Off the Rack: Lipstick Terrorists and Tractor Sex

BC Business (July)

In one for the record books, BCB ships a doorstopper of a mag this month for its annual Top 100 special. Beyond the cover package are some sparkling stories. Lori Bamber casts a close eye on a question Off the Rack pleaded with BCB to do some months back: Tell us where all the female execs are. (Hint: The answer isn't just "elsewhere.") An insider account gets backroom access to machinations behind the biggest tech acquisition in B.C. history.

Finally, Vicki O'Brien reveals a fascinating project in Northern B.C. to enable disenfranchised native youth by training them as wilderness guides, placing them in leadership positions for responsibly managing -- and profiting from -- the emerging adventure travel biz opening up in Kaska Dena territory. Do check the heft on this 242-page puppy, a true rarity by Canadian periodical standards. Bcbusinessmagazine.com

Butter (Summer)

The hipster title goes thick this issue with its art and music focus, including a mean suite of profiles depicting the vogue in art illustration across North America. Typically, the fashion photography is smart and the music writing -- including such of-the-moment acts as the Organ and Franz Ferdinand -- is buoyed by the talented Michael White. It bears repeating that one of Butter's best assets is its ability to maintain a global beat. Stories range much further afield than your average street culture rag (Vice included), from L.A. to the Lower East Side to Miami to Barcelona. Who says the kids aren't taking globalization seriously? Mmmbutter.com

Western Living (June)

The cabins issue shows western gumption with the eastern obsession. Shelter shock takes a new turn when the editors discover that people are building houses out of straw. (Really.) A queasy story on a New Yorker returning to her Calgary hometown will render your B.C. homestead 10 percent more attractive, guaranteed. On the other hand, editor Jim Sutherland files copy from a cabin-side barbeque on Pender Island that will make you wish you were there for bite-by-bite analysis. Westernlivingmagazine.com

Ion (April)

Ion is another youth-oriented slick gussied up in capsule tabloid format. Heavy on Gen Y service pieces and musician interviews, upon closer inspection Ion is a bit of a strange duck. Picture a Vanmag advertorial insert hatched from a Fun City initiative. There's a slaphappy mix of editorial, including all the parachuted-in staples you'd expect from this type of rag: horoscopes, web ephemera and relationship advice. At best, this mag aspires to real inclusivity, boasting everything from reviews of the best local bathhouse ("Free your mind and your ass will follow"), to splashy, unpretentious fashion spreads, to a Downtown Eastside photo-essay.

Much of the photography is first-rate, although the art direction seems a little dry. At worst, Ion's writing tends to lack verve and voice, and the IdentiKit subjects are rarely differentiated from coverage you've read elsewhere. The service coverage lacks bite, the indie profiles are uniformly starry-eyed. So while Ion struts with a swell civic-mindedness about Vancouver and all it has to offer, it risks trivializing that stance with its unremitting boosterism. It comes on thick and, appropriately, wears thin.

Still, there are gems here, including the anonymous (and disturbing) editorial from a dumped guy who discovers Neil LaBute and his own inner de Sade. Doug Ko bats around the question of why we're more comfortable with jokingly non-racist racism in Vancouver. Plus, the service coverage of free parking and car washes reads like a crosscut of suburban post-teen priorities. Here's hoping Ion will strike out for more interesting turf like this -- maybe a feature or some frank local colour? -- soon. Ionmagazine.ca

Adbusters (July/August)

The "I, Terrorist" issue furthers Adbusters' sustained attack on the rhetoric of the war on terrorism, exploding its contradictions with a sly resituation -- what of terrorism's homefront battles? The terrorism we experience is (surprise!) the province of the ecological, psychological, ideological, pharmacological, etc. strife over the western conscience. Consumers get served a punishing knockout combination by the culture jamming crew. Adbusters.org

BC Bookworld (Volume 18, No. 2)

Featuring the best review of Doug Coupland's new book of Canadiana I've read, and also the pithiest: "Jeff Wall mates with a Massey-Ferguson tractor and everyone benefits." In an apparent scoop, UBC Professor Victor Chan (and longtime Dalai Lama pal) gets outed as the principal instigator for the Dalai Lama's Vancouver stop this spring. Abcbookworld.com

Modern Dog (Summer)

Remember last issue's Pam Anderson cover? The pooch pub carries over its cover strategy this time out in a puff piece on high-stepper Paris Hilton and dog Tinkerbell. A front-of-book teaser headline "Dogs versus Mines" sends the wrong message, but get this: dogs are actively used in humanitarian efforts to eliminate land mines. Fortunately they're not just canine fodder; the guys are adept at the gig. "Of the 60 or so Canadian MDDs (mine detection dogs) working in the field, none has ever been killed on duty." Funny, I never saw Princess Di cuddling any canine saviours. Moderndogmagazine.com

The Nerve (June)

Only The Nerve could rock a feature like "The A-Z of Moustache Rock", and readers reap the rewards: "Remember when if you had a moustache it meant you were a total fag? Or if you had a moustache but weren't a fag, then you were a cop? Or if you weren't either of those and you had a moustache, then you were Burt Reynolds?" Trust me, it's all dope from there. Thenervemagazine.com

Around the Rack

The Western Magazine Awards were handed out last month and Off the Rack was both delighted and dumbfounded by some of the winning results. Spies report that, while the awards gala didn't have the oomph of past years, several of the Magazines West seminars were well received. Congratulations to the winners, also-rans and especially the WMAs board and staff.

Jeff MacIntyre is regularly heckled, from dangerously near and glamorously afar, at jeffmacintyre.com