Weekly Top Five - 4.Feb.11

In  High Fidelity, the characters compare their top fives in a variety of categories. Being big fans of both the film and novel, we here at the What bring you our Weekly Top Five, a feature focused on five fantastic things that you should become familiar with.

Magazines to Subscribe To

 

As much as I love a good book, there are plenty of times in which I would rather pick up a magazine. Magazines are a handy way to get information on a specific topic. While many think the internet is killing magazines, I have found that despite the readily-available information overload provided by the internet, I still enjoy sitting down and reading a magazine. In fact, in my post-collegiate years I have gone from one or two subscriptions to five or six, and it is something you should look into doing as well.

5. Time - Time has been a news magazine for nearly 90 years. Each year, my family would receive a subscription as a gift, and once I moved out, I began getting my own. The articles are straightforward and provide decent, relevant information. Subscribing to this weekly publication will give you a good perspective on world events in a timely fashion, no pun intended. FAVORITE FEATURE: 10 Questions. An interview with a leader, celebrity, athlete, politician, etc. with questions coming from the readers.

4. Special Interest - This is generic, but for a reason. Not everyone has the same interests or hobbies. If you live in a big city, chances are there is a city magazine with information pertinent to your location. Magazines like Men's/Women's Health/Fitness often have good features that help you lead a healthier lifestyle. Your profession probably has magazines dedicated to professionals like you that can be a valuable resource in your career. If none of those options pique your interest, think of a favorite hobby, and there is more than likely a magazine for that too. Pick an aspect of your life, type it into Google with the word "magazine" after it, and you will find plenty of options.

3. Entertainment Weekly - For people like me who find websites in the vein of TMZ and Perez Hilton slightly classless, Entertainment Weekly is the way to keep in tune with goings on in pop culture. EW gives you all of the information you need to keep up to date with literature, music, movies, and television. This mag is a quick and easy read, and being a weekly publication, it does fairly will with staying up to date. Leading up to each new season, EW puts out a movie preview issue (i.e. the Summer Movie Preview) which serves as any movie buff's bible with information on just about every film being released in the specified time period. FAVORITE FEATURE: Bullseye. The last page of each issue has a full-page target highlighting the best and worst in pop culture that week. Always quirky and often funny, this feature keeps me coming back.

2. Food Network - This has probably been mentioned previously, but I love food. Food Network Magazine takes everything from the television channel and packs it into a magazine. Each issue revolves around a central theme, such as the Super Bowl or Italian. Each issue also has a monthly contest, in which readers enter an original recipe using a key ingredient related that month's theme. To give an example, last month's ingredient was spaghetti, and I submitted a recipe for a little something known as the Spaghetti Monster Burger. Should it when, my recipe will be featured in an upcoming issue and I will get some money to spend in their online shop. Should the Spaghetti Monster Burger not be chosen, you still get to read about it here. Bonus! FAVORITE FEATURE: The contents. I am not joking, the table of contents in this magazine is pure genius. Immediately following the normal contents, there is a table laid out with each recipe and what page you can find it on. Brilliant.

I kind of want to check True Blood out now.

1. Rolling Stone - How many magazines have a song about being on their cover? The cover of the Rolling Stone is iconic, and to grace that cover is a sure sign that you have made it big. Apart from the cover, the actual content provided by the staff at RS is second to none. If I want to find the latest awesome songs, I turn to RS. If I want to read the most hard-hitting political commentary, I turn to RS. Rolling Stone covers the hot topics in a variety of fields with a voice that is honest, direct, and poignant. FAVORITE FEATURE: The Rolling Stone Interview. The crew at Rolling Stone have interviewed everyone from Bo Diddley to Bill Clinton, Woody Allen to Frank Zappa. The interviews are among the best in journalism, and worth the subscription alone.

Magazines are a fantastic resource to have around your apartment or house. By subscribing to the suggested mags in this article, you will find that you are full of relevant information, interesting topics of conversation, and   a cool new way to decorate your living space. So give these magazines a try, and leave us comments with other magazines to look into, we always appreciate your feedback!