Justin Sirois (pictured center)

is a very cool man. Justin is from Baltimore. The Wire is from Baltimore. The Wire is a very cool show. alas, coincidence?. i don't know. i do know that i had the pleasure of introducing Justin at his Artifact reading the other night in SF. Justin wrote a kick ass book called Silver Standard that's been getting a lot of deserved buzz. Justin is into rock and roll.

Garrett Caples (pictured left) is a very cool man. Brian Strang introduced Garrett Caples at the same Artifact reading. you can read Brian's very cool introduction over at A Tonalist Notes. Garrett made a really cool record called Surrealism's Bad Rap. Garrett is into Bay Area Hip Hop.

Justin has a poetry record label called Narrow House Recordings. Narrow House Recordings is a kick ass label/ press. Narrow House Recordings is one of my favorite label/ presses. Justin produced Garrett's record Surrealism's Bad Rap and released it on Narrow House Recordings. Justin and Garrett are very cool men with very good taste.

and here's a small bit from my very small introduction:

"Justin Sirois is a dangerous man. Justin Sirois’ book wants to beat up your book. The book in question is Silver Standard. If we are to believe Ron Silliman the book jacket is made up of “374 staples, 96 vertical staples (8 columns of 12 each) both front & back and 91 horizontal staples (7 columns of 13 each) again both front and back, thus 187 staples for the front, 187 for the back.” We’ll trust Silliman on the math, Sirois’ book wants to beat up your book. And I’m into that."