Lowcard dealt a winning hand.

Sure some of us struggle to put out one print issue every couple of years, and we make excuses. Meanwhile, others don’t seem to have a problem. A couple years ago I read about Lowcard in Thrasher and sent away for an issue. They sent me issue #8 from April of 2005. It’s 40 pages of photos and handwritten text and manual paste ups that looks like it was printed on a copier with a photo screening feature. Good stuff, nothing amazing, but ther was a lot of it. About a month ago I happened upon a copy of Lowcard #19 from September of this year. It still has the same page size, but it’s 92 pages offset print on glossy paper with a heavy stock cover, and the paste up has been replaced with computer type. There area ton of ads (someone one has to pay for that glossy paper) and lots more photography. That’s quite a difference for two years and 11 issues. It kind of reminds me of Concussion cut in half, right down to the feature on bad tattoos. I think Lowcard came through Portland this summer because one weekend all of the sudden everybody and their brother (sorry, I mean “bro”) was wearing Lowcard paraphernalia. I felt like I did in high school when everyone was wearing their Van Halen concert t’s on Monday morning except for the dorks that didn’t go. Print is rough. I wonder how they made it happen? Hard work and sacrifice, I’m sure. Check out Lowcard.