Saturday, May 30, 2015

Tulsa Zine Fest!!!!!!!

The Tulsa Zine Fest just wrapped up and it was amazing! I found a ton of great zines to read and handed out almost fifty copies of both issues of my zine, Exercising Demons. It was rather cool to meet and talk to people who had tables and share info with them. Any perspective is nice to have and there were people who are in the early stages of zine making to those that have been doing it for years. Quite a few of them loved the name of my zine. They came from Kansas, St Louis, Stigler, OKC, other places and locally too. Exercising Demons first issue came out in April and I had to rush to get the second one done in time for today. Last night after work I came home and had to start gluing them together. I had to do that because I screwed up. I procrastinated getting it together and instead of taping everything down to get my master copy ready and then gluing it in place, I skipped the taping part and just started gluing. After everything was copied and I needed to put the pages together in order, I realized I had messed up and could not staple them. Hey, I'm still learning.

Here's a picture of the loot I got at the Tulsa Zine Fest.

I spent thirty-five of the forty dollars I won at the last Ok, So Story Slam on zines plus some of the people here just traded me a copy of their zine after I had given them mine. Soon I hope to have all of the kinks ironed out of this zine thing and then I'll start selling mine. I really hope that the fest comes back next year and I can be on the other side of the table. I'll say right now that I'll do what it takes to help out to continue something so cool. Zines are the ultimate in self-publishing for me. We have Jay Hancock, the owner of Holy Mountain record store here in Tulsa and his wife to thank for not only the zine fest but also for making zines available in the store. That's what got me started reading and now writing them. Holy Mountain also has been doing some in-stores for local bands which is a good way to expose yourself (not that way) to talented bands for free and then further support them. Jay has done a lot so go in and help out the store by buying something you like. That way we can keep stuff like the Zine Fest happening and that's a very good thing.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Wistful Thinking On Funerals

This was written two days ago but I'm just now putting it up.


I'm supposed to go to a funeral today. I'm not a big fan of them, not that there are many people who are. That would just be weird. Actually it's more like I'm not a big fan of social gatherings in general. Weddings, birthday parties and yes, even funerals all cry out "look at me, validate me by paying attention to me." Birthdays and weddings of course are for the people who are alive and there at that moment. Funerals though aren't for the person who died. They're for those left behind. I don't think a dead person cares either way if people have gathered, dressed up and are paying their respects to what kind of a person they were when they were living. It seems more about how the attention somehow makes the grief of the living easier when it's shared.

Personally I feel it’s all rubbish. Like I said, the dead person doesn't care one iota about anything being done "for" them or in their name. Being dead means they're beyond feelings period. I rather doubt when I go I'll have a large outcry of lamenting over my leaving but even if there is a small one I'd rather they do something different for me. Instead of gathering in a church, everybody dressing to impress each other and having people talk who may or may not be telling the absolute truth, I propose whoever feels like it can gather and tell stories about me. Tell why you hated me or tell why you loved me. Tell funny stories that show that I was a human, not some near perfect being because trust me, I'm far from that.
 
How about visiting me before I die and sharing these things? Anybody can come after you've gone and only speak of the good things. After all, by then you're no longer around to correct them on the details. It is hard to see someone when the end is near when you are sad about the change in them, perhaps because it makes us recognize the frailty of life and that all of us will succumb at some point or another. Whatever the reason I'd rather people share with me while I am dying and then if they must, gather and celebrate the life I’ve led with each other. I've let far too many people slip away and haven't spent time as well as I could have but I am trying. So you can heed this or ignore it, your choice. Once I'm gone even these words will no longer matter to me. Do what you feel like. Do what makes you happy.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Catching Up...............With Some Crappy Photos

There's a lot of stuff I've been meaning to post but just haven't gotten around to so I figured now is just as good a time to get it done. Here goes:
 
 
 
Last month I went to an in-store at Holy Mountain and saw local band Riot Waves who opened for another band.
 


 The other band was another local group, Lizard Police who were promoting their new 7" single. I bought it.
 
 
The end of July brought The Slackers, one of my favorite bands, to town, the first since I moved back to Oklahoma. If you've never seen them you should seriously give them a try. It got me skanking for the first time in a long time and I even knocked some guys beer out of his hand.
  
 
The Last Slice is a Tulsa ska band that opened for The Slackers AND Roddy Radiation as it turns out. I'm fairly sure I'll be seeing them again in the near future. Maybe next time I'll bring my wife and son.


 
Okay, so I already mentioned his name. Roddy Byers aka Radiation was the original guitarist in The Specials and if you don't know who they were then go look 'em up and then come back here. Roddy put on a great show at the new DIY punk and more little place called Boulevard Trash. It's a store too and I scored a Hex Bombs 7" before the show. Seriously, go see Roddy if he comes your way, you won't be disappointed, unless of course you're a twat.

 

The Scotch Bonnets opened for Roddy and were also his backing band. They were impressive enough for me to part with some cash for some of their music.


 
Lastly came Rush, yes a very different kind of music but still a great band nonetheless. According to the band this will be the last big tour for them. They may do some smaller ones or some individual shows but no more huge tours. With that in mind I'm going on a road trip in July to see them two more times.

That about does it, a lot more things went on like my sons birthday, some workshops at TCC and so forth but enough is enough. I'm tired and still have to get back to work.

Written and Published by Don Leach. May not be used without permission from the author.