Netpunk May 1998

Since spring is in the air and a young punks thoughts turn to getting laid, and since most of you punk rockers don't listen to Johnny Rotten ("sex is boring") or Ian Mackaye ("Don't drink, don't smoke, don't fuck"), I thought it would be appropriate to point you to some online sites that offer contraceptive / sex / health resources.  I'll probably also mention a few cool music sites too, but we'll see how much room I have left.

A good place to begin our look at sex resources would be the health section of the AltSex website.  The main site (http://www.altsex.org) has information about everything from Polyamory to Bondage, but they are not just about having sex.  They have a special section with links to health resources at http://www.altsex.org/health that deal specifically with safer sex, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases.  This is an excellent jumping off point for finding the information you need.

If you are too embarrassed to go to your local mini-mart and pick up a pack of rubbers, there are a lot of places online where you can pick yourself up a box of Trojans or any other sort of meat-wrapping material.  One good site is Condomania! (http://www.condomania.com/) which could either be a organization that is crazy about shared living, or somewhere to find that special extra-large, glow-in-the-dark, ribbed for her pleasure piece of rubber you should ALWAYS be using.  You can order online if you have a credit card.  Oh, and they also carry dental dams, lube, female condoms, and a whole bunch more.

Another excellent resource for those of you who had sex without first visiting Condomania! is the Emergency Contraception Website at http://opr.princeton.edu/ec/ec.html .  According to the site, "Emergency contraceptives are methods of preventing pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse. Emergency contraception can be used when a condom breaks, after a sexual assault, or any time unprotected sexual intercourse occurs."  This website tells you everything you ever wanted to know about Emergency Contraception, but had no idea who to ask.  For everyone's sake, educate yourself.

The Reproductive Health and Rights Center has an excellent website at http://www.choice.org about pro-choice issues.  They also have a page of resources at http://www.choice.org/resources.html that contain links to information about gynecology, sex education, abortion, contraception, reproductive laws, and groups who are anti-choice.

Finally, a couple of health sites that aren't related to sexuality, but do give some excellent health information and resources for those of you who don't have the money or resources at your disposal.  The site of the International Women's Health Coalition contains a lot of information, both practical and political on women's health issues all over the globe.  You'll find the page at http://www.iwhc.org/ .

The other site that you can use to find info about health issues is the U.S. government sponsored Healthfinder site (http://www.healthfinder.gov).  Healthfinder is basically a search engine that will help you find health-related websites that have whatever info you're looking for.  Healthfinder isn't all encompassing, and I'm sure some of the more radical organizations aren't listed here, but it is a great site for general health info.

Okay, enough of the health stuff because I'm getting sick of writing about it (hah, hah, I kill me...   I know, I know, ...only cuz I'm first in line).  Now, on to the punk rock sites you actually look at this column for.  Actually, before I get to that, I just found a website I have to tell you about.  It's http://www.disgruntled.com, and it is all about hating work.  Anti-work pranks, worker's rights laws, and other articles and information all put together in a fun to read format.  Hell, if you've got net access at work, it's the perfect way to waste an hour or two while on the clock.

Now, how about that punk.  For those of you with enough cash to jump on a plane to England, you might want to check out the website about the 3rd annual HOLIDAYS IN THE SUN punk festival in taking place in late July.  Bands playing include Stiff Little Fingers, Angelic Upstarts, The Dickies, Peter and the Test Tube Babies, UK Subs, Vibrators, Splodgenessabounds, The Exploited, The Anti-Nowhere League, The Business, Vice Squad, and a handful of newer bands.  Jeez, talk about your nostalgia trip.  Anyway, you'll find the site at http://www.datarecords.com/holidays/ and after you get finished there, go to the main Data Records home site at http://www.datarecords.com and see if there's any punk there you'd like to buy.

Back when I first started getting into going online with my computer in Boise, I'd spend about an hour a month calling long distance to hook up with the Cool Beans! BBS.  For awhile it was somewhere in the Midwest, and then Matt moved it to the Bay area.  Well, it's been a long time since I've called it, and now I find out that it no longer exists as a BBS system.  Nope, Cool Beans is now on the net!  I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am to see this still going.  Unfortunately, at this point, all the website appears to be is an ad for Cool Beans magazine and mailorder, but I'm hoping that Matt will improve it with message bases and other stuff.  Check it out at http://www.coolbeans.com/ .

Jwalker of The Vicious Circle Voice Zine has put together a site of most of the show listings available online, so that you don't have to search all over to find the list you're looking for.  A quick glance at his list made it appear pretty complete, but if you are reading this and you do a local, state, or regional list, you might check at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Backstage/9504/ to see if he has you listed.  These lists are an excellent resource for both fans who are making a trip to another city, and for bands to find the names of clubs / organizations who are putting on shows all over the US.

For you animal rights punks, Total Liberation has a lot of essays on punk rock, animal liberation, and other stuff.  Quite a few things to read here, so even if you don't give a fuck about animals, you might want to check it out.  Total Liberation is at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palladium/6080/ .

That's going to do it for this month.  I've got way too much shit going on right now to write any more.  As always, you can e-mail me at hanford@cruzio.com or write to me via US Post at PO Box 8059;  Santa Cruz, CA  95062.  Finally, Netpunk columns as well as various other columns by some other columnists are available at my site --  http://netpunk.base.org .  Until next time, I'm outta here.


Return to the Netpunk Column page.

Return to the Screwball Punk page.