GROW: How to take your DIY project and passion to the next level & quit your job!

review from Anne: GROW: How to take your DIY project and passion to the next level & quit your job!

128 pages, 5.5. x 7, June 2013, $11.95 (no trades, ships via Microcosm)

Eleanor C. Whitney, MPA

microcosmpublishing.com

joe@microcosmpublishing.com

This is a rad little book. The design of it is really cool and visually appealing; I would totally have picked it up just to check it out even if the subject wasn't super interesting (and, honestly, it is -- who doesn't dream of ditching the day job to be your own creative boss?). Organized into smart, clear sections dealing with money and building community as well as marketing and media, Whitney includes points and examples from other DIY small-business owners, like Punk Rope and Brooklyn Soda Works. There's also a really great section about "Building a DIY Life" -- which is something that I think all small business owners struggle with. I own and operate a small business, which in the last year has become a larger project (though not quite yet full time), and these are very important points to think about. How do you make your business not just sustainable, but something that grows? There's also a particularly excellent resource section in the back of the book. Worth checking out, for sure.

New Reviews

Some today, more tomorrow...

MY TIME ANNIHILATOR- A BRIEF HISTORY OF 1930’S SCIENCE FICTION FANZINES- I got a zine pet peeve. A lot of zinesters today think that zines started with the Punk zines of the 1970’s which is just not true. I don’t quite know how far back you can trade modern day zines, but you can definitely trace a straight line from zines today back to the sci-fi zines of the 30’s as this zine attempts to show. It all starts when the author of the zine finds something called “The Fanzine Index- From 1937 to the Present.” which was about 1952. He tries to do some research, but reaches dead ends until he finds a fanzine collection in Temple University and finds that this is his “ticket to a lackluster world of 1930’s zine trades, cancelled postage stamps, lazer battles and types” I thought his findings were quite interesting and would be of interest to any zine geek. What really struck m as funny was how little has really changed. The same basic breeds of people do zines now as did them then. 1/4 size, 30 pages, no author listed but I got my copy for $1 at this link right here- http://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/2841/
THE RAINBOW CONNECTION- RICHARD HUNT, GAY MUPPETEER- I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (though I don’t quite understand why I find myself saying it so often)- if you don’t like the Muppet Show you’re probably an asshole. It’s possible there are some non-assholes out there who don’t like the Muppet Show just like there are some non-assholes who don’t like the Ramones, but a dislike of the Muppet Show is certainly symptomatic of asshole-ism. At any rate, I’ve recently been going through a Muppet phase so I was pretty excited to see a zine about the Muppeteer who did the characters of Scooter, Statler, Beaker & Janice and the Sesame Street characters Gladys the Cow, Forgetful Jones & Bert’s nephew Brad who I mention just because I always got a kick out of him. Like me the author was also a Muppet fan who found herself going through a Muppet phase when she found that Richard Hunt died of AIDS in 1992 which got her curious about him and his work sp she made this zine about him and his work and the subtext behind it all. In addition to being a biography of Richard Hunt it also features short biographies of some of the female Muppeteers. Must read if you’re a Muppet fan. gaymuppeteer@gmail.com 1/2 legal, 82 pages I got it for $7 at Microcosm and the link is here-http://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/2858/
HUNGOVER GOURMET #11- This is the “super sized” final issue which is kind of sad since it was a fine zine, but I guess it’s better to call it quits than to keep on going and doing it half assed. This is a zine about food and this issue is fairly coffee-centric with writings on coffee from a variety of writers. Everything from a history of coffee to a piece on coffee enemas to why Dunkin Donuts is better than Starbucks. But my favorite piece in the issue was Louis Fowler’s article “Stupid Size Me” in which he attempts to make it through a whole week on only $20 worth of groceries because apparently some politician said people wouldn’t need welfare if they only spent $20 a week on groceries. There’s no attribution to this quote so to be honest I have no idea if any politician said anything of the sort. It sure sounds too stupid to be true, but politicians being what they are I wouldn’t put it past them. And the article is entertaining enough that it doesn’t matter. Not only is it funny, it also makes a serious point about why so many poor people are so obese. This zine is god stuff all around. half size, 44 pages, send $3 to Dan taylor, PO Box 5531, Lutherville MD 21094-5531 www.hungovergourmet.com hungovergourmet.blogspot.com editor@hungovergourmet,.com

Xerography Debt #25 is now available!

Xerography Debt #25 is now available!

Microcosm has copies and is currently distributing to their usual retail outlets. To learn more go to:
http://microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/zines/2693/

Self-Serving Post

The Leeking Inc website has been revamped for the first time in 3-4 years. The reasons are thus:

1) Xerography Debt will remain in print and is partnering with Microcosm Publishing for distribution! #25 will be out in the spring.

2) I have started a new zine devoted to zombies, Rigor Mortis.

3) I had a bunch of debris on the site that simply needed to be cleaned up.

Invincible Summer --an anthology--by Nicole J. Georges (review by Anne)

(because today's the day with the extra hour, i am making up for lost time)

Invincible Summer --an anthology
Nicole J. Georges
many illustrated pages--fancy book bound
ISBN:0-97269967-6-8 Microcosm #76053)
Microcosm Publishing
222 S. Rogers St Bloomington IN. 47404
www.microcosmpublishing.com
jessie [at] microcosmpublishing[dot] com
(cost? not sure. email for details)

Reprinted in October 2007, this collection covers the first 8 issues of Nicole's zine, started in 2000 when she first moved to Portland. This second edition (the first was printed in 2004) includes more material--more drawings of dogs, material that wasn't published before, other new bits. Not having the first edition to compare with the later one, all I can say on that is that the book is pretty substantial and there are an awful lot of very cute dog drawings.

You could actually apply that phrase--an awful lot of very cute--to the entire book. There's a collection of the drawings from her 2006 calendar, which totally made me want to do my own (in addition to the crazy-busy let-me-stump-it-again monster millinery thing). In fact, the whole thing was kind of inspiring; like that feeling you get when you read a really, really good zine and it somehow lights a fire under your butt, this book made me want to bust out my pens and draw. I've been working on a long book project (nothing to do with the slowness that is booty #22) that's taking a long time to do and reading through this one made me really excited to get back to it.

It's sort of like sifting through old letters; by the end I felt as if I'd caught up on five or so years of an old friend's life. There's an easy familiarity to her work and it's an enchanting kind of read. Highly recommended.

Reviews from Eric

I like to do a little intro to my reviews even thiugh I have nothing to say. But if you live in the US you gotta go vote next Tuesday. Not so much for the Presidential election because quite frankly your one vote really doesn't make much of a difference unless you live in one of the undecided states and that's assuming the whole thing isn't fixed to begin with. But you may have ballot questions and apparently if I vote wrong here in MA. dogs will be abused, potheads will rot in prison and I will get a few extra bucks in my paycheck while schools, hospitals & libraries collpase around me. They sure make it sound important.


BAMBOOZLED: THE JOEY TORREY STORY- “If the police ask for help, just say no! If the FBI comes knockin, do not answer the door! When you read ‘Former boxer Joey Torrey has died’ you can remember ‘Oh snap, I just read his zine‘...I am 47 years old in 2008 and not as quick as I was 20 years ago. I will be assassinated by the hand of someone you read about in this story. Thank you for your time.” Thus concludes the zine BAMBOOZLED, the story of former boxer Joey Torrey. I always enjoy zines by people who are not your typical zinesters and Joey, a former boxer currently in prison for murder, is definitely not a typical zinester. This zine actually featured something you don’t see a lot of in zines and I hadn’t realized I’d been missing- action and adventure. There’s definitely more to the zine than that, but at it’s core this zine has the makings of a good crime novel. Joey is a pretty impressive guy. After getting sent to prison for murder while working for the mob and having the government back out of their promise to get him out by the time he’s 25 he manages to make 6 figures a year while behind bars selling sports memorabilia and even producing a TV show. All the while he’s studying law diligently trying to find a way to get himself released from prison. Which he actually does, but that’s only the beginning of what can only be described as a huge shit storm. He agrees to help the FBI with an investigation on the corruption of boxing (which according to Joey is really, really corrupt. It’s kind of hard to believe that the mainstream media has no idea about this so I can only assume they don’t care) and...well, it ends with the quote I started the review with so you can figure that all does not end well for Joey. The writing is a tad choppy in that 5 years will pass without being noted, but Joey is an interesting guy with a fascinating story to tell. I’m kind of surprised it’s being told in a zine because it has the makings of a best selling book/
64 illustrated pages, 5.5 x 8.5 send $5 to Microcosm Publishing 222 S. Rogers St Bloomington IN. 47404
www.microcosmpublishing.com jessie@microcosmpublishing.com

FRESH BREATH OF MINT #9- I don’t know if this is really a zine, but they sent it to XD so I may as well review it. This is a free magazine produced by Mint Records that you find for free in indy record stores. It’s one of the better free magazines I’ve seen and has some good stuff in here. It also has articles on bands I’ve never beard of and tons of ads for even more bands I’ve never heard of. If nothing else it certainly highlights the fact that there are a lot of bands I’ve never heard of. It also came with a Mint Records Sampler CD that I liked, but I have no idea how you can acquire that. This is worth picking up for free and since it’s free I guess that means this is a good review. In my local record store this is in a little display by the door with all the other free newspapers. I don’t know where they keep in your local store but I bet it’s in roughly the same area.
Mint Records Inc. PO Box 3613, Vancouver BC Canada V6B 3Y6 www.mintrecs.com www,myspace.com/mintrecords

IZZY CHALLENGE #5- Hey, this is pretty cute. It’s a jam comic called “Izzy Tours America” featuring 50 artists from every state in the USA. The originator of this comic, JB White drew Izzy the mouse in 50 different poses and then sent them to one artist in each state to draw a specific scene for Izzy to be participating in. It’s definitely nothing Earth shattering in it’s brilliance, but it’s a fun idea well executed.
16 pages 5.5 x 8.5, e-mail before trading, send $1 to JB Winter PO Box 1814 Columbia, MO 65205 info@JBwinter.com

NUNS I’VE KNOWN- I picked this up at the Boston Zine Fair. It’s always been a goal of mine to review each and every zine I acquire at the fair, but even I know I’ll never do that. Quite frankly it’s an accomplishment if I even read ‘em all. Anyhow, as I read this it occurred to me that never in my life have I heard anyone say anything nice about a nun. Priests certainly get their share of bad publicity, but by the same token at least people recognize the good that some priests do. With nuns people just seem to dislike them. Not for anything illegal or horribly abusive, it just seems like nuns have a casual meanness and cruelty about them. If you really wanna hear some anti-nun talk you should ask my grandmother. She hates ‘em. “Nun is the Loneliest Number” as the Pope once said. At any rate, the author of this zine, Pruella Vulgaris, went to Catholic school and writes this zine about nuns she has known and dealt with. Good stuff. I liked it a lot. Very funny and believe it or not once of the nuns actually seems like a nice woman. The rest of ‘em, though, are typically mean nuns. But they’re still fun to read about.
12 pages, some kinda wacky size. I’d say 5.5 x 5. e mail prunellavulgaris@ymail.com www.myspace.com/prunellavulgaris

I’ll get some more reviews posted here on Saturday.