Christmas and Zombies

Well the Christmas season is upon us and I have found just what I am looking for in a gift (hint, hint)! Check out these little joyous creatures that I saw on the HBO website!

How freaking cool are these guys?!! Well, except for that White Walker..that is weird and scary. Just like the real White Walkers! Speaking of zombies..well, zombie-like creatures anyway..I have a confession to make! I have taken a hiatus from A Dance With Dragons to read World War Z, which is about a zombie apocalypse. The good news is that I am flying through it and will be back to ADWD in no time at all. Maybe. I seriously don't know what the hell is wrong with me and why I can't get through this book. I am an admittedly slow reader, but I couldn't put down the first four ASOIAF. But I just can't seem to do it. It's not like it's not good. It's no A Storm of Swords or anything, but all my favorite characters are back and I should be tearing though it. But it's just kind of at a lull and nothing really seems to be happening. My beloved Tyrion is on the run and Dany is being reaaaaal boring in Meereen. Seriously, that girl has dragons and she is not really doing much of anything! I am sure it will get better. Well, maybe. I have spoiled myself on some of it and it seems like other reviewers agree with me. I still want to read it all though. I think I just need a break!

So back to World War Z. O.M.G.! What a fun read! I actually chose to read this book for a couple reasons. Yes, I know it's being made into a movie starring Brad Pitt, but that's not the reason. Although I will be seeing it (of course). I actually got a belated birthday present from my coworkers. They gave me a $25.00 gift card from Barnes and Noble and I was super happy! Now, I usually do all my reading on my Kindle (where ADWD currently awaits me). But with this card, I figured I might go crazy and buy an actual book book. One with pages and stuff! I usually only read fantasy/sci fi books. I am just drawn to that genre and am usually disappointed when I stray away. So I was looking for a good distraction, but not a whole series. So I did some researching and voila!

I am very happy with this book so far. It reads like a documentary of a zombie war. It's very exciting and feels very current. Since the world is going to end in less in a month..duh!! LOL Just kidding, I totally don't believe that at all. And anyway, I wouldn't want to be one of the survivors of an apocalypse. It's too much trouble and I am not very tough. I would want to go out with the masses at the beginning! So I would totally be one of the zombies in this case. But zombies really don't seem hard to kill. Kind of like orcs in Lord of the Rings. Seriously, even I could kill an orc judging from what I've seen!

I think this one went to my high school

Well, that's all I have for tonight folks. I have to run to King Soopers for some food for the next couple of days. I am in a week-before-I-get-paid apocalypse and it's not pretty. Hopefully an Orc/Zombie/White Walker won't get me in the parking lot! Until next time!

~Beddee







The Hobbit and Other Movies

So yes, I have taken a bit of a break. I STILL haven't finished A Dance With Dragons and I feel so ashamed. But I figure I have been distracted by other interests of mine. And that's okay! I still love ASOIAF, but I think I am putting ADWD down for awhile until I really, really want to read it (and I know I will). I don't want my profiles to become somewhat of a chore and I plan to finish them as soon as I feel more inspired. But for now, Beddee is interested in a variety of books, movies, tv shows and activities.

Let's start with movies! I am pretty much obsessed with the new Hobbit movie coming out. I absolutely cannot wait for it. Let me give you a bit of background. I was obsessed with the Lord of the Rings movies when they came out. Like REALLY obsessed. I think I saw the second one 5 times at the theater alone. It was ridiculous. I even bought myself a replica of The One Ring! If I had written a blog then, Legolas would have been heavily featured.

What a dreamy elf!

 

So I am regressing back to this mindset when seeing previews and reading articles about The Hobbit. I rewatched the entire LOTR triology over the past two weekends to get myself hyped. And boy am I hyped! I took the day after the premiere off so I can go see it at midnight. I can't wait!

 

OMG, I saw Breaking Dawn Part 2 over the weekend. Please don't judge me! I fully acknowledge that Twilight is crappy. But I still read all the books and I have seen every movie. I had to finish it up! I fully enjoyed the movie for what it was and am sad that poor Taylor Lautner will probably never act again now. He is such a bad actor! But I still love Jacob. Especially in this form:

 



A direwolf he is not!

 

Aww Twilight I will miss you. Not really. I read the entire series at one of my past jobs where I didn't have to do crap all day. I tried re-reading New Moon at one point and it wasn't happening. They are like book junk food. And stop right there if you think I would ever read that 50 Shades tripe. Never!!

 

Let's see, I am planning on seeing Lincoln tomorrow night and I loved Wreck-It Ralph. What a super cute movie!

 

I'm gonna wreck it!

 

 

I see a lot of movies and just now saw that Life of Pi will be out this week as well. Sigh, I am going to be spending a lot of time in the theater. I will write a review of all of these movies!!

 

But that's all I have for tonight. Sorry it's a bit short and not a real entry-entry. I am regrouping on this whole blog thing. But thanks for reading! I see I have gotten a lot of hits lately and I am so appreciative. And I am totally not abandoning Game of Thrones as it is still my favorite TV show and book series. I just need a little bit of a break. And I am trying to talk Saucer into watching the LOTR movies because she has NEVER seen them! What?!!! I am just beside myself. I am sort of getting into fanfiction too. Maybe I will be writing some here in the near future (or have I already..) ; )

 

~Beddee

 



 

Random Stuff

Beddee has been TERRIBLE about updating this week. I have a couple of profiles stirring around in my mind (next one, JOFFREY)! But there are a couple of other things I want to write about too. This blog is mainly a celebration of my love for the ASOIAF series, but I also want to write about other things that have held my interest lately.

These are (in no particular order):

Dexter: (OMG this season has been amazing)!

The Upcoming Hobbit Movie: (OMG I can't wait)!

LOTR Triology: (I am re-watching all the movies and want to give everyone my thoughts).

Various Fantasy Book Series: (Now that I have almost finished ASOIAF, I need help deciding which to read next)!

                 Is this series worth pursuing?

 

And I always like to discuss celebrity gossip and other such nonsense! Of course, ASOIAF is the main squeeze, but I am veering off to discuss these other topics as well. If you would be so kind, please leave me feedback of what you would like me to write about. In the weeks ahead, I hope to hit all of these topics. I hope you like it!

 

~Beddee

 

Bran Stark - The Broken Prince of Winterfell

Aww Bran. It breaks my heart just writing his name. The little Lord of Winterfell who loved to climb until he was thrown out a window by Mr. Kingslayer because Bran saw him having sex with his sister. As if THAT wasn't traumatic enough! And then he almost get killed again because of the same issue. The Lannister twins are worried he might remember the grossness of what he witnessed. And then it didn't even matter anyway because now EVERYONE knows about the incest (not that they can prove it). Here is a picture of Bran before his tragic crippling:

Bran is portrayed by Isaac Hempstead-Wright and he is absolutely perfect for the role. Check out his twitter page here. A "Simpson and Spongebob enthusiast"..how cute is he?! Before Bran's big fall, he gets his own direwolf along with the other Stark children. He calls his wolf Summer and boy is he loyal! He loves Bran so much and saves his life several times throughout the series. Check out this scene.

Catelyn is also pretty badass in this scene

  

Reasons to love Bran: What isn't there to love about Bran really? He actually has a pretty good attitude after getting crippled. He mopes around for awhile, but then he learns to ride a horse thanks to Tyrion. He loves it until he is almost killed by some wildlings. But he has another transportation system in Hodor the stableboy. He is strapped in a basket and carried around by Hodor (who is quite large). Hodor is a a simpleton and very loyal, but sometimes he forgets Bran is in the basket!

Hodor!!

Poor Bran suffers a lot of hardships in his young life. As if it wasn't bad enough being crippled, he is left behind as his father and sisters all go to King's Landing. Granted, things don't turn out so well for them there (dead, a prisoner and a fugitive) but STILL! Bran really wanted to go. Then his mom takes off to avenge his window tossing. Soon after, his oldest brother Robb heads off to war to avenge Ned's death. So Bran is left as the oldest Stark living at Winterfell and he has to do a bunch of boring Lord stuff. He is only like seven or eight years old! And then, as we know, stupid Theon decides to take over Winterfell. This leads to poor Bran and Rickon having to go on the run. Not only that, everyone thinks they are dead! And Bran has to do all this being carried around by Hodor! But he always seems tobe fairly cool about everything and I love it! Oh and he has a "warg" connection with his direwolf, Summer, which is pretty cool. He goes into some weird trance and is able to "become" Summer! This actually helps out him and his friends quite a bit.

 Woof!

Reasons to hate Bran: There is no reason to hate Bran, but sometimes I question his decisions. I don't really want to go into it right now (mainly because I still don't quite understand the whole thing), but Bran decides to go find the "three-eyed crow" because he dreams about it. That darn Jojen Reed talks him into it. I really like Jojen and his sister Meera. They help Bran and Hodor escape from Winterfell and prove to be great allies (Rickon goes another direction if they are caught, the two Stark boys won't be together). But Jojen is impressed with the Bran/Summer warg thing and figures out that Bran dreamt of the three-eyed crow. So they all decide to go seek out this crow and they don't really know where it is! I guess Bran thinks it will teach him to fly or something, which I guess is pretty cool. But wouldn't he rather go find his family to tell them he is alive? I know that really, really mean people are searching for him, but he could maybe make it happen. Poor Catelyn could really use some good news. And the three-eyed crow lives beyond The Wall where all the creepy dead things reside. They even run into Sam! But he is not allowed to tell Jon Snow that his little brother is alive. The whole thing is just weird (including the warg stuff) but I am sure there is a point to it. I am a slooooooow reader and I am thinking that Bran finds the three-eyed crow in A Dance With Dragons.

High School: I am having a hard time picturing Bran in high school. I think he would just be a normal kid who got average grades and has lots of friends. He would most likely be in the school rock climbing club. Well, he would be until he saw the coach having an illicit affair and then he would get pushed off a rock!

Sticks Counterpart: Remember Saucer's post about Jeff Skinner? We have our Bran! Two "babies" who have a lot of heart and strength!

Bran is dreaming he is a hockey player

It came true! Perhaps Jeff is really the three-eyed crow?

~Beddee



Aeron Greyjoy - The Damphair

Saucer and I have agreed to do a post on characters/players that are not our favorites. So this post is dedicated to my least favorite character. I am not ashamed to admit that I would prefer to read chapters written from Joffrey's point of view than this boring priest or whatever he is supposed to be:

Ok I will admit he looks sort of cool here

Maybe I am being a little too hard on him, but Aeron Greyjoy came along at exactly the wrong time for me. I'm not really the biggest fan of the Greyjoys in general. It took me awhile to warm up to Theon's chapters. But his story did eventually become interesting. Plus, he interacted with familiar characters. It's not like I am racist again the Ironborn, but I just don't care so much about their plight or storylines. They are savage men of the sea and I really don't have a lot of interest in them. That said, I think their involvement WILL be important and I like Theon and Asha and am warming up to Victarion.

But back to Aeron. He is Theon's uncle and the youngest brother of House Greyjoy. He apparently used to be a big drinker and could win pissing contests (seriously)! But after a near-death experience at see where he almost drowned (not to mention held prisoner by the Lannisters), he had a spiritual awakening. He now follows the "Drowned God", has long hippy-seaweed hair and drowns potential followers. Then he attempts to "revive" them with an old school CPR method. If he succeeds, they get to be his followers, called the "Drowned Men". Aeron himself is called "The Damphair". As I was searching for pictures to use for Damphair, I realized that he was on the show last season! Look at this:

 

Well I'll be damned! Was I falling asleep during this scene or something? Note to re-watch Season 2 now! I appears as though he is attempting to drown Theon in one of his stupid ceremonies. I don't remember this happening in the book, but who knows. They are long books and Theon's chapters (especially the early ones) sometimes bored the crap out of me. But I still don't think Theon was drowned. It doesn't mention it on the wiki page so whatever!

Reasons I hate Damphair: Now that I wrote his background, he actually is kind of interesting. But as I said before, he couldn't have come at a worse time. After the amazing A Sword of Storms, I was super excited for A Feast for Crows. Even though I had prepared myself in advance for NO Tyrion, NO Dany and NO Jon Snow, it was still tough. I didn't get to hang out with some of my favorites and spent too much time with others (Sam and Brienne). And to top it all off, we get saturated with two new Houses (Greyjoys and Martells). Of course I knew who they were, but I wasn't prepared to jump into their heads. They had been more or less in the background before. And the very first unfamiliar POV chapter was the Damphair and it was so boring. I am sorry to say it, but it really was super dull. I don't think I am alone. I have read on message boards that there are people who skipped the Damphair chapters, but I don't do that. I love these books and feel that everything is important, even if it's not my favorite. Plus, I am glad I kept reading because both the Ironborn and the Martell storylines came through (but not because of Damphair) and I like their chapters now. But that doesn't mean I still don't hate the damn Damphair. He is a hardass and humorless and seems like a real Debbie Downer. He hates his brother Euron and he organizes that whole Kingsmoot thing. I am too tired to go into that one! It will have to wait for another post. But Damphair disappears after the Kingsmoot and his fate is unknown. Bad for him, but good for me. We haven't had an Aeron Greyjoy chapter since!

Awesome artwork of the Kingsmoot

Reasons I love Damphair: Ugh I don't really like him at all. But I suppose he would be helpful to have around if you were about to drown and needed to come back to the light!

The Rest: I am going to skip my high school and Sticks section tonight. Mainly because I am super tired but also because Damphair just isn't worth it. He is like some crazy born again dude who drowns people. It is hinted there is more to him, but we don't see it. And I don't want some poor hockey player to be stuck with Damphair as his Game of Thrones alter ego. That is just mean and unfair. Unless you can think of a good one? Saucer? Anyone? I didn't think so!

~Beddee

The Dragons - Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion

Ugh, I totally know that I have been a slacker with blog writings lately. There are lots of reasons behind this, mainly just plain being busy. Between my yoga/spinning classes and my birthday, I just haven't found time to blog. And..I am in the process of writing a book! I am so excited. Who knows if it'll be any good, but I am hoping for a hit! But there really is no excuse for my lack of blogging. And I got VERY inspired tonight because Saucer sent me the coolest gift ever. It is a crocheted Daenerys doll and her three baby dragons!! I would put a picture of them on here, but my camera is broken! I will post at a later time. So anyways, since I have already done a post on the Mother of Dragons, I have decided to dedicate a post to her beautiful babies.

I think this is way cool artwork

Okay, so in ASOIAF dragons are the coolest. I'm sorry, but House Targaryen has the coolest mascot. I mean, direwolves and lions are pretty awesome but they can't top freaking dragons!! In the land of Westeros, dragons have been extinct for hundreds of years. And even then they were pretty rare. They belonged to House Targaryen who used them to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. They ruled Westeros for as long as anyone could remember. Even after real dragons became obsolete, the Targaryen's sat the Iron Throne until Robert Baratheon "stole" it. The only remains of dragons left were skulls and skeletons which were kind of like dinosaur bones. Oh, and there were also some dragon's eggs that were petrified into stones. Dany received three petrified dragon's eggs as a gift for her wedding to Khal Drogo.

Okay I am going to cut this short. Those dragon eggs don't stay eggs for long! I think Daenerys always knew they would hatch. Spoiler Alert: Our Khaleesi manages to hatch the eggs by putting that bitch Mirri Maz Duur on (sniff) Khal Drogo's funeral pyre after Mirri completely screws her over. Both her unborn child and Drogo are gone and Dany has nothing to lose. She sets the whole thing on fire (with Mirri Maz Duur alive) and steps into the flames herself. Because she exchanged life for life, the dragons were born! This scene is one the best in the whole series (my opinion).

Reasons to love Dragons: These little baby dragons are adorable. We have the following:

Drogon: The black one who is the largest and named after Dany's beloved Khal Drogo. Of course, he is also the most aggressive.

Rhaegal: The green one who is named after her brother Rhaegar Targaryen (who also was gone too soon).

Viserion: The cream colored one who is named after her other brother Viserys Targaryen. Even though Viserys sucked, Dany felt that he still deserved to have a dragon named after him.

As babies, all of the dragons are pretty easy to take care of and Daenerys can travel around with them without them being too dragon-like. Even though the dragons represent the Targaryens' and Dany's rise back to power, she still has a lot to do before heading back to Westeros. The dragons faithfully travel with their mother past the Red Waste, to Qarth and to Slaver's Bay. With the help of her dragons (especially Drogon) she manages to free a bunch of slaves and they think she is just great. Many of them decide to stay with her and be part of her army. Daenerys and her dragons are now in the city of Meereen where she is practicing being a Queen for her inevitable return to get her throne back. The dragons are an integral part of this. Without them, she would probably have a much more difficult time getting people to follow her.

Traveling through the Red Waste with dragons

Reasons to hate Dragons: As much as she needs the dragons, they also cause a lot of grief because people want to steal them all the time. Or they want to marry Dany because they want access to dragons and power through her. Because a girl can't rule alone! The dragons are also kind of hard to handle as they get older and larger. I am not too far into A Dance with Dragons but there is a rumor going around that Drogon ate a small child. I personally don't believe it, but I guess it could be true. They are dragons after all! So Dany has to chain up the other two while Drogon flies off in a teenage hissy fit. That's about all I know at this point (I am trying really hard not to spoil myself but oh well). I hope everything turns out okay with these guys because I just love dragons!

Dragon Prophecy: So there is a prophecy that states that the dragon has three heads and this will conquer Westeros. One head is obviously Dany, but who are the other two who will help her? And will they ride the dragons into Westeros to take the Iron Throne? This is very fun to ponder and I am hoping the other two are Jon Snow (who may have Targaryen blood?) and Tyrion! That's my theory and I am sticking to it.

High School and Sticks: I am totally going to skip the high school section tonight. These guys are dragons and there really are no counterparts to them. They are mythical deadly creatures and I don't think they would go to school anyway. I guess they could be weird Beavis and Butthead pyromaniacs who light things on fire in the Chemistry Lab. But other than that, no Dragon High (unless they were mascots).

Which brings me to Sticks! Like I said in a previous post, I think the Detroit Red Wings would be the closest thing to a dragon mascot. Drogon even has red spinal plates!

~Beddee

Eddard "Ned" Stark - Lord of Winterfell

Yes, I have finally gotten to Ned Stark. Our sweet, naive Ned who is always full of honor. I have held off for awhile, but I really feel I must tell his story. So according to his wiki page, Ned is in his mid-thirties. The eff? Apparently I am just about his same age then! Ha ha, well his portrayer on the show is older, Sean Bean! Of Lord of the Rings fame. I just love him!

You have probably seen this iconic picture of our Ned in a Facebook meme

Here is what we already know: Ned is Lord of Winterfell and House Stark (basically the most important dude in the North). He is married to Catelyn of House Tully and has 5 kids with her (Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon). He also has one bastard son name Jon Snow who represents the ONLY time that Ned was ever dishonorable. But maybe not? Jon Snow Theories Ned is total besties with King Robert Baratheon and later Hand of the King (begrudgingly). Oh Ned! Why did you ever go to King's Landing in the first place?

Reasons to love Ned: So Ned is the character who is prepped as a hero and we love him from the very beginning. Yes, he cuts off that one Wall deserter's head....but that's his job and the guy had it coming! And he even does that honorably. He is a great dad and all his kids love him. As does his wife. Even though he was second choice after his brother Brandon, Catelyn and Ned are solid. Being best friends with the King also doesn't hurt Ned's status in the realm. King Robert wants to marry his son/heir Joffrey to Ned's daughter Sansa and he wants Ned to be the Hand of the King. Well, this is only after his current Hand, Jon Arryn, dies unexpectely. Ned is not planning to accept the offer, but does so after learning that Robert's wife and her family might have had something to do with the death. He worries about his friend's safety and goes to King's Landing with Sansa and Arya in tow. Bran was supposed to go as well, but we all know what happened there!

I love the Stark family!!

More reasons to love Ned:  I am extending the love section because there is so much more to talk about. Ned is a great advisor to King Robert and gives his opinion even if it is unpopular. Like when Robert wants to have Daenerys killed because she is pregnant and he is scared she will come back to fight for the Iron Throne (not an entirely misguided fear). Ned would rather quit being the Hand if it means killing children. Ned is also a super sleuth. He is determined to find out the secret that got Jon Arryn killed and this gets him into a heap of trouble. Turns out, Arryn knew a secret! A big one! Guess what Robert..In the case of Joffrey and your other two children:

It's true! Joffrey is totally not Robert's heir. I don't see how no one figured this out earlier. But they don't have DNA technology in Westeros. They have to rely on the fact that Joffrey is "yellow of hair" and Robert is "black of hair". But all this aside. Joffrey is the product of twincest! His father is his Uncle Jaime!! Now THAT is a good episode of Maury.

Reasons to hate Ned: So it didn't take long for Ned to find out Cersei's deep dark secret. It is what he DOES with this information that makes one wonder if Ned is right in the head. He should have held onto it until the right time came to expose her to Robert. But no, he decides the honorable thing to do is tell CERSEI he knows..and she readily admits everything!



So now does he REALLY think Cersei is going to run off with her kids and never look back? Nope, Cersei uses this time to orchestrate Robert's death and letting Joffrey take the Iron Throne with herself as Queen Regent. And she finds out Ned is planning on heading back to Winterfell (thank you, Sansa) so she has him arrested for treason (thank you, Littlefinger). Ned really isn't supposed to die. Cersei just wants him to confess that he is a traitor and send him to The Wall. Poor honorable Ned wants to refuse, but decides that he will do it for his children. And then. AND THEN! Stupid bat-shit, incest-for-brains Joffrey chops off his head anyway. Even after promising Sansa that he definitely would not chop off her dad's head! So that's that for Ned Stark. Very shocking scene to everyone. Ned was supposed to win everything. Instead, he gets bested by a 13 year old snot.

Everybody Hates Joffrey

High School: Ned would just be a cool guy that everyone loved. Probably on the football team, though not the star player. He would have a nice, steady girlfriend and people would always go to him for advice. His best friend would be the star football player who would be dating the hottest girl in school. Ned finds out she is cheating on him and decides to tell her that he knows rather than telling his friend. She turns against him and gets the entire school to think he is a liar. He would be banished from popular society and eat lunch alone until college.

Let's Mix in Some Sticks: Well, Saucer already covered this one! Ned would totally be Brian Campbell of the Florida Panthers! If you haven't read her post yet, be sure to do so. Brian is very Nedd-ish and full of honor. You have to love the good guy (even though George RR Martin clearly does not)! We need a hockey team called the Direwolves with Brian as captain!

Sigh, I suppose there's always a glimmer of hope that Ned will come back as a zombie or something (like a certain other character who I won't mention just yet..) But even a zombie would have a hard time without a damn head! Ugh, Joffrey!!

~Beddee