Lehigh Valley 2089: Everybodies idea of fun is not the same, I have lots of fun with my trains, for some 40 plus years now and I don't obsess over what day of the month Model Railroader comes in the mail. Nor would I ever have any such unrealistic expectation that it should or would come on the same day evey month. I am amazed and amused by the number of people on here who seem to keep track of such things. As for the April fools thing, it is a tradition in our culture I could do without, another would be Halloween. Sheldon Yeah, we need to get rid of Thanksgiving too. Dumb turkeys. - Harry Isn't this just a little off topic to anyone?? WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SIMULATED FIRING OF STEAM ENGINES, NOT HOLIDAYS AND WHICH ONES WE CAN LIVE WITHOUT!! Nor are we talking about when our magazines come in the mail.
Everybodies idea of fun is not the same, I have lots of fun with my trains, for some 40 plus years now and I don't obsess over what day of the month Model Railroader comes in the mail. Nor would I ever have any such unrealistic expectation that it should or would come on the same day evey month.
I am amazed and amused by the number of people on here who seem to keep track of such things.
As for the April fools thing, it is a tradition in our culture I could do without, another would be Halloween.
Sheldon
Yeah, we need to get rid of Thanksgiving too. Dumb turkeys.
Who made you the topic police? Early in this thread a number of people were moaning about when their MR showed up in their mailbox. I simply reponded to that, and to the fact that I was no more impressed or amused with this April Fools item than I have been with any of them, for some 40 years now.
I said my piece and let it alone - days latter you feel the need to be the topic police? It's call CONVERSATION and the moderators on here seem to understand that.
Even if I found the April Fools thing funny or cute, it arrives a month early - give or take - since I don't loose sleep of what day MR hits my mailbox. That kind of spoils the effect, don't you think?
It would be nice to find a post that wasn't off topic for once.
It's probably just a pet peve of mine, but it still really gets to me when people talk about other things that don't have anything to do with the original post.
Sorry if I offended anyone, but still, I would rather read posts that are at least on topic.
Have to admit though, there are holidays I think we can live without, but that is another thing to talk about somewhere else.
The Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Route of the Black Diamond Express, John Wilkes and Maple Leaf.
-Jake, modeling the Barclay, Towanda & Susquehanna.
Yeah, getting the April Fool joke at the end of February is a bit much. Seems the norm for mazagines these days, in addition to my APril MR arriving, I also got my digital subscriptions of the April issues of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics. Not sure when this became a publishign industry standard, or why. None of the excuses I've heard hold water, such as making sure the issue in on the newstand by the cover date. That didn't seem to bother anyone back in the days when the April issue of a magazine appeared in your mailbox and on the newstand sometime in APRIL, not February or March. Problem is, it was easy to switch TO this format, just rush production on an issue and you end up getting maybe 2 in the me month, and are now on the advanced schedule. Getting off it means going a long time with no issue, in the minds of (mindless) subscribers, "skipping" a month even though in the end you will get the same 12 issues per year as always.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker Yeah, getting the April Fool joke at the end of February is a bit much. Seems the norm for mazagines these days, in addition to my APril MR arriving, I also got my digital subscriptions of the April issues of Popular Science and Popular Mechanics. Not sure when this became a publishign industry standard, or why. None of the excuses I've heard hold water, such as making sure the issue in on the newstand by the cover date. That didn't seem to bother anyone back in the days when the April issue of a magazine appeared in your mailbox and on the newstand sometime in APRIL, not February or March. Problem is, it was easy to switch TO this format, just rush production on an issue and you end up getting maybe 2 in the me month, and are now on the advanced schedule. Getting off it means going a long time with no issue, in the minds of (mindless) subscribers, "skipping" a month even though in the end you will get the same 12 issues per year as always. --Randy
Watch out Randy the topic police will be after you too. You are talking about the the April Fool's thing in general and in when the mag shows up, not the merrits of this particular April Fool's event, which I suspect is the only thing about this the topic police expect you to talk about.
I think from here on out we should require each poster of a new thread to set guidelines as to the types of responses that will be considered "on topic" and therefor be allowed.
Any "side" issues that come up in the "conversation" clearly should not be allowed, as this might take us too far "off topic".
End of Sarcasm
As the OP here (I rarely start threads), I'm OK with a broad definition of what's on topic. I think it's been an interesting mix of reactions, which is like life. It's the unexpected that oftentimes offers a new perspective on just about any issue.
The cover date vs mail date vs display date thing can be irritating, but it's a convention that's here to stay, I'm afraid. Kalmbach is just trying to fit in with the industry standard and would be at a disadvantage, however, small, if they did change the timing of the cover date. This trend was already well established by about 1970 in the wider publishing world, so it is a true mark of oldtimer status if you're remembering back before that. I don't know when MR shifted to this sort of schedule, but it's been a few decades ago.
Frankly, I think it's cool that MR is preserving some of their traditions, as so many others have fallen to the wayside. The April Fool thing is a little silly, but Patch Adams would say that it's good for your health, if you let it be.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL