"My newest work simulates sitting at home alone playing through a Fighting Fantasy book. I call it The No Girlfriend Experience."

So you're saying Ben and Glory Obi-Wan are connected somehow?

Beyond the central idea, there were a couple of things I found memorable:

And the short-lived spinoff: My Big Fat Kashyyyk Life Day

…I'll allow it, but you're on thin ice, counselor. I won't have this trial-by-football-match turned into something farcical.

Well, prepare to have your presumptions challenged by My McKenzie Friend Vinny!

[video starts]

Oblig. Beaton: http://www.harkavagrant.com…

And Staples model SPL-BXC152A as Shredder!

Suspect that, like the UK programme, it's named after the missile, which is also used (indeed built) by the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wi…

"written by… Law & Order alum David Wilcox."

Agree that it would have been better for the Council to have addressed it.

I dislike most of the pat explanations for why they couldn't use the Eagles (especially, as you say, for at least speeding up part of the journey), but think there's a reasonably plausible one that flying things are a lot more conspicuous to Sauron.

I don't think it was just a digression in Reamde though - seemed like he really wanted to write a plot where events in the virtual world were just as important and tension-building as the corresponding plot in the real world. But failed pretty badly in pulling it off (I like Stephenson, but consider Reamde one his…

… with blackjack! And hookers! And if you watch it too long you turn into a donkey!

If you're going to do this kind of thing then you should really have a 7th, very important business dinner arranged with your boss, and a wacky series of table-hopping, outfit-changing near-misses.

Presumably later on you stay together for the sake of the kids, and their need for braces.

Having (only) watched a few episodes of the UK series (i.e. none of the US), I did find Ramsay always dropping the same menu on them was kind of a thing there as well. Was more interested in the episodes where that wasn't the supposed "solution", like where the chef was already doing very good and interesting things…

Breaker breaker one-nine, got a thin thirsty plasma sipper invite-hunting on the back row over.

1997 - launch of the not-great-but-slightly-underrated Disney Hercules. With Pocahontas and Hunchback doing worse than expectations the shine was a bit off the 90s Disney renaissance by this point, and Hercules is too uneven to break that trend. But it has an interesting art design (courtesy of Gerald Scarfe), an…