Saturday, May 27, 2006

The Demise of Cargo

I am not one to read many magazines. Heck I have enough trouble reading the literature I need to for my dissertation, but that's an entirely different story.

My aunt and uncle gave me a subscription to GQ when I graduated from college. I liked it, but I have never made oodles of money such that I could ever think of affording the clothes and such advertised there. Also, I just don't spend a lot of time on clothing or grooming. I mean, I certainly like to bathe and shave and look decent, but if I'm not wearing designer clothing, I really could care less. As long as it fits and the things were purchased this decade, I'll go with it. Many of the articles in GQ are interesting, so I kept my subscription going for several years. When I came to SCT, I scaled back on several expenditures, one of which was that subscription.

Of course I'm still on their mailing list, and I receive ads for other magazines published by the same group. A new one came out about a year ago that was inexpensive and peaked my interest: Cargo Magazine. Good mixture of "men's magazine stuff" like electronic gadgets, clothing (with inexpensive options!), fitness, and sex. And some of the models look like real people instead of like "models," if you can believe it! And really: the emphasis was on the electronics and not the fashion, which I liked a great deal.

Unfortunately, I received a postcard last week saying they will discontinue publishing Cargo. And to compensate for the rest of my subscription, I'll get copies of GQ instead. Ugh! I guess I'll just take it in and have a clearer picture of the high-fashion stuff I cannot afford. Inspiration to complete the doctorate? Perhaps, but it's not like I'm going to walk into a six-figure job when I complete this degree anyhow. Ho hum.

Long live Cargo!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

thanx for posting this. i'm in new orleans and since the storm i havent gotten any of my cargo mags. i've even tryed emailing them and they just responded that it was "undeliverable". that pissed me the hell off cause 'gq' has become more of a gay man's soft porn forum (no offense to my gay buds), and 'details' is too feckin opinionated! cargo was the perfect mixture and i am really comfortable being seen reading it for an hour in a coffee house without feelin like im being judged by on lookers. hopefully they have a good replacement in mind cause that was a REALLY GOOD men's magezine. thanx again.

mbryan
bry82@msn.com