The NewPages
Zine Rack

Number Nineteen (Posted Feb 23, 2004)
 

Brainscan

Number 20

This latest issue of Brainscan contains a mixture of reprints and new material.  The essays all revolve around common themes of nostalgia and confronting the past while trying to figure out how it fits into the present.  For part of the issue, Alex is on the road with a zine tour, and ends up in Salt Lake, a place from her past where, as she puts it, she started to discover who she was.  I’m sure we all have a geographic place that provided roots for our self-identities.  I know I do, and I know what it’s like to go back and visit a place like that, where memories seem to be lurking around every corner.  This is a reflective issue and the themes within of identity, friendship, nostalgia, and coming-of-age are pretty well universal in their appeal.  [4.75” x 6”, $2 + shipping (see Microcosm site), Alex Wrekk, PO Box 14332, Portland, OR 97293, brainscanzine@ureach.com, www.microcosmpublishing.com]

Clamor

Issue 24

Jan/Feb 2004

It’s been a very long time since I reviewed Clamor, and, let me tell you, it’s changed quite a bit in that time.  I’ve been subscribing since the beginning, and so it’s been interesting to see the evolution of a magazine that, from its onset, strove to be different.  Now featuring striking full-color covers and a more cohesive structure shaped by new section editors, Clamor continues to dig below the surface in order to report on media, political, economic, sex/gender, and cultural issues that are typically ignored by other media outlets.  Over time, Clamor’s articles have gotten shorter and, in some cases, less in-depth, which I initially thought was a desperate attempt to attract more readers with shorter attention spans, but at the cost of a loss in informational content.  However, I’ve kind of changed my mind recently.  I thought that this particular issue, in fact, was very good.  It’s understandable that Clamor would experience some growing pains, particularly during its initial phase of finding and developing a strong, established readership.  Longer, analytical articles complete with footnotes generally only appeal to a certain type of reader, and I doubt that these readers make up the majority of Clamor’s potential audience.  In its current incarnation, Clamor continues to offer up a wide range of coverage dispensed mostly in 2-3 page concise articles.  And, if you’re left wanting at the end of a particular article, website addresses are often included to point you in the right direction for more information.  Oh, yeah, and this is the “Make Art, Not War” issue.  Just order it; you won’t be disappointed.  The 6-issue subscription is the best deal.  [8.5” x 11”, single copies $4.50 US/$6 outside US, 6-issue sub $18 US/$25 outside US, checks payable to “Become the Media,” Become the Media Inc., PO Box 20218, Toledo, OH 43610, www.clamormagazine.org]

Cultor-Sore

#15

From Taylor Ball comes the latest issue of his zine, now transformed from Sore into Cultor-Sore.  I’d never read Sore, although I’d heard of it here and there in the zine network.  Whereas Sore apparently focused more on music, Cultor-Sore currently exists as a hybrid of perzine and review zine, covering music, books, and zines.  Taylor plans to continue focusing more on the personal and creative writing in future issues.  The writing in this issue comes from Taylor and a few of his friends, and explores themes of hometowns, identity, growing up, and travel.  The highlights for me were Michael Gentry’s piece “W. Lakes,” about a kid’s experience being involved in a small-town family dispute, and editor Taylor’s ruminations on moving to a new town for the first time.  Having dealt with misplacing bits of my own identity and losing friends over the course of several long-distance moves, I identified with Taylor’s reflections on his experiences.  My favorite quote from his essay: “But the difficulty in being responsible for my own happiness frightens me into wondering whether or not I’ll ever be entirely happy in a place, or if a place with overwhelming appeal even exists.”  Taylor, man, I hear where you’re coming from.  Good, solid reading here.  [5.5” x 8.5”, single copies $2, subs: 3-issue $5, 6-issue $10, email for international rates, cash, check or money order to Taylor Ball, Cultor-Sore zine, PO Box 68711, Virginia Beach, VA 23471, SOREzine@aol.com, www.parcellpress.com]

Flibbertigibbet

Issue 1

From the back cover: “This is the journal of a fourteen year old girl named Zea.”  Well, I’m impressed.  I don’t know many fourteen-year-olds who are this articulate.  With a colorful cast of family, friends, and schoolmates, this short little zine documents one day in Zea’s life.  She attends the Louisa May Alcott School of Arts and has a crush on a boy named Robert, who, along with the other guys in his band, receives music lessons from Zea’s father.  Subject matter of crushes and high school antics is definitely indicative of Zea’s age, but her writing is strong and entertaining.  Two dollars is a bit steep for 12 pages of text, but at least it’s quality.  Seeing as this is issue one, I’d be interested to see if she’s published more since.  [5.5” x 8.5”, $2 or trade to Pandas, a Bathtub and a Red Loincloth, PO Box 28870, Seattle, WA 98118]

Green Anarchy

#15

With this issue, GA has shifted from newspaper to magazine format, and I’d say that it was a good move.  Considering the subject matter, I’d be much more apt to read this as a magazine.  Something about politically focused underground newspapers just turns me off.  I know it’s a cheap way to mass-produce and distribute your ideology, but it certainly doesn’t hold any aesthetic appeal.  GA made the change with the intention of producing a more “durable and long-lasting piece of propaganda”, and in an effort to increase distribution.  But, to get on with the review, green anarchism is a strain of anarchism concerned with a return to a more primitive way of life.  Just out of curiosity, I looked up primitivism in the dictionary, and Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines it as: 1. belief in the superiority of a simple way of life close to nature. 2. belief in the superiority of nonindustrial society to that of the present.  As anarchists with a focus on these beliefs, green anarchists typically align themselves with indigenous modes of culture.  This issue of GA includes, among many other features, reports on anti-globalization movement activities, anarchist perspectives on the situations in both Palestine and Iraq, and part two of an interview with psychologist, political activist, and writer Chellis Glendinning.  If you support the ideas of green anarchy, you probably already know about this publication, but for others, this is a good place to start if you’re interested in finding out more about this movement.  [8.5” x 11”, single issues: $4/US, $5/CAN, $6/EUR, $7/WORLD, free to prisoners, 5-issue subs: $18/US, $22/CAN, $28/EUR, $32/WORLD, well-concealed cash, postal money orders or checks in U.S. currency made out to “Green Anarchy”, Green Anarchy, PO Box 11331, Eugene, OR 97440, collective@greenanarchy.org, www.greenanarchy.org]

The Heart Star

The Heart Star is a sweet little folk tale created by Christoph after he received a heart-shaped hole-punch in the mail from someone.  The hole-punch inspired the writing and publication of this short illustrated story of a restless ghost searching for peace.  On the cover is a striking linoleum block print.  Well done.  [4.25” x 5.5”, $1.50 to Christoph Meyer, PO Box 106, Danville, OH 43014]

Leeking Ink

Issue 28

First, kudos goes out to Davida for continuing to publish her long-running perzine, and still doing a damn good job of it.  The 28^th issue of Leeking Ink features a slight change in format; Davida has replaced the diary entries with an open letter of sorts summing up what’s been going on in her life since last issue.  I think it works well, accomplishing similar goals as the diary entries did, but in a more seamless and better flowing arrangement.  The bulk of the issue is taken up by her freakishly surreal description of a horrendous job situation that she’s thankfully since left behind.  Wooh, that girl has a knack for landing in some seriously sketchy employment conditions.  Makes for good zine writing, at least.  Other features include a New Orleans travelogue/tattoo story, a tribute to Sophie the dog (RIP May 2003), and a status report on her current pet situation.  A well-rounded and entertaining issue!  [5.5” x 8.5”, $2 to Davida Gypsy Breier, PO Box 963, Havre de Grace, MD 21078, davida@leekinginc.com, www.leekinginc.com]

Motherload

Yes, Motherload is a mama zine.  This 2003 Solstice issue features very nicely reproduced and attractive black-and-white photography, poetry, mama insight, and recipes.  I particularly enjoyed Gaynor Taylor’s personal essay “The Burning Wheel” on cycles, both bad and good.  Nicely put together.  Looking for submissions.  [5.5” x 8.5”, $2? to Cable/Motherload, Box 51404, Eugene, OR 97405, motherloadzine@aol.com]

Paper Crush

#2

“Going Home.”  Although Krissy is tired of reading travel zines, she decides to write one herself.  This issue, as she explains it, though, is more about going home again than about visiting new places.  For two weeks, she spent time in old haunts, hanging out with old friends, and also attending one of those friend’s wedding.  Along the way she discovers that another of her friends has died, which understandably throws her off track.  Krissy lays a lot of heavy reflection down on these pages, some of it similar in theme to that of several of the other zines in this month’s column.  Friendships both old and new, and how to maintain them, what happens when we move or choose to stay, remembering what it feels like to meet new people and get to know them in a short period of time, being single when so many of your friends are married.  Deeply personal in a good, thought-provoking way, this zine was a true pleasure to read.  [5.5” x 8.5”, $2? to Krissy – PonyBoy Press, c/o IPRC, 917 SW Oak St. #218, Portland, OR 97205, ponyboypress@yahoo.com]

Trail of Clothes

“10 poems by Ashley Johnson, edited by Andy Jones.”  These poems first struck me as having a musical quality to them.  There are no excess words; the phrasing is spare and eloquent.  Another aspect of them that I appreciated was their straightforwardness.  I can’t stand when poetry appears to be deliberately evasive and abstract.  Of course, having written poetry like that myself, albeit a very, very long time ago, I can see how one could fall into that trap.  But Ashley Johnson has things to say and she refuses to veil her thoughts and emotions in vague language.  That was what I liked most about these poems.  Themes include, among others, confrontation of death, celebration of womanhood, love, and the beauty of life.  My favorite of the bunch: “Stars Spin like Spurs”, inspired by a scene in the novel Like Water for Chocolate.  Check out the Sweet Anthem Press website for info on this and other collections.  [5.5” x 8.5”, for ordering information email Meredith Tucker at mtucker@sweetanthempress.com or visit this website: www.sweetanthempress.com]