missing
issue 000 — second printing — do not distribute
ASHFALL
reprinted from a tape marked ASHFALL in blue pen. 47 minutes. we transcribed what plays. the rest is hiss.
found in a storage unit
in Marrable. lot 118.
what plays
the timecode resets to 00:00 every 4 minutes 11 seconds. we stopped rewinding to check. it always resets there.
the tape was recorded over a wedding. you can still hear it under the hiss around 12:30 — a toast, laughing, then nothing for 90 seconds.
the audio runs about four seconds ahead of the picture. a man counts. he reaches nine and starts over. he does not reach ten.
SP mode, 6-hour tape, dubbed at least twice. tracking will not lock. the heads are clean. we checked the heads.
[dropout 00:41–00:44]
[dropout 02:07–02:11]
frame 0114 hold frame 0115 hold frame 0116 ---- x ---- frame 0117 ---- x ---- frame 0118 no signal frame 0119 no signal frame 0120 count: 9
reel 4 — degraded, unplayable
nine. nine. nine.
never ten.
how to dub
dub at standard speed. do not use high-speed dubbing. the count speeds up but keeps its place.
label the spine in blue pen.
same as the original.
we don't know who wrote the first one.
shelve it. photograph the shelf. compare the photo next week. there is always one more tape than last time.
"we have 6 reels. we have transcribed 2. we keep finding reasons not to play the other four."
colophon
ASHFALL. transcribed by hand from VHS. no master copy exists. this printing corrects nothing from the first.
print run 40 · 8 returned unopened · returns not accepted
the person who mailed us reel 3 has stopped answering.
ashfall — issue 000 — reel 3 of 6 — last scan corrupt