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You’ve probably heard about the massive floods in Southeast Asia that have left many areas underwater for months after annual floodwaters ordinarily subside. People in Cambodia have been particularly affected by the flooding, in a crisis that is worsening as the months go by, though it has not received much U.S. media attention.

At Cantankerous Titles, we’ve been following flood news from Cambodia with dismay. We believe in the importance of telling stories; we also want to help materially.

We will donate $1 to Cambodian flood relief efforts for each copy of our recent nonfiction release Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh that you buy here between now and February 1, 2012.

Cambodian Grrrl: Self-Publishing in Phnom Penh
by Anne Elizabeth Moore

$7.95

Here is a statement from author Anne Elizabeth Moore: [click to continue…]

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Well then. You may be wondering why I’ve called you here.

You see, every so often a person needs to reinvent themselves. Or at least evolve.

After fifteen years with Microcosm Publishing, I’ve thought intensively about the things that have left me dissatisfied about the scene I’ve existed in.

I would like to issue a challenge. To myself and to the public.

I’m interested in telling the stories of what is going on in our world. What people are doing that is interesting, timely, and relevant. As well as how things got to be the way they are. And in a didactic political sphere it’s difficult not to cast things into simple roles of “good” and “bad” or worse yet, “right” and “wrong.”

For example, I’m familiar with plenty of reasons that I “should” boycott Starbucks, Wal Mart, or factory farming. But those individual boycotts do not make an effective political movement. Nor does an increasing volume of documentaries, zines, or “journalism” that tells the audience what to do without a proper examination and analysis of the nuances.

So I would like to challenge people to take on the Revenge of Print challenge but also accept the responsible journalism challenge. Tell the stories of the world around you and explain how complex the world really is. Show how important analysis of the facts is for media literacy and understanding the world around you. The scene and the world will thank you for it.

Cantankerous Titles is a small video production studio and publishing house founded in 2008. Check out some of our newest videos here.

We’ve produced three feature documentaries films, dozens and dozens of documentary shorts, and a half dozen books and zines. Right now we are hard at work on a new feature documentary about bicycle activism and its results in Portland, Aftermass

The time has come for a full website overhaul and we’re working hard to populate these pages and bring the coolest news about all of the things that we are up to!

Drop a line at joe dot microcosm at gmail dot com

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Evolution Gal! Dutch Bike Style!

Take the Lane!

Monster Bike!

Quiver!

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Starting today until Oct 31, we have a deal for you. If you write a review of Anne Elizabeth Moore’s Cambodian Grrrl on Amazon, we’ll send you a free copy of any other Canktankerous release! Just send over your address.

And while you’re at it, check out this great review on The Rumpus!

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After a long summer, Elly and I went out shooting from the bed of the trailer pictured on the frontpage of the website. The intention was for it to be visual footage for Aftermass. But we picked up a hitch-hiker named Janis McDonald, who requested a video to be produced from the footage. And who can resist such a request?

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In June severe flooding from Canadian rivers consumed Minot, ND and worsened an already bad housing crisis during an oil boom. Check out what the locals have done in response:

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We are on tour right now and in the production of aftermass I felt compelled to produce some new cycling shorts.

Disabled Cyclists on KBOO:

Broken Intersection:

“Fixed” Intersection:

Elly Blue on barriers to women’s cycling at PBOT Brown Bag:

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Last week I was able to get an interview for Aftermass from PPD’s Eric Schober about the changing climate for transportation bicycling within the city and how policing is conducted.

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When a travel writer, whose profession it is to read travel books all day long, says Cambodian Grrrl is “the best travel book I’ve read this year,” it means something. When that travel writer works for USA Today, it’s about the only way to make it more flattering.

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