The Perfect Room

Saturday night, in downtown Eureka, I was a guest of The Perfect Room. Monte and Laura were instrumental in inviting their artist friends from as far away as Seattle and San Francisco to meet again as they had previously done in Seattle. Their warmth and graciousness is felt through Cascadia, and far beyond.

Monte, on the right, is welcoming folks as he chats with poets Stefanie Dirico and Randall Potts.

The Perfect Room was held in a humble performing artists space in Old Town Eureka. Some of the artists are not shown here, as many of my photos didn't turn out due to not using my flash. Meg Renmeyer (sp?), in particular, performed one of the wierdest, put it all out there, blow your mind performances you'll ever see.

Monte in his usual role of Master of Ceremonies. He also gave a reading of some of his poems.

In the back, Judy Irving and Mark Bittner were filming. Judy made the documentary "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill", and Mark was the human subject of the film, who had an extraordinary relationship with the parrots. Judy and Mark also developed a relationship with each other. They showed the first 16 minutes of their new film, "Pelican Dreams". It appears that it will feature quite a bit of Monte, and some of IBRRC. The film starts out with the rescue of a pelican on the Golden Gate Bridge, which is then brought to IBRRC.

Olin singing and playing his songs.

Monte and Willoughby, percussionist.

Monica Shley read her lovely poems, played piano, and sang her songs.

Mark Bittner read some of his writing about living off of handouts years ago, and being surprised how a lucky break can happen at the least expected time. He is also a musician, and belted out a Dylan song.

Mark, singing and playing.

Stefanie Diricco had a very engaging presence, and humerous poetry.

Eli Huntington performed with the other musicians by playing his version of electronica.

Randall Potts read his poetry which radiated warmth and sensitivity.

This dancer, whose name I didn't catch, performed in what I believe is the Butoh style of theatrical dance. The dance may have lasted 15 minutes or so, and became grotesque, as is the style. The musicians are Monica, Ishan, Willoughby, and Monte.

Laura provided the lighting background for the dance using an overhead, and torn up bits of paper. Laura also had her drawings on display, and read her poetry. I really enjoyed being around her and Monte - they are greatly missed in the Bay Area!

I hope to add a couple videos of the evening, but currently, Blogger doesn't want to upload them. I'll work on it later, though.

Tomorrow, I head north to Newport, Oregon to visit my sister-in-law, Lorie, and her son Aaron.