I had not seen it before yesterday. And it’s quite well done.
Besides, after Sunday I just have Game of Thrones on the brain. SO excited that Season 4 has finally started.
-Geoff
Tag: television
Winter’s last hurrah
We got a slight covering of snow today, maybe an inch or a little more. And the temperatures plummeted a good bit from the mid-50s we had the other day. Right now it is about 18 degrees Fahrenheit, and the temperature tonight will probably drop down to around 9 or 10 degrees.
So while I was doing laundry and crafting cover letters, I popped in a movie that is just about as far away from winter, cold, and reality* as I could get…
Sharknado.
Refusing to learn from experience
Sometimes, there is some wisdom in doing something yourself so you can actually understand it. Regarding the winter weather debacle in Georgia, this is NOT one of those times. This is not the sort of thing you want to figure out for yourself, any more than you want your architect to forget about silly things like plans so you can just “play it by ear”. Learn from the wisdom and experience of others. Hell, learn from your own experience, Atlanta. It’s been only 3 years since your last winter storm nightmare. Besides, your traffic is gridlocked in perfect weather on a normal day. I have been there, I know. Whenever I was driving to Macon for the weekend, I avoided Atlanta completely. What made you think having everyone go home at the same time during a snowstorm was a good idea?
Winter is coming (back)
It looks like today will be the last “balmy” day for a while, insofar as the temperature was well above freezing most of the day. Starting tonight temperatures will begin to drop, and they are predicted to not go above freezing for a good while – possibly as long as two weeks. And we will probably get more snow too, starting tomorrow night. So enjoy today, Boston, but prepare to be cooped up inside for a while. You aren’t going to want to spend a lot of time outside after today. So go grab some DVDs from the library or Netflix or whatever and catch up on your favorite show or shows. You might have some free time in the near future. Or if you are like me, grab a stack of books. It will be a good time to curl up with that monster George R.R. Martin book with a cup of something hot to drink and some small furry companions at your side.
-Geoff
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.
This IS your Christmas Card
For a whole lot of very good reasons in the last few years, it’s proved impossible to get it together to send out our annual 100+ Christmas cards. Between the time investment, which requires starting shortly after Thanksgiving, and the cost of the postage, we just haven’t been able to do it. So, we’re going digital again this year. Yep, this is your card.
Little boy becomes superhero for a day
This story is just amazing. It still seems like one of those things that happens in after-school specials or in one of those Hallmark channel movies.
Miles Scott, who at age five has already been fighting cancer for three years, lives in California and like many kids his age he loves superheroes. He especially loves Batman and would apparently wear the costume quite a bit. So the Make-A-Wish Foundation decided to turn Miles’ dream into reality by transforming San Francisco into Gotham City for a day.
But the most amazing part to me is how many people, many of them random strangers, became involved. Literally thousands of people.
One of Batman’s creators drew the little boy a comic featuring villain Bane retreating from Miles as Batkid. The mayor, the chief of police, the TV news, the San Francisco Chronicle, even President Obama, all got involved. And thousands of strangers (many of them carrying Batkid signs and such) showed up to cheer him on as he “rescued” people from villains that included the Riddler and the Joker.
The links I included have a lot of good photos and video. Watch, read, and try not to tear up. I dare you.
-Geoff
We love Lewis Black
A few years ago I drove with my dad to pick up my brother-in-law’s car that was parked at an Air Force base a few hours away. On the way down I popped in a few of my Lewis Black concert CDs, and I don’t know if I have ever seen my dad laugh so hard for so long as he did on that trip. Instant Lewis Black fan.
Well, Lewis continues to be awesome, and we love him for it. Recently, his Daily Show segment Back in Black featured his take on the homophobic comments of the CEO of Barilla, the big pasta maker. Watch it, but probably not at work.
-Geoff
Fall is here… so long, summer…
And don’t let the door hit you on your way out.
Seriously, I have been wanting summer to go away for some time now, and not just because fall is my favorite season. Largely because I am tired of being hot all the time. Sure, we have some window AC units at home, but it is still not as cool in the house as I would like. And my major place of employment is an 18th century building with no AC.
But I always try to find silver linings.
Dragon skull washes up on beach in UK
So dragons ARE real….
Well, ok, not really, but it is a pretty cool promotion/publicity stunt for Game of Thrones. I wish one of these would “wash up” on Plum Island or something. I would drive up there just to get my picture with it.
-Geoff
P.S. Yes, this story is a couple of weeks old, but I didn’t get a chance to post anything about it until now. So nyah.
The Books are Taking Over... 