RIP my magazines #3: Articles

I'm throwing out my old magazines / giving them to school kids! Some of these are over ten years old and have a lot of PERSONAL VALUE so I'm cutting out the best bits to form a scrap-book. Here are the highlights:


'The Art of Rap' by 'Hip Hop Historian' Henry Louis Gates Jr. About HJG's then new book anthology of rap lyrics. I studied this guy at university - very helpful with my dissertation. I was also attracted to THE PICTURE accompanying the article: hundreds of illustrated floating heads of hip-hop from Cab Calloway to Lupe Fiasco. Yep.


'Mycology 101: The Vice Guide to Really Fascinating Mushrooms' by David Fischer. Informative article about delicious, deadly and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Article accompanied by a fashion photo shoot of models looking for mushrooms.


'Secret Societies, Ancient Sects and Cryptic Cults' by Anon. I love Thrasher Magazine. This article on various conspiracy theories is kind of thrown next to some skate photos with not connection or explanation. The writer, a man after my own heart, clearly states that he got all his information off the internet and writing is often punctuated with phrases like:"It is often said (by lunatics)", making a not-all-that-serious work. Article covers Freemasons, Illuminati, CIA and New World Order. Strangely, I've been reading 'The Valley of Fear' by Arthur Conan Doyle in which the Freemasons pay a bit part, so I found a reread of this article quite interesting.


'Not in Our Name' by Ian Winwood. Remember the antiwar protests in twothousandandsomething? Part article, part interview with alt.metal band System of a Down, this is KERRANG Magazine being a bit political. Looking back on it now, it all seems very dramatic, much like the more recent riots all over the coutnry are being made out to be at the moment...


'Gorey and Me' by Johnny Ryan. Sort article about the relationship between Vice cartoonist Ryan and AMAZING writter and illustrator Edward Gorey. Humorous descriptions of EG's cat-scratched legs, interesting facts - which of the Three Stooges is EG's favourite? (the one with the bangs) - and a touching ending, describing a very real final encounted watching television before Gorey's death.


'I was a Drum Leader for Boardrum 77' by Kid Millions. This sounds like an amazing experience: 77 drummers under the Brookyn Bridge arranged in a kind of spiral, all playing together, conducted by the band Boredoms. A bit artsy-fartsy, perhaps, but what a great musical event. One of the drummers tries to describe it.