Friday Five: Media Edition

This week has been full of wonderful media, both books and videos! So for today’s Friday Five, here are some highlights:

(1) Remember my post about the new HiLoBooks imprint that a couple of friends launched? The first three books are available for pre-order! And I know, I know, you aren’t supposed to judge books by their covers, but aren’t these absolutely beautiful? They’re designed by Michael Lewy. Go pre-order them now! It’s science fiction by people like Jack London, Rudyard Kipling, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is the good stuff.

(2) Also available for pre-order — a new book by Molly Crabapple. I’m not even sure how to begin to describe Molly — talented, gorgeous, innovative. In addition to being a terrific artist, she’s one of the smartest business people I know. She can market and launch events like no one else. Margaret Cho calls her “THE artist of our time” — now there’s a testimonial! This collection is particularly interesting because Molly Kickstartered a project called “Week in Hell” where she covered a hotel room with paper and drew for a week straight. Her backers got pieces of original art. She collected photos of her artwork and  process into a book. Cool, huh? I know Molly virtually and met her in person at last year’s SxSW conference in an absinthe bar. Where else? The detail in her work is amazing, so pre-order her book, too!

(3) Switching over to videos — I have to say, I love the First Family. The Obamas seem like a great couple and fantastic parents. Here’s the First Lady on Jimmy Fallon’s show, promoting her Let’s Move campaign with a little competition… the woman can do push-ups!

(4) And here’s the President, launching a marshmallow cannon at the White House Science Fair:

(5) Finally, Prop 8 was overturned in CA, and the gay marriage bill was passed in WA. Still, there was some controversy this week when JCPenney announced that Ellen would be their new spokesperson. A group called One Million Moms posted a statement on Facebook about how JCPenney clearly didn’t care about “traditional values.” Ellen talked about it on her show, and I love what she had to say:

“My haters are my motivators.” Fantastic.

And on that note, happy Friday, everyone! Have a great weekend.