WARNING! Will definitely contain spoilers!
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SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
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NO, I haven’t gotten it yet. First post, though!!!!
first post?
i haven’t got mine yet.
OH!!! I needed to renew! *dashes off to Mail*
I got the April one just like, I don’t know, 3 weeks ago? So I haven’t gotten the new one yet
Wait, guys, this is the wrong thread. This is the discussion, not the roll call.
*leaves*
May/June issue? When is it being sent out?!? It’s the end of April! I don’t even know what the issue is about!
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
Wow. I think I am literally the first person on here who has gotten my Muse. This is really incredibly strange, because I live way out here in Washington, not in Chicago or anything like that.
Anyways, this was an absolutely incredible issue. I love it! Instead of having cliche articles about global warming or repeat articles from the past, it had new, amazingly original articles about pencils. What other magazine has multiple articles about pencils?
Oh, yes, I must do my monthly dissection of the magazine.
Cover: LOVE IT! It’s not overdone, but still makes you want to read it and find out what the issue is going to be about.



I never thought that was how seedless watermelon are grown. That is just SO COOL!
Dear Muse Reader: Very adorable. I’m definitely warming up to this section.
Table of Contents: Lots going on, but I think it gives you a good preview of what’s to come.
Bo’s Page: Very cool and Muserly topics, like the DNA secret code and the electricity generating knee brace-like thing, and the murdering traffic.
Both Muse Mail Pages. I agreed what pretty much everybody was saying in these letters, about the February Muse and stuff.
Kokopelli & Company; I didn’t get it the first time I read it, but then I read it again and understood. Funny.
Wait, we forgot the pencil!: WONDERFUL! This is the Muse I know and love! Major kudos to Muse for turning such an ordinary subject into a fascinating article about how people are forgetting the pencil. Awesome illustrations, too, by the way!
How a Pencil Is Made: Cool. I never knew a lot of that before. And I never knew that little mettle thing was called a ferrule.
Christmas Postcards from the South Pole: Awesome! Both the page layout and the writing is simple, and not overdone, pleasing to both the eye and the brain. These are the kind of topics that Muse should be writing about. Am I the only one that didn’t know that the South Pole marker gets moved every year?
A Perfect Red: See the comments on the “Wait, we forgot the pencil!†article. Red is such an ordinary subject, but it was really interesting. The page was just slightly blinding, but that was probably the point, so I can’t complain.
Nexting: Wow, Muse is on a roll! A lot of the topics this issue are small, ordinary little things that we never think about, but it really forces us to think about them. Whoever picked the articles and topics for this issue deserves a bonus, or at least a kudos!
Q&A: ZOMG I GOT INTO MUSE!
Contest Winners: Love it! The moldy fruit one is awesome, and I love the one in the upper right corner of the first two pages too. The one with little Lego guys was cool too. Really, they all were.
Someday, I’ll be a Real Boy…: A little strange, but still interesting.
Overall: 10/10! A great, well balanced issue with awesome article topics.
Just one comment: What was with all the red letters? There were random letters on every page that were in red. Is it a secret code or something? It was really messing with my head!
Overall, a great issue. The editors/writers/layout artists/everybody else did an awesome job on it. Especially because they put me in.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
The red letters were usually spelling out the word red, or more red, or write in red or something of that nature. I thought it was kinda funny, although they had me confused at one point.
This is the first issue I got the false fact wrong!
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
Really? I never figured that out. -checks again- Oh, you’re right. There are some that were saying something else on the 2nd Muse Mail page, but I can’t figure out what…
I just realized that I forgot to check what the fake fact was. I guess I sort of assumed they were all true, for some reason.
They all seemed realistic, though.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
9-here they are:
URatandeinpositionmyteureaboowiningacgreebaboutteverthingelseguysareactuallytritreitosaytmagasethmei
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
THE LITTLE RED LETTERS DROVE ME INSANE. The instant I saw them, I started piecing them together, but once I realized there was no secret, that they just said ‘red’ and the like, they got on my nerves!!
I understood it more when I got to the Red article – I wonder if they would have bothered me as much if they had been blue, or purple. Someone was trying to make a point, I think.
It still wasn’t very nice.
I think the muse mail letters were supposed to be a shape.
Agree with Cat’s Meow, this issue definitely stood amongst All That Is Good.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
They , in Nexting, ask the readers to write to them about “red.”
I must say, I’m starting to be disappointed with Muse. They have put in, to my knowledge, at least 2 repeat articles. One was “Something from Nothing,” and they have had 2 articles on the Lord God Bird. Numerous global warming articles have really bugged me. And an article on pencils? What’s with that? What happened to history and philosophy and how the human mind works? We’ve gone from the complextities of the universe to pencils?!? Muse is focusing too much on looking pretty.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
Yay! I’m going to write about red because the almighty editors told me so in the mystical red letters!
I still don’t understand the red letters on the second fan mail page, though. Maybe someone will unlock the mystery on this thread… Please? Pretty Please?
Maybe there’s some extra code or something on those.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
RED: Now, THAT’S a good article! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
Don’t forget to vote on repeat articles at:
muse @ caruspub . com
as suggested on page 6 of MUSE! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
11, 13- As far as I could see, it just says “red red red red” for the longest time, until the article on red. Then it said, “more red red red,” until the second muse mail page, where it spews that whole bunch of gibberish… maybe… TMFA has it spelled out in post 10 =P
And on the very lastest page, with the Lego man, it spelled in yellow letters (not red), “not red,” or something like that.
That’s all I figured out, at least.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
Why NOT pencils? I thought it was fascinating. Besides, surely nexting and stuff falls under “complexities of the universe”. Or, at the very least, it’s better then global warming.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
The red letters read “red red red red red red red red red red red red more red red red red red write to us about red uratendeinpositionmyteureaboowiningacgreebaboutteverythingelse. guysareactuallytriteItosaytmagasehme?I red red [in yellow] not red”
I personally think the confusing part is just random words and letters because that part is from the Fan Mail page and forms a vague wavy design
those red letters are starting to BUG me! I translated them into 11 diff. languages and they STILL don’t make sense!!!!! : >
19-they mostly say “red”.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
I almost think there were some of the red letters in the last issue too. I may be wrong, though.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
in the article about pencils it says that B stands for black, but i learned in art class that it stands for butterweich (or something like that), the german word for soft.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
ok honestly, secret messages and all, love them but “red”?
“red red red red” No.
Ebeth is not satisfied.
MAY/JUNE SPOILER
I like the pencils article…probbably the most underestimated physical object. Pencil. What would we do without it!!!!
I got it in the mail today. Havent red(ha) it yet except for bo’s page. looks good.
AH! My contest entry was published! *happydance*
It was the legos one.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
uratendeinpositionmyteureaboowiningacgreebaboutteverythingelse. guysareactuallytriteItosaytmagasehme?
Maybe it’s means:
Your a tend in position my tour about wining agree about everything else. Guys are actually trying to say the magazine hme?
Still makes no sense. Hm…
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
u r a t e n d i n p o s i t i o n m y t e u r e a b o o w i n i n g a c g r e e b a b o u t t e e v e r t y t h i n g e l s e . g u y s a r e a c t u a l l y t r i t e l t o s a y t m a g a s e h m ?
backwards, it’s
? m h e s a g a m t y a s o t l e t i r t y l l a u t c a e r a s y u g . e s l e g n i h t y t r e v e e t t u o b a b e e r g c a g n i n i w o o b a e r u e t y m n o i t i s o p n i d n e t a r u
You have to add a bit and delete a bit, but
You are at (an) end in (this) position, my
teyou’reea boo w(h)ining, (but you) acgreebaboutteevertything else. guys are actually try(ing to) tel(l) (you) to say t(o) Ma, gas, ehm?Your atend in position my tour about wining. agree about everything else. Guys are actually trying to say the magazine hme?
Save the magazine!
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
28 – Well, a lot of the later stuff was together as phrases…I gunno.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
Did anyone else notice that on the last page about the giant lego the red letters spelled “not red?”
17-True, it is better than global warming, but even so.
SPOILER MAY/JUNE MUSE SPOILER.
the red letters barely made the cut of being mildly amusing for 15 seconds. I found them distracting and annoying when I was trying to read the other articles. It might have been acceptable in the article on red itself, but putting it throughout the whole magazine was unnecessary. I sincerely hope that Muse has no plans of doing that in issues to come.
The rest of the magazine was indeed better than some of the articles that have been run lately. I really miss the Math Page (yes, even a math hater like myself, I always found that part to be very interesting and enjoyed reading past columns as well) the “Dear Muse reader” is good, due to Nak’s genius, but it is repetitive and sometimes not as amusing as it could be. I much preferred it when it was just some random funny thing, such as Screamazon, Notscape, or any of the other great ones I’ve seen in my time with Muse
I actually didn’t know that there had been an article repeated, the “Something for Nothing” one, because I wasn’t a subscriber when it was first published. I found it to be fascinating, and then I heard that it was a reprint. Oh well, I can see why it would be annoying to those who already got it one time.
I used to think, “oh, Muse isn;t getting worse, it’s still great” well, it’s still a great magazine, but I do remember more thrilling and invigorating articles from the past, and some of the latest issues just haven’t been cutting it.
I still just can;t get used to the new layout of the contents page, it looks so dumbed down and kiddie. I liked the other layout for it’s bright and interesting look, but this one looks as though it’s trying to imitate a TV show–right in your face and talking down to you. I thought I’d get used to it, but it still jars me every time I open it up.
At the same time though, I understand that Muse is probably fighting to keep it’s head over water, since our culture is being dominated by TV, movies, entertainment and glamor magazines. Our generation, and younger, are being dumbed down and taught only entertainment, what can we do? the in-your-face-infotainment culture is so strong that these things have to happen, who would subscribe o the old Muse? Heavens. it might possibly even make you think, like the articles on waste and fast food.
Spoiler.
I liked this issue quite a bit. It actually inspired me to include pencil in the materials section of my science lab report.
33- true.
The last good issue was april 2007.
35~ There have been some good issues since then, but since January 2008 (the one with a gogol of eyes on it) they’ve been a bit less amazing. I still find things that interest me, but it does seem a bit less thoughtful that it was before.
I say we bring back Diana Lutz, the true Queen of Muses. Under Romana Prokopiw’s reign, Muse has begun to turn downhill. First making Muse “artsy” and not “thought-provoking.” Then sacking Ivars Peterson. What might she do next??
37-SLANDER ALERT! She didn’t sack him! He had to leave because of his new job, and he didn’t have time! I agree she’s less good, but you can’t just slander her. She probably has reasons for everything she does.
38- then get her to come here and explain them.