The theme of this issue is Elephants and the Media. There isn’t much one can do to defend that except see how it works out. In this case, it works out pretty well. Not too much overlap: elephant stories, media stories. Highlights include a “Safety Animal vs. Elmer” double spread (Safety Animal is a much, much, angrier elephant”), and Sherwin Tjia’s “20 Haikus You Can Kiss To” – “I smell odd things and/sometimes odd things/smell me”. There is also the requisite mainstream media monopoly as rogue elephant out of control article, ably done by Jesse Hirsh, as it takes us further into the whole issue of convergence and how it will be used against us. Elephant pics, fiction, poetry, all in a very crisp, clean, inviting package. Kiss Machine number 2 proves that this zine is here to stay! (Hal Niedzviecki)
zine, #2, 52 pgs, $3.50, Emily, Paola, Jessica (editors), 18 Virtue St., Toronto, ON, M6R 1C2