Ran

Re: Molly, The newspaper notes she died when going back in to rescue people. I thought it was pretty clear that our last glimpse of her going back into the dark alone with a survivor watching her was an echo of similar stories of rescuers at 9/11 (like Rick Rescorla). I think this show has just about jumped the shark, sadly.

Sure, but basically I find it hard to imagine that in the 20 years since Nixon no one ended up bitten by the constant recording and dropping it. Like, am I supposed to believe Ted Kennedy who lost under a cloud thanks to his extramarital affair and other business didn't have that recording system come up as an issue?

So it's true LBJ had such a system, although his was limited (a recorder for the Cabinet Room and one for his private office next to the Oval). Nixon had it removed, and then after two years had a new system installed when he decided it was a good idea after all, and his system was much more invasive (including tapping of various phone lines that recorded when sound was activated). The intention was good: to keep a clear record of decisions and decision-making. But it bit Nixon on the ass when Watergate came around. For some reason the show refers to LBJ's system, but it'd have been Nixon's system that was somehow (incredibly) still active. Suffice it to say, in our world, after Watergate the systematic recording of White House activity was dropped. I find it very convenient, and hard to believe, that we're in the mid-90s and they're still using the same system.

There's a depiction of him in F&B, as I recall, though I do not know how much direction was received from George. He looks to be in his 70s or 80s by the look of it to me.

Light from Uncommon Stars is such a nice title. I think you meant "Elder Race". "Elder Ring" sounds like some sort of Elden Ring parody!

Less than a month out from the awards and no discussion to speak of since I listed the nominees. I find it interesting/troubling. Just an effect of the pademic making people feel disconnected from it?

One Billion Americans to keep it that way!

When on data, pm me your IP address as shown by a site like whatismyip.com You've probably been caught in an IP ban from the past that I can clear out.

I believe your reading is correct: The Books of Law are a multi-volume collection of books, including the Great Code of Septon Barth among them. Viserys II's revisions of the code of laws refers to general revisions to the Books of Law that were established in Jaehaerys's reign.

RIP. He did a fine performance in a first season of Babylon 5, and of course was memorable in Tron. And he was a fantastic voice actor for Ra's al Ghul in Batman: The Animated Series. Sorry I never had the chance to see him on stage. And RIP Paul Sorvino.

Half counts, but still would want him in a film directed by Tarantino. I can, admittedly. It has a very different visual style than Tarantino's films, for the most part.

Hardy, for sure. I think Nic Cage would be potentially amazing in a Tarantino film. Gary Oldman, too.

Jesus, the Danny story keeps going. And his brother Jimmy is hardly better. They need to let go of the Stevens. I'm not sure how they're going with the Margo plot. Either everything blows up in the finale, or Aleida's loyalty leads her to break with Margo but keep her secret. She could leave NASA for Helios maybe? I'm guessing Ellen is just going to make a stand and out herself, right? ETA: Oh, and Kel was being absurd. It's not like it's plausible that that's the only liquid water on Mars.

At present I'm inclined to them being left in a single page. Some show-only characters may be inspired by actual characters in some fashion, and then their description on that collected page could link to the character they were inspired by (I'm thinking of someone like Locke taking Vargo Hoat's role to some degree).

RIP, William. And thank you Quentin Tarantino for bringing them to the attention of the younger generations in Jackie Brown:

Danny again. So tiresome. And I really hate to say it, but the actor is kind of a void. He has a tough role, the writing does him no favors, but he's not really doing anything with it that alleviates the tedium. It was an otherwise fine episode, but I have to say the outrage over the Russians and Helios hiding the fact that they were going to explore a supposed liquid water deposit. NASA would have done the exact same thing! @DaveSumm The quote from the VP about a poll saying 73% of Americans thought homosexuality was wrong sounded off to me, so either he was cherrypicking a poll from a conservative pollster of the era, or the situation is a lot more dire in the show's alternate history, which I don't think is their intention. In actual fact, Gallup's polling since 1977 showed that a majority of Americans were okay with gay men and women serving in the Armed Forces, although some portion who said yes appear to have had the caveat that it should be private and not something disclosed. In 1993, over 60% of Americans were fine with homosexuals in the military so long as their orientation wasn't disclosed, while over 40% were fine even with disclosure. That the Republican evangelical wing and cultural conservatives would object is true enough. Losing 50 votes for the jobs bill, I could see it. Speaking of all this, I do think it's a little too on the nose to manufacture an Oval Office sex scandal to mirror the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Feels a little lazy.

Annie was afraid that Soldier Boy's blast would take down the tower, IIRC, not that their fighting one another mano-a-mano would do it.

Foundation has two Emmy nominations: Main Title Design and (deservedly, IMO) Special Visual Effects in a Season or Movie. The BAFTA snub has been righted, at least, the show's spectacular, visually-speaking. I do wish the production design had gotten a nod.

He literally says the book might be 300 pages longer than Dance and ASoS, which means he's at or under the final manuscript page count for those books.

Sure, holiday release... in 2023 or 2024 I suppose. This year? No, George is pretty clear he has hundreds of pages left to write.

I suspect it may be cached somewhere. I'll see what I can do about that.

He felt pain. He remembers pain. It's not clear he really feels pain any longer, though. Like I said, we see him take some injuries that pierce his skin without flinching. Even Homelander will react in pain if hit hard enough.

To Green Angel Tower was split into two volumes in paperback. If George wants TWoW split into two volumes and published more-or-less together, I'd assume it would have no impact on the title of A Dream of Spring.

I don't understand why Soldier Boy survived from a narrative or thematic point. Let his ultra mega blast remove his powers as well, and even if temporarily, well... he and Maeve should have gone splat. And the way Kriepke talks of Soldier Boy, his story is done. He could be dissimulating, of course, and doesn't want to reveal everything he's planning. But taking him at his word, it makes even less sense to keep Soldier Boy alive, and so it does sort of read like he just flinched from getting rid of the character (possibly because of his friendship with Ackles). As to Maeve, same deal, re: surviving after that blast, but I would just have done something different with the whole scenario so that she can do the noble sacrifice bit while also surviving it with powers gone.

We've seen him in action more than once. Super-toughness, speed, strength, reflexes, the usual. Also apparently felt no or very little pain, as we saw him stabbed and shot without any apparent reaction. He was basically Vought's assassin.