29

Okay, I'll depart from my new-found devotion to writing about magazines to note that the Chicago White Sox's magic number (the combination of wins by the Sox and losses by its main opponent) is 29.

Even better, if you were looking for a reason to vote for Barack Obama, then here's this: According to the Chicago Sun-Times (and other outlets), in an ESPN interview to air later this week, Obama was asked about Chicago's baseball teams.

ESPN: "If the Cubs and the White Sox both make it to the World Series?"

Obama: "I would be going."

ESPN: "Who would you root for?"

Obama: "Oh, that's easy. White Sox. I'm not one of these fair-weather fans. You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren't watching the game. It's not serious. White Sox – that's baseball. Southside."

That's great. He's a real Sox fan -- you can tell, because he not only praised the Sox but he slammed Cub fans (and accurately, too). Now THAT's the kind of insight we need in the White House!

Magazine News: Christie Hefner Blogs

This blog of mine is clearly coming to focus pretty heavily on the periodicals industry, so I'm not going to fight it. Magazines are, after all, where I practice my profession and have been my interest for decades.

So, I'll take this post as an opportunity to point you to another blog. Christie Hefner, chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises, is writing a regular blog for the Portfolio business magazine web site. She writes about newspapers, magazine competition, and some non-publishing matters, such as Barack Obama. It's a blog worth keeping an eye on; she's a smart publishing exec.

White Sox, Part II

Here's the post-game self-congrats by the White Sox.
It was nice to see former Sox Frank Thomas (not to be confused with Chicagoan Thomas Frank) (seriously, though I do) playing, even if it was for the bad guys.

Chicago White Sox 2:1 Oakland Athletics

I took advantage on Saturday of an opportunity to catch a rare appearance of the Chicago White Sox here in the Bay Area. After losing to the Oakland A's the previous night, the Sox rebounded on Saturday afternoon to a 2-1 victory. The game was not exciting, but it was a great baseball Saturday: Good seats, good weather, a good friend, good game result.
I took the photos in this posting from the 24th row behind home plate.

Cover Break

And sometimes I just take time out on this blog to appreciate magazine covers that catch my eye. Here's the upcoming issue of Starlog magazine. It's proof that "white space works."