COOL AND STRANGE MUSIC MAGAZINE

WHAT HAPPENED TO MYKE??

Here's the deal: I legally sold the Cool and Strange Music Magazine to Myke O'Clock in Feb., 2003, and he seemed very upbeat and confident about his dedication about putting the next issue out. Unfortunately, he never produced one single issue.

I spent a lot of energy training Myke to take over the magazine, and provided him with the materials and resources to seamlessly take over when I left. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way. All of us former C&SM staffers are totally bewildered by Myke's lack of output and communication. He was my former webmaster and even wrote an article for the magazine, while I was still at the helm. Every indication I saw, was that he was the perfect guy to take over the publication, and had the know-how, enthusiasm and skills (and patience) to do it. Why he never did, we'll probably never know.

I really was proud of the magazine, andI would have loved to have seen it continue to flourish and grow over the future years.

He alone, was responsible for its production, and dealing with any issues owed to you on your subscription. Our deal was that I would retain only the rights to the back issues.

All of his personal web pages have disappeared, as well as good email address for him. He's done a great job of "disappearing." For your information, his real name is Mike Aycock, and at the time I knew him, he was a resident of Portland Oregon.
He was a former employee of Amazon.com, and reviewed many CDs for them.

In the past, he has been involved with a multi-media web site called sursumcorda.com, which I beleive is now defunct. He also had several CDs of his own out, which at one time could be found on that site. If you can locate him, perhaps you like to ask him why he killed the magazine, and about getting a refund for any issues or advertising that you were due.

Although it does bother me that there was not a smooth transition of putting out regular (or any) issues of the magazine, it's really out of my hands. I feel very bad for both everyone, and if I'd seen it coming, it never would have let it happened this way.

I'm very proud of the fact that for 7 years, I never missed a deadline. I put out a new issue every three months like clockwork. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but I took that responsibility seriously, and it was well worth the effort. The magazine was solvent, making a small profit, had no debts, and had fans all over the world.

Thanks to each of you for caring about it, and sending your good wishes, and not placing the blame on me for what's happened. It was always very rewarding to get positive comments about the magazine that I produced, and it still feels good to know that people still care about it.

I hope that answers your questions about the magazine, and I'm sorry that I can't give you more specific answers.

Take Care, and thanks for your support of the magazine, in the 7 years that I was publisher and editor.