Folio Society collection of Irish Myths and Legends

Jillian Tamaki posted several illustrations she created for the Folio Society collection of Irish Myths and Legends available here.

Link roundup

1. "The Man In the Rockefeller Suit" sounds terrific.

2. "With 571,566 full-time workers, the USPS is the country’s second-largest civilian employer after Wal-Mart."

3. Embarrassing first misstep for the new NY Times editor in chief.

You Might be a Monster: & Other Stories I Made Up

I received a preview copy of Attaboy's "You Might be a Monster: & Other Stories I Made Up" - - picture an illustrated collection of poems and short stories a la Shel Silverstein or Jon Scieszka, and as you can see from my pathetically fuzzy photos, it's full of charming monsters. $10 at Amazon, or available signed and with a postcard here.

Link roundup

1. 7 Tools to Help You Conquer Your Allergies, including a recommendation of the SinuSense Water Pulsator Sinus Rinse, available at Amazon.

2. And speaking of Amazon, Richard Dawkins's science book for kids, illustrated by Dave McKean, is available for preorder (34% off). Via.

3. And speaking of gadget lists, "This Super Sherpa Climbed Everest 21 Times. Here's His Eco Gadget Bag."

Link roundup

1. GQ has a lengthy excerpt from a new book about ESPN. The excerpt is all about what a talented jerk Keith Olbermann was:

Suzy Kolber
SportsNight co-anchor

The night before we went on the air, they were still making major, major changes. We were all in this giant room while they were doing it, and I vaguely remember Keith sitting on the floor in the corner. I just felt that Keith was an unhappy person. He made a lot of people unhappy around him. I'm sure he made me unhappy.

Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN is half off at Amazon.

2. From an interview with NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell:

Yeah. I was really a pyromaniac. My buddy Elmer and I would walk through autumn, and we had matches. We’d flick matches into the leaves and then walk away for a certain amount of time before we’d turn around. Then we’d have to run back and put it out. We’d do this in the middle of the night, and we were always starting fires.

3. How to make a Tardis Murphy bed. Relatedly, this video shows how CalTech students put a Tardis on a building at MIT.

Link roundup

1. Top 50 scifi and fantasy novels. (Not sure why I Am Legend is classified as fantasy.)

2. Supposedly, criminals in Turkey are knocking on doors, dressed as doctors, giving people "medicine" that turns out to be sedatives, and then ransacking their homes while they sleep. Via.

3. Washed up celebrity chefs trying to make a comeback. David Rosengarten "recently produced a YouTube pilot for a show called Hava Lasagna!" Via.

Updated Greek Myths

Updated versions of Argus, Medusa and more star in Varitan's Illustrated Greek Myths, which is on sale at Amazon. You can read more about the book here, and there's going to be a reading as described here:



Via.

Link roundup

1. From an extended discussion of Brink at RPS:

I was looking at the screenshots I’ve taken vs the screenshots we were sent for previews and things. And it’s just heartbreaking. A mess of text and cramped spaces, not these fantastic looking, exaggerated muscleguys in apple-crisp locales.

2. From Bill Simmons's portrait of Phil Jackson:

When I think of Phil Jackson, two guys come to mind: Young Phil and Old Phil. Young Phil was skinny with dark hair and a goofy mustache; he looked like he came from another era, like someone Larry Dallas would bring over to the Regal Beagle to meet Jack Tripper. Old Phil didn't look anything like Young Phil: white hair, a clean-shaven face, a heavier frame, and a body that was scattered in nine different directions. Still, Young Phil and Old Phil had one thing in common: They kept their cool at all times.

3. Vic Armstrong's World's Greatest Stuntman sounds great. i09 has an extended excerpt about the filming of Total Recall. For example:

Sharon Stone was funny. We all thought that Rachel Ticotin was going to be the big star, she was a fabulous actress, looked gorgeous and yet she went nowhere. Sharon Stone you couldn't drag into the gym, she just didn't want to train, didn't want to do anything, yet she became a superstar in Basic Instinct. Wendy was doubling Rachel and Donna Evans doubled Sharon and did all the kicks and everything else really, we mainly shot Sharon for close-ups. Though I must say she looked dynamite in those close-ups!

Gizmodo has an excerpt about Temple of Doom. The book is 34% off at Amazon.

American Gods

American Gods by Nicholas Delort, who has various illustrations on sale here. (Probably the Gaiman book I liked least. I think I've forgotten enough to give it another try.)

Link roundup

1. Bill James (who is an excellent writer, and who revolutionized the use of statistics in sports) has a new book about serial killers and crimefighting.

2. Check out how much muscle top NFL draft pick Von Miller put on while at Texas A&M (and remember, this was no pipsqueak in high school, he was recruited by a solid football school).

3. Kind of strange - - Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four are joining the Dark Horse Deluxe line of collectible statuettes.

New illustrated covers for John le Carre's novels

New illustrated covers by Matt Taylor for John le Carre's novels:









Looks like it's finally time to try Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. (The only le Carre book I've read was The Tailor of Panama, and I wasn't crazy about it.) Some of the books are available at Amazon, and Matt has various prints on sale here. Via.