Further proof that everything in the world is better with a cat.

See more about how it can work at Corentin. For example, they suggest flipping it around, so the staircase is against the wall, where it would become like a hidden passageway for your cat, mystifying guests who will wonder what kind of cat can shimmy up behind a bookcase to get on top.

(via tdw)

Every year I stumble into the Tournament of Books as it is about half over. That disappoints me. But not this year, when I am ready to follow along right from the first day!

The Tournament of Books, arranged by The Morning News, is like a sports tournament, but for reading. Yes, there are 16 “finalists” and they’ve all been seeded into brackets, from which they will fight to the death (or, a judge will decide) as the move up to become the year’s champion.

The 16 books this year include two that I’ve read, and 14 that I’ve not. So it’s a good chance to read some erudite opinions on these books, and figure out which of the unread might be good candidates for a flip-through.

The first bracket — featuring a matchup between Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom” and Teddy Wayne’s “Kapitoil” — gets underway tomorrow. I’ve read “Freedom” but I’m not sure if I’m rooting for it, or against it. I’m a bit of an underdog lover, you see.

Follow along! At the Tournament of Books.

Oh dear, this is too descriptive of many conversations I’ve had with my mom.

(from UWindsor, via Mike Potter)

Gravity’s Rainbow is probably Thomas Pynchon‘s most famous and recognizable book. It’s currently sitting on one of my bookshelves, in the queue of “books I need to read at some point in my life.”

So I probably can’t appreciate (as much) The Thomas Pynchon Fake Book:

Thomas Pynchon is one of the great unheard lyricists. His award-winning novel, Gravity’s Rainbow, is full of song lyrics. Depending on how you count, there are around 100 in the book. Over the course of a year, the Thomas Pynchon Fake Book managed to set twenty-eight of them to music. A limited run CD the group put out also featured two bonus instrumentals inspired by the work, “The White Visitation” and “The Lonely Rocketman.”

The project doubled as an experiment in online music collaboration. Thirty seven people and three animals across four states contributed tracks. In June of 2009 the group held a CD release party in Portland, OR. Check back later for footage from that event.

It’s a pretty interesting project, and just one more reason to read Gravity’s Rainbow.

A couple of weeks later, Grant tried to do the same thing, but with different results (original post here).

There is a subtle difference between the two.  Did you catch it? 

Now, for the first time in history, these two sabering-video stars will be in the same place at the same time.  I am referring to Words Alive 2010.  Taking place at the Music Studio at 940 Rosser Avenue in Brandon tonight and tomorrow night, there is much more than talk of alternative bottle opening.

We have an amazing line-up of talented authors, writing workshops and good times.  And it’s all free!

Check out the schedule at the Words Alive website.

I remember my dad telling me this, when I was but a wee youth of a bibliophile. However, in this day of paperbacks and Kindles, there’s not much use for knowing how to properly treat a hardback. Plus, if the comments at Boing Boing are any indication, modern hardbacks use a glued binding that doesn’t necessitate this kind of care anyway.

(from ListNews, apparently via The Dusty Bookshelf, but there is a straightened out perspective at Boing Boing, if you’re interested in printing it.)

Here’s the picture I uploaded:

I was just enjoying a nice morning cuppa when Amy snapped this shot. Now it’ll be posted for the world — if the website moderators judge that I am hot enough.

According to their FAQ, the wait queue for getting a submission posted to Hot Guys Reading Books is several months. So in order to soothe the insecurities that come with not knowing whether I am hot enough to qualify for their website, I have posted it here on my website, too.

Anyway, if you like pictures of guys who can read, I’m not sure there’s a better website possible. Go check ‘em out.

(Thanks Corey!)

At PosterText, they will take the full text of a book, print it in its entirety on a poster, and make a thematically-related design out of it.

I dig the Wizard of Oz one, above. They have about two dozen on the site right now, and promise a new one every week. They also take requests!

Yet another thing you can’t do with a Kindle.

Oh, and if you enjoy the idea of repurposing books, you may enjoy this side table idea.

(thanks, Corey!)

Bookshelf Porn is a collection of beautiful photos of all the awesome ways to collect books (and not just in shelves); in trees, in a giant stack, this site wants to see any way you may collect books.

I have to admit, I got a little, uh, excited going through the pictures. What can I say, I’m a bibliophile.

Like, look at this room.

That’s hot.

If you happen to be blind enough that you rely on braille, chance are that the mainstream porn industry has left you out, says Lisa J. Murphy.

The Toronto Star has a story on Murphy, a photographer who worked with CNIB (the Canadian National Institute for the Blind) to make books for kids that included touchable pictures of animals.

Now she’s working on something a lot more adult — porn:

Tactile Mind is half art object, half artisanal concept book. It contains explicit softcore images that are raised from its pages, along with Braille text and photos. The effect of the tactile, plastic “images” is a bit like that of an ancient Greek bas-relief. Or, somewhat less precisely, a smutty pop-up book.

Creating a tactile book is far from simple, Murphy says. She recruited some friends and photographed them wearing masks, streamers, Christmas lights, or nothing at all. That was the easy part.

Then she blew up the photos and built on top of them with clay, being careful to mimic the photo in three (well, two and a half) dimensions.

She baked them until they were hardened, and then covered them with a layer of special Thermoform plastic that molds to what it touches when heated up.

After being heated in a special machine, the plastic-finished product is ready to become a plate in the book. The whole process takes Murphy between 40 and 50 hours. That’s for just one image.

With the 3-D images, the book is about 13-15 cm thick, and retails for $225.

As someone with a vested interest in books and the kinds of books people like, I spend a fair amount of time looking at lists of books:  bestsellers, new authors, upcoming titles, paperbacks about vampires, hardcovers about obscure politicians…there is almost no end of the kinds of book lists you can find.

One of my current favourite lists is “12 Bizarre Kids Books You Won’t Buy.”

The list, if you’re not interested in simply clicking the link above, is:

1. It Hurts When I Poop
2. Hair in Funny Places
3. The Long Journey of Mister Poop
4. Joined at Birth: The Lives of Conjoined Twins
5. Where Willy Went
6. Standing Up
7. I Wish Daddy Didn’t Drink So Much
8. Who Cares about Disabled People?
9. One Two Three Pull!
10. MA!  There’s Nothing to Do Here!
11. Hiroshima No Pika
12. A Scary Thing Happened

Some of the titles, such as It Hurts When I Poop and I Wish Daddy Didn’t Drink So Much, are fairly self-explanatory.  Some of them, however, require a little explanation.  And one of them is a lame inclusion.

Before I start describing some of these books, I should state that I did indeed do fact checking and all of these books are real.  Most of them are available to purchase, with the exception of one or two that are out of print and one that is simply not available any more.  More on that in a moment.

Where Willy Went, as innocuous as it sounds, is the story of a sperm — a good swimmer — who races for the prize of the egg within Mrs. Browne.  The innuendo of the title is probably meant more for the parent reading the book to their child.

Standing Up is the story of a little boy learning to pee standing up.  Because, you know, it’s an important life skill that warrants a picture book.  I’m serious.  Aiming is important.

Ma!  There’s Nothing to Do Here! yells the embryo.  And that, my friends, is just plain creepy.

The lame addition to the list is One Two Three Pull.  The story is the kind of thing you would expect to find in a children’s book:  A chicken is having trouble getting a worm out of the ground, so enlists the help of friends to try and get it.  The rationale for the inclusion of this title is:

The chicken appears to be in the most compromising position and a bit sexual to many adult readers.

Seriously?  It’s a chicken bent over trying to pull a worm out of the ground and a rabbit is pulling on the chicken pulling on the worm.  This is sexual?  I’m a bit afraid of the adult readers the author of this list knows if she thinks they’ll find these cartoon illustrations of animals sexual.   Because if they find those sexy, they probably shouldn’t be around children in the first place.  Or they’re to repressed to have made kids.  (This is the lame addition to the list.)

The final title that deserves explanation is A Scary Thing Happened — a downloadable colouring book about 9/11.  The cover of the book included a child’s drawing of a plan flying towards the Twin Towers, one of which is on fire.  I write of this book in the past tense, as it was pulled from FEMA’s website almost a year ago, despite having been posted there since 2003.  Thank goodness for the Smoking Gun, however, as they have archived a copy.

I was really impressed with “Flow My Tears”, which I hadn’t read for a long, long time and didn’t remember very well. And now I’m looking forward to rereading “The Man In The High Castle.”

But in one of those serendipitous ways that life just treats you right, sometimes, I first came across something else.

Philip K. Dick died 28 years ago this month (March 2, 1982) and the L.A. Times points me to a six-part series that explores Dick’s last years, in Orange County.

I’ve just started reading it, but it’s really good.

Find all six parts here.

If you have ever seen one of those old painted movie posters for a James Bond movie, with Bond holding his gun in that famous pose of his, you’ve likely seen McGinnis’ work.  He originated that pose.  Not only did he work on the posters for Thunderball and You Only Live Twice with a partner, he was solo artist for Bond on the posters for Diamonds Are Forever, Live And Let Die, and The Man With The Golden Gun.

On the other hand, if you are more of a bibliophile, you are more probably familiar with his work on paperback covers.  He did what was possibly hundreds of them.  While some were the typical romance novel covers, he seemed to have the most fun on those that involved a tough guy, a gun and a woman (who tends to be partial naked, preparing to get naked or completely naked).  These are the covers for pulp detective novels that are so much fun.

Here’s a link to a Flickr gallery of his work, but be warned that some of the images are NSFW.  There’s another one here that has more of his movie posters and is proabably a better choice if you’re at work.

No… I think you read that correctly.  This cookbook is entitled “Natural Harvest:  A Collection of Semen-Based Recipes.”  And I’m 98% sure it’s not a joke.

Instead of me trying to make sense of what can only be described as a niche product, allow me to present you with the copy from the back cover:

Semen is not only nutritious, but it also has a wonderful texture and amazing cooking properties. Like fine wine and cheeses, the taste of semen is complex and dynamic. Semen is inexpensive to produce and is commonly available in many, if not most, homes and restaurants. Despite all of these positive qualities, semen remains neglected as a food.

This book hopes to change that.

Once you overcome any initial hesitation, you will be surprised to learn how wonderful semen is in the kitchen. Semen is an exciting ingredient that can give every dish you make an interesting twist. If you are a passionate cook and are not afraid to experiment with new ingredients – you will love this cook book!

Please do not add semen to your guest’s food without warning them beforehand.