Needcoffee.com - Ten Years of Insomnia: 1998-2008!
Robert Anton Wilson's Website Relaunched
Posted on 05.19.09 by Widge @ 11:30 pm
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Robert Anton Wilson is Watching

So Christina, the daughter of Chazzie Lifetime Achievement Award winner Robert Anton Wilson (who is partly responsible for this madness of a website here--yes, blame a dead man, go ahead, he won't care) has relaunched Prof. Wilson's official website. Also some news that she's putting together an auction of his stuff to help settle some final debts of his. So we tried to get everybody to rally to his aid while he was still with us, we don't want to leave Christina in a lurch either. So we'll try to keep you posted on when the auction goes live.

In the meantime, check out the site--because the quote front and center is one of the best things you'll read this week.

Found via Boing Boing.

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Categorized as: Books
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Harlequin Turns 60; Should Have Celebrity Readers More Often
Posted on 05.03.09 by Widge @ 3:51 pm
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We're no strangers to Harlequin Romances around here. At least from the standpoint of advising them (for free) of new alliances they could make in addition to the one they've done with NASCAR. But ABC News has done something that we only wish we could have done at the time: got a guy from NASCAR to do a reading from one of those books. And indeed, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd and even Wolfgang Puck (among others) give their own particular dramatic spin on some Harlequin prose. And as interesting as this genre of books is and its number one publisher, it's the readings that sell this piece. Sit through the whole thing.

Direct link for the feedreaders. Found via The Consumerist.

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Categorized as: Books
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Gaiman's Video Audiobook of The Graveyard Book
Posted on 04.05.09 by Widge @ 3:03 am
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Neil Gaiman on his Graveyard Book tour

We've talked before about how Neil Gaiman is a great reader. It's not just his cool accent, it's the way he gives his characters distinct voices ("he do the book in different voices") and knows just where to put the emphasis and the darkness...it's all good. I've also recommended, wherever possible, catching him doing a live reading--because those are fantastic.

As Neil pointed out on Twitter (and I somehow missed this announcement), he read a chapter at each of some stops on his Graveyard Book tour in October, and the result is you can watch him read the entire freaking book on his Harper Collins website. Nice, huh?

Once you get done with that you'll want to snag either the Graveyard Book audiobook or some of his other audiobooks. Excellent, all.

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Categorized as: Books
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Remind Congress That Books Are Not a Threat to Children
Posted on 03.31.09 by Widge @ 11:30 pm
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Evil Book

When you complain about Congress and things that somebody could do with a given law--which should be often--you might find yourself hearing in response, "Oh, now, don't be ridiculous. Nobody would take the law to mean that." Well now you can use this as a perfect example of how just being a little non-specific can cause real headaches.

Reader's Digest Version: The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is supposed to decrease the levels of bad stuff, especially lead, in stuff that we hand over to kids (i.e. 12 and under) to play with. Now that, on the surface, sounds like something nobody could bitch about, yes?

Well, here's the problem. Well, the problem apart from the fact that it could put a lot of crafty people out of business and make selling used clothing more trouble than it's worth, I mean. Specifically we're dealing with the books for kids part of this. Even though there's been no evidence apparently that books have been a source of worry and dismay for hurting kids (other than making them think, which is always painful for everybody involved), books are included in the affected items because nobody thought to exclude them.

But when we have a Congress that can't even be arsed to cite where in the Constitution they're getting the power to pass the laws they are passing, what else can you expect, I suppose?

Anyway, to find out what you can do to help with this nonsense, because now Congress is trying to fix the mess they've created, check the ALA notice here. Thanks to The Neil for the headsup.

Categorized as: Books
Comments: 2 Comments



Headsup: Blueberry Girl Show in NYC
Posted on 03.01.09 by Widge @ 5:22 am
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Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess

The Neil twittered this earlier in the evening. Apparently at Books of Wonder in NYC this coming Saturday, March 7th, there's an appearance by both he and artist Charles Vess in support of their upcoming picture book, Blueberry Girl.

Beginning at 1pm, NEIL GAIMAN will read Blueberry Girl, after which CHARLES VESS will give a slide show presentation on the creation of the artwork for this gorgeous picture book. Then, both author and artist will answer questions from the audience. Following this, they will both sign copies of Blueberry Girl and all their other wonderful books. A portion of all sales of Blueberry Girl made at the event will go to RAINN, the nation's largest organization devoted to preventing violence against women and assisting the victims of such attacks.

Not only that, but the first one hundred people to donate $10 to RAINN will get a chance to check out the art show prior to anyone else. But, as the commercial says, wait there's more:

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Categorized as: Books
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