Fusenews: Collecting old match boxes?

• I would call talented Eoin Colfer many things, but the next Douglas Adams?  Seems to be the title he’ll have put upon him after writing a new Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book.  Oh, you didn’t hear about that?  Well, as the L.A. Times reports: "In a recording on his website, Colfer says:

This is one of my favorite series of all time…. As a teenager I would run around quoting lines from this to get me through my teen angst… Now all of these imaginary endings that I had for years — as you may or may not know, Douglas Adams never finished the series, so I finished it in my head — now I’m finishing it in real life."

Hrm.  Feelings mixed.  Pity Pratchett couldn’t do it.  He would strike me as the natural successor.  Thanks to Galleycat for the link.

• I dunno.  Now this is just getting creepy.  I mean, does Fine Lines have a direct conduit into my brain where they systematically finds all the books I read as a child and talks about them, one by one?  No other explanation presents itself to me.  In any case, they’re talking about Cheaper By the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes now.  My sole regret is that when discussing the sequel there is no mention of the hilarious moment when Mrs. Gilbreth catches her girls smoking and then can’t figure out how she could possibly berate them about it.  Fortunately I have my parents’ copy on hand (sorry, Mom, but I’ll give it right back when I’m done using it) so here is the section in question:

    "I’ve been trying to think up some good arguments against smoking," Mother said, "but when you analyze them, they don’t seem too convincing."
    She started to enumerate the arguments, counting them off on her fingers.
    "If you smoke you’ll have a bad reputation.  I hate to let go of that one, but I’ll have to admit it doesn’t apply any more.  It’s a shame, too!
    "It’s bad for your health.  That’s open to debate.  Not so bad as overeating, or not getting enough sleep.
    "It stunts your growth.  I doubt it, and anyway you’re both grown.
    "It’s a filthy habit.  It’s not, really.  Not half so filthy as gossiping or collecting old match boxes.
    "It’s expensive.  There!" Mother beamed triumphantly. "There’s a good argument.  It is expensive, and can we afford it?"
    "We don’t buy them," Anne said.  "Our dates always have them."
    "There goes my last argument," Mother smiled, spreading her hands.

• The end of publishing as we know it?  New York Magazine comes up with a story that has never ever ever been told before, nuh-uh, no way, no how.  And I see we’ve hit the six month mark on the book/publishing industry-is-dying clock, so we’re right on schedule again.  Thanks to YPulse for the link.

• From Cynopsis Kids:

Alpine Pictures signs Martin Short and Jim Belushi to star in its upcoming animated musical feature film Dorothy of Oz .  Short and Belushi will lend their voices to the Jester and the Lion respectively.  Based on Roger S. Baum’s books and writing, Dorothy of OZ is the first in a series of animated movies from Alpine Pictures, in association with Box Office Productions III .  The movie is being produced by Bonne Radford (Curious George, Road to El Dorado, Balto) and directed by noted director/animator Daniel St. Pierre (Everyone’s Hero, and upcoming Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey, and Sheepish).  Roger S. Baum is the great-grandson of L. Frank Baum , author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and other Oz books.

I’ve read it through three times and I’m still not entirely certain what it means.  The Jester?  Roger Baum?  Whuzzy fuzzy?  Hopefully Oz and Ends or someone equally well informed will provide us with answers.

• Daily Image:

There are lots of images like these available through the Threadless T-Shirts site, but this one’s my fav.  I would read this picture book:

Thanks to BB-Blog for the link.

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