Time to get some new reading material

Apparently, McSweeney's distributor filed for bankruptcy a while back, and now they're feeling the crunch. Everything about this company is worth supporting -- from their faith in their writers and artists, to the writing workshops they do for those city-kids, to all the other great here-and-there things (Believer, Wolphin, McSweeneys.net). Everything they do is wonderful. It'd be real sad shame if they had to stop because of financial burdens.

Here's what they posted today that clued me in:

As you may know, it's been tough going for many independent publishers, McSweeney's included, since our distributor filed for bankruptcy last December 29. We lost about $130,000—actual earnings that were simply erased. Due to the intricacies of the settlement, the real hurt didn't hit right away, but it's hitting now. Like most small publishers, our business is basically a break-even proposition in the best of times, so there's really no way to absorb a loss that big.

We are committed to getting through and past this difficult time, and we're hoping you, the readers, who have from the start made McSweeney's possible, will help us.

This is not a huge company, and it probably is a textbook case in which every little bit helps. So check out their store and buy some stuff. Oh! and EVERYTHING is on sale - some stuff at steep discounts. (English as She is Spoke for $4.50?!)

They're auctioning off rare and cool inventory things, too, like books with little doodles in them by the authors, and the like -- Obviously, a lot of that is expensive, but the regular stuff isn't.

I picked up the Collins Library Bundle and What is the What (which I'd been meaning to get for a while now anyway) for not much more than it would've cost to buy only What is the What at Barnes and Noble, and this way I know I'm supporting a fine cause.

This is the kind of company that truly deserves success. Isn't it our responsibility to help them get there? They have a lot of cool stuff up for grabs, for cheap -- so It's a pretty win-win situation, if you ask me. And in case you don't know how to read, they even have some cool t-shirts. So no excuses. go forth! Save McSweeney's!

The Most Dangerous Catch

I've been getting a kick out of Michael Scherer's coverage on Salon.com of the GOP debates - he does a run-down of the important bits "so you don't have to watch yourself." I have been watching them though, and he does a pretty good job of summarizing the main points while throwing in some pretty funny observations and the odd jab at Wolf Blitzer:

22 minutes. The microphones are squelching. Rigid Blitzer says, "If you are hearing some sounds out there, it's lightning." Lightning, of course, doesn't make sounds. Thunder makes sound. But lightning can cause electronics to belch noise. Blitzer, who appears to be built partly from electronics, is an authority.

...

67 minutes. Blitzer announces a break so chairs can be set up onstage. CNN cuts to Anderson Cooper and Larry King. Blah, blah. The Discovery Channel is showing a rerun of "Deadliest Catch." It's a good one. "Busted buoys, broken pots, and a blown engine have put the Northwestern more than a week behind schedule," reads the teaser.

Here's the link to article about last night's debate, and here's the one on the second debate; (I don't think he wrote one for the first, and I'm pretty sure this "format" is reserved for Republican debates only.)