Tomatillo Salsa

For the review/recommendation this week, I thought I would post an awesome recipe for Tomatillo Salsa. I had never eaten tomatillos before, so I wanted to try them. I found a recipe on gourmetsleuth.com for Salsa de Tomatillo con Aquacate (for those who don't know, aguacate means avacado). This recipe is really good, and it also felt great to make my own salsa and not just go buy some bottled salsa from a store. I'm serious, you should try this recipe...it's really easy. Zarela is the original source of the recipe, so go there.

Mailing List Is Lost & Elephant Mess Is Contraband

Okay so, I worked really hard on developing a Juniperbug Productions mailing list so that I would have a comprehensive list of all the people who have written to me in the past year or so, and so that these people would automatically receive copies of the Juniper whenever new issues are done, and I saved all of this info on a disc and not a computer because I don't own a computer, and now that I have a new issue of The Juniper out I went to upload my mailing list to print it off so that I could send a copy to each one of the nearly 200 people/distros/stores on the list, and wouldn't you know it - the disc had caught a virus and my mailing list is gone forever. (That was a long sentence.) Luckily I have an old list that I printed off a coupla months ago, plus I have most of the other addresses written down or stowed away some place else, but still I'm sure I'm probably missing a few and plus all the hardwork that went into putting that mailing list together is wasted. That sucks. I hate computers. Anyway, my point is that if you don't receive a copy of The Juniper #5 within the next three months (because it's going to take me at least that long to get around to sending them all out) and you think you were on the mailing list (because you definitely were if you've written to me within the past 6 months or so) then send me an email or something and let me know that I have forgotten about you, because I probably didn't really forget about you - I just lost your address.
In other news....I received a copy of Elephant Mess #15 in the mail yesterday stamped "return to sender." The awesome part is that it was also stamped "CONTRABAND." I had sent it to a female prisoner in Goochland, VA. I guess the inspectors there opened it up and decided that it was restricted material and was not allowed to enter the prison or be delivered to its intended recipient so they taped it back up, stamped it contraband and sent it back to me. Of all the things that could be considered contraband, I never figured that Elephant Mess had that grand potential. The Juniper maybe, but even that's pretty mild in content. Anyway, I was just trying to be nice and give an inmate who had written to me something to read, but I was thwarted by a higher power. Skunked again!

J5! (no, not Jurassic 5)

The Juniper issue #5 is done much sooner than you thought it would be. It's got stuff about greywater, living the slow life, bike power, science manipulated again, instructions on how to make seed bombs, a simple container garden plan and a recipe for pesto. As usual, it's available to all for a stamp. All you gotta do is send your 37cent stamp to this address:
Dan Murphy
PO Box 3154
Moscow ID 83843

any questions? email me:
juniperjournal@hotmail.com

p.s. Contrary to the review I recieved in Zine World recently, I do give my readers credit. I'm just not the best writer, that's all. I know ya'll are much smarter than me!

Pretty Hot / Ghost Mice split CD

Punk is better when it's simple and lo-fi. It's better in basements and tiny clubs. And it's better when it has something new to say, something genuine and heartfelt. I was tired of today's punk, so I stopped listening to it for awhile. I was just about to say that there is no good "new punk" out there, but then I got the urge to check out the new bands on Plan-It-X Records, remembering how much I loved listening to Operation: Cliff Clavin, Disarm, The Sissies and This Bike Is A Bike Bomb. I ordered a few CDs like Ghost Mice, Defiance, OH, Carrie Nations and Rosa, and as soon as I put them on I was in love with punk rock again. This is the real stuff. The music that changed my life so incredibly back when I was a clueless high schooler. So, now I'm listening to punk again, and to those who are feeling really jaded and disillusioned by Warped Tour/MTV punk, don't give up on punk completely. There is still some good stuff out there; you've just got to know where to look.
The Pretty Hot/Ghost Mice split CD is a good place to start. These songs (six from each band) are awesome. Both bands are from Bloomington, IN. Pretty Hot is rocking pop punk with a good mix of humor and seriousness. On the first track, Carlisle, they sing, "I don't ever want to grow up, but that doesn't mean I want to stop growing," which to me basically defines the spirit of this band: having fun & being youthful, but also being smart and questioning things and not being complacent and apathetic. Motionless makes a good point about crutches and things we lean on just to get us by: "without a person to hold them" they're "motionless." "Our legs will get stronger." Slingshot brings up some good questions about effective activism and blatant revenge and how sometimes the line between the two gets blurred.
Ghost Mice is Chris & Hannah from all sorts of past Plan-It-X bands. They are an acoustic folk-punk band, and one of the best. Apparently most of the shows they play are sans electricity, which is definitely punk rock. They say that these are some of their best songs, and I'd have to agree. The Good Life is probably my favorite in which they sing about how much better life would be as a bumble bee or a mountain goat: "I would never have to hear another telephone." In Letter Home, Chris thanks his parents for being supportive and helpful even though they don't completely agree with his lifestyle choices. They also include a cover of Fifteen's classic punk song, Petroleum Distillation, which is definitely worth hearing. This CD is $5 postage paid and was put out by Anti-Creative Records. You can write to them at: PO Box 1528, Upland CA 91785.
On another note, I recently found out that a guy I know has started a reforestation project down in Venezuala called Ciudad Teca. He is growing teak trees to help out the local economy and repair the damaged rainforested areas. I don't know a whole lot about it (teak trees are new to me), but you can check out the website to learn more. And if you have some extra cash, you can support the cause by making a donation.

12 Volt Terrain

I should write these reviews when the zine is fresh on my mind, but honestly there is too much amazing stuff in this zine that it wouldn't matter if I had read it a hundred times, I still couldn't do it justice in a few short paragraphs. 12 Volt Terrain was (is?) a self-sustainable living project in Tegue, Netherlands. Edward wrote this zine to explain to readers what the project was all about and also share some things he learned through his involvement and pass along some info about living sustainably. The idea of the project was to live completely self-sustained on squatted land, disconnected from "the main supply network for water, electricity, sewer and gas." Obviously, there were times when compromises had to be made, but for the most part they did pretty well with the use of solar power, human-powered transportation, well water, wood stoves, compost toilets, greywater techniques, etc. The biggest problem that arose was the friction that proceeded to exist between the residents which apparently led to Edward leaving. Here's what Edward had to say about that, "Quite a lot of the time our group is stalled by inertia and laziness. No one does the dishes. Somebody martyrs themselves doing them and thinks they can take the rest of the day off. One guy chops wood one day and complains the next day when no one else does. We find it hard to work together. Everyone always has a valid excuse. Everyone is always too busy. I get paralyzed. I have too many things to do, so I retire to my sofa and my cats sit on my head. All of these problems are what seem to happen if you live in a group."
Included in this zine is a discussion on sustainability and it's different meanings to different people along with an overview of the four step energy preservation cycle: refuse, reuse, reclaim, recycle. Edward also includes an outline he wrote for a meeting that was held in order to address some of their domestic dilemmas. I can't emphasize how informative this little zine really is. Not only did it teach me more about sustainability and inspire me to continue advancing toward a more sustainable life, but it also got me thinking about certain issues that might arise in an ecovillage setting that I had never really thought about before. People just can't seem to get along, and even in the most ideal settings there will still be social and domestic problems. That's why it's so important that we work on changing ourselves as well as the world around us. They go hand in hand.

I'm not sure about the cost of this zine, but you can contact Edward here:

Matlingeweg 101
3044 EV
Rotterdam
Netherlands

bintang@seznam.cz

My dentist looks like Jimmy Fallon

I will update this again soon. I have more reviews to post. School started, and I had a root canal yesterday. I am wasting money as we speak. I am also worried about the folks in New Orleans, zine pals and fellow diy-ers. I hope they're alright. Kyle Bravo says that Hot Iron Press may be gone forever. He lost everything in the hurricane. I hope that he finds some way to rebuild his empire. Hot Iron Press was one of my most favorite distros. And they were revolutionary, too. Not one of those dime a dozen distros that pop-up and disappear on a daily basis. They were trustable. Now they are in limbo because of natural causes. It's sad I tell you.
I shouldn't be typing this right now. I need to get some sleep, my friends. More later.