CONTROLLED CHAOS
As I write this, it is 9.59am on the print day for this issue. The magazine’s raving designer has thrown his iMac out the window and disappeared on a paddleboard somewhere in the Waitemata Harbour. The 24-bottle box of Lion Red has dwindled overnight to just two lonely brown bottles, and this computer is the last electric appliance still functioning* … Oops, I’ve been reading too much Hunter S. Thompson, but this week has been one of frantic, albeit controlled, chaos.
[Mark Gibson has entered text] Dude I went surfing not freak’n paddleboarding you goof! Hey I just accidently deleted that awesome shot you had for your page so we’ll go with this one aye? Haha. FYI Conman this is my 100th issue on V8 so let’s make this one F#$%’n amazing!. PS: make sure you delete this before we go to print! Todd will kill us!
You’ll have already read in Todd’s editorial column last issue that he’s traded the big smoke for the capital, relocating to Wellington. Now, he’s only away from the mag for this week before he’s back in full force, but putting this magazine to print without him has proven just what a job he does. It’s been a whole Murphy’s law scenario, with us also working on sending our NZV8 Beach Hop Annual 2017 to the printer; it’ll be on sale May 15, so make sure you get your copy — along with this issue, both of which we will finish to the highest possible standard. That focus on quality is something that’s very important to me, and if I did not feel that I am helping to create quality content for the magazine, well, then I’d just be taking the piss. Fortunately, despite the crushing pressure of double deadlines, this issue is one I feel that has been produced to that highest standard — and we’re our own worst critics when it comes to picking holes in each issue as it goes to print, and comes back from the printer. I can only speak for the articles I created for this issue, but, looking at the magazine as a whole, I think we succeeded and our whole team should pat themselves on the back. Brad West’s Impala shoot idea came out of some idle Facebook banter and evolved into cruising to a
Coromandel beach for fish ’n’ chips and beer — oh, and getting the cool photo shoot the car deserves; we spent an entire morning perfecting that. Check it out and see what you think. Event-wise, the Trans America Shipping Nostalgia Drags 2017 was an awesome occasion, both to be at and to write about. It’s no lie when I say it’s one of my favourite drag events on the calendar. Likewise, Lack-A-Traction’s Burnouts Taupo didn’t even feel like work. Being invited by Arnie and the Lack-A-Traction team to help judge the competition was an honour, and it was very cool to spend the weekend with Liz and Ryan Gracie and everyone else who made the event what it was. Everything culminates into a need to keep the magazine evolving and not get locked into habits and patterns. That’s why, when you look at our Nostalgia Drags coverage, you’ll note the prevalence of captions. Rather than give you a blow-by-blow action report, we’ve got a whole bunch of captions describing standout cars and occurrences throughout the day to make it feel a little more like you were right there in the thick of it. I’d be very interested to hear feedback on whether you love or hate this style of coverage — you don’t know how something new will go until you try it. I suppose that is the perfect way to close off this random, scattered, and very impromptu editorial column. I hope you enjoy the first issue of the newbut-old NZV8. It’s now 11.38am, and I’m going to try to find our designer — we might even be able to get this magazine to the printer before the deadline …
*All events recounted in this column are purely fictitious — except for the ones that aren’t. I didn’t actually drink 22 Lion Reds in the night leading up to this column being written, and our designer is actually safely tearing his hair out at home as far as I am aware.
Connal connal@v8.co.nz