I  fucking hate Mike Atherton. Fucking hate him and I don't like curling either, bowls - yes, curling - no. It's just that I find curling very, very dull to watch. The only sport worse for spectators is surely dressage, though badminton is pretty fucking shite and don't mention swimming to me. No doubt curling involves masses of skill, it's just that it's difficult to spot. That broom business makes no obvious difference, yet everytime I happen to switch on the Winter Olympics coverage, it's fucking curling. Bring back Eddie "the bollocks-shite eagle" Edwards.

Gotta take this opportunity to update the situation on MOONRip zine distribution. Basically four and a half years of unsung slog, distributing thousands of zines and all the diverse shit they contained, came to an emotional end in Septemebr 1997. But it didn't end there and it hasn't ended yet. Since then I've been going through the torturous process of slowly settling up with the zinesters that sent me stuff to sell and battling with what to do with the outstanding stock. I've sorted loads of people but unfortunately still have a bunch of folk to contact. If anyone reading this had zines with me and I haven't been in touch yet, bare with me - I'll get there. As is the way, some people have moved and I'm having difficulty tracing them - get in touch if that's the case. Indeed just get in touch anyway and kick me into action! Everything will get sorted eventually, with John WHY agreeing to take outstanding stock - much of which I paid for in advance (don't forget it!). But I do apologise to those that are still waiting - I never thought it would take this long. My ever hectic life means just grabbing some time as and when I can. I'm totally fucked as I type this and suffering from torn ankle ligaments thanks to a reckless over-the-top tackle by some bastard from Froxfield FC, but it needs to be written. I didn't intend for this column to just become a dull news update but I just wanted to get on paper the above to anyone who may be wondering if I'd done a runner with stock/cash. MOONRip (in its various guises) had always been an honest DIY non-profit operation and it always will. But I definitely underestimated what a monster MOONRip Zine Distribution had become.

When the zine situation is sorted, I hope to get more involved in putting on gigs, be it alone or in a collective. MOONRip put on its first gig just over 4 months ago - J CHURCH/ WAT TYLER/ OIZONE in the anarchist stronghold of Farnham, Surrey - and I wanna do more. It was a lot of hassle on the night, where did all those little fucking kids come from ? but well worth it to witness 220 paying punters for a punk gig in Farnham was incredible. Massive thanks to everyone who supported it, especially those I know travelled some distance for it. Lack of a decent small venue in Farnham is the main problem for doing punk/hc gigs (the strong line-up made the above one feasible) but I'm probably moving in 2-3 weeks and hold out more hope for the next town. However my contact address is still valid until November 1998 so until then keep all correspondence and curling reports coming to MOONRip, PO Box 87, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 9YY, UK.

Mike