Compared to the previous episode, the season finale of Game of Thrones was anti-climactic as fuck. Almost nothing happened; felt a lot like a filler episode. Last episode had more of a finale feel to it while this one was more about resolving a few small things and setting up next season. I'm guessing what we see in the final seconds has some significant implications in regards to the books, but as someone who's never read them it didn't do a whole lot for me.

I've been recording Game of Thrones this season; just started watching today in preparation for the season finale tomorrow. I intended to split it over the course of two days but it's just so fucking compelling that I couldn't help but go all the way today. Seriously, this is some good shit. Peter Dinklage is clearly the star of the show; I love the scenes with him and Lena Heady or any of the members of the council (particularly the eunuch). Lots of tension is the last couple of episodes; can't wait for the finale.

Every time I go to the theater and have a "meh" experience, I tell myself next time it won't be like that. I'm always wrong. The movie itself was good, but the patrons are a bother. Some guy behind me loudly clearing his throat every few minutes. Candy wrappers crackling almost the whole time. People laughing loudly. People talking. But the worst is the couple directly next to me with their two small kids; oldest must have been 6 or 7 and youngest was 3 or 4. Guy had to take his kids to the bathroom every 20 minutes or so; I am not exaggerating. Youngest kid also talked loudly a few times. Honestly, why do people bring little kids to the theaters? The 6 or 7 year old is borderline, but 3 or 4 year old is a joke. Anyway. The movie itself was pretty good. I find it hard to judge cleanly given all the ridiculous hype surrounding it. It has a run time of almost 2.5 hours but it certainly didn't feel that long; the pace of the movie is pretty even throughout. Good job all around. I will say the film was a bit action heavy for my taste, but that's the kind of movie it is. The action was quite good, and there was a good mix of well-timed comedy (mostly one liners). The only real complaint I have is that Black Widow and Hawkeye are ridiculously underpowered compared to the others; at times it felt like nobody really knew what to do with them. The big finale starts and they're sort of relegated to the sideline or put on mop up duty while the heavy hitters do all the real work. I absolutely loved the extended screen time Samuel L. Jackson got here compared to his previous roles in the Marvel films (which were really just cameos); it's never a bad move to give that bad-ass motherfucker more scenes. Iron Man is of course the alpha dog, though Thor and Hulk have their moments (and Captain America to a lesser extent). I wasn't really sure what to expect, but looking back on the previous movies it had a very similar feel. Personally I'm much more looking forward to Nolan's Batman finale; those movies have been far more dramatic and intelligent than the recent Marvel ones. Sadly I'll most likely forgo seeing it in the theater due to the spate of less than stellar experiences I've had the last couple of outings.

For as cool as (most of) the original X-Men trilogy is, I've got to say First Class is by far the best of the series. While the trilogy does explore the differing ideologies somewhat, most of the time is devoted to kick-ass fights. First Class has its fair share of action of course, but the far more interesting aspect is the development of the split between Magneto and Xavier. Naturally there are parallels to various struggles between different groups of humans, which of course proves Magneto's point; ultimately I think his stance is the only tenable one.

I've had Beautiful Boy in my Netflix queue forever; finally got it this weekend and gave it a watch. I knew nothing about it other than the main cast and the description on Netflix. Even before I saw the film it was off to a good start; for my money Maria Bello is one of the most beautiful women in the world (suck it, Angelina Jolie). Then as the movie progresses who has a small role? Not only Alan Tudyk, but also Moon Bloodgood; phenomenal. The cherry on top? The very minor role of hotel manager is played by Meatloaf. My God, it's full of win. The acting all around is superb and the story is moving if perhaps a bit cliche at times. Why can't more movies be like this? Last time a movie got me like this it was Trucker (Nathan Fillion + Michelle Monaghan for the win), coincidentally another small independent film.

The typical Slashdotter will lose his fucking shit if you mention Ron Paul in a negative way.

All I had left was the Master Predator challenge. Police Brutality is pretty easy; Natural Selection slightly less so. End of the Line is the one that gave me problems. It took me 20+ minutes to stealth the shit out of it, but I finally did it. The only achievement I've got left is the one to use every move/gadget in a single combo; my problem with that is that there's so many fucking attacks that it's hard to keep track of which ones you've used and which ones you haven't. Also haven't done any of the achievements for the DLC; none of the characters (especially Catwoman) have anywhere near the same utility as Batman which makes it so much more of a grind. I can live without doing those.

Specifically time it takes for the server to respond to a request. Once the response comes through the actual transfer of data seems to be fine.

First Tenacious D, then Anchorman.

Apparently ground up beetles are a common food coloring. This is both fascinating and disgusting.