(Wishing For) Peace on Earth...

We've been enjoying our visit with family in Rochester, but were saddened by the news yesterday of yet another senseless tragedy... this time in Webster, New York, the very next town over from where I grew up. The site where two first responders were killed and two others injured after arriving at the scene of an early morning fire, is actually right near one of my parents' favorite restaurants... What makes this even more sickening is that the fire was an apparent ambush by yet another crazed gunman. 

These men died as heroes, no doubt about it... but following the tragic school shooting in Connecticut two weeks ago, and happening on Christmas Eve... it's all so terribly sad. This is far from what I expected to hear about during my return home... reminding how precious life is. My heart goes out to the victims' friends and families during this Christmastime.

Related Link:

"4 Firefighters Shot, 2 Killed at Webster, N.Y., Fire," Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, December 24, 2012

...

Last night I met a friend and former colleague out in the Berkshires. She was back in town doing some research at the Museum, and we all celebrated her return, looking forward to hearing about her new life in Dallas, Texas. One of the topics that came up last night was how easy it was to obtain a gun in her new hometown. 

This morning I ran down to the Museum around 10 a.m. to meet with a reporter and give him a tour of the Alex Ross exhibition. It was business as usual... I then did a little holiday shopping in the store, and ran down to the archives to check in with my visiting friend. How quickly the tone of the day changed when I got back to my office... it was here that I first heard the shocking news...

Like the rest of the nation, I can't understand how we have experienced yet another mass shooting. The fact that it included 20 innocent children makes it hit home even more... the senseless killing of innocent people... where does this end? How do we prevent this from happening again?

My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Newtown, Connecticut.

heavy heart

Related Links:
Meet The Press
'Race Cards': Six Words on Trayvon Martin's Death, NPR

control

Speaking of Adam "ShadoKat" Bowser, here is a poem he created for the Spoken Word Almanac Project (S.W.A.P.) on the topic of gun control. It was actually written in response to the news of the assassination attempt of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, representative of Arizona, back in January 2011. The tragic shooting actually happened a year ago to this day... so it shows just how early the poets start their work.

This poem made it into the year-end show--and for good reason. It has all the elements of the best S.W.A.P. pieces, which I described in the previous post. An emotional response from the audience, and for the poet--equally invested.

The process starts like this: first the poet chooses a news story each month. From there, they write the poem, eventually sharing it at a monthly meeting of the entire group. In this early stage, I start to think about visuals that might accompany the piece, and wrap my head around not only the story, but also the idea/tone the poet is trying to convey.

I like Adam's delivery: it gets more intense, more heightened as the poem goes along. I responded by making the imagery more and more alarming, and the cuts a little more frantic. I thought this one really captured the feeling of an idea gradually unravelling--losing control.

As good as this piece was, there are only so many works that can be included in the final show. It was decided to switch this out for the encore performance, so that Adam could have a chance to deliver his poem about Troy Davis (see last post). I am reminded of my years working in TV news, where the stories prepared for a live broadcast would sometimes get shuffled around last minute--or a new story would need to get cut. I have memories of frantically running back and forth from the studio to the editing room to facilitate such requests. Thankfully, things aren't quite that "last minute" with S.W.A.P., but we all need to be on our toes. That is the exciting thing about the live performance--I have experienced it on the stage as a performer, and here, behind the scenes as S.W.A.P.'s media designer.

Well, I have a train to catch--see you tonight in NYC!

Details:

The Spoken Word Almanac Project 2011 Encore Show
Friday, January 7, 2011, 9 p.m.

at Wild Project
195 East 3rd Street (between Ave A & B), New York, NY 10009
For more information: http://poetictheater.com/festival