Quick items before sleep

Some assorted items:

Mark Morford of SF Gate lambasts Mattel for not going far enough with Barbie the Hot Pagan Witch (thanks to supergee)—actually Secret Spells Barbie. And don't forget Princess of Cambodia Barbie, Barbie in King Kong, Star Trek Barbie, and kinky Catwoman Barbie!
Kids reading the latest Harry Potter book are apparently being struck down by "Hogwarts headaches." "The obvious cure—taking a break from reading—was rejected by two of the three patients."
Nice piece at boston.com on "John Sladek, the high priest of something else," by James Sallis. I first encountered Sladek's books in high school, right around the time I was discovering Disch, and I'm not sure I ever fully recovered. (Link via SF Crowsnest.)
Also via SF Crowsnest: the Norton Awards for "extraordinary invention and creativity unhindered by the constraints of paltry reason," sponsored by Tachyon Publications. (Not to be confused with the Norton Prizes for websites or the Norton Awards for micronational excellence.)

Nao

10-31-2003 6:26 AM

This sounds familiar from my childhood. Not the Harry Potter, oddly enough (*grin*), but the headaches.

There was one summer vacation when my mother started to ration my reading, and, in fact, forbade me to read for a whole day, because I was reading myself into getting headaches. I knew she was right, but I couldn’t stop by myself…
Heather Shaw

10-31-2003 2:14 PM

Yup, it wasn’t unusual for me to read in bed until dawn when I was a child. No wonder I have problems with insomnia these days!

Lorem Ipsum