July 19, 2010

Prolonging life

Hello, it’s been a while since I have visited our blog, but Amanda has been doing a fantastic job of keeping it updated. However, she has now departed our land (she is not dead, she is on holiday overseas) and so I feel I should update on some zine news.

This Sunday past (July 18th 2010) there was a wonderful zine show and tell event put on at Urchin Books in Marrickville. I managed to make the end of it and it was a lovely civilised event filled with tea, cake and most importantly lovely people (both zine makers and those who wish to make zines.) I certainly hope another one of these happens again in the future, it was very refreshing.

Well, I haven’t checked the spam trap, but I have moved on to collecting unsuccessful job application in my own personal inbox. Today, however, I was lucky enough to trap a passive-aggressive job e-mail. It annoyed me soooo very much that I had to retaliate (yeah I know, bitch bitch), its the tiny acts of empowerment that keep me going.

Anyway, back to the drawing board.

fetus

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July 13, 2010

What shall I do with a life turned to memory?

The last time  I went photocopying was in May, just before the MCA zine fair, and afterwards, even though I meant to do another run so I could post the new zines on Etsy and send them to distros, I felt so sandblasted that I could not handle the sight of the Officeworks photocopiers (snazzy as they now are) without experiencing a mild panic.

I’ve  calmed down a little bit now and, as always is the case with me when it comes to times of stress, I’ve found myself turning back to the typewriter and to zine-making and -reading. Plus I’m going on a month long holiday tomorrow, and have put the Etsy store on hold for the duration, so if you’d like to get any of our more recent issues (including Sutures, Shy #2 and Ampersand after Ampersand #3) I’ve sent out a big box of zines to Sticky, and there should also be some available on mail order from Take Care as well.

And I’ve also sent out the first copies of my new zine COME BACK (home to me).

A6 (quarter size), 16 pages. There is no picture, because I haven’t taken one.

This is my first limited edition zine, mainly because the paper for the covers comes from a tiny old newsagent in Melbourne’s Chinatown (a town that I’m unlikely to visit again any time soon), and it’s a mix tape love letter to Electrelane. It’s also about repetition, perfect dreaming, Springsteen covers, and a little tiny bit about when Nietzche met Groundhog Day.

So I’m off to reunite with some of the people I call home, and will be back when the winter weather does not match my temperament so well. Until then, to quote Phil Connors quoting Coleridge, remember that “Winter, slumbering in the open air, wears on its smiling face a dream of spring”.

x Amanda

P.S. The fetus will still be checking both real and internet mailboxes so keep up the trading!

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June 25, 2010

Winter activities for winter people

So a little update about some ziney things coming up that I wish I could attend (but regrettably can’t).

As we’ve posted before, the Canberra Zine fair is coming up on the 3rd July. If you’re in Canberra, hurrah! If not, what are you afraid of? Take Care zine distro will be making the pilgrimage from Sydney as well as a number of other Sydney/Wollongong zinemakers so why not, give it a whirl.

Secondly, and if you’re on the Australian Zines and Small Press Google Group you’ll already know about this, but there’s a zine reading slash show and tell at Marrickville’s Urchin Books on the 18th July. It’s being put together by Vanessa Berry and promises a delightful afternoon of tea and mutual zine sharing and appreciation away from the hectic and often stressful (for me at least) world of zine fairs and markets. So take your zines, if you have any, or just take yourself to Marrickville for the day, week, rest of your life. Also Urchin Books is looking to stock some more zines so check with them the why’s and how’s on the day.

Thirdly, and this is not strictly zine related, but a friend sent me a link to the screening of Strange Powers  at the Chauvel on the 4th of August that I wish wish wish I could go to, but unfortunately I’ll be separated from Oxford Street by an ocean, several land masses and the supposedly linear nature of time. BUT, if you have ever read any of my zines (or possibly only the titles) you will have realised that I have a ridiculous love for The Magnetic Fields, one that is all encompassing and indefatigable. So if you are in town, and feel like watching a documentary on my favourite songwriter/musician, then go with my blessing.

And I guess that’s about it. Happy holidays kids (if you’re on them), soldier on if not.

x Amanda

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June 4, 2010

The Past

Last night was the opening night of The White Room, or, Astronauts are not excitable. It was really amazing. Emma’s artworks were incredible, her zine was incredible, the food and the sangria was incredible. The space shuttle was also incredible, well built (as strong as an ox!), cosy and inviting for all. I felt instantly safe when I was inside, like I had drawn a giant circle of salt around me and no angry ants could get in an bite me.

When you look up inside the shuttle there are a ring of lights looking back at you, almost like a safety lamp.

By the end of the night a group of us had squished into the shuttle while more people gathered outside of it like we were at a little camp site. I think we did discuss Ice-T and his film and music career. He was once in a heavy metal band and he was in that movie with Wesley Snipes where that chick where’s double underwear, which I think is also known as ‘Mummyism” of undergarments in fashion. My night ended when I spilt sangria everywhere and the shuttle camp dispersed.

Check out the exhibition on the weekend. All the details are in the previous posts.

Spam just hasn’t been doing what it use to do for me, but this lifted my brows and made my lips turn duck shaped.

I don’t really have a point to writing this blog post, I mainly just wanted to clog up cyberspace with jibberjabber just to piss off anyone who is piss-offable. It’s fun to pretend that you’re saying something even though you really aren’t saying a damn thing at all.

Well, – bless.
Fetus

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June 2, 2010

Greetings Earthings!

Tomorrow night is the opening night of The White Room Or Astronauts Are Not Excitable, a beautiful and exciting exhibition by Emma D. I’ve already talked about this a couple of posts ago, so this is a reminder that you should make your way to Chrissie Cotter Gallery at 6pm! There will be beverages and snacks and Emma’s brand new zine which is part of the exhibition and a space shuttle. That’s right, I said SPACE SHUTTLE, not MACE CUDDLES. And yes you must crawl inside of it and have a sit down and gaze at the world outside.

The details:
Chrissie Cotter Gallery
Pidocl St, Camperdown (Behind Camperdown lawn bowls)

Opening night: Thursday 3rd June pm
Exhibition opening times: 2 – 13th June Wed – Sun 11 – 4pm

More info here at Flying Machine

Map

Hope to see you there!!
Fetus

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May 24, 2010

Autumn Ruminations, or We Have New Zines

Salutations,

So the MCA zine fair was yesterday and both the fetus and myself launched new zines. I think it is always a little difficult to put out a new personal zine, and these two were dealing with issues to do with health (mental and physical) and learning new ways of living with (and possibly outside of) medical diagnoses. As proud as I am of my zine, and as happy as I was whenever someone picked it up and bought it, I still felt the almost uncontrollable urge half way through the fair to track down every person who had purchased the issue and snatch it out of their hands. But the moment passed, and at the end of the day both the fetus and I had sold out of almost all of our zines.

She had the foresight to put aside a few for Sticky, so they should be available soon from either the shop or Sticky’s mail order department, but I will have to make another photocopy run sometime this week and send out a whole bunch to the distros (usually Sticky, Format and Take Care) and put them up on our Etsy.

Until then, a little write up on our zines (and in time I will also review some of the excellent trades we received).

Mind Dump by fetus

Dumped from my mind onto some paper. Comic-ish style zine. Made of images from my artwork from Underdiscovered Press Exhibition. 40 pages/ A6 / B&W.

Shy 2: When Shy Got Sick by fetus

Following on from Shy Like a Punched Pie is the next installment of my perzine on being Shy. 40 pages/ A6 /B&W.

Ampersand after Ampersand #3by amanda

This is the third in what has become an almost biannual perzine series. Although it overlaps chronologically with my last zine Sutures, this issue is mainly about being diagnosed with PCOS last December (and other related conditions) and how this is has affected how I think about myself and my health. It’s not meant to be all negative nancy (so I hope it doesn’t come across that way), rather a way for me to talk about the changes that this diagnosis has brought and how confusing it can be to try and deal with body-image and health issues. And, also, how fucking annoying it is to be told that you shouldn’t/can’t eat sugar (For Your Health).

Thank you once again if you talked to me during the day, I had some really lovely conversations about zines and films and surprise mutual friends and it was wonderful to hear back from people who have read my zines before. It can sometimes feel as though zines are a one way form of communication, made in my room and sent out anonymously over the internet, so it is nice when that communication comes the other way as well.

And if you stopped by our table towards the end of the day and it looked like I had been mindwiped, it’s probably because I had been. Til next zine fair,

x Amanda

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May 4, 2010

The White Room Or Astronauts Are Not Excitable

The White Room Or Astronauts Are Not Excitable is an exhibition of Emma D’s (from Take Care Distro) exciting super secretive art project that she has been working on over the past 12 months. I’m so excited and I’ll tell you why. Why? Because she’s been building a space ship! Not many people can casually comment that they’ve been spending all their time building a space ship, well except Emma. Along with the space ship will be amazing artworks, prints and zines. Anyway, need I say anything else? Come along and be part of this most excellent opening night and be sure that you will have to fight me to be first to sit inside of the spaceship.

Anyway, BE THERE! You are being specially invited.
More info here at Flying Machine

Map

In anticipation,
Fetus

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April 29, 2010

A couple of zine fairs

Kinokuniya (in Sydney CBD not Japan, obviously ha) is having another one of those super secretive craft and zine fairs May 1st, 12 – 4pm. It was advertised through word of mouth which is why no one but those who took part in the one in February (which no one heard about either) will be a part of. There will be 11 tables ($30 to book) but its all booked out, so forget that and just go and have a look/see. They will be having a bake sale in the upcoming months, celebrating Cook Book month or something, so all the Donna Hay lovers out there should probably step up and show me your casserole skills. (Why do people only cook sweet things at these bake sales, I want loafs, casseroles, pies, basically all the things I’m too lazy/scared to cook.) BUT, I do believe the zine/craft fair is somehow connected to Free Comic book day, although I think that is on the 2nd of May.

ACT Writers Centre are holding another Zine Fair this year (3rd year running) this July.
If you want to book a stall contact the office on 62629191, or email admin[at]actwriters.org.au. Stalls are FREE!

*A piece of advice, since Amanda and I did go to the first one, even if the sun is shinning in Canberra it will still be freezing, so take a blanket, extra socks and dear gods pack a sandwich! Also, you may want to bring an extra chair, as last time Amanda and I shared a seat for the entire day because one stall who had three chairs with only one is use refused to give us one, apparently her bag had a very unstable amount of radioactive material that needed a seat. I know what you’re thinking, just take it, right? Well we a lovely wimps who prefer to ponder why people are arseholes and then write about it our zines. Also I should mention, the person (?) in question was not from Canberra, everyone from Canberra (except the drunk guys (it was 11 am on a Sunday) who decided to steal a bunch our zines, oh and maybe the teens who asked us to mind their stall while they went to Kmart at the local Westfield to shop) are really nice, especially the people who organize the event, so you are in good hands if you do make the trip down.

This is the first grumpy zine related post I’ve ever written, I think its because my spam collection got deleted by the spam regulator program (whatever it is) on our blog and I’m mad about it. I’m mad about you. I’m mad about the world ladies and gentlemen.

Anyway, point is, there are some things for you to do.
We shall be doing a zine trade post soon, we’ve got a couple of lovely things in the mail, but my scanner and I are having irreconcilable differences at the moment. It’s actually a very complicated relationship – you wouldn’t understand (sleazy joke face.)

Good night/day
A very grumpy fetus

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April 16, 2010

Spam!

Fantastic influx of spam this week. Now, I’m not sure if this spam is actually that extraordinary, in fact I’m pretty sure I am just looking for something to entertain myself, thus I’m clinging to anything that could be called ‘interesting.’ Madness aside, lets begin!

This guy just wanted to tell us that he completely understands what we are saying, does disagree but couldn’t be f***ed researching the topic himself. I think a lot of people use this method for the foundation of their opinions, so I really shouldn’t judge him. EDIT: And his name is Rickey Zitzloff!

I find this charming because the mans name is Jerold Huggard. Huggard! Anyway, we do post A LOT about dogs, dog food, different breeds of dogs, dog contests/fashion shows, and dog maintenance so I’m glad this guy has been able to find us and now will can finally build our dog empire. When is the baby due? I can’t wait to start the auditions for the prestigious breeds of dogs that will be part of our crew. Plus dogs are great at poker. Thank you Mr. Huggard!

I really should stop posting Jodeci lyrics on our blog so much, but those guys are just so catching and revolting. Anyway, this guy said he is going to come back, which is kind of frightening. What is he is here right now? Can you take out a restraining order on the internet?

I should have mentioned that when I said ‘Fantastic influx of spam’ I really meant quantity, not quality.

Anyway, have a nice weekend

fetus
p.s. why is no one sharing their spam with me? Perhaps I haven’t asked, ok. Any one getting any good spam? Send it to me!

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April 13, 2010

Zine School Update

Quick update about Zine School that is happening this Thursday 15th April at Wollongong Youth Centre

Zine-making is about creativity and self expression. Come along to ZINE SCHOOL for lectures by zine-makers who illustrate, write or collate; learn about their creative process, and be inspired by their work. There will be the opportunity to sit and browse through zines at the zine library, or go to a zine tutorial to work on something of your own and workshop your ideas.

Current lecturers include:

AMANDA BAIRD
CARLIN MCLELLAN
JESSICA-ROSE HARDY & BODIE JARMAN
and I’m guessing although it hasn’t been stated MADDY PHELAN AND LICKY THE CREAM (Natalie!)

I’ll be heading down to cheer on Amanda and I may even sneakily film her. I guess if she stabs me one day, I’ll know why.

Anyway, point is, if you have thursday free, come on a lovely train ride with us and get schooled.

Event thang here

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