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Troubleshootin Pete

Lee FogartyLee Fogarty
edited February 2005 in Sinclair Miscellaneous
All this talk about a certain person has been a downer this week, so to lighten things up how about if we had some tales of YS? Preferably ones that can't be printed in retro gamer. Or even happy memories?
Post edited by Lee Fogarty on
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  • Troubleshootin' PeteTroubleshootin' Pete
    edited February 2005
    I remember one month, I had organised a competition with the Hippodrome (which at the time was quite the place to go in London, even though in retrospect it was an overpriced 80s pit). However, the thin link between a Speccy in the Hippodrome's control box had made it as a news story in Frontlines and the shagmeister himself, Peter Stringfellow, offered up a club membership as a prize. Our competition called for animations based on the Hippodrome's logo and then we sat back and waited. And waited. The dribble of entries was miniscule, and most were pretty poor. Finally, however, we had to draw a line under it so picked a winner and then spent some time reminding the Hippodrome of their obligation to provide the prize. It took an absolute age, but we managed to get them to cough up and in fact they also threw in a night out for the YS team + winners to show off the finalists on the main screen in the club. I remember when getting to the club myself I asked if our winner had arrived already and the doorman had said something along the lines of 'the sad git in the bottle-bottom bins?'. Hmmm... perfect for a Hippodrome membership card, eh?

    Needless to say the YS crew in attendance got absolutely wasted and all nursed gail-force hangovers the next day. I'm not sure if the competition winner ever made use of his membership card again; he seemed a little withdrawn on the night itself. Or maybe it because we were all so rowdy? Ah, who knows.

    One thing I do remember YS for was the transition from traditional typesetting to DTP. DTP has revolutionised the industry, since the steps involved in getting the written word into printed magazine form were far more complicated in the early days of YS. Typsetting was generally done by an agency and sent back in what was called 'gallies' of copy - which basically was long columns of typset material which the art department would then paste up on the artboards to create the layout. This process involved running the cut gallies through a hot-wax machine, so they'd stick to the artboard. Where this got interesting was on the day the artwork had to go off to the printers (Press Day). If there were any last minute corrections, there wouldn't be time to get new gallies typeset, so the art department would literally cut individual words up and arrange them on the layout boards. Of course the wax coverage was tiny, so what often happened was those corrections would fall off. You'll probably be able to spot holes like that in the early issues, especially at the bottom of columns. It's because the word fell off the board.

    Ok, one more for now. At Dennis Publishing there was a tradition of creating an in-house Christmas magazine. Not a very frequent tradition, but the best one ever produced was Your Scrotum. It was an absolute riot, with most of the building working on the thing for about two weeks. I doubt you'll ever see one on eBay - I think there were only a few hundred produced, and most (I suspect) no longer exist. If I get a chance, I might be persuaded to scan a couple of pages - but I warn you it's not suitable for the kiddies eyes! :)

    Pete

    [ This Message was edited by: Troubleshootin' Pete on 2005-02-16 01:25 ]
  • SkarpoSkarpo
    edited February 2005
    On 2005-02-16 01:22, Troubleshootin' Pete wrote:
    ... If I get a chance, I might be persuaded to scan a couple of pages - but I warn you it's not suitable for the kiddies eyes! :)

    Pete

    Don't worry ... most of us here are old farts/fartesses(?) anyway.

    Skarpo
    :)

    [ This Message was edited by: Skarpo on 2005-02-16 01:49 ]
  • Steve(spt)Steve(spt)
    edited February 2005
    Tell us about the time the YS team came to Alton Towers. I saw you lot , up from the big smoke for a bit of fun...


    BTY: I was the one who got the free mags you sent to the marketing offices

    Steve(spt)
  • Lee TonksLee Tonks
    edited February 2005
    *THE* Troubleshootin' Pete? :o

    We're not worthy, etc!

    /bows down
  • Lee FogartyLee Fogarty
    edited February 2005
    I'm worthy. I'm owed a shark.

    Which I believe was photographed in the 'proper' last issue?
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  • ZX BeccyZX Beccy
    edited February 2005
    I don't have trouble shootin... I have 2 nighthawk pro co2 powered repeater air pistols with night scopes and laser sights. they are the mutts :D
  • NickHNickH
    edited February 2005
    On 2005-02-16 02:20, Steve Parry-Thomas wrote:
    Tell us about the time the YS team came to Alton Towers.

    A definite highlight in YS history:

    http://www.ysrnry.co.uk/articles/altontowers-23.htm
  • WoodyWoody
    edited February 2005
    Strangely, that was the last issue I ever bought. Spectrum magazine all about a trip to Alton Towers...
  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    edited February 2005
    I remember the issue with the pictures of the Stringfellows winners in it.

    Never had a group of people looked more out of place...
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
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