A big story of Massachusetts maritime history is coming to the movies

I don’t know what it is, but something about the sea fascinates me, and has for most of my life.  Maybe it’s because the sea has played various roles in my family history – some big and some small.  Maybe it’s because ships captured my imagination as a little boy the way trucks or cars or airplanes do for most young boys.  For years as a kid, my favorite “souvenir” I would get from my trips to the Cape or Martha’s Vineyard was one of those little wooden ships, usually a fishing boat of some kind, that you find in local shops.  And I have been reading books about New England maritime history for years.

So anyway, it turns out that early next year there is a movie coming out based on the Michael Tougias book The Finest Hours. 

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Just like that, you’re gone

We don’t always know when a chapter in our lives ends.  Very often it happens with a small sound, a wisp of smoke, or the tiniest wrinkle.

Then there are days like today when a chapter closes with a resolute BANG!  A sound like a dictionary being dropped on the floor.  The slamming of an old solid oak door with all the force of the gale behind it – BOOM.

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Follow-up on our Lightbringer theory

Now that Season Five is over, time for some more speculation about Season Six.

I am quite excited about some of the hints that have been dropped about the way Season Six will go, based on the casting calls.  And our earlier speculation about the identity of Lightbringer may well be tested.

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Catching up with Game of Thrones, Part Two

Since I spent my last post talking about Stannis, I thought with this one I would talk a bit about what else is going on in the North, especially with the Night’s Watch, the Starks, and the rest of the North in general.

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Catching up with Game of Thrones, Part One

Well.  Where to begin?

I guess you could say the last few episodes of Game of Thrones have been eventful, to put it mildly.  And since I have started my new job (not to mention my part-time academy class), I have not done a lot of writing here on our blog. So it’s time to do some catching up.

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Still plenty of villains left in Westeros

I am a big fan of The Young Turks, and I really like the What the Flick? reviews of Game of Thrones.  I have been watching their reviews of the Season Five episodes, and one conversation intrigued me.  Cenk Ugyur made a comment that he missed some of the bad guys that died in Season Four, especially Joffrey (whom he particularly loathed) and Tywin Lannister.  That led to an interesting debate over who was more evil, and they even asked in the comments, “Who is more evil: Tywin Lannister or Littlefinger?”

That got me thinking about my own views of who the most evil people are in Westeros now that Joffrey, Lord Tywin, and the Mountain are dead.  And there are definitely some good candidates.

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The latest on Stannis and the North in GoT

This most recent episode, “Kill the Boy”, featured the goings-on in the North quite a bit, so needless to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.  We seem to be moving ever closer towards the confrontation between Stannis and the Boltons.  Winter is indeed coming.

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More thoughts on Stannis Baratheon and the future of the North

After I wrote my earlier commentary on Stannis, I found that I am not alone in feeling that Stannis has gotten the short end of the stick.  Both Anna Silman at Salon and Thomas Fichtenmayer at Esquire also have not only a soft spot for the unappreciated Baratheon brother, but possibly think even more highly of him than I do, and I think pretty damn highly of him indeed.

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Some thoughts on Stannis

Tonight I was thinking about writing something about what has happened so far in Season Five of Game of Thrones, but then Kelly and I had a conversation about Stannis that made me think I should do a post about him.

Frankly, I think that  Stannis is unjustly unappreciated by both the masses of Westeros and the masses of ASOIAF/GoT fans.  Allow me to explain.

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Spring finally arrives… and so does Game of Thrones

Well, the weather has finally warmed up enough that I can reasonably wear shorts outside.  Most of the snow piles have disappeared.  This nasty winter seems to have claimed what I hope is its last casualty: my truck.

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