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ducts Philip
Shane Jonathan
Kravetz |
Remembrance of Things Fast our editor maps the ducts |
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ducts is celebrating its one-year anniversary! In just a short time the webzine you are currently reading has grown from a little fly-by-night operation to a very big, ever-changing fly-by-night operation. We've had fifty-nine different contributors in our short time in existence and have featured writers, painters, illustrators, singers, sculptors!, musicians and photographers of varying ages, races and heights. When Phil and I, more than fifteen months ago, were sitting in a quiet diner, slurping soup and watching Leeza Gibbons on the TV overhead, we were both hoping we could use ducts as a springboard to world conquest. Though we have come up slightly short of our modest goal, we are pleased that our Frankenstein Monster has begun walking, moaning and destroying villages in ways that we never expected. As always, we owe this success to YOU, our dedicated readers. We've received many encouraging e-mails from people all around the world and we hope that the ducts will continue stretching into homes across every continent so that we may, eventually, attain our goal of world domination. This current issue continues the trend set by each of its predecessors: it is bigger, badder and better than the last and we are delighted to present it to you. |
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The ducts Three new ducts have sprung to life in this issue and we think you'll embrace them just as you've embraced the others. profiles: Revealing snapshots of fascinating people. Richard Goodman met Beat writer William Burroughs in his London apartment twenty-eight years ago. Richard's profile, "An Evening with William Burroughs," is written with passion and grace; it's a marvelous and funny portrait of the great writer. And you’ll definitely want to see Bryan LeBoeuf’s uncanny illustration of Burroughs as well. Veteran Comedian Pat Cooper has more opinions in the course of a day than he knows what to do with. Sit down with him and our intrepid reporter, Charles Salzberg, and listen to him diss on topics ranging from his own childhood to Frank Sinatra. It's all in "Pat Cooper: You Can't Handle My Truth, My Friend ". kids: Fiction, autobiographies, poetry and picture books written FOR kids. Some of it's written by adults, some by kids -- but it's all fun. This new duct promises to be one of our favorites. It contains a variety of great writing from kids ranging in ages from 9 to 14. All came to us through the after school creative writing program of the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center of New York City. Also check out writer Veera Hiranandani's and illustrator Jennifer Lauren Pelley's wonderful picture book, "The Big Breakfast Surprise." It'll make you hunger for more. poetry: Experiences, ideas and emotions conveyed in vivid, imaginative language. You'll find some of the very BEST English language poets in the world in this duct. This issue's contributors are Robert Creeley, Dorianne Laux, Linda Pastan, Denise Duhamel, Martin Espada, Sapphire and Jim Daniels. The poems included here, all of which appeared previously in other journals, will make you stop and think about language, art and beauty.
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More ducts Our returning departments are as strong, entertaining and thought-provoking as ever. Stephanie Hart's elegiac "Letter to My Father on the Eleventh Anniversary of His Death" is a beautiful, sometimes sad, but ultimately uplifting history of her relationship with her father. "Ten Minutes" is Veera Hiranandani's short meditation on the nature of life, death and breakfast (what's with Veera and breakfast anyway?). Victoria Reggio's "Those Guys," an excerpt from a work-in-progress, is a glimpse into the occasionally violent relationships of her father and uncles. And finally, "No Empathy Allowed," offers insights into the sometimes troubling world of mental health treatment. Some of you might remember the first essay, "The Tunnel," written by the same author in our winter issue, about the tremendous difficulty of suffering from Bipolar Disorder while also working in the mental health field. Our anonymous essayist delves deeper into the problem this time. You'll find all of these essays absorbing, I'm sure. Diversity of media and vision, the ducts blueprint, is best seen with your own eyes. Check out this varied collection of photographs, paintings, sculptures and prints. Brad S. Wise, Christine Walters, Brian Huskey and Thomas "Naked Man" Fast all use photography to express their visions. Each uses a unique style and you'll want to spend hours mulling their beautiful, painterly pieces. Thomas Ziorjen's work combines drawing, collage and painting to express the potential of the human form. Check it out in "Sum of Their Parts." And finally, you'll be fascinated by Jack Pospisil's strangely organic, deeply personal sculptures and prints in "Internal Life." Memoirs are the backbone of our Frankenstein Monster, giving us a nervous system of deeply personal, elegantly written stories. We are pleased to be adding a new, fascinating memoirist to the ducts' fold. Laura Emily Mason writes her engrossing story about living with Multiple Personality Disorder in "Myself Divided." Thomas Fast is back with more tales of romantic woe from Japan in his "Naked Man Journal." The insanity of the New York subway system is exposed in Eric Gillin's dark "Welcome to Hell." And Harilyn Rousso writes about unsettling perceptions of Cerebral Palsy and of herself in "Disabled Yet Intact." These hilarious, sarcastic, anarchistic satires and parodies all speak for themselves. Enjoy the work of Toby Miller, Sam Riegel and Rob Blatt, Gideon Evans, Jonathan Kravetz (that's me, Mom!), and Mark Goldblatt. As always, these boys have lots of opinions. Ben Malcolm, in his "D.C., Beside the Beltway," compares Washington's ragged subways to New York's notorious public trains. "Our metro system kick's your metro's ass!" Bill Bilodeau meditates on the meaning of adulthood in his "So, here's the thing..." And Nick Bhasin, in "Insanity," is pissed off again. This time HBO's Sex in the City is burning his butt. Two wonderful composers grace the stage in our anniversary issue. Julia Douglass, my favorite folk singer and the world's funniest human, offers two of her inspired, thoughtful songs. And Joel Goodman returns with six great excerpts from film scores he's composed. Joel, by the way, is rumored to be working on the soon-to-be-infamous "Theme To The ducts." Bachelor Girl is as Bachelor Girl does. Our relationship guru responds to her letters with intelligence and the occasional wink. She also offers up her own personal experiences for your reading pleasure. Sometimes the most personal, truthful stories can only be told through fiction. We have three frank works for your perusal in this issue. Kaley Noonan's "Get On The Bus, Sister," is an imaginative, funny excerpt from her e-novel, Backwoods East Jesus. Margaret Hundley Parker returns to the ducts for the second time with "Bounced Check," an intense, absorbing read about pursuing personal freedom. And Patti Munter exposes the emptiness of every entitled New York City "princess" in her "Have You Ever Hit Anyone As An Adult?" |
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Did you know that some manmade ducts have been around for over 5,000 years? Well, you can learn more about those amazing, utilitarian, ubiquitous devices, ducts, in Randy Woods' "Why a Duct?" Randy is funny AND informative. We hope you'll enjoy his history as much as we do. |
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Phil and I are truly proud that we are able to present this incredibly diverse collection of artists to you. The year has flown by, but we are both looking forward to another twelve months of bringing you the very best art, humor and criticism that the e-world has to offer. Thanks for visiting and, please, return again and again. Best, Jonathan
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