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Thread: My new Popular Woodworking Magazine came today. . .

  1. #1
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    My new Popular Woodworking Magazine came today. . .

    And it is mere shadow of itself.
    New owner, new writers, and so on.

    I miss all of the old writers, but I will see if the new writers can keep me interested. If they do, I will renew, if not . . . .

    I hope they can present some projects that I want to build.

    It is now part of Woodsmith magazine.

    I do not expect much, this explains a lot,
    Last edited by lowell holmes; 08-21-2019 at 2:10 PM.

  2. #2
    Okay. To be fair

    In 1957 I moved from Illinois to New Jersey. I hated the Yankees (American League). I hated the Giants. I hated everybody who wasn't Ernie Banks and the Chicago Cubs. I was ALWAYS Ernie Banks when we played Street Ball.

    I also started hanging around a wood shop. In that time learning was tough. Parents were a nightmare. The shop foreman was worse. And why is that "damn kid" on my shop floor ? You get the idea.

    Fast forward many years. I am retired. I earned my living engineering and financial "analyzing". My wife, "SWMBO" (She Who Must be Obeyed, thank you , Rumpole) gives me lots of freedom to buy "stuff". You get the idea.

    It is impossible to come up with all "new ideas" in woodworking. We should expect repetition of articles we read "back awhile ago". It is all new to the 36 year old woodworker. I know FWW is all old articles. Still. Reader shortcuts and hints, etc. continue to improve. And who knows? Perhaps we don't know it all?

    I hold FWW unlimited (or whatever they call it) because there are new ideas endlessly. And just perhaps. Perhaps. Mebbe Ill find an article that will tickle my fancy from many years ago.

    So, from this Old Fart's perspective, ............... read the magazines. We are living in a magical time when new tools are boundless and ideas are not bound by the world I remember from 1957.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Harvick View Post
    Okay. To be fair .......
    Thank you for your attitude.
    It's easy and costs nothing to complain and criticize. It takes effort to find the positive in things and to keep a grasp of the "overall scheme of things".

    Yes, we are living in a magical time. I try to remind myself every day how much longer it took and how much harder it was (not that long ago) to do the things we do today with ease.

    I was waiting for the end of your story to be that the Yankees eventually won you over.

    Edwin

  4. #4
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    I keep my old issues and re-read them on occasions, but I will not respond to this treatment.
    I did spend money on the subscription.

  5. #5
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    I wonder if it would be positive for the publishers at FWW and other mags to include an old article/month out of their archives? They would have plenty of excellent material and it is certainly of continued value. It might help them sell the digital subscriptions. Imagine seeing the writers pictures when they had hair or it was a color other then gray.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Harvick View Post
    Okay. To be fair
    Good point Brian!

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Jack Frederick View Post
    I wonder if it would be positive for the publishers at FWW and other mags to include an old article/month out of their archives? They would have plenty of excellent material and it is certainly of continued value. It might help them sell the digital subscriptions. Imagine seeing the writers pictures when they had hair or it was a color other then gray.
    I think that would be a great idea!

  8. #8
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    Jack I applaud you for finding the positive in things but I must agree that I have been very disappointed with PWW of late. Even back when Schwarz was running the show I slightly disappointed in the size of the magazine but at least had some decent content. The size has stayed about the same and pages filled with adds keep piling up. The content has been so bad lately that I really struggle with the cheap subscription cost. Most woodworkers getting yearly subscriptions are not interested in projects that you make your first month into woodworking. I'm all for helping beginners learn but I bet the majority of the readers have been in the craft for a couple years. I personally don't need to be taught over and over how to screw a box together with pocket hole screws.

    FWW on the other hand is still putting out a decent magazine, which IMO is very difficult this day in age. I am more than willing to let my PWW subscription lapse but am not even close to letting FWW go.

  9. #9
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    PW doesn't seem to have a mission statement, vision, or know what sort of publication it wants to be. It tends to take on the personality of the particular set of employees it has at any moment.

    In other words, live by the Schwarz die by the Schwarz.

  10. #10
    Lowell, you make this same post every few weeks every time you receive a new magazine.
    Just cancel the damn subscriptions already.

    Surely you could spend this money on something that brings you more joy.

  11. #11
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    I will let the subscriptions run out. I also enjoy bitching about it.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by lowell holmes View Post
    I will let the subscriptions run out. I also enjoy bitching about it.
    Yeah! Isn't that supposed to be part of the fun in being old and cranky?

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  13. #13
    Edwin, Edwin, Edwin,

    You have touched my nerve. I will never endorse an American League team. They play with ten men. That ain't baseball. Still, you have hit my soft spot, so I will offer the following: My son, now 36 has a genuine Mickey Mantle autograph from roughly 1991. My son and he shared thesame barber in Atlanta. The Mick used to fly to Atlanta every month to get his hair cut, when he did not live there. No joke. My current neighbor (the guy down the road is considered a neighbor here in the Shenandoah Valley) played minor league ball with Mickey and he tells me stories from time to time. My neighbor has the same wife he had back then. He lives in a small house nearby and keeps it gorgeous. He is deep into his 80s now.

    I learned to love Mantle, but I loved Maris more. He struggled with his fame, and yes, it is true that his hair fell out in huge quantities. But accept the Yankees? Never ! FWIW, although they have big bats, their pitching this year is dreadful. No championship for the Yanks this year. :>)

    But you can take revenge from this: The NY Mets, NY Titans, and the NJ Americans formed shortly after I moved to NJ as a ten year old kid. Obviously, I was going to pick up all new teams. There was no such thing as a TV fan back then. The Mets played in the Polo Grounds and for 25 cents and a Wonder Bread wrapper you could sit in the bleachers. The Titans were part of the AFL and were totally underfunded. They went belly-up. A rich guy named Sonny Werblin bought them out and renamed them the NY Jets. Kids got into Jets games for 25 cents also but it became 50 cents plus a Wonder Bread Wrapper, also at the Polo Grounds. The NJ Americans played in Teaneck, NJ Armory, and kids got in free. That is no joke. The Armory.

    I went to MANY of those games facing the wrath of my parents and a significant number of beatings. I watched Elio Chicone (sp?), Choo-Choo Coleman, and now my memory fades. I watched all three teams lose games beyond count, and endured laughter of all my friends. Then suddenly, The Mets got this guy named Tom Terrific. The Nets got a guy named Julius Erving. The Jets drafted a guy named Joe Namath. After all those beatings, and Wonder Bread wrappers things were looking up. And I was eighteen ! And a high school graduate !

    In 1967 I was drafted into the Army . In 1968 and 1969 I served in Vietnam. In 1968 and 1969 Julius Erving became Dr. J and the Nets won the ABA championship, Red, White, & Blue ball notwithstanding and I think also was absorbed into the ABA. The NY Jets won the 2nd Super Bowl. And the NY Mets won the World Series. All while I was in a war.

    I did not forgive them then. I do not forgive them now. Mets, Jets, and Nets are all dead to me ! I will never ever root for them again.

    I was born in Wisconsin so I root for the Pack. I live in Virginia, so I root for the Skins. My son went to Clemson so I root for them even though I attended Georgia Tech. But I will never ever root for the Yankees. Ten men.

    And if you don't enjoy that fan story, I have nothing to offer. But I LOVE woodworking !

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Harvick View Post
    Edwin, Edwin, Edwin,
    Brian,
    Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable story replete with a lot of blasts from the past.
    You reminded me of my one college professor who said he could care less what answer you provided on the exam. It was the supporting case you made for whatever answer that earned the passing grade! Good stuff,

  15. #15
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    Good quote:

    You reminded me of my one college professor who said he could care less what answer you provided on the exam. It was the supporting case you made for whatever answer that earned the passing grade! Good stuff,
    Jerry

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