Something to look forward to

(click for a larger view)

Also joining the poets who'll be reading that night: Thomas Rain Crowe and Pat Riviere-Seel. We'll each be doing quick sets after the reception, so it'll be a kind of speed-date with poetry (noting that Cathy really dislikes that term; it's mine. Adding: I've never actually been on a speed-date, so I'm guessing. And perhaps a few happy unions will result, after all, from the pandemonium).

Tuning in once again

The New York Times' John Tierney reports that medical researchers are once again beginning to explore the use of psychedelics (or entheogens) in clinical settings - with good results:

Researchers are reporting preliminary success in using psilocybin to ease the anxiety of patients with terminal illnesses. Dr. Charles S. Grob, a psychiatrist who is involved in an experiment at U.C.L.A., describes it as “existential medicine” that helps dying people overcome fear, panic and depression.

“Under the influences of hallucinogens,” Dr. Grob writes, “individuals transcend their primary identification with their bodies and experience ego-free states before the time of their actual physical demise, and return with a new perspective and profound acceptance of the life constant: change.”

Nice term, "existential medicine." Needless to say, research in this area didn't exactly flourish during the repressive Bush/Cheney era.

Now that's a reading ...

I'd like to have been present for: Gary Snyder reading Robert Creeley, as well as his own work. The occasion? Snyder was the recipient of this year's Robert Creeley Award. According to Carly Cassano,

Snyder read some of Creeley’s poems, and even granted his interpretation of one. His reading of his own work was extraordinary to witness, as the genuine hippies around me rocked their heads in an odd caustic, yet welcome remembrance.

Radio guy that I am (and former, at least, genuine hippy), I do hope someone recorded the event.

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A tip of the old hat to Ron Silliman for the link.

Soon, another link no longer "missing"

Considerable buzz this week on the science blogs about the find of a new fossil hominid that links "gracile Australopithecus like Lucy to H. habilis". More details expected by the end of the week.

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Update, 8 April: And the news is emerging. Here's the story of the discovery of Australopithecus sediba from The Cosmic Log. Interesting that the discoverers of the new fossil found the site using Google Earth.

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Update: 13 April: Science now has the original publication online. It requires registration, but it's free. John Hawks examines the details, and explores the question whether this new species is Australopithecus or Homo (or something else) & National Geographic, as you might expect, has some excellent pictures of the site and fossils.

Wordplay: Accidentally for Easter

Charleston poets Richard Garcia and Katherine Williams were in Asheville visiting the guests I'd scheduled this week, Gary Hawkins and Landon Godfrey. What the heck, I said, bring them in too. You'll have to share the two guest mics, but ...

And we all did an impromptu Easter show. Gary provided a couple of poems featuring dogwoods, and Richard had a poem in which Jesus played a significant part, so ...

Landon, sadly, was overcome by the vapors (or maybe it was the near-90 degree heat of the studio)*, so couldn't take part in the festivities; I'll try to get her back soon.

Music was provided for the occasion by the Malagasy artist Rossy ("I''m a Lonesome Fugitive", from A World Out of Time, Volume 2), Janet Robbins ("Nibiru's Crossing", from Carrying the Bag of Hearts Interpreting the Birth of Stars, Volume III)**, and Pierre Bensusan ("Kadourimdou", from Intuite) (Note: there's auto-playing audio at the link, just so you don't get surprised).

The show's playing all this week over on AshevilleFM's Wordplay page, so click over and give it a listen.

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* We haven't done on-air fundraisers at the station, but now would be an ideal time to help out with a donation if you enjoy hearing poetry over the Internet's airwaves - and would like to keep our poets cool so they don't keel over in the studio.

** It's "Nibiru's Crossing" that I'm talking over unintelligibly at about the halfway mark. Note to self: must wear headphones when mixing ...

Posting ...

should resume shortly.