7: 30 PM update
$56,750. Damn good first five days, Nation. We’ve got a 1K match coming at 66K — but this is sometimes the hard part. This is sometimes where it feels like a boulder …

Before I get to the review proper, a quick explanation of why, after my recent dreadful trip to the Republic of Chibastan, I watched yet another Sonny Chiba movie…
I have a handful of weird compulsions …

7 PM update
$24,268! Hell of a day at sea, sirs! (And ma’ams!) That means 25K is nigh — and that means another 25K is nigh, compliments of the DonorsChoose.org board of directors! Here’s how it’ll …

noon update
Welcome back, everyone! $17,069 as of this writing, thanks to a fabulous job by the weekend squad. (“Only” had to update that number three times while writing!) I’ll select winners for yesterday’s mini-prize momentarily.
Today’s …

Despite a whiffy premise that put me in mind of Christine, and not in a good way, I wanted to like The Entity more than I did. It just isn’t scary enough.
The entity in question …

noon update
$14,412! Good job, super-friends. (Even better? I had to update this total thrice while writing the entry!)
Administrative notes: I’ve updated the site FAQ with contest-specific answers, so please give it a read, especially …

Ask The Readers bookfest today, fittingly. Want to make sure today’s schoolchildren grow up reading beloved YA novels that they need help remembering and write in to The Vine about in 20 years’ time? Me …

No fooling, super-friends: we’re underway! Huzzah!
4:30 PM update
As of this writing: $11,170! Great start, everyone. Please scroll down for information on today’s mini-prizes, and don’t forget, for these, you do have to forward me your …

Towards the beginning of Davis Guggenheim’s fantastic, bleak, motivating Waiting for Superman, Geoffrey Canada tells a story about…well, waiting for Superman, and how bereft he felt as a child when his mother had to inform …