Zine Review: Cuentos ZIne

Here's a collection of random thoughts, gathered together with witty and creative yet simple illustrations. Cute without being Cutesy.
-Rob

Last Resort #4

Straight out of Miami comes Last Resort, chock full of news and art by and about the Florida activist community. This issue features an update on the activities of Orlando Food Not Bombs and their struggles against the anti-homeless policies of the City of Orlando.

Maria talks about being a poor mixed race girl in white America. And Pablo delivers a scathing assessment of the policies of Hugo Chavez and those on the left who make excuses for him.

There's some awesome art, poetry, and even a pussy appreciation page. Not to mention everything you need to know to get involved in the Florida activist community.

Exxxtinction: The First Known Circle Jirk

Prehistoric Bukkake!!! Yay... ahem...
-Adi

This is the filthiest comic I've read in sometime. It has dinosaurs and other extinct creatures doing very naughty things to each other. It will make you laugh til you crap your self and then you'll feel a little sick to your stomach then you laugh again. The artist/author posits a new and challenging reason for dinosaur extinction.
-Mike

Clap Your Hands: City Space is the Place

  Mike Ball crams the chaotic minutiae of cities into the amorphous images that fill the  pages of Clap Your Hands: City Space is the Place.  They call our perceptions to play, to make an attempt at piecing ourselves together.   Words, fractured buildings, and eyes beg us to make sense of the patchwork madness, to see a forest of human-made trees.  Sometimes a grotesque bird or a nubian beauty peer out to us; a conversation overwhelms.  

  CYH:CSitP reminds me of cloud-gazing, creating worlds from water vapor and light.  Balls's art is like that: playful, terrifying, awesome.  

Website Updates

So if you've been paying attention lately, you'll notice that the website looks a little different. That's because our web developer finally got head extracated from ass and got some work done. There's feeds from the blog all over the place and the catalogue is actually driven by a database now. Seriously.

But that's not all. I got a ton of help from my buddy Chad. (If you make a comment about an Altell commercial he'll kick your ass. I'd say he was cuter than that guy but then his wife might kick my ass.) So what did Chad do exactly, well, Chad built the shiny new cart. So no more ugly paypal cart. Yaay. Thanks buddy.

I'd go into a little more detail but I've got to get some sleep or I'm gonna fall asleep in a meeting tomorrow.

--CJ

Call for submissions to MXD zine

Dear friends,

Just a reminder that the deadline for submissions for the next issue of mymixed race comp zine (currently looking for a new title to includebi-cultural experiences of non-mixed folks) is January 1st and I wouldLOVE for you and you friends to submit, so please SPREAD THE WORD.

I am interested in hearing from you if you are a person of color who:
-is mixed-race
-grew up in a interracial family
-is in an interracial relationship
-was transracially or transnationaly adopted
-grew up outside of your culture or in white environments
-has exerienced race/racism differently in different places/countries
-has self-identified differently in terms of race in different situations or at different times in your life
-are read/percieved as a race different that the one you identify as often
-grew up in more than one culture

I am looking for:
non-fiction personal stories and visual art about how your racial identityrelates to your experiences and/or other aspects of your identity. Nopoetry please! No more than 500 words.

Your subject is totally up to you as long as it has something to do withyour mixed race or bi-cultural identity or experiences. Some possiblesubjects are:
-growing up
-family-school
-relationships
-work-
communities you belong to (ethnic, cultural, activist, subculture,academic, etc.)
-how being mixed or multi-cultural relates to other aspects of your identity like gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, class, ability,immigration status, religion, etc.

check out the previous issue of this zine, MXD: true stories by mixed racewriters at QZAP.organd even if you have no intention of submitting a story or art, or don'tmeet the criteria, feel free to suggest a new title.

Thanks!!! -Nia Oxette King

NeuFutur Reviews Dorothea #1

Dorothea is a zine that contains a number of short stories. While there are some overall themes present in the different pieces of prose that are present, these stories seem to be more form-less than anything. There is a picture and some handwritten text at the beginning, as well as handwritten text demarcating the titles, but the text is laid out in the same general format. The stories all occupy about two or three pages of this same (1/4th size) zine. There is a decent amount of material present in this short and small zine, but there is one thing that holds me back from completely enjoying Dorothea. This is the fact that the stories all feel as if there is something, some fact or information, missing from each story. The stories themselves are all serviceably, but I’m wanting a little bit more in the way of fleshing out these little slices of life. Mike is the mastermind behind the zine Fake Life, and this marks a shift into a slightly different style and tone. I have no doubt that subsequent issues of Dorothea will be a little bit stronger, but this issue feels as if Mike takes a decent amount of time setting the framework up and maybe not expanding on that as much as ey should. Send Mike some cash, get the beginning issue of Dorothea, get Fake Life, and have a night of reading the prose that comes from Mike’s mind. The cost is low enough the individuals will receive much worth regardless of any perceivable weakness here.

Rating: 6.0/10

She Reviews Zines Reviews Dorothea #1

written after his mother died, mark (mike) dealt with at least some of his feelings through the stories in this zine. sad at times and full of people in transition, this zine can be tough at times to read. mark’s (mike's) phenomenal writing definitely keeps you reading, though.

Freeq #1

Freeq #1 is the zine to check out for anyone desiring to make music who can’t afford the platinum-plated bells and whistles and loads of DIY info. Doc Awk’s somewhat anti-major-label advice on home studio setup is great for anyone with a limited budget. He describes two setups that cost less than $1000. NKSiii retrofits old axes with hardware store hardware. With tongue in cheek, Geoffrey Smith offers nine light-hearted and thoughtful bits of advice for working with promoters. Nick Andren gets technical with his “shoddy” beginner’s tutorial on ModPlug Tracker. A bit dry, but nonetheless worth the read.

Definitely check Freeq #1 out. With simple, humorous, all-around good tech info these cats light the garage music door and place the welcome mat out. We don’t carry the zine, but you can check them out at groups.myspace.com/freeqzine. All their articles and discussions are there.


--adi