Boondocks gets renewed!

Boondocks has been renewed, with a 20-episode order for next season!

This is one of the funniest shows on TV right now (Huey's attack on Soul Food last week was just priceless). And the MLK episode, although technically the least humorous episode of the season, was also something that everyone should see.

Update on the Quest for Quest for the Well of Souls

Last week, in my Arisia wrap-up, I griped about my inability to find Chalker's Quest for the Well of Souls. the only book in the original series that I was missing.

jenphalian pointed out the existence of a website called Paperbackswap. Basically, you list and commit to shipping nine paperbacks, and in return, you get to request any three books, plus you get another credit for each book you actually ship. The shipper eats the cost of shipping at media rates, and since everything's basically free from a "buyer" point of view, there's no bs about condition, etc (the point is to get readable copies) -- the only rules are that books have to have covers, and can't be water-damaged.

Anyway, a week after joining, my copy of Quest for the Well of Souls arrived. So yeah, I'm impressed by the service.

Oh, and yeah, there's a referral system (one book credit for each person who joins and lists nine books), and I'm on there as Yendi (big surprise). But it's worth joining even if you don't give me the referral -- it's just a good service.

Good article on James Frey

In light of Frey's admission that he embellished the truth (and by "embellished," of course, I mean "didn't always tell"), and his appearance on Oprah to apologize for fooling her and getting her to help him sell gazillions of copies of A Million Little Pieces, Sarah Saffian has a good look at his apology, the nature of memoirs, and some of the fallout.

Interestingly, AMLP is still #4 at Amazon in terms of sales. Obviously, the charges aren't hurting the book; if anything, they're likely helping it.

I cry "bullshit"

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are changing their name.

They claim that there's a "negative association" with the word "devil" in their name.

Um, yeah. 'cuz it surely hurts those Bible-belt teams in the ACC to be associated with devils and demons.

No, what's hurt the Tampa Bay baseball franchise is the enormous pile of suck that they've put on the field for their entire history. Finishing in last place every year but one (when they climbed to next-to-last) and only once winning 70 games has a lot more to do with alienating fans than a marine biology-inspired nickname.

Early Bestsellers

Teresa Nielsen Hayden has a damned fine essay up on the mortality of literature that just about all of you should read.

Within that essay, there's a link to this page, giving lists of bestsellers for most of the 20th Century.

The good news, judging from both the essay and the lists from the early part of the century, is that I think we don't have to worry about folks in 100 years having any idea who Dan Brown was.

I don't say it often enough

But my wife is a kick-ass writer.

(And yeah, that's based on first-draft stuff, before she's gone back and edited. Given what I know she can do when she edits and re-writes, I'm even more excited).

Attack of the Mercury Dimes

A few days ago, I reached into my pants pocket for some change for Elayna to buy her lunch, and noticed that two of the dimes looked "off." Looking more closely, they were 1939 Mercury Dimes. Since I tend to dump my change into the pocket of every pair of pants I wear, and sort it only when I need something, I couldn't tell you where they came from, or exactly when I got them (although definitely post-Arisia).

Today, a co-worker came by my cube to mention that he'd gone down to the vending machine in the break room (which, incidentally, I haven't used in a few months), and his change included a 1941 Mercury Dime.

I have no idea why these are still in circulation, but I'm damned glad they are. I like old coins.

And no, none of these coins are anywhere close to mint, so, although they're certainly worth a dime (maybe even two), they're not worth the $2-$3 that the web page claims.