I was enjoying a meal at the club with a couple of my showbiz pals last week when the subject of the printing revolution arose. Opinions were bandied about but it wasn't until I retired to the library with a bottle of XO and a few half coronas that certain facts, cast iron facts, dawned on me. Did you know that Johannes Gutenberg had been a professional goldsmith before he started inking? Not only that, but one of his partners, Andreas Dritzehn, had been in the gem trade. Why do I mention all this, you might ask? I'll tell you. This very week sees the publication of the 1000th issue of the world's greatest cultural periodical, the Hot Press. Look, you can see some of the HP staff at their hard but honest toil in the picture provided. This is surely the culmination of all Johannes' hopes and dreams for his pioneering work back in the fifteenth century. The magazine is also, coincidentally, woven from the finest linguistic gold and filled, to the brim, with anecdotal gems.

As you all know, it was Gutenberg's bible that was the real break through for the man from Mainz with the movable type, and, in a way, Hot Press #1000 is a lot like that holy book, filled as it is with heroic tales to amaze, and offering, as it does, no little amount of spiritual guidance and succour to its many ardent followers. In many other ways, it's even better. The quality of  the photographs are certainly superior, and only the stuff with my name on it was written by a cave-dwelling lunatic who thinks he talks to God. One trick that Johannes missed out on was the capital wheeze of offering his readership a chance to get in on the action. It's too late for that Teutonic thick, but Hot Press misses nothing! Hence, you are offered the time sensitive opportunity to become involved. Head over to Shop.Hotpress.Com - swiftly - and have a look at our "special packages." ("Oi, Oi!" - S. Snort, esq.) Get your face on a facsimile of the cover of Hot Press #1 - you know, the one with Rory alongside the two lads enjoying a game of tonsil hockey - and, for a nominal fee, become an executive producer and have your name immortalised in the most important event in Irish publishing since Molly Bloom enjoyed a bit of "me time".

As you wait for publication day, hopping from foot to foot like a delighted child on Christmas Eve, enjoy the latest Golden Hour playlist and don't forget to follow along by tapping the heart button, declaring your undying love for this mighty magazine that loves you right back! See you Thursday!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1EnMG5eOxXNSoVCTd8glJx?si=w9ty9ZKLR-aCbTP33qEZDg