zine, [zeen] noun. 1. abbr. of fanzine; 2. any amateurly-published periodical. Oxford Reference

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Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Ken Chronicles #18


28 pages, digest size, $2.00, fair trade or letter of comment, from Ken Bausert, 2140 Erma Drive, East Meadow NY 11554-1120, USA + PassScribe(at)aol.com + thekenbausertchronicles.blogspot.com
It's always a pleasure to receive a new issue of Ken's zine, and I'm not just saying that because he prints my letters in his letter column! (This time I wrote him about my bird-nerdism, he even printed the photo of a currawong I sent - one of the wild birds I was feeding back at Paddo, before moving to Marrickville).
Since 2011 is 'The Revenge of Print Year', Ken found a terrific old illustration of Johann Gutenberg for the cover.
Inside, Ken writes about his visit to New Haven, Connecticut for burgers at Louis' Lunch, in existence since 1898 and supposedly the birthplace of the hamburger. The only things you can add to your burger are cheese, tomato and onion, no ketchup or mustard. A sign on the wall says, "This isn't Burger King. You can't have it your way. You have it my way or you can't have the damn thing." Haw!
The next section, 'Bits & Pieces' is really cool. Ken's got a favourite shirt. He wonders where it was made. Bangladesh? Pakistan? China? Nope. Somewhere called Lesotho, which sends him off on a quest to find out where the heck Lesotho is. There's also some amusing anecdotes about his time in the auto repair business.
In 'Journey to Jersey' he writes about his trip to see Todd Rundgren. Then a piece with a title that really cracked me up: 'For Your Health'. That's Dr Steve Brule's (John C. Reilly) segment on the wonderfully deranged Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Has Ken seen that show or is it simply a coincidence? Anyway, the article is an extensive review of humidifiers, since Ken had problems with dry skin, chapped lips, and bleeding nose, and his dermatologist recommended he get one.
Finally my favourite section, 'What I've Been ___________ Lately' where he writes about all the music he's been digging, TV shows he's been watching (one of which, Art Race, sounds so cool I wanna track it down myself), DVDs, and books and zines he's been reading.
I always look forward to a new issue of TKC, and the good news is they come around pretty regular since he publishes them quarterly - around the first of the months of February, May, August and November.
Great job! Recommended!

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