3 Magazines

Ahhh-The December issues, bringing the year to a close for all three of my regularly read magazines. It was a excellent year for National Geographic, especially the last few issues have been brilliant. And while the December issue is not quite up to the level of "supreme brilliance" as the Nov and Oct issues were, it was still damn good.

The article on King Herod, the cover story, in particular was amazing. I love when this magazine takes preconceived notions about a historical figure and really brings the historical record and archaeological facts to bear, leaving behind the innuendo and emotional crap religion and nationalism put about figures of the past. That is when this magazine is at its best. And this article articulates what is best about National Geographic. To other stories really struck me: Saving Lives in India, about the health workers from the Comprehensive Rural Health Project in Jamkhed, India that work with the poor in preventative health maintenance as well as attending to the sick and injured. The work that is being done is amazing, as is the organization. And the story, "The Other Darwin" on Alfred Russel Wallace, who also came up with a very similar theory of evolution, separately, but at the same time as Darwin, was very interesting.

Playboy's December issues are always packed with extra features, and this year there were some nice ones. A couple of good articles about the current financial meltdown, with analysis on how it happened and ideas on how to deal with it, led off the Forum, always a good place for political discussion. The Interview was with Hugh Jackman, and was quite good. He seems fairly reasonable for a celebrity, and gave a great interview, that actually had me laughing in a couple of places. He is talented, working both stage and the movies (and previously TV in Australia), and I think it is one of the celeb interviews that I have most enjoyed. Some great gift guides were featured, and a very funny piece by Denis Leary...acerbic as always. The one piece I did not like was the fiction by James Ellroy. It was undoubtedly well written, but not my genre or style. On the upside, and nice 20Q with Rosario Dawson made me very happy!

And last...Zoonooz. I can't wait for the redesign to take place next month. I haven't seen it yet, but I hope it helps.