zines

I managed to somehow miraculously get enough sleep last night and even beat the alarm clock this morning. It's like Jesus finally decided to stop shitting on my chest every time we'd make love and I'm crying for him to stop, I don't think it's sexy and it burns and leaves a ras...wait, nevermind, forget you read that.

There's a Post-It attached to my computer screen here at work that says I applied for a copyediting job somewhere else, since as I recall, I forgot to CC myself when I applied for that job and thus, when I eventually get the "no thanks you suck" email, I'll remember. Trying to get any sort of (copy)/editing and writing jobs these days outside of economics and music are almost impossible for someone who can't even be bothered to care that he looks like he should be shooting a family heirloom AK-47 from a mountaintop in what used to be Persia, at some poor kid from Milwaukee or whatever, who just wanted to get out of the 'hood and make something for himself in This Man's Army.

Hello folks,

Just thought that Punk Planet's readers might like to know that Verbicide is trying to help plug a small part of the giant hole left by PP's demise: beginning with issue 23, which is at the printer right now, Larry Livermore's column will now appear in Verbicide Magazine.

What was possibly most confusing in Phnom Penh, besides my lack of language comprehension and the fact that every single thing is different there, is that the city gets abbreviated to PP, and then there is a biweekly newspaper there called the Phnom Penh Post, which gets abbreviated to PPP. Every single time, I thought: that's too many P's—oh wait. I'm in Cambodia. No one here has even heard of Punk Planet.

Anyway, the inimitable Cat Barton over there published an interview with me: "Back in the girls’ dorm at 37," scroll down the left at: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/. (Do forgive the occasional error, journalism's a bit of a different gig over there.)

Today's announcement that No Depression magazine is folding up shop after the publication of their next issue is dredging up a lot of painful old memories for me. Last year felt like a bloodbath for independent publishers and the few that were able to hang on through it, I hoped would be able to persevere forever, defiant against what seemed like an inevitability.

But now No Depression, a magazine that I've always felt a kinship towards, has bent against the crosswinds that blew Punk Planet down as well. While No Depression didn't have a distributor bankruptcy to speed the downturn like we did, they still came up across the difficulties of being a publication supported in large part by the ads of record labels during a time when record labels are struggling on their own. As a result, the magazine saw its advertiser base dwindle:

[Although more stuff—details, zine workshops, small appearances—seem to be coming up all the time!]

RELEASE PARTY

Marketing the Unmarketable: The Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity Release Party
4 Nov: Chicago IL, The Hideout (1354 W. Wabansia, www.hideoutchicago.com)
7:30 doors, 8 p.m. start, $5 Suggested donation (to cover the sound person!)
Anne Elizabeth Moore will read from Unmarketable. Opening acts Betsy Crane, Richard Fox, Mairead Case, Anne Glickman and Jennifer Brandel, and others have some disgusting but strangely appealing offers you do NOT want to miss out on. Plus: Dance party with DJ Matt IRAC*.

A couple weeks ago, at the Hyde Park Art Center, I held a workshop about engaging audiences through self-publishing as a part of the Pedagogical Factory exhibition I've been involved in down there. We talked about how big media tends to operate, and then how to make zines, and then we made, I dunno, 7 or 8 of them? And then took them to the FCC hearing tonight in Chicago. Like this:

- I made 10-15 copies of each zine

- folded and cut them on the front steps of Rainbow/PUSH, which attracted quite a bit of attention from passersby, including

Thanks to Miranda the Bastard, who gave them a copy, Utne Reader just posted a review of geneva13, a zine I help put together. In a case of shameless self-promotion, this is what they said:

The unconventional stories featured in Geneva13 make for entertaining reads,whether or not you've heard of the zine's small hometown of Geneva, New York. Art, comics, poetry, photography, and short stories liven up the local zine's debut issue, which boasts a clean layout and first-rate writing. K[-] D[-] and Doug Reilly, the driving forces behind Geneva13, put their genre's culture on full display, publishing an engaging zine history by Anne Elizabeth Moore. Moore, the former publisher of Punk Planet, traces the evolution of zines from sci-fi to punk to Riot Grrrl and beyond. The strength behind this publication may prove to be the diversity of its contributors: "Geneva13 is a love song," writes Reilly in the intro, ". . . and I hope we can get as many people as we can to work on the lyrics." For more information, contact them at geneva13 [at] gmail [dot] com. -- Danielle Maestretti

People, KPunk does a zine called Geneva 13 and it is awesome. Completely focused on Geneva, NY, and all the attendant issues that go along with it (from citizen monitoring to indie restaurants), the zine is a fairly slick DIY manual entirely devoted to vitalizing zine culture in one singular town. Missing from issue one is only a layout guide for new zinesters, a key to distribution centers in Geneva, NY (AKA a map of drop spots), and that gritty feel you get from certain fanzines that makes you wanna make one yourself in an afternoon, because who cares how you spell "rekkid?"—not the people who make Geneva 13. These missing bits are made up for with smart, creative reporting and an interest in networking with other Genevas throughout the country. And anyway, they will probably get around to the above in upcoming issues. How can they not? So: Live in a Geneva? Send in your own Geneva zine. Don't? Buy one from KPunk and start reporting on your own city.

Hi all,
Humboldt Park zines The HSSreader (made by me) and A New Tomorrow (made by Mike) would like to invite you to a picnic in the park. Local zine distributor Loop Distro will be there too! Stop by for party favors of zines and stay for food and drink! Frisby, kickball, and other park-ish things to do!

07/29/2007
1pm til 4pm(or whenever!)
Humboldt Park 'Zine Picnic:
look for the bright balloons in the Southeast side of Humboldt Park near Division & California
(Chicago, Illinois 60647)
This event is FREE-ninety-FREE!

http://www.myspace.com/hssforever
http://www.myspace.com/hfipublishing

Pete Jordan's schedule for the Letterman show again, this time to hype his NewsCorp book. I'm thinking he'll probably go, but wouldn't it be great if he didn't? I think I would love that.