Hons, Crime, and Rats: The Baltimore Holy Trinity Gift Pack

Want to explain to out of town family and friends what makes Baltimore so special? Forget about the ironic Natty Boh t-shirt or the stale Berger's cookies, instead send them stories about the real Hons of Baltimore, rats the size of Mini Coopers, and of course the city's favorite sport - both active and spectator - crime! For a limited time, Eight-Stone Press is offering "Hons, Crime, and Rats: The Baltimore Holy Trinity Gift Pack."



Each gift pack contains:

HON: Past, Present, & Future
56 pages
From "birthright" to "state of being," many Baltimoreans hold "hon" sacred, something as intrinsic to the city's character as the Orioles, painted screens and Old Bay. This special edition of the award-winning zine Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore! explores the various interpretations and implications of this simple term of endearment in a city struggling to reconcile its industrial past with an uncertain future.

Criminally Yours
48 pages
Eight-Stone Press (ESP) teams with Baltimore's free weekly e-zine, THE MOBTOWN SHANK, to bring you CRIMINALLY YOURS, featuring the "best" crime-related encounters from 29 area contributors, guilty and otherwise . . .

Infestation!
48 pages
A sometimes unsavory collection of tales of Charm City's unsung vermin. For Infestation! - the second-ever "theme" issue of ESP's increasingly popular Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore! series - ESP Editor William P. Tandy compiled the stories, poetry, photography and other artwork of 18 regional contributors, each inspired by their own encounters with Rattus norvegicus.

This limited time offer is available locally from Atomic Books or direct from Eight-Stone Press. You can order online at eightstonepress.com/hon/hongift.htm or via PayPal to davida@leekinginc.com (gift packs are $10 each, + $3 s/h).

Baltimore City Scales Back Trash Collection

In a perfect world, indeed, this plan would be all pretty girls and sunshine...

But this is Baltimore. Sure, some might consider twice-weekly trash collection excessive, even encouraging of waste. But the reality is that, even with twice-weekly collection, the shit piles high in Charm City. And in many neighborhoods, fewer collections won't translate into less trash generated; rather, there will only be higher piles of the stuff, stinking in the summer heat. One thing is for certain: word will quickly circulate among the Rattus norvegicus population that Baltimore lays a nice spread.

As for recycling - hell, even if the city were to broaden the recycling detail, well...mine is one of only two houses on either side of one winding city alley that even bothers to sort out/set out recycling.

And speaking of putting out the trash, Smile, Hon, You're in Baltimore! No. 11 has been proofed/edited; only thing left now is to print it...