forwordcollective:

Okay talk about staying relevant, I just got back from this dope open mic at the Starbucks on 16061 Brookhurst St., Fountain Valley, CA. How dope was it? It didn’t even have a name because you cannot put a label on dope-ness. It was THAT dope.

But in all seriousness, I had an awesome time at this open mic organized by a fellow poet, Zachary Rosen, of The Parking Lot Poetry Revival. I was the lone wolf representing forWord. Let’s go!

I arrived at 7:30 PM in time for Zach’s improv poetry where he performed a poem on the spot based on audience’s suggestions. Daniel Lisi graced the stage too with his poetry representing Write Bloody Publishing. A friend and member of Uncultivated Rabbits, Andy Tran, was there to support for a bit. Also Kevin Mai aka “Hussell Simmons” of Uncultivated Rabbits, The Parking Lot Poetry Revival, and our poetical family was there to rock the mic with “Superhero” and “Chasing Dreams.” There were mostly poets for the night, but there were also a few amazing guitarists as well. You can’t go wrong with music and poetry!

When it was my time to step up to the mic, I felt nervous as usual. But thank you, adrenaline! I performed “Living Dead” which is a poem about zombies that I originally wrote but recently turned into a duo piece with Steph. It actually was my first time performing this poem solo so it felt good to finally express it. Next, I read out of the forWord chapbook and performed “Everybody Wants to Be an Activist” about students who called themselves activists, but were not staying true to their word.

Overall, I really enjoyed this open mic. There were a good amount of first timers stepping up on the mic which I absolutely love. It is always great to see others take a dip in this pond I call poetry, and then watch them scuba dive when they are up on stage expressing how they feel and sharing their stories. It’s a beautiful thing to see. It never gets old.

Now I would like to take the time to acknowledge Zachary Rosen who is responsible for this event. He is one of the most genuine people I have ever met. Now I have only met him twice: The first being at the Anaheim Artwalk last Fall and the second time being today. But honestly, I feel like I have known him much longer which reminds me that this is another reason I love poetry. You get to know people through their poetry. Understand them through their poetry. Laugh. Cry. If we could only live in a world where “hellos” and “goodbyes” are replaced with poems. How much more connected we would be as a community. Not to say that I know everything about him, but what I do know is that he is a good person. That being said, I will miss Zach. He will be moving to Montana for a couple years this August. By the way, check out his poetry. You will not be disappointed.

Thank you, Zach, for everything. We all wish the best for you!

- Eddy M. Gana Jr.

forwordcollective:

As if Da Poetry Lounge wasn’t enough to get our poetry fix, Eddy, Stephanie, and I along with the Uncultivated Rabbits family, Kevin Mai and Brandon Melendez decided to take a road trip to Elevated! Open Mic in San Diego.  This would also be Patrick Pressl’s final performance in California (for now).  With that being said, Pat’s poetic entourage rolled DEEP: not only did poet’s from the OC show up and show love, but his friend’s and poets from SD came through including Sonlong Nguyen, a local spoken word artist who participated in A P.O.E.M (“A Piece of Everyone’s Mind”), a facebook group started by Big Brotha in celebration of National Poetry Month’s 30/30.

This is our first time being at this location and it’s known as San Diego’s premier Open Mic venue and the home of the Elevated! National Poetry Slam Team.  I don’t know about everyone else, but I had the same feeling of anxiousness and apprehension as the first time I went to Da Poetry Lounge.  It had to do with being at a new venue and the realization that I am about to share the same stage as renown Spoken Word artists: Ant Black and Rudy Francisco, you just start to tell yourself “Don’t mess up, don’t mess up, don’t mess up…”, but once my name was called, it all just disappears.  The shaking of the legs from nervousness however, does not.

The atmosphere at Elevated! is A-MAZING!  The crowd is always responsive to the pieces they hear.  It was a pleasure to be a part of that crowd and contribute to the positive vibes and lovely atmosphere of the venue.

Ant Black and Viet Mai (Kevin’s brother) hosted the evening.  We got to see some poets from Elevated! Slam Team showcase their poetic prowess and got to witness the Inland Empire Brave New Voices Slam Team (who have been in existence for 2 years, are 2-time champs, and coached by Simply Kat Magill and Javon Johnson) as the feature for the night.

It was just a wonderful evening of poetry and definitely worth the 1 and a half hour drive down.  We will definitely be going here again!

Ant Black, our host for the first half.

Mark Maza performing “Realization”…according to Ant, I made the first “Space Jam” reference at Elevated!  All I gotta say is…mission accomplished!

Eddy and Stephanie performing “Shared Roots”.  I cannot help but mouth the words to this piece.  It’s so damn good!

Brandon Melendez showcasing his love for hip hop through “HH part 2”.  MMMHMMMM!  Snap snap!  This is one of my favorite pieces from this young poet!

Sherwin Says up to the mic.

Deacon and Rudy Francisco letting people know why gas guzzlers aren’t the best choice of cars nowadays.  Excellent group piece from the 2011 Elevated! Slam Team members.

Danielle up to the mic.  She performed a piece about how the events of 9/11 affected her and her family.

Daniella’s turn to spit.

Patrick Pressl performing “Superman” as it was the piece he performed the first time he came to the venue.

Kevin Mai letting the mic know who’s boss with his countdown poem about playing a game of “I have never…”

Trey and Wasabi, of the 2011 Inland Empire Brave New Voices Slam Team, letting us know about how making a perfect sandwich is like finding a perfect woman.

This was an amazing team comprised of mostly teens under the age of 19.  They definitely have a good chance of taking home the crown again this year.

Another showcase from the members of the 2011 Elevated! National Slam Team, “My Dude!”

Sonlong up to the mic, remembering how he got started with Spoken Word, a bet from Patrick.

A special performance

Kevin, Stephanie, Eddy, Rudy, Mark, Brandon, Patrick

Seriously…we roll deep!

The night was amazing and after all that, we just had to ask ourselves: “How do we feel?”

Elevated! is located at Eveoke Dance Theater 2811 University Ave, San Diego.  Open Mics are every 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month.

- Mark Maza

(See more pictures at forWord’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/forwordcollective)

So glad I went here!

forwordcollective:

Last Saturday, June 18th, my cousin, little sister, and I met up with Mark and his two friends, Cecilia and Paulina, for the Highways Performance Space Presents: Slam Fest 2011 in Santa Monica. 

When we first arrived, we were a little lost. We looked around for the venue and by chance we bumped into Shihan. I looked at him and he we both did a double take. I wasn’t sure if he remembered me from when I was one of the board officers of Uncultivated Rabbits who brought him to perform at UC Irvine last year, but I said, “Hi, Shihan” and it was all good from there. My sister didn’t even recognize it was Shihan because she’s only seen his videos on Def Poetry Jam where he had long hair. But when she finally realized who he was, she told me that she became speechless. She was able to meet one of her favorite spoken word artists. I am happy that she was happy.

So we finally found the venue, went inside, and Mark saved us some seats. Thanks Mark! Shihan was the host for the evening. This show was called, “Back to the Schoolyard” in which current and precious grand slam champions out of Southern California come together to compete. Each slam poet randomly did a draw for team captains. Two captains chose their teams out of a schoolyard style line-up of players (hence the name of the show). The best team to win the slam splits $400.

Thanks to an awkward game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and Shihan’s cleverness, there was Team Slow Motion vs. Team Plan B. 

Team Slow Motion:

1. IN-Q
2. Rudy Francisco
3. Nick Macedo
4. Judy Holiday

Team Plan B:

1. Gaknew
2. Simply Kat
3. Matt Sedillo
4. Trey

My sister volunteered to be one of the slam judges. This was my cousin’s first exposure to spoken word poetry live. It was my first time seeing some of these poets live, like In-Q and Nick Macedo, and my first time ever hearing some of these poets’ pieces, like Gaknew, Simply Kat, and Judy Holiday. Rudy Francisco, Matt Sedillo, and Trey I’ve seen before so I know that they’d bring their A game. We were all ready for the night to blow our minds away. Now, I’ll let Mark take it from here.

Shihan hosting the event.

This rock, paper, scissors battle could have gone all night.

Calibration poet going up.  Even the calibration poet was amazing.

Rudy Francisco goes up first for Team Slow Motion.  He performed “Things I’d Like to Say to My Ex-Girlfriend”, “My Honest Poem”, and a new piece.

Gaknew from Team Plan B.

Nick Macedo of Team Slow Motion.

Kat Magill aka Simply Kat of Team Plan B holding it down.  1 of 2 poets that really stood out that night.  This is not to say that the other poets didn’t stand out, it’s just that this was the first time Eddy and I got to see Simply Kat live.  She performed “Paint” which was just a wonderful piece incorporating historical painters and paintings as metaphors for her family.  Just well written and performed.  The next poet that proceeded to blow our minds whole…

IN-Q of Team Slow Motion.  He’s the 2nd poet that blew our minds and stood out that night.  We all knew IN-Q from Def Poetry, but beyond that, I haven’t really heard his stuff.  He is just so good.  He has a unique flow and rhymes, but the rhymes are never sound forced and mix well in his poems.  To quote Eddy after IN-Q’s performance of “Just Another Version of the Truth” and after we got over being speechless, of course, “Wow!  [That] was life changing!”  The piece was a message for all poets and spoken word artists who decide to come up to the mic and share the stage.  When you go up to the mic, just be honest, bring truth, bring you, otherwise, you’re just wasting your breath.

Matt Sedillo of Team Plan B.  Once again a damn pleasure to hear him spit.  Matt’s pieces were “Gangstas”, which discussed who were the real gangsters in this country and also a piece about homelessness which always seems to grab the audience and put them in the shoes of a wandering homeless man.  Just powerful!

Judy Holiday of Team Slow Motion.  Damn!  Ok, Judy Holiday is amazing.  She performed a love poem that was just awesome!

Trey of Team Plan B.  Held it down as the youngest to compete that evening.

Now, once all the scores were added up, the two highest scoring members of each team went head to head.  Rudy Francisco versus Simply Kat and it was awe-inspiring.

Simply Kat goes first and just brought down the house with “Purple”, a piece about being a dreamer and choosing to chase dreams rather than a boring old job.  It really hit home, especially since, we as forWord, have been pursuing our dreams in this art form.

Being no slouch, Rudy Francisco followed it up with a very strong piece.

Thanks Mark for your comments! Now this is Eddy again so yes it was a close competition all throughout with every poet giving their best sharing their stories with us. At the end, Team Plan B won by a few decimal points! No matter who won, I believe it is safe for me to say that we all left the show inspired and perhaps with a new perspective on life. I know I did and this is why I love spoken word poetry.

- Eddy M. Gana Jr.  (pictures and comments provided by Mark Maza).

(See more pictures at forWord’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/forwordcollective)

forwordcollective:

This Saturday, May 28th, forWord will be having their second BIG FEATURE:

• “The Healer: Recognition of True Expression”
• The Talking Stick Coffee Lounge, 1411 Lincoln Blvd, Venice CA
• Doors open at 4:00 PM. 5:00 - 8:00 PM
• $3 suggested donation (canned foods accepted)
• Check out the Facebook event page more details: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=162669130463304

Rooted Minds Productions is very proud to bring to you their third production which celebrates the recognition of artists who bring true expression through their work, and we are very excited to be a part of this showcase. We will be performing some classic and NEW spoken word pieces.

We will be featuring alongside:

• Syreeta Neal (http://youtu.be/x7FDdHCr67E)
• Ultra Love

With more works by talented artists such as:

• Jennie Laws
• Q Dixon
• Karla Moxley
• Gia Scott Heron
• Jazmine Williams
• Kenyon Dixon
• Nashon
• Timneshia Greene
• Jamez James
• Julio
• Jaway

This event will be hosted by the multi-talented O Smith with a live band!

Please spread the word! Invite your friends, family, and people you’ve just met and want to have a good time with! Come join a community of artists!