Friday, August 31, 2007

magazines

I've been pondering a few things about magazines today. I've not pondered much about gardening because my children keep playing vomit and hoopy cough tag and outside it continues to rain and then pour and then rain again.

A week or so Fire commented on my blog that I should read the New Scientist. So I bought one, because I hold Fire's opinion in high regard and thought she could be on to something. Favourite Handyman (also with health deficits but thankfully not vomiting) and I had a look and talked a bit about why we're not so excited by it. It doesn't seem to drag me into multiple aspects of a topic. I like the way some articles in the New Zealand Geographic do just that. I also like that our local library has the NZ Geographic because stunning gorgeous photography doesn't reproduce cheaply.

A magazine I often ponder subscribing to is The Ecologist. You might notice that I've had a learning curve on the creating links front. I've quite deliberately made the link to the current issue page because of an article which has this lead in:

Life, religion and everything: Scientist Rupert Sheldrake tells Laura Sevier it's time for religion and science to kiss and make up

Actually I'm tempted to subscribe just so I can get hold of that article and distribute it to my blog reading friends Fire and Rachael and see what they do with it.

Which brings me to an excellent development in international magazines: digital subscriptions. Much as I prefer to read magazines in bed, in the lounge, outside etc., digital subs are seriously much cheaper than paying for English and US magazines to be freighted over to NZ. Not to mention the carbon badness of all that printing and freighting.

Other magazines I like are NZ Gardener and NZ Organics (which doesn't have a website but is my favourite of the two). I could say quite a bit about Mothering magazine but I won't because much as I adore my children, they are finally in bed right now and I just don't want to talk parenting on my work break.

If you've made it this far, please comment and tell me your favourite magazines. Cos I learnt how to put sitemeter and clustrmap on my blog today while not cleaning up vomit and am consequently pathetically keen to see some signs that someone is out there, visiting me here!

4 comments:

Fire said...

Well last time I read NZ Geographic it gave me a panic attack that lasted 4 days. Not that New Scientist is particularly easy reading either for a bundle of nerves like me. But actually, I was just wanting to give you the source of my meat-is-murder stats, not endorse the magazine as a whole. Sorry if you wasted your cash. ;)

Sandra said...

What was the panic inducing article? The New Scientist was worth looking at. I don't think I wasted my cash and I still want to understand more about the research process and reasoning behind the meat is murder article. I guess I often prefer to subscribe to magazines I really like and it didn't pass the sub test. A science weekly can't really manage to give the level of reflection of a less frequent publication.

Sharonnz said...

Dh gets the odd New Scientist which I peruse for the short articles that have nothing to do with quantum or astro physics. I like New Internationalist (they had a recent one on Permaculture!) and less august ones like Notebook (glossy lady mag).

Sandra said...

How could I forget the New Internationalist? I had a sub years ago. I never see it on the newsstands here in smalltown to buy it and get re-inspired. Have to go look at their website and bookmark it.