The September edition of The Beautiful and The Damned filled the house once again. Great features, great open stagers, DM Moore was a sublime host with great trivia questions, what more could one ask for? I was happy to take up my spot as beverage handler to greet people as they came panting (not pantless) up into the Glad Day third floor space
The first feature was the 2008 Governor General’s Award winner Jacob Sheier. he read from his book, some from his next book & some new pieces. Much of his work has a warm family rambling story telling sensibility, much like Allen Ginsberg. Amusing, tender and insightful. ‘… you just can’t want to die/ you have to live it …’ ‘… the way age comes on like autumn/overnight …’ His occupy wall street pieces were sharp and comic – ‘I took cover under a Starbucks awning’ ‘I’m not going down there/I’m sick of activists’
Next up was David Bateman, one of the Damned founders. His material was engaging, funny and took us into the mess that many lives can become: ‘it wasn’t as if I had cheated on him with someone he didn’t know or hadn’t already cheated on me with.’ Often his lines played with well known (at least to me) phrases ‘fortune cookies and man’s eyes’ ‘pity is not a whore’s best friend.’
Jessica Speziale wrapped up the night with a strong set of songs. Her warm alto is inviting and her songs are emotional, romanic without resorting to those big ‘Got Talent’ moments. A refreshing sense of Joan Armatrading/Tracy Chapman underscores her writing and guitar playing.
A great range of open stages from Marica Rogers to Alex Butler. I hit the mic during the second set with a couple of new pieces & one that may end up as part of my Go Bump set.
more pics here
This Man’s Pride
of all my accomplishments
the one of which I am most proud
is being the corrosive element
that frayed the fiber of morality
I’m thrilled to be the insidious vermin
that has gnawed away the righteous
firmament of family values
<>
I am that predatory queer
who makes it unsafe for your young sons
to be seen in public in anything tighter
than a hazmat suit
I am more of a threat than your drunken Uncle
he likes his little nieces to sit on his lap
if he interferes with them
it is their fault for being vixen slut women
they were just asking for it
whereas the male of the species
is defenseless at any age
from any glance from a homosexual
<>
so yes I’m proud
to be an outright affront to their masculinity
and God fearing superiority
to be such a threat to that bastion of machismo
by merely sitting somewhere drinking a coffee
and glancing up
as a father fusses over a baby
crying in a carriage
to think ‘nice butt dad’
TOpoet 
Reblogged this on Lizzie Violet.
Reblogged this on life with more cowbell and commented:
Here’s what The Beautiful & The Damned co-founder Duncan Armstrong had to say about last night’s event. I may not get to post my thoughts and pics till tomorrow, so enjoy Duncan’s post on this amazing evening of words and music.
I like the review. But I like the pictures better. So simple, and great captions. But, Duncan, you really did it with “This man’s pride”. It speaks to me right in the heart. It speaks to me of how “gay” “homosexual” “queer” puts the courage and integrity into our society by challenging it’s hypocrisy (“Family Values”). It gives voice to my own feelings of always feeling like I fail to fit into that world of jello. I love your work beyond words. Thank you
very powerful poem – beautifully written – such a lyrical beginning that draws the reader in to a kind of list of all the phobic perceptions queer men so often have to live with – This Man’s Pride rocks!!!