Heraldry, history and ASOIAF/GoT

As dumb as it sounds, one of the things I love about George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is the heraldry.  Specifically, the house sigils, as they are more commonly known, are some of the most iconic things about the show.  Of course Martin based this on medieval heraldry practices that, at least technically, still exist to this day.  Plenty of families have coats of arms, as do cities, towns, universities and colleges, etc.  And the central part of any coat of arms is usually a shield of some sort.  In the world of ASOIAF these tend to be fairly simple (the direwolf of House Stark, both the HBO version and book-ish version) although a few do get more complex (like House Tarth, HBO version and book-ish version).   And GRRM goes to a lot of trouble to describe the sigils of a great many houses in ASOIAF.  To give you an idea of the sheer amount of creative calories burned, check out the Heraldry page at the Citadel website and this awesome Westeros map some uber-geeks put together.  I totally geeked out about both of those.

Well, Kelly and I decided a while back to make our own sigil (in true geek fashion) and now I will share it with the world via the Intertubes.  A lot of people did something similar with the “Join the Realm” promo web page done by HBO for Game of Thrones.  But I wanted to do our own, with symbols that meant something to both Kelly and me.

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Poverty and the polar vortex

Today I read two very different but still related stories about things that happened in Hammond, Indiana due to the polar vortex.  Both stories emphasize the plight of the working poor in the United States, and how extreme cold affects them in ways that many people may not have even considered.

The first was about a house fire that claimed the lives of three small children and put two others and their father in the hospital.  The second was about a warehouse where workers were forced to continue working – without heat – even after the state had declared an emergency.

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What we’re reading now – Nerd Edition

This is probably more like what I’m reading now as these are all my geeky contributions.  Either way, this post was inspired by this first link.  Enjoy.

I’m as interested in design and the engineering behind things as the next person.  I’m also interested in Star Trek and I think Wil Wheaton is a great writer.  That being said, I grew up watching Star Trek TNG and I’ve heard all sorts of stories about it over the years.  Somewhere I heard a story about how the uniforms on TNG required special Star Trek issued underpants.  I can’t find it ANYWHERE on the internets, but I remember reading it somewhere.  That’s why I found this article so interesting.

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The cat thermometer

There’s a joke somewhere on the internet about how you can use your cat to tell how cold it is.  At some point around freezing the cat gets friendly enough to let you pet him, below freezing he’ll actually cuddle with you, and at some point near zero the cat tears open your midsection while you sleep and warms himself in your viscera a la Luke on Hoth.

That’s not quite how it works in our house.

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Dachshund winter activities

I bet you are thinking I am going to talk about dachshunds in the snow and such.  Well, you don’t know much about our dachshunds, then.  When it’s ridiculously cold outside, like it is now, just getting the dogs out to do their business can be a trial, especially if precipitation is in progress.  So most of their winter activities consist of a) trying to stay warm, b) trying to get more food than they are normally allowed, and c) sleeping.  Frequently a) and c) are combined.

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Want to sing in an opera?

I can’t make it out to Concord to do this, but it sounds like a heck of a good time.  If you end up doing this, please let me know?  This is an email I just received from my friend Greg of the Seraphim Singers.

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Denial, or where science and belief collide

I try to not rant too often on our blog, because I prefer to talk about things that are interesting and beautiful and even uplifting.  But sometimes I just feel compelled to do so because the absurdity and stupidity of something really gets to me.  This is one of those times.   So I ask your forgiveness as I indulge my anger a bit.

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So you can see for yourself

Here’s a screenshot of my Weatherbug from a few moments ago.

Forget about "winter is coming". It has arrived.
Forget about “winter is coming”. It has arrived.

So that is showing a temperature of minus 0.2 degrees Fahrenheit with a windchill of minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit.  I think this may actually be one of the coldest, if not the coldest, temperature I have ever experienced.  And I don’t think it’s stopped yet.

Sorry to keep going on and on, but weather (and weather history) fascinates me so I am just geeking out about all of this.   I am wondering if temperature records may be broken tonight or tomorrow.

-Geoff