Well there have been lots of news and comments from lots of people, blogs, writers, foodies, cooks, and me.Gourmet Magazine is closing shop. Adios, Finito, Done, Goodbye, Sayonara, Dosvedanya!
As far as I am concerned that's OK with me.
When we were schlepping stuff down here from our home in Northern California, one of the things I carted down was boxes upon boxes of magazines that I had skimmed through and saved for some reason.
I know, I would refer to them, get recipes, ideas.......
I guess it's my immigrant mentality passed on by my parents and grand parents not to toss out perfectly good magazines and books.
So seeing that Gourmet was kaput, made me think of why I stopped subscribing to lots of magazines.
First of all they are now expensive.
Second of all there are really no new ideas.
Nothing new, nada, nope, nothing.
Let me give you an example.
Every November on every cover, each year has a turkey on it.
Every December every cover has Christmas cookies.
Every July it's either a BBQ or Grilling hot dogs and hamburger edition.
Oh, I forgot the comfort food edition in the fall........
So, really all you need is one years worth and you have enough to last you forever!
Anyway, I no longer subscribe to the plethora of magazines, since first of all they are expensive, postage and delivery is haphazard and anything I may ever want to figure out that is not in my library of cook books would be on the Internet.
So long Gourmet, next will be Bon Appetit, National Geographic, (how many free maps do you need anyway?)
I have reduced my intake of magazines dramatically over the last several years and will continue to do so. I think I am down to about two or maybe three a month now.
Besides, I want to do my part in saving trees........( doesn't that sound environmentally responsible?)
And I no longer have to hang around the magazine racks at Sanborns anymore either.
7 comments:
For about a year now, I have been noodging the National Speleological Society Publications Committee to digitize their pubs, so that retired expat cavers such as me could receive the exORBITantly priced pubs. (It's the foreign postage costs which put it out of reach.)
(Oddly enough, the pubs are already digitized; just not available to the general membership.)
But, they seem to be reluctant to do so.
They have not come to terms with the digital paradigm that has reshaped our lives.
I already receive a quarterly pub from the Little Rock Grotto (chapter) of the NSS. It's in pdf form and takes only a few minutes to download. It's a very handsome publication and weighs almost nothing. It costs me nothing as well, as I am a defacto honorary member emeritus of that group. (Also an occasional contributor of the written word.)
There are some other cavers' pubs I can download if I care to.
The national, parent organization needs to get with the times, IMO.
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
I certainly won't miss Gourmet magazine and I avoid Bon Appetit, Cooking Light and all the other ones that consistently tell me how to make a pear, blue cheese and pecan salad. The only foodie magazine I still appreciate is Cook's Illustrated which actually assumes their readership would like to learn something each month about cooking!
I want a Kindle. And they just lowered the price.
Connie,
I think you have a vested interest in saving trees. That is why it is always foremost in your mind :)
The only magazine that I miss is the old Boy's Life in the large format size with the Norman Rockwell covers. Remember those? I wanna go back :)
Don Cuevas, Lots of magazines have been in PDF format but for some reason and I believe it is copyrights, they do not make them available for anyone to read. Always some kind of a rights issue.....William, About 3 or 4 years ago the sheer weight of my monthly pile was overwhelming. Personally I like Blue Cheese and candied walnuts myself.
Felipe, with Kindle, a great idea but it's another thing to carry around...why not just have it on your laptop and have a multitasking device, especially since there are cheap notebook computers for about 300 bucks now that are about the size of a large pocketbook.
Ah Bob, leave it to you to find my motivation for tree hugging. But as I write this, I am hearing the occasional pop of wood in our living room fireplace, so my tree interest also includes their ultimate recycling.
It is raining lightly now, so outside chores will have to be delayed in place of some reading, Internet or conventional!
Boy's Life, yep that is one I remember I think it went away about the same time as Life Magazine and 5 cent comic books.
Magazines are one of the few parts of my past I am having trouble letting go. I suspect I associate them with the happy hot tub times. A kindle is the answer -- as soon as my magazines appear on the subscription list.
Steve, As long as you don't drop it in to the Hot Tub. Hey I thought Hot Tubs were for Northern Californians only. You had them in Oregon?
Hot Tubs are probably the farthest from your mind in your venue....
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