Dogs on lap- check.
Lemon bars- check.
Cup of chamomile- check.
Game of Thrones and Borgias.
It’s on.
Open Thread
by John Cole| 72 Comments
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Open Thread
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.
If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!
I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.
A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals
Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.
Despite his magical powers, I don’t think Trump is thinking this through, to be honest.
You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.
Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.
Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?
Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.
A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.
A Senator Walker would be an insult to the state and the nation.
You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.
… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP
T R E 4 5 O N
Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.
When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?
Good lord, these people are nuts.
Optimism opens the door to great things.
Hot air and ill-informed banter
They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.
fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)
Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.
Their freedom requires your slavery.
Joseph Nobles
Going to work overtime. Hate you.
Omnes Omnibus
Are you now an 80 year old woman?
maye
Enjoying the Borgias so far. Avoiding Game of Thrones because I don’t like historical fantasy. Either do the history or go home.
Yutsano
For the first time in for-fucking-ever, my back hasn’t been totally killing me. So I indulge this condition by…sleeping all day. I wasn’t totally lazy though, had an MRI for it earlier. And my house is slowly getting cleaned up, though that looks more and more like a week-long project.
MikeJ
@maye: I didn’t think there was any history involved, just fantasy.
Punchy
That’s a funny way to spell “Blackhawks” and “Canucks”…
Omnes Omnibus
@Yutsano: Have you tried making the tart?
Will Reks
There’s a B
Omnes Omnibus
@Punchy: Do you know the Wirtz family?
Will Reks
There’s a Burn Notice prequel movie starring Bruce Campbell (Sam Axe) on right now.
maye
@MikeJ: I know. that’s my point. why give it a medieval setting unless you’re going to use real medieval characters? It’s my own personal peeve.
Kristine
The Killing on AMC. Mireille Enos is wonderful.
BD of MN
unfortunately, there’s also a new Desperate Housewives on, so I’m here reading about Chamomile tea…
Suffern ACE
@Omnes Omnibus: Making the tart do what?
Lysana
@maye:
Ironic considering they’re getting history wrong in the Borgias already.
Fred
Yes, next time you want to go on a fishing expedition trying to find obscure sound bites to prove Obama flip flopped on something go with your instinct. That would be to stick with something you know about. Your dogs!
maye
@Lysana: they’re getting some of it right. That King of Naples really did have a room full of his dead adversaries.
Omnes Omnibus
@Suffern ACE: Fruits.
Yutsano
@Omnes Omnibus: Not yet, but the night is still young. I’m thinking I’ll get a couple things done around here, eat, then determine if I got everything to make it or if I need a store run. I’m thinking
I’ll have to accomplish some shopping first.
dopealope
I’ve got Game of Thrones queue’d on the DVR, but I’m worried. The story arc is never gonna be finished.
jayjaybear
@maye: Because it’s not really medieval? Or not really Earth-medieval, anyway. Frankly, something like the Tudors or the Borgias (or even Spartacus) would bore the hell out of me, but stick in dragons and magic and I’m right there.
Mr Stagger Lee
So is the sex on The Borgias like The Tudors(Showtime) or is it more of variety of Spartacus(Starz)?
maye
@Mr Stagger Lee: The Borgias is more about who got poisoned last. I thought The Tudors was crap. I’ve liked the first two episodes of the Borgias.
maye
@jayjaybear: I just prefer historical fiction to historical fantasy.
Omnes Omnibus
@maye: “I, Claudius” updated by 1400 years?
bago
Borgia bastardido!
/Ezio
maye
@Omnes Omnibus: with some incest thrown in.
gogol's wife
For you Bill Hicks fans, he was in the NYTimes Magazine crossword puzzle today.
Mike in NC
Typical boring weekend: did laundry, washed the car, vacuumed the garage, and pulled a lot of weeds in the front yard.
Then I went for a ride in a fricking B-25. Holy shit!
http://www.coastalcarolinaairshow.com/?id=123177923/
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Yutsano: Cleaning house? That’s not a project, it’s a career!
I sympathize with the back problems. Perhaps if I actually did the exercises I’ve been given, it might improve. In the meantime I wear a back brace for snow shoveling and gardening and try not to bend and twist at the same time.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Will Reks: What? What? Give me a title! Why am I not DVRing this?
Omnes Omnibus
@maye: “I, Claudius” had familial relations as well.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Mike in NC: B-25! Wow, congrats, my favorite airplane. I never ponied up the money for the ride when we were going to the air shows in Frederick, MD. Dumb.
Keith G
Update for those interested:
Early this AM, I mentioned I had a kitty who was doing the unwell kitty thing – not eating & lethargic. So away we went to a very nice clinic…
Izzy had a skin condition, an analog to human dermititus of unknown origin, that aquired a bacteria infection. I am so glad that now vets use long lasting anti biotic shots. I so hate trying to get pills down a cat. Same with the steroids.
I said no to the optional funnel shaped “E” collar. I could not imagine a universe where such a thing on a cat would not cause considerable psychic trauma.
All is well, and it even seems that I am forgiven for catnapping her and taking her away for a bit.
Will Reks
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe
on USA.
kindness
Game of Thrones was good. It’d been nice to have a two hour opener to nail down the intrigue but I’ll watch again.
Gina
@Mike in NC: Nice! My son has been hankering to do that for a while, was it worth the ducats?
Mario Tricocci
Nerd or geek? Nerd or geek? Hmmmmm.
Dogs: geek.
Lemon bars: tossup
Tea: nerd
Viewing selections: geek
Geek – by a hair.
freelancer
@Will Reks:
I just started the 1st season. This show is entertaining as hell.
So, impressions on Game of Thrones? I’ve never read the books or heard much of the hype machine, but I liked it.
Daniel
I liked a Game of Thrones but not enough to keep watching it while I’m also rereading the books in preparation for A Dance with Dragons.
Despite a lot of efforts to make the series as similar to the books as possible it’s still constrained by its format and the limitations of a t.v. show budget. I’ll probably watch the show but only after A Dance with Dragons.
I’ve also got a problem with Peter Dinklage as Tyrion (who’s my favorite character). He’s just too handsome to be the Imp!
John PM
I had not heard about the Song of Fire and Ice series by George R.R. Martin until about 8 months ago. A fellow attorney in my office had started reading the first book, Game of Thrones, and thought I would like it. I read it and instantly got the other three books and read them quickly also. It is an amazing epic. The fifth book is coming out this summer and I have already pre-ordered on my Nook. If any network other than HBO were doing this, I would be worried, but I think that HBO will portray the numerous beheadings and graphic sex scenes very well. I am hoping to watch the premiere tonight before I pass out from shear exhaustion.
Svensker
Was disappointed in the Borgias. Gorgeous, but I didn’t believe the actors, felt like they were all posing, too aware of their cool outfits.
Don’t have HBO so missed GoT — reports? Luurve the books, scared of the show.
schrodinger's cat
@Mario Tricocci: What’s the difference between a nerd and geek? I thought they were synonyms.
Paul W.
@John PM: @John PM:
I don’t have anything to add to this, it was my experience as well when my roommate handed me the first book about a year ago. I gobbled it up, and then asked for some more and now here I am explaining the entire fiction of the world to my new roommates as we watch it together.
I was quite pleased with the setup and exposition in the first show, maybe some more direwolf action though, and my roommates like it having never read the books. HBO hitting my expectations so far.
Nick L
Has anyone been reading Conor Friedersdorf’s new Atlantic blog? It’s actually pretty good – I know, I know, it’s young Conor’s blog. But it’s really worth checking out.
magma
@Daniel: King Aerys II Targaryen-that dude was cool.
Daniel
@John PM: I’m rereading on my Kindle right now. I’d be interested to hear impressions from anyone on reading the series on an e-reader either for the first time or in general.
Daniel
@magma: In the book or the show? I missed him in the show…come to think of it I can’t remember which one he was in the Targaryen family. Jog my memory please.
Daniel
@Nick L: Is it a blog or just his Atlantic page?
Citizen_X
So, is there no way, short of waiting for the end of each season and the release of the DVD set, of seeing Game of Thrones or any other HBO production? (And I mean legitimate ways–I have no interest in skeevy torrent sites.) They don’t stream episodes on Netflix, and getting through a whole season’s worth of Boardwalk Empire or Pacific DVDs (both of which I’d also like to see) gets to be too much like work.
I can’t really afford HBO right now, and you’d think they’d make some way of watching their shows episode by episode, perhaps by pay-per-view. Sorry, that’s just my lame complaint about premium programming.
scottinnj
@magma:
Aerys II Targaryen would still be king if he had stood up for the public option and hadn’t been in the back pocket of the vampire squid Iron Bank of Braavos.
metalgirl
@Mike in NC: So jealous! I just planted stuff in my front yard and pulled weeds. Glad it wasn’t stormy like yesterday: driving my younger son home from an outing and having 1″ hail pelt the car while only being able to see 10′ ahead. Only happened for 15 mins of our trip but was white-knuckle-driving. I asked my son to record the sound on his cell — was very LOUD on playback :)
piratedan
well keep on waiting for Dances… it’s been what, 5 years since storm of swords? I got a better chance of seeing a new Black Company novel coming out before Martin gets Dancing in my hands it seems.
piratedan
@Keith G: good to hear about your feline companion Keith, hopin for a speedy recovery.
metalgirl
@Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason: I lived in Frederick, MD from ’93-’95 and had no idea you could pay to take a ride in anything (flying in those air shows)! An official of AOPA lived down the street so I thought we knew what was going on for the air shows. I guess not! Sigh.
4jkb4ia
OK, folks, my husband convinced me by main force that there was only a kzayis of gook in the oven, and we are about to finish the refrigerator.
Daniel
@scottinnj: Thank god for Robert Baratheon and his anti-deficit campaign then. That really worked out well for him and everyone.
magma
Sir- if he had not been murdered by the “Oathbreaker”, the last legitimate King of the Seven Kingdoms would have instituted a single-payer system. And he wouldn’t have cut heating assistance to the poor.
magma
@scottinnj: Sir- if he had not been murdered by the “Oathbreaker”, the last legitimate King of the Seven Kingdoms would have instituted a single-payer system. And he wouldn’t have cut heating assistance to the poor.
Nick L
@Daniel:
I’m not quite sure, but it seems pretty bloggish. His posts are usually medium-length, and there are a few per day.
WarMunchkin
And here I thought, “Assassin’s Creed”.
Darkrose
Just remember, folks:
Every time you ask about the next book, GRRM kills a Stark.
Cheryl from Maryland
You guys are hilarious.
Agoraphobic Kleptomaniac
Yeah, the opening episode of Game needed to be twice as long, while pushing Bran out the window is a good cliffhanger, they could have put more dialogue in the opening episode. Most of what’s so great about Martin is his dialogue.
It’s hard to read threads about it though, because some people just like spewing spoilers, and i’m only halfway through storm of swords.
Hermione Granger-Weasley
@Nick L:
wallah….its fucking awful. I read one post and it was a buncha McMegan style petulant butthurt whinage about how Academe loathes conservatives.
Name ONE SINGLE THING Conor talks about that isn’t just a recap of McMeganisms.
Hermione Granger-Weasley
Do you know why I think Sully moved to the Beast?
To broaden his bubba appeal. The Beast is more populist and less elitist than the Atlantic.
Andrew has finally accepted he can’t fool any intellectuals into sympathy for his conservative ideology, so hes going to shill it on the daily beast instead.
scottinnj
@Daniel:
How is that “Hopey-Changey thingy” working out for Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark?
Mike in NC
@Gina:
Absolutely worth the price of admission, even after twice getting FREE rides in a restored B-17.
WaterGirl
@Keith G: I am late to the thread, but very interested. Just what I was hoping for, something simple and easy to treat! Thanks for letting us know.
Hermione Granger-Weasley
@Nick L: Right on cue, Sully starts pimping Conor, just like he is already pimping McMegan.
Sully is just trying to popularize those assclowns.
The Atlantic is too small venue elitist to effectively reach out to the bubbas in advance of the 2012 election.
Linnaeus
Liked Game of Thrones; it’s a good adaptation. I also would have liked a longer premiere, but I thought they did pretty well with the hour-long episode.
Flugelhorn
@maye:
It is called “Fantasy”. There is no historical aspect at all. It is a medieval setting, but it is not an “Earth” medieval setting. There is no history involved so your comment makes zero sense.
How do you feel about Science Fiction?