Despite the super, soar away success of online journals like this one (ahem!), there's still no pleasure like sitting down with an egg sandwich and a piece of printed matter on your lap.

But sadly, most magazines today make egg sandwiches look exotic indeed. Which has left a gaping whole in the market for fanzines, which seem to be proliferating, despite competition from all those blogger nerds and what have you.

DIY culture has seen a resurgence recently, and the origins of the movement are charted in a new book by Amy Spencer, DIY: The Rise of Lo-fi Culture which traces the origins of zines, from 30s sci-fi zines through the self-publishing Beat Generation, the 50s skiffle movement and 70s punk publishers.

In today's ultra corporate society, zines are a sorely needed voice of sanity/ insanity! There's Butt 'fagazine', a "Fantastic magazine for homosexuals" featuring articles like "Roger Payne: Interesting Artist Is Extremely Well Hung and Lives Next Door to Boy George", and Found Magazine which features stuff people have, er, found, as well as the brilliantly monikered Murder Can be Fun!

Here @ UJ we also like Beer Frame, The Chap, and music zine To Hell With. So come on, don't be lazy; bypass Borders and make the trek to an independent retailer and find something interesting to read.

Or better yet, pen something yourself - we dare you.