originally posted by tygre
Yep, I know about “Waste News”. My husband found his job through an ad in “Waste News”. God bless strange and stupid magazines.
When I went through my high school must-publish-zine phase I made a magazine called Cheap Clothing. it was about how to buy, make, and enjoy cheap clothing.
The literary journal MacSweeneys is pretty wierd. It features articles such “Nearly One Hudred Ways to Approuch Infinity” and Two Stories My Parents Begged Me to Tell to Our Dinner Guests Towards the Beginning of my 25th Birthday Party but Insisted I had Completely Invented". MacSweeney’s is a little hard to get ahold of, but their internet version comes highly reccommended.
Sickly Man Magazine. The most bizarre thing I have ever seen in my life, yet I can’t quite stop myself from browzing the online editorials.
Then there is High Times. Love this mag, though sorta, strange. I dunno, I just get this vibe from it.
Classic of all the teenyboppers at our school, especially Leigh [you know, I asked her if she was for decoration that one time she stood over with our group for no reason for way too long and I knew she was just about to spout something else insanely stupid.] and that girl with really nasty hair and an oversize nsync emblem on her necklace.
My bookstore carries a couple magazines on royalty. Yes, entire magazines devoted to talking about what people who have done nothing at all to earn celebrity other than being born.
Speaking of celebrity, I find People pathetic. Oh my god! Someone I don’t know who couldn’t care less about me is getting divorced from some other person I don’t know! And this other stranger is on drugs! My life is altered!
Okay, maybe I’m a little harsh. I’m interested in (some) famous people. It’s the celebrity worship that weirds me out. I can’t understand why anyone would care where some actress ate dinner last Thursday.
My mom gets a catalog of catalogs. It amused the heck out of me when I first saw it, but it’s not entirely stupid: it’s great for people with interests in crafts or hard-to-find items.
I’ve always thought “Divorce” magazine is pretty weird. I suppose it has a large target audience, but can you imagine, when going through a divorce, “oh, I must subscribe to Divorce magazine”.?
“American Funeral Director” is a fun read; I used to scatter a few copies around my office to unnerve people. It has great ads for gag gifts, like golf clubs where the head is shaped like a little coffin.
“Humiliated Transvestite.” I saw this for sale in the Village and am kicking myself for not getting a copy. I’d love to write for them, just so I could casually refer to myself as “film critic for Humiliated Transvestive.”
[George Carlin]
“Oh, look, Dan!! It’s the latest issue of Walking. Oooh, here’s an interesting article. It’s called, ‘Putting One Fucking Foot in Front of the Other’!”
[/George Carlin]
The Fortean times is still published. 
A few pornos out there.
“Plumpers” women over 500 lbs ONLY
“40+”
“50+”
“65+”
“Naked Grannies”
–Tim
If it were royalty in HISTORY, I’d eat it up with a spoon!
Hmmmm…you know…I THINK I just decided what to get Daddy for Xmas…(he’s a Funeral Director…)
Am I the only one that thinks *Cigar Afficianado * is pretty lame? I mean, how many articles can be written about a cigar to feed a periodical. Even after Monica Lewinsky.
In order to see new things one does not need to go to new places, one needs to have new eyes…
That said, I often will randomly pick a magazine that suffices my obsession du jour. It’s like a mini vacation from my safe and familiar reading to the other side of the brain.
Ever pick up a Yoga periodical? Organic, colon cleansing tofu, bend your joints in a weird way kind of stuff. That part is fine. But what is the deal with all the emaciated swami’s and their stringy ZZ Top wanna be beards running ads to come to a seminar at their private retreat in Assboink, Florida?
Most of these guys look like they rummage through garbage cans for a meal. Creepy.
There is a really interesting periodical called something like *Back to Nature * or *Back to basics * or *back home * that really caters to a more self sufficient lifestyle. That part I agree with. But they take it to the nth degree and have articles that features " Build a house for less than $3 a square foot". My husband, a builder, reads these articles and says, " Yeah, it’s possible. If you can find a climate that it never rains or dips below 30 and don’t mind using old pallets for your walls." Other articles are along the lines of " Making your own yogurt" " Raising Llamas for fun and profit" “Wind Power” [sub]it was that article that reeled me in. Didn’t understand one word of it [/sub]
The magazine was real popular at the local IGA for a long time and especially during the Y2K hype. All the ads were survivials hoopla. I got a real kick out of reading it then.
FTR, Love *Maxim * and *Reader’s Digest *. Maxim for the humor and I haven’t missed an RD issue in over twenty 20 years. I love Word Power.
Do those little irritating Jack Chick fanatical-Christian booklets count? God, those are inane.
.oO(Wait, am I in <b><i>HELL</b></i>?!)
There are quite a few silly and/or disgusting porn mags out there on the market.
Barely Legal, for those who -want- kiddie porn without all of the nasty charges and prison time.
I saw one for Big gay hairy biker men one time that had these two huge men on the front with what appeared to be 3" penises. Not that theres anything -wrong- with being a big gay hairy biker guy with a 3" penis… But I cant see paying 6 bucks for pictures of someone that I could walk down to the local bar and have pose in person for me. I wouldnt pay 6 bucks for a magazine full of myself nekked either, so no hard feelings.
Come to think of it most fetish mags have some comical properties.
Actually… Most porn in and of itself is pretty damned silly looking.
Proofreading is nice.
Bad Malk, no biscuit.
I think it would be even more creepy if your wife was reading divorce magazine.
“Whatcha reading honey?”
“Just doing some research.”
I once bought ‘giant robot’ magazine. Very disapointed to see it was a Japanese pop culture mag. Best title I ever saw, though.
The strangest magazine I have seen is Llama Farming. The title pretty well explains the focus. Some of the advertisements were priceless.
Running a close second is Probe. Probe mainly features people posing naked in record stores. It’s seedy. But it’s not really porn; it’s just odd.
Matt
There’s “The Courier,” which is a monthly magazine about Portuguese Water Dogs. Not just animals. Not just dogs. It’s only about Portuguese Water Dogs, of which there’s about 8,000 in the United States (including my puppy, Bailey). Content consists mostly of “brags,” or full-page announcements placed by dog owners whose dog or bitch finally made it to “champion” status or won some water competition event, and articles about genetics, diet and training. It’s a decent publication, albiet very limited in scope.
I’m sure there are magazines dedicated to other rare dog breeds, too. “Kerry Blue Terrier Journal?” “Havanese Times?” “Polish Lowland Sheepdog News?”
Out of curiosity, what did you think it was about?
The title says (cries out, in fact), to me, Japanese Pop Culture, or, more specifically, anime and model-building.
I can’t think of anything else that a magazine titled Giant Robot could be about, unless you further narrow the anime/models focus to just the Giant Robot genre.