Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

History Will Call Us Wives

Posted: December 17, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Book Review, Movie Review, Opinion
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Recently at work, I was bringing in my really old board game, Dune (from Avalon Hill.) My office is a pretty cool place to work, and at lunch we occasionally get a game of something going. Since we’ve played some games in the past that required more than a few lunches to complete (Game of Thrones, Small World) I thought Dune might be a good addition to lunchtime strategic competitions.

One of the interns from the cubicle pod near ours saw me carrying the box, and asked if I knew that they’d made a movie called Dune. I did know that. Oh, I had that knowledge.

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Back in 1984, I was very excited to see David Lynch’s adaptation of one of my favorite science fiction books. I roped my dad into coming along, since I’d convinced him to read Dune during a summer vacation trip. He had agreed that the book was great.

After we saw the movie, we agreed that unlike the book, the movie was not.

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In Defense of Balon Greyjoy. Wait, WHAT?

Posted: December 16, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Warning: I’m talking HBO’s Game of Thrones here, and I won’t be talking about anything that hasn’t been shown in the television show (or strongly hinted.) I won’t be having any spoilers for future plot points involving the secessionist self-crowned King of the Iron Islands, the butt that sits on the Sea-Stone chair, Balon Greyjoy.

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Pull that Goddamn Rope! And That Other Goddamn Rope!

Full disclosure, I’m not a fan of House Greyjoy. But I think that they are a great part of the story. I just wished that they’d joined with Robb Stark and the North in a coallition against the Lannister-led regime. But I’ve been thinking on this, and maybe that wouldn’t have made sense. Balon Greyjoy probably made the right call in attacking the undefended North.

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The Wall! Huh! Good Gods, Y’all, What Is It Good For?

Posted: December 11, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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At the northern reaches of the Seven Kingdoms, rising 700 feet and stretching nearly from coast to coast lies the Wall.

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South of the Wall

I’ll be touching on topics regarding this glacial wonder of Westeros, from the first three seasons of HBO’s excellent Game of Thrones. This won’t be crazy crazy spoilery, since I’ll be mostly talking about a large chunk of ice, but there will be some incidental references to the plot as presented from the television show (nothing from the books that hasn’t happened yet), so if you aren’t caught up on the story currently on HBO, don’t risk it.

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In Defense of Stannis Baratheon.

Posted: November 26, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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There’s not a lot of love thrown around for the character of Stannis on HBO’s excellent Game of Thrones. I think it’s time to enumerate some of Stannis’ many positive qualities. And just maybe the naysayers will come around to consider dead King Bob’s younger brother as the right man to run Westeros. After all, at least he’s not Joffrey.

Usual spoiler warnings apply. I’m not going to be revealing anything that hasn’t happened on the show, although there’s always the chance that I’ll bring in some book detail from the same period that’s covered by the TV series. But this is going to otherwise be all HBO show-related. (Look, just watch the show.)

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In Defense of Theon Greyjoy. WHAT?

Posted: November 9, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Relax, you people, relax. This isn’t going to be a six-part series defending Theon Greyjoy’s actions or character like I did with Jon Snow. (Or my one-part post defending Ned Stark, for that matter.)

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I’m more interested in discussing HBO’s Game of Thrones showrunners’ decisions in regards to Theon Greyjoy’s storyline, as presented in Season Three of the show. His torture, and the cagey and dodgy manipulations of keeping his captor’s identity secret have been somewhat controversial. And I have some opinions on that.

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Zombies, Quasi-Zombies, and Happy Halloween

Posted: October 31, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Opinion
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It’s Halloween and why not have a post about shambling, walking corpses that feed on the living? Or angry, adrenaline’d infected that attack the healthy? Or things that kind of fall into that category of scary? Zombies and quasi-Zombies.

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Recently on Facebook, one of my friends commented that they were so bored with zombies, that zombies weren’t interesting. I understand there’s a certain amount of Zombie Saturation Syndrome going on right now, but I think stories featuring elements of the relentless, indefatigable, cannibalistic undead aren’t necessarily played out.

And since I enjoy talking about zombies, I thought I’d put finger to keyboard and do just that.

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Closing Arguments In Defense of Jon Snow (Finally!)

Posted: October 7, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Abstract: Often, I hear complaints about Jon Snow, the bastard of Winterfell. I previously wrote responses to various common complaints, and now I wrap it all up in a bow.

This is the sixth part in a series examining alleged negative aspects of Jon Snow, the acknowledged illegitimate son of Lord Eddard “One Does Not Simply Play the Game of Thrones” Stark. This was all explained five posts ago. Should you not want to read the whole thing, I’ll summarize: I’m a fan of Jon Snow, and I’m concluding my defense of his character with a general character defense. Oh, the symmetry!

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To recap, Jon Snow has been accused of being boring (or his storyline is boring), he’s an emo whiny dummy, he’s indecisive, and he’s a bad boyfriend.

Well, yeah. I guess. I mean, I don’t agree. Daenerys has some boring storylines (WHERE ARE MY DRAGONS!), Theon is way more whiny, he’s no more indecisive than anyone else, and as a virgin who has his first sexual experience with a threatening scary barbarian, I think there’s no way he could avoid being a bad boyfriend.

But I’ve already fought those battles. Time for two more tactics, and I’ll even call upon my classical education to bring it home.

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In Defense of Whiny Jon “Emo” Snow

Posted: October 7, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Abstract: Often, I hear a complaint about Jon Snow that basically says he’s a big emo whiner. I take some issue with that, and the following is an angst-ridden gloomy complaint about such complaints. Heavy Sigh.

This is the fifth part in a series examining alleged negative aspects of Jon Snow, the acknowledged illegitimate son of Lord Eddard “Winter is Coming, We’re All Going to Die” Stark. This was all explained four posts ago. Should you not want to read the whole thing, I’ll summarize: I’m a fan of Jon Snow, and I feel it necessary to respond to criticism of the bastard of Winterfell. Hasn’t Jon suffered enough emotional trauma just from his mommy-issues? Must the Internet be so mean to him?

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Okay. When I’m listening to Game of Thrones recap podcasts, when the topic of discussion turns north, there’s usually one podcaster on each podcast that goes on about that Emo-Motherf***er Jon Snow. Usually followed by an exasperated “I can’t take any more of his whining!”

Okay, I get that. The bastard of Winterfell has been known to complain and whine. I won’t deny that. I’m ready to convict him right now.

Let’s hit some of the angst-ridden events that a certain someone has whined about or had angsty-face about.

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In Defense of Bad Boyfriend Jon Snow

Posted: October 7, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Abstract: Some have observed that Jon Snow really done Ygritte the Wildling wrong. I’m not saying Jon is innocent, but there are extenuating circumstances that should be acknowledged before Jon is sentenced to being feathered some more. (Feathered as in getting shot full of arrows, yo.)

This is the fourth part in a series examining alleged negative aspects of Jon Snow, the acknowledged illegitimate son of Lord Eddard “Women Can Get You Into Trouble” Stark. This was all explained three posts ago. Should you not want to read the whole thing, I’ll summarize: I’m a fan of Jon Snow, and I feel it necessary to respond to criticism of the bastard of Winterfell. Wasn’t it bad enough that the only girl willing to give Jon the time of day was totally on the enemy side?

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You’ll know one thing, Jon Snow. You’ll know I’m right pissed, you bastard!

Jon Snow: Bad Boyfriend

Ah, Ygritte. The girl with the fire-kissed hair. It’s hard to imagine Jon Snow abandoning her like he did. But he did. And it’s something to account for.

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In Defense of Indecisive Jon Snow

Posted: October 7, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Abstract: Some people like to complain that Jon Snow is a flip-flopping indecisive simpleton. Really? I take issue with that. Decisively!

This is the third part in a series examining alleged negative aspects of Jon Snow, the acknowledged illegitimate son of Lord Eddard “Neddie” Stark. This was all explained two posts ago. Should you not want to read the whole thing, I’ll summarize: I’m a fan of Jon Snow, and I feel it necessary to respond to criticism of the bastard of Winterfell. Wasn’t it bad enough for Jon to have status lower on the Winterfell Totem Pole than Theon Greyjoy? Theon!

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Flopping the Flips

This is a bit of a complicated topic, since it is less about the character of Jon Snow, and more about two other things: is the show executing Jon’s story effectively, and are the viewers paying attention. Or as much attention as they should be.

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