Argonath Diver

You know who could have made an excellent, more Silmarillion-faithful Sauron? Ciaran Hinds.

I'm absolutely astounded at how much fun I've had the last three weeks watching the WBC (and the Cardinals smashing ST). Japan just won two of the most exhilarating games I've ever watched two nights in a row. People will be buzzing about that Shohei v Trout moment as a great moment in baseball history. Magnificent win for baseball in general.

Unless you're attending a Savannah Bananas game. Buddy of mine lives down there and went to one last year, said it was one of the most fun times he's ever had at a game or event (which he said it felt more like). Anyway I'm psyched up for tonight's game. The local sports bar I frequent isn't putting on the audio, which is a bummer. So it'll be a grainy pirated stream for me, but I want to hear the crowd for sure. Wainwright said the past two USA games were the loudest crowd he's ever been in front of, and he's pitched at some deafening World Series moments.

This Japan v Mexico World Baseball Classic game has been one of the best baseball games I've ever seen. Just an electric atmosphere heading into the 9th inning. The WBC as a whole this year has been incredibly entertaining. Anyone judging it is missing out. Making everything a one-game shot turns up the pressure every night.

Oh no! I'm such a cad. How embarrassing. No excuse for that gaffe.

Sad news. He was magnetic in all four roles I know him in - and I'm a big fan of all four series (your three mentioned and Spartacus). Edit: I am a fool.

I'm trying to watch the new Luthor movie, but it's taking itself so incredibly seriously that it's hard to pay attention. Andy Serkis' bafflingly bad hair is not helping anything. Every scene Elba is in, I can't help but think of this skit.

No, I do not, thank you very much. Again, I went in wholly blind, and yes that opening scene was pretty rough. There are some very dark moments throughout the novel as well. I'd recommend you continue to steer clear - her otherwise excellent characters and carefully-crafted prose won't keep your attention between the hardest bits. Though a forum favorite here, I found Mark Lawrence's work unreadably morbid, myself. The vibe of Cavern of Black Ice - again coming from a totally new reader - seems to be to be Tad Williams if he'd gone through a really dark patch in his life. You have a fair point that violence toward the unwilling is depicted very clearly in many modern fantasy writers. From GRRM, Hobb, Bakker and Erikson to Mr. PG-13 himself Brandon Sanderson, very explicit blood-n-guts passages run rife through the genre. Perhaps that's why Abraham's Long Price Quartet was so wonderful - hardly a battle scene and certainly no torture horror scenes albeit a very mature setting. I was excited to hear good feedback toward Chris Wooding as more of a throwback, non-grimdark fantasy, but I was put off by The Ember Blade being cheesy. Regardless, I finished Book 1, enjoyed everything about it except three or four of the really brutal bits, and am waiting for the second through inter-library loan.

His 200 million dollar guaranteed extension hasn't even kicked in yet.

Game of the Season so far at The Garden. Knicks playing with a ton of heart, feels like a playoff throughout. Quickley had himself one hell of a game. Celtics fans going home heartbroken - ouch!

Did you two get through the third episode? The show starts with a couple pretty clear set 3 episode arcs, so eps 3 and 6 were particularly compelling. That said, I guess it's not for everyone and if she wants a more recognizable lead, no worries.

Suspended two games (by the team, could face more from the league). Clarke just got knocked out for the season and more from an ACL. Brooks is suspended for his 16th tech. Rough couple days for Memphis.

I admit to being one of the masses who bought a Grogu merch (in my case, a funko pop bobble head that I had on my dashboard for that first summer). That said, holy crap that first episode was dumb. Yeck. I forgot to ever watch the 3 relevant episodes on Boba Fett - which I quit after maybe a half hour. Now I'm feeling like I might just do what I've generally done with Marvel and Rings of Power; not feel much guilt at all for skipping it.

I suppose I wasn't completely blind in that sense - I do recall seeing that this was a series among the Anticipated but Unfinished Series chatter. I knew going in that I'd likely catch up with it long before completion, but I feel like most of us are battle-hardened to that these days. Now that Things Are Happening in the first book, I'm having trouble getting much else done on this all-day rainy afernoon.

Oh,. I definitely see the similarities beyond them both being tan, blond heartthrobs, especially when interacting with their romantic targets. Lots of meaningful, silent stares hiding a lonely soul and all that. Another character flatly tells Pine, "everyone is attracted to you.." almost resentfully - which is, at that point, somewhat the reaction myself as a bachelor was having to the character. Heck, the other night I felt myself looking at his damn hairstyle (similar to my own albeit Hollywood flawless no matter what situation of course) and feeling jealous. As with lots of action and genre movies I enjoy, I think the scenery and score distracted me over the absurdity of the plot - but that's Hollywood, right? None of the damn thing made a lick of sense! Who cares! Look at this fly-by over the villa again! Isn't Debicki radiant! Queue a close-up of Hiddleston's gorgeous eyes! The music is telling me to type with lots of exclamation points! I'll say one thing, it's piqued my interest in finding more European pot-boiler crime or spy dramas. I might dip back into Money Heist again, which similarly features outrageously attractive people doing crime things in style