4.09.2008

Scam #5 - Old News Reviews

Five years have passed since our country started its latest war on Iraq. This issue of Erick Lyle's ongoing zine focuses mostly on his adventures in the time around the early bombings and I couldn't help reading it as a historical piece. Total shutdown of San Francisco's financial district seems like a distant memory if not fantasy now. As distant as they felt to staid old me, I love reading Lyle's stories of breaking locks, starting squats, graffiting, and generally fucking shit up. (My favorite old Scam was when he handed out fake Starbucks coupons providing free lattes to the people of San Francisco.) This issue also includes interviews with local mural and graffiti artists and with the founder of the Coalition on Homelessness. Lyle has a "real" book coming out from Soft Skull Press called On the Lower Frequencies: A Secret History of the City. Until then, I'm not sure where to recommend you look for back issues of Scam. I found mine at the Piedmont branch of the Oakland Library.

punks not dead.jpg
Photo of Erick Lyle's Reagan memorial from Gordonzola

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