Welcome to Weekend Update. This your host, J. Wombat Fishbone.

And now for today's stories, in detail.

New TCP Book Almost Ready for Printing

In a garish press conference yesterday to a crowd of nearly a hundred reporters from various news agencies all over the world, Two Cranes Press announced that its eagerly-awaited new publishing venture — Off the Map, a perfect-bound four-story chapbook by Big Fish author Daniel Wallace — is in the final layout stages and should be going to press in a week. As of this writing, they will be using Chapel Hill Press for all printing and binding services. Two Cranes Press co-publisher Jason Erik Lundberg assured the excited members of the press that their website will be updated soon to include a page for this new book, which will have information on content, reviews and ordering. Lundberg will accompany Wallace to two scheduled readings at the beginning of March, armed with shock stick if the swarms of rabid fans become too over-zealous.

Artist Donates Proceeds to Tsunami Relief, World Follows

World-renowned visual artist Janet Chui shocked the art world a week ago by placing several original paintings and prints up on eBay, with almost all of the proceeds from sales going to relief organizations devoted to the countries devastated by the recent Indian Ocean tsunami. "I'm going to cover the cost of materials, but the rest of the money will go toward helping those affected by this terrible tragedy," Chui said to The New York Times over the weekend. Taking Chui's example to heart, artists all over the world have donated their work to the same end, a show of solidarity. However, some artists have taken to one-upsmanship, donating more than their competitors in order to show what a good person they are. Heinz Skizvelvet, the controversial "organic decay" performance artist, sold all of his possessions, including his $1.5 million house. He is now living under a bridge somewhere in Chicago, and was unavailable for comment.

Two-Minute Wombat Reviews

Finding Neverland is a wonderful movie about imagination and the power of writing. The film is about J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, and how his interaction with a young widow and her four boys changed the way he saw the world. Johnny Depp brings a bravura performance as Barrie (even briefly recounting his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in a colorful pirate scene), and Freddie Highmore was an incredible talent as Peter Llewelyn Davies. A film at times touching and sad and wonderful, a fantastic exploration on the unseen magic in everyday life, it nearly brought this reviewer to tears.

In the other corner is Mike Judge's Office Space, which this reviewer saw on DVD with friends in Carrboro on Saturday evening after dinner at the airy and organically-minded Weaver Street Market. Based on a series of cartoon shorts called "Milton," Office Space explores the angst and ennui of working in a corporate cubicled environment, and the absurdities and beaucracy inherent to such a place. Ron Livingston (Swingers, Sex and the City) as Peter Gibbons is fed up with working at such a restrictive and mind-numbing job, and after a session of accidental hypnotherapy which seems to bring an enlightened ecstasy, he finds that his day-to-day hassles just aren't worth it anymore. The film showcases Judge's trademark sense of humor and keen timing, as well as the quirky characters we've come to expect from Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill, and it's a comedy well worth seeing for those stuck in their own cubicular existences.

Now Reading:
Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel
Pook's Original Miscellany by Heather Shaw & Tim Pratt

Stories Out to Publishers:
9

Books Read This Year:
1

Zines/Graphic Novels/Fiction Mags Read This Year:
0