Sabina just continues on spewing her creative invective out upon the world - and I just keep on reading, masochist that I am... ;o)
The above paragraph was, of course, sarcastic - not about the invective or the creativity, but about the masochism. There is pleasure and provocation aplenty to be found in this little journal/op. ed. publication...
This time, the lovely and talented Ms. Becker holds court on the Kansas decision to remove evolution from the school manuals; the dangerous potential results of a more harsh approach to prison management (nice to know someone reads my 'zine and is bitchy enough to paraphrase my labelling of the British boarding-school system as institutionalized sodomy); the removal of Goddess imagery from organized religion (Mary used to have a lot more status, to stick to Christianity for an example); a very timely piece on the stupidity of war; much more on the whole Matthew Shepard case, with an attempt to be compassionate without being forgiving or excusing towards the accused; more info on Mike Harris, Ontario's beloved premier, and his attempts to criminalize the poor (and his recent moves towards more cuts and outlawing any deficits will only make that worse); a lengthy piece on Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka (a famous murderous couple here in Canada); a critique of male-centered polygamy; and a whole lot of other stuff.
It's never an easy read - Sabina pulls no punches and minces no words - but it's really heady, thoughtful material, and, as I've said so many times before that it's getting monotonous, it engages my brain at full throttle...
I had begun to despair, thinking BUST had vanished - and then it rematerialized over the horizon (perhaps, given the imagery this evokes, I should rethink that sentence...).
This mega-cool grrrl magazine is sort of like a SASSY that didn't sell out or fail (ask your older sister what SASSY was - even for a boy like me, who was well into his twenties by the time SASSY appeared, I thought it was a very cool publication...).
This issue focuses on the body and sexuality too, much like COOL BEANS below, but with a perhaps more serious (though no less irreverent at times) viewpoint.
Susie Bright's column is, as always, very informative. There is informative coverage of condoms and dildos; some pro-porn propaganda (try and say THAT three times fast); an article on make-up (while I generally agree with ROCKRGRL that beauty tips and guilt trips should be kept away from women's magazines, this piece seemed more matter-of-fact and kind of demystifying in a way...); a fabulous interview with Nomy Lamm, a disabled dyke activist; another installment of 'real girls in their own clothes' as an EMPOWERING, PERSONAL fashion show; and an alternately fascinating and infuriating talk with Janeane Garofalo, who I must confess I have no idea about her work as an actress, but do wish she would speak to more men before telling us we're all visual and that those of us who are queer go around trying to look sexy ON PURPOSE for other guys (I know I'm not and don't - I mean, I've had other fags ask me if I DELIBERATELY dress badly - and I take that as a compliment...).
And that's just SOME of what's inside...a real page-turner, and very empowering and to-the-point...
Put down that COSMO, that tries to tell you how you can be fabulous and thin, and pick up something that tells you you can be fabulous no matter what you look like (including thin) - and also tries to look, if not beyond the body, then at least beyond the body that mainstream society thinks is acceptable.
I've seen a few issues of this 'zine around, and have always meant to get it, but never did. I suppose it's either a bad sign or an entirely predictable one that the Sex Issue was the one that finally got me to, er, put out...
Oh, the interviews with the Flaming Lips and the Rondelles were a factor tooo...but the interview of Aaron Probe (the editor of the infamous sex 'zine Probe); the piece on the homoeroticism of the WWF (gay subtexts in wrestling? Say it ain't so, Gorgeous George...); the FULL LENGTH purity test (nice to know that my boyfriend Arne has, er, single-handedly lowered my purity from 89% to 78%...); and the hilarious, mostly sex-related news items were also a major draw.
The piece by the phone sex worker was both creepy and strangely funny, as was the article about a masseur and the informative exposition on how to shave your testicles (I'll pass, darling).
The enclosed CD was quite entertaining, full of people I'd never heard of, for the most part, and including spoken word/captured excerpts from various sexually deviant/questionable sources.
A chuckle and a half, and certainly made a dull Saturday at work more, er, stimulating...
LarryBob is back with the 10th anniversary issue of his indispensable publication (an updated list of other 'zines/music/etc. comes with it, called QUEER ZINE EXPLOSION).
This time, he has gathered together contributions from various past writers, including some who have passed on, as a sort of tribute/sampler to the vital work he has done over the years (since 1989!! My god - I barely knew I was QUEER then...and I'm not that much younger than LarryBob...).
There is an amusing but pointed cartoon by Rhino and Robert Kirby about cruising in bars, and discovering that your ideal is yourself; a vicious anti-Papist fantasy (the best kind) by Don Bapst; a brilliant poem about cocksucking by Antler (with an accompanying drawing that is too cute to live); a sketch of folklore faggots by Andy Baird (you'd have to see it - it defies my descriptive ability); a poignant love/lust story by Allan O'Connor, late of Homocore Toronto; a very sexy Bear drawing, accompanied by a text I'm not entirely certain is meant to go with the picture (or, rather, a text that plays with our reading of the illustration); a compelling meditation on Matthew Shepard by REB; and so much more, with the most affecting work, not surprisingly, being those belonging to the dead (Drew Blood; Steve Abbott; etc.).
Poetry; drawings; profiles; everything you could want in a magazine. As the Residents (those other endearing San Francisco repositories of weirdness and wonderfulness) say: 'Buy or die!'
I have been trying to be more broad-minded of late, even listening to electronic music - so I figured I should go back to the ghosts of my childhood and revisit country.
I never minded the music much - it was the lyrics and a lot of the attitudes that rankled me (a gay (or at least not-into-heterosexuality) atheist intellectual might have had a few problems with country in the 70s, believe it or not...).
When I heard about this magazine, and this issue in particular, I wanted to read it, since it had an article on gay country music, so I wrote to them, and they thoughtfully sent me a copy.
This is good stuff!! It has none of the obnoxious anti-intellectual turn that some of my friends think country has (I never thought that was a universal truth - I mean, a genre with Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett, Rosanne Cash and Mary Chapin Carpenter is hardly stuffed with idiots...). There is a fascinating article about a Native American woman lap steel guitarist, Bonnie Dodd, that I'd never heard of. There are some great anecdotes about Hank Williams.
There is a piece on Steve Earle and his sister Stacey (she has played my hometown a couple of times, but I've sadly missed both). Since I always found Steve sexy, and especially now that he's a big ol' Bear, I had something of an ulterior motive in reading it, but it was still very interesting...
As to the article on gay country artists - wow! What research!! I was a little disappointed that it avoided the touchy subjects of Wynonna and Ty Herndon...but never mind...
I really want to find out a lot more about everyone mentioned in it (I knew of Alix Dobkin, and had heard of Doug Stevens and Syd Spencer - but nowhere near the amount of information provided here...). There are some amusing facts about early country songs that could be read as about queer stuff (if not too sympathetically).
I had vaguely heard of this album 'Lavender Country', but knew nothing about its creator (and now I simply MUST track someone down who has a copy...).
I'm still not going to the gay men's line dancing groups (if they exist anymore) - but I really enjoyed this magazine and have some mind-broadening work to do now...
I had a hard, and, as it turned out, futile time trying to get anyone in my town to carry this magazine, so I would suggest those of you in bigger cities start bugging your local newstands to carry it, if they don't...and suggest the distributors talk to the smaller town outlets too...but that's only because I like to stir up a fuss... :)
An itty-bitty personal zine, but full of heart and soul.
It begins with a confessional letter from Chris about how he realizes he turns everything into a joke, even serious problems. It's the modern disease of irony...I'm so afflicted much of the time too, Chris...
There is a nice poem about a grandmother by one G.M. Gowen (I don't know if Chris recently lost his grandmother, but, since I was always very close to both of mine, I can relate to the sentiments within...).
There is a spirited defense of Courtney Love (my feelings about her vary - at the moment, I'm not too fond of her - but it's not for the reasons Chris outlines - more for the Kathleen Hanna incident and a general dislike of her latest album...still, I do agree that she's a strong person who shouldn't be slagged just for existing).
Then the Donnas are stood up for (I don't think it's BAD to be compared to the Ramones, and most of the bands he cites as also being compared to the Ramones DID get disrespect at first - time passes, and influences are more incorporated...I'm quite sure sexism has everything to do with it, though, in the persistence of the slagging towards the Donnas - I often wonder who the Runaways were compared to unfavourably...).
There is also a wonderful and informative piece on combatting depression by Miss Andrea here too.
As I said, small but intense and revealing (and it was nice to see a young person's listening habits include the Runaways, since, as the name of my 'zine would indicate, I have kind of a jones for Joan and friends...).
And so the saga continues...
Avo plows on with the quintessential bad-attitude publication I have come to know and dread. :)
Once again, lots of coverage of goth/creepy bands, including Penis Flytrap (and an expose of Marilyn Manson as a fake - preaching to the choir here, but still...); rants on the petty fascism of fast food outlets and malls; some useful phrases and actions to employ to destroy the family; an exhortation to keep on publishing against the onslaught of Rolling Spins and Gentleman's Maxim; a really engrossing interview with a skinhead who happens to be queer, Pedro Angel Serrano; a rather grotesque summary of the case of Dean Corll, a gay serial killer; an invitation to adopt Japanese artist Sadao Hasegawa as the new Tom of Finland (or, rather, a substitute for that highly problematic corpse); and some neat video, record and 'zine reviews tossed in as well.
This issue was perhaps a little kinder than past ones - but only by comparison. It will still kill Andrew Sullivan at ten paces...
I'm not even going to start on the assertion that this is the last issue of the century - I grow weary of trying to convince people that the last year of this century is 2000 - let them have their fun... :)
Having said this, it's another jam-packed and informative issue of material on women in rock, with a particular emphasis on the lesser-known or more-deserving-of-exposure artists.
There is a nifty article about Drain Sth, an actual female heavy metal band from Sweden (other than Girlschool and arguably Vixen, can you name another?); information on Inger Lorre of Nymphs fame; a profile of one Jan Tilley, former guitarist with Ronnie Spector and part of the band for the trans-rocker play 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' (it was nice to see someone actually mention Canada's B-Girls!!); a tag-team interview between Samantha Maloney, new drummer of Hole, and Stefanie Eulinberg, percussionist for Kid Rock (I found it a little disturbing that, between them, they could think of only two other female drummers - Sheila E and Cindy Blackman - not even Gina Schock or Debbie Petersen (not to mention Maureen Tucker)!?); coverage of Sonia, late of Disappear Fear (I can't remember if she was the queer member, but it is kind of interesting that that fact is not even mentioned in the text); some technical info about guitars and other equipment; and a handful or record reviews.
It's always a neat read, especially the small news items at the front (this time, I learned about one Grace Brim, who was a drummer from the 40s 'til the 70s on blues records, but only through an obituary, sadly).
This jam packed, intense, and (I have to say it) a bit clumsily typed manifesto is stuffed full of vital information about women's health.
It was obviously a labour of great love, passion and concern, and I shouldn't dump on something that isn't as meticulous as I would like it (I don't think it's wretched, because I've SEEN 'wretched'...but a little more attention to hitting the right letters would probably help...).
As I've said, it has info on tampons, herbal remedies, eating disorders, breast cancer, mutilation, and so much more.
There are most likely girls out there who, due to parental opposition, fear, etc. (and
let's not even mention cutbacks to curricula and funding - there, I've mentioned it!),
don't have access to this stuff, and, though, of course, I could hardly personally relate
(except maybe to the eating disorders stuff), I still think it's important to get
information out there...so I promote with love and solidarity, if not total typographical
enthusiasm... :)
This is subtitled 'transfictions', and the title fits. A lot of it is transgressive and defiant - a good portion of it is about transit of various types - and several members of this collective identify in assorted fashions as gender rebels.
Since I always make an effort to promote and support female-to-male transsexuals (I've been asked why that is, since I'm a biological boy, and, since I'm queer, I've been critiqued about why I don't act similarly towards male-to-female individuals...it happens not to be true, though, personally, I DO know more female-to-male trannies, but the fact is that there's a lot out there for male-to-females, and it's relatively easier to access...I try and delve a bit more and seek out those regions that AREN'T adequately covered and given their props...), this book seemed a god(dess)send (and the foreword by Kate Bornstein was touching and funny and challenging and commanding all at once).
The collective Taste This, who do multi-media shows (I just missed one in Ottawa - damn my wage slavery!), consists of Ivan Coyote, who is a writer/musician/lighting technician/video artist; Lyndell Montgomery, who plays bass and violin in Canadian artist Ember Swift's band, and has composed film scores; Anna Camilleri, the bitch-femme film-maker of the group; and Zoe Eakle, who is a writer and has also done various work in set construction and the like.
All of the stories/anecdotes/philosophies in this book are very touching and illuminating and moving in every sense of the word. To me, the most interesting components were those covering the time the collective was stopped at our beloved border and treated with the usual snide contempt we queers/outsiders can expect from those fuckers, since each member gives his/her perspective on the incident (a note on gender that I've made a nauseating number of times before - English needs a transitive pronoun in the worst way!!). And, which should again prove what a traitor to my gender I am, Anna's story about the time she dominated and humiliated a man who was obnoxiously objectifying her was priceless, and I cheered all the way through it (need I point out that I thought Lorena Bobbitt should have aimed for the heart of Mr. John Wayne Bobbitt?), though I hoped we would learn whether it 'really' happened or not (but, really - would it be wise to confess and/or give names?).
If you want some very fiery and committed writing/pictorials, this is your choice. We 'real' boys have a lot of work to do before we can approach the brilliance of these lads and ladies...
