Taken from Guardian Technology section:
Just this month, Eli Lilly introduced a version of its popular Prozac pill for dogs. The new drug, called Reconcile, comes in the form of a beef-flavoured chewable treat. Aimed at the 10 million dogs that Lilly estimates suffer from anxiety and melancholia, it will compete against Novartis’s canine antidepressant, Clomicalm.
I wish I had a ‘beef-flavoured chewable treat’ that topped up my seratonin levels…
Charles McLean’s novel The Watcher is one of the best novels I’ve read in a long time, and is well worth a look if you’re in the mood for something weird, gruesome and compelling. It’s the story of an everyday schmoe who commits a random act of horrific violence with no apparant motivation and his subsequent attempts to understand why he did it.
What’s impressive about The Watcher is that it maintains a wholly amiguous stance throughout. While most writers would opt for a definitive conclusion, Maclean maintains several equally convincing realities at once. The book is, I believe, currently out of print, but can be picked up dirt cheap on Amazon.co.uk.
If you’ve ever wanted to make a 12 inch Jaffa Cake or a Nik-Nak the size of a child’s arm, then have a look at Pimp That Snack, where people from all around the world create enormous versions of sweets, biscuits, cakes and crisps.
(The site used to be called Pimp My Snack, but Viacom threatened to sue. You can read the back and forth of letters here, if you’re of a mind, but wouldn’t you rather check out a two-foot long McDonald’s Apple Pie?)
BBC1 - 12:35 tonight. Kind of ignored on its cinema release, it’s a weird cannibalism comedy set during the US civil war. Worth checking out, and not just because it’s got Jeffrey Jones in it.
I always thought Myspace was a waste of time. Now I’m starting to reconsider.
Hundreds of partygoers trash house after MySpace invite | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited
Apologies for the disappearing images on the blog. I just started using imgred.com to cache images and they appear to have gone tits up. Soz.
While we’re on the subject of video games, does anyone else think that the voice in Bejewelled 2 sounds like the serial killer in Silence of the Lambs? There’s something about the way he says “Good…” when you clear five gems or more that makes me want to tuck my genitals between my legs and listen to Goodbye Horses. Or is it just me?
High falutin’ video game magazine The Escapist features an article entitled I’d Rather Game Than Read A Book (And Here’s Why) by Vincent Kang. His example of great literature? Heir To The Empire, a Star Wars spin-off novel by Timothy Zahn (currently available for 63p on Amazon). Bravo, that man. Bravo.
This is supposed to be my great comment on the ghoulish nature of Easter - baby Jesus nailed on the cross - but it’s been fiddled about with that it’s pretty much unrecognizable.
Anyway, the horrible post-production was done with Deep Paint 2.0, a natural media paint program that’s been released into the public domain. It’s a free download and has a nice range of oils, pastels and stuff. I’m sure there are others who can make better use of it than me (wouldn’t be difficult), so try a download today. (Windows only - soz.)
