It’s probably too late for a roll call for this issue*, so we’ll just post a discussion thread this month. Muse subscribers, what did you think?
*In which, among other things, Robert reveals the ultimate fate of the universe and what would happen if everybody on Earth jumped up and landed at the same time.
I really like the last page. It was like a flashback to the origami article in an older Muse (I can’t remember which one). I also really like the Kokopelli and Company. Muse is still as good as ever. (Or even better!)
Eh, these threads are lot less popular than they used to be, but I’ll do a full review of this issue:
Kokopelli & Company: Very creative, I loved it. It’s always interesting when cartoonists etc incorporate themselves into their own comics. I remember Captain Underpants doing it way back when, and that’s one of the reasons I like the strip Pearls Before Swine. The characters are very in character for this strip too.
Dear Muse Reader: Creative again, with a nice number of puns and very Jeopardy-like clues. Nak seems to have watched Jeopardy before, because I would have believed it if some of them were first-question questions.
Bo’s Page: I wondder what that star they talked about looks like. Does it have a solid surface, or is it liquid something, or gas, or what? And what classifies a star as a star? Hmmm. The HPB thing was pretty funny, I wonder if the guy they were talking about will see it. Probably not, he didn’t seem like a long term reader. Very nice.
The Jeopardy Machine: I watched Watson!!!!!! That was a interesting show, and they had little documentaries on the making of on some other channel or something, so I already know a lot of stuff, but it was great to reread and I bet a lot of people found it informative. A lot of the info was new to me too, so it was a very interesting article. One of my personal favorites (Though I might just be saying that because it’s new, I don’t understand how my mind works).
Extremely Reusable Bags: We had a unit on collapsing shelters in my Design and Drawing class, and the teacher brought a paper bag and McDonald’s french fry container to show us the idea, and then we used thick paper to make shelters that could survive being dunked in sand. I never knew it relied on the flexibility though, that’s interesting. A neat little tidbit.
Paper Nor Plastic: Wow! I never considered the landfill space as considered to the oil uses etc. I always assumed paper was best, though my family has always just taken the plastic ones home and reused them till they break. It seems like it would be very simple to just make a blanket ban on plastic and paper bags and enforce use of reusable ones instead. If only the right people were in government. Sigh… An informative and interesting article.
Portrait Of A Deadly Diet: That is insane that one bird ate that much garbage, but I doubt it’s the norm, and expect it’s a more extreme propoganda case. Still, this is the kind of propoganda I approve of, and it could have been an interesting article for some, but mostly I think it was about stuff just saying things we here hundreds of times a week, like don’t pollute and we’re killing the animals.
Q&A: The first one was interesting though slightly predictable, and I was fairly sure that would happen when I saw the teaser. However, the second contradicted what I thought was the theory of cycles of crunches and bangs going on infinitely, instead of expanding until the ridiculous. Hmm, multiple theories, but I’m more inclined to believe the bang/crunch thing, mostly because it seems more optimistic
The Mistress of a House: Sigh… I didn’t finish this one. At first it was mildly funny, but the same thing repeated over and over tires quickly, and I got bored.
Everything We Had: Very inspirational and uplifting, if that girl doesn’t become a track star she could be an author/speaker. I thought it was a good read.
Making a Life-or-Death Decision: This was my favorite article of the issue. New information, interesting story tied in with great scientific and interesting facts behind it, this was a great article.
Lord of the Folds: WOW THOSE ARE AMAZING!!!!!! Legalos’s face looks a little weird though, although I suppose facial details are quite hard with paper. It’s interesting how that guy thinks of his work, and I’d like to see more of it, I might google him.
Final Thoughts: I used the word interesting way too much. But seriously, I noticed a lot of themes in this issue. Let’s see: Origami, decisions, and the environment. Overall, this issue was a great issue, and I’d give it a 7/10, though rating it against issues within the last year only it would get a 10/10. Keep it up!
This issue marks the first time that an article in Muse was derived from a book that I’ve already read! (Making a Life-or-Death Decision, from How We Decide) Considering that my parents are used to me saying “Oh, I read about that in Muse!” whenever they bring up a subject, this just shows that I’m even more ahead of the curve now. Right on.
I remember the first time that happened to me was the Bill Bryson’s Making a Universe article. At the time, I thought all articles were written for Muse, so I was really surprised, though I loved the article and add-ons.
I skipped the “Mystery on Everest” article in, I want to say 2002, the first time I saw it, but a few years later, having become interested in Everest, I sought it out again, only to find that I’d already read everything in the article in the book.
I still read the article on the Mercury 13 in the January issue, though, even though I’d already read both the book it was adapted from and a larger book about the same material.
Yeah, that’s what I thought too, until in the issue about math and sheep and such (Feb 2011) I saw an excerpt from Here’s Looking at Euclid.
I think my favorite articles were “Paper nor Plastic” and “Making a Life-or-Death Decision”. I’ve always been mroe of a “no thanks, I brought my own” person for grocery bags.
As usual, I enjoyed this month’s Muse. Again, as usual, I had to pounce on it before Groundhog took it. Dear Muse Reader was great, and I really liked The Mistress of a House. Nancy’s illustrations were hilarious! The Muserology was very inspiring. It also reminded me that I need to get moving on my own article.