Lotsa little notes

I really am trying to separate things into individual posts these days – but I feel for folks who get the AAUGH Blog emailed to them, and rather than flooding their inboxes, here’s a variety of catch-up items:

  • I Want a Dog for Christmas is on ABC tonight in the U.S.
  • Speaking of the animated specials, some of you may have gone to order DVDs of your favorite specials, only to find that they are no longer in stock. We’re in a transition period between publishers, with the previous editions of the specials no longer available and the new publisher’s editions not coming until next year. Plenty of used copies available, of course.
  • Speaking more of animated specials, Christian-themed site Nuclearity.org has a new slickly-produced podcast up looking at A Charlie Brown Christmas. Various guests (including the Gospel According to Peanuts author Robert Short) discuss why various aspects of the special work before getting into talking about how inspiring it was to have the Gospel of Luke read across the airwaves.
  • I’ve got a little more information on that Peanuts Sudoku Digest – it’ll have 200 sudoku puzzles and 50 Peanuts strips. And for you fans of the more obscure Peanuts characters: 3, 4, and 5 show up on almost every page! (That’s a joke, folks. That’s why they pay me the big bloggin’ money!)
  • While that cheaper-than-wholesale deal on the Complete Calvin & Hobbes is now over, they are now listing it for 40% with free shipping.
  • Speaking as a grammarian, “less cookies” is wrong. “Fewer cookies” is wrong, also. “More cookies” is always correct.
Upcoming releases
A book I’d not expected to resurface

Back in 2011, Schulz’s granddaughter Dena Hodges issued the first two chapters of  a memoir called In the Shadow of the Family Dog. As I noted in my review at the time, the chapter and the description of the project made it clear that the focus was her relationship with …

Schulz/Peanuts news
New Peanuts podcast

Peanuts fans have had a number of podcasts to listen to over the years. Currently, there’s Unpacking Peanuts (working its way through the Peanuts canon four months per episode), Talking Nuts (working its way through the canon one month per episode), and It’s a Podcast, Charlie Brown (focused on, but …

Upcoming releases
A box of squares

This May, Fantagraphics is collecting the various small square Peanuts books they’ve published into a new box set, Peanuts All Year Round Mini Collection. This includes: A Valentine for Charlie Brown — Valentine’s Day and romance strips Batter-Up Charlie Brown! — baseball strips Waiting for the Great Pumpkin — Halloween …