By Emily Pohl-Weary

Hope you enjoy this disposable issue of Kiss Machine. Throw out the old, cherish the new and embrace change, because our contributors ruminate on the nature of passionate affairs, faulty human bodies, and consumer culture.

We’re all about the brand new stuff at KM’s HQ these days—publications, people, and technology. After all, we’ve been putting out this little mag for five years now, and have created a lot of garbage! (Some gems, too.)

In some ways, it feels like KM’s becoming an adult and needs to approach life a little more seriously. For one thing, it’s the first issue without co-founder Paola Poletto’s input, though her voice will always be our heads.

Recently, we’ve built a fancy new website that runs on free and open source software, is incredibly easy to navigate and update. It exists thanks to the brains behind Openflows Networks Ltd and the hard work of our new editorial/web assistant, Kashfia Rahman. Kashfia is a creative, hard-working addition to our team—err, to Emily’s office.

Also joining us this issue is columnist Sally McKay. Big ups to Sally, a bright spot in the Toronto art scene, who’ll explore the fascinating intersection of science and art in her column “Up and Anti-Up.� You can find more of her writing online.

Our other big news is that we’ve published the first Kiss Machine Presents… publication, the first part of a four-issue series of comics called “Violet Miranda: Girl Pirate,� which was written by me and illustrated by the talented Willow Dawson.

We’re going to be bringing out these comic books every six months from now on, and they’ll be created by different artist/writer duos. The second one’s due in June, 2005, a gothic romance set in an all-girl Toronto high school by writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Jillian Tamaki. After that, stay tuned for some surprises…

The next regular issue of Kiss Machine (#11) is the shame issue, and the deadline for submissions is July 15, 2005. We did promise to return to our usual dual themes, but, well, sometimes things change. It’s only one theme, but it’s a good one. We hope to receive a flood of confessional stories about most embarrassing moments and reflections on the nature of guilt.

In the meantime, enjoy this fifth anniversary issue… and don’t toss it in the trash when you’re done. Recycle! Recycle! Recycle!