Saturday, May 30, 2009

May 28: Cake! An interview with Steve Mason! An interview with Jack Locke! The poet who says: don't become a baker, do something else!





Jack Locke is an old friend who has baked in many different settings for many years.
Jack Locke is also a fabulous poet. We talked about baking for money, and love. Jack read some poems about baking. Its great!

Steve Mason is sometimes Red Velvet Cake. Steve Mason is sometimes apple pie. It just dependes. I interviewed Steve about decadence, cake, and identity. Steve is the tech coordinator at CFRU, and a great, thoughtful, eloquent speaker.

Steve emailed me a recipe for his favorite cake these days, red velvet cake.
Check it out, at http://pinchmysalt.com/2008/11/10/red-velvet-cake-recipe/

here's what steve says about this recipe:

"The only thing that I have trouble remembering to buy from the ingredients list is buttermilk.

The white cream cheese icing is important. It gives the whole cake a different persona. It's kind of fleshy actually."

next week: 100 butches with Elisha Lum!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

May 21: Mooswood Cookbooks are great! An interview with co-owner and collective member David Hirsch



David Hirsch inspired me go home and cook a great meal for my roomates. He is one of the 19 collective members and co-owners of Moosewood Restaurant, who have also made over 10 cookbooks. In this interview we talk about strategies for recipe development, and creative and logistic processes involved in developing a cookbook. David shares a favorite recipe and we talk about the Food Network on TV , and how Davids cooking style has changed in the last 30 or so years.

David was great to interview. I encourage everyone to go listen to this interview, and then either cook yourself a great meal, or hitch hike or drive to Ithaca, to eat at the Moosewood Restaurant.

Look for an archive of the show on www.cfru.ca , and if its been more than 6 weeks since this post, contact me and i'll mail you a copy of the interview! its so good!

next week: the cake panel!

Friday, May 15, 2009

May 14: Messy Baby! Messy Dog! An interview with Sarah Evans and Julie Hartley



Two sisters made a split zine about simple, make-able meals for Dogs and Babies. In this interview Sarah and Julia told me about the recent trend of fancy dog food and babyfood recipe books, and Sarah and Julie's share more reasonable recipes. We talk about why it makes sense to make baby food and dog food instead of buying it, and tricks to get your baby or dog to eat food they don't like. (yet)

This zine was completed in July 2008 as part of the 24 hour zine challenge at the Anchor Archive Zine Library in Halifax.
To find out more about the zine challenge, the zine library, or to order a copy of 'messy baby messy dog!' check out http://www.robertsstreet.org/n/

you can also order copies of the zine from Learning to Leave a Paper Trail Distro at http://www.papertraildistro.com/

listen to archives of this episode of 'these things that people make' on CFRU's archive page: http://www.cfru.ca/archive.php

and contact me if you want CD copies of any of the shows! I will mail them to you.
Thanks for listening!

Next Episode: An interview about Moosewood Cookbooks!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

May 7: The Story of The Mountain and the Cloud, an interview with Chris Yang about his latest kids book project


Chris Yang and I sat in his bedroom. We each brought some illustrated books most commonly market to children and talked about illustrated books that are about weather patterns, or objects or capitalism. Chris has just self published "The Story of The Mountain and the Cloud." Chris described the book, and at the very end, reads it.

It is priceless listening to Chris Yang read his book. It is highly recommended. Contact me for a copy of this edition of 'These Things that People Make' to hear our voices (and Chris Yang reading his book!). Email me at sarah.mangle@gmail.com

Chris Yang is a musician with a voice like a sad river, rolling through a busy city. Listen to his music at www.myspace.com/chrisyangchrisyang

April 30: Sew Dolls of Yourself! Alter clothes so they'll look fabulous: An Interview with Dave End


Dave End is a touring queer folk singer, originally from rural Maine (Now based in Philly). Dave End makes stuffed animals, and stuffed people, and stuffed portraits of himself. In our interview, Dave talks about his history of making fabric versions of himself, altering his own clothes, and outfits for dancing and a musical he is writing.

He talked about rad art school projects he did with fabric and panties and huggable walls. And we talked about DIY culture and Fat Actvitism, connecting all these things: queer performance, DIY projects, fat activism, and self love. We talked about how to make the things you can't find in the world. To just make them yourself.

Check out Dave End's music at www.myspace/daveend

Contact me if you want the audio interview! Its good! email me at sarah.mangle@gmail.com, and i will send it to you in the mail.

April 23: Performance Art with knitted Creatures. An Interview with Lin Hood




Lin felts little critters out of wool, and found things. They live around her house, and come out to play during performances. Lin composes fantastical, hilarious, dreamlike, and emotionally durable performance pieces. They blow me away.

In this interview, Lin talks about how artschool (NSCAD) led her away from using fabrics and fibres, and how friendships, and interesting people in her life led her back once she was done. She talks about her love of children's books, and their use in her process, and what she would do if she ran her own performance art workshop series.

Lin was a joy to interview... all the way in her beautiful apartment in Halifax.

Contact me if you want a CD copy of the interview. Sarah.Mangle@gmail.com

April 16: Knit your own Beard! An interview with Rebecca Singer


This interview was so extremely inspiring! Rebecca is so rad! She made a zine about kniting beards, and she also cuts hair!
I was so happy and excited to interview Rebecca. We talked about knitting beards. We talked about advice on hair cutting. And we made good plans for the future. Rebecca's beard zine is one of my favorite zines. Picture people biking in winter with beards!

Think of all the beards you can make... and then email me to get a copy of this interview! you will love it. you will start knitting beards right way.

April 9: My interview with Jane Mangle (my mom) about Knitting Zines, and other advice


My mom has been knitting for over 40 years. She has a lot of good advice. Plus she's a great person. In this interview, she talked about some knitting zines, and blogs she found useful, her history with knitting and advice for beginning knitters. Mom also talked a little bit of her understanding of the history of gender and knitting, and the importance of knitting clubs, and how to start one.

This interview is a heart warmer. Let me know if you want a copy.

April 2: Chad and Super Rick T present their kazine article:"ARC Industries and Torchlight: Job training or Slave Labour?

Super Rick T wrote this article in the latest Kazine (a local edited collage of poetry, images and writing, that is made in Guelph):

"ARC Industries and Torchlight: Job Training or Slave Labour?
Part One

There are work placements that people with special needs and seniors
with special needs work at called Torchlight and ARC Industries (aka
Adult Rehabilitative Centre). Torchlight only pays their workers
$0.20 an hour, ARC Industries only pays $0.70 an hour. I think this
is slavery. I think they should pay the same as a regular work
placement, or at the very least substantially more than these slave
wages.

These placements are funded by the government who gives disability
pensions to people who need them. I've heard one of the possible
reasons the wages are so low is so that the earnings of the employees
won't be high enough to affect their pension. If a person with
special needs has a part time job they get $0.50 taken off their
pension for every dollar they make at their job so the less they make
the less will be taken off. But a person with special needs would be
better served to get paid more cause they would still be up $0.50 and
get motivated to work more maybe. Paying them such little amounts is
degrading and is sort of exploiting them.

When i did a telephone interview with ARC Industries they told me
the reason why they pay so low is because it's a training allowance,
not a wage. I think that's nonsense. The lady I spoke to was very
rude to both me and my friend Boston when we spoke on the phone to
them. They tried to get rid of us right away, then tried to pass us
off to an extension that was a dead end, and then finally talked to us
but not before saying we better keep it short. I've also heard that
some of the supervisors there are rude to the workers and not very
patient which seems believable after how we were treated on the phone.

Another problem is that some people who work there will never go on
to work somewhere else. So ARC saying that they don't pay a wage and
instead a training allowance is bogus because some of the people
aren't even being trained to move onto anywhere else. I realize these are
the only work placements for some people to work at but at least the
supervisors could be a little more patient and kind.

This issue is complicated and I know ARC Industries and Torchlight
have a lot of pros and cons so I will further explore and research to
figure out more what is going on. I plan to do a second more in depth
interview with them before the next kazine that is why this is just
part one of this article.'

They came on the show, and read the article, and discussed their experiences and impressions of Torch Light and Arc Industries. The article is great. And Both Chad and Rick are clear and thoughtful in their approach of the issues they address.
What really stuck with me from the article was the importance of respect for disabled people to speak for themselves. There has clearly been a severe lack of consultation from the folks who are employed at Torchlight and Arc Industries, and using their programs, as to how things could improve.

Let me know if you want a copy of this interview.

March 26: Kerri and Chelle talk about "Nailbiter: an Anxiety Zine"


'Nailbiter: An Anxiety Zine' was my zine catch of last year's Montreal Anachist Bookfair. My favorite. Its precious material, and composition as well as smart vulnerable useful content is essential heartbreaking and heartwarming. I love it. I love this zine. And after talking with Kerri and Chelle about it in this interview, I got more excited for the new issue thats being put together right now.

Kerri and Chelle do a really good job in this interview, of laying out their process. They talk about the lack of resources for folks who have anxiety, and their desire to make a really beautiful zine compilation discussing anxiety. You should really just listen to the interview. (just ask, and i will mail you a copy!)

We sat down on their couch in their apartment in Montreal, and I held a copy of the zine between us. There were cats running around.

Kerri and Chelle are both eloquent, honest and charming. They do good work. They are a part of the St Emile Skillshare.
Check it out: http://snap.mahost.org/distro/

Saturday, May 9, 2009

March 12: Cecilia, Helene, Jasmine, and I discuss ‘Identity Crisis: Punk Community and Subculture” a zine edited by Jen Lorang


Jen Lorang's 'Identity Crisis: Punk Subculture and Community' is a zine I would love to have 100 copies of all the time. And just hand it out to people at shows, at work, at my house. It seemed to come at a very good time in my life, and in the lives of our friends.

Its a zine that compiles many interviews, and beautiful portraits of the people being interviewed about what Punk Culture and Punk Community means to them, and has meant to them in the past. There are many discussions about RiotGrrl, disability and identity, sexual assault, patriarchy, queer identity, and spirituality.

On 'These Things That People Make' we had a panel of 3 folks who live here in Guelph with various relationships to punk: Cecilia, Helene and I, and we were joined over the phone with Jasmine from Halifax, who had originally introduced me to the zine.

We discuss what resonated for us about the zine. The relationship the images had to the interviews, racism and sexism in punk communities, and what we appreciate about DIY and Punk ideas.

It seemed fitting to have a group of people discuss a zine that is very much about bringing people together to talk in depth about our experiences with the culture and language of Punk stuff. What we love. What we want to keep, and what we are frusterated with.

You can find 'Identity Crisis: Punk Subculture and Community' at various zine libraries all over the place. I ordered my copy online, at Microcosm Publishing:http://microcosmpublishing.com/

Let me know if you want a copy of this episode of 'These Things that People Make! I'd love to send it to you!'

March 5: AJ Withers: If I Can't Dance, Is It Still My Revolution?



AJ Withers is the author of “If I Can’t Dance is it still my Revolution”, and is a disabled anti-poverty activist living in Toronto. AJ is a prolific artist, activist, and writer.

We met in a friends house, in Toronto and talked about their zine project 'If I can't Dance Is it Still My Revolution', and its shift to being an online resource. You can find it at http://still.my.revolution.tao.ca

We talked about the limits of zine distribution, and AJ's history with making zines. We also talked about Damn 2025, and the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and AJ's upcoming website launch in Toronto, featuring Eli Claire.

Check out http://still.my.revolution.tao.ca for more info on Damn 2025, http://www.ocap.ca/ for more info about OCAP,
and http://eliclare.com/ for more info about Eli Claire.

And as always, let me know if you want me to email you or mail you a copy of this interview

February 17: Doris Zine and Otis and Otis!




CINDY CRABB: a DORIS ZINE, SUPPORT ZINE , and LEARNING GOOD CONSENT interview

Cindy Crabb's Doris is a very important zine series to me. Doris is a difficult zine to describe, and its been around for at least 10 years. There are hand-drawn comics. Book reviews. Personal stories. Frank discussions of sexual assault and other hard things about patriarchy. We talked about Doris, and we talked about 'Support Zine' and 'Learning Good Consent'. We also talked about Cindy's performance projects.

check out www.dorisdorisdoris.com for more details about her projects. You can also write to her atCindy Crabb, PO Box 29 Athens Ohio 45701

JENNY MITCHELL/ JENNY OMINCHORD: Otis and Otis go to the moon!

Jenny and talked about her kid's book project Otis and Otis, featuring Otis, her child and Otis, her rat. Jenny makes fantastic collages. We also talked about other trends in kids books, and kids books that she loves. Jenny Omnichord is a fabulous local guelph one-woman omnichord band. Check out her music at: www.myspace.com/jennyomnichord