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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In Defense of Boring Jon Snow

Posted: October 7, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Abstract: Some claim Jon Snow’s story (or Jon Snow himself) is boring. They’re wrong! (In my humble opinion…)

This is the second part in a series examining alleged negative aspects of Jon Snow, the acknowledged illegitimate son of Eddard “I’m Too Sexy For My Head” Stark. This was all explained last post. 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. Didn’t Catelyn Stark do enough emotional damage to Jon at Winterfell? Seriously!

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The Boredom

Some Jon Snow detractors either find the Jon Snow story-line boring, or find Jon Snow simply an uninteresting character. I’ll admit, I don’t think that the showrunners have made Jon’s television journey into the north as compelling as it was in the books. Of course, it’s always dangerous to stop paying attention to a story-line that seems not all that compelling. After Tyrion’s wedding to Sansa, I remember several podcasters complaining about having to endure another wedding, the Stark-brokered union of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey. Yeah, the Red Wedding was pretty dull, eh?

I’m not going to try to defend the Jon Snow story as televised. Well, I might. Some of the problems people have are not in fully understanding what is going on and I’ll be taking issue with that.

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Opening Arguments In Defense of Jon Snow

Posted: October 7, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Abstract: (I include these abstracts entirely on behalf of my academic friends who get scared by walls of text.) Not everyone likes Jon Snow. I take this opportunity to lend my support for the acknowledged (yet illegitimate) son of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell. This will be the first in a series. You’re welcome.

Just to be clear, I’m talking about Jon Snow from Game of Thrones, and not Jon Snow the British Journalist and Television Presenter. (That dude must get tired of being told how little he knows.)

Jon Snow Looking Pensive. Yeah. Redundant. I Know.

Snow. Jon Snow.

I want to state upfront that I’m mostly going to be talking about Jon Snow as portrayed in HBO’s television series Game of Thrones, based on George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ll be talking about the existing seasons, with hardly any mention of the books they are based upon. (I would have liked to have said *no* mentions but I know me, I’ll be doing some light references to the books.)

So if you’re a Game of Thrones TV Viewer and not a Book Reader (an Unsullied vs. a Sullied) I promise that I won’t be spoiling things to come. If you’re not up to date on the show and you don’t want to be spoiled, take my advice and stop reading. I make no promises for what might happen in the comments section. (But I can urge people to be spoiler-free, please. Especially in regards to that thing about Jon Snow that many of us suspect but hasn’t yet been confirmed or debunked. THAT thing. Or maybe that other thing.)

This post will be the first of several posts, discussing several negative aspects of Jon Snow or the Jon Snow storyline. I had originally planned on knocking out a quick post, but the original was turning into something big enough to keep a horde of Wildlings out, so I opted to break it into smaller, digestible chunks. Anyone who reads the entire thing will be my friend for life. It is known.

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September #MicroStory Collection

Posted: October 1, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Flash Fiction, Writing
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It’s a brand new month, so I dragged a virtual rake through my Facebook account and fetched all of my flash-fiction that I had posted during September. As a reminder, these represent story-essences composed in 140 characters (so I could tweet them with the hashtag #MicroStory.)

For really great #MicroStory action, please follow @MicroSFF, the twitter account that inspired me to participate in this minimalist writing exercise.

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August #MicroStory Collection

Posted: September 26, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Flash Fiction, Writing
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Okay, this post is mostly just for me.

Some time ago, I was introduced to the concept of flash-fiction or microstories. For purposes of this post, a Micro Story is something that kind of tells the essence of a story on a tweet, or rather in 140 characters. Since I think it’s important to tag a Micro Story and not have friends and family think I’ve lost my mind, I tag any Micro Story tweet with the #MicroStory hashtag.

I tweet them, and through the magic of Twitter’s interaction with other social media, it gets cross-posted to Facebook. People seem to like them, and that makes me happy. But they’re hard to go back and read.

So…, I decided to collect a month’s worth of my #MicroStory tweets and post them to my blog. So now you know.

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Thoughts on the LOST Finale. Positive, Warm, Loving Thoughts.

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swoosh…

ABSTRACT: (My scientifically-minded friends have asked several times for a Too Long; Didn’t Read version of my posts, so…) People complain about the final season of Lost. I do not share their view. I will address the common complaints of the flash-sideways limbo (which was emotionally satisfying and a very Lost thing to do, thematically) and the perceived lack of answers (which I appreciated with the same faculty with which I appreciate something like poetry, for example.)

I love Lost. (The title might have given that away.)

Recently on the Jay and Jack Facebook group (you don’t know Jay and Jack? You should!) there was a discussion of TV shows that had either gone on too long, or had spawned a spin-off that had tarnished the reputation of its predecessor. Lost was mentioned, not in the spin-off category, but as a show that had gone on too long, and some criticism of the final season was opined.

I love Lost. I’m shameless about it. So what will now follow will be a totally biased and uncritical love letter to season six. I might as well be honest about it.

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Image  —  Posted: September 19, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Opinion, TV
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Thoughts on the True Blood Finale (More or Less)

Posted: September 10, 2013 by patricksponaugle in TV
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Recently, the insightful hosts over at Geek Girl Soup had a recap of the most recent season of True Blood, HBO’s Vampire Drama. Because they’re great over at GGS they requested input from their listeners, and because they are awesome, they posted my email on their blog entry that accompanies their podcasts. (You should just go to http://www.geekgirlsoup.com and check them out. I really enjoy their TV coverage but particularly their big movie season reviews and spotlights.)
I decided that since I’d already gone to the trouble of sending a huge email to them about the season, I’d just post it here to for an easy blog entry. I’m lazy like that. And here it is:

In Defense of Ned Stark

Posted: September 4, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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(Warning, SPOILERS for the first book in a well known series that’s been out for a long while, and has been made into a cable television event.)

People love to bash on Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark. I get that. But I don’t have to stand around like Barristan Selmy and let it happen. Let me tell you a story…

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Once upon a time, there was a nobleman who lived with his loving family and loyal retainers in their ancestral seat of power. Things were good.

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The World’s End Hasn’t Ended (my review, I mean)

Posted: September 2, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Movie Review
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Well, this will be less of a review than a continuation of my discussing the movie. In a rambly fashion.

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Recently I posted a review of the Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright movie The World’s End. As I recall, I liked it and said all you people should go see it.

The End.

Oh! But I had more!

I wanted to bring up a few points about the movie that struck me, and that’s what I’m going to do. This will be spoilery, so be warned. It won’t be too long.

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The World’s End Movie Review

Posted: September 1, 2013 by patricksponaugle in Movie Review
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ImageI’m a fan of Simon Pegg, although I admit to have not seen much of his work. Yes, I’ve seen him as Scotty in the new interpretation of Star Trek, and in Mission Impossible, and I was delighted to have seen Shaun of the Dead, but I missed Hot Fuzz, Spaced, Paul, and even Band of Brothers.

But I do know Pegg was the visual inspiration for Wee Hughie in “The Boys.” (Film dudes, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, look it up.)

Anyway, when I saw that Simon Pegg was going to be in a movie with his frequent collaborator Nick Frost (who, again, I’ve only seen in Shaun of the Dead), along with Martin Freeman (who I really like), I was already on board.

Enough backstory about me.

Tonight my wife and I had a chance to go see The World’s End at our local theater, and we did not leave disappointed. We had a really great time.

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