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© Ulrike Biets

We just got off the phone with a (rather amazingly, quite efficient and on-the-ball) gent from the Belgian Post (apparently, we have our own account manager) who was kind enough to notify us that, due to a fuck-up at the Ixelles/Elsene sorting house (the idiots don’t seem capable of sending a truck in the right direction, meaning over 1,000 copies of The Skin Issue, which had diligently and hastely been packed away by our interns Angélique and Timothy first thing Tuesday morning, somehow ended up in Liege), our beloved subscribers will now have to wait until tomorrow (for the lucky ones) or even Monday (for the more unfortunate ones) before they get to, well, get underneath our skin. We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience caused (we know you guys like to end your week on a Word note) but it is well and truly out of our power.

This isn’t to say that our respect for Rudy, our local postman, has dimished. Quite the contrary: he is the perfect embodiment of a neighbourhood postman (chatty, smily and even a little flirty with the street’s older women) and we only wish he could instill a little of his profesionalism and loveliness on his colleagues back at the depot.

In the meantime, you might already see the new issue appear on the streets of the capital today and tomorrow whilst Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven and Brugge will be served Monday and Tuesday. And for those who can’t wait to know what Skin meant to us, here’s a little taster of things to come.

1. LOCAL RUDE BOYS NEEDED – Our March edition’s Fashion Special will capture the flamboyant and fickle world of rudeboy fashion. Sheep-skinned leather coats, Adidas tracksuit bottoms, white sox, Sebago’s and Louis Vuitton slinger-bags. Not to poke fun at, but rather, to immortalise. Know a bad boy with a blingy sense of (street) fashion? Have a penchant for mixing sportswear with luxury brands (think Scappa and D&G)? Want to give your neighbourhood thug some love? Email n.lewis@thewordmagazine.be with some pictures. Budgets are inexistent, but we have a load of perfumes (Giorgio Armani, Kenzo and Burberry) to giveaway to those of you who can help. The shoot takes place this Thursday morning, in Brussels.

2. SOMEONE WITH A CAR – The latest issue still needs to make it over to Leuven. Approximately 25 points need to be served, which should take you a maximum of 4 hours (it’s a small town, and they’re mostly in the center). The job pays 60 euros. Interested? Email n.lewis@thewordmagazine.be now. The Leuven round needs to be done this week.

3. CALL TO ALL DJs – Some of you might have heard that we’re organising a photography exhibition in April (more info soon to follow), during artbrussels. As such, we’ll also be throwing a party on 24th April 2010, which is the closing weekend of artbrussels. Thus, our call to all DJs to send us examples of their tastes in the shape of a 1/2 hour mix. Those DJs we fall for will be invited to play our party. Mixes should be sent to n.lewis@thewordmagazine.be before Sunday 14th February 2010.

4. INTERN NEEDED – As part of the photography exhibition we’re organising in April, we’re looking for an art history/curating/events student to intern with us on a full-time basis from 15th February to 30th April. Your responsibilities will vary: everything from liasing with our many sponsors to driving the communications push and assisting the curator in implementing her artistic direction. Applications (CV + covering letter) should be sent to h.judah@thewordmagazine.be before Friday 12th February 2010.

5. SOME MORE MORNING AFTER POSTS – We still owe you at least three posts following January’s Morning After Issue: a round-up of some of our favourite Sunday morning tracks, a test (together with Alex from on-point) of some legal drug that’s been worrying members of parliament from Berlin to Barcelona and back, and an illustrated game (and visually-enacted rule book) created by Felicie. They’re there, ready to be published, we just need to bring a couple of finishing touches to them (been a while since we last skinned up) and then we’re a go. Look out for them this week and during the course of next week.

6. CONCERT TICKETS TO WIN -  We still have a pair of tickets to the Menahan Street Band playing Het Depot on 13th February 2010. First reader to email wewrite@thewordmagazine.be with Menahan Street Band specified in the title box will be on the concert’s guest list.

7. TWITTER FOLLOWING – We know Belgium’s been slow on the Twitter uptake, so we wanted to do our part. As well as ourselves (@NicholasTheWord), here are a couple of local cats worth following: @karenVG83 (for fashion and geekiness), @on_point (for culture, music and video), @plmd (mainly for graphic design and some laughter), @Kunstart (for local culture updates), @Knotoryus (for music and culture) and @LaidBackRadio (also for music and culture as well as the best online radio online). For the novices out there, trend a topic by adding a hashtag (#) in front of it. Ours, for example, is #thewordmagazine (add it in all tweets concerning the magazine). @on-point’s hashtag of choice is #imjustsaying (one we plan on pushing too). We’re just saying (Belgian) people, get with it and follow.

And that’s our Monday morning bit of news. A lovely week to all of you…

With a piece on how going cold turkey affects talent (put together by Randa), a photography feature on taking the first metro of the morning (as captured by Ulrike), a look into some of the most outrageous apocalyptic claims ever made (written by Nick Amies), a guide to preparing for a binge (developed by a Coast), a sit-down with Lacoste artistic director Christophe Lemaire (who talked to Hettie), a day-to-day documenting of the rotting effects time going past has on your morning fry-up (painstakingly photographed by Sarah) as well as a realisation that the dealers have indeed outsmarted the boys in blue (made by Alex), The Morning After Issue most definitely lives up to its name.

Add to it our Car Special – with illustrated car tests by Pierre-Philippe and a visit to Imperia - and let’s just say we’re chuffed with our first 100 pages of content for this new decade.

This first edition of 2010 also comes with some changes on the design side: a slightly wider grid to allow for more content on each page, the introduction of tags (yes yes, like those you see on blogs) and other print-online crossovers (most of the magazine’s content will now be brought to life on the blog so stay tuned) as well as an even bolder spine. Oh, and our eponymous Post-it page has been replaced…

Back from the printers on Friday, subscribers will get it first, with the rest of you having to wait until next week. (Subscription information an distribution points here)

Lots of cakes, lots of ideas ( photo: Veerle Frissen)

Three issues back to back – November, December, January – by the time we came to brainstorm the third one, we needed a mountain of sticky pastries in the middle of the table to get our poor, tired, brains kick-started.

After all the attention they got for their Japanese series on our blog, we HAD to invite Arnaud and Adrien, and they ended up being the only men at the table; jeez, I’ve only been editor one month and it’s already become a chick-fest around here!

Arnaud, Adrien, Ulrike (photo: Veerle Frissen)

January is going to be The Morning After issue, which lead to some pretty base trains of thought – the absolute worst-ever morning after stories (most of which seemed to involve pee  and/or amnesia), the most embarrassing-ever late night text messages (most of which seemed to involve sex), the freakiest before-after photo stories (none of which would have made it onto the pages of Flair.)

Hettie-the-editor makes that tricky more caffeine /more sugar choice (photo: Veerle Frissen)

We finally forgot all the gross stuff long enough to get down to the business of serious content, and laid down some the treats that are in store for you in January; what happens to a band’s musical output once it goes through rehab? Has being watched by Facebook changed the way we behave on a night out? Who takes the first metro of the morning? What happens to doomsday cults when the apocalypse fails to happen when predicted? How many days does it take for a full English breakfast to go really mouldy? How do you get your space ready for the morning after an almighty binge?

Meli, keeping us grounded (photo: Veerle Frissen)

Loads to get working on – too many ideas, too little time – we’re already tempted to cancel Christmas to make sure this issue gets to you super perky and looking fresh for the morning after.

Obama checks out the brainstorm notes (photo: Veerle Frissen)