Suck it up.

S U C K I T U P

BY the M.C.

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AS OF JUNE 8, 2001, Automatic Media, Inc. has ceased operations due to an inability to secure additional financing. Inquiries should be directed to inquiries@automatic-media.com.

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For those of you who don't make following the web an outlet for low-grade OCD, Automatic Media is (was) the parent company of Suck, Feed, and AltCulture, as well as Plastic.

From what limited information we can gather, it appears unlikely that Suck or Feed will return to daily publishing anytime soon. We have been fans for years and find this depressing and frustrating, and all kinds of other forms of bad. It calls to mind times in college when some vestige of interesting cultural production withered. And sure, there was always the cynical wag who volunteered "At least we aren't going to school in a war zone" but it's at least a reason to be a little down on a Friday.
Consequently, there is a movement to collect pledges from those who suck everywhere to donate their pending tax refunds to Automatic Media to restart operations. We think this is a lovely idea, with the following comments/reservations:
1. Though some of us may find the size of the pending refund to be an insult for any number of reasons (the new administration's Energy Policy, the unequal distribution of the new tax cut for the most wealthy, etc.), we are not making light of the fact for most of the recipients, the check will be a legitimate windfall. This saddens us even more then the dissolution of Suck.
2. We have no gurantees as of this writing that the proprietors of Automatic Media welcome will even accept these gifts. Further, they are a for-profit organization, and any gifts we suggest you make are beyond our control (i.e., if they spend it all on coke and whores, we have no recourse). And, ironically enough, your gifts will not be tax deductable.
3. As always, we have no idea what Dave Eggers thinks of this idea or any others proferred on this site. He has no relationship to it, and we have never met him.

If you find that you have good reason to find fault with the new tax laws, and look at this pending check with a mixure of anger and mirth, we humbly suggest (this) one course of action. If you have already considered other ways to spread the wealth (Housing Works, for instance, an organization we are pretty sure Mr. Eggers readily supports, or the Baffler), by all means, do not let us dissuade you. But if you were waiting for something else to come along that might be fun and possibly add in some small way to the greater collective cultural good, here's one opporutnity
If you are interested, please watch this space for more details as the story develops.

Thanks for listening.

The M.C.

PS: we are pretty certain that the folks at Suck aren't doing this as some 'in' joke cause they just signed a whopper of paperback deal. That would be funny, wouldn't it?

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