Thought I would seek out some YouTube videos of some of the poets who appeared in Monday’s poetry slam in Saint Paul at the Artist’s Quarter. And I found some of the performers there. Here they are. Enjoy.

The first is Wonder Dave performing “Vagina”

Performing “Sexy”

Sam Cook performs “Greg”

Ezra performs “Fuck the Goonies”

Inky performs (?)

Went to the Poetry Slam at the Artist’s Quarter in Saint Paul last night. It was as awesome as ever. I was asked to be one of the judges and took Guante, the emcee’s advice, by writing down the performers and the scores I gave them. I do think it helped me be consistent in judging the performances.

The performers at the Saint Paul Poetry Slam were Ezra, Jen, Wonder Dave, Collin, Sam Cook, Rob, Chad Word, Style Spawn, 6 is 9, and Inky. (Sorry for any misspellings.) I’m using my jottings to identify the poems/theme that I wrote next to the scores.

In Order of the Performances

Ezra did a poem about a rancher named Gay. Really well done and written. Unfortunately he fell to the first performance curse where the first performers tend to score lower while the judges figure it all out. My scoring was 9.3

Jen performed Shirt, Star Wars and Weight. Jen has a good stage presence and delivery. Unfortunately I see her repeating these poems way too often and I deducted for that. My scoring was 8.9, 9.0, 9.0

Wonder Dave was great and in his prime and came in third place. He has unique poems and delivery. He performed  Obama, sexy and love. I liked Obama because he was able to demand integrity from a politician – and one he voted for – in a thought filled here are the facts kind of way. Love was seeing love from a sort of everyday perspective that requires insight. Wonder Dave keeps his poems real and allows a connection to the audience. Scoring was 9.8, 9.5, 9.6

Collin came in second place. He performed Flag, love one liners, MS. Never seen him before. I think he came all the way from Texas to perform. He was good and scored well. Nice persona and presence. I lowered his scores because I thought his first poem with the Confederate Flag theme was not well informed and seemed to be a bit pandering to the audience. Yeah we don’t approve of slavery or torture or murder – tell me something I don’t know! Then his last performance was harder to understand with fast and loud talking and a bit frantic to the point of distraction. Don’t get me wrong with my critique, he was still very good. My scoring was 8.7, 9.3, 9.1

Sam Cook performed girl in mirror and 4 year old. Sam is a seasoned veteran of slams and I frequently enjoy his political poems. He did well but didn’t knock his poems out of the park. Scores were 9.0, 8.9

Rob was new to me and had a great night. From Milwaukee he was able to incorporate intimate personal revelations and details and even some vulnerability which as a memoir writer I enjoy. He performed mix tape, sex and Minneapolis. Scores were 8.9, 9.2, 9.3

Chad Word performed Yorik. He writes some great stuff and this poem was no exception. His performance could use more force and practice. Score 8.3

Style Spawn performed. I haven’t seen him for a year and a half! He is absolutely unique in writing and performance. I learned in his earlier performances to close my eyes and listen to the words and rhythm of his work. His performances and poetry can take you on a journey if you let it. He speaks softly, with rhythm, with a slow beat that is hypnotizing. His poems are something that would make Jon Anderson of Yes proud. Unfortunately, he was too good for the room and scored low. Score 9.3

Six is Nine, or is that 6 is 9 was the “winner.” If you haven’t heard or seen him I would encourage you to do so. He has a nearly perfect combination of presence, delivery and material. He’s creative, funny and inventive. I’ve seen him perform for a couple of years with only a rare duplication of previous material. His Peter Pan-Captain Hook piece was funny, brilliant and creepy! The scores he received from me were: 9.6, 9.4, 9.4

Inky performed stalks and road. She has a wonderful stage presence and a nice delivery. I think stalks has potential to be great. I get confused when I’m being told a story as to whether it’s fact or fiction and as an audience member I want to know. If it’s fact it needs to become more human and if it’s fiction I think it should be more dramatic and unapologetic. She lost her place during the stalk performance and my score was lower for that reason. In retrospect I think she should be rewarded more than others who take paper on stage with them. Scores: 8.7, 9.0

Two things you might not know. The National Poetry Slam competition takes place in Saint Paul this year. And the Saint Paul team won the National Poetry Slam competition last year.

Enjoying the view of ice skaters in Rice Park from eighteen stories up tonight.

After one of the warmest Novembers on record it’s become quite cold in early December. Not just cold but cold with a wind which makes it extra chilly on exposed skin. Still, it’s refreshing to step out into the outdoors.

We’ve seen some white snow around here the past few days but it’s been nothing more than a dusting. Enough to make things seem even more wintery.

My roommate is getting over his bout the flu. Tonight I’m feeling like I’m coming down with something. I’ve felt this before but have been able to fight it off successfully. Hope my good health continues through the flu season here.

Bored yet?

Okay, it’s not my best post but it’ll have to do.

Pixar’s “Up” is coming to pay per view next week. It’s one of Pixar’s better movies and that is really saying something. Might have to watch it again. It is so very sweet and seems appropriate for the holiday season.

Wondering lately if there are any anti-war bands out there.

Watched John Lennon in concert singing “Imagine” and “Give Peace a Chance” from the 1970′s and remembered how music can anchor a concept into the hearts and and minds of an audience.

When the chorus began the entire audience was singing with John “All we are saying, is give peace a chance.”

I don’t know if protests or music had any effect on the length of the Vietnam war. Maybe the powers in charge just were done anyway, but unity evident in the audience was inspiring to see.

Who’s taking up the anti-war banner? Who’s this generation’s John Lennon? Marvin Gaye?

Who really wants to give peace a chance?

I finished reading book twelve, The Gathering Storm, of the Wheel of Time series last night.

It was delightful to see this series in the capable hands of Brandon Sanderson after Robert Jordan’s untimely demise. It’s a fresh perspective and enjoyed the pacing of this book more than the last few books in the series. I thought the story lines were presented in a more straightforward manner which made it easier to follow. There were some truly exciting chapters in this one.

The end is in sight and that’s good too. I want to know how it ends but I’ll have to wait a few more years for that.

I read today that a movie is being planned about book one called The Eye of the World. The scope of Robert Jordan’s world seems to be beyond the scope of any movie. I was a huge fan of the Lord of the Rings movies and thought they did an outstanding job staying true to thheart of the story and the characters. I have no idea how they could make a movie about the Wheel of Time series without destroying it in the process.

It’s NaBloPoMo or National Blog Posting Month.

Seems like enough reason to break the “silence” from http://ArcherActon.com and resume posting.

What has Archer Acton been up to lately you ask?

I’ll write about work later but I’ve been adjusting to new roommates. Sharde and Carlos are both students at a downtown Saint Paul school. They’re both quite nice but we don’t really “connect” with each other as friends. There’s an age difference that makes it hard … more so for them than for me.

Reconnected with my writing group last month after a long hiatus. I wrote something for the meeting,

I attend Poetry Slams at the Artists Quarter the first Monday of each month and watch some really talented people performing their written word. This was the group that became National Poetry Slam Champions in 2009 and I am not surprised.

Stay tuned for another post tomorrow.

The Archer Acton website continues to be a interesting fusion of personal and business affairs.

My current business focus is on Small Bus SEO which is the Twin Cities premier search engine optimization (SEO) service that combines the power of video marketing with organic page ranking from Google and other search engines.

This weekend is also family reunion weekend. It’s been an event filled year for me and many other family members too. It is always fun to get together with everyone but it’s also going to be a tough reunion for me personally.

I’ll be handing out cards and asking people to go through my sign-up process so we can exchange stories and contact information.