Tuesday, May 14, 2019

So Where Was I?


Yes, I severely neglected the blog over the weekend. Mea culpa.

It was Mothers Day weekend and I did indeed head north to the family estate to visit with my Mom. Saw both brothers and one SIL as well (that would be The Musician and Mr and Mrs Olde Vermonter.) Saturday was gorgeous, Sunday not so much, for a little while I thought that we had been transported to Rancho Juvat down in rainy Texas. But from yesterday's informe meteorológico de Texas, I see that we didn't get nearly that much rain up here in the Northeast.  

For the first time in a long time (perhaps ever) I did not respond to comments for two posts in a row. Pretty sure I've never done that before, perhaps El Archivista might have some data on that. At any rate, y'all seemed to do fine without me chipping in and I really don't like commenting from the handy-dandy cellular device. Big fat fingers, little tiny keys, not a good mix.


I've been giving some thought to redoing the header of the blog. It's not that I don't like the current look, I just need a change. For one thing, there are so many folks who deserve to be up there and just not enough room to accommodate them all. Not to mention, Beans asked in the comments sometime last week (which you may notice I am too lazy to look up right now) as to the status of what he called the "hall of heroes" page. Well, that's part and parcel of the aforementioned upcoming changes to the look of this here blog.

I'm working on it.

Work continues to be very busy (and I'm not complaining, it is interesting work) which leaves me somewhat mentally hors de combat at the end of the day. So I have been taking a sort of mental vacation from the blog, no heavy-duty posts, nothing requiring a lot of research or (on some days) thought. I might start paying more attention to current events, well I have been paying attention but I might actually post more of what's what in the world than I normally do. Gives me headaches it does but y'all seem to like those sorts of posts.

And I aim to please.


So, Game of Thrones, I know some of you watch it, I know some of you take a certain pride in not watching it, ever. Not doing something is not an accomplishment I would brag about, but to each his/her own. I have been watching it conscientiously, I almost said religiously, since it first started, some eight years ago I believe.

It all started when I was waiting at PVD for a flight down to DCA, might have been ORF, I don't remember all that clearly, I just remember "going to Virginia." Which year it was would tell me the destination, but it ain't all that important to the tale at hand.

Anyhoo, I was in the terminal, at the book shop, looking for something to read on the flights there and back again, saw this book with a picture of a throne made from swords on the cover and thought, "Hhmm, what be this? Some sort of fantasy-action type fiction?"

Well, yes, yes, it was. I bought the book and was enthralled. This was before the HBO series came out, the name of the book was Game of Thrones and it was written by a chap yclept George R. R. Martin.  Seems it was part of a series called A Song of Fire and Ice, the first book in the series to be sure. Most entertaining it was.

It must have not been too long before the HBO series came out because I was soon visiting my local book emporium looking for the second and subsequent books in the series. Of which I discovered that there were four in existence of an eventual seven. (Which I'm betting will not happen, Mr. Martin is now rich and famous so why would he want to work for a living? And writing, dear reader, is indeed work. I was happy to get a fifth book, especially as I thought the fourth book sucked, not to put too fine a point on it.)

When the HBO series came out, I was on loan to a different facility here in the Northeast and spent my weekdays ensconced in a hotel, far from home. Well, not that far but too far to drive back and forth every day. At any rate, the hotel had HBO and I had time on my hands. So I began watching the series up there.

When my tour of duty "up north" came to a close, I managed to finagle HBO from The Nuke and eventually on my own dime via Amazon Prime. I haven't missed an episode and for this final season I find myself staying up far too late on Sunday nights watching the show and even the bits after the show where the producers tell you why they did things as they did.

It's been an entertaining season, though like many I feel the quality of the writing is not up to par with the preceding seasons, but it's still entertaining.

One more episode, then I can finally get to bed early on Sunday.

Speaking of HBO series...

I can wait to the next day for Chernobyl. Don't need stay up late to see those episodes when they're released, I know the story and what happened. It is a well-made series so far. Someone should make Bernie and AOC watch every episode back-to-back over and over again. Show them just how "wonderful" socialism is. Idiot bastids.

Anyhoo, stay tuned for the upcoming changes, y'all get a vote after all. I just write the stuff, you read it. If you ain't happy, I ain't happy.





24 comments:

  1. I DO hope someone catches up the books for GOT.
    I don’t watch, but I’ve been waiting ever since I finished book five about four or more years ago.

    Don’t ask me what I am doing here this early

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'd like to see the books come out as well. There are those who follow the books but not the series.

      I won't ask how you captured first comment honors today.

      Delete
  2. Shouldn't that be La Archivista, or El Arcivisto?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Speaking of HBO series, I just finished watching The Pacific courtesy of my magic Amazon Fire Stick. Absolutely great, even better, I thought, than Band of Brothers. Only one tiny technical error (show has ships underway flying Union Jack at the Flagstaff--NOT done). No, I do not worship at the Game of Thrones alter :-).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought that both Band of Brothers and The Pacific were extremely well done. The Pacific showed the side of WWII that most Americans are not all that familiar with. After watching that I went out and bought a number of the books written by the guys portrayed in the series. Those were well worth the read.

      Delete
    2. I would so love to see Neptunes Inferno adapted into miniseries...

      Delete
    3. I would pay good money to see that!

      Delete
    4. Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors, as a second movie. Well chosen, Pawel!

      Delete
  4. I don't watch much TV at all, so it's nothing against that show specifically. What TV I watch currently is tied up with re-runs of Stargate SG-1. Simple to follow plot, good guys vs. bad guys. Good guys win most of the time. Very little lecturing/political correctness. So...nothing like TV shows nowadays.

    /soapbox /rant

    ReplyDelete
  5. Big fat fingers, little tiny keys, not a good mix.

    Yeah.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Speaking of GoT: many rage that Daenerys went out of character by burning Kings Landing. Nothing is more far from truth.
    She is revolutionary, a "breaker of chains". She has been steadily radicalising herself in the vein of Stalin and Robespierre. The "eyeopener" moment was her massacre pf POW-s in previous season. Now she just fulfilled her destiny - reigh by fear. Tarkin doctrine if anyone likes other universe of fame. When the surrender bells rang, I could almost see her thoughts in her face (great acting btw) "So you killed my best friend (Melisandei), a precious child of mine (dragon) and now you plead for mercy?"
    There is a reason another person in chain of command of nukes ahs to confirm president is sane and rational - at least as far as I know. None of that with dragon that obeys only his mother. And in real life too sometimes it takes tyrant to unseat another one. Someone with same sense of historical analogies has put this video that sums up my comparison better than thousand words essay:
    https://youtu.be/U7hLj743msE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She is completely within her character. While I think the writing isn't as good as previous seasons, it's still better than many shows.

      Delete
  7. Read the GOT books and bought the dvd's/blue ray of same, also have the dvd's of SG1 as well as The Pacific and BOB. Don't watch much TV but visit the library on a regular basis, especially during the winter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I get most of my video entertainment via Netflix and Amazon Prime. No commercials.

      I would rather spend time in a room full of politicians than watch a commercial.

      Delete
  8. Spanish... Spanish? SPANISH??!?!?!?!?!?

    Let's see... Norman-French, French-Acadian, Scottish-Norman-French, Irish-Norman-French, French, English, German, NormanFrench-English.

    SPANISH?????!!!???!!!???!!!???!!!???

    As to not commenting two days in a row, you did that on my covering posts while you were out of town. You back posted, but you went days without any peep. Slacker.

    A new heading would be good, I think. If you still want 'dead people' up there, you can weed out to only display your top 10, or cycle it, or something. If you don't want dead people, that's okay too. As long as you don't pull a GRRM and drop off the blogosphere or something.

    As to TV, it's funny but Mrs. Andrew and I have been cutting the number of shows we watch severely this year. And pretty much every one is due to SJW preaching. The new SWAT was... okay... but I got tired of finding out the only crime in LA was caused by white right wing supremist Christians with access to fully automatic weapons and military grade explosives. Same with other shows (there was one called 'Roswell' that started this year where the family was illegal aliens running a business... Sorry, not sorry for watching that.) Even the nature shows we used to watch are so full of Climate Change End of the World stuff it just makes one crazy (I am tired of being blamed for the death of an animal by Africans to feed the quack medicine trade in ComChina.)

    We (Mrs. Andrew and I) have actually been, um, watching a lot of old movies on Turner Classic Movies, which is hard, because I don't like Ted, but since he's not in charge anymore, nor his lich of a wife, I can barely tolerate it...

    And your fingers not being able to function well on a smart phone is one of the reasons I don't have one. I can barely manage the buttons on the flip phone for dialing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A week in California's Central Valley, drinking cerveza and eating awesome tacos, that's how you get Spanish on the blog.

      As to me not commenting on your posts while I was in California, go back and look, I commented, late perhaps but I did comment. On this past weekend you heard not a whisper other than the post itself. I like to answer comments, though sometimes not on a comment by comment basis. Didn't do that at all Saturday and Sunday last. Color me lazy if you will, I freely admit to a certain affinity for indolence, it's who I am.

      Your reasons for cutting back on TV viewing are very similar to my own, if I want preaching, I'll go to church. If it's SJW bullsh!t, count me out completely. Well, that and my complete dislike of commercials, the increasing number of TV ads on both TV and radio are a symptom of what's wrong with our society.

      TCM I avoid for the reasons you state. I can manage a smart phone to a certain extent, but to constantly "chat" and "tweet"? No, not at all.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

NOTE: Comments on posts over 5 days old go into moderation, automatically.