Corrections

L I T A few posts back I said I was going to be editor of LIT 16. This was not right. I am going to be editor of LIT 17. The next issue of LIT is going to be a double issue (15/16). Also, the next issue is going to be the tenth anniversary issue.

ok,
B

Critical Thoughts on Cyborg

Cyborg is one of Jean-Claude Van Damme's best movies. Van Damme has had other movies that are worth watching like Hard Target. Hard Target was John Woo's first Hollywood movie. It sucks so bad, but you should watch it anyway. It is about this group of guys who arrange for rich business men to hunt homeless people. There is a good action sequence where Van Damme gets on the seat of a motorcycle and flips over an oncoming van. Also, the old guy from the Quaker Oats commercials shoots a few people with a bow and arrow. Once, he does it on horseback.

One of Van Damme's other good movies is Bloodsport. Bloodsport was one of my favorite martial arts movies when I was younger. It is still the best marital arts tournament movie besides maybe Enter the Dragon or Best of the Best. Tons of other movies have tried to copy Bloodsport, like Mortal Kombat. Van Damme tried to emulate it too, when he directed The Quest in 1996. Bloodsport lead to my obsession with Street Fighter II and Tekken 1 through 5. It is safe to say that Bloodsport changed my life.

Cyborg is also a good Van Damme movie. It's like Mad Max 2 and Hard to Kill combined. Maybe not exactly like Mad Max 2 and Hard to Kill, but mostly. What I like best about this movie is the consistency of its production value. Most of it looks like some high school kids spent an entire summer making a sci-fi movie, not because they wanted to get into film school, but because they were a group of dedicated, passionate individuals. Another good thing about the movie is its lack of pretension. This is also something I like about Van Damme as an actor. You never get the sense that he, or the movie, is deluding itself. You don't get the impression Van Damme is killing mutant mercenaries and thinking in the back of his mind, This is some Oscar shit. No, you get the idea that he is working hard and doing a lot of coke to make a movie that his fans will like. Also, if you don't like Van Damme, you shouldn't watch this movie. Just don't.

Don't,
Ben

Lifetime Achievement

Here is something I wrote this week. With some jellyfish.

ok,
Ben

LIT

Beginning with issue 16, I am going to be poetry editor of LIT magazine. LIT magazine is the New School's literary journal. I'm pretty excited. Every issue of LIT I've read has has been good. The current editors-in-chief, Nicole Steinberg and Peter Bogart, are very good editors. The current poetry editor Graeme Bezanson, is also very good. They are working hard to put out LIT 15, which is LIT's 10th anniversary issue, or maybe the 15th, I can't remember. I am not poetry editor of issue 15, but everyone should buy a copy or come to the issue release and get one. It's going to have a special past-editors section, and it's going to be like 200-250 pages long.

I'm just starting work on issue 16. It's going to be a good issue. I have the feeling when you start something that is going to be a lot of work. It's exciting but it makes me want to watch 15 hours of TV and do nothing but eat tacos and avoid responsibility. Also, I will still be editing pax americana. I don't think these two things will interfere with each other, except in my brain, where they'll be like lucha libre wrestlers, trying to destroy each other.

Thank you Jackie Clark and Mark Bibbins.

ok,
Ben

Brandi Wells: Quality Literature

Lately, I have been reading Brandi Wells' blog and her writing. Her blog is called God is a Giant Crab. It's usually pretty fun to read. She has writing in a lot of places, which you can find and enjoy on her blog. Some of her writing is heartbreaking. Some of it is funny. Some of it is funny and heartbreaking at the same time. Whenever I feel the funny/heartbreaking feeling when I read a poem, I think to myself, This is some quality literature. I get this feeling a lot from Brandi Wells' writing. I like the way she writes about being in intimate relationships. I'll probably steal some of her ideas for my own writing. I hope she gets into a good graduate school. Some of her poems I've been reading and rereading can be found at:

1.) 3 AM Magazine: Three Poems

2.) Corduroy Mountain: The Greater Good

3.) Dogmatika: Three Poems

Alright,
Ben

Mom, Are You Reading This?

One of my poems was posted on the Best American Poetry Blog. I feel semi-famous. You can read it, here.

Thanks, David Lehman.

Over 'n Out,
Ben

Little Magazines

These are some things I like:

1.) My headphones.

2.) Taco trucks/tacos.

3.) Reading small literary journals.

4.) Barack Obama

This blog post will only be about number 3, but I would like to dedicate it to numbers 1, 2, 4 without which none of this would be possible:


SaltGrass (Poetry Editor: Julia Cohen, Fiction Editor: Abigail Holstein)

Saltgrass is a good magazine. I am going to read this magazine again. I will probably buy the next issue when it comes out. Everything in this magazine is good to read. Even the writing that I was not really into seemed unique and strong and probably over my head anyway. All of the poems and pieces of prose made me want to write more and better. The length of Saltgrass is very pleasing (60 pages). It is also an approachable shape. If Saltgrass could talk it would whisper Pick me up. I have a nice cover and I have several C.A. Conrad poems inside me that you would probably like. I am also pretty cheap. Highest possible rating:







Beeswax Magazine (Edited by John Peck & Laureen Mahler)


Beeswax Magazine is great to read and hold. It makes me wish I were better at book design. Every issue feels like it was lovingly made by two people from Oakland who love to read and make books. Oh wait, every issue is made by two people in Oakland who love to read an make books. Sometimes I read a thing in Beeswax and think what the fuck is this. Then I read the thing again and think, this is fucking great. This is a good feeling that is hard to find in many magazines. Plus, they always have comics. Plus, they represent Oaktown. If you like to read, I would buy this. If you are a writer, I would submit to Beeswax. High score:







Forklift, Ohio (Editor-in-Chief: Matt Hart, Poetry Editor: Brett Price, Fiction Editor: Merrill Feitell, Designer & Publisher: Eric Appleby)

Forklift, Ohio is my favorite magazine. There are tons of cool magazines to read, but Forklift, Ohio is the all around best. There are always good poets in Forklift. The most recent issue is like an all-star team. If Mary Ruefle, Dean Young, Dobby Gibson, Bob Hicok, Ana Bozicevic, Paul Violi and Joshua Beckman were all on a basketball team called The Otters, my favorite basketball team would be The Otters. Plus, the most recent issue has some poems from Gregory Corso in it, which is like if Kareem Abdul Jabbar built a time a machine and time-traveled to 2009 to play center for The Otters. 100% Obamas:






ok,
Ben

New Review at Coldfront

I have a new review up at Coldfront. It's on Parish Krewes by Micha Ballard. Read it here.


Have a Good Day,
Ben

I Don't Understand the Things I Do

Opium Magazine accepted one of my poems so I bought an iron and an ironing board. I don't know why I did this. I feel like it doesn't make sense. I think I was thinking:

1.) Now that I feel like a baller I can afford to iron my pants.

or

2.) Opium accepted one of my poems. That is great, but my pants still have wrinkles in them.

I don't know what I was thinking. Please enjoy my poem in Opium 8 when it comes out. Thanks Todd Zuniga and Opium Folks.

ok,
Ben

I Am Just like Johnny Mnemonic

Johnny Mnemonic is a bad movie. It cannot be saved by Ice-T or Henry Rollins or Beat Takashi, who are all bad-asses. It cannot be saved by Dolph Lundgren who plays a cyborg-priest-assassin. It cannot even be saved by the bionic dolphin that uses its high-frequency sonar to help Keanu Reeves hack into his brain so he can get the data the Pharmacon Corporation put in his brain and save the world.

I don't know what makes Johnny Mnemonic a bad movie. The screenplay was written by William Gibson (badass) who adapted it from a short story from his collection Burning Chrome (I can't remember the name of the story, but it is shorter with more action and there is some kind of duel on a net high above an underground society). I don't mind the costumes and the second rate set designs.

There are some good parts to this movie. There is a ninja with a thumb that turns into a laser-whip. He cuts Udo Kier into three pieces. He also chops off some heads. There is a part where Dolph Lundgren is sonared to death by a bionic dolphin. I don't think it is Keanu Reeves' fault that this movie sucks. I think Keanu Reeves is an interesting actor and people who think he is boring suck because he made a ton of rad movies and no one else can play the parts he plays. I feel like his part in Johnny Mnemonic is a part like this.

In his long essay about The Matrix, this is what Joshua Clover says about Keanu Reeves' acting in Johnny Mnemonic:

"Like Schwarzenegger's Terminator, Keanu Reeves was meant to realize himself as not-quite-human. But unlike the processed bodybuilder/future Governor, Keanu wasn't quite made to play a machine. With his unassignable looks (often attributed to his genetic heritage of Chinese, Caucasian, and Hawaiian) already seemingly digitally smoothed, and his immediate proffering of pure surface without depth, he's closer to the dream of a next generation - a post-modern poster boy. In both appearance and manner, his quality is that of the actor without qualities - the New Star, destined not to distract from the digital mise en scene but to integrate with it seamlessly."

This is a good thing to say about most of Keanu Reeves acting, maybe not his acting in classics such as Point Break, or Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. He is more expressive in those movies. But I think it applies to most of his movies, especially The Matrix movies and A Scanner Darkly.

Sometimes I feel like Johnny Mnemonic. Like I have all this important information in my head I can't get to because an evil corporation doesn't want me to have it and all I need is a super-intelligent bionic dolphin and Ice-T and Henry Rollins and I can save the world. Do you ever feel that way?

ok,
Ben

I Feel My Life Slipping Away

I was in a taxi last night coming back from Brooklyn and I had the feeling nothing could make me feel better about my life. The feeling was abstract and it had something to do with the economy. I felt like everything in my life was going to fall apart and I felt stupid for taking a taxi instead of the train. I was also afraid I would never find someone to love and share my life with. Here are some reviews of some chapbooks:

Hit Wave by Jon Leon (Kitchen Press, 2009)

When I read this book I wanted to be the main character. The main character is what I would call "very cool". He is some kind of publisher/writer/entrepreneur/genius who can do anything he wants, but only cares about highly metaphysical concerns like the spiritual benefits of hedonism, or the application of limitless freewill. Reading this book will make you feel powerful, like you can accomplish anything you want, even if the economy is fucked and you have no savings. I like the way the chapbook was constructed. It has a stapled binding and a nice spine that feels like a "real" poetry book. The cover is classy and unpretentious. I give this chapbook three arbitrary Obamas.







Untied by Sunnylyn Thibodeaux

I like all the poems in this book. All of the poems feel sincere and private like they are being told to one person and that person may not be you, but you are lucky to listen in. Some of the poems feel like they are being told to no one. Every one of the poems looks nice on the page. The lines of each poem feel like the author spent time placing each of them in a loving way. I don't think you can buy this chapbook anywhere online. If you live in San Francisco you might be able to get one somewhere like Needles and Pens or Dog Eared Books. It has a nice letter-pressed cover and a pleasing size. I also give this chapbook three arbitrary Obamas.







They All Seemed Asleep by Mattew Rohrer (Octopus Books, 2009)

Matthew Rohrer has a good sense of humor. It is very measured and not "over the top". This book reminded me of certain parts of A Farewell to Arms, because the writing has a flat affect and is very accurate in the way it describes things. Also, it is about some crazy shit that goes down where the main character has to take sides and fight in a war he is not really a part of. I guess that's not like A Farewell to Arms, but it's close. I read this book in one sitting, but I think that's ok because it is kind of an adventure story and has a pulpy feel. This chapbook has nice flourishes, like gold end-papers and and an awesome cover. I feel that this chapbook should receive my highest rating: