it's ten freakin dollars. maybe the show was a bust, and maybe some people felt like paying ANYTHING for what they got was offensive. But the highlights you mentioned sound like at least $10 worth of entertainment right there.
Paul, what are the good readings you've recently been to? What makes for a good reading in your opinion? Has there recently been another installment of an author reviewing their reading (I guess I haven't been paying attention)?
It does sorta stand to reason that the most popular piece in this kind of setting was written by the playwright. Kelleen's stuff is funny on its own, but it definitely benefits from being read aloud by her. Kinda the same way that poetry slams favor poets with performance chops over other writers whose work might look better on the page.
I don't think you should stop here. I think in fact you should pay 3 people ten dollars retroactively for every lackluster social engagement you have ever been to. You might in fact pay 3 people for everytime you disappointed your mother as a child. Pay 3 other people in the name of your high school english teacher who lost that exhuberance for life, that joy to move people forward, or for Kevin Spacey's recent utter lack in foresight of film choices.
It could be a brilliant little fund.
The Paul Constant $30 Fund for Remedying Disappointment.
You could really cheer the world up, make it spin a little more efficiently, improve the economy, get a hug.
It just seems silly to complain -- in the headline, no less -- about an event that was the equivalent of two beers (including tip). Your article itself is fair -- and actually seems to praise the Literary Death Match more than anything else. I guess my thing is: If the host bothered you, somehow, why not send an email to him saying so? I just don't understand panning the event because 1 of the 4 readers was boring and you were irritated by someone's demeanor.
Last night's Literary Death Match here in Portland was fun. Zia McCabe was very drunk, and the readings were pretty dirty -- but it was a good time, overall. I guess that Opium Magazine should be praised for trying to do something a little unusual. I, myself, have been to dozens of readings where, if I didn't have to be there because one of the readers was a friend, I would have rather had my teeth extracted. Most people (non-writers) don't go to readings because they don't think of them as fun. Which is sad.
It just seems silly to complain -- in the headline, no less -- about an event that was the equivalent of two beers (including tip). Your article itself is fair -- and actually seems to praise the Literary Death Match more than anything else. I guess my thing is: If the host bothered you, somehow, why not send an email to him saying so? I just don't understand panning the event because 1 of the 4 readers was boring and you were irritated by someone's demeanor.
Last night's Literary Death Match here in Portland was fun. Zia McCabe was very drunk, and the readings were pretty dirty -- but it was a good time, overall. I guess that Opium Magazine should be praised for trying to do something a little unusual. I, myself, have been to dozens of readings where, if I didn't have to be there because one of the readers was a friend, I would have rather had my teeth extracted. Most people (non-writers) don't go to readings because they don't think of them as fun. Which is sad.
It could be a brilliant little fund.
The Paul Constant $30 Fund for Remedying Disappointment.
You could really cheer the world up, make it spin a little more efficiently, improve the economy, get a hug.
Last night's Literary Death Match here in Portland was fun. Zia McCabe was very drunk, and the readings were pretty dirty -- but it was a good time, overall. I guess that Opium Magazine should be praised for trying to do something a little unusual. I, myself, have been to dozens of readings where, if I didn't have to be there because one of the readers was a friend, I would have rather had my teeth extracted. Most people (non-writers) don't go to readings because they don't think of them as fun. Which is sad.
Last night's Literary Death Match here in Portland was fun. Zia McCabe was very drunk, and the readings were pretty dirty -- but it was a good time, overall. I guess that Opium Magazine should be praised for trying to do something a little unusual. I, myself, have been to dozens of readings where, if I didn't have to be there because one of the readers was a friend, I would have rather had my teeth extracted. Most people (non-writers) don't go to readings because they don't think of them as fun. Which is sad.