textfiles/magazines/CRASH/crash5.txt

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CRASH        Your guide to travel thru the underground        Sep 1992

                       INNER SPACE TRAVEL ISSUE


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GREETINGS
from the Crash Crew

As Spaceship Earth becomes more finite every day and just keeps taking 
us in...uh, circles, we slowly become more aware of the planet's and 
our physical limits. We are like animals who thought they roamed free, 
and have come upon a fence, and now feel trapped and forced to face 
the Earth as the prison it is. Well...

No reason to get all fucking morose about it! So while scientists 
desperately search for a way to blast our way out of here with roaring 
shuttlecrafts, spacestations, and moon shots, we've decided to explore 
a different path, one that's not nearly as noisy.

In this inner travel issue, we explore the rather serene frontiers of 
astral travel, mail art networking, virtual reality, and mental road 
trips. All of which are forms of trekking that leave behind that 
cumbersome piece of luggage known as the human body.

So lock yourself in your room, take something for your brain, and 
relax. Onwards to the landscape within.


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DEBRIS
Networking and information

* THE PEACE FARM is a non-profit organization formed in 1986 to raise 
public awareness of the role of Pantex in U.S. nuclear weapons 
production, and of the risk it poses to to the health and safety of 
workers and others and to the environment of the Texas panhandle. The 
Peace Farm is also involved in peace, justice, and environmental 
issues, including the impact of military spending on human needs and 
economic development, alternative energy, the continuing sanctions on 
the people, especially children, of Iraq, and nuclear weapons testing. 
In cooperation with the Red River Peace Network, we sponsor one or 
more peace camps each year, with guest speakers, workshops, and 
activities for children. The Peace Farm welcomes visitors, and there 
is always work for volunteers. The Farm is located on 20 acres south 
of U.S. 60, across from the rail exit from the plant and about halfway 
between FM 1912 and FM 2373. The Peace Farm, HCR 2 Box 25, Panhandle, 
TX 79068, USA; 806/335-1715.

* ALTERNATIVES TO THE PEACE CORPS: A Directory of Third World and US 
Volunteer Opportunities. A guide to voluntary service organizations, 
technical support programs, work brigades, study tours, and 
alternative travel in the Third World. Raises important questions 
about the role of volunteers in developing countries, and offers a 
critical examination of the Peace Corps as the traditional route for 
people wishing to gain "international experience." With resource guide 
and bibliography. $6.95, Sept. 1992 edition. Food First Books, 145 9th 
St., San Francisco, CA 94103, USA; 800/888-3314.

* FREE INFORMATION: Media Action Kit ("Do it yourself publicity"). 
Access to talk shows, mailing lists, press packets, etc. Write: Media 
Distribution Co-op, 1745 Louisiana St., Lawrence, KS 66044, USA 
(please include a 29c stamp).

* GOOD LIFE STUDY TOURS: The study tour into the good life of the 
Malayalee people, an ancient civilization of 30 million, in South 
India, is now under the auspices of EARTHWATCH Expeditions. Come to 
Kerala and help unwrap this mystery, a unique combination of needed 
human characteristic necessary for survival through the 21st century, 
low consumption of the Earth's resources, and small families. 
Earthwatch Expeditions, 680 Mouth Auburn St., Watertown, MA 02272; 
800/776-0188, 617/926-8200.

* LOOMPANICS UNLIMITED: Contains everything you can't and never will 
be able to locate in Crown Books: false ID; creating new identities; 
alternative energy/housing/business; everything you need to know about 
drugs, including legal highs; hackers' manuals; homemade weapons and 
explosives; self-defense; underground economy; plus the complete works 
of Robert Anton Wilson, mad genius of the Illuminatus Trilogy & 
numerous other reality-dissolving tomes. Send $2 to P.O. Box 1197, 
Port Townsend, WA 98368, USA.

* GLOBAL EXCHANGE REALITY TOURS: An exciting alternative to the 
sterile, commercial vacation. We organize trips to countries 
throughout the Third World -- from Brazil to India to Zimbabwe, as 
well as trips to U.S. locations such as Appalachia and Native American 
reservations. You'll meet with farmers, religious leaders, women's 
groups, and unions, as well as government figures and opposition 
leaders. You'll visit hospitals, schools, and villages and spend time 
with families in their homes. And you'll get a taste of the local 
culture, with plenty of great music and good food. Plus, you'll make 
friends that last a lifetime. Global Exchange is a non-profit 
research, education, and action center. Write: Global Exchange/Tours, 
2141 Mission St. #202, San Francisco, CA 94110, USA; 415/255-7296.


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TAKE A MENTAL ROAD TRIP!
by John Labovitz

Are you getting bored? Jaded of the current cultural opinions? Hungry 
for new ideas? Try traveling! But don't order that airplane ticket yet 
-- let's try a brief journey of the mind. Whether you like traveling 
by your nose or by maps, the psychic landscape can be a fascinating 
place to visit!

The physical space we normally consider "reality" could be said to be 
overlaid by a psychic space, in which resides ideas and other mental 
material about particular parts of the physical space. Some cultures 
have this concept ingrained as an integral part of the way they see 
the world. For instance, the Aborigine people in Australia have a 
concept of the Dreamtime, which is a kind of eternal moment in which 
events are happening, have always happened, and always will happen, 
that define and create the physical objects they see in their lives. 
If, for some reason, the Dreamtime didn't exist, then their physical 
world would not exist either.

I think Western culture has a form of this psychic space as well, 
although it is not so obvious. The front door of my house is not just 
a door; it is also a kind of marker of events that have happened at 
the front door, such as meeting a friend for the first time, or 
receiving a sad letter, or chasing away Jehovah's Witnesses. These 
events could be said to reside in psychic space, but are connected to 
the physical space of the door. If I think of the door, I can "see" 
the events that involved the door, and if I think of one of the 
events, I can "see" the door.

Even though this psychic space is unique for every person, we can try 
to create maps to show others how we see the world both physically and 
mentally.

When we travel to places we don't know, we can create a psychic map of 
the place by thinking about the landscape we see, the people we meet, 
the things we do. If we can somehow communicate that map to other 
people, then those people can experience both the physical space of 
the place, as well as various psychic spaces.

A map can take different forms. It could be something you *see,* like 
a photograph or painting; or something you *read,* like a novel or 
magazine article; or something you *hear,* like a song or spoken 
story; or something you *do,* like a ritual or a dance. A map could 
even be a combination of all these different forms and more -- such as 
a movie or a virtual reality system.

When we follow a psychic map -- read the novel, watch the movie, 
listen to the song, perform the ritual -- we travel some of the same 
roads that the creator of the map also traveled, and we can recognize 
the landmarks along the way. But each of our experiences is unique and 
depends on the life and personality of the individual traveler.

Community and culture help to create common psychic maps. Mass media 
generally depends on these common cultural maps; a group of people can 
see the same movie or read the same book or perform the same ritual 
and find common landmarks and ideas, even though each person is an 
individual who has lived his or her own life.

Myths and folktales are more examples of common maps. On one level, a 
folktale is just a story, perhaps about ordinary people doing ordinary 
things. But on another level, a folktale embodies common traits and 
personalities shared by the majority of the culture. A folktale is 
popular because the people of a culture can identify with it; the 
people can follow the map and experience the journey of the characters 
of the story.

In large cultures, there may be many maps, and some of them may even 
conflict. Perhaps your storehouse of maps needs to be expanded. Or 
maybe you need to create your own maps, and share them with other 
like-minded travelers of the mind.


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MAIL MYSELF TO YOU
by John Held Jr.

My adventures in mail art started in 1975 when I was living in Utica, 
New York, and trying to find out more about the artistic use of rubber 
stamps. My first lead came when I saw an article in *The New York 
Times* about a Rhode Island rubber stamp company called Bizarro. I 
wrote the owners, Kenn and Pumpkin Speiser, and they in turn informed 
me of the mail art network and the use these artists were making of 
visual and textural rubber stamps.

Living in the cultural isolation of upstate New York, the mail art 
network became a revelation in which I was able to communicate with a 
like-minded group of artists all over the globe. One of my first and 
most active correspondents was Ray Johnson, who lived in Locust 
Valley, Long Island, and is generally considered to be the pioneer of 
the genre. In the very first issue of the *Village Voice* (1955), Ray 
was featured in a story stating that he had a mailing list of 300 
correspondents. More then anyone else, Ray is responsible for 
establishing the poetic quality of postal communication between 
artists.

During the past decade the field of mail art has exploded. Individuals 
interested in social and political alternatives have joined those 
interested in artistic alternatives. The dream of the avant-garde has 
been realized in mail art. Anyone can be an artist. In fact, the term 
"art" has come to be suspect, and the preferred usage in 
correspondence circles is now "networking," with those active in the 
field known as "networkers." Mail art has evolved into a post-art 
strategy.

It is not far-fetched for me to state that many of my best friends are 
correspondents that I have never met. I have been in contact with many 
of them for ten years or more. We share the ups and downs of our daily 
lives, and secrets that we are often unwilling to impart to those in 
closer proximity. Mail art is shared communication, creativity, and 
confidences.

Now in its fifth decade, mail art is no longer a purely postal based 
medium. Correspondents have made efforts to meet; sometimes in large 
gatherings expressly for that purpose. This year has been the year of 
the Decentralized Worldwide Networker Congress, which is a structure 
that encourages mail artists to meet other cultural and social 
activists engaged in other alternative cultural networks (such as 
computer bulletin boards, rubber stamps, cassette culture, and zines). 
As a "decentralized" congress, the Networker Congresses encourage not 
only geographically diverse meetings, but alternatives to face-to-face 
meetings. The Crackerjack Kid (AKA Chuck Welch) has been very active 
in telecommunications this year, linking the mail art community with 
computer enthusiasts. He calls this type of congressing "meta-
networking."

Perhaps this gets to the theme "inner travel" as explored in this 
issue of The Crash Update. Mail art is a way of exploring the world 
from your mailbox. It's cheap (unless it gets out-of-hand, as is 
likely after many years of activity), less time consuming then 
traveling in real time, and deletes constricts in stereotyping, which 
happens when face-to-face encounters occur. In fact, I don't know if 
some of my correspondents are male or female, black or white, rich or 
poor -- none of these things really matter when a meeting of minds is 
conducted in a networked situation. All that matters is the quality of 
the connection.

So far I have only written of networking as a one-to-one 
correspondence, but it is often much more than that. Some networkers 
never write letters at all but concentrate on entering mail art shows, 
which bring the diverse community of correspondents together. Mail art 
shows are a way of extending the network, because at the conclusion of 
the exhibition (all entries are shown and no fees are charged to 
enter) documentation in the form of names and addresses of 
contributors are sent to all the participants. From the documentation 
received, correspondents can be picked at random. It is a good guess 
that mail art show participants are attuned to answering their mail in 
one form or another, and this is a good way for one to extend their 
contacts in the field.

*****
I've provided some mail art show information to set you on your way. 
Happy motoring!

October 27, 1992: Ghosts from the Past. Any size, format, or style. 
All work will be exhibited at a Halloween AIDS Event in Tokyo. Send to 
Sargent, 1-34-2 808 Komagome, Toshima-Ku, Tokyo 170, Japan.

November 1, 1992: Mail Your Dream. Send to Equipe de Arte Postal, R. 
Capri 276, CEP 05425, Sao Paulo SP, Brazil.

December 30, 1992: Who Eats Whom and Why? Send to Angela and Henning 
Mittendorf, PF. 50 03 65, D-6000 Frankfurt M. 50, Germany.

December 30, 1002: FeMail Art on rubber stamped envelopes. Send to the 
Stamp Art Gallery, 466 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA.

Ongoing: Siberia As It Is. Postcard size. Send to Sergey Tikhanov, PO 
Box 29, Novosibirsk, Siberia 630005, Russia.

For a newsletter published three times a year (January, May, 
September) with over 180 mail art show listings, send $6 subscription 
to Global Mail, Ashley Parker Owens, PO Box 597996, Chicago, IL 60659, 
USA.


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VIRTUAL REALITY...ACTUAL MIND CONTROL
by Miles Poindexter

I've been hearing about it as much as many of you. "Virtual reality" 
is coming and from the way some people are talking you'd think it was 
the next stage of evolution! Well, it's not, unless we are de-evolving 
into sloths, which in that case we are one step closer to that lump of 
flesh than the genus *couch-potato-ontos* (no "e," Dan), our 
television-feeding ancestors.

Virtual Reality, when it gets here, will be a giant step in the 
evolution of escapism. So where's the harm in a little escape from the 
real world once in a while? There's no harm in almost anything done 
once in a while, but if virtual reality becomes only one half as 
popular as TV is today, people will be doing it much more than "once 
in a while."

Before we go on, let's look at a brief history of escapism. The 
ancient paintings on cave walls could have been used as escape. Our 
ancestors may have sat in the cave and stared at pictures of buffalo 
and pretended they were outside ready to do battle with the real 
thing. This form of escape would take place in our minds, in the same 
way people create whole worlds in their imagination when they read. 
This is known as "participatory escapism." When movies and television 
came along, people didn't have to use their imagination. All they had 
to do was let the sounds and images fill their heads and ignore the 
room they were in. This is "passive escapism" and does nothing to 
stimulate our imagination, which is an important part of being human. 
Virtual reality is a formidable step into passive escapism.

Besides the rather dated argument that escapism of this kind dulls the 
mind and an individual's ability to be creative, what other negative 
aspects are there to VR? For one thing, it's a mind control device. 
With the proper, pleasant stimulation of your visual, auditory, and 
tactile (touch) senses, corporations will be able to subliminally 
brainwash you to buy anything. There will be commercials in virtual 
reality -- you can count on it. There will also be news on VR and when 
you watch the news and the leader of a country comes on, you may 
receive "pleasant skin sensation #4" to relax your mind and open it up 
so the words just fall right in. Sexual stimuli could be triggered 
every time you see an "enemy" being bombed, making you love war.

The possibilities are endless, but let's look at one more negative 
aspect of VR that goes against everything The Crash Network wants to 
inspire. VR creates apathy. For example, let's say you've always 
wanted to go to Greece. So you go to your nearest VR center and enter 
the country by computer. Even though everything you experience would 
be only what the government or corporations wanted you to see, you 
might come out of there thinking you'd actually visited the country.

Let's look even farther into the future when VR can stimulate every 
sense, including taste. Not only that but let's say there is a new VR 
experience where you can actually hook up with another person in 
Greece so that everything this person sees, hears, eats, etc., will 
stimulate your senses also. Exactly like being in the country for a 
while, yes? No. Who's to say there is really a person there doing all 
these things? Most likely it's a recorded sensory stimuli that's been 
carefully edited by powerful people to keep you ignorant.

If all this sounds unbelievable just remember what you were allowed to 
see of Iraq before, during, and even after the "war." Nothing gets on 
TV without the approval of the corporations that own the channels. And 
nothing will be allowed to be experienced in virtual reality except 
what these same corporate executives want you to experience. After 
all, they do own the stuff.


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INFO-E
Practical information about Ecstasy

**********************
The multifaceted jewel

Ecstasy catalyzes a powerful experience that takes many different 
forms. It can provoke an intense, energetic, spiritual high or lead to 
warm, loving relaxation. It can connect people freely and openly with 
each other or promote deep inner thinking and analysis. Sensual yet 
not necessarily sexual, beautiful and sometimes dangerous, Ecstasy 
covers a wide range of human emotions, experiences, and passions. What 
you put into it is what you get out, so be sure to explore the many 
facets of the experience.

**********************************
Those little annoying side effects

Although some people say it has no side effects, Ecstasy is not the 
perfect drug. Users have reported a variety of mild physical symptoms 
such as jaw clenching, teeth grinding, eye wiggles, tightened muscles, 
sweating, chills, increased heart rate, blood pressure and body 
temperature, auditory effects, nausea, shaking, and next-day 
sleepiness. Occasionally it can cause toxic reactions in people with 
asthma, heart conditions, diabetes, epilepsy, psychosis, or 
depression. Remember, Ecstasy is a powerful drug. Treat it -- and your 
body -- with respect.

**************
As time passes...

Myths abound concerning Ecstasy's effects after repeated usage. Most 
claims (such as that it causes Parkinson's disease or drains spinal 
fluid) actually refer to other drugs or common misconceptions. 
Although scientists suspect some nerve terminal damage and 
neurotransmitter depletion in the brain based on animal research, the 
true long-term effects and implications remain a mystery until further 
human research becomes legal. By avoiding the temptation to use 
Ecstasy too frequently, you can lessen the risk and have more fun.

************
Less is more

An active dose of Ecstasy depends on one's body weight, sensitivity, 
and prior use. A typical "hit" contains 75-125 milligrams. Over 175 
milligrams increases side effects for many users. Taking a larger dose 
does not necessarily mean a better experience -- it may be more 
"speedy," but less ecstatic.

******************
Methylenedi-what??

The chemical name for Ecstasy is "methylenedioxymethamphetamine," or 
"MDMA" for short. Although it is derived from organic material, MDMA 
itself does not occur in nature, and must be created in a complex 
laboratory process.

MDMA was designed in 1914 by the Merck Company of Germany. However, it 
was not used until the early 1970s when some therapists believed that 
it helped people to bring out their true feelings in a peaceful and 
open manner. For many years, Ecstasy (known then as "ADAM") remained 
legal, known only among a fairly small group of people.

In the mid-1980s, Ecstasy exploded into the nightclub scene in Texas 
and Britain. Fearing possible health risks, all scientific, 
therapeutic, and recreational use by humans was banned by the United 
States and British governments by 1986. Despite the objections of 
scientists, doctors, and even judges, it was classified along with 
marijuana, LSD, and heroin as a drug with no recognized medical use 
and high abuse potential.

In 1992, the Food and Drug Administration permitted a group of 
researchers in California to study the short-term effects of Ecstasy 
on human health. The study is not yet completed.

***************************
Some tips for Ecstasy users

* Drink lots of water to replenish body fluids.

* From time to time, stop moving, take deep breaths and relax.

* Maintain a healthy lifestyle: eat a balanced diet, take vitamins,
  and get plenty of sleep.

* Remember: Less is more. Large or frequent doses can increase the
  side effects without adding to the experience.

* Much of what is sold as Ecstasy is not pure MDMA. Be cautious of
  what you buy and who you buy from. Impurities may include
  amphetamine, LSD, heroin, or PCP.

* Alcohol can reduce or change the effects of Ecstasy, and the
  combination can cause undesired effects.

* Integrate what you've learned. Think about your thoughts and
  feelings and try to apply them to real life.

*************
Stay informed

Useful facts about drugs can be hard to find among the anti-drug hype. 
Here are some excellent references:

Ecstasy: The MDMA Story by Bruce Eisner (Ronin Press) contains a good 
overview of the history, effects, use, science, and politics of MDMA. 
Try asking your local bookstore to order it.

PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story by Ann & Alexander Shulgin (Transform 
Press) is a novel about psychedelic chemicals and experiences, 
including MDMA.

Pursuit of Ecstasy: The MDMA Experience by Jerome Beck and Marsha 
Rosenbaum (forthcoming from SUNY Press) describes patterns of MDMA use 
in the 1970s and 1980s.

Xochi Speaks, a full-color educational poster and booklet, provides 
practical info on MDMA and eleven other psychedelic substances. Send a 
stamped, self-addressed envelope for details to Lord Nose!, P.O. Box 
170473R, San Francisco, CA 94117.

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) funds 
scientific research on MDMA and has publications available about MDMA 
and other psychedelic drugs. Write to MAPS, 1801 Tippah Avenue, 
Charlotte, NC 28205.

*****
We hope this flyer helps provide useful information and removes some 
of the mysteries. Please be careful and responsible; learn from your 
experiences. Together, we can make this a better world for everyone.
The publishers and distributors of this flyer do not condone or 
encourage drug use. It's none of our business if you use drugs or not, 
but if you do, be careful. And remember: drink lots of water.

    -- from the Info-E flyer, distributed at raves and other events


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DISTURBIA: NIGHTMARES FROM THE SUBURBAN DREAM
You Can't Get There From Here
by Mary Lou

I was born in the woods of Maine in 1967. My mother was 18 and my 
father was 24. My mother was the baby of eight children and grew up on 
a farm with little money and never a piece of clothing that wasn't 
handed down from an older sister. My father was the son of a mill 
worker and he lived a comfortable life. He was in and out of the 
Marines before they were married and his pride and joy was his Mustang 
GT fastback, candy apple red.

His drinking was to become the reason for divorce and to this day, 
nineteen years later he doesn't understand this. 

My father moved back to his parent's house, where he still lives to 
this day. I didn't see much of him after the divorce was final, maybe 
every other weekend. Sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the 
night and he would be standing beside my bed looking down at me. I 
could always smell him there. I would sit up and reach out for him but 
he always ran out of the room. In the morning I would tell my mother 
that daddy had come to see me. She would always say that I must have 
had a dream and that's all. 

Visiting my father always ended terribly. I always had a fight with my 
grandmother. She would be setting up the kitchen for morning and going 
on and on about how terrible it was that I didn't go to church and 
what a horrid person my mother was. I would be eating apple pie and 
getting more and more angry but I could never talk to her. Instead I 
liked to just stop eating...sit there...wait for her to pause long 
enough to take a breath and then I would throw the plate with the pie 
across the kitchen at her, always worked.

She would just about spit fire. Always made me wonder if all her 
orations about Satan and hell weren't from her own personnal 
experiences. But this always ended up in a spanking from my father. It 
was always the same. He would take me into the bathroom and sit down 
on the toilet. He would put me across his lap and pull down my pants. 
I would be looking into the tub and after a while I would fall asleep 
with the image of the drain going blurry in my eyes. No pain after 
that.

In the morning my bottom would be stuck to the sheets with dried 
blood. Grandma would be mad.

Soon visits to my father became less frequent. My mother was furious 
about my bottom. She would cry and get mad at the same time. I never 
knew what or if she said anything to him, I just know I started to 
spend a lot of time at my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Thurl's house instead 
of my father's.

My aunt and uncle lived in a big farm house with six kids, cows, 
horses, chickens, ducks, pigs, and tons of fields and forests. My 
cousins were wild and some of them didn't even go to school. It was 
always so much fun to be there in the country with them and not even 
think about Dad or my grandmother.

The girls had one room upstairs that they all shared. Three of them in 
one bed. The boys had another room that they all shared. It was 
plastered with centerfolds and deer antlers and hunting stuff. They 
used to throw darts at the centerfolds. I remember once going into 
their room and my oldest cousin Leon, who was eighteen, asked me if I 
could read. I was nine and of course I could read!

"I got straight A's in school, " I told him. Leon didn't go to school. 
He hadn't gone since he was 14. He asked me to read a paper to him 
that he had under his mattress. I read it to him. He laughed and 
laughed. My cousins David and Jimmy laughed too. I was reading a piece 
from one of those porno magazines. Leon asked me if I could read 
everything. I said "yes." He showed me a little book, It was "Old 
Yeller." He opened it and tried to read some of it. He got stuck a lot 
so I helped him. Leon was my favorite. I was always safe around him. 
David was too nasty. He was always pulling up my shirt and once he 
asked me and my cousin Kaylinda if we knew how to shift the haytruck. 
We said no and he pulled out his cock and showed us how to shift.

Staying with my cousins was freedom! I loved sleeping in the bed 
upstairs with my three female cousins. It was crowed and the house was 
cold. Only wood stoves for heat and cooking. We had to bring water 
from the spring too.

First thing in the morning, which was 4:30 am, we fed all the animals, 
picked eggs from the hen house, brought wood from the shed and then we 
got to eat. Breakfast was fresh eggs, bacon from last summer's pig, 
raw milk from a cow and homemade bread. Afterwards, dishes were for 
the girls and chopping wood was for the boys. Then it was time to 
play.

All day we played either upstairs in the barn or down by the creek if 
it was hot. We had a whole world in that barn. A world full of 
discarded, musty old clothes, broken furniture and old appliances and 
dishes. The best and most secret part of the barn was the boxes of old 
girly magazines, hundreds of them -- dusty and torn, pages missing, 
some infested with beetles. I was very young but I remember these 
magazines well. Sex education made simple. One particular issue had a 
cartoon that I tore out and carried with me for years. It was called 
Luscious Lucinda. I was amazed by her pet tiger who would play like a 
kitten with her and then as Lucinda lay back on her bed and opened her 
long legs, the tiger would lick her pussy. This was my favorite issue. 
Lucinda was a lucky girl and I knew it even at the age of nine.

The boys, Leon, David and Jimmy would always sneak up on us while we 
were reading girly magazines and say,

"What are you looking at, Lessies?" (they meant lesbians), or, "What 
do you see, girls? Want to learn it early?"

They were 14, 15, and 18 years of age at the time. Kaylinda and I were 
both 9. Cindy and Gail were 16 and 17 and got to go out all the time. 
We never knew where they went or what they did. But Gail now has three 
babies from three men and Cindy has had two abortions and now has two 
kids also. So they must have looked at those magazines too at one 
time!

Those weekends at my cousins were the foundation of my sanity. Living 
two lives became the norm. I would endure my Grandmother's hatred and 
Catholic guilt dogma during the week, and then enjoy complete freedom 
exploring my own sexuality on my cousins' farm. Fuck Catholicism. I'm 
not going back to Maine. I'm free.


----------------------------------------
O.B.E. -- Travel at the Speed of Thought
by Miles Poindexter

O.B.E. stands for Out of Body Experience. If you want a good example 
of the possibilities of astral travel, just look at the Cenobytes in 
the movie "Hellraisers" (the first movie, not the second). As Pinhead 
says, they are "explorers of other realms." They are a modern 
projection of a belief as ancient as the Egyptians.

The common thread of this belief through the ages has been that we are 
of two bodies. One is our physical self, bound to the earth and its 
realities. The other is our spiritual body. No one is sure what this 
entity is made of, though. Some say pure thought, others pure energy 
of another source. But many believe that it carries on long after the 
physical body ceases.

The ancient Egyptians believed in the Ka, a spiritual vehicle of the 
mind and soul. Plato believed that the soul could leave the body and 
travel. The Tibetan Book of the Dead describes a "Bardo-body," an 
ethereal duplicate of the physical body. The existence of an 
apparitional body is acknowledged in Mayayana Buddhism, and the 
ancient Chinese said they could achieve OBE's during meditation. 
Shamans in tribal cultures say they project themselves out-of-body at 
will by achieving an ecstatic state of consciousness.

We decided to look into the subject of OBE's because of another 
phenomena related to it: astral travel. This is the process of willing 
your spiritual body or "astral body" to other places, both earthly and 
otherwise. We were especially excited about the advantages of astral 
travel over regular travel. In the astral form, OBE travelers report 
moving about the earth plane like apparitions, invisible to all but 
those they choose to appear to (we can think of infinite possibilities 
for that little feature...), passing through walls and solid objects, 
and traveling with the speed of thought. A non-earthly realm called 
the "astral plane" is also a possible destination available only to 
the astral traveler. Some people travel great distances, even to other 
planets.

The easiest way to achieve an OBE is during sleep. Some believe that 
most of us already experience OBE's in our sleep. They can also occur 
during severe illness, near-death experiences, hypnosis, times of 
great stress, trauma, fear, or meditation. Easy. Usually the astral 
body departs through the head and is connected by a silver cord. It 
can also simply rise up and float away. The OBE is often preceded by a 
perception of strong and high-frequency vibrations. 

Once you get the hang of it you will probably have one of two types of 
OBE's. The parasomatic OBE is where the person feels that they are 
inhabiting another body, just like their own. And the asomatic is 
where there is no body, just a presence, a feeling of nothing. In both 
types, senses of sight and sound are usually heightened. Many people 
have these experiences in moments of extreme stress. One man was 
working through the night for 7 days to finish an impossible deadline, 
and taking amphetamines. He left his body and watched himself working 
(typing) from overhead. He felt completely detached from his human 
form below. Uncaring and unstressed, very light, filled with vitality, 
calm. A strong feeling of well-being is common in many OBE stories. 

Where do you go and what do you do when you're in astral form? We 
looked into this and found three good examples: One women wrote about 
finding a friend of hers sleeping in a strange room. She was able to 
describe the room exactly. Her friend, who had stayed at the house of 
a relative because of a crisis was amazed and mystified at the 
detailed description. Not exactly our idea of fun...but the next two 
examples are amazing.

A Frenchman named Yram (1884-1917) wrote a book called "Practical 
Astral Travel" chronicling his OBE's. Yram paid OBE visits to a woman 
whom he later married. The two traveled astrally together and 
experienced ecstatic astral sex.

A New York man named Robert A. Monroe began having spontaneous OBE's 
during his sleep in 1958. He wrote a book called *Journeys Out of the 
Body* about it in 1971. In it he describes encountering other 
intelligences, some of which provided assistance; demonic or subhuman 
entities and thought-forms who attacked him; an energy presence of 
overwhelming magnitude (he does not say whether or not it was "God"); 
the astral forms of other humans; and sexual experiences on the astral 
level, which produced intense shocks by a seeming interflow of 
electrons. He occasionally had difficulty reentering his body and on 
one occasion entered a corpse by mistake.

Monroe identifies various levels of reality encountered in the OBE 
state. Locale I is the here-and-now earth plane. Locale II is the 
astral plane, where everyone goes in sleep, and where numerous beings 
and entities and concepts of heaven and hell exist. It is infinite. 
Locale III transcends time and space and appears to be a parallel 
universe.

Monroe seems to have devised a new way of inducing OBE's. In 1975 he 
obtained a patent for Hemi-sync, a technique using sound to create 
brain waves associated with the OBE state. The sound synchronizes the 
left and right hemispheres of the brain and induces physical sleep 
while allowing the mind to remain alert and active.

What are the explanations people have devised for OBE's? One theory is 
that we have a second self, or a "spirit" form or maybe a part of us 
that is pure energy of some type, that does not die when the physical 
body dies. Yet, if we are to believe the accounts of numerous astral 
travelers, this spiritual body does "age" like our physical one, 
because it looks exactly the same as our physical body.

Another theory is that OBE's are all in the mind. This isn't to say 
that they are fake, but rather that the mind has more ways to sensing 
than just the five senses. This way of seeing our bodies as if from 
above is simply a powerful sensory ability, such as extra sensory 
perception (ESP). Our brain creates this floating body image in our 
dreams because we cannot accept our psychic abilities without a 
plausible explanation. But this theory would not explain astral 
travel. And are these people really dreaming when they have an OBE 
experience?

Some evidence that OBE's are not dreams has come from research like 
the case of Miss Z. In this 1968 experiment a woman who claimed to 
have regular OBE's was placed in a room with a bed. Next to the bed 
was a 6 foot high table with a clock on top. For 5 nights she slept 
here and attempted to read the time and a random note placed next to 
the clock each night by rising from her body and looking down on it. 
Her brain waves and REM's were recorded each night. On the times she 
was able to remember reading the note and clock, her alpha patterns 
showed a stage 1 light sleep pattern, with no REM activity. This 
reading at the time had never been described before in sleep research. 
Stage 1 alpha patterns were always accompanied by REM's and was 
considered a dream state. Miss Z did have REM activity at other times 
of the night, but never when she described an OBE.

I'm looking forward to many of you trying this stuff after reading 
this highly enlightening article. When in your astral form, come 
visit. It'll be no problem putting you up since you won't need a bed 
and you won't eat much.


--------------------
CONFESSION ANONYMOUS
by Pol I. Peptide (Jack Ruby Slippers)

It's early morning. Sleep-caked eyes. Sixth day in a row with my 
contacts in. Don't know if they hurt; don't remember.

Still on the road. No more deserts. We're in San or Santa something 
else. All green and the smell of the ocean. Lots of blonde boys and 
girls, all tanned. A few asians, no blacks. No natives. They look as 
if they do nothing but fuck and feel good.

Didn't conclude the Quest last night. Didn't let on. Some are too 
strong. Can't be taken in. Not necessarily a fellow, but an equal. But 
outside. No chains, no hacksaws. Just there and strong.

*****
"So that's her," he snickers in a friendly way. Smiles and shakes a 
little. An acknowledgement but, a fear of admission. Doesn't want to 
look too close for fear of a possible reflection. An equal; inside; no 
hacksaw.

Looking at him as she walks away and knowing what to want. To be true 
is not to pursue it. Acknowledge but do not pursue.

"You know why I'm there," nods and a hug, a small, revealing kiss is 
exchanged. Laughter. He understands.

*****
He spells it out rather clearly with all this talk of 'confession.' 
The exchange of power through knowledge. The confessor gives strength 
to the confessed. Confessed reveals weakness through the wrestling of 
confession. Borges has spelled out what this is like in his "Lottery 
of Babylon." Do we propose to further such a nightmare? To continue 
anthropomorphosizing it? To continue remaking ourselves in our own 
image? To recognize it as another spirit?

We have dedicated everything to it. Blood sacrifices. It is the 
strongest. Feel its vibrations in everything. It screams when metal 
drags metal. Its stink fills the air when chemicals burn. Glimpsed its 
face once in a refinery fire. Looked into its heart. Nearly went mad. 
You will not ride spirit. Let some other be your horse. My lot is 
cast...

*****
Still on the road. Never need to jack-off. Never spend money on 
anything. Everyone's so willing. Beautiful. I'll return the favor 
whenever I'm able. Promise. Politeness is so important in this world. 
Politeness and the stink of the road.


----------------------
JOIN THE CRASH NETWORK!

Crasher: person who is traveling, guest.
Crashee: person who is allowing Crasher to sleep at residence, 
         host/hostess.

Joining is free!  Send email to johnl@netcom.com for a questionnaire 
(or send us an SASE to our mailing address, listed at the end of this 
file). Filling it out and returning it gets you listed in our Crash 
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guidelines below.

*************
HOW TO USE IT

You can use the Crash Directory to contact other members that you would 
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use the directory to find potential crash sites along your planned route 
(flexibility helps). Before your departure, contact your potential 
crashee by mail, phone, or email and inquire about a visit. When all 
your crashes are confirmed, you're ready to hit the proverbial road.

**************
THE CRASH CODE

1.  Any Crashee can turn away a Crasher if they do not agree to the 
    Crash by prior consent.
2.  No charge for stay unless agreed upon by both parties beforehand.
3.  Toilet and shower facilities should be made available to Crasher 
    if possible.
4.  Don't eat Crashee's food unless offered.
5.  Don't use the Crashee's phone, stereo, TV or any other property 
    without their consent.
6.  No stealing.
7.  Don't bring friends over without the prior consent of the Crashee.
8.  Treat each other with respect.
9.  Help each other in every way possible during Crashes.
10. Crasher must obey rules of Crash Pad unless they contradict 
    above rules.


-----------------
CRASH INFORMATION

Editors: Miles Poindexter, John Labovitz.

Crash is published in January, March, May, July, September, and 
November of each year. 

Subscriptions are $5 for six issues. A sample issue is $1 or three 
US 29c stamps.  Back issues (text only) are available via anonymous FTP
at netcom.com in directory /pub/johnl/zines/crash.  The printed issues 
also contain illustrations and advertising; for the full Crash experience, 
send for a printed sample.

Crash is happy to hear from you. Send artwork, articles, and aardvarks 
to us at:

    Crash
    519 Castro Street #7
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    email: johnl@netcom.com

If you are interested in advertising in the print or electronic 
version of Crash, please contact us for rates and sizes.

Copyright (C) 1992 Crash. We encourage other zine editors to reprint 
or excerpt parts of any articles written by us (Miles Poindexter or 
John Labovitz). All we ask is that information about this magazine and 
the network be included with it. If you wish to reprint something by 
an outside contributor, please contact them beforehand (either by 
their contact information listed after the article, or c/o Crash).


------------------
END OF CRASH SEP92