Ian & Stuart's Australian Mac: Not for Sale/Another.not.for.sale (Australia).iso/hold me in your arms/FactSheet Five/Electronic_Zine_Reviews

Text File | 1994-10-02 | 7KB | 139 lines

CRANK-E, edited by Jeff Koyen, ASCII text, [e-mail]; paper version
of CRANK is $2.00 cash from: P.O. Box 1646, Philadelphia PA 19105-1646.

Misanthropy from Generation X. CRANK, as described by publisher Jeff Koyen,
is "poorly-funded self-indulgence," a "by-product" that spread Koyen's
"opinions like a Singapore whore spreads AIDS." In rant fashion, Koyen
attacks, slanders, and defames popular culture. He describes his revulsion
for suburban life in _Fuck Your Suburbs_, instructs the amateur drunk in
_The Lost Art of the Drunken Drive_, and reveals societal sickness in
_Stalking: Tips for Beginners_. We shouldn't take all of this seriously,
of course; Koyen, on several occasions, tells us when he wants us to know
he is only joking, especially after attacking the wealthy and powerful.
Much here is truly humorous, especially Koyen's _Corpse-Watch 2000: Who's
Gonna Make It? Who's Already Gone?_, where he explains the reasons certain
famous people should die. Example: radio Republican Rush Limbaugh, the
"misinformation mouthpiece for racist, reactionary, conservative Americans,"
would make Koyen happy if he "hit rock bottom, supporting himself by doing
supermarket appearances, then die in a government-subsidized hospital."
CRANK skirts libel while poking political and social fun at everybody from
Bob Dole to Courtney Love. Not for the squeamish or easily insulted.

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BLEED EDGE and KURT IS DEAD, both from Thomas Leavitt,
[e-mail], ASCII text.

BLEED EDGE is an accumulation of reviews, comments, advice,
and criticism of Atari, Amiga, TI, and other computer
equipment. Editor Leavitt explains: "Basically, this is just
a compendium of news and views picked off the net, along
with a little commentary interspersed." KURT IS DEAD,
collected postings from Usenet alt.music.nirvana, unfolds
the sorrow, confusion, and angst surrounding the suicide
death of Kurt Cobain. Included are, for the diehard Nirvana
fan, tidbits on Cobain's youth, his drug use, mentorism, and
collected minutia, from John Lennon to Courtney Love.
Ritchie Eppink summarizes a generation's fascination:
"Nirvana was popular because people could use it to hate
very easily." The music, as well, is examined by dyed-in-
the-wool Nirvana fans. Editor Leavitt indicates his desire
to render future efforts into hypertext documents for the
World Wide Web.

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BARNEY MUST DIE NEWSLETTER, authored by Alpha, initially posted in the
alt.mindcontrol newsgroup, ASCII text.

Just as the title of this text indicates. Barney the dinosaur, loved and
cherished by millions of small children, is actually "some evil
supernatural entity posing as a warm, cuddly parent figure" that will
lead innocents down the path to "a kind and gentle DICTATORSHIP." Barney,
as explained here, is either a real dinosaur, an agent of Satan, or a
space alien. Regardless of origin, he "is one of the most hideous
creations of modern American culture, and as such, he must be destroyed."
Several options are provided, including possibly blowing "his face off
with a flare gun." If you like the pretense of absurd conspiracy theories,
this newsletter may interest you. It is well-written and often hilarious.
Mandatory reading for all adults who cringe whenever they hear _The I
Love You Song_ on their local PBS channel, or see a purple Barney squeeze
bottle at the mall.

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SLAP #3, by Derek Gottfrid, available ftp.teleport.com/users/derek, ASCII
text.

A rant, released monthly, by Derek Gottfrid. This issue takes PBS to task
for drab programming and suggests instead "Dr. Ruth and Dr. Kevorkian
doing a call-in show on necrophilia." Due to the somber tenor of his
novels, the Russian author Fydor Dostoyevski "should have taken Prozac,"
and we are reminded that "bacteria make great pets." I'm not sure where
Gottfrid is going with this; there are "News Briefs" chocked full of
trivial facts on everybody from Brandon Lee to Madonna, and also a
description of familial chaos, complete with murder charges. SLAP is
another in a series of mild rants, well enough written but not particularly
inspired. It would seem that posting articles and then weathering the
resultant flames is an electric version of pamphleteering.

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PRACTICAL ANARCHY, Issue 2.5, November / December 1993, edited by Chuck
Munson <[e-mail]>, or P.O. Box 173, Madison WI 53701-0173,
ASCII text.

Theory, news, and reviews. This anti-copyright ezine is primarily
concerned with "anti-statism, anti-capitalism and anti-vanguardism,"
and wishes "to help you put some anarchy in your everyday life." There
is a long article on money by Boog Highbelger, who concludes that
anarchists should understand money and how it is "used to constrol us
(so) we can fight back effectively." TAZ and PAZ theory is explained;
the former adapts itself to the process of people "disappearing" from
the "Grid of Alienation" in order to seek "ways to restore human
contact," while TAZ uses "various thought experiments, utopia poetics,
paranoid criticism, etc." to accomplish same. There are scads of book
reviews here; included are Chaz Bufe's _The American Heretics Dictionary_
and _The Last Days of Christ the Vampire_ by J. G. Eccarius. Also provided
is a large number of paper zine reviews. PRACTICAL ANARCHY is a tightly
edited ezine, teeming with info and resorces. Due to the possibility of
Chuck Munson losing his job, the electric version of PA is looking for a
new editor.

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EXTREME BOOKS CATALOG, FALL 1993, electronic book catalog, contact
[e-mail] or send a message to
[e-mail]., ordering info available thru Extreme
Books, P.O. Box 11704, Portland OR 9721, ASCII text.

Radical and strange book titles; everything from neo-feminism to
African Fundamentalism. I see a few of my favorite authors in here:
Howard Zinn, William Burroughs, Bob Black, and Anton Szandor LaVey.
I've read Nikolas Schreck's _The Manson File_ and the _Rants &
Incendiary Tracts_ anthology, both listed here; the latter is worth
every penny of the $9.95 asked. Probably to be expected, there are
many titles on anarchy, U.F.O.s, and scads of cyber and fanzines are
offered. Of particular interest to me are the literary titles, many of
them by fringe authors and personalities -- Brion Gysin, Herbert Huncke,
and Jon Longhi, to mention just a few. Most of these books are
unavailable through commercial outlets. A few of them are destined to
be modern classics.

DEROGATORY REFERENCE 77, written and published by Arthur D.
Hlavaty, <[e-mail].>, or 206 Valentine St., Yonkers, NY
10704-1814, ASCII text.

Basically notes on the publisher's attendance at Philcon, an
SF convention. Panel politics surface as Hlavaty realizes he is
"acting stereotypic, defending Traditional Literary Values by
recommending the work of a dead white male." Elsewhere, the editor
notes, "a lot of attention is being given to a case where a woman
cut off her husband's penis, allegedly because he had raped her.
Meanwhile, in other parts of the world, young girls are routinely
subjected to clitoridectomy. Whether this is as bad as what the
unfortunate husband suffered may be a question that only Tiresias
could answer... As a White Male Cultural Imperialist, I would like
to interfere with those differently advanced Third World societies
and make them stop doing it." Probably of interest only to those who
attend SF conferences and know the authors mentioned here.

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