OVO

OVO 15









Italy / Japan / Netherlands / Russia Spain / Serbia / Uruguay / United Kingdom / United States







1

OVO 15

SPERM edited by Trevor Blake

http://www.ovo127.com/

P. O. Box 2321, Portland OR 97208-2321 USA

Public Domain Availability

The person or persons who have associated their work with OVO is always available free of charge on the Internet at the lo-

these documents (the "Dedicators") hereby dedicate the entire cation listed above. Printed or digital versions of OVO may be

copyright in the works of authorship of OVO (the "Work") to the available for free or for a charge from the postal address listed

public domain. Dedicators make this dedication for the benefit of above, or from other sources. The Internet and postal addresses

the public at large and to the detriment of the Dedicators' heirs and listed above are the only source for original editions of OVO. Copies

successors. Dedicators intend this dedication to be an overt act of of OVO from any other source may or may not have been edited by

relinquishment in perpetuity of all present and future rights under the distributors. If the reader is concerned with obtaining the most

copyright law, whether vested or contingent, in the Work. Dedica- accurate edition of the work of the editor and contributors, please

tors understand that such relinquishment of all rights includes the consult the above Internet and postal addresses on a regular basis.

relinquishment of all rights to enforce (by lawsuit or otherwise) New issues of OVO are published on an irregular basis.

those copyrights in the Work. Dedicators recognize that, once

placed in the public domain, the Work may be freely reproduced,

distributed, transmitted, used, modified, built upon, or otherwise ex- About OVO

ploited by anyone for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, OVO is a collection of new works in the public domain, edited

and in any way, including by methods that have not yet been invent- by Trevor Blake. It is the continuation of a self-publishing project

ed or conceived. By offering the Work to the public domain, the begun in 1979. The first issue of OVO was created in 1987 on an

Dedicators represents and warrants that to the best of Dedicator's electric typewriter, published by photocopy and distributed by mail.

knowledge after reasonable inquiry that all rights in the Work nec- Later editions used a Commodore 64 computer and an IBM XT com-

essary to grant the license rights hereunder and to permit the puter. In 2004, all prior issues of OVO were re-published in digital

lawful exercise of the rights granted hereunder without the reader form and released to the public domain on the Internet. In the first

having any obligation to pay any royalties, compulsory license fees, six months, over sixty thousand pages were downloaded.

residuals or any other payments have been secured, and that the This issue of OVO was created on a personal computer with an

Work does not infringe the copyright, trademark, publicity rights, AMD Duron Processor using Open Office v1.1.

common law rights or any other right of any third party or consti-

tute defamation, invasion of privacy or other tortuous injury to any

third party. Except as expressly stated in this license or otherwise

Contributors

agreed in writing or required by applicable law, the Work is li- OVO is not responsible for the return or acknowledgment of un-

censed on an as-is basis, without warranties of any kind, either solicited correspondences that is not accompanied with a self-

express or implied including, without limitation, any warranties re- addressed stamped envelope. New issues of OVO are always in pro-

garding the contents or accuracy of the work. Consult a duction. Consult the Internet or postal address listed above for

professional before undertaking any activity included in the Work. more details. To send e-mail, write down your e-mail address and

send it to the above postal address. You will be added to the list of

approved addresses and your e-mail will get through the filters. If

your e-mail address is not listed in the filters, your e-mail is auto-

matically deleted and no record of it arriving exists.



EDITION OF FEBRUARY 2005 (1.0)





2

Introduction

by Trevor Blake

It is an honor that artists and writers from around the world have kept in

touch since I last published a zine in 1992. The anonymous and unsolicited “23

Sperm Stories 23” was such a signal, received in pieces between 1998 and

2004. It is presented here with minimal editing and no explanation, just as it

was received. The topic of this work stood out as a perfect theme for the return

of OVO.

Thanks to Mike Diana and Chris Cilla, two long-time supporters of OVO

who have come through once again with impressive original works. Thanks also

to Thom Metzger for unflagging encouragement and for his unique poem. The

international conspiracy of mail artists I stumbled into in 1981 itself stumbles

on, and I am fortunate to be able to publish this small sample of what is floating

about these days.

More than any other individual, Tom Higgins deserves credit for the return

of OVO. He showed me what zine publishing in the 21st Century could be, and

in so doing made it more difficult not to publish than to publish.

Since 1992 I have read many books; moved from Knoxville, Tennessee to

Portland, Oregon; worked in and then owned a used and rare book business;

worked as a social worker serving homeless youth and IV drug users; published

thousands of pages on the Internet; performed in the United States and Europe;

and much more. Within a short time I will graduate from college as an inter-

preter of American Sign Language.

Future issues of OVO are already in production.



- Trevor Blake









3

4

23 Sperm Stories 23

by Anonymous

THE DISCOVERY OF SPERM PART ONE gy. This is regarded by microbiologists





I

Sperm cells were first observed by as the highest honor in their field.

van Leeuwenhoek in 1679. Van Van Leeuwenhoek is thought to have

Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) was a been be the model for the painting ti-

merchant and scientist from Delft, best tled The Geographer by van

known for improvement of the micro- Leeuwenhoek's friend, Vermeer. Van

scope and the establishment of cell Leeuwenhoek also appeared on an un-

biology. Using a handcrafted micro- used design for a 10 Guilder note

scope, van Leeuwenhoek was the first designed by Escher in 1951.

to observe and describe muscles

fibers, bacteria, blood flow in capillar- THE DISCOVERY OF SPERM PART TWO





II

ies and spermatozoa. Van Working in the 19th Century,

Leeuwenhoek carved over 500 optical biochemists initially isolated

lenses. Van Leeuwenhoek's micro- DNA and RNA together from

scope was used and improved by cell nuclei. They were relatively quick

Huygens for Huygens' own investiga- to appreciate the polymeric nature of

tions into microscopy. their "nucleic acid" isolates, but real-

Van Leeuwenhoek was introduced to ized only later that nucleotides were of

microscopy by Huygens to observe the two types - one containing ribose and

quality of fabrics. Van Leeuwenhoek the other deoxyribose. It was this sub-

grew interested in microscopy for its sequent discovery that led to the

own sake and spent many nights in identification and naming of DNA as a

study and notation. The scientific lan- substance distinct from RNA. Not un-

guage of the time was Latin but van til 1943 did Avery provide the first

Leeuwenhoek spoke only Dutch. Van compelling evidence that DNA could

Leeuwenhoek sent a letter to Hooke, carry genetic information.

who knew both Dutch and Latin, and How it could do so was unknown at

Hooke instantly realized the quality the time. Because chemical dissection

and pertinence of van Leeuwenhoek's of DNA samples always yielded the

work. Their correspondence was same four nucleotides, the chemical

translated by Hooke into Latin and composition of DNA appeared simple,

published in the proceeding of the Roy- perhaps even uniform. Organisms, on

al Society. To honor van the other hand, are fantastically com-

Leeuwenhoek's discoveries, the Dutch plex individually and widely diverse

Royal Academy presents the van collectively. The idea that information

Leeuwenhoek medal to the scientist might reside in a chemical in the same

judged to have made the decade's way that it exists in text - as a finite al-

most significant finding in microbiolo- phabet of letters arranged in a

5

sequence of unlimited length - had not and biologically reasonable. A break-

yet been conceived. It would emerge through occurred in 1952, when

upon the discovery of DNA's structure, Chargaff visited Cambridge and in-

but not many researchers imagined spired Crick with a description of

that DNA's structure had much to say experiments Chargaff had published in

about genetics. 1947. Chargaff had observed that the

In the 1950s, only a few groups proportions of the four nucleotides

made it their goal to determine the vary between one DNA sample and the

structure of DNA. These included an next, but that for particular pairs of

American group led by Pauling, and nucleotides (adenine and thymine,

two in England. At Cambridge Univer- guanine and cytosine) the two nu-

sity, Crick and Watson were building cleotides are always present in equal

physical models using metal rods and proportions.

balls, in which they incorporated the Watson and Crick had begun to con-

known chemical structures of the nu- template double helical arrangements,

cleotides, as well as the known and they saw that by reversing the di-

position of the linkages joining one nu- rectionality of one strand with respect

cleotide to the next along the polymer. to the other, they could provide an ex-

At King's College, London, Wilkins and planation for Chargaff's puzzling

Franklin were examining x-ray diffrac- finding. This explanation was the com-

tion patterns of DNA fibers. plementary pairing of the bases, which

A key inspiration in the work of all of also had the effect of ensuring that the

these teams was the discovery in 1948 distance between the phosphate

by Pauling that many proteins included chains did not vary along a sequence.

helical shapes. Pauling had deduced Watson and Crick were able to discern

this structure from x-ray patterns. that this distance was constant, and to

Even in the initial crude diffraction da- measure its exact size from an X-ray

ta from DNA, it was evident that the pattern obtained by Franklin. The

structure involved helices. There re- same pattern also gave them the ex-

mained questions such as how many pected pitch of the helix. The pair

strands came together as one, whether quickly converged upon a model,

this number was the same for every which they announced before Franklin

helix, whether the bases pointed to- published any work on the topic. The

ward the helical axis or away from it, great assistance Watson and Crick de-

and ultimately what were the explicit rived from Franklin's data has become

angles and coordinates of all the bonds a subject of controversy, and some be-

and atoms. Such questions motivated lieve Franklin has not received due

the modeling efforts of Watson and credit. The most controversial aspect

Crick. is that Franklin's critical X-ray pattern

In their attempts to model DNA, was shown to Watson and Crick with-

Watson and Crick restricted them- out Franklin's knowledge or

selves to what they saw as chemically permission. Wilkins showed it to them



6

III

in a lab while Franklin was away. Protein biosynthesis is the

process in which cells build

protein. The term is some-

times used to refer only to protein

translation, but more often it refers to

a multi-step process, beginning with

transcription and ending with transla-

tion.

Transcription generates only one

side of the DNA double helix. This

strand is called the coding strand. The

transcription starts with initiation.

RNA polymerase, an enzyme, binds to

a specific region on the DNA, marking

the starting point, called the promoter.

Watson and Crick's model attracted As the RNA polymerase binds on to the

great interest immediately upon its promoter, the DNA strands begin to

presentation. Arriving at their conclu- unwind. As the RNA polymerase trav-

sion on February 21, 1953, Watson and els through the opposite strand to the

Crick made their first announcement coding strand it matches correspond-

on February 28. Their paper A Struc- ing mRNA nucleotides to the DNA. The

ture for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid was mRNA is elongated as the polymerase

published on April 25. In an influential proceeds. This process is known as

presentation in 1957, Crick laid out the elongation. As the polymerase reaches

"Central Dogma", which foretold the the termination, modifications are re-

relationship between DNA, RNA, and quired for the newly transcribed

proteins, and articulated the "se- mRNA to be able to travel to the other

quence hypothesis." A critical parts of the cell. A cap is added to the

confirmation of the replication mecha- mRNA to protect is from degradation.

nism that was implied by the double- A poly-A tail is added on the end as a

helical structure followed in 1958 in protection and template for further

the form of the Meselson-Stahl experi- process.

ment. Work by Crick and coworkers A sperm cell is a haploid cell. Hap-

deciphered the genetic code not long loid cells have only one copy of each

afterward. These findings represent chromosome. Only reproductive cells

the birth of molecular biology. Wat- are haploid in the higher organisms.

son, Crick, and Wilkins were awarded When reproducing, haploid sex cells

a Nobel Prize in 1962, by which time will generally merge. The non-haploid

Franklin had died. cells, the somatic cells, carry one copy

THE GENERATION OF SPERM CELLS of the chromosomes from the sperm.

PART ONE During translation, the message of mR-

NA is decoded to make proteins.



7

Translation includes initiation, elonga- by disulfide bonds. In other cases, two

tion, translocation, and termination. or more polypeptides that are synthe-

Initiation and elongation occur when sized separately may join to become

the ribosome recognizes the starting subunits of a protein with quaternary

codon on the mRNA strand and binds structure.

to it. The ribosome has sites which al-

low another enzyme, tRNA to bind to

the mRNA. On tRNA, there is an anti-

codon that is used to match the codon

on the mRNA. tRNA also has a single

unit of amino acid attaches to it.

As the ribosome travels down the

mRNA one codon at a time, another

tRNA is attached to the mRNA at one

of the ribosome site. The first tRNA is

released, but the amino acid that is at-

tached to the first tRNA is now moved

to the second tRNA, and binds to that

amino acid. This translocation contin-

ues and a long chain of amino acid

(protein) is formed. When the entire

unit reaches the end codon on the mR-

NA, it falls apart and a newly formed

protein is released. This is the termina-

tion. Many enzymes are used to either THE GENERATION OF SPERM CELLS

assist or facilitate the whole procedure PART TWO







IV

during this process. During and after Sperm is produced in the

its synthesis, a polypeptide chain be- testicles; most of the remain-

gins to coil and fold spontaneously, ing semenal fluid is

sometimes with the assistance of chap- produced by the prostate. The

erone proteins to assume secondary prostate is a gland that is part of a hu-

and tertiary structure. Post-transla- man's sex organ and surrounds the

tional modification may involve the tube called the urethra, located just

formation of disulfide bridges and at- below the bladder. A healthy prostate

tachment of any of a number of is approximately the size of a walnut.

biochemical functional groups, such as The urethra has two functions: to carry

acetate, phosphate or various lipids or urine from the bladder during urina-

carbohydrates. Enzymes may also re- tion and to carry semen during

move one or more amino acids from ejaculation. To function properly, the

the leading (amino) end of the polypep- prostate needs human hormones (an-

tide chain, leading a protein made up drogens). Such hormones are

by two polypeptide chains connected responsible for human sex characteris-



8

tics. The main human hormone is of the sets of chromosomes that are

testosterone, which is produced by the carried in the somatic cells of the indi-

testicles. Some human hormones are vidual that produced the gametes.

produced in small amounts by the Instead, they are hybrids which are

adrenal glands. Massage of the produced through the recombination

prostate gland can be pleasurable; one or crossing over of chromosomes that

way to stimulate it is through receiving takes place in the making of gametes

anal sex. ("meiosis"). This hybridization has a

To produce sperm, testicles need to random element and every gamete a

be several degrees cooler than body human produces the chromosomes

temperature. If the testicles are sub- tends to be unique.

ject to heat, sperm production In humans, sperm cells consists of

temporarily stops. Immersing the tes- (1) Acrosome (2) Cell membrane (3)

ticles in hot water for a period of time Nucleus (4) Mitochondria (5) Tail (flag-

each day for several weeks can result ella). The acrosome develops over the

in a temporary inability to produce anterior half of the head. It is a cap-

sperm. Pushing the testicles inside the like structure containing corrosive en-

body, tight clothing and tying the emp- zymes. The acrosome derives from the

ty scrotum for a period of time also Golgi apparatus. The tail flagellates,

achieves this effect. In antiquity this which propels the sperm.

effect was achieved by sitting on hot The sperm cell membrane (or plas-

rocks or painting the testes with ma membrane) is a thin, structured

molten pitch. layer of lipid and protein molecules

that completely envelopes the cell,

separating its interior from the sur-

roundings and strictly controlling what

moves in and out. In animal cells, the

membrane establishes this separation

alone; in yeast, bacteria and plants an

additional cell wall forms the outer-

most boundary providing primarily

mechanical support. The plasma mem-

brane may be discerned only faintly

with a transmission electron micro-

scope.

THE DEFINITION OF SPERM The sperm cell nucleus is an or-





V

A sperm cell is the human ga- ganelle within an eukaryotic cell. Its

mete. Gametes are the cells main function is to control chemical re-

that come together during fertil- actions in the cell cytoplasm. The

ization or conception in organisms that nucleus, being the largest sub-cellular

reproduce sexually. A gamete's chro- compartment, varies in diameter. It is

mosomes are not duplicates of either surrounded by a double membrane



9

forming the nuclear envelope. This se- surface area on which chemical reac-

lectively allows molecules to enter and tions can occur. The outer membrane

leave the nucleus, and separates chem- encloses the entire organelle and con-

ical reactions taking place intains channels made of protein

cytoplasm from reactions occurring complexes through which molecules

within the nucleus. The outer mem- and ions can move in and out of the mi-

brane has ribosomes. The inner and tochondrion. Large molecules are

outer membrane fuse at regular excluded from traversing this mem-

spaces, forming nuclear pores. brane. The inner membrane, folded

Similar to the cytoplasm of a cell, into cristae, encloses the matrix (the

the nucleus contains nucleoplasm: a internal fluid of the mitochondrion). It

highly viscous solid containing the contains several protein complexes.

chromosomes and nucleoli. Chro- Stalked particles are found on the

mosones contain information encoded cristae: these are the ATP synthetase

in DNA attached to proteins called his- enzyme molecules, which produce

tones arranged in to a dense network ATP. The intermembrane space be-

called chromatin. Nucleoli are granu- tween the two membranes contains

lar structures which make ribonucleic enzymes that use ATP to phosphory-

DNA (rDNA) and assemble it with pro- late other nucleotides and that

teins. catalyze other reactions. The word mi-

tochondrion has the etymological root

of 'thread granule', describing their

appearnace under a microscope; tiny

rod-like structures present in the cyto-

plasm of all cells. The matrix contains

soluble enzymes that catalyze the res-

piration of pyruvic acid and other

small organic molecules. Parts of the

Krebs Cycle occur within mitochon-

dria. The matrix also contains several

copies of the mitochondrial DNA (usu-

ally 5-10 circular DNA molecules per

Sperm cell mitochondra are mem- mitochondrion), as well as special mi-

brane-enclosed cellular organelles. tochondrial ribosomes, tRNAs, and

Mitochondria are distributed through proteins needed for DNA replication.

the cytosol of most eukaryotic cells. Endosymbiosis describes the situa-

Their main function is to convert the tion in which one organism lives within

potential energy (via electron trans- cells of another organism. The intracel-

port) of food molecules into ATP (the lular organism is called an

universal energy currency of the cell). endosymbiont. It is also generally be-

They are composed of folds called lieved that certain organelles of

cristae which give a much increased eukaryotic cells, especially mitochon-



10

dria and chloroplasts, originated as and ATP must be transported to them

bacterial endosymbionts. This theory for them to function.

is known as the endosymbiotic hypoth- It is possible the ancestral eukaryote

esis. was a flagellate, and if not they ap-

peared fairly early on in their

FLAGELLA development. Animals, fungi, and





VI

Sperm flagella are a propul- plants are all derived from various

sive structure used to move lines of flagellates, something reflect-

through a liquid medium. ed in the presence of flagellate cells in

There are three main varieties of flag- most forms, whose ultrastructure is a

ellum; the bacterial flagellum (a helical useful guide to determining relation-

filament that rotates like a screw), ar- ships. Humans that consume any

chaeal flagellum (similar but amount of coffee have sperm that trav-

nonhomologous to the bacterial flagel- el faster than those who consume no

lum), and the eukaryotic flagellum (a coffee.

whip-like structure that lashes back

and forth). Humans have eukaryotic RNA/DNA







VII

flagellum. Ribonucleic acid (RNA)

The eukaryotic flagellum, also is a nucleic acid. It is

called a cilium or undulipodium, is structurally distinguished

completely different from the prokary- from DNA by the presence of an addi-

ote flagella in structure and in tional hydroxyl group attached to each

evolutionary origin. The only charac- pentose ring and functionally distin-

teristic that the bacterial, archaeal, guished by its role in the transmission

and eukaryotic flagella have in com- of genetic information from DNA (by

mon is that they exist outside of the transcription) and into protein (by

cell and move to produce propulsion. translation).

A eukaryotic flagellum is a bundle of RNA has 4 different bases: adenine,

nine fused pairs of microtubules called guanine, cytosine, and uracil. The first

doublets surrounding two central sin- 3 bases are the same as those found in

gle microtubules (axoneme). At the DNA, but uracil replaces thymine as

base of a eukaryotic flagellum is a mi- the base complementary to adenine.

crotubule organizing center, called the This may be because uracil is energeti-

basal body or kinetosome. The flagel- cally less expensive to produce,

lum is encased within the cell's plasma although it easily degenerates into cy-

membrane, so that the interior of the tosine. Thus, uracil is appropriate for

flagellum is accessible to the cell's cy- RNA, where quantity is important but

toplasm. This is necessary because lifespan is not, whereas thymine is ap-

the flagellum's flexing is driven by the propriate for DNA. Structurally, RNA

protein dynein connecting the micro- is indistinguishable from DNA except

tubules all along its length and forcing for the critical presence of an addition-

them to slide relative to each other, al hydroxyl group attached to the



11

pentose ring. This additional group of their own DNA to offspring and be-

gives the molecule far greater catalytic cause in doing so they propagate their

versatility and allows it to perform re- traits.

actions that DNA is incapable of

performing.

A major difference between RNA and

DNA is that RNA is found in the single-

stranded form (an exception being the

genetic material of some kinds of

viruses). RNA molecules often fold into

more complex structures by making

use of complementary internal se-

quences; that is, one part of a single

RNA molecule is the nucleic acid com-

plement of another part of the same

molecule (for exampls, 5'-ACUCGA-3'

and 5'-UCGAGU-3'), so that the two

strands bind together. This allows the

formation of hairpin loops, coils, etc.,

which then direct the formation of

higher-order structures.

The first life on earth may have been

RNA-based, due to RNA's ability both

to carry genetic information like DNA

and also to catalyze biochemical reac-

tions like enzymes. This possibility is

termed the RNA world hypothesis.

Even today, some viruses, such as

retroviruses, use RNA as their sole ge- In fact, the units of DNA that reside

netic material. RNA is less stable than in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells, and

DNA, however, and is also a less effi- DNA are not single molecules. They

cient catalyst than a protein-based are pairs of molecules, which entwine

enzyme. These facts may have led to like vines to form a double helix. Each

selection for reduced use of RNA in strand of DNA is a chemically linked

cells, and greater use of DNA and pro- chain of nucleotides, which each con-

teins. sist of a deoxyribose sugar, a

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the phosphate, and one of four varieties of

primary chemical component of chro- aromatic bases. Because DNA strands

mosomes and the material of which are composed of these nucleotide sub-

genes are made. It is sometimes units, they are polymers. The diversity

called the molecule of heredity, be- of the bases means that four distinct

cause humans transmit copied portions



12

kinds of nucleotide exist, which are act as a template with which to repli-

commonly referred to by the identity of cate the other from free nucleotides.

their base. These are adenine (A), Because pairing causes the nu-

thymine (T), cytosine (C), and guanine cleotide bases to face the helical axis,

(G). the sugar and phosphate groups of the

nucleotides run along the outside, and

the two chains they form the back-

bones of the helix. Chemical bonds

between the phosphates and the sug-

ars that link one nucleotide to the next

in the DNA strand.

When the ends of a piece of double-

helical DNA are joined so that it forms

a circle, as in plasmid DNA, the

strands are topologically knotted. This

means they cannot be separated by

any process that does not involve

breaking a strand. The task of unknot-

ting topologically linked strands of

DNA falls to enzymes known as topoi-

somerases. Some of these enzymes

unknot circular DNA by cleaving two

strands so that another double-strand-

ed segment can pass through.

Unknotting is required for the replica-

tion of circular DNA as well as for

various types of recombination in lin-

ear DNA. The DNA helix can assume

one of three slightly different geome-

tries, of which the B form described by

In a DNA double helix, two polynu- Watson and Crick is believed to pre-

cleotide strands come together dominate in cells. The frequency of

through complementary pairing of the twist (known as the helical pitch) de-

bases, which occurs by hydrogen bond- pends largely on stacking forces that

ing. Each base forms hydrogen bonds each base exerts on its neighbors in

readily to only one other (A to T and C the chain.

to G) so that the identity of the base on The narrow breadth of the double

one strand dictates what base must helix makes it impossible to detect by

face it on the opposing strand. Thus conventional electron microscopy ex-

the entire nucleotide sequence of each cept by heavy staining. At the same

strand is complementary to that of the time, the DNA found in many cells can

other, and when separated, each may be macroscopic in length. Conse-



13

quently, cells must compact DNA to

carry it within them. This is one of the

functions of chromosomes, which con-

tain spool-like proteins known as

histones, around which DNA winds.

Many molecular biological processes

can induce strain. A DNA segment

with excess or insufficient helical

twisting is referred to, respectively, as

positively or negatively super coiled.

DNA typically begins by being nega-

tively super coiled, which facilitates

the unwinding of the double-helix re-

quired for RNA transcription.

The two other known double-helical

forms of DNA, called A and Z, differ

modestly in their geometry and dimen-

sions. The A form appears to occur

only in dehydrated samples of DNA,

such those used in crystallography ex-

periments, and possibly in hybrid

pairings of DNA and RNA strands.

Segments of DNA in which cells have

methylated for regulatory purposes

may adopt the Z geometry. In Z, the In many species of organism, only a

strands turn about the helical axis like small fraction of the total sequence of

a mirror image of the B form. Within a the genome appears to encode protein.

gene, the sequence of nucleotides The function of the rest is a matter of

along a DNA strand defines a protein, speculation. It is known that certain

which an organism is liable to manu- nucleotide sequences specify affinity

facture at one or several points in its for DNA binding proteins, which play a

life using the information of the se- wide variety of vital roles, in particular

quence. The relationship between the through control of replication and tran-

nucleotide sequence and the amino- scription. These sequences are called

acid sequence of the protein is deter- regulatory sequences, and only a tiny

mined by simple cellular rules of fraction of the total that exist have

translation, known collectively as the been identified. Junk DNA represents

genetic code. Reading along the pro- sequences that do not yet appear to

tein-coding sequence of a gene, each contain genes or to have a function.

successive sequence of three nu- Sequence also determines a DNA

cleotides (called a codon) specifies one segment's susceptibility to cleavage by

amino acid. restriction enzymes, the quintessential



14

tools of genetic engineering. The posi- ported that humans that had the high-

tion of cleavage sites throughout the est frequency of orgasms had half the

genome determines a human's DNA death rate of those with the least fre-

fingerprint. quency of orgasms. Orgasms have

also been linked to an increased sense

XYY of smell, reduction of heart disease,





VIII

XYY is a trisomy in weight loss, overall fitness, reduction

which a human has an of depression, pain relief, a lessening

extra Y chromosome. occurrence of flues and colds, better

The incidence of this condition is about bladder control, greater prostate

1 per 1000 in humans. Other than be- health and better teeth. Since semen

ing slightly taller and having more contains zinc, calcium and other min-

severe acne than normal, XYY humans erals known to reduce tooth decay,

are not significantly different from ingestion of sperm can be considered a

most humans. Studies suggesting that healthy dietary supplement. Accord-

there were more XYY humans incarcer- ing to a June 2002 article in the

ated than chance would suggest have Archives of Sexual Behavior, sperm

been determined to be procedurally acts as an antidepressant. Dr. Gallup

flawed. administered the Beck Depression In-

ventory to 293 subjects on their sexual

THE FUNCTION OF SPERM PART ONE







IX

activities and happiness. The results,

Sperm is carried in a fluid confirmed by a second clinical trial of

called semen. Semen is a 700 subjects, suggest that subjects

whitish fluid containing wa- who take in sperm are happier, on av-

ter and small amounts of salt, protein, erage, than those whose do not.

and fructose sugar, and is in itself Access to sperm also appears to lead

harmless on the skin or when ingested. to more sexual activity: this may be

Semen can be the vehicle for many caused by the testosterone and

sexually transmitted diseases, includ- prostaglandin E1 found in sperm.

ing HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Contact with the semen of a human in- THE FUNCTION OF SPERM PART TWO







X

fected with HIV should be avoided, Reports of alien abduction often

even by persons already infected with include claims of the harvesting

the virus. of or depositing of sperm. The

At the time of orgasm, semen is Christian religion claims that when a

ejected through the urethra of the pe- sperm cell enters another kind of cell,

nis. When a human is sexually excited, a soul is created. Castaneda (a 20th

a small amount of a clear fluid (pre- Century novelist), claimed that sperm

ejaculate) may leak out of the penis be- went to the recipient's brain, causing a

fore orgasm and ejaculation. This pre- pleasant sensation. Bardon (a 20th

ejaculate fluid may also contain sperm. Century occultist) claimed that retain-

In 1997 the British Medical Journal re- ing sperm in a special container called



15

a condenser could allow the manipula- others, but no claim is made that they

tion of energy and magnetic fluid. The are more Neanderthal than others.

Temple ov Psychick Youth claimed that

placing sperm on paper while concen- THE FUNCTION OF SPERM PART FOUR







XII

trating on a desired goal would make Ownership of sperm is

that desired goal occur. The religion increasingly contested in

of Islam claims that sperm is produced the legal sphere. Sperm

'between the backbone and the ribs,' donated to a clinic Illinois in 1990 was

and that all kinds of humans generate screened for the disease cystic fibro-

sperm. sis. This sperm was used to create

three humans. The sperm donor and

THE FUNCTION OF SPERM PART the subject knew they had the gene for

THREE cystic fibrosis, and therefore sought





XI

A majority of the world's outside sperm to limit the chance their

economy, technological created human would have this dis-

progress, art and culture are ease. But the sperm screening was

centered on extracting sperm from one ineffective, and one of the created hu-

or more human and putting it inside of mans had cystic fibrosis. In 1996 a

or in proximity to one or more other subject in Florida sought sperm to cre-

humans or images. The second most ate a human. The subject found a

active engine of the world's economy, sperm donor, but was not told that the

technological effort, art and culture is sperm donor was the physician con-

the prevention of these activities. The ducting the operation. The subject

entire history of humanity can be ex- sued the physician for not using the

plained as the dynamics of these two sperm that the subject wanted to be

forces. used. In 1998 a young human died in

Some of the genetic information a game of 'Russian Roulette.' The hu-

known to be found in Neanderthals man's sperm was harvested and frozen

and other early contemporaries with until such time as a new human could

humans is found in sperm. This is true be created based on the dead human's

not only in the sense of the trunk of sperm. In 1999 a subject in Prague

evolution being visible in each of its tricked a human into donating sperm

branches, but in the sense of genetic to a local sperm bank with the claim

information found specifically in Nean- this was part of a medical process.

derthals being found in human sperm – The subject actually used the sperm to

a bending-back of the branch. It is create two new humans, which the

likely that humans and Neanderthals donor human was then was required

shared a common ancestor, and then by to financially support the created

Neanderthals were absorbed (in part) humans. In 2002 a human in Sweden

back into the human branch of evolu- was asked by two subjects to donate

tion. Some humans exhibit these sperm so they could create humans.

Neanderthal traits more strongly than When the two subjects parted ways,



16

the courts ruled that the donor human der; it does not offer protection nor

was the legal guardian and was re- does it gather food. But when the lar-

quired by to financially support the va moults, kills and eats the spider, it

created humans. Also in 2002, a sub- is a perfect temporary home for the

ject in Japan used sperm from the new wasp.

subject's dead human partner to cre- Myxobolous Cerebralis is parasite

ate new humans. The courts did not, found in some cold water fish. The

however, recognize the dead sperm parasite is not found exclusively in

donor as the parent of the created hu- fish, however, and in fact it depends on

man: this created human is defined by other species for the completion of its

law as having only one biological par- life cycle. In the first part of its life cy-

ent. But in 2003 a subject in North cle, the parasite is released from the

Queensland was denied access to the bodies of infected fish. At this stage

sperm of the subject's dead partner. the parasite is a spore which can sur-

vive drought, freezing and other

SPERMETAMORPHOSIS adverse conditions for decades. The





XIII

Hymenoepimecis Ich- spore enters the second phase of its

neumondiae is a life cycle when it enters tubifex worms,

variety of wasp that where it grows into the form that in-

has an unusual control over the physi- fect fish.

ology and behavior of a variety of The parasite is released by the

spider known as Plesiometra Argyra worms and enter the bodies of fish

Araneidae. The spider normally spins through their skin, where it becomes

a web made of sticky spirals, but under lodged in the fish's spinal column and

the influence of the wasp it spins a nervous system. This is the third stage

completely different sort of web. The of the parasite's life cycle. During this

wasp stings the spider while the spider stage, the physiology and behavior of

is in its web, causing temporary paral- fish changes: the fish grows deformi-

ysis. The wasp then deposits a cell on ties that make it more visible from the

the spider and leaves. The cell devel- air, and it begins to whirl and thrash

ops into a larvae. The spider recovers near the water's surface. In the fourth

and goes on building and maintaining stage of the parasite's life cycle, the

its web as it had before, while the lar- fish (now a highly visible target for

val wasp feeds on the haemolymph aerial predators) are consumed by

(blood) of the spider. The sting of the birds. The parasite passes through the

wasp and the feeding of the larvae in- bird's digestive tract and is returned to

fluence the behavior of the spider. the water in a new location by the

One or two weeks later, when the larva bird's fecal matter. At this point the

is about to moult, the spider spins a parasite returns to the first stage in its

web consisting of four strands support- life cycle.

ing a central cocoon. This sort of web Humans can put sperm in each other

is entirely without function for the spi- and in subjects. Dramatic physiologi-



17

cal and behavioral changes can result reasons, the foreskin is sometimes

from this exchange, including (in some partly or completely removed; this is

cases) the creation of new humans. called circumcision. The area on the

These newly generated humans some- underside of the penis, where the fore-

times contain sperm cells, and so the skin attaches, is called the frenum.

human life cycle may continue. No hu- The inner portion of the foreskin near

man has ever been generated without the sulcus is a highly innervated area

sperm: sperm is the agent of all life, known as the ridged band. Removal of

and that which is outside of life is the the foreskin by circumcision also usu-

inorganic. ally removes the ridged band and

injures or removes the frenulum.

THE PENIS PART ONE







XIV

The penis (plural

penises or penes) or

phallus is the copula-

tory organ, and, in mammals, the

organ of urinary excretion. The sexual

organs comprise both the penis and

the testes. The penis is capable of

erection for use in sexual intercourse.

The human penis differs from some

other mammalian penises in lacking an

erectile bone (instead relying entirely

on engorgement with blood to reach

its erect state), lacking the ability to be

withdrawn into the groin, and being

larger than average in proportion to

body mass.

The human penis is built of three

columns of erectile tissue: the two cor- The urethra, which is the last part of

pora cavernosa and one corpus the urinary tract, traverses the corpus

spongiosum which lies below them. spongiosum and its end lies on the tip

The end of corpus spongiosum is en- of the glans penis. It is both a passage

larged and cone-shaped and forms the for urine and for the ejaculation of se-

glans penis. The glans supports the men. Sperm is produced in the testes

foreskin or prepuce, a loose fold of and stored in the attached epididymis.

skin that can retract to expose the During ejaculation, sperm are pro-

glans. It aids in sexual insertion, pelled up the vas deferens, two ducts

keeps the glans moist and provides a that pass over and behind the bladder.

gliding action which is said to increase Fluids are added by the seminal vesi-

sexual pleasure. For various cultural, cles and the vas deferens turns into

religious, and (more rarely) medical the ejaculatory ducts which join the



18

XVI

urethra inside the prostate gland. The In comparison to body

prostate as well as the bulbourethral size, the human penis

glands add further secretions, and the is among the largest of

semen is expelled through the penis. the primates. The average human pe-

nis is less than the span of a human

THE PENIS PART TWO hand in length when fully engorged





XV

An erection is the harden- with blood during arousal. The size of

ing, enlarging and rising a flaccid human penis varies in both

of the penis which often length and width in ways that often do

occurs in the sexually aroused human. not predict the size of a fully aroused

In addition to sexual arousal, erections member. A human with a relatively

can be caused by friction or by the small flaccid penis may have an above

pressure of the filled urinary bladder. average length penis when fully

In humans, erections occur several aroused. The opposite is also true.

times per night during sleep, and The most common form of penile

morning erections are common. body modification is the practice of cir-

Physiologically, an erection is cumcision. Less commonly, the penis

achieved by two mechanisms: in- is pierced and modified by other body

creased inflow of blood into the vessels art. Piercings of the penis include the

of erectile tissue, and decreased out- Prince Albert piercing, the Apadravya

flow. After a signal from the piercing, the Ampallang piercing, the

sympathetic nervous system, muscles dido piercing, the frenum piercing and

in the region relax, allowing more others. Apart from a penectomy, the

blood to enter the sponge-like tissues. most radical of these is the subinci-

Contraction of other muscles reduce sion, in which the glans penis is

the outflow. The enlarged structure bifurcated to look similar to that of the

then exerts pressures on the exit vein, kangaroo. This modification was origi-

further reducing the outflow. As blood nally done among Australian

flows in, the penis stiffens, its girth Aborigines, although it is now done by

and length increases, and it rises to an some in the U.S. and Europe. A small

angle that can vary from horizontal to number of humans who are circum-

almost vertical. Normally, the foreskin cised attempt to restore their foreskin

retracts and exposes the glans. Erec- through surgical and other means.

tions may occur even during or after This is called foreskin restoration.

death, if the pressure within the penis

increases for some reason. THE FUTURE OF SPERM PART ONE







XVII

Stem cells are hu-

man cells that can

be manipulated in-

to becoming other types of cells, and

THE PENIS PART THREE this includes (in theory) sperm cells.

Dr Lacham-Kaplan of Monash Univer-



19

sity in Melbourne successfully created levels of pesticides. Information gath-

mice without mouse sperm in 1991. ered between 1938 and 1990 suggests

Scientists at the Reproductive Genet- sperm densities in the United States

ics Institute in Chicago created a have an average annual decrease of

means of creating new humans without 1.5 million sperm/mL of collected sam-

sperm in 2002. ple, or about 1.5 percent per year.

This research also opens the possi- European sperm has declined at about

bility of elimination of genetic flaws in twice that rate (3.1%/year). As the in-

humanity at the point of creation, ability to create new humans increases

thereby reducing a great deal of hu- so does the need to manufacture artifi-

man suffering and expense. What is cial sperm. In contrast, the bdelloid

more, better humans can be created – rotifer has evolved into 370 species

humans able to live longer, healthier over fifty million years: clearly, the

lives in a greater variety of environ- need to reproduce with sperm is an op-

ments with less reliance on outside tion and not a requirement. In 1967,

resources. Surveyor 3 landed on the moon. The

Efforts to create better humans bacteria Streptococcus mitis was acci-

through manipulation of sperm have dentally on board placed there by the

already been carried out. In 1989 a sneeze of a NASA worker. The bacte-

study by Wille and Beier compared 99 ria survived liftoff, space travel, a lack

surgically castrated sex offenders and of atmosphere, a lack of food, and

35 non-castrated sex offenders ten three years of cosmic radiation on the

years after their release from prison. surface of the moon. A component of

The recidivism rate of castrated of- Surveyor 3 was returned to Earth in

fenders was 3%, while the rate for non- 1969 by astronaut Conrad, where it

castrated offenders was 46%. was discovered that the bacteria was

Sperm count differs by geographical still alive. In 1997, Cano recovered

region. In the United States, New living bacteria found in the stomach of

Yorkers issue 102.9 x 100000/mL a bee preserved in amber thirty million

sperm, Los Angeles humans issue 80.8 years ago.

x 100000/mL, and Columbia (Missouri)

humans issue only an average 53.5 x THE FUTURE OF SPERM PART TWO







XVIII

100000/mL sperm. Humans are a

A study conducted in 1999 by The sperm's way of

Lancet suggested that out of 650 hu- making more

mans who were unable to create new sperm, until such inevitable time as we

humans, 20 had been exposed to high can make our replacements.





OVO





20

21

22

23

24

The Hypmogoogoopizin' Man

by Thom Metzger

Whilom - when God did ordain or from a passing comet hurled?

to claim this drear and waste domain Will the secret pages yield

Him did it please to bid His saints or is his tome forever sealed?

against all pleading abject 'plaints

to sojourn here 'cross cruel sea Was he spawn of Lapland witch

to raise the cross for all to see. or the whelp of slav'ring bitch

mated moonwise, or the get

A thousand beasts with blood-damp chins of mumbo-jumbo, black as jet,

ten thousand gibb'ring indians of Pictish priest bedaubed with woad

a frozen land, a ruthless sky or was an egg his first abode?

brought bitter tear to every eye.

But something more ill bowered here Slithered he from burst cocoon

to breed in saints a holy fear. in the lea of drifting dune,

was eye on Ancient Pyramid

No savage mur'drous picaroon witness to his birth, or did

nor dire eclipses of the moon he live before time began,

nor leons nor leviathans this Hypmogoogoopizin' Man?

nor vandal hordes nor heathen huns

did cause more quailing terror than Now hear the dread particulars

the Hypmogoogoopizin' Man. of happ'nings 'neath malefic stars

how goodly maid by name of Kate

Some swore this wight was naught but air fell, and falling, sealed her fate.

which issueth from serpent's lair. Of disobedience and its pain,

And others claim'd the visions vile of sin's black touch and seeping stain.

were nauseous fumes, telluric bile.

Still others laughed the thought away, Creeping, spavined, skin and bone

yet did he haunt and hunt his prey. came to Kate a neighbor crone.

She dreweth forth aweighty book

An hundred years passed now apace and sheweth for a fleety look

sith saints had conquered this new place; a picture there, an image of

an hundred years did roll away woeful, grievous, gorgonic love.

now commonwealth in its heyday

grew fattish, vain, wax'd like the moon Tho' Kate drew back to shield her eye

which to a sliver withers soon. she gave a grue, a mewling cry;

too late, too late, this ancient art

To things of faith, to hymn and prayer, had hooked its talons in her heart.

these follied folk gave not a care. So came from damned Alcoran

Most shamefully young wives and girles the Hypmogoogoopizin' Man.

loved more their ribands and their pearls.

So watched each Sarah, Jane and Nan: She juddered, blenched, nigh to swooning,

the Hypmogoogoopizin' man. tho' all was still, she heard his crooning,

a far-off bruit, as hounds to stag

Whence this monstrous permutation, a closer clamor did make her swag

in what womb his generation? and hand grew weak, and pulse did race

Was he born into this world, to see that lewdly leering face.



25

She sent away the cackling hag So to complete his carnal crime -

yet slumber'd not, her bed a quag. as in creation's natal time,

The moon arose, refulgent globe, when Adam saw his naked Eve,

while Kate a comely female Job, and swift as thought to her did cleave -

lay drenched in sweat, a writhing wretch likewise this cruel panopticon,

first fetal, closed, then wild outstretched. this Hypmogoogoopizin' man.



The watchman heard the bandog howl Then from the Great Afflicting eye

the wauling cat and hooty owl; came a voice to mollify,

the leaves on ancient oak tree limbs to stroke heartstrings as seraphim

quivered, chanting ghostly hymns which harp in heaven plangent hymn.

to him, the Laird of demon clan: And so from bed did Kate arise

the Hypmogoogoopizin' Man. and walk beneath the starry skies.



When next did Phoebus slow descend Her sleeping dress yet fell away

cry'd piteous Kate - O Lord forfend! and went she in sky-clad array.

preserve, protect, this palsy'd girle Above her sable welkin arch'd

who feeleth banners dire unfurl, while through the weeds and woods she

keep hence the black and shining one marched

whose eye doth glister like the sun. condemned yet fervent, so it seemed

to mount the scaffold of her dreams.

But all was vain and once again

a preternatural darkness came, The twin globes glowed, a lure for she,

an ague clutch'd her, held her close like as a sundered Gemini.

infernal trumpets, grandiose, The lunar orb and lustful eye

played fanfares only she could hear were side by side, in harmony,

to bold proclaim her time was near. febrile, limpid, hot and wan:

this Hypmogoogoopizin' man.

And sitting up in clammy bed

as fiendish tabors beat her head just once at Midnight's tolling bell

she saw, tho' eyes were closed fast she shivered, wrestling off the spell,

she saw, tho' heartsick and aghast rebelling, brief, she fought and lost

she saw, and soul was clove in twain resisting him, at what a cost.

the Hypmogoogoopizin' Man. Pinches, mischiefs, sundry bite

were her reward for bootless fight.

Prodigious and malevolent

a baleful sign, a fell portent, So anon she reached the place

a louring look, a gravid eye, where Kate completeth her disgrace.

the optick spheroid loomed nigh, A massy oak, black as the tomb,

The fevered orb which streamed with rays above her, vast and sere it loomed,

now trammeled her in noisome gaze. and from a branch hangeth a rope

and from this hang'd the death of hope.

Tho' mummy-wound in dampish sheets,

she rose and fell in heaving heats. For there it was now twelve years gone

The bedshrouds all were burned away another girle at crack of dawn

as dew on dawn of summer's day. was found dependent, lifeless fruit

Invading deep his vision darts above the writhing, snaky root,

pierced arm and leg and tender parts. her death the work of artisan



26

call'd Hypmogoogoopizin' Man. with the presence of the Lord.



The eye's refulgence trebled as Or as a comet blots the skies

an husband's ardor when it has and the heathen terrifies

been rebuffed and thrice denied a blinding omen, mark of doom,

by winsome, teazing furtive bride, from the blackness closer looms

and to the virgin marriage bed so did the eye most fulgurous

he speeds, and soon is daubed red. wax as rakeshame nemesis.



The girle took hold of ragged noose Sphering round this lesser sun,

and placed it 'round her throte yet loose circumscribed oblivion,

then sudden skirling music came stretched taut, a membrane like a drum

of pipes and nakers to inflame head, spotless, weightless, pure vellum

her writhing self, and so she danced comprised the girth of glaring gland,

his odalisque, fawning, entranced. of Hypmogoogoopizin' Man.



Afflicted thus, this serpentine As man o' war with heavy ordnance

and bestial spree, this jig malign doth pound his foe to make her dance,

roiled outward from her 'sorceled loins blasting cannon, hail of shot,

as incubus with sleeper joins ball and bullet, crimson hot,

and so continued damn'd pavan in such wise did her suitor

with Hypmogoogoopizin' man. cruelly vex and persecute her.



And keenly now, Kate chanted back She took the salvoes and she shook

a descant tune demoniack. twisted on this angler's hook.

Deep from her issueth the song: Raptured, ravished, did she squirm,

a thousand echoes from a gong stript and moist, a wanton worm,

that hangs within the citadel bait to catch most precious game

of dankest, drearest deepest Hell. yet fish and fisher were the same.



The rope withal did tight enclose Choked at end of hempen cord

and pulled her up upon her toes. blessing him 'gainst whom she warr'd,

She dangled wailing pagan psalms - an hour ago or eons past

obeisant blessing and salaams across a space ungodly vast -

to Pasha of Opthalmick love, Kate surrendered to all demands

and all the attributes thereof. of Hypmogoogoopizin' Man.



Gasping, grasping now for him, With fervent cry she yielded all,

dependent there from oaken limb, capitulated to the call

the base lubricious undulation submitted to her whilom foe

naked blasphemous flirtations, taking cruel bastinado

in manner of a courtesan flung wide back her blissom limbs

for Hypmogoogoopizin' Man. and opened self to welcome him.



He swelled, and swollen, eldritch sparks The instant rupture paroxysm

as those which shot from ancient ark flooding ocular baptism

that Israel did hold so dear - bursting eye, deluging rheum

commanding total awe and fear - vitreous matter, flooding spume,

billow'd, thunder'd, flashed and roar'd bubbling gouts of ectoplasm



27

exploded forth in spewy spasm. bedizened with his dripping jewels

while at her feet the ichor pools,

Steaming jets of gleaming gleet so it ends as it began,

boiling with supernal heat, with Hypmogoogoopizin' Man.

sweet and grievous, grumey glair

roar'd in torrents through the air, But hold - tho both are spent, agog,

in an instant all to drain yet there is an epilogue.

the Hypmogoogoopizin' Man. Kate against all hope did live

and of these circumstances give

So quickly did her anointment her testimony, wild and queer,

daub her all with shining ointment blist'ring every list'ning ear.

honey bast'd, rare sweetmeat,

golden glaz'd with sugar sleet, She waxed old and oft retold

so sudden was she complete bedew'd her tale in tongue surprizing bold.

she hang'd in gravid hebetude. Her inmost soul was stung by pride

to be the chosen wanton bride,

And spectral leman too was sated the one whose consecrated coney

in this manner to be mated. was surfeited with radiant honey.

Egg and sperm in one fluid

like potations of the Druid Did she bear his heinous child?

or the fabled Alkahest Was her matrix so defiled?

which Gothick wizard possess'd. Slunk she off to do the birth?

Did their bastard walk the earth?

So the climax of their love, No one knoweth other than

he below and she above, the Hypmogoogoopizin' Man.



OVO









28

Books Read

by Trevor Blake

A representative sample of books read between 1992 and 2005.

Adikkno: Cracking the Movement James Elroy: The Cold Six Million; The Big

Peter Ackroid: Blake, A Biography Nowhere; Blood on the Moon; Because the

Margery Allingham: Dancers in Morning; Sweet Night; Suicide Hill; The Black Dahlia; L. A.

Danger; Mystery Mile; Look to the Lady; Confidential; White Jazz; American Tabloid;

Police at the Funeral; Flowers for the Judge; Brown's Requiem; Clandestine; Killer on the

The Case of the Latin Pig; More Work for the Road; My Dark Places

Undertaker; The Beckoning Lady; The Mind Karen Finley: A Different Kind of Intimacy

Readers; Wolfgang Flur: I Was a Robot

Marc Almond: Tainted Life Simon Ford - Wreckers of Civilization

Ed Applewhite: Cosmic Fishing; Paradise Mislaid Charles Fort: New Lands

Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso: 100 Bullets J. George Frederick: For and Against

J. Baldwin: Fullerworks Technocracy

J. G. Ballard: The Atrocity Exhibition; User's Buckminster Fuller: The Dymaxion World of

Guide to the Millenium Buckminster Fuller; An Autobiographical

Clive Barker: The Thief of Always; Weaveworld; Monologue/Scenario; Inventions; Earth Inc.; I

Imagica Seem to Be a Verb; Education Automation;

Robert Barltrop: The Monument Cosmography; Synergetics; Synergetics 2; On

Hakim Bey: TAZ Education; Anthology for the New Millenium;

Brian Biggs: Dear Julia Your Private Sky (The Art of Design Science);

Arlene Blum: Annapurna Your Private Sky (Discourse)

Nathaniel Brandon: My Years with Ayn Rand Neal Gaiman: Mister Punch

Richard Brenneman: Fuller's Earth Mimi Gladstein: Atlas Shrugged, Manifesto of the

Andre Breton: What is Surrealism? Mind

Chandler Burr: A Separate Creation Barbara Goldsmith: Other Powers

Tim Burton: The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy Michael Gunderloy and Cari Janice: The World of

and Other Stories Zines

Eddie Campbell: After the Snooter Russ Heinl and Sallie Tisdale: Portland from the

Caleb Carr: The Alienist Air

David Chelsea: David Chelsea in Love John Henley: The Buchmans

Joe Chiappetta: Silly Daddy Ray Herbert: Seeing by Wireless

Rondell Collins: Seventh Child Dan Howland (editor): The Journal of Ride Theory

Howard Cruise: Stuck Rubber Baby Omnibus

Douglas Curran: In Advance of the Landing Alden Hatch: Buckminster Fuller at Home in the

Jan Dalley: Dianna Mosley Universe

Richard Dawkins: Unweaving the Rainbow; The Stewart Home: The Assault on Culture

Blind Watchmaker Harry Hurt III - For All Mankind

Kim Deitch: All Waldo Comics Denis Johnson: Jesus' Son

Jade Dellinger: We Are DEVO! James Jones: Alfred C. Kinsey

Rene Denfeld: The New Victorians Norton Juster: The Phantom Tollbooth

J. R. “Bob” Dobbs: Revelation X; The Book of the Nabiel Kanan: Lost Girl

SubGenius David Kelley: A Life of One's Own; Contested

Lord Dunsany: Beyond the Fields We Know; Gods Legacy of Ayn Rand

Men and Ghosts; The Sword of Welleran; Tales Hugh Kenner: Bucky; Geodesic Math and How to

of Three Hemispheres; At the Edge of the Use It

World; Over the Hills and Far Away Bart King: An Architectural Guidebook to

David Edmons & John Dieinow: Wittgenstein's Portland

Poker Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore: The Walking





29

Dead Kenneth Snelson: Full Circle

Ron Kistler: I Caught Flies for Howard Hughes Kim Stanley Robinson: Escape from Kathmandu;

Donna Kossy: Kooks; Strange Creations Red Mars; Green Mars; Blue Mars; The Years

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross: Wheel of Life of Rice and Salt; Icehenge; The Martians; Forty

Laibach: Neue Slowenishce Kunst Signs of Rain

Anton LaVey: The Satanic Bible RuPaul: Lettin' it All Hang Out

Ralph Leighton: Tuva or Bust! Marry Dora Russell: The Sparrow

Harold Loeb: Life Under Technocracy Witold Rybczynski: Waiting for the Weekend

Bjorn Lomborg: The Skeptical Environmentalist Oliver Saacs: Uncle Tungsten

Athena Lord: Pilot for Spaceship Earth Ron Sakolsky and James Koehnline (editors) -

John Lydon: Rotten Gone to Croatan

P.M.: bolo'bolo Niki de Saint Phalle: My Love

Elton R. Maas: The Twentieth Century in Eric Schlosser: Fast Food Nation

Prophecy Steen Seagle: It's a Bird

Arthur Machen: The Three Impostors; The Hill of Lloyd Sieden: Buckminster Fuller's Universe

Dreams; Seth: It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken

Steve Malins: Depeche Mode James Shreeve: The Neandertal Enigma

Winsor McCay: Early Works Gene Simmons: Sex Money Kiss; Kiss and Make

Catherine Millet: The Sexual Life of Catherine M. Up

Dean Molter and Mark Askwith: The Prisoner Craig Stanford: The Hunting Apes

Alan Moore: V for Vendetta; The League of Neal Stephenson: The Diamond Age; In the

Extraordinary Gentlemen Beginning Was the Command Line; Snow

Sydney Moseley: John Baird Crash; Zodiac

Syeus Mottel: Charas Bhob Stewart (editor): Against the Grain, Mad

Donald Norman: The Design of Everyday Things Artist Wallace Wood

Genesis P-Orridge: Painful but Fabulous Technocracy Incorporated: Technocracy Study

Chuck Palahniuk: Fight Club; Choke; Refugees Course

and Fugitives G. B. Trudeau: The Bundled Doonesburry

Adam Parfrey: Apocalypse Culture; It's a Man's Tsai Cheh Chung - Zen Speaks; Wisdom of the

World Zen Masters; The Dao of Zhuangzi

Martin Pawley: Buckminster Fuller Raoul Vaneigem - The Book of Pleasures

Michael Paxton: Ayn Rand; a Sense of Life George Walford: Ideologies and their Functions;

Brigid Peppin: Fantasy Angles on Anarchism; Beyond Politics

David Perrin: The Socialist Party of Great Britain Harold Walsby: The Domain of Ideologies

Robert Potter: Buckminster Fuller Chris Ware: Quimby the Mouse; Jimmy Corrigan;

Ted Rall: 2024 The Acme Novelty Date Book

Ayn Rand: The Fountainhead; Atlas Shrugged; Ben Watson: Frank Zappa

Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology; The Leander Watts: Wild Ride to Heaven; Stonecutter

New Left Colin Wilson: A Criminal History of Mankind

Donald Robertson: The Mind's Eye of Leonard Wolf: Wolf's Complete Book of Terror

Buckminster Fuller Peter Yanczer: The Mechanics of Television

Bertrand Russell: Political Ideas Frank Zappa: The Real Frank Zappa Book



OVO









30

Received

Ashley 8

P. O. Box 138

Olive Hill KY 41164 USA

October 2004, Collage, postcard, 4.25

by 6 inches.









Pedro Bericat

Radioterorismo Radio Art

Apartado 4033

Zaragoza 50080 SPAIN

Compact Disc, three tracks, 38:06

minutes.

“Radioterrorismo, paranormal action

anti progreso.”









31

Ryosuke Cohen

Brain Cell

3-76 1-A-613

Yagumokitacho

Moriguchi-City

Osaka 570 JAPAN

Print, stamps and stickers.









Edie

Dig This Real Magazine

244 Fifth Avenue Suite 29037

New York NY 10001-760 USA

No date, 11 by 8.5 inches, four pages.

"Before you begin to read the

newsletter, look at the photo in the

center of the page. I found this photo

on a web auction site. A goon in

Kansas that reads our newsletter has

discovered the ART OF MANSHEEN.

Instead of just a swatch of shag carpet

like a prayer rug to curl up on to

perform the GLIDE SHIMMY in THE

HOSE OF BETTY, he has taken it one

step further. [...]"







Shepard Farley

OBEY GIANT

3807 Wilshire Blvd #1045 / B-10

Los Angeles, Ca 90010 USA

Undated, stickers, various sizes and

shapes.









32

Marle Greenfield

La Bohème Art

P. O. Box 409

Newcastle Staffs ST5 8ZG UNITED

KINGDOM

Undated, 8.5 by 5.75 inches,

unpaginated

International directory of mail art with

contact addresses.









Ed Hutchins

Stand & Deliver

Editions

P. O. Box 624

Fleetwood NY 10552 USA

http://www.artistbooks.com/

2004, 5.75 by 6.75 inches, 55 pages

total with CD

Exhibition catalog to Stand and

Deliver: Engineering Sculpture into a

Book Format. Presented by the

Brookfield Craft Center and the

Movable Book Society. “In today's

climate of challenging traditional

ideas, the book is no exception. It is

constantly being re-examined as to its

purpose, format and viability. Aside

from the electronic arena, which

fundamentally challenges the printed

page, there is a vast community of

experimeners who test the limits of

what can still be called a book.”



33

Rorica and Dob Kamperelić

KVART

11050 Beolgrade

Ustanićka 152/73 SERBIA

Undated, various size and pages.

“We are members of multi-media group

KVART from BELGRADE (activity:

performances, paintings, visual-poetry,

installations etc.). [...] Some ARTicles

with feelings for specific mental-space

in Serbian spiritual ongoing

experiences...”









Magda Lagerwerf

Tulipa

Weenderstraat 23

9551 TJ Sellingen

NETHERLANDS

October 2004, Postcard, 4.5 by 6

inches.









C. Z. Lovecraft

2018 Cranworth Circle

San Jose CA 95121-1422 USA

Mail art, various sizes, various media.









34

Solamito Luigino

Via Cavour, 44

19039 Ventimiglia (1m) ITALY

September 2004, 6.5 by 4.25 inches,

two postcards.

Mixed media mail art: paint, pen,

rubber stamp, photograph, photograph

negative, staples.









Ruggero Maggi

C. So Sempione 67

20149 Milano

ITALY

www.ruggeromaggi.it

Undated, various mail art, various

media.









35

Carrie May

Alphabet for Trevor

Harmony Cottage

Shakesfield

Dymock

Gloucestershire

GL18 2AN UNITED KINGDOM

Undated, 3 by 5 inches, unpaginated

A stamped alphabet. Seeks versions of

the alphabet in any medium.









Willi R. Melnikov

18-88, Kuhmisterova ul.

109388 Moscow

RUSSIA

www.screen.ru/willi

Undated, various mail art, various

media.

Willi's occupations are: virologist,

accupuncture doctor, poet-polyglote,

art photographer, mathematic,

performer, movie actor, Moscow

history guide. These works were made

in the genre of “New Mythology” as a

psychological portrait of different

states of human and hidden dreams.









36

Anne-Mick

Mailart

Ijsseldijk 412

Krimpen aan den IjsseldijkNL 2922 BP

NEDERLAND

Undated, 6 by 8 inches, postcard

“Thanks for your mail – I like your OVO

ep! Nice & different. Keep up the

good work!”









Madison Morrison

Every Second

P. O. Box 22-106

Taipei 10610 TAIWAN

The Working Press, Alexandria. 2004,

11.75 by 8.25 inches, 229 pages.

“The publication of this diptych

completes the first half of Sentences of

the Gods, MM's 26-volume universal

epic, eighteen of whose volumes have

now appeared. The present book's

first segment imitates Old and New

Testaments (Every, 1-4, Every, 5), its

next two, Iliad and Odysey (Second, 1

& 2), its last, the person of Vergil on

his final return to Brundisium (Second,

3). Every features Moses, David,

Herod and the Christian diaspora.

Second intermingles with Achilles and

Odysseus, with Homer and Vergil,

political, philosophical and cultural

figures drawn from the antique and

modern worlds of Antolia, Hellas and

Italia.”









37

Clemente Padin

Casilla C. Central 1211

Montevideo

URUGUAY

October 2004, Postcard, 4 by 6 inches.









Ron Phelps

The Sentence of Madison Morrison

Sentence of the Gods Press

Norman, Oklahoma USA

1999 7.5 by 5 inches, 37 pages.

“The Sentence of the Gods is a vast

cosmological epic consisting of 26

spearate books. In an unprededented

tour de force the books exhibit a

stupendous unrepeated variety of

literary forms, most of them invented

by the author. [...] All this encyclopedic

carnival midway does not, however,

constitute merely a farrago or a

cadenza. Quite the contrary. each of

the 26 books has for its title a single

word: Her, Realization, Revolution,

Possibly, etc. Taken in sequence, these

queer and willful book titles form the

Sentence of the Gods: SLEEP O LIGHT

U NEED A REVOLUTION EACH

SECOND EVERY MAGIC

REALIZATION ENGENDERING HER

EXISTS REGARDING ALL POSSIBLY

HAPPENING RENEWED OR DIVINE

IN THIS EXCELLING LIFE.”









38

Cesar Reglero T. Torkildson

BOEK 861 852-20th Ave SE

Apdo. 861 Minneapolis, MN 55414

(E) 43080 Tarragona Undated, 3.5 by 5.5 inches

ESPANIA

Mail art, various sizes, various media.

Giovani StraDA DA

C. P. 271

48100 Ravenna ITALY

No date, 8 by 11.5 inches.

Several pages of mail art - photocopy,

rubber stamp and watercolor paint.









Temple ov Psychick Youth North

America

P. O. Box 3546

Mission Viejo, CA 92690-3546 USA

2004 5.5 by 3.5 inches

“This notice is being sent to inform you

of a recent address change [...] Thank

you for your flyers and call for

submissions for OVO #15. We will

distribute this info to our network.

Thanks, Coyote 139, TOPY NA West.”









39

Classified Advertisements



Over sixty-thousand pages were downloaded in the first six months of

OVO being online. These 250-character classified advertisements are

inexpensive and will be in circulation around the world for years to

come. Write for current prices and availability.



Autonomedia distributes books from our own press and selected titles

from many other like-minded small presses.

http://www.autonomedia.org/



Eternal Salvation or Triple Your Money Back. We Unite, Divide the

Mutant Underground. Send SASE to The SubGenius Foundation, P. O.

Box 181417, Cleveland Heights OH 44118-1417 USA.

http://www.subgenius.com/



Journal of Ride Theory Omnibus: A compilation of issues 1 through 5 of

the Journal of Ride Theory, the zine about amusement parks, rides and

strange forms of transportation. $20 pp. Email

ridetheory@hotmail.com for details.



Loompanics Unlimited: The Best Book Catalog in the World. No More

Secrets, No More Excuses, No More Limits. P. O. Box 1197, Port

Townsend WA 98368 USA. http://www.loompanics.com/



RE/Search maximizes creativity and freedom in a world whose agenda is

consumerism and control. 20 Romolo #B, San Francisco CA 94133 USA.

http://www.researchpubs.com/









40

Pedro Bericat









41

Ryosuke Cohen



42

Trevor Blake









43

44