o b l i v i o n . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . I s s u e 5 W i n t e r 1 9 9 6 - 1 9 9 7 "Angry youth unite!" ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- Contents - - ---- -- - ------- - -- ---- - Oblivion Speaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jestapher 50 Ways To Disrupt School . . . . . . . . . . . Oblivion Christopher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eightball The Page Of Wheeler . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wheeler How To Be A Degenerate . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane Doe My Evil Prohibitionist Teacher . . . . . . . . . . Paulo Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Readers Review: Teenage Liberation Handbook . . . . . . . Jestapher Discriminate Perceptions . . . . . . . . . . . Jestapher ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- Oblivion Speaks Jestapher - - ---- -- - ------- We have great news! The Winter issue is actually out during Winter! We have more great news! The Winter Oblivion is four pages longer than any Oblivion to date! Yippee! We've noticed that more articles and feedback come in when school is in session. Perhaps school triggers that angry youth switch. Another possibility for increased submissions is the fact that we are finally giving out email accounts at oblivion.net as promised. If you submit an article, poem, cover art or graphics, and they are used, you qualify for an account. A big thank you to Olympia Networking Services (www.olywa.net) for helping put Oblivion online. If you live in the Olympia, Washington area, get your Internet access through them (753-3636) because they are the fastest, kewlest, phattest, and one of their users has one of the few pages I've ever seen that actually uses that huge ass (like 5 gigabytes I believe) Microsft ActiveX Genie Control. It pops up on your screen and says something like "hi, I'm the genie. If you want something click on me or talk into the mic." Then you say "go away!" and the genie replies "if you need me, I'll be down in the corner," and POOF, he's gone. Talk about digressing. The accounts are POP3, not shell, so you need to be able to check a POP3 mailbox (if you have PPP Internet access, you can easily). A note to you hax0rs out there: oblivion.net is virtual, so don't use your mad hacking skills on it so you can jump on IRC and impress your friends, it won't work...using your mad skills that is...I'm sure if you could jump on IRC from oblivion.net, your friends would be impressed. But anyway, I'm digressing again. Where was I? If you want to obtain a paper copy of Oblivion, send two stamps to us (120 State Ave. NE #76, Olympia, WA 98501-8212). If you are looking to trade 'zines, please be aware that we are relatively selective. If you have a 'zine about youth issues, we'll probably love it, but please don't send us you "punk as hell" rag containing interviews with thirty hardcore bands. ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- 50 Ways To Disrupt School Oblivion - - ---- -- - ------- Most of this list is derived from an article in the August 1996 issue of The Last Word called "81 DISRUPTIVE THINGS TO DO AT SCHOOL." Permission was given to use the article. We modified, deleted, and added entries. 1. Protest U.S. aid to brutal, reactionary regimes by digging a giant bomb crater in the front lawn. 2. Start an information booth to give new students opinions and warnings about teachers on enrollment day. 3. Food fight! 4. In hallways between class, conduct massive searches for "lost" contact lenses and tell people not to walk through because "they might step on it." 5. Protest animal testing by releasing the animals in the biology classroom. 6. Distribute a "consumer report" on the education you've been receiving. 7. Periodically go to the office to have some rumor confirmed or denied. 8. Perform citizen's arrests of administrators for destroying students' minds. 9. Swallow snake bite antidote (the harmless kind). Walk into the principal's office and aim at their carpet, desk, and clothing. 10. Pick up some dog training liquid at a pet store--it smells like urine. 11. Ask questions that have no relevance to anything. 12. Remove contents of teachers' mailboxes. Print up everything that's confidential or interesting. 13. Leave hints that "Tuesday's the day." 14. Impersonate parental voices and make irate phone calls to the office. 15. Make a super stink bomb out of hydrogen sulfide and put it in the ventilation system. This could clear your school for days. 16. If your school has a ceiling made up of panels, put a dead fish in the ceiling. Or put the fish in an empty locker and glue it shut. 17. Put a sign on your locker that warns, "this locker will self-destruct if opened for inspection." 18. Print up false notices on school letterhead and distribute them to the teachers' mailboxes. Eventually, they'll never know what to believe. 19. Are certain teachers or principals misbehaving? Print up a rap sheet with their names and telephone numbers and distribute it. Now students can call up at any time and reprimand them. 20. Get hold of a film to be shown at a school assembly and splice in parts of a movie of your choosing (mating rituals from The Discovery Channel). 21. Teachers often leave grade books unguarded. Help yourself. 22. Start wailing in the halls. 23. Play with lighting and microphone controls during assemblies. 24. Start a campaign to have the letter "Z" appear everywhere as the mark of angry students. 25. Set up a fake school and hire away the lousy teachers. 26. Read the school budget. Distribute a list of the stupid expenditures. 27. Put alarm clocks in numerous lockers. Set them to go off every ten minutes and then close and lock the lockers. 28. March around the school with a flag singing "The Star Spangled Banner." If the school tries to punish you, call your local news agencies and patriotic groups to complain that your school is run by pinkos. 29. Some schools have automatic sprinkler systems that go off when sensors detect too much heat. Find the sensors and hold a match to them. 30. Get the senior class to use the senior gift money for something subversive. 31. Demand that all school equipment being stored rather than being used be made available to students. 32. If your school won't conduct teacher evaluations, do it yourself. Give the results to the students, faculty, school board, and community. 33. Have a student lie on the ground outside. When a teacher appears, tell them the student jumped and point to the roof or third-story window. Mumble "Fred dared him" or "maybe it was LSD." 34. Toss handfuls of BB's on the floors of busy halls, assemblies, etc. 35. Burn large holes in your lunch trays and turn them into the cafeteria saying, "probably the chili." 36. Leave resignation letters from faculty members on the principal's desk. 37. Get a small group to carry screwdrivers and slowly dismantle the school. 38. Bomb scares break up boredom during exams or on beautiful days. 39. Photograph teachers and administrators constantly--even without film! 40. Splice into your school's intercom system from a remote, hidden spot. Now you have your own radio station broadcasting to the entire school! 41. Take the door to the office off its hinges but leave it standing there. 42. At a pep rally, wear clothing in support of the opposing team. 43. Pass copies of this list out. 44. Get a crowd together and scream "fight! fight!" 45. Put a ticking clock in a locked briefcase and leave it in the courtyard. 46. Walk around in a sheet and a crown of thorns ranting about Armageddon. 47. If you have security with walkie talkies, get an identical walkie talkie. 48. Roll your eyes and body back and forth and mumble weird things. 49. Act asleep. When the teacher yells or hits your desk, keep sleeping. 50. Ask your Air Force Uncle to "miss" the practice target. ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- Christopher Eightball - - ---- -- - ------- Christopher shouts, as he peels off his skin, "I love to eat glue! Is that such a sin?" He runs to the hill for a glass of red wine, and dances around. He's doing just fine. Christopher laughs at the humorless earth, while searching for limes of a medium girth. "I mix up my spoons and they get a tattoo. I'm waiting for bliss in the form of wet dew." Christopher points to the scattered applause. He knows all the scraps of the hesitant pause. Thinking of putting an end to the fun, he wakes up the rain, but it's just set to stun. Christopher jumps off the closest decline. He wants you to watch as his thoughts realign. "Without all the steps to this hammer," he smiles. "We'd wander about in this hole for a while." Christopher walks, and Christopher stands. Christopher hides from the dry, desert sands. Finding the truth in a clever remark, Christopher goes for a stroll in the park. ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- The Page Of Wheeler Wheeler - - ---- -- - ------- Editor's Note: Wheeler has appeared in every issue of Oblivion, and he told us that it would be bad luck if we broke his streak. Being the superstitious lot we are, we decided it would be best to give him a page. The Wheeler Article Timeline Issue 1: December 1995 New Century: Oppressing The Youth Wheeler was suspended for being with a friend when the friend asked the head of security why "security cadets" could carry walkie talkies while the rules said that no students could. To be allowed back, he had to write an essay on self-discipline. After recieving the essay, the administration decided that he was an "immediate threat to the well-being of the students, teachers and faculty" and gave him the second emergency expulsion in the school's history. - -- ---- - Issue 2: April 1996 Words To Be Suspended By The essay that Wheeler was booted for. - -- ---- - Issue 3: June 1996 Oppressed Again Wheeler recieved another suspension for allegedly duct taping a student in the hallways, although he had a plethora of witnesses and the actual hoodlums were suspended. He was suspended for the rest of the year when he was seen in the parking lot after school during his suspension. - -- ---- - Issue 4: Fall 1996 Beaten By The Man Wheeler went through a series of appeals to get back in school, but in the end, all his attempts were overturned. - -- ---- - Issue 5: Winter 1996-1997 The Page Of Wheeler A summary of all the articles Wheeler has written. You're reading it! ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- How To Be A Degenerate Jane Doe - - ---- -- - ------- The big news on Monday was the big fight on Friday. Here's the story. At a party earlier in the week, Girl X, from my school and Boy Y, from another school got into an argument. Apparently, the argument escalated and some pushing ensued. Boy Z, also from my school stepped in and told Boy Y that it wasn't cool to hit a girl and the two Boys engaged each other in a "scuffle." Nothing much became of this though. A few days later, the two boys happened across each other at the YMCA. Using their amazing powers of reason, they came to the logical conclusion that they should go outside and attempt to inflict physical injury upon each other. That's just what they did. Shortly after embarking on their masochistic journey, some friends of Boy Z noticed the two beating on each other and decided to help inflict physical injury upon Boy Y. After they deduced that enough damage had been done to Boy Y, the victors left the scene. Boy Y, obviously angry that his ass was beaten by more people than he had asked for, realized that unless he got revenge, he would never regain his dignity. He gathered his friends and they thought long and hard about a way to humiliate their opponents and regain their comrade's honor. Suddenly, they had it, they would beat them to a pulp with baseball bats! What a great idea! Not too little, not too much, but just right. On Friday night, Boy Y and his friends gathered up their bats and drove to my school in hopes that Boy Z was attending the basketball game. Guess what? He was! The plan was moving along perfectly. The next step called for a fight, so they started one. An acquaintance of Boy Z drove up in his car and saw that men with bats were going to beat the shit out of Boy Z, so he got out of the car and stood with his friend against his assailants. It must have been a valiant effort, but in the end, none of my unarmed classmates could best their club holding rivals. Boy Y and his associates proceeded to beat the shit out of them. Boy Z received a broken arm and most likely a plethora of bruises, cuts and sore muscles. The friend who stood by his side was not as lucky and took more baseball bats to the head than he bargained for. The police said that he would have died had he been any smaller in size, but he settled for some pins and plates in his face along with the plethora of cuts, bruises and sore muscles I'm sure he received also. This is all second hand information so the details might be a little off, but the story is true. Supposedly, some friends of Boy Z are going to get weapons of equal or "better" stature than the bats the friends of Boy Y carried and go for revenge. All this time, I wonder if they realize just how fucking stupid they are and how fucking pointless their actions are. I want to inform them that they are injuring themselves and others for no reason, but they wouldn't understand. Their sheepish high school mindset can't be infiltrated. A big fear of mine, that I know will manifest itself, is that the same high school mindset that encourages these idiots to beat the shit out of each other will persevere beyond high school. I've seen Cops. I've seen daytime talk shows. These are the same people that I see on the worst programming on television. I imagine the school that conditioned that shirtless bloodied man screaming at police while they force him to the ground to handcuff him is no different than the school I attend. As he flings about wildly on the cement in a pool of blood and fresh vomit, I think of my classmates. These are the idiots I live with nearly every day of my life. It's not an isolated incident. Sure, it's an extreme example of the stupidity I witness, but trust me, examples abound. I walk down a hallway and hear my classmates say things like "she best not be talkin' shit about me, 'cause I'll kick her ass." I hate to interrupt your tantrum, but I just had to remind you that you are an idiot. I'm walking outside at lunch and see some kid kick a garbage can over, all the while laughing with his friends about how cool he is. I've got news for you, you are not cool, you are an idiot also. Walking by the boys bathroom, I am pelted with the stench of cigarette smoke. How stupid can you get? Do you think nobody can smell your Camels if you smoke them in the bathroom? Besides advertising your crimes to those who seek to punish you, you are forcing every innocent passerby to inhale your disgusting habit. Don't be an ass, smoke outside. Am I the only one who notices the lack of logic with which my peers conduct themselves? I must be among a minority, because their common sense levels don't seem to be on the rise. Avoiding it seems impossible. Why can't these people ever take time from their busy schedules to realize that they are all stupid fucking morons? ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- My Evil Prohibitionist Teacher Paulo - - ---- -- - ------- In the beginning of the 95-96 school year, I was acquainted with one of the nicest people in the world, whose name I will omit. He was a new teacher and I could tell this was going to be a great year because of how he talked to us. "Blah blah blah you better do good, or I will grab you by the behind and drag you blah blah blah..." Or something along those lines. And this was just the first day. A few days later, while "teaching" us something, he told us to get out our notebooks. I picked mine up and opened it to a blank page. I looked up and he was giving me this scary evil look. "You better get that off your notebook by tomorrow!" On my notebook was a sticker with a picture of a pot leaf. Around the leaf it said "LEGALIZE MARIJUANA - JUST SAY 'KNOW MORE.'" On my binder I had another one with the same picture but around it said something like "FOOD PAPER FIBER MEDICINE - EDUCATE YOURSELF." Apparently this guy didn't appreciate the fact that I wanted people to be educated rather than listen to the prohibitionist lies taught at school. I was like, "Okay, whatever." On the way out of class I told my friends I wouldn't remove the stickers because there was nothing in the handbook against it. I wasn't encouraging drug use, or even talking about drug use. I was just encouraging people to learn more about marijuana/hemp (which is not necessarily a drug.) The guy hears me say this and holds me back. He gives me the evil look again and says something about "didn't you hear what Mr. Principal Man said at that assembly yesterday?" I had, but he hadn't said anything about what I did. Then I left. My mom heard about this little incident and was so supportive. She was like, "Yeah, you better remove it! Do what they say!" Thanks mom. So that time he ended up winning. Time went by and the guy did all sorts of bad things. He claims to have broken the clock off the wall, wrote "ASS" real big on the board, threatened to strangle people, said some people wouldn't survive all day, threw stuff at people, kicked me and a friend out of class for two or three days JUST FOR TURNING TO THE WRONG PAGE, stared evilly at people for no reason, called us names, etc, etc... Some friends and I would go to the counselor nearly every day to complain. He wouldn't help at all. They're just so friendly at my school. (I know I probably should have gone to someone more powerful, but even if I had, the same thing would of happened.) Then I started compiling a list of bad things he was doing. Every once and a while I would turn it in to the counselor. Still, nothing happened. After almost half the school year, and nearly one hundred entries, I just gave up. There was no hope. My parents wouldn't even help! Maybe there was hope. I had an idea. I would publish the list in my zine, along with his name and the school's address. Maybe someone would help me out. I typed out an article entitled 'MY (EVIL SUBJECT) TEACHER, PROHIBITIONIST AND SERIAL KILLER.' It talked about my arguments about pot I'd had with him (They were great! I stumped him!), and had most of the list printed in it. (I lost part of it.) The zine didn't come out until the end of summer, because of my rule that I have to buy a new Flaming Lips CD to review for each issue. This year I came back to school and found that I had somehow passed his class, and didn't have to take it again. The downside was that they gave me the idiot for homeroom. I distributed my zine all over school. It was cool! People dug it. I gave out a lot and sold a bunch of them too. One day I came out of a class next to his. As I passed him he called out my name. "I didn't do it!" I said. "Oh you didn't?" "Nope." "Well, I've got two words for you." "Okay, two words..." "Defamation of character." "That's three words. See look...defamation...of..." I counted the words out on my fingers for him. Silly teacher couldn't even count! "Yeah, well you go home to your..." "One...two...three...three words..." "Go home to your home to your you go home to your go home..." He suddenly developed a weird stuttering problem. I continued counting it out so he would get the point. "Go home to your fancy your fancy go home to your fancy home go home." Still counting. "...to your fancy computer and go home fancy and look that up." My computer is fancy? That's new to me! I thought it was a crappy Packard Bell! Oh, I understand! He thought that since my zine is nicely made, it's not because I have a little bit of talent in that area, it's because I have a fancy computer that did it for me! "Okay," I said. "And while you're at it, look up the word LAWYER." "Okay," says I and I walked off. As I was walking away, I said something loudly to the effect of "too bad you don't have a case since it was all true!" I went to my next class, then lunch, then the rest of my classes. I wasn't called to the office or anything. I told everyone that the teacher wanted to sue me because of my zine, AND IT SOLD LIKE CRAZY!!! I wanted to thank him for the free advertising! After school, I was telling the story and selling my zine, and suddenly, I heard someone call out my name. I turned around. Shit. It was the vice principal. "Come here," he yelled. I ran over to him. "What did you just sell?" "A magazine." He looked up and thought about it for a couple seconds. "Come to my office tomorrow morning," he said. "Okay," I told him and ran off to my bus. That night, I went on the net and posted the events of the day along with the article onto alt.zines, alt.drugs, alt.drugs.pot, and some others. I asked if the idiot had a case against me. In the morning I checked my email and everyone said no, not really, and that I should get witnesses. One guy told me that he had sent him a package. Woohoo! Take that Mr. Evil Man! The next morning I went into the office looking for the principal. My friend, who had his copy confiscated came with me (he was going to get the zine back, or they were gonna give him a dollar!) The vice principal was in a meeting, so we left. I saw him a few minutes later just standing in the hall. I went up to him. "Don't come to my office this morning. I'll call you in later." "Okay." I was called to the office during second hour. I went into the vice principal's office and sat down. The counselor sat down next to me. He asked me questions about whether or not I was making money, and called my zine crap and stuff. "What's this stuff in here about marijuana?" "It's about how it's good for people, and good for the earth, and isn't as bad as they teach you in school. It can make four times as much paper as trees, and can be harvested three times a year..." "Okay, let's say this whole thing didn't exist. What about it then?" I told him the same stuff. "Okay, and did I see the outline of a naked woman in there?" He chuckled a little as he looked at the ASCII nudity. "Yes." "And what is this about Mr. (Evil Head Man)?" "It's a list of things he did that the school refused to do anything about!" I answered kind of angrily. Why the hell was I in trouble!? I'm not the one who did the stuff on the list! He just kind of laughed. He told me all this garbage about slander or something, and how it was wrong that I called him a serial killer, and that I could get sued, but how Mr. Evil Head Man was such a nice guy he wasn't too upset. They gave me two days of their in-school-suspension. The next day I went to the ISS room. They made me watch a crappy video with some Mr. Rogers type guy. Then I had to fill out this stupid worksheet. There was a question that said something like 'What would make you extremely happy?' I answered truthfully, which is what I thought they wanted. 1. For the school to blow up 2. For potent marijuana to grow as common as dandelions 3. World Anarchy - No gov'ts 4. To be the All-American AntiChrist 5. To not live in Hickland 6. To live in San Francisco 7. For the Bill of Rights to actually exist And some other stuff. I can't remember exactly what I wrote. They spazzed at this! They called my mom in, gave her a copy of it, and told her that had it been someone else, they would have gotten out of school suspension, but they just gave me two more days of ISS. How nice of them! The next three days when I had to fill out dumb worksheets, I lied my ass off to seem like some kinda lovey-dovey government-loving good Christian idiot. I finally got out of ISS and I thought it was all over. It wasn't. A few weeks, later my parents got a letter in the mail saying I had to talk to a probation officer. I supposedly had 'harassed' someone. We went in to talk to him, and he showed us a package. It was full of pro-hemp flyers. "Did you send him this?" "No." It was obvious that I hadn't. It was postmarked San Francisco. Idiots. "Okay, they just told me to look into it." Now, I'm pretty sure it could have been over right then, BUT my mom just had to pull out a copy of my zine and give it to him. "Here is his publication. This is how he got people to send Mr. (Evil Head Man) stuff," she said. He took it and looked it over and said something about how it was trash. "But trash sells, right?" Okay, sure. Then he asked stupid questions about if I would want my brother and sister to grow up in a world like that. Hmmm...I think a peaceful world where people are free wouldn't be too bad of a place... Then he asked why I would believe people on the internet who I don't know rather than teachers and such. What I should have said was something like, "Because they most likely don't work for the government," but I remained quiet. Then we left and my parents drove me to school. On the way there, my dad spewed a bunch of bullshit about how if I published a single word I would automatically go to jail. He then said I couldn't talk about anarchy (which he obviously didn't understand) or drug legalization. "This isn't new! This is an old argument! Find another cause! Blah blah blah!" It was retarded. He said all I could publish was shit that I didn't give a fuck about. Then he said I couldn't publish at all. We went to California on vacation (did I mention I'm from San Francisco? I am.) and I gave a copy to my cousin. My aunt looked at it and we talked about it. Then I told her that I wasn't allowed to publish anymore and about how I had to talk to a probation officer and stuff. She told my mom she should have called the cops on the guy and told my dad I should be allowed to publish. My dad argued about how they're really conservative out here and a bunch of crap. A couple days later, I said something about not being allowed to make my zine any more and my mom said, "you can." So now I'm gonna try and start publishing again. I know they're gonna spazz, but oh well. The specific stuff I'm not allowed to publish is anarchy, drug legalization, and computer hacking. I'm just gonna call anarchy libertarianism, since my idea of anarchy is basically that. The other stuff I'm removing and replacing with some other crap. I know they're gonna spazz at the stuff I'm adding now, but oh well, it's worth it. That's the story as best as I can remember it. Hope you got something out of it. CENSORSHIP SUCKS!!! Hey you!! You're gonna email at paulo.head.man@juno.com! Then you're gonna visit the undumb web site! www.tstonramp.com/~fbartune/frank/undumb/ Then, you're gonna send 2 bucks (and some stamps if your friendly) to me, so you can have your very own copy of undumb! Exploding Eggplant, c/o Paul Saylor, 3572 W State Road 10 #7, Lake Village, IN 46349! And then you're gonna reprint this everywhere possible, and send me a copy if you can! Or maybe you won't. Oh well... ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- Letters Readers - - ---- -- - ------- To the Oblivion Staff, Hello, and greetings from the Eastern Seaboard, where the reign of despotic tyranny in the guise of Christian morality and wholesome values holds our own students in its fearful grip. I am, of course, speaking of the thousands of parochial schools that litter our educational landscape, providing "education in a Catholic Christian community" where men and women who have taken solemn values work their foul craft of quashing the natural tendency of the young to question and explore, while teaching the "joys" of obdience and censorship. But rhetoric aside, I turn to your staff for advice and guidance. I attend a local Catholic High School, and am currently attempting to form an underground newspaper on campus. Any suggestions, advice, or support you can offer your oppressed comrade in arms would be most appreciated. Freedom Now Freedom, Good news! Creating an "underground newspaper" is simple! All you need is some paper and some ideas. You could print student articles, stories, poetry, art, letters, etc. Most 'zines reprint quite a bit. There are lots of good articles and stories that are worth reprinting, search the web, and ask for permission to reprint them. The people will probably say yes, but if they deny you permission, screw them, print it anyway, they'll never know unless you're some giant national 'zine. There are so many different 'zines out there, from handwritten to desktop published, one page to hundreds. If you'd like to see some examples, find a copy of Factsheet 5 ("the big fat guide to the 'zine revolution") and send away for some of the publications listed. Oblivion - -- ---- - I was wondering how come you let Antitrend work for you guys, now that was a mistake, not to be mean even though he stood up for me in lots of things but he can still be an "Asshole". Sorry to say all that but You People made a HUGE mistake. No Signature Dear Whoever, Antitrend doesn't "work" for us per se, but he has contributed. We don't employ anyone that I know of. Anyway, thanks for your warning. When we heard that Antitrend can sometimes be an "Asshole," we were shocked and appalled. Without delay, we gathered up the boys, hopped in our Fords and went to beat the crap out of him. We don't want an "Asshole" working for us, and we certainly want to correct any "HUGE mistake" we might have made. Oblivion - -- ---- - your idea for oblivion seems awesome. i go to high school & I am sick of it & such & i think that maybe i could write something, & maybe get an e-mail address? it seems really nice that there are people that oppose reality as it is & want to *do* something about it. it says that you give *free* issues... i don't see how you can manage. oh well... Anonymous form? that doesn't seem so true... kacper kacper, Thanks for the feedback! You can write an article anytime, although, not everything we get will be published. But if it is, you will get that email address. The paper issues of Oblivion are free, however, if you (or anyone) want one mailed to you, please send us a couple stamps. The feedback form isn't very anonymous when you enter your email address in it! Hehe... Oblivion - -- ---- - Hello, I teach high school English in mid-Missouri and I would really like any information or help you could send me on creating a zine in my Sophomore English class. We are interested in creating one on paper, rather than the net, and any helpful hints or reccomendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, and by the way, really cool site. My students enjoy it. Ron Ron, An in class 'zine is a great idea! I elaborated on this a little in response to an earlier letter, so all that applies too. You could include stories, articles, poetry, reviews, artwork, etc. You could be a "rougher" version of the school newspaper, giving less filtered news or whatever. You should come up with a catchy title. The design should be relatively kewl also. Put some catchy art on the cover to go with your catchy title. Once again, great idea! Oblivion - -- ---- - I would like to say that Jaimee did the right thing when she told the cops. I have been harassed in school and did not tell. Because of this he tried to rape me in school. I still have not told because I don't go to that school anymore. I know I should have but I am not going to because no one will believe me because he did the same thing to one of my friends and when she told nothing was done about it. I think teachers and schools need to take accusations seriously and help people get over it. Summer Summer, Sexual harrassment and assault are not trite subjects and should not be treated as such. Boys will not be boys, boys will be criminals who sexually harrass or assault others. Some schools do take accusations seriously, but in Jaimee's case, they do not. It's a small town where boys mow the lawn and hunt with their father. "Oh, they was just flirtin' with each other. Why, I had to wrestle your mother to the ground just to get her to go to the spring dance with me." Unfortunately, this attitude is not likely to change soon. Oblivion - -- ---- - Editor's note: this is in response to Paulo's article that we posted to Usenet before being printed in Oblivion.) A litte howdy. read your zine article in alt.zines. reminded me (somewhat) of my high school days when I was repeatedly harrassed by both school administrators and other kids because I didn't wear my hair the same way everyone else did. heh. you wanna know what's gonna happen to your friendly neighborhood buttmunch vice principal and geometry teacher? Heh, wait like five years or so (or better yet, wait until the year after you graduate) and then you'll find out that all of this crap you were printing really WAS true, and you'll discover that Idiot Teacher would do something like be hauled off to jail for doing whatever, or whatever. I mean, it happened in my school, which sounds an awful lot like yours. High school (unless it's a really cool high school, but there really aren't very many of those) is a boring, totally autocratic experience that everyone's gotta go through. But you know what? It's like right after you graduate and explore the wonderful world surrounding you, you discover that the people you were dealing with were totally small-minded fucks who will be living in that same town and doing the same crap for the rest of their lives, while you will run away from it all and become like....cool and stuff. oh well, take care and happy holidaze and all that, alissa alissa, Haha, thanks for the letter. I think we all know that in a matter of years, Mr. Evil Head Man will be mopping the floors in Paulo's office. Perhaps, in the near future, Paulo will be able to yell "hey, Evil Head Man, you put cheese on my Big Mac! I said no cheese!" Or better yet, they will cart him off to jail for beating some kid with a ruler. Oblivion - -- ---- - Dear Editor: Hey, I just want to say--excellent zine! Reminds me of the times I spent in high school standing up against the tyranny I faced: being reassigned to a seat in the back of the class after a teacher realized he couldn't force me to say the Pledge Of Allegiance; being threatened with the loss of a class grade because I argued with a teacher who felt that men, and men only, should not wear hats in class (and I didn't even wear a hat!); participating in the mass action to come to school in intricate "green plant" costumes instead of wearing the school colors on some "Pride in School Day" we rebel students renamed "Green Plant Day" (I bet that blew some administrators' minds). Don't let these namby-pamby, muzak-loving, ass-kissing, brownshirt, cog-in-the-machine wannabes whose letters you have published disuade you in your noble efforts, either. The reason that they can't understand why someone doesn't just go along with the program, is simply because it's too late for them, they _are_ the "oblivion," they no longer think for themselves, and they are too afraid to question whether an accepted authority figure is actually acting in the best interest of society. They don't matter--the only thing that matters is that by your actions you are helping to maintain a free society for yourselves and for those that will come after you. I want to offer some suggestions, and I hope this doesn't make me come across as some old fart. First, some books to read if you haven't: _The Art Of War_ by Sun Tzu and _Organizing: A Guide For Grassroots Leaders_ by Si Kahn. Second, some vague, almost meaningless advice: always try to do the job _right_ (good job so far!). Third, some more specific advice: find some teachers/administrators who are friendly towards you, then let your opponents in the administration know about all these horrible things some fringe lunatic students will do to embarass the school and _them_ in particular (be creative), and how _you_ will be able to control them if only they give in on _this_ and _that_, and then perhaps conserve your energy by letting the adults argue it out for awhile--this tactic works! Fourth, an afterword: don't discount how sexy it is to be a drug policy reform activist. Fifth, whoops! one more thing: no one from a college _ever_ looks at your "disciplinary record"--it's just a big scam to try to keep you in line, so as long as you can keep your grades up, feel free to cut loose! Best of luck in all your efforts! Kai Alexis Price Kai, Hahahah! This is some of the best feedback ever, Green Plant Day, muzak-loving, it's got it all! Thanks!@# Oblivion ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- Review: Teenage Liberation Handbook Jestapher - - ---- -- - ------- Do you ever feel discontented by school? Grace Llewellyn can give you that extra boost you need to just quit. Grace started her teaching career as a substitute teacher in Southern California. In her book, she writes, "In between sending students to the office for calling me a 'white bitch' or for pinching me or for loudly interrupting too many times, I'd sit and despairingly ponder the meaninglessness of these huge inner-city schools." School had destroyed the students' natural desire to learn. She later got a job at an experimental school, The Colorado Springs School and truly thought she could change the way students felt about learning. She soon discovered that to be false. While on a trip to Washington D.C. with the school, she lost all hope. The students had been "scolded for slouching and whispering during a dull evening lecture after a particularly exhausting day," and it got her thinking. If a person freely chooses to take part in something, they will naturally behave and learn. Most kids have no choice about going to school, or so they believe. The book is broken up into five sections. The first will help you in your decision to become self-educated. The second helps you with the first steps to take after making that decision, from creating your own "assignments" to the possible legal process involved in becoming an "official" homeschooler. Part three explains how to cover specific curricula. It doesn't advocate mandatory history lessons, but if you are interested in a certain subject, it's a great starting point. Part four helps you in your quest for work, be it volunteering, internships and apprenticeships, farmwork, medical research, marine biology, etc. Part five contains the stories of many homeschoolers. It's great encouragement for those prospective homeschoolers to hear stories of others who have made the choice to control their own education. Overall, the book is great, especially if you already think school is terrible. It will reinforce that belief not with stories from discontented students, but with a teacher's perspective, someone who lived it, someone who regretably taught it, someone who now wants to make a change and ensure that people won't be unwillingly subjected to the mundane, often devoid of learning public school system. ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- Discriminate Perceptions Jestapher - - ---- -- - ------- One might classify me as a "white" male American. I am not a proud "white" male American. I am not a disgraced "white" male American. If I must be any type of "white" male American, I am an apathetic "white" male American. Although I may be apathetic about this unbidden status, I loathe the initial impression I make many a time on account of it. Recently, I was at a concert. Taking a break from the musical barrage, I ventured into the theatre lobby. As I stood in the lobby, I noticed two grrls handing a 'zine to another girl, asking if she had seen it. I approached the two and told them I hadn't seen their 'zine. "Well, it's a grrl 'zine," came the reply. "What's this? Whaddya sexist?" "Well, I mean, it's grrl issues, you probably wouldn't be interested." "I'm interested in all issues." The gave me a copy of "Super Ninja Girl" and we parted. As I walked with my new 'zine, I thought about what they said. I knew they had a target audience, and probably weren't trying to be sexist, but I couldn't get over it. It's about grrl issues, so I wouldn't be interested? Why wouldn't I be interested? What would I be interested in? Why do they have a preconceived perception of me based on my male status? Who do these people think I am? Are my hands those of the man who beat you and your mother? Does my mouth speak words of the overweight klansman? It's quite the contrary, but how can I inform them of this before they make up their own minds? I can't. Later on, during that concert, I had an in depth discussion with the two grrls. It seems that the first words they spoke to me were a "Freudian slip" of sorts. They explained that they were not trying to be discriminate, but that it was more of a protection for them, because when most people think of a riot grrl, it's usually not in a good light. After talking to them, I gained a little more respect for their passion and devotion, but was not impressed with the fact that for a little security, they would sacrifice the ideals they are supposedly trying to uphold in their quest for "equality." I don't condone anything done out of discrimination. Even though people with the same "white" male status as I have fucked many people over because of their discrimination-dominant mindset, it lends no validity to others' perceptions of me based on that status. Even though one may feel the desire for reparations is justified, a perception of an individual based on unjustified stereotypes is transgressive and hypocritical. ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - --- Oblivion Information - - ---- -- - ------- - -- ---- - Copyrights - - ---- -- - ------- Please distribute Oblivion everywhere you can. Do not steal little bits and pieces without consent from the author of the bit, byte or nybble, for they retain full copyrights to their work. If you just ask, they will most likely give permission. - -- ---- - Donors - - ---- -- - ------- Support Jaimee Writing Nemomancer Graphix Akai Support Jane Doe Writing & Writing Amar Writing Jess Wyer Artwork Nina Writing AntiTrend Writing Jestapher Artwork NORML Writing Arhat Writing & Graphix Paulo Writing Belial Writing & Editing Retro Ranger Writing Brian Kappus Graphix & Writing Tyche Writing Dagda Graphix Juanune Graphix Warren Apel Writing Eightball Writing Maureen Rada Writing Wennis Artwork iMAGER Support Mr. Orange Writing Wheeler Writing - -- ---- - Locations - - ---- -- - ------- MAIL: Oblivion 120 State Ave. NE #76 Olympia, WA 98501-8212 (Please send two stamps for a current issue.) EMAIL: oblivion@oblivion.net FTP: ftp.etext.org /pub/zines/oblivion/ ftp.olywa.net /pub/oblivion/ WWW: http://www.oblivion.net/ (Use the anonymous feedback form if you so desire.) - -- ---- - Thanks - - ---- -- - ------- The Danger Room Comics (201 4th Ave. W., Olympia, WA 98501) Mercuri, Editor of RAD (http://www.pla-net.net/corp/zineworld/rad/) neko (neko@dto.net -- http://neko.home.ml.org/) Olympia Networking Services (http://www.olywa.net/) Tim Brown, Editor of The Last Word (http://members.iglou.com/bathroom/) ------- --- - - ------ - - ------ ---- --- - ------ --- ------- - - -- - - --- ------- ---- -- --- - --- ----- ---- - ---- ----- -- ---- --- - ---