Seattle-based Harzard Factory is a politically active Industrial Arts outfit co-founded in 2000 by Evergreen graduate Rusty Oliver. In keeping with its mission of advancing “high risk” forms of collaborative artistic expression, the group began organizing Power Tool Drag Racing derbies for the Georgetown neighborhood’s annual Artopia festival in 2006.

While power tool racing has been happening in various forms across the country since at least the 1980s, the Seattle events have attracted considerable attention, including profiles by Make magazine and Popular Science. Hazard Factory took the event overseas for Amsterdam’s Robodock festival in 2007, performed an encore at the local Critical Massive Burning Man gathering, and expanded the races to Olympia in April for the Downtown Art Walk, drawing many entries from the community.KEEP GOING

Sitting down in a comfortable chair, I’m handed a pencil and a piece of paper. On the paper has been drawn a
small box. In the box is a drawing of a screaming head with large incoherent text lying behind it. I am told to continue this story however I see fit. Laughing at the absurdity of this drawing I pause to scratch my head. A smirk crawls across my face as I think of something to add to this drawing while unfolding its absurdity.
As I finish I begin giggling like a schoolgirl wondering where it could possibly go from here. This is called comics night.KEEP GOING

Local botanical and alternative medicine enthusiasts are coming together to “offer education and personal health
consultation free of charge.” Operating under the fiscal sponsorship of Done & Done, the clinic will “serve to empower people to take charge of their own health by making low/no-cost natural medicines available” to community members. Find out more by emailing olyfreeherbalclinic@riseup.net.

West Main Street is home to numerous community treasures including the recently resurrected Magic Lantern Theater, Thin Air Community Radio and a family of grassroots organizations hosted in the appropriately named Community Building. Soon, the newly forming Main Market Co-op will become a neighborly addition. In its future location of 17 W. Main, the co-op will provide a space for local farmers and vendors to sell their goods and a “community table” for members to meet. To learn more, visit mainmarket.coop.

Reference Librarian Kelsey Smith is sharing her love for zines in a big way.
After months of diligent organizing by Smith and zine-loving allies, a new zine collection was brought into circulation at the Olympia Timberland Library this past Spring. Zines can be checked out for three weeks at a time. For more information on the collection, write to zines@trlib.org or stop by the library’s reference desk at 313 8th Ave. SE.

ISSUE 18.1 IS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE!

From the inside cover of this issue:
README: Like many fumbled beginnings, some things naturally call for revision. These pages mark the fourth year of The Finger, just as they celebrate four years of tired eyes and wide smiles, memorable debauchery and friends.
This issue of The Finger will be printed in multiple editions. Version 18.1 of The Finger is a special, low-budget edition with a print run of 50.
Finger 18.2 will be released with a higher print run, additional content, a whoapow cover and an updated compilation CD that includes more bands.
Check thefinger.forsleepwalkers.com for daily development snapshots and official releases of upcoming versions of this issue of The Finger.
Want to sneak your own work into Finger 18.2? Want to help us distribute or organize shows or sit on the lawn and watch lightning play with the moon?

Email us right now.
Send us letters: p.o. box 743, olympia, wa 98507

Interested in having a real life copy of Finger 18.1 and the Finger Finger Comp Comp delivered to your home? Email us.

ALSO: This issue includes a compilation of bands that have played at the finger complex:
Flee the Century, Small Sur, Cataldo, Paleo, Mathematicians, Polka Dot Dot Dot, Ramona Córdova, Johanna Kunin, Briana Marela, Please Step Out of the Vehicle, Adam Jessup, Shelby Turner, Finn Riggins, World History, PWRFL POWER, queen of refuse, Moustaches.

Interested in downloading Finger 18.1 or the compilation? OK, click here.

 KEEP GOING