LOC for MarkTime #140

The following is a letter of comment sent to Mark Strickert, editor of MarkTime, commenting on #140.

Dear Mr. Strickert:

Last night’s reading was my first exposure to your fanzine MarkTime, and I wanted to write a letter of hello and how do you do. Rialto’s not too far away from me in the Los Angeles area, but the closest I’ve found myself to you is in San Bernardino while on my way up into the mountains to a Scout camp near Lake Arrowhead. It’s good to know there’s a fellow fan and fanzine guy out that way! I enjoyed MarkTime’s mix of personal, travel, and public transit commentary.

I am glad your son has been able to avail himself of punk and hard rock records and T-shirts at local record stores such as Amoeba, Doctor Strange, and Penny Lane Records. If you ever find yourself in Fullerton and other parts Orange County, I’d check out Black Hole Records, Radiation Records (great for punk, hardcore, and metal), Left of the Dial Records, and White Rabbit Music (formerly Burger Records). And closer to west LA, I enjoy Headline Records (also great for punk and hardcore), Record Surplus, and Timewarp Records.

While you were in Portland, I’m glad you got to stop by Powell’s Books and Microcosm Publishing. And even though you felt your acquisition of The Zinester’s Guide to Portland would have been welcome earlier, I’m glad you picked it up—as well as Xerography Debt, which has reviewed some of my non-sf zines over the years. You should consider sending in MarkTime for review! (Some of my online writing was included in Microcosm’s Zinester's Guide to NYC, courtesy of Ayun Halliday, who does a great little minicomic/zine titled The East Village Inky, which is also worth checking out.) I love it when my involvement in sf and other zines intersects.

Your transit riding and rail fanning in Oceanside, Carlsbad, and San Diego made me slightly jealous. I need to do more of that. I am not at all surprised to see Fred Argoff of Brooklyn! zine fame in your letter column. He’s published some of my non-sf writing, as well. Worlds collide.

Argoff’s August 2021 letter of comment resonated with me. Even though I only lived in New York City briefly, I was more of a Mets fan than a Yankees fan, and since moving to southern California, I’ve been hard pressed to find a baseball team to follow actively—largely because of the Dodgers’ relocation, which far predated my time in Brooklyn. The closest I’ve come is minor league, specifically the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes out your way, but this year I’m trying to remain aware of the Angels. My attention has already drifted. It was also fun seeing missives from John Hertz, a fellow LASFS and APA-L member, and Lloyd Penney, whose letterhacking I can only aspire to.

Your mention of Retro TV reminded me of MeTV, which I watch on cable, and Pluto TV, which I watch online, as well as on our smart TV. Using the pseudonym Cathode Ray, I write a television column for the National Fantasy Fan Federation’s FanActivity Gazette newszine called “Rabid Ears.” You might get a kick out of it. I’ll send you the most recent edition with this LOC.

Well, that’s all for now. Plenty of overlapping interests, and I look forward to future issues. Next time you come to west LA to walk along the now-vacant cable car corridors, let me know.