HBO Game of Thrones Recap : No One

In Braavos after Lady Crane finishes playing Cersei during Joffrey's death scene she leaves the stage. In her dressing room Lady Crane discovers Arya wounded and just about out of it. She binds Arya's wounds. I guess we'll just ignore the serious nature of several deep stabs to the stomach, intestines, kidneys and liver areas for now and roll with the story. When Arya questions how an actress learned to be such a good medic Lady Crane tells Arya of previous domestic violence issues with her beloved bad boy paramours. But hold on to your feminist outrage. Lady Crane was the aggressor. She also got rid of the actress playing Sansa by scarring the girl's face. She likes Arya. She offers to bring along Arya when the troupe moves to Pentos.  Arya says she can't stay with Lady Crane because she'll put her in danger. The Hound, as befits his name, has tracked down some of the members of the Brotherhood without Banners and showed them 99 different ways he can turn them into origami with just one trusty axe. He hasn't found the leaders yet but he's looking. The Hound is not so much on the forgive and forget train any more. King Charmin Tommen gave the Faith Militant access to the Red Keep. Qyburn is too polite or too scared of Cersei to point out Tommen's weakness but Cersei knows it well enough. Smelling himself a bit, Cersei's cousin and former lover Lancel tells her that The High Sparrow wants to see her. Cersei is not really feeling this but Lancel makes it clear that it's not a request. So get moving. Now!  Cersei has had just about enough of this attitude and says she's not going. So Lancel and his Holy Rollers need to leave. When they try to seize her, FrankenGregor steps in. One of the Faith Militant is foolish enough to attack the undead Mountain. The Mountain knocks him down and rips him apart. Cersei sardonically lets Lancel know he and The High Sparrow are always welcome to visit. But maybe Cersei played this hand too soon. A little later there is a royal pronouncement in the throne room. Cersei is rather ostentatiously not invited to hear it. Typically she shows up anyway but her uncle Kevan, Tommen's Hand, won't let her anywhere near her son. He banishes her to the upstairs gallery, an obvious insult. King Stay-Soft announces trial dates for Loras and Cersei but in a move that probably comes from The High Sparrow Tommen also announces that effective immediately, trial by combat is banned. It's barbaric and doesn't really prove anything. Instead seven Septons will judge Loras and Cersei. And just like that Cersei is deprived of her most obvious weapon. But you never laugh at live lionesses. Qyburn tells Cersei that there's much more to the rumors she had him investigate. Interesting. Cersei has a plan. I'm sure this involves violence.

Brienne and Podrick reach Riverrun. They are surrounded by Lannister soldiers and escorted to see Jaime. Bronn shoots the breeze with Podrick. Bronn is not awed by Podrick squiring for Brienne or with Podrick's tales of training sessions under Brienne. Bronn says Podrick should be a knight by now. Bronn wants to know if Podrick has had Brienne and is disappointed to find out otherwise. Bronn is a pragmatic sort. He points out that Brienne and Jaime look at each other in a certain way. Bronn also shows Bronn a few combat moves that Brienne might not know about. Jaime claims to be impressed that Brienne found Sansa alive, but he's not going to lift the siege despite Brienne's appeals to his honor. The best Brienne can get from Jaime is an agreement to take Riverrun without bloodshed and let the Tully army go north to help Sansa. Of course this requires that the Blackfish surrender Riverrun based on Brienne's appeals and Sansa's letter. Jaime doubts that will happen. But for old time's sake he's willing to let Brienne try. Jaime says that the Blackfish is even more stubborn than Brienne. Brienne says that The Blackfish wants to stay and fight she will feel honor bound to take The Blackfish's side as she's sworn to Sansa. When Brienne reaches the Blackfish he proves Jaime's assertion to be correct. He questions why Brienne's friend Jaime would let her thru the lines. He points out that he's not seen Sansa since she was a child and wouldn't know her signature. He questions Brienne's gear (Lannister). When he reads Sansa's letter The Blackfish reluctantly recognizes his sister Catelyn's style in the writing. But even if he wanted to leave he just can't. Besides, he doesn't have the numbers. He's unmoved by Brienne saying that he has more men than Sansa. The Blackfish is sorry but he's also fighting for his home and must say no. He's tired of running. Brienne tells Podrick to get word north that she failed.

Jaime visits Edmure Tully. Jaime is affable enough initially, apologizing for the rough treatment of Edmure by the Freys. Edmure doesn't trust Jaime. Having your sister, nephew and various bannermen murdered at the behest of the Lannisters tends to reduce goodwill. Jaime is not bothered by this. War is war, after all. And what ever else is happening he's the one with freedom and an army. Edmure is the one who is imprisoned and living only because Jaime finds it currently useful. Slowly dropping his guise of affability and letting his true nature shine thru, Jaime tells Edmure that the incest rumors are true. He loves his sister very much. Jaime was inspired by the common traits that Cersei and the late Catelyn Stark had. They each possessed a ferocious love for their children. Jaime thinks Edmure is probably the same way. But in any event even if Edmure lacks that attribute, Jaime is anxious to return to Cersei. Jaime is so anxious to get back that if he has to murder Edmure's child with Roslin Frey he will do just that. He would slaughter the entire world for a slice of Cersei's well, you know. Edmure wants to know how Jaime lives with himself but Jaime doesn't care what Edmure thinks.That's the point he's trying to impress upon Edmure you see. Cleaned up and released, Edmure rides up to Riverrun and demands entry. The Blackfish objects because he knows it's a trick. Unfortunately the Tully hierarchy has apparently not previously discussed this eventuality. The Blackfish argues that an order given under duress is no order but the second in-command and apparently most of the Tully warriors are of the opinion that their lord is their lord, no matter what. And Edmure Tully is in their view the legal lord of Riverrun. The Blackfish is not. And they are willing to enforce this view with violence against The Blackfish if need be. Disgusted, The Blackfish backs down. Showing that he has the spine of a jellyfish, once he's inside Edmure Tully orders his men to lay down their weapons and open the gates to the Lannister-Frey armies. If I were in the Tully brigade I might have thrown Edmure over the walls myself. What a wuss. Brienne and Podrick flee. The Blackfish apparently dies fighting offscreen.

In Meereen another Red Priestess is singing the praises of Daenerys. Tyrion and Varys walk thru the streets. Varys is leaving on a secret mission. Is he returning to Westeros? It's unclear. It's a secret mission after all. Back at headquarters, Tyrion is incredibly satisfied with himself. He thinks all his plans and rationality have paid off. He's just so smart. He finally gets Grey Worm and Missandei to lighten up and have some wine with him. Nevertheless neither of his new drinking buddies seems to appreciate Tyrion's sense of humor. Missandei likes the wine though. She also likes Grey Worm, as if that weren't obvious. But this nascent joviality is aborted when alarms ring out. The slavers have gotten themselves a fleet and are attacking Meereen. Battle is joined. Showing that he still has an ego if not his manhood Grey Worm can't resist telling Tyrion that Tyrion was wrong. Tyrion admits he was wrong but still has some ideas about where and how to fight. Grey Worm doesn't want to hear it. It's a military situation. He's running things now. He intends to fight a defensive battle and make the invaders pay. But this is interrupted by Daenerys' return. The Hound has tracked down the last Brotherhood without Banners outlaws but finds that the three remaining men were renegades who are about to be executed by the true Brotherhood without Banners members, led by Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr. The Hound insists that the men are his to kill but Beric disagrees. After some haggling Beric agrees to let The Hound kill two of them, but only by hanging. No axe work or mutilation. Afterwards The Hound sticks around for dinner and listens to Beric and Thoros talk of a great danger coming in the North. They need his help and say that the Hound can still redeem himself. Checking on Arya, Lady Crane sees a young man in her room. Arya wakes up to find The Waif in her room. Lady Crane is dead. This kicks off a chase scene that may have felt epic when it was written but which I found interminable. The Waif pursues Arya through about half of Braavos before she corners her in Arya's little cave. Only this time Arya has Needle. The Waif doesn't care. Arya closes her eyes and extinguishes the candle that lights the cave. Back at the House of Black and White Jaqen H'ghar notices blood on the floor. He follows the blood stains to find a new face on the wall. It's the Waif's face. Arya is behind Jaqen with Needle. She wants to know if Jaqen sent the Waif after her. Jaqen says yes. Jaqen says that finally a girl is no one. Arya disagrees. She says that she is Arya Stark of Winterfell. And she's going home.

What I liked

• I liked the end of the Arya overseas storyline. I liked that the fighting blind training paid off.
• I liked the fact that Edmure Tully was forced to choose between the memory of a dead sister and nephew and the hope/promise of a living son. Whereas The Blackfish could afford to be unfettered about making a last stand, having no children, Edmure couldn't. You could argue that he SHOULD have been especially since his in-laws are the ones who murdered his sister and nephew and are likely to murder him soon but parenthood is a responsibility that can change perspectives.
• I liked the reminder that Jaime is not a nice man. At all.
• Most people would prefer not to go out in a blaze of glory if they have a choice about it. Of course since it's the Freys outside the walls I would be hesitant about surrendering and trusting their word but it is what it is.
• It's a little hamfisted but I think we're supposed to notice that Tommen is always framed listening to and responding to men. Certainly Kevan, Pycelle and The High Sparrow have marginalized The Queen of Thorns, Margaery and Cersei. 

What I didn't like

• I thought that Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully deserved a final onscreen confrontation with either Jaime or Edmure. The actor oozes testosterone and gravitas. 
• It's one thing for Tommen to fall under the influence of the The High Sparrow but little man was just apologizing to Mommy a few episodes ago about not standing up for her. I understand that Cersei has few friends but would Tommen really be so callous about his mother's fate? Mother is everything.
• Sorry but people who get stabbed multiple times in the gut and side take a bit longer to heal, if they ever do. 
• The Missandei-Tyrion-Grey Worm scenes just don't work for me. They don't really like and more importantly don't understand each other. Perhaps this was supposed to be a commentary on the foolishness/arrogance of the White Man's Burden, or White Woman's Burden, since it's part of Daenerys' storyline, but I found the scenes boring. I would like Daenerys to leave for Westeros. I want to see how she fares with people who are war weary and don't care for her claim. I also want to see exactly how a self-styled liberator leads an army of Dothraki and mercenaries that live for rape and slavery.

Movie Reviews: The Ones Below, Get The Gringo

The Ones Below
directed by David Farr

The Ones Below is a nifty little thriller movie which shows once again that you can make impressive disturbing films without over reliance on gore and guts. If I recall correctly there is virtually no violence in this movie although the filmmaker certainly makes you think there might be much more than there is. It's creepy as hell though. Visually the only sex appeal is fleeting off screen coitus and a few cleavage baring outfits, but there's nothing I would find gratuitous. Of course I almost never find cleavage gratuitous so take that with a grain of salt. No this is a game attempt at what might be called a thinking man's or woman's thriller. I didn't think The Ones Below needlessly insulted the viewer's intelligence even as some things became obvious. You'll see the twist coming a mile away but I think you still might be a little impressed with how the movie reaches the seemingly inevitable ending. This film slowly ratchets up the dread even as the outside world in which the characters live is cheerfully bright. One of the beautiful and horrible things about life is that we all inhabit our own little reality bubbles. One person is getting divorced by their spouse. Another one is welcoming their first child into the world. Someone else is dying a slow painful death from cancer. And the world just keeps on turning. The Ones Below does a great job in showing the contrast between our inner and outer worlds. Obviously there are some allusions to previous films here. It's very difficult to escape the shadow of Rosemary's Baby given the themes and subject matter. It is or should be a source of amazement that we can so easily and quickly create another human being provided we can find an interested someone with parts complementary to our own. But although the initial act of creation is very easy, relatively quick and usually joyous for both parties involved, the long process of bringing another human being into the world falls exclusively to the woman and is, from what I've heard, not necessarily a bowl of cherries.

Fox Sports Florida Reporter Emily Austen Fired

There are some people who routinely make ethnic or racial comments and earn a good living doing just that. These people are usually comedians, writers or politicians who represent districts where the overwhelming majority of people look like them and/or agree with their point of view. Other people are better off just reading whatever is on the teleprompter, smiling and raking in the big bucks. When some people go off script and let you know what they really think they run into problems. There's a very thin line between a comment that is crass or ignorant but not meanspirited and one that is deliberately malicious. Who knows what's really in Emily Austen's (former Fox Sports Florida sideline reporter for the Tampa Bay Rays and Orlando Magic) heart. All the public can go by is what Austen said. I'm betting that Austen is probably wishing that she hadn't made the comments that she made during an interview with Barstool Sports.

Emily Austen won't be the sideline reporter for future Tampa Bay Rays games on Fox Sports Florida. Nor will she do that job for the Orlando Magic next season either. After unleashing a variety of racial and religious jokes during a live Facebook chat with Barstool Sports, Austen has gotten the ax from Fox's regional sports station. During a 35-minute video with three men, Austen made several controversial comments, among them:
• That she "didn't even know that Mexicans were that smart.''
• How the "Chinese guy is always the smartest guy in math class.''
• About how she "used to talk to Jews in Boca'' when she was a server, saying one customer was "stingy'' because he complained about how she poured his beer and that "they would complain and b---- about everything.''Austen, 27, also referred to Cleveland Cavaliers basketball player Kevin Love as a "little b - - - -.'' While this is the sort of anti-PC, bro-centric content that has made Barstool Sports a popular (and well-funded) Internet destination, Austen learned pretty quickly what flies on Barstool Sports doesn't necessarily fly at her workplace.  

I don't see this as political correctness run amok so much as I see someone who lost sight of who she was and how important she wasn't to her company. You have to be pretty stupid or pretty privileged to let something you're doing outside of your workplace interfere with your work. I listen to sports radio during my commute. It is a place where slightly different rules apply. Still there are standards. Questioning a player's masculinity in a crude fashion is inbounds I think. Being amazed that an entire ethnic group/nationality is not as dumb as you thought they were is out of bounds. You always need to have a clear understanding of your value to your employer. If your departure won't negatively change your company's revenue stream or stock price, you should probably be careful about what you say in public. The other lesson is something everyone should already know. Just because someone smiles at you doesn't mean they like you. You can hear the problematic comments starting at 24:31.

LINK

Do you think Austen deserved to be fired for her comments?

HBO Game of Thrones Recap: The Broken Man

Well well. Everyone's favorite anti-hero is back. We open up with a group of people making a new building. I think it's going to be a church. Folks are cutting wood, moving stones and sanding lumber. This is hard work. It takes a number of men and women to lift a tree trunk. Usually this seems to be about a four or five person job. And then from behind we see a large man with a limp and a big head carrying a tree trunk all by himself. Well you know who it is don't you. Sandor Clegane, aka The Hound, is alive and well! This episode included a lot of storylines from book 4 of George R.R. Martin's series, A Feast For Crows. That is my least favorite book. Nonetheless I think the show creators did an adequate job bringing these scenes to life-in some cases. In others I think they missed by a country mile. More on that in a second. Anyway Ian McShane, former star of Deadwood, is playing the Septon (Religious leader) of this small group of, well what should we call them? Hippies isn't quite the word I'm looking to use here. Rehab members might be more accurate. Survivors might be the best word to use. Yes, these are people who have survived the wars and found strength in the Faith of The Seven. Some of these people were victims of brutality. Others inflicted brutality. But they all are trying to turn the page on the past and get right with God(s) or more importantly themselves. The Septon found the Hound near death. He was surprised that the Hound didn't die. The Hound says hate kept him going but the Septon thinks that's just deflection. He says that God(s) has(have) a purpose for The Hound. The Septon is a former military man with a profane nature. But he is also spiritual. He says that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you know there is something greater. The Hound still eats and works alone because many people are scared of him. The Septon would like to change that. The Hound spends a lot of time chopping wood and no that is not a euphemism for anything else. I suppose it (hard physical labor) could be a way for the The Hound to purge the evil and fear from himself. The Hound doubts that any god would want to work thru him.  The Hound says that the Septon doesn't know what's he's done. The Septon says he's heard stories.

Margaery is reading and learning religious texts backwards and forwards in order to show The High Sparrow (THS) her devotion. She also confesses that she pretended to love the poor. THS says that the poor are scary because they show humanity stripped of illusions. THS also would, strictly out of love for the kingdom, like to know why Queen Margaery isn't giving King Tommen any. That's a problem because after all the kingdom needs an heir. As Margaery is taken aback by this slimy priest asking about her sex life she hems and haws. She says that she felt that transitioning past physical desire was a good thing. THS scoffs and says that for women anyway physical desire is not required, just patience. And oh by the way THS is impressed with Margaery's religious fervor. He only hopes that Margaery's grandmother can see the light. Otherwise he's worried about her soul. In fact he's worried about her physical safety. Get the picture? The fact that he's smiling while making such a blatant threat is quite creepy. Margaery meets with Grandma but won't (can't??) dismiss Septa Unella. Margaery tells Grandma that she (Grandma) should leave. Also Loras will be fine. All he has to do is confess his crimes and renounce his claim to Highgarden. The Queen of Thorns is outraged and threatens all sorts of bloody violence. Margaery repeats what she says. The Queen of Thorns is confused and upset but Margaery slips her a torn piece of parchment which I believe she ripped from one of the holy books. Later on the Queen of Thorns looks at it. There's a drawing of a rose. So it looks like Margaery really is playing the long game. After this reveal Cersei and FrankenGregor go to see Grandma Tyrell. The Queen of Thorns is about to leave but she's currently busy writing letters. Hmm. Cersei is all I'm sorry about getting your grandkids hemmed up but that's all in the past. Right now these two women who love their children and grandchildren need to work together. The Queen of Thorns barely pauses from writing her letters (shades of Tywin?) but scoffs at Cersei's outreach. 

Olenna Tyrell says she's not certain if Cersei is the worst person she's ever dealt with, getting old tends to cloud your memory after all, but Cersei's up there. She remembers how Cersei smirked when Margaery was taken. So f*** Cersei and any alliance with Cersei. This current situation is all Cersei's fault as far as the Queen of Thorns is concerned. Grandma Tyrell is leaving Kings Landing before she gets arrested and advises Cersei  to do the same. This is especially the case since Cersei doesn't have control over the Lannister forces or the king or assistance from her brother. The Queen of Thorns says the only good thing to come out of these horrible events is that Cersei has lost. Jon Snow and Sansa Stark are doing the Northern equivalent of the Blues Brothers task of trying to put the band back together. They have mixed results with this as they discover that oaths of allegiance and trust only go so far. People who helped and bled for their father and brother aren't necessarily eager to do so for them. Jon is quickly able to get the wildlings to fight for the Stark restoration by pointing out that even though it's not their fight the Boltons will eventually come for the wildings' women, children, senior citizens and other non-combatants.  Tormund reminds everyone that Jon literally died for the wildlings so the least they can do is return the favor. The giant Wun-Wun agrees and the wildlings are in. Things are a little dicier at Bear Island, currently under the leadership of the 10 year old Lyanna Mormont.  Lyanna Mormont is unmoved by Sansa saying she remembers when Lyanna, named after Sansa's aunt, was born. Although Lyanna previously had expressed unbreakable loyalty to the Stark King in the North she's very abrupt and hostile with Jon and Sansa. Lyanna points out that her mother died at the Red Wedding. Several Mormont soldiers have died fighting for Robb Stark. And the Mormonts fought for the Starks. Strictly speaking Jon is a Snow while Sansa is either a Bolton or Lannister at this point.

Lyanna Mormont appears unmoved by Jon's reminder that he served with distinction under her grandfather at the Wall. Business is business. Lyanna has to consider her own people. She's about to ask Jon and Sansa to leave when Davos steps in, much as he did for Stannis at the Iron Bank. He says he understands her situation and point of view. But the real war between the living and dead is coming. And the Boltons can't win that war. Impressed, Lyanna softens. Well she softens as much as a ten year old bada$$ can soften. She agrees to support House Stark. But she will only provide 62 men. Mormont is a small house, has already lost a lot of men, and as mentioned each house needs to look after its own. But she assures them with a child's fierce certainty that each Mormont warrior is worth tens of any other house's. The wheels fall off the reunion tour when Jon and Sansa turn up at Lord Glover's spot. He agreed to see them out of respect for Ned Stark. But he has no interest in dying for any more Starks. He especially won't fight aside any wildlings. Sansa reminds him of oaths to House Stark. Embittered Lord Glover reminds Sansa and Jon that he and his provided soldiers to Robb Stark, who got them all killed at the Red Wedding. He also reminds the siblings that his wife and family were imprisoned and abused by Ironborn, again thanks to Robb Stark's foolish gamble. And it was the Boltons who helped eject the Ironborn, not the Starks. So much respect to Ned but Ned is dead. House Stark is dead. Now please leave. Jon and Sansa discuss the situation. They have only a few very small houses and a small wilding force. Jon says they need to march on Winterfell now before their army falls apart in feuds. Sansa says they need more men. Seeing a raven Sansa writes a letter without telling Jon. I think you can guess to whom she's writing.

The Lannister army arrives at Riverrun which the Freys are ineptly attempting to siege. Although the Freys are excellent at backstabbing people they're not so great at open military affairs. Bronn and Jaime note with disgust that the Frey force has no scouts, no perimeter security, no pickets, no ditches, no nothing. Anyone could just ride up just like Bronn and Jaime did. Two of the Frey sons, Black Walder and Lothar, who murdered Talisa Stark and Catelyn Stark, at the Red Wedding are threatening to murder Edmure Tully unless his uncle, The Blackfish, yields Riverrun. But the Blackfish knows they're bluffing. And what's more he appears not to care. He refuses to yield. Bronn and Jaime pull rank on the Freys, slapping one. Jaime takes control of Edmure and the siege and directs Bronn to get everything organized. He arranges a parley with The Blackfish. The Blackfish walks out and calmly asks Jaime where is Sansa and Arya? My niece let you go on your oath that you'd bring them back. Jaime has to respond that he doesn't have them. The Blackfish looks at Jaime with something worse than contempt. Jaime says that the war is over. So the Blackfish needs to surrender now and save lives. Referring to the Red Wedding and Jaime's previous act of murdering his king, The Blackfish says that why in the world would he ever trust the word of a Lannister or Frey. Riverrun is his home. As long as The Blackfish is alive the war is not over. So come get some or try to starve them out. The Blackfish doesn't give a flying f***. Theon and Yara are at a brothel/inn. We see that Yara likes the ladies. Theon would just as soon not be there. After making a few jokes about her brother's missing equipment  Yara reminds Theon that she loves him but that he needs to man up, even if he no longer has a man's parts. Otherwise he should just kill himself. The plan as Yara sees it is that they will go ally with Daenerys. But in the meantime she's going to go get laid. With a woman. Which Theon can't do.

The Septon gives a speech to his flock where he talks about being a soldier and all the evil things he did or saw via indifference and following orders. Every atrocity you can imagine he either saw or participated in. Age or sex was no protection. He can't bring those people back. And he will have to carry that shame for the rest of his life. But life goes on. And it's never too late to change. His mission now is to do good in the world. He's looking directly at The Hound while he gives this speech. Near the end of this speech some shady looking horsemen ride up. They don't identify themselves but ask if the Septon and his group have any steel or gold. The Septon says no but the men are welcome to share their love of the Lord if they like. The men say that they protect people. They tell the Septon that the night is dark and full of terrors. Stay safe. They leave. The Hound says those men were from the Brotherhood without Banners and will be back. The group needs to either leave or get ready to fight. The Septon says that violence is a disease. It won't be solved by spreading it to others. The Septon has made his choice. The Hound grunts disapproval, saying that violence won't be solved by dying either. In Braavos, Arya has booked next day passage on a ship to Westeros, smartly keeping the payment until she actually gets on the ship. But it's an open question as to whether she'll be on that ship. The Waif, disguised as an old woman, has located Arya. She stabs Arya a number of times in the belly before Arya falls over the bridge into the below canal. The Waif waits and watches until she's satisfied that Arya is dead. 
But Arya is not dead. She surfaces and stumbles through the streets. She's bleeding out fast.
The Hound is away chopping wood when he hears distant screams. He runs to the camp. The Brotherhood without Banners has attacked. It looks like everyone is dead. The outlaws have hanged the Septon from his own unfinished sept. The Hound doesn't exactly cry but you can see a number of emotions playing across his face. He picks up his axe.

What I liked

• No Daenerys
• I would fight and die for The Blackfish. Home team has got heart
• Lady Lyanna Mormont
• The ugly reality that people who either loved, worked for or were afraid of your parents will not necessarily relate to you in that way. For a lot of people such obligations terminate with death.
• The fact that the Freys are shown as inept and disliked by all.
• That The High Sparrow is getting so arrogant and pushy. I think he's coming up for a big fall.

What I didn't like

• Although I didn't care for the book on which the Hound's scenes were based, there is a pretty well written speech that the Septon gives on how war breaks men. You can listen to it here if you like. This episode only had poor echoes of it. I thought Ian McShane was underutilized. I thought there should have been more than one episode to show how The Septon was important to his flock and how any man or woman can struggle with non-violence in a violent world. That was mostly skipped just to turn The Hound back to violence.
• Similarly it would have been worthwhile to get a little more explanation of how the Brotherhood Without Banners changed from protecting the smallfolk to robbing, raping and murdering them. This is actually somewhat important in a critique of war and violence. Again maybe just some previous mentions of trouble in the Riverlands or showing them robbing someone under the guise of "protection"?
• Short episode
• Again, no one outside of the Wall knows or would believe that Jon returned from the dead. Last they knew he was Lord Commander. So shouldn't the tricky issue of desertion come up?

Muhammad Ali

There aren't too many giants left who walk the earth. Muhammad Ali was one such man. I was sad when I heard the news of his June 3 passing at the age of 74 but at the same time I wasn't. Ali was a man who lived his life in line with his beliefs and principles. I wish he had lived longer. However often times when someone passes our sadness is more about how we're affected and not the end of that person's life. Ali stood up at a time when it was much easier to duck and hide. He paid a price for that. Maybe it's always much easier to duck and hide. I don't know if the later battles Ali had against fellow boxing titans Frazier, Foreman, Holmes and Norton brought on or worsened his Parkinson's Disease. I do recollect that even pacifist relatives who were otherwise steadfastly opposed to boxing tuned in to watch an Ali bout. Ali was larger than life. Unfortunately most of my memories of Ali boxing were when his skills had already visibly deteriorated. But even then there was always a glimpse of the speed, grace and power that made him the Greatest, as he would have been the first to tell you. But more than the classic fights which I was mostly too young to remember what I remember about Ali is how he made people I knew, especially the men in my family, feel. Ali was a Black man who defiantly seized and kept the right to name himself. He made his own decisions about what was good and what wasn't. He made Black people feel good about being Black. This is still a controversial stance today. Ali said I'm not going to have a European name based in slavery because I'm not European. I'm going to love myself. And he refused to join a war he didn't believe in, even though he likely would have been kept far away from any danger. He threw away three years of his career at the top just to stand on principle. How many of us would do that? How many of today's athletes would make that sacrifice? Ali helped to start a change in how Black athletes were perceived, how they performed and how they were marketed, one that is still going on today. Ali wasn't perfect. None of us are. And certainly there are probably some people who were more comfortable with the aged man who could barely speak than the young brash "Mouth Of The South" who cut opponents up with verbal wit even quicker than he did with his fists. But for my money Ali truly was The Greatest.

I’m the greatest thing that ever lived! I’m the king of the world! I’m a bad man. I’m the prettiest thing that ever lived.

It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.

It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.

Book Reviews: Dead Man's Hand, Pimp

Dead Man's Hand
by John Joseph Adams

Dead Man's Hand, so named for the aces and eights or the black two pair poker hand supposedly held by gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok when he was murdered, is an anthology of short stories set in the Old West. The twist is that these tales are not just shoot em ups though a few of those exist. No the common theme that links all these stories is that they occur not in the West that was but rather the West that could have been. As the book cover indicates it is a anthology of the weird west. For those of you who read this and immediately assume that Dead Man's Hand is just another low rent horror book that you'd prefer to avoid, not being a horror fan, you are probably making a mistake. Yes, there are some traditional horror stories within though here traditional doesn't mean that you'd know exactly what to expect. But the emphasis is not on vampires, ghouls or ghosts. The emphasis is on the weird. So in one story you can read about a battle between a vampire and a righteous revered gunfighter and in the next read a feminist take on what happens when a vicious pimp tries to reclaim his "property" from the women who work in an enlightened bordello. Some of these stories work better than others but I don't think I was ever really bored reading this. As usual the best thing about anthologies is that if there is a story that you dislike it's okay because in just a few pages something new is coming along.  Other than always being set in the West these stories are often quite different in theme, tone, purpose and feel. There's something here for everyone, but I wouldn't say all of the stories are for everyone. My favorite story in this collection was Walter Jon Williams' "The Golden Age" which reimagines Gold Rush era California as something out of a Steampunk comic strip. An English sailor, unfairly cheated out of his gold claim, turns to a life of crime. He becomes known as The Commodore. He is alternately assisted and hindered by a motley crew of fellow superheroes and villains, most of whom will go out of their way to avoid killing each other outright but prefer old time radio serial favorites like leaving their enemy tied up over a flaming volcano. Other superheroes include Shanghai Susie, who uses Kung-fu to protect Chinese railroad workers or The Masked Hildalgo who fights for Mexican miners. Good or bad many of these people must put aside their quarrels when California is invaded by an Austrian madman with a blimp and an entirely unsporting attitude towards rivals. 

Mike Resnick's "The Hellbound Stagecoach" is a new twist on a very old theme. Ben Winter's "The Old Slow Man and His Gold Gun From Space" had some surprises which I don't think most people will see coming. "Stingers and Strangers" finds a boyfriend/girlfriend team investigating why some very dangerous oversize wasps have suddenly vanished. Tobias Bucknell's "Sundown" tells the story of an extremely pragmatic Black Federal Marshal who teams up with Frederick Douglass to deliver some righteous and legal retribution on some very bad people. In "Holy Jingle" Alan Dean Foster tells us the story of a man who was last seen at a Carson City brothel. When he's found he might be drained of something besides that which one would normally expect. Charles Yu's "Bookkeeper, Narrator, Gunslinger" shows us what happens when a mild mannered bookkeeper opens his mouth and discovers he's not such a bad shot. Alastair Reynolds' "Wrecking Party" informs us that a man who's smashing up the newfangled horseless carriages may not be an ignorant Luddite after all.

All in all this was a good read. Not every story was a winner but I can honestly say that the gold outweighed the dross. It's a little long but you can read it at your leisure.


Pimp
by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr

One of my favorite classic movies is It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. If you're unfamiliar with that film it's a slapstick comedy that details the escapades of seemingly normal people who, upon learning from a dying gangster the location of his last big score, chase after the buried money. In the process they become more desperate and nastier. However the film was made in the early sixties. It is mostly, a few ethnic jokes aside, painfully good natured and clean. No one gets killed. There's no nudity. Violence is limited and obviously played for laughs. The movie ends with a particularly annoying brassy bossy mother-in-law slipping on a banana peel that a man has thoughtfully thrown from his hospital bed. Typical Borscht Belt stuff. This film, funny as I find it, (especially the Jonathan Winters character) wasn't edgy even by yesteryear's standards. It runs on too long and has a few flat parts. Pimp owes something to It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World. It shares the theme of zany screwballs pursuing a big score. Alliances are made and discarded according to people's needs. I found the book hilarious. But that is where the similarities end. Pimp is short. Pimp is MUCH more similar to Everybody Smokes in Hell, reviewed here, in that it relentlessly satirizes and mocks the entertainment industry, specifically the publishing and television/film portions of that field. There is some real venom spewed here. Pimp also lacks ANY sympathetic characters. Just about everyone is a scumbag, a killer or would-be killer. Often the only reason the would-be killers aren't killers is due to their incompetence or factors outside of their control. The cops are more interested in busting people than in protecting the innocent. If you need someone to root for this is not the book for you. This is an adult book. People have sex. A lot. Some do so because well they like sex. Others only engage in sex only for manipulation. This second group is not stereotypically limited to women. A running joke throughout the book is that one pitiful male character attempts to blackmail other men about their presence at a famous  Hollywood X-Man director's pool party where lots of gay sex occurred among males, some of whom may have been underage. His extortion attempts often fail because people ask him "Well, what were YOU doing there?" I'm unfamiliar with literary rules concerning the usage of real names and situations but either they have changed or Bruen and Starr couldn't care less. They use real names throughout the book to great comedic value. This is a black comedy. It won't appeal to everyone, but I enjoyed the absurd situations and ridiculous characters. I've discussed some of Starr's solo work before here.

This book is a loose sequel to some of Bruen/Starr's previous work but it's not necessary to have read the previous books. In fact, given that many of the characters have WILDLY different interpretations of what really happened, it might even be preferable not to have read previous books. The primary two characters are Max Fisher, a criminal jack of all trades and his former secretary and girlfriend Angela Petrakos. They have a turbulent history together which ended up with Max being sent to Attica and Angela going on the lam as an adult actress, But bad pennies always turn up. Max has escaped from Attica. Max has discovered a new designer drug (the title of the book is the drug's street name: Peyote +Insulin +Mescaline +Psychosis) which he thinks will make him rich. Despite being described as looking like Phillip Seymour Hoffman post-autopsy, Max is a very dangerous individual who thrives in the confrontational world of drug dealing. A former associate of Max's, a failed writer named Paula Segal, convinces a publishing house to option her book called Bust, largely based on Max's adventures. The book becomes a massive hit. Angela gets wind of this and decides that she is the best person to produce a Bust inspired TV series. Various people, some connected to Max and Angela, many others not, crawl out of the woodwork trying to get their piece of the pie. Everyone from a Kardashian sister to Angela's old boyfriend(s) to a particularly scummy producer shows up looking to get paid. Many of these people do not like each other. Some have previously tried to kill each other. Max initially doesn't know about these events as with typical bravado he has set up his drug empire HQ across from a NYC police station. Max did this deliberately because that particular precinct is where his relentless detective pursuer works. In disguise, Max can't resist walking by the cops. 

This is a quick thrill ride of a book. It's not deep into characterization. It's more about the moment than anything else. Consider this some really good fast food. There are lots of pop-culture and meta-fictional riffs on the nature of the publishing business, including the book's cover. If you can enjoy absurd situations without feeling that you have to sympathize or empathize with the characters you may like this book. This book parodies everyone. A woman's German accent is described as "about as soothing as a swift kick to the balls". A would be gigolo with a resemblance to the author Lee Child impersonates the author in order to live off women. Unfortunately since he can't write a lick this scam's half-life is pretty short.

San Jose Anti-Trump Protests and the Right to Assemble

I will not vote for Donald Trump in the fall election. There are numerous reasons for this, too many to list here. I think that Trump is despicable for spreading rumors and lies about President Obama's birthplace and religion. I think Trump is a bigot with a history of bigoted words and actions. But there are many people who will vote for Trump. I don't think that all of these people are horrible racists and/or inbred rural residents with stingy dental plans and roiling resentment over Reconstruction. But even if that were indeed the case the fundamental deal in America is that everyone gets to have a say, including people that we dislike or even hate. This was actually going to be another post on the importance of the entire First Amendment. That post may show up later with a slightly different emphasis, I guess. It all depends on the Day Job workload. But if you didn't hear about it already, on Thursday, people who were apparently opposed to Donald Trump physically attacked a number of Trump supporters at a Trump rally in San Jose, California. Now there are better writers than I who will argue in flowery abstruse academic language that Trump has legitimized a certain level of political violence through his ugly words and/or has no problem with violence as long as "his people" are delivering the beatdowns. In this POV all the San Jose protesters were doing is responding to previous violence. It's Trump and his goons who are the real bad guys. Right. This sounds good but it completely misses the point. Every American has the right to peacefully assemble and support the candidate of his/her choice without being physically attacked. Period. If we can no longer agree on that basic point then this country really does need to break apart. Let's call it a day. There is no level of rhetoric that makes it okay to respond with violence. SAN JOSE, Calif. —Protests outside a Donald Trump rally in downtown San Jose spun out of control Thursday night when some demonstrators attacked the candidate’s supporters. Protesters jumped on cars, pelted Trump supporters with eggs and water balloons, snatched signs and stole “Make America Great” hats off supporters’ heads before burning the hats and snapping selfies with the charred remains. “The San Jose Police Department made a few arrests tonight after the Donald Trump Rally,” police said in a statement. “As of this time, we do not have specific information on the arrests made. There has been no significant property damage reported. One officer was assaulted.” In one video circulating widely on social media, two protesters tried to protect a Trump supporter as other protesters attacked him and called him names. 


Perhaps the most jarring scene was that of a young female Trump supporter being attacked by a crowd of protesters. In multiple videos of the incident, the woman initially appeared to be happily posing in her Trump football jersey in front of the mostly male protesters, some of whom can be heard whistling and shouting at her. 
Then an anonymous arm rises over the crowd and tosses an egg at the woman, striking her in the head and eliciting howls and laughter from the crowd. A second later, a red water balloon bursts against the woman’s arm. At first, the woman tries to shrug off the attacks, smiling while appearing to reach out toward the Mexican flags that some protesters are waving. Objects keep crashing into the convention center windows behind her, however, and protesters can be heard screaming expletives at her. Suddenly, another projectile strikes her hard in the face. Eventually, someone comes to help her and, after she indicates that she is having trouble seeing, she is ushered back inside the convention center.

Although excessive American nationalism is unpopular with some, do protesters (citizens or not) really think that waving a foreign flag while attacking American citizens is going to make American voters more sympathetic to their cause? It irritated me and I despise Trump. It is a HORRIBLE bit of messaging. There's just no way around this. All the protesters are doing is confirming the stereotypical narrative of some Trump supporters. The proper way to respond to a charge that people of Mexican heritage and/or left wing political stances are violent is probably not for people with one or more or those characteristics to go into the streets and beat people up. I can respect the strong feelings of attachment to one's native land or to the land of one's parents. But carrying the Mexican flag while burning the US flag sends the wrong message to US citizens, even those who won't vote for Trump under any circumstances. In this country, ideally we have campaigns and elections in order to peacefully try to convince each other of the rightness of our positions. If political violence in the US becomes normalized again then I dare say we will start to look more like the countries which many of our current immigrants (legal or otherwise) fled. Or worse we will look like the US of the 1920s. And that would be a shame. Increased political violence based on ethnic grievance supports the thesis of people at both extremes of the political spectrum who are convinced that assimilation is a waste of time because demography is destiny. Whether it's an aged Trump supporter throwing elbows or a youthful Trump detractor punching someone political violence is wrong and dangerous. This needs to stop now before it winds up impacting the actual election. Do we really want to decide elections based on who can bring more button men to the polls? If anti-Trump protesters feel emboldened enough to beat up people for attending a Trump rally then what will they do to people who vote the "wrong" way? This may sound like fun and games if you're a thug who happens to live in an area where the overwhelming majority is demographically and ideologically identical to you. It's probably not so great if you are the lone Black family in the town of Keep Running N*****!!, Mississippi. No matter what your political beliefs may be using violence against people simply for having opposing thoughts is wrong. The only legitimate reason for violence is self-defense. Self-defense was not what happened in San Jose. That is not what this country is supposed to represent.

This isn't about whether we like Trump or not. I've been clear that I don't like Trump. It's about what's right or wrong. Since I called out the Trump bullyboys who felt empowered to throw elbows when they outnumbered people they didn't like I must do the same for the San Jose whack jobs who think they can put paws on their political opponents. That behavior is disgusting no matter who does it. Saying that Trump's supporters deserved some smacks is the same logic that blames an abused spouse for not shutting up and thus avoiding a beating. It's dumb logic. If the US can allow American Nazis to exercise their rights to protest, organize and march let's not have excuses claiming that the Trump supporters deserved what they got. I don't want a heckler's or rather rioter's veto on political speech. Once you start going down the path that your political opponents do not have the right to gather or speak then you're letting everyone know that you do not believe in or for that matter belong in a constitutional form of government. Again, some may believe and for all I know may be correct that Trump supporters are scum. But even scum get to vote and express themselves. On Thursday a small mob of people assaulted other people because they didn't like their political views. What happens when they decide they don't like what someone else wrote or what religion someone is? Free speech and the right to assemble are important elements of the fabric of democracy. When you start pulling those strings willy nilly the entire political quilt falls apart like a cheap suit. This crap needs to end. Because we know what the next move is. But who knows what happens after that? You want to beat Trump? You want to wipe the smirk off his face and those of his supporters? Register and vote. But attacking people at a political rally is stupid, counterproductive and morally abhorrent.

What's your take on these incidents?