Bookmarks: Some stuff to read on the internet - Karen Ablaze

There's been some excellent stuff in the Guardian this week. First up, Karen Ablaze was invited by The Cribs to write about fanzines, which gave me the same excited chill I used to get when the A4 stamped, self-addressed envelope arrived from Leeds with the latest Ablaze in it:

Claire Circuit, the scene queen of Leeds electronica, sums up why the internet hasn't killed the fanzine star: "Good, meaty, enjoyable music writing never translates well to the screen. Sometimes it's just the way the lines scan on the big screen, or maybe it's the links littered through the text, always tempting you away from the page you're on." As the co-ordinator of Cops And Robbers, a long-running listings 'zine and website serving Leeds' legendary DIY gig scene, she utilises both paper pamphlets and a strong online forum. "People pick it up in the pub, read it, discuss it, pass it around," while last minute changes can be posted to the site any time. "There's still room for the tangible and the physical," she argues. "I like the idea of all of us leaving behind evidence of the great things we are creating now. I'd rather not leave a legacy solely consisting of Facebook photo albums and 404 'Page not found' messages."