NPS and beyond, some information, and a new vlog!

Hey true believers, Sean Conlon here.

So we got a little swept up in the craziness that is the National Poetry Slam and didn't get a chance to tell you about what happened in the second half of competition. Here are some highlights.

1) We got totally shut out of our second bout--we took a distant 4th--but the bout itself was famously awful, considered one of the worst of the year. One of the judges had to be kicked out for harassing the crowd and trying to buy PCP from the poets. You didn't hear it from me, but I hear his pupils were as big as nickels!

2) The Cantab Lounge semi-final was a real nail-biter! Lincoln, Nebraska and Denver Mercury lounge fought hard and brought some really great work, but the Cantab won easily with the help of a two-point lead established by Omoziele Okoawo's "Raindrops."

3) I got to read on finals stage! Despite many technical flubs, I succeeded in opening the night (along with Detroit's Young Phenom and NYC's Mohagony Brown) reading "The Gentleman's Guide to Suicide: an Introduction." That makes me the first poet to open the finals night for both CUPSI and NPS in a single year!

4) Saying goodbye to all our friends at the end of the week was really really difficult, and then we went through a long series of mishaps before finally arriving in our respective homes. Here is a final videoblog, put together by AJ on behalf of the team, with some special guest stars. Enjoy!