I'm not sure what is funnier in this issue - the content or the production quality. But, more on that in a few lines.
As Brett explains in his comments on the original 1981 Blandx (or BLANDX - there is no consistent pattern here), the members of Numero Dos went down different paths in the year after that issue was published. In January 1982, I went to Honduras with the Peace Corps and lived there for three years. Several times when I was in the mood, I worked on ideas for BLANDX. Several articles as well as a lot of short items were written there. In fact, te Pina Azul article was actually typed on an old manual typewriter at the school I worked at. I returned to the USA at the end of 1984, got married, and then spent most of 1985 vagabonding through South America with my wife.
Back in the USA, the end of 1985 found me working in the Chicago area. Over the next year I attended DX get-togethers in the Chicago area and elsewhere and corresponded with several DXers in the USA and Canada. I found out that people fondly BLANDX. Since I was (a minor) part of the original team, many asked me when it was coming back. In 1987, I decided to bring it back.
Except for that one page that had been typed in Honduras, the 1987 edition was typed on a electric typewriter in my apartment in Glendale Heights, Illinois. The typewriter used disposable cartridge ribbons, so to save money, I did underlining by hand where needed. For headings I used rub-on letters (not put on particularly well) except in a few cases where I photocopied original headings from the 1981 BLANDX. Within a few months I had sold about 70 copies and the DX hobby was gushing over the reappearance of BLANDX. Clearly, there was a need for humor in our hobby.
Shortwave Central includes two classic BLANDX articles. The History of SASWA was a parody of the similar article written by Don Jensen about NASWA. The article on Aunt Maria and the Veri-Signer was a parody on Ralph Perry's review of the novel Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. Mabel Warner makes her initial appearance on the inside cover. No issue since has been complete without a letter from Mabel. The notorious DXMate-10 radio makes it appearance on page 11. The cover picture (which relates to the article on pages 7 to 8) has an interesting story. One day while browsing through the new books at the local library, I noticed this book on fly-fishing by Joe Humphreys. I don't care at all for fishing, but Humphreys was my 7th grade physical education teacher and also a well known fly-fisherman. After my 7th grade year he went to Penn State University where he was a wrestling coach. I glanced through the book, saw this picture, and immediately realized how I could use it. Thanks, Joe!
