New joint. Ain't No Reason. Binghamton story. Full of Crow.

Quite happy we are to have a new piece Ain't No Reason in the new edition of Full of Crow, the final version of which was highly influenced by the repetitious ebb and flow of the fabulous noir novel Beautiful Piece by Joseph G. Peterson. We are also happy to share that this is the final Binghamton story to find a home in the group of stories we wrote following and in reaction to discussing the stories in Repetition Patterns, and yes we know this is a lot of repetition, during the Repetition Patterns blog tour. Those stories include among others, Goddess at Annalemma and Never Said at Girls with Insurance. Big thanks to the crew at Full of Crow and for your reading pleasure a brief excerpt below.

"I am in bed and staring at the ceiling as I always do at bedtime. I am not sleeping and I am never going to be sleeping. I am thinking about the endless things that keep me up at night, school, war, my looks, sex, being cool and my parents’ voices that I can always hear drifting up the stairs as they talk, and talk, long into the night.

I am on the little league field down by MacArthur where I go to elementary school, and it’s hot, upstate New York hot, all humid and moist, the air thick and full of gnats, endless gnats getting in my ears and nose, flying around my face, and sticking to my forehead when they get too close and their wings no longer work."

Full of Crow: Weekly Poetry Hour reading. All archived and such.

Many thanks to Lynn Alexander and the entire Full of Crow team for welcoming TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer as a guest on the Full of Crow: Weekly Poetry Hour reading last Sunday on Blog Talk Radio. We had the chance to read several pieces including Dick Cavett Says and It's Only Rock and Roll, But We Like It which ran in Thieves Jargon and Monkeybicycle respectively. We had much fun, we are much appreciative, we are archived and we hope you will take a look, because among other things TBWCLY, Inc. favorite David Masciotra makes an appearance as well, and with the recent release of Working On A Dream - The Progressive Political Vision of Bruce Springsteen we plan to reference him and the book as often as possible.

Crow Hour: Ben Tanzer Changes Your Life.

We'll see. Regardless, we are very excited that Lynn Alexander and her team at Full of Crow have invited TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer to read tonight on The Crow Hour, their show on Blog Talk Radio. We're not sure what to expect, but we do hope you will join us and if you are so inclined please enjoy some pre-event blurbage from Team Crow.

"This Sunday, Feb 28, Ben Tanzer will change your life and people will read things. While we generally feature poetry, we are also open to your comments and Tanzer Testimonials. Were you touched by the Tanz? What were the consequences, both real and imagined?"

PRATE interview love. Parker Stevenson. And the Peter Schwartz. Goodness.

As previously mentioned we love you a lot. Well that, and there has been an odd, but much appreciated surge in interest in Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine and TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer. Last week we were happy to share with you the very awesome Mel Bosworth Most Likely video and today we are quite excited to let you know that Ben has been interviewed by the quite cool Peter Schwartz as part of the really stellar Full of Crow PRATE interview series. Previous interviews include rock star writers Michael Kimball and Tim Hall and we are thrilled to be part if that line-up. We also hope you will take a look and as a wee teaser we offer you the following excerpt below:

P.S.: You had me at elaborate lie. Please, tell a lie, a secret, and a little known fact and then we’ll just invite our kind readers to jot down which they think is which. At the end of this interview, we’ll reveal the real answers and those of you with all three correct answers will WIN A FREE PRIZE that will both literally and figuratively blow your mind.

B.T.: Great question, and very Zellweger of you. Here you go:

(1) I once wrote Parker Stevenson a fan letter and asked him his advice on how one goes about becoming an actor. I sent it to Teen Beat where he had a column during the 70’s. He never responded and years later when Kirstie Alley left him I felt vindicated.
(2) I auditioned for the role of the son in The Shining. They told me I didn’t seem creepy enough, something a number of women I dated in high school would later strongly disagree with.
(3) When I was kid my parents would leave my brother and I at movie theaters to watch movies two even three times in a row. Between showings I would eat the popcorn that people left behind and to this day I have an intense craving for stale popcorn every time I watch Bedknobs and Broomsticks.