Four Thousand Flavors

Japan Benefit

2011-06-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

Third in a series of Benefit shows I am doing this weekend to raise money for the disaster relief effort in Japan. Awesome lineup come check it out and support a worthy cause!

HOUSE OF SHAME

2011-03-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

A poem I wrote while living in Tokyo in 2007.

Disaster can strike at any moment
I can live with it but I won’t look at it

Burnable by night
Intense inhale by day

Shut the door and listen
To the inaudible

Panic may hurt you
Especially after drinking

I converse with illusions
And stay up late believing in them

I walk in the path of falling objects
Yet remain unharmed

Unable to let my hair grow
At the mercy of the Tokai

There’s a price to pay for silence
And thinking of ourselves

As we fly over this planet of a silent sun
Like the wind blowing through the trees at night

Trapped in this house of shame
Will there be anyone to hold you as it falls

I HATE MOVING

2010-12-12T14:48:00.000-08:00

But Flying Lotus is helping.

Flying Lotus - Kill Your Co-Workers from Warp Records on Vimeo.

One of these days I will find the place I can stay in for a while, you know? But who wants to be stuck in the same place forever? If you understand what I'm talking about, maybe we should talk about living together...

Amazing Bollywood Youtube Videos and the Amazing Comments People Post About Them

2010-11-30T13:23:00.000-08:00

From the film Jaanbaaz, Sri Devi performs the song "Har Kisi Ko Nahin Milta" ...I have recently been doing some deep youtube research on the subject of the Illuminati and its use of popular figures in the entertainment industry to corrupt the people of the world and steer their souls towards satan, or whatever...But I had not been exposed to any international examples of Illuminati subliminal manipulation...Until now:

ssehram
2 weeks ago
The Vatican Snake in RED... The WOMAN in
red... DEVIL.... This how India was "OCCULTED" by Illuminati Zionist from
Zionist Devils... You got what you asked for guys.. enjoy.. War, cigars,
Drugs, Adultery, Alcohol, Music- worse than drugs and Psychotoc Diseases... end
is already here... The few who follow The Right Path still HOLDING guard...

ssehram
2 weeks ago
SRIDEVI ... is definitely an ILLUMINATI
plant.... looks NOT Indian but a SUBLIMINAL "indian" name "sridevi".... how
could we get this DUPED? The Woman is Totally.. ILLUMINATI clone.... Totally
"European Nazi Zionist Clone"... DUPED.. on Big Screen..!!!!!!!!!!!

A truly chilling insight, Mr. Sehram. It is the brave souls such as yourselves who open our eyes to the evil practices of those who would wish to plant demonic imagery in our minds. What's even more commendable is that you have completely eliminated the possibility of missing the message, by deliberately emphasizing with quotations several phrases such as the harrowing: "European Nazi Zionist Clone." Totally.

Although I have a feeling this 1996 film called Dushmun Duniya Ka is not nearly as sweet as this clip from it (and really couldn't make much sense if this is a real clip from the movie), the track is nothing less than tight in all of its chill-dub-psych-funk stoniness. The comments however, have sparked a vague interest in the film's plot, which from what I can gather is a dude's struggle to quit smoking weed.

smartom1
1 year ago 4
this song was played atleast 100
times in a day by us in 1996 ...we were all lost in the world of nasha and is
was duva duva all the time but now when I watch it i realise the reality how
bad is drugs its ok just to taste it for fun but friends pls dont continue pls
quit drugs...overall an awsome song understand the meaning and quit drugs right
now and everything will be fine its possible to quit yes its possible

1298086
6 months ago
smoky time song...cant
forget

This clear contrast of sentiment speaks to the tendency of internet commenters to argue and bicker behind user names and avatars with the rage of a blasphemed deity. One friend pointed out to me the severity of this rage when he likened a furious anti-haters rant by recording artist Dam Funk at a recent concert to a "youtube comment reply." The examples are plentiful; I urge you my friends to simply bring up some of your favorite youtube videos and scroll down through a few comments, or just surf some random videos and see how much more entertaining they become.

Oscar Wilde

2010-11-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

Actors are so fortunate. They can choose whether they will appear in tragedy or in comedy, whether they will suffer or make merry, laugh or shed tears. But in real life it is different. Most men and women are forced to perform parts for which they have no qualifications. Our Guildensterns play Hamlet for us, and our Hamlets have to jest like Prince Hal. The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast.

-Lord Arthur Savile's Crime

Pieter Hugo's Nollywood

2010-09-21T22:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.michaelstevenson.com/contemporary/exhibitions/hugo/nollywood_index.htm

In preparation for a DJ set of afrobeat I'm doing at Barbarella(upstairs at the Barbary) I randomly stumbled upon the work of this South African photographer who photographed actors of the Nigerian film industry in costume and makeup, but in bleak and decayed urban settings rather than on an actual film set.

Nollywood is the third largest film industry in the world, releasing between 500 and 1 000 movies each year. It produces movies on its own terms, telling stories that appeal to and reflect the lives of its public: it is a rare instance of self-representation on such a scale in Africa. The continent has a rich tradition of story-telling that has been expressed abundantly through oral and written fiction, but has never been conveyed through the popular media before. Stars are local actors; plots confront the public with familiar situations of romance, comedy, witchcraft, bribery, prostitution. The narrative is overdramatic, deprived of happy endings, tragic. The aesthetic is loud, violent, excessive; nothing is said, everything is shouted.

A lot of comments were posted on the blog I found this on calling the work 'exploitative' and 'distasteful' but I'm really digging the extreme horrific imagery with the post-apocalyptic looking backgrounds found somewhere on the streets of Enugu.

Hugo gained some notoriety for another exhibit called "The Hyena and Other Men" depicting a group of Nigerian street performers with Hyenas on chain leashes who had been mistakenly labeled by a Nigerian newspaper as "bank robbers, bodyguards, drug dealers, debt collectors."

Here is what Hugo has to say on his website about the reaction to this series:

Many animal-rights groups also contacted me, wanting to intervene (however, the keepers have permits from the Nigerian government). When I asked Nigerians, “How do you feel about the way they treat animals”, the question confused people. Their responses always involved issues of economic survival. Seldom did anyone express strong concern for the well-being of the creatures. Europeans invariably only ask about the welfare of the animals but this question misses the point. Instead, perhaps, we could ask why these performers need to catch wild animals to make a living. Or why they are economically marginalised. Or why Nigeria, the world’s sixth largest exporter of oil, is in such a state of disarray.

It seems to me like the real purpose of the work is to pay cultural homage to a group of people often made out to be monsters. Maybe this guy is in a way exploiting the economic woes of a struggling nation but hey, isn't a lot of good art exploiting something?

Nite Market

2010-07-26T23:08:00.000-07:00

A mix I put together of party music from faraway lands. Feel free to download so you can listen to it in your car on the way to the beach or jam it at your bbq.

NITEMARKETmix by shinjo

1. Asha Bhosle - "Dum Maro Dum"
2. Black Blood - "a.i.e (a'mwana)"
3. Armando Trovaioli - "Quante Bella Giovinezza"
4. Khong Khao Noi Mea Ka 99 - "Crazy Song"
5. Super Eagles - "Love's a Real Thing"
6. Bzunesh Begele - "Tegel Nèw"
7. Asha Bhosle - "Lekar Ham Diwana Dil"
8. Fela Kuti - "Ye ye de smell"
9. Chaba Zahouania - "Goulou Limma"

Summer Blues

2010-07-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

The last show I put together at the Woodstove was for some great people who just moved to Philadelphia called Blues Control. So glad to finally have them on a bill. I was also super psyched to have Hot Guts and Serpents of W.I.S.D.O.M. from the Badmaster fam and Brooklyn's PC Worship on Shdwply. Huge thanks to Sofie Hodara for making a great poster.

Currently working on finding a new place to live and of course Volume 6. Updates soon! Hope everyone has a great 4th of July Weekend...

Concrete et cetera

2010-06-03T12:48:00.001-07:00

So there's this guy Marshall. Marshall is a friend of mine. He lives in this place called VWVOFFKA, which is also a DIY gallery on Frankford Ave. They are doing this neat show for the month of june all about Concrete Poetry. Instead of trying to explain what that is I will paste Marshall's own words (straight from the facebook invite) as I often do when I post about events on here.

Here at VWVOFFKA, June is the month of concrete ideas, visual word balance, and asymmetric semantics. This month's exhibit pays tribute to the Concrete Poetry movement that took the English language by storm, forcing words off the pages and spewing them into the focal point of physical reality. But that was born over half a century ago. Now along with the advent of new technologies, the pen is in a different hand, bringing new light to the fluidity of language. Concrete, et cetera will include works by Masha Badinter, Claire Buchanan, Sofie Hodara, Marshall James Kavanaugh, Ingrid Pimsner, Steve Streisguth, and Jenna Wilchinsky.

Also special live performances by:
Ghosts of Pasha http://www.myspace.com/ghostsofpasha
Dark Surfers & the yawns http://www.myspace.com/chrisyaple
+1 more tba

Refreshments will be provided. Opening is on Saturday, June 5th, 2010 and starts at 6pm. Join us!

Our gallery hours are as follows, in case you miss the grand opening reception:
Wednesday 11am-2pm
Saturday 12pm-5pm
Sunday 12pm-5pm

The gallery is at 2037 Frankford Ave right next to Perpetua. Copies of the 4000 Flavors Poetry issue will be on hand.

You may have noticed this is my first post since Feburary, which is indeed a shame. I wish I could say that I had a good reason for that, but looking back on the time since that last post, I'm not quite sure where it all went. Maybe part of the reason is that there is sometimes an overwhelming amount of things happening to post about. To be honest not a whole lot has happened in 2010 that I have been psyched about. But for those of you who are reading, please bear with me, I will surely have some things to tell you about very soon.

Florida in the Midwest

2010-02-06T15:31:00.000-08:00

I'm spending the next two weeks helping out my friend Dan's band from Brooklyn called Florida with a tour through the midwest. The tour is to support their new 7" on Shdwply records called "Haunted House." I did a small tour with them over the summer for their "Icarus" 7".

Here is a link to download the new 7"

All of the shows are with the Minneapolis psych pop band Velvet Davenport. The tour starts tonight in Chicago, then heads east for a couple shows in New York and one in Philly before swinging back around and finishing up with a final show in Minneapolis with Harry Merry from Holland.

I set up the philly show at Danger Danger Gallery, which my other band, The Spooks, will also play. I also asked Nymph from Brooklyn and Philly's Ideath(Russell from Man Man, Buffalo Stance, Columboid, Icy Demons, Coyote, Lewis & Clarke, etc...) to play. It should be an awesome night, here is the flier that a friend of mine named Dan Hughes put together.

Last week before the tour started we went up to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie NY to do a show with Sore Eros and Teeth Mountain. Before the show we did a live set on the Vassar radio station, WVKR. Listen to the session here.

It's pretty exciting to be on the road with these rad bands but I am looking forward to getting home and sleeping in my bed again. Not to mention getting back to work on the next issue of flavs, which will hopefully be ready by april.

End of Days, Why Not You?

2010-01-27T19:19:00.000-08:00

Mississippian R. Cole Furlow a.k.a. Dead Gaze just sent me a link to his newest tape, titled "End of Days, Why Not You?" My last post was a video for the track "Back and Forth." The song makes me think of Animal Collective playing Beck all lo-fi'd out. I tried so hard to get a show together with them on my band's recent tour down south but nothing ended up happening which is a giant shame. Hopefully I will get to see them at SxSW in March if things work out. I'm also hoping to get them to come up to philly some time in the near future, so look out.

This might not be up for very long, so move quick.

Download here.

Dead Gaze

2009-11-29T13:43:00.000-08:00

I am loving the shit out of this band from Jackson right now, and this video, "Back and Forth"

DEAD GAZE - Back and Forth from DEAD GAZE on Vimeo.

Gary War @ Tritone

2009-11-19T08:07:00.001-08:00

Shdwply Records' master of lo-fi psych Gary War is coming to Philadelphia next month and I am super excited to have gotten the chance to do a show for him. It will be at Tritone Sunday December 13th at 9pm. This dude has put out some amazing stuff and worked with killer artists like Ariel Pink & more. From Shdwply's site:

"...When an act comes along such as Gary War that seems to conjure the ever-changing zeitgeist of psychedelia out of the ether, it's remarkable...His tonal insobriety, from one song to the next is a true sign of the times, where artists are driven to explore different avenues, melding genres, vocal styles and instrumentation to arrive somewhere new.." -Victim Of Time on "New Raytheonport"

"Gary War is taking sonic wizardry to levels as yet uncharted by man. While we sleep he is fashioning lyric webs like a yellow brick path thru the rawest of the honest..." -La Maladie Tropicale

"The best modern psych sounds bar none" -Volcanic Tongue on "Zontag" 7"

Operating out of New York City, current Gary War releases include "New Raytheonport" LP (SHDWPLY), "Zontag" 7" (Sacred Bones), "Anhedonic Man" one-sided 7" (Hell Yes!), "Opens-Live at WFMU" Cassette (Captured Tracks), "Horribles Parade" LP (Sacred Bones) and "Galactic Citizens" 12" ep (Captured Tracks).

Don't miss it! Info on 4000 Flavors Volume 6 coming soon!

Birds of Maya @ Woodstove This Saturday

2009-10-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

show at my house on saturday november 7th featuring:

Birds of Maya - Philly heavy blues/stoner rock Holy Mountain Records

http://www.myspace.com/birdsofmaya

Motion Turns it On - Houston progressive indie Chocolate Lab Records CD Release Tour

http://www.myspace.com/motionturnsiton

Brick & Mortar - Tom's River, NJ (electro/world/indie...mr. bungle, secret chiefs 3, etc..)

http://www.myspace.com/brickmortar

Seasons - Philly indie grunge noise (90s alt, sonic youth, drive like jehu, etc...)

http://www.myspace.com/seasonsband

@ Woodstove 1712 n 2nd st rear (enter on philips st.)

Safe and happy Halloween!

Spiral Q Needs Your Help!

2009-10-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

Here is an email I got from Alice Manos:

Hey everyone!

Greetings from Spiral Q Puppet Theater! You are getting this email because you participated in making giant puppets with Spiral Q artists in September, and Spiral Q wants to let you know that....

The 10th Annual Peoplehood Parade and Pageant is Saturday October 17 at 1 PM at 50th and Walnut! The parade walks through West Philly to Clark Park (45th & Chester) for the pageant at 2 PM.

Right now, we need your help finishing puppets and parade art for Peoplehood. We will be at the Spiral Q studio at 3114 Spring Garden Street today, Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 11 AM- 10 PM. Come join us and bring your friends! The more the merrier!

If you want to play a role in the pageant, we invite you to come to Peoplehood rehearsal this Sunday, October 11 from 12-6 PM at Clark Park at 45th and Chester. No experience necessary. Come learn how to handle a giant puppet!

We are still looking for groups and organizations to be in the parade! If your school/group/organization wants to be in the parade, please call Ted at 215-222-6979 as soon as you can! Groups must talk to Ted before walking in the parade, but if you want to walk in the parade with your friends and family, just show up at 12 noon on October 17th at the Paul Robeson House at 4951 Walnut.

We are also still looking for volunteers the day of Peoplehood! If you want to be a parade marshal, help load and unload puppets, or be helpful in another way please call Alice at 215-222-6979.

We hope to see you very soon!

Alice Manos and the rest of the Spiral Q Crew!

http://www.spiralq.org/peoplehood.html

On Tour w/ Florida & Columboid

2009-08-28T14:26:00.001-07:00

I am currently on the road playing bass for the band Florida. They are bringing along Columboid, who is fronted by my brother Ryan. I am also playing bass for them. Florida is touring for their new 7-inch on shdwply records.. The 45 rpm record has a 3-D cover, and comes packaged with 3D glasses.

www.myspace.com/plasticpalms

www.myspace.com/columboid

Here are the dates:

8/27 Brooklyn, NY @ Silent Barn
8/28 Philadelphia, PA @ Danger Danger Gallery
8/29 Norfolk, VA @ The Boot
8/30 Raleigh, NC @ Treetown Showspace
8/31 Myrtle Beach, SC @ Basement
9/1 Athens, GA @ Go Bar
9/2 Nashville. TN @ TBA
9/3 Greenboro, NC @ The Green Bean
9/4 Washington DC @ The Velvet Lounge
9/5 Stroudsburg, PA @ Mollies

Bringing zines to sell along the way!

Also wanted to let everyone know I am registered for a table at this year's Philly Zine Fest Sunday September 20th @ the Rotunda 12-6pm. 4014 Walnut St. West Philly. Lots of sweet books, art, music, distros, crafts, workshops, etc... Very excited for this!

Volume 5 Jam

2009-07-09T09:03:00.001-07:00

Moving on to the next issue of four thousand flavors, this one is all poetry written by folks like Will Hannan, Mallory Fisher, Victoria Tresko + more. The cover was designed and printed by my man Chris "Snacks" Kline, the creator of a zine called "Real Raw."

The party is at the ol' Woodstove once again, yet this time we will also be celebrating my becoming the newest member of the household.

Catholic Block (Philly)
Columboid (NYC)
Mass shivers (Chicago)
Cave Paintings (Philly

8 pm $5

From 2nd and Cecil B Moore go west and make a right on philips st.

you knock me off of my feet

2009-06-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

what it is

2009-06-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

Jang House was awesome! Not a bad turnout for a monday. Huge thanks to everyone who came and to the Barbary and DJ Si Young for hooking it up. Javelin and Teengirl Fantasy both totally killed it.

Take a look at this trailer for a short film called Manatees I am working on:

Manatees Trailer from pearface on Vimeo.

It's about two kids who are trying to run away to Florida but they run out of money and their car breaks down. It was written and directed by my friend Minka Farthing-Kohl for his Temple University senior thesis film. I recorded and mixed the sound. He and I are editing it together and we just finished picture lock today. I will be finishing up the sound design over the next week or two while Minka does color correction. Lookout for a screening party at Minka's house in a month or so. We are hopefully going to have our friends (Dan, Bennett, and Parker of Neighborhood Choir; Russell Higbee of Man Man/Ideath; and our buddy Ted) who did the music perform the score live. I believe we are also going to show this film by our friend Noah Grant Levine called Counting Teeth, which I am also doing sound design for. It is a period film in Russian about two potato farmers cursing each other.

I've gotten a few submissions for volume 5 which I am pretty excited about. Shooting for a July 24th release date. Details on the release party will be up soon. If you plan on sending any poems that need to have any specific aesthetic quality you may want to save it as a PDF so it is formatted exactly how you want it to look. Would also love to get some more artwork. That's it for now!

Volume 5: Poetry Issue

2009-06-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

I am more or less ready to start working on volume 5, which will be a poetry issue. Anyone is welcome to submit some poetry:

seanhhster@gmail.com

Please do not send more than 3 poems and nothing over three pages. Keep in mind that there is a chance I may not use what you send me, don't take it personal. I am also accepting artwork submissions. The cover for this issue will be designed and printed by Chris Kline, a member of the space 1026 collective who has been featured on fecalface.com and in Juxtapoz magazine. I am looking to release this book at the end of next month.

Volume 6 will be short stories again, and I am accepting submissions for that as well. I've kind of found that the best look is to tackle these zines two at a time. That issue should probably be out in August or September.

Looking forward to reading your poems.

Javelin @ the Jang

2009-06-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

Poster by Adil Kim

Totally free!

Northern Libs Music Fest & Flea

2009-06-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

Setting up a table this weekend at the northern liberties music festival and flea market. Flea starts at 9, music starts at 3. Come touch and smell the latest issue as well as vols. 1-3. Sposed to be nice out!

Sir Charles Latham

Parsnip Revolt
Social Hall
Twisted Kites - R.E.M. covers
Bloody Catholics
Audible (pictured)
Sweat Heart

Plus, FREE BEER with the purchase of every Bottomless Beer Cup ($10).

Volume 4 Party Photos

2009-05-20T00:44:00.001-07:00

Phrequency.com has some photos up from the Volume 4 Release Party taken by Tiffany Yoon.

The party was a super success despite Buffalo Stance not getting to play because of some noise complaints. We decided to delay the rest of the show until further notice. We will pick up where we left off at a later date, location TBA! There will also be more great shows at the Woodstove in the near future.

Volumes 3 & 4 are now available for sale at:

Wooden Shoe Books - 508 S. 5th St.

Jinxed - 620 S. 4th St.

& More locations soon.

Lookout for an update on Volume 5 in a few days.

Volume 4 intro

2009-05-18T23:20:00.000-07:00

At Shibuya Station in Tokyo, there is this famous meeting spot called Hachiko Square, where people congregate and wait for friends to meet up and go out to eat at the izakaya or have a karaoke freakout or whatever their activities for the night may entail in the massive entertainment district. When I was studying abroad in Tokyo in 2007 I would end up there from time to time. The legend goes something like (if you’ve been to Japan odds are you’ve heard this story) that a dog named Hachiko used to wait there for his master every day after he was done working and when the guy died the dog still waited for him every day at the same spot.

On several occasions while with friends waiting at Hachiko, this one Japanese guy would come up to me, and try to engage me in conversation (in English) about world matters; what I thought of Japan, what was I there for; about America, about Americans being in Japan. About Jesus. He would warn me about the Japanese, and say things like that they can’t be trusted. And most of all he would tell me to be cautious of Japanese women. He would go on and on talking about these things that he had clearly spent years pondering, and here I was, a college kid in a foreign country looking to go out and have a good time in one of the most, if not the most intense freakout party cities in the world. But while all my friends for the most part ignored him, I listened to what he had to say and contributed all that I could to his seemingly bottomless exchange of philosophy, observations, and judgements about Japan, America, and the World. After all I was in Japan to meet and talk to Japanese people, not to hang out with more Americans.

From what I could gather he was homeless, and he survived by selling these handmade collections of stories and poems he had written. I was interested, and I bought one of the small handbound books from him, I think he wanted 1000 yen for it, which was around $8 US. It was called Black Stories: The Young Foreigner’s Friend and Guide, by Hideo Asano. The second time I met him he remembered me and told me he had slept in Yoyogi park the night before, and could I please help him and buy some of his stories, and I gave him 1500 yen for another book of stories and a small collection of haiku. I did want to help him, and I was interested in reading his work. I still had the stories he gave me last time in my bag, waiting to be read when I had a free moment (I was already reading several books for classes, including a Japanese & Chinese literature class; & also trying to experience living in Japan).

Hideo had told me about traveling to many places in the world, but I honestly didn’t know if I believed anything he said, or even if he was actually a native Japanese. In Tokyo there were very few homeless people at the time. Most companies in Japan hire you for life. The few that are homeless are extremely self sufficient, they build themselves mobile shacks out of wood and fabric, that they take their shoes off before entering. The second book I bought from him was called Stories of Afghanistan and when I finally got to opening it up it turned out the stories were things he had seen when he was in Afghanistan during the civil war & Soviet occupation. After coming back to the United States I eventually did more research on Hideo and found out through comments on someone’s blog that Hideo apparently had gotten work published but never received any of the royalties from the book. He was widely known, and many foreigners recounted stories of their experiences meeting him in various parts of Tokyo that sounded all too similar to my own.

Two years later, I decide to start an independent short fiction publication, just for fun, just to get in the habit of writing and improve and invite other people to have their work be read by some people. And how perfect, I thought, would it be to put one of Hideo’s stories in that he gave me when I met him in Tokyo. He was basically doing what I am, writing from his heart and his experiences, making a zine and trying to make a few bucks off of it.

I decided volume 4 would be the issue for Hideo, since my friend Yuna who lives in Tokyo was designing me a cover, it would make sense to tie them together. I told a friend about it and he said “that’s cool, did you email him and ask him if you could use something?” and I realized I hadn’t even thought of that, I’d totally forgotten there was an email address on the very last page of each book. So I sent Hideo this email, half expecting it to be returned undeliverable or simply unanswered:

Hello Hideo,

My name is Sean, I met you in Tokyo in the spring of 2007. I bought two collections of stories from you. I live in the US, and I have started a small independent handmade 'zine collection of short fiction from different writers. It is called Four Thousand Flavors. I would like to use one of your stories for my next issue. I hope you won't mind. I enjoy your stories and I'm glad to have met a soul searcher and thinker such as yourself. Hope you are doing well, take care.

Sean Hamilton

A few days later, I see this in my inbox:

Hi Sean,

I am sorry to tell this that my answer is no.

Hideo

Things were not looking good for volume 4. Nobody was getting back to me about printing a cover, I really had no physical story submissions, only verbal promises. My story wasn’t even half written. And now Hideo had denied me permission to use his work. I sent him an email asking him to reconsider, I told him I wasn’t going to be making a profit from this, and that I wouldn’t change anything in his story & I would leave it exactly as he’d written it. He didn’t respond. The thought crossed my mind to just put one in anyway since he will most likely never see this, but there was no way I could let myself do it.

But everything ended up working out and I was able to make the book you are holding in your hands, and I figured I would tell you about Hideo anyway. He is one of the strangest and most interesting people I’ve ever met, and is part of the reason I started doing this. For the first time in over a year I googled Hideo, and I found that he now has a website which has some of his stories published on it:

www.hideoasano.com

There is also a link to his blog which has more work. But I find this part of the introduction on his website particularly intriguing:

Currently, as a struggling writer, he is reaching out foreigners with his written materials for his livelihood. Meanwhile, as an English writer, he is still looking for a right ambiance for the sake of his writing. Culturally and linguistically unable to pursue his dream, he is still searching for a Promised Land, where he could get a room, which have a table and a chair, to sit down and write. Is there anyone able to get a simple room, which have a table and a chair in Japan, except five star hotels? But all dead rooms you have to sit on the floor like Buddha.

He always felt that he was the old man in "The Old Man and the Sea" - so he himself is looking for a little boy who could have faith and confidence in his work. He doesn't mind to go through the entire population looking for one soul who is willing to publish his work.

Please send him information about any publishers who are interested in his work. If you are a journalist please don't hesitate to get in touch with him - an article about his work would be greatly appreciated.

You are enthusiastically invited into the world he fiercely cares for.

This Sat At Printcenter

2009-05-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

Don't know if I will be there or not but you should be:

The Print Center
(1614 Latimer Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103)

Open Book
Saturday, May 16, 2:00-5:30pm
FREE and open to the public.

This event will bring together over two dozen artists presenting new publications. It will be a wonderful opportunity to collect books, meet the artists and have them personally inscribe their books. Participating artists and organizations include:
Andrea Baldeck
Katie Baldwin
Susan Bank
Ditta Baron Hoeber
Paul Cava
Common Press
Crown Point Press
Kip Deeds
Mandy Dunn
Angela Earley
Linn Edwards
Gallery 339
David Graham
Henry Horenstein
Bill McRight
Megawords
Douglas Mellor
Andrea Modica
Nick Paparone
Gregory Pizzoli
Mark Price
Stuart Rome
Laurence Salzmann
Space 1026
Emily Steinberg
Zoe Strauss
Andrew Jeffrey Wright

Whale Hat

2009-05-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

Fish Hats.

Shark hat.

From The Desk Of Mr. Cladis

2009-05-12T08:13:00.000-07:00

I was happy to receive this sketch by my friend and 4000 Flavors contributor Nick Cladis by email. Nick is currently living and teaching English in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, which is near Hong Kong(There is a sweet graphic novel about Shenzhen by a French Canadian Animator named Guy Delisle). Nick spends some of his free time studying the Asian art of paper-making. After China he plans to go to Taiwan to study Taiwanese paper-making. This drawing was done on some paper he made.

Volume IV

2009-05-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

Come check out the new issue this Sunday May 17th @ Woodstove (same spot as the volume one party). The cover is designed by my good friend and Tokyo native Yuna Tanaka. This issue will also feature a story by Hideo Asano, a homeless Japanese writer who I met at Tokyo's Hachiko Square @ Shibuya Station. Find out what becomes of Max the skateboarder & his posse in the conclusion of Ghost, a two-part saga which began in Volume 3. + a story by John Selwyn and many more treats...

This release will be celebrated with amazing music from special guests Javelin, Chandeliers, Mincemeat or Tenspeed, Buffalo Stance, and Skeleton Breath.

Sunday May 17th

8pm $6

1712 N. 2nd St. (rear)

The days are flyin...

2009-04-29T00:38:00.000-07:00

Huge thanks to all who came out to the volume 3 release party! It was a great time, I was kinda drunk. This issue is surely the finest looking one yet. I'll have it up in the store section in a few. Of course it would not have been possible without the endless talents of a man named Mark Price. Check out Mark at the Painted Bride this month:

This artwork smells/tastes/sounds/looks/feels great! Embrace the visual with all of your senses in an exhibition that blends the visual within a broader field of sensory perception. Guest curator Anabelle Rodriguez brings together a kaleidoscopic array of local and national artists who consider the scientific phenomenon of synesthesia, the blending of the senses.
Participating artists include: S. Damary Burgos, Roderic Coover, Matt Cue, Daniel De Jesus, Samantha Ernst, Art Fanega, Sofia Maldonado, Matt Neff, Mark Price (Space 1026), Dan One Polanco, Jacqueline Reis, Mario Rodriguez, John Schenk/Tantrum Tonic, Serendip, Daryl Raven Thompson, Shelley Thorstensen, Reade Vaisman, Michelle Wilson.
Independence Foundation Gallery for the Visual Arts
April 3 - May 16
Receptions: April 3 and May 1, 5pm-7pm
230 Vine St.

Currently reading Rabbit Run by John Updike and My Cousin the Gastroenterologist by Mark Leyner. One of my favorite lines from Rabbit so far:

Nature leads you up like a mother and as soon as she gets her little price leaves you with nothing.

Folow FTF On Twitter

2009-04-21T05:29:00.000-07:00

For all you's tweetin mofos:

http://twitter.com/4000flavors

Here is a rad animated short film I found on the internet. Its amazing to think about what the concepts for stuff like this look like on paper.

Volume 3 covers being printed today!

Free Library Fest This Weekend

2009-04-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

Take advantage of the good weather this weekend and head over to the Free Library Festival:

The Free Library Festival—a burst of books, music, and inspiration on the Parkway—will take place Saturday and Sunday, April 18 and 19, 2009. Join us at the Parkway Central Library for two days full of stimulating talks by award-winning writers, live music, children’s entertainment, and a bustling literary marketplace thronged with booklovers and booksellers. A fun, free way to spend the day, the Free Library Festival connects booklovers from throughout the mid-Atlantic region with the culture makers of the literary world.

A great place to pick up books & graphic novels directly from indie publishers, meet writers, and check out silly performances on the children's stage. Parkway Central Library 11am-6pm Sat & Sun. I went least year and it was pouring, but still had a good time.

VOL 3 Ready to Droppppp

2009-04-09T23:33:00.000-07:00

4000 Flavors Vol 3 Release Party
Friday April 24 at Padlock
8 - 12midnight

with:
Color Is Luxury
Holy Ghost
Swiveling Hooks

Also on view in the gallery: Momentaneousness by Emily Kovach.

1409 Ellsworth
South Philly
www.padlockgallery.com

I'm honored to say that the covers for this issue will be printed by Philly artist/Padlock resident/zine monster Mark Price. Expect something no less than pure nirvana for your eyes. There are also some great stories from folks such as Chris Reber, Rich Krauss, and Sara Wilson, among others; as well as a new comic from Steve Teare. I'm really looking forward to showing this to everyone at the release party, which is sure to be an awesome time. 3 electronic/noise sets will take place in the basement as we celebrate. Bring whatever you choose to party with, admission is totally free, however we will probably ask for donations for the bands playing. The party coincides with a show of work by Emily Kovach called Momentaneousness: Snapshot Portraits of People Places And Things. Stop by and check it out, grab a copy of FTFv3, and treat your eyes and ears to infinite radness!

Zines in the Gallery

2009-03-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

The wonderful folks at Padlock Gallery are hosting this zine exchange of sorts on Saturday March 21st.

There are sure to be some amazing books on display including the first two volumes of FTF. Plus super rad noise bands.

(bring yr zines for sale / trade / display) - Noise in the basement - Whiskey in the Kitchen

Fuck Sunshine (Jewish Noise empire - from sunny SoCal.)

Dandelion Fiction (Birthday blow out)
Mincemeat Or Tenspeed (Still goth? - new double disc 'ManifestWizard' so out)
Cars Will Burn (first show in 6 months! - all cover songs - TI - GWEN - THEDREAM - GHOSTFACE - more bs)

EARLY - 8PM Saturday March 21
Padlock Gallery - 1409 Ellsworth - South Philly

****Four Thousand Flavors Volume 3 Release at Padlock on Friday April 24th...Need Submissions!****

The Volume 3 release date has been set for April 24th at Padlock Gallery. Bands TBA. For this issue the cover will be printed by Padlock resident Mark Price, a Philly artist who I am a big fan of. He is also a member of the Space 1026 collective.

I've only gotten a few story submissions since Volume two, and I definitely could use some more. ANYONE who has something they've written or are thinking about writing, please get it in to me at seanhhster@gmail.com by the week of April 12th if you want to be in this volume that is going to have some 100% legit artwork on the cover. A volume 4 party is about to be announced as well, so I am pretty much accepting sumbissions at any time. Don't be scurred!!

Zine now available here!

2009-02-19T18:40:00.000-08:00

I've finally gotten around to setting up a paypal account for this site, and if you look over to your right you will see a neat little corner dedicated to zine shopping. You don't need a paypal account to purchase, just some form of a credit card. Shipping is included. Please take advantage of this to grab a copy of volume one and two if you are unable to pick them up in Philadelphia. Eventually I will be mailing every zine in a sweet screenprinted envelope.

I have also dropped copies off at a few shops in the city who will be selling 4000 Flavors. Pick up your copy at one of these awesome places:

Jinxed

620 S. 4th St.

215-978-JINX

http://jinxedphiladelphia.com

Wooden Shoe

508 S. 5th St.

215-413-0999

http://www.woodenshoebooks.com

Brickbat Books

709 S. 4th St.

215-592-1207

http://balancingman.org

And more to be announced soon!

The perfect valentine

2009-02-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

is the brand new issue of 4000 flavors! 6 spicy stories about love, sex, pedophilia, and sexual encounters with spiritual beings. Officially released tomorrow, February 13th. It will be available at the North Star Bar tomorrow night, though saturday will be a slightly more official release party and also a very special Valentine's Day Fuck Fest:

Saturday February 14th 2009 7pm

Penn's Woods

2065 E. Hagert St.

Philadelphia, PA

Space Sluts( Formerly SPORTS)
Sean (Ugh God)
José Díaz and the Niñas
Teratical
Drone Masons
Fat History Month (Boston)
Vadican Roulette
Peer Pressure (Baltimore)

*York/Dauphin stop on Market Frankford line
**Donations accepted for touring bands

Should be all kinds of fun. I'm very pleased with this issue, and somewhat surprised that I was able to put it together only two weeks after volume one's release.

In the spirit of Valentine's day, I would like to share something from the city paper that I find very entertaining. Every week in the back of CP they publish a sort of personals page called "I Love You I Hate You." It is mostly people anonymously telling another person how they sincerely feel about them, which I find very interesting and actually very real, as far as writing about that sort of thing goes. I mean these are extremely personal things being put out in the open, to the point where what is written really no longer belongs to the person who wrote them or the person they are written for, but to anyone who happens to read it. And some of them are just straight up hilarious. I have considered submitting one or two of these in my day, but I think I could only do it if I was in a situation where other methods of communication were no longer an option. Anyway here some of the juicier ones from the past few weeks. Enjoy:

RAERAE

I miss our awesome summer together. Riding around on bikes at night. Ducking out into strange places to fuck. Sneaking you into bars. And staying up past dawn every night. I know shit is over, but i hope that we'll run into each other again sometime.

DO YOU KNOW

I love and hate that you know what I'm feeling before I do. I hate that you have spoiled me in such a way that I could never love another the way I love you. I love that from the very first time we made love you knew exactly where and how to touch me. I love how our bodies fit perfectly together as if you were made just for me. Bob you're forever engrained into my soul, my once in a lifetime love, my bestfriend. Love always, E.

LONG AGO

Yo, Chrissy from southwest Philly. Last time i was ever in love with a girl, it was you, and that was 22 years ago. i just wanted to let you know that i still remembered our not so great first date at Pizza Hut with your sister and her boyfriend (hope he's still around, he was a really nice guy). Best time of my life was that class trip to Wash. D.C. back in 1987! hope all is well with you and your family.

DUMB CHICK

Since, I am assuming that you can read this is to the chick that rode on the EL train with me the other day. If you are talking to someone and you are standing at the door. Stand next to him and talk, dumb bitch don't wait until you get to 30th street and wedge your dumb ass between the person you are talking to and myself where there isn't any room. Yeah I told you that I wasn't talking to you when you said you and him were having a conversation...so fuckin what! You know that I was talking about you.. Dumb ass cunt make your mind up which area you are standing before I get on..next time I will slap you!

GARDEN OF DECEIT

RICARDO! How could you be so stupid to take the Forbidden Fruit from the Snake of that TREE? You know she's a DECEITFUL/ CONNIVING CUNT. She's only using you as pawn in her little game to bring admissions back up at her bar & for whatever else she thinks you're worth. She's just going to toss you away again & laugh. Once you taste that fruit YOU'LL see the truth & you'll regret taking the fruit from that TREE. But by then it'll be too late, the joke will be on you & you'll have no where to go. Best of Luck to you!!!

A LITTLE CRUSH

The first time I talked to you we exchanged puns and metaphors and I knew I could love you. You said you liked the expression "like ships passing in the night" and at that moment I remember thinking I would do anything to avoid us becoming those ships. You crashed into my life and by doing nothing more then being your gorgeous, dorky self, made me fall in love with you. So this is message is to tell you, I think I have a little crush on you.

SPAM & SYRUP

I am so mabuhay happy crazy in love with you puff! Everyday with you has only proved to me how ridiculously lucky I am to have you in my life. You're so maganda that it freaks me out sometimes, those gorgeous long lashes and tiger smile! I honestly believe that we were meant to find each other after too many years of being hurt and angry. You've shown me what it is to be truly loved and for that, I can only love you more and more each day. I hope I can be your happiness until we're old and senile then we can find each other all over again! So hufflepuff, here's to OUR future together filled with ridiculous laughing, pretzeling, mini chocolates, NOT getting fat, and nymphomatic playing everywhere! I cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a poodle in my eye to love you for who you are my counterpart

MY STEPDAD

To My Step dad-I pushed you away all those years when all you wanted to do was become someone I needed in my life. Please know I never hated you, Maybe I was just mad as a kid that my own father couldn't be as wonderful as you. I respect and look up to you. I wish I could tell you all this but I'm an idiot. You're a great man, one in a million and if you ever had the chance you'd make the greatest dad a kid could need. Your truthful and always wanted the best for me and my mother. Thank you for everything. I regret I'll never grow up enough to tell you that I love you and that I consider you more a man than my real father could ever be.

FAR AWAY SMELL

I can smell you on the t-shirt I just put on. Must be your deodorant I used the other morning in your living room when you were unpacking so you could re-pack. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'll never tell you this, so I thought I'd write it down so I don't forget how nice it is. Oh, and I hope you got that Hep-A shot before going to Thailand so you don't lose 15 lbs the hard way

MY MR. BIG

It wasn't until recently that I realized that you're the Mr. big to my carrie. Starting out hot & heavy then not speaking for a year. You date someone else while I'm single. and then I cheat on my boyfriend with you. I always go back to you hoping that you will love me back, But no more. maybe in 10 years you'll grow up and see what you missed.

And now, I will wrap up this post with a fictional letter written by my friend Katie Rineer:

dear allen swamp,

today was a day full of overindulgence and black coffee. the kind of day where you think too much and realize human beings are shitty, self-absorbed, lonely beings...constantly in need of satisfaction. it made me wonder why we have such cravings and, being content can come in many forms, waves, and stages. our possessions, in a way, define who we are...but who we really are should shine above such material things. material things are such a distraction, allen, they produce things..like judgement and criticism. can't we just live and completely expose ourselves? why do we give a fuck? you should experience who you really are, not some silly fabrication that you've made up in your mind. i think certain things would be figured out if we were exposed (our inner most core! our being!) we wouldn't have to go through the hassle of being so curious and crossing lines that tend to end up as mistakes...just because we don't know, because we have a feeling we should know. but i guess that's what makes things so interesting. the 'not-knowing', the part where people are in disguise with the material world. so easy to hide in a world where everybody is something (not real)(that they created)(in disguise). it makes me question alot. what is human nature? who is closest to who they are? (minus all the distraction). such instincts, the ability to look through people, to read minds and expressions, it's very possible to see through the layers.  i can see through your layers, allen. and you are a beautiful thing. i think we should start off as being completely nude, and then move on to living in the mountains somewhere...far far away from people and this madness. i would know you and you would know me. you would shine because inside, who you really are, is some majestic and beautiful creature. sometimes when i stare at your face from across the room, you glow and radiate and i see you growing wings, giggling, and flying out the door into the night sky. you have such likable qualities. it's so easy to become absorbed in conversation with you...what a laugh, what a face, i have to say: i've been secretely in love with you for years. this may come as a suprise because this letter started as a declaration of our hidden selves, somewhat ironic i'm exposing my love to you. i'd like to invite you to my mother's annual christmas party where we can watch her become intoxicated on wine and flirt with the neighborhood men while my father slugs whiskey out of a bottle. horrid sight, but with you, it would be somewhat of a beautiful thing. meet me on the 23rd of december at the graveyard on old school lane. i'll be standing at the gate, 11 am, holding a large coffee and some flowers.

with love from me to you,

gibby c. poppley

1 down, 3,999 to go

2009-02-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

Volume one is officially in the can and the release party couldn't have been more awesome. Thanks to all the amazing people who came. If your face wasn't melted by the disgustingly talented bands then surely it was by the disgusting number of beautiful ladies in attendance. I love all of you. Here are a few snaps to give you the gist of what went on.

By Tiffany Yoon:

By David Kellom:

Unfortunately I haven't planned anything quite as spectacular for volume two, but the new issue will in fact be ready to meet the world next weekend for valentine's day. I'm only doing 50 copies this time, and they will all be bound by a silkscreened cover. Cover art and print by Ralph Stollenwerk at awesome dudes printing. Ralph also plays in the band El Toro de Oro and I will be selling both volume one and two at their show with Stereoblaster on Friday the 13th at North Star Bar.

On saturday 4000flavs will be at a Vday party in west philly, more details to come on that. If you are looking to get your hands on either of the first two volumes but can't make it to either of these events, mark your calendar for February 26th when I will be at the Green Line Cafe at 45th & Locust for the Flat Mary Road show.

Hope everyone is enjoying volume one, the next one is going to be even better. Please PLEASE don't hesitate to submit anything you feel might fit in the 'zine. I'm gonna wait a little longer to do volume three to make sure I have enough time to make it as legit as possible, but it should be ready by mid-April, and there will surely be a celebration when it comes out. Til next time!

salty snacks

2009-02-03T21:52:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to mention this show going on at pageant gallery in south philly featuring Chris Kline, the dude who did the back cover for the first volume of four thousand flavors. He collaborated on these amazing 3D sculptures with fellow space 1026 artist Jason Hsu. Snacks also writes a zine called Real Raw which is one of the best in Philly. I picked up a copy of Jason Hsu's zine holy shmolyz this weekend at the flea market and it is absolutely dialed. Go check these guys out.

Covers printed, table secured for punk rock flea

2009-01-29T22:14:00.000-08:00

Just got back from the print shop in Kensington. I got through 84 prints before I ran out of ink, and a fair amount of them are not quite what I would try to pass as sellable quality, so I have about 50 copies of volume one with a screenprint cover on sale for the release party. I decided to print the rest of the covers on cardstock on an inkjet printer. Those will be $2, and the screened covers will be $5. Huge thanks to Jeremy Jump Start for letting me print those at his shop. It was my first time screenprinting in probably over two years and it was rad to get back into it, even though it didn't go quite as well as I hoped.

I also must thank Jeremy for letting me be a part of the Jump Start Records table at the Punk Rock Flea Market this sunday Feb. 1st. Four Thousand Flavs volume one will in fact be on sale at the flea so if anyone doesn't get a chance to come to the release party saturday I'll be at electric factory sunday hopefully with some of the screened copies left, but definitely with inkjets. More info on the punk rock flea here.

I recently finished my second book by an author named Hubert Selby Junior(Requiem for a Dream). I read some of his short stories a few years back and I've been wanting to read more of his stuff ever since. I just borrowed Last Exit to Brooklyn from my downstairs neighbor and I'm pretty bummed that the book is over. It's a novel, but it's written in a way that it's kind of like a bunch of short stories taking place in this terribly poor and destitute part of New York City. Selby Jr. Has this way of writing about low class, ordinary people with all kinds of personal issues that is extremely engaging and elegant yet at the same time incredibly disturbing and often a little depressing. But the way he sets up his characters for their ultimate inevitable failure is brilliant. He writes in this absurd train of thought-vernacular speech that is never one thing or the other, just a jumping randomly between narration, things that are happening, what people are saying, thinking, doing and looking at, throwing parentheses inside parentheses inside parentheses, deeper and deeper into the emotional complexity of the characters in a story. Like several other writers who I believe came after him, he has virtually no regard for grammar whatsoever and I think it fucking rules.

There's this one part earlier on in the book about this drag queen, and normally I wouldn't be into this sort of thing believe it or not, but the language he uses to describe this character totally makes you feel for her(/him) as some sort of protagonist and somehow makes it seem completely ok that this person is living this outrageously sexually confused life and that she could easily be one of your buddies you hang out with at the bar:

Georgette was a hip queer. She (he) didnt try to dis-

guise or conceal it with marriage and mans talk, sat-

isfying her homosexuality with the keeping of a secret

scrapbook of pictures of favorite male actors or athletes or

by supervising the activities of young boys or visiting turk-

ish baths or mens locker rooms, leering sidely while seeking

protection behind a carefully guarded guise of virility (fear-

ing that moment at a cocktail party or in a bar when this

front may start crumbling from alcohol and be completely

disintegrated with an attempted kiss or groping of an at-

tractive young man and being repelled with a punch and-

rotten fairy-followed with hysteria and incoherent apolo-

gies and excuses and running from the room) but, took a

pride in being a homosexual by feeling intellectually and

esthetically superior to those (especially women) who

werent gay (look at all the great artists who were fairies!);

and with the wearing of womens panties, lipstick, eye make-

up (this including occasionally gold and silver-stardust-

on the lids), long marcelled hair, manicured and polished

fingernails, the wearing of womens clothes complete with

padded bra, high heels and wig (one of her biggest thrills

was going to BOP CITY dressed as a tall stately blond (she

was 6'4" in heels) in the company of a negro (He was a big

beautiful black bastard and when he floated in all the cats

in the place jumped and the squares bugged. We were at a

crazy pad before going and were blasting like crazy and

were up so high that I just didnt give a shit for anyone

honey, let me tell you!) ); and the occasional wearing of a

menstrual napkin.

More news to come soon. Volume two out on valentines day. May I

recommend seeing two films if you have the chance:

Waltz with Bashir . One of the only films I've seen recently during the late oscar season, but it was an amazing account of the Lebanese War and most of the animation is killer. It is actually an animated

documentary which I did not realize until after I saw it. Incredible.

Beautiful Losers. Another documentary about 'alternative' artists

including Barry Mgee, Mike Mills, Steve Powers, and one of my favorite people in the world, Ed Templeton. It's just made really well and the artists are amazing. Talks about all this art that came from graffiti and skateboarding evolving into a sort of pop culture presence, but not really in a bad way I guess. I saw it at a screening at International House in Philly and I don't know if it's really available anywhere yet but if it's being shown anywhere near you it is definitely worth checking out.

Beautiful Losers film trailer from beautifullosersfilm on Vimeo.

Volume one release- 1/31/09

2009-01-17T18:22:00.000-08:00

Volume One is ready to hit the press! I've booked some bands to play the release party which will be at the Woodstove (house belonging to 3/4 of neighborhood choir and 1/4 of major leagues). Zines will be sold at the show for $5, featuring a silk screen cover, original artwork and six short stories. guests are encouraged to bring their own party supplies and consume at their leisure. Police Academy 1-6 will be shown on a projector all night. Come out and grab a copy! Huge thanks to everyone helping out with the first issue. There is some awesome stuff inside and I'm super excited for everyone to check it out. Stay tuned for other things going on with the first issue, including a table at the punk rock flea market(still working this out), and some other philly locations that will have copies of 4000 flavs on hand. I've already begun work on volume two, which is going to be a special valentine's day issue. Hope to see you folks on the 31st!

To find Woodstove:

From 2nd and Cecil B. Moore take Cecil B. Moore west to North Philip St. (between 2nd and American st.) Make a right. It is large and steel and spraypainted with the numbers "1712"

Introduction

2008-12-29T07:45:00.000-08:00

4000 Flavors is a zine for and by anyone who has ever read something that spoke to them so powerfully it gave them a desire to write something that would have the same effect on someone else. It is for those who write not because they want to become a writer, but because they have something to say and I want this to be the place where those things can be said.

After graduating college, I had some time on my hands to do things I had been thinking about for years but had been too busy writing papers, going to classes, working, moving across the city and back, and participating in extra curricular activities to actually follow through with. I had dozens of story ideas piling up in notebooks and on hard drives, and needed a reason to just finish one of them. I began taking one of them and developing it into a screenplay, not sure where the process would take the story, or if it could even work. But much to my surprise it turned out to be something i really enjoyed doing and as I kept going through it the story seemed to be more natural and just came together through some combination of instinct, intuition, and I guess a bit of sorting through my 'inner demons'. But as I wrote I couldn't help but think about the other stories, what was happening in them and where they were going. Each one had a place in my mind, taking place and evolving, and developing every day, whether I wrote it down or not they were constantly changing shape according to what I was feeling and the way I was looking at things. And new ones would form, starting with a mere thought or observation that before I knew it would snowball into an idea and eventually an entire scenario waiting to become a story.

I think of my friends as brilliant creative people with so much to say about the world, so many ways to see things, so many perspectives, opinions, experiences, dreams, nightmares, and fears; each one having their own ways of expressing these things. I want them to be able to interact, share their expressions with each other, and collaborate in a way that they previously couldn't, or at least hadn't thought of. I've spoken to many people who have ideas, who want to write, who do write, who write poetry, who make art, and this zine potentially can facilitate all of those things. Perhaps you want to get feedback on something you've written, before you turn it into a longer story. Perhaps you need a short story to adapt into a short film. Maybe you've seen something you don't quite understand, and you just make up a story about it to ease your curiosity. Or maybe you've just written something you're proud of and you want someone else to read it. Well now they can.

The purpose of this blog is to keep people updated with the zine's production process, but I will also post artwork, bits of stories, excerpts of amazing things I have read, and anything else I might feel compelled to share. And at some point I will have a link to a paypal site so you can get a copy of the zine through snailmail if you aren't able to pick it up from me or anywhere it ends up being sold in Philadelphia.

That being said I would like to share an excerpt of a short story I read recently which I find very appropriate for this occasion. It is from "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" by Ernest Hemingway:

So now it was all over, he thought. So now he would never have a chance to finish it. So this was the way it ended in a bickering over a drink. Since the gangrene started in his right leg he had no pain and with the the pain the horror had gone and all he felt now was a great tiredness and anger that this was the end of it. For this, that now was coming, he had very little curiosity. For years it had obsessed him; but now it meant nothing in itself. It was strange how easy being tired enough made it.

Now he would never write the things that he had saved to write until he knew enough to write them well. Well, he would not have to fail at trying to write them either. Maybe you could never write them, and that was why you put them off and delayed the starting. Well he would never know, now.