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Weekend Recommendations: Audiobooks, Books and Comics
Posted on 08.19.06 by Widge @ 3:19 am

Here's the first half of what we covered in Friday's podcast.

Audiobooks:

Audiobook of the Week: The Poe Shadow by Matthew Pearl, performed by Erik Singer. From Simon & Schuster.

Comedy Audiobook of the Week: Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith, performed by William Dufris. From Tantor.

Poetry Audiobook of the Week: Essential Eliot by T. S. Eliot. From Caedmon.

(more...)

Categorized as: Recommendations
Comments: None




Your Weekend Recommendations Podcast
Posted on 08.18.06 by Widge @ 7:25 am

Covering books, graphic novels, audiobooks and DVDs, along with some extra detritus in there. Ideas for how to waste your weekend. Cover art and links to Amazon shall follow hard upon. And hopefully we'll have theme music soon. And a pony.

Download the podcast here.

BTW, you iTunes subscriber types can nab this feed here. Or if you want to do something else with it, the feed feed is here.

Categorized as: Podcasts and Recommendations
Comments: 1 Comment



Recommendations: Stuff to Read
Posted on 07.09.06 by Widge @ 12:53 am

Book of the Week: When They Were 22: 100 Famous People at the Turning Point in Their Lives by Brad Dunn. This Andrews McMeel book is interesting, in that I think what it's supposed to do is be something you can hand to young people to make them feel better about being young and stupid. Now what it's supposed to do for someone like me, in his early thirties, is up for speculation. Personally I'd prefer a book that talks about folks whose turning point came later, since I'm still waiting for mine. Or maybe we passed each other on the freeway. No idea. Regardless, if you want to turn somebody in their twenties onto the idea that their life is still ahead of them, go for it. The rest of us will probably just get depressed. Or...more depressed. (Buy it)

Thriller Book of the Week: The Serial Killers Club by Jeff Povey. Imagine Neil Gaiman's "Cereal Convention" except you find yourself having killed one of the attendees...and you've taken his con badge. A simplistic comparison, but that's the gist behind this, in which our "hero" finds himself among a private organization of serial killers. Circumstances force him to do something he was proven to enjoy anyway: killing the killers. This dark but amusing tome hits from Warner Books. (Buy it)

(more...)

Categorized as: Recommendations
Comments: None



Recommendations: Stuff to Watch
Posted on 07.03.06 by Widge @ 5:34 am

Kids DVD of the Week: Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?. Well, this Shout Factory release is a little confusing, because it's the complete first season even though the box itself doesn't state that. Still, from game to quiz show to animated series, now the dastardly Sandiego (voiced by Rita Moreno) is going up against a brother and sister team, who will chase her to the ends of the earth and whatnot. This three disc set comes with art galleries, a storyboard to screen comparison for one episode, plus the opening title sequence in eight languages. (Buy it)

Animation DVD of the Week: Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist: Season One. The line between therapy and comedy has never been thinner than in this, the first six episodes of this classic series, brought to DVD by the fine folks at Paramount and Comedy Central. Among the patients whose minds are explored: Ray Romano, Dom Irrera and Dave Atell. There's a Katz bio, commentaries by some of the comedians involved, short films and another Squigglevision short, if you simply couldn't get enough. (Buy it)

Space DVD of the Week: Exploring Space: The Quest for Life. What timing: just recently didn't we hear Stephen Hawking making the case--again--for us getting off this rock for the safety of all mankind? And isn't that just an echo of what Clarke has said: dinosaurs went extinct because they had no space program? This two-hour PBS special talks about looking for something else out there, and hopefully if nothing else one day it will be us. (Buy it)

Brit DVD of the Week: Monarch Of The Glen: Series 4. Archie returns home to become the lord of the estate and must then go from dealing with running a restaurant to suddenly dealing with gobs of acres of land (huge tracts, in fact), gobs of debt, and a potential love interest there when he's already got one back in London. Now, after the loss of his father, he's got this wild idea to turn the estate into a center for wolves. And of course, there's all the drama of who loves who and why going on. Comes with all ten episodes, plus a wildlife special. This hits from BBC Home Video. (Buy it)

Romantic Comedy DVD of the Week: Imagine Me & You. There's nothing worse than finding somebody you're crazy about on your wedding day. I mean, you know, when it's not the person you're there to get hitched to. That's what happens in this romantic comedy from Fox, in which Piper Perabo's character meets Lena Headey's character on the Big Day and things just get more complicated from there. There's a decent amount of bonus bits as well, with a commentary by the director/writer, deleted and extended scenes also with commentary, a Q&A with the director and the cast, and more. (Buy it)

Cop Show DVD of the Week: Hill Street Blues: The Complete Second Season. Believe it or not, there was a time in my life where I actually watched television. And this was one of the first dramas I remember watching on an ongoing basis, learning a lot about dealing with multiple characters in an intense setting. Pretty much every cop show that's come around since owes something to this. Here, the second season appears thanks to Fox, coming with a handful of featurettes and a couple of commentaries as well. (Buy it)

Categorized as: DVD and Recommendations
Comments: None



Recommendations: Books to Listen to
Posted on 06.28.06 by Widge @ 1:20 am

Audiobook of the Week: Company by Max Barry, performed by William Dufris. Sticking pins in the voodoo doll of corporate America, Barry creates a company that's a cross between something out of a Twilight Zone episode and the virus corporation from Morrison's Marvel Boy. We follow a newcomer into the belly of the beast and see much that is so absurd that it's eeriely like our day jobs. Terrifying. This Tantor Media release comes unabridged, naturally, and I'm sure Barry will be releasing the book into the public domain after ten years is up. We'll see. (Buy it)

High Weirdness Audiobook of the Week: The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History by Michael Baigent. Well, at least until the book and movie sequel hit, maybe we can relax from all the DaVinci Code hysteria for a while. One thing it did provide is an opportunity for lots of books of High Weirdness to hit, because we love this crazy stuff. Basically, the thought here is that Jesus' crucifixion was a fraud--which means that it's kinda like the final third of Last Temptation but without the killer Peter Gabriel score. In regards to this Harper release, I don't have a dog in this fight so take it for whatever it's worth. (Buy it)

History Audiobook of the Week: 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America by Steven M. Gillon, performed by Stephen Hoye. Well, the title pretty much says it all in this Random House release. Keep in mind, however, that the list dodges contention by not touting itself as the "Top 10 Days," which was wise of them. This book is a tie-in with the History Channel event, taking you through days like Shays' Rebellion, the Scopes trial, and the unveiling of Elvis to America at large on Ed Sullivan's show. If you enjoyed the series, then this unabridged release will give you some more on the days covered. (Buy it)

Thriller Audiobook of the Week: The Book of the Dead by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, performed by Scott Brick. The latest adventure of Aloysius Pendergast pits him against his evil brother Diogenes. As you can imagine, there's whiffs of the supernatural and a series of murders that must be dealt with as the evil hijinks kick in and start causing sparks. A lot of strings that the authors started in their earlier books get resolved here, so you might want to check out what came before (at least starting with Brimstone) lest you get lost. Scott Brick, one of the new go-to audiobook guys, reads this Warner release, which is available in both abridged or unabridged versions. (Buy it)

Movie-Related Audiobook of the Week: V for Vendetta by Steve Moore, based on the screenplay by the Brothers Wachowski, which in turn eviscerated the graphic novel by Alan Smithee and David Lloyd, performed by Simon Vance. I'm not bitter, am I? Well, let's not go down that road. I think if you weren't familiar with the original graphic novel then you might enjoy the film. Here we've got one of those weird adaptation things where we're now four times removed from the original, if you count Vance's performance. Still, if you dug the film, this adaptation might leave you pleased. Give it a listen then round up the graphic novel and make sure you get the full experience. This hits from Blackstone Audio. (Buy it)

Categorized as: Recommendations
Comments: None



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