Best of TPJ

This week, rather unexpectedly, the ORA book fairy visited us via DHL with a big box [ Thanks, again, Gnat :) ]. One of the new titles that was released just about the time we left the US, Games, Diversions and Perl Culture: Best of the Perl Journal is a real treasure. All of the hardcore TPJ subscribers who think that they can just read their old issues should really reconsider getting a copy.

As the self-appointed Perl Historian the article titled TPJ Cover Art: From Camels to Spam is priceless as each cover is explained by the photographer with anecdotes and stories. I'll never forget bumping into Jon in the lobby of the hotel at YAPC19100 when I was hungover, wearing sunglasses and trying to get the valet to fetch my car without being noticed. Jon rather brightly handed me the new issue of TPJ, Issue #14 - sending mail from perl, which featured a Magic 8 ball on the cover. He looked at me rather expectantly and asked, "Do you get it?". Now, see, I was looking pretty mangled but even I got the 8 ball fortune "Outlook not so good" reference on the cover of a magazine about sending mail early in the morning with a vicious hangover. I vaguely remember giving him a tired look and nodded in the affirmative since I'm not much of a conversationalist before coffee. Jon had already consumed about 2 pots of coffee by that point as far as I could tell and I think I cheered him up since he mentioned noone else appeared to be getting his clever joke. :)

My favourite cover of all was Issue #16, Poetic Justice, which featured a photo of e.e. cummings gravestone with his name in all capital letters. I miss TPJ even though I know the reasons why it's now owned by CMP, it doesn't have Jon as the editor or the clever covers which leaves it to be just another run of the mill deadly boring tech rag.

The book even has each of the Quiz Show questions and answers from all of the conferences and Tom's Perl Wizard's Quiz although, it is suspiciously missing the original Perl Purity Test. Just Another Perl Haiku, Damian's unleashing of Coy.pm upon the world, is also featured. I've often lamented that Acme:: found a following but few appear to have written up and shared their own Coy.pm vocabulary/.coyrc as I had envisioned. Some day, I will have to collect all the anecdotes and all the dirt on everyone and write the Perl clerihew generator.

It's the best book [ and index ] evah! Thanks Jon! :)