Wow, bad placement.

Their copy editor should be fired. Actual front page of an online newspaper The Dalles Chronicle on 2/15/07.

Independent bookstore in MN needs help.

For those of you who don't read Neil Gaiman's blog, the original info is found
here

Dreamhaven had a break-in, and the cost of repairs is going to hurt them. The owner is asking people to come in and maybe buy an extra book or two, or to pass the link to their store on so people could shop online. I know the owner - this is legit. He would not be asking if the repairs weren't going to cause a serious budget hurt for the store.

Dreamhaven is an independent SciFi/Fantasy heavy book/comic/random things store in Minneapolis, MN. They're one of the few places whose employees are /all/ rabid bibliophiles, most of whom have worked there for many years and know the stacks like the back of their hands. They'll also track down and order obscure books/comics/etc for you if they don't have it. They've been a sponsor or a vendor for scifi cons in the areas for.. most of my life, really. I don't want to see the store disappear.

Link to store, which also does very good mail order and has an online catalog: http://www.dreamhavenbooks.com/

That someone broke in and trashed the store this badly - and it has to be fucking godawful damage if the owner even mentioned it - makes me sick at heart. I hope they get caught.

Sundance

I can't wait until Monday. The waiting is slowly eating my brain like a small, black, brain-eating beetle. For the week of Sundance, it's been abysmally quiet in Newsland. I did see that 'Waitress' got outstanding reviews, but that's bittersweet, coming on the heels of Shelley's death the way it does.

Come on, Internet! Talk to me! A gigabillion bloggers at the Festival and nobody's babbling their heads off about the movies? Did they force NDA's on attendees this year? Are people just that jaded about Sundance? Am I on the wrong internet this week?

I love film festivals, but there are very few I actually go to. Mostly because I really want to avoid the starfucker crowd. I go to film festivals to watch new or indy movies with other movie geeks, not to see who shows up. I think one of the things I like best is that at a film festival, you can always find conversation about the movies of your choice. While I don't - and likely never will - go to Sundance, I enjoy the conversations that happen every year from the people who have gone. This year, so far, everyone seems to be keeping it under wraps.

More news on the Peter S. Beagle front

Conlan Press is offering authorized, autographed, widescreen 25th anniversary editions of The Last Unicorn, with 50% of the proceeds going directly to Peter S. Beagle.


Peter S. Beagle has been dicked out of profits owed to him by two production companies. First for the screenplay of the animated Lord of the Rings, and then for the original animated version of The Last Unicorn. The web page has changed and all the details about Granada Media's fiasco over The Last Unicorn has been removed - Connor, I know you linktrack so you'll probably see this - what the hell is up with that? Did you have to take it down due to the negotiations with Granada? The only thing up is the Lord of the Rings fiasco, and that's kind of confusing. The Granada FAQ is still up.

Another reason to purchase from Conlan Press, if the autographed copy wasn't enough incentive - they've said they won't let their titles go out of print.

Also? It'd make an awesome holiday gift for a fantasy fan.

More on Peter S. Beagle.

Mr. Conlan has updated the You Can Help site to include a chronology and specific items where the fans can help.

It looks as though the petition sheet either doesn't work with firefox or is broken, though. I'll try from home and see if that works.

This whole situation makes me sick at heart. It also makes me want to write a scathing op-ed piece on internet movie/book piracy, since it's big companies like these that are screaming for anti-piracy legislation on the grounds that it takes money away from the creators of a work, who only get a percentage of the profit. This is one of those cases where, if I had purchased a copy of this movie from Granada, I'd really want to rip it and upload it with a big fat banner that linked to the Donation Site for Mr. Beagle's legal fund. I wouldn't do that for the simple reason that it would sink me to Granada's level. Theft is wrong, no matter who it happens to.

IMDB is my buddy. I found A list of the movies Granada would have acquired when it bought out ITC - and since ITC seems to have not been on the level, I will not be purchasing any of those titles now that Granada owns them. There is also a list for Granada Media, but as that list is small, I'm assuming it hasn't cross-referenced the acquisitions from other companies.

I take a very large and active interest in supporting authors, actors, directors, producers, publishing companies, production and distribution studios. If I like a piece of media, I'm big on buying it not only for myself but for others, and encouraging complete strangers to look into it. Because when all is said and done, dollar signs are the best way to tell these companies what I want to see more of. I'm big on letter-writing to express my support, be it an artist or a cause. In this instance, it's both.

I urge anyone who reads this to check out the sites linked above and to donate a few minutes of their time, if they can't do more, to read about the issue and spread the word.

Pimping: An Eye for an Eye

One of my homepeeps uploaded the movie he did for the Boston 24 Hour Movie .. thingy.

Everyone should go watch it.

I love watching my friends act. They do things that are so against their nature that I break up laughing. Watching Diana bust on some sleaze in a bar? Pure comedic gold.

Sorry guys. They're both happily married.

No. Not to each other.

[edit: New and improved: With sound this upload! Bah, YouTube!]

Causes Cancer in Laboratory Rats

I hate that warning lable - "WARNING: Product has been shown to cause cancer in laboratory rats/mice". Beyond the loathing for products that are tested on animals at all is a deeply cynical and somewhat sneering view of the warning.

Rats and mice are extremely suceptible to tumors. Those that survive to 2 years of age have an 87% chance of developing one or more types of tumors, and the cases of tumors are over 50% malignant. These are numbers from studies done on pet rats, bred from genetically distinct lines and reared by humans knowledgable about proper environment, with strict diets to remove anything and everything that could possibly increase the risk of tumors and cancer. Starting with a rat of optimal breeding and kept in a near perfect, carcinogen-free environment, the rat has an 87% chance of developing tumors that are or become malignant.

Lab rats are often not from genetically diverse breeding lines. They're frequently albinos; albinism is a recessive chromosomal, genetic defect. Albinism is associated with many minor tissue abnormalities. The rate of skin cancers in albinos is far higher than normal rats due to the lack of melanin protection in the skin. Many of them have come from generations of albinos, which means generations of reinforcing a genetically weak recessive gene.

So, in essence, the tests are being done on a genetically weak, potentially very inbred, rodent that even under optimal conditions has an extremely high risk of getting cancer anyway. On top of that, potential carcinogens are added in large volume.

Sassafrass root, used for making tea and rootbeer, is not legal for sale any longer because it contains safrole, which has been shown to cause an increase of liver cancer in laboratory rats when injected or fed orally in large quantities. Sassafrass tea and root beer has been consumed by humans for hundreds of years, with no evidence of it ever causing cancer in humans. An earlier study done by the same agency says, "Man may ingest small amounts of safrole and isosafrole through essential oils in which they occur." It looks like Dr. Duke has been often quoted saying sassafrass [tea/rootbeer] has 1/14th the carcinogen level of a glass of beer, and that even if all the safrole leeched into the drink, it would still be 95% less than the cancer-toxic level. I am trying to find the cite for that study/quote.

Other foods that cause cancer in rats and mice: allspice, anise, apricot, apple, banana, basil, beet, broccoli, brussle sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, caraway, cardamom, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cherries, chili pepper, chocolate, cinammon, citronella, cloves, coffee, collard greens, comfrey, corn, coriander, currants, dill, eggplant, endive, fennel, garlic, grapefruit, grapes, guava, honey, honeydew, horseradish, kale, lemon, lentils, lettuce, licorice, lime, mace, mango, marjoram, mint, mushrooms, mustard, nutmeg, onion, orange, oregano, paprika, parsley, parsnip, peach, pear, peas, black pepper, pineapple, plum, potato, radish, raspberries, rhubarb, rosemary, rutabaga, sage, savory, sesame seeds, soybean, tarragon, tea, thyme, tomato, turmeric, and turnip.

Strangely, I haven't seen FDA warnings on any of the above foods. Frankly if I did, and I let the warning labels scare me off, I'd be totally screwed to find anything to eat.

It makes an interesting argument for the IARC to stop testing on rodents. Sadly, the short life span and quick expression of cancers when exposed to carcinogens outweighs the fact that the results aren't reliable to determine cancer risk levels in humans.