Each Thursday (or Friday, since some weeks we seem to be running behind on everything), Needcoffee.com's staff of whackos will wrack our brains to give you interesting and new things to do over the weekend. Books, movies, whatever. We'll throw them out, you do with them what you will. And hey...if you have something you want to recommend--whatever it is--drop us a line.

Incidentally, we've provided links where we can for you to buy the stuff or find out more if you're interested, courtesy of those Amazon types. Hey, come on, we can't be totally selfless in this, can we?

January 18, 2002

Book of the Week: Hyperspace by Michio Kaku. So you need to have your mind blown to the point where your whole head is dangling off your neck? Try theoretical physics...string theory...multiple dimensions. It's written almost entirely in English, but still it'll keep your head reeling when you try to get your brain around the ideas espoused in this tome. Weird wild stuff.

Graphic Novel of the Week: University² by Frank Cho. From the sicko who brought you the fun that is Liberty Meadows comes his prior work, the uncooked college humor of this strip, collected now for your dancing and dining pleasure. Check it out and you'll know that Cho has needed therapy for longer back then you previously imagined. Loads o' fun.

DVD of the Week: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai. The flick that defined "cult classic" in the eighties, and it's never looked better. Anamorphic widescreen, 5.1 sound, and more extras than you can shake a stick at (keep that stick to yourself, please). Bonus conceit: All of the supplements treat the film as a docudrama with the implication that Dr. Banzai is real.

Off the Beaten Path VHS of the Week: The United States of Poetry. It's not available on DVD, and it's hard to find on VHS, but if you can--it's worth it. From Leonard Cohen to King Missile's John S. Hall, it's all about poetry and where it can be found in America. A wide variety of performances highlight this collection, which is slick and long enough to keep you entertained all weekend. Get some culture, dammit!

CD of the Week: Supermercado by 2 Skinnee J's. One of our favorite bands ever. With the vocal stylings of Special J and J Guevara leading the army, these guys have the best rap lyrics in the entire galaxy. Their first big-label release, you will truly see why these whackos are "chillin' like Hoth." Excelente.

Beverage of the Week: Zombie Dirt Espresso. Holy God, this stuff is strong. We're sad that the website for these guys isn't fully online yet, but trust me: when they go live, we'll be buying more of this stuff from them. We've already run out of the other bags we bought when we ran into them at DragonCon, but this espresso is being savored. Saaaah.

Candy Bar of the Week: The Grizzly Bar. Well, we like chocolate. And we're suckers for helping the environment, especially when the act of doing so is nice and tasty. The guys at the Endangered Species Chocolate Company spread good candy bars and good enviromental information wherever they go. We picked the Grizzly one because the all-natural dark chocolate is offset with just a twinge of red raspberries. That's some good eatin'.