The Color of Envy "Green" is making other poetry venues in town green with envy again. Last night was another perfectly slamming (or slammingly perfect) night at "Green." Put together fourteen poets in the first round, full house, and poetic (and physical) warmth on a cold night, and you get another perfect monthly slam at "Green." DJ Jedi was spinning, poets were poeticizing, competition was hot, hot, hot... In the final round, it came down to the battle of two L.A. slam team members, one Long Beach slam team member, and Steve Connell who defies any categorization. Going into this round, Steve Connell and Rachel Kann were tied at perfect 30 each, and Shihan and Poetri were tied at 29.9 points. As a consequence of being harrassed by LAPD for speaking to himself in the street (!) just before his performance, Poetri forgot his lines. Shihan did not forget his, but judges still didn't think his performance deserved a perfect 30. Rachel Kann read a brand new poem and informed us she quit smoking 13 days ago. And then, it was time for Steve. And boy, was it a good time! The judges felt his vibe and awarded him another perfect 30. However, he ended up with a 0.5 deduction for going over time, which dropped him into 4th place. (Scream bloody murder!!!) Poetri finished in 3rd, and Rachel and Shihan were tied for the first. Since Shihan and Poetri have already qualified for the grand slam that will take place in 2002, two November spots went to Rachel Kann and Steve Connell. So, the Los Angeles slamming line-up now looks like this: Thea, Gimel, Mark Gonzales, Jovan, Rachel Kann, Steve Connell, plus the 2001 L.A. slam team -- Sekou, Shihan, Poetri and Omari. There are six slots in the grand slam still open, so if you want to run with the best, get over to Green before April next year, and slam! I just have to warn you: brace yourselves, 'cause slamming can be highly addictive.
Oh, and Steve, I hope you can hear me all the way in Burbank: I'm still screaming bloody murder!
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