RIP Richard O. Moore, thank you for the NET Outtakes
I'm on the road again, down Interstate 5 again (Southern California says "The 5" Northern California says "5"), I'm on my way to the &Now conference in Valencia, CA to "present" (read: read) poems for the Nightboat Books panel. So up and at 'em around 8:30AM for coffee and book, currently making my way through Collected Works: Lorine Niedecker, then run around Lake Merritt bumping Doug Stanhope and a recently-post-cold wheez, back by 9:30AM, shower, pack, double check bag, make bed, lock up the apartment and in the car by 10:15, 40 or so miles of 580East to 5South, then 370 miles of Interstate 5 to LA, it's like comfort food, or a safety blanket, the jugular vein of California, hilly then flat, fields and farms, giant windmills spinning or not, "CONGRESS CREATED DUSTBOWL" signs everywhere, cows and the smell of cows, if you do it right, Oakland to LA in about 5 hours, always do it right 80MPH all the way down. So I'm settling in to the trip, listening to Los Destellos radio on Pandora, the Central Valley landscape perfectly scored by 1960s Peruvian Psychedelic Cumbia (I suppose?), I'm also chewing on a million Wintergreen Altoids; I've done this drive a million times: comfort food, safety blanket.
I'm rooming wtih JH Phrydas (Jason), a buddy from Oakland, at the Hyatt Regency in Valencia, CA. I know Jason from his Bay Area days, terrific writer, former Small Press Distribution volunteer, Castro bartender, Oakland trendsetter/ bicycler, all around great dude, it's been a few years since I've seen him, last time over drinks at Bar 355 in Oakland talking about what to expect from Naropa specifically, and Boulder, CO in general (he'd just been accepted). I arrive first, check in, unpack a bit, stage books and notebooks next to the television, find a Spring Training game for background ambiance, wash my face, call my girlfriend to let her know I've arrived okay, and stretch out on the bed to plot a set for the Nightboat reading. Jason arrives soon thereafter, lot's of hugs and smiles and high-fives, we're both wearing tank-tops, Jason's wearing shorts, it's 90degrees outside and Southern California glorious. After initial greetings Jason walks over to the big window in our room and pulls back the drapes to reveal a balcony, a big one, I had no idea, here I was laying around in the dark (negative capability) blasting the air conditioning like a suburbanite (born and raised baby!) all the while a big balcony with big fresh air was waiting to be enjoyed 5 feet from me; the life of a poet, so LUXXX so SWANK so Palm TREES, Opa!
So Jason and I summarily head down to the pool, order vodka tonics and gin and tonics and talk about the current online poetry "wars," Naropa gossip, dessert horticulture, old SF vs. new SF, old Oakland vs. new Oakland, art in LA, theory, poetry scenes then and now, more drinks, of course &Now and what we're getting into at the conference and what we're expecting to get out of the conference, what I was doing "reading from my new book," what was he doing "an hour long clay workshop." It's about that time to head to the CalArts campus for the reception, so we get changed and head on over.
The &Now reception was held on the CalArts campus in the Walt Disney Modular Theatre, here's a photo (not on the day of the reception)
I feel like these girls should be standing at the end of that room
but they weren't, instead of ghosts the room was filled wine and beer and delicious reception foods, also writers and attendees. Jason and I ran into Matias Viegener, one of the organizers of the whole shebang (also faculty member at CalArts), (side note: have you read his 2500 Random Facts About Me Too (Les Figues Press)? it's like walking the LABYRINTH, just kind of gets you where you need to go)), anyway, Matias welcomed us with open arms, or at least warm handshakes, he and Jason talked some clay workshop logistics as I stood by drinking red wine pretending not to trainspot too hard on all the faces I may or may not recognize from the internet; and then just like that Matias is off, mingling with and greeting other recent arrivals. (another side note: Matias was one of the founders of Fallen Fruit, a collective that "began by mapping fruit trees growing on or over public property in Los Angeles," soso cool, really interested in that kind of commons, edible commons, I recently watched this fantastic documentary called The Fruit Hunters, lot's of closeups of people's mouths eating exotic fruit, was Fallen Fruit featured in the doc? I'm not sure, Bill Pullman is featured in the doc doing exactly what Fallen Fruit does, doing the LA public property fruit tree thing, I wonder if Matias is friends with Bill Pullman (enemies?)? these are LA thoughts)
here's a trailer for The Fruit Hunters, every time you see Bill Pullman pretend it's Matias
Anyway, where were we, The Reception! Oh hey, there's my buddy Mathew Timmons noshing on a small cube of pepper jack cheese looking like he needs to be somewhere, so I walk up to Mathew and say "hey buddy!" and he says "hey buddy!" and we hug because that's what buds do, I ask him what he's up to and he says he's running the book fair through the weekend, and that's where he needs to be, so that's where we go. Down a couple hallways, around a couple bends and we're there, first thing I see is a huge spread of Insert Blanc Press books, this is Mathew's press, but I had no idea he'd done so much, and so beautifully, I asked him for a portrait, and this is that, proud press papa
I was also really happy to spot my friend Akilah Oliver looking beautiful among the generous assortment of Belladonna books, I miss you Akilah!
Okay so Jason is still with me in case you were wondering, and we're still drinking red wine and schmoozing with other &Now'ers, actually Jason is drinking beers I think, and now I'm eating what in Greek we'd call SOUVLAKI = "small meats" but the small meats I'm eating is skewered teriyaki chicken so definitely not Greek, and I think Jason and I are definitely a little lost looking for our way back to the reception room and all of the signs have Germanic names like LUND, TATUM, MOD and the anachronistic but beautifully Gallic BIJOU, and here's proof of that, Jason standing amidst the arrows (with a beer) looking at me a bit dubiously
Okay enough reception ruminations, time to leave, so now we're heading back to the hotel, there's a hot tub at the hotel, we grab a couple more drinks and head to the hot tub, the life of a poet right? what are we talking about at this point, Bhanu Kapil probably? I think I was telling Jason the story of that one time in class where Bhanu was walking around the room speaking about her feral children project (which a couple years later turned into her brilliant Humanimal), about how she suddenly stopped behind me and said something like "John, I want you to think of the first time you wanted to be a 4-dimensional creature," and I went "eh, ......." and she asked me to open my mouth, and I did, and then she poured a pack of sugar onto my tongue, this was fantastic, at that moment I felt I had arrived.
So we're marinating in the hot tub talking about this and that when up walk four young POP PUNK looking dudes, they hop in the hot tub and we all get to talking, turns our they ARE Pop Punk dudes, in a band called The Tide, they're staying at the hotel resting up before heading out on their first European Tour, they were STOKED, we talked about their influences "Blink 182" "Green Day," how the lead singer was discovered on X Factor, how they only just recently even met, baffling, trip out! I gave them a lot of unsolicited advice about girls, friendship and avoiding bro drama, they were totally polite and pretended to listen and take heed, I can be a real patronizing prick sometimes. I know it's a cliche to say, but goddamn, only in LA! Hey Nate, Levi, Austin and Drew! Hope you guys are having a great tour, breaking hearts and avoiding the bro drama.
here's a video of the guys doing their thing
And with that it's time for bed, Jason and I grab one more beer in the bar then head for the room, tomorrow is Day 1 of the &Now conference and we need our poetry rest.
xxo
John Sakkis is the author of The Islands (Nightboat Books, 2015) and Rude Girl (BlazeVOX Books, 2009...
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