:p>

Editor’s Note: :p>

While this issue isn’t all that late, it is nothing short of a miracle that you are reading it. Since the last issue came out I moved, had my hard drive crash, traveled for work quite a bit, and had some life changes that I’ll address in the next issue. Huge thanks to Darlene Veverka for rescuing the files she could and Donny for keeping everything on track.  :p>

 :p>

Introduction:p>

 :p>

      Sniff…sniff… The scent of change is in the wind. Hopefully it doesn’t smell like Terre Haute:place>:City> is reported to smell in the morning. This issue marks the point at which Xerography Debt has two equal editors. Donny has taken on more and more and with this issue the lion’s share of the work fell on his shoulders. That XD continues to exist I owe to Donny (and also the reviewers and columnists). I couldn’t have kept up without them.:p>

      Spring is my busy season at work culminating at Book Expo America (BEA). A few months ago I realized that despite the day-to-day intricacies, at heart what I do for a living is very simple – I sell books. It is of course more complicated than that…or is it? :p>

      I have one foot rooted in semi-traditional publishing (although working with small presses) and one in :p>

more radically independent publishing (zines). When these two worlds overlap there are certain pleasures. I’m currently working with two publishers that also happen to publish zine writers. That pleases me. I like not having two entirely separate universes. :p>

      Despite my devotion to books and book arts, once I entered the world of zines I changed as a reader. In a sense zines are like my Saturday mornings. Whenever possible I get up early on Saturday mornings to troll flea markets and yard sales for undiscovered treasures. Zines are like that for me. I might have to slog though mounds of crap, but there is always the chance of finding a gem – one overlooked by the majority of our consumer society. Those who prefer their reading life to be pre-packaged and officially sanctioned by Oprah, major publishing houses, or the NY Times will never understand this particular thrill. On occasions self-published books can offer this too. With zines the contact is much more direct and often the reasons for publishing that much more personal. The difference between self-published books and self-published zines is hard to describe, but perhaps it is because the books I work with are often seeking profit, where as with zines we are often just seeking readers. :p>

      In May, Patrick and I took the home buying plunge and got a small rowhouse in Baltimore:place>:City>. We were caught between the DC/Baltimore real estate wars and being at a landlord’s mercy. It was now or never. Within the first three weeks we needed a plumber, had a window broken, and got two parking tickets. Ouch. :p>

      In printing this issue I have once again drained the XD coffers and my added personal expenses mean I don’t have as much as usual to divert towards printing and postage costs. Instead of just asking the Usual Suspects to help support XD, as they always do, I’d like to try a new program called Adopt a Zine Library (or other Educational Venue). :p>

      If you would like to support XD and a zine library there are three ways to give::p>

 :p>

l For $4 I’ll send a zine library of your choice (or one on our list) a copy of the current issue and a back issue:p>

 :p>

l For $9 I’ll you can buy a zine library of your choice (or one on our list) a 1 year subscription and a back issue:p>

 :p>

l For $10 I’ll send a zine library of your choice (or one on our list) an assortment of 6 back issues:p>

 :p>

      This offer is flexible and zine libraries or other educational venues are welcome to take advantage directly. :p>

      If you’d like to help support Xerography Debt and help build a library’s collection, please write and indicate which plan(s) you would like to support, where you would like the zines sent (or we’ll choose), and send payment as cash, check (payable to Davida Gypsy Breier, not XD) or stamps. Also, please indicate if you would like to remain anonymous. Any zine libraries, schools, or other educational programs who would like to benefit from this program, please get in touch and ask to be added to the list. :p>

 :p>

Enjoy!:p>

 :p>

Davida Gypsy Breier:p>

July 2005:p>

 :p>

 :p>

 :p>

Basic stuff you should know:p>

 :p>

      If this is your first issue, XEROGRAPHY DEBT is a review zine for zine readers by zine writers. It is a hybrid of review zine and personal zine. Xerography Debt has its own freestyle approach. It is all about communication, so each reviewer has used the format or style most comfortable to him or her. Also, each reviewer "owns" the zine in a communal sense. We are individual artists and writers coming together to collaborate and help keep small press flourishing. :p>

      Do your part by ordering a few zines from the many reviewed here and, if you self-publish, please consider including  some reviews in your zine.:p>

      Xerography Debt’s reviews are selective. To explain the “system”: Some reviewers choose to review zines they have bought or traded with, some review zines that are sent to Xerography Debt for review, and some do both. Also, I buy zines at Atomic Books (my local zine store), as well as zine events, so if you see your zine reviewed and you didn’t send it in, that might be where I found it. Generally the only reviews you will read in here are “good reviews.” Constructive criticism is given, but basically we don’t have the time or money to print bad reviews. If you sent your zine in for review and don’t see it listed, wait a few months and see if it appears in the following issue. I read and then distribute the zines to the reviewers about two months before the print date. If the reviewer passed on reviewing your zine, it will be sent out again for the next issue. So, each zine gets two shots with two different reviewers. Ultimately, many of the review copies stay in the XD archives, but some are donated to zine libraries. Occasionally mistakes happen, postal or otherwise, so if you have a question about a zine you sent in for review, please contact Davida at PO Box 963, Havre de Grace, MD 21078 or davida@leekinginc.com. :p>

      XD is available for free online (some reviews and artwork will only be available in print) or paper copies can be ordered for $3.:p>

      If you have an event, announcement, or project you would like to share, please get in touch. :p>

      The lack of paid advertising within these pages is deliberate. Despite reviewing our friends and lovers, we try to be somewhat objective and free to do as we please. Needless to say, this brings up the point of needing some help to keep the machine running...:p>

 :p>

 :p>

Sponsors:p>

 :p>

We see Xerography Debt as the PBS of review zines. It is by us, for us, with no financial incentive - just a dedication to small press. If you have a few spare stamps or dollar bills to help support us and the zine community, it would be most appreciated. Also, let me know if you wish to remain anonymous. This issue’s sponsors are: :p>

 :p>

Darlene Veverka, Bobby Tran Dale, Donny Smith, DB Pedlar, Christopher Robin, Blair Ewing, Billy McKay, Fred Wright, Brooke Young and the Salt Lake City Zine Library, a bunch of people whose names I forgot to write down in the midst of the move, and several anonymous benefactors.:p>

 :p>

 :p>

Announcements:p>

 :p>

One of the files lost when my hard drive crashed was the announcements file. I usually receive announcement emails, copy the information into a Word doc and file the email in a local directory. Yeah, well, the files and the local directory are but memories now. I tried to piece together what I could, but if I didn’t include your information and there is still time before the event or your are still seeking submissions, please resend your information. :p>

 :p>

Zine Libraries:p>

 :p>

The Baltimore County Public Library is starting a zine collection at the Cockeysville:place> branch. They will be having a reading/opening, most likely on October 13th. Please come! For more information or to donate zines please contact bcplzines@gmail.com.:p>

 :p>

The Madison County Library is seeking zines for their new zine collection. They are located in rural Georgia:country-region> about 20 minutes from Athens:place>:City>. Please contact::p>

Suzie DeGrasse:p>

Madison:PlaceName> County:PlaceName>:place> Library:p>

PO Box 38:Street>, Danielsville:City>, GA:State> 30633:PostalCode>:address>.:p>

 :p>

The New York Public Library is once again seeking to add to its zine collection. Right now they only have a couple hundred titles, mostly collected in the mid 1990’s. You can contact”:p>

Karen Gisonny - Room 108:p>

Humanities and Social Sciences Library:p>

New York:place>:State> Public Library:p>

5th Ave:address>:Street> and 42nd Street:address>:Street>:p>

New York:City>, NY:State> 10018:PostalCode>:place>:p>

 :p>

Bill Price Alert:p>

 :p>

Email received from Ayun Halliday::p>

 :p>

Hi davida :p>

      I just wanted to thank you for posting the info about Bill Price. The name rang a bell and I just got an order at my PO Box from someone paying in stamps, which raised my radar since usually even the scrappiest punk rawkin box car hoppin teen can scrounge up the 2 bucks for a sample ish of The East Village Inky. Anyhoo... it also caught my eye that the return address stamp on the envelope had been embellished with some extra numbers in ballpoint pen... doesn’t look like the standard prison address but something’s up. :p>

      Anyhoo, I decided to do a little search on bill price zine before filling the order and your warning was the first that popped up. I’ll keep his stamp but he ain’t getting diddly off me or - horror- my children. :p>

      The return address label is a freebie from the National Parks Conservation Association and is printed :p>

            Bill Price :p>

            At 5 :p>

            PO Box:Street> 7001:address> :p>

            Atascadero:City>, CA:State> 93423-7001:PostalCode>:place> :p>

he has embellished it with ballpoint to read :p>

            Bill Price Wm J U20 :p>

            At 51273-1 :p>

            PO Box:Street> 7001:address> :p>

            Atascadero:City>, CA:State> 93423-7001:PostalCode>:place> :p>

      If this is indicative of him trying to make a prisoner address look like a non-incarcerated address, please let me know. I guess the guy can order what he likes, but knowing that he’s a twice convicted child molester makes my flesh crawl.:p>

 :p>

We did some digging and the address is tied to Atascadero:PlaceName> State:PlaceType> Hospital:PlaceType>:place>, which happens to be known for its sexual predator program. We are still working on confirmation, but it is probable that Bill Price is part of that program and isn’t likely to be released any time soon. We’ll let you know what we find out in the next issue.:p>

 :p>

 :p>

New Contact Info::p>

 :p>

Brooklyn:place>! And Watch the Closing Doors:p>

Fred Argoff:p>

1170 Ocean Pkwy.:address>:Street>, Penthouse L:p>

Brooklyn:City>, NY:State> 11230:PostalCode>:place>:p>

 :p>

Thoughtworm:p>

Sean Stewart:p>

3600 Buena Vista Ave.:address>:Street> :p>

Baltimore:City>, MD:State> 21211:PostalCode>:place>:p>

On a related note Malinda will no longer be publishing Grackle or writing book reviews for the Thoughtworm site.:p>

 :p>

Low Hug/Syndicated Product:p>

A.j. Michel:p>

P.O. Box:Street> 877:address>:p>

Lansdowne:City>, PA:State> 19050:PostalCode>:place>:p>

 :p>

Smile, Hon, You’re in Baltimore:place>:City>!:p>

William P. Tandy:p>

PO Box:Street> 11064:address>:p>

Baltimore:City>, MD:State> 21212:PostalCode>:place>:p>

 :p>

POOPSHEET UNITES UNDER ONE DOMAIN:p>

 :p>

      Poopsheet is a website devoted to promoting the independent arts with a particular focus on comics and zines. It’s been around in one form or another since 1993 and it appears it won’t be going away anytime soon.:p>

      A couple of months ago, the Poopsheet Shop was relaunched at its new domain and now the rest of Poopsheet has finally joined it!:p>

      The new URL: http://www.poopsheetfoundation.com:p>

      However, with this move comes a change in format. Officially, Poopsheet will no longer regularly post reviews. Instead, the new site will turn its focus towards information. The reviews have been replaced by something more like announcements and each new item noted at the site will contain all of the same information as before but with less commentary. :p>

      It’s unfortunate, but I’m excited about it just the same as this means information of new releases will be much more timely than the reviews were under the previous set-up. Some will be interested to know, of course, that there will still be occasional reviews; it’s just that they’re no longer a major focus.:p>

      Additionally, the site has been streamlined so that every update (excepting special features and the Links page) will be in one place, the front page. This means news, new releases, Shop updates and other site announcements will all be in the same place. No more hopping around from page to page. :p>

      Incidentally, there are a few ways you can access the updates other than simply visiting the site. The updates on the front page are originally created in LiveJournal, so if you have a LiveJournal account and would rather read the updates through your Friends page, the Poopsheet journal is called “rickbradford”. Also, the RSS feed is http://www.livejournal.com/users/rickbradford/data/rss for those of you who prefer newsreaders. (The Atom feed is the same except “atom” replaces “rss” in the URL.):p>

      I’d like to send out a big “thank you” to everybody who helped me troubleshoot the new site and thanks especially to Maggie McFee for saving the day.:p>

      Please hop on over and check it out when you have a moment. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. And if you should have any questions, there’s a FAQ you can check at the site or feel free to drop me an e-mail.:p>

      Thanks, everybody!:p>

      —Ricko:p>

      http://www.poopsheetfoundation.com:p>

Atomic Book Company:p>

 :p>

Atomic Books has formed a new press, Atomic Book Company. In July they will be publishing a collection of the Lulu Eightball strips by Emily Flake. Emily Flake will be at the store signing copies on Saturday August 6th from 7-9pm. For more information contact::p>

Atomic Books:p>

1100 W. 36th Street:Street>, Baltimore:City>, MD:State> 21211:PostalCode>:address>:p>

info@atomicbooks.com:p>

 :p>

Submissions Wanted:p>

 :p>

To publish in Pouèt-cafëe, send us two copies of your typed, previously unpublished creations (poems, short stories, creative non-fiction, articles and essays, photos, drawings and collages, comix, etc.) along with a short bio-bibliography (up to 35 words) and your complete contact information. Please note that we do not accept simultaneous submissions, or e-mail submissions. Submitting up to 10 literary or visual pieces will increase your chances of seeing one of them chosen; full manuscripts and portfolios are more than welcome. The authors and illustrators whose work is selected will be notified in the month following the deadline. Please include a SASE or an IRC so we can notify you and return your work. Contributors are paid in copies and receive three copies of the issue their work appears in. Copyright remains with the authors. We look forward to discovering your work!:p>

 :p>

Send your submissions by regular mail only to: :p>

Pouèt-cafëe, Christine Douville, editor:p>

6595 St. Hubert:place>, P.O. Box:Street> 59019:address>:p>

Montreal:City>, QC:State>:place>, H2S 3P5Canada:p>

 :p>

Have you ever kept a journal? Have you read anyone else’s? For all those who journal (and those who don’t) here’s your chance to share a story. Send any journal inspired creations to Julie Dorn, PO Box:Street> 438:address>, Avondale Estates, GA 30002 or to junieingeorgia@hotmail.com.:p>

 :p>

Got the creeps? THEN GIVE UP THE GHOST! Do you have a ghost story to tell? If so, the zine Baltimore City Paper calls "surprisingly fascinating, consistently absurd, and often weird as hell" is seeking your first-person encounters with the supernatural in the Baltimore/Maryland area - from restless spirits to nameless things that go bump in the night - for its first special ghost-story issue, to be published in Fall 2005. As a Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore:place>:City>! contributor, you will receive a byline credit as well as three (3) complimentary copies of the issue. Submissions/queries are preferably received via e-mail (wpt@eightstonepress.com), or snail mail William P. Tandy, c/o Eight-Stone Press, P.O. Box 11064:Street>, Baltimore:City>, MD:State> 21212:PostalCode>:address>. The deadline for Smile, Hon's special ghost-story issue is September 1, 2005.:p>

Columns:p>

 :p>

The History of Zines: Oi! Oi!:p>

A Spotty History of Non-Racist Skinhead Zines:p>

 :p>

By Sean D. Stewart:p>

3600 Buena Vista Ave.:address>:Street> :p>

Baltimore:City>, MD:State> 21211:PostalCode>:place> :p>

 :p>

      Few subcultures have been as consistently maligned and misunderstood throughout their history as the skinhead movement. From their humble beginnings in Britain:country-region>’s late-1960s Jamaican reggae and ska scene to their wildly exaggerated reputation for hatred and violence in the U.S.:place>:country-region>, skinheads have always attracted attention. Their distinctive manner and style of dress, pride in their working class roots, and their occasional association with both extreme left-wing and right-wing political groups all contribute to the often negative impressions those outside of the culture have of them.:p>

      Mainstream media sources throughout the over 35-year history of skinhead culture have done much in the way of furthering the stereotypes surrounding the movement. When examining why this is, it’s simple to see how skinheads became easy targets very early on. To the untrained eye, most of them look the same, and their shaved heads and severe clothing often inspires, at the very least, wariness. Also, although only a very small percentage of them commit acts of premeditated violence, they are often prone to rowdy behavior, which sometimes explodes into spontaneous violence. :p>

      In Britain:place>:country-region>, an increase in this violence and the resulting pressure from police caused some skins to leave the movement a few years after it had begun in the late 60s, which led in part to its initial decline. Many skins didn’t consider the police harassment to be worth it. After briefly disappearing during the early to mid-1970s, though, skinheads reemerged in England:place>:country-region> during the first punk explosion of the late-70s. It was during this time that the skins first became linked with such political groups as the British Movement and the National Front, both of which espoused British nationalism and leaned very far to the right. Thus began a history of recruitment of skinheads as foot soldiers by people with a greater political agenda. While many British skins were patriotic and sought identity in their white ethnicity, they were not necessarily racist, nor did the majority of them have much interest in politics. Unfortunately for the subculture as a whole, though, the ones who did adopt the views of racist and fascist groups garnered the most media attention.:p>

      A fair and balanced treatment of British skinhead history is difficult enough to find (although George Marshall’s two currently out-of-print books, Spirit of ’69: A Skinhead Bible and Skinhead Nation, go a long way in providing this), but eking out a history of U.S.:place>:country-region> skinhead activity is even harder to accomplish. It’s likely, though, that skins did not begin appearing in any significant numbers in the U.S.:place>:country-region> until the punk scene began flourishing in the late 70s and early 80s. Virtually from the start, they had a bad reputation. At the peak of mainstream media attention on them in the late 80s and early 90s, just about every tabloid daytime TV talk show was clamoring to expose the horrid racist violence propagated by skinhead thugs, culminating in the airing of an episode of Geraldo Rivera’s show in which a skinhead associated with the white power organization White Aryan Resistance (WAR) broke Rivera’s nose with a chair.:p>

      Public perception of skins in the U.S. was not helped at all by various high-profile murder cases involving skinheads, most notable of which was probably the 1988 beating death of Ethiopian man Mulugeta Seraw in Portland, Oregon by three young skinheads, at least one of whom was proven to have been recruited and trained by John Metzger, son of Tom Metzger, leader of WAR. After the skinhead perpetrators had been convicted, the Metzgers were later sued by well-known civil rights lawyer Morris Dees of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and ordered to pay Seraw’s family $12.5 million in damages, effectively stripping WAR of most of its influence, at least on a financial level.:p>

      The reality of the skinheads’ reputation for violence, racism, homophobia, and any of a number of other nefarious attitudes and activities is much more complex once one digs below the surface. There is no denying that some skinheads are neo-Nazis who would like nothing better than to implement race purification strategies at a national level. But there are also many skinheads who have organized against such ideas. One such group is Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP). Originally established in 1987 in New York City:place>:City>, SHARP spread quickly to become a loosely-knit international network of anti-racist skinhead crews who battle against neo-Nazis and other proponents of racist ideas. They are typically nonpolitical, although some members certainly lean to the left on the political spectrum. A more overtly political group is Red and Anarchist Skinheads (RASH), which began in 1993, also in the New York:place>:State> area, and has since spread worldwide. RASH organized as a means of support and promotion for skinheads who share anti-fascist and radical left-wing views. :p>

      Despite the existence of these groups, many skins state that throughout their history, the majority of skinheads have neither been strongly anti-racist nor politically active in any particular direction. They also feel that the introduction of politics into the movement caused a lot of unnecessary trouble for skinheads. Traditional (trad) skins these days hold true to the ideals of the original members of the movement back in 1960s England:place>:country-region>: non-racist attitudes (as opposed to actively anti-racist ones), working class pride, attention to traditional skinhead fashion, and an abiding love of authentic reggae and ska music. For them, it is a way of life, but not one charged with any radical political or social views.  :p>

      Whatever a skinhead’s particular personal views are, though, they all must deal with the stigma that comes with their choice of subculture. And so, in part as a reaction to the constant stereotypes pervading the mainstream media, over the years various skinheads have made an effort to inject some truth into the scattered documentation of their scene by producing their own publications. It’s within the pages of these skinhead zines, or skinzines, that one can find a much more realistic picture of the rich diversity that exists within skinhead culture. Unfortunately, skinzines are even harder to track down than the precious few books covering skinhead history that have been published.:p>

      In a post to the Insurgence Records online message board, RASH member Dan Sabater lists what he considers to be the best U.S.:place>:country-region> anti-fascist skinhead zines. Not a single one is still being published, and most of them never made it past issue one or two. Sabater notes that the U.S.:country-region> anti-fascist skinhead zine scene has never been as big as it was in Europe:place>. He suggests that this may either be because there has always been less anti-fascist skinhead activity in the U.S.:place>:country-region>, or simply because “skinheads hate to read.” Publication dates on the zines in Sabater’s list range from the mid-80s to the late 90s. The list includes, among others, the first SHARP zine, Double Barrel, and Colorblind, a Chicago-area zine published by a black skinhead involved in the Chicago:place>:City> chapter of Anti-Racist Action (ARA).:p>

      According to Sabater, ARA, which started as more of a “street-fighting organization,” grew out of the Baldies, an early U.S.:country-region> anti-racist skin crew based in Minneapolis:place>:City>. Later, ARA would grow beyond the bounds of the skinhead culture and become more politically focused, with chapters established worldwide, many of which began publishing their own zine-like newsletters containing announcements of and reports on anti-fascist activities. Examples of these are the ARA-Los Angeles publication Turning the Tide: Journal of Anti-Racist Action, Research & Education (now in its 18th year), the Chicago chapter’s ARA Research Bulletin and Toronto’s acclaimed but now-defunct newszine On the Prowl, published from 1993-2003.:p>

      One of the more prolific American skinhead fanzine writers was Stephen Donaldson, aka Donny the Punk. A former Associated Press reporter, Donaldson contributed to a wide array of publications throughout the 80s and 90s, including punk zine Maximum RocknRoll, Long Island punk and hardcore magazine Under the Volcano, and British newspaper Skinhead Times. Donaldson was an eloquently vociferous proponent of true skinhead culture, and he often used his considerable writing skills to dispel popular myths about skinheads. In addition to writing about skinhead culture, Donaldson was also involved in gay and bisexual activism and worked tirelessly to increase prison rape awareness and to support prison rape victims. He served as assistant editor of the Encyclopedia of Homosexuality (1990) and co-editor of the thirteen-volume Studies in Homosexuality (1994). Donaldson died in 1996 of an AIDS-related illness, leaving behind an impressive legacy of written work that has since been collected and preserved by the New York Public Library’s Manuscripts and Archives Division.:p>

      Although Donaldson referred to Skinhead Times as a skinzine, it was actually more of a newspaper than a zine. The paper’s editor/publisher George Marshall, also author of Spirit of ’69: A Skinhead Bible, describes it as a 12-16-page tabloid-style newspaper for skinheads. The black-and-white paper featured articles on news in the scene, music and sports information, photos, and classifieds. It was very much a standard-style newspaper, except it was targeted to skinheads. Marshall:place>:City> published Skinhead Times from 1989 to 1995; when the final issue came out, circulation had reached 5000. :p>

      Certainly there were more decidedly zine-like publications for skinheads being published in Britain:country-region> and Europe:place>, though. It’s hard to track down exactly when the first skinzines appeared, however. It’s likely that it happened during the first wave of punk music in late 1970s England:place>:country-region>, when punks began documenting their own scene in zine format. This would’ve coincided with the emergence of the first wave of Oi!, a splinter genre of street punk that skinheads began gravitating toward. Oi! was different from punk in that both the band members and the fans were mostly working class, whereas many of the early punk movement founders came from middle-class backgrounds. Grittier and even more stripped-down than early punk, Oi! was a perfect fit for skins.:p>

      In my own collection, I have a few British skinzines from the late 80s/early 90s, including issues of Hagl, Unwounded Victory, and Revenge. One of the more interesting ones is a triple split between Revenge (England:country-region>), Unite For Unity (Baltimore:City>, MD:State>), and Class Resistance Network (Pittsburgh:City>, PA:State>:place>). This zine neatly illustrates the spirit of collaboration and support across international borders that has been so common within the skinhead movement. The refreshing mix of contents includes discussion of anti-fascist activities, animal rights issues, rape awareness, sexism, homophobia, activism, anti-war sentiments, band interviews, and a lot more. A note in the front of the zine from Class Resistance Network editor Mucky explains that he changed the name of his newsletter forum from Skinhead Liberation Organization to Class Resistance Network because “we believe our goals stretch a lot further than the Skinhead movement.” This notable statement of inclusiveness from a skin certainly does not fit into the mass media’s stereotypical skinhead caricature.:p>

      Outside of the U.K.:country-region>, skinzines also began appearing in parts of Europe:place> during the early 1980s. Germany:place>:country-region> in particular has had a long history of skinzine activity. Skinhead publications like Rote Front and KB 84/Reason Why? appeared there during the 1980s. After the German division of RASH was founded in 1995, some members began publishing their own zine called Revolution Times, which is still going strong today as a forum for left-wing skins.:p>

      Jan Axelsson, a Swedish publisher and free speech activist, states on his website Flashback.net that he published Sweden:place>:country-region>’s first skinhead zine, Skins Magazine, in 1983. In an email interview, Axelsson explains that he started the zine in response to the split between punks and skins. The zine’s motto was “punks and skins, unite and fight.” At this time, some punks felt the punk movement was selling out and becoming too focused on fashion, and so they reacted by becoming skinheads. This led to friction between the two groups. Skins Magazine gave historical background on skinhead culture, as well as explaining why the movement was experiencing a resurgence in the early 80s. The zine also covered the growing Oi! scene, offering record reviews and band interviews. Axelsson says that although some punks didn’t agree with what Skins stood for, most people responded well to the zine. He affirms that zines were and continue to be important in the skinhead scene. As he notes, aside from the few books that have been written, zines have been the only alternative outlet in which to counter the bad publicity skinheads so often receive in the mainstream media.:p>

      Once the web-publishing phenomenon struck, a few skinhead e-zines also began appearing online. One such publication was Skinhead As Fuck, also based out of Sweden:place>:country-region>. Publisher Jonas started his site as a result of his perception that most of the online information about or targeted toward skinheads was worthless. Skinhead As Fuck included articles, interviews, music downloads, and an online radio station playing classic ska and reggae tunes. Jonas shut the site down in 2002 due to lack of time and motivation.:p>

      Most of the online skinhead publishing efforts are now gone, leaving behind a jumble of broken links and missing pages. Only a few sites survive, such as George Marshall’s web version of his out-of-print book Skinhead Nation, and Skinheads.net, which is now a discussion forum only. Sites that were spoken well of by skinhead web-publishers like Jonas simply don’t exist anymore. They’ve disappeared, just like most copies of the few balanced and comprehensive books about skinheads. :p>

      As for the skinzines, they are being sought out and preserved by groups such as the New York:place>:State> chapter of RASH, which maintains an anti-fascist skinhead archive. Hopefully, with the rising prominence of zine libraries, it will become easier to acquire and provide access to these important historical documents. Because although the lack of accurate information on this subculture has always been part of what makes it so intriguing, it’s also been the main reason why skinheads have remained so stigmatized throughout their long history.:p>

 :p>

Note: White power skinzines have been deliberately left out of the scope of this article; however, it’s worth noting that they do indeed exist. A couple of titles that may or may not still be in publication are the British zine Rampage: A Skinhead Voice and the Canadian zine Sledgehammer: The Voice of the White Nations.:p>

 :p>

Sources::p>

Anti-Racist Action: Fighting Fascism in the Streets Since 1988. 2004. Anti-Racist :p>

Action. 5 June 2005. <www.antiracistaction.us/pn/>.:p>

Axelsson, Jan. Personal interview via email. 28 May 2005.:p>

Bushell, Gary. “Oi! The Truth.” Home page. 2002. 4 June 2005. <www.garry-:p>

bushell.co.uk/oi/index.asp>. :p>

Flashback: 20 Years on the Barricades of Freedom of Speech! [1983-2003]. Feb. 2003. :p>

Flashback. 22 May 2005. <http://www.flashback.net/faq/>.:p>

Knight, Nick. Skinhead. London:place>:City>: Omnibus Press, c1982.:p>

Marshall, George. Skinhead Nation. 1996. 22 May 2005.:p>

<http://www.skinheadnation.co.uk>.:p>

Moske, Jim, comp. Stephen Donaldson Papers, 1965-1996. Sept. 2000. The New York:place>:State> :p>

Public Library Humanities and Social Sciences Library Manuscripts and Archives Division. 22 May 2005. :p>

<http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/rbk/faids/donaldson.pdf>.:p>

RASH United International. RASH. 22 May 2005. :p>

<http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/3475/>. :p>

Revenge with Class Resistance Network and Unite For Unity. Jan. 1992.:p>

Sabater, Dan. “The Best U.S.:place>:country-region> Anti-Fascist Skinhead Zines.” Online posting. 20 Dec. :p>

2004. Insurgence Records Message Board. 22 May 2005. :p>

<http://insurgence.proboards24.com/>. :p>

Stellan. “Skinhead As Fuck Interview.” Pissed and Proud Mar. 2002. 22 May 2005. :p>

<http://hem.passagen.se/pissedandproud/>. :p>

 :p>

Traditional Skinhead FAQ. June 1999. Tradskin International: Home of the :p>

Alt.Skinheads FAQ. 22 May 2005. <http://www.tradskin.org/faq.html>.:p>

 :p>

 :p>

Mail Art:p>

Playing with Children:p>

 :p>

By Gianni Simone:p>

3-3-23 Nagatsuta:p>

Midori-ku, Yokohama-shi:p>

226-0027 Kanagawa-ken JAPAN:place>:country-region>:p>

 :p>

The international mail art network has always been divided between those who like to chronicle and/or analyze what they do and those who only want to make art and correspond with their friends without having to explain how and why they do what they do. Since the beginning, I have belonged to the former group, even though I understand that too much talking sometimes takes the joy out of the mail art experience. I have recently realized, by the way, that the more I write about mail art, the less I seem to actually do it. In this respect, the last two years have been very slow production-wise. But I digress.:p>

Those who like to talk and write about mail art are a rather small group, if compared to the total of practitioners (they are mostly men, by the way. It seems that women could not care less about these endless debates) but they argue constantly, through their articles and by joining newsgroups, mailing lists and message boards on the Internet. Since 1986 they have even organized, every six years, so-called Decentralized Networker Congresses all over Europe and North America:place>, in order to actually meet and discuss things further. Last year the fourth round of such meetings took place, ranging from informal visits to friends and improvised dinners to big festivals with plenty of events and activities. The one organized by Peter Kuestermann and Angela Pahler (a.k.a. the Netmails) in Minden:City>, Germany:country-region>:place> was particularly important and attracted many people. One of the topics that was discussed in that occasion was “the future of mail art,” or as some of the participants put it, “is mail art getting old?” or worse yet, “is mail art dying?” What seems to be true is that mail artists are getting old—especially the hardcore group that has embraced mail art as a life style. Several of the people who were in Minden:place>:City> wrote me that “you always see the same faces.” They complain that young people are not interested in this old-fashioned way to network and spend all their time in front of a computer screen or pushing frenetically the keys in their cell phones. Other people reply to these complaints that the mail artists themselves are to blame: we don’t do enough to attract outsiders and make them understand and enjoy the pleasures of mail arting. :p>

One of the more vocal critics of this “ghetto mentality” is Belgian networker Luc Fierens. As he wrote in a recent e-mail, “yes, I feel some of the network has become a closed club of blah-blah news groups and private parties. Wake up and open the field!” Always one who backs his words with facts, Fierens and partner Annina Van Sebroeck started in 1999 a workshop for children aged 8 to 11. Working in collaboration with regional integration center Foyer, they gathered a number of elementary school students, especially belonging to socially disadvantaged groups and immigrant families. At the same time, the work done between October 1999 and February 2000 in weekly meetings was linked to the international mail art network, so that the drawings, paintings, collages, stamps, etc. made during those sessions were sent out and exchanged with artists and children abroad. Thanks to the help of another Belgian networker, Guido Vermeulen, they even managed to involve the American “Children’s Art Program” of kidscommons, a children’s museum in Columbus:City>, Indiana:State>:place>. As Fierens says, “Mail art is communication art. The value of communicating prevails over the artistic value and stands above the classical knowledge of language. This is particularly important for children with language problems. Therefore the aim of this project was to offer real opportunities to communicate across all borders.” The experience was so satisfying that it was repeated four years in a row, every time with a different theme: “Living in the Mirror,” “Dance of Life,” Soul Food: Envelope Your World,” and “Play.” Instrumental to the success of the project were Fierens’s efforts to involve public institutions (something other mail artists are usually not very happy to do) such as the Queen Paola Foundation. The finished works were exhibited at the Central Post Office in Brussels:City>, the Museum:PlaceType> of Spontaneous Arts:PlaceName>, Molenbeek, the gallery of the public library in Etterbeek, and the Ministry of the French Community, Brussels:place>:City>. Of course achieving open and permanent lines of communication between the children themselves remains difficult, especially across international borders, because the extended waiting period causes them to forget about it and dropout. Nevertheless, receiving mail from another part of the world is a great, unforgettable experience that has a positive influence on their creativity and the way they think about other cultures. Once the seeds of communication are planted, they continue to grow and flourish.:p>

Fierens’s workshop has been followed by similar projects in Germany:country-region>, France:country-region>, the Netherlands:country-region>, and Belgium:place>:country-region> (“Maanschim—Exploring the Dark and Clear Side of the Moon,” that was independently curated by the children themselves), in which I had the pleasure to participate, sometimes with my 4-year-old son Luca. In some cases, the children opted to use the alter-and-return system, by sending out art to people who had previously agreed to collaborate and getting their altered works back a few weeks later. :p>

The idea to write about mail art and children in a zine like Xerography Debt first came to me when I realized that a growing number of zinesters are librarians and/or are active in grass roots activities (and there are those who publish parenting zines of course!). It would be wonderful if some of you readers had the possibility and space (did anyone say “library”?) to organize a similar project. It is needless to point out the importance of communication and getting to know “the others”—whoever they might be—especially in these dark times in which irresponsible and ignorant people talk freely about the “clash of civilizations” and other such nonsense. But of course you do not have to go international at all costs. Even a collaboration with other children and/or adults in your country would be good. Also, a project can take different shapes (as usual, imagination is the only limit). For example, how about making a collective zine/diary that gets sent around through the post? If in the last issue of XD I scared you with all that talk about the expensive task of sending out documentation to every contributor, you will be glad to hear that when kids are involved, mail artists’ hearts start to melt and they become tolerant and forgiving, even if they receive nothing in return. Fierens managed to produce a nice box with 40 color-postcards and an essay in four languages, but he had Queen Paola on his side…:p>

For more information, tips on how to organize a children’s project, etc. you can check the kidscommons Web site at www.kid-at-art.com (very colorful and fun, even if you only want to have a look) or you can contact the museum by writing to Kidscommons, The Commons Mall, 325 Washington St:Street>, Columbus:City> IN:State> 47201:PostalCode> USA:country-region>:address>.:p>

Luc Fierens’s address is Galgenberg 18, 1982 Weerde BELGIUM:place>:country-region>; fierens.mailart@belgacom.net. :p>

 :p>

Gianni Simone also publishes KAIRAN, which is devoted to the discussion of mail art-related topics. Issue #9, among other things, features a mammoth index to mail art and (visual) poetry zines (more than 100 publications listed). Available for $4.00 postpaid worldwide from 3-3-23 Nagatsuta, Midori-ku, Yokohama-shi, 226-0027 Kanagawa-ken JAPAN:place>:country-region>.:p>

 :p>

IT MEANS IT’S WANK:p>

 :p>

By Jeff Somers:p>

P.O. Box 3024:Street>, Hoboken:City> NJ:State> 07030:PostalCode>:address>:p>

mreditor@innerswine.com:p>

www.innerswine.com:p>

 :p>

“So what does that mean? It means it’s wank.”- Vic Flange, www.fleshmouth.co.uk [now defunct], describing my zine.:p>

 :p>

A WORLD OF PEOPLE COOLER THAN ME:p>

 :p>

...in which your intrepid wanky columnist wonders about all the zines and DIY projects that don’t get reviewed.:p>

      I’m usually the least cool, hip person in the room. It’s okay—I’m used to it. By the time I discover a trend or fad, it’s usually been out of style for years and little kids—with whom I’ve been waging a quiet war of attrition these past few years—make fun of me, mercilessly. They call me Bathrobe Guy because I walk around in a tattered bathrobe all day, muttering and they like to throw rocks at me when I shuffle home from the liquor store—but I digress; the point is I am woefully uncool. Heck, the whole DIY publishing world should have washed its hands and left zining behind when I started publishing my little magazine, as I was obviously the last kid in the room.:p>

      My brand of all-purpose ignorance is breathtaking, in a way, and extends to just about everything, including the wealth of zines out there in the world. Basically, if it isn’t mentioned on alt.zines or reviewed in Zine World or Xerography Debt or some of the other well-known review zines, I haven’t heard of it. Which means, since those august publications can’t possibly review every zine out there—and probably not even half—there is a huge cloud of Dark Matter zines out there that seem to be existing without my knowledge or approval—a previously unthinkable proposition. There could be thousands of zines out there that I’ve never heard of, and probably won’t ever hear of. There could be this whole Philip K. Dick shadow universe of zines, a doppleganger of my own zine out there, a mirror image pamphlet produced by a flabby nerd with a colorful drinking problem—why not? We’re talking Dark Matter zines, after all. Anything’s possible. And if a zine doesn’t get reviewed in the major review pubs, does that zine actually exist?:p>

      Consider this: Most zines, over time, disappear. People tend to view zines as disposable, after all; they’re cheap toilet reading. Zine libraries generally—though not universally—suffer from the same transience and impermanence as the publications they aim to preserve, and fade away with a shocking suddenness all too often. The publishers themselves often print just enough to fill their orders, give a few more away, and as often as not don’t have any copies of issues left over, unless you’re like me and lack basic math skills and wildly overprint every issue in an orgy of financial ruination. And, of course, a large number of zines don’t even get to issue #2, and their publisher doesn’t consider issue #1 worth saving. Poof! The zine is gone, and after a few years it may as well have never been published.:p>

      I suppose zine review zines can suffer the same fate, and a few probably have. Even major ones can disappear—Factsheet 5, anyone?—and a few years down the pike and already Factsheet 5 seems like a ghost, a memory, and there’re probably scads of zine publishers who’ve never heard of it. But at least zine-review zines concentrate a large number of zine titles into one slim publication, so if just one issue survives the microscopic traces of a hundred zines survive with it, proof of life.:p>

      So what happens to Dark Matter zines that don’t get reviewed? What if they’re not even reviewed in the Dark Matter review zines? Many zine publishers are islands of perversity in the straight world, without bridges or trade routes between. Zines are born, live briefly, and die, often—maybe usually—without notice or record. Maybe people find a box of them ten, twenty years down the road—and then what? If you find at fifty something your wrote at twenty, what will your reaction be? And what about the small-run zines, where maybe twenty copies are produced and distributed by hand to people of varying reliability, varying interest?:p>

      Maybe none of these Dark Matter zines are worthwhile. Maybe most of them, like most of everything, suck. But still, it bothers me that so many are potentially chum, potentially lost, never known beyond a tiny and mortal group of people. Even with all DIY publicity resources firing full blast we’ll be lucky if anyone remembers our zine a hundred years from now. If you don’t even have that going for you, who’ll ever know? There are plenty of things out there that are obscure: Novels, music, poems, political movements that have faded into the dustbin of history, and few people realize they ever existed, or care. But at least there is some record of them, some dusty old repository where their impact on the world, if any, is recorded and can be accessed if you’re curious. If a couple of kids somewhere bang out five issues of We Haven’t Learned the True Meaning of Rebellion and then slowly drift apart and never speak again and two years later their parents sell the house and a box containing the last existing issues is tossed into the garbage. . .did the zine ever actually exist?:p>

      The same question, of course, can be applied to people. This is why I drink.:p>

      There are, of course, no guarantees. You can get reviewed everywhere, get lots of distribution, and fill out the copyright forms and send copies of everything to the Library of Congress and every zine library around, and still you maybe forgotten, and still your zine may disappear. But the more places your work is reproduced, the more places it is mentioned, set in writing and discussed, the better chance you have, I think. And a chance is all you ever get, anyway, in anything. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to put on my bathrobe and go to the liquor store for dinner.:p>

 :p>

The Reviews:p>

Donny Smith:p>

915 W 2 St, Bloomington:City> IN:State> 47403:PostalCode>:place>:p>

www.geocities.com/dwanzine:p>

dwanzine@hotmail.com:p>

 :p>

Selam fanzinciler! Hey, zinesters! By the time you read this, I’ll be free from meth-addled Terre Haute:place>:City> and well on my way to being a penniless grad student (in Turkish Studies). But I’ll still be a librarian, somehow, even without a library. Speaking of which, our zine Library Urinal is now availalbe from me or Miriam DesHarnais for $2! Now to the zines… Sag olan!:p>

 :p>

America:place>:country-region>? 12 (2004):p>

available from Travis, PO Box 13077:Street>, Gainesville:City> FL:State> 32604:PostalCode> USA:country-region>:address> for $1? or trade?; obscurist@hotmail.com:p>

on the cover: a weeping elephant:p>

inside: ruminations on his life, his community, his travels:p>

quote: Those hardboiled crime novels I devour don’t seem so delectable now since I couldn’t think of any way to outwit or outmuscle (yeah, right) the odds. The plots in those books never made any sense—I mostly liked them as vehicles for dissolute criticism & the awful lengths that the characters would traverse for their passions. I do still believe there is another world, a better world. There must be. Maybe I’ll see you there one day. In the meantime, take care of yourself, dear. :p>

overall: He’s always veering toward pretentiousness in his writing, but saves himself just in time with a little self-deprecating humor. I liked this a lot. :p>

 :p>

BOOTY #19 (March 2005):p>

available from Anne Thalheimer, 121F Brittany Manor Dr:Street>, Amherst:City> MA:State> 01002:PostalCode> USA:country-region>:address> for $1 + 60¢ postage (or $2); contact before trading; motes@simons-rock.edu :p>

subtitle: more adventures in auto-bio:p>

inside: comics about Anne’s life, her mom’s breast cancer, her own breasts, her relationship with her mom, her many jobs, her trip to Iceland:place>:country-region>, her mandolin lessons:p>

quote: I do, however, remember my mother taunting me when I was maybe in seventh grade for not wearing “underwear”
--> i.e. I wasn’t wearing a bra or any other such garment. :p>

      See, my mom wore these things—”teddies”—a bra and underwear all in one. With a snap crotch! Ugh! :p>

      I would often get frustrated by her teasing me but never helping me—I honestly don’t remember her ever taking me shopping for a bra.:p>

      Not even once.:p>

      So I’d swipe a teddy, chop off the bottom, and wear that. :p>

overall: charming and perceptive :p>

 :p>

Extranjero número Finlandia (2005?):p>

available from Kris & Lola, calle Obispo 4 bajo, Plasencia 10600, Cáceres SPAIN:place>:country-region> for cash, stamps, a zine, or a nice letter :p>

on the cover: a Finnish landscape and an elk (that is, a moose) running in front of a car:p>

inside: Lola’s thoughts on backpacking in Finland, Estonia, and Latvia; Lola’s open letter to Santa; Roman Schatz’s thoughts on sisu (Finnish toughness, also discussed by Johanna in the zine SISU, reviewed in XD 15); Kris’s experience giving a zine talk to Spanish students of English, with a footnote on Kris’s misuse of the word polla (cock); “Why Finland?”; the complexities of the Finnish language; a big letters section :p>

quote: Santa, I have to give you good news: Plasencia, my town, decorated the main square with a performance about you for the first time. We are getting very international here in Extremadura. (And losing our traditions). The performance was a robot dressed like you dancing to Christmas music on the 2nd floor balcony of the town council office. :p>

overall: engaging and clever—we need to hear more from Lola!:p>

 :p>

Four star daydream issue six (2005?):p>

available from Fawne D., 104 Diane Dr:Street>, Thomaston:City> GA:State> 30286:PostalCode> USA:country-region>:address>, no price ($1?); fawneheart@charter.net:p>

inside: bits and pieces of her life, “‘one minute autobiographies’ … they are all here. they are all real and true.”:p>

quote: there were times i could’ve told you these things but your presence made my heart beat so fast i couldn’t breathe. especially when you said, “i love her so much. she’s everything to me. i just wanted to let you know that.” :p>