Not long ago, one MBer said other kids at school tease her about the magazine’s name. Another said she regularly left magazines at home if the covers showed embarrassing images such as (oh, the horror) babies.
We’re sure this is not what the editors have in mind. They want readers to flaunt Muse proudly, not hide it like a shameful secret. And other kids who see it should react the way they would to a new, skinnier, flasher, larger-capacity, higher-resolution iPod: by exclaiming, “I must have it!”
So, what can the folks in Chicago do to make the magazine more like that? (Apart from printing more Muse for less money–not an option, we fear.) You’re all experts, and we know you’re highly opinionated. Let’s have some ideas.
Muse is perfect. The only reason I don’t take it to school is that my school (and, admittedly, my backpack) is a dangerous place for paper goods.
I don’t think you should change Muse over the opinions of two people. It’s like “D: I read an educational magazine, I must be a huge…NERD!” and so the more socially sensitive are fearful. It’s a personal fear that shouldn’t shape the magazine. -nods-
So it’s OK to put babies on the cover?
babies on the cover are fine. i really don’t take mine to school. One time we were studying the 1st amendment so i brought in the jan 2007 article i think it was about slander and libel. she loved it. I usually devour mine the second i get it so there is no need to bring it anywhere.
Yeah! MUSE is perfect the way it is. Actually, kids at my school (even the football players and cheerleaders) were all in to it when I brought it to school last. It was the one with the strange wooden creature on the front (animalitos son muy muy chevere!).
Perhaps my school is merely extraordinary.
It’s terrific to put babies on covers! The more babies the better! XD
No, seriously3- ya it’s fine… as long as they’re clothed.
i don’t think you need to change anything… except for i think larry gonick (that’s his name riiight?) the guy who does kokopelli and co. should try to make his strips actually funny beacuse for me, lately, they’ve been kind of falling flat
Me ish in agreement w/ Axa. Most self-respecting geeks don’t want to be called nerds. So if almost anyone popular in a middle school sees a person with a magazine that’s not People, Bop, Tiger Beat, or Us, they must be a NERD. So I think Muse should take the example of MAD, in the way of including a “fake” cover in the back that can fold over the front that looks like a generic teen mag.
8- Hmm, I dunno. I like having different mags from everyone.
I like the covers that have interesting colors or pictures, like the one from the copy-cat issue.The one with all the crayns on the Skin issure was cool too, it really added to the effect of the article.
9- Mebbe
Improving MUSE!?! ARGHHHHHH!!!!! Stand back! Leave my magazine alone! HARG!!!!!!! heheh
Improving Muse? It can’t be done!!! It’s like trying to cut down a tree with a herring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7- um………………………….. gonick’s stuff is just fine.
Muse is perfect just the way it is! the people who don’t think the cover looks interesting probably wouldn’t like th content ither, so there’s no use in changing it unless they wnt to turn it into a completely different magazine, and I think its safe to say that we would all be FURIOUS!!!! if they did that.
One thing they should change: LISTING MUSEBLOG SOMEWHERE!!!!!!! heehee…
7- yeah, I never found it terribly funny
I’ve never brought muse to school because I generally finish it at home, and there’s no time in school to read (it’s soooo stupid, they want us to read a lot but they don’t give us any time, they used to have free reading time in the middle school, but they stopped because they needed that precious time to make sure everyone got their homework done because our school was doing so poorly we almost lost state aid, glad to be out of there…) but yeah, I read plenty ay home. I think I’d bring it to school more if there was stuff that I wanted to show my friends but i couldn’t just tell them or they wouldn’t believe me if I told them. Like the one true fact in the birthday muse about stretching not helping reduce injury, I told a friend and he looked at me like I was crazy and didn’t believe me…
Hmm…I don’t take Muse to school. I’m trying to think of why…
The one thing about Muse I sometimes don’t like is the teensy bit boring covers. Most of the time, Muse has interesting colors, but every now and then, there’s one that just looks boring. Example: March ’05 issue, where there’s a picture of two hands holding some dirt or sand or something with a plain, borning yellow background. If the hands had had a background of a rainforest, that would be interesting. Same with January ’06 issue: a cropped photo against a plain, one-colored background is a teense boring. Though I’m glad to say you haven’t been doing that recently. Except for maybe the Feb. 07 issue.
Which baby issue were you talking about? Feb 05 or April 06? Those both had babies.
I think the MAIN, MAIN reason I don’t read Muse in public is that I know nobody else who reads the mag! And once when I did meet someone who read the mag, he criticized me for being obsessed with it. “You’re obsessed with Muse, aren’t you? It’s only a magazine!!!”
I would feel much more confident about reading Muse in public if we had one, big huge Kokonvention, where enthusiastic Musers from around the area would come and meet. That would make me feel really good to meet tons of people who all share the same fascinating interest as I do: reading MUSE!!!
meh, I finish it to soon to take it anywhere ^_^ If I do, it’s to show my teachers. Warning: do not trust student teachers with muses. My bio teacher’s student teacher my freshman year lost my future creature’s muse and this lazy e~a has yet to buy a new back issue of it.
(8) I LUL SO HARD AT TIGER BEAT. YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW.
I would like to mention that very few newsstands near me sell Muse. What is this. Does this have to do with me living in California? :C
Get HR Giger to design to cover. That would be amazing.
(18),
It’s not just California. If you look on page 47 of the November/December issue, you’ll find a block of fine print labeled STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION. The magazine prints it at the end of every year, and it’s interesting reading for people who enjoy factoids. Among other things, it tells how many copies of Muse are distributed in different ways.
According to Item 15.b.3, the number of issues sold through “Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribution” was between 3,949 and 4,673. So the number of Muses sold in stores is less than 100 per state. That’s out of a total paid circulation (item 15.b.4.c) of just over 50,000. It’s no wonder that you don’t see them.
8 – i don’t want to be reading my muse and be punished by my parents because they saw the back cover and it resembled cosmopolitan mag.*shudders* i like my muse just the way it is. except maybe with more comics by LG in the margins. that would be fr00dy.
I like the idea of a fake cover, but not a “cosmopolitan mag” cover.
I also don’t think we should advertise MB, because then it would become really, really big, and it would just change the whole atmosphere of the blog. And nobody would really know anyone else, etc.
22 – exactly. the reason all t3e MBers r friendly w/ each other is because there aren’t exactly tons of newbies every month. we get 2 know each other pretty well.
23-who are your?are you a name chang?
Muse est perfecto!
MUSE ROCKS!
23- I totally agree with you.
SMILEYS!
17- OMG, almost the same thing happened to me! My fifth grade teacher never gave back my Hoaxes and Conspiracies mag! However I asked for the back issue for Christmas
18, 20- Muse is sold in newsstands?
Well, it’d be pretty cool if there was a death ray attatched to the front cover for 1 issue every year. Yeah, I’m still determined to take over the world.
27 – I second Pheebs’ request.
Whoo! Death rays for all! Operation Mostly Harmless will be simple if we get those.
7 – I like the Koko+Cos just fine as they are.
8 – I’m a self-respecting geek, and I proudly acknowledge the fact that I’m a nerd. And it would kill me if Muse, O Mag O’ Mags, would have a false cover of something as *ich* normal as a regular teen magazine.
11, 12, 13 – My thoughts almost exactly.
22 – That makes the most sense. Definitely don’t advertise MB. If they care enough to look for themselves, they’ll find this. And I understand why people send letters occasionally, but this is a great number of bloggers now.
I don’t take any of my amazing number of 3 Muses to school for 4 main reasons:
1. My locker doesn’t have much room for anything extra
2. School can sometimes get rough, and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to the flamablamablous perfect Muses
3. I devour it the second it comes, so there’s no need to take it somewhere else to read
4. I forget that there was something I wanted to show my teacher(s)
My single suggestion to help those geeks that wish not to be teased about Muse:
Just don’t put the name of the mag on the cover – put a hpb as the logo instead, or something.
And babies? How crazily insanely stupid an idea is that? If someone said that to me, I would tell them that that was the most crazy, insane, stupid idea that I had ever heard about Muse or anything, for that matter, in my life.
KEEP THE NAME! KEEP EVERYTHING! Y’NO WHY? BECAUSE ANYONE WHO’S ANYONE WILL APPRECIATE AND ADORE MUSE WILLINGLY. IF THEY DON’T, THEY ARE NOT WORTHY OF EVER BEING CALLED FLAMABLAMABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DON’T CHANGE MUSE AT ALL!
A fake cover could be fun….just not something that looks like a “normal teen mag”! Why would Muse want to pretend to be a normal teen mag…how boring would that be!?
*pukes at thought*
By the way, wo else notice when the logo changed several months ago? We had a thread about what it could be, but never a follow-up.
I repeat, get HR giger to do the cover! That would be awesome, he’s a kickass artist.
In my school, smart people are made fun of. (Really, it makes no sense.) Since Muse is read by smart people, reading Muse would mean: look there’s someone who actually reads stuff about science, history and all that other loathsome stuff that we learn about in that dreary time inbetween weekends
Maybe Muse should send out a kit that had different magazine covers fit to the size of Muse that you could post on if you thought you had an uncool-looking issue.
Again, just the main problem is Muse isn’t well known. Let’s see..50,000 subscriptions total…that’s 1,000 per state if they were all from the U.S. which they’re not…but assuming they were all in the U.S., that would mean ONE OUT OF EVERY 6,000 PEOPLE SUBSCRIBES TO MUSE!!! That’s not bad, but it means you can’t go to a street corner and assume that one of the people who will walk by you in 10 minutes will have heard of Muse. If I were talking about National Geographic, I’d have to wait for probably only 10 people to walk by before one of them had heard of the magazine.
Even if there was only one other person in my school who read Muse, I would feel better because then I would get to talk about the latest issue with him or her, and I would think, “I’m not the only dude who reads Muse…this other person reads it too!”
Maybe more advertising would help. Aside from in the Cricket family of magazines, I see virtually nil ads for Muse.
The logo changed? I did not notice. A fake cover would be cool, but something interesting…not normal.
Or, a ‘normal’ cover of people in ‘fasionable’ clothes wth sidenotes like “Ankle-crushing shoes” and “Ultra-tight top- you won’t be able to breathe, but who really cares about that?” pointing to those parts, compleatly making fun of fashion.
You know what would be cool? If the slogan under the name changed every month. Now it’s Muse: The magazine of life, the universe, and pie throwing. Next month, it could be Muse: PWT PWNS!!!!. Then, Muse: 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288491…
You get the point with the magazine, right?
And, did anyone who needs to renew notice that on those cover things you get, the one has a corner peeling off to “reveal” the Muse still has the old slogan?
That would be fun. I love things that make fun of the masses. Like the generic valentine. That was awesome.
36- That’s awful! In my school, intelligence is praised. Actually, the other week, when I asked my friend how she was planning to finish her homework, she responded by saying that she would just copy her friend’s homework. After I glared at her for a moment in a reprimanding way, she said, rather sheepishly, “not that I’d ever take advantage of other’s intelligence!” She is really very bright, but very thick at the same time. It’s complicated. But at least life is entertaining.
41 – I got that on my Muse. It also has the origional Kokopelli too! Doesn’t he look weird?
Frankly, I’d be more ashamed to carry a Muse with popular overtones, or even one making fun of pop culture if it wasn’t obviously parody, than I am to carry Muses with ligers and the like.
34, 37- When did the logo change? I would look it up, but it might take forever. Oh, great, now that I suggested that I’ll probably go do it…
if we changed the name of muse to something like “science, history suprisingly rolled into a funny magazine!” Then we would have to have the science, history suprisingly rolled into a funny magazineblog. Plus http://www.sciencehistorysuprisinglyrolledintoafunnymagazinefanpage.com. EEK!
34-what logo?
possibly quicker release dates?
21-what do your parents have against cosmopolitan? gawd dude.
punished for readinga magazine? that isnt playboy?
i noticed. its cause bloody Smithsonian kicked us out. (oh wait my mom works for smithsonian books, so no bashing them. lol)
36-get a new skool!!!!!!!
41-lol. i copy peoples homework all teh time. not because i cant do it, because i dont feel like doing it.
yeah. dont change muse. just get it to me!!!!!!! i dont have it yet.
(36) 90% of the students at my school are idiots. No exaggeration. It’s so depressing. I sympathize with you. But even so, I say to heck with everyone else, this is who you are, and if that makes them cry at night, then so be it.
23 – here…
criselephantine puddle = weirdalyankovic = countolaf =windfirewaterice = twilightswordsman = shadeslayer = Eragon Shadeslayer = Gaara of the Desert = Shino Aburame = Sasuke Uchiha = Naruto Uzamake = SoulForged(12/31/06)
there r all my names.
42 – i think u meant 2 respond 2 someone else.
48 – ahhh, let me see…well, Cosmo is a magazine about sex. dirty sex. leather. OMFG, i hope the topic doesn’t change 2 this.
And why should someone be mad at you for reading playboy? It’s a sign of healthy, natural male developement. I’d be worried if my kids didn’t watch porn.
I sense a long winded discussion coming.
No one makes fun of Muse at my school. But I go to a wierd school. In fact, I’ve been inundated with “OMG where DID you GET that???”s. Which is nice.
I take my Muse to school and no one says anything. Anyways, if they did, I would beat them up.
In december, as you know the cover had that girl and the statue on it, and I dropped it out of my bag, and this 12th grader who likes the band Muse, thought it was thier magazine and was like: “Who is this wierdo?”
We can’t help it if English metal bands want to name themselves after the magazine. Hey, maybe they’d be willing to sell Musery T-shirts at their concerts…
It changed in September, 2006, if I’m correct.
I’m too shy to take my Muses to school. They stay in their frames.
Oh. Yeah.
51-Can we keep Muse and Playboy in separate threads, please? I can’t help it if Americans are weird. I really can’t.
I think we need to spread MUSE throughout the world. Also, there have been about a grillion articles on DNA throughout the past few issues. And that’s a little intense. Just a little, though.
yes, a fake cover….. a fake cover with the most volatile MH weapon ever developed covering the whole thing, so that the masses will come under our control….. THE BUNNY SPIRAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mwahahahhahahahhahahahahaaaaaaaaa!!!
36- i feel your pain. we have, like, 150 ppl in my skool (small town) and well…. 99% of them are either TOTAl JERKS or TOTAL IDIOTS and dont know whats good for them. although my friend lisanne got it for a while then didn’t renew her subscription
36- my school doesn’t generally like smart people, either, but if you are smart but don’t show it much, your ok. I try hard to get good grades and all but I never complain if I get a grade lower than what I like (95%…) I act intelligent and answer questions right but I’m not a genious, teacher’s pet, that always has something to add or coment about the lesson… and I help people on homework, so they like me for that, but I never give people answers, that sometimes annoys them, but I don’t do it, and I hate it when people do it, but I don’t say anything. I’m not looked down on for being smart, luckily
I think Muse is pretty good the way it is, although I found the issue on hospital cleanliness rather dry.
no naked people/statues/paintings
OK?
62-Yes, I agree on that. Or at least…suitably…covered…if you have to include it.
I think it would be cool for Muse to have a writing section. There is muse mail and the science question section, but I think it would be cool to have a section where people could send in their writing or poems, etc. And it could be just a 1/2 page or something…
64-That’s sort of what Cricket is, isn’t it? And they’re made by the same company…
i love ipods!
66-I like iPods, but they cost a lot, so I just have a different kind of mp3 player. Wait…I’m getting off topic. *runs back to the random thread*
65 – Yeah, I know there are different magazines for different things, I just thought it would be cool to have a section, even if it’s really small, for writing. We could have a magazine RRR! hehe…
no,no,no there has to be a section on music
you must be crazy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Muse doesnt need improving
also,the idea of a fake cover is cool, just not a steryotypical teen magizine
68 & 69-Maybe there could be a two-page spread that would be sort of like Muse Mail or the contest pages, but readers could send in anything they wanted: stories, poems, songs, links to recordings online, fun pictures they’ve taken…I actually think this could be a really good idea. It could express the alternate interests of Musers beyond what’s normally done in contests/Muse Mail.
I don’t think Muse really needs to change…the only thing I can possibly think of would be, like, quizzes, or something…but they couldn’t be too girly or dumb, cuz then it would be too much like one of those weird teen-zines…the quizzes could be related to whatever the main theme of the magazine was…maybe? Possibly? I don’t know, it’s already cool enough!
73-There have been some fake quizzes in the past like “Are you a born unnaturalist?”. Is that what sort of thing you’re thinking of?
72- ooh, yeah definately. That would be really cool.
I think that Muse is already cool enough and does not, I repeat DOES NOT, need changing. I’m not criticized for bringing Muse into school on the rare occasions that I do! Then again, I rarely bring it in… But that’s because it’s dangerous in my school! Especially in my locker. Very dangerous in there. I swear, my locker is like a black hole. Things go in… and don’t come out. Okies, I’m getting off-topic. I do not think that Muse needs a fake cover at all. Stereotypical magazine covers should be left on the stereotypical magazines and NOT end up on our precious Muse. Muse shouldn’t have to hide! I mean come on, what’s the worst that could happen if you bring it out and read it in public? On second thought, don’t answer that. Plus, a fake random cover??? Isn’t that what’s already on Muse? Tigons and Ligers are perfectly fine for me. Fake quizzes… I thought we already had some of those in the past. Ah well. This is just my opinion, but still… Opinions go a long way. Ja, I just feel like typing.. I’ve been gone for a while.
I still think the only thing they should change is how LATE my Muses have been coming lately…
Something to improve Muse blog, I think a lot of people have completely forgotten about this thread. Attention all operatives, attention all operatives, please respond. People your battle stations!
heheheh…
The Strange HAWK
what thread was that?
I brought Muse to school today. It was the clothing issue, and since my friend was doing an article for the school newspaper on clothes that should have never been invented, and I thought it would be appropriate.