Category: In The News

Well, holy hell

If you’re a GOT fan but haven’t watched last night’s episode, the second to the last of the series – (I’m crying here!!) then look away unless you’re into spoilers.

I was going to write about it, but the following is posted on CNN today, and it’s utterly hilarious and spot on.. … read on.

If someone asks you about what happened this week on that little dragon show you watch,  you are more than allowed to just scream at full volume for an hour and 20 minutes. Because that’s what this episode was. Just one, long 80-minute “AAAAHHH!!!”

Jon Snow went from outsider to king. Is the Iron Throne next?

Things start off quietly enough.  Without Missandei to braid her hair or apply her undereye concealer, Daenarys is leaning into the “foreshadowing fiery genocide” aesthetic while moping around Dragonstone. She’s mad at Jon, mad at Tyrion and especially mad at Varys for going around blabbing about Jon’s true lineage. It appears the “Master of Whispers” has become the “Master of Discussing Deadly Secrets at Full Volume,” and before you can even get emotionally prepared for this week’s carnage, everyone’s standing on the beach looking stoic and Dany is sentencing Varys to death and Drogon is bearing his 3,000 teeth and wow, we’re off to the races.
One major character death down, a shocking amount left to go.
Tyrion, full of doubt and fear and definitely not used to either, finds Jaime who has been captured and imprisoned at Dragonstone. The two brothers share a good hug and Tyrion outlines a plan for Jaime to escape with Cersei and start life anew in Essos, where ostensibly they are more forgiving of murderous incest.

But first, it’s time for war. The mood is tense in Kings Landing, where throngs of common folk are being herded inside the Red Keep, and the Golden Fleet and the Iron Company are assuming their positions as unwitting dragon appetizers. If Dany’s general haggard appearance wasn’t foreshadowing enough, we get lots of good, salt-of-the-earth shots of the innocent citizens of Kings Landing with their doe-eyed children in tow. By the laws of television, you only get affectionate close-ups of the unwashed if something really, really terrible is about to happen to them.

How to speak like a true Targaryen from 'Game of Thrones'

It’s a laughably easy win for Daenerys and company. Even Cersei sees it, perched atop the Red Keep with a concerned Qyburn. Side note: Ol’ Cers must be about 500 months pregnant now, so why does she have the belly of someone who had, like, five bites of a burrito for lunch?
Anyway, she’s hemmed in and she knows it. As the city’s fortifications burn to ash and enemy forces close in, the bells of surrender begin to sound. A single tear rolls down Cersei’s proud face. Drogon and Daenerys let up, the Unsullied and the Lannister forces exchange a hearty round of handshakes and the two sides proceed with a peaceful transfer of power.
Just kidding! Dany goes full-on Mad Queen and burns the living hell out of EVERYTHING. Innocent children? You get a Dracarys! Entire city blocks? You get a Dracarys! Everyone gets a Dracarys! Jon and Tyrion’s faces say it all. This is definitely not how it was supposed to go. Daenerys Targaryen has gone rogue.

However, don’t think that just because thousands of people are being burned alive and King’s Landing is literally crumbling to the ground that there isn’t time to have a slapfight about who gets to be Cersei’s boyfriend. Somehow, among everything going on, Euron, the drunk cockroach of Westeros, finds Jaime and they have an extremely athletic tussle on the banks of Blackwater Bay. It’s not all bad though: Jaime kills Euron, which we can agree is a personal favor to us all.
Oh, right! By the way, Arya and the Hound must have ditched their horses for high speed rail, because they’re also here in Kings Landing. The Hound urges Arya to get out while she can, and they part with as much tenderness as two soft murder beings can muster. There’s nothing like apocalyptic dragon fire to make a girl forget all about her kill list, and before long Arya is running terrified through the streets like everyone else.

Meanwhile, The Hound has revenge on his mind. He runs into Cersei, Qyburn and The Mountain as they’re fleeing the Red Keep, and after The Mountain ragdolls Qyburn into the afterlife, CLEGANEBOWL IS ON. (Again, gentle reminder: Everything is burning! Is now the best time to be settling personal scores?)
Actually, the answer is yes. The Hound finally unmasks The Mountain, revealing a swole moldy Darth Vader where his brother used to be. They fight. It’s glorious and gory. Goryious? Apparently, The Mountain is impervious to literally everything, up to and including daggers through the brain, so The Hound does the only thing left he can do: Trucks him through a crumbling wall and off the side of the Red Keep to a fiery, mutual death.
(By the way, people are still burning.)
Jaime and Cersei finally find each other, and if they weren’t both deeply horrible people who have committed unspeakable sins and backtracked on seasons worth of character development, their reunion would almost be sweet. You would almost, for one second, be forgiven for hoping they could escape and be weird with each other in Pentos for the rest of their days. But you only get one second! Remember Brienne! And Missandei! And Margaery and everyone else who has ever suffered and died at these people’s three collective hands! Jaime and Cersei deserve the poetic, meaningful deaths that are inevitably coming their way!
Hmm? What’s that? Oh, they get crushed under some rubble while trying to escape? Two of the main antagonists, who have driven the show’s id since the very first episode of the very first season, just kinda get squished?
That’s disappointing. Alexa, play “The Rains of Castamere.”

Eventually, Daenerys lets up on her scorched earth campaign, leaving a horrified Jon to deal with what has become of his queen. With a million questions hanging in the air, we close with Arya escaping on a white horse that just happens to be prancing around the charred bodies of Kings Landing. Where is she going? Hopefully to Storm’s End, because a girl deserves to relax with a blacksmith lord and forget about this smoldering mess. Yeah, Valar Morghulis and everything but… come on.

Burning questions

If we’re supposed to buy Dany turning Mad Queen after seasons of building her up as a hero and a revolutionary, why did she get about 3.5 seconds of screen time once she started burning everything down?
Bran was pretty insistent that Jaime had something important to do when he came to Winterfell, but other than breaking Brienne’s heart and going out like roadkill that… didn’t seem to manifest?
Was the wildfire interspersed throughout the inferno significant?
Why was no one wearing HELMETS?!
What is Jon going to do now that his aunt queen is completely off the rails?
How much self control will it take Sansa to not laugh in Jon’s face and say “I told you so?”
Has anyone outside of the North or Kings Landing been affected by anything that’s happened this season or are they just browning their butter and tossing back ale as usual?
Speaking of, is Hot Pie okay? He wasn’t in this episode but just, in general. Can we get a welfare check?

Drinking the Koolaid

I haven’t written much about this subject lately, for several reasons, but most importantly for my own sanity.   I don’t find joy in expressing opinions that will offend or criticize other people. In fact my greatest wish for all mankind is for we humans  to come together  to exist peacably in our daily, brief existence on this planet in a way that at the very least protects the health of our  irreplaceable world, the one  which we are trashing daily and at feverish rate.   I pray we will wake up and  recognize that working together is the only way to a fair economy, a balanced society, the only way we  can avoid eventually killing ourselves off.   Is there anyone out there who actually doesn’t want this?

What would it entail?  Oh, so very many things, but none of it impossible.  First up-  we need to stop electing officials who continue to divide us, who are bought by big business that continues to trash our environment and our economy in favor of the wealth of the elite few who protect their own interests at the expense of all else, who continue to encourage economic divide and  remove the safeguards that protect this one earth, the animals we raise for food  and the wild ones who all play a part in the health of our ecological system.

I now realize I have been a bit naive – For a while it felt like we were becoming enlightened to the ills – more tolerant and respectful of our differences, regulations were put in place to protect our environment and animal welfare, people were taking notice and proceeding accordingly.  I thought prejudice and racism were fading fast, acceptance and realization of our equality more the norm.  While politics and human nature have always had their ugly side, I still felt the majority of people for the most part wanted whats good for all, whether we agreed on what that meant or how it could be implemented.

Politicians come and go, and all are human, none without flaws.  Now, however, .. we have a huge problem we may never recover from  – a liar in the oval office who has never, ever shown concern for anyone or anything but himself and his giant ego…. and the even bigger issue – the  minions who suddenly condone or ignore what he’s actually made of and continue to support what should never have been supported in the first place.    DT has  certainly never been a religious man, and yet now because it feeds his “base” he spins it in and it’s celebrated.  How does supporting him work for someone who believes themselves to be a Christian?    He continuously encourages divide, childishly insults anyone who doesn’t bow to his whims and praise him, his lies since taking office have reached past the 10,000 mark.  He refuses to reveal his taxes, his financial records, he’s been a horrible business man in many cases, an awful husband to three women, cheating on all of them,  and a poor example of a father in my book.  He is BFF’s with foreign hostile powers, the man who is responsible for trying and succeeding in fucking with  our democracy,  a goal that has been his for a long time.   He calls that man to discuss our business, can you imagine.  What a fool he must take us all to be.

I doubt a DT supporter is still reading this – it has to be hard, internally, even if you don’t let it show externally, to support and defend a monster such as he if you’re truly a decent person.  I’m no longer interested in  the excuses –  “we needed change, he is doing something the other politicians weren’t, he’s getting stuff done”.   We can’t afford the price we’re paying for his leadership – one clear example – Racism and prejudice is alive and thriving – they’ve got more wind in their sails,  having found new solid ground, a stronger voice, they praise DT because they see him as “one of them” due to his own lunatic, hateful rhetoric.

It can’t be denied if we’re being honest here, that our immigration issue is a big one, and others before him have failed to get it right.  Same can be said for our health care system.   He has yet to come up with a decent solution that will actually work on any of those fronts, and he continues the practice of rewarding the extreme wealthy elite – while the little guy continues to pay for it.   How is it lost on anyone? … because it’s right there for all to see. The Emperor wears no concealing clothes, he is what he is, boldly and without apology.   You can’t tell me there isn’t a better answer out there to  fix what needs fixing in this country than an ego maniacal habitual liar who  chooses  division  instead of uniting this already torn Country, stomping all over our Constitution and  poluting the integrity of the office he holds with his falsities,  time and time again.  While our media has needed a check for a long time, DT  IS the Fake News.  Don’t take my word for it… count his lies.  Do the research.  Seek truth, not what’s convenient to your belief system.

I Love My Country.  I love our freedoms, I  respect our diversity.  I appreciate all that is good in this place we all call home, and we can thank members of all political parties for their thoughtful vision in the past –  not just for the problems of the present.  I’m praying for us all that those giving DT power will stop drinking the Koolaid.  I’m hoping, wishing on stars, lucky striped stones,  dandelion seeds blown into the wind and birthday candles  that in 2020 we’ll elect a more sane, rational, planet and true Country loving leader than the one currently set on his throne, no matter what the party affiliation.

Off the soapbox for now… if you got this far, thanks for lending an ear – and your opinion in the comments if you so choose.    While I have always welcomed opposing views on whatever the subject, this one is closed.  As I stated above, I’m no longer interested in the excuses, for I feel the damage is far too great at this point.  If you’re not willing to admit the damage being done on the world stage, not just our own, that’s your right… and your burden to bear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When there’s no sun, find some light

New England is still wearing her dingy grey cloak, refusing to take it off in order to properly herald Spring. So what’s a Yankee to do? … head to the garden center to purchase some cheer!  Mom joined the Mr. and I  on a jaunt across the  CT river , where we bought some bright red geraniums which I’ll plant in the big pots down at Stella-by-the-Sea in the coming days.

On the way we stopped for lunch across from the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam…

So many charming centuries old homes in this part of town…   tulips and flowering trees everywhere!

On to Balleks,  a family owned farm/garden center/greenhouse that’s been in the Ballek family since the 1660’s – how’s that for history. Some of the Ballek family in their 90’s still roam the isles helping customers, it’s a lovely thing to see.

They have SO many unique plants inside the large greenhouse and two big old silos that have some tales to tell, I’m sure.

 

The “pods” below are large – you could put your reading glasses in there.

Meanwhile.. back on the farm – I’ve moved the chicks to the big coop, creating a temporary nursery out there inside the covered enclosed chicken yard, complete with their heat lamp.  They got too big for the chick condo on the porch and it was beginning to look like a pig pen out there with shavings and hay and chick food and chick dander littering every surface from ground to ceiling.  Bleh.   I did scrub the porch once everything was out – we’ll actually be able to sit out there again once it dries.

The new girls in their temporary coop nursery

Which is basically a sectioned off area in the big covered coop “yard” separated with bird mesh and a tarp, wrapped on the outside with a plastic drop cloth to keep the wind off them.

The big girls on the other side of the tarp.

So much work to integrate five little chicks into the fold!  But the reward of fresh eggs and a flock of chickens in the yard is well worth the effort.

 

More rain for tomorrow – I’ll most likely be at my desk catching up on the editorial stuff that earns me a paycheck.  I suppose the upside to all the rain and a steady string of grey days is all the inside work I get done when the sun isn’t calling to me.

I hope all is well in your world – may we all have many sunny days ahead.

 

 

 

Spring Chicken and the beginning of the End

One of these is a Spring Chicken, and one is definitely not.

 

This is Snow – one of her buddies, Cersei, had to be humanely euthanized due to a severe scissor beak. Which brings me to thoughts on the fate of her namesake.

 

If you’re not a GOT fan – the following will make little sense.

After the second installment, episode 2 of the final season of Game of Thrones – any GOT fans care to share their predictions? Here’s what I think…

– Dany (Khaleesi, Daeynerys)  is showing a real lust for the iron throne, and apparently will do unsavory things to get what she wants (think dragon-torching poor Sam Tarly’s dad and brother over a land dispute) Yep – she’s not as caring or kind as we once thought, now, is she. I think she dies in the end.  Although if she were actually pregnant with Jon’s baby that might be a whole new something, so perhaps they’ll keep her alive.   Cersei – well she’s been used and abused, but she’s ruthless and cruel, too…perhaps my chick Cersei’s death is an omen for hers? Jon Snow is one of the few who have always put others before himself and he has real heart and true bravery – who better to become the true King, (which he apparently is anyway). Tyrion – He’s the best character in the show if you ask me, and the jabs at his stature have been cruel throughout the series. I hope he lives, Perhaps it’s he who finally slays  the Night King, as he is  truly the most intelligent of them all. Bran seems awfully calm having just met face to face with Jaime, the man responsible for his life in a wheelchair, – has he forseen the future and the inevitable fate, as in death.. of Jaime?   Jaimie teeters between despicable and redeeming, tough call.  Perhaps Theon Greyjoy will redeem himself by piercing the Night King’s heart with Dragon glass as he loses his own life in a final act of bravery after so much miserable  conspiring, deception and sniveling.  I believe  the dragon glass to the heart of the Night King will topple all the white walkers in the end, as he is their maker. The scrappy Arya and  horribly abused but wisened, steady, now-strong Sansa – it could go either way for them.   And  the most burning question for me, anyway…… what will become of the Dragons?  One already dead and flying with the white walkers, two still bound to Dany. 

Whom I’d love to see survive? Oh please let the dragons live – and Jon Snow, Arya, Sansa, Tyrion, Sam Tarly and wife, Jorah be amongst the living. Alas, they’ve already told us many good people will die.   I’m gonna need Xanax to watch the conclusion.