The Purple Journal // no.11 - summer 2007

It’s 1pm, Sunday July 15, and at first glance the world within Issue 11 of The Purple Journal and the world outside the train in which it was read couldn’t be more different. Remarkably though, during the hour-long journey from Melbourne to it’s ugly step-sister Geelong, this largely euro-centric mag doesn’t create cultural despair, but rather a greater awareness of these apparently mediocre surroundings.

Over 144 pages contributors provide accounts and images from specific days between Jan 6 and May 2, creating an editorial myriad out of anything from magic carpets stolen from the Middle East, to a couple once glimpsed crossing the road. Within these articles there is a spirit of randomness, and through this randomness each page has the potential to surprise.

With so many (‘aspirational’) magazines designed to make you want things you don’t have, The Purple Journal is one of the few that make us more appreciative of some of the things that are constantly at our fingertips. And, if that happens to be the V-Line economy seat D15, then so be it.