Wednesday, November 16, 2005

magged

In a wonderful case of perfect timing, four magazines have arrived in the last 24 hours. It’s a bit goofy that I’m excited to get new bike magazines to read when I spend 10 plus hours a day writing my PhD dissertation on BMX magazines. Of course, the idea was that if I had to write a 250 page paper on something, it should be on my favourite procastinatory hobby.
I received the new Dig magazine today (I think from Ride Publishing in the UK), and two copies of John Parker’s new magazine “Sophisticated Rider” and a copy of Dirt (Ride UK’s mountainbike magazine) yesterday. Too much fun.
I guess that the kids watch videos and use the internet as their primary BMX info sources nowadays. BMX magazines were all we had in the 1980s, and I have been addicted since 1984 (although I have magazines as far back as 1979). Luckily, I get complimentary copies of Dig, Ride UK, Dirt, Sophisticated Rider, BMX Plus!,, and BMX Business News. I was cut off by Ride US last year, and have bought it every month since (I have every issue back to 1992, so I have to). I buy RED despite the fact that I could probably get free copies. Dave needs my support, I figure. I don’t buy Twenty, and was denied my request for a complimentary subscription by Kevin McAvoy himself. Seems like a decent magazine, though.
My favourite is Ride UK, because it seems to be written for adults. Dig is good, of course, and I think Tunney does a great job. I think he serves his audience well. BMX Plus really doesn’t suck so bad: it’s for kids, so to say that it blows because it is written for kids is to miss the point. Besides, about once a year, they write the best article of the year (the anti-Euro BB article three years ago, for example). Ride US is what it is. I buy and read it because, in my mind, it picked up from Go: The Rider’s Manual, which took over from Freestylin’.
I have 800 magazines here in Montreal, and I don’t want to take them to England. I’d love to donate them to some sort of not-for-profit museum.