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And Cappi-Fifty-Cade

This Years Cappicade is an improvement on but year's. To some extent, this is possibly due to a small change in the set-up of appointment; this year, the Exec. appointed an editor and business manager instead of a whole committee. The editor could then choose a crew to write most of the thing in committee.

On the whole, this has meant that the book tends to be a more organic unity. It's all very fine having a great number of contributions from students: but it tends to make the thing look a little too much like a third form magazine that way.

Cappi-fifty-cade manages to avoid that pitfall of many previous editors.

Brickbats first. Comparing this with Otago's gem for '49, we see that it stands up well—except on the ads. These are far too pedantic, too dull. They break up the book too much. This isnt' the [unclear: fault] of the editors, all of whom have realised it—it's mostly lack of time in getting ads out. The appointment of next year's editor now might improve on this side. There are parts throughout the book where a strangely pedantic flavour rots the humour—unusual at VUC. There are perhaps more parts where the humour is a little too deliciously long drawn out: several stories by FLC and CWS. Brevity, remarked Dorothy Parker, is the soul of lingerie: it improves Cappicade also.

The prize of the show is certainly the first section.

Once the editor and his boys had decided to parody the Listener, they kept it admirably. The theme wouldn't have been possible unless a committee had been doing it—and it's well done. From the excellent take off a Listener cover to the final gasps, it rollicks well with the Sale and the sales value getting higher all the time.

The blocks accompanying the first section are better than the text, but the captions in places are genius. This reminds us that the whole issue is the better for a great increase in the proportion of blocks used. This could be raised even more yet, and the stories and jokes cut well down in length. The exception to this was the rather boring "Rake's Progress," all blocks, and all boring.

For our money, the highlight of the thing, as of last year's, was the parody—Gaudeamus—of archie and mehitabel. This work, coming probably from the same pen as last year, was a honey. The best committee effort was certainly the letter page at the front, and the best cartoon the one of Mitchell's—"One 2nd return and one single to the Mohaka Viaduct, please."

Next year's editor will have something to work for. Technically, there is a vast improvement over the last two years; this is welcome. Get those ads up to shape, and we may yet produce something which is really good. Auckland's 98 per cent plagiaristic effort for this year is nothing to compare anything with, but Cappicade is possibly better than any of the others this year.

—Jiminy Critic.