What is there really to do? This is the real world, not SF. Humanity isn't going to colonize space — ever. There is nowhere in the solar system capable of supporting humans other than Earth, and while there could be exoplanets light years away that could, without FTL travel (which is, you know, kind of impossible…

Presumably it matters to the Chinese or Indians, or they wouldn't be spending all this money and effort to replicate what the US and Soviets did 40-50 years ago.

Yes, this is the essence of what is called "cosmic horror" — the realization that everything we humans hold dear really isn't applicable to the universe at large.

But hopefully there will be a warlord with an awesome name like "The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla" roaming the wasteland, so it all evens out.

I'm a bit older than most posters here, being in grade school in the 1970s, but doesn't anyone remember "Free to Be You and Me"? That was shown practically yearly in school.

But what about the third Olsen triplet, Ethel?

Well, McCourt did grow up in Ireland so he isn't quite the same as "Irish-Americans" that never set foot in the country, but he certainly did have a part in making being Irish-American a cool, poverty-stricken backstory. I was just in Limerick (McCourt's home in Ireland) last month and the locals are still a bit…

But don't the white guys do exactly the same thing — "Italian-Americans" who don't speak a word of Italian but somehow still think they are part of that culture or the millions of Americans who consider themselves "Irish"?

Yeah, although Tan has been riding on the laurels of "Joy Luck" for a bit too long, it was touching how the characters (and the readers) learned about what their Chinese parents' generation suffered through. It seems cliched now, but back then everybody knew what people suffered through in Europe because of WWII and…

Yeah — that's the whole thing with pods/robots replacing humans leading to a better world — *we* don't get to enjoy it, just things that look like us.

No — the real masterpiece is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watc…

Yeah, but Louisiana really is different in that its laws are actually based on the Napoleonic Code rather than English Common Law as in the rest of the states. Legally, the place is practically another country.

It's also a bit creepy given that apparently Kuralt *was* a womanizer, and even had a whole hidden second family with a woman he met for a story.

Season 1 of "The Simpsons" isn't really the same show as the rest, but it has its moments — mostly due to Albert Brooks. His French bowling instructor and Texan-ish RV salesman are hilarious — they just don't seem to be very "Simpsonish".

Heck, the whole anti-hero genre is basically a riff off of Richard III. "House of Cards" even more so because all the soliloquies that Urquhart/Underwood give the audience basically saying "Now look at this really evil thing that I'm about to do"

Well, *virtual* water cooler shows, certainly. No show or hobby is so obscure not to have Internet discussion. But real water cooler shows at work? Not so much. Even really popular cable shows like "Breaking Bad" aren't really that popular in the big scheme of things like network shows were in their prime. I made a…

The funny thing is because of Anglophilia, even the shoddy type of BBC/ITV shows are held in great esteem as being "cultural" in the US when we get to see them on public television or cable purely because they are British.

Yeah, I'm a biologist, not a mathematician (dammit Jim), but I did think GWH did a good job of academia — and there *are* these prodigies that come from basically nowhere — self taught people from rural Canada and places like that, so Matt's character is actually not that unrealistic.

Yeah — and the box art as well, which often was misleading in regard to B-movies, making them seem more interesting and/or sexually explicit than they really were.

E.Buzz Miller:
I don't see how your "carrot on a stick" idea in any way contradicts what I said — the afterlife is only an effective carrot (for comfort or control) if people fear death.