Pretty much posting as an excuse to use this .gif

[katernater]

Bird news, now! And, you guys, I'm not even kidding, there's a fourth egg in that nest. I seriously don't know where this mother robin has been keeping them, or how long it takes an egg to form inside of a bird's baby birdy parts, but damn. The mother and father bird have been spending a lot more time sitting in the nest and do not appear to share my enthusiasm for me hanging out by my window all the time, waiting to snap photos of their home with my camera like I'm a paparazzo in bird Hollywood.

And, hey! I got a raise at work! All of the full-time teachers did. Enrollment has been up the last six months, which in turn means that home office is in the business of making magnanimous gestures. It doesn't kick in until August, but it's a sizable chunk of change and it will greatly help when my student loans come due, starting in June. I got the letter during the first class break this morning and instantly started thinking of ways to pre-spend it (break is coming up in two weeks and I thought I might take a trip somewhere), but then I thought about gas prices (it's $4.19/gallon here, which is absolutely unheard of) and all of the bills I have yet to pay, and pretty much every penny evaporated right then and there. Responsibility is the biggest buzzkill.

I've been watching Game of Thrones and liking it so far. I have discovered that I cannot read any of the reviews or commentaries, however, because I can't keep track of all the names. Hearing them pronounced is one thing, but seeing "And then Alyyyyyaui did this, and I can't believe Ryserys went all macho on Liyuliyuu like that, and did you see what Yyyyyyyyyyyyy was wearing? Tuh-RAMP!" somehow confuses the hell out of me. I'm like, okay guys, I'm just going to watch for the pretty, so you and your sticky 'Y' key can have at it on the forums without me. Similarly, I don't think I could read the books without keeping detailed notes, and that is simply not something I am willing to do. I'm reading Tony Blair's memoirs at the moment and I think the version I have is some special "Americanized" edition -- with footnotes and parenthetical asides that explain some of the details about British politics -- and I already feel talked-down to. (Not that I know a Shadow Cabinet minister from shinola anyway.) I just don't think I could take the indignity of being bested by epic fantasy. CHANGE MY MIND, O TRUE BELIEVERS.

And how about Doctor Who last week, huh?



IDEK.

Comments

[another-myself.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen Game of Thrones yet and I'm absurdly curious! The books have been nagging at the back of my mind, and i'm just..yeah. Very intrigued.

WHAT WAS THAT DOCTOR WHO. WHAT WHAT WHAT.

[ceitfianna]

Bird nests are the best. For a while there was one outside my mother's window and we would all peer at it.

I keep meaning to watch Game of Thrones since I read the books but I have to figure out how. The books confused me so much, I'd keep reading since the writing is brilliant and compelling but then I ended up lost in all the horrible things going on. I stopped after the third as I didn't want to go back into the world.

Doctor Who was so good. Oh and speaking of British politics, I've been watching State of Play, which is wonderful. I love British series where its like spot the actor.

That gif is hilarious and sort of wrong all at once. Yay for a raise and possible trips! Responsibility is tough but road trips can be good. I think we're vaguely close to each other, but I'm not sure.

[nerdish.livejournal.com]

I'm reading the Game of Thrones books, and they're decent so far. I haven't managed to track down a good download of the show, but once I do I'm sure I'll like it.

Congrats on the raise.

*backs away slowly from that .gif*

[froda-baggins.livejournal.com]

That gif is very distracting.

I'm firmly of the opinion that everyone should read A Song of Ice and Fire. It's not hard to follow. And there are appendices with character lists. Also, maps.

[kate-andy.livejournal.com]

Game of Thrones is a freaking chore of a series to read. It's cool if you like that kind of thing but you practically have to keep a dossier (plus genealogical tree) handy at all times for when actual important characters show up amidst the hundreds of unimportant-but-still-every-detail-of-their-lineage-and-clothes-and-banner-is-described-at-length characters. The TV series is 1000X easier to follow, character-wise, because if some random one-time guy shows up on screen to hand somebody a letter or something, he is a random one time guy and yet in the book he would have at least two paragraphs describing his family and history and where the furniture in his home comes from. And then you never see him again. Or he dies two pages later. And his name would probably have at least three Y's in it.

Unfortunately having the books as a background makes the TV series a lot more subtly complex, because you are then adding nuances from your own recollection of the series. I can't honestly say how it comes across without that, by which I mean the quality of story telling. It's probably still fairly good although it's still in the millions-of-characters-introductions part, so harder to judge so far. The casting is great though.

[msconduct.livejournal.com]

I love the Song Of Ice And Fire books, but I have to admit they're tough going emotionally. It's all grit and nasty fights, and you spend most of your time terrified that people you like are going to die. Which they very well might. Nevertheless (or because of this?) those books are the only ones I buy in hardback. I'm liking the series, although the casting of Cersei (sorry, Cyeryseiyyy) is ALL WRONG.

[eumelkeks.livejournal.com]

A fourth egg, woot! O_O

Read the books, bb. They're a bit confusing at first but every chapter is titled after its point of view character, so one can't get too confused. And they rock.

[mauvais-pli.livejournal.com]

If you like fantasy at all, the Song of Ice and Fire (which is the name of the series) is not hard to read at all - it is utterly captivating and there are a set of POV characters every book that help with keeping track of different plotlines simultaneous without much confusion. I would say it is decidely unhelpful to take notes/try to keep track of timelines or anything like that, because (a) as mentioned, lists of members of major houses listed very helpfully at the end, and (b) Martin doesn't care about timelines himself, so it's pointless to try to know for sure.

In any case, unless you will dislike the style or something like that, and so be bored reading, there's no way you'll lose track of the plot or of any of the may major characters. Martin does make obscure references that could provide clues about someone or help build theories but they're there to be dug out at leisure - I personally didn't care so much about subtle clues on the first read.

But yeah, hey, if you don't like long descriptive passages, you probably don't like pseudo-medieval fantasy much, so you see my point?

Oh, and violence, cruelty and very questionable endeavours are another thing. There are a lot of those. And no character is safe from a sudden and often gruesome death. But these books are the best thing that happened to fantasy since Middle Earth, imo.

p.s. Y is [i:] everywhere except in Tywin, where it's [ai]. Hang in there. :)

[farstepper.livejournal.com]

If he is not repeating "We must, we must, we must improve our busts" in that clip I will be VERY VERY sad.

[highlander_ii]

no bird nest photos?

and i think they have 4 or 5 eggs... but i'm not an ornithologist.

[awesomesquared.livejournal.com]

Dude, read the books. Honestly. I'm reading them right now and they are almost Tolkien-esque in their majesty (with about seventy times more sex). They are phenomenal.

and OMG THAT GIF. AHHAHAH.

Mix is going up sometime this weekend by the way, if my Internet is nice to me (I am at my sister's house!)