Reviews

• We got a 4-star gold rating from Netguide. They Said, "Oxymoronically dubbed, "Ye Olde One Stop Alternative Culture Shoppe" is an online morph of the Seattle-area alternative newspaper. It covers art, books, music, and culture, all refracted through an "alternative" sensibility. Original and twisted works of fiction and poetry are thrown in as an extra measure. Some parts defer rather steeply to a de rigueur spirit of airheaded recklessness, as in the dimwitted dialogue foisted on the reader in the music-review section. For the most part, however, Unit Circle shrewdly unites the boisterous wit of Wired with the streetwise discontent of underground comix and zines. One suggestion: 'twould be nice to see a wee bit less emphasis on entertainment and, likewise, more space devoted to some form of political commentary."

• Hey, we were reviewed in the July issue of "The Net" a paper magazine covering on-line stuff. They said "Unit Circle: Zine with cool graphics and essays on everything from world change to comics." Obviously they only checked out issue #4.

• Factsheet Five #57 said of Issue #5, "A zine of off-kilter writing that seems to be moving away from its quirkier beginnings to focus more on new literary works. I enjoyed the strange fiction of Leland Ray. He gave us a weird story of Jim Bowie in a New Orleans airport with all sorts of anachronisms and impossibilities in the background. There are rollerskating nuns, Esperanto, General Santa Ana; it's a little creepy at times. We also get a couple book reviews and an interview with Mike Watt." I don't remember interviewing Mike Watt, but Mike, if you ever want to call me, I'm here.

• One of my favorite magazines, Plazm, reviewed our Issue #5 in their Issue #10: "You could go cheaper for a little less entertainment with The Unit Circle (#5): for only $2 p.pd you get a pretty thin and useless looking zine, but if you peak inside, you'll see that the writing is actually kinda friendly and fun. The World-Wide Web is in full effect here; it looks like the couple of pieces of fiction and poetry were nabbed from cyberspace. The only obvious weakness besides the low budget quality us that it's too thin (14 pages). If it was beefed up a little, it could be way cooler." Well, actually it's only $1 p.pd. for the paper issues. Look for #6 to be a lot bigger!