Monthly Recommendations: December 2013

I am doing something different for this month's Monthly Recommendations post. Seeing how it is the end of the year, I have decided to select a few of the things that I recommended this year in my monthly posts and re-recommend them. These are things that I think are totally worth checking out. Consider this the highlight version of this year's recommendations.

Blog

Brave Hannah - Yes, it's my sister's blog. Yes, that makes me a little biased. But it's a really great blog for anyone interested in eating real food, staying active, and generally living a healthy and positive life. If that's your thing, then give it a look.

Book

Answers for Aristotle: How Science and Philosophy Can Lead Us to a More Meaningful Life - I read a lot of books this year - way more than usual - but this book by Massimo Pigliucci is by far the most intriguing book I read all year. I think about it regularly and intend to read it again soon. Yes, it's that good.

Zine

Dream Whip #15 - Dream Whip is one of my all-time favorite zines. Bill Brown's writing is simple yet so profound. Getting to read a new issue of Dream Whip was a highlight of my year.

Podcast

Caustic Soda - When I recommended this back in August, I had only listened to one or two episodes. I honestly didn't fully comprehend what I was listening to at that time, but I knew I liked it. Now that I've listened to nearly every episode, I think I can safely say that I am a bona fide Caustic Soda Jerk. With healthy doses of humor, lightheartedness, caution, and seriousness, nobody discusses "caustic" themes like these guys. Give it a few listens, and you'll find that - just like a train wreck - you won't be able to turn away.

Music

The Kingons - Because I am convinced that everyone needs a little pop punk in their lives every now and then. (Or in my case, the more the merrier).

Review of Elephant Mess #27

 

 

Recently, DJ Frederick posted a very kind and thoughtful review of my zine, Elephant Mess #27. I appreciate his words very much, and I encourage you to check out his blog - One Minute Zine Reviews - where you can read other reviews that he writes as well as find out about all the other worthy projects that he is involved in.

Monthly Recommendations: September 2013

Read

Grow: How to Take Your Do It Yourself Project and Passion to the Next Level and Quit Your Job by Eleanor Whitney - Eleanor is a long-time zine writer and do-it-yourselfer, and her book is a great introduction for anyone considering turning their DIY project into a successful business and a full-time job. She also writes a great blog: www.killerfemme.com

Listen

Sawbones - Part of the Maximum Fun network of podcasts, this podcast covers "all the odd, weird, wrong, dumb, and just gross ways we've tried to fix people over the years." Who knew that medical history could be this interesting and fun?!

Watch

This is an entertaining and informative video about green roof technology:

new issue of elephant mess out now!

It's been more than three and a half years since the last issue of Elephant Mess. I thought perhaps it was dead. And maybe it should be? But for whatever reason, I am keeping it alive...at least for now. This issue has words about love, loss, and being haunted by life. It's written in typical emo-phant mess fashion, and it's available for $1 or trade or whatever. You get the idea.

Dan Murphy
PO Box 9862
Boise ID 83707
dnlmrphy@gmail.com

Monthly Recommendations: August 2013

Caustic Soda Podcast - A podcast that I recently discovered. The hosts prattle on about "science, horrible news, and humor," among other things. I'm really loving it so far!

Overseas - A band composed of David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, The Headphones), Will Johnson (Monsters of Folk, etc.) and members of Bedhead and The New Year. A super-group as far as I'm concerned. Their first album is incredible!

Portland Zine Symposium - Hanging out with zine kids is always a fun time! It's happening right now as I type this, so if you missed it this year, plan for next year. Or find/start a zine get-together in your neck of the woods.

Monthly Recommendations: July 2013

Here are some titles to add to your summer reading list:

Xerography Debt - Zine World may be dead, but Xerography Debt is still very much alive. This is a great resource for finding new zines to read and for connecting with fellow zine writers. The columns are worth your time as well.

Dream Whip #15 - Bill Brown writes about a bike tour in a way that only Bill Brown can. He made a movie about activists who work along the U.S./Mexico border, and he showed it at various places across the U.S., getting to each location by bike and making the trip with various friends. "LJR's knee was bugging her for a few days. But now it's better. She darts ahead of Mike and me and pretty soon, she's barely visible. Seeing her like that, a little black dot under a huge Kansas sky, makes me feel like a little black dot, too: small and lonely and lost in space."

Zera and the Green Man - Sandra Knauf, editor of Greenwoman Magazine, has finally published her young adult novel, something she's been working on for more than a decade. Zera is a teenager who discovers that she has a very unique connection with plant life and the earth. The trouble is that her Uncle (who became her legal guardian after her parents died) works in the biotechnology industry, creating bizarre combinations of plants and animals and thereby threatening the ecology of the planet and the future of the human species. An entertaining and important read. There is no print version available, but you can purchase a kindle edition on amazon. Other options may soon be available. Visit Sandra's website for updates.

The Juniper #16

Hello friends and foes! The 16th issue of The Juniper is out now! It's about time, right? In this issue, I write about embracing change, being human, raised bed gardening, the proper way to add organic matter to your garden, purposeful gardening, and pruning rosemary plants. This zine is free, but if you have a dollar or stamps to donate to the cause, that would be greatly appreciated as printing and mailing costs add up. I am also, for the first time, offering a pdf version of the zine. If you would like a free pdf copy, just send me a request by email. Otherwise, send your dollar or stamp(s) to the following address:

Dan Murphy
PO Box 9862
Boise ID 83707
USA

dnlmrphy@gmail.com

Weekly Recommendations, Week 44: Retch-a-Sketch blog

I'm too big of a fan of Keet's artwork and writing not to recommend Keet's sketch blog, Retch-a-Sketch, which I finally (just recently) took the time to visit. If you are not yet familiar with Keet and her work, apart from checking out her blog, you should check out her zine, Echo! Echo!. After you browse her blog, read her zine, and become a fan (which I'm sure you will), support Keet's work by sending her some dollars and getting something in return. In other words, buy stuff from her. Apart from that, I'm not sure what else to say. Keet's work speaks for itself, right?

Weekly Recommendations, Week 43: Brainscan #29 / No More Coffee #4

While I’m not typically a big fan of fiction zines, I found this one to be a good one. Ben of No More Coffee, a strictly fiction zine apparently, initiated this project with Alex Wrekk of Brainscan, challenging her to write a fiction issue of her zine and put it out as a split issue with his zine. Anyone who has ever read an issue of Brainscan (and who in the zine community hasn’t, really?) knows that Brainscan is a deeply personal, non-fiction zine, so producing a fiction issue was indeed a challenge. However, Alex performs famously, writing so much in her personal voice that even though the stories are fiction, they are completely believable and relatable. Alex’s half of this zine alone is reason enough to pick this up. But don’t think for a second that Ben does not also excel. His stories are just as intimate and engrossing. I found myself engaged and interested, despite the fact that it was fiction and that I have a general (and frankly unwarranted) aversion to the genre. The first story – Photographs of the Dead – is especially worth reading. In short, get your hands on a copy of this zine. It’s a rare chance to read Alex’s fiction, but it’s also a great fiction zine overall.

Weekly Recommendations, Week 40: Paper Radio

Paper Radio (formerly Signals) is a zine for the radio obsessed, especially for those who pine for radio as it used to be (which is before my time, but I can appreciate the sentiment). Pirate radio, shortwave radio, AM/FM, ham radio, even internet radio, if it has anything at all to do with radio and radio culture, it gets discussed in this zine. Issue #7 includes an interview with pirate radio broadcaster, John Poet, and discusses the controversy behind his recent FCC bust. It also includes thoughts on the vinyl revolution, an interview with DJ Little Danny, Lee Widener's account of an interesting LSD experience, and much more. In issue #8, there is a discussion of telegrams, an interview with Kevin Carey about longwave signals, reviews of select Yoga Records releases, short fiction by William Jackson, and of course much more. DJ Frederick is passionate about the art and science of radio, which is made very clear in the pages of his zine. If you have any interest in radio at all, this zine is definitely worth checking out. It excels at shedding some much needed light on this under-appreciated and declining medium.

Weekly Recommendations, Week 35: Responding to Mail

I used to write letters. Actually, I still do, just not at the rate that I once did and not at the rate that I  would prefer. Embarrassingly enough, I have been letting my mail pile up for a long time now, and the duration I go without responding to letters I receive keeps getting longer and longer. I don't really want it to be this way, but for whatever reason, I just haven't made it a priority to respond in a timely manner to the letters I receive. It's disgraceful as far as I'm concerned. I'm not saying that everyone who receives letters should respond immediately - we all have our busy lives with plenty of other stuff going on - I'm just saying that I would like to do better at it. I greatly appreciate the mail that I receive from fellow zinesters and zine-interested folks, and I love the connections I've made with people all over the world. I consider my pen pals to be my good friends and confidants, and I really want to maintain the associations that I have with them. However, I have not been great at writing letters lately. Perhaps I've never really been great at it, but these days it's gotten worse. I intend to mend that though. I will do better. I am making it a point to. One day soon, I'm going to sit down and write responses to all the mail I've received over the past year or more that I have yet to respond to, and then (mark my words) I will keep up on it. I recommend that you do the same. The connections we make in life are of upmost importance, and it is imperative that we maintain these relationships. Our lives are enriched by our friendships (whether they develop in person or through the postal system), and in turn, our correspondence, communication, and attentiveness can enrich the lives of others. To get a letter, write a letter, and if you get a letter, write a letter back. To those who have written to me lately and are anxiously awaiting a reply, I promise you that a response is on it's way. And to those who haven't written to me in a while (or ever), I'd love to hear from you. I promise that it won't take me eons to write you back...not anymore anyway.

Weekly Recommendations, Week 28: Growing Things: A Guide for Beginning Gardeners

Growing Things is a little zine that Joshua put together out of desperation after seeking for a good zine about basic gardening to include in his distro (Ms. Valerie Park Distro) but not finding anything suitable. With promptings and contributions from friends, he took the initiative to produce the publication that he found lacking. Joshua starts out by making it clear that he and the other contributors are not experts and have no formal training in gardening (especially the science thereof), and that there are myriad ways of going about things. What works for one may not work so well for others. I am pleased that he stated this upfront because as an avid gardener (and as someone who is trained in the profession), I did find a few of the things in this zine to be a bit “off” from my experience and perspective. However, I also agree that everyone’s gardening experience is unique, and in fact, Joshua’s summary of the zine provides very succinct examples of how starkly different the experiences of gardeners can be and how, as I have always felt, gardening is a trial and error, seat of the pants adventure regardless of how long you’ve been doing it or how trained and educated you are concerning it. The content of the zine is exactly what you would expect from a zine about basic gardening: making garden beds, container gardening, planting, weed control, insects, composting, seed saving, watering, plant nutrition, etc. Some of the writing is less about the how-to and more about the joy of gardening. All in all it’s a very informative zine and a great introduction to the world of gardening. Joshua was correct in (albeit reluctantly) deciding to put together the zine he had been wishing existed, because the outcome is a very approachable, well put together, straightforward gardening primer. You can get a copy for yourself by sending $3 + $1 shipping in US or $2 outside the US to Ms. Valerie Park Distro PO Box 2645 Olympia WA 98507.

relocation update

So, I finally have a permanent address back in Idaho. Actually, I have had this PO Box for a while now but have neglected to inform you about it (not that you were overly concerned, I'm sure). If you are interested in writing to me the old fashioned way and/or if you are interested in any of my various zine projects, etc. (please, please be interested), you can contact me at the following address for the foreseeable future.

Dan Murphy
PO Box 9862
Boise ID 83707

Weekly Recommendations, Week 15: Monkey Squad One

Occasionally I write reviews for Syndicated Zine Reviews, but it has been forever since I have posted anything. This week I finally got around to posting a new review, and it just happened to be for one of my favorite independent comics, Monkey Squad One. Read the review for yourself and tell me it doesn't sound interesting, then get in touch with Doug (MSO creator) and get your mitts on a copy for yourself.

Monkey Squad One #8
digest, 24 pages, $2.50
The zombie apocalypse continues in the 8th issue of Monkey Squad One. The city of St. Louis has become overrun by zombies, and a team of three youngsters, known as Monkey Squad One, has been commissioned to take them out. A zombie killing spree ensues, and amid the carnage the sound of an acoustic guitar is heard. Enter washed-up, crybaby crooner, Cletus Whiteheart, hypnotizing zombies with his diminished chords. This is part two of the zombie apocalypse (check out MSO #7 to find out how it all started), and considering what happens in the last few pages of this issue, it’s clear that the affair is far from over. I have enjoyed reading several issues of this comic. It’s highly entertaining and very well done. It has a great mix of humor, adventure, action, and wit. Totally worth a look.
monkeysquadmailbox@gmail.com
www.monkeysquadone.blogspot.com
Etsy: Monkey Shop One
Twitter: MonkeySquadOne

Weekly Recommendations, Week 13: The Juniper #15

This week’s recommendation is blatant self-promotion, so consider yourself warned. However, this is my blog, so I can do whatever I want, right? Plus, everyone else is using their blogs, tweets, and wall postings to aggressively and excessively promote themselves, so what’s stopping me from doing the same? Hey, everybody! Look at me! Check out how cool I am and all the cool stuff I do! Please like me and be my friend! Post, post, post, tweet, blog, post, ad infinitum.
The Juniper is my 8 years running eco-zine. It's all about living the slow/simple/small life: bike riding, gardening, doing it yourself. In this issue I talk about finding sanity by being in nature, my obsession with my bicycle, how to set up a plant variety trial in your garden and why you should do it, and how lots of things in the world are actually getting better (despite what some folks might say or think) and as long as we make the effort to stay on this course, amazing things can happen. I also include a recipe specifically for springtime. If any of this sounds even remotely interesting to you, send me an email and I'll send you a copy. I usually ask for a stamp, 50¢, or a trade in return, but a nice note should also suffice. I'd give my address here, but I'm still in the middle of a transition and don't yet know what my permanent address will be. Either way, write to me here and we can figure something out: juniperjournal@hotmail.com

Weekly Recommendations, Week 3: Greenwoman Magazine

Greenwoman Magazine is on a roll, and the second issue is this week’s recommendation. Sandra has high standards for the content in her magazine, and it continues to show. The thing I like most about Greenwoman is that, unlike most glossy, mainstream magazines, there is passionate, intriguing, and stimulating content filling its pages as opposed to countless pages filled with flashy graphics and advertisements accompanying a few throwaway sentences here and there. In that way, Greenwoman is a refreshing offering in a world of sound bites and background noise.

My two favorite articles in this issue were The Garden Club and Swarm Story. The Garden Club tells of a young girl who insisted on starting a gardening club with her reluctant but eventually relenting neighbor, who to his surprise ended up cherishing the experience. Swarm Story tells of a fascinating experience that Sandra had tagging along with a couple of beekeepers on a swarm capture. Also in this issue is an intriguing article about beetles, an interesting suggestion for an alternative use for honey, a charming story about a man who raises and breeds rare turkeys (and who is a “rare breed” himself), and a whole lot more. A stand out in this issue, of course, is an eleven page mini-biography of George Washington Carver, who, as it turns out, was so much more than just “The Peanut Guy.” I would highly suggest that you get your hands on a copy of this magazine, and while you’re at it, get yourself a subscription. With momentum like this, Greenwoman Magazine is bound to keep getting better and better.

"shout it out, shatter your lungs"

I have a couple things to share with you on this rainy, September weekend.

First off, a prolific zine writer and one of my long-time pen pals, Laura-Marie (of Eric and Laura-Marie Magazine and Functionally Ill), recently started a zine review blog, which can be found at http://lauramarieszinereviews.blogspot.com/ Laura-Marie is passionate about zine publishing and the reviews she includes in her zines are always interesting to read, so I'm sure the review blog will be equally great. If you're interested in seeing your zine reviewed on her blog, email her for her mailing address at robotmad@gmail.com. She's interested in reviewing most any zine except for music zines.

The second thing you should check out is Chelsea Lincoln's interview on the Our Hen House podcast. Chelsea (another long-time pen pal) is the author of Flavor Vegan blog and was recently a speaker and panelist at the Vida Vegan Con in Portland, OR. In the interview Chelsea talks about being vegan, her activism and how activism can mean something different for different people, and fat acceptance among other things. Chelsea is extremely articulate and passionate, and the interview is fun to listen to, so check it out, okay!?

"there's a violence in everyone"

After a several month long hiatus, I am back to posting zine reviews at Syndicated Zine Reviews. I didn’t mean to take such a long break. I just got a little swamped with other things. However, the zines kept piling up, and I started feeling like a jerk and a lazy bum for not getting around to writing reviews for the nice folks who were kind enough to send me their zines, so I finally decided to get on it. You should visit the site and check out all the great postings that are updated regularly (and not just by me, of course). If nothing else, it provides proof that the zine scene is still alive and well, and that all those naysayers and nincompoops that keep on saying print is dead are just dead wrong.

Additionally, I received a postcard from a zine friend a few weeks ago that is just too awesome not to share with someone, so here it is.

How cool is that?