All this autobiographical text is set letter by letter in lead type and printed on a Vandercook flat-bed printing press. Yep, that's right. Every word. Every letter. Every space. Each issue is printed in a numbered edition of 250 (give or take). Because of the labor-intensiveness of the endeavor, Ker-bloom! is rather small--- quarter-sheet size to be exact--- with eight pages of text. But don't be fooled--- what Ker-bloom! lacks in size it makes up for in passion.

1-UP is about how and why we play. It's about video games as a way of life, not just a pastime or private addiction. Stories about triumph and defeat, losing quarters, staying up late, and being invincible. Not your little brother's game mag; no cheats, codes, or centerfolds of virtual vixens. We revel in video games as a cultural experience and as art; blinking lights, blip bloop music, and a million ways to approach "gameplay."

Since their origin in the 70's Xeroxed, cut-n-paste variety of the punk movement zines have come a long way. Todays efforts are often formally sophisticated and highly observant while retaining a cultivated do-it-yourself aesthetic with innovative solutions produced by coopting a variety of readily available means in unorthodox ways.

In recent years zines have become a calling card among artists, part promo, part social exchange they have spawned a culture around them, creating a communal network and inspiring ever more creative solutions with each successive generation.