One of the few things more prevalent in modern society than decadism is decadism nostalgia. The smoke from Y2K hadn’t even finished puffing before the rapidly aging youth of yesterday began to wonder whatever happened to their Tamagotchis. Vinyl records are now more popular with the kids than compact discs, and even the lowly cassette is having a moment among music aficionados who miss the thrill of rewinding ninety metres of tape using nothing but a pencil.
Nostalgia for the first decade of the twenty-first century already is well underway, and Taddle Creek will be damned if it’s going to be the last on the bandwagon for getting sentimental about the twenty-tens. That’s why the magazine not only is jumping on that bandwagon now, but steering it. Introducing the Taddle Creek app—the hot new technology of 2012 that combines the narrowly focused content of a single magazine with an application completely disconnected from the Web!
The Taddle Creek app doesn’t just provide a PDF of each issue; it fulfills the promise made to consumers by the magazine industry of (almost literally) yesterday. Yes, now you can read Taddle Creek Gangnam style, with every story from the print edition completely redesigned and optimized for your digital device, in a scrollable, seemingly never-ending format. App users also can access audio and video extras not available anywhere else—with the exception of iTunes and YouTube.
The Taddle Creek app is free! Taddle Creek on the app is not. Print subscribers can access issues simply by entering their subscriber number, found on the envelope they discarded before reading this page. (Need your number? Contact subscribe@taddlecreekmag.com.) Non-subscribers can subscribe through the app, or commit on an issue-by-issue basis. Visit the App Store now to get Taddle Creek for your iPad or iPhone.
(Taddle Creek would be remiss if it didn’t thank Jeffrey Flores for the bang-up job he did developing its app. The magazine feels just awful that he’ll be the first staffer to be laid off when Apple comes up with another expensive new replacement for print and apps are discontinued.)
The Taddle Creek Podcast, the magazine’s other major new digital venture, is both long overdue, and perfectly timed. Podcasts took a while to catch on with the listening public, and Taddle Creek’s is proving to be no exception. Every Friday, The Taddle Creek Podcast presents a past or future contributor to the magazine reading a poem or short story of their own creation, with an occasional extended interview thrown into the mix. Thankfully, all past episodes are archived, so even if you haven’t been listening to date, you can still go back and hear Hal Niedzviecki rant about the future, Alfred Holden rave about apartment-house design, and Derek McCormack repulse with talk of having things shoved up his ass (and not in a sexy way). The Taddle Creek Podcast is available for that magic price point of free. Subscribe on iTunes, or listen via the Taddle Creek Web site. It’s just like Serial or WTF, but without the murder or comedy.
Did you miss Taddle Creek’s last launch party because you live out of town? Maybe the Walrus was presenting a seven-minute talk on the plight of log drivers in landlocked small-town Manitoba on the same night. No matter. Thanks to Taddle Creek’s new YouTube channel—by far the least successful of the magazine’s bold new digital ventures—you can watch Gary Barwin’s latest mind-blowing on-stage musical freak-out from the comfort of your own home. You also can watch exclusive videos that take you ever-so-slightly below the surface of some of Taddle Creek’s feature stories (the egg cream video is especially fun). Can twenty-five subscribers be wrong? Maybe.
(Taddle Creek would be remiss again if it didn’t thank its new A.V. squad of Ronit Novak and James Finnerty for their assistance in the above-mentioned audiovisual ventures. Their jobs will survive slightly longer than Jeff’s. Thanks also to the Canada Council for the Arts and the Canada Periodical Fund, whose generous funding, via the Canadian taxpayer, helped make all of Taddle Creek’s electric dreams come true.
Welcome to Suzanne Alyssa Andrew, who last issue came on board officially as Taddle Creek’s new associate editor. Suzanne has been contributing to the magazine since 2006, and recently published her debut novel, Circle of Stones. The slush pile awaits you, Suzanne.
And finally, some long-overdue congratulations: Frank Viva’s cover for Taddle Creek’s kids’ issue (No. 33) was the winner of the 2015 Applied Arts Photography and Illustration Award. Likewise, kudos to Sarah Meehan Sirk, whose short story “Moonman,” from Taddle Creek No. 34, made the 2015 Journey Prize long list.