My “day job” is editing a newsletter for a
Distinguished Brands International, a Colorado beer importer. I track articles of interest to beer enthusiasts (and there are a lot of them) but this one struck me as being just plain weird. It seems
Anheuser Busch is launching a new line of bottled water that is being marketed as an integral part of skin care. Skin care. Borba Skin Balance Waters contain antioxidants, vitamins and botanicals which, if you believe the press, help provide “clearer, firmer skin and help for dry, dehydrated skin.” There will also be a powder form of the line.
"Adding the BORBA Skin Balance Waters and Aqua-Less Crystallines to our portfolio allows us to participate in the emerging nutraceutical beverage category," said Dave Peacock, vice president of business operations, Anheuser-Busch.
Huh? I’ve heard of diversification, but am I the only one who finds this ridiculous and just plain disingenuous?
This from Mario . It’s a great
article by writer Will Beall about Reggie, the alligator, piranha and other interesting creatures run amok in the City of Angels. Anyone who has spent any time in LA will read this and yawn but for the normal folk among us, these are great anecdotes beginning with the aforementioned Reggie:
So Reggie the alligator already has escaped once from his cell at the Los Angeles Zoo. Mark my words: No prison will hold him. He will escape again and steal a Ferrari Enzo.
And speaking of great anecdotes, how about the one about Stephen King walking into an Australian bookstore and being accused of defacing books? Seems he was seen signing books (his own of course) and customers who didn’t recognize him, reported it to the manager. She followed him into a grocery store (she evidently did recognize him) and they chatted for a few minutes before she let him get on with his shopping. The books he signed will be donated to charity.
A couple of things about upcoming fall TV shows:
Summer Glau, who played River Tam on Firefly the Prima Ballerina on an episode of Angel, will have a recurring role in the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Here are some
screen caps from one of the shows and an
interview with Summer about the show.
And a bit about CBS’s
Moonlight. I thought it was cool the way they were promoting the show, with the “interview with a vampire” bit until I heard a rumor that they had to promote it that way because they fired all the original actors except the lead. You may already know that. I’m always the last to know anything.
Well, the dog days of summer are here. I just finished page proofs for my third book, The Watcher, due out in December. I’m at the half way mark in book 4. I wish it was fall already.
Special treat: Here’s the Joss Whedon
panel from Comic-Con! It was taken from the audience, obviously not by a professional, but you can see and hear him. Whedon fans, enjoy!
PS This just in from today's Shelf Awareness. Couldn't resist:
Richard Davies of
AbeBooks.com notes that the bestselling sex manual on the site so far this year is a Christian one from 1981 that is now out of print and four Taoist sex books are also in the top 10. Sex in the City star Kim Cattrall's sex book also got a strong response from readers. One reason for the popularity of such titles at AbeBooks.com: as Davies put it, "You don't have to face a bookseller when you order online."
AbeBooks.com's top 10 bestselling sex manuals in 2007 so far:
1. Intended for Pleasure: New Approaches to Sexual Intimacy in Christian Marriage by Ed and Gaye Wheat
2. Passionate Marriage: Keeping Love and Intimacy Alive in Committed Relationships by David Schnarch
3. She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman by Ian Kerner
4. The Tao of Sexology: The Book of Infinite Wisdom by Stephen Thomas
5. The Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress: Secrets of the Female Taoist Masters by Hsi Lai
6. The Multi-Orgasmic Man: Sexual Secrets Every Man Should Know by Mantak Chia and Douglas Abrams Arava
7. Taoist Secrets of Love: Cultivating Male Sexual Energy by Mantak Chia and Michael Winn
8. The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon Taoist Methods for Male Sexual Revitalization by Hsi Lai
9. Satisfaction: The Art of the Female Orgasm by Kim Cattrall and Mark Levinson
10. Hot Monogamy: Essential Steps to More Passionate, Intimate Lovemaking by Patricia Love and Jo Robinson