grrrshon

Though I myself have never had difficulty, it's not the first time I've heard of Zshare's pop-ups causing browser trouble. If anyone can suggest a better file sharing service, I'll try posting it there as well.

Hello Organissimos; Since there's been a modicum of interest in the magazine here on the board, I thought I'd stick my neck out and offer you a sneak preview of our summer issue, just off to press (and I hope I'm not out of line in doing so). An 11 Meg PDF will be available at the link below throughout the weekend. While we do still encourage you to seek out the magazine in its (vastly superior) paper format, this'll give you a little taste of what we've been working on over the past couple of months. Y'all will be the first people anywhere to see it. Regards; grrrrrshon @ STN DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.zshare.net/download/120373927b73a2c1/ FILE NAME: stn50_lowres.pdf FILE SIZE: ~11.16 megabytes

90% of the females in that age range are saying cunt non-stop. Well, my wife's favorite expletive is "that's cunt-tastic".

Hey, I think it was actually Byron Coley who once asked me if I couldn't do some kind of spread of scantily clad female improvisors. I'm not really sure that's the kind of affirmative action anyone here is talking about, though. I have asked, and will ask again, to see if I can't get Coley back into the fold. Again, I think Cotner is pretty funny (and knowledgable) and we used to have a guy named Mike Zimbouski who wrote some shit that was fun to read, but I haven't heard from him in years. Maybe it had something to do with the time we went out for drinks with Peter Brotzmann's band after a gig in Burlington, then went back to the office to smoke a joint, and the doorknob fell out of the door, locking us inside and forcing us to crawl out through the window, I don't know. You know, a piece on say, Joe McPhee is not really going to be a laugh riot (Joe is a funny guy with a great sense of humor but he is basically a pretty serious dude when he's talking about his music). But I take your point and we'll see what we can do about that. Hey, if anyone had offered me a Bishop article I totally would have taken him up on it. BTW Arthur is back from the dead, Jay Babock having been bailed out by a new financial backer ... you can find a PDF of the new issue, with Lavendar Diamond on the cover, at their site, arthurmag.com. Arthur is probably more of a "fun" read, though certainly aimed more at the Animal Collective crowd than the STN crowd, and some of the "how to knit a cool sweater" features and the Daniel Pinchbeck stuff are not necessarily where I want to be going with my own magazine. But yes, I certainly do admire what Jay is doing. Thanks, some of this is starting to get constructive. But if it's boring for the rest of you, you can totally tune out.

Dude, don't think I don't appreciate it. In fact, this whisks me back to my Hampshire College days, studying under Michael "Wisconsin Death Trip" Lesy, who thought I was a lame hippy freak and frankly hated my guts. But I hung in there, suffered the abuse, and wound up learning a lot. When he would grudgingly tell me that something I wrote was maybe, kinda, sorta OK, it was like an A double plus good from any other prof I worked with. Oh, must split, baby screaming. Allen, I'll get back to you on that cover story.

Eh, I'm not peeved, and I don't want to curttail criticism ... quite the opposite. I'm just curious to know more about people would like to see. If you've checked out STN, concluded it's not for you, and given up on it, I promise, my feelings won't be hurt. But I am interested in improvement and if anyone has any specific suggestions, I am open to that. That's all I'm saying. Does it seem like I'm being defensive? Because that's not the spirit in which these responses are intended. How often do the publishers of other magazines drop by to ask for input? Probably not that frequently. Maybe this thread has run it's course though? I mean, even I'M getting bored.

Hey people, thanks for the kind (mostly) welcome. Sure, I get plenty of compliments but they really aren't very useful. Here I find a guy who seems ready to give some unvarnished, detailed criticsm, because you have obviously spent some time thinking about this, and have no problem saying what's on your mind. But so far all I've heard are vague generalities and personal insults. I have totally got a thick skin, and I can take it, but I would really like to get some feedback out of this exchange that I can actually do something with. Hey, I would love to have Byron Coley back writing for the magazine again, and I do keep making the invitation. Maybe he thinks its a shitty magazine, too, and is too nice to tell me so. He was certainly wicked friendly the last time I saw him, when he came up to my house in VT to buy the bulk of my LP collection before I left for Texas. Have you read the stuff David Cotner has written for us? I like what he's doing, a lot. I just wish he had the time to do more of it. Now that dude is funny. I take it that you yourself are not volunteering any reviews, but how about a column? I bet that would be some entertaining reading. Clem, if you want your five bucks back, I can totally spare it. Okay, you don't have to solicit writers on my behalf, which is what you said I should find somebody to do, but if you can give me a more specific critique of our efforts I will gladly send you a comp subscription. I know you have been complaining about what we're doing for years, but you keep paying for it, and at the very least if I send it to you for nothing you might feel as though you have got your money's worth. C'mon, man, you brought it up, so help a brother out, here!

Well, well ... look what the cat dragged in. It's that simp Pete Gershon, here to spread around some of his trademark "witless arrogance". I already know almost everyone contributing to this thread, since we've met personally at gigs, or because you've been a long-time subscriber, or because we've exchanged e-mail niceties in the past when you've asked for free copies of the magazine or inquired about getting your CDs reviewed, so no need for any detailed introductions. I am still waiting for some specific feedback that I can actually use ("the thing's a fucking disaster" is a smidge broad) ... and I'm serious, I really do want it. You mention Dr. Chadbourne, and in an early issue of STN, he wrote a very long, scathing column in which he picked out about a dozen reviews and pointed out all the errors, cliches and BS ... and he was quite specific, so it was actually helpful (and funny). OK, so you like Toop (I am absolutely certain that guy will not work for no money, but because you asked for him, I will ask), and you like Rafi Zabor (me too, and I have been sending that guy free magazines and fan mail for years w/o response ... and I badly want to put The Bear on a future cover and bring our readers an update). Generally my writing staff is limited to people who seek me out and offer to volunteer some writing, but tell me who you like and I can always ask. Ben Watson used to reliably ruffle some feathers, but then somebody panned his book and I don't think he's talking to me anymore. I like Warburton -- a lot -- but he's semi-retiring from music writing to do more music. I don't know what the complaint could possibly be about recent features by Ed Hazell and Steve Smith, because I thought that was totally great stuff, but then again if you ask some people around here, I'm some kind of moron, so what do I know? As tough as it may be to believe, the material you read in the magazine is (often) fairly heavily edited and there's a lot of stuff that ends up on the cutting room floor. But really, most of my work on the magazine is limited to mundane stuff that nobody else in their right mind would do for free, like selling ads (a total drag), unpacking and rewrapping/re-mailing hundreds of promo CDs, filling subscription orders, keeping the books, and 4x/year laying out the next issue in a marathon three-day whirlwind after everyone's copy and ads show up late but before our pre-booked, non-negotiable print date arrives. Yeah, I will miss some typos, and some reviews that smell funny will sometimes get in there. For the meantime I will take the C minus and enroll for another semester. If y'll become bored with what we're doing, leave it on the shelf for someone else and I promise I will not hold it against you. Or, if y'all think you can raise the level of discourse in the magazine, you are welcome to write some reviews. Clem: "someday he'll bring in a real editor (not a f/t job but someone to solicit & push writers) & he can stick to the publishing side." Dude, you're hired! When do you start? I will pay you in empty jewel cases. I look forward to meeting your motherfuckin' funny Texan friends. I'm still new in town and like most people with small children, I really don't have the luxury of going out and socializing very much. In fact, it's way past my bedtime. Jon Abbey: I totally dug your review of the Sound Observations gigs and enjoyed meeting you there tremendously. I know the people at Rothko appreciated the review, too. Clifford, looking forward to seeing your Sondheim piece. Photo shoot turned out alright. Oh, and Allen Lowe, I have those extra mags that you asked for, packed up and ready to go, but I need your address. Cheers! grrrrrshon