Thursday, April 29, 2010

#ASOIAF Re-read: A Game of Thrones, Part 11

Happy Thursday to you. Thanks for dropping by and seeing what this little re-read of mine is all about.

It's about ASOIAF! Wooooo! (For those of you who do not know my humour, there was zero sarcasm in that. I actually get that excited.)

Today we get to cover Chapters 27-28. The intro post is here, Part 10 is here, and all the entries can be tracked with the ASOIAF tag (#ASOIAF on Twitter). This post and all posts contain occasional spoilers for the first four books in A Song of Ice and Fire. Read at your own discretion. Also, this only covers what has been mentioned in the four main books. The short stories are beyond this blog's scope for now.

You may begin.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Five links for Wednesday

I thought I'd post some of the links that have caught my eye in the last few days. Despite the pattern, I don't plan on making a habit of this link-sharing. But it's something to do while eating lunch and having a great english muffin practically stuffed with peanut butter and jam. (Long story. Never mind.)

-To me, the Super Mario games are second only to anything Zelda-related. But in case you ever wondered what it would be like to play Super Mario as Link, or Samus, or Megaman (!!!), well, wonder no more. They have that now.

-There is a Firefly re-watch at Tor.com. This week's episode is full of the show's trademark humour and banter. And what with Mal going to the Special Hell, Jayne offering his most favourite gun, and Christina Hendricks in her pre-Mad Men days, I'd forgotten all about Inara smooching Captain Tightpants. One of the best lines? Mal to Jayne: "Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." Get acquainted with Mrs. Reynolds.

-Thanks to Book Madam & Associates for this. (WARNING: Artsy content, yet possibly NSFW, depending on where you work.) Fairytale Heroine Pin-ups.

[Edit: I just took a better look at these. They're on the racy side. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but now you know what to expect. What I'm wondering is how these good on Book Madam's blog about books and publishing. "Fairytale" = Book connection? Seems like a bit of a stretch. Curiouser and curiouser.]

-Oh, the irony: The (old) Tea Party was actually against imperialism.

-Writers of fiction, take note. The Faster Times presents its rankings of literary magazines that are best for fiction and submissions. Not surprising: The New Yorker tops the list. Surprising: Playboy is up there. I thought they cut back on fiction years ago.

Monday, April 26, 2010

#ASOIAF Re-read: A Game of Thrones, Part 10

Good day to all, and welcome back to the Re-read.

We left off at the end of Part 9. Today we'll cover chapters 25 and 26, in which there is a lot of talking, a bit of action, and someone finds out he could be sleeping with the fishes if he doesn't behave.

The intro post is here, and entries can be tracked with the ASOIAF tag. (#ASOIAF on Twitter.) This post and all posts contain occasional spoilers for the first four books in A Song of Ice and Fire. Read at your own discretion. Also, we are only covering the main books so far and not touching any of the short stories that have been published in collections.

The preamble is over. We begin after the jump.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

The Saturday links

A few things I wanted to put up before getting to my next re-read post for A Game of Thrones. (You're reading them and keeping up to date, right? Cool.) Here are your Saturday links:

-Are you a fan of True Blood? You can win a signed copy of Truly, Madly, Deadly by Becca Wilcott. All you have to do is submit a caption for the photo of the author. Contest closes Wednesday, May 5.

-Fewer vs Less: Now you know.

-Gentlemen, do you know how your facial hair scores on a scale of trustworthiness? Does it skew towards Very Trustworthy or Disastrous? This diagram will inform you. (Note: I'm disappointed that of all the facial-hair types, my perma-stubble was not listed. I don't know what that means.)

-Two weeks ago you never cared that Iceland had a volcano. Now? Now you follow it on Twitter. It's a lava, not a fighter.

-People who don't take public transit don't know what they're missing (that sentence was 90% sarcasm-free).
The people who tarnish the experience of taking public transit are generally the ones who are unfamiliar with transit etiquette. They're the ones standing still on escalators and standing right in front of the subway doors when people are trying to get out. Most people huff and move on. Well, not anymore. Someone in Toronto has come up with the bright idea to make etiquette posters for the TTC.

-I'm typing this while some guys across the street sing slightly off-key. They sound like they've had a very, very long night. But really, can't you pick a better chorus to sing over and over again than "She's so High" by Tal Bachman? That must be my cue to leave. See you on Monday for ASOIAF.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

#ASOIAF Re-read: A Game of Thrones, Part 9

Welcome, dear readers, to the Thursday edition of the Re-read. 

Today we move on from Part 8. This post covers Chapters 23 and 24, in which a girl continues maturing, and a boy finds out that winter is really long.
The intro post is here, and the ASOIAF tag is being used to track all entries. (#ASOIAF on Twitter.) 
There are spoilers after the jump for the first four books in A Song of Ice and Fire. Read at your own discretion.
Pause. Take a deep breath. Are you ready? Ok, let's go.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Mid-day break, with links and cake

I actually have some time for lunch today. One of our fantastic authors stopped by the office and brought cheesecake. So I will pass on some links from the last couple of days and enjoy my delicious slice of cherry cheesecake.

-I imagine most people have heard about the following story by now, but the next time you feel like making tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto, and you find yourself reaching for your Australian edition of the Pasta Bible, double check if the recipe calls for freshly ground black pepper or freshly ground black people. It's generally impossible to catch every single typo, but that one will cost a small fortune.

-I mentioned some MS Paint comics last weekend. Well here is Billy: A Love Story. This comic by Nic Boshart is about a love affair with IKEA's Billy bookshelf. Between the new-looking copy of Ulysses and the Boing Boing bookshelf "porn", file this one under Funny Because It's True.

-I bought two graphic novels yesterday. I know, like I need more books on my To Read pile. One is Mercury by Hope Larson, an artist I quite like. I hope the story is as good as the illustrations. And the other is Volume 1 of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which I've read before.

-Some people like chewy cookies. Not me. I think twice-baked biscotti are the way to go. But not everyone grew up cracking their teeth on Italian cookies. So you decide how you want to bake your dunking sweets: crisp, soft, or chewy.

-Now that the ash cloud from Iceland's unpronounceable volcano has shifted a bit, people can get back to planning upcoming European vacations. If you're still thinking of places to go, my friend Mel has been living in France for several months, and she has some wonderful photos of her travels up on her blog.

All done! Time to see if there are any New York Style slices left in the kitchen.

Monday, April 19, 2010

#ASOIAF Re-read: A Game of Thrones, Part 8

Bonjour, fair people of the internet! Monday has arrived with a brand new Re-read!

Today we move on from Part 7, covering Chapters 21 and 22, in which people ask a lot from a little man, and a little girl takes a level in badass. Good times.
For earlier posts, the intro is here, and the ASOIAF tag is being used to track the entries. (#ASOIAF on Twitter.) 
This post contains spoilers for the four published novels in the series known as A Song of Ice and Fire. That's all the warning you get.
The post, it awaits!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Saturday morning links

I have previously expressed my thoughts on spelling, grammar, and punctuation. I'm not exactly a vigilante fighting for the sake of language, but I still have my peeves.

Now there's a new way of getting the point across, and it involves MS Paint. Just take a quick look and see how The Alot is Better Than You at Everything.

I think it's funny, and I also like that Allie at Hyperbole and a Half uses Paint, the one illustrating/design program that I can properly use. I use a Mac at home, and I didn't realize until now that I miss Paint.

Apropos of nothing (other than I've already watched this a few times because I love it), here is a video of dogs sliding in the snow. Does anyone's dog do this? I'm taking Darcy to a hill next winter, and I will get him to slide whether he likes it or not. If he's anything like these labs, he'll love it!



That's all for now. I have to go read A Game of Thrones and work on my latest drawing project, which I'm happy to say is turning out far better than any of my other practice sketches so far.

If you're looking for something else to look at, something with comedy and genius all wrapped in one cozy package, here's How a Sandwich Makes You Its Bitch in 11 Easy Steps. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

#ASOIAF Re-read: A Game of Thrones, Part 7

Oh my! It's Thursday. Time for another re-read post. Apologies in advance because there are only two chapters in this one. BUT the chapters are longer than the previous ones, so hopefully that makes up for things.

Seriously, these ones were hella long, and they would not condense. Must find a way to prune the summaries.

Without much further ado, let's get to it, picking up from where we left off at the end of Part 6. Beware spoilers, ye who dare to read on. If you are new to this, or if you are looking for earlier posts, the intro is here, and the ASOIAF tag is being used to track the entries here. (#ASOIAF on Twitter.)

Read on.

Monday, April 12, 2010

#ASOIAF Re-read: A Game of Thrones, Part 6

Hiya! Welcome back from the weekend. We begin this week with some ASOIAF related news: Rand al'Thor has defeated Jamie Lannister. You can see how the rest of the Suvudu Cage Match 2010 went down, but the final was really, really close. My favourite series up against my second-favourite series. Any guess to how I voted?

Anygeekiness, we have a re-read to get to, one with a bit of good news sandwiched between chapters of doom. Let's move on from Part 5 and go to Part 6.

The intro post is here, and all posts are tracked with the #ASOIAF tag. There are some spoilers in these posts. Ignore the caution at your own peril. Proceed.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

#ASOIAF Re-read: A Game of Thrones, Part 5

It's Thursday! That means a re-read is in order.

In Part 4 I wanted to check that I wasn't breaking copyright law by quoting sections of the book. I think I'm ok (key word: think) because it falls under fair use laws, and I own the actual book. So that's that, in case you wonder about that kind of stuff.

The intro post is here, and all posts are tracked with the #ASOIAF tag. There are some spoilers in these posts. Granted, it's not like finding out that Snape kills Dumbledore, Verbal Kint is Keyser Soze, or the passengers on Oceanic Flight 815... wait... that one hasn't happened yet. But, yeah, I advise caution. Let us proceed.

Monday, April 5, 2010

#ASOIAF Re-read: A Game of Thrones, Part 4

Welcome to the Monday version of this re-read. The Easter long weekend just passed and I hope you were able to enjoy it as much as I did. I didn’t get much leisure stuff done, but I got through plenty of spring cleaning. The weather here is finally warming up.

(What’s that? We have a re-read to get to? I’ll get right on that.)

There’s a lot of text in this one (and I need to check that I'm not breaking copyright law by quoting so much), so I’ll be brief. The intro post is here, and the previous post (Part 3) is here. Beware spoilers. Enjoy!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

#ASOIAF Re-read: A Game of Thrones, Part 3

Hurray! Hurray! It's April Fool's Day! Remember some of the pranks you played on this day when you were a kid? Remember how they used to be fun, and then one day you realised every prank you'd pulled in previous years was really lame? That's ok, as long as you decided to atone for past missteps by doing a really labour-intensive but rewarding prank. Like this. (Admittedly not done for April Fool's, but it works.)

Now that that intro is over, welcome back to the Re-read. For no reason whatsoever, I switched the cover image for this post. My first copy of A Game of Thrones used this cover. I liked it at the time. Now it looks a little dated. [Edit: Do cover analysis later. Cut to the Re-read.]

Disclaimer: Spoilers await if you haven't read the four books in the series. The intro post is here, the last post (Part 2) is here, and the entries are tracked with the "ASOIAF re-read" tag.

Be forewarned: The following material contains violence, coarse language, sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.
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