I think I'm going into-my-mind re. This-one (too.)

Post #388,190 by Ashton 4/4/14 6:16:37 AM Reply	I think I'm going into-my-mind re. This-one (too.) Wondering if ...I should feel thankful that I am pig-ignorant of GRRM (and all who ride in her) ... or merely piteously uninformed about the Dostoyevsky/Pratchett/Euripides Of Our Time? (I do confess that my simple-mind is just not.. attracted to the algorithmically-generated über-plots du jour, perhaps because I have only 24 hours in each of (my) days, In which to (say) read actual 'books'.) Or maybe it's just sloth? Would I have-revealed-to-moi--transcendent epigrams? with a truthiness which transcends Certainty (of any ilk) and drills-into the Root.. of (say) Consciousness-as-we-imagine-it? were I to immerse self in one of these {pot-boilers?} Just asking. TMI is often now taken-for-granted as ~inevitable, we see. I know no escape except an inbuilt tendency to Just Say No. (I can't even muster enthusiasm for the 'promised' exaltation of following PBS's belated pæan to Upstairs, Downstairs ... au courant.) Are these characters breaking any New ground.. or is this more-refined Action-for action's sake.. kinda like one (modern) lap of the Isle of Man course, on a 200 mph cycle? Is it Me or (my Arpége?) I so confused.
Post #388,197 by Another Scott 4/4/14 7:47:59 AM Reply	I've never read him. (Haven't watched the show either.)
Post #388,246 by Ashton 4/6/14 2:44:55 AM Reply	Not sure what we are 'missing'--Salon's take: http://www.salon.com...wing_fantasyland/ ('Course I'm missing it because: HBO+Comcast ... and a certain amount of iggerant pre-judgment too.) Iggerant but maybe spot-on(?) ÂGame of ThronesÂ: How Westeros is a right-wing fantasyland Want to live in Westeros, where there are weapons, massive inequality and violence against women? Just vote GOP AARON KASE Fans of the HBO hit ÂGame of ThronesÂ can finally escape back to George R.R. MartinÂs world of dragons, swordplay and gratuitous nudity when the showÂs fourth season kicks off on Sunday. However, the epic tales of war and betrayal are not as big a fantasy as they might appear at first glance. American viewers who want to live in a land just like Westeros have an easy option at their disposal: Just vote Republican. The violent, highly sexualized TV world has a number of disturbing parallels to where GOP policy is steering the country: Enormous class inequities: ÂGame of ThronesÂ follows the stories of lords and knights, but most of the population lives in anonymous poverty, like the wretched masses struggling to survive in the Flea Bottom slum subsisting on Âbowls oÂ brown.Â The elite live in opulent luxury, earned through the toil of the working people, most of whom have no hope of escaping their fetid lot. [. . .] Weapons everywhere: Talk about standing your ground. In war-torn Westeros everybodyÂs armed, and travelers need to be prepared for a fight at all times. Just about every chance encounter on the road results in a swordfight, someone being captured under threat of violence, or both. Blacksmiths must be making a fortune. ItÂs like the NRAÂs fantasy world. [. . .] Lawful succession ignored: ... Existential threats ignored too: ... Pervasive rape and violence against women: ... Gays are demonized: ... Chaos is a ladder: Lord Petyr ÂLittlefingerÂ Baelish sums up the showÂs philosophy nicely with his Âchaos is a ladderÂ speech, pointing out that the ambitious can use confusion and destruction to their advantage to seize power. ÂOnly the ladder is real,Â Littlefinger tells Lord Varys. ÂThe climb is all there is.Â So then: What's the appeal of watching a carbon-copy of Current Events? Ya call this Re-creation? I try to evade (most-of) the Original already; Murica has become a 98.66% Joyless-place for millions of its inmates. W.T.F. would someone want to watch 'it' as a Costume show, elsewhere?? Guess we're both Missing-out. (I knew you to be a person of impeccable taste.) OK.. maybe/finally I can start on Boltzmann's Atom ... at least it's in pursuit of truthiness about the Mystery that Matter doesn't matter: ALL there IS ... is 'Energy'. Just like In The Beginning! (--interruption of Nothing-ness?) (Which we also don't grok to anything like Fullness); as RPF observed, ~People think they understand a thing because it has a Name.. Over and out.
Post #388,249 by Another Scott 4/6/14 9:13:31 AM Reply	People have different tastes, obviously. I'm sure the nudity is part of the appeal. That's part of what gave "I, Claudius" its buzz, back in the day. J is a big fan of "SVU" and various crime dramas like that - it's an escape for her. I've gotten sick of them because they're so formulaic and manipulative. I don't like gratuitous fictionalized violence. The creepy music, the blood, the simulated violence - I don't enjoy it at all. I don't need to see it on TV to know it exists, and I don't take a lesson from it. She finally gave up on "The Mentalist" because she couldn't take the stupidity any longer ("Why are they driving from Austin to Mexico all the time like it's just across town - the border is 4 hours away!!") ... I don't much care for sports on TV either. I'll watch the Red Sox with J, but I don't get worked up about it. I'm getting good practice for my Curmudgeon merit badge. ;-) Give me a comedy with a bit of intelligence and the unexpected behind the laughs and I'll be happy. That's my kind of escapism. Cheers, Scott.
Post #388,336 by Ashton 4/9/14 5:17:17 AM Reply	Then we both miss: (In addition to Python--as goes-without-saying) Laugh-In and Smothers Brothers (one of whom lives around here.) Both quashed at their peak, by ... the usual meeja rationale, apparently unchanged much, in 2014. (I have Tee Vee now only because: it's a part of the cheapest-bundle in which I can get Net-BW >3 M-BITS!/sec, in my bucolic locale. This is spelled, of course, m o n o p o l y. As a card-carrying owner of The Portable Curmudgeon I can attest that membership does tend to free one from any tendency/pressures to settle-for satisfiction (however slickly packaged.) As the two shrinks passed on the street--one opined, You're fine ... how am I? Maybe this is just civilized--Stand Your Ground?! ;^>
Post #418,332 by CRConrad 5/26/17 4:40:01 AM 5/26/17 4:40:01 AM Reply	Yes, uncomfortable parallels over there. But as for his thesis itself... ...sure, that's true, obviously. Equally true of anything in the fantasy genre, though, since they're all (more or less loosely) based on (usually European) mediaeval or Rennaissance times. So, Captain Obvious Award With Diamonds And Oak Leaves for mr. Kase. -- Christian R. Conrad Same old username (as above), but now on iki.fi (Yeah, yeah, it redirects to the same old GMail... But just in case I ever want to change.)
Post #418,333 by mmoffitt 5/26/17 9:50:07 AM 5/26/17 9:50:07 AM Reply	mediaeval? bcnu, Mikem It's mourning in America again.
Post #418,336 by Ashton 5/26/17 4:29:38 PM 5/26/17 4:29:38 PM Reply	Wha was that sound which the immortal-Opus used to limn, with his tongue sticking out?? ;^> [Recall: you surrendered your © ™ on that..]

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