Ways To Kill Time In A "The Office"-less World

I've mentioned John Hodgman on the show before-- he was a veteran of THE DAILY SHOW, and is best known as the "PC guy" in those annoying Mac ads. He's also hilarious.

Not only that, but he recently wrote a book entitled THE AREAS OF MY EXPERTISE, which he describes as "a compendium of COMPLETE WORLD KNOWLEDGE."  Publisher's Weekly further illuminates the contents of the book:

"From sections titled "What Will Happen in the Future" to "What You Did Not Know About Hobos," he piles up smart-alecky nonsense in layer upon layer of surreal, wholly fictional factoids. Whether highlighting American presidents who had hooks for hands, or sketching out the mythical secrets of Yale University, Hodgman creates a strange and intermittently hilarious parallel universe where lists of history's worst haircuts (in addition to the Mullet, there are the Scrape, the Scab and the Shag-Swoop) are printed alongside descriptions of "famous novels that were not originally published as books." Sprinkled throughout with breathless "factual" interjections..."Were you aware of it? The body of Thomas Edison was never buried. Instead it was displayed for many decades in a traveling carnival.... DOES IT EVEN SEEM POSSIBLE?"this "almanac" demonstrates Hodgman's formidable imagination, if not his ability to amuse consistently."

Funny stuff, indeed... but the REAL reason I'm posting this is to let everyone know that iTunes is currently GIVING AWAY a 6 hour audiobook version for FREE.  Hodgman reads the book in his usual dead-pan fashion, and his friend/comedy partner Jonathan Coulton (who we heard on TWSS with his song "Code Monkey") provides musical accompaniment.  I've listen to the first 2 hours so far, and I am enjoying it immensely. 

Check it out... it will definitely help fill the void as we wait for January 4th.