Bye-Bye Miata Magazine

Today marked the end of an Era. Actually, the end was a few months ago, this is more like the beginning, but it is the end for me.

When I bought my first Miata back in 1989, I did so without the knowledge that this car is more than just a transportation module, but it is a way of life. About a month after buying it a magazine showed up in my mail, a magazine devoted entirely to my new little roadster. It contained columns, how-to articles, travel articles, pictures, letters to the editor and ads for parts. Because I waited so long to take delivery (108 days) this was actually issue #2. I immediately subscribed (by joining the Miata Club of America) and ordered back issue #1. It started out as a quarterly and grew to a bi-monthly about 5 years back. I have every issue stacked neatly in the base of my nightstand. It is great to look back occasionally, like looking at your kids photos from when they were in each grade of school.

Several years back the Miata Club of America folded because of accounting improprieties by the founder and president. The magazine soldiered on with out the support and database of the MCA. Then later, Mazda the corporation stepped in and formed a company backed club, the Miata Owners Club. The magazine found some support. Then less than a year later Mazda closed the Club. Again the magazine lost money and another database. Like the last time, word of mouth (or more appropriately word of electrons, email) saved the day by contacting subscribers so that they could still receive the magazine, now once again fully independent. A couple of times through this, I considered not renewing, I was tiring of it all, the net had replaced most of functions provided by the mag, but in a show of support for the poor publisher (mainly one woman and her family) I continued.

With dwindling subscribers and without the backing of a nationwide Club the magazine was facing hard times last year. A decision was made to embrace the corporate zoom-zoom strategy and now cater to not just Miatas, but all of Mazda?s “sports” cars including the new RX-8 and the new 3 and 6 models…

Today I got my first issue (of how many more I don’t know) and I can now break clean. I was barely hanging on when it was just Miatas, but I don’t care one wit for the other cars. I wish them luck with their new direction, but I’m doubling back on the old road. I may do like I do for the X-Files, every other month on the 15th, I’ll break out an old issue and read it, working my way back up to the end.

New Mats (on order)

After just 2-1/2 months the tan mats in the car are turning dark brown in spots and dingy looking. I think it is time for some new ones. The last set of mats I had in the Laguna were a set of Coco Mats in black with gray dots in them. I bought the generic fit ones from a place on the web called AJ Prindle at a real bargain price. The fit was so-so, but the mats themselves looked great, stayed put and hid dirt real well. This time I decided to bite the bullet and get the custom fit jobbies at a substantially higher price. They have a tan herringbone that would probably look super, but to spice things up a bit, I opted for the black with tan dots (hoping they will hide the dirt better factored in as well.)

We’ll see if they look as good as my mock-up. I downloaded the image sample from their site and used PaintShop Pro to turn it into a seamless tile. I then created a 16 x 28 image and filled it with the pattern. Printed it out on my HP650C plotter at work and laid it in the passenger footwell. I was worried that Donna wouldn’t like it, but when she said she did, I went right back in, got on the web and ordered some. Site says there is a three week wait on custom orders, so hopefully I’ll get them in time for the Master’s Miata Club Tech Day so I can have a project to work on. 🙂

Dirty Car, Clean Car

The Miata was kind of filthy after the rains of late last week and needed washing. (probably wouldn’t have been as noticeable on the Laguna Blue.) It was dry and sunny both weekend day afternoons, but the temps were close to 50, and not really warm enough for car washing. I couldn’t stand it anymore so, this afternoon I “washed” the car in the garage with Meguiar’s Quik Detailer and an old towel. Looks a whole lot better now.

Naqoyqatsi

For tonight’s internet pleasure I present one movie review and two links (one profoundly disturbing and and one profoundly narcasisitic.)

We watched Naqoyqatsi this afternoon and I was disappointed. Read the review of the fellow on the IMDB site, as he said it better than I could. I really loved Koyaanisqatsi when I saw it on a PBS station in the middle 80’s. I had a VHS copy of the movie, but it disappeared somewhere during a move. When it was finally released on DVD in 2002 I immediately bought a copy. It came packaged with the second movie of the trilogy, Powaqqatsi, which I had never seen. The first movie is still the best. The time-lapse photography is really thought provoking, making you look at everyday life in a new manner. Rent Koyaanisqatsi, if you like it watch the second one too, but leave #3, Naqoyqatsi alone. It is a shame because even though I don’t like the movie I feel compelled to buy it to complete the set…

I found this in a May of 2002 archive of one of my regular blog reads, The Neurotic Fishbowl: Spiderman. =8O

This one is from a current post of another regular read, Missives Anonymous: Fontifier

One Was Nice, But Two?!?

Got a package from Mazda in the mail today. The Postal Carrier had to put it in the door because the 8″ diameter by 2″ thick plastic steering wheel replica wouldn’t go inside our mail box. When I opened up the package inside was some paperwork, a accessories brochure, a tire sales pitch, a cute little 3″x5″ eight page quick reference guide to the controls and a letter welcoming me to the “Emotion of Motion” (or a thinly disguised sales pitch to have my Miata serviced at the Mazda dealer.) After removing all of these bits of paper, what should I find in the bottom of the thing, but another bottle of touch-up paint.

If one is a very fine flirting act, two makes it an overt come-on and I’m not flattered, I’m frightened.

Where Has All The Glamour Gone?

Today’s Photo Friday challenge is Glamour and I had a very hard time coming up with a picture for it.

Tonight we made a little outing to the local mall and I brought along my camera figuring I’d snap a glamorous mannequin in one of the stores or in their window. Nope. Couldn’t find a single one, at least not a complete one anyway. A few waist up things with no heads and a couple of full bodied ones, again with no head. How glamorous is a neck stump? Not very.

My back up plan was to head into the book store and snap a pic of the magazine Glamour, but they don’t carry it or it was either sold out.

I ended up with a nebulous challenge filler, using definition #3 and an old Miata photo.

I remember when we first moved to Aiken 15 years ago, everyone was so excited as they were just breaking ground on our very own mall. No more driving all the way over to Augusta, GA. After a year and a half of watching the building get constructed, it opened with much fanfare and a 65% occupancy rate. All the stores we names of stores you would see in any mall (although in some cases, 2/3 scale of a regular mall stores because we are a smaller market.) They all had big bold neon signs and marble store fronts with shiny glass and brass. Marble tile floors and bright lighting. It was a glamorous place to shop.

Over the years the place filled up to near capacity with stores, but somewhere along the way shoppers tastes changed. Malls became passe, the strip mall, anchored by Targets and Old Navy stores experienced a renaissance. The malls occupancy rates fell. The unthinkable happened and an anchor store left. Then another. In an effort to survive they cut rents and now former cart merchants moved in the abandoned store fronts. Gone were the nice signs, replaced with hastily created canvas banners. Store with names you never heard of moved in. The occupancy rate is approaching 65% again.

It is not so glamorous to shop in the mall anymore. The once hallowed halls of upscale commercialism is now becoming a giant Wal-Mart where the departments are separated with walls instead of aisles.

TV Life Is Good

It’s sweeps month. TV is fresher: 4 weeks of first run Friends. TV is livelier: famous guest stars like Danny Devito pop up on Friends. TV is sexier: Danny Devito plays a stripper at Phoebe?s bachelorette party on Friends. I don’t watch Friends, but I get to see promos for the show on one I do. Sweeps means I get to see fresh episodes of West Wing.

The title of this post was intended as sarcasm, but who am I to judge? And really, what is more believable, Phoebe becoming aroused with a naked Danny Devito or Tony Zeigler, presidential aide single handedly brokering the salvation of Social Security?