cuz i'm not busy enough

As if I didn't already have a to-do list large enough to make me weep I've decided to make my own christmas cards this year... or, more realistically, make as many as I can (if I make it past 5 I'll have impressed myself!)
Bring on the pritt stick!
Oh dear!

In other news I finally got my act together and joined the world of Folksy as a zine-touting seller.
It's like Etsy's smaller UK cousin, but with exchange rates going haywire it seems more sensible for UK buyers to have the option of buying in ££ rather than $$ like is the case with my etsy store
My (quite unattractive and empty looking, at the moment) Folksy store is here

ribbons and paper and comix zines

Excitingly I recieved photos this week of the space I have to host the UK Women's Comix Zines Exhibition in at the Women's Library in London as part of Zinefest!



It may require imagination at this stage, but... Budge those tables out of the way (or even better cram them with distros selling kick ass zines, and supplies to make your own zine with), cover those bricks with banners of big, colourful, blown up comix pages, add a bit more fairy lighting, and get zines dangling down from those light fittings via streams of ribbons and I think it's gonna shape up quite nicely, and transform the space somewhat. I've got my creative hat on!





If you're reading this and thinking that you'd like to get involved there's still time to submit your comix zine or self-published comic, blown up pages from your comic/zine, create a comix piece espacially for the wall, or send in your how-to tips for wannabe comix creators.
Drop me a message for full details.

So far I have received submissions from the amazing Charlotte Percivil, Sarah Lippett, Rosie Brice, Lizz Lunney, Erica Akerlund, Lady Lucy, Carolyn Alexander, Jenny Linn-Cole, Liz Greenfield, Kate Evans, Flo Brooks, Kate Dickinson, and Karrie Fransman. With over 30 other ladies due to contribute within the next month too.
Exciting stuff!

Details of the whole shebang are...

Zine Fest!
Saturday 24th January 2009,
12pm-4pm

The Women's Library,
25 Old Castle Street
London E1 7NT

Free.

Distros, workshops, discussions, screen printing, hands-on, female comicx zine exhibition, plus more.
For full details of all events please check back...

More info at library website

on the aspire...

The Bonfire Madigan UK tour I've been working on is now less than a month away and looking set to be amazing.

A rare rare UK tour from this avant-pop, chamber-punk trailblazer. Armed with dynamic vocals and innovative, self-styled cello virtuosity Madigan ignites the Bonfire with a shebeen of soul-art-string-sounds. Madigan has previously played with seminal riot grrl band Tattle Tale and is a founding collective member of the autonomous mental health collective The Icarus Project

‘Bonfire Madigan play baroque-folk punk grounded on frontwoman Madigan Shive’s soaring lullaby vocals and virtuoso cello skills. Shive, a master of tone and mood, crafts songs with raw, emotional melodies and powerful, unexpected dynamics.’ - New York Press

bonfiremadigan.com
bonfire madigan myspace

*December 11th: LONDON
at The Barbican, London,
7.30pm
Cost: £13/18/22 subject to availability
Twisted Christmas featuring special guests including Bonfire Madigan Shive
Are you frustrated by the fey joviality of Christmas? Long for a sense of meaning and depth to be returned to our yuletide traditions? Then Twisted Chrismas is for you. Brought to you by David Coulter & the team behind ’Plague Songs’ this deliciously dark evening features an array of special guests performing their own versions of Christmas songs past present and future. Christmas with a twist - returning a little bit of darkness to light...

*December 14th: BRIGHTON
at Westhill
Bonfire Madigan, and Daniel Knox, + Lianne Hall.
8pm onwards.
£4.
Mulled wine and mince pies!!

*December 16th: MANCHESTER
At: The Black lion, 65 Chapel Street, Manchester
Lineup: Bonfire Madigan / mcwatt / march of alka malka, there will also be a festive buffet
8pm
£5 on door
Updates via: kaffequeeria wesite kaffequeeria@riseup.net

*December 17th: LEEDS
At: Brudenell Social Club, 33 Queens Road, Leeds, LS6 1NY, Tel: 0113 275 2411, Brudenell website
8pm
£5 on the door
Supported by: Ray Rumours London) Ex- Electrelane, The Battys & Lesbo Pig myspace + The Seven Inches (Leeds) myspace

*December 18th: HULL
Adelphi Club, 89 De Grey Street, Hull, HU5 2RU Tel: 01482 348216, Adelphi website

*December 19th: LONDON
At: the Horse Hospital
The Mad & Strange / Strange & Mad Show
Starring Bonfire Madigan and Richard Strange (songwriter, storyteller, punk legend, actor: see him in Harmony Korine's latest film, Mister Lonely playing an impersonator playing Abe Lincoln)http://www.myspace.com/richardkidstrange
+ Neotropic (a founding Future Sounds of London memeber)
DJing it all together. only £ 6-8
Colonnade, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1HX
by tube: Russell Square, Piccadilly Line
buses: 7, 59, 68, 91, 168, 188
http://www.thehorsehospital.com/

*December 21: LONDON
At: Royal Academy of Arts Bar/Cafe
Last gig of the year = on winter solstice = a special 3pm afternoon musical presentation in this beautiful high ceilinged space, presenting nearly all instrumental music.
Bonfire Madigan showcasing avant-classical cello and vocal work from her 2008 scoring commissions for the American Conservatory Theater.
Last chance to get the rest of BMad's merch directly + as solstice gifts (she can't take it back!)
Including the book Live Thru This that she will sign for your loved one.
+ a whole different set than Fri from Riz Maslen/Neotropic/Small Fish with Spine
In 6 Burlington Gardens W1
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/gsk-contemporary-season/events/eat-drink/late-night-bar,610,EV.html

* * * * *

For the Leeds date view the myspace event here and the facebook event here



BONFIRE MADIGAN SHIVE is a visionary cellist, composer, vocalist, performing artist, community activist, and international touring musician from the United States. Shive has collaborated onstage and in studio with artists as diverse and influential as iconoclastic music producer Hal Willner (Lou Reed, Marianne Faithfull, Allen Ginsberg, Laurie Anderson), Joan Jeanrenaud (Kronos Quartet), David Coulter (The Black Rider, The Pogues), Kimya Dawson (Juno Soundtrack), Cat Power, Gossip, Fugazi, The Good, the Bad and the Queen, Jolie Holland, Slovenian industrial-music-theater artists Laibach, Finnish chamber-metal showmen Apocalyptica and Academy Award nominee Elliott Smith.
Shive's songs have been included in the films Better Luck Tomorrow, But I'm a Cheerleader, and Chain Camera. Commissions include the original score composed and performed for the American Conservatory Theater's 2008 production of 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, London's Barbican Hall 2008 Twisted Christmas program, prepared solo cello suites for San Francisco Grace Cathedral's 2006 Easter Vigil, as well as the score and starring role in the forthcoming experiMental silent film Transliminal Criminal. She is a contributing author to the recently released anthology Live through This: On Creativity and Self-Destruction (Seven Stories Press), sharing company with bell hooks, Nan Goldin, Kate Bornstein, and other creative pioneers. She is a founding collective member of The Icarus Project (theicarusproject.net), a grassroots support and media network led by people living with experiences commonly labeled "mental illness." Starting on cello at the age of nine, she began her composing career at fifteen in the Pacific Northwest riot grrrl scene releasing music with seminal independent record labels K and Kill Rock Stars. Shive has gone on to establish herself as a singular and trailblazing performer, blending folk, art, punk, classical and avant-baroque styles. Her albums include Sew True, ...from the Burnpile, Saddle the Bridge, Plays for Change, and the recently reissued I Bleed: a Decade of Song; she is currently finishing her sixth full-length album, to be released in collaboration with her label, MoonPuss Music.
Visit Shive at bonfiremadigan.com or myspace.com/bonfiremadigan.

if the exchange rate wasn't so bad...

... everybody would be getting one of these beauties by Sally Harless for Christmas.





Welcome to The Ocean World of Sallee Cousteau.
Sallee has lovingly drawn various sea creatures for this calendar so that not only will you know what day it is, you can also enjoy a different underwater drawing each month.
These calendars measure 81/2 by 14 inches when unfolded. The covers are ivory cardstock and the inside pages are a thinner green paper.
These make really great Christmas gifts for children or adults!
$7 plus $1 shipping



How do you get one of these?
1. You send a check, money order, or well-concealed cash to:
Sally Harless
2836 S. Walnut St.
Pike
Bloomington, IN
47401
2. You send money via paypal to sally@sadlyharmless.com.
3. You see me in person and we go in the alley and seedily make the exchange.



Sally on myspace
Sally on etsy

some people are too nice

I was blogged about today.
HERE

Thanks MGU, I'm happy you liked the zine!

"I have trouble with boys voices"

Last night I went to see the only film on the Leeds International Film Festival programme that excited me enough to attend the festival, Who's Afraid Of Kathy Acker?
It was really great and I encourage anyone to see it if they get the chance (alas the screenings in Leeds have now finished)

The film is described here...

WHO'S AFRAID OF KATHY ACKER? is the first film to explore the outrageous life and times of the banned American writer, Kathy Acker, a woman who lived her life without boundaries. Named one of America’s original “outlaw writers” by the New York Times, Acker created challenging and sexually graphic fiction rooted in the same New York underground scene which inspired the worldwide punk movement. This first film, conceived & directed by the young Austrian Artist, Barbara Caspar, and co-written with English filmmaker Andrew Standen-Raz, covers every aspect of Acker's life, from her wild early years in New York City to her untimely death in Tijuana, Mexico, of breast cancer in 1997. Caspar's film is a multi-layered, artistic tour de force--a sophisticated mix of animations, graphic text and filmed reenactments of scenes from Acker's bestseller "Blood & Guts in High School", shot in NYC, as well as a host of interviews with leading figures of the time connected with Kathy, including William Burroughs, Kathleen Hanna & Bikini Kill, Richard Hell & the Voidoids, Barney Rosset and Ira Silverberg.

It kinda blew my mind with inspiration.

In the US the film appears to have been distributed by Women Make Movies, a multicultural, multiracial, non-profit media arts organization which facilitates the production, promotion, distribution, and exhibition of independent films and videotapes by and about women.
How rad is that!



The last book I read by Acker was Pussycat Fever, (illustrated by Diane Dimassa) which I'm gonna dig out and re-read cuz I remember at the time being totally overwhelmed and confused and challenged by it, and in truth not getting much from it; so perhaps it's worth another shot, especially after learning so much about Acker last night.




Writing is what I did when I was alone with no one watching me or telling me what to do. I could do whatever I wanted.

"Women need to become literary “criminals”, break the literary laws and reinvent their own, because the established laws prevent women from presenting the reality of their lives."

amongst friends

Eek, I got included in a treasury online at Etsy. Go see...

HERE!!

typical girls... are emotional

There was one point during Ladyfest Manchester on Sunday that I felt myself welling up, on the brink of crying. Let me explain why...

I'd arrived in a car full of my favourite ladies and songs on the stereo of joy. I'd set up the distro with one of my best friends and sold zines and crafts to genuinely enthusiastic people keen to read words written by allies. I received more hugs-per-day ratio than in a hell of a long time, as everybody was in a terrific mood and happy to be sharing the space and the event with each other. I'd gone off to run a couple of workshops on independent publishing and feminist activism that some absolutely wonderful participants came to full of ideas and questions and wide eyes and advice and thoughtfulness and humour and articulation and ready to share knowledges and experiences and thoughts and suggestions. Some people went away expressing to me that they were inspired to make their own zines as a result of the workshop, while some just wanted to talk more, to spend time communicating. I met some really great people that I wouldn't have had the chance to were it not for me being invited to be involved with the festival. I sat with friends and giggled so hard I thought I would cry. I saw crafts and felting that flabbered my gast with its exquisite production and boundless creativity. I saw people I hadn't seen in ages, and enjoyed catching up. I saw a band that made my ache with love for their pumpkins and dollies and treacle toffee, and was overjoyed to turn to my left and turn to my right to see my friends beaming with happiness too. I saw three of my friends take to the stage and blow my mind with the most powerful and positive and inspiring performance I've ever seen them do, almost like the ladyfest energy brought something else out within them that we always knew they had, but that that stage and reception let them see it too and took over, creating something amazing. And the way Jenny talked on that stage about feminism still being necessary and important, and me looking up and seeing that notion in action in her face and in her actions to the point that a shudder of tingles surged up my spine upon her refrain to the audience to 'keep on keeping on'. And to be stood there watching that with these people, friends, and friends-in-spirit around me who *got it*. And riding on the wave of euphoria and excitement and pride of seeing friends achieve something so incredible, along came the slits. And they launched into 'shoplifting' and there wasn't a sullen face in the room. And I looked around to see a lady, a friend, an organiser of the whole event stood there in rapture after such a stressy weekend, if not months of organising. And to hug her and hear her express just how much it was worth it to have got to this, the climax of the whole ladyfest, with such happiness and presence of mind, and proud unrestrained female voices all around us singing along with Ari Up - that's what kinda started me off in welling up. I then began to look at my friends singing every lyric, every word of 'typical girls' and hearing ari speak of them, my friends, my acquaintances, my fellow ladyfesters being family, being revolutionaries, I was just overwhelmed with possibility and potential and happiness and I could feel the tears of pride coming. So I snuck to the front in time for some of my friends to take the stage alongside the band while I stood amongst those friends who mean such a great deal to me and hugged and danced and sung and shouted along with them in unison, all the while knowing I was part of something ridiculously important and hopeful and soul-nourishing.

Thank you to everybody involved.




Photos "borrowed" from Charlotte and Emma cuz it'll probably be ages til I get mine developed

(apologies for all the grammatical and comprehension errors etc. in this post, it was written in a stream of consciousness and giddyness while the ideas were fresh in my head...)

my favourtie photograph

My Gran gave me this photograph many years ago. My great-aunt Alice is apparently the woman on the right. I never met her, but think I'd have liked her!

free encouragement

Free Encouragement is a neat project I just heard about.
More info:

"There is just so much negativity all around us these days, have you noticed?
I don’t think I know of a single person who couldn’t use some encouragement, so here it is!
You can use this gallery to encourage a close friend or someone you just happened to pass by on the street. You can encourage a relative who may be ill or the girl who handed you your coffee this morning. You could even use this place to encourage yourself!

Keep your message fairly short. Say what you mean with as few words as possible (a general rule for good writing anyways).
Please send in your encouraging words via email to this address: encouragement@booooooom.com.
Your message will be displayed as a simple, anonymous, image in the gallery. Like this":



Submissions will be accepted until Friday, December 5th.



<< EDIT: The first batch of submissions are up here >>

The Dream and the Nightmare

Mikhaela Reid



Originally from:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikhaela
http://www.mikhaela.net
http://www.boilingpointcartoon.com

Join Mikhaela's weekly update list by sending a blank message to newtoons-subscribe@mikhaela.net


I'm not personally advocating the need for gay marriage - in that from a queer perspective it's not exactly the top of my list of things to strive for, personally. However, that said, the rejection of the opposition of the ruling is blatant discrimination. Purely horrible, and has so many other impacts upon gay, queer, and alternative freedoms, rights, and respect.

doug martsch, will you be my favourite uncle? please?

I'm not much of a music reviewer. In fact I'm not much good at reviewing any sort of art, be it music, visual art, film, performance art, comics, theatre, etc. etc.

All I know is what I know.
All I know is what I love.
All I know is that feeling when my internal organs leap somersaults of happiness.
All I know is what I can and do truely engage with.

When you're stood at a gig and you forget to notice that your back aches from standing so long. When you're not drifting off and thinking about whether you left the oven on. You've got cheek ache from smiling as the band in front of you launches into another one of you all-time favourite songs. You see people in the crowd turning around and beaming at the people they came with as the opening chords to their favourite songs start up, and you can't help but join in the smile too. When you have a huge feeling of contentment and happiness and solidarity and *joy*. When you no longer feel self-conscious about going to the gig on your own because the band make you feel like you belong. When you're in your favourite tiny gig venue and it feels like you're at home in your bedroom dancing to your favourite songs. When the band seem so happy to be there. When the band love the venue and criticise all the bleedin' carling academy venues in this country. When you hear songs that bring back such fond memories and then forge brand new ones of you and the band and *this*. When the first note of a song makes you open your otherwise shy and timid mouth and sing along loudly. When tracks from all the bands albums are played with the same enthusiasm as the last. When nobody in the crowd is annoying you because you hardly notice anybody else is there. When nobody in the crowd is annoying you cuz they're clapping in applause, and dancing along, in time with you too. When you realise that half the band have facial hair that you're jealous of. When you never knew how joyful it was to hear the word 'brontosaurus' sung live. When the drums and the bass are so familiar that your body reacts to them instinctively, without restriction, without hesiataion, without thinking, by passionatley moving your head in response. When this live experience overtakes and overshadows every other time you'd seen the band. When this gig overtakes every other gig you've seen this year.

Built To Spill. I adore you.
That's what I know.

getting my gig hands dirty again...

BONFIRE MADIGAN
Weds 17th December, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds.
£5 OTD
8pm
Supports TBC.

A rare rare UK show from this avant-pop, chamber-punk trailblazer. Armed with dynamic vocals and innovative, self-styled cello virtuosity Madigan ignites the Bonfire with a shebeen of soul-art-string-sounds. Madigan has previously played with seminal riot grrl band Tattle Tale and co-founded the autonomous mental health collective ‘The Icarus Project’

‘Bonfire Madigan play baroque-folk punk grounded on frontwoman Madigan Shive’s soaring lullaby vocals and virtuoso cello skills. Shive, a master of tone and mood, crafts songs with raw, emotional melodies and powerful, unexpected dynamics.’ - New York Press

http://bonfiremadigan.com
www.myspace.com/bonfiremadigan

*Full UK tour update to come once I've made a poster showing all the dates!

I just fell in love...

Breaking The Bell Jar

Once upon a time a girl took a guitar and tried to play it* she started to sing and write lyrics* and it made her get through the dark and sunny days of life*

The World's A Mess And Yr My Only Cure

I had the pleasure of contributing to this new zine, alongside other wonderful contributers including: artist Enid Crow, Charlotte of Toe Curl zine, Julia of Manifesta and Vile Vile Creatures, Kandy of Knit & Destroy, Dottie's Fake DIY, filmmaker Nina Jones, Bunny of Wonderleague.co.uk, Calvin Johnson (K Records), Lady Rouge of Suppedisne zine, Melissa Ann of She's So Very zine, Cara of Daisy Daisy Does, Ste Mc Cabe, Asbo a Gogo girls, Kelly Rose of Pulse zine, Ngombo Chansa Machile of Manifesta Leeds, Jenny Howe of Vile Vile Creatures, Nat and Emily of Fornax Records, Allison Wolfe of Bratmobile/ColdColdHearts/etc., Vanessa of Queer X, Skulleena of Kandy Pop, and a bevvy of others.

Plus amazing cover art from Nina Nijsten whose website is packed to the rafters with more great work.

About the zine, The World's A Mess & Yr My Only Cure editor, Em, writes:

'a zine focusing on feminist/queer DIY culture, focusing on inspiration, influences, motivation and celebrating self empowerment!
The zine features interviews with people i and others took and continue to take influence from, it also looks to discover the inspirations of these idols and also a look to the people carving new inspiration into the present and future.'

It's one of those zines that made me giddy and excited to read. That filled me with motivation and validation, and a sense of security to know that there's people out there making and doing, hoping and believing, creating and producing, and living their lives as a result of excited energies and inspirations they came into contact with.

It's a tremendously hopeful zine in that it acts as a view into the hearts of those active within DIY feminist cultures, people whose actions can only have positive consequences for, and impacts upon, others.

Also, it feels so good to read others writing with such passion about things/people/experiences that have and/or do still matter so deeply to their lives, and the way they continue to experience these lives as a result. Almost as if no body has ever cared to ask this question before.
To read such passion, such strong emotion and belief on a page is in itself tremendously inspiring.

The zine is available from various UK distros, and via paypal from the zine's myspace site.

submissions of the ziney kind

Reassess Your Weapons zine needs contributions and submissions for it’s tenth issue.

We hope to have this issue ready to take to the Zinefest occurring at The Women’s Library in London on January 24th 2009.

As always, general submissions are hugely sought after, as well as submissions around this issue’s theme; Boundaries.

The theme developed from the need to recognise and respect boundaries in order to effectively and comfortably work within, and contribute collectively to our communities.

However, please feel free to contribute by exploring any ways in which boundaries affect or influence you. Or around the theme of boundaries in general.

Reassess Your Weapons zine developed from the Manifesta feminist and queer DIY collective in Leeds, UK but has grown into a wider collective, contributions based zine, which is looking for submissions from and friends and supporters of Manifesta’s feminist ethos.

To contribute, or for more information, please contact: reassessyrweapons@manifesta.co.uk

Deadline for submissions: January 4th 2009

letterbox radness

Letter-Box is a piece of interactive street art, that can be found in Dublin City, in Dame Lane, the LANE way beside the GEORGE on the end of GEORGES STREET, just off Dame Street, DUBLIN!!

LETTER-BOX INVITES YOU TO GET INVOLVED!!!

The theme for the letters will change roughly once a month, but letters unrelated to the theme are always accepted greatfully.
Please visit Letter-Box and post your thoughts, art, cd or anything.

Letter- Box themes:

May = Letters to God (one time only chance to give the big man a piece of your mind
June = Letters to the past
August = Letters to the Future
October = Letters to a Stranger
November = Letters from your travels
December = Send small OBJECTS that hold memories or have stories behind them.

More info on the project here

u'huh i hear ya

Sometimes when I'm flailing, I need someone to tell me what to do and knock some sound sense into me.
Today I found a little sense here
More of their inspirational (and ridiculous) resolutions are here


...


Oh, and while I'm at it, more good mantras:

to the rescue!

This made me smile on this cold and windy afternoon...


SuperQueer Bike Shoot from SUPER QUEER on Vimeo.

I heart you, nara!

(photo above pinched from Rebecca at Angry Chicken blog, cuz my camera isn't digital, so it'll be an age before I process my own photos.)


I hopped on the train today up to Newcastle to the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art to see the Yoshitomo Nara A-Z Project there.

The train broke down for over an hour on the way (air was leaking from the brakes... apparently this isn't as scary as it sounds...) so I was hella late arriving so ran (okay, for those that know me, this isn't strictly the truth, I didn't technically run, but you get the picture!) to Baltic before it closed (both the gallery for the day, and the Nara exhibition, which ends next weekend - so if you wanna go, be quick!)

I was pleased I'd made the effort though, as despite only having an hour to explore, the exhibition was wonderous.

The exhibition was situated within a constructed 'village' of wooden huts, all accessibe via wooden ramps and walkways connecting them. Each house/hut required you to bob under tiny wooden doorframes and small entrance porches and tunnels, like a wonderful children's adventure park.



Inside the houses, Nara's art had been exhibited alongside oodles of tiny plush and fluffy toys, nick-nacks, and remnants of the artists studio; making it all feel so homely and real, and like you were peaking into the world and life of Nara and his wonderfully charming mind.

The artworks inside could also be seen by peering through the windows of the huts from outside them, like a special game of peeping tom, all wonderfully lit and placed in order to catch a glimpse of his work and the paintings' eyes and faces through every higgledy-piggledy window frame.

It really was magical, and so wonderful to see Nara's work up close.
Especially these two:




It was really special too to see the faces of people as they exited each of the huts, with looks of joy and wonder on their faces.

A very special day for me, as I've loved Yoshitomo Nara's work for quite some time now.



(the photos here don't quite do the experience justice, if you get to go before the exhibition closes on Oct 26th, do do do!)

Tag team

Eek, Sarah Utter over at Snazzy Bouquet blog "tagged" me in this blogger game of divulgance. Thanks for the invite, but please bear in mind my anecdotes are always pretty mundane!

Let's hope this isn't as rough as the brutal game of tag at school which went under the name of 'British Bulldog' and eventually got banned from the playground...

The rules and regulations of this shindig are as follows:

So here are the rules:
• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Mention the rules.
• Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
• Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.(sorry in advance!)
• Go to each person's blog and leave a comment that lets them know they've been tagged.


#1
I once met Drew Barrymore. She was on honeymoon in Dublin with Tom Green and I bumped into her at the city art gallery there. Please understand, I've always been somewhat of an uber admirer (and seen 90% of her films; yes, that even includes 'Home Fries'!!!), so I kinda freaked and lost the plot with nerves and excitement. Also note, I had had my lip pierced a couple of weeks before (hey, I was only like 20 or something!) and hadn't yet fully recovered from the swelling there. So I sidle up to Drew after my friend had calmed me down and fully convinced me that if I didn't say 'hi' I'd kick myself forever. So Drew's looking uninterestedly at some uninteresting artwork, and I say 'hi' and shoot her my most 'hey I kinda love you, love me' smile. And as soon as I'd moved my mouth into the smile shape my swollen lip contorted into some unfeasibly unattractive state, and I realised I'd just GURNED at Drew Barrimore. Oh the shame! I gurned at Drew Barrymore...

#2
I'm a bit OCD about cutting my toe nails, and sometimes feel the urge when I'm half asleep to get out of bed and trim them, regardless of whether they need it or not as I can't sleep til I've done it.

#3
Sarah U at the end of her 'tag' game asked: "What word is hard for you to pronounce?" I struggle with words with silent letters, cuz I always try and pronounce that letter for some reason, maybe I feel sorry for it. In particular, the word 'February' is a killer. Kinda ruins that whole month for me!
Oh, but also, 'dwarf' is one that I simply trip over every single time. Those letters in that order make my brain and mouth spasm.

#4
I realised tonight, watching it with friends, that I can *still* quote the entire film, 'Reality Bites', line-for-line. And it's been like 15yrs since that film came out, or something!

#5
I was on the front page of the 'Yorkshire Evening Post' the day my A Level results came out when I was 18 as I'd done kinda well (okay, I was hella geekish at school and got some pretty good grades), and the photo they took to feature on the front page was of me and two other girls jumping in the air waving our results. If you look at the picture though (and this is waaaay before the days of Photoshop, so I musta managed to contort myself in some hella strange way) I have a third arm reaching out from behind my head. My Mum was really proud that I was in the local paper, til I pointed out the third-arm thing and totally ruined the moment!

#6
I once ate so many tomatoes from my dad's greenhouse that it turned all the skin on my tummy orange and I had to stop.


I tag:
Lizz
Carolyn
Gemma
Laura
Missy

Good luck!

fem ad lib

Sometimes I get the most wonderful emails in my inbox. Emails that remind me that behind the hustle and bustle of things, people are working on amazing projects and community events and activisms that are really important.
This is just one of today's, & I hope, perhaps, in some way to be involved with the discussions for this particular one...




Although we haven't organised any exhibtions since secret lives, we've been very busy with our latest project.
Called fem ad lib, it is a project on the theme of feminist art - it inlcludes discussions, a one-day conference for women in March 2009 and a month-long exhibtion of feminist art in June 2009.
Our website has more details.

If you want to get involved or want to be on the fem ad lib mailing list or if you have any suggestions , ideas or comments you'd like to share with us, please get in touch.
We are particularly keen to work wwith women artsists from a range of differnt backgrounds and women working outside the UK - so please spread the word as far as you can.

Best wishes from Banu, Caroline, Helen and Itziar
on behalf of wall/space

cleanliness is next to godliness

Continuing my plunge headlong back into my early 90s...



All that's missing is the image of me with my finger poised, hovering over the 'record' button on my video every one in four saturdays waiting for the indie chart to appear!

we have got to... work it out!

It seems the times of the workshop I'm a part of at Ladyfest Manchester have changed.

New details are:

"Melanie Maddison (editor and author of zines such as Reassess Your Weapons and Colouring Outside the Lines) and Gill Court (editor of Subtext magazine) will be talking about the inspiration and perspiration behind their forays into the world of DIY publishing. For beginners there will be the chance to learn how to put a zine together and get ideas whilst also learning how to print and distribute your very own publication. There will also be a open discussion about the future of feminist independent print media and the ways in which it might grow to both represent and act as a catalyst for community activism."

Sunday 9th October 1pm-3pm.

All this too:

a good frind of mine has been really busy organising this...

New Queer Theatre @ Theatre in the Mill (Bradford)

Re-opening its doors to the public after a much needed facelift, Bradford's Theatre in The Mill, in association with Alan Lane, presents Development Lab, a creative laboratory designed to offer support and space for experimentation to innovative theatre makers from across Yorkshire.

Development Lab delivers a space within which small artistic companies or individuals can push the boundaries of their creativity to produce new and original work for local, national and international arenas.
Development Lab will showcase some of the most exciting new queer theatre being written today.


Infinite Lives by Chris Goode (21st & 22nd October, 7.30pm) tells the story of a thirty-something man who quits his job to take time out and write a gay sci-fi novel.
His increasing dependence on the internet to connect with the outside world leads him to face some painful truths… and some very big numbers.
Beautiful, funny and fabulously filthy, Infinite Lives is a candid and provocative play for anyone who ever wondered what became of the future that never arrived…
Face-to-Face (free. Post show discussion with cast & the team behind "Infinite Lives"): 22nd October, 9.30pm.


Hey Mathew (23-25th October, 7.30 pm) is an immersive performance that explores Paul Goodman's life and ideas, and the challenges his work still poses to the way we live now and the boundaries of our artistic freedoms.
Rich, complex, powerfully erotic and suffused with poetry, 'Hey Mathew' sets up a stimulating encounter with a seductive and visionary mind.
To a whole generation of American youth, Paul Goodman was an intellectual hero. Poet, playwright, essayist; anarchist, pacifist, provocateur; pipe-smoking academic, radical queer renegade: in the early 1960s, Goodman was one of the most visible and important thinkers of his time.


With the band a pop project -By Lucy Ellinson and company (24 October, 9.30pm) Something exciting is happening, behind the scenes.
A boyband is to be born, but a boyband with a difference. As each boyband member is -a girl. Pop history in the making. Be there. Make it.
For all who have ever loved a boyband, this is the experience for you. Step into the arena of your imagination and be part of this innovative new performance project, from Theatre in the Mill's associate artist, Lucy Ellinson - a project in POP!
Face-to-Face: 24th October, 10.00pm, free. Stella Duffy will host a post show discussion with Lucy Ellinson and Chris Goode on 24th October 2008.


Tickets for each performance at the festival cost £5 and can be obtained from 01274 233200
Rachel Kaye
Arts Administrator
Tasmin Little Music Centre and Gallery II
01274 235495/07827281894
R.Kaye@bradford.ac.uk

TLMC on Facebook
Myspace

"and i hear wolves"

Parts from an upcoming US documentary film, Who Does She Think She Is?



See the website for the full trailer which shows more about this project which explores women, art, motherhood, and the artworld's response to female creativity.

A synopsis of the film states: 'we explore some of the most problematic intersections of our time: mothering and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art. The film invites us to consider both ancient legacies of women worshipped as cultural muses and more modern times where most people can't even name a handful of female artists.'

Ovary Action

This happened a little while ago, but I only just got round to mentioning it...



Ovary Action radio show from Oslo, Norway featured my zine, Colouring Outside The Lines on air.
The lovely presenter of Ovary Action, vAl, wrote in her myspace blog about the show:


I must confess I was nervous because the pieces of art I was presenting that day were ... intimidating (understand: amazing). I have a huge respect for these artists and I was honoured to present their work on the show -has the introducing drumming been long enough now? Are you impatient???? Ladies, ladies, women, grrls and other members of the human species, I have the immense pleasure to WARMLY recommend you :

*from Leeds, UK, the most excellent, inspiring, thorough, fascinating zine i have EVER seen, read, heard of: Colouring Outside the Lines (The title itself is just perfect! thanks to Clit rocket Veruska for giving me a copy of issue 3!!!). The zine is a collection of interviews of female artists, features tons of artworks and great texts. It's not only great in its content, extremely smart and relevant, deep and fascinating, it also looks great! And guess what, issue 4 is out. get in touch with Melanie: http://cotlzine.blogspot.com or on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/colouringoutsidethelines... and enjoy the amazons riding the unicorns.

Huge thanks to vAl for all her support xox

i will never love you more than kissing girls lips

Sod it, I know this blog now looks like it's sponsored by Youtube, but this SoKo video is just too beautiful to not post.

the buffalo tom makes it, for sure!

Re-living your fourteen old self when you're now 27 and should have grown up a bit probably isn't the wisest thing; but re-watching My So Called Life episodes from 1995 and seeing this scene took me straight back there in an instant, and it's a bizarrely comforting place to be!..





Only, it was always Rickie and Rayanne that were the scene stealers for me during the rest of the series...

Oh, I feel so shallow and a-political all of a sudden!! Yet also right here, right now, I have no shame!!

One of those days today...

By John Kelly


By Lev Yilmaz

it's stuff like this that makes we wish I could travel internationally more often. Part2...

Monday October 20 2008 7:30pm | 1131 Howe St.
www. cinematheque. bc. ca

THE PACIFIC CINEMATHEQUE & DIM PRESENTS
Dear Joanie, I made a Movie: a survey of the Joanie4Jackie Chainletter Tapes from 1995-2007

Curated by Miranda July and Shauna McGarry, Programmed by Amy Lynn Kazymerchyk

Last June I visited The Way That We Rhyme: Women, Art & Politics exhibit at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. The exhibit included a retrospective on Miranda July’s Joanie4Jackie Project (formerly Big Miss Moviola). As an independent distribution system and feminist art project Joanie4Jackie invited women filmmakers and video artists to submit their completed works which were then compiled onto a “Chainletter” tape of ten pieces in the order of their arrival. Each artist on a Chainletter tape received a copy of that tape and a corresponding booklet of letters written by the featured artists. In 12years Joanie4Jackie compiled 19 Chainletter tapes and three curated Co-Star tapes. As I stared down into the glass case that housed a decade of the project’s video cassettes, letters, and related ephemera, I felt proud to have contributed my teenage movies to such a monumental exchange, and nostalgic that at 27yrs old something that was so tangible, raw and experiential in my lifetime was already an untouchable museum piece. And yet Joanie4 Jackie's challenge and promise continues to live on in the hearts of everyone who waited patiently for their Chainletter tape in the mail.
We have adopted that promise and passed on the challenge to the girls and women that we teach and mentor to make, distribute, and screen their untold stories and dreams. www. joanie4jackie. com - Amy Lynn Kazymerchyk

A Chainletter DVD of films and videos made by Women Media Artists who call, or have called Vancouver home, will be released at the screening, and available for sale. This compilation features the work of Dana Claxton, Leigh Fisher, Lisa G, Amy Lynn Kazymerchyk, Donna Lee, Terra Jean Long, Miriam Needoba, Helen Reed, Julie Saragosa, Maya Suess, Lyndsay Sung & Rafael Tsuchida, Donna Szoke, and Emma Waltraud Howes.


PROGRAM 102mins
Joanie4Jackie: A Quick Overview | USA 2007/Director: Shauna McGarry. 20mins.
Dear Mom | USA 1996/Director: Tammy Rae Carland. 3mins
Removed | USA 1999/Director: Naomi Uman. 6mins
How the Miracle of Masturbation Saved Me From Becoming a Teenage Space Alien | USA 1998/Director: Dulcie Clarkson. 21. 5mins
Cinderella +++ | USA 2002/Director: Eileen Maxson. 3. 5mins
Electronic Ballet | USA 1997/ Director: C. Ryder Cooley, Zoey Kroll. 2. 25mins
The Slow Escape | USA 1997/Director: Sativa Peterson. 20. 5mins
Toxic Shock | USA 1983/Director: Vanessa Renwick. 3mins
Atlanta | USA 1996/Director: Miranda July. 11mins
This is Sarah Nye | USA 2003/Director: Sarah Hanssen. 5mins

MIX21

Bah, it's stuff like this that makes me wish I could travel internationally more often...




MIX21: The New York Queer Experimental Film Festival opens in less than one week, on Wednesday, October 15th in New York's historic South Street Seaport at 217 Water Street, between Fulton and Beekman.

This year's venue, the MIX Factory @ Seaport, is a former Liz Claiborne department store that allows us to present an unprecedented number of installations in the lobbies (both of them!), former dressing rooms and all the other recesses we could find.

In addition to the installations, there are over 100 films and videos to watch this year. Plus parties every night, performances between screenings, and our own afternoon "Tea by the Sea" social.

Below is the festival schedule at-a-glance. Full festival schedule and advance tickets are available online at www.mixnyc.org.

Wed 10.15 | 7 PM | Pre-Show: STODGY by Jessica Dellecav
Wed 10.15 | 8 PM | Opening Night: Buried Treasure
Wed 10.15 | 10 PM+ | Party: Mattachine at Julius

Thurs 10.16 | 3 PM | Reception: Tea by the Sea
Thurs 10.16 | 7 PM | Hollyweird: Queered Movies
Thurs 10.16 | 9 PM | Jack Smith's Sinbad of Baghdad
Thurs 10.16 | 11 PM+ | Party: Sticky at Annex

Fri 10.17 | 6 PM | The Art of War
Fri 10.17 | 8 PM | Pleather & Lace
Fri 10.17 | 9:30 PM | STODGY by Jessica Dellecav
Fri 10.17 | 10 PM | X Marks the Spot
Fri 10.17 | 11 PM+ | Party: Frisky Fridays at Sugarland

Sat 10.18 | 4 PM | A Different Take 2008
Sat 10.18 | 6 PM | Our Selves-Together & Apart
Sat 10.18 | 8 PM | Perspectacle
Sat 10.18 | 9:30 PM | STODGY by Jessica Dellecav
Sat 10.18 | 10 PM | Disobedient Laughter
Sat 10.18 | 11:30 PM+ | Party @ The MIX Factory

Sun 10.19 | 6 PM | Everything Dances
Sun 10.19 | 7:30 PM | STODGY by Jessica Dellecav
Sun 10.19 | 8 PM | Actions of Outcast Bodies
Sun 10.19 | 10 PM+ | Party: Anonymous at Mehanata

Full festival schedule and advance tickets available online at www.mixnyc.org




Fagette by Ali Cotterill
2008, USA, video, color, sound, 4 min

MIX NYC
79 Pine Street #132
New York, NY 10005
212.742.8880
info@mixnyc.org
www.mixnyc.org


MIX NYC promotes, produces and preserves experimental media that is rooted in the lives, politics, and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and otherwise queer-identified people. MIX's work challenges mainstream notions of gender and sexuality while also upending traditional categories of form and content.

You call them horse pills

I adore Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (the Leeds Brudenell gig earlier this year is in my top-10 gig highlights this year, for sure), and I have been crushing badly over Julia Pott's artwork since first getting to feature it in COTL4, so imagine my delight at this...



So so sad ('some things you lose, some things you give away' as Corin once said...)
Oh, but then the sad cat's choreographed dancing is just pure priceless beauty.
Swoon!!

stay up all night with the things you could do; you won't but you might...

One thing I've learnt in my life is than when I'm feeling sad, I really shouldn't let myself listen to 'sad music'. Sad music to me is music that identifies with the emotions I am experiencing, lyrics that spur me on, that connect fiercely with my state of mind.
I know I really shouldn't, by inevitably I always do.

I have been reading this book tonight:



Autumn de Wilde's book on Elliott Smith.
I got to listening to the accompanying CD. And it doesn't matter which live recording or studio album I'm listening to, Elliott Smith just gets it and as such has accompanied all too many of my dark times - yet I cannot think of him and his music and those albums without the greatest sense of love and contentment.

I've forgotten the reason for my blog post now, cuz I've got too wrapped up in the music. Blah, maybe written diaristic communication like this really isn't my forte at all...

Ladyfest Manchester

I have been invited to speak at a workshop discussion at November's Ladyfest Manchester; creating a collaborative area for discussion on independent media.

The workshop on DIY Media making will also feature Gill, the editor of Subtext magazine

We shall be discussing our personal motivations/reasons for doing what you do and why we think an alternative to glossy mainstream magazines and newspapers is important - the politics behind what we do with our publications, as it were. We will also be discussing the practical aspects of getting things printed - costs, distribution, getting contributers etc. and the creative aspects of self-publishing.

However, I think it would also be really important within the workshop discussion to look at how radical politics and our activisms and community organisings could be referenced more in the press we produce, and how the press we already produce is and can be a strong force in such activism itself.
These thoughts come in response to a post I read on the FAF (Feminist Activism Forum) calling for:

'a uk based print magazine/paper/zine which documents the activism and community organising that women are doing in this country and beyond.
While there's been a number of new feminist magazines over the last few years in the uk, none have really addressed the issues that are affecting poor and/or immigrant and/or disabled and/or Black and/or Asian and/or aslym seeking and/or trans women (and actually, not just women).
It comes from reading old issues of outwrite, the anti-imperialist feminist newspaper published in the 80s and thinking where is the off-line feminist press like that in our movement?? i want to put out something which is feminist in perspective, but that doesn't use feminism as a blinker against other oppressions. which takes an intersectional approach in all its content and requires everyone who writes for it to demonstrate an understanding of the connection of all oppressions. and also, i'm not interested in judging people by whether they adhere to a feminist language/identity as a way of deciding which women's voices should be foregrounded. i want people to read about the activists who are organising around health care, education, asylum seekers rights, violence, older women's rights, i don't care if they call themselves feminists or not.'

If you're gonna be at Ladyfest, come along, and join the discussion...

The Workshop will be held on the Sunday of Ladyfest (9th November), between 2pm and 3pm.

Details about the location of Ladyfest Manchester 2008, and all other events occuring as part of the festival can be found on their website

Art XX

Today in the post I recieved a copy of the U.S. Art Magazine, Art XX.



I was lucky enough to contribute to this, the magazine's first issue, with a written piece on the nature of feminist art.

Also featured in the first issue are articles on and artwork by: Nicole J. Georges, Enid Crow, Maya Hayuk, Scream Club, Christa Holka, Femina Potens, Rhiannon Argo, Lex McQuilkin, Paulina McFarland, Invincible, Cristy Road, Samantha Purdy, Gemma Correll, Katherine Montalto, and so much more.

And I sat here this evening having had a crappy day of uncertainty, depression, and contemplation, and read the magazine cover to cover.
I felt an overwhelming sense of feminist and queer community, as communicated and actively demonstrated through our creative pursuits. Creative pursuits carried out by women so inspiring, so focussed, so dedicated to voicing and creating spaces for the voicing of individuals in communities that make my heart burn with desire and pride.
I am so grateful to Paulina, Lex, and Francesca for welcoming me into the Art XX fold and making me feel a part of this community of support, love, and inspiration.

See more about the magazine, and order yourself a copy at:
Art XX Website
Art XX Myspace

UK Female Comic Zinesters

I have been asked to compile/curate a comics exhibition as part of January 2009's ‘Zinefest’ at The Women’s Library, London.

Due to the nature of the event, it has been decided that this exhibition shall focus on artwork found within comics zines, and self-published comics.

The exhibition will contain whole zines, blown up pages from individual zines, and original artwork from creators.

The exhibition is to specifically focus on UK female comics zine creators, to celebrate and recognise tremendous home-grown talent.


Are you interested in contributing to this exhibition?


If you are interested, and I hope you will be, there are a few ways to get involved:


1) Send a copy of any comics zine you have made that you would like to feature in the exhibition (both current, and past zines are all welcomed – there’s no date/age specifications)

After the exhibition, all zines will be added to the Women’s Library Zine Archive, and details of the zine will be added to the online zine database, for others to view. If you are happy for your zine to be a part of this archive, please include a note of the date, and place of publication so that it can be correctly archived.

&/or

2) Send a particular (blown up?) page from your zine(s)/online zine that you would specifically like featured in the exhibition


&/or

3) Zinefest is part of a broader ‘magazines’ exhibition being held at the Women’s Library in January called ‘Between The Covers’.

As part of the zine artwork exhibition, I invite you to submit a piece of original comics artwork - drawn especially for zinefest - on the theme of magazines and zines -- eg. a drawing or strip perhaps around a personal experience with a magazine/zine in some way (good, bad, funny, inspirational, etc. as a child/teen/adult etc.) This could even be a piece about an inspiring feminist magazine or zine you have read.

&/or

4) As part of Zinefest, there are many workshops and skills-sharing events occurring throughout the day.

I am asking for individual creators to send me written hints and tips, and ‘how to’ advice to include within the exhibition from comics zinesters to inspire and encourage the further creation of comics zines in the audience.

There is the potential for these ideas, hints and tips to be incorporated into the ‘zine making 101’ workshop to be held at the beginning of the day [get in touch too if you’d like to speak as part of this workshop, from a comics zine perspective].

Also, there will be general tables/supplies left out during the whole day so that anybody can make mini-comics and zine pages, so any hints and tips you can offer will be useful for individuals starting from scratch.

&/or

5) Send me details of anybody else you think would like to be or should be included in such an exhibition who I may have overlooked.


Full details of the event:

Zine Fest!
Saturday 24th January 2009, 12pm-4pm

The Women's Library,
25 Old Castle Street
London E1 7NT

Free

Zinefest details on Women's Library Website


Email me for the address to send any zines, artwork, individual pages to: m_k_maddison@hotmail.com


Between The Covers exhibition details:
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomensl ibrary/whats-on/exhibitions/forthcoming-exhibitions.cfm
Women’s Library’s Zine database:
http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/thewomenslibrary/searchth ecollections/printed-collections/zines/zine-index.cfm


- -

Many thanks for reading, I hope we can create a terrific exhibition really exploring all the amazing comics zines that we create.

I would love to hear from you, if possible, by the first couple of weeks in December 2008 so that we miss the Christmas rush!

All the best, Melanie xox