It's funny how reading one blurb like this can put things into clear perspective. I have been a member for 5 years already, and I am on here at least once a day. I guess I started taking the HAMB for granted, and I won't do that any more. Ryan, thanks for everything man. I just became an Alliance member so I can support the future instead of the past.
Oh Hey!!! People write some REALLY stupid letters to the print magazines TOO! They just have the ability to NOT print them!
We got bozo's in Omaha C.B. Iowa the Clubbers that have the same stupid attitude .As long as their polished junk looks all magazined up I can't stand to look at the boring junk. I love the prechrome and barn fresh look. Keep the 350 sbc in the work trucks and race tracks. I'm doing a 64 Rambler with org 327. Now thats what I call FUN.Ill get around to the 49 Chev P/U a little later.(Yea it's got a 235 5spd.)Different is fun.Keep up thegreat work.Janet can stick it....
Dear Janet, Your arrogance is a little hard to take. When you stated: "With a complete lack of appreciation for the men that brought this industry up, you have allowed the audience to speak their mind carelessly and recklessly." You have really said a mouthful and it reveals just how clueless you are. You view hot rodding as an "industry"? Ahhh...therein lies the problem. It may be an industry to you but you have lost touch with your roots! There was a time when I loved you. When I gazed into your eyes I saw a reflection of what was happening in the hot rod world out there. Unfortunately, you now seem to believe that hot rodding was started by magazines, not the other way around. You see, hot rodders created your world for you, not the other way around. And, when you no longer represent us...well, geez darling, that's too bad for you. The folks on the HAMB are the real deal, the grassroots of hot rodding, the ones "that brought this industry up". I'm sorry if we no longer fit your manufactured version of it. It's hard for me to say this Janet, but I don't think we should see each other any more. I have found a home here on the HAMB and I'm happy in my new life. The memories of you will always remain in my heart but I suspect you are an ignorant slut and maybe even a communist. Love always, Saxman
Can't we all just get along? Discussing this is like asking the following: Which is a more relevant media, Radio/TV, or the Computer/Internet? What nuts are we collecting Lugnuts, wWngnuts or Walnuts? Are we living in today when, we re-live yesterday? Which came first, Henweigh or Dickfer? When I put red wheels and wide whites on my 93 Honda am I cooler than a Street Rod build from a catalog? Which one is more traditional? If we were traditional why do we post crap on the internet? My parents raised me but they are no longer relevant because they are different than they were in 1947. So lets throw them under the Bus.
On the whole, Forums allow you freedom of speech and images Magazines allow editors and reporters freedom of speech and images I know which one I prefer. gerry
Hey, any of you feel like some will never enjoy life, just constantly question it. This is how we roll gents....
I'm dense, I had to re-read Ryan's blog and actually watch his video montage. Funny, my thought processes change channels like a ADD kid hopped up on RedBull, sort of like that video... but "in a nutshell" the HAMB is to me an outlet. A place to be plugged in to the "community" with real time feedback and real hot rodding liberty. Very little in the way of filtering or regulation. I get to share with you guys what I have learned and help you, help yourselves far better than print can allow. This Hokey Ass Message Board has given me friends from around the world that I would not ever have gained otherwise. A place to hash out ideas, flush out problems and share experience with other like minded souls. Jim A, I have seen some of these letters first hand. Seems the real fun ones are from brand loyalist types kvetching about not enough coverage of their chosen icon. They should print them, it's pure entertainment.
I thought hot rodding was created by Harry Miller, Henry Ford, Kenny Howard, Barney Navarro, and the like. What did Street Rodder every do for them?
I wonder if ten years ago companies like Speedway or Demon would have thought they'd see the day when they would invest in a new 97? Don't they still buy advertising?
Desperate words by a desperate man? I guess it must be much easyer to blame Ryan than to take his part of the responsabillity for fucking up a very good thing. I was a Magazine Fanatic. I still own every issue I ever bought. ( ever tried to do an international move with a big book & magazine collection? Its a lot of weight and space...) But its because of the content in the current magazines that I'm no longer interested in them. And the ratio of content to advertising. ( disclaimer...I havent opened up a magazine in quite a while, so I dont know if any of that has changed since I stopped subscribing. But, as a former customer, I have no obligation to return after I've left.) I'm just glad I found the HAMB/JJ after I became disinterested... It more than fills the void.
100 responses in less than 3 hours. I think Janet's letter lit a fire under some folks. Been a subscriber to many rags over the last 30 years and I still subscribe to a couple of them. But I have always seen them for what they are...glorified billboards to their advertisers. They are in it to make money. And who can blame them? It is a business to them. Ryan has advertisers as well, but he still remembers what he learned from Wally Parks... "He taught me that editorials should never be for sale. He taught me that the audience is second only to the cars. He taught me that there is room in this world for a guy like me to do my thing, my way." (Hope you don't mind that I quoted you on that Ryan).
When I want to learn how to install A/C ducts in a roadster dash, I'll buy an issue of Street Rodder. Until then, the people who build and drive rods and customs will continue to make this happen...not magazines. The public makes it happen, magazine editors are just watching it.
The HAMB has the ability to provide so much more than print articles and pictures. It is able to provide direct interaction with builds, builders, and processes to better understand how all things hot rod and custom work and interact. Not to take away anything from the photos and articles, as their importance lives on. But an evolution to the modern world is natural progression. 10 years ago I remember looking at pictures of cars and saying "well it looks like he took about 5" or so out of the roof on that chop, lets give it a whirl". The guesswork is gone. For those that understand and have the ability there is no limit to the amount of information and technical knowhow that exist on this site. I say well done. Thank you for this site. Thank you for this information so that I may be more able to turn a car out closer and closer to the cars I obsess about and emmulate. This truly is an avenue for success. Oh, and Janet: EAT SHIT
Wow, that was a harsh email and a very good response! I am thinking you have captured a large part of his audience and subscriptions are not being renewed, therefore his job is on the line along with many like him. I gew up scaping up quarters to buy a magazines at the Rexall Drug Store and I appreaciate the paths our rod building has taken over the years. I also find it refreshing to repeat the history of our WWII Veterans - my 84 year old father being one of them and I cannot wait to take him for a ride in another traditional hotrod! GO RYAN!!!
I promise you there are advertisers here paying some bills. And I have NO PROBLEM with that, but let's not mistake the HAMB for a commercial-free zone. In fact, I support the advertisers (and the HAMB, notice the Alliance Member deal). It's just that here, the advertisers aren't ruling the roost, they are only given the opportunity to place their wares in front of their audience - with the caveat that they are still competing with other vendors at the same time. Look at the threads about wheelkid / Rally America and Corky / Coker Tire. You better have your shit in order if you want to be a respected vendor here, just buying ad space isn't going to cut it. Enough soapboxing. Ryan, your blog just confirmed what I already knew. There are some people in this country who really think they are running the show, when in reality they are just assholes and an embarrassment to themselves. This phenomenon is in no way isolated to the automotive journalism industry.
I their defense, the current issue of Street Rodder is very Hamb friendly with KIRK!s car on the cover, Ron Covell narrows a Model A shell, putting a 5-speed in a 49-54 Chevy, awesome coverage of the L.A. Roadster Show, Jim Evans' '49 Chevy (which is awesome) Dick Luma's banger-powered 26 Ford RPU, and the late Billy B. in the back... I personally don't mind looking at ads, I like to see what's new and how much stuff is... I always learn something. I don't really understand what "Janet's" problem is with the HAMB? She was able to speak her mind to Ryan.. we are allowed to speak our minds here. This is America.
That is AWESOME! Hahahahahaha, what a great e-mail. Magazines and hot rodding ain't exactly a chicken and egg question, we all know which came first. I'm nearing my 10 year HAMBiversary and I hope I'm still reading, learning and participating 10, 20, whoknowshowmany years from now. Keep up the good work Ryan.
I guess I'm not sure what the complaint is exactly. Probably me as everyone else seems to get it. Not enough props to the current magazines? Is that it? Indeed I have quit buying the magazines. Too damn expensive. I do miss the old letters though that went....... "Hey guys, I just got my drivers lisence and I'm stuck with my moms 74 Dodge Monaco Wagon. Now it does O.K. but I was wondering what modifications I could make, that aren't too expensive (the job at McD's only pays $2.35 an hour) that might get it down to around 11 seconds? Also, it has to be something that she really wouldn't notice when she is driving it" God, I loved those letters. If we could get a few posts around here like that, well.......it would about make my day.
I'm going write this before I read the other 120+ replys Janet is right, sort of of. I started noticing cars shortly after birth (1942) Mom said I could recognise a packard before I was 2. I read every Magazine I could find that had anything with a car. First at the corner Drugstore/Malt shop then subscribed. When I found the HAMB in 1998 I had 16 car mag subcriptions. I not only found more information available here. I was able to share my 45 years in the glass business to help others. plus was able to to get help in my weak areas in a matter of minutes. that beats going thru a 30 year Magazine collection looking for a article on suspension or rebuilding a Magneto ect. and better yet I was able to speak directly to many of the editors of magazines that I respected and have had 3 drive up to my house. probably Janet included. At this time I have zero subscriptions. I do regret dropping Rodders Journal at number 38, but it was just a collection of history, the last three issue are still in cellophane wrapper that I've never opened. Ryan did mention years ago that "Paper Print was a dinosaur in going down in history" So I can see that Janet should single Ryan out for predicting the end of Janet's meal ticket. As far as the hot rodding industry going down the tube. Janet's right again. A lot of Business's are hurting (just like the rest of the country) Think about this. Big Companies are out sourcing most of there products to China, India, ect. Americans are losing there jobs (just like Janet) and being resourceful American Hot Rodders We are going back to our roots and building our own with alot of help from our HAMB buddies. problem is we don't have as many bone yards that carry the older stuff. I'll never change but Janet will have to. Jim Arnold 48HEMI..................................................member # 60 Oldcarglassguy .......................................member # 2000 NONAME.................................................Member # bazillion
On the contrary, this letter seems quite childish and petty to me, as if you should be paying your prompts to the magazines. As any successful businessperson will tell you, change is eminent. The forces that change industry are rarely from within the industry itself. Competitors battle it out tooth and nail for a slight competitive advantage, only to be blown away by something they've never seen coming. Change and adapt or die. In this example, countless publishers have been competing for decades, only to find the internet step in and offer readers free or affordable reading material, interactive, portable. They have just been made virtually obsolete almost overnight. Perhaps Ryan is a figure to lash out at, a name and a face they can point at, but the fact is there is much more than that at play here that they obviously do not understand.
i used to pitch the gazette after i flipped through the classifieds, now i have boxes filled with them, mainly because the cover art is the best in the print trade.
The Jalopy Journal
