My head is in a strange place. Friday night. Last time I paid any attention to anything it was day. The sun was high in the air. But now every football (read: AFL or NRL) geezer is out, the game is over and they are looking for a piss up and maybe a fight. Meanwhile, I am trying to think about what has happened today, and I have problems recalling everything. So lets see.

Today was the zine fair. If you do not know what a zine is, go here. I’ll wait while you get acquainted. Now for my definition: Zines are the Poptarts of Literature. They are small sweet packages and eating too many of them in one hit will cause some kind of mental indigestion, even though you know you will be back for more. Jeremy informs me that there has not been a zine fair in this humid sprawl for at least six years. Elouise (Elmo), Jeremy and I make it to the gallery in the morning to begin laying out tables for the fair and give Elmo a hand setting up her table. Elouise is starting up (or running) a zine distro, which is a distribution hub for zines.

Time moves in strange currents now. At some point I am fetching some fruit for the guys to snack on. But the tables at the fair are almost full as more zinesters arrive and the curious and fans rock up to check out the gallery and buy some indie literature. About twenty tables occupied by the height of the night. The following is a quick rundown of the people and the things I paid attention too.

Off My Meds – Phillip Dearest – When people stop their medication and draw about the shit they see, I cannot look away, knowing I won’t be able to unsee what I just saw

Burger Force – Jackie Ryan – A comic that is drawn from taking photos of the actors that play the characters. At first perusal, I found the pacing and style very similar to Strangehaven by Gary Spencer MIllidge. Interesting to see how it goes.

Picked up a couple issues of Bats which has covers like those foreign boutique mags. Haich, which is about the letter H, and is drawn by E J Zyla, reminds me of the art of early Sandman comics, like that of Mike Dringenberg. Also got a couple issues of The Wanderers, which is a street art zine.

However, I have read none of these at this point. Busy throughout the night, talking and meeting people, picking up more zines, talking about movies. And I didn’t stop there. When it was all over, I helped out packing everything up and carrying a chunk of zines back to Ian and Ash’s car, transport them back safely to Jeremy’s place. Their vehicle was tiny, as the five of us wedged ourselves in between each other and giant bags of zines.

Attempts of having a beer in the city failed, so instead we raced out back to a bottle shop, picked up a stack of six packs and then drank them under the lights of cliffs along the riverside.

Later, after I have enough hops-based courage in me, I break out the Buddha machines and make concrete music until everyone passed out. Good times, but I took a while before I could find a place to sleep.

Apologies for the lateness of this post. And some of the photos. Really busy times. But hey I was on holidays.