Each Thursday, 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?

November 15, 2001

Book of the Week: The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan. There's crazy stuff out there and then there's what's really going on. And we believe that nobody has the whole saga figured out yet--but it's nice to achieve a sort of balance between skepticism and just plain whacked-out. Read Sagan to restore your balance after having chewed on a few of Robert Anton Wilson's best. Excellent intro book for Sagan's writing.

Graphic Novel of the Week: Arsenic Lullaby: Apathy for the Devil by Douglas Paskiewicz. Nothing you have ever read can prepare you for the parade of sheer twisted madness that is the world of Arsenic Lullaby. Featuring a witch doctor, zombie fetuses, and a man with no skin known as "The Clot", it will definitely stretch your sensibilities of what should and should not be read while eating pizza. It helps matters too that it's too damn funny to be believed. Do it. God will eventually forgive you.

DVD of the Week: Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas. In an increasing effort to make these lists as diverse as possible, we go from the sick to the sweet. Hey, even we have a lighter side. Somewhere. Anyway, it's nostalgia roadside service as this sucker is now available on DVD. It's cute. It's Henson. It's Muppets. Kermit's on the cover. You know you like it.

Off the Beaten Path Rental of the Week: Prospero's Books. Out of print, not on DVD. You know the drill. But this is no ordinary film. It's Peter Greenaway. Who, you say? Oh ho ho. You have to see it to believe it. The mad genius who gave us The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover now brings you Sir John Gielgud in a version of Shakespeare's The Tempest that you have to see to believe. Greenaway's so good, in fact, his company doesn't respond to requests about his latest projects.

CD of the Week: Being John Malkovich: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack by Carter Burwell. Most soundtracks, even good ones, are good listening on their own. But apart from some general sense recall about the film, they mostly exist as an entity outside the movie experience--at least for me. But with this one, even after only seeing the film once, I instantly recognized where each piece fell in the movie, even though I hadn't really paid that much attention to the score at the time. Haunting and brilliant.

Beverage of the Week: Dr. Enuf. Touted as an energy drink and a cure for what ails you--does it work? Heck if we know. It's just kinda tasty, and has some of those vitamins things we've heard are supposedly good for you. Hard to find--but check your local convenience store and grab a few. That's what we do.

Candy of the Week: Penguin Mints. Ever need that caffeine jolt but you can't deal with the coffee breath? No, don't look embarrassed. We've all been there. But--fear no more! About three of these suckers have the same kick as a decent cup of coffee. So not only can you stay awake but your breath can be minty breath to boot. Just beware of leaving them on top of television sets.