Ran

Apparently the person identified actually posted on Substack with a manifesto that his action was a protest against the impending fascist takeover of the American government. If I'm reading this right, some of his evidence suggests that Conan O'Brien (writer of the cited Simpsons episode, "Marge vs. the Monorail") was deeply involved in the criminal enterprise that is Harvard which is emblematic of the larger conspiracy to defraud Americans and take over the continent I think we should all be glad he didn't take the more typical US approach of finding a gun and taking some people with him.

I welcome people putting together a list of legitimate links to GRRM's stories at still-active online magazines, and archive.org links may be okay too. But it's obvious when a text is pirated, and we do not want links to anything like that.

Half way through Apple+'s Sugar, the "genre-bending" neo-noir detective show created by Mark Protosevich (writer of Tarsem Singh's The Cell, wrote the Will Smith I Am Legend, and the Spike Lee-directed adaptation of Oldboy) and starring Colin Farrell as the titular John Sugar, a private detective who is very good at finding lost people, a polyglot with a fanatical level of interest in Hollywood films who detests carrying guns, and a genuinely nice dude who keeps going out of his way to help people he runs into in passing. The first two episode are directed by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, best known for the magnificent City of God, and his aesthetic is rife through the show -- lots of interesting editing choices and camera angles, and (uniquely) a heavy use of vintage films as B-roll or commentary on events no doubt inspired by Sugar's deep love of Hollywood cinema. It reminds me of nothing less than the old HBO sitcom, Dream On, but it's not played for laughs, it's just a sign of how Sugar's mind free associates. But... there's a twist, as "genre-bending" might suggest, and so far it's not clear. It seems to tie into Sugar, into the fact that he occasionally gets weird cramps or numbness, weird flashes of visions, and there's something about a society of polyglots that he's part of... Theories abound. Simon Kinberg is an executive producer on this, which may suggest the direction of the twist. It's fun. Not too deep, a little stiff at times (but this may be on purpose), but Farrell is such a charismatic, interesting actor. Also appearing on the show are James Cromwell, Amy Ryan, and -- after a couple of episodes -- Anna Gunn, among others.

Plemons brought them to the costume fitting himself and asked what they thought if his character wore them, per the costume designer. He came in last minute because another actor backed out of the role, and since he was hanging around set anyways Kirsten suggested that they ask him to fill in. By all accounts, a very successful piece of nepotism.

Folks, piracy is piracy. I see someone else offer links to pirated texts, they will be banned. I know the intent is good, but just about every story of George's is in print and available to read legitimately.

Netflix revealed that S4 will be filmed back to back with the final season, S5.

Did not know anything about Transformer One. So basically applying the LEGO Movie formula to Transformers... could work.

All of the novels are worth reading, IMO, but my favorite remains Fevre Dream despite what flaws it has compared to Armageddon Rag which really is a very, very strong book. But the short fiction is the best stuff of all. In the 70s, George had a run there where I've seen critics opine that he was among the top short fiction writers in the genre in that era. "The Way of Cross and Dragon", "Seven Times Never Kill Man", "Bitterblooms", "The Stone City", "Meathouse Man", and on and on. Dreamsongs is a great book to pick up if you're interested in the short fiction.

Watched The Sympathizer, Park Chan-Wook's adaptation for HBO of the Pulitzer winning novel of the same name by Viet Thanh Nguyen. Robert Downey Jr. features as a CIA agent who interacts with the lead character, known only as the Captain, played by Hoa Xuande, who is a North Vietnamese mole inside the South Vietnamese secrete police. It's shot with Park's typical verve and style, cutting back and forth in time, and features a pretty nail-biting sequence as the Fall of Saigon begins and people are rushing the American air base to try and get one of the last flights out. It's quite good.

For All Mankind renewed for a 5th season... and getting a spin off titled Star City, showing events leading up to the start of the first season from the Soviet perspective. It's described as a "paranoid thriller".

Very strong penultimate episode. I know GGK is watching the show, or at least he was when it started airing, but there were passages in this episode that reminded me of his work, and makes me wonder if Clavell was any sort of influence on him. (Kay's a much, much better prosodist, of course.)

I find that strange. I think the major elements that make it identifiable now, like its spire and stained glass, should stay as they are... but I don't really see any reason why plain glass windows that are unremarkable and that no one remembers (except in that they don't compare to the stained glass elsewhere) can't be replaced. Hell, they probably have been replaced, as glass cracked or broke, and are more Theseus's Ship than anything.

Even to upgrading the north tower windows? Remember, the spire and stained glass are from the mid-19th century. Nothing says that the Cathedral needs to be entirely stuck in the mid-1800s. Something that's a clear upgrade seems reasonable.

It is, but there were debates about it, and Macron has been a big proponent for adding modern touches. He wanted a modern spire, that was vetoed, then he proposed replacing the (perfectly intact) stained glass from 1859 with modern stained glass, I think that's also been vetoed or at least people aren't keen. I saw a nice proposal of replacing the north tower's plain glass windows with contemporary stained glass as a way to update.

Heartening to see members of the public joining efforts to save the artworks in Børsen, though. I think I read that they were able to save quite a lot, between the efforts to contain the fire and the efforts to get things in danger to safety. Shame about the spire, though. Such an awesome design.