FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16: Much like beboppers and Republican presidents, the number of surviving beatniks in the world is dwindling. A few guys like Gary Snyder still roam the Earth, occasionally descending from the mountains to lay some heavy on us, and Amiri Baraka, the self-proclaimed “Last Poet Laureate of New Jersey,” did just that in a stifling, should-to-shoulder Eso Won Books, which boasts a killer rack of Sun Ra bootlegs and a rather decent stage and PA. Baraka, aged but fiery, started off by discussing his life, punctuating observations with the occasional “fuck that!” and “bullshit!” and advocating revolution and to “never give up on printing yourself.” Wise advice from a man who’s been printing not only his own work but stories by the likes of Burroughs and Kerouac since the late fifties. For most of an hour, Baraka—a passionate and compelling speaker—read from his new collection of works Tales from the Gone and Out. He was partaking in a trick old men are so fond of these days: mining the Vietnam vault. Every time I hear one of these “told you so” yarns, I can only think about how much they failed the first time. We get it. Iraq. Same bullshit. And frankly that kind of stuff is just disheartening. Following his reading he took a few questions from the audience. Now why is it that the first participant at a question-and-answer is always some self-serving sycophant with the ability to wind their way around a question that has virtually no relevance to anyone else in the room? Sure, everyone loves hearing themselves talk—but do it on your own time. (SOC)