NERVES #4- I’ve gotta admit, I do enjoy it when a zine comes with a CD. Unfortunately in this case I haven’t had a chance to listen to the CD, which contains music made by the zine’s author Alex along with a few other songs, but it’s the principle of the thing. It shows that Alex cares enough to throw in something extra. As for the zine itself...well, it was pretty doggone good. Plain text with a few photos interspersed to spice things up. It’s mostly short pieces- Van Reviews where Alex talks about van’s he’s owned, Airport Reviews, and Oral Surgeon reviews (which includes the suggestion “Go to the dentist more than once every 10 years” which is advice I oughta follow) It’s a pretty quick read, but I rather enjoyed it. 16 pages quarter size + a CD Send $5 or a trade to Alex 1920 North Kedzie Ave #3 Chicago IL 60647 www.some-music.org alexh@riseup.net

MILKYBOOTS #6 The author says this is “a diary comic about daily life for Virginia (the author) in simple black & white line drawings.” Now look, I kow the little form you fill out asks a description, but when you’re that succinct about it it really doesn’t leave the reviewer with much to do. Virginia’s own description pretty much sums it up. Though I do beg to differ about the “simple” line art. It’s not exactly highly detailed, but it’s much more than just stick figures. Some of the pages are funny, some are sad, some are somewhere in between and some just are. I liked this one. 16 half size pages. send $2 or trade (maybe) to Virginia Paine 3712 NE 13th Ave, Portland OR 97212 vlpaine@yahoo.com, milkyboots.blogspot.com

CULTIVATOR #1- This one looks just like an old school zine. Cut & paste back when it referred to actually cutting and pasting pieces of paper to each other instead of just making a few clicks on your mouse. The theme of this issue is “Know your place” where the author writes about the place that she both grew up and recently moved back to, the city of St. Catharines ONT. She examines it then and now and I found it quite interesting, especially her discussion of how from one of the largest producers of bikes in all of Canada to a place that barely even welcomes bike riding. Speaking of which, this zine contains a picture of a guy riding one of those old timey bikes with the giant front wheel and the tiny back wheel to illustrate her hometown’s bike obsession. (Yes, I know these bikes are called Penny Farthings, but if I’d have just said “a penny farthing” you may not have known what they were.) (Oooh... I’m totally going to type “penny farthing” into Scribblenauts and see what happens.) At any rate, I got to wondering just whose idea these bikes were? They seem very difficult just to get seated on, they can’t go very fast and they seem quite dangerous to fall off of. Since they didn’t have a lot of electrical devices back then you’d think at the very least they could have taken the time to perfect the design of what they did have. Maybe people really were stupider back then, but you’d think the guy who invented bikes would be smart enough to take another few minutes to make both wheels the both size. OK, I liked this zine. Good stuff. 40 pages, 4.5 x 5.5 Send $2 or a trade to Kate Andres-Toal 16 Atwood St., St. Catharines, ON, L2R 1H1, Canada

RICOCHET, RICOCHET #8- This is another zine that looks like and old school zine. But the typewriter they used for parts of this zine needs a new ribbon. And I can’t quite read some of the handwriting. However, it does come with a free CD and as I mentioned previously, I always like that. I didn’t get a chance to listen to this one either. As far as the overall content of the zine it’s pretty good. Not quite the kind of thing I tend to read but good nonetheless. Some zine reviews, a bit on Prop 8 (which is funny just because they’re from England and I can’t imagine any American zine caring enough to write a piece related to American politics. Not even American politics, but California politics. Maybe Americans are just apathetic goofs.) and dueling restaurant reviews by a married couple who were visiting San Francisco which I liked. Pretty good, but some parts just aren’t as readable as they could (or should be) Half size send $3 US or 80p UK or trade to Colly & Paffy 3d Worlingham Rd, London Se22 9HD UK, ricochetricochet@yahoo.co.uk

ETC #4- LIFT OFF- A lit zine made up of art and writing of a variety of people, but the main architects appear to be Dan Folgar and Chris Wiewiora. Like most zines of this type it’s a hit or miss affair. I liked the comics, didn’t care much for the poems (and to be fair I never care for any poetry) and I found the fiction to be kind of a mixed bag. It’s definitely a nice looking package with a nice cardboard cover. Lots of care clearly went into the layout and it shows. I’d say it’s worth reading even if the whole thing isn’t your cup of tea. Half size send $4 to ETC zine, PO Box 678421 Orlando FL 32867-8421 ETCzine@gmail.com

WTF? #1: JETSET ANALOG FUTURE- This is also sort of a lit zine, but by only one author. I rather enjoyed most of it. The Dystopian Tales are funny (I even kinda liked the poems) There are a few bits that kinda fall flat, but they are pretty short so I can deal with them. It’s well done, especially for a first issue. Certainly worth a read if you’re into a humorous lit zine kinda deal. Half size, 24 pages, send $3 to DJ Burnett PO Box 131 Fryburg, PA 16326 djburnett@yahoo.com

Reviews of Mostly True, ETC, Dwelling Portably, Hell's Half-Acre Herald and Exit 63 from Fred Argoff

Once upon a time, there was a magical, mystical land known as Brooklyn. People traipsed around saying such strange, wonderful things as, "Geddoudahere!" "Fuhgeddaboudit!" and even, "You got a problem with that?" Some of the people from this fanciful country got involved with zines. Producing them, and even reviewing them. So enough with the fairytale introduction already, and let's see what's here to review...

Well, I kept telling myself that I was going to save the best for last, but all my resolve just melted away. So let's begin with Mostly True. There's very little question that Davida only sent this one to me because she knew I was going to love it! Right there on the cover of Vol. 19, No. 7 it says, "The West's Most Popular Hobo Graffiti Magazine," and for anyone who's even vaguely interested in railroads, this one is the jackpot! Railroading adventures, hobos, loads of photos, even old ads. Featured in this issue, the search for Bozo Texino, and the Colossus of Roads. It's really more of a magazine than a zine, but why be a nitpicker? Don't waste another minute, and get your $6.95 in the mail right away, to Bill Daniel at Microcosm Publishing, 222 S. Rogers St., Bloomington IN 47404.

And yet more creativity, this time in ETC (that stands for, Everybody That Creates). The premise is simple: people create things--that is, things like artwork and short stories, and this zine presents them. Issue #2 has a story about bees (watch out! Somebody is going to get stung) and some comics. I, personally, liked the "Real Life for Real" panels, maybe because I relate to stick figures as about the only type of drawings I can manage. It's fun to check in and see what other people are creating, so I say, go for it. $2 from Chris Almond, P.O. Box 678421, Orlando FL 32867-8421.

Dwelling Portably has been around a long time. And the way things are going lately, it appears more and more relevant with each passing day. The premise is that you don't necessarily have to live within the grid. The issue at hand has tips for dealing with dirt floors, various (and very creative) uses for free water barrels, the merits of vitamin D, solar cooking, and plenty more. Also has a summary of past issues--many of which are still available--and a listing of unusual sources, many of which are zines. $1 per issue (6 back issues for $5 or 12 for $10) from P.O. Box 190-L, Philomath OR 97370-0190.

Remember the old sci-fi movie "Day of the Triffids?" Well, don't look now, but... Hell's Half-Acre Herald presents the Texas Triffid Ranch. Did you guess that the subject is carnivorous plants? Congratulations! Featured in the first issue, feeding P. Americana (the good old American cockroach) to your pitcher plant, and the coming of the dragonfruit. There's also a listing of resources. I didn't know that there was an International Carnivorous Plant Society, but there is. Do they sell Venus' flytrap T-shirts, I wonder? In any case, no price listed, so "the usual" will have to do, from Paul Riddell, 5930 E. Royal Lane (#140), Dallas TX 75230.

Next up, we have Exit 63. At least, I think that's the title. The cover of #8 also has Blues in big letters, so I can't say for sure which one is the title. That, by the way, is a demerit, if we have to guess what the zine is called. Anyway, this is the Lust for Lists issue. Our friendly local editor lists the things he did every day, from June 1 through August 17. For example, the list for July 4, representative of the zine: 1--worked most of the day. 2--tried to call Liz. 3--skated a lot. 4--listened to some baseball on the radio. Liz is definitely important to the zine, as she shows up in most of the lists. I hope we're dealing with genuine youth here, or something is terribly wrong. No price listed (pun unavoidable) but if you like reading lists of things, you might want to give this a try, from Matthew Bodette, 6466 Rt. 125, Vergennes VT 05491.

...And they all lived happily ever after. There! We got back to the fairytale theme just in time for my closing.