January 08 - The New Year Issue
“We can rebuild you.” If you, like me, are of a certain age, The Six Million Dollar Man’s Lee Majors probably loomed large in your early erotic development. He was a boiler suit-wearing hunk of technologically-enhanced loveliness, all bionic vision and speeding to the rescue. Nearly 30 years on, we’ve taken Mr Majors as the launch point for our New Year-New You issue. Every magazine under the sun uses January as a chance to bully people into diets/ cosmetic surgery/ pointlessly harsh wheatgrass and Pilates regimes, but we’ve done something different. There’s some diet advice (p 79) – but it’s sensible and manageable. And there’s more. Firstly, top hypnotherapist Paul McKenna offers some invaluable tools for putting stress in its place (p 73), Stonewall provides some tips for coming out at work (p 81) and the careers writer for Monster.co.uk gives his advice for asking for – and getting – a payrise (p 77). We also say balls to New Year Resolutions; instead, we ask our friends to suggest vices to take up in 2008 (p 84).
GT’s editorial team have put their arses on the line for you – literally in the case of Joe Heaney – by testing a range of therapies. Colonic, anyone?
Nowadays, if I were going to be rebuilt, I’d probably choose ‘The Cohen’ model. Ben Cohen is probably the most phwoarsome Rugby player in any league, and we were delighted to host all 16 stone of him this month. He’s having a testimonial year celebrating his achievements, he’s got a calendar out and he’s done some shots with favourite GT photographer Fabrice Lachant (who took the pictures for our popular Lust and Eco issues). Yum (p 60).
When a freelancer in Zimbabwe got in touch and asked if we were interested in a piece from a Harare drag queen beauty pageant, I jumped at the chance (p 112). It’s not the first thing you think of as emerging from the land battered by Robert “pigs and dogs” Mugabe. Perhaps the Jacaranda Queens can help lead the way to rebuilding their country?
However you look at it, this issue is crammed with hope for the coming year, and we all wish you everything you’d wish for yourselves.
And remember, we can rebuild you. But should we? Really?