Thyroid

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Posts posted by Thyroid

  1. Posted

    Dammit, I signed on to Netflix for the new Arrested Development, but they will only show it to me in SD for some reason. 

    I had the same problem (I get to Netflix through a proxy). It's the speed of your net connection. Try also updating SIlverlight.

  5. Posted

    Yeah, this has been an interesting thing to read over and as much as I want to comment, I'm swamped with deadlines and finals. I hope you all don't mind my coming in here later and posting things, though that could be a few weeks from now.

     

    Either way: good show, thumbs. 

  6. Posted

    Boy, I arrive late for all the fun threads, don't I? Quick two cents, then, before I head back to my month from hell:

     

     

     

    Compare that to other fantasy or historical-focused literature, where the author beats you over the head with how sexist everything was and how awful life was for most women, and you can tell the author wants you to think: "wow, things sure were terrible for women back then, glad that our modern age isn't like that at all!" These female characters have no agency; they're stand ins so the modern audience can feel better that women aren't treated this poorly anymore.

    In my opinion, Martin's work slides neatly alongside Mantel's in this regard, although I've yet to read any of her work. There's a pretty long conversation in the second book - and a lot of inner-monologues in the fourth - about the kind of attitudes a woman in Westeros must take to survive. Unfortunately, the show hasn't revealed a lot about what makes a lot of these women be the way they are, so I can't spoil.

     

    Is there a little bit of goggling at women in the books? Sure. But most of it takes place within the POVs of characters who do that anyway, like Theon.

     

    I've only seen the first season of the show, which I agree was rampant with nudity. That's HBO's decision.

     

    Also, starting from the second book is a huge mistake.

     

    Finally:

     

     


    “I don’t like that woman.” Arya Stark, in reference to a creepy woman who  has randomly shown up at her group’s hidden camp in the middle of the woods.

    “That’s because you’re a girl.” Smirking dude.

     

    I'm pretty sure the line here means that said woman is attractive and Arya doesn't trust her because she's not attracted to her.

    Finally:

     

    but who knows, given the way GRR Martin stories are written, this seemingly throwaway character could end up being the new king next season

     

     

    I don't know if this was a comment on the show, but I feel that this line was a bit dismissive. For something as meticulously crafted as Ice and Fire, without all its foreshadowing and careful, deft movement of the pieces, that's terribly unfair. I understand that fantasy isn't seen as a terribly intellectual or mind-expanding enterprise to pursue, but it remains a well-crafted story.

  8. Posted

    I watch Gravity Falls with my cousin and enjoy it more than she does. It's one of those cartoons that targets both adults and children; it's sweet and funny and sad when it needs to be. It touches on growing-up (there's an episode centred around Dipper, the boy, realizing his voice is changing), what it means to be a sibling, the first crush.

     

    There are loads of easter eggs strewn throughout, from hidden codes that seemingly hint at the overall storyline to, for example, a time traveler appearing in the first episode as a background character and then actually going there in a later episode.

     

    It's not perfect - there's at least one joke aimed about disability that I thought sent a very wrong message - but it's generally very good.

     

    Ridiculous joke.

     

    Even the TV shows within the show are good.

     

    Video game parody!

  11. Posted

    It's kind of silly, for sure, but I just don't like feeling intellectually bested. Failing to finish a challenging book is a reminder that maybe you're not as smart as you think you are, and that's a feeling that I absolutely despise.

     

    All vanity is ridiculous and my vanity happens to be about my reading ability. Again, super silly, but it's a real fear that I have when facing books that have a difficult reputation like 2666 does.

     

    I find being intellectually bested incredibly stimulating. It's a reminder that there are other, better ways to think. That's something worth striving for.

     

    The other thing to keep in mind is that books are not necessarily rooted in intelligence; many good or great books need some experience, whether in feeling in certain ways or failing or succeeding at certain goals, to really resonate. I've found that reading great books early in life results in a bizarre state where life itself becomes justification as to why these books are great.

     

    Just kick back. Take it a page at a time. Enjoy yourself. At the end of the day, it's just a book.

  14. Posted

    Everyone who finishes Bleak House wishes they hadn't, because it's so absorbing. I should read it. Plus a million other books.

    --

     

    I've been reading Pride and Prejudice for two (two!) months, because I've been busy, and it's insightful. It gets better if you contextualize it, but a lot of it, the stuff about relationships and how they fit into the scheme of things, is still relevant. It's also funny, which is a plus.

     

    I finished it last night. Recommended.

  15. Posted

    I saw Cujo in a theatre the other night. I think I watched a family drama where a killer dog was tacked on near the end. What the shit?

    I haven't seen the movie, but Cujo's my favourite of the dozen or so Stephen King books I've read. There's a precise dissection of the nature of evil, both as a separate, animistic entity, as well as an element in human nature. It's not the kind of thing the Idle Thumbs podcast would go out of their way to read, but I recommend it.

  16. Posted

    Yeah, I'm not sure how on board I am for anything people like Rothfuss can contribute. He's written some really good material, but The Name of the Wind (I haven't read Wise Man's Fear yet) is largely, unless it's intentional, about how awesome he wishes he was. It's Casanova plus Romantic poetry set in a Renaissance-like fantasy world. Unless it's intentional and the Truth is Eventually Revealed .

     

    I'm 60% sure you're right and 40% sure that the third book is just going to be all about what you refer to as the "self-insert protagonist, who is shallow and petty and loved by all good people" fucking everything up in the most horrific way imaginable, turning him into a monster and then, eventually, a sad, worthless, broken man. In one sense Rothfuss hasn't set that up very well at all - Kvothe does come off as the most insufferably ridiculous Mary Sue to ever exist. But on the other hand, there are three things that make it seem like book 3 will turn it around. First, it's pretty explicit that something bad happened, so it's not like the series can continue to be Kvothe the Amazing Fighter of Evil and Lover of Women Except for One Woman Who He Really Just Creepily Longs for and Puts on a Pedestal Because He is a Fucking Creep - eventually Kvothe fucks up. Second, the entire story so far is Kvothe narrating everything, so it could just be one big "this guy is making himself sounds way better" (and, simultaneously, way worse, because the ego oh my god) than he actually is. This is his chance to set down his legend for the rest of history so he's just pulling out all the fucking stops and using the only real expertise he has (as a masterful storyteller) to make himself out to be the fucking Ubermensch when in reality he's just an asshole.

     

    In fairness to Rothfuss, Kvothe does get called out on his bullshit on at least one occasion. Doesn't he describe a woman as very beautiful, and then get interrupted by someone who points out that he just said she has a beaked nose? And it's not like that's part of the appeal. Kvothe gets defensive about it.

  17. Posted

    That'd be episode 9. A quick check of the book shows the Purple Wedding to be ten chapters later, or an episode's worth of material. It only makes sense that they include it this season. Not only does it end the War of the Five Kings, but why cast the Queen of Thorns if she doesn't do anything? I think the actress playing Lysa comes back this year, too, which means that Sansa escapes.

     

    I'd be surprised if we didn't get our first glimpse at Lady Stoneheart this year. Introducing her next season would seem like a cheap move, but put it in the same season/book and it makes it obvious it was part of the plan all along.

     

    The last episode is called "Mhysa", Old Ghiscari for mother (I checked). Seems a lot of mothers will get loads of issues to deal with in that episode: Daenerys ("Mother! Mother!"), Stoneheart, Cersei (with Joffrey).

  18. Posted

    Season 3, which adapts roughly 2/3s of A Storm of Swords and includes one aspect from A Dance With Dragons, has been getting trailers. Don't click if you plan on reading the books: spoilers.

     

    Where do you think they're going to end the season? I've been thinking about this and, thematically, it only makes sense if (spoilers up to and including book five)

    they end it at Joffrey's wedding, minus the Battle for the Wall and Daenerys taking Meereen. That way you finish Melisandre's prophecy with the leeches, you set-up Dorne, Red Viper included, for season 4, and you start drawing parallels between Daenerys and Cersei for season four, which was in the books but not as prevalent. I'm just saying, it's not a coincidence they both face similar problems and take long, introspective-inducing walks at the end of their journeys

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    Anyway, it should be a great season.

  21. Posted

    I haven't been able to sleep because of this book and have fallen into a deep depression. I think it reached subtly into something inside me and pressed on it. That's probably the mark of a great book.

    I have a lot of thoughts about it. They're not worth sharing. All I can say is that some sort of despair ballooned inside of my chest and I've been distracted ever since.

  24. Posted

    So: I'm not sure if I've said this before, but I'm surprised that Terry P's books have so many fans here. I've always looked down my nose at them, but never actually read one. I did the same with Harry Potter and Buffy - and then I became huge fans. Maybe the same will be true of Mr P?

    You're missing out, and I'm fairly sure you'd like them.

    Try Guards! Guards!

    It's an introductory book that debuts a handful of the popular characters, has appearances from characters from the other books (Death has a couple of memorable scenes), gets the general idea of the world and the tone of the books across, is very funny and it's got a good plot to boot. The characters that don't debut in it are re-introduced. There was one that featured in Mort, which had come out a few years before, that I had no idea were returning characters.

    I wouldn't recommend reading a synopsis; there's no way it'll make it sound good. Just trust me on this and read it.

    Mort is a good introductory work, too, but it's a little less refined, with Pratchett still smoothing out some rough spots in his craftsmanship. It's still quite good, though.