Game of Thrones season four coming in April. Squeeee!
And also,
A person has started a Tumblr called A Game of Clothes - putting up examples of couture and whatnot, that looks plucked from the series. Let me tell you there is some seriously whackadoodle fashion out there. I found it delightful.
HRH Bico II, who is gracing us with his presence whilst V´s mother is on a tour of the northern provinces.
As is his custom, Bico rises early and addresses the neighborhood with an impromptu musical offering. Then it´s insde for a quick housekeeping regime and a refreshing shower. He maintains his excellent health following a strict exercise program of 30,000 perch revolutions daily, during his stay out on the terrace and more music - lots more. What a repertoire.
He´ll have to wait until his return to his customary residence for a pedicure.
After enjoying a selection of nuts and fresh salad, should it prove inhospitably hot, he retires indoors for a light siesta, returning to his public duties in the evening for a final concert before withdrawing to his draped private chambers.
The little bastards like to hide in the house in the winter in closets and bedding. Loxosceles rufescens - European cousin to the Brown Recluse, fortunately not packing the same punch. Just a nasty itchy, achey welt exactly where I can´t reach to scratch it.
Started a pretty post on shutters, then realized that a) mostly they´re interior shutters in Galicia and b) we won´t be able to afford any for a while. Started a post on Ruth Stout, and discovered that an interesting video has been removed from Youtube, so I´ll wait.
Been spending some time number crunching for the next phase on the house, hopefully updating soon.
So in the meantime an amusing animal video. I laughed.
Folks on this side of the pond may not necessarily be aware, but today is marked by a major sporting event in the US. A marathon of emotion, spectacle, it´s a highly anticipated annual event that I know I look forward to every year.
It has everything - action, athleticism, controversial calls by the ref, a glittering half-time show, skycam blimp shots and politically questionable ploys for ratings grabbing (I find it exploitative to put cheerleading hedgehogs in tutu skirts - inexcusable pandering in my view). Cue video.
Puppies and kittens are flown in from shelters all over the country to participate. Per an article in the LA Times ¨Last year's Puppy Bowl marked the channel's highest day of Web traffic, with 5.5 million page views and 1.4 million videos streamed. . .¨
So pull up a bucket of wings and some nachos and settle in for an old fashioned American cheesy good time.
Thoroughly enjoyed the second season of Game of Thrones on Canal +. Fabulous casting, the locations are stunning (Iceland, Malta and Croatia, HBO interactive map here), and much better wigs.
Five, count ´em five, candidates for King/Queen have stepped up to vie for the Iron throne and things are getting mighty complicated (HBO guide to the houses here). We´ve got a new witchy priestess hatching supernatural murder, a conniving brother and sister from Highgarden, abducted baby dragons and creepy wizards in Quarth (the-best-city-that-ever-was-or-ever-will-be), a smuggler and his pirate friend, epic battles in Kings Landing and the grand gathering of the wildings and whitewalkers north of the wall, to add to the intrigue, backstabbing, and generally lax morals of the first season. It´s terrific television.
It was not all perfect. They´ve had to make considerable changes to re-format the story for the small screen. Rambling doesn´t even begin to describe the books, so some editing and compression were inevitable. I thought John Snow´s story line lagged (and his direwolf completely disappeared) and I´m not sure the Robb Stark´s story line with his love interest is working out like they´d hoped. Yoren was gone entirely too quickly. I can´t wait for Davos to have more to do and for Joffrey to get what´s coming to him. The CGI of the whitewalkers was a little odd, I think it might have been more effective if we´d not seen them so clearly. But I was particularly impressed with Theon (terrific work from Alfie Allen) running amok in the north. Arya (Maisie Williams) has completely won me over and she and Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) were electric in their scenes together. New cast member Gwendoline Christie playing Brienne of Tarth is pitch perfect.
And last, but certainly not least, I´d like to introduce my new TV boyfriend - Jaqen H´ghar (Tom Wlaschiha). He manages to remain mysterious and sexy while referring to himself in the third person. A woman is impressed - very impressed. See more of his work here.
There is a lot of speculation about who they´ll cast as Marjorie Tyrell´s (Natalie Dormer) politically saavy, razor-tongued, take-no-prisoners Grandmother Olenna Redwyne (nicknamed ¨The Queen of Thorns¨) in Season Three. The usual suspects have been suggested, Maggie Smith, etc. But I think Geraldine McEwan would be perfect - see what I mean? Unfortunately, I think she´s retired now. Does Helen Mirren do TV anymore?
Squeee! Debuts April 1 in the US, can´t seem to find a target date for over here. Stephen Dillane has been cast as Stannis. I always had Mark Strong stuck in my head while reading, so this will be interesting. He does a good job with the voice-over.
So it´s not celtic, but I just love her. Today is Maria Dolores Pradera´s birthday. An actress and singer, born in 1925, she is something of an institution. Her voice seems literally ageless - it´s hard to distinguish older recordings from how she sounds now.
Going to see the last (sniff) installment of HP today with my friend W. Can´t wait. I´m really more of a book fan than a movie fan but at this point I´ll take whatever´s left of the magic.
BTW - this is NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM all grown up!!!
Yes, this Neville Longbottom
Ok so it wasn´t Hogwarts - it was Hollywood magic - more at this link
And for MORE Potter-related fluff - check out who was almost cast in the movie franchise.
In other frivolous news - I have powered through the first three installments of the Game of Thrones series and have the 4th on my Amazon waiting list. The fifth book is out this month, but I rarely pay hardcover prices so that will have to wait. While not what I would describe as great literature, they are terrific page-turners and would be really good for the beach. HBO´s GoT second season is set for spring of 2012.
“Oh, my sweet summer child, what do you know about fear? Fear is for the winter, when the snows fall a hundred feet deep. Fear is for the long night when the sun hides for years and children are born and live and die all in darkness. That is the time for fear, my little lord, when The White Walkers move through the woods.”
— Old Nan, Game of Thrones
Canal Plus is in the middle of this HBO series based on the first book in the fantasy trilogy by George R. R. Martin and let me just say - I.am.hooked.
It´s got everything:
a complicated plot, an enormous cast, beautiful production values, political intrigue, madness, incest, murder, attempted murder, a half-seen creepy supernatural threat,
´Tis the season of Spring Break and our thoughts turn to cheap travel. (With the possible exception of my dear friend T who is a über-milage-Grand Poobah with AA. Air kisses!)
This does have naughty words. Although they´re Irish (Thanks Anne!)naughty words so they sound classy anyway. And it´s sub-titled for ´Muricans with language issues.
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