::: Mad News From the Eye of the Swirl :::
Our Fellow Mad Ones,
Greetings and a very Happy (and belated) 2009 from the mad ones here at Mad Swirl to you and yours!
As the New Year festivities were ringing our ears (or was it the booze?) we got to thinking about that line from the New Year's song...
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
And we thought to ourselves, "Selves, no, no, no, auld acquaintance should not be forgot...dangit! And definitely, no way no how, should we ever, EV-ER forget auld lang syne! What'cho be thinkin' 'bout?"
So with that being said, we here at Mad Swirl are so adamant about this auld lang syne business that we just have to keep on doing the Mad Swirlin' voodoo that we do into 2009!
That's right our fellow mad ones, Mad Swirl promises to not forget and will continue to whirl round the printed pages, the www's and the dot com's and on the mic every 1st Wednesdays thru double-aught nine!
Ready or not 2009, here we come!
::: Of the Artists, by the Artists, for the Artists :::
The Mad Gallery is a beautiful space where we proudly display the many facets of the visual arts. From the furthest reaches of this mad, mad world we have gathered together just a few of the most maddest painters, sculptors, photographers & illustrators that we could and swirled them all together here.
Currently featured in the Gallery is painter Ellen McMahill. Here's a few words from Ellen:
"Each human being has a story. Each visual artist is telling a different story about a private perspective of the world made public through image - form, color, concept. I am the fruit of my history and the explorer of the present and future. With insight and compassion my history becomes the knowledge I use to imagine my art and the contribution I can make to the world through it.
On a linear, ordinary level my life has been a labyrinth of experiences which seemed to distract me from being a visual artist at all. In fact, those experiences allowed me to understand the world and myself deeply enough to be able to create on canvas my vision of this life on earth."
Also in the gallery since our last virtual meeting are new works from our resident artists Amy Bernays, Kristin Fouquet and Peter Schwartz.
::: Always Swirling New Poets in Mad Swirl's Poetry Forum! :::
Now with over 90 poets (and growing everyday), Mad Swirl's Poetry Forum is truly a poetic voice to be reckoned with. This massive online collection features some of the maddest poets from all over this big blue marble of ours. The Forum is truly a living and breathing entity, growing and flowing every day...so it's best to come by often to view the latest.
Recently, the mad ones at 10K Poets (Glen Still and Bo Blount) have beat-utifully pimped Johnny O's poem Joe. And what a poetically musical swirling collaboration this has created!
Click here to hear the musical collaboration with 10K Poets
Joe
Some folks say there's no voice today that is willing to reach the hearts and minds of the average Joe. You know him. He's the:
The 50+ hours a week with no OT Joe
The let's build our lives on shaky credit with a 21% APR Joe
The one pay check away from living in the car Joe
The American dream that's drifting away Joe
The let's kill the pain with spirits, herbs and chemicals Joe
The fear for our tomorrow's in a world chock full of sorrow's Joe
The class I was born into is going extinct and there's no moving up but only going down Joe
The masses that passes the classes and still works the mailroom Joe
The man on the street with nothing to eat Joe
The barely legal boys with their lethal toys who play GI Joe Joe
The dying too young my song never sung Joe
The teenager dad who wasn't so bad but got dealt the bad hand Joe
The drug addicted fool who sits outside the schoolyard retracing his steps to find his way back home Joe
The lonely poet who has lost his voice by no choice of his own Joe
The can't find it behind them and can't find it in front of them 'cos tomorrow may not there Joe
The living in fear of the 6 o'clock news afraid to hear another 3,000 are struck dead in the name of God Joe
The seeker who seeks and finds nothing worthwhile Joe
The fool who struck gold only to let it go up in smoke Joe
The I'm too tired to deal with this head, sometimes I think I'd rather be dead Joe
The coping and hoping for someone to hear their plea Joe
I hear you Joe. And this one's for us Joe.
(again we urge you to hear the musical collaboration with 10K Poets)
Here are some of the poets who have new poetic additions to the Forum since
we've last met...
Staff Poets: Johnny Olson · Lisa Olson
Featured Poets: Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal · Ra! Gabriel · Ashutosh Ghildiyal · Kenneth P. Gurney · Chris Hamilton · Justin Hyde · Roderick Richardson · Paul Sexton · Glen Still · Mel Waldman
Contributing Poets: Cabe Lindsay · Anna Devine · Kyle Segars · Jeffrey Winke · Mary McLaughlin · Willie Smith · Laura LeHew · Kat Dixon · John Oliver Hodges · Jennifer Bowles · Corey Cook · Claude Barret · Daniel E Wilcox · Sam Meizlish · Ricky Garni · Rebecca McCabe · Rafael Andrade Garza · R Jay Slais · R B Morgan · George Harding · Matthew D Abate · Paula Ray · Paula Mascho · Nicole Lilly · Nicole Kuwik · John Grey · D C Porder · Bernard Alain · Moctezuma Johnson · Melanie Brown · Heller Levinson
· Silvi Saxena · Jack Henry · Heath Aught · David E Howerton · Alexandra Ran · Anne Ransom
...and there's more madness being added every day!
::: Oh the Madness Will Flow at Mad Swirl Open Mic Night! :::
Salutations!
1st Wednesday's the day.
Take off to Mad places,
and Swirl away!
You have words in your head.
You have songs in your groove
The mic is wide open
for which ever you choose.
You are a Mad One.
And you know how to flow.
And YOU are the One
who'll make it all glow.
We call all you mad
poets, musicians and singers
miscellaneous mad ones,
even Elvis dead-ringers!
Come show what you got
and come do what you do
we'll be ready and waiting
this mic's open for you.
You say to yourself
"I'm not a participator."
We welcome you too
you mad swirlin' appreciators!
Come get you a drink
($2 drafts/$5 wells)
and dig on this scene
it's always quite swell
Swirve opens the show
sometime around 8-ish
Then we get starting to roll
don't be too late-ish.
Mad Swirl Open Mic
is the place you should be
every 1st Wednesday
where insanity is free.
Oh! The Madness Will Flow!
As you may or may not know, each 1st Wednesday is a unique madness all it's own. You just never know what you'll see when you go to Mad Swirl Open Mic Night at Absinthe Lounge every 1st Wednesday of the month. Whatever it is, you won't want to miss it. We promise.
Absinthe Lounge is located at 1409 South Lamar Street, in Dallas, Texas.
"So, come on iconoclasts, forward! Already the foreboding sky grows dark and silent!" - Renzo Novatore Arcola
::: Last Call All Y'All to Get Your Hands on Mad Swirl Six! :::
We've beaten the trails, pounded the pavement and just about sold our souls to spread the word about this issue. Time is running out to get your hands on this 28 full-color page, 23-track collection of beat-utiful collaborations between poetry and music.
This issue is Mad Swirl's ode to the insanity that is Mad Swirl Open Mic Night. In this issue, you'll find the poetry and music of some of the most maddest of the mad ones...
Johnny Olson · Lisa Olson · Cheyenne Gallion · Paul Sexton · Opalina Salas · MH Clay · Desmene Statum · Josh Weir · Roderick Richardson · Chris Zimmerly · Swirve · Tim Thomaston · Kevin Foresman
For this very limited time we are offering Mad Swirl Six: The Blue Note Issue for the low, low price of $5!
How do you get your hands on this amazing collection of madness? Easy, click here!
::: MySpaces and Bloggers and Facebooks - Oh My! :::
Are you connected thru just these few of several hundred different ways to stay connected to your cyber-friends? Well so are we! Why not be our cyber-friends and stay up-to-date on the happenings of the mad ones at Mad Swirl? Our connection is just one click away...
Mad Swirl on MySpace
Mad Swirl on Blogger
Mad Swirl on Facebook
::: And Auld Lang Syne! :::
We give you our word, our fellow mad ones, that auld acquaintances shant not be forgotten in the double-aught nine...
...and we look forward to swirling together with both old and new mad acquaintances as we continue spreading the poetical, musical and artistical voo-doo that we do do.
With the most sincerest of praises and respect we would like to thank-you, and thank-you and thank-you up there and a thank-you to all of you mad ones, past, present and future. It will be thru our hands that we created the Mad Swirling creative collective from what it was, to what it is and into what it will be as we move forward into '09.
Syne-cerely
Johnny O
Madman-in-Chief of Mad Swirl
"Begin doing what you want to do now. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and meltling like a snowflake." - Marie Beyon Ray
(to view the HTML version of this newsletter please click here)
