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?
June 13, 2003
Book of the Week:
by Vane Lindesay. Who's Stan Cross? If you're outside Australia and not a cartoon enthusiast, you might not
know. Thing is, the man's worth knowing about--and this book from Melbourne University Press is a nifty little crash course
in...well, exactly what the title says it is. Balancing examples of Cross' work (it's easy to see why the titular cartoon
is his most famous--it's frikkin' hilarious) with his personal story, it's a nifty little read. Bonus: a couple of amusing
rejection/warning letters Cross received. Good weekend reading.
Art Book of the Week:
compiled by Michael Light. After reading a couple of reviews where they basically say that viewing the photos
in this book is the next best thing to actually going to the moon, I thought, "No, really, how good can it be?" Answer:
pretty damn good. Out of the 32,000 or so photos that the moon trips generated, you get a boatload--and you'd be hard
pressed to find one that doesn't stun you. NASA apparently allowed the master negatives and transparencies to be scanned
electronically for this book and Light has strung them together to create one composited photo journey to the moon.
It's amazing stuff.
Audiobook of the Week:
by Stephen King, read by Jeffrey DeMunn. You could pretty much spend an entire weekend listening to this thing.
Clocking in with twenty discs, this one's nice and unabridged. The kind of odd frightening but literary epic that King
seems to be going for these days, it's kind of like what would have happened if Greg Bear had adapted a screenplay for
Invasion of the Body Snatchers--but kinda totally different at the same time. Don't hurt yourself thinking
about that, just go listen.
Graphic Novel of the Week:
by Mark Waid & Steve Epting. Everybody here at Needcoffee has their favorite CrossGen books; this title just
happens to be one of mine. It's too bizarre for words: Atlanteans who are supposed to help the human race evolve somehow
miss the boat by a few thousand years and are now fighting an invading force from another universe on an abandoned Earth
that's been turned into an amusement park--how can you not dig this premise? Bonus is that it's crucial to getting on
board the CrossGen Metaplot. Solid artwork by Epting and writing by Mark Waid (who's on--you know what I mean) make this
a must read.
Comic Book of the Week:Bipolar #4
by Tomer Hanuka, Asaf Hanuka, and Etgar Keret. Enjoying the hell out of this book. Two stories this month. One is the
quietly devastating story of a relationship sliding towards limbo. The other is another chapter in the ongoing story of
a guy who commits suicide, then finds himself in a world populated by fellow suicides. And flying rocks. And talking
cats. Trust me, it all makes sense in context and is all wonderfully disturbed.
DVD Boxed Set of the Week:
. Yup, nostalgia time again. Fans of the show are going to go nuts over this boxed set from Rhino, which comes complete
with commentaries on several episodes by Davy, Mike, Peter, along with songwriter Bobby Hart, director James Frawley and
creator/director Bob Rafelson. Episodes are presented in 5.1 audio, which is a plus, not to mention the fact that you can
play the songs (or "romps", for those in the know) by themselves. And the set itself comes in a box designed like a
portable turntable--sweetness all the way around.
DVD of the Week:
. Something else that will take gobs of your weekend to get through is this massive three-disc set from
Columbia-Tristar. Featuring three--count them--three commentaries featuring everybody from director Ridley Scott to
author of the book Mark Bowden to a group of Task Force Ranger vets, that alone will take a while to get through. But
you're not done: there's also a making-of docu that's actually longer than the film (!!), gobs of features with additional
commentary and bonus programs from PBS and the History Channel. Massive.
CD of the Week:
by Nina Simone. A couple of months back, when Simone passed at the age of 70, we were all incredibly bummed
out. If you don't know why, this double album imported gem from Camden will set you straight. Featuring, amongst other
classics, her first single "I Loves You Porgy", along with "House of the Rising Sun" and "My Man's Gone Now"--it's nicely
contextualized by liner notes and comes complete with the original cover art for both albums. Good intro to the fabulous
singer or a refresher course for those already in the Know.
Magazine of the Week:
. Ah, we love this mag. Never
miss an issue, and that's why we're up to speed on all the cool gadgets that we could never afford to buy. This time
around you get not only the latest iteration of the Wired 40 (top companies based on their criteria), the latest on the
space race and X Prize, and also the positioning of Microsoft in the new entertainment paradigm--all good stuff.
Book of the Week:
by Vane Lindesay. Who's Stan Cross? If you're outside Australia and not a cartoon enthusiast, you might not
know. Thing is, the man's worth knowing about--and this book from Melbourne University Press is a nifty little crash course
in...well, exactly what the title says it is. Balancing examples of Cross' work (it's easy to see why the titular cartoon
is his most famous--it's frikkin' hilarious) with his personal story, it's a nifty little read. Bonus: a couple of amusing
rejection/warning letters Cross received. Good weekend reading.
