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So, episode 5....

Some of it was a little goofy - and I'd really like just one episode where no one gets raped or threatened with rape - but man, there was some good stuff in there.

Jon Snow has come on in leaps and bounds this season - I felt they portrayed him poorly in the first few seasons, but he's come back from beyond the wall a changed man - more cynical and tougher. The scene between Arya and The Hound was the best yet.

And that revelation [spoiler](that it was Littlefinger who was behind the murder of Jon Arryn, not the Lannisters). Holy shit, I didn't see that coming at all. Once again, I'd totally underestimated Littlefinger. I almost feel bad for the Lannisters. Suddenly, they're not the scheming villain masterminds they've been painted as - sure, Jaime did try to kill Bran, but otherwise they've been every bit as manipulated into the war as the Starks.[/spoiler]

I'm now completely suspecting that it was also [spoiler]Littlefinger who sent the assassin to kill Bran and Catelyn back in season one, thus framing Tyrion. Did Littlefinger ever really love Catelyn, or was it - like everything else - all part of his plan? Was he so embittered by her spurning him that he was happy to get her killed as part of his long-game? In any case, the Lysa revelation certainly adds credence to my theory that Littlefinger deliberately destabilised the Lannister's finances.[/spoiler]

Superb storytelling - rewatching seasons 1-3 with this knowledge will really make things interesting all over again.

I was reading through some old Dredd the other night and found a one-off from around 2000 called 'The Island' by Wagner and Frazer Irving, which is a (very) loose riff on the movie 'The Beach'.

I wonder if Alex Garland is aware of it?

Been listening to this today. Much better than the studio version imo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIMkHnT2BB4

We went to a pub - a pub - recently, and there were a family in there whose children were watching films on a portable DVD player with the volume cranked up to full so the whole place could hear it. Unbelievable.

Think I started a thread about this the other day.

Do the graphic novels come as PDFs only, or are there CBRs too?

You get a choice of PDF, CBZ, CBR and a couple of others. I think you're allowed to download multiple copies too.

The rumoured casting notes - i think - just said '[spoiler]a descendent' of Obi Wan Kenobi, so it could be a niece, nephew, whatever.[/spoiler]

Personally, I'm really not keen on the idea of focusing the new films around the offspring of the original cast of characters - or in fact a 'new jedi order' - it seems like the laziest, most obvious idea imaginable.

Tell me about it. Luckily we're covered. Great country and all that, but the US health care system is seriously messed up. Even if you buy the argument against universal healthcare (which I don't), surely you still end up paying the equivalent in insurance anyway?

In other minor impediment news, I've just realised that my home cinema system that I had shipped over from the UK is the wrong voltage (and I was sure that I checked, but there's so many things to do when you emigrate I guess I just forgot or misread it ).

Has anyone got any experience of using a step-up transformer? Some people seem to say they're fine whereas others say they're always risky to use and can start a fire.

[INSURE YOUR PETS]

So the previous owners have refunded us the money we payed for the dog (which will cover about 20% of the surgery costs). My girlfriend takes them at face value and believes it was a genuine mistake, whereas I still half suspect that their guilty conscience got the better of them - I don't think it was a completely calculated move, but I do believe they suspected the injury was serious and it was an 'out of sight out of mind' situation - we know for a fact they didn't have her insured (am I a terrible cynical person?).

Doggie is due to go under the knife on Friday, and tbh the expense doesn't bother me at all. What does is that the poor little mite will be confined to the apartment for weeks so the leg can heal, to start with in a crate or cage so that she can't run around or jump. The complete recovery process will take four months. Feel so awful and the next few weeks especially will be really hard but it's all for the purpose of getting her fit and healthy again. There is also apparently a 50% chance that the other knee will go in the next 18months which would entail having to do it all again . Not the best start to owning my first dog.

Folks: INSURE YOUR PETS. And if you can't afford insurance, don't get a pet - especially a big dog.

We were already going to get her insured, but as this was an existing injury there was nothing we could do.

Oh dear, how terribly sad. I have a huge amount of affection for the man. A national treasure. RIP. 

Everyone seems to be suggesting that Max Von Sydow will [spoiler]be the villain, but I actually think there's a chance he'll be playing Obi Wan Kenobi in spirit form - the persistent rumour is that one of the female leads is a descendent of Obi Wan, and unless I'm going mad there's a very slight resemblance between Sydow and Alec Guiness.[/spoiler]

[East of West]

Just saw this on the Twitters, and not 100% sure if it's available in the UK, but check it out:

https://www.humblebundle.com/?imagecomics_bundle&utm_source=imagecomics&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Humble%20Image%20Comics%20Bundle

Humble Image Bundle - pay what you want for digital editions volumes one of East of West, Fatale, Lazarus and Morning Glories, and if you pay the average (just over a fiver) you get volume one of Saga, Revival and Chew too!

Well worth a punt.

Gleeson, of course, played 'Clan Techie' in Dredd, and was actually at the fan screening if those that were there on the night remember. I remember him coming over to chat with the producer when I was outside with John and Alex but was too starstruck already to say hello and that I was a fan.

It was speculated that May the 4th (Star Wars Day) would see the cast announcement, so either they've done it early to head off leaks, or they're going to do something else for that day. My prediction: they'll announce the title.

That's a hugely promising cast. Driver, Boyega and Gleeson are all people I've predicted big things for for a long while.

Meh, it's visual shorthand. I'd rather they spend the money on [spoiler]glorious shots a triumphant Dany atop a pyramid instead of footage of loads of characters we don't know fighting/slaughtering loads of other characters we don't know.[/spoiler]