Much to my surprise and chagrin, I discovered that Mills End Cafe has closed. This is the café that quietly existed near the end of Mill proper (for those who actually wander all the way down to the Tempe Fake Lake.) It served a multitude of cultural resources from poetry nights to open air mic and other extremely wonderful venues. The coffee certainly seemed overpriced at times, but the nature of the company made the place more than worth it Friday and Saturday nights.
Seeing yet another cornerstone of Mill Ave culture vanish in a puff of smoke is not fun.
However, there have been other advances in actually bringing more people to the Ave.
This also comes on the heels of the light rail exit being installed there. It struck me that Mills End had been positioned quite nicely to capture traffic from the newly touted light rail, but apparently not enough to keep it alive. A great deal of food and retail outlets on Mill have been suffering from a reduction of interest due to the Tempe Marketplace. Although, I haven’t seen enough reports on their closure to know exactly the nature of their demise.
I will try to outline some of the other new people and things that have appeared amidst us in the meantime. Change has been too much nostalgia here.
The reason why I've gone silent suddenly, even though this is publishing season, is because my day job got strange one me. Well, that's finally resolved itself and I'm pretty much without a job.
This will not affect the online publication of future Vexations volumes. You can expect at least Volumes 13 and 14 this year. Perhaps two more on top of those, but they're not entirely ready and due to my sudden fiscal crisis, I don't quite have the time to prepare two more.
There are about five volumes left in the full arc, so we're almost at the very end.
Thanks for sticking around everyone, I will keep everything updated.
Guess what my peeps! Just as soon as I can get my cab -- or "chariot" as Gary calls it -- back from the garage I'm headed down to the printers to grab Volume 13 hot off the presses!
So, if you can find me or one of my benefactors on Mill Ave tonight there will be booklets to hand out.
The story of how all this started to go down is a sad one too. I've been stretched thin by work, a little bit of illness, and a bit of melancholy, but this has fortunately not gotten in the way of this print.
I may end up having only 2-3 new volumes this year due to these complications, and the arc looks like it has about 5 volumes left (including 13.) So keep an eye out.
Note, I still have more side stories to publish, specifically the Arsenal stories that might see the light of day in print form if people are interested, such as The Byzantium Outcast and The Holocaust Star but meanwhile I am pouring most of my energy into Black Hat Magick.
I am posting this because volumes are supposed to come out during the middle of the month (before the 15th) and I haven't gotten it printed today, which means it'll miss this weekend...
Although, it will be printed before the 15th, but that's not the point.
However! ... How-evar, this should point out that it will indeed be available and in print next weekend.
Oh yeah, and ... I just got the box of comics. There are a very limited number. I am selling them personally (signed) $5 a piece. If you want one, contact me by whatever means necessary. Telepathy, magick circle, computer wizardry (e-mail), telephone phreakery. Whatever.
Alright. So, I am still waiting on the internal graphics, but once I have them I should be able to take this to print. This is my preliminary work on the cover that I've been fiddling with.
MILL AVENUE VEXATIONS Volume 13: Whispers in the Darkness
We've got some discussions to be had about what to do with Darlene, whatever oddities are going down in Phoenix and Tempe proper. And possibly some soul searching. So, I've got Patrick and Vex on the cover.
The back cover is some awesome artwork by my friend Lemmy, who I am crediting above. Go check her stuff out.
Buckle your seat-belts, everyone! The winter printing season is underway and we're in the final arc.
And remember, "Sometimes, you just have to shut up and drive."
Guess what my peeps! Just as soon as I can get my cab -- or "chariot" as Gary calls it -- back from the garage I'm headed down to the printers to grab Volume 13 hot off the presses!