@Annalee Newitz: ...mummy, the lady's scaring me.

Annalee, two* things disturb me about the title of this article:

Half of Grant Morrison's protagonists are thinly-veiled versions of himself - King Mob/Gideon Stargrave (The Invisibles) and Greg Feely (The Filth) are obvious examples.

@Oasx: I think it would be fair to say he's moved forward and back. The two previous books and this one seem to be Gibson rooting his cyberpunk stories into the present.

Ahh, I miss the old school Mondas Cybermen, gold-dust allergy and all.

@Grey_Area: Damn right - if it ain't offal, I ain't eating.

How about a syfy mini series? Kevin Sorbo's been low on work recently - and Jimmy Smits.

@Grey_Area: Standing? I'm lying in my tent in my sleeping bag eating corn chips (that's what you Americans eat, isn't it?) with Richard and Johann Strauss playing on a loop over my iPod.

@Starlionblue: OK, let's not split hairs. In my first post I think I'm in the right, seeing as it was referring to a BBC programme which will, I presume, be seen in Northern Ireland.

With Margaret Atwood's on/off again relationship with the term "sci-fi"; Ian Banks dropping the "M" for his latest work and your involvement in the New Weird I'm just wondering where (and if) you'd pigeonhole yourself.

@Hotscot: I'm always amused in some countries where they guess I'm English initially and then are really apologetic when I tell them I'm a Scot.

@Starlionblue: It really, really is - thanks to the Act of Union in 1801. UK is an abbreviation of "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"

@Charlie Jane Anders: Technically, you win, but morally I win more ;)

Charlie, I love you but... for the love of god, it's the British Broadcasting Company, so please don't say "On Tuesday in England". There's the whole of Scotland plus Wales and Northern Ireland in that too, you know?

Late to the party, alas, so apologies if anything I ramble on about has been covered down thread.

@Gimmi Mørgäikkönën: They're raised sarcastically. I think you may have missed the joke in that one. Notice her flag?

@RalOberon: At one point the character who fought both at the first battle and Hope says he had a comrade who looked exactly like Michael Stipe but would never confirm it.

@RalOberon: Michael Stipe, too.

I'll need to track this one down - The Good Fairies of New York and Lux the Poet are uneven but sweet-natured and farcical fantasy which I kinda dug.

@annettehurst: Not entirely dissimilar to Anansi Boys and Neverwhere either.