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 24, 2002

Book of the Week: Blood Music by Greg Bear. What seems like just another book about the end of the world turns into a helluva wild ride, as concept after concept sails into (and later, over) the head of the reader and the stakes involved in the story get higher and higher. Mind-destroying. Read and keep a shot of something strong nearby for when you finish.

Graphic Novel of the Week: Flipped #1 by Mike Kunkel. Oh no, Kunkel doesn't know animation. She-yeah. Whatever. At first glance, you might think: $10 for a flip-book? But no, my troglodytic friend: look closer. A transformation sequence involving Herobear and the Kid looks like--no pun intended--child's play, but keep in mind you're paying less than ten cents an image--and you'll find yourself checking out the individual pages more than once. A fascinating experiment and just damned cool.

DVD of the Week: Almost Famous: Untitled. I thought this was an excellent film in the cinema, it just lacked something. Ah, well, with this set I've found it. The extra 35 minutes of footage round out the film and give it a more solid feel, and the commentary (featuring writer/director Cameron Crowe and...his mom) is the best I've ever heard. Just awesome.

Off the Beaten Path VHS of the Week: Salvador Dali: A Soft Self-Portrait. Again, not available on DVD, but it's worth finding on VHS somewhere. Though it is out of print, be warned. This documentary regarding Dali is narrated by Orson Welles and features such madness as Dali "hatching" out of an egg and extolling upon the world a few handfuls of "symbolic feesh." Gloriously weird as all hell.

CD of the Week: I Am Sam soundtrack by Various Artists. For the most part, the only person who should be allowed, by law, to cover Beatles songs is Joe Cocker. However, this compilation does a really decent job. Among the standouts: Ben Folds' cover of "Golden Slumbers" (although I could listen to him cover all of Abbey Road, personally) and Ben Harper's lovely "Strawberry Fields Forever". Sah.

Beverage of the Week: Sobe's Lizard Lightning. A fruity-tasting, green tea-based drink with Black Cohosh root, Dong Quai and other natural ingredients added to supposedly promote the hormone balance of the everyday goddess. And they contribute 5% of profits to organizations that protect indigenous native populations. A yummy drink with good karma to boot.

New Hobby of the Week: Hedgehog Advocacy. Well, if you're looking for something different to do with your life, why not become an advocate for hedgehogs? Care, feeding and rescue of hedgehogs is a way of life for some. The link will lead you to the International Hedgehog Assocation, where you can learn more about this spiky pets that until recently, were used at Needcoffee.com only as doorstops and punchlines. But we can all learn, can't we?