By a serendip­i­tous accident poking around on the TiVo a few weeks ago, we found that the Disney channel is broad­cast­ing Shaun the Sheep. It's a series of seven-minute shorts spun off from Wallace and Gromit.

Shaun is the one smart sheep on a small­hold­ing. His in­quis­i­tive nature leads to all kinds of mischief. The flock follow along; the sheepdog sometimes helps, sometimes hinders. All the while, the farmer is oblivious. No dialog, just slapstick. Highly rec­om­mend­ed.

I learned today that a new 30-minute Wallace and Gromit, A Matter of Loaf and Death, premieres on BBC TV at Christmas. I'm not sure when it'll be shown in the US. We'll be in Dublin …continue.

Are we really this bad?

(This one's for Jacob and Will.)

Tiffany Aching is a nine-year-old dairymaid with the First Sight and the Second Thoughts. She sees more than others do. She sees the tiny Nac Mac Feegle, the little thieving fighting pictsies, who speak with a Scottish brogue and have nae time for laird nor queen.

When the Queen of the Fairies attempts to invade the Discworld by stealing children and their dreams, it is up to Tiffany to stop them.

Ostensibly aimed at children, any adult fan of Pratch­et­t's Discworld novels should enjoy this book too.

A loose sequel to Hammerhead Ranch Motel. The likable serial killer, Serge A. Storms, is suffering from amnesia and has found himself a job as the Press Secretary to the Governor of Florida, Marlon Conrad.

Conrad, formerly an airheaded child of privilege, has undergone an epiphany and has begun caring about the little people. He's running for re-election and he's on a road trip through Florida in an RV. This isn't to everyone's liking and several people are gunning for him.

Dorsey is slightly more in control of his plot …continue.

The sequel to Florida Roadkill. The hy­per­ac­tive serial killer, Serge A. Storms, is still in pursuit of $5 million, as are a new cast of goons.

The action centers around the eponymous Hammerhead Ranch Motel, which houses a wholly improbable set of sleaze­balls.

Moderately enjoyable.

Time for another Odds & Ends.

Well-known evo­lu­tion­ary biologist PZ Myers (Pharyngula) was expelled from a viewing of a new cre­ation­ist doc­u­men­tary, Expelled, last night. Wait until you read the punchline. There is a God!

Lost, one MacBook Air: Steven Levy explains just how he (thinks he) lost his MacBook Air.

It was St. Patrick's Day on Monday. Peter sent me the Muppets' Danny Boy video. Andrew told me that the Irish bishops had moved St. Patrick's Day. Monday was a holiday in Ireland, as is today (Good Friday) and next Monday (Easter Monday), so many people took Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off this week. Bastards!

Emma and I walked with the Wild Geese Players in …continue.

It's been too long since I last posted an Odds & Ends.

Henri is a very amusing short spoof of French ennui.

Back in January, Emma and I were being repeatedly shocked by static elec­tric­i­ty. We would in­ad­ver­tent­ly discharge by kissing or otherwise touching each other, or by touching laptops or faucets. Eventually, I realised that it was due to a com­bi­na­tion of the microfiber upholstery on our new couch and the dry, unhumid air. We solved it by a com­bi­na­tion of rubbing an anti-static dryer sheet (Bounce) on the couch and buying a humidifier. That led to a spate of jokes about the spark being gone.

It's started coming back again. I think …continue.

Mis­cel­la­neous links.

• Via Dilip, the epic struggle between an animation and its animator.

• Sparky gets himself tasered. De­lib­er­ate­ly. Geesh!

• We at Cozi partnered with Whirlpool to produce an edition of the Cozi software running on a fridge. It has been demon­strat­ed at this year's CES (Consumer Elec­tron­ics Show), where it's getting favorable reviews. Dory Devlin likes it. Watch Walt Mossberg talk about it too.

DCI Jack Spratt runs the Nursery Crimes Division of the Reading, Berks police. In­ves­tiga­tive reporter Goldilocks is found dead, after last being seen at the three bears' house. The Gin­ger­bread­man, a 7-foot psy­cho­path­ic cake, is rampaging around, randomly killing people. Punch and Judy have moved in next door: when they're not beating each other up, they're very good marriage coun­sel­lors. And enormous cucumbers are exploding under mysterious cir­cum­stances.

An extremely bizarre story, replete with puns, nursery rhymes, literary allusions, and shaggy dog stories.

En­ter­tain­ing, if silly.

Another book featuring Serge A. Storms, the almost-likable serial killer and amateur historian of Florida.

Serge, his coke-addict, stripper girlfriend, Sharon, and his stoner sidekick, Coleman, rent a house on Trig­ger­fish Lane, Tampa. Their landlord is trying to drive out the few remaining homeowners on the block, so that he can bulldoze it for condos.

It's quite the neigh­bor­hood. a former mil­lion­aire who likes to test-drive expensive cars; the psychotic Little League coach with a pit bull; the student party house; the South American death squad guy in hiding; and Jim Davenport, …continue.