Invitation

Hrm... having run an ezine for three years at some point in the past, I know the problems that can be encountered. Firstly, you'd better be an expert in html or get a damned good editing prog, or it looks cheap as all hell. Avoid banners, gifs and all other manner of dancing blinking glittery doodahs or it makes it slower than ten cans of treacle in quicksand to load... The dancing flags were a bit sudden I found. Jmo. That aside, some good work I imagine. The first poet I read, Amanda Auchter, was really really good...

Nice, I like it. Quick to load, easy to navigate. Harry's interview was especially interesting. I think you should get rid of those flashing flags at the top, though. As L says, things like that can be off-putting. A few, simple (selected, possibly exchange) banners can be fine if not too gaudy and in-yer-face. All in all, pretty good though. Beautiful image on fp.

Agree about the flashing flags... very off-putting. Not so sure about the 'in defence of America' article either. It's TOO defensive and, as such, makes you look like you are pleading for people to not mis-understand you (the nation). I'd drop that if I were you. Nice site RD.

Thank you for the feedback . The Zine has received some very positive feedback. I'll take the crit on the "blinking flags" into consideration for the next issue. Stormy...keep in mind, this is a periodical publication, and as such it is not uncommon to have an editorial section. One doesn't "unpublish" an editorial. You are welcome to submit a counterpoint; however, which is the point. We would love to hear from you.

Not so sure I have a counterpoint RD. It simply struck me as being a "woe, no one likes us Americans (did we ever, ha!) anymore... we are sooo mis-understood ... please love us" Now, I'm sure that wasn't your intent but that is how it reads and I wasn't comfortable with that. That's all.

Well then, I understand. If it made you uncomfortable, mission accomplished. I can't wait to hear who else was uncomfortable with it. Thanks, that actually was the best feedback I've had so far. Honest.

Found the opinion piece very interesting, in that it's good to see an American view of why people hate America. I think your view is a bit confused. It's true that lots of people in Britain do dislike McDonalds and Hollywood movies but I think on balance, there's a far larger number of British people who love (even idolise) American for these reasons. These are essentially issues of taste. I'm not a big fan of Mel Gibson and Justin Timberlake but I like Friends and Gram Parsons - where does that leave us? This: "The thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world is that we're capable of regime changes without having to kill 24 million people in the process." Gets to the crux of why some people dislike Americans. Leaving the wider political arguments aside, there does seem to be a belief held by some Americans that, if you say something aggressively and patriotically, that somehow makes up for it being factually innaccurate. The is a very long list of countries other than the US who've achieved regime changes without killing 24 million people. Sierra Leone is the most recent example of Britain doing so without US assistance. The only people who have killed anything like that number of people in recent memory were Hitler and Stalin and neither of them did so in pursuit of regime change.

Good points David. How about you mail this thought to the zine, I'd like to use it in the next issue to stimulate a debate. I'm still in the "drumming up business" stage... I can't rightfully use statements from here now can I?

I rather liked it. Wasn't keen on the political column - not because I didn't agree with what it said, but rather because editorial seems a little out of place here. For a first issue, I would have gone with something about fiction, or writing, or why the magazine has come about. Still it's your zine, so you can put what you want in it. Mine would just be full of G K Chesterton and weird pulp writers and why some songs make people dance in their cars or drum on the steering wheel while some don't and photographs of early-Eighties children standing proudly by Sodastreme machines (ideally pointing and wearing bodywarmers)... Actually from this side of the pond, I don't think most people do hate Americans. There are a limited number of people who are not keen on the way that Walmart and Starbucks run their businesses by driving other competitors out of business, but our firms do that too, just much less well and more sort of accidentally. The anti-war protestors are largely just that, a bunch of people who either disagree with all wars (not me) or this particular war (yep, that's me). There is a fair bit of anti-Bush feeling in Britain (and a lot of other countries) but that seems based on a feeling that Bush rushed into war and hasn't been straight about the reasons why. Cynical folk feel that it is either based on resources, or just the need to have an enemy that you could go toe to toe with and fight conventionally, rather than this new uncomfortable war on terror. For what it's worth, I think Bush was doing what he thought was right, I'm less convinced about Blair. I listened to the Kerry/Bush debate and scored it about even. Kerry was good on why we oughtn't to have gone to war, but shaky on why he backed it at the time; Bush was good on why its going to be pretty difficult to lead an army out of Iraq if you're on record as saying that we shouldn't be there at all, but less good on why he didn't have a proper exit strategy. I think Bush will win, quite comfortably. I don't see Kerry as being strong, and regardless of what you think of Bush and post-Sept 11th, it's clear now that a strong leader is required. The piece didn't make me uncomfortable in the slightest - I thought it was rather parochial, but then us Brits can be too. Good luck with the zine, Gary.

Thanks for the feedback Andrew... I debated doing a news section at all, but I figured why not. The idea, long term would be to put a bit more interesting material on that page. Truth is, the opinion part was a last minute decision to keep the page, and use it more productivly in the future. I had slotted that column for something else that wasn't quite ready yet. Being a first issue, it's difficult to do everything to perfection, still getting the lay of the land and such. I have to fight my instincts to some degree also, as I work for a very vocal economic / political publication professionally and I don't really want to drift that way with this zine. I also don't want it to be "my" page. I have my own web site for that. I like your idea about some strange writing experience or writer, but alas, there's only so much time and having budgeted my time elsewhere, it was mostly a column drawn from some previous conversations I've had, laying groundwork for future editions. With some luck, down the road I'll get some contributions from readers/writers that fit with the scheme. I'm willing to devote regular column space to a worthy contributer.

Hmm, I see I am going to have to improve upon my communication skills... My discomfort was FOR RD because, as I said, it looked too "woe is me" and, as Andrew says (and I hinted at) it seems out of place. The editorial didn't make ME feel uncomfortable in a guilty way. I agree with what both David and Andrew say about our attitude to Americans over here. I'll often generalise and make some wisecrack about Americans not knowing, for example, that the Eifel Tower is NOT in London, England but is in Paris, France. But, of course, I understand that that does not apply to all Americans - at least 2% of them know truth :-) I meet Americans possibly more often than anyone else here - there is a USAF airbase near where I live and I bowl there 2 nights a week. Apart from driving on the left, it is like being in America, currency and all. Like Brits, French, or whoever, there are some yanks I get on with very well, some are ok, and some I don't like... particularly those that aren't prepared to absorb our culture and sense of irony (mainly the younger ones). The older ands more travelled Americans are much more amenable (and there a quite a number of them - it's surprising how many support people are required - the airbase is like a town. I was talking to a guy last week whom I hadn't seen for a while (these people disappear all the time!) and it turned out he had just got back from Iraq. He's about the same age as me ... to old to be fighting so I asked him what he was doing out there. "Same as I do here, bud, I ran the post office" You (well, I do) forget that people like that are needed in war-like situations.

I don't know why the 'editorial' bit seems to have atttracted attention; perhaps it was the headline? I don't believe that most people dislike America, but the anti-war lobby will use character-assassination to push their point of view in the same way that the pro-war lobby does. It's very fashionable these days to appear to be a pacifist and bang on self-righteously about what's wrong with the world without having a coherent alternative solution to the problems. Maybe bush IS a twat. Maybe Blair is also. So who is a credible alternative? Howard? Kerry? Yeah right. David, you left out the biggest murdering leader in modern times. Check out the statistics on Chairman Mao's tally, circa 1964 - 1968? The Guinness Book of Records listed his 'reign' as the worst massacre in world history.

Well, this is still interesting...If you read the headline, and I phrased it that way on purpose...it's not quite what you think. At first, it was "everybody loves to hate Americans"...but I changed it to "everybody hates to love Americans". The opinion is about how all the other nations love to import our culture and then criticize us for it. The argument is not so much a "poor me/ poor America" attitude as it is a question, Why do others countries buy into our culture and then criticize us for it." It's not aimed at the British portion of ABC members, though admittedly, most on here are British. But I've seen the British as the most vocal about America (here and elsewhere), and also the most embracing of our culture as well. I was reading an article from someone in England a few years ago about how the British play the "royal" card to Americans and how enamored with Hollywood British society was. Well, didn't think much about it at first, just a little "file that away for future reference"... I've been on ABC for about 6-7 months (and many other places as well as my personal Brit friends here.) and I've observed that a great deal of the time the Brits talk about American culture, TV Shows, Movies.. Mississippi, most recently with Mullholland Drive movie. I found all of this interesting and sorta sat on it... So, I stand by my point...you love us but you hate to admit it. Now, tell me I'm wrong....

It's certainly true that the 'tv couch potato brit' loves America (trips to Florida) and especially its sitcoms but I suspect that is more to do with the fact that flights to America are so cheap nowadays and that british tv cannot fill its space without US imports. Some people I know question the fact that my French holidays cost more than an equivalent trip to Florida. Others think that Friends is the greatest ever tv sitcom. They are wrong. I go to France because I prefer the culture and secondly, I think Friends stinks. It's a bit like West Wing. I haven't watched the latest but saw most of the first series. Oh Joy! Isn't America fab? Except that America isn't governed by a President Bartlett and never will be. It's a construct designed to fool American viewers that their President cares for them in the same way that American sitcoms always have that moment of seriousness before the end ... and then the moral of the story is revealed... it's pukeworthy. People over here (mainly) do not understand American politics. They associate Democrat with Labour, for example, little realising that Democrat is far to the right of Tory (whom, btw, they think eat babies) and fail to recognise that American politics is more about cultural issues (the church, abortion, homosexuality and so on) than foreign policy, taxation, the NHS ... ie things that matter to us. And this is what bugs me about America most of all. Internally, it presents itself as a puritan society... hence the ban on smoking in public places, its facile views on swearing (profanity, for any yanks reading this) on TV, its laws on nudity on tv, its moral endings to sitcom episodes ... (I could go on for ever) And yet, most internet porn stems from America; the KKK is based in America; Gunlaw will never be tackled by any political party in America; Americans are the most obese people in the world (despite Hollywood's attempts to prove otherwise); most Americans look inwards, they have no clue (he said in an affected American manner) about the rest of the world. And it's late here and I could go on forever and never make any sense. But you get my drift, I hope. btw, I love the work of American poets and there are others here that love the work of American story writers despite the above. x

You're right, Gary - whatever our political persuasion Brits seem to have a love/hate relationship with America. Such tacky, awful, crass TV - which everyone watches! "Friends" was the only show on British TV which the five of our family would settle down together and watch, and with three teenagers in the house the things that unite were valuable to us. You knew you weren't going to get swearing and nudity, the US networks wouldn't stand for it - so you got delightful scenes such as Monica making fake foreskins from cooked meats to disguise the fact that Joey had been circumcised and, in describing how to touch a girl in order to seduce her, having an orgasm simply by reciting a list of numbers relating to (unspecified) parts of the body. Much more funny and sexy than silly porn shows, thanks to the Moral Majority! I tend to watch music videos a lot, and there are a whole load of anti-Bush songs out, headed by Green Day's "American Idiot" - well, there aren't many republican votes in rock. Though these bands aren't going to flood across the Atlantic if Bush gets re-elected! My son, who's met far more Americans than I have, finds them shockingly ignorant of world affairs, and even basic world geography, but great company because they're so open and friendly, and he loves visiting the States, once you get past the morons employed at the airport. This could go on and on - the one thing for sure is that it's very hard here to actually ignore America and its influence, but America can ignore us and anybody else it chooses!

I don't understand the American need to put a facade on our moral standards. Public broadcast television standards are regulated by the FCC over here and these standards are very strict in regards to the broadcast of nudity and obscenity, but, cable / satellite television isn't under such restrictions. It's funny when you think about it...It's not okay to watch naked people for free, you must pay for it. It's a political thing, put a proper face on what the government can regulate, but, if you can afford to purchase it, you're free to see what ever you like. I think it's to prevent the corruption of our youth...yea right..., like Bill Clinton masturbating women with cigars and getting blow jobs in the oval office isn't offensive on public television.... Good job Billy...I'm jealous but I didn't really want to hear about it every night on the news..., there were more important things...Nothing better over here than a good sex scandal. Society is preoccupied with the thought of perverts attacking their children or their children becoming perverts, more likely. To me, this is the perversion. I think the root of the problem is religion, which carries far to much sway over our politics. I don't think I've ever heard of (someone can correct me) a sect of Atheists blowing up public infrastructure and killing people in mass for the name of...nobody. "Die you pigs! God is Dead!" Interestingly, I've always admired Great Britain and the culture it exports, but most Americans I've known over the years don't pay it much attention unless it's on the news. I can say for certain though, I can't recall a single incident where anybody I've known dislikes the British, well, not true..., many do find your humor to be dry and a bit of a bore, but not me. But, American's on the whole are immersed in America, that much is obvious. It's a big place, and the culture variation is as wide and tall as the continent. We're isolationist by nature....If you caught any of the Bush/Kerry debate the other night, Bush explained it very clearly...(agree or disagree), Americans for the most part will never allow European political needs to dictate our needs, and Bush played that sentimental card quite effectively during the debate. Kerry's weakest selling point during the debate in my opinion. While perhaps a more reasonable approach in truth, it's not the sentiment of the average American to let the needs of Europe stand before the needs of America. Right now, many Americans want to go kick some serious ass and George is doing it for them. It's a redneck mentality; sadly, many have. Having a redneck for a president makes it worse. Bush isn't stupid, contrary to popular opinion, he is “simply” ignorant of the fact that half the country and most of the world doesn't agree with his solution. He doesn’t care...He narrow-mindedly works for the people that elected him, which hopefully won't be much longer.