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Cannot Become Obsolete
This is more a personal musical journal than a 'zine. Vern Stoltz puts together mix tapes from his extensive library, then sits down and writes a page for each track on the cassette. (Unfortunately, the cassettes are not for sale or trade.) The result is a sort of stream of consciousness look at music and life from one person's singular perspective. What's most striking about Cannot Become Obsolete is the very personal nature of it. From cover to cover, you can see Vern's devotion to the craft of the 'zine. Pages in the Holiday issue are hand colored. Where the copy machine has cut off the bottom of a page, he has written in the missing words> Xeroxed, hand stapled, hand colored and personal as hell...this is the very epitome of what a zine should be. Every magazine editor out there could learn several hundred huge lessons from Vern Stoltz's Cannot Become Obsolete.
Vern Stoltz PO Box 1232, Lorton, VA 22199-1232. Sample issues are $2. Interested in subscribing? $5 will get you the next three issues (whenever that might be). Send well hidden cash (preferred) or a check made out to Vern Stoltz (NOT Cannot Become Obsolete). Send him your 'zine or 7", he'll be happy to trade.
Lounge Magazine
This latest Lounge sports a slick color cover, fewer pages and a shift from the dreaded "L" word toward hipster culture in general. In addition to the usual music coverage, check out articles on spaghetti westerns, Hawaiian airlines and inflatible furniture. The key here lies in lounge not simply historically reporting, but in attempting to show modern connections. The purists may bristle at this, but Vik loves it! It's a little less filling than previous issues, and appears to be published more and more infrequently, but still lounge magazine is a must read for any fan of hipster culture.
Want more info? Write lounge magazine at 3010 Wilshire Blvd #92, Los Angeles CA 90048 or email lounge@netcom.com.
Subscriptions are $19.95 for 1 Year (6 issues).
Tiki News
Tiki News presents news and features on all things tiki. Great artwork...a must for the exotica collector. With coverage of magazines, music, artists and happenings in the tiki realm. Issue #11 invades San Francisco with coverage on Don Tiki, Trader's Bob, Joe and Vic, Tiki Noir, recipes and so much more! A trip to exotic lands without the cost of airfare.
Subscriptions are $10 for six issues or $2 per issue and can be obtained from Schwarz Grafiken, 1349 Preston Way, Venice CA 90291. Don't forget to drop by the Tiki News on-line and tell'em Vik sent ya!
International Sinatra Society
One one issue of this 'zine resides in the Librarie du Vik, but anyone with a passion for The Chairman would do well to seek this out. This issue is #86 and it would appear all previous issues are still in print. Dealing with everything from altrenate session takes to Blue Eye's celebrity golf tournament...
Membership in the society gets you six issues of the 'zine. $20 a year for the US and Canada, $25 elsewhere. International Sinatra Society P.O. Box 7176, Lakeland, FL 33807-7176.
Organ and Bongos
Vik has only stumbled on a couple of copies of this 'zine. Subtitled "A Periodical Guide to Today's Cocktail Culture", get a glimpse into the swinging Pacific Northwest scene. Well written and highly informative, but it appears to publish sporadically.
If you want more info, try sending a note to Organ and Bongos, PO Box 20396, Seattle, WA 98102.
The Continental
Remember the swank Washington 'zine Hmmm...? No? Well, combining a fine overview of surf-garage-exotica-indie music with swell vintage graphics, this swinging 'zine made for a delicious read. However, Issue #7 was Hmmm...'s last. But fear not hipster, from the ashes of this fine 'zine rises, new and improved, The Continental. On October 1st 1996, Hmmm... actually changed its name to The Continental and grows slightly (to 7 in. by 8.5 in.). Same great coverage on surf, lounge, garage, and indie music.
The Continental is $2.00 per issue, including postage, and can be ordered from The Continental at PO Box 4336, Bellingham, WA 98227-4336 or 910 West Illinois St., Bellingham, WA 98225 or drop by The Continental.
Thrift Score and Beer Frame
While these two 'zines may not fit the purist's ideals concerning "lounge", they are nonetheless fabulous guides to thrift culture. Thrift Score covers the fine art of thrifting with each issue focusing on a different topic (swimsuits was the last one Vik got). A great how to guide and chronicle of thrifting finds, the swimsuit issue even featured Otto "Tiki News" von Stroheim on tiki collecting. An excellent 'zine for those wishing to start the thrifting obsession.
Subscriptions: $5 for five issues and "a bonus piece of crap". Send cash, small denomination stamps (16 32-cent stamps) or check made out to Al Hoff (not Thrift Score). Thrift Score, PO Box 90282, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. You can also e-mail to hoffo@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu.
Enter the world of inconspicuous consumption, Beer Frame. This strange 'zine covers the bizarre side of consumerism. "Musk flavored Lifesavers", "Glide dental floss", "Nippless", "Pocari Sweat Refreshment Water", and many more incredibly strange products grace the pages of this publication. Also overviews of various strange services and publications.
No subscriptions, but issues are available for $2 (cash, check or money order payable to Paul Lukas) to Beer Frame, 160 St. John's Place, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Issues 1-4 are available for $3 each. You can also e-mail Beer Frame at krazykat@pipeline.com.
Murder Can Be Fun
OK...so call Vik a sick puppy here, but he does love this 'zine. Absolutely nothing to do with "lounge" persay, but everything to do with the film noir that exists in everyday life. Each issue devotes itself to some dark underbelly in the American psyche. the perfect companion to a bender of cheap gin and generic cigarettes, past issues have covered mass murders, man made disaters, Karen Carpenter, Death at Disneyland and so much more! The most valuable issue occurs annually in the Murder Can Be Fun Datebook. Keep track of your important dates AND learn a little about the dark side of life.
Subscriptions: $6 for the next couple of issues. Checks, cash, money orders, stamps or whatever graciously accepted if payable to John Marr. Murder Can Be Fun, PO Box 640111, San Francisco, CA 94164.
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