I've never really been one for putting booze in the stuff, but good God do I love a glass of egg nog. For best results, serve with way too much cinnamon on top and a mincemeat tart or two.

Grimes is so good. "Flesh Without Blood" is what got me hooked.

I've been rediscovering a love of jazz lately, and picked up John Coltrane's My Favorite Things.

I usually have to take my time with Dickens, but this last one took months. I just couldn't seem to get into a good rhythm with it.

I like the name, Dragon's Teeth. What's it about?

Historical fiction about the Bone Wars. It's a previously unpublished manuscript, so it's in need of some editing, but I'm digging it so far.

And what's the biography of the Buddha called?

I thought maybe I was forgetting a subtitle or something, but the book's just called Buddha.

I didn't realize the shark was CG. One less hour of my life to spend on TV, I guess.

The Strokes' "Last Nite" is the only song I've found that I sound decent singing. Once you've had enough to drink, the Julian Casablancas impression comes naturally.

I really haven't seen the spam that's got you so riled up. Care to share a few examples?

I found that first photo of the penguins very striking. It really gives you a sense of both the incredible beauty and the daunting conditions that Ballesta describes. Those penguins look so small and fragile.

I'll second Com Truise. He's got a really great atmospheric sound that I don`t hear in a lot of other synthwave music.

It never occurred to me to take notes on anything I'm reading for pleasure, but lately I've been thinking maybe I should. At least for non-fiction. I'm reading Gifts of the Crow at the moment and finding the neuroscience a little difficult to retain. Just the act of writing something down seems to help, even if I don't spend much reviewing.

Luft believes the results disrupt the notion of creativity, pointing out that the negative stimulation would not boost efforts in cases where individuals need to keep track of a number of different things at the same time. “It would be beneficial to think ‘what exactly do I need to be creative on this task’ rather than how to improve creativity in general,” she said.

I think this is one of the most important points of the results. Creative thinking and creative work are two different things, and this study does a good job of reminding us of the role that both reasoning and creative thinking play in creative work. Shutting off part of your brain can be great for solving individual tricky problems, but it's tough to take your ideas anywhere without that more logical, rule-following side.

Funny, I was about to say The Doors are underrated. It seems like popular opinion has really turned against them in the last few years.

Some atmospheric electronic music with a good beat:

Tunnelvisions - Tanami

The Black Madonna - A Jealous Heart Never Rests

... and some with no beat at all:

Isao - Tomita

I'd forgotten just how much I like Sleepy Sun, and "Seaquest" is really getting me pumped for the new album. Also got my cassette player working again just long enough to listen to an EP by The Abandos that I bought months ago.

I still haven't gotten around to the full album, but I had the singles on heavy rotation a couple summers ago. "Disciples" especially stuck with me.

Can't find a YouTube link, but I'm really digging the new Trans Am EP, California Hotel.

I picked up WarioWare Touched and played through the story mode this weekend. The demo was actually the first game in the series I played, back when the DS first came out. EB Games had it set up, and I completely forgot what I went in for. The two GBA installments are some of my favourite games on the console, and Touched doesn't disappoint.

As always, I've been playing a lot of NHL 2K10. With the right gameplay sliders, it's probably the best hockey sim I've played. I let up a little with a 4-2 lead last night and paid the price, having to finish the game in overtime. There are no shortcuts to victory, just as it should be.

I remember finding Arlo Guthrie's greatest hits album in among my parent's old cassettes when I was younger and immediately falling in love with this song.

"Everybody Wants To Rule the World" might be a perfect song.

I'll cast a vote for Golem xiv, just because I've been meaning to get around to reading some Lem. I'd also suggest some Bradbury, maybe one of the stories from The Martian Chronicles.

I'm interested in joining. It'll be good to have some people to discuss these things with.

I didn't get that from the article. What gave you that impression?

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much can be done. Our best option seems to be acknowledging how fallible memory is and changing how we rely on it, especially in criminal cases like Ramona v. Isabella.

What got me interested in the franchise as a whole was actually the much more recent series Casshern Sins, which is only very loosely based on the original series.

Casshan and Casshern Sins appeal to me in different ways. A lot of Casshan's appeal is simple entertainment. I like the way it looks and sounds, and I like seeing Casshan defeat the enemy of the week using his distinctive acrobatic fighting style.

But what really draws me to Casshan more than most series like it is the travelogue aspect of the show. I love seeing the effect that the conflict between Casshan and Andro Force has on civilians and how those civilians affect the conflict. It's not all that ambitious, but it makes Casshan more interesting than the average action anime.

I wish I'd thought to recommend Casshan, because I'm a big fan of the franchise as a whole. That said, I found the original series tough to get into at first too. But it's got fantastic sound design and manages to avoid getting monotonous by introducing sort of a travelogue-like feel. The fights, although they reuse a lot of animation, are kept really fresh too. If you do decide to continue, there are some great episodes later on.

Put yourself out there. Try to ignore that fear of rejection. You still have trouble believing this, but people like you more than you think.

You're going to miss the deadline to apply for your first choice of university. Don't worry about it. You choose one that wasn't even on your radar, and it makes you way happier than you would have been otherwise.

Try not to waste so much time. Do things that actually make you happy.

Things are going to be tough sometimes, and it might feel like they'll never get better. But you're here now, and that's what's important.

The Calgary Hitmen. I'm in sort of the same boat as you. I've been out of town for most of the last few years and always seemed to find out too late that the team passed through.

I'm in the middle of a commercial break right now, watching the local junior hockey team in the playoffs.

It's great that he's so interested. My dad and I used to camp on a corner of my grandfather's land, and we'd quite often see bats flitting around after dark.

I'd love to get a leopard gecko when I have the chance.