Category Archives: Special Projects

The Untold History of Zines… Doug Holland on Pathetic Life

By Mark | October 3, 2021

When I set out to interview all of the folks that were doing work that I respected back in the ‘90s, during the golden age of zines, there was one person I knew I wouldn’t be able to speak with. I’d been told by multiple people that Doug Holland, the man behind the legendary zine […]

Also posted in Art and Culture, Crimewave USA, Mark's Life, Media, Pop Culture, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized | Tagged affordable housing, aliases, Anderson Valley Advertiser, ass shaving, B Traven, back hair, Banksy, being left alone, Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, Bill Brent, Black Sheets, book deal, Book of Zines, boundaries, Bruce Anderson, Bummers and Gummers, cheap, cheapskate, Christianity, Christopher Becker, cockroaches, COVID, Crank, Craphound, crawfish, dachshunds, Daily Blab, David Letterman, Dead Magazine Club, Death, Desert Moon, diary, disappearing, Dishwasher, Dishwasher Pete, Doug Biggert, Doug Holland, Duplex Planet, famous people who published zines, fanzines, fat, film ideas, finding love, frugality, fucked up families, Gulp Life, Harold and Maude, hemorrhoids, High Weirdness by Mail, Hollywood, honestly, Jeff Kay, Jeffrey Meyer, Kate Moss, Kool Man, Larry Farber, Libertarian, Loki Quinnangelis, Macy’s, mail drops, Marie Prevost, masturbation, McDonalds, Michael Jackman, Mike Gunderloy, mothers, movie reviews, murder, Murder Can Be Fun, New Orleans, New York Times, obsession, odd jobs, off-grid, office work, old movies, orgies, pathetic, Pathetic Live, pen names, personal zines, Pete Jordan, piss, pissing in sinks, playing hooky, privacy, quitter, quitting, reading, Rebecca Schaeffer, residential hotels, Roger Ebert, Rosebud, running away, Russ Meyer, San Francisco, Satanic Temple, science fiction, Seattle, secret identity, See Hear, Seth Friedman, shit, shitting on the floor, sinks, slobs, Sniffin’ Glue, solitude, Spiderman medallion, stalking, Stephanie Webb, Stymie, suicide, Sweden, Temp Slave, The Untold History of Zines, Tower Records, traumatic childhoods, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, underwear, Union Square, Utne Reader, waif models, West Virginia Surf Report, Wisconsin, Zine World | 11 Comments

The Untold History of Zines… Christopher Becker: The Man Who Killed Factsheet Five

By Mark | June 30, 2019

When I interview people for this series, I invariably ask them how they came to know about the existence of the underground press — how they came to discover that there were actually brilliant, obsessed people out there in the world who weren’t waiting to get professional writing jobs, but instead just doing it themselves, […]

Also posted in Crimewave USA, Mark's Life, Michigan, Uncategorized | Tagged 22 Fires, 8-Track Mind, Accusation Suspicion & Innuendo, Aisle 3BA, Amusing Yourself to Death, Answer Me, Atomic Books, Brannock Device, cassette tapes, Chicago, Christopher Becker, Coffee Grounds, Desert Moon, Desert Moon Distribution, Dirty Plotte, Doug Holland, editor's choice, Eraserhead, Factsheet Five, fanzines, Forest Juziuk, FoxPro, Golden Gate Bridge, Heather McAdams, History of Zines, it sucks getting old, Jared Pore, John Marr, Kevin Becker, King Cat, Kinko's, Lee Azus, Luhey, magazine distribution, Mark Saltveit, Mary Fleener, Mike Gunderloy, Milky, Murder Can Be Fun, poker, pooping, pooping in public, Port Huron, Quimby's, R. Seth Friedman, Reading Frenzy, research, Rob Halpern, Ruel Gaviola, Russia, San Francisco, Seattle, suicidal ideation, The Blue Danube, The Untold History of Zines, Tower Records, Wazoo, Wrigleyville, zine archives, zine friends, Zine World, zines | 16 Comments

Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interview: Merritt Bankes

By Mark | March 21, 2019

What follows is our official exit interview with Merritt Bankes, who just recently left Ypsilanti, headed for Tecumseh. MARK: Can you please state your full name for the record? MERRITT: Merritt Bankes. MARK: OK, let’s start at the beginning… What kind of kid were you? MERRITT: Feral! A free-range chicken! [Laughs.] I didn’t even wear […]

Also posted in Michigan, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Tagged Argus Farm Stop, art school, Chicago, Columbia College, Diet for a New America, drugs, Elbow Room, EMU, environmental activism, environmental protection, exit interviews, feral child, Green Room, Janet Kaufman, John Robbins, loneliness, Merritt Bankes, music, onions, poaching, porch shows, porches, priorities, self harm, substance abuse, Sustainability, Tecumseh, Tom Waits, vegetarianism, We The People Growers Association, Woodruff's, Ypsi/Arbor Exit Interviews | 4 Comments

The Untold History of Zines… Sean Tejaratchi on Crap Hound

By Mark | March 17, 2019

When I first started my “History of Zines” oral history project back in 2013, one of the first people I reached out to was Sean Tejaratchi, the man behind the incredibly ambitious clip art zine Crap Hound. [As someone with OCD, the obsessiveness of Crap Hound really resonated with me, and I wanted to find […]

Also posted in History, Mark's Life, Uncategorized | Tagged 1970, A is For, A Sordid Evening of Sonic Sorrows, abortion, action figures, Adam Parfrey, Adidas, aggressive massage, Amok, amusement parks, animal erections, Answer Me, Anton LaVey, Apple Cabin, Bertrand Falstaff Heine, birds with human penises, book design, bubbles, calendars, Cane toad, Captain Matthew Webb, change, Charlie McCarthy, Chloe Eudaly, Chris Thile, clip art, coffee, consignment, consistency, Crap Hound, Dan Howland, Danzine, Death Scenes, Debbie Goad, Dishwasher Pete, DIY, Doc Johnson, dongs, ear trumpet, erections, Eugene, Evel Knievel, evolution, fake band posters, feral child, Feral House, Geek Love, Genie the feral child, graphic design, Gregg Turkington, He-Man, Heinous, identity politics, Independent Publishers Resource Center, IPRC, Jim Goad, John Coffin, Journal of Ride Theory, Katherine Dunn, Kathy Molloy, Kinko's, Lake Wobegon, Larry Crane, LiarTown, Live from Here, living in the past, Los Angeles, maggots, Martha Plimpton, Masters of the Universe, Mattel, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Michael McKean, Mike King, Miranda July, navel gazing, Nick Bougas, Oregon, oversharing, PDXS, penises, pigeon, poop exchange, Portland, Portland City Council, Portland Mercury, Powell’s Books, Prairie Home Companion, privacy, Reading Frenzy, Rebecca Gilbert, romanticizing the past, Satan Takes a Holiday, sculpture, Sean Tejaratchi, Skeletor, Smurfs, Snake Mountain, Snipehunt, Social Justice Kittens, Stanton Greer, Stella Marrs, Steve Mandich, surf monkey, Tape Op, The Crap Hound Big Book of Unhappiness, The Devil’s Notebook, The Untold History of Zines, the Voight-Kampff test, Toad Licker, toad licking, toys, transitions, Watts Riots, Weekly World News, Westworld, Willamette Week, WOW Hall, zine library, zines | 24 Comments

Looking for the Mark III

By Mark | August 19, 2018

I rarely share them here, but I’m known to go off on wild goose chases every now and then, trying my best to track down useless historical facts and obscure items that, for whatever reason, I’ve become obsessed by. A few years back, as you may recall, I decided that I needed to know what […]