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?

March 8, 2002

Book of the Week: The Complete Book of Swords by Fred Saberhagen. The gods. The gods and their little toys. They created twelve swords of various and sundry degrees of power, and then bestowed them upon men. And through the years, both swords and men would come and go...but the game would press ever onward towards a surprising conclusion. Sweet fantasy epic that's just the right size for a weekend. Guaranteed to be digestible. Unfortunately, it's out of print. We never said the recommendations would be easy.

Graphic Novel of the Week: Fun With Milk and Cheese by Evan Dorkin. Worse than dairy products gone bad, Milk and Cheese are dairy products gone positively sociopathic. Waging a campaign of smackdowns for the most shallow of reasons, they will not hesitate to kiss your cranium with a board that has a nail through it. And no matter how many things they destroy, it's still funny. Favorite episodes: Milk and Cheese at the mall, and the inevitable "Merv Griffin!" one pager. Hilarious.

DVD of the Week: Cirque du Soleil: Quidam. First Cirque show I ever saw in the flesh. Amazing. You only think you know what performance art can be. It's never as good as catching it in person, but the disc of the show has everything. Still my favorite, it has some kind of vague storyline that involves a young girl and a headless guy with an umbershoot. Fill in the blanks yourself.

Off the Beaten Path VHS of the Week: Bringing Up Baby. A classic comedy with Cay Grant and Katherine Hepburn. He’s a palentologist who somehow gets roped into helping her take care of a very interesting Baby. Who has very big teeth. Not yet out on DVD, and well worth seeing (but make sure to get it in black and white--colorized films are the spawn of Satan). They don’t make comedies like this anymore.

CD of the Week: California by Mr. Bungle. An interesting entry point into Bungle-dom. Less psychotic than their self-titled first major release and eminently more listenable than their sophomore effort, Disco Volante, this album can best be characterized as a surf album on acid recorded in hell. Put in your player, lean back and weep with joy for hours. Mike Patton is one of my gods.

Beverage of the Week: Computer De-Stress Tea. For all of you out there that spend a lot of time in front of the computer, this tea is for you. Not only is it yummy and supposedly good for you, but each box also has a yoga pose on it to help with what’s ailing you and a spiffy aphorism on each teabag label. And really, what more can you ask for?

Snack of the Week: Cinnabon. No words can describe the destructive sweet gooeyness of this concoction. They’re baked right in front of you, and the yummy smell of them is almost impossible to resist. Certain staff members around here even like to order theirs with extra sugary goo. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

Houseplant of the Week: Bamboo. The perfect houseplant for the overly caffeinated. It's easy as hell to take care of: just put it in well-drained gravel and sand and give it some water and sun. Almost impossible to kill. It also helps rid your abode of some toxins. And if that wasn't asthetically pleasing enough, it can even come in curvy shapes. Woo.