The GV Revival
by Pazza

(Editor's Note: When Pazza talks about a bad web site and articles, 
he isn't talking about THIS site! To my knowledge, he hasn't seen 
this one yet) 

What follows is Pazza's (one of the original editors for Grapevine) 
view on the revived disk magazine. The views aren't complementary... 

- Grapevine was an AMIGA diskmag, NOT a poorly designed web site. 

- Grapevine (Amiga) was BLOODY GOOD, in the UK almost a legend in 
  scene circles. Now its been made into a joke. 

- The site is TERRIBLE, VERY, VERY terrible, hasnt anyone heard of 
  DESIGN? 

- The article content is OK, but small and weak, before an issue is 
  released it needs content! What is a magazine without articles? Its 
  a Grapevine WWW page, and its an insult. 

- To use the name GRAPEVINE is insulting to all who worked on the 
  original Amiga versions 01-21. 

- Grapevine Amiga is DEAD, (Unless another AMIGA version is released!) 
  and thats where it belongs, on the Amiga or DEAD, nowhere else! I and 
  Shagratt have no issues with more Amiga coded versions coming out. 

- Why ride on the back of the popularity of something else? If your 
  good, get recognised for your OWN work, like the Amiga Grapevine 
  team did, we didnt find a dead diskmag, get one person who worked 
  on it to say we could continue, and produce a CRAP magazine. We 
  started with enthusiasm and NOTHING ELSE, and continued, changing 
  the GV team, covering all topics imaginable. 

- The Amiga Grapevine team over the years put 100`s and 100`s of 
  hours into Grapevine, Shagratt (Coder), Me (Main editor), (Ken D)
  all other editors, Echo and Spirit etc. (music), Spirit etc. 
  (title picture), and this is while I ran it, after Shagratt and
  myself left I am 100% sure the quality, hard work and time put
  into it continued. The Web page is a FUCKING INSULT (and theres 
  no other word for it) to all the hard work that EVERY contributor
  put into it. 

- I could design a better web page using just a page "Wizard", you
  cant get much more basic than it currently is (and NO I wont!) 

- Grapevine was NEVER about being basic, from its first incarnation
  by Monty Python as a newsletter it was never basic. 

- Heres another example of becoming crap - Razor 1911 - One of the
  best, respected, most powerful cracking and coding groups on the
  Amiga. Now restarted on the PC - they are a laughing stock in the
  cracking scene, and they wont go away, they just get more and more
  shit, because thats what they are. They would do far better calling 
  themselves by a different name, no name to live up to, then they can
  be as crap as they like and no-one would really care. Its about
  memories, its about respect. Im sure they too got permission from
  one ex-Razor member or something, it doesnt make it right though. 

- How any ex-Grapevine Amiga contributors can stand by and support 
  the use of its name is beyond me, your all being insulted, and your
  all taking it - Where was the Grapevine/LSD spirit? We never took
  crap, we never produced crap, others where jealous of us, now whos 
  jealous? - Jealous of this, I think not! 
 
You have your own web magazine now, get your own name. OK so you where
inspired by Grapevine Amiga, put that in your magazine, be inspired,
BUT THATS IT. 

Now for those behind the web page heres what your do; 

- Lose the name Grapevine 
- Get a web page designer 
- Get an artist, your current graphics are not too bad though. 
- Get a main editor (Ken D was always reliable in my day) 
- Get sub-editors who answer to main editor 
- Sub editors hassle people for articles and write themselves, 
  and come up with article ideas (I give you a couple of original 
  ones myself below!) 
- When the site is ready, with good graphics and design and you have 
  100+ articles you are ready - Open the site 
- Follow these instructions and even paper magazines WILL take notice 
  of you. 
- Dont steal, quote your sources, be original, have a name that 
  describes your mag. Dave thought of Grapevine because it was 
  originally a news and message box (From the song "I heard it 
  through the Grapevine", for the hard of thinking) 
- Sorry I wont give my email address, I dont need the bulk of
  mail, Simon/Dogbomb is in touch with me and he seems OK, thats enough! 
- If funds are needed get banner advertising to raise them, BUT NO
  POP-UPS - Please! You probably dont need funds though; its far easier 
  there days! 

Article ideas that havent been used in the press; 

In the 1960`s Lou Reed wrote a love song it was called "Perfect Day", 
it is about his love for Heroin (Its such a perfect day, Im glad I
spent it with you...) So why do the BBC use a pro drug record? I`M SERIOUS! 

MP3`s - Many albums appear on the WWW before in the shops, but the
bulk of web released albums on release make it into the top 40 Album
chart. For example "Gladiator" soundtrack, when was the last movie 
soundtrack in the top 40 album charts? I cant remember one! I suspect
the industry OFFICIALLY hate MP3, but unofficially use it for promotion. 

Thats not the lot, but itll do for a start! 

All typos, misspellings etc. (c) me! 

Thanks for reading, now stop insulting all the old Grapevine teams and 
lose the name! 
