First, I want to thank anybody who has used the links on this page to get to Amazon. Whether or not you buy the item I linked, I get a cut, and that has paid off for me. I just received a $13 gift certificate from Amazon.

Books

45. Book Club: An Unshelved Collection by Bill Barnes & Gene Ambaum. More comic strips about life in a public library. (Checked out of the library.)
    
46. The Two Faces of Tomorrow by James P. Hogan & Yukinobu Hoshino. I enjoyed this manga adaptation of Hogan's novel (which was written, I believe, in the late 70's), but it did seem rather formulaic: Of course the AI experiment goes out of control in ways that nobody foresaw. Also, as is pretty standard for hard science fiction, there's not much in the way of character development. (Library.)
    
47. Skaggy the Lost by Igor Baranko. Vikings adventuring in Meso-America. (Library.)
    
48. Acme Novelty Library, no. 16: Rusty Brown by Chris Ware. Like all of Ware's work, this is bleak, brutal, and incredibly well-crafted. (Library.)
    
49. Claymore, vol. 1: Silver-eyed Slayer by Norihiro Yagi. Monster-slaying manga. (Library.)
    
50. New Thunderbolts, vol. 1: One Step Forward by Fabien Nicieza & Tom Grummet. (Library.)
    
51. Claymore, vol. 2: Darkness in Paradise by Yorihiro Yagi. (Library.)
    
52. Fade from Grace by Gabriel Benson & Jeff Amano. A love story with a superhero. (Library.)
    
53. Maybe Later by Philippe Dupuy & Charles Berberian. Autobiographical comics from a pair of French cartoonists. (Library.)

Wow, nothing but library books this week.

Movies

• Flash Gordon. This was the original serial. Much better than the later serial, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe that was basically incomprehensible. This was lots of cheesy fun. Wonder at a bear painted to look like a skunk. Marvel at the variety of races found on Mongo (chiefly distinguished from one another by their hair styles). Gaze in awe at the sparkler-powered spaceships.
  
• O Brother, Where Art Thou? This is the movie that made me like George Clooney. It convinced me he was more than just a pretty face. (I had a similar reaction to Johnny Depp and Edward Scissorhands.)
  
• Bride and Prejudice. We nearly shut this off, but we kept with it, and we are glad we did. It got much better than the beginning would lead you to think.
  
• Comfort and Joy. A sweet little movie about a Scottish radio personality who gets caught up in a turf war between rival ice cream companies.