Category: Organizer Essays

The modern, fast-paced, money-oriented world is a harsh, unforgiving place for sensitive people. Projects like this organizer are tiny, fragile drops in a huge, often hostile bucket. It can seem like our modest acts of resistance have little effect in the scheme of things. But that sense of futility is manufactured. We live at a crossroads in time. In the not-so-distant past, everything was made by hand. This was slowly supplanted by the dawning of the industrial age. Now, the promise of the future looms ugly with its alienating, soulless gadgets that don’t decompose. This organizer is primarily made by hand, designed for you to work out your thoughts using your own hands. The seed of action is thought. We hope this organizer can inspire you to integrate a crafty approach to your thoughts and actions. The actions we take may or may not defend us and the planet from the menance of capitalism. Certainly they are in contrast to the instant gratification that capitalism promises with one hand while it holds the chains that are our doom with the other. But change created by you and a small group of people can have a ripple effect, and we toiled over this hand-made object you hold in your hand to catalyze change.

The people who created the organizer are ordinary people just like you. And yet when we make the organizer, unusual things happen, and we are transformed. People we’ve never met before wander in attracted by the explosion of creativity, lend a hand, and become part of us. Non-artists realize they can create art. As a collective, we rise far beyond the sum of our individual selves. The organizer comes out of a thriving radical community — like a bacteria nurtured in a petri dish — and in turn we hope we help nurture that same community.

• • •

Over the last few years, Samantha helped us make the organizer — sitting around with us late into the night with a scissors in her hand, passion in her heart and intense words on her lips. This spring, she lept from the world and we miss her.

• • •

This is the 16th year we’ve been privileged to publish the Organizer. It raises funds to publish the quarterly, radical, independent Slingshot Newspaper. We aim to distribute the newspaper for free everywhere in the US. Send us your mailing address to become a local distributor of Slingshot. This year we’re publishing our first book entitled People’s Park: Still Blooming to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the creation of People’s Park in Berkeley. Let us know if you want a copy. Thanks to the people who made this year’s Organizer: Abra, Ali, Arlo, Artnoose, Autumn, Brian, Bryan, Cindy, Coby, Crystal Math, Daryn, Derek, Dominique, Eggplant, Emily, Enola, Eric, Fil, Gregg, Hans, Heather, Jake, Joclyn, Julia, Justin, Karma, Kathryn, Kei, Kermit, Kerry, Knick, Laura, Lesley, Lew, Lilia, Maneli, Melissa, Mentation, Oliver, Pancho, Paseo, Patrick, PB, Rachel, Rezz, Sally, Samiya Bird, Socket, Stephanie, Xarick, Zöe.

Slingshot Collective

3124 Shattuck Avenue • Berkeley

CA 94705 • 510 540-0751

slingshot@tao.ca • http://slingshot.tao.ca

© Anti-Copyright. Borrow whatever you want. We did.

 

Note on Moon dates: We list the day on which a full moon or new moon occurs for Pacific Time. If you live in a time zone other than Pacific the DAY of the event may be a different day. Pacific time is three hours later than Eastern Time.

 

Note on Moon dates: We list the day on which a full moon or new moon occurs for Pacific Time. If you live in a time zone other than Pacific the DAY of the event may be a different day. Pacific time is three hours later than Eastern Time.

 

 

printed on recycled paper

 

All volunteer collective — no bosses, no workers, no pay.

 

printed on recycled paper

 

All volunteer collective — no bosses, no workers, no pay.

 

printed on recycled paper

 

All volunteer collective — no bosses, no workers, no pay.

 

A key to figuring out how to resist capitalism, earth-destroying mega-technology and velveeta culture is learning how to re-define our values based on what it means to be fully human, awake and free. All of us who’ve grow up within this system internalize its values in subtle as well as more obvious ways. In other words, perhaps without even realizing it we start to define what we like and don’t like, what we are willing to strive for and what we dismiss, what we see and what fades into the background based on a value system defined by an economic, technological and cultural environment structured by capitalism.

The capitalist economic system requires all participants to simplify their thinking and behavior to pursue narrow goals: the most efficient, quick, cheap method, technology or form of organization. It is important to understand that although these goals are easy to understand, they don’t really mean anything — they are means to an end, but the end itself (more stuff, more growth at the lowest cost) doesn’t really have any ultimate meaning. Capitalism has no internal way to determine whether anything — including, in particular, constant growth and cheapeness — is actually good. In fact, on an ecologically finite planet, limitless growth is not good. Capitalist growth may kill us all if we can’t somehow stop it soon. Just having more stuff does not make human beings happy or make their lives meaningful.

Because capitalism is designed around constant competition, the pressure to pursue its very narrow goals is almost irresistible for companies, communities, and individual people. If any element of the system rejects the pursuit of efficiency, others who are more efficient will out-compete the resister who will be forced out.

Human beings are not machines. We are not merely cogs in an economic machine. It makes no sense that psychologically, culturally and in our day-to-day decision making we should primarily pursue efficiency, the lowest costs, and other valueless means-to-an-ends forms of thinking.

The most fundamental aspect of being human is our ability to experience raw emotion, wonder, love, freedom, pleasure and sensation. These are experiences totally outside the awareness of economics, corporations or computers, but each of us knows they are what makes life meaningful on a deep level. When your face is stained with tears — of happiness or sadness, but in either case being-ness — those are the moments you know you’re really alive.

Humans seek freedom, self-determination, adventure and challenges, whereas corporations, hierarchical authority structures and machines seek control, order, routine and the easiest, quickest and most boring solution to problems. Humans seek to express their humanity — we sing, write, draw, dance and rebel. Only living creatures can love, which is an irrational emotion that is also essential and even magic. It is the glue that makes society possible, makes our lives worth living, and can give us the strength and courage to organize, resist the capitalist destruction of the world, and survive. Yet love is totally invisible to capitalism — computers and corporations can’t love. These structures can’t comprehend solidarity that is based on love and that doesn’t depend on trading something for something else.

To create a new society, we have to figure out ways to resist the social structures and institutions that oppress people and are destroying the earth. We have to create alternative institutions that can meet people’s needs based on cooperation, sharing, free will, beauty, pleasure and ecological sustainability. Doing these things means we are re-organizing our priorities away from mainstream goals such as achieving success and getting material possessions.

To the extent the process of our struggle as well as our goals are based on human vs. system values — and to the extent we’re conscious of when we’re being guided by system-values and when we’re being guided by human values — we can decrease burnout by increasing our sense of meaningfulness. We won’t be seeking one path in our politics while self-judging our lives based on internalized values from the system. The part of our mind structured by the system is filled with a lot of “shoulds” that upon closer inspection may not make a lot of sense. It can be easy for our “reasonable” system-mind to doubt our human impulses for adventure, freedom and ill-advised love that can leave us dangling out on a limb.

Taking a different path or doing it yourself for your own reasons will be slower, more difficult and often very confusing and messy. Resisting the global machine means you’ll miss out on the treats it has to offer, and it may role over and crush you if you don’t step out of the way at the right moment. The funny thing is that a lot of times, enjoying easy treats makes you feel empty, while seeking complex, tough pleasures makes you feel alive and engaged. Taking the human and therefore sometimes irrational and inconvenient path seriously and following it with all your heart is what the world needs most right now. We’ve gone as far as we can with making things fast and cheap — now its time to build something meaningful and human.

 

So many people walk through the world asleep – working a job, going shopping, checking and re-checking email . . . hoping for a little stimulation, following the rules and playing it safe on a treadmill. This sleepwalking and disengagement on a mass scale leads to a world of soulless concrete, toxic waste, economic injustice, isolation, bank bailouts, loneliness and global warming. Those who control the economic and political power thrive on sleepwalkers.

With this organizer, we demand to stay awake. And yet we can still dream wild dreams — with our eyes open — of a transformed world. It’s time to focus on what winning will look like. We seek adventure, freedom, and pleasure first — not as an afterthought or a hobby relegated to weekends and two weeks of paid vacation. Structures must serve human needs, be based on love, engagement, and harmony with the earth, and be directly controlled by those who participate in them. Any structures that don’t must be obliterated. We don’t have time to waste dealing with corporations, bosses, cops or machines that seek to manage and control our lives. Our community and love for each other is powerful. Will you join us as we stay awake this year?

This is the 19th time we’ve amused ourselves by publishing the Slingshot organizer. Its sale raises funds to publish the quarterly, radical, independent Slingshot Newspaper. We try to distribute the newspaper for free everywhere in the US. Let us know if you can be a local newspaper distributor. We are working on making a smartphone app-version of this organizer that will come out by 2013 so if you know how to program apps, please contact us because we need help to make it happen. We’re also trying to post updates about the Slingshot universe on our Twitter (@slingshotnews). Thanks to the volunteers who created this year’s organizer: Alex, Ali, Amara, Angie, Anole, Ben, Bernadette, Calentine, Claire, Collin, Crystal, Dominique, Douglas, Eggplant, Enola, Fil, Gina, Heather, Jesse, Joey, Jonathon, Judy, Julia, Kate, Kazoo, Kermit, Kim, Lew, Melissa, Moxy, Rachel, Solomon, Sofie Jo, Stephanie, Susie, Suzanne and Zoe.

 

Slingshot Collective

A Project of Long Haul

Physical office: 3124 Shattuck Avenue Berkeley, CA 94705

Mail: PO box 3051, Berkeley, CA 94703

510-540-0751 ex. 3 • http://slingshot.tao.ca • slingshot@tao.ca • @slingshotnews

 

Printed on recycled paper

 

Anti-copyright.

 

All volunteer collective – no bosses, no workers, no pay.

 

 

 

 

NonFiction

 

Midnight at the Palace: My Life As A Fabulous Cockette by Pam Tent

Add Toner by Aaron Cometbus

Blues Legacies and Black Feminism by Angela Davis

Half Breed by Maria Campbell

Dinning in the Raw by Rita Romano

The Free Speech Movement by Robert Cohen and David

Rotten by Johnny Lydon

Female Ejaculation by Deborah Sundahl

The Naked Civil Servant by Quentin Crisp

Graffiti Women Street Art from Five Continents by Nicholas Ganz

The Collected Writings of Zelda Fitzgerald

Complicated Women by Mick Lasalle

Girl Zines Making Media, Doing Feminism by Alison Piepmeier

Infinite Variety by Scot D. Ryersson, Michael Orlando Yaccarino and Quentin Crisp

The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti

Screened Out by Richard Barrios

Occupy Everything edited by Aragorn!

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi

The Many-Headed Hydra by Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker

Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici

A Cavalier History of Surrealism by Raoul Vaneigem

The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon

An Essay on Liberation by Herbert Marcuse

Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault

Walking with the Comrades by Arundhati Roy

America Beyond Capitalism by Gar Alperovitz

 

Fiction

Who Are You? by Anna Kavan

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Deathless by Catherynne Valente

City of Night by John Rechy

Wonder Tales edited by Marina Warner

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Forbidden Journeys edited by Nina Auerbach & U.C. Knoepflmacher

The Lost Ones by Samuel Beckett

The Resistible Rise of Artuto Ui by Bertolt Brecht

The Unseen by Nanni Balestrini

Amulet by Roberto Bolano

Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

 

Art & Poetry

The School Among the Ruins: Poems, 2000-2004 by Adrienne Rich

Illuminated Poems by Allen Ginsberg & Eric Drooker

Idols by Gilles Larrain

The Brinkley Girls edited by Trina Robbins

 

 

 

Zines

Baitline, No Gods No Mattress, Padjo Nome, Muchacha, Dreams of Donuts, The Match, Dwelling Portablly, Anything by Rob Noxious, Maximum Rock’n’Roll, Pipe Bomb, Rad Dad, Hack This Zine, Mission Mini Comix Doris, Absolutely Zippo, Cometbus, Communicating Vessels, Morgenmuffel, Full Metal Faggot

 

Young Adult/Children

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

Memoirs of a Bookbat by Kathryn Lasky

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Valente

Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger

Freak Show by James St. James

 

 

Baitline!

 

 

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi (auto-bio in comics/graphic

novel form)

 

 

 

Loving Garbo: The Story of Greta Garbo, Cecil Beaton, & Mercedes de Acosta by Hugo Vickers (interesting bio of this sexuality twisting love traingle. The radical Mercedes would at least be of interest to readers)———

I hope you can use some of these! If you do, you don’t have go give me credit (not sure how this works). The list is mostly women & queer type things. Women revolting, maybe not in the traditional sense, but by writing fairy tales, becoming living works of art such as the Marchesa Casati who wore live snakes & malfunctioning lights, genius physicist Emilie du Chatelet, artist of vibrant girl in motion Nell Brinkley…and Zelda Fitzgerald. She’s too often thought of as a crazy woman, harpy who brought Scott down, bah on that. She was a talented writer,

very lush sentences thick with atmosphere. Scott sometimes stold parts from her letters & diaries & put them in his books. The best parts of This Side of Paradise & The Beautiful & the Damaned are from what he took of her.

The Idols book by Gilles Larrainis pictures of beautiful gender bending people in the 70s. Some of the Cockettes make appearances!

Hard Love I read almost two years ago and made me nostalgic for zines, seeking them out again. Written over ten years ago so there’s references to Factsheet Five & zines at Tower Records in there.

 

Freak Show needs to be given to all Middle Schoolers & High Schoolers upon entering the building. I hope James St. James writes more fiction.

————

 

 

Hi Slingshot creators!

 

I saw your call for submissions on We Make Zines blog and want to

submit the attached booklist for the 2013 Slingshot Organizer.

 

This book list was compiled by a radical librarian coworker of mine

from Hennepin County Library (Hennepin County, Minnesota).

 

Thank you for considering,

 

Sarah M. Sosa

 

 

Nonfiction

The great transformation: the political and economic origins of our

time / Karl Polanyi

The many-headed hydra: sailors, slaves, commoners, and the hidden

history of the revolutionary Atlantic / Peter Linebaugh and Marcus

Rediker

Caliban and the witch: women, the body and primitive accumulation /

Silvia Federici

The society of spectacle / Guy Debord

The coming insurrection / The Invisible Committee

A cavalier history of surrealism / Raoul Veneigem

The wretched of the earth / Frantz Fanon

The communist hypothesis / Alain Badiou

Trial / Tom Hayden

Pedagogy of the oppressed / Paulo Freire

An essay on liberation / Herbert Marcuse

Discipline and punish: the birth of the prison / Michel Foucault

Eaarth / Bill McKibben

Walking with the comrades / Arundhati Roy

America beyond Capitalism / Gar Alperovitz

 

Poetry

The Penguin book of Socialist verse / Alan Norman Bold, editor

First hymn to Lenin, and other poems / Hugh MacDiarmid

The school among the ruins: poems, 2000-2004 / Adrienne Rich

 

Herbs are a beautiful way out of a medical system dominated by an elite class of white men. Start with trying to heal yourself or a loved one by using plants. Most people are familiar with the uses of kitchen herbs such as mint and ginger. However, most don’t know there is an alternative to the uninformative advice most doctors give to people who experience problems with the reproductive/ fun organs, especially in the case of those who have ovaries and/or a uterus. Instead of birth control or pain-pills for menstrual cramps, try building your system with a foundation of nutritious food and a roof of medicinal plants. Eliminating caffeine and alcohol stops the constriction of blood vessels and the masking of exhaustion that fuels menstrual pain. Replace sugar, white flour, high-glycemic dried fruits, trans fat, and omega-6 rich vegetable oils with olive oil, flaxseeds, a prudent amount of saturated fat, seaweed, dark leafy greens, fresh fruits, organic protein, and broths. Exhaustion and anemia are common ailments that, once reversed, will allow the ovaries and uterus to heal themselves. Iron syrups typically contain: nettle, dandelion leaf and root, raspberry leaf, watercress, alfalfa leaf, hawthorn berries, yellow dock root, and dulse. Iron syrups can be bought at herb shops or made using a recipe. Taking iron in liquid form is important: iron tablets are ineffective and can be dangerous. To ease cramps (even debilitating, nauseous menstrual pain) try cramp bark. Cramp bark is not toxic to the liver as pain-pills are. Enlargement of the prostate can often be corrected by anti-inflammatory and immune-boosting foods such as flax, echinacea, tomatoes, soy, and pomegranate.

Basic botanical healing can also be about incorporating a few plants into the diet for general wellness. The following common weeds can be eaten like kitchen greens, proving that weeds are awesome. However, please don’t gather these plants from industrial sites, as the leaves absorb heavy metals. Dandelion helps the digestive system and liver. The result is increased nutrient absorption and an overall cleansing action: helping clear the skin, decrease inflammation, and increase energy. Eat chickweed to gain a wealth of vitamins and minerals and to kick-start the lymphatic system. Nettle tea is great for allergies and asthma if taken on a daily basis. The plant’s nutritional and cleansing abilities will invigorate the thyroid, kidneys, and adrenal glands. The work of nettle on your insides will show up on your outside, improving the health of teeth, nails, skin, and hair. Burdock is a weed that produces tiny round burrs from which the idea for velcro sprang. The roots are eaten in soups in parts of Asia and Europe. Burdock is a blood purifier, helping the kidneys and liver. It puts out the excess flames of inflammation, soothing arthritis, bursitis, acne, eczema, and herpes outbreaks.

Self-education about both alternative and allopathic paths to healing is the best weapon against the dangers of many state/ corporate health care systems. Keep in mind however, that western medicine might be the only way to save your life or cure a disease in some cases. Nevertheless, there persists a disturbing loyalty of doctors to western medicine. This article is too short to address the alternative medical systems of various traditions. Please go to a local herb shop or library to learn more.

DIY medicine necessitates caution. Learn everything you can about the treatments you are thinking of using, get to know an herbal teacher (they come in all ages and titles), and take great pause before collecting plants in the wild. MISidentification is extremely easy. Arm yourself with the knowledge to thrive.

 

A VERY INCOMPLETE RESOURCE LIST:

–Plants Gone Wild: Redefining Ethical Wildcrafting (Decolonize perspective)

–Spectacular Specula: An Activist Dyke Discusses Self Care, Queer Reproductive Rights and Her Os: The Mimi Reproductive and Sexual Health Zine Distro

–Trans Care: What to Eat, Supplements and Herbs to Prepare and Heal Around Surgery: The Mimi Reproductive and Sexual Health Zine Distro

–Hot Pantz: Do it Yourself Gynecology

–Gladstar, Rosemary. Herbal Healing for Women: Simple Home Remedies for Women of all Ages. Fireside: 1993

–Gladstar, Rosemary. Herbal Remedies for Men’s Health. Fireside: 1999

 

There is still at this time an active and free radical press. The purpose of this page is to compel and excite you to write for the revolution. Perhaps the first step is to establish the determination to write. Many publications can be intimidating when you first approach their ideology and tastes. It’s a good idea to read some of what they published and get a feel for them. The better publishers will give feedback on submitted material and communicate their needs for accepting your work. If their response is negative, don’t take it personally. Instead focus on how to make improvements. You may want to ask your friends to review your work and note their reactions to it. Consider their suggested edits, but have in mind that you don’t really have to change everything.

The approach you take to your writing may be the essence of what makes it radical, so take a look at what’s considered standard. The mainstream media divides journalism into three forms: front page news, feature and editorial. There’s nothing wrong with this but it has done a lot to create robots and perpetuate life under constant war and slavery. The front page news article usually comes in the form of an upside down pyramid, with the most important information the title and first paragraph. The style has the veneer of being objective, but there are many ways publishers disseminate bias in the way they frame the stories. Then there is the feature story. This is writing that builds up atmosphere or story and is common to magazines as well as newspapers. And then there is the editorial, which is basically an opinion piece. Radicals tend to write heavily in this style, with it usually resembling a rant. On the other side of this are the academic radicals that write as if arguing in a debate. They tend to use $5 words meant to stun the reader with their intelligence. This could be considered another form of soap box rambling.

The Counter-Culture press is at its best when it goes beyond just talking about problems and instead points to solutions—areas available for struggle, the development of new and creative tactics, hopeful stories about people who are changing things. An ideal radical article contains four parts. First, it ought to contain an analysis of a particular aspect of social reality that looks at the problem or phenomenon from a new angle or in a way that goes beyond “common wisdom” about the issue. Second, the article should suggest solutions, not just point out how fucked up things are. Third, the article should inspire folks to actually do something. Just understanding an issue and knowing a theoretical solution is not enough. Finally, the best articles have heart and are personal. We need media that goes beyond an academic, cold discourse and touches what is really human, precious and unique about each of our lives.

In addition to contributing to radical publications consider writing for mainstream publications, but injecting a radical perspective into them. Letters to the editor or op-eds are the most accessible. And of course we always recommend people start their own radical publication. Here are some radical publications that accept submissions:

The Earth First! Journal: collective@earthfirstjournal.org,

Fifth Estate: fe@fifthestate.org or Po Box 201016 Ferndale, MI 48220

Left Curve : Po Box 472 Oakland, CA 94604 editor@leftcurve.org

Graceless: graceless@graceless.info

MR&R: PO Box 460760 San Francisco, CA 94146-0760 mrr@maximumrocknroll.com

ANARCHY!: anarchymag.org/

RAD DAD: Tomas.moniz@gmail.com or 1636 Fairview St. Berkeley, CA 94703

Bitch Magazine: bitchmagazine.org/

Playing music, signing, storytelling — these are the raw creative acts that make us human. Where “the music industry” seeks to control music venues to make a buck, a thriving do-it-yourself, underground network of decentralized house shows seeks to keep music accessible to everyone. Here are some tips on hosting shows.

After you’ve decided you want to host shows you’ll want to answer these questions:

• Is your space sufficient, i.e. big enough, soundproofed, and/or isolated enough?

• Neighbors going to complain / cops going to get called / know how to diffuse that situation if it comes?

• Have you set basic ground rules for events at your space?

• What are/aren’t you going to allow in your space (Drinking / smoking / etc.)?

• Is there an age restriction? / Are you going to ID/card people?

• Are there sections of the venue / house that are off limits?

• Do you know how to handle it if someone is being harmful?

• Can you swing buying a few extra rolls of toilet paper?

After you have that all figured out, ask:

• What sort of genres do you want to host?

• What cheeky name will you give your space?

• Will you charge a “suggested donation” at the door for shows? How much?

• What portion of the donations will be given to bands? (Preferably, 100%!) Are you going to let the musicians crash after a show? Feed them? (Not necessity- but certainly is a nicety.)

• Do you have sound equipment (PA / mics / cables / etc.)? (If you don’t and can’t borrow from someone or afford to rent equipment, make sure you let bands know BEFORE you book them that you do not have a PA. The band will then either decide to bring one, go acoustic, or to not play.)
How many bands would you like (ideally) per show? (You won’t like the outcome of cramming too many bands into one show)

In this digital age, you can start a “page” of some sort for your space & build up anticipation for your first show / followers / fans / common-minds / band connections.

There are several ways to book bands:

GO GET ‘EM:

• You can actively seek out musicians you dig, and invite them (in person or via Internet) to come play a date at your space that you have pre-determined to be show-day.

• You can scope out a band’s show schedule to find dates they are available to come play.

• You can ask a band to give you some dates that would work for them, pick one, and then build around it.

If you’re going to go seeking out bands to play, you probably want to, until your space builds a crowd, stick to local bands. It would be a bummer to have a band travel to play your space & end up not having a crowd for them to play to & an empty donation jar.

• Most bands have a facebook, bandcamp, or website that has their booking contact information. You could also go to a show, and ask them in person either to play, or for their booking contact info. Once a band agrees to play a show, keep them up to date with new information as it unfolds, such as other bands playing the show, any press, fliers, event pages, schedules, so on.

OR, LET THEM COME TO YOU:

• You can post info about your show space on websites like dodiy.org or indieonthemove.com.

• Find other DIY spaces & communities & collectives & organizations in your area. Let them know that you are an available space, how to contact you, to send bands your way cause you wanna make some shows happen!

• Once a band seeks you out, you decide whether you want to host them. It is polite to respond even if you don’t want the band to play at your venue.

ONCE THE SHOW IS HAPPENING:

Consider if you want your address on fliers / social networking sites. Some spaces can advertise their whereabouts without a hitch, and some do & end up fucked over by police or random assholes that show up.

Sometimes the band(s) will take care of most of the promotion, and sometimes it will be up to you. You can:

• Make a flyer: Be sure to include: Date / time / name of your space / band names / cover / acceptable ages / either the address or your email address. Friends can help with graphics if you are not artsy. Hang your flyer about town, places with good traffic. Leave handbills (smaller versions of your flyer) at other area venues.

• Have the information about the show accessible on the Internet. The more sites the more people that will see it. Facebook event pages are a good move. Send the info to music blogs and local publications.

• Call your local radio stations (college stations are the most receptive) and tell them about your event.

• Tell your friends, tell them to tell their friends. Word of mouth goes a long way. In time your space will develop a reputation, a following, and it will become much easier to book & promote shows. Tough it out until that happens. It’s totally worth it.

 

New technologies are popping up at a rapid pace. Sometimes they actually fulfill a need and demonstrate humans utilizing inventive solutions to problems. But a bigger factor in their arrival is how capitalism compels new markets to blanket the landscape so that people keep working for garbage. And a lot of the newest gadgets are garbage with a short life span built into them—also known as planned obsolescence. Actually many new technologies are worse than garbage for they precipitate wasteful practices of our resources. The wool is pulled over a lot of peoples’ eyes—many of who just want to keep up with the times. Not seeing the big picture, many of us have wandered the aisles of shopping centers only to find ourselves lost at the dump. There are plenty of people who get by on older technologies, especially once you get spitting distance from the centers of wealth. The commodities of twenty plus years ago are still useable today, with as much satisfaction in their performance. Even though older technologies may be considered cumbersome and difficult to operate, they are often built to last a generation—when was the last time you saw something new built to last a generation?

 

The advances of this age are not only in technology and science but in communication as well. A problem with the latest networking fads is that the portals are controlled by corporations and the state. Cells phones, Tweets, Facebook, Tumblr….are simple, fun, and fast. They are so simple most people don’t even consider what they say to whom and when—when that’s exactly what’s being cataloged for purposes beyond our comprehension. They can also be taken away instantly. Radicals don’t need another reason to be paranoid but, then again, they often acquiesce to the mainstream fads so to not to seem freakish. When it comes down to it, cyber networking is the most fulfilling when it leads to human contact. Why not go straight to the source? Technology is not so far removed from the techniques of networking practiced and developed over the years. Taking the time with people and not things has merit. In fact, where we place our attention and how we do things is of prime importance. This approach also helps define reality for those coming up trying to understand this all. The internet and its gadgets have only been in widespread use for a couple decades—yet their perfection is often cited why we should throw away all that got us here. Consider then some suggestions of other forms of keeping the fabric of life connected.

 

SOME OLDER WAYS OF NETWORKING:

-WORD OF MOUTH

-VISITS!

-NEWSLETTERS

-FLIERS/HANDBILLS/POSTERS

-LETTERS

-LETTER BOXES (leaving letters in a box in public)

-GRAFFITI

-STREET ART

-SECRET MESSAGES IN PUBLICATIONS (like this one)

-DANCING

-PARTYING

-SEX

-SINGING

-MATCHING TATTOOS

-ZINES

-DISTROS/CATALOGS

-EVENTS PHONE HOTLINE

-PIRATE RADIO

-STARTING A BAND

-GATHERINGS/POTLUCK/RETREATS

 

Good sex, in our opinion, is an act of mutual aid. Every person, regardless of gender, is responsible for contributing to the well-being and pleasure of their partners and themselves. We must explore and know our own desires and learn to speak them. We must hear and respond to the desires of our partners (even if that means accepting refusal gracefully). This means finding the words to express how we like to be touched, spoken to, tied up, and cuddled. Fucking is any raunchy act, and all of it requires consent. Getting explicit permission, however vulnerable and scary it may seem, is a great turn-on. What better than knowing your partner really likes it when you touch them that way, talk in that voice, or use that prop? What is better than knowing you can ask for anything, and it will at least be considered respectfully? There is no way that we or our relationships can grow if we don’t find safe spaces in which to explore.

If you have never spoken during sex, or asked permission, or blurted out your desires, feel free to start small. Most people hear compliments well, and appreciate encouraging suggestions. However, it’s equally important to discover the boundaries of your comfort (often situational) and speak them as well. Starting off with a “this feels so good” or “I love it when you…” or “I’d like you to spend the night if you’re interested” is fantastically brave. Steady yourself for disappointment, and enjoy the benefits of good communication. You may find out a lover has fantasies they didn’t share or they may entrust you with a story of trauma that is a gift to know and share the burden of. Reading your partners’ nonverbal cues is equally important, as is verbally checking for consent about each different act in which you may engage. There is no implicit consent to touch someone’s genitals because you have kissed them, or to have intercourse because you’ve had oral sex. I once met a couple who’d been together for three years and had never said a word in bed. He didn’t know that she’d never come and she didn’t know how to ask for what she wanted! If your partner tenses up or cries or is unresponsive, it’s really important to stop, check in, and support what they need. Remember, all of us have triggers, and not everyone is capable of communicating when they are reliving trauma. Don’t restrain your partner unless it’s part of consensual play, and check in before you lock the door (this can be a subtle act of power). Be honest about any risk factors you bring, such as Sexually Transmitted Infections, whether you have unprotected sex with other people, and if you have allergies to glycerin (in lube) or latex. Details make all the difference.

It’s also important that we take care of our community and help out our friends. Sometimes people are too hurt, distracted or intoxicated to be concerned with their well-being. At the very least, we should directly check in with them about what they want and expect, and possibly help get them to a place of lower risk. It’s also important to confront people (in a supportive way) who act aggressively, because they may not understand that what they are doing is possibly assault. Rapists in prison admit to an average of 11 acts of assault before they are caught.  They are either okay with what they are doing, or don’t believe there’s anything wrong with it. The reality is, it’s a habitual behavior. Better to find out and help before it’s a problem situation. (Putting people in prison or exiling them from scenes will not stop sexual assault. We need to find ways to address the behavior without destroying the person.)

While being so direct about sex is outside of most norms, it transforms sexual experiences. When we are sure that we agree with our partners over expectation and desire, there is no fear to distract us—only pleasure and humor. The most important part of speaking our desires is realizing they are ours to fulfill—not our partners’. It’s much less pressure to offer someone a choice (“Would you like to come home with me or would you rather hang out here?”) than a request (“Would you come home with me tonight?”). Too often it’s easier to say yes than to explain “Yes, I want to come home with you but I’m nervous because I haven’t been with anyone since I was raped”. If we allow for slow and comfortable intimacy, we are likely to experience it more fully and joyfully.

So, if you are often the initiator of your sexual experiences, experiment with patience and let someone else take the lead. Even if it means being alone more often, you may find you enjoy yourself more when you have partners. If you are less likely to initiate sex, think of ways you could safely ask for intimacy.

It’s our responsibility to create new sexual expectations based on good communication that not only reduce the likelihood of sexual assault, but affirm that sex is normal and necessary. This begins with teaching children healthy ideas about their bodies and believing people when they share stories of sexual assault. There are endless ways for us to end our internal oppression and explore healthy, better sex.

If you’re worrying about the strange weather, polar bears drowning and cities choked with cement and exhaust, biking is a great alternative.  Biking is clean, healthy, makes you more independent from the corporate machine and it is fun and ultra sexy! Biking shouldn’t hurt your body, but it can if you ride a bike that doesn’t fit you. To be safe and comfy and to treat your body right when you are biking, here are some tips:

1- Before riding, make sure your wheels are in the forks and that the quick release on the front wheel is closed. Check your brakes, make sure they are tight and make sure the tires have enough air and are in good shape. Tires that are low on air make riding slower and you have to pedal harder to move.

2- Use the correct gears when riding, i.e. a low gear when you’re starting from a stop or going up hills, and a high gear when you’re going fast. Using the wrong gears can damage your knees and requires you to pedal harder to get around.

3- Make sure your seat is set at the proper height. Your knee shouldn’t be bent when your foot is going around the bottom part of the pedal. You may not be able to touch the ground while sitting on a properly adjusted seat, but you will be able to touch the ground when standing over the top tube of the bike frame. When you come to a stop sign, you can stay on the seat by putting your foot on the raised sidewalk curb rather than the street.

4 – Pedalling the right way is good for your body. Set the ball of your foot over the axis of the pedal spindle — it helps prevent knee pain as well.

5 – Unless you’re racing and need to be aerodynamically streamlined, you can adjust your handle bars to make them higher so you sit more upright. It reduces weight and strain on your wrists, keeps your back straighter, and gives your lungs more room to expand since you’re not all bent over.

6 – Don’t carry heavy stuff on your back in a backpack — get a bike rack or bike basket (or trailer) and let the bike, not your back, carry the load.

7 – Wear a helmet, ride on the right side of the street, follow the street signs, make eye contact with drivers and pedestrians, be aware of your surroundings, use hand signals when turning and use lights if biking at night.

8 – Get a bell for your bike — you can use it to alert cars to your presence, to express your spontaneous joy at moving about without burning fossil fuels, and even to get the attention of attractive cyclists you may meet. Ride slow and talk fast. But don’t take your eyes off the road . . .