Friday, May 30, 2014

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 29

Thursday is court day!
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
And now, up to ruling 29 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Elena Jones, an avid fan of ASOIAF and along with being a long time listener of APOIAF and BLAH, has guest hosted on APOIAF and taken part in dramatic readings on Vassals of Kingsgrave. When not participating in the fandom she works alongside her husband as owner and operator of both their property investment company and their boutique hotel located on Siesta Key Fl, which proudly holds the #1 rating in the area on tripadvisor.com.

Friday, May 23, 2014

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 28

Thursday is court day!
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
And now, up to ruling 27 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Pjstwo, who is a long-time listener and member of the A Podcast of Ice and Fire community. Though less active in recent time due to his occupation as a physician in internal medicine, he has attained the title of Lord Paramount of House Blackwoody on the forums, and is an avid reader and tin-foiler.

Monday, May 19, 2014

Game of Thrones episode 7 "Mockingbird" review

After two really outstanding episodes in a row, the question was whether HBO was having a streak. “Mockingbird” is continuing with delivering great moments, and was extremely was at least questionable at others. And when I say “questionable”, I don’t mean it as an euphemism of “bad”. It’s meant as “questionable”. I don’t have any idea where it will lead, and yes, I’m looking at you, Mr. Ice and Mrs. Fire. Also, we get a lots of visits by the Enterprise’s most notorious crew member, Chekov. But let’s do it as usual again, and start off where it all begins.

A Flight of Links

- Trailer for Interstellar
- Movie Defense Force for D&D. Man, this movie isn't good. It's so bad it's hilarious, maybe, but it really sucks ass.
- New X-Com mod. 
- Interview about the new Unreal Tournament
- Sibel Kekilli answers about Shae. 
- George R. R. Martin about writing in DOS. 
- Lily Allen turned down the role of Yara. 
- Child of Light review.
-GOT 4.7 reviews: Click, Click, Click, Click.
- New Guardians of the Galaxy trailer.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Boiled Leather Audio Hour 29

Conquest! GeorgeRRMartin.com’s Aegon Targaryen-centric “The World of Ice and Fire” Excerpt

Another week, another sample from something Good King George has got cooking — if, of course, by “another week” you mean “last week.” Yes, since Stefan and I recorded this episode, yet another excerpt from George R.R. Martin, Elio Garcia Jr., and Linda Antonsson’s worldbook The World of Ice and Fire has been released. No matter! Like the modern-day maesters we are, we stay focused on the matters at hand, specifically the sample unveiled on GeorgeRRMartin.com regarding House Targaryen’s flight from Valyria and Aegon’s Conquest of Westeros. The sample raises many intriguing questions — indeed, more than it answers — on everything from the bloody century the Targaryens spent on Dragonstone between the Doom and the Conquest to Aegon and his sisters’ adoption of the Faith of the Seven. After Stefan and I discuss these matters, we follow up on a related Tower of the Hand roundtable and ask what place supplementary materials like this should even have in a work of narrative fiction. Saddle up, dragonlords!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 27

Thursday is court day!
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
And now, up to ruling 27 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Eamon R., long time fan, first time caller, but obsessive compulsive about details.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 6 "The laws of gods and men" Review

When we were at episode five, I commented that I liked where this was heading. Well, I have to admit, I had no idea. This episode was even better and impacting than the last, already very well scripted one, and provided only minor missteps in yet another thematically coherent hour full of the greatest and most touching character moments. Game of Thrones really is gearing up the game here, and the people wondering whether the show would survive its lost focus on the Starks and the clarity that went with it should reconsider. Game of Thrones never was better than it is now, and here’s to hoping that it will remain that way. 

A Flight of Links

- I totally agree with this piece on GOT misogyny. 
- Cultural Learnings reviews GOT 4.5
- MovieBob talks about the lack of Star Wars news
- Race of the Iron Throne reviews Sansa I
- Taking Lessons from South Park
- Never seen Star Wars, now watching
- THIS. 
- Man am I pumped for this. Loved the first installement of the reboot.
- Even if you're not one fig interested in Call of Duty, you should read this, because the critique is important. 
-

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 26

Thursday is court day!
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
And now, up to ruling 26 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Keene, a member of the community and graduate in Economics from American University.'

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 5 "First of his name" review

“Everywhere in the world, they hurt little girls.” Kudos to Benioff and Weiss, with that line for Cersei and Lena Heady’s powerfully understated play to go with it, we got ourselves a theme for an episode that provided a consistency that is pretty rare as far as Game of Thrones episodes go. We start off with the crowning of a king and the reminder that children are only pawns in the Game of Thrones, and we end with yet another reminder: that at least at one place, at one time, the shields that serve the realms of men can actually make a difference and close one place of child molestation for good. But let’s do this in good order.
Stick them with the pointy end.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 25

Thursday is court day! Little one got ill, so it's friday again.
Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.
One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.
And now, up to ruling 25 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Duncan (aka Valkyrist), a curator and host for the “Vassals of Kingsgrave” podcast. He lives in Australia, and is currently reviewing episodes of Game of Thrones' fourth season with fellow book-readers at VOKpodcast.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @Valkyrist.