It’s titled Your Emoticons Won’t Save You, and it comes out in a variety of electronic formats this week. My congrats to Ethan; I know he poured a lot of himself into writing this book. But then, that’s how he does things. Read on for a description and a link.

Here’s the book’s official description:

Somewhere where A Catcher in the Rye meets Stand By Me, Your Emoticons Won’t Save You is at once a tender coming of age story and a homage to male friendship. Nichtern’s hero, Alex Bardo, is witty, heartbroken, and lost. Going on 21, he is more interested in being the CEO of the Wannabe Poet’s Brigade than in his expensive education. Trying to find his way in the world after a debaucherous and painful summer in 1998 with his hyper-intellectual, trés annoying best friend Gabe, he sets out on a road trip to their childhood summer camp. Grabbing shotgun for the trip are his old camp friends, now all grown-up (sort of): Gideon the Player, Anthony the Traveling Man, and Lucas the Patron of Playtime. Alex is a true seeker and only a partial f-ck up: seeking spiritual aspirin to treat his perpetual hangover, seeking love, and seeking a mystical place called the “real world,” which does nothing but procrastinate on its arrival.

Click here for more info and to pre-order a signed print copy of Your Emoticons Won’t Save You. The electronic version will be available soon.

The “Pepper Spraying Cop” continues his beat across the internet. You’ll find some of his many tragicomic manifestations at his new, dedicated Tumblr, which includes a few more run-ins with religion, Eastern and Western.

The Rubin offers us the opportunity to “learn more about how prevailing perceptions of Tibet and the visual narrative evolved over time.” Their exhibit, Hero, Villain, Yeti: Tibet in Comics opens December 9, 2011. Click here for details. You’ll see comics discussed here on the Horse, like the Green Lama, plus much more like, Milarepa and Dalai Lama comics(!).

PS: Comics or not, The Rubin would be a must-see anyway!

The Tibetan-thangka-style art is one thing, but it doesn’t really get more metal than “Garland of Skulls,” does it?* (Queen Elphantine has dabbled in imagery from world religions and cultures, what with album titles like Surya and Kailash, and song titles like “Search for the Deathless State.” And you can download their record, Yatra (as in the Hindu term for “pilgrimage”) for free here.)

Hear the slow, dirgy, powerful track, “Potency,” from Garland of Skulls, here.

(See here for another recent — and recommended — Buddhism/metal crossover.)

* Note: I have dibs on the band name SkülCüp.

Visit the festival here, and read more about The Lady’s involvement here.

Really. You’ve GOT to see this. It’s apparently quite real. (Funny thing is I had a photo of the temple’s exterior as desktop photo for a while, having no idea what was in the inside, until now.)

And here’s some video of the exterior:

(Tip of the hat to Scott Mitchell.)

This month [Japan's Ryohoji] Temple unveiled its new “moe Buddhist [signboard],” [rendered in an animation-based style] combining modern and ancient art. [This development came about after the temple's chief priest, Shoko Nakazato] displayed a picture of “moe” outside the temple to welcome passers by. Moe is a traditional Japanese slang word often for a young girl, and associated with innocence, love and caring.

According to Shoko Nakazato, young people and the media have been flocking to the temple ever since. (The temple’s website takes a similar approach, also depicting and blending moe and Buddhist imagery.) But as one visitor told The Japan Times, “I’m afraid that the temple will end up being just a mecca for fans of manga and anime, which is probably not the temple’s intention.” As for the artist behind the sign? She says that while she “was initially worried she might be doing something ‘indiscreet,’” [she] concluded that even if the sign was controversial, it might lead people to visit the temple and think about religion.”

Well, you heard the man: You have GOT to watch it. (Not really, but I enjoyed it and you might too.)

Thanks, as always, Konchog.

I’m pretty sure you’ll be glad you did. And for more about Peter Rowan, visit his website.

(And: Happy Thanksgiving.)

I can’t look at this without laughing. No disrespect; I think that’s a good thing.