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the almanac last.fm page got one of your own? the almanac rss feed or use the feedburner link 'my life or some dream' |
boston area events of note:
thursday, january 8th
forest henderson
the new collisions
the lights out
sir q
@ great scott
saturday, january 10th
head automatica
radio 4
@ great scott
sunday, january 11th
whistlejacket
voxhaul broadcast
local natives
the union line
@ tt the bears
monday, january 12th
varsity drag
the rationales
nate rogers (ex-scamper)
@ tt the bears
thursday, january 15th
illinois
@ great scott
thursday, january 15th
the raveonettes
@ the paradise
friday, january 16th
dear leader
hallelujah the hills
faces on film
@ the paradise
saturday, january 17th
the rosebuds
the love language
the fatal flaw
@ the middle east downstairs
sunday, january 18th
frightened rabbit
@ great scott
sunday, january 18th
department of eagles
@ the brattle theatre
saturday, january 24th
longwave
wheat
bon savants
@ great scott
saturday, january 24th
arts at the armory benefit
mission of burma
the neighborhoods
@ the somerville theatre
saturday, january 24th
vic chesnutt
elf power
@ the middle east
tuesday, january 27th
annuals
jessica lee mayfield
what laura says
@ the paradise
friday, january 30th
andrew bird
loney dear
@ the orpheum
tuesday, february 3rd
heartless bastards
@ great scott
wednesday, february 4th
the pretenders
@ the orpheum
thursday, february 5th
illinois
mean creek
you can be a wesley (cd release)
@ great scott
wednesday, february 11th
the godfathers
@ the middle east down
friday, february 13th
los campesinos!
@ the paradise
saturday, february 14th
animal hospital
travels (cd release!)
arms & sleepers
mary page
@ pa's lounge
sunday, february 15th
the pains of being pure at heart
pants yell!
the depreciation guild
@ the middle east upstairs
sunday, february 15th
fujiya & miyagi
@ the paradise
wednesday, february 18th
m. ward
@ the somerville theatre
saturday, february 21st
norm macdonald
@ the wilbur theatre
monday, february 23rd
witch (j. mascis)
earthless
@ tt the bears
tuesday, february 24th
jason isbell & the 400 unit
deer tick
ferraby lionheart
@ tt the bears
tuesday, february 24th
ben kweller
the watson twins
@ the somerville theatre
tuesday, february 24th
tapes 'n tapes
wild light
@ the paradise
wednesday, february 25th
comedian eugene mirman
'the will to whatevs' book tour
@ the brookline booksmith
thursday, february 26th
jimmy eat world
'clarity 10th anniversary tour'
@ the new house of blues
thursday, february 26th
blizten trapper
alela diane
@ the paradise
saturday, february 28th
swirlies!
gregory & the hawk
@ the middle east up
saturday, february 28th
fountains of wayne (acoustic)
everyday visuals (acoustic)
@ the paradise
saturday, march 7th
airborne toxic event
alberta cross
henry clay people
@ the paradise
wednesday, march 11th
fleetwood mac
@ the garden
saturday, march 14th
throwing muses
screaming females
50 foot wave
@ the middle east downstairs
saturday, march 14th
a.c. newman (new pornographers)
with dent may & his
magnificent ukulele
@ the paradise
sunday, march 29th
morrissey
@ the house of blues
visit tourfilter for more shows
Thursday, November 13, 2003
Teenage Comic Kicks : Unearthing the F.N.C.P.
 I was 14 years old, and neck deep in a comic-book obsession, in the summer of 1984.� Free time was wasted in the mall video arcade, or just across the street at Earth Prime, our Burlington, Vermont comic shop.� I spent many of these days with my friend Mike Barrett, and in a fit of summer-boredom / comics-enthusiasm, we started up a bi-weekly fanzine called The Friendly Neighborhood Comic Paper.� Almost 20 years ago.� Don't hold it against us.
It was pre-computers, of course... we had an old typewriter, no design experience, some barely-there writing ability, and Mike's formative drawing skills.� I remember hours of sitting on my bedroom floor, going through comic publisher press releases, coming up with stories, pecking at typewriter keys, putting together each issue with scissors and rubber cement.� Our headlines were horribly handwritten (no font size on typewriters), our borders were crooked, our photocopies were spotty and misaligned. � But hey, we were 14 and having fun.� (well, until I tried to transcribe a tape-recorded panel discussion from the Albany-Con comic convention ... that nearly cost me a hand). Looking back through these, after I stop laughing, I'm struck how much we learned as we went.� More content, better layout, bringing in friends to help, covering broader subjects (videogames included, of course).� I love the first time we got reader mail (two letters from our biggest fan, David Parker). I love how excited we were when we used a dot-matrix printer for the first time (asking our readers "So, what do you think?!"). I love that we traced comic illustrations but always made sure to put the copyright info next to 'em.� I love that we begged local business to buy ads that hardly anyone would ever see.� I love that we had 'competition' with Noel Lawrence's "Comicers Report" 'zine.� I love that our last issue had a huge 'preview' of a comic by our friends Greg Giordano and Mark Amidon, a comic that never even came out.� I love seeing the shift in my personal tastes from mainstream Marvel and DC books to stuff from "direct sales" publishers like Eclipse and Comico ("I have seen the light!" I shouted in one issue).� We're talking about the onset of hardcore early-stage geekery here, folks. After nine issues, the FNCP became "The Comics Informer" (copies of which seem to have been lost to the ages), which only lasted a couple of issues.� I don't think we ever did finish transcribing those Albany-Con recordings, though.� I'm sure our readership was devastated. So here they are... 8 issues (issue #6 is MIA) of The Friendly Neighborhood Comic Paper, digitized for your amusement.� Laugh with us, or laugh at us.� Either way, enjoy.� (let me know if any of the links are messed up. oh, and, sorry about this, Mike) |
 week of december 29th, 2008 dirty on purpose live at the middle east in cambridge, ma on october 11th, 2008 |
recent posts on the 'nac...
- Download: MBV Live in Boston 1989
- Tonight: Between a Rock & an Art Place II Opens
- Dunk the Vote : Go Adelina!
- Come Springtime: Ted Leo on DVD
- Boston gets The Animation Show
- The Office: Comedy for the Canine
- A Boston night for Elliott / Mp3 of the Week
- Sunday Various & Sundry
- Helloooo Google Deskbar
- Burger Bucks Bequeathed & A Fantastic Voyager
latest comments...
on the mp3 player
on the screen
on the nightstand
other boston-area music blogs
- anti-gravity bunny
- the ash gray proclamation
- aurgasm
- band in boston
- beginning to see the light
- clicky clicky
- drive blind
- enough cowbell
- exitfare
- forgotten disc friday
- the giant panther
- hip to be square
- los amigos de durutti
- melophobe
- morkelson
- new artillery
- onward charles
- pocket|trax
- ryan's smashing life
- soho the dog
- under 21 in boston
- under the rotunda
- zed equals zee
boston music media
boston live show info
music blogroll
- between thought & expression
- brainwashed
- brooklyn vegan
- captain's dead
- the catbirdseat
- cerulean's love of music
- chromewaves
- coolfer
- comets, stars, & moons
- donewaiting
- ear farm
- excellent online
- extrawack!
- fluxblog
- for the records
- gorilla vs. bear
- hard to find a friend
- harmonium
- heartache with hard work
- the hype machine
- i am fuel, you are friends
- idolator
- i guess i'm floating
- ijamming
- information leafblower
- junkmedia's world of sound
- kingblind
- lacunae
- largehearted boy
- the late greats
- leaky sparrow
- little hits
- more cowbell
- music for robots
- muzzle of bees
- my old kentucky blog
- pitchfork
- quick before it melts
- said the gramophone
- scenestars
- shake your fist
- sixeyes
- skatterbrain
- song, by toad
- the sound of indie
- stereogum
- too much rock
- the rawking refuses to stop
- too much rock
- unfinished
- yeti don't dance
music audiocasts
surf-worthy
- amie's flickr page
- andi's nonsequiturs
- bitter-girl
- brian wood
- bridget's journal
- ckelly's ink
- the dead part of you
- falfa's milk
- the great leap forward
- heath's media diet
- hedgehog's dilemma
- the icebox journals
- jim's flickr page
- jen's jenville
- jen's blossom
- joe sizzle's
- kimprobable
- march to the sea's musings
- marm0t's livejournal
- mickipedia!
- miller's memorables
- mishie's tear
- off on a tangent
- rsl's ostracons
- the shy turnip
- sooz's dot com
- steve's f.r.h.m.
frequent haunts
boston-centric
- boston.com
- boston phoenix
- boston online
- boston common
- boston blogs
- craigslist boston
- exploit boston!
- boston wireless
- surfacecity's boston
- tourfilter
- the middle east cafe
- tt the bears place
- the plan @ great scott's
- wmbr concert report
- wzbc concert report
- phoenix movie listings
- coolidge corner theater
- brattle theater
- red sox / dirt dogs
- sox: surviving grady
- patriots / go pats
- celtics
- mass pike traffic
( < | > random list )
some cele-bloggers
