Padraig

It really was a pity about the Italy game. Was an opportunity to give players an opportunity. And Italy seemed determined to give it a serious go. I stopped watching too after a half hour. Now it will be 4 weeks between proper games.

Thanks for that post Timmet.

This is really sad news. We met back in 2001. She gave me a lift when we all went out for Cheesesteaks. I remember talking about her name's origin. A very decent person. My condolences to her family and friends.

After the first half it was a little ominous for Ireland. But in the end, we could have stolen it. France deserved it but there is certainly stuff they can work on also. Ireland's trip to London now becomes a big test. We have a great record at home but we have got to win some big away games if we are going to be taken seriously for the WC. Who plays out half for Italy will be interesting. Carbery may seem the obvious choice but Sexton hasn't played much in recent months.

Right. Big loss in the short term. There are a lot of out-halves across the provinces but there is little faith in any of them (although, some of them are quite young). Carbery stands out the most, but his history of injuries is woeful. Hopefully things will improve for him. Right now, relying on Sexton and Carbery for the next WC will trouble people. But limited choices. Still one of the great stories. And great lines. https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/60236293

Ireland really had to beat such an understrength Wales. A lot to improve on (really should have won by more) but the two big tests are the away trips. While performance will be important, i'm sure the team would really want to win at least one of those to keep up the positive momentum.

Hah. Yes. China, Saudi and Israel. Fair point. Its going to be a controversial decade for Worldcon! For different reasons. And as you say, LA would be expected to win. But enough to keep people talking for a few years!

I may be very innocent here but I suspect China wouldn't bid for the 2025 Worldcon. Winning 2023 has shown that they can easily win a bid in the US, so why would they feel they have to take advantage of hosting? Up to now, they have followed the procedures like everyone else. If they wanted to bid for 2025, they would need to get a bid organised very soon. I know Winnipeg bid very late for 2023 but Winnipeg did lose. And COVID made bidding for a convention very unusual in 2021. I don't think the same will apply going forward. To me, they will host 2023 and see how it works out. If they deem it a success, look to bid again later on in the decade. I think we overestimate Worldcon's appeal if we think " major shenanigans" will be afoot. PS: Of course, right now, only Seattle is bidding for 2025 (AFAICT). If they pulled out for some reason, that changes the story.

We actually bid for 2023. Lost to France. Our biggest problem (IIRC) is stadiums. France (and a lot of other countries) have a lot of stadiums ready to go (since they can use football stadiums also). We have 2 proper stadiums. 2 more that would require some work. And everything else that would require a lot of work. Ireland did say they would spend the money in the 2023 bid but if you were World Rugby, why risk it? Especially as the stadiums in France were still going to be far bigger. I think a joint bid is the only possibility. I know there was some talk about 2031. And yes, while NZ could still have stolen a win, amazing how we blew NZ away. I hope we don't start timing our peak 1 to 2 years before the WC. We did that last time. We have a 3 test tour in NZ next summer (hopefully). Will be very interesting to see how that goes now! Each time we have beaten NZ, we were trounced the next time. But we were never on top by so much before.

And yet the "Best Series" Hugo seemed to come from no where. Or maybe I missed that? Always struck me as a rather odd award (even though i'm much more likely to be familiar with nominations in that category than others).

The best Irish performance in 2.5 years. Its good but it also asks even more questions. Can we go forward now or just slip back to being where we have been over the last 2 years? The other matches we played didn't inspire (although, we weren't bad. Just average). Hope is good though.

In that vein, the big event for rugby Ireland this weekend was actually the return of Joey Carbery for Munster. He played the last 15 minutes in a game for Munster. Pretty much hasn't played for the last 18 months. Ireland has plenty out halves playing for the provinces. Unfortunately, few people think any of them can be relied upon beyond that level (although, a few of them are still young). Even against Italy, it was felt that Sexton was the only option. It could be a tough few years. England is very strange. World beaters a few years ago, to terrible, back to world beaters and now terrible again. Ireland v England will be a game for pride in a few weeks! Nothing else. And Wales. At least England didn't have a player sent off!

They could expand the setting of the D&E stories. So while D&E feature, it is just one storyline in many threads. So the Targaryen court is another thread. The Blackfyre's another. And D&E weave in and out of those. With a House of the Dragon series, this may seem too similar though.

Really sad to miss NZ this year. I hope DC and Chicago can happen. Then its Memphis v Chengdu for 2023. Glasgow for 2024. And then Brisbane v Seattle for 2025. Although, a lot can change for 2025 yet (witness the demise of Nice for 2023).

Great note. You could link to GRRM's appearance page to give people an idea about where GRRM (and thus probably the BwB) will be in the coming months and years? www.georgerrmartin.com/appearances/

It is more complicated than that I think. Most of the big events happen in the second half of the book, so you don't want to end up with a very unbalanced series. OTOH, you don't want them to have to rush through the book also. Good luck D&D. I hope they get a chance to figure it out. :) For the King of the North scene? Not sure.

That's not confirmed.

All of it. :)

It does strike me that some people are assuming they are been negatively rated by other certain individuals, when nobody can be sure who is doing what to do (except Admins?). I can see how that can be discommoding and could lead to trouble. I don't think anyone thinks this system is tyrannical. Maybe annoying, frustrating, childish, petty etc.

Great job so far D&D. Hope you are having as much fun working on this project as we are having speculating about it. :) I like Brude's idea about having GRRM play somebody dead every season. A nice twist on the prologue idea. Playing Jon Arryn would be neat too.

Besides, Jaime alone looked after almost the whole royal family once. That worked out very well. :) This time he has 1 extra.

Yup. That or helms. Sounds like the cheaper option. No point casting people who don't say anything.

Its been confirmed that the Stark kids are around 3 years older. Robb is 17 for example.

They must have an option on Dinklage anyhow. I can't see why the actor would be interested in the role just based on the pilot. Things only get really interesting for the character later on. :)