Railpace Magazine

Not only do I really like Railpace but my wife reads every issue as soon as it arrives. I literally have to try and race home quickly to get it out of the mailbox first if I don't want to be behind her on the reading, and she's not a train-nut. We both enjoy the information of local interest (we live in PA) but we've also found the photography and information about the Boston area and others that we don't travel to to be outstanding and informative. Each issue is packed with tons and tons of great photography, outstanding news items, as well as information about upcoming train shows or special passenger trains.

I was getting Trains magazine for a while, but it is too much geared to the industry of trains, like if you happen to own a railroad or worked for one. I don't, I'm just a guy who likes to ride a few trains a year and maybe go watch one pass by at the local crossing and now I can stay on top of all of the things going on in my area. But even if you're more involved and actually track trains, this magazine is for you, too.

A few times there has even been coverage of the same story in both Trains and Railpace. For example, the Baldwins that run in NJ. The Trains article was brief, but the Railpace coverage had 5-times the photos and way more text about the operation, not to mention maps and other unique information.

Railpace is outstanding in its historical coverage as well. There are often articles on a branch line or a junction and Railpace prints rare photos showing how things were configured years ago and contrasting that to today's operations. It is great to learn the history this way.

An overall outstanding magazine if you live anywhere in the North East US and have any interest in trains at all.

If you are into railroading on the East Coast of the USA it is tough to beat this magazine. Picture heavy with great maps and news articles/info that you won't find in any other rairoading magazine. Photos and news covers roughly from Virginia to New England, Eastern Canada and Ohio. Highly reccomended!

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Good magazine i find it to be better than other railroading magazines lots of infomation alots of pics. covers railroading in my home state

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Northern Virginia Magazine

This magazine does an amazing job of detailing anywhere you could want to see in the Northern Virginia area. For instance, a sampling from the July issue: Where to go for hot air ballooning, rooftop dining, natural swimming holes, innertubing, spas, ice rinks, dog parks, boat rentals, shaded trails, run through fountains, waterfalls, fireworks, county fairs and so on, along with any applicable dates or addresses. There are also restaurant reviews, recipes, and articles of interest to those living in the area. So far, I have found the information helpful, accurate, and up to date. Having lived in Alexandria for about 3 years now, I feel like this has opened me up to the bounty of activities within a short drive. I have not found a single issue lacking in at least one or two interesting articles or places to visit.

Northwest Chess

I'm a new subscriber to NW Chess. The magazine is a black & white 30(ish) page newspaper type magazine with local (Washington & Oregon) chess news, events, and games. It is well presented and the games are entertaining to play through. I think I like it mose because it doesn't have hundreds of games (it isn't overwhelming) and it isn't written only for the 2000+ player as some chess magazines are. I have found it beneficial and a worthwhile way to both learn about chess and to keep informed with local events. Get a subscription, you'll love it!

Are you or your children interested in playing in chess tournaments? This magazine has all the upcoming events listed and you can follow your results and have games published. Your subscription also helps fund local events and promotions!

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News China

As a Chinese-American who has been residing in the states for almost a decade, I find most publications to be polarizing. They are either so anti-china to omit anything that has to do with its economic development and exaggerate in terms of their "human rights" violations: most notably the "correctional facilities for fa lung gong practioners". or only exalt the huge strides theyre making economically, omitting any social issues.

I find this publication to be the least biased one i have came across on China. It explored both sides of the issue. it explored topics i do not want to think about my homeland such as "involuntary hospitalization" and racism towards minorities. it has a very balanced account of all of today's happenings in China.

good thing all LA county libraries have this publication. no need to pay a dime.

This magazine is surprisingly enjoyable. People living in the US or Canada who have a connection with mainland China will be pleased with the variety and depth of the news presented each month. This is not a magazine that says "Rah Rah China" all the time either, it often exposes the missteps of business and political leaders, the current (and true) state of all Chinese society in general, and interesting coverage of the Chinese cinematic industry and the arts. All and all, a worthwhile magazine for anyone interested in Chinese current events.

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It felt like the language barrier was gone, and I was reading a Chinese version of Forbes, or whatever. It comes out monthly, so I ended up reading it cover to cover. I had always felt desperately in need of more information on the worlds, soon to be, biggest economy. Now I feel I have it. Who would have thought, that after all or those books, after Rosetta Stone Mandarin, and all I could get my hands on, (plus a ton of money) it was really just a subscription to some obscure monthly that I needed! My thanks to the Brooklyn Public Library for having a copy in my local branch, at one time, for exposing me to this fascinating resource.

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Wine Advocate

There is quite a cult of personality around Robert Parker, the founder of Wine Advocate. It's hard for an oenophile not to be jealous of Mr. Parker, tasting fine wines from dusk `til dawn, and he's certainly revered. Positive Wine Advocate reviews on relatively low priced wines have caused sellouts at my local wine warehouse mere hours after they'd sent out the email.

Wine Advocate is a serious magazine that looks more like a trade publication or hobbyist's classified page. There are no photographs, illustrations, advertisements, or lifestyle articles. Ever. It suits the magazine well, however, and no one ever levels the same criticisms that are hurled at Wine Spectator (e.g., advertising skews the ratings, numerous vapid articles). The beige pages are filled with enticing reviews and vintage summaries. His coverage of the Rhone region is unmatched and his coverage of the Bordeaux, while controversial, also seems accurate to me.

That said, there are a few myths. Parker himself claims that his 50 point system (which runs from 50-100) is better than the 20 point scale used in other publications (which run from 80-100, but are really more like 70-100). Having said that, no one really pays attention to anything less than an 80 in either system, and those with a good local store using the point system to choose a wine (simplistic and narrow-sighted, but common) won't consider less than an 86. Even so, I conducted a survey on the two web sites and Parker consistently rates more wines 95+, in some vintages up to three times as many (as a percentage of wines tasted), than Wine Spectator. I don't mind this at all, though, and find that my tastes match Parker's fairly consistently and that his descriptions use certain words as a tip off as to what I won't.

A few criticisms that I do care about: Parker's distaste for Burgundies is legendary and in spite of the fact that the region has had mixed results for the past few years, I have tasted some truly amazing wines from the region, but they never seem to make his pages. Of course, for the entire 2000 vintage, Wine Advocate has tasted a whopping 35 wines. Perhaps they don't submit themselves for critique, but no comprehensive wine guide would be without them. (He hired another gentleman, Pierre Rovani, to cover this region for him back in 1996.) There is also a weird neglect of German Riesling. This appears to be dissipating somewhat this year, but it's confusing nonetheless.

Coverage, at least of Italy, looks to be expanded this year with the hiring of a third critic (Daniel Thomases, devoted entirely to Italy says the bio).

It bears mention that the articles from this magazine appear on the web site (which has its own, separate fee) thirty days after the paper issue is mailed to subscribers. The magazine is also more expensive. Thus, the only advantage to the magazine, aside from being able to bring it to the store, is that you get a slight jump on those who only subscribe to the site.

Whatever medium you choose to view it in, this is my preference for wine publications, despite its shortcomings.

After reading a neighbor's Wine Advocate while catsitting, I decided to subscribe (to the electronic version eRobertParker). What I like about the reviews is actually not the numerical ratings, or even Parker's adjectives, but his incredibly detailed notes on the grape blends involved, vineyards, producers and winemaking. For example, here's a review of one of my favorite wines taken from the April 2004 Wine Advocate, which is fairly typical of a Parker review:

2001 Numanthia

Numanthia

Toro, Spain

Tempranillo (a dry red table wine)

The flagship offering, the 2001 Numanthia, is fashioned from a 70-100 year old Tinta de Toro vineyard planted at a 2300 foot elevation. After a 28 day maceration, the wine undergoes malolactic in barrel, is aged 19 months in new French oak, and is bottled without fining or filtration. The spectacular, opaque purple-colored 2001 offers an explosive nose of melted licorice, barbecue smoke, blackberries, creme de cassis, camphor, and graphite. Full-bodied with gorgeously rich, concentrated fruit, a layered texture, and tremendous purity, it can be drunk young, but should hit its prime in 1-2 years, and last for 10-15.

Wine Advocate includes info on U.S. importers, a rating, and an often unreliable estimated cost (especially "bargains" which tend to be affected by Parker's ratings). All in all, a set of information that's not available elsewhere, typically not even from a winemaker's web site, when there is one.

Parker is not the only taster. There's also Pierre Rovani and Daniel Thomases, who carve up the world by region. Parker seems to have dibs on my favorite regions: Chateauneuf and Hermitage in the Rhone, Toro and Ribera del Duero in Spain, and California Zinfandel. On the downside, the coverage of regions is uneven, which is forgivable given the size of the winemaking world. I, for one, would like to see more Alsatian whites reviewed.

The Wine Advocate reviews not only wines, but whole regions. They note not only who's doing what in a region, but what the weather was like for a given year and what the growers and winemakers did given the conditions. The overall ratings for regions and vintages have proven very reliable in my experience.

I prefer the web site to the magazine, because it has all the back issues, and allows you to search. It also includes wine news, amateurish (though funny) cartoons, and lifestyle pieces filed under "Hedonist's Gazette", where you can read about dinners and tastings that would cost us punters thousands of dollars if they could be bought at all.

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Of the two major wine magazines, Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate, I have to say that Wine Advocate is my preferred source for finding a truly exceptional wine to enjoy. Wine Advocate is primarily the work of the noted wine critic Robert Parker, who is sometimes accused of being one of the leading "wine snobs" in the industry. Although Parker does use some pretentious lingo and some obscure references in his tasting notes, I find his tasting descriptions generally more accurate than those of the critics of Wine Spectator. Sure, he dislikes Burgundy, but at least now he has hired a more than competent fellow critic (Pierre Rovani) to cover that region for him.

Both Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate have been criticized for writing too many superlative reviews of less than exceptional wines, but I feel that Parker and Wine Advocate are less guilty in that respect, even though, as a previous reviewer noted, he does put more wines in the coveted 95+ point range. Still, Wine Advocate does a far better job than Wine Spectator of placing wines and their ratings in perspective, and avoiding clichés such as "vintage of a lifetime" that the Spectator frequently falls prey to. I have found Parker and Wine Advocate to be superior to Wine Spectator in their coverage of Bordeaux, especially in my favorite sub-regions, Sauternes and Barsac.

My only major complaints about Wine Advocate is that Parker generally assumes that all of his readers can afford to pay the relatively high price for his publication (currently more than $12/issue on Amazon). There are many 90+ point wines available for the difference between the yearly costs of Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator. Additionally, Parker and Wine Advocate really do not focus as much on wine values as they could, and I have found Parker's coverage of Australia somewhat disappointing. Generally speaking, however, I find Wine Advocate to be the best major Wine Publication available in English and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys wine with a passion.

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Parker is the leading consumer analyst for the wine industry. Anyone serious about wine should subscribe to the Wine Advocate. However, I'd be doing an injustice as a reviewer if I didn't mention that you can purchase it online via Parker's eRobertParker website for only $60/year.

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I've subscribed to "The Wine Advocate", "Wine Spectator" and "Wine Enthusiast" concurrently for several years now. I enjoy the "Wine Spectator" and "Wine Enthusiast" magazines for their articles and features, but I tend to be skeptical of both publications' wine reviews due to their reliance on advertising revenues from the wine industry. In contrast, Robert Parker's "Wine Advocate", newsletter doesn't rely on ad revenue and this presumably allows him to be more candid in his ratings. I also prefer Mr. Parker's (and Pierre Rovani's) evaluation and commentary in "The Wine Advocate", over the various other wine magazine critics.

Does this mean that I enjoy every wine rated highly by "The Wine Advocate"? Of course not. In fact, my wife and I recently drank a 2000 vintage Barbaresco that Mr. Parker rated 90 points (and "ready to drink"), yet we felt the wine was still overly tannic and tight. In truth, there's no substitute for popping corks and tasting wines for yourself, regardless of what the critics pronounce. That said, I believe the Wine Advocate is consistently better at rating wines more accurately than other wine publications... Like subjective wine ratings, this is merely my opinion.

Dig

My son received a gift subscription to this magazine two years ago, and each year since, he's asked for a renewal subscription. If he didn't get it himself, I would be sorely tempted to subscribe to it for myself. The articles are accessible to kids, but not so dumbed down to be condescending. Some of the articles I've copied out and given to whom-ever I can (and I mean adults) because they're so darn interesting and I-didn't-know-that! Highly recommended for the young enquiring mind and the parent of the same!

Dig takes a subject that could be dull and transforms it into something fun, exciting, and easy to relate to. Well-researched and -written articles by people who are actually *doing* archeology expose kids to fascinating subjects month after month. Activities, photos, and maps keep each issue visually interesting. Megaliths, Bog People, and Disasters are just a few of the themes Dig explores. This is a great magazine for curious, bright, and clever kids who want to know more about Dig-ging stuff up!

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I wish this magazine had been around when I was a kid. One might think an archaeology magazine would be a little boring... but that's not the case at all! One of my favorite issues of the magazine is called "Disaster!" (February 2007). It explores how archaeologists worked at Ground Zero after Sept. 11 and in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina--pretty fascinating stuff.

There are lots of high-quality photos, and sidebars and boxes add even more information than the well-written articles already provide. This magazine is worth getting for any child who has any curiosity about the world around him or her.

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My elementary age kids are just beginning to understand the larger scope of the world and human history. While in the process of looking for good magazines about current events I came across Dig. I signed up for a subscription in hopes that it would help my kids get that better understanding of the world. We've been quite pleased with it.

In that process of looking for good kids magazines we tried out a bunch of them, and got subscriptions to most. Here's my quick quick rundown

Kids Discover: heavy on pictures, light on words. The articles tend to be little snippets and factoids without context or much explanation.

National Geographic Kids: heavy on the pictures, light on the words. Articles are a bit more in depth than Kids Discover.

Time for Kids: Thin and a bit flimsy, but comes frequently (every two weeks?) and covers major current events pretty well. Different versions are available for different ages. Order it from the Time for Kids web site since Amazon doesn't seem to carry it.

Ask and Muse: In depth interesting articles addressing all sorts of thoughtful topics. Probably best for middle school and/or more thoughtful kids.

Dig: In depth interesting articles addressing history under the guise of archeology. Probably best for late elementary and middle school, and/or more thoughtful kids.

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I ordered DIG for my 11 y/o son last year through his magazine drive at school. He LOVES it and so do I! He wants to be a paleontologist and this magazine is perfect for his dinosaur/history passion. Very interesting and informative magazine. I highly recommend it to those who have children interested in science.

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Airport World

This is one of the best magazines that I have read which feature airports. This magazine of the Airports Council International features well written articles on various topical subjects such as airport security, regulations, cooperation, handling airlines, health issues, latest technology developments, airport management and market development issues, among others.

The reader gets the latest news of interest at different airports of the world from an authoritative source as well as news of important forthcoming events and conferences. Stakeholders of airports will find the magazine very informative and interesting to read.

International Artist

Each issue of this 'magazine' is full of exquisite art, displayed in amazing color. From beginning to end, it is a feast for the eyes. If that were all International Artist contained, it would still be a treasure, but each issue also has numerous demonstrations by some of the finest artists in the world. I have read all of the usual artist magazines and have subscribed to several but I haven't seen this quality of art or art technique articles in any of them. It really is astonishing. As I read each issue I wonder if they can possibly maintain the content quality, but each new issue seems to surpass the last. My only regret is that the magazine comes out only six times a year. But it is well worth waiting for. If you are an artist, don't miss this. If you simply enjoy fine artwork, I think you will be equally impressed.

By the way, this publisher also has a line of art instruction books that are some of the finest I have seen. You can find them on Amazon as well as at the publishers web site. I have four right now, and have my sights on several more.

Internanatial Artists magazine is the best magazine on the shelf bar none. I've read many other artist magazines time and time again, but haven't found anything that compares to this jewel. It provides great illustrations as well as wonderful perspectives that are enjoyable as well as inspiring for your reading pleasure. Not only does it inform, it also provides technical and creative details and images in various media for most artist needs in bold beatiful color. This is a truly a winner!

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I think that International Artist is the best art magazine on the market. It is always full of beautiful and inspiring paintings and consistently provides articles about a variety of mediums. International Artist also publishes some of the best art instruction books on the market.

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This is my favorite artist magazine and has been for some time. I much prefer it to Artist, if only for covering so many media each issue. Admittedly, it is not the best option for the beginner, although some of the books published by International Artist are good for novices or those picking up a new medium. And, like any magazine I've ever read, some issues are better than others. The reproductions are of a consistently high standard.

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I used to be a subscriber and relished the one or two exciting articles each month from experimental artists (like Mary Ann Beckwith, Ann Davidson, etc.). Yes, the rest of the art was too realistic, but at least there was usually one good gem each issue.

Unfortunately, over the past couple of years they have gotten lazy. Instead of searching for cutting-edge artists doing exciting work, they've abdicated their role to fillers from the Portrait Society of Boring Paintings, a columnist who only wants to sell you stuff on his website, and pages and pages of ads for DVDs and books that should be on their website. And can anyone can tell one Harley Brown pastel portrait from another? Repetition is one thing, but an editor's job is to know when a column has run its course and get in some fresh blood. Maybe the editorial staff need some fresh blood?

If I sound annoyed, it's because IA used to be a smashing magazine. I still have the first 50 or so back issues and have bookmarked many a feature from the good old days when the editors had more eclectic taste.

But if you like realism, portraits, and so on, you'll probably enjoy this magazine. (Thank goodness Artist magazine is featuring more abstract and experimental work this past year.)

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Writing Matters

If you write Italic, or if you would like to, you'll find no substitute for this: the quarterly journal of the Society for Italic Handwriting, and the only magazine entirely devoted to Italic handwriting past and present (and future ... )