Hobson's Choice Review of Dorothea #2

My oh my. I haven’t been this hooked into a zine for a long time. Each story in this issue is bite-size but, like candy, you end up eating the whole package at once. What really grabbed my attention is how clearly the voice comes through; the style is beautiful. While most of the stories are on the dirty side with a large focus on sex and murder, there are a few pieces that transcend it. ‘The Creep’ is an unrealized character study, and it’s backed up by stories about a painter named Ludwig. Now for the bad: Mike’s grammar is pretty atrocious. Do not let this fool you into thinking that he cannot write, however; there is something very powerful in the way he conveys his stories. I put issue 2 down and felt the rush of inspiration again. If there is truly anything that can be considered ‘American Writing’ today, it’s coming from the mind of Mike Baker.
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To RJ and Our Troops

Hey man,

I got the impression the last time I saw you that there was maybe something you wanted to say to me, something about my anti troop rants that I know, from our conversation, you disagreed strongly with.

I say that but I think it had more to do with my growing uncertainity about my over inflated sense of rightousness. What I mean is that I was wrong, have been wrong for sometime. I feel pretty bad about that being that I was loud mouthed about it and there isn't much to do there except admit it and move on.

I don't know what to think about fighting war I believe is wrong but I can not even imagine the struggle our troops go through every day, the risks they take or the real consequences they face.

I find myself simply hoping they come home as well as possible, that their families are not alone and that they be treated with the respect and dignity warriors deserve.

I hate to think that this was unresolved between you and me. I've stayed away from the Shed for that reason. I apologize for being an ignorant loud mouth.

-Mike

Dream Girl... aaaaaahhhhhh

I just got done editing my freakin profile. Just to put something out there that looks better than, well, nothing. So after a while of playing with the stuff in it, I started cliking on some of what looked like links in the view of the edited profile. Dang cool. It showed me other users that had the same keyword in the same segment of their profile. So while clicking along and just sorta browsing I come across this 33 year old woman's profile. Awesome.. Instantaneous internet love. She's got this really cool sense of humor, lives in my town, so many of the same interests. Oh so totally facinating to look over her many many vacation pictures of greek antiquities and read through her blogs. Just one problem.. no freakin way to contact her that I could find. CRAP! Just as my mind was fantasizing over the gagillion cups of coffee we'd share in some cheezy coffee house, the improvised open mic poetry we'd kid each other with, looking at and making fun of the art at railroad square, the really dreamy philosophy conversation that would last for hours, the making out in the parking lot followed by the hours of foreplay and passionate sex with no strings attached.. (breathe). Oh well. I may never meet you in person, you party girl, you. But at least this moment passed pleasurably.

Seriously though, you really do seem really cool beyond this cold flat screen. I hope for the chance at a good coffee and the whole art thing. Bon Chance!

NeuFutur Review of Fake Life #6

This issue of Fakelife is about the trials and tribulations that individuals have to deal with around the period of Valentine’s Day. The first story in this issue is “Young Love”, a story that is written in a very idiosyncratic style. What I take from the story may not be what the author wishes individuals to take; I feel that the piece is about the youth (a younger version of the author)( hedging eir bets and trying to woo two individuals at the same time. The second piece details a letter that an individual wrote to a father figure about porn, and how DVD and pornographic movie theatres far outstrip VHS versions of the movies. “Self Love” s the next prose piece, and among the very detailed and intricate paragraphs that are present, the sense of lost love comes through, a story that everyone is familiar with but few can capture as well as it was here. The articles have a number of variations in regard to overall tone and style, but they are combined to show exactly how harmful and negative a holiday Valentine’s Day is. The piece that hits me the hardest of all of those in this issue is the discussion of the care that an individual has for a lover – going so far as to spend the last dollars ey has on bananas and milk to ensure the oncoming hunger doesn’t become too big of an issue – and the reject of that care, being that the individual wants a hamburger. Stark, hard-hitting, and a new take on Valentine’s day.
Rating: 7.2/10

Razorcake Review of Fake Life #3

This was okay. Homespun punk zine out of Tallahassee. There are some good bits, such as the Paris Hilton Create-a-Con paper doll set. Actually, that was pretty damn cool. Some simplistic comics designed more for effect than artistic quality; I’m kinda tired by that shtick. Left-wing rantings are always acceptable in my book, but it’s too easy for them to get clichéd and trite. That happens at times here, but there is a noticeable attempt at even-handedness (sound of cap being doffed). Interview with Rollins—haven’t seen one of those in years; kinda nice. Too much dead space throughout, though. This could be a wonderful little zine with a bit of desktop publishing, but as minimalist as possible. –The Lord Kveldulfr

Broken Pencil Review of Fake Life #3

Tallahassee punk rag Fake Life is a rather take-it-or-leave-it production. Here is a representative excerpt from an acid- dropping anecdote by principal writer Rabbit: “I am a magnet for bad trips and or drunken weekends. If I show up, please ask me to leave. It will be better for all of us and you won’t have to see a grown man shit himself.” Something of a time capsule, the zine has a very distinct worldview, a sort of pre-millennial obliviousness that is hardly dispelled by an Iraq-Vietnam comparison. Fake Life is as mid-90s as Mad About You, and nearly as white. Show reviews, which provide the bulk of the content, frequently devolve into anti-reviews because the writers seem too burnt- out to adequately describe or even remember the bands. The closest thing to an actual description of music is disappointingly prefaced by “I hope this doesn’t sound too gay”. Female performers are rarely referred to as anything but “bitches” or “sluts,” which is more than a little tedious. The Q-&-A with Henry Rollins is fairly coherent (if not particularly probing), but the stream-of-consciousness band interviews occasionally read like transcribed benders. The zine’s purpose, according to Mike Baker, is “to get people listening to Tallahassee punk, Florida punk, going to shows and helping these bands make a living,” but--despite its undeniable energy--Fake Life is too haphazard to persuade the uninitiated. (Daniel Marrone)

A Review of Natural Gas Joe

A review of Natural Gas Joe!
By Rob

Natural Gas Joe is a character that’s used to teach folks how to recognize the smell of Mercaptan or Ethanethiol. To be more accurate it goes by several names and I think the Ethanethiol is in error, see here (props to the Wikipedia article on Mercaptan):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanethiol


It’s kinda cute. On the surface the reader would likely think that this is a fart zine. It’s not. It is a neat way to present this information to kids and adults alike.

Natual Gas Joe

Unfortunately the scratch and sniff portion didn’t smell like anything at all so the purpose was more or less defeated. This is not to say that this zine shouldn’t be picked up. It’s a short, easy read. I like the motivation behind the zine so I'm putting it down in a way to support it. To help the cause you can go google Mercaptain and you'll find gas companies that will send you the scratch and sniff flyer. Something to pass along, no pun intended.