Similarly, melange prolongs life, lets you see into the future, awakens ancestral memories, etc. etc. In general I feel like "Dune" suffers from what I call the "one idea too many" syndrome.

I think nu-Who owes a lot more to the Eighth Doctor one-off movie than is generally thought. The way the climactic sequence intercuts with the New Year's Eve party, the lightness of tone with which the party is represented, and general aspects of the look and feel of the movie as a whole, lay the foundation for quite…

Ha! I wasn't trying to ruffle any feathers there. But I do think there are significant points of similarity.

Which book? I didn't mention one. I assume you mean "Atlas Shrugged," but she wrote a lot of them.

We're in agreement; see my use of the term "long-windedness" above. But it's also snappy, confident, and forceful. If it were *only* turgid it wouldn't persuade nearly as many as it has.

I believe a variant of this explains why Ayn Rand makes such a lasting impression on young readers. Her writing is Snappy! Confident! Forceful! Heinlein is similar. (And both, of course, also tended toward long-windedness: one senses that both were taken in by the "truthy" cadences of their own voices.)

The beauty of it is that it manages to look elegant and "elfin" without looking purely decorative and twee: it comes across as completely, bad-assedly functional.

Stephen Colbert?

And I cannot get enough of that elf armor.

I don't trust astronomers who have difficulty with numbers as high as the "thousands."

Agreed. This whole planet-definition debate has to be one of the most unnecessary controversies in history of astronomy. In time, when egos with less craving for media attention prevail, the more reasonable definition will also prevail. Big enough to be round? Orbiting a star? Planet.

Wonderful news!

Crass Assassin = band name.

You sound like you need some of the same meds the homeless people you're muttering about also need.

Answer: Nah.

A cat named Kane.

Outstanding! The pilot was excellent, and easily the most *faithful* Dick adaptation that's yet been made. (I was struck by how closely the pilot matched the way the book *felt* to me as a reader.) Great to see some really intelligent and perceptive adaptations of SF classics; hoping it's part of a trend.

My highly articulate response to this image is FUCK YEAH!

I'm reminded once again of a remark an ex of mine made after she saw an episode of Thunderbirds for the first time, featuring both the Tracy family and Lady Penelope. "So, International Rescue," she said. "It's like a joint US-British operation where the Americans provide the equipment and the Brits provide the class."

Glad to help!