Lots O'Stuff

Along with being the name of my new discount package store and my favorite Scotsman Irishman, Lots O'Stuff describes what I will be delivering to all of y'all in this very pertinent post. So let's get to it. Firstly, My Plastic Heart is having a big Spring Cleaning sale featuring savings of up to 50% off of selected merchandise. How they selected the merchandise that will be on sale, only the Shadow knows! The sale ends tomorrow, March 22^nd, so get online and order some stuff quickly before it all runs out.

Secondly, Kidrobot just announced the production of a new product, the Shuttlemax! The Shuttlemax appears to be a space shuttle created by Bill McMullen to resemble Nike's Air Max sneakers, which just celebrated their 20^th anniversary. The Shuttlemax also comes with a Shuttlemax Commander Dunny figure. Bill McMullen will be at Kidrobot NY on Thursday, March 30^th from 6-8pm to sign Shuttlemaxes. The yellow Shuttlemax, limited to only 100, will only be available at the signing.

Thirdly (and turdly, hehehe), in the literacy department (something I know very little about), Daily Candy had a very interesting post about a new book by Colson Whitehead titled Apex Hides the Hurt. I haven't had a chance to read this novel, since I just learned about it today, but it appears to deal with something I am quite familiar with: the ultra-prestigious niche of marketing known as product naming. According to Daily Candy:

The new novel by Colson Whitehead tells of just such a guy [a product namer], whose big successes include the product referenced in the book’s title: a multicultural bandage made to match any skin tone.

As the book opens, our nameless hero is lured to the small town of Winthrop, settled after the Civil War by freed slaves and built up by a barbed-wire magnate and his descendants. When the city council hits an impasse over what to rename the town, it calls upon the expertise of the young consultant, who’s quickly drawn into Winthrop’s political agendas, personal ambitions, shadiest secrets, and oldest rivalries.

Like a Bret Easton Ellis crossed with Italo Calvino, it’s part fable, part satire, hilariously thought-provoking, and seriously funny. If you’re looking for spring’s must-read literary fiction, trust us.

Sounds like an intriguing read. I'll have to go down to my local library and see if I can't score a copy. And maybe some of those skin-colored bandages as well (I have many wounds, most of them emotional (do bandages cover those?)).