Better, in my opinion.

Boris' run in the 2000s was fantastic, including Heavy Rocks, Akuma no Uta, Pink, and Smile. Very much deserved to be chosen for "B".

I will always go to bat for that record as a solid bunch of power pop guitar rock songs. A great summer album.

Since everyone is (rightly) giving tons of love to The Lonesome Crowded West, I'll give a shout-out to "The Whale Song" as one of the best post-TM&A songs the band has put out.

You really need to watch it, ASAP.

The "Somebody's Calling Me" one was really overt but I never noticed any of these other ones, which is extra surprising now that I listen to "White Light/White Heat" again.

I think he meant that about the whole "loud quiet loud" dynamic in general.

Remus killed his wife in the gazebo where years later I proposed to my own then-girlfriend. Kinda wish I'd known that bit of history at the time.

I never would have guessed a bunch of Scots could easily blend into a crowd in Indonesia.

Unknown Road by Pennywise. Could be worse, I guess.

Don't worry, it will still be awesome. Plus, Cave can and will climb around on the seats.

TV: Les Revenants, The West Wing (s1), NewsRadio (s1-2), The Thick of It, The Sopranos (s4-6), Carl Sagan's Cosmos, and finished Cowboy Bebop.

Yeah, saying it's great whether you love soccer or not is an exaggeration, but I've definitely seen it draw in people who were only mildly interested in the sport.

I both cheer for Palace and just listened to that episode on SYMIHC a couple days ago! Before last season started, I decided I was going to pick a club, and instead of jumping on the bandwagon of one of the rich, popular clubs, I wanted to pick a team scrapping for survival. How could I not support a newly-promoted…

I am absolutely a Rog.

Tickled pink to see Men In Blazers mentioned. It's a great pod, whether you love football/soccer or not.

I think these have all been mentioned already, but oh well:

Yeah I've been slowly working my way through them the last couple years. A year or two ago I started with Tinker Tailor…, and this year it was A Most Wanted Man (read before the movie came out) and TSWCIFTC. Next year I'm planning on A Perfect Spy and maybe The Honourable Schoolboy (although I may have to read one of…

The Quiet American and The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. Both were fantastic. I also finally read John Keegan's The First World War, which was also very good. Well done - if not the most accessible - one-volume take on the war.

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown