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Winter is (Almost) Here
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9PM EST, YOU BASTARDS AND WILDLING GOAT F**KERS!!! Hahahahahaha!





"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Ugh! Here we go again.

Dude: it's just a TV show. So lighten up, Francis. ;-)

Game of Thrones is bad — and bad for you





"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Sure, he could lighten up, but he's not wrong.

People tune in to see who will fuck, who will get killed in the most gruesome way, who will betray whom,...

It's not exactly high entertainment. It's pulp for the masses.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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slowguy wrote:
Sure, he could lighten up, but he's not wrong.

People tune in to see who will fuck, who will get killed in the most gruesome way, who will betray whom,...

It's not exactly high entertainment. It's pulp for the masses.

It's "popular culture," for sure. And popular culture has always appealed to the lowest-common denominator. But what's so bad about that?

Like most normals, I suspect, we all like raucous, escapist, thoroughly forgettable diversions from time to time. But I also think most of us have the intellectual capacity to discern between reality and entertainment. That seems a bridge too far for the article's writer, it seems to me.

At any rate, it's always good to start off a new season of GoT with a massacre, wot? ;-)




"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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It's "popular culture," for sure. And popular culture has always appealed to the lowest-common denominator. But what's so bad about that?

Popular culture doesn't always appeal to the lowest common denominator. It frequently does. I find it pretty hard to believe you don't have any idea why catering to the lowest common denominator might not be a good thing.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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I watched it once for about 15 minutes. Got bored and changed the channel. Right now I am interested in beautiful things.

They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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slowguy wrote:
Quote:
It's "popular culture," for sure. And popular culture has always appealed to the lowest-common denominator. But what's so bad about that?


Popular culture doesn't always appeal to the lowest common denominator. It frequently does. I find it pretty hard to believe you don't have any idea why catering to the lowest common denominator might not be a good thing.

You make some good points.

I guess I'm not so worried about popular culture because I believe most normal people -- having agency as a natural right -- can distinguish between reality and entertainment. I'm not so sure about the intelligentsia, however, if the writer's unctuousness is any indication.

Also, the popular culture horse has already left the barn and there's no way to get it back in short of a Cultural Revolution along the lines of what Mao and his henchmen tried to pull off.

Eh, I recall some pretty graphic depictions of "life" on various villa walls in ancient Pompeii and, earlier, on Greek amphora jars. Depictions that would fit in quite well with what the average teen can find on PornHub, from what I hear. Not that I would have any experience with that sort of stuff, of course.

Heck, it may even have been that both ancient Roman and Greek civilization died out because of the rot that their popular culture is said to have caused within their organizing foundations. Or it may have been something more prosaic, such as overextension of empire or even lead in Roman aqueducts. Who knows? But I'm comforted by the fact that we can still make educated guesses and pronouncements (I'm a fan of Gibbon, as far as the Roman empire goes), for certain.

Reality versus entertainment. It's been something we appear to have thought about for a few years, that much I can say for sure. ;-)

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Thoughts on the season premiere? (spoilers below for those who haven't watched yet)

Last night was definitely the table setter for the season although where they are doing fewer episodes seems that they have to rush things a bit rather than let them play out. Case in point -no sooner does Jon mention needing to find dragonglass do they cut to Sam reading about it at the Citadel and saying he needs to send word to Jon right away.

The cold open was good but as soon as they showed Walder Frey, my wife and I both said "That's Arya". I loved the dig that Euron got in at Jaime during his marriage proposal to Cersei where he mentioned "having two good hands" in addition to a fleet of ships.



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [Brian in MA] [ In reply to ]
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Brian in MA wrote:
Thoughts on the season premiere? (spoilers below for those who haven't watched yet)

Last night was definitely the table setter for the season although where they are doing fewer episodes seems that they have to rush things a bit rather than let them play out. Case in point -no sooner does Jon mention needing to find dragonglass do they cut to Sam reading about it at the Citadel and saying he needs to send word to Jon right away.

The cold open was good but as soon as they showed Walder Frey, my wife and I both said "That's Arya". I loved the dig that Euron got in at Jaime during his marriage proposal to Cersei where he mentioned "having two good hands" in addition to a fleet of ships.


Love how Arya is developing, can't wait to see if she gets Cersei, who knew the Hound had feelings...lol Good set up for the rest of the season so to quote Deanerys. Shall we begin?!!!
Last edited by: 50+: Jul 17, 17 12:35
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [50+] [ In reply to ]
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Does anyone else want to see Lady Mormont be queen of the seven Kingdoms?
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [davec] [ In reply to ]
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davec wrote:
Does anyone else want to see Lady Mormont be queen of the seven Kingdoms?

Yes.

I expected something to happen in that Ayra scene with the Lannister soldiers, but I guess all they wanted there was a scene with Ed Sheeran. There's only 6 eps left and 12 total, so this one felt like a bit of a waste of time.
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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I thought it was good. They tried to get a lot of different story lines in but I kind of expected that out of the first episode of this season.

"I think I've cracked the code. double letters are cheaters except for perfect squares (a, d, i, p and y). So Leddy isn't a cheater... "
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [bluemonkeytri] [ In reply to ]
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bluemonkeytri wrote:
davec wrote:
Does anyone else want to see Lady Mormont be queen of the seven Kingdoms?


Yes.

I expected something to happen in that Ayra scene with the Lannister soldiers, but I guess all they wanted there was a scene with Ed Sheeran. There's only 6 eps left and 12 total, so this one felt like a bit of a waste of time.


I think several of the episodes are supposed to run longer than the 55-57 minute average (as a couple did last season as well). I thought they also did nicely in examining the major and subsidiary storylines they have going (Jon and the Night King; Cersei and Jaime Lannister and King's Landing; Arya's quest and journey to King's Landing to kill Cersei, the Hound and his "journey"; Dany and Tyrion and their cohort and their arrival at Dragonstone; Samwell and his own quest and journey, Bran and Meera's arrival at the Wall and Castle Black, etc. etc.)

It was interesting to see where Jorah Mormont ended up for the time being. Didn't see that one coming. The spousal unit and I immediately got the whole Walder Frey thing (and a nice massacre it was ;-). No major surprises, but no major letdowns, either. As some of you have said; this episode seemed more like a set-up to the major set pieces to come. That's fine.

BTW: I think the actress that plays Yara Greyjoy also teased a major development recently, when she discussed the travail her character experiences vis a vis her loving uncle Euron -- who's really an arrogant bugger LOL! -- and the Iron Fleet he had built. Cersei kind of surprised with her strategy as regards Euron and that fleet of ships. Certainly, Jaime didn't consider such a possibility.

On a positive note, talk is that Theon Greyjoy returns to his pre-Ramsay Bolton days and becomes a much more vigorous supporter of his sister's expedition and alliance with Dany. That's good, because his constant brooding over loss of his um, um...you-know-what is becoming annoying. ;-)

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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big kahuna wrote:
It was interesting to see where Jorah Mormont ended up for the time being. Didn't see that one coming. The spousal unit and I immediately got the whole Walder Frey thing (and a nice massacre it was ;-). No major surprises, but no major letdowns, either. As some of you have said; this episode seemed more like a set-up to the major set pieces to come. That's fine.

When it first arose that Sam was going to become a Maester and go to the Citadel, my reaction was that he would find a cure for grayscale and he would run into Jorah.

One would think that they'd already have found it if it existed, though. On the third hand, the maesters don't seem as interested in solving real world problems as they are in "research."

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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klehner wrote:
big kahuna wrote:

It was interesting to see where Jorah Mormont ended up for the time being. Didn't see that one coming. The spousal unit and I immediately got the whole Walder Frey thing (and a nice massacre it was ;-). No major surprises, but no major letdowns, either. As some of you have said; this episode seemed more like a set-up to the major set pieces to come. That's fine.


When it first arose that Sam was going to become a Maester and go to the Citadel, my reaction was that he would find a cure for grayscale and he would run into Jorah.

One would think that they'd already have found it if it existed, though. On the third hand, the maesters don't seem as interested in solving real world problems as they are in "research."


It was good to see that Jim Broadbent (the archmaester) finally made it onto GoT. But his whole jag about how they've survived all the other upheavals in the past -- and that their quest for knowledge is more important than anything -- and that the Wall has always stood doesn't bode well. ;-)

As far as Jorah Mormont and his grayscale, I think I recall that the princess Shireen's grayscale was halted through the efforts of several maesters that her father Stannis had gathered together, so maybe there's hope for Mormont after all. Certainly, he deserves to catch a break after all he's gone through.

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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klehner wrote:
big kahuna wrote:

It was interesting to see where Jorah Mormont ended up for the time being. Didn't see that one coming. The spousal unit and I immediately got the whole Walder Frey thing (and a nice massacre it was ;-). No major surprises, but no major letdowns, either. As some of you have said; this episode seemed more like a set-up to the major set pieces to come. That's fine.


When it first arose that Sam was going to become a Maester and go to the Citadel, my reaction was that he would find a cure for grayscale and he would run into Jorah.

One would think that they'd already have found it if it existed, though. On the third hand, the maesters don't seem as interested in solving real world problems as they are in "research."

I kept expecting a reference to the holy shopping list of Leibowitz
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [bluemonkeytri] [ In reply to ]
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bluemonkeytri wrote:
davec wrote:
Does anyone else want to see Lady Mormont be queen of the seven Kingdoms?


Yes.

I expected something to happen in that Ayra scene with the Lannister soldiers, but I guess all they wanted there was a scene with Ed Sheeran. There's only 6 eps left and 12 total, so this one felt like a bit of a waste of time.

I actually liked that scene. It shows, at least for a moment, that she still has some humanity left and isn't just a killing machine. She could have easily killed all the soldiers and been on her way. But then she realizes they are just people trying to get by and not really her enemy so they can live.

I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [j p o] [ In reply to ]
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j p o wrote:
bluemonkeytri wrote:
davec wrote:
Does anyone else want to see Lady Mormont be queen of the seven Kingdoms?


Yes.

I expected something to happen in that Ayra scene with the Lannister soldiers, but I guess all they wanted there was a scene with Ed Sheeran. There's only 6 eps left and 12 total, so this one felt like a bit of a waste of time.

I actually liked that scene. It shows, at least for a moment, that she still has some humanity left and isn't just a killing machine. She could have easily killed all the soldiers and been on her way. But then she realizes they are just people trying to get by and not really her enemy so they can live.

Yeah, that was a good scene. She really is walking death if she wants to be, but like you say; she still retains enough of her old persona that she doesn't just kill without provocation.

"Politics is just show business for ugly people."
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [big kahuna] [ In reply to ]
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Is Wun Wun a Whitewalker? He died south of The Wall, it is thought that he was the last of the Giants.

All I Wanted Was A Pepsi, Just One Pepsi

Team Zoot, Team Zoot Mid-Atlantic

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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [Billabong] [ In reply to ]
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Billabong wrote:
Is Wun Wun a Whitewalker? He died south of The Wall, it is thought that he was the last of the Giants.

No.

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [Billabong] [ In reply to ]
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I thought at first it was Wun Wun, but he died at Winterfell so they would likely have burned his body afterwards (would have been quite the pyre!). I know the other giant died inside the tunnel of the Wall, so he likely would have gotten the same. It could have just been a random giant from before that previously hadn't been on the show - I also noticed as they did the closeup on him that there was yet another one behind him off to the right in the distance.

I was expecting to see Hodor among them.



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [Brian in MA] [ In reply to ]
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Brian in MA wrote:
I also noticed as they did the closeup on him that there was yet another one behind him off to the right in the distance.

There are [at least] three of them



"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [RandMart] [ In reply to ]
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Did anyone else read the interview with Martin talking about Beric Dondarrion? Martin essentially said that he is a Walker, one made of fire and not ice like the White Walkers. Interesting stuff.

~Brad
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [RandMart] [ In reply to ]
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What?! No discussion of The Hound still alive and calling everyone cunts still? He seems to be falling in league with the Lord fo Light. Is he now unkillable?

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody
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Re: Winter is (Almost) Here [mck414] [ In reply to ]
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He had a good one at Thoros - "You're not foolin' anyone with that topknot, you know"



"You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." - Richard Butler

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