Dirty Gerund at Ralph's Rock Diner!

We don’t stop, won’t stop, can’t stop, quit telling us to stop, (if this were a telegram we’d end with another stop!) Dirty Gerund’s hitting our Winterized Warm Stride, delivering the tastiest shows this side of gong! This Monday’s no different, yet it totally is!

POETRY FEATURE: 2011 Portland Maine Slam Team Member WIL GIBSON was born the bastard son of a good idea and a bottle of bourbon and raised in some of the poorest communities northern Illinois and eastern Arkansas have to offer…He now lives in Portland, Maine, (he likes it a lot there, you probably would too) and writes too many love poems sometimes. He is a proud (mistake prone) father, but he tries real hard. He has shared stages with Regie Gibson, my brightest diamond, Kurtis Blow, Jason Carney, Brother Ali and Patricia Smith.  He is a three time Portland, Maine and one time Manchester, New Hampshire grand slam champion. He loves people and dogs a lot, and would like to pet your dog, give you a hug and talk to you for a few minutes… Wil’s got an amazing raw energy that got rewarded when his Port Veritas Slam Team made semi-finals at the National Poetry Slam. He’s been touring nationally, getting his incredible words and pretense-less persona out there! This is his first time visiting the Gerund, so let’s get crazee! “Wil Gibson is what makes performance poetry fun. Whether running his local venue, cultivating young poets of his community or in one of his many features across the United States, his connection to those involved is unforgettable.” -Jason Carny, National Slam Champion.

MUSICAL GUEST: Sorry for the scheduling snafu. We get our signals crossed in internet land. Apologies to Boston Emcee HW (we will have you back soon!) This week, Dirty Gerund welcomes the trance like, fluid synth, vox indie rocks sounds of BETWEEN TALL SAINTS & SINNERS which features musician / producers BRAD DeMATTEO & AKARI UCHIYAMA. We don’t have a whole lot of info on these cats for the hype machine that is this blog, but never fear, you can head on over to their Bandcamp and check out their four track EP, titled “and when I looked back, they were gone.” just move them little mousey click fingers over to: http://betweentallsaintsandsinners.bandcamp.com/track/fields

BONUS RUCKUS: AUTO-TUNE WORD WARBLER CHALLENGE! Simple! Bring a poem. Perform it. We’ll do the rest. Your curator NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS has made arrangements to have a production engineer AUTO-TUNE your words, so even you will have trouble recognizing the Frampton-esque stylings emanating from your gullet! Keep a straight face the best, audience votes. Winner gets a drink on us and a life-time worth of pop music stardom memories!

DUCT TAPE BAND likes SCOTCH….TAPE (who knew?). Lot of great new voices on the open mic last week! Keep coming down! VISUAL ARTS & SNACKS TBD (maybe a little less ghost chili powder?, meh! we’re not gonna mess with Emilee’s artistic integrity! YOSH & CHICKEN have their holiday shopping done! Thanks guys, I really needed a tie! NICHOLAS DAVIS can’t find a Santa willing to lap him! Meanwhile, catch him fight for JEFF CANNON’s slam services Thursday Night at the Little a poetry Reading (97 Webster Street) 8pm w/ Mr. Cannon doing a full set of poems to boot! End transmission.

Psych – Here’s your poetry feature doing a…. wait for it…. a poem!

This Monday, get over the thanksgiving bloat and family arguments by swinging down to the Dirty Gerund to pay homage to your 2012 MISS DIRTY GERUND PAGEANT WINNER MEGAN THOMA! I’m not going with the prescribed biography on this feature. We did that before when we invited Megan to feature wayyyy back in the fall of 2009 (times were so much simpler then)! Originally hailing from the Mid-West, Megan came onto the Providence Poetry Slam Scene two years ago and started running game LIKE A BOSS! With an absurd off-beat demento writing style, Megan’s been blowing up whales, explaining alternative dinosaur sex and (ahem) getting along with moon rocks, on stages, in the pages of Write Bloody Anthologies (check out their latest Zombie Anthology, Aim for the Head) on Providence Poetry Slam Teams, and as organizer of the Encyclopedia Show Providence! Megan zings them right down the middle with precision guided moments of “What the F did she just say?!” Megan double fisted insane duties at this year’s National Poetry Slam in Boston, serving as volunteer organizer for the festival as well as performing on and coaching their finals stage team! Her star’s on the rise, yet she never forgets her small time friends at the Gerund. If there’s a sash involved, she’s on it like spit drenched microphones! She takes chances with her work, expresses opinions that aren’t always popular, teaches kids and does it all with an indomitable swagger, a fierce, quirkified word woman who’s gonna represent the Dirty Gerund properly! Even if she hails from the 4-0-1. All hail the new Miss Dirty Gerund!

MUSICAL GUEST: TOM “Inhaler” WEYMAN – super great friend of the Dirty Gerund and Worcester scenes. Having worked with the likes of CORRINA BAIN & SAGE FRANCIS, this musician, producer is playing his first solo show in 2 years! He’s the founder of Supply & Demand Music, home to super bands DARK DARK DARK, BROWN BIRD, and many others. While performing most of his magic behind the mixing board, Tom rocks out live on occasion, confessing that his musical performances exist primarily to entertain SHANE HALL, hell, that’s more than good enough for us! Tom’s paying us a special visit, in part to also lay claim to being Mr. Miss Dirty Gerund (awww…. him and Megan are sweethearts… 1,2,3 awwwwww……) This should be a blast, whether you’re a sentimental mofo or not!

BONUS RUCKUS: IRON POET QUALIFIER, “Lipman vs ?????” It’s time once again to find out who wants a piece of current champion BOBBY GIBBS crown! Former Denver Poetry Slam Titan and recent Worcester Transplant PAULIE LIPMAN wouldn’t mind spit-shining that trophy outta Bobby’s crying hands. The question is, who else wants a shot? We haven’t confirmed a second competitor yet, so hit us up on facebook, or call your curator NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS (if you’re lucky enough to have his digits). 3 rounds, 2 competitors, 3 judges, 3 categories, one diabolical secret ingredient concoction proffered by the man we ALL give thanks for, Chairman YOSH SHARTIN! Quit acting like you ain’t impressed… haters….

DIRTY GERUND DUCT TAPE BAND is thankful for the invention of beer! YOSH & CHICKEN are thankful that hockey season isn’t on lock down, tip them between Bruin Goals! VISUAL ARTIST & SNACK TIME contributor up in the air (let’s ground that soon)! Get at AARON or EMILEE (on the ruckus staff page) if you’re interested! I’m off to a family function, missing my Monday Family! NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS is smashing windows in anticipation of another HOT NIGHT! Don’t make him smash his hopes & dreams of rocking out with you this Monday!

We’ll leave you with some awesome words, then we’ll really leave you!

Not only does Nick miss you, but I do too.

This Monday!

POETRY FEATURE: 2011 National Poetry Slam Champion LUCIFURY is a native of planet Earth, and has spent most of his life there. The rest of his time was spent on the Park Hill continent of planet Denver. He conquered his first empire at the age of 18, but traded it for something more valuable; a rhyme book. After being mistaken for the lord of darkness in his adolescence, he began training as a pupil of the Egyptian god, Osiris. Around this time, he lost his belief in gravity. He only walks so people don’t freak out. Lucifury is the son of a half-Jamaican wizard who stopped Vietcong bullets with lightning bolts. His mother is a yellow rose who appeared as a woman in his father’s dreams. His grand father made his living by skinning live tigers, and was among the first Negroes to teach steel to fly. Lucifury comes from a family of shamans who study the esoteric magic spells written on the wings of butterflies. He speaks fluent river. Lucifury also possesses x-rated vision, and knows what womens’ dreams look like in the nude. Lucifury is the proud owner of a pet universe. He has defeated an entire school of ninjas without armor, using nothing but African souls trapped between his toes. He also has an allergy to bullshit, and credits this disability for his not being capable of wackness. After a crash with the Silver Surfer, he had an operation where his blood was swapped for pure liquid charisma. Since this event, he has fathered 20 immortal children made of various shades of light. Lucifury is currently in a relationship with the color black, and loves her for who she is. He is now working on lyrics powerful enough to cure all known and future diseases. This man is on his first national tour, an accomplished poet, musician, artist and actor, you can check out all sorts of stuff at http://thereallucifury.com/.

MUSICAL GUEST: LEON LEGACY – The artist formerly known as Kid Ikarus from local up and coming, dynamic Worcester Area Hip Hop Grinders THE GRAND ARKANUM, Kid recently became LEON and is working on some solo material to augment his burgeoning bands’ rocket ride to success! Anyone who’s seen TGA of LEON perform live on Wednesdays at the Raven know this cat’s got skills and the raw energy and charisma to get to the top of whatever mountain he’s choosin to climb! We’d book the whole TGA crew, but LEON’s the only one with ID and we take that serious at the Gerund! Come hip to this hop-star! To check out some music online for free, dig…  http://leonlegacy.blogspot.com/

BONUS RUCKUS: “The battle for JEFF CANNON begins!” Challenge! Resident bad boy and Iron Poet Champion BOBBY GIBBS is setting up The First Ever City Wide Poetry Team Slam “special event” December 16th and has invited all poetry venues in Worcester to compete for venue glory. You know resident tribe elder and mystic JEFF CANNON is gonna be involved. The only question is who will he represent? Our good friend at the Little a Thursday Night Poetry Series is courting him! Of course he’s honored and normally we’d offer Jeff our blessings for any kind of engagement he chooses to engage in, but your Curator NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS is feeling mighty small & petty these days…. as always I’m amused and support him. Nick has told COWBOY MATT HOPEWELL that if he wants Cannon on his team, he’s gonna have to come into our venue and take him. We love our Cannon! Nicholas has offered Cowboy some form of poetic competition. Winner takes the first step towards securing Cannon’s illustrious services. We’re not sure exactly what this all means yet, but if it involves Cannon, you know its gonna get epic!

DIRTY GERUND DUCT TAPE BAND took as week off to attend to some birthday biz. They should be back this Monday! Many thanks to DAMIAN McEVOY for lending his bass skills to accompany GREG McKILLOP last Monday! Regular (aka AMAZING) Snack Time will return with Miss EMILEE! Visual Artist TBA. YOSH & CHICKEN will be there to protect AND serve the best burgers and drinks in town! They are our law! Respect their authoritAI or expect to get SERVED! NOBODY took me up on my free drink offer last week! Bad blog readers! Just plain too bad! Greg’s off on tour again. He misses you. We miss you! Where the hecks have you been? People are starting to talk? Is it something Nick did? We can fix it.

We’ll leave you with some intense words from our feature!

This Monday, Dirty Gerund said knock you out! (Mama is neglecting her duties…) Indeed! Do not call this a comeback. We’ve literally been doing this for years now! Your feature is none other than CARLOS WILLIAMS who writes and performs poems whenever and wherever he can. This practice has included such settings as:  auditoriums, theaters, basements and kitchens at house parties, art salons, high schools, colleges, bars, and the occasional parking lot cipher. A College Union Poetry Slam Invitational Veteran, he has reached finals stage, had the honor of coaching (2010 Emerson College), and in 2009 was awarded Best Male Poet. The same year he made his way onto the Boston Cantab Slam Team and competed with the sharks at the National Poetry Slam. He’s been a garbage man, a line cook, a maintenance and demolition worker, and once spent 8 hours picking bullet shells out of the mud. In the Fall of 2010 he went on the “Taste of the Atlantic!!! Tour!!” with the highly acclaimed Gringo Choir, gracing the stages of slam venues, colleges, universities, and high schools in places as close as Providence, Rhode Island and as far away as a living room show in Portland, Oregon. Currently, he teaches part time at the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Community Center, slings sandwiches and coffees at the Kookoo Cafe, and is the lovable wacky-bar-backy and a co-host for the Cantab Lounge.
“Carlos Williams has emerged as one the newest and brightest flints in the great tradition of bonfire that is New England performance poetry, all flailing arms and spark, a rich thick voice that is both dangerous and delicate in it’s honesty, a flame of consciousness that will only continue to grow with the breadth of his undeniable talent and ability. This is one voice that cannot be stamped out.” Kenneth C. Arkind (Poet)

MUSICAL GUEST:YOUNG & THE COLD: (Line up change shift: We thought we had Laura Dunn from New York booked, guess not, have no fear, DG always finds a way!) The Young and The Cold is the solo project of TOM BOLSTER, originally from Clinton, MA. Tom grew up playing drums in hardcore bands in the Worcester, MA area and was peers with Eva Braun and Last Lights. Now he seeks to express himself through warmer tones and a newfound voice with an acoustic project. This week’s Dirty Gerund is a tour kickoff for him and Speaker For The Dead, so Tom is going to come and feature before heading off to Arizona! Check out his band camp page at http://theyoungandthecold.bandcamp.com/!

BONUS RUCKUS: The I can’t think of anything right now, and I don’t think people really read this far down the blog anyway, so let’s test that theory and offer anyone who mentions this blog post a free drink!” Challenge! That’s right! Your faithful blogger is burning out fast and doesn’t think people give a shit about the bonus ruckus anymore! Many a night, we need to beg people to play our demento reindeer games. Well not this week. No begging. No game. No Challenge. No concern on this blogger’s part. Pardon the snark, but I’m interested in the following experiment. I’m pretty sure the only person who reads this blog is your faithful curator NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS. If you’ve gotten this far and have read this paragraph. Come down this Monday, tap me on the shoulder and say “I want my free drink.” Then…. (drumroll)… I will give you one. Do NOT spread the word. If I see a comment on someone’s FB wall, or overhear someone telling someone else that drinks are on us, then this is not happening (and I’ll let folks know who spoiled the deal). This is for loyal Dirty Gerund Blog Readers only. There’s your ruckus! Pow! Maybe Nick will intercede and come up with something brilliant, or at least less snarky. (long languished sigh….)

YOSH & CHICKEN make the best burgers in town while gossiping in hushed tones about my mental state. DG DUCT TAPE BAND is bearded and non-plussed! SNACK TIME & VISUAL ARTIST TBA! In other poetry news, be sure to catch the 2011 NORTHBEAST REGIONAL POETRY SLAM, featuring teams from all over New England and New Jersey happening Saturday & Sunday Nights! Click www.poetsasylum.org for more info!

This Monday, Dirty Gerund welcomes November with a phenomenal new voice coming up from Providence Rhode Island way! 2011 Providence Poetry Grand Slam Champion, LAURA LAMB BROWN-LAVOIE rocked finals stage at this year’s National Poetry Slam Championships with an innovative style that people are still talking about! This organic farming, world traveling Brown University Student started slamming only recently, but is making a name for herself fast! According to her teammate & current Miss Dirty Gerund, Megan Thoma, Laura “is pushing the art form in ways that I deeply envy, and I hope in ways that push others to do the same.  Laura’s poems are on a larger variety of topics, but are rooted in the way that humans interact with the natural world and how elements of modern culture—like advertising, technology, and media—impact that interaction.  She takes large risks with her performance, using props, group voices, and audience participation in inventive ways that with a lesser poet would feel gimmicky, but because of Laura’s exquisite talents as a writer and the thought that she puts into her work, they become an incredibly important vehicle in telling her story.  Her ideas and language are complex, but she uses her performance to create pathways of understanding, and even if you miss details, the message will punch you in all the places it planned to.” Good enough for us, actually that’s way better than anything I could write….

MUSICAL GUEST: ADAM WARROCK Having firmly established himself as the Internet’s foremost comic book rapper, Adam WarRock has gained widespread acclaim from both geek and nerd audiences, as well as hip hop and music fan crowds alike. gained widespread acclaim for both free and professional releases through his website. His debut LP The War For Infinity was a featured hip hop/rap release on the iTunes genre front page, and reached best seller status on Bandcamp.com. Adam WarRock’s Oni Press Mixtape, released in conjunction with comic publisher Oni Press, was heralded as a successful cross-media melding of indie rock and hip hop aesthetic, spinning songs off of Oni Press titles such as Super Pro KO, Stumptown, and The Sixth Gun. His most recent mixtape The Browncoats Mixtape, has become an internet sensation, having been featured on The Escapist, io9, Whedonesque, and personally mentioned by Firefly television star Nathan Fillion. He will be touring the area with local emcee/DG friend & part time nerd SHANE HALL who’ll be showing him the ropa-dopes that come with hanging at Ralph’s! check out more at www.adamwarrock.com

BONUS RUCKUS: Return of the “Great Speeches or Poem?” Quiz Show Guess Challenge! November 8th is election day! There are bums to boot out a plenty, and the Dirty Gerund says there’s nothing sexier than voting! In celebration of the poetry of great leaders, your curator NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS will plunge into the depths of our National Oratory History (and my chap book collection) to extract great words from great visionaries. Your job? Is guess whether these words are illuminating from a whistle stop stump speech writer’s mac book, or your mild mannered poet’s mac-book. First to three gets a drink on us. Democracy gets served… a beverage. Seriously, you should vote son!  “The only thing we have to fear is……?”

Duct Tape Band scoffs at your metal power ballad requests. Yosh & Chicken forgot what the ballot questions are this year. Snack Time needs a volunteer. Talk to Emilee. Resident Artist TBA! Nick & I don’t have much more to add! Dirty Gerund for all your pre-election party needs!

Music from out Musical Guest – Fancy That!

Let’s get Gothic and Creep the Neighbors! After you’re done distributing or acquiring “fun”-size portions of corn syrupy madness, stop by the DG and work that sugar out! Both kinds!

BOOK RELEASE!!! GLOOMY PRESENTIMENTS OF THINGS TO COME is out and available on-line! Welcome Worcester’s own creators for a Halloween Book Release Party that’ll scare the bejeebers out of ya! This collaborative work, features the visual talents of BRET M. HERHOLZ: Artist, scriptwriter and art instructor from the Worcester MA area. Author of six books, a regular contributor to the Undercoverfish Group and a contributing artist for the web series CRACKED: AFTER HOURS providing the inner thoughts for Katie Willert’s character on the show. Bret is represented by Whitt Brantley Management and Talent: A Literary, Film and Television Agency. Poetry for this book, scribed by none other than DG Regular SUSURRUS DIN: The works of Susurrus Din owes much to the Masters of the Macabre, Gothic Horror, World Myth, Folklore. He draws heavily from themes of judgment, vengeance, and the otherworldly. His most recent work, “Gloomy Presentiments of Things to Come,” has been recently unleashed in collaboration with local illustrator extraordinaire Bret Herholz. Think equal parts Charles Addams, Edward Gorey, and Tim Burton. SUSURRUS DIN will be reading selections from the book & BRET will be our visual artist that night! Get your auction & book buying on!!!!

MUSICAL GUEST: LIFE IN VACUUM (as reported by Musical Director Greg McKillop) One part punk band, one part spooky circus music, all rock and roll, and nothing left over. Hailing from the land of Rush and Hockey (that’s Canada eh?). Bands got edgey guitar work and wailing vocals. Solid bass and drumming and good use of electronics rounds out the sound. A spaztik punk rock carnival ride”. (after listening to their stuff on line, I’m getting psyched) Got some of that “At the Drive In” raw crazed energy and math timing! Check out their bandcamp: www.lifeinvacuum.bandcamp.com” We love Canadians! You should too!

BONUS RUCKUS: COSTUME SOMETHING OR OTHER CHALLENGE: Do we even need to encourage you guys to wear costumes? Well we’ll do it anyway! (Sheeeesh)! Go that extra make-uppy mile, write a haiku or short poem that either explains your costume, helps you sell your temporary persona, or just generally blows our minds and WIN a drink on us! Creepy, sexy, clever, over the top, we’ll let the crowd decide who wins, so bring some supporters and then seek help! You may even win some of Nick’s candy! Nick says Meow! (Editors Note: Immediate Disqualification if you dress up like Snooki or anyone from the Jersey Shore, did I mention that we put the “dis” in disqualification?)

Word has it Dr. CHRIS will be handling Snack Time Duties! Rumor has it that our DG Visual Director might bring some paints to paint your face (for a modest fee of course). Word has it, DG Duct Tape Band‘s boning up on their monster mash. Word IS that YOSH & CHICKEN wish they wouldn’t! The truest thing I can say is that this is gonna be a helluva show because word’s out that DG Musical Director GREG McKILLOP is taking a break from incessant touring to pay us a visit and stake some claim on the mic!

In case you forgot! This is what he looks and sounds like

YES!!!

This Monday at Ralph’s, the Dirty Gerund’s going to be all that and maybe more if you all behave and come down to the show!

POETRY FEATURE: JOSEPH LMS GREEN – a Washington, D.C.-based performance poet and educator with more than eight years’ professional experience. As a solo artist and member of the Intangible Collective, Joseph LMS has performed at venues and schools throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States. For five years, he has coached the Hayfield Secondary School Forensic Speech Team, an art Joseph mastered at a young age: he ranked 13th in the nation for Dramatic Performance as a high school senior (1999). He toured with the educational entertainment group Theatre IV, the country’s largest in school touring company, for two and a half years at more than 200 high schools and professional theatres educating children and families. A four-time qualifier and participant in the National Poetry Slam, he has represented the Oneonta Slam team as their Grand Slam Champion (twice, 2005-06), as well as Slam Richmond (2009), and DC’s Beltway Poetry Slam Team (2011, ranked 5th in the nation). As the Beltway Poetry Slam representative at the Individual World Poetry Slam(2011), Joseph is the currently the 16th ranked poet in the world. His one-man show “She Is” was commissioned by the Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts at the Wilbur Mansion in Oneonta, N.Y. (2007). He has self-published a poetry chapbook called “Her and Everything Else” (2010), and a poetry album entitled “unmastered – Vol. One” (2005). Joseph LMS is currently producing his first book of poetry, recording his second full-length spoken word album, and working to create the first city-wide youth slam in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia under the Louder Than a Bomb banner.

MUSICAL GUEST: CRUNK WITCH: comprised of married couple Brandon Miles and Hannah Collen, is an Electro-Rock duo from Presque Isle, ME. For samples of music check: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADQFQkBjjec Started in late 2009, this baby has strove to challenge social faux pas through power packed electronic anthems filled with tales of fantasy and horror. Endorsed by PETA2, this band has been on 6 tours and played over 100 shows. Their quickly sold out debut, ‘The Battle Beyond E.P.’, was soon followed by the full-length record, “The Legends Of Manicorn” released on Milled Pavement Records. The band generated a heavy youtube buzz when their single, ‘The Battle Beyond’, was featured in a Jenna Marbles video with over 6 million views. After recently signing a licensing deal with Bunim/Murray (creators of Real World, Road Rules, Project Runway, etc.), the band won the award for ‘Best Eletronic Act’ at the 2011 Phoenix Awards. Currently Crunk Witch is hard at work on their follow up effort and are ready to explore all future opportunities.

“Maine bands just don’t do this sort of thing. Lucky for us, Crunk Witch don’t give a (bleep).“

- Portland Phoenix

BONUS RUCKUS: IRON POET CHAMPIONSHIP “GIBBS vs. SWENSON”!!! – the title’s on the line and we’ve been looking forward to this match-up. Last month, Dirty Gerund resident Word Ninja LIZ SWENSON took the prelim over SAM CAPAGROSSI and earned the right to challenge our Champion BOBBY GIBBS! This could be one of the best championships ever! Bobby’s coming off his trip, repping the Wu at the 2011 Indie World Poetry Slam Championships, Liz has a new kitchen sink, just in time I’d say, cause she’s gonna throw it and any other plumbing in an attempt to wrestle the championship trophy from Bobby’s cold, buzzed hands! Two competitors, 3 new poems, 3 judges, 3 scoring categories and one unknown secret ingredient to be concocted and presented by out indefatigable chairman YOSH SHARTIN! Battle whut?! Ya, it’s exciting!

Two weeks from Halloween! Visual Arts Director AARON WHITE will be handling the arts this week as he carves the perfect pumpkin (maybe two) so that you can scare the crap outta them tricker-treaters! YOSH & CHICKEN are contemplating fangs! Tip ‘em and no-one gets bit! DG DUCT TAPE BAND is ready to jam out! Bagels with faces on ‘em were a hit at snack-time! Thanks Tak! Get in touch with EMILEE MORREALE to toss your snack hat in the ring and receive eternal glory! Me and NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS are psyched that we don’t have to write haiku this week! Aren’t you? Gives us more time to contemplate costumes and occupy things. Don’t make me get crazy clown posse on you!

We’ll leave you with a brand new video from our musical guest! Get down to this tune, then GET DOWN to the show this Monday! I won’t ask twice!

WordPress is not allowing me to post pictures right now! This post and the information contained therein are too important to wait for such media! This week, the Gerund continues to offer some of the tastiest cultural morsels for your voracious arts appetites!

Our poetry feature is none other than QAADIR WILLIAMS aka Q! Recent Worcester Transplant, dynamite spoken word artist and host of Worcester’s newest poetry & music variety show, Jus Words North! This incredibly personable, skilled slinger of words and thoughts has lived pretty much all over the United States and has made waves with his words in Houston, Atlantic City and most recently Philadelphia. He’s recently moved to town and has taken our scene by storm with heartfelt, informed monologues that explode off the stage and into your ears! JUS WORDS NORTH is his new variety show, that happens Wednesday’s at the Crescent Cafe on Canterbury Street. Q hosts and keeps things moving with a house band, talk show dialogues and a fresh, raw energy that screams “you all! are welcome here!”. He’s a great story teller, can sling gab with the best of them and is planting his personal flag on our consciences! Support his efforts and his talents this Monday, strap yourself in, because Q likes to go off mic, WAYYYYY of MIC!, delivering his stories to your face, the way god intended!

MUSICAL GUEST: Greg must’ve christened this HIP-HOP-TOBER, because for the third week in a row, the Dirty Gerund’s rocking another musical act sure to get your heads noddin possibly arms poppin!. Manchester New Hampshire’s own indie hip hop duo, FOLKLORE is going to get our stage working. We saw these guys open for BUCK 65 at the Middle East Downstairs Nightclub a few months back and were impressed with their dynamic stage presence and energy. These guys got swag oozing out their face piercings, so come down and check out what makes New Hampshire a little bit iller these days!

BONUS RUCKUS – “Is that a POEM or a DRUNK TEXT MESSAGE?” Listening Gameshow Challenge! We know. It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes. Whenever my blackberry goes bing, I’m not sure if NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS is sharing a draft of a new poem, or desperately needs designated driver. We admit, this is a challenging prospect. Nick’s going to speak a line, you buzz in and take your best (mis)educated guess. First to three correct answers wins you a super duper prize and bragging rights. You can even drunk text your best friends, as punishment for not showing up to witness your moment of glory!

IRON POET CHAMP BOBBY GIBBS is in Cleveland as we speak, defending Worcester honor at the 2011 Individual World Poetry Slam Championships! Hope they have decent secret ingredients out there! Dirty Gerund (ir)regular Dr. CHRIS DENMEAD is holding things down and ROCK n SHOCK at DCU Center all weekend. WORCESTER ARTS COUNCIL GRANT DEADLINES have passed, and your curator has applied once again on our behalf! DUCT TAPE BAND is down with the sickness! Snack-Time is booked and smiling in a fridge right now! Visual Artist to be determined! That’s all the snoop bloggy blog news that’s fit to print! Come down and raise a pint and some ruckus with us Monday!!!

ROCK YOUR SOCKS OFF-TOBER CONTINUES THIS MONDAY AT THE DIRTY GERUND!

Special Format including full set from none other than ANDREA GIBSON, who is literally one of the best and most beloved performance poets of ALL TIME! Andrea Gibson is not gentle with her truths. A powerful live performer Gibson is the winner of the 2008 Women’s World Poetry Slam, and has placed 3rd in world on two International Poetry Slam stages. Andrea’s first book, published by Write Bloody Publishing, POLE DANCING TO GOSPEL HYMNS won the DIY Poetry Book of the Year and was nominated for the prestigious PUSHCART PRIZE. Gibson has been showcased on FREE SPEECH TV, THE BBC, AIR AMERICA, CSPAN, NPR, and was featured in the documentary SLAM PLANET. She has released four full length albums and tours over 180 dates/year. Gibson’s work illuminates that the personal is political with themes that deconstruct gender norms, sexuality, class, patriarchy, and white supremest capitalist culture.

“Gibson is among the nation’s most admired and emulated poets. Her verse is at once personal and political, feminist and universal, filled with incinerating verbs and metaphor, and delivered with gut punching urgency.”— Metaphor Media

MUSICAL GUEST – SPIDER CIDER – a new Boston-based trio comprised of Kirsten Lamb (upright bass, vocals), Jacob Dinklage (rap, spoken word, guitar), and Ariel Bernstein (drums, percussion). Their original material draws inspiration from many musical genres, particularly jazz, folk, blues, and hip hop. (NOTE: In the interest of getting all our featured performers seen, we will be taking a short break after the poetry feature performance, our musical guest will be kicking off the second half of the show!) Any new band from Boston playing our town for the first time who digs the art work of Saul Bass, is okay & welcome in our book!

BONUS RUCKUS – “SCAVENGE THIS!!!” Your curator NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS is always looking for things he’s misplaced and this Monday, he’s taken his friends advice and is asking for assistance! He’s writing haiku’s describing all the things he needs help locating. They will most likely be objects found at Ralph’s Diner or on your very person. He will describe these objects using haiku (or unfortunate metaphor), your job is to use your ESP or Voudou or quick wits to understand what he wants, then quickly burst into action!!! First to find three of these objects wins a prize!!! ARGHHHH!!!! X marks the DG-spot!

DG Music Director GREG McKILLOP is going on tour for much of the fall (booooooooooo for us!!!!! yay for the rest of the country!!!) www.speakerforthedead.tk to check out his new awesome album, quit your job and follow him on tour! Dirty Gerund Duct Tape House Band will keep the tunes thumpin! Artistic Director AARON WHITE is getting great reviews for his New Mythology Exhibit at Dark World Gallery which you can still visit! newly crowned Miss Dirty Gerund MEGAN THOMA & other poets will be reading their zombie poems this Saturday (2pm) at That’s Entertainment for a new Write Bloody Zombie Anthology! Wow!!! Everybody’s doing amazing stuff except me! Oh well, I’ll just take solace in snacks and awesome poetry and art happening all over the place. Maybe, I’ll write a poem about it. Waaaaah!!!!

SERIOUSLY! DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW MONDAY!!! SERIOUSLY!!!! We will leave you with some more motivation!

Dirty Gerund’s starting our third year of New Management off RIGHT!!!! Congrats to our newest MISS DIRTY GERUND PAGEANT WINNER MEGAN THOMA!!!

Let’s keep celebrating fierce women word warriors by welcoming this Monday’s Featured Poet, 2010 WOMEN OF THE WORLD (WOWPS) CHAMPION EBONI HOGAN to our stage! Eboni is a poet/actress/teaching artist who has performed in over 20 U.S. cities, as well as in Ghana and West Africa.. She’s the 2008 New York City Urbana Poetry Grand Slam Champion, a member of the 2007 and 2009 Nuyorican Poetry Slam Teams, and a part of the performance collective, Bitten Tongue. Eboni is published in the anthologies “His Rib” and “Double Lives” and recently released her first book “Grits”. She studied theater at NYU and the University of Ghana, and now resides in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. She’s currently on tour and this will be her first time featuring in Worcester! Let’s welcome her!

MUSICAL GUEST: Holy line-up change bat-man! We had a mis-communication with our original musical guest. That’s more than okay! Because Musical Director Greg McKillop’s GOT YOU! This week, none other than touring emcee KAIGEN!!! Japanese rapper Kaigen happened upon hip hop by backtracking the influences of some of his favourite bands like Beck and Rage Against the Machine. But it was while living in Australia that he joined up with Mush recording artists Curse Ov Dialect, who quickly encouraged Kaigen to take his music making much more seriously. Assisted on production by the Curse Ov Dialect crew, Kaigen recorded a vinyl EP entitled Curse Ov The Kaigen, which he released in 2007, and followed up with a full-length album on CD the following year by retaining the name and adding a few additional tracks to the EP. With dense, layered production that has more in common with Def Jux than Anticon (a favoured crew of Kaigen’s) or his production team’s label, Mush, Kaigen spits reality-based raps about things like positive thinking, stereotypes, conformity and additives in food using an aggressive, abstract flow. And he promises Curse Ov The Kaigen will be even “better and crazier for sure!” Time for Kaigen to hip you to his history and the Japanese hip hop scene from which he has risen. WHAT!!! Check it!

BONUS RUCKUS – 3rd ANNUAL (BORROWED FROM WRITE BLOODY BOOKS) “Cracker in your Mouth While Spitting” HAIKU CHALLENGE!!! Like short short morsels of poetry, spit at you along with salty cracker spew? Me neither. But NICHOLAS EARL DAVIS is a champ and your curator, so what he says goes, sometimes! If you like writing haiku, have relatively stable blood pressure and have always been wondering just how many tasty crackers can fit in your mouth while delivering your poetry, then we got the challenge for you! Whoever can fit the most and still be understood, wins an awesome prize and something to wash the mess down with! There will be a waiver form for this! Don’t die!

Guest Visual Artist! JENNIFER COLE was raised by wolves and currently works as an artist, painting drums for SJC Drums (see photo to the right? word)! Snack Time? Talk to EMILEE MORREALE! Dirty Gerund Duct Tape band is hoping to get some guitar back this week! ALSO!!! DG Visual Arts Director AARON WHITE is having a first full gallery exhibit this Saturday! DETAILS HERE! (rumor has it some DG poets will be on hand with new original work about Aaron’s pieces. Food by Snack-Time Queen EMILEE MORREALE as well! Man throw in some YOSH & CHICKEN working the bar & grill, and you got a full blown Gerund on a SATURDAY!!! Ya’ll should go, seriously!

We’ll leave you with some video from our awesome feature! Then we’ll leave you!