March 20, 2005

It's coming...

A lot of you freaks out there have been driving Chris and I absolutely bonkers with your constant questions about when Foop! is coming out. I understand your excitment, I really do, but you bastards need to chill. The book is now at the printer and will be available in the coming weeks. The cover design by Carlton Mellick is killer. The illustrations by Chris Daily are delightful. And the story itself is, in a word, tasty.

But if you really can't wait a few measley weeks to get your sticky little hands on a copy, some enterprising chap has put a galley copy of the book up for sale on Amazon. [4/13/2005 Update: someone finally bought it!] I don't know how this guy got his hands on a galley, but God bless him for trying to make a few bucks off it.

Back then the book was still called Poof!, and only 25 copies were printed, so this really is a sweet collector's items. It also has the long introduction chapter which was ultimately cut from the final copy. Yes, overall Foop! is a better book than Poof! was, but a Poof! galley is a much better investment choice since in a few months there will be MILLIONS of copies of Foop! out there.

In other news, Chris went to Vermont this weekend to see what the deal is with maple syrup. After years of calmly listening while people gave him shit for putting Mrs. Buttersworth on his flapjacks instead of what they called "real maple syrup," Chris decided to see what all the fuss was about.

It turns out the fuss is this: maple syrup friggin rocks.

Here's one of the sugar houses Chris visited in southern Vermont:

The whole process, from getting the sap out of the trees to grading the syrup based on its color, is incredibly cool. And from the moment when he knocked back a shot of dark amber syrup, while the steam from the boiling sap floated through his hairy nostrils, Chris swore to never let that whore Mrs. Buttersworth touch his lips again.

But if you ever decide to make your way to Vermont to taste this holy nectar fresh from the trees yourself, and you happen to be either a vegetarian or Jewish, you should try to avoid this little sugar house:

The gentleman who runs it admitted to Chris that during sugaring season, when he's in the sugarhouse round the clock, he often cooks his meals in the boiling sap.

And what does he usually eat?

Oscar...Mayer...wieners.

Apparently, he's not alone. No wonder maple syrup tastes so damn good. It's laced with the greatest substance on earth: pork fat!

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