The secret’s out. The next Vermin on the Mount is being sponsored by Opium Magazine – an excellent online humor magazine published by Todd Zuniga out of New York – to celebrate the publication of their first print edition. We cooked up the idea this spring at Charles Bukowski’s old hangout shortly after the Swink/Vermin collaboration during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Here's what he has to say about the upcoming event:
VOTM: What's A Whopping Collection of Fanatical Literary Brilliance?
TZ: It's actually OpiumMagazine.print #1, but the thing was too whopping (272 pages), too brilliant (53 contributors) and too fanatical (this can't be quantified) not to bear this subtitle. Plus, we like making fun of ourselves.
VOTM: When did you start Opium?
TZ: We kicked it off on February 5, 2001. It looked like this for quite awhile (we accidentally killed the original logo), but still managed to catch a bit of fire. Then, after the $99 American Dollar Redesign Contest, it looked like this. Now, almost four and a half years later, it's in its current form. Wild times.
VOTM: Are you a drug addict?
TZ: Weirdly, no. Though I carry the heroin chic physique. The site has rarely published any story involving drugs, even. We aim for cool and calm and surprising. Drugs are only one of those.
VOTM: What can we expect from the Opium/Vermin collaboration in September?
TZ: Ballyhoo, hijinks, shenaniganism, sex in the bathrooms, wishes coming true, beautiful people, irony without the ironists, ironing, placation and more humor than one would expect. Alternately, a reading with some pretty outstanding writers touching stage. And a few man hugs.
VOTM: How can I get a copy of issue #1?
TZ: Ask for it by name at the local Winn-Dixie! Or, go here and pay through Paypal. Easy-peasy.
