Reader Katie C. sends along a link to this “shalom dog costume” available at (oddly enough) SantaSuits.com, which features a line of costumes for pooches.
The site contains lots of weird stuff, including an extensive selection of biblical character costumes. Perhaps my favorite is the deluxe Jesus costume (scroll down).
But the tackiness doesn’t stop there! Check out the absolute worst angel costume ever created (second one down).
The WSJ‘s Jeffrey Trachtenberg tells us that book publishers are now building buzz long before new titles are published, just as Hollywood studios aim to generate pre-release excitement so their movies “open big.”
There’s another parallel here that Trachtenberg neglects. Namely, that when it comes down to it, publishers — just like Hollywood studio honchos — never truly know which of their offerings will become runaway hits.
As William Goldman* explains in his fantastically entertaining film industry expose, “Adventures in the Screen Trade,” it’s all essentially a crap shoot. Seemingly sure-thing, can’t miss, big-budget, star-laden pictures sometimes bomb, and sleeper indie films are occasionally and inexplicably big hits — there is no universal recipe for mass success.
The book business works a lot like that, too. So I’m not surprised to see the New York publishing mandarins co-opting the techniques of their entertainment industry counterparts on the left coast.
*Goldman, incidentally, is one of my favorite writers ever. If you haven’t read him, get thee to a book merchant and make a purchase STAT.
Rob at Cockeyed.com presents: “The Price of a Gallon” of 47 liquids. It’s no surprise that gasoline’s way cheaper than stuff like milk, coffee mate, Evian water, Budweiser beer, etc. — of course, when was the last time you bought 15 or 20 gallons of that stuff?
If you ask me, though, a gallon of Kikkoman soy sauce for $15.33 is a bargain at twice the price. I love that stuff. Perhaps the most overpriced item on Rob’s list, though, is patchouli oil, which goes for $806.40 a gallon. C’mon.
If I had $38,858,507.46 laying around, however, you better believe I’d be picking up a gallon of scorpion venom. That would be awesome. If anyone ever gave me any lip, I’d totally be like, yo, you better shut the hell up or I’m gonna go get my gallon of scorpion venum and dump it all over you! They would shut up fast, I bet.