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?

September 20, 2002

Book of the Week: I'm Just Here For the Food by Alton Brown. Long ago I thought that I was going to spend the rest of my life frequenting the frozen food section of the grocery store. Then later on, I got into experimenting with foods (especially deserts) and actually created some things that wouldn't be considered violations of some U.N. human rights charter somewhere to feed them to other people. Now, after reading this book, I actually feel like I could...you know...cook. Besides just giving interesting recipes, Brown gives you the why of cooking. Why do things work they way they do in the kitchen? How do the various types of cooking actually work? And it's not just scientific mumbo gumbo, either. It's amusing, informative and compelling. Pick it and some kosher salt up today.

Graphic Novel of the Week: Snakes and Ladders by Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell. Although it's not technically a graphic novel, if you've had experience with Alan Moore...you know he doesn't write conventionally short works. Even the brief ones are rather dense and are riddled with what Brother Dave would call "hard sayings." Similar to The Birth Caul, this is a Campbellized interp on an Alan Moore staged reading. I didn't realize it before checking out Art Bomb (go and buy this thing from them, natch) but according to Warren Ellis this is the only record of this particular Moore performance. Nifty.

Comic Book of the Week: Sojourn #15 by Ron Marz & Greg Land. This week's pick is just flat gorgeous. No, I'm not talking about the lead character, Arwyn--although potentially lethal blondes are always a good thing. Actually what I'm talking about is Greg Land's artwork. Coupled with inker Jay Leisten and colorist Justin Ponsor, this title is consistently amazing to behold. And when you throw really big winged warriors into the mix, you've got a winner. Ron Marz' work on the title is good too, so bonus!

DVD of the Week: Billy Connolly: Erect for 30 Years. Say the name Billy Connolly. Most people won't know who you're talking about. Mention "the Scottish guy from Head of the Class" and you'll see the lightbulb go on. Ah, but there's a lot more to Billy than that. This documentary about Billy's life features not just words with Billy (and some brand new footage of his standup routine) but also everybody from Sean Connery to Dustin Hoffman. I had no idea the man was this damn funny, but I thank Tobias for introducing me to Billy properly. Go check this out for some serious laughs.

CD of the Week: Spilt Milk by Jellyfish. Ah, a band that broke up just when they were starting to create some great stuff. And nothing the members have done since--at least to my knowledge--has measured up. A pop/rock group that was influenced by The Beatles, Queen and has lyrical cleverness that's hard to find anymore, this album was an incredible step up from their previous (albeit fun) release, Bellybutton. Especially of note are the tracks "All is Forgiven" and the closing opus, "Brighter Day".

Beverage of the Week: Blue Sky Premium Ginseng Cranberry Raspberry Soda Yummy, yummy, sweet and fizzy. That’s one reason that we say yay to this soda. The other plus is that it’s all natural, and has ginseng, gingko biloba, and antioxidants to make it good and stimulating, not to mention good for you.