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Table Scraps: video cuizine #1 Dave Underhill / MNispunk productions / Table Scraps P.O. Box 300033 / MNPL, MN 55403 / tscraps@capff.org / http://www.tsrcaps.org / order online from www.littletype.com (8.75) The very original Table Scraps formula is the next step in the development of zines and underground press. While "video-zines" have been around for years, Table Scraps combines zine aesthetics with DVD features to create a hybrid medium which can be viewed both as a video and / or navigated like a traditional print zine. Dave Underhill, TS coordinator (and also famous for organizing Cut and Paste Skateboarding Film Festival http://www.capff.org), delivers this virtual film festival to a DVD player near you. In taking advantage of the format's "extras" capability, TS, is not only a "main course" meal of in your face rock n' roll, but also comes with animations and hilarious shorts "a la carte." An issue of Table Scraps is like watching and listening to the latest issue of MRR or Punk Planet. It's what would have happened if Sesame Street had been run by Daniel Sinker & Tim Yohannan. Completely DIY, this project combines the best aspects of skateboarding videos, band interviews, live band performances, independent films, animations, some really fun randomness, and an awesome edible animated introduction (which is similar to the opening of Napolean Dynamite except it was filmed many months before the ND came out). The result is a DVD you can watch straight through in a 45 minute sitting, or you can throw it on at the annual pumpkin carving party and watch it piece-meal enjoying your favorite shorts such as Lori D.'s animation "Thursday," or the mystery of "Girl Ninja." Table Scraps #1 showcases music groups such as The Strike, The Soviettes, The Vibrators, All Girl Summer Fun Band, The Crush as well as appearances from other punk rock stars and starlets. Seeing Table Scraps is like being able to watch "Public Domain" except you can replay Rodney Mullen saying "I get so intense," 17 times, and then skip ahead to Mike Vallely running through a graveyard with just the touch of the remote control button. Watch for this at your local record store, or email Dave at: tscraps@capff.org. Sleepwalk: Lurid Tales of Lust and Mystery / Vol. 3 No. 2 Joe Meno / Lott Hill / Megan Stielstra / sleepwalk@rcn.com / free (8.5) There's 3 million people in Chicago proper and around 9 million in the ever expanding "Chicagoland." This is one of the best free lit rags out there. The personal, open-ended writing style is reminiscent of the fiction works crammed between ads in the glossy magazine industry. Not a knock-down at all, this is published independently by impassioned writers with an attractive art style which is rare in the literary community. Overall, the final package here is of a much higher quality than usually found on the do-it-yourself scene. Issac Adamson sets the tone with a strong story involving a 13-year old wangsta' rappin' ghost. Themes of ghosts and bullied adolescents continue throughout. Vaguely based around a theme Sleepwalk has collected 8 short stories and offered up some art and comics for you. This free publication is at least worth a buck and if you enjoy reading at all you should definitely take the opportunity to snatch up a copy for free before it either disappears or they start charging. There is much stand-out writing here. I only winced at Wappler's, "Slots and Tabs" which spoke of taking some literary risks but ultimately copped-out. Lavendar, Meno, and Stielstra, are exceptionally strong with stories which literally give pause. Becan's Ouija comic complements the vulgarities offered by Adamson, Meno, and also Sean Carwell's story about running from the neighborhood bully, who by the way is unusually hideous. Lott Hill's story relates inner struggles of loving. Filled with a civil war era graphic motif, punctuated by Kat Powers Abe Lincoln in-action portraits, yet contrasted with stories set in the 21st century, Sleepwalk V.3, No.2 approaches "professional" standards but keeps it's street smarts in tow. Catskin: a swaddled zine Kelly Link / Jelly Ink Press / 360 Atlantic Ave, PMB 132 / Brooklyn, NY 11217 / www.kellylink.net (9.5) I traded or bought this zine at the Underground Publishing Conference in BG, OH, in 2002. At the time I didn't think much of it. And it sat in the zine collection for quite some time. Months later I picked it up and read. This is dynamite. Great fictional writing, I was completely drawn in to the world in Catskin. Although at times it seems to be a story for children, certain passages are quite adult. What happens to a witch's children when she has been poisoned by another witch? Written as though inspired by a dreams and Salvidor Dali paintings, Catskin tells of a world where female witches give birth to houses, and have to steal their children. Where a boy named Small can become a cat by wearing a skin made of cats and the ants, who have strong jaws and strong legs, carry pieces of time away, out the window. Wildly simple and sexy it advises, "You should never burn down a house. You should never set a cat on fire." A bed time story to share with someone close. Dedicated to Christopher Rowe (any relation to Chip Rowe?) of Small Beer Press, who wrote a zine called "...is this a cat?" which Link responded to with this zine. By the way, this story was also published in McSweeney's #10. Viola`. Mobius Strip Tease Comic #1.5 (Hello my name is SUPER TOP) Doc Pop / 1300 Grand St. NE Apt#22/7 / Minneapolis, MN 55413 / yoyogenius@hotmail.com / yoyos.arepopular.com (6) Doctor Popular is back with a quick comic. In this issue we are introduced to the protagonist "Super Top," who is afraid of the dark. Complete with a "Hello my name is SUPER TOP" sticker on the cover, Doc's comics are simple, unique, and off the wall. On Subbing #4 Dave Roche / 1036 N. Shaver St. / Portland OR 97227 / poodrow@hotmail.com (8) My first time reading On Subbing, Dave tells the quotidian tales of being a substitute Education Assistant for Special Education classes in the Portland Public School District. Balancing his anti-establishment punk rock identity with the authority of "being the teacher," Dave's voice is both straight to the point and humorous. Whether helping autistic kids to the bathroom or playing Pinhead Gunpowder on the computer in the library, the subbing profession is everything and nothing you'd expect. This zine would be of interest to anyone in the teaching profession. The cover is a mesh screen stapled to the zine pages, underneath is a worksheet called Pedal Power, a favorite of the author Dave, who is known to ride his bicycle to school as much as possible. I purchased this quarter sized gem at Quimby's in Chicago for $1. Scenery #15 Mike Taylor / PO BOX 28226 / Providence, RI 02908 (8) In 20 7" square pages Mike covers topics politicos, the economies of social interaction, and Joe McCarthy's Ghost. The writing is reasonably collegiate. The drawings fresh and gutsy. When Mike writes, "and yes of course this is art," I would have to agree, and good art at that. The cover, silkscreened in a battleship grey-green ink over a salmon cardstock and topped with a black photocopied key image is sumptuous. Though not a linear narrative, this issue documents a moment in time, post September 11th; a disjointed, intentionally haphazard snapshot. I bought this zine from Joe Biel and Microcosm Publishing at the Allied Media Conference in Bowling Green, OH, 2003. Stray Dogs and Static #1 Johnnie Armchair / 3314 1/2 avenue of the cities / Moline, IL 61265 / armchairrevolution@hotmail.com (7.75) Johnny Armchair has created zines for many years with the name Armchair Revolution. In Stray Dogs and Static, Johnnie recalls friendships and examines his relationships. Inter-social activity seems to be an undercurrent in this zine comprised of seemingly unrelated shorts. The artistic sense and layout ability is noteworthy, a skill honed from years of zine making and reading, There is a good deal of space in this zine, definitely opposite the spectrum of a Winston Smith collage. The sparseness of text and graphics is more to its advantage; as each is can be viewed in it's own space with patience. This techinque demonstrates a confidence in each page. Beautiful three-color cover. Spelling errors abound but what can be expected. The romanticism of Green Day's "Good Riddance" comes to mind, yet this zine would stand out in the possibly overpopulated genre of the personal fanzine. |