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Thanks to everyone who came out -- we had a great crowd, with 50+ folks packing the house and 21 readers. Great words. Great food. Great Blacksmith Cellars grape. And swell hosting by Tim and Mary from Wilmot's Books. Thanks to all and hope to see ya in June at the next event......
-Cecil

Hi all,
Just a quick reminder for Bay Area folks that tomorrow night is the big open mic, aka Wilmot's Mic-less Open Mic III, featuring original work by local writers. Fabulous wine provided by our excellent and award-winning friends over at Blacksmith Cellars.

Wilmot's Mic-Less Open Mic II, December 2006

Hope to see you there tomorow. You can find all the details (plus a picture of infamous world-eater Galactus with his snugglies) right here.

Less than two weeks from now, on Saturday the 24th, we kick off the third Wilmot's Old-Fashioned Mic-Less Open Mic, here in the famed "Island City" of Alameda. Our first open mic back in September was fantastic. Great readers. Great crowd. Great grape, poured by Alameda's Du Vin Fine Wines. A real treat. Then in December, WOFMLOM II: wonderful readers, bigger crowd despite the rain, world-class wine provided by Blacksmith Cellars. Honest to gosh, a wonderful time. OK. So we're clearly due for a disaster. Dare you miss out? Cozy Galactus suggests not.

      Cozy Galactus, Open Mic Aficionado

Wine once again will be provided by our excellent (and award-winning) pals at Blacksmith Cellars. Writing will be provided by...writers! Hope to see ya there.

• Wilmot's Books: 478 Central Avenue, Alameda
• Sign up at 7 pm; words fly at 7:15
• 5 minutes per reader
• All manner of original prose and poetry welcome
• Directions: 510.865.1443

Shoot me an email to reserve a slot in advance.

Hi,
Just a reminder that the next Wilmot's Old-Fashioned Mic-Less Mic is just three thin days away. Drop me a line if you'd like to have your name added to the list ahead o' time. And leap o'er here for all the detailed info. We have a great buncha readers lined up, plus fab wine courtesy of Blacksmith Cellars. Should be a swell time.

Here's a painting we recently commissioned showing some of the fun from the first go around. The really hard part was getting everyone to stand still for 2 hours. Believe me, we won't be trying *that* again!

See ya Saturday...
-Cecil

UPDATE: Thanks to all who came out. Amazingly, drizzle and all, we got a packed house. 16 readers and somewhere between 35-40 people in the house. Great words chosen with care. World-class wine. And we even ended on time. Thanks to Mary and Tim of Wilmot's Books for hosting and to Blacksmith Cellars for the excellent grape. Next reading's in March -- hope to see you there.

Our second mic-less open mic is coming up a week from Saturday. This time around, Blacksmith Cellars has offered to pour a pair of their fantastic wines. Should be a lotta fun, whether you're sharing your work or just luxuriating in that world-famous Alameda hipster vibe while sipping a glass of award-winning grape.

Here's the scoop, straight from the flier:

Come join us Saturday, December 9th as Wilmot's Books hosts an old-fashioned mic-less open mic, featuring local writers plus fine wine courtesy of Blacksmith Cellars.

We'll keep things moving at a brisk yet mellow pace – 3-5 minutes per reader, just enough time to give folks a taste and leave them politely requesting more. "But no!" you'll say – "you'll have to wait till the next Wilmot's Old-Fashioned Mic-less Open Mic!"

• All manner of prose and poetry welcome.
• Sign up at 7 pm; words at 7:15 pm.
• Directions: 510.865.1443.
• Questions, or to sign up ahead of time: openmic@cecilvortex.com.

Wilmot's Books: 478 Central Avenue, Alameda

This Saturday night I'll be hosting an old-fashioned mic-less open mic at a great local bookstore – Wilmot's in Alameda (478 Central Avenue, Alameda).

Comestibles will be provided courtesy of a fantastic local Italian restaurant: C'era Una Volta. And a bit of the grape will be poured by my favorite local wineshop: Du Vin Fine Wines.

We'll keep things moving at a brisk yet somehow disturbingly mellow pace, with up to (yet no more than) five minutes per reader – just enough time to give folks a taste and leave them politely requesting more. "But no!" you'll say – "you'll have to wait till next month's Wilmot's Old-Fashioned Mic-less Open Mic!" That'll teach 'em.

• All manner of prose and poetry welcome.
• Sign up at 7 pm; the words begin to fly at 7:15 pm.
• For directions: 510.865.1443.
• For questions, or to sign up ahead of time: vortex@mediajunkie.com

Should be a fun time and I'd love to see ya there, whether to read or just nibble/drink the food/wine and cheer on the writers/readers.

-Cecil