Hey, guess what? Librarian Avengers is back! Surf over and check out the reasons why you should fall to your knees and worship a librarian.

Does the world really need a librarian action figure?

Well, well, well. Seems that A.S. Byatt has actually had the temerity to question the reasons grownups read Harry Potter, as well as the series' literary merits. Really now. How dare she question the growing infantile/regressive aspect to modern adult culture? Personally, though I have read and enjoyed the Harry Potter series myself, I found Byatt's well-written article to be a good criticism, accurate on many points, and quite relevant to a society where grown men and women vacation at Disney, furnish their entire home with Hello Kitty merchandise, and play with Lego. Not everyone agrees, of course, including Charles Taylor at salon.com (my apologies if you have to sit through the adverts to get to the full article).

This seems to be the day for coming across references to weird body modifications. First, msn has an article about people who are voluntary amputees, then I find the book Pagan Fleshworks, then a link to the not-for-the-squeamish Body Modification ezine, complete with articles and photos for everything to tattoos to tongue splitting to urethra displacement. Is it just me or are subcultures getting weirder all the time?