Inspired by @corlin's latest post on the return of #Print...
We're all old enough to have been in the trenches with 'zine culture, right? π Hand-printed, cut, collaged, block-painted, haphazardly aligned, chaotically edited ziiiiines! (You know what I mean. π€)
So! Question for you louts:
If you were to start a 'zine today, in the style of one of those grand old pubs, what would you call it and what would it be about?
Yep
whole earth, mixed with fiction, and a bit absurdest humor.
ππ½
Yep.
I volunteer to do production, printing, stapling, and a bit of writing.
Hmmm I might know a guy that has an old 11x17 "multigraph" printing press in working order...
You can still buy printing plates for this, and I know how to hand cut "Rubylith".
Oh, I LOVE AbZurd as a name; you could build so much mystique and mythology around that uppercase Z in your content.
And in an era of many tech-optimist-co-opted solar-punk/hope-punk mags, I would be delighted to see your take on related themes.
First edition will feature a future anthropologist discussing if Justin Smith-Ruiu was real or factious. Along with tips on personal hygiene and waste management in the deep forest.
HOW could I love this 'zine any more? π
The only thing I am a bit twitchy about is that words like "fundamental" and "survival" keep popping into my head, and then I think of our current day Fundamentalists and Survivalists.
It's not them :)
Easy to overcome.
We poke fun at them, with no mercy.
And we should just re-appropriate the terms.
Can we take back "creationists" while we're at it?
Aye! Creation is a lovely word. So is Truth while we're at it :)
Oh, our poetry section is going to be lit. :) So many good ideas here!
Looks like you touched a live wire :)
With thanks to Corlin for flipping the switch!
And I imagine that when @BosmangBeratna comes online again, he'll be on board to provide AMAZING shop talk for us, too.
@MLClark @ceorl @LaurelGreen @BosmangBeratna
@BosmangBeratna
Will have a irregular column called
"Of course you make that out of wood, and it ain't hard to do"
@corlin and a column titled βYes you can create that with encaustic!β @MLClark @ceorl @BosmangBeratna
@LaurelGreen @corlin @ceorl @BosmangBeratna
All hate mail will be repurposed as found art. :) Waste not, want not.
@MLClark omg yesπ
@corlin @ceorl @BosmangBeratna
@MLClark @LaurelGreen @ceorl @BosmangBeratna
We will print all hate email out, cut it up and make paper flowers out of it.
@LaurelGreen @corlin @MLClark @BosmangBeratna
That's a new term to me, and I see some lovely encaustic paintings out there ;)
That's the sort of stuff I would like to be learning of in our 'zine :)
@ceorl its fabulous! Beeswax, plant sources of colors. And such a lovely scent as you create paints! @corlin @MLClark @BosmangBeratna
@BosmangBeratna @corlin @MLClark @ceorl @LaurelGreen
The hard part seems relative. There are things wood workers do that I'm certain I could not do without offering fingers to the blood God.
@NiveusLepus @corlin @MLClark @ceorl @LaurelGreen
Sometimes, a sacrifice is demanded. π€·ββοΈ 
@corlin @ceorl @LaurelGreen @MLClark i have a whole collection of "oh my god! DO NOT!" pinterest pins, from pressure canning water (why?), canning milk & butter (hello botulism), all kinds of plant woo...
@redenigma @corlin @LaurelGreen @MLClark
We should be careful not to kill anyone with our advice :)
@redenigma @ceorl @LaurelGreen @MLClark
Yes plant woo, will be in the zine.
A necessary skill, but in a fun child like way. Not childish, but filled with wonder.
@corlin that tracks, reminds me of wholeearth. As a teacher itβs huge, love of learning, exploration. @redenigma @ceorl @MLClark
I'm envisioning a section called - What's Your Problem?
With sub-sections like - I'm Cold, I'm Hungry, I'm Alone, I'm Scared, What Is This Strange Rash?
One of my favorite books growing up, other than the Whole Earth Catalog, was an Army field manual titled Survival, Evasion, and Escape.
I still have that handy :)
Yes! One lesson I remember well is - Never drink water anyplace near where humans live ;)
Oh actually another book I bought recently, based on a Youtube streamers videos.
It's called Primitive Technology, and shows, with lovely illustrations, many skills and crafts we have all forgotten.
The vids are also kind of ASMR-ish, in that he never talks in them, he only shows, but he is always perfectly clear.
You just hear the sounds of the nature, the tools, the materials.
Laurel! Do you have examples of your lovely creative streaks up where folks can sneak a peek?
if we digitize it.
it should be on a solar run web page with reduced graphics....
Like this
https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/06/rebuilding-a-solar-powered-website/
and
Lynx compatible ;)
I do love that little magazine something fierce. We should give it free promo space, if we draw from its first principles to develop our own version.
Perfect! (And I can't wait for the wild letters to the editor it will incur!)
You know, I think JSR would be absolutely chuffed to become the subject of a 'zine tell-all. I haven't been able to sit properly with his latest, which demands to be read carefully, following the links in order, but I look forward to having the mental capacity for it.
@MLClark
Off the top of my head:
Title:
Unplugged
or
AbZurd
Content:
A mixture of solar-punk, hope-punk fiction, and real world how to do stuff. How to build, create, and nurture. Ya know with what you find, left over by the end of consumer capitalism.