gangLion Montreal - Montreal, QC

I will be in Montreal for Reading Week, which is really exciting. And on Tuesday, March 2nd, I'll be attending gangLion's launch of their fourth issue, entitled "Spot Colour" alongside some friends, one of which being Amber from Hello Amber! Zine Reviews. We will both be reviewing the event. To be honest, I've never heard of gangLion and have no idea what to expect, but I'm always up for surprises and adventures!

Click here for gangLion's blog.
Click here for the Facebook event.

#7

FIRST FUCK
by tindronomel@yahoo.ca

This zine is exactly what it’s called - stories of “first fucks.” All anonymous stories about losing your virginity. I got it at Canzine 2006 and proudly paid the extra two dollars for the copy with the colour cardstock cover. It has since been in my collection, read in bathrooms of many apartments I’ve lived in and thumbed through from time to time when I’m bored or procrastinating. These are all so honest and unabashed, and disproves the cultural Hollywood standard of it being something beautiful, highly memorable and with a very important and carefully chosen partner. In fact, I don’t know anyone who really lost their virginity that way. The stories I have heard from my friends follow closely with the ones in this zine - somewhat embarrassing and awkward, at parties while intoxicated, young and stupid. I think this zine is an important read and would highly recommend it to anyone!

NOTHING RHYMES #5
by Chelsea Gunn

This is a perfect issue to follow #4; written in typewriter and put together in a cut and paste style, bound with a green cardboard strip that says, “i sleep better crazy, i think better sick” and vellum wrapped around the cover. A big chunk of it is about her one cat who eventually passes away, which is sad, but it is a touching story as well. There are also charming stories entitled, “new games,” and “hope is the anchor.” Chelsea’s zines are fun to read because they are always positive, even when the mood is sad. Always a read that leaves you feeling inspired and good inside.

BUSH VS. EVERYONE!
by Winston Rowntree

My boyfriend got this zine for two dollars at Canzine 2007 because the front advertised that George W Bush Jr dies on every page, and let’s be honest, who the hell doesn’t want to see that? There’s Bush vs: a gondola of rabid beavers, a guy who looks like Bob Saget, Hitler, and The Driller - just to name a few (even “a distasteful dinette set” gets a piece!). The comics are really mediocre, and the whole idea of the zine is juvenile and without class. But, it’s really fucking funny, and I still laugh when I look at it.

2010 Calendar Zine
by LLYMLRS

In the past few weeks, I won a calendar zine from LLYMLRS, a graphic design student with a blog. Yesterday, the envelope in which it arrived was decorated with my name (spelled right - woo! That rarely happens) in hand drawn type and was a cute little surprise in my mailbox! It's adorable. From what I read, a free PDF of it will be available for download the beginning of March, which is a pretty cool idea.

#6 - The La-La Theory

Katie Haegle of The La-La Theory and I have done flyer trades a few times in the past couple years, and because of this I’m surprised it’s taken this long for me to read any of them. In the past couple weeks however, she sent me a lovely package of zines for the zine library and I took the opportunity to finally read them. I absolutely love the idea of a zine about etymology and language in general, the different ways we communicate with one another and how language affects our perception of life in general. So, here are the reviews of the three zines I’ve had the pleasure of reading. If interested, you can buy her zines through her etsy shop or contact her for possible trades.

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MAN IS THE HERO OF GEOGRAPHY
by Katie Haegle

This zine contains reproduced pages of a mostly blank geography workbook from 1973 that Katie found at a garage sale. Katie fills in the blanks with madlib-type answers which are mostly irrelevant to the questions, which I found off-putting and confusing, while also intriguing. Some answers are random and left me thinking, “wtf?” while others made me burst out into laughter and made me want to keep reading.

THE LA-LA THEORY #5: BLIZZARDS, BLINDFOLDS, SQUATTERS AND CARTOONISTS (AND OTHER WORDS THAT WERE BORN IN 1880)
by Katie Haegle

The name says it all, really. Each salmon-coloured page gives an etymological explanation of such words as mentioned above, including blazer, outlaw, and narcolepsy. I found the hand-written appearance to be hard on my eyes, and I think it would’ve been better if it had been typed in a legible typeface. Other than that, it was cute, informational and interesting. I also like how every issue of this zine has a little explanation of The La-La Theory, which is based on the thought that language was born of the need to express music, poetry and love. Interesting, indeed!

THE LA-LA THEORY #6: ALWAYS ALREADY
by Katie Haegle

This issue was a bit different than the ones previously mentioned in this post, but it is my favourite! There are things such as a review of the German language and some of the words in it she fancies, an interview with an adapter for Tokyopop, and a poem inspired by foreign words that don’t quite translate in English (I really like “saudade”, which is Portugese for something along the lines of a sense of longing for something that probably can’t be found again. I thoroughly enjoyed every page, although I wish she would’ve printed it in something other than Times New Roman (the world’s most boring and overused typeface there is), but hey, at least it’s not Comic Sans or Arial!

5th Annual London Indie Media Fair - London, ON

The 5th Annual London Indie Media Fair is scheduled for March 13th. We want makers of zines, posters, comics, manifestos, blogs, websites, film, photography, silkscreening to show their work. If are interested in having a table, or for more information, please contact indie.media@lpl.london.on.ca or call 519-661-5100 Ext. 4986.

Deadline to sign up is March 7th.

$5 Registration fee / person.

(via London Public Library)

Broken Arts Fair - Oshawa, ON

There is no space left for anyone who'd want to have a table, but you can still attend - it's free! Sorry for not posting this sooner. Click here for the Broken Arts Collective blog.

Kazoo Zine Fest - Guelph, ON

For fellow Southern Ontarians, there is a zine festival in Guelph starting on April 21st until the 25th. I would love to make it, but Guelph is far and I don't drive! So we'll see. But it should be a good time, and anyone who can go should go! The official site is here.

NYC Anarchist Book Fair

For those of you who live in New York City, the surrounding area, or who are willing to travel, there is an anarchist book fair on April 17th from 11am—7pm at Judson Memorial Church. Follow the link here for more details.

#5 - Art Zines!

PIECES AND PIECES #3
by Amanda Q
electrichaos.etsy.com

I was so excited to get zines from someone who has a background in graphic design!
Aesthetically, this zine is filled with grungey elements, photography and collage - things I adore! I really liked the stereotypes of roommates as well, and I think anyone who has had more than one roommate in their lives would have a good hearty laugh about it. While I found a lot of the writing to be clever, I found some of it to be super boring. But, most of the parts I found boring were about bands she likes that I’ve never heard of, so maybe that’s just me because I have no interest in music zines or reviews of bands I’ve never heard of. Also, she didn’t use any bleeds, which would’ve given the zine a more professional look, and it sort of drove me crazy. Anyone with any graphic design knowledge should know better! The more the zine went on, the more fragmented her sentences got and the more and more she used “like”. Some people would probably link that to an uncensored, more personal feel, which is cool — but I found it rather irritating after a few pages. Despite these criticisms, I did enjoy the zine. It was a good mix of hand-made and computer elements, and a lot of the writing was really cute and real.

MANIFEST MY DESTINY: A COLLECTION OF COLLAGE
by Amanda Q
electrichaos.etsy.com

Yet again, Amanda totally should’ve used bleeds! It would’ve given the zine a much better effect. Nonetheless, I totally adored it. Printed on high quality (maybe semi-gloss?) paper, this zine is full colour and are pages of an altered book project! I really, really like this zine. She sent it to me unexpected, and it was a really nice surprise! I’d recommend it to anyone who likes art zines, or collage in general.

RUM LAD #4
by Steve Larder

This is a comic type zine about Steve’s adventures to Germany for the Mulheim Zine Festival. I must say, I was super impressed with the artwork, and how everything was hand written (although, some of the words I was unable to make out). I sat down and read this in one sitting, which says a lot since I have an infamously short attention span. In between and around stories of the zine fest and the trip to Germany are general thoughts about life and the way he is living it - things I think all of us can relate to, especially creative people. I really enjoyed this zine and would like to find earlier copies, and will definitely be looking out for new ones in the future.

#4 - Mini Zine Love!

I like mini zines a lot because they are little, cute, and simple. They get a direct message across if you need to, can provide a snippet of visual candy, or be a random goody in an envelope that comes from a distro or trade. Here are a few favourites from my collection.

MARKED FOR LIFE #5
Sage Adderly, Sweet Candy Distro

This little gem is written by Sweet Candy distro-runner Sage Adderly, also my fellow Farmville friend! It’s about self-censorship and anxiety, and I think all zinesters feel like what she talks about at some point. It’s one of those zines that gives you a “clicky moment” between what the author describes and your own personal experiences, and I felt really light and fluffy after reading it.

BOOBS AND THE MILK CART
by Taryn Hipp

I don’t remember how long ago I got this, but it’s one of the ones I kept for myself when I took over the duties of the NC Zine Library and donated about 90% of my collection. It’s a memoir of growing up with girlhate and discovering girllove through the Riotgrrrl Movement in the 90’s. Other than the spelling mistakes which I thought could’ve easily been caught, I thought it was really cute, well-worded and inspiring.

FIGHT BOREDOM #2.5
by Amber Forrester

This mini zine is cutely printed on various fluorescent coloured paper and done in typewriter and collage. To Fight Boredom, every day is something different and goes with a matching illustration and image. I also always found the cover to be intriguing. Somehow I have two of these, and I have no idea why. Not complaining.



I have a mini-zine called "One Shot" still available in my Etsy Shop. I'm pretty sure most of you know that, but I thought it was worth mentioning again.

Thirdspace Zine - Call for Submissions

This has nothing to do with me. Nevertheless, I think it's a potentially good idea and some of you may be interested.