Well there's a series called Hikaru no Go about a *guy* that learned Go from *a* ghost. As lame as it sounds, and it sounds incredibly lame, it's a pretty enthralling series.

Agreed, Death Note is a good gateway drug. It doesn't hurt that it's also very well drawn.

Naoki Urasawa
I'd also recommend Monster by Naoki Urasawa. It's an awesome anime/manga that's also very friendly to Western sensibilities (it's set in Germany but the main character is Japanese).

I'm shocked I say!

@silly buns
man, I always love it when someone brings up that first quote

Musicals
I had almost no exposure to musicals when I was a kid except through the Simpsons - which lead me to believe that all musicals are a fucking joke. Further exposure to them and their fans hasn't done anything to dissuade me from thinking that most musicals suck.

alt-text
Is there alt-text anymore or is that just my computer being fucked up?

I completely agree. Whenever I thought about the Dark Knight before seeing it I had an immediate reaction of Dark Knight = Heath Ledger. The fact that I managed to forget that he was playing the role really showed the depth of his performance.

Fuck - Neruda and Murakami mentioned in the same context is about as good as it gets. They are definitely my favourite authors. And to think that I was talking about Murakami on AV Club yesterday.

Secret Garden is even worse when it's the version that's interspersed with Jerry MacGuire soundclips
Otherwise, all hail Springsteen

Anything by Cat Stevens

I'm so nostalgic about turning down Richie Benaud's commentary and turning on ABC radio.

due South is fucking awesome given its ridiculous premise

Youtube fucking sucks. Once time posted a relatively harmless comment about the semantics of the illegal immigrant debate (whether you can even have a proper debate with terms like 'illegal alien') and this troll sent me a dozen comments on how I'm a fucking liberal loser who lost her husband his job and a whole bunch…

Man, stomach problems fucking suck. I can't remember a day without a stomach ache.

Take him away toys!