Author Archives: Scottt
WMT’s
Maybe it’s time to stop searching for these WMDs
Facebook and Twitter are the new WMTs
Witness the success of the real threats
Weapons of Mass Texts
144 character tweet seeking missiles (of dismissal)
no need to go postal to be social in this day and age
Blow up any event from the comfort of your own homepage.
Round up the troops to challenge, question and protest
it’s cheaper more effective and faster than any known printing press
step inside and get online
With now more than 500 millions users world-wide.
Weaving webs of connectivity more lucid and beautiful
than Spiderman the Musical.
Become the next Textaco sensation
on networks with net worths
worth more than any fortune 500 oil corporation.
Wield power to make real change see profiling be legal
raise hairs even on the bald eagle
where Zuckerberg is king, yet everyone’s equal
where not just American Dreams reign supreme
its a total global phenomenon
Obama, Netanyahu, Shaq, even your mom is on.
Status update your relationship or overthrow a dictatorship.
Ninjas, pirates, straights and gays
Stay single or get engaged
in Wisconsin its complicated
but why not add civil unions to your page.
Follow your favorite celeb and honor the dead
Stalk a world leader to write an op-ed.
With photos easier to tag than bags
AirTran can be a real a drag
So spread the word without all the jetlag.
Metaphorically or Rhetorically
These WMTs helped IRAN attack
while no WMDs were ever found in IRAQ
Whether they need ya in Egypt or Tunisia new acquaintances will be made
When life gives you Yemen give Yemen-ade.
But let’s not call a spade a spade
The entire Civil Rights movement happened without all this
250,000 march on Washington-so what was their trick?
(I had) a dream shared without a (mouse) click
but never before was it this…quick
unlock the skakra doctine to your inner activist
Tweet this flicker that and face-book the music with three fists in the air.
Open your third eye phone and smile while you file share
they say to reach true enlightenment you must (go at it alone) leave your computer home
fight focused if you want the crap to stop
So ask yourself….
does every sit-in really need a laptop?
Funny Names (from 2008)
What’s…LEWIS BLACK and BETTY WHITE and RED BUTTONS all over?
A Comedia-del-Arte entrée of SID’s CEASAR salad gobbling LILY crouTOMLINS
and CARL’s REINER-schnitzel
while watering GALLAGHER’s 2000-year-old MELons on frozen BROOKS
in WINTERS with JONATHAN DONnning
a peck of RICKELed pepperS, that could PHYL-thISS DILLER
with fresh material picked by HICKS
beneath the RAY’s of ROMANO cheese squeezed from SAHL shakers
that could make anyone inKLEINed
to sneeze or KAUF-the foibles of MAN-up REDD FOX-WORTHY of hilarious fire
PRYOR to RICHARD BURNing hairNETs on CAROLers
singing SIMON says kNEIL before the legends who’ve left us,
then wake my life
Please
to this hurly-BERLEy one liner-refiner
Say UNCLE
MILTY guilty of BENNY more laughs then JACK,
FLIPping WILSON a HENNY for your thoughts of GEORGE as a YOUNGMAN
with sideBURNS HOPEing BOB could gig in Iraq
cutting BRUCE with LENNY and JOHNNY crashing CARS-ON the tonight show
into the JOAN and KEVIN JAME’S RIVERS that run through it
being sure to leave no finger PRINZE
since it was actually the BRET BUTLER who did do it while playing LOUIE LOUIE ANDERSON
near a JIM BRUERy filled with kegs of beer
drunk by a bunch of underage punks with a candlestick and no clue about who is being a bigger DICK
GREGORY when they party-LAUREL and HARDY
with crowds of diversity like
ROCKstars CHRIS drinking STEWART’s root beer
on JOHN’s daily show full-knowing CHAPELLE’s lapel is flowing to the center of Comedy Central
waving magic WANDA SYKES at JIMMY KIMMEL and ROBERT SHIMMEL
in ADAM’s Toyota CORROLLA
ATTELLing DAVE BARRY to CARREY CARVEY’S CANDY BARR to ROSEANNE
and be DEGENERES to ELLENs coming out plan
cuz stand-up guys and gals BERN-HARD when sitting atop SANDRA’s body guard
lending LEWIS to borrow CARLIN’s car to run over the FCC
leaving a fleeing HOWARD to stay STERN and turn to satellite
that should excite audiences to cheer even though the applause SEIN-FEL-D when JERRY left NBC
to joke under GARY’s SHANDL-iers light-ING up expressions
of disgruntled CBS mail carriers looking like LETTERMEN with DAVE
plaguing CRAIG to KILL-his first-BORN
if CONAN doesn’t pay back the money he O’s-BRIAN and the opening monologue he lent LENO
when he was MAHREd for life when BILL moved to HBO and MILLER was drilled by a network dentist
who insisted a De LEARY-ious DENNIS called COLIN QUINN a medicine woman
for trying to MACk TINA’s FEYce during a weekend update
at BERNIEs place where old MACDONALD had an abNORMal farm with a biPOEHLER charm
in an age of DAN AKAROYD rage and an off-balance FALLON CHASEing CHEVY’s
down a road paved in SPADES made in ADAM SANDLER’s-box building ROCKETS in GROSS moats
outside big BRAD HALLs with GUEST hosts paying hundred dollar
BILL and BRIAN DOYLE MURRAYS to have KEVIN kNEAL-ON JANEs CURTAINs
certain she was WRIGHT behind STEVEN weaving around the EDDIE IZZARD of OZ
giving BOB a NEW-HART,
the THREE STOOGES a brain and an EDDIE GRIFFIN some courage to let it fly like WOODY-woodpecker
a CRYSTAL blueJAY MOHR, and a red ROBIN WILLIAMS
being eaten by a BOBCAT worth his GOLdTHWAIT in DICEd-CLAY
Be sure to stay for home improvements own TIM ALLEN
PAULA POUNDing STONES into MARCIA’s CROSS
at a loss for who’s line is it anyway and learn HOWIE
MAN-hand-DELed DREW to CARREY RYAN’s STYLES to a bunch of WAYNE BRADY’s making MOHRCHIES
of COLIN taking PROOPS on GREG
in BRIAN SHERWOOD forest
Find the jerk with two brains and a bow-finger who stole STEVE’s MARTINi
from the SHORT father of the bride of young Frankenstein
getting WILDER than GENE at MARTIN St. LAWRENCE living life with holy man EDDIE MURPHY
somehow stuck in DANGERFIELDs of GOTTFRIED in these family friendly films that nobody saw
that make BILL COSBY seem more raw
than the son of SAM KINISON
Be sure to pay the check-mate when CEDRIC
plays the ENTERTAINER during his date
with QUEEN LATIFAH as GOLDIE HAWN pawns JOEY’s BISHOP for an ALAN KING
and a free-JACKIE-MASON concert
in a secret underground lair where if you SIN-BAD
you will be none the REISER than PAUL
pretending to be a BILLY CONNOLY artist…
Since you can’t HACKETT without a BUDDY to bounce jokes off and ask who’s on first
if what’s on second will never match the magic of ABBOT and COSTELLO
Cause just knowing the WAY-ANS
won’t make everything KEAN and IVORY
on the way-out
when brothers MARLON, SHAWN and DAMON spawn jealousy of JAMIE moving past FOX
as the golden ray who now knocks socks and ROCKs movie grins with Oscar wins trailed by
TOMMY on his Harley DAVIDSON
while bringing up the rear it’s DAVID ALLAN GRIER fearing that when he’s no longer living in color
JIM will CARREY his coffin and not his mother…
Just keep it on the DL HUGHLEY that this brother makes RICHARD JENI from the block look like
a DAVID CROSS between DAVID BRENNER and MARILU HENNER
hanging with MR. PAT COOPER fishing for fried KEVIN POLLACK in a frozen pond with DOM IRRERA
ice-skating beside ROB REINER and BOBBY SLAYTON.
Answer the RICHARD BELZER when it rings so PAUL RODRIQUEZ can GARA-FALO JANEANE
to the ANDY DICKtionary where you’ll find a picture of SHELLEY BERMAN
on a WHOOPI GOLDBERG cushion shushing BEN to stay STILL-ER
than LARRY MILLER spraying LOUIE CK One on the RED SKELTONS in the closet
of GEORGE WALLACE SHAWN of a new day paved in recent GLEASONs
gleaming screens and stage ovations
standing-up for all human hilarity.
Barely Hanging Around
Last night my girlfriend and I had a fight.
Instead of the bed I was banished to the sofa.
I so hope a reconciliation comes fast
cuz without her I don’t think I’m gonna last.
I’m not gonna lie, but every moment I spend on my couch I think I might die.
And not from any horrible disease or some basic need unmet.
Although my death could quite possibly be linked to my own neglect.
It seems to me to be pretty secure and all, but every so often I hear this erie almost foreboding creak
As if everything’s about to fall off the wall-a mere millisecond before killing me in my sleep.
You see when it comes to handiwork I’m no slouch,
but I recently tried hanging this giant framed painting over my living room couch.
And really, it’s only a matter of time
before my skull is crushed and a bazillion shards of glass stegasaur down my spine.
Imagine that.
You’re snoring a little too loud–shift sides while spooning the remote…because its dark…
and wham !!!
You’re killed by a piece of shitty art–
beheaded by an amateurish rendering of Ice-Skaters in Central Park.
Now it’s one thing to be killed by a piece of good art or fine art, you know by one of the greats,
but imagine dying from a crappy finger-painting of two ferns burning that everyone hates.
Pathetic.
Truth be told I live near the very same ice skating rink in Central Park pictured on my wall.
What if I was maimed, injured or killed by a picture of said rink rather than by the rink itself.
Also pretty sad.
I think i’m gonna go apologize to my girlfriend
so I can continue
to hang
with her.
Three Teas
At any moment on any day I could go for any one of the following Three Teas.
3. A mint tea with fresh mint leaves leaves me minty-fresh-breathless, but a Whittard of Chelsea peppermint tea from the U.K. is pretty hard to beat.
2. A Thai Ice-Tea in Brooklyn or Bangkok, there’s really no beating the delicious blend of sugar, coconut milk and brilliantly brewed black tea served chilled or with ice in a see-through bag or towering glass.
1. Only Tracy Marrow AKA Ice-T who’s been ‘cop killing it’ since the 80’s with his controversially clever hip-hop lyrics and songs could continue his full-fledged ‘home invasion’ to return every week to our TV’s on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit as NYPD Detective Fin Tutola. For ‘surviving the game’ from the golden age of hip-hop til now, Ice-T gets this Scottts top spott for number one T.
(Runner ups and honorable mentions include a Snapple Compassionberry Iced Tea, Starbucks/Dunkin Donuts Vanilla Chai, homemade chai masala or a decent cardamom tea from Darjeeling, India)
Free T’s
At this point I have received more “free” T-shirts than I have purchased.
One of these shirts has my face on it, flattering I know, but I must admit is a little weird wearing, particularly on some smelly Sunday, a random showerless Saturday, those Quasimodo Mondays wherein these (S)cotton renderings of my mug barely resemble my actual state of face. The shirt is from the the Urban Arts Festival 2009 held outside the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ featuring me, the other two Mayhem Poets and the delightfully talented North Carolina based poet and educator Glenis Redmond.
Now many of these so-called “free” t-shirts came at a cost, a cost far greater than I’d ever probably spend on a sole shirt. Usually as part of an an event; let’ say a 5k mud race, an Oprah walkathon in less than 30 degrees, a Planet Fitness Black Card gym membership-each ranging anywhere from $50-$100 to participate.
Typically these shirts sit in my dresser unseen, buried beneath a selection of shirts I rock on the regular. Often these Polyester Prynnes are too large to sport fashionably, ostracized from the rest of my wardrobe with their XL and XXL markings never to see the light of neck. In fact, on occasion these inside-outcasts make their way into my laundry basket without ever being worn. A pitiful and futile existence of dresser to hamper to machine to dresser.
Other shirts I am required to wear for work:
- a Wintuk T-Shirt to promote the Cirque de Solei Show at Madison Square Garden
- a brown Drama Zone Tee I once wore to teach five-year-olds soccer
- a CNN Anderson Cooper 360 long sleeve blue shirt
For play:
- a bright orange Zog Sports shirt to play volleyball for the clown babies every Sunday Night throughout NYC ($100 to join the league with all proceeds going to charity)
- a Witness MVP shirt I received at the Cleveland Cavaliers game when Lebron James was crowned Most Valuable Player (Round One playoff tickets costing $75/ticket)
- a Run-A-Muck shirt given to me at the finish line of the 5k mud run in Harriman State Park (~$50 to run the race; plus parking)
Still others I received while on the road:
- an Emerald High School power purple shirt (with matching hat) from Nashville Tennessee
- a South Carolina state flag shirt, given as a gift to us from a group of teachers who took us out to dinner downtown
- a Tim Horton’s presents the International Children’s Festival in St Albert, Alberta Canada
- a 2010 Bloomington Diversity Day T from a Minnesota visit to Kennedy and Jefferson High Schools
- a Lindenwood University; Sibley Day for Justice and Peace shirt (an event we performed at 30 minutes before Mahatama Ghandi’s grandson gave a lecture. Ghandi’s grandson drew hundreds, we drew tens)
Also:
- a New Victory Theater shirt from when Mayhem Poets performed a run of shows at the prestigious family theater in Time Square,
- my RCPC presents William Shakespeares Twelfth Night with a “Scott as Toby Belch” emblazoned on the back.
- a 2010 green Omaha Summer Arts Festival the same color as the house I grew up in
And finally while on my most recent Jamaican Vacation
- a coveted VIC (Very Important Couple T) for attending Couples Resort in Negrille Jamiaca two years in a row and counting
I already have a different ‘free T’ for every day of the week. Perhaps one day I’ll get to a t-shirt for every-day of the year, but either way thank you to all of the above mentioned places and establishments for allowing me to not walk around bare-chested through your city and for giving me a few extra days of clean clothes while on the road.