Y’all here are creatures of culture and refinement, so no doubt you’ll be wanting to buy the people on your gift list something classy. Is there anything classier than a signed first edition book? Of course not. Imagine finding out your friend’s favourite book, and giving them a signed first edition as a very special Christmas gift!
Here’s what you’re looking for. You want a book that is: Continue reading
The trailer for the new Star Trek movie, the punctuationally-challenged Star Trek Into Darkness, is here at last. GIRD YOUR NERD LOINS AND PREPARE TO ENGORGE WITH NERD RAGE! Gawk at British thespian Bandersnatch Crustypants! Groan at the BWAP! noise from Inception, which all trailers are legally required to use! Shriek at the Space-fu jumping around! Gabble with anger with your nerdquaintances over who the villain is! Gape at the explosions and spaceship crashes! Yell at all the yelling!
Actually, it doesn’t look too bad. But seriously, it’s time to retire the Inception BWAP! noise. Please. Continue reading
Welcome to Art Talk With Botswana, where we like discuss paintings and shit. Today I’m going to tell you about my recent trip to see the Barnes Foundation at its brand new home in Center City Philadelphia. They actually let me in to see one of the most famous art collections in the world. Yeah, I was as surprised as you are. Continue reading
I subscribe to Publishers Weekly (the bible of the U.S. publishing industry) and get a news feed every morning. Today there was some gobsmackin’ news to wake up to: E.L. James has been named Publishing Person of the Year.
Within the confines of the book industry, it’s a very big deal.
Let me refresh your memory. E.L. James is the penname of Erika Leonard. She wrote an erotic trilogy, the titles of which are Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed.
They are selling like shovels in a snowstorm, like handguns when the aliens invade, like toilet paper at a diarrhea festival. It is the fastest-selling adult (as against the categories of juvenile, or young adult) series ever. There’s going to be a movie. Continue reading
So, you find yourself surrounded by mason jars, corks, and I dunno, pipe cleaners and coat hangers, and you’ve decided to embark on a DIY project. If you’re like me, this will probably not happen, because 1) Where do you get all this stuff? 2) How does one ever really decide to make a reindeer lawn ornament out of mason jars, corks, pipe cleaners and coat hangers? No matter! This is what you’ve planned to do since all the Thanksgiving hullaballoo has died down and it’s right before the Christmas shopping craze gets into full swing. So, what’s a good DIY project? Continue reading
Have you heard of NaNoWriMo? That’s the National Novel Writing Month, an event sponsored by a group of literary terrorists who encourage bored housewives and unwashed yokels to write an entire 50,000-word novel during the month of November.
NaNoWriMo’s growth in popularity is simply astounding. It was launched in 1999 by a group of 21 writers in the San Francisco area, but within two years had 5,000 “writers” participating in it. By 2010, the non-profit group that sponsors the event had over 200,000 participants.
There are surprisingly few people who are openly critical of NaNoWriMo — probably because actual published authors are understandably wary of offending the kinds of people who buy lots of books. But this event sucks, and to pretend otherwise is to humor the delusional, literature-destroying idiots that participate in it. Continue reading
Welcome to Crasseroles, kids! We have so many high end recipes that I thought we should delve into the world of cream of mushroom soup and Velveeta cheese. Hey, sometimes, you’re just craving something that’ll stick to your ribs.
This recipe came from of our own Cunning_Linguist’s “Horrible Pinterest Recipes.” Having browsed the recipes, I noticed some of them seemed theoretically good, in a Sandra Lee sort of way, but had some horrible photography, or an overuse of Velveeta cheese product, and some of them just made me want to run away screaming. So, using some of these recipes, and in the spirit of Dining with the Duggars, I thought it might be a good time to experiment with various casserole recipes! Join in the fun! Continue reading
After promising a release after Thanksgiving, R. Kelly has dropped episode 23 of Trapped in the Closet early. Continue reading
As it gets closer to Halloween, I thought we’d celebrate with scary musicals! Well, maybe not scary, but at least gothic or horror inspired, if not exactly horrifying, all of which can be applied to Jekyll and Hyde at some point in its long career. Continue reading
While living in Israel some years ago, I’d often encounter male soldiers on the street or traveling by bus or sherut. Their olive green military uniforms, combat boots, berets tucked under left epaulets, and assault rifles straddled over their shoulders was always a jarring image to behold during my initial weeks in Haifa. Yet as time went on, they, like the ubiquitous Cyprus trees, began to fade into the landscape with one exception: female recruits.
Israel is the only country in the world with a mandatory military service requirement for women. The times I’d cross their path, I’d often wonder what their lives and training were like, what they thought of the draft, and what their hopes and dreams were post-IDF? Did they see themselves as children weighed down in adult clothing? Were they fearful of death, or worse, fearful of becoming indifferent to the killing of others? Continue reading