SEE AND BE ‘ZINE Volume 8 of “The Zine Yearbook,” published by Clamor magazine, recently hit bookstores. The anthology presents “a year in the life of the underground press” and focuses on small, independent magazines, popularly known as “‘zines.” Bluestockings, a radical bookstore, cafe, and activist center on Allen Street, hosted a reading from the book on Sunday.

Joe Unseen, who publishes a ‘zine based in Brewster, N.Y., called “Modern Arizona,” spoke at the event. Mr. Unseen read an article about his friend’s experience visiting Manhattan. The man, Travis, was arrested by the New York Police Department, which mistook him for an anti-war protester during the rallies on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Mike Faloon was another ‘zine editor in town from Brewster, N.Y. – apparently a hotbed of independent publishing. Mr. Faloon read from his ‘zine “Go Metric” at Bluestocking. He defined his beat as “music, movies, comics, and, if you’re good, humor.”The current issue contains a story about Velma, the brainy character from “Scooby Doo,” which combines several of Mr. Faloon’s stated interests. In the piece, Velma takes on a red-clad blind superhero named Daredevil. Its headline reads, “Velma Dinkley Says, ‘Let’s Level Daredevil.'”

On Sunday, however, Mr. Faloon read from an older edition of “Go Metric,” the winter 2002-2003 issue.

The story Mr. Faloon quoted was his interview with documentary filmmaker Russ Forster, who made the movie “Tributary” about tribute bands.

Mr. Forster examined bands that perform music of other groups that they admire rather than composing original music. In the interview, Mr. Forster asked philosophical questions such as whether tribute bands are any less creative simply because they interpret the work of others rather than composing independently. “What is the difference between a symphonic orchestra interpreting the works of Beethoven and a tribute band interpreting the work of Led Zeppelin?” he asked.

The interview also described Mr. Forster’s classification of tribute bands into four types. The first was “post-modern tribute bands,” which are “extremely self-reflective, sometimes to the point of becoming an elaborate in-joke.” The second category included “working tribute bands” who become popular enough to be “in it for the money as well.” According to Mr. Forster, “social tribute bands” are similar to working tribute bands “if you substitute hanging out with friends for money.”

Saving the best for last, Mr. Forster’s fourth class were “true love tribute bands.” These best live up to the word “tribute” by being “driven by a burning passion for the music and band they emulate.”

In the interview, Mr. Forster said he had trouble with some Jim Morrisons and Eddie Van Halens he came across in his research. For example, one Doors imitator grew increasingly difficult and demanded to see the footage that Mr. Forster had already shot and with an eye toward changing his segment of the film.

“At a certain point I was so in shock I just said, ‘I don’t think this is going to work out; there are other Jim Morrisons I could talk to,'” Mr. Forster said.

Mr. Faloon brought up the topic of humorously boastful bands. One claimed, “We play Black Sabbath the way Black Sabbath would if we were them.” A Motley Crue cover band said they got their biorhythms matched to those of the original Motley Crue. Bands like that, Mr. Faloon said, “don’t require additional comments.”

On the flip side, a self-effacing Judas Priest band shouted, “We’re no. 2, we’re no. 2.”

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HERALDIC HERO The New York Genealogical & Biographical Society has announced that the President’s Medal for Heraldry will be awarded to Peter Llewellyn Gwynn-Jones. Most recently, Mr. Gwynn-Jones served as Garter Principal King of Arms of England’s College of Arms. The award will be presented at a gala dinner on October 4 at the Society’s headquarters.

The President’s Medal for Heraldry was established to recognize persons prominent in the field of heraldry. “In selecting Mr. Gwynn-Jones to be its first recipient, the G &B Committee on Heraldry cele brates not only his considerable achievements as an officer of arms for over 30 years but also the renaissance of heraldry in England,” G &B President Henry C.B. Lindh said.

Heraldry, which presents hereditary lineage visually on a shield, appeared in Europe in the mid- to late 12th century. The College of Arms is not a school; rather, the word “College” refers to the organization’s collegial nature whereby its members, known collectively as the Officers of Arms, are akin to partners in a firm.

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COLOR SCHEME Ambassador Joseph Wilson, Columbia University Professor Todd Gitlin, and University of Maryland Professor Benjamin Barber were speakers at a recent panel on the Upper West Side entitled “Can America Be A Democracy and An Empire Too?” The New York Society for Ethical Culture and openDemocracy.net co-sponsored the evening.

Mr. Barber commented on maps dividing America between Red and Blue States.”Isn’t it ironic,” he said, to audience laughter, that today the Red States represent Republican states, given the conservative “anti-Red” campaigns of the McCarthy era?