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Pif Magazine
ISSN: 1094-2726
Published by:
Pif, LLC
PMB 248
4820 Yelm Hwy SE
Suite B
Lacey, WA 98503-4903
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Word
Reviewed by Ingrid Woodrow
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Word is, quite simply, one of the best sites on the Web. There is no flashy splash page; it cuts to the chase with its lively, unpretentious arcade game-style contents list complete with low-flying helicopter. The contents for this New-York 'zine are laid out as a tenement building with "stories" on each floor with features as well as daily and weekly updates and installments. Over the course of writing this review I returned to the site many times, hoping to come up with a snappy synopsis of all that it contains. My roommate began to query the frequency of my visits to the extent that I had to justify each visit with a rundown on what I discovered each time. In the end she shook her head in disbelief and said, "You are never going to be able to cover everything on that site...there's so much!" It's true. It's unfathomable. A bottomless well of words and images. |
Word |
All I can do is give a brief rundown of a few works I came across, such as J. Milligan's hilarious "Ass Infection '99". The work is laid out like a romance story on a pink background with delicate floral arrangements and details the author's trip "all the way to Boquet, Panama...a beautiful town nestled in a beautiful valley." But alas, along the way the author develops a large, infected saddle-sore.
Then there is Steven Ahlgren's "Going to Work" series, a mock-futuristic computer file of photographs, each broken into an iconic "fragment", a "preview file" featuring stats such as name and age, and the photo frame itself with a striking, high-quality, fast-loading color image.
I liked C.E. Highland's "The Guests" for its elegant design and poignant story of an American woman running a bed-and-breakfast off the coast of Ireland, encountering such guests as the mail-order bride who "sat so silently and dutifully the entire weekend, smiling from ear to ear, listening to her new husband drone on."
I also enjoyed the "Word staff home pages." On Friday November 5, I visited Tomas' "216 Nameless Colors (and how you can help)." Tomas attempts to redress the fact that all the colors on the Web-safe palette remain "tragically nameless" by designing a cube featuring every single color. Visitors can view them from any angle and then name selected colors, an invitation which, I am ashamed to say, brought out the schoolgirl urge in me to write "naughty things" to see if they would be posted. I did. They were.
The layout of individual works is impressive. Howard Kaplan's "I Was There With Graydon Carter" utilizes a horizontal scrollbar to brilliant effect, and Cliff McReynolds' picture gallery, "Animals are Us," is one of the most spectacular online art displays I've come across – though I didn't like the works themselves.
Another great feature of Word is entitled "WORK" and features interviews with real-life workers. The feature when I last checked was from flight attendant Carrie Warren, who reveals the secrets behind the "Barbie doll boot-camp" that is stewardess training school. A browse through the "WORK" archive could take all day – it's fascinating stuff: a TV guest coordinator from the US TV show Change of Heart who reveals that good TV is about conflict, "that's what the world wants right now." Or Cosmetics Saleswoman Lynda McFarlin, who out of sheer frustration mutters: "Oh, my God. Pick out the lipstick already. It's not like major surgery or anything." Other workers interviewed include a Souvenir Penny Seller, a Pretzel Vendor, a Las Vegas Showgirl, a Pencil Factory Worker, the Mayor of LA and a disarmingly honest drug dealer with a fascination for coral reefs.
This 'zine started in 1995 and was "rebirthed" in October 1998. In the premiere editorial, publisher and editor-in-chief Marisa Bowe says simply "I defy anyone to do better." No argument here. I've paid a lot of money for print magazines with a fraction of this content. Yes, there may be flashier sites, but in terms of design, attitude, and ideas this site has few equals. And no spelling mistakes. Bookmark it. Tell your friends.
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Ingrid Woodrow is a writer based in Brisbane, AUSTRALIA. Her novel, Goddess and the Galaxy Boy, was shortlisted in October 1999 in The Australian/Vogel Literary Awards and is currently under consideration by three major Australian publishers. She is completing a Ph.D. in Creative Writing at the University of Queensland and working on a collection of short stories, one of which received second prize in the Banjo Paterson Writing Awards in June 1999.
Ingrid is the founding editor of the online writing journal Mangrove, which is listed as a "Site of National Significance" in the National Library of Australia's PANDORA archive. Mangrove is also a finalist in the upcoming AIMIAs (Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Awards). Further information and samples of work can be obtained by visiting http://www.uq.edu.au/~eniwoodr