Booklet review: Living Cooperatively in Intentional Community

Living Cooperatively in Intentional Community

by Dan Copulsky

20 pages / half letter

The American Dream has become the American Nightmare. We’ve been sold a cultural image of nuclear families and neighbors living in isolation – each with our own mortgages, possessions, and mountains of debt. It is a vision of our culture that no longer works, and a nightmare that we need to wake up from.

Communes and alternatives to the consumerist culture have been an intriguing topic from me since college, when I was assigned books to read about historical cooperatives and communities from the 19^th century. Dan Copulsky’s Living Cooperatively in Intentional Community is a solid introduction to the world of cooperatives, co-housing, and other shared living experiences. Dan writes about why he lives in community, the economic and social benefits, starting or joining intentional communities, and the process of consensus. This is an excellent resource for anyone considering making choices about living in a cooperative situation with others. I think the operant word here is intentional – creating situations in which there is emphasis on quality communication, clear expectations, sharing resources and valuing relationships.

For more information email Dan at dcopulsy@gmail.com 

Zine Review: Something for Nothing #65

Something for Nothing #65

36 pages / half letter

free but DJ Frederick suggests sending a donation of cash or stamps

516 Third Street NE

Massillon OH 44646

Now THIS is cool. Forget the semi-objective review that you typically get from me, I’m going to sing the praises of this zine like a soprano in a Sunday choir. Something For Nothing (the tape issue) is a hybrid between a perzine and a review zine. Billy/Idy reviews cassettes that were released in the late 1980s / early 90s that haven’t made their way into digital formats. There is a wealth of lesser known music described here in detail – most of it DIY and indie in nature, including several issues of an intriguing zine on tape / radio show called “New Generation” which featured underground Xian music. Most of the cassettes in the zine are reviewed in depth, with a thorough knowledge of and appreciation for bands and musicians and analogue culture. Something For Nothing also features discussions about various Kinko shops, some beverage reviews, great graphics & cut n paste design and a vibe that feels time-warped right out of classic zines from the 1980s, and I mean that in the best possible sense. This is solid joy in paper form. 

Zine Review: Adventures in the Land of Greasecars and Fireflies

Adventures in the Land of Greasecars and Fireflies

By Sascha Scatter

PO Box 18

Spring Glen NY 12483

This slim zine is a reprint from Slug & Lettuce c. 2004 and had me nodding and smiling from first page to last. In Adventures in the Land of Greasecars and Fireflies, Sascha writes about personal world view, cultural and economic considerations that led to the decision to convert an old diesel vehicle into one that runs alternatively on vegetable oil. A kit was purchased, a workshop and party thrown for the community, and willing hands showed up to help with the process. Sascha’s writing is engaging and informative and this zine just might be an inspiration for your next mechanical project. 

Zine Review: Psionic Plastic Joy #17

Psionic Plastic Joy

digest / $2

Jason Rodgers

PO Box 62

Lawrence MA 01842

So now we come to it – the absurdity of writing paper zine reviews within an online blog called One Minute Zine Reviews. I’m plagued by this dichotomy all of the time, and often teeter on the edge of abandoning the digital world altogether. I use the internet as a tool, I remind myself. But what is the tool and who is the user? Or who is the tool and what is the user?

Jason Rodgers has released Psionic Plastic Joy, issue number 17, a compendium of articles, imagery, semi-dadism, anarchy, and beautiful nonsense. The two primary essays in this issue are thematically linked by references to the domestication of humans, which I suspect allows for our enslavement by consumerist culture: Jason delves into concepts of psychic nomadism as a means to remove our shackles, and John Zerzan stares into the eyes of what we call happiness, and doesn’t blink. These articles are both well written and articulate thoughts beyond the typical curve of acceptable discourse in this frenzied and distracted culture. Psionic Plastic Joy also includes a fantastic allegory (parable?) titled “The Tale of One Thousand and One Words” which describes an encounter between The Cook, the Waitress, the Dishwasher and Trickster.

Psionic Plastic Joy is unapologetic about being suspicious of technology, which I am grateful to read for a change. Every email we send, skype call we make, google search we do, etc is monitored by someone, and we just don’t care anymore. We have met Big Brother and he (and she) is us. At least paper mail has to be opened and resealed, and yes that happens too (witnessed by my own receipt of a QSL card from Radio Havana).

By questioning our domestication and creating actions that bring us one step closer to freedom, we can reimagine our lives. Psionic Plastic Joy is a zine about that journey of reimagining and re-creation.

King Cat No. 73

King-Cat Comics and Stories No. 73

$4 ppd

John Porcellino

PO Box 142

So. Beloit IL 61080

johnporcellino.blogspot.com

I have to admire anyone who has released 73 issues of a comic or a zine. The centerpiece of this comic is the hunt for the elusive cuckoo bird (no… really!). There are some other short stories, a top 40 list, and a primer on the 13 lined ground squirrel if you’re into wildlife & natural history. Cool variety. 

Mixt Media Audio Zine Winter 2013

Ok ... so I got motivated to record one more Mixt Media Audio Zine ... maybe more will follow ... your honest feedback would be appreciated, warm, cool, or in between. 

Mixt Media Audio Zine Winter 2013 can be downloaded here: 

http://radio4all.net/index.php/program/65123 

Magazine Review: Timemazine

Timemazine #7

www.timelordmichalis.blogspot.com

Tune in, turn on, drop out. The spirit of the lavalamp is still alive & buzzing from the pages of this full sized, full color 90 page + magazine. Timeazine merges the old with the new and chronicles the revived and invigorated psychedelic music movement of the current era with reference & reverence for days of futures past. This issue features articles on / interviews with Nick Saloman (of the Bevis Frond), Mark Weitz & George Bunnell (of Strawberry Alarm Clock), Cranium Pie, Jay Tausig & much more. Timemazine includes an overflowing review section, and a cool cd compilation featuring most of the bands featured in this issue (or a split 7” vinyl record). Essential artifact for psychedelic music fans. 

Review: The Hard Fifty Farm

The Hard Fifty Farm

By Jessie Duke and Adam Gnade

¼ size, 28 pages / $4

microcosmdistibution.com

Writing as an act of meditation, recollection, refocusing on what has heart and meaning. The Hard Fifty Farm presents timeless moments, a dawn, a sound, a conversation, and awareness as one engages in the world of here, now, and place. The writing is steeped in the cycle of the seasons, birth and death, distinctive voices and the ebb and flow of consciousness. This is literature for the rest of us – an exceptional publication. 

Audio Review: Library Sciences 2

Zine Review: How To Make It In Radio

How to Make It In Radio

$4 / PO Box 11544

Portland OR 97211

www.destinationdiy.org  

This slim zine is written by Julie from Public Radio show Destination DIY. Having been involved with radio off & on since 1974 and steadily since 2000, zines like this always grab my attention. There is some radio production terminology explained in this zine, and interviews with various individuals about how they broke into the field of broadcasting and what they create. There are a few words of advice and a section of online resources.

The downside: the zine focuses too heavily on the insular world of “public radio” which, in my experience, is a cliquish world, impossible to approach, and generally panders to the wealthy corporations and individuals who can support the station. Public in public radio means publicly funded, not public access. I would have appreciated more about community radio or pirate radio. Also, the focus seems to be on coming up with a marketable product, i.e. “a story”, and neglects other aspects of radio production. The price is a little hefty for such a small zine, and in the end, you could find the resources listed online for free by doing a search. Julie’s earlier zine How to Make Radio seemed to have much more practical information.