Me too, especially since Creed seems to not be getting any lines lately.

Great Expectations IS a great soundtrack.  Love Sunshower.

Agreed.  Soooo fucking funny that I literally laughed out loud like four or five times.  Well done, Mr. Teti.  Glad to have you back.

I am SOOOO glad they didn't get rid of The Sucklord tonight. He really should have gone home, but I really want to say Sucklord at least 20 more times in the next few months, and I won't have that excuse unless The Sucklord is still on this show.

I always loved this paring, as well:

Never forget!!11!!11!!!

My favorite album of hers keeps changing.  For the longest time, it was Under the Pink, and then Boys for Pele.  Scarlett's Walk may be my favorite now.  She seemed to finally just settle in to writing great songs - sort of the payoff of years of experimentation.

I love how unapologetically insane Zeek (Zeke?) gets around Seth.

I agree, Reality of My Surroundings is my favorite of theirs - so eclectic and odd, but still ridiculously listenable.  I occasionally put songs from that album on mixes I play at my weekly poker game, and I always get a "who is this cool shit?" from a friend when Sunless Saturday or Pray to the Junkiemaker comes on. …

Minivan's be the bomb, yo!  Automatic sliding doors, bucket seats in the back, and a muthafuckin' DVD playa, Playa!

I felt the same way with both of them as well.  A girlfriend in college recommended I read Foucault's Pendulum, and it completely blew my mind. I then checked out The Name of the Rose and The Island of the Day Before (both were great, but not as great as FP).

I'm a huge Eco fan, especially Foucault's Pendulum.  I heard recently that he has a new one coming out soon.  Brilliant author.

I think it's the opposite - I think he thinks very highly of his readers and has high expectations for them and their ability to comprehend ideas and get the occasional joke.  

Obviously we all bring our own prejudices with us when viewing any piece of art.  I just never focused on the politics of his books to the degree that you obviously have.  Politics seem more like setting than plot or thesis in most of his works, but that's probably my own bias at work.

Well, I'm glad you didn't let your personal biases color your perceptions of his work.  

I enjoyed Zodiac, it's just so much smaller (in size, scope and ideas) than the rest of his stuff, that it's almost like it was by a different author.  Still fun and interesting, though.

Sort of, yes.  I hadn't thought of it that way before, but there are similarities.

I guess I don't really understand your criticism.  What "feminine" aspects of her character are missing that would have made her "fully-realized?"  I think that critique could be applied to MOST characters of most stories, ever.

It's a bit of a fusion of the two, honestly, with a more contemplative tone throughout most of it.  Sure, there are some big action set pieces, but most of the book takes place in the equivalent of a monastery, so the feel and pace reflects that to a large degree.  Amazing book, but I have yet to be disappointed by…

You can't go wrong with Diamond Age, either.  I think start with either of those two, get hooked, and then you'll be ready for Cryptonomicon (and then the Baroque Cycle and Anathem).