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<I looked a few pages in and saw nothing similar, but we can merge this if there's a similar thread. Post a link and I'll humbly apologize> I finished Ender in Exile today, the ninth Orson Scott Card novel in the 'Ender-verse' that I've read in two years. Though they definitely suffer diminishing returns, I've been engrossed in them for a while. They are really strangely paced and conceived, the farther they get from the original, Ender's Game, and Card's religion (Mormonism) starts infiltrating the books little by little, which is fair enough as religion will exist in the distant future. And just two weeks ago, I finished the super-excellent Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond's engrossing argument that history can be studied scientifically, that individual human societies aren't really superior over one another so much as they developed in more rewarding areas of Earth, where they can develop immunities, share crops, develop trade, and much much more. A science theory book that is written very much in layman's terms, and a great read for anyone who likes the complexity and trajectory of human culture. One other book, I've got about 40 pages left of, is Emissaries of the Dead, a sci-fi novel that won the Philip K. Dick award last year. I've been a little bit more into genre work in the last year or two, since I bought Ender's Game, but I don't know that I love this. It seems like a pulp detective novel meshed with extreme sci-fi. The story is a murder mystery set in a moon-sized, hollow, cylindrical space station run by an independent AI intelligence that has created an eco-system for some vague scientific study, and the humans there are a sort of diplomatic study team. Interesting ideas, but I don't know if the plot pulls its own weight. Next, I'm starting on a Christmas gift I got, Steven Pinker's The Stuff of Thought, which is about how the brain structures and uses language to communicate ideas. Since I teach language for a living, and still am working on my second language, hopefully this is interesting. I know the community here leans toward genre stuff which is not my specialty, but I like hearing that people read those things, you know, books

While not everyone here has shown themselves to be the epitome of reason, I don't have any reason to question anybody's sanity. For now, I can't vote in good conscience.

Nice! Loved the video. I don't know how many people fit that special cross-section where Lego meets Richard D. James, but I'm part of it. I don't think the mini-fig is ugly enough to capture Windowlicker era Aphex, still I think you did a great job on this as a whole. Awesome and unexpected! Thanks.

I can't believe I'm even here! I wasn't even supposed to be working! To be stranded is one thing, but to be stranded with a murderer! At least we have our coast guard here, hopefully they can provide some stability here. btw, I'm Deborah, nice to meet you, but you may remember me from pouring your drinks and giving you your nuts only hours ago.

I had to pay rent. In university the money was fine, but after that, when I started full time and got promoted to department head, and was still dirt poor, I realized I had to quit (and so began my dark age!) I really wanted to work at Toys R Us. I never went there as a kid, my parents wouldn't take me,. I didn't want to work at a restaurant, too smelly. Not at a factory, too soul-crushing. The only other retail that would have been fun would be a record store, comic store, or video store.

well, I only started this thread since I got nostalgic about my first 'return from the dark' way back when, but the topic was really about working at TRU. I worked at three different stores, Whitby, Don Mills, and Dufferin Mall (featured in the above strip), all in Toronto or the suburbs of. A bizarre, fun time. But, maybe, it's time to update the strip... At the time, I was an urban hipster, spending all my cash on parties, clothes and recreational stuff, and sometimes I'd have chill outs at my apartment in the wee hours, where I'd show off my new Star Wars Lego and say things like, "I know it's not cool, but, well, it's absolutely awesome!" Some of those people are still my friend and some aren't, so who knows what they thought. I was convinced it was awesome. I ended up quitting Toys R Us when I couldn't buy new shoes. Enough was enough. But it was a great job to work when you were in that 'less than $10/hour' bracket. I worked about three Christmas night crews too, October to December, five nights a week, stocking shelves for your Christmas joy. I used to do elaborate displays with overstock until I got reprimanded for it... I made a model Star Destroyer out of Puzz-3D Star Destroyer sets. My manager said customers would be afraid to take boxes out of it, and had to make it into a simple cube of sorts. Good times, good times. @Siegfried, I play a mean sudoku too

Yes. Though I wasn't even supposed to be working on that damn flight, the sooner this 'game' gets started, the sooner I might get myself of this island!

My current hero, Charlie Brooker helps dissect the new Doctor Who on You Have Been Watching, a BBC talking head show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf-AiDwI_LU Not as good as Brooker's uber-excellent Screenwipe, but maybe of interest to some here.

I enjoyed this one most so far. It was a bit camp, but Doctor Who has always had a bit of camp. The Doctor is getting into his role a lot more too. Nobody can be a cute and stylish as David Tennant, but he's doing a solid job. Maybe I'll even stick through the whole season

Actually, I think that's ridiculous. That's a blatant gouge. Same as the last $30 OS update (10.6) that just made old software incompatible. Some of their business practices, I really don't get I guess that's what they do when they can. Their stock is high these days.

I added to the request list: "More variety of historical themes (Ancient Greece, medieval Japan, Aztec, etc)" Fingers crossed for 2012!

But that's the same with PC people too. Most people I know are afraid to do anything with their computer, technically. My manager's laptop broke, and she asked me if I could fix it. I asked what was wrong, and what she'd tried. She had no idea and tried nothing. She was terrified to touch it at all. That's the average computer user. Like me with a broken refrigerator. I wouldn't even try.

I was a rave-punk at age 23, spiky hair and baggy pants and all. I worked at Toys R Us since I considered all work Hell, but I was really happy to get the job at age 18. I really didn't apply anywhere else. I wanted work to at least be ridiculous. Thanks for mentioning American Splendor. I've only read a fraction of Pekar's stuff, but I really like it. I've done more auto-biographical stuff than this, but it's not online... too telling! There's a really great balance where you can write about yourself without being gut-wrenchingly personal, and not being ego-stroking either, and I was never very good at it, but this strip walked that fine line. Believe it or not, all the staff talked about was sex. Everyone was 18-25. At my job now, nobody talks about sex, except when out drinking. But at Toys R Us, everyone's mind was in the gutter.

A large part of the reason I'm a Lego collector today is that I worked at Toys R Us through most of the late 90s, about five years or so. I moved up in the ranks a little (and got to visit their Canadian head office a few times) but ultimately the pay was terrible unless you were the head of the store. At the time I was a university student, studying post modernism, art history, sociology, etc. and I was really offended by the concept of the store (the gender programming and the manipulation of children) but also uplifted that a lot of kids couldn't care less. Anyway, here was a little ditty I drew to 'express' myself about my time there. This was back when I was young and handsome-ish. The Lego shoutout is in the 4th panel. I'm just posting this as I was remembering my first return from my dark ages...

Hot Chip - One Life Stand Really really smooth, and a very surprising video

yessss. Mac does them both naturally. A lot of the Windows/Mac debates are really based on what was going on with the systems 10 years ago, and not accurate today. Few people have the time and money to be up to date on both. Personally, I hate Windows XP, but I've heard all the complaints I have are solved in Vista. But I don't personally know anyone with Vista and my work won't be upgrading their computers until they absolutely have to, maybe in 2020, so I'm still pretty sick of Windows. In the same way, a lot of the Mac complaints I hear are rooted in OS 9 or 10.1, but an Intel Mac on 10.5 is awesome. If you're going to be like that Why discuss what the systems do with only their "core ability"? Your Windows is really the same as you got it out of the box? No software you need to pay extra for? I realize you hate Macs, but you're stretching it really far here. It's true though, Macs don't come with Minesweeper and solitaire out of the box, in that area, Windows is the winner

I hear this a lot, but I never quite get it. I am fairly techy (I cracked open my iMac and swapped out my harddrive by myself) and as far as I know, there's few things a PC can do that a Mac can't. Jim, you know Mac's can run Windows, right? Actually, the only thing I know that PCs easily do is offer DIY versions, which is against Mac policy. But maybe that's Dells and IBMs policy too. Anyway, hardcore Mac users know how to tweak their systems, you just need a screwdriver. For more info, Google 'hackintosh'

that's the whole concept of this or that. I have until this Friday to decide, but I think PoP is the better pick. Newness gives me a better buzz.

It is pretty similar, thanks. Some friendly admin can feel free to merge them at their leisure if they are judged to be too similar; I'd never read that one before Thanks for these posts The current PoP month has certainly tweaked my previous buying trajectory.

Rules of this thread. 1) No regrets, it's Lego, there is no wrong decision, just more or less wise ones. 2) There will only be two options. 3) The price points will be comparable. I get paid next week, and I have some spare cash. I will buy either 8038, The Battle of Endor, or 7573, Battle of Alamut. On the one hand, 8038: 120,000 yen. amazing mini-figures, new speeder bikes, and it's near a year old, so it will probably be unavailable soon. On the other, 7573: 92,000 yen. Wicked new pieces, Eurobricks amazing contest going on that would be much easier with a PoP set in hand, and it's utterly new which is one of the biggest treats with Lego. It will genuinely be less fun a month or two from now. I will be buying them both (fingers crossed) within a few months, so this is a question of urgency. Feel free to post your own such urgent questions.

I'm all for plurality and differences of opinion. Awesomebrick, can you tell us what sets your forum apart from other Lego forums?

I'd like a copy of this, but I'm generally over my love of minis (meaning I don't hunt them down in auctions), but this is still pretty sharp looking. Thanks.

I'm nin-plussed. Which was a typo, but it's one of those rare cases where a typo made what I was typing much more interesting than what I'd meant. Don't know who did it, but I'd suspect Svelte to have the sense of humour to find it funny. I'd be happy if this tag never changed, it's befuddling enough.

Welcome to Eurobricks! I hope you have a long and pleasant time bricking

Looking forward to your work! Welcome to Eurobricks!