26 July 2008

Writer's Edge 2008 Day One

Things I noticed on Day One from this year's Writer's Edge conference in Portland:

1) There are a lot of guys named Andy attending. Cool guys named Andy. So much so that I am thinking about changing my name to Andy now.

2) Lily Hoang is a filthy overachiever but she gives awesome hugs so it is impossible to hold anything against her for more than a picosecond.

3) Steve Tomasula and Shane Hinton are handy guys to have around if you cut your foot on a rusty nail and want to avoid a staph infection. Steve carries bandages in his wallet and Shane rolls with a tube of Neosporin.

4) Lidia Yuknavitch has the coolest students up at UW-Bothell. One of them is named Selena. I think I am going to try to adopt her before the conference is over, whether she wants to be adopted or not.

5) Andi and Lance Olsen are losing sleep over their inability to score a 3G iPhone and getting to the Apple Store way too late. It's a vicious cycle and I am praying Steve Jobs takes mercy on them tomorrow at Pioneer Square.

6) Mia De Bono is still the most awesome writer name I've heard in a long, long time.

Here are some photos I snapped earlier today. I'll post more to the set as the weekend progresses.

25 July 2008

Mash-Up of two mags

A cool project:

Davis

*****

Calling works for an unprecedented mashup of two stately publishing venues:

The Mad Hatters' Review & Bunk Magazine
MaSh up & MayheM & haw Issue

Wedding date: Spring/Summer 2009
Reception: The Mad Bunkers' Mash & Racket Club, Bronx, NY & Somewhere off the L.A. Freeway, date TBA


****************


Mashup is the spirit of the day (second only to dementia): Mash a Democrat and a Tory. Mash a Hip Hop CD with Beethoven's Ninth. Mix the movie Dark Victory with a modern Japanese horror movie sound track. Cross eclairs with ecosystems, a Bush speech with a toilet brush. Of course, writers have been mashing for quite some time with their cutups and exquisite corpses.

Mashup is what happens when content is no longer king, usurped by the mischievous jester adept at standing on his head and hands, spouting irreverent nonsensical sense, walking with frivolity on ceilings, pirouetting on paradoxes, ridiculing rules and rulers, and turning rapid somersaults -- all for the pleasure of the jester, her audience, and his sagacious self.

In homage to the jester, we are mashing two publications:
the irreverent, collaborative, genre-blending multimedia literary magazine Mad Hatters Review
and
the provocative satirical new media lampoon Bunk Magazine

Not only will the publications collide to present a mashed union (The Mad Bunkers), but we will feature mashed content.

For this hystorical issue we are soliciting three types of artistes:
Those who wish to be mashed
Those who wish to do mashing with those who wish to be mashed
And those who wish to mash their own

WE WILL BE OPEN FOR EMAIL SUBMISSIONS ONLY (madbunkers@yahoo.com cc: madbunkers@gmail.com) ON SEPTEMBER 1ST. Deadlines vary according to category.

Verily yours,

Carol Novack, Pub/Ed Mad Hatters' Review &
Mark C. Marino, Pub/Ed Bunk Magazine
& various & sundry editors to be listed on our Bunkhouse page
_____________________________________________________________________

Those Who Wish to be Mashed

Submit your inventive written works to us for surprise use in the issue. Primarily we are seeking poems, short fictions, whatnots and literary non-fictions. Please familiarize yourselves with Mad Hatters' Review and Bunk Magazine to get an idea of what we like before deciding to submit. We cannot predict how we will mash your work, only that we will mash it and you will receive proper acknowledgment. In fact, we will present unmashed works on the 3rd floor, baby clothes department.

Aside from the above literary submissions, the Mad Bunkers are seeking visual, aural, and interactive art forms, as well.

These may include:
videos
music
still images
flash animations, text generators, or other forms.

Have no fear, if you can make it, we can mash it.

Submit:
Poems, short fictions, whatnots, or literary non-fiction (maximum word count 3000) by October 1st.

We will consider previously published works, but you must provide detailed publication credits.
Also provide a bio (150 words max).

If you are interested in collaborating (directly) with the mashers, please let us know that in a brief cover letter.

PLEASE WRITE YOUR NAME & THE APPROPRIATE DESCRIPTIVE IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR EMAIL: I'M A (WRITER, MUSICIAN, VISUAL ARTIST, FLASHER, VIDEOGRAPHER, VISPOET, TEXT GENERATOR, OTHER FORM INVENTOR, MULTI-NEW-FUTURISTIC-POSTPOSTMODERN MEDIA TYPE) AND I WANT TO BE MASHED
_____________________________________________________________________

Those Who Wish to Mash

Submit your proposal for a mashup project using our accepted literary works. The proposal will necessarily be somewhat general since you will not know your text just yet. However, we are looking for innovative (oh, that tired word again) visions on how to mash texts with each other or with other media. The finished piece may differ widely and wildly once you see the text.

Submit:
Proposal: 500-750 words
Portfolio of previous work
Links to online examples (if they exist) of works similar to the mash you propose.
Bio (150 words max)

October 15th deadline

PLEASE WRITE YOUR NAME IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR EMAIL FOLLOWED BY: I WANT TO MASH.
_____________________________________________________________________

Those Wish to Mash Their Own

We will also consider self-contained mashup submissions (unpublished) in which artists mashup other source material in new and interesting ways. When using large chunks of still recognizable texts, if the source material has been created by another person or persons, we will need written permission from said individual/s (unless other licenses -- read: Creative Commons -- apply).


Submit: Completed Mashup work by November 15th.

PLEASE WRITE YOUR NAME IN THE SUBJECT LINE OF YOUR EMAIL FOLLOWED BY: I WANT TO MASH MY OWN.
_____________________________________________________________________

Submission Guidelines:

Selection Criteria: For a sense of our selection criteria, please peruse the contents of our publications and then mash those together in your mind. If you find yourself mindless after the mashing, you won't be alone and help is on the way. We will facilitate an online Mash Support Yahoo or Google Group for a modest fee.

Submit all works to madbunkers@yahoo.com, cc madbunkers@gmail.com. Texts (words alone) should be pasted into the corpus of your email and attached as Word or RTF docs. Visuals should be medium resolution jpegs or gifs. Very large files should be sent via yousendit or other file-sharing software, but only after September.

Add both of these e-addresses to your contacts list so we don't have to deal with spam blockers when we correspond with you. We do not believe in snailmail. The GPO is under the influence of 5,687 corrupt greedy bastards who plot daily against the struggling masses. We won't reveal the identity of the 5,687 corrupt greedy bastards. You of all people should know.

Simultaneous submissions are politically correct. We are politically correct. And we believe that self-important, self-centered editors who want writers to place their creations in mothballs for more than 30 days while awaiting decisions should be tarred & mashed with sharp-beaked birds. Of course, if your precocious child is accepted into another nursery school, please let us know immediately. We'll serve up the Ritalin to some other brat.

On the other hand, we hate sending rejection emails and refuse to do so. So please --- if you haven't heard from us within 120 days of your submission, presume that "while we enjoyed your submission, it didn't suit our current needs." This has got to be the dumbest, most over-used rejection letter language both of us editors and you have had the misfortune to read. Lots of chi-chi journals send out letters like that. We've surmised that lots of chi-chi editors lack imagination. So instead, imagine that our rejection letters would read: "Dear ____, Thank you so much for sending us __________. We came to blows over it, but the other editor prevailed. There's no accounting for taste. We'll never work together again. The other editor's a Philistine. You deserve better, but please don't forget to revise at least 10 times and check your grammar and word usage, particularly "lay" and "lie." We are offering an online sentence diagramming & verb conjugation workshop for a modest fee. With cutting edge, new media grammar films. Adverbial abuse will be thrown in free if you sign up today. May you thrive & multiply! Love, Carol & Mark et al.

Multiple Submissions: NO NO NO, we can't deal with them. EG. If you send us a mashup video called "Mama's Boy" and a month later decide to send us "Daddy's Girl," we won't consider the latter. No way. Send us your best. We deserve it and so do you.

Multiple Type/Category Submissions: Let's say you want to be mashed, but you also want to propose a mash. You may email separate submissions, but watch the dates, please!


Queries: Okay, sure, go ahead, but don't ask what time it is when there's a clock on the wall behind you.



Digression:

COMBINATION SPECIAL VIDEO CONTEST PITCH - a Mad Hatters' Review & Web del Sol hosted competition with a $500 prize to the first place winner: ENTER ENTER ENTER!

_____________________________________________________________________

Some examples of mashups. These serve as an inspiration for the theme -- rather than models for how to mash for this issue.

Movies:
Toy Story Requiem for a Dream Mashup
http://youtube.com/watch?v=D1qihwMN0JM

This video mashes up footage, music, and more
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9QfrsD1CpPI

Music:
One of the most famous mashups:
The Grey Album
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_Album

Generators -- these automate the process of mashing up.
Here's an existing text mashup machine that draws upon Project Gutenberg
http://flashups.org/mashups.php

Here's a typical mashup parody: The Show Title Mashup Generator
http://www.generatorland.com/generators/tv_show_mashup_gl.php

Here's another satirical masher
http://www.theadgenerator.org/

fin


CONGRATULATIONS! If you've managed to get through these verbose, rococo, convoluted, selves-indulgent, compulsory guidelines and believe you've understood them, you have won a virtual mad bunker's beanie with a genuine starfish (one of the few left on this planet) embroidered atop. Please send head size and choice of colors (EG: complicated cerulean with vibrant yellow starfish; sexy violet with neon green starfish.)

15 July 2008

It was TRAUMA, but now it's TREASURE!

I have changed nothing below in this advert I found on the Creative Nonfiction Magazine website:

Turning Trauma into Treasure

Washington, DC

September 20

This intense, day-long program with CNF Editor Lee Gutkind will present the art and craft of memoir writing, explaining how to capture traumatic stories in a way that touches and impacts readers.

During this intense and entertaining day, participants will learn how to:

• find the precious nugget of the story
• isolate the crucial magic moment
• infuse the story with a universal chord
• develop a narrative arc
• frame and focus the story
• capture essential intimate details
• share their hard-earned, hard-learned wisdom

$275 registration fee includes a 4-issue subscription to Creative Nonfiction. (After August 20, $290.)

07 July 2008

chiasmus press podcast #6

Episode #06 marks the return of the Chiasmus Press podcast after a lengthy absence. You tell us if it was worth the wait:
:: Conference recaps from AWP and &NOW :: 2008 releases by Lou Rowan, Kevin Sampsell and Lily Hoang :: Looking forward to Writer's Edge :: Teaser preview of our upcoming release from Stephen Graham Jones :: First Book Contest :: Post-production update on The Iconographer :: Lidia's healthy skepticism towards Barack Obama :: WE LOVE STEVE TOMASULA!! :: Andy's love affair with Big Oil :: Trevor drinks Andy's milkshake P.T. Anderson style :: Chiasmus mascots Rusty and Chomsky get it on :: Flashmob of kids threatens to destroy the Milwaukie mothership ::

You can shout back by email (contact@chiasmusmedia.net), or leave us voicemail through Skype (username: chiasmuspress). Don't forget that the podcast is listed on iTunes, which makes subscribing to our RSS feed easy enough that even a U.S. president could do it.