Their thing: This has nothing to do with comics, but is anyone else following the weekly back-and-forth about The Sopranos at Slate.com between mob writers Jerry Capeci and Jeffrey Goldberg? Every Monday, they exchange emails about the previous night's episode, but the discussion quickly turns to funny mob anecdotes, an examination of gangster morality, and even a dissection of FBI grammar:

"Why does the federal government insist on referring to the mob as the LCN, i.e., La Cosa Nostra? Doesn't La Cosa Nostra translate as 'The Our Thing'? So wouldn't 'The LCN,' a designation which turns up in indictments regularly, translate as 'The The Our Thing'? Enlighten me, please."

Through their discussions, Capeci and Goldberg help to pinpoint why mob stories appeal to so many people (including me):

"... [W]hat is really interesting about mobsters, to me and I suspect to others, is that they get to live a fantasy life in which you can wake up at 1 in the afternoon, park wherever you want, wear track suits all day, eat heavily discounted food, and hurt people who annoy you. It's that transgressive quality that makes them so appealing. Also, their nicknames. Ridiculous nicknames make mob reporting fun. (I believe that the introduction of the street names 'Big Pussy' and 'Little Pussy' in the first couple of episodes of The Sopranos is what actually signaled to curious HBO watchers that something unusual and clever was happening here.)"

Go here for the Week 1 conversation. Week 2 starts here. It's good stuff.