John Mahoney from Frasier would make a fantastic Hinzelman.

Fair enough and, just for the record, I'm not saying a white actor would be a better choice necessarily.

Which I guess means he could be played by a white actor, then?

Rip Torn, if they could keep him sober for long enough.

Shadow's mum isn't white, but his dad most certainly is. I guess that means Shadow would be somewhere in between...

No offence to Zelu intended, but I was so relieved when I realised the illustrations had nothing to do with whatever Tom Hanks is doing. I don't need a sub-Studio Ghibli adaptation, thanks.

Spoiler for Mieville's Embassytown here:

Heh - well, technically Frisians come from all over - Holland, Denmark and Germany, so I could always claim my lineage comes from Harold Bluetooth?

First (Hebrew): Beloved

I wonder who won the sweepstake for this being announced? A health professional specialising in cancer and their causes or a lobbyist charged with keeping this under wraps for as long as humanly possible? My money's on the healthcare worker - there's no way telecommunications companies wanted this out any time soon.

Well, you could always rent out my panic room - lead-lined to deal with nuclear fallout with a coating of asbestos to prevent fire... oh. Hang on...

Nessie's flipper, apparently.

Must. Try. Harder.

I like that, in the Dune film, the Atriedes and Harkonnens only seem to be sitting with their own houses.

Meh. Not really working for me. Don't get me wrong, anything with art by Cameron Stewart is going to look pretty, but girls and pop culture references can only do so much to substitute for a lame plot.

Quick thought - doesn't this look familiar?

He was but, as he told the Doctor two episodes back, he can still (sometimes) remember the whole 2000 years. That's going to affect you in a major way, I would have thought.

How about Jessica Fletcher herself - Angela Lansbury as the grandmother in A Company of Wolves?