Ah, of course.  The one SNL in five years I miss.

I didn't understand why Brolin didn't play George W. Bush for the cold open.  Or did he need that goatee for something?

At least I have that to look forward to.  And thanks for the tip on the prologue. I was actually wondering about that the other day, as I didn't understand it's relevance.  Either I'm not there quite yet (though I'm only 40 pages out from the end), or I just purged the prologue from my memory to make space for my "I'm…

Haha.  You pretty much nailed my approach.  Plus, as said below, the Jaime stuff is great.  I've gone from mercilessly rooting for his downfall to seriously concerned about his welfare and success.

Yeah, the Jaime stuff is all that's keeping me going right now.  And I think this one is such a narrative bog because it's coming off of Book 3, which was blowing my hair back every other page.

With regard to Stray Observations: I'm slogging my way through Book Four now and it's awful.  I'm not sure I needed the chapter devoted to (spoiler?) Sweetrobin descending the Vale's steps.  Then again, in Martin's acknowledgments, he did write, "This one was a bitch."

I liked the metaphor for comment boards. The guy driving by Cartman and Kyle as they Faith Hill-ed just couldn't keep going about his day and letting them enjoy whatever they liked.  He had to stop and tell them they sucked.

There was actually a moment when I thought, "Wait, IS that French Stewart?"

I wonder how much speaking Spanish affected his ability to ad lib.  I always love the gag reels, esp. for Talladega Nights.

Did anyone else find it weird that Erin ran after Andy's car, calling his name, only to approach the wrong car first, then to see that exact same thing done by Ed Helms in the commercial-break preview for "Jeff Who Lives At Home"?

Did anyone else notice they bleeped "asshole" on "Ugly Americans," but let it fly on "South Park" a bunch of times, which ran directly prior?

It's more about the influence these people carry.  Limbaugh gets heat because he has a massive audience of people waiting to do his bidding, such as when he gets millions of fans to flood politicians' offices with letters and calls when said politicians deign to say Rush might not speak The Truth.

I guess Carl get's a pass for changing his mind again after Rick's Braveheart speech: "Your mother and I are going to die, and you'll unprepared for it, but there's nothing you can do about it.  Now grow a pair."

Inconsistent-o-meter:

I'm guessing it has something to do with general audience vs. hardcore fans.  I usually dig the last sketches a lot, but it's not going to give older folk a reason to tune in.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.  And if not funnier, then at least more interactive, for lack of a better word.  You're watching it live, so you're "participating" in it with everyone else, including the performers, simultaneously.  When people break, there's more immediacy, or if there's a shock moment, like Norm…

I asked this before, but never got a reply:  Does the review actually watch this live?

Yes!  Now I assume every pocket watch has an origin story involving an ass.

Carol: "Stop treating me like I lost my mind."  That's cool.  Because punching flowers until your hands bleed is pretty sane.  I guess if Rick and Shane have taught us anything, it's that you want to keep as many exposed wounds as possible in a world where infection is the biggest danger.

It's about time someone Photoshopped in Walt Kowalski saying, "GET OFF MY DAMN FARM!!!"