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?

And it's a day late, but certainly not a dollar short. Our Valentine's Day recommendations are here.

February 15, 2002

Book of the Week: Five Decades: Poems 1925-1970 by Pablo Neruda. You need love poetry? You got it. Done by the master. Even after he was forced into exile, fan mail from women from around the globe followed him. Read some of this to your partner, and you're doing fine. Read some of it in Spanish (this volume comes translated but also has the original text) and you're scoring huge points.

Graphic Novel of the Week: The Crow by James O'Barr. The list is about love, that doesn't mean it's necessarily happy love. But you can't get much more love than this: coming back from the dead to wreak unholy vengeance on the ones who took your love away from you. The movie was good, but it wasn't half of the carnage and deep dish anguish that O'Barr serves up in this sucker. Just brilliant.

DVD of the Week: Truly Madly Deeply. Our review is here, but what more do I need to tell you other than what's been said before: it's the thinking man's Ghost. And it features Alan Rickman in a rare romantic leading role. This is good, seeing as how on this side of the pond we only know him as a kickass villain. But ah well. Good to watch with your closest companion.

Off the Beaten Path VHS of the Week: I Love You to Death. Amazingly, not on DVD. Kevin Kline, Tracey Ullman, Joan Plowright, River Phoenix...with Keanu Reeves and William Hurt working together as two dopehead would-be assassins. You heard me right. It's so funny, they actually steal the movie from Kline. Few films capture the precious balance between love and homicide like this one does.

CD of the Week: MCMXC A.D. by Enigma. Okay, love it or hate it, but there's nothing like a bunch of beats and Gregorian chants in a dark room to inspire the creation of the beast with two backs. Maybe it's the occasional heavy breathing on the album that does it. Who knows? We try not to ask too many questions and just go with it.

Beverage of the Week: Eros by Sobe. It's discontinued, but it has been known to be effective. We don't know why. We understand caffeine and those kind of stimulants, but when it comes to elixirs like this...again, we don't ask too many questions. We just roll with it, baby. If you can find it, grab five or six of em and enjoy.

Hobby of the Week: Massage. The way to anybody's heart is through their skin. And trust us, the life of a caffeinated whacko can certainly take its toll on your muscles. And, in some cases, this is the only way to get us to stop running about the room breaking things. So we recommend picking up a few books on the subject, or visiting this website we found for you. Any accessories you bring into the mix are between you and your significant other.