December 1998 Sawdust Trail By Kathleen Kotcher A very peri-odd-ical recounting of some of the strangest things the sideshow world has to offer. The Sawdust Trail is updated whenever I have something earth-shattering to announce or whenever I need to see my name in lights. Make sure to sign up on our Shocked & Amazed/Atomic Books Mailing List for email notification of updates. Don't miss my Net Freak Alert! I wade through all of the NetCrap so you don't have to.  This issue of the Sawdust Trail is brought to you by the letter "P" for "Pain." It is presented by Tim "Zamora, The Torture King" Cridland and his less-than-lovely assistant, Kathleen "The Whiner" Kotcher. SHOCKED AND AMAZED! Sideshow Soiree  Volume 5 of James Taylor's SHOCKED AND AMAZED! is finally here and we decided it was time for a party. Hosted by the kind folks at Atomic Books, the SHOCKED AND AMAZED! cast attacked the complimentary food and drink and settled down for some sideshow fun. Presenting the SHOCKED AND AMAZED! staffers (left to right): Cover artist for volumes 2 and 4 Bob Kathman; Associate Editor, Kathleen Kotcher; Teenage Blockhead, Walt Hudson; and Contributing Artist, Steve Blickenstaff and his lovely wife, Nancy. Not only were the "little people" allowed to mingle with the general public (of course they were carefully supervised) a number of celebrity guests and geographically distant pals showed up to schmooze. God save us all. Shown here at their most dignified are (left to right): Artist-in Residence and volume 5 cover artist, Mark Frierson; sword and dragon swallower, Johnny Fox; and our founder, James Taylor. Once all of the cheesy photo opps had been exhausted, the immense crowd was clamoring for something strange, something bizarre, something SHOCKING AND AMAZING! Fortunately, this had been planned for. Jamie Light and his Rock and Roll Freak Show took center stage and left hipster audience and jaded sideshow publishers alike aghast with their special brand of in-your-face sideshow. Do YOU want to pound the snooze alarm? Swordswallower Gideon takes it down for our amusement! Jamie Light and his grand finale on Charles Street OUTSIDE the bookstore! Doesn't that look like wholesome fun for the whole family? Aren't you sad that you weren't there? Well, we're sorry you couldn't make it. Everyone was asking about you. Torture on the Road Tim "Zamora, the Torture King" Cridland has hit the road once again. Only for you will he tests the limits of physical endurance. Just for your pleasure he will ram skewers through his face. Just to please you he will perform acts of such depravity I hesitate to mention them here (you never know what nervous club owner may be cruising the web). Visit his web site at http://www.interacme.com/torture/ for more details. Coincidently, the Torture King just happens to be featured in volume 5 of James Taylor's SHOCKED AND AMAZED! On & Off the Midway. Isn't it funny how life works out like that. Harley Newman is Spectacular in SIN CITY! If I haven't mentioned it yet--let me do it here and now. Penn and Teller's Sin City Spectacular is the BEST SHOW on television. Bar none. Not only do they have the most hilariously revolting magic tricks known to mankind (just thinking about the loaves and fishes gag leaves me in a pool of my own laughter-induced urine) but they also have really cool guest stars AND sideshow luminaries. Greats of the sideshow world who have not been glorified in such a embarrassingly sycophantic way since, wellÖthe last issue of SHOCKED AND AMAZED! Now they have added one of my personal fave raves: The Professional Lunatic, Harley Newman. Readers of SHOCKED AND AMAZED! volume 4 will recognize Harley as the maniac genius who taught James Taylor how to lie on a bed of nails and have a cinderblock broken on his chest with a sledgehammer. Harley rules and he will be on my favorite tv show. Watch him. Badass Banner Painter in the Pacific Northwest! While we are on the subject of some of MY favorite things. I have to mention Johnny Meah. Johnny Meah is a sideshow banner painter, swordswallower, clown, historian, PLUS a heck of a knowledgeable and hilarious guy. Johnny just finished a successful show at the Augen Gallery in Portland, Oregon where I hear things went swimmingly. In case you missed the show, you can read some of Johnny's prose in volume 5 of SHOCKED AND AMAZED! On & Off the Midway. Johnny contributed a piece about his friend, the Human Cigarette Factory/ Frog Boy, Otis Jordan. Until Next TimeÖ Join the next installment of the Sawdust Trail to learn all about the Extravaganza in Gibsonton, Florida. Also, we'll give you a sneak peak into volume 6 of SHOCKED AND AMAZED! where we have an exclusive interview with Perscilla the Monkey Girl. Copyright © 1998 SHOCKED AND AMAZED! See that. That means you cannot take our pictures and words and put them on your web site without our permission. We are nice folks and would to help your site have just as many pretty pictures and interesting information as ours, just ask us by writing to shocked@ibm.net. See, some of the copyright holders (from whom WE got permission to use the information) aren't as nice as us.  Web Content © Copyright 1998, Shocked & Amazed/Dolphin-Moon Press/Atomic Books Illustrations © Copyright 1998, Mark Frierson