COMPLETE TITLE: Maps to The Other Side: the adventures of a bipolar cartographer
topics included in this book:
seed saving, mental health advocacy, freight trains, squatter lifestyle, biodiesel mechanics
…
Monsanto, Hormel, Del Monte. Three easily recognized names in most grocery stores, and yet what do these companies really represent to you? To some people, it’s just the biggest food companies in America today. To conspiracy minded people, these 3 companies represent an attempt toward enslavement of the human race. The author of this book and many other people would go with the second one. Indeed, such innocent activities as seed saving, organic gardening, and CSA (community supported agriculture) are revolutionary acts in the age of GMOs and mono-crop agriculture on the industrial level. And the food you grow from seed tastes better than what’s in the grocery store too!
Another main focus of this book is about dealing with bipolar disorder in this crazy world and accounts from the authors own life of insane manias and bone-chilling depressions. This could be very helpful to those who deal / suffer with the same issues.
Influenced by the author’s own counter-culture (see punk) roots and mental frame, Sascha DuBrul has become seed-saving revolutionary and mental health activist. Along with help from other comrades, he has established two organizations in the San Francisco / Oakland / Berkeley area to help enrich the communities he is a part of. The first is the Icarus Project, a peer to peer forum for those dealing with / suffering from emotional and mental difficulties. The other is BASIL (Bay Area Seed Interchange Library), dedicated to the preservation of organic bio-diversity and open pollinated fruits / veggies. Members of BASIL also partake in urban guerilla gardening, and inspire others around the world. Sascha Altman DuBrul has been a regular contributor to zines such as Slug & Lettuce, and played bass on NYC band Choking Victim’s first EP Crack Rock Steady.
MICROCOSM PUBLISHING: http://microcosmpublishing.com/
ICARUS PROJECT: www.theicarusproject.net
BASIL: http://basilseedlibrary.com/
First I wanted to be clear that this review is for the 2nd edition(the first edition is pictured here), but for some reason a good quality photo was hard to find. The second edition includes 20+ more pages of new material. Whether or not you ever hung out in train years or hopped a train, this is a very entertaining read that due, to the zine format, never drags out. There’s also a ton of photos of hobos, bums and tramps(and little guides to tell the difference) and the graffiti on trains done by them and rail yard employees. A constant theme throughout is the real identity of the freightcar graffiti artist who came up with the Bozo Texino tag. Lots of speculation in interviews and letters written by current and past rail yard employees and clips from old train industry magazines. It’s a fun read that you don’t really have to do in any particular order for it to be informative and interesting. Perfect backpack book. (Jake)
FULL TITLE: Why We Drive: The Past, Present, and Future of Automobiles in America, by Andy Singer.