--
-------
to
prejudice, bigotry, and narrowmindedness,and many of our people need it sorely
on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot
be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.---------
Mark Twain -
February 16th finds Storm Generation poet, Ron Whitehead at the Granada
International Festival of Poetry in Granada, Nicaragua.
This
year's Festival is hosting more than 100 poets from over 50 countries in a grand
CELEBRATION OF POETRY that involves all Nicaragua
where all the particpants, native and visitor, carry out a National
Party of International Magnitude. Click
Here To View the Program for El
Festival Internacional de Poesía de Granada.
On The Griot Trail - Keeping Orality Alive! - There are two
consciousnesses: Orality and literature. A common misconception is that if you
can’t read then you are illiterate. But of the 6500 languages in the world,
only 700 are written down! Every two weeks, a language disappears. BUT– with
digital, we enable orality to exist!
Founder and Ringmaster of The
Bowery Poetry Club, Bob Holman and Kora sensation (and Griot guide),
Papa Susso arrived
in Dakar on Nov. 10th for a 7-week journey through Senegal, Gambia and Mali to
capture the culture, sights and sounds of endangered languages from Timbuktu and
beyond. In true 21st century fashion, a near-realtime weblog www.griottrail.com
is chronicaling their trek in text, pix and clips. Click
Here To Join Bob Holman and Papa Susso
On The Griot Trail!
Joujouka Reflect - Insom contributor, Michael
Dean Odin Pollock is back from the Master Musicians of Joujouka - Brian
Jones 40th Anniversary Festival and weighs in with a poem from his experiences
in Morocco. Click Here
To Read his Joujouka Reflect.
Also Of Not!
-
Master Musicians of Jouojuka on BBC Radio - Mark Coles' BBC Radio program
"The
Beat" brings the spirit and sounds of The Master Musicians of
Joujouka to the Air and the Wire. Click
Here To Listen!
The Master Musicians of Joujouka - The Brian Jones 40th Anniversary Festival -
On July 29th, Morocco's Sufi trance Masters, The Master Musicians
of Joujouka, are celebrating in a music festival, the 40th Anniversary of
Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones's visit to their village. For a Day and a Night
a small group of guests (Icelandic musician and Insom contributor, Michael
Dean Odin Pollock in attendance) will stay in the village of Ksar El Kebir
with the Master Musicians of Joujouka and their families with a visit to
the 8th century sanctuary of Joujouka's patron saint, Sidi Ahmed Schiech,
and to the cave of Pan / Boujeloud. That evening at the cave there will
be a full performance of the Boujeloud Rite in honor of Brian Jones,
devoted to the healing trance music of Joujouka. To Learn More about this wonderous
celebration of Music and Spirit, Click
Here!
A Beat Day at Big Rock - Stora Klopp
- Spring
tumbles into start of Summer. Beltane brings Poets, Writers and Musicians from
around the World to Stora-Klopp (Big Rock)
in Iceland on May 3rd for a collective celebration of the Spoken Word and Song
hosted by internationally renown Icelandic novelist Olafur Gunnarsson
at his farm outside Reykjavik.
Click Here To Learn More
about this ephemiral gathering in the land of Fire and Ice.
The Pix Are In From Stora Klopp! -
Poet, Author and Photographer, Birgitta Jonsdottir, who performed
at Stora Klopp, brought her camera and was so kind to pass along these images
from A Beat Day at Big Rock -Stora Klopp
to us here at Insomniacathon On-Line! Click
Here To View her PhotoBook from Stora Klopp!
On
October 26, 2001, poets and musicians from around the globe converged in London,
England to bring spoken word and song to the first London International Poetry
and Song Festival (LIPS). Conceived in 2000 by poet and writer Richard
Deakin, LIPS intention
was to be an extension of the theme of contemporary performance poetry with a
musical background (which has been evolving for the past 50 years into a Beatific
heritage) and bring it all together in an international amalgam which still reverberates
to this day, and now . . .
LIPS II will exclaimate in celebration
the continued perpetuation of this Beatific heritage at London's
Marquee Club. Click
Here To Learn More about LIPS past and soon to come!
On
Wednesday, January
3rd
David
Amram and special guests performed at the
Cafe
Trieste San Francisco.
Click
Here for
Pix from this gig!
Legendary
NYC punk club CBGB’s
canto finale
was delivered by the punk rock poetess Patti
Smith on October 15. Despite efforts from fans and promoters to
save the venue, the club that helped define a music genre and launch the careers
of The Ramones, Talking
Heads and Blondie will close its
doors after its final show on October 31, due to unsuccessful rent negotiations
with its landlord.
In
December 2005 after the last Odes to The Sidewalks
of New York show at The Bowery
Poetry Club, Insom alums, Jeremy Hogan,
Frank Messina and James
Walck were heading back after a late night post show gnosh and happened
into a moment of spontaneous street celebration outside CBGB's. Click
Here to view the story of, "My
Last Time at CBGB's."
On September
30th, Farm Aid 2006 will urge Americans to choose food from family farms,
creating growing opportunities for more family farmers. Artists at the 2006 concert
will show support for activities that keep family farmers on their land. Farm
Aid 2006 will feature headliners Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp
and Dave Matthews, plus a cavalcade of top artists join this 21st annual
fundraiser dedicated to Help Keep Family
Farmers On Their Land!
----
Also Of Note!
Insom alum, David Amram, joined his pal, Willie Nelson for his 10th
appearance at Farm Aid 2006! Dave checked in after his Farm Aid 2006
performance, Click Here
to read David Amram's letter "On The
Road from FarmAid 2006"
Gathering
of The 13 Grandmothers -
On June 12th through the 22nd The
13 Grandmothers gathered in council for the fifth time in the Black
Hills of South Dakota. A contingent of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers from all parts
of the world, they come together in belief that sharing the teachings of our ancestors
will light our way through these uncertain times. During this gathering there
were public and private meetings, ceremonies and lessons to protect the collective
heritage of traditional medicines, peacemaking and healing for us all collectively
as human beings and learn hoe to better defend our Mother Earth Herself.
Sarah
Elizabeth Whitehead attended this gathering for the LifeHeartSpirit lessons
that would be revealed. In a poem by Ron Whitehead he intimates his perspective
of the experience. Click Here
to read his impression in the poem, "geothermal
piano" .
20,000
Km, 66 Days, 25 Countries, 2 Bikes, 1 Coast - On May 17th, Chris
Schweizer and Stephan Schacher will embark on an exceptional journey.
Starting in Istanbul, these two travelers will mount their Harley-Davidson
motorcycles and navigate the coast of Europe in 66 days taking them to the
northernmost point of Europe. Click
Here and Learn about the freedom dream of True-Spirit.
The
beginning of February found Ron and Sarah Whitehead in Lisbon, Portugal
presenting a workshop/seminar with Ron imparting "CROSSING
THE RIVER OF FIRE: Journey of Self Discovery, The Alchemy of Writing"
and Sarah, Homesick: "The Experience of Voice
and The Circle" They also performed "The
Privilege of Paths" with Íris & Lúcia
Loureiro at Santiago
Alquimista . Ron illuminates their mystical visit to Lisbon in prose.
Click Here to read,
Alfama old Lisbon Portugal February 2007 (a
love poem for
Sarah) .
January
27, 2007 found Alt-Jouralist, Jeremy Hogan, back on the streets of Washington
D.C. along with 250,000 Americans protesting the war in Iraq. With George W. Bush
proposing a “surge” of 21,000 more Americans to be sent to Iraq to help
them defend themselves from themselves, a question comes to bear . . . Click
Here to read "Is This
2007 or 1965?"
From
September 9th thru the 15th, Zoe
Artemis made way to Skiathos, Greece to open up her home on this truly
idylic island in the Aegean for her second wrting retreat SKY,
SEA, MOUNTAINS. From the UK was Mitzi Szereto with her SMOLDERING
WORDS: Erotic Writing & Fiction Workshop. Click
Here for the story and pix from the 2006 workshop in Skiathos.
----
David Amram, joined his pal, Willie Nelson for his 10th
appearance at Farm Aid 2006! Dave checked in after his Farm Aid 2006
performance, Click Here
to read David Amram's letter "On The
Road from FarmAid 2006"
Now
in it's 16th season, Cathleen Schandelmeier's, Beach
Poets Series welcomed Michael Dean Odin Pollock to read trance
scribed selections from his -
" Walker's Journals " Sunday, July 9th, 2006.
Michael
Dean Odin Pollock & Special Guest.Tyrone
Cotton. performed Universal Roots Music with their unique take
on Accoustic Folk/Blues/Country/Americana at the Rudyard
Kipling !
Some say you can't go back to from where you came but Insom correspondant, Jeremy
Hogan returns to California to re-tread old trails not trod for over a decade
and inevitably blaze new ones as he travels from San Diego to San Francisco. Read
his travel weblog, "Back
To Where I Came From."
Tyrone
Cotton hit the bricks in support of his new CD and made way to
Sin-e
in NYC on May 22, 2006 Also appearing that evening was another shining son of
Louisville, Danny Kiely. Danny is also the founder
of In Room One
an organization dedicated to providing recording/production and business/legal
services to aid and abet the careers of unsigned artists and bands.
As
for Jeremy Hogan his compass pointed him East to NYC for the opening of
Kaliedescope
the photo exhibit sposored by Gild
and held at The Changing Room
in the NoHo neighborhood of lower Manhatten. The opening was massively attended
and grooved into the evening to the smooth beats provided by DJ
Pismo. Again with camera in hand Jeremy snared some snaps of the moment,
Click
Here to view his PhotoBook of the opening!
Spring
op' found many of The Faithful bringing their Stories, Sights and Sounds to the
road. NYC poet/painter Frank Messina hit the bricks with his "One
Night Stand" Art and Poetry trek in mid-March.
Starting
in San Diego, Messina made his way back East across the desert and through the
Heartland. Insom framester, Jeremy Hogan caught up with Frank in
Evansville, Ind at The Sychronicity Art Gallery
for a night of Spoke and Roll and Art that moves the Soul! which
was hosted by noneother than fellow Insom alums, Will
Sovern and Shakespeare's Monkey.
Click
Here to view a VidClip of the Messina classic, "American't
Get Home - Bicycle" lensed by Jeremy Hogan.
Not losing
stride Messina headed south to Louisville, KY to hook up with Ron and Sarah
Elizabeth Whitehead, Dean McClain, Tyrone
Cotton and other Keepers of The Flame for an intimate evening of Art and
Spoken Soul Song in The Highlands. Click
Here to view the joint Hogan/Messina PhotoBook of both these fantastic
evenings of Sights, Spoke and Song!
Make
sure to check back here at Travel Is Fatal . . . for more
Sights,
Spoke and Sounds from The Heartland, The Cities and Beyond which are coming to
light here at Insomniacathon On-Line!
