Slavoj Zizek rejects the expectation of voluntary servitude embedded in your intellectual cynicism, obviating and thereby perverting your discursive construction of otherness.

Thomas Pynchon - Man of Mystery
Excerpts from the TP - MoM Timeline:

Many thanks to both you and @avclub-e0b2ce3685c37ff452b211bd8b6b1b5c:disqus. The connection to Novaya Zemlya was a real forehead-slapper. ("Of course. What's 'north' of Greenland?")

Just in case you check this thread, I think you may be mistaken about Pale Fire tying in with Ruritania. The fictional country mentioned in the novel is called Zembla. The name "Zembla" could allude to the town of "Zenda," which is in Ruritania, but according to Wikipedia that's not the case. It's actually a…

Terrorist jokes aren't funny.

I like it, but we've got to use a bracket system; it's the only scientifically valid method for ranking things that are fundamentally incomparable.

Yeah, that's experiments for you. Sometimes you get a vaccine for polio, sometimes you get an alkaline cloud that burns your face off. Live and learn.

Seriously, though, why not split the competition into comedy and drama categories? This would allow for more focused discussions of what constitutes excellence in each genre, while also cutting down on the relentless griping about pointless apples-to-oranges comparisons that's bedeviled this feature from the start.

I try to be open-minded, and I'd honestly like to say that I'll give Squidbillies another shot, but there's just no way in hell. That show is like nails on a fucking blackboard to me, and try as I might I'll never understand why anyone likes it. That's not to say there's nothing there to like, just that I can't for…

You can watch the entire first season for free on adultswim.com. This is great, since it really deserves to be seen in order.

Like I said, it's poignant, but I was much less impressed with the emotional arc of "Rixty Minutes" than I have been with other episodes. Eliminate the sci-fi trappings and it's basically a grass-is-always-greener story about people taking each other for granted and pining for what could've been, only to be reminded…

I liked it too, but I was very surprised to see "Rixty Minutes" get picked over "Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind".

Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Squidbillies.

I didn't get it either, but I do remember thinking Aslan's magical return was cheap and gimmicky, like CS Lewis had just used the whole wrenching death scene to gin up some pathos and now here he was trying to shoehorn the character back in so he could have it both ways.

*straps victim to table, stuffs rag in mouth*

Speaking of lessons in the horrors of war, am I the only one wondering why you'd waterboard someone with lemonade and iodized salt? I suppose lemonade would work just as well as water, but why make it salty? And, for that matter, why not just use water?

Invisible Cities is awesome, but its lack of a conventional narrative and snowballing surrealism makes it a little difficult to follow (see also: The Castle of Crossed Destinies); though if you made it through Winter's Night you probably won't have much trouble with it.
Even so, I'd suggest going with The Baron in the…

Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. It's terribly beautiful and utterly heartbreaking.

Brand Upon the Brian!

In a way it definitely will. Being "rich" is a relative state, like being "tall" or "fat", and as with other relateive states people judge their condition based on community norms and expectations. So yes, if people say you're rich and you believe them, then rich is what you are.  Conversely, if you're considered poor…