Happy to be aboard! Man, you guys and your selfies…

Hey Cookie_Monster, I wanted to thank you — some time ago you hipped me to Trader Joe's Speculoos, which of course is nature's greatest treasure.
Did you know there's a non-TJ's version of the stuff called Biscoff European Cookie Spread that you can get at regular ol' markets? I'm eating it RIGHT NOW!

JL, I've referred to that list several times! I thanked you at the time, but thanks again.

When there was only one set of footprints, that was me VVV CCWQVVVLLL PPPP KRRRTTTTDDDD
CCC JJVXRRRLLL PPPP JRRRTTTTDDDD.

Due to RL circumstances, I went from being a constant TNG commenter to an only occasional DS9 commenter, but I hope I can get in the group. The Trek gang is the loveliest bunch of holodeck-scrubbers out there.

So we can call that guy at Craster's "Cold Carl", right?

Wouldn't those both be examples of "readings unsupported by the text"? That's hardly an argument for authorial intent. It seems unrelated, actually. Them being wrong has no bearing on the author's intentions one way or the other.

This will be the most straightforward comment I've posted in a long time:
This piece was reasonable and well-argued. Nice work.

Isn't it odd how many early-21st century viewers are so hot for lines of succession as a means of determining sovereignty, as opposed to who would actually make a good king or queen? Hasn't the series been at pains to demonstrate that "my relative used to be the king" isn't the best form of government?

Well, Robert killed Aerys because he was pissed about his girlfriend and it got out of hand. No righteous idealist, Robert.

I'm mildly disappointed so far with the depiction of Oberyn. In the book he comes across as the most swaggering, dick-swinging mofo in the seven kingdoms, who can be cavalier about things because he's a deadly dude who likes fucking with people, particularly other nobles.
"Show Oberyn" is interesting enough, but so far…

The Best Buy guy fooled my poor dad into buying those ridiculously overpriced HDMI cables when he bought his last TV. I tried to break it to him that I could get him the exact same cables for a couple of bucks, but the guy's pitch was too persuasive. "Nope! Only these cables can handle this TV's output," he says. "The…

You're doing Ed Grimley, aren't you?

I saw it on Thursday too, and I really, really loved it. Just a very skillful mix of fun, action, character-building and suspense. Falcon was great! Well integrated and showcased, and I'd love to see more of him. And ScarJo definitely finds a new gear in her performance as Black Widow, because she's a delight in this.…

I loved Shandling, he delighted me to no end, and he should have a cameo in every movie.

I made myself re-watch all of the Bond flicks last year when I got the big brick of blu-rays, and a lot of my opinions shifted up and down. I agree that QoS is underrated: the opening chases are among the best in the series, and the photography is every bit as remarkable as what Deakins did in Skyfall. But I've got to…

They do something I love, which is give us a little fifteen-minute mini-movie at the beginning where Cap goes in and takes out a D-list villain, in this case Batroc. It ties into the main plot, but it's essentially a miniature bonus Cap movie.

Magic xylophone etc. etc.

If Paul F. Tompkins had a successful nightly talk show my life would, conservatively, be 600% better.

Yeah, check this out, he comes with Booster Gold and Fire: