What’s up with MAGNET? Some people (like our parents, for example) are curious as to just what we do around the office on a daily basis. And since this newsletter is ostensibly about what happens around here, we’ve reproduced below the minutes from Monday’s staff meeting. Enjoy! *Launch new print title: MAGNET Baby. It’s for babies. The premiere issue will feature a kid who cries just like Damo Suzuki. *Do you think the new intern is weird? *Editorial proposal for issue 55 cover story: The Next 1,000,000,000. Profile one billion up-and-coming artists that our readers simply must know about. Limit content to one sentence per artist. *Hat day: Canceled due to ceiling fan. *Get those Butterfinger people on the phone and try to get them to advertise. We want their delicious chocolate dollars, and at least two of us here are so hungry we’d follow a candy bar to hell. *Exact revenge on enemies. *A prayer meeting will be held next Wednesday in the lounge. We’ll be asking God that He not let the Sixers trade Allen Iverson. *Stop repeating the phrase “Wilco have faces for radio.” It isn’t a very nice thing to say. *Perform cost-benefit analysis on paying out a $50,000 salary to the guy who writes the e-mail newsletter. I mean, he only sends it out every two months. [Rest of meeting consists of heated debate over a supposedly deleted scene from the movie Pulp Fiction. A research assistant claims that Samuel L. Jackson’s character was purported to utter the line, “Do I look like a cob of corn? Then why are you trying to butter me up?”] **** INSIDE MAGNET #54 (JUNE/JULY) - IN STORES AND MAILBOXES SOON! COVER STORY - WILCO The new Wilco album is a thing of beauty and there’s really nothing you can do about it. Read about the band now in MAGNET or read about them later in other, vastly inferior publications when the outed Creed fans hand out year-end trophies. Senior writer Jonathan Valania follows Jeff Tweedy to Chicago, New York and Los Angeles for the complete picture of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. FEATURES Buzzcocks for beginners: MAGNET goes back to Manchester ‘76, when Devoto met Shelley. Other purposeful features include Bob Mould for dancefloors, the Promise Ring for grown-ups, Pete Yorn for New Jersey and Neil Finn for pure melody and hair that won’t quit. Plus, a very special look at the new post-punk (catchy, isn’t it?) twitching around the underground: Ex Models, Liars, Seconds, Erase Errata and Life Without Buildings. REVIEWS In alphabetical order and written in English! Tom Waits, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Luna, Gomez, Boards Of Canada, Caitlin Cary, Pedro The Lion, Mary Timony, Melvins, Doves, Cornershop, Girls Against Boys, Trans Am, Imperial Teen and more. Plus a review and interview with the Breeders, even though Kim Deal told us to shut up and hung up on us. Was it something we said? **** MAGNETMAGAZINE.COM - Dial up to us! Read new and exclusive Q&As with Gomez, Giant Sand and Everett True (the British rock critic who introduced Kurt to Courtney). Also, new live reviews of Ween and the Shins, music news, record reviews and photos. Meet Higgins, the MAGNET dog who answers all your questions. Check out the big brain on Higgins. Isn’t he adorable? Well? He’s won three dog-show ribbons, you know. If you think your dog is so friggin’ special, e-mail us a couple fun facts about your pooch. The five best entries win MAGNET T-shirts. What are you doing reading all the way down here, anyway?