-
Update: Issue Two Submissions
Wow. A big thank you to everyone who sent in their art and story pitches. If you were one of those people, we should have gotten back to you by now. If we haven’t, please email us again. .
Email inboxes are like dark caves you can’t find your way out of, except the walls are made of terrible system architecture and counter-intuitive reply functions, and we are often very confused. So please, don’t think we’ve just forgotten you.
If you’ve sent in a written submission (creative work, journalism, diary of a teenaged werewolf) we’ll get back to you once the final deadline closes at the end of the month. This means that if you have a creative work, piece of journalism or diary of a teenaged werewolf you think we should read, you can still send it in for a limited time only. The reasoning behind this madness is to allow those who pitched their work to submit final pieces to the same deadline.
Then again, you can find a reason for almost any madness.
-
Sailing for Trash
I come from a thrifty family. Our motto was always ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ – it may as well have been inscribed on our family crest. Growing up, Saturday morning meant trawling the Weekend Shopper for garage sale listings within an hour’s distance from our house. We’d each take a few dollars and high hopes of what we might uncover in a stranger’s carport.
When I was eight or nine, I found toys others had outgrown for only fifty cents. They were always cherished more because I felt I’d rescued them from a mess of unwanted junk. Later, as a self-conscious teen, I’d be scared to get out of the car in case I saw someone I knew from school. I was quickly lured out with the promise of cheap vintage finds my mother’s hawk eye often spotted. Some weekends were more lucrative than others, but it didn’t matter if we came home empty handed. It was the nature of the hunt.
Now, some five years since I last garage sailed with my family, the seas seem to have dried up. Driving through the Brisbane suburbs neighbouring my own, there’s a distinct lack of tatty cardboard signs advertising ‘MEGA BARGAINS’ and sausage sizzles. Is it because we can now list any unwanted bits and bobs on Gumtree or eBay without much hassle? Are we less inclined to invite strangers into our personal space – even if it’s just the front lawn or garage?
For her part, my mum is clinging to her pricing guns. We weren’t just prolific garage sailors in the buying sense; we’ve hosted our fair share, too. After each of them, we’d collapse on the living room floor and swear them off for life. As we hauled our left over goods to the local Salvos, we’d curse the insensitive bastards who inevitably showed up at five in the morning demanding to be let in. There would also be amazing stories to share.
My mum’s last garage sale was just over a week ago. She met far-flung neighbours with hushed tales of the Man Who Once Lived at This House and his various exploits. Apparently, the place is most definitely a candidate for an exorcism. They shook hands with the owner of the local corner store and joked about the crafty person who took the entire giveaway box in one fell swoop.
It might be easier to hock your sofa online and pretend your neighbours don’t exist, but it’s nowhere near as satisfying as helping carry it to the van of lady who tells you she’s been looking for “just that colour” to match her decor.
If you’re a collector of anything from vintage gloves to Dr Who memorabilia, you know how readily you can source your fix with nothing but an internet connection and a credit card. But finding something unique – something you simply must have – while the previous owner regales you with the story of how it came to be here, in this garage, on this plastic chair, marked as five dollars? No online buying experience comes close to that. Even op shopping doesn’t have provide the same connection on a community level as this form of impromptu micro-enterprise.
Just as I was lamenting the loss of this bargain hunting tradition, in rides a knight in slightly battered, but good working condition armour. Garage Sale Trail is a nationwide initiative connecting garage sailors and buyers that’s focused on sustainability and community. The trail takes place on May 5, with home sales and community fundraising markets across the country.Check out the listings for your area at www.garagesaletrail.com.au. If you see me at a sale counting my silver coins this weekend, please forgive any scratches or evil eyes I might give you over cheap Tupperware. Old bargain hunting habits die hard.
-
Pitch deadline for issue two has been extended to April 30th, because we’re nice.
If you’re also nice, you might consider sending us some of your creative fruits. We could be a perfect match.
Drop a line to editor@runrabbitmagazine.com, won’t you?
-
Books and brews
Did you know it’s officially the Year of Reading? It all seems a bit cruel in a year that’s seeing even more bookstores shut their doors. It seems a little late when babies think print publications are merely iPads that don’t work. But still, it gets us thinking of the groaning bookshelf known as our ‘to-read’ list and how we should really spend less time playing Angry Birds and more time getting to know the classics, of all the wonderful if not quite as tactile methods of engaging with literature we have available to us today. How satisfying it is to sip cheap wine while taking in rich, beautifully crafted stories.
In an initiative officially launched yesterday, the Federal Government would like to remind us all that reading for a few hours a month can open up our minds. If this were 1992 and we were surly teens we would say something like ‘no durr’. However, they have created a wonderful program of events centered on the love of the written word, and how we, as readers, can share it with the world. So as surly young adults, we’re not complaining. From reading for children with no other than Mem Fox, to competitions for creative types to promote their favourite reads, it’s a jam-packed program of cheap and free events we’re pretty excited to exploit for another eleven-and-a-half months.
Interestingly, they’ve caught onto something we’ve been noticing around the place; reading as an indulgence, as a big middle finger to fleeting modern culture. They’re asking us to get ‘caught’ reading, to snap a picture of us reading in the most inappropriate of places. It makes me feel risqué, instead of responsible for my failing eyesight, to admit I walk down the street with my nose in a book, catching glimpses of the pages underneath infrequent street light. It’s the closest I’m ever going to get in this information age to the feeling of devouring banned literature. Or what I assume that would feel like. So, pick up that paperback and get back in the swing; just don’t get caught (or do, you devil, you)! Check out the program of events to find one that tickles your fancy.
Photo thanks to Free Press.
-
Thank you and we’re sorry
We’re so happy with the response to issue one so far, it’s given us a real kick in the bum for the next issue ‘life, the universe and everything’. Thank you to everyone who’s had a read or passed it on. Keep letting us know what you think! If you haven’t had a looksie, it’s online here.
Also, the email fairies dropped the ball on our brand spankin’ new address editor@runrabbitmagazine.com - they have very tiny wings, you know. It’s up and working now but our apologies to anyone who has tried to contact us recently and gotten a very unfriendly bounce-back message. We love you, really and we promise the internet is back in it’s little black box and ready to deliver messages from far and wide.
Thanks to www.kunochan.com for the image and for Jen from the I.T Crowd for making us feel slightly better about our technological failures.
-
Issue One - ‘Seedling’
Welcome to Run, Rabbit’s first issue.‘Seedling’
Inside you’ll find tales of growing-up, home gardening, creatives, foodies, compassionate folk, new fiction, things for little ones, start-ups, craft, culture, inspiration and debate. With a big thanks to our fantastic contributors :
Megan Greaney, Sonya Harris, Stephen Lehane Smith, Dominique Belle Tam, Jack Vening, Nick Wiggins
You may have noticed there are no ads lurking in between the pages. That’s because everyone involved with making this magazine has done it purely for the love of it, which is something truly special in itself. We hope to pay our contributors for their work in the future, but for now, we’re relying on their generosity and their insatiable need to create.
We hope you enjoy the read, and we’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback here.
-
Oh my cats.
We’re so close to putting out the first issue of Run, Rabbit, so so close. In fact, it’ll be landing on your computer screens on January 3rd, 2012. That is, if the cats don’t get us first.
We keep getting caught up on procatinator, looping over GIFs of kittens punching in time to Eye of the Tiger. This is undoubtedly the most amazing of them all. To make matters worse, the live-in resident feline, George has taken to biting and scratching at any moving limbs. We just can’t catch a break.
So, when we need to get some work done we motivate ourselves by using writtenkitten.net. Everytime you meet your selected word count they treat you to a cute cat picture. We’re sure this’ll come in handy in January when the post-holiday blues kick in.
-
Death by Derby
It took me a while but I finally made it to the Roller Derby. What a game it was! Sorry for being so behind the ball on this one, but wow! Those girls are fierce.
Seattle’s Rat City Roller Girls went up against Queensland’s two highest-ranking teams over the weekend, and Victorian players earlier last week. The Rat City girls were simply amazing athletes; skilled and accurate.
If there’s one sport Australia needs more of, it’s roller derby. What other contact sport allows strong women the leading role and promotes diversity while bringing people together? I’ve never felt at home at a football match and never cared for soccer. Brutal chicks on skates - that I can get behind!
If you haven’t already, for the love of all that is derby, check out http://rollerderbyau.net/ to find your home team. You never know, you might even want to try out for fresh meat!
Meanwhile Run, Rabbit’s first issue is so close to finished it makes me pee my pants a little. Keep your eyes peeled!
Photo thanks to Roller Derby AU.
-
fancy dress
What is it about putting on a mask and adopting a new persona that we love so much? With Halloween (I know, it’s so un-Australian) at the end of the month and the annual Zombie Walk marching back into town on the 23rd, I can’t help but over analyse the phenomenon. It’s what I do best.
So; is it the freedom we feel when we’re not ourselves for the night? Or is it just fun to play dress ups?
Some of us probably just like dressing up as zombies because it beats going out in painful heels and boring dresses. Perhaps the increasing number of us adopting the traditions of Halloween is just a sign of our Americanisation. But I say the reason isn’t important. It’s all about planning the perfect disguise. Pulling bits and pieces from your wardrobe, digging out the rest from op-shops and watching it all come together on the day. There’s always ‘sexy nurse’ or ‘ghost’ (white sheet with eye holes) if you get stuck, but what’s the fun in that?
Supanova Pop Culture Expo is back at the beginning of November, and with it comes some of the most spectacular cosplay in the country. There’s something more to cosplay than it’s name - costume play - suggests. It’s a way to bring a community together, celebrate your favourite characters and to get more involved with what you love.
Do you cosplay, or ’celebrate’ Halloween? What do you get out of it? Do you dress up as someone - or something - that reflects your personality, or the direct opposite?
-
Warm and fuzzy internetz
The internet gets a bad rap, but for all the stalking and phishing scams there’s still some good out there. For example, new initiative http://ziilch.com/ where you can join the free movement and give up (or get given) unwanted goods. With the ability to search by postcode, it’s a bit like an online version of neighbourhood bin-diving in the name of freeganism but you get to keep your hands clean.
What about the ability of charities to accept instant donations from around the world to aid causes such as the East Africa Crisis?
Bookcrossing is another sneaky way the net has connected global communities - in this case, through the love of books and old fashioned treasure hunts. Take your favourite book next time you travel, register it, and leave it for the next person to fall in love with. Or why not drop it down at the bus stop and provide a fellow commuter with something longer than MX to read?
It’s always nice to see people coming together online for a bigger cause than to like a page called “If you’re feeling down, here’s a picture of a shaved llama” and if you look hard enough, there are as many bright, useful spots as there are dark, pointless ones. Sorry, slow movement. I’m not ready to give up on this crazy ‘computer’ thing, yet.
Picture from icanhazcheezeburger.com.
