorithm. That along with creating a very good user experience and generally open and encouraging community of poetry lovers, seems to be keeping the site updated with fresh and interesting reading.

I do have some concerns as the discussion forum that I thought was there a month or so ago seems to have disappeared. This could be because the creators thought it took away from the pure poetry aspect or because of some of the grumblings I saw as some of the new features were being implemented. Or both.

All in all, I would recommend Hello Poetry to poets as a place to share their poetry and to read and encourage other poets.

I’m listed there. I only have one poem up, but I hope to increase that soon.

What do you think about Hello Poetry?

Blackout Poet – Video

Will — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:45:07 +0000

I came across this video while doing one of my periodic searches for poetry on Twitter. Poet Austin Kleon came up with a creative way to pen poetry.

He takes an article from a newspaper, looks for key words that inspire him, then blacks out all the rest. It’s a different take on those magnetic poetry or refrigerator poetry kits you can by online, but it is a cool idea none the less. He’s also releasing a book of poetry based on his creations. Check out this video report:

I could see this as a great exercise to try when you think you are running into a creative brick wall. The words are already written for you. You just have to get rid of the unnecessary ones.

Creating Your Own Spotlight

Will — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 03:13:07 +0000

Today The Huffington Post posted an article titled “National Poetry Month: Breeding Hyperlinks Out of the Dead Land” by Travis Nichols. Travis begins the article talking about how newspapers and sites across the internet are “shining a spotlight on the art form they normally ignore, mangle, or treat with derision”.

This is a very true statement, though spoken partially in jest. In fact, this is somewhat what I’m doing here at Cloudy Day Art. Posting 30 blog post over 30 days. I don’t think I’ve written thirty blog posts on this site over the five years of it’s existence!

But is that so wrong? I would rather have mainstream media cover poetry and its associated events this one time of year than not at all.

It is our jobs as poetry bloggers, podcasters, and journalists to keep the art in the minds of our listeners and readers the other 335 days. Some say that we don’t have the large outreach that a USA Today has, but collectively we can reach millions by sharing one verse with your friends on Facebook. By sharing on link to a spoken word performance to your followers on Twitter. By sharing one podcast with your listeners.

Thirty days isn’t much time for poetry to be in the spotlight. Let’s show them how we do it.

Image credit

“AmeriKa” by RaD aka Ryanaustin Dennis – Video

Will — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:46:30 +0000

I love a good poetry or spoken word video. You have to search through so much to find a real gem. Let me be clear, there are thousands of great poems being recorded to video out there, but very few great poems with great video.

I present to you today, a decent poem being performed on great video. AmeriKa by RaD (aka Ryanaustin Dennis) is a typical angry-at-America poem shot beautifully and artistically by Christopher George for his Senior Graphic Design Thesis.

I’m hoping to see more poets team up with video artists to create the visual art we need.

*Caution: the following video contains strong language and visuals that my be offensive to some*

What are your thoughts on the current state and future of video poetry?

Share them in the comments.

Five of the Best iPad Apps for Poets and Writers

Will — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 10:00:18 +0000

Today is launch day for the “magical” device known as the iPad. Hundreds of thousands of Apple fanboys and girls, techies and geeks, and normal everyday people are eagerly awaiting the arrival of their new wonderful toy.

Being a gadget freak myself, I thought about and pondered how I could possibly justify purchasing an iPad for myself. In my household we have an iMac, a laptop, and a netbook. All the bases are covered! I’m still pleading my case with my wife…

Until then, I decided to peruse the iTunes App Store to see what apps are available today on the iPad for all you poets and writers who made the jump. I know of two of my fellow poetry podcasters who are planning on it.

Let’s get started.

PortaPoet:

This app suffers from a poor name choice, but it is still a neat tool.

“PortaPoet will help you to quickly and easily write and share rhyming poems…” It contains a built-in rhyming dictionary, the ability to save poems locally, and the ability to share them with your Facebook friends from within the interface. (iTunes Link)

~~~

My Writing Nook:

“My Writing Nook provides a simple, uncluttered writing workspace. However, uncluttered doesn’t mean feature-poor.”

This is a great looking app for those of you who write novels. It has a built-in dictionary/thesaurus, autosave, and a neat tie-in to an online web application that lets you sync your iPad version to the cloud for backup and a handy web interface to continue writing and editing when you are on any computer. (iTunes Link)

~~~

Max Journal:

Max Journal is a beautifully designed journaling app meant to imitate the standard paper-based journal.

Features include multiple font choices that give your text a hand-written look and feel. Another neat feature is that you can attach up to three photos per post like you would a summer vacation scrapbook. It even has a virtual paperclip to hold them in place. This looks like a great app to use to write your private thoughts without having to post them to a public blog. (iTunes Link)

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NoteSketch:

Simply put, “NoteSketch turns your iPad into a digital notebook that you can take with you wherever you go.”

We all have those moments when we think of the perfect phrase or theme for a future poem. What do we do next? We immediately scramble for a piece of paper to write it down. Well, with NoteSketch your iPad becomes that notebook. You just launch the app, open a notebook, and use your finger to start writing or sketching down your thoughts. Simple. (iTunes Link)

~~~

Pages:

Pages is the granddaddy of all word processing apps on the iPad. Already popular on the Mac, it has been ported over to the iPad resulting in a beautiful interface with a slew of tools to go along with it.

Besides standard text documents, you can create flyers, form letters, charts, insert images and resize them on the fly. You can then export them a variety of ways to allow you to print them or have them printed professionally. Great for chapbooks or your personal collection of poems to give as gifts. (iTunes Link)

There will be more and more of these apps appearing on a weekly basis as many new use cases are developed by poets and writers. I’m quite curious to see what will evolve.

Have you purchased or planning on purchasing an iPad? What apps would be helpful for you?

The Slam Idol Podcast Celebrates 5 Years of Poetry!

Will — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 04:01:31 +0000

Congratulations to Simon from Slam Idol! Yesterday, April 1st, he celebrated 5 years of producing The Slam Idol Podcast. The longest running and most consistent poetry podcast ever.

As you can tell by searching this site, I’ve been a big fan all this time.

Many poetry related podcasts came on the scene after his 2005 debut with big dreams and aspirations–I was one of them. I have seen many come and go. Some of them I missed.

So, what was the secret in the success of Slam Idol? Simplicity. A simple concept. A great idea that rose above the technology. Too many of us poetry podcasters were more focused on the tools rather than the art we were supposed to be representing.

The main focus of those of us with this gift, this ability to take a poem that very few have ever heard and share it with hundreds of people from around the world, should be remembered in its simplest form.

Share.

Don’t worry about getting the best microphone. Don’t worry about having the nicest looking blog. Don’t worry about monetizing the art.

Just share.

That’s what Simon did so well. He consistently put the poet before the technology. He then followed that with the slow tweaking of the medium.

Before he purchased his own hosting he was at SlamIdol.tripod.com (free). Then he bought his own domain name, SlamIdolPodcast.com, which he hosted at GoDaddy for free as well I believe. Eventually he moved over to Podshow, now Mevio, and now is hosting his site on a full domain. All over the course of five years.

All this while, rather than constantly playing with the tech, he shared. Poets from around the world received listens and votes from poetry lovers from around the world.

Well done, Simon!

Simon is taking a bold step and totally revamping what Slam Idol is be begetting the Slam Stream. If you haven’t followed his discussion listen to Slam Idol #297 and my interview with him to hear where he’s going.

It has that same feel of the early Slam Idol experience for me. A new experience in waters where few have tread before.

I’m going for a swim. How about you?

It’s National Poetry Month! Bring on NaPoWriMo 2010!

Will — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:01:26 +0000

It’s the first day of April 2010! Which means it’s the first day of National Poetry Month here in the United States and Canada.

National Poetry Month was started by The Academy of American Poets in 1996 and has been gaining popularity ever since. Each year poets around the country, and world in this connected age, find new ways to celebrate poetry and increase it’s visibility.

One of my favorite celebrations is the challenging and humbling National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) started in 2003 by poet and blogger Maureen Thorson. I’ve participated in the past and some of my favorite writings have come from the experience. Some days the words flow easily from the pen and other days you must carve them out of your soul with a chisel and a sledgehammer, but the experience is a beautiful one. You emerge from the process like an ancient warrior emerging from the wilderness after a thirty-day rite of passage.

Check out Maureen’s NaPoWriMo site if you would like to join in and have your poem site listed for NaPoWriMo 2010 if you so choose. In fact, you don’t have to post online at all. You can simply join the challenge by making a vow to yourself to write one poem a day for the month. No pressure!

For an even greater challenge, the folks over at Read Write Poem have a very in-depth challenge where many of the poets have the chance to have their April writings featured in a published anthology.

If you simply want to enjoy the poetry, I recommend doing a search for NaPoWriMo or #NaPoWriMo on Twitter whenever you get a spare moment. Many poets are already tweeting out links to their writings using the #NaPoWriMo hashtag. I often look for new poetry to read by searching for the #poetry hashtag.

Are you participating in NaPoWriMo this year? Post a link in the comments and I’ll be sure to check out your poems and may even link to the ones I really like that I come across!

Have fun!

Image Credit

30 Days of Poetry Related Blog Posts

Will — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 11:46:46 +0000

In honor of National Poetry Month, I will be posting at least one blog post for every day in April. I’ve tried other month long experiments in the past, including writing poetry, podcasting, and a short stint at NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

This will kind of be a mixture of all that because I’ll be posting everything from poetry, embedding poetry videos, talking about poet tech, a podcast here and there, and maybe even a short story or two. We’ll see!

Please check back daily or subscribe to the All Posts Feed to keep up!

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bicameral/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

006 Poet Tech Podcast – Radames Ortiz and Jonathan Jindra

Will — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:49:33 +0000

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poet Tech Podcast – Episode #006

Download Episode (Right-click –> Save as)

I was able to record a great discussion with poet Radames Ortiz and musician Jonathan Jindra this past weekend. We discussed their upcoming multimedia collaboration of poetry and music; the way artists release CDs now and how they are marketed; the tools used to put together the project; being independent versus being with a label, and much more.

Projects like these are what keeps poetry and poets fresh and creative. They shift the definition of poetry that has been etched in so many people’s minds and puts it front and center in the modern world.

Be sure to check out the sites of both of these artists. Give them feedback, say hello, and buy their works.

Links mentioned in the interview:

Radames Ortiz on Twitter
Jonathan Jindra’s band” Trills” page
Radames’ Youtube Channel
Radames Ortiz
GTA featured on “Hipster Please” podcast
Buy Jonathan Jindra‘s latest project “Modular Puzzle“

Please leave your thoughts and comments or contact me via email, voicemail, or by the contact page.

Thanks for listening!

005 Poet Tech Podcast – Talking Tech With Simon From Slam Idol

Will — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:37:47 +0000

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

Download Episode (Right-click –> Save as)

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:

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!

004 Poet Tech Podcast – Poetry As a Social Media Tool

Will — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 04:25:28 +0000

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

Download Episode (Right-click –> Save as)

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

089 The Poetry Podcast – Interview with Gordon Buss

Will — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:34:31 +0000

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poetry Podcast – Show #89

Download Episode (Right-click –> Save as)

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:

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

I’d love to read your comments below.

003 Poet Tech Podcast – The Future of Poetry Online

Will — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 05:29:05 +0000

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

Download Episode (Right-click –> Save as)

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.

088 The Poetry Podcast – Jen, Charly, and Bruce

Will — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:47:31 +0000

Cloudy Day Art Presents:
The Poetry Podcast – Show #88

Download Episode (Right-click –> Save as)

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!

002 Poet Tech Podcast – Poetry Home Recording Basics

Will — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:19:36 +0000

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

Download Episode (Right-click –> Save as)

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.

087 The Poetry Podcast #87

Will — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:46:49 +0000

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

Download Episode (Right-click –> Save as)

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.

001 Poet Tech Podcast – Why Poet Tech?

Will — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:20:56 +0000

Download Episode (Right-click –> Save as)

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!

086 The Poetry Podcast – Welcome Back!

Will — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:28:05 +0000

Download MP3 (right-click -> Save as)

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!

Coming Soon – The Poet Tech Podcast

Will — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:26:01 +0000

I am pleased to announce that within a few weeks I will be launching “The Poet Tech Podcast”, a new addition to the recently launched Cloudy Day Art Podcast Network.

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!

Hawaii Wins Brave New Voices 2008 Grand Slam Final!

Will — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:17:37 +0000

Team Hawaii wins the 11th Annual International Youth Poetry Slam – Brave New Voices 2008 Grand Poetry Slam!

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

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”