Fantastic! If I was the Doctor I'd visit Burning Man. probably one after the other in a series of quick hops.

This was very much a major part of the plot of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series.

These pictures reminded me of what I imagined Underhill to look like.

The Martha/Mickey thing was an insult to both characters. I like Martha a lot more then Rose, but obviously RTD didn't.

I've been saying that for years; stop remaking great movies and instead remake ones that had the potential to be great but were botched via bad acting, direction, whatever.

Interesting points, all. In any case I'm not sure if telepathy is possible, though I did see some recent news regarding computer assisted muscle control (via a research experiment involving the internet): that whole thing reminded me that some stones should really be left unturned, but that's not the way people work.

Thank you very much! I'll have a look for Perdido Street Station.

I haven't read any Mieville, but would like to. I was wondering what's a good one to start with?

It doesn't matter that it's got elements of SF, fantasy, psychological thriller, romance, etc: it's a brilliant book one way or the other.

"But one person only mildly in like and one person desperately in love? That's a recipe for disaster."

That's one of the things about telepathy that's always given me the creeps, that homogenization of thought, and individuality. I find it interesting that for all its power mind reading is such a taboo in The Culture. It's one of the many things I like about that society. Because thoughts and actions are two very…

That's an interesting point, isn't it? I imagine people would still have a base language or two, learned the old fashioned way. I can't remember exactly, but I think in one of the books it's stated that neural laces aren't implanted until young adulthood (and some people refuse them outright). So much of our thought…

Sarah does win, but what a cost!

When your past comes back to haunt you...

I love Simon Pegg, he's a hero to geeks everywhere.

Oh yes, the potential applications seem endless. I imagine, for example, foreign languages would be much easier to pick up on. That alone would make it so worth it. I'm English but live in a place that's mostly French, and due to my ADD and other issues am to this day struggling with it.

I've got serious Dr Who withdrawal myself. The BBC is playing a dangerous game here. While people like myself will never stop watching, I can imagine a lot of people just giving up because the show is on TV so rarely these days. And the fact that we've had so little new Who on the 50th anniversary is a disgrace. They…

As long as it's not terribly abused, as in Surface Detail.

Yeah I'd say that's fair (though I thought tom Hardy's character was quite good in Inception). He does need to humanize his characters a bit more, especially the female ones, but what I appreciate about his work is that no matter how big of a spectacle it is, and no matter how complex, I never feel lost as a viewer,…

Exactly, especially the bit about budget. Sadly you'd think a huge budget could make something fantastic ( and sometimes it does), but it seems the opposite is usually true: directors get distracted by all the flash they can throw at the screen, and execs interfere more, imposing their vision of what they think the…