Austin Fanzine Project

Geek weekly #4

(Photocopied Drawing of a pilot) Fighting. We just Keep on fighting.

Inside...

Foreign Lands: - San Francisco - The Midwest - New York City - Memphis City of Rock (or is that rock city?) - Columbia, Missouri

Interviews: - Railroad Jerk - Teen Titans1,4,5's - The Think Fellers Union Local 282

Plus: - Art - Cooking Tips - Crap - Blah - Blah - Blah - Blah

Table of Contents

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 an interview by susan and steve.....................1

Memphis, Tennessee jennifer's road trip journal...........................10

Rekkerd Reviews ...........................................16

Minnesota, Chicago and the Grifters Jennifer keeps on travelin'............................18

From the Musty Basement of... ...Steve Deconstructionalist..............................23

An Open Letter To Michael Corcoran Jason Trent flies off the handle.......................24

Nickerson Goes West another failed attempt to escape..........................29

Columbia Breeze a Missouri college scene report......................33

Jackie Takes Manhattan New York as Seen through the eyes of a Louisiana native................................36

Gourmet Cookin' two recipes and hot cookin' tips.........................38

Print Reviews ...........................................40

Railroad Jerk an interview by susan ...............................41

1,4,5s and Teen Titans an interview by susan ...............................49

Tomato Time..............................................57

[clip art of dictionary illustration for 'beavers': "Beavers 1. beaver raised 2. beaver closed"]]

Thursday, 22 June 1995

We woke up just before 4am, and took off up I-35. It felt great to be going 70mph away from Austin. We kept going until we got to the trusty Waffle House just south of Dallas on I-35E. We ordered the all-you can-eat breakfasts, but for the first time in my life, were in too much of a hurry to get where we were going to dig around for jukebox change. (But I highly recommend Waffle House jukeboxes which are novel musical treats with songs on them like, "Hash Browns'n'Biscuits.")

I'll spare you lots of roadtrip detail here... We got to Memphis at about 8pm. Finally. Home of the Blues. Birthplace of Rock'n'Roll. Musi cal Mecca. Cool fuckin' town. Being the exhausted motor vehicle operators we were, we proceeded directly to the first motel on our Memphis Hard Luck Motel Tour. This particular Motel 6 was the sorriest motel I'd ever stayed in and Susan hated it even more than I did. Still, I was happy to collapse on the bed for a few seconds, get a shower and consume some wretched Chinese-type food at the too-convenient-to-be-true restaurant across the street.

Refreshed, we called some people we knew in town to see what was up for the evening and we ended up going down to the P&H Cafe (it stands for Poor & Hungry). The place is owned and run by a woman named Wanda who was once a truck driver and has a supporting role in Teenage Tupelo. SHe looks like a distorted Dolly Parton and was very hospitable and kind. We had a good time relaxing, drinking beer and shootin' the shit with Tripp and "his people"--the P&H is a favorite hangout.

Friday, 23 June 1995

Friday morning we had breakfast at Brother Juniper's College Inn this badass place that Tripp had given us directions to. Next we stopped by Shangri-la Records, one of the best record stores in the universe, which is run by a fellow by the name of Sherman who also runs the Shangri-la Records (the label) and who is therefore responsible for

Geek Weekly #6

"flying on a weird gust since 1994."

[image: photo, black lab pup lying in grass]

Michael Corcoran Interview Memphis Man Drinks Liquid Nitrogen

fucking time. Someone even thrust tambourines into our hands at one point.

All three nights pretty much went like that. Since a girl travels faster when she travels alone — and I'm nothing if not fast — it was a new experience to have company in Memphis. Ever since our esteemed editor Jennifer La settled down, got married and started having kids [one boyfriend, one dog —ed.], she hasn't been able to go with me on my little trips. But this time I had other folks to show me around, to take to Ellen's soul food, the AmVets Thrift Store, Schwab's Dry Goods and Neely's BBQ. And we even went out for a night of dancing at Green's Lounge with Scott Bomar and Mike Tole. Green's Lounge was this truly nasty blues dive where we saw Wilroy Sanders play. There's usually a few white folks there, but it's generally populated by neighborhood types, older black folks drinking, dancing and macking — the same shit we do on a Saturday night, but with better music. You're served Budweiser in quart bottles with paper cups and can bring in your own hard stuff and buy a set-up. Margaret brought in some vodka and got fuckin' trashed, Andrea danced with every guy that asked, and my purse got stolen — par for the fuckin' course if you ask me. What a great night.

I can't explain how much I love listening to the music you find in these spots in Memphis. It inspires vastly conflicting feelings. On the one hand, I'm terribly grateful It's still around for me to hear and it makes me feel right at home. On the other, I feel no better then some cultural tourist who gets to pop in and listen for a while, then say "Wow, fellas, thanks for living the underprivileged life so's we could hear those snappy tunes! See Ya!" That liberal guilt sure was eased by having my purse stolen, though, I can tell you that. Oh, Green's Lounge burnt down last year, RIP.

JUNE 1997

A few years ago, Jennifer La and I attended the first Dixie Fried fest in Memphis and I've managed to hit all three now. Sadly, this year's Dixie Fried was the last time I got to hear Junior