Murakami is kinda like ZZ Top - there's a certain sameness to most of his stuff, but if you like that sound, it's just fine. And 1Q84 was a bit uneven, but the middle of volume 2 was some of the most propulsive stuff he's written.

I wasn't following his career, so I was happy to rediscover him when they featured Mondo Bongo prominently in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I drove some friends crazy with a Mescaleros playlist on a long road trip.

The only Hill I've read is NOS4A2, and I loved his writing, but I got so angry at the characters about a third of the way through that I stopped reading it. I'll go back and finish it, though, when I find a copy on sale somewhere.

I seriously considered adding Victor Hugo to the list, although I've never read him in French. All of the digressive stuff that gets cut in the condensed versions of Les Miserables is full of terrific writing. Paris Atomized has such a beautiful flow, and is so wonderfully expressive, that it's almost criminal that…

Definitely. It was just downright evil. If he'd drowned a puppy, it still wouldn't have topped it.

Neal Stephenson's early stuff was great, but I almost literally could not put Snow Crash down - I started it, and whenever I had to get up to do anything else, I'd stick my finer in the closed book so I could start again while waiting for elevators, meetings to start or anything else that gave me a moment or two to…

I was seriously bummed when Banks passed away - the worst of his books were just 'good', and his best were transcendent.

SPOILERY
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Forget Boomer shooting Adama - I was blown away when Baltar suggested that she ought to shoot herself. It seemed like he was going to fake some compassion, but that was just cold.

No worries. I'm just busting your chops.

"That's where I remember her being so sexy."? Dude, she was sexy just about everywhere. If nothing else, that voice. . . .

Lone Star is one of my absolute favorite movies. She and Cooper were terrific.

I was a late bloomer!

Oh, I gave a few cheerleaders the ol' Chestburster, if you know what I mean.

You also recover health faster if you eat lunch there.

This sounds like high school all over again . . .

This happened on my birthday, and we were watching it before the whole cake thing. It's one of the few game I actually remember watching.

I finally caught up on the first three episodes - I hate the Montoya / Barbara arc. I feel like people would have screaming fits about the misogyny of the show if Montoya was a male character - everything she does is horrible.

For a nice, hang-out sort of show, B- seems fair. From what I saw of it (through about mid-season), it was funny but never hilarious. FWIW, I would have given the latest season of Archer a B, and it was more consistently funny, just not as good as some other seasons.

I'll have to try it that way the next time I do it. Have to change up the chorus a bit but it'll be a nice change of pace!

Sorry, but no - I moved to Texas in July. Wish I could be there with you all, though!