Game of Thrones Season 4

"Your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you will know the debt is paid." - Cersei Lannister

"They can live in my new world, or they can die in their old one." -Daenerys Targaryen

There is a new Game of Thrones trailer for the upcoming Season 4! This is surely something to get excited about. Season 4 is based on the second half of A Storm of Swords, which is the third book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin.

Scheduled to premiere on HBO on 6th April, only TWO weeks away!

Somehow I've become obsessed with Game of Thrones

'Long ago, an enigmatic event forever changed the seasons in Winterfell. Thus the land was blessed with lush summers and simultaneously cursed with harsh winters. Now, Winterfell's borders are being increasingly encroached, forcing the prominent Stark family to defend its kingdom from enemies both old and new, including the rival Lannister House and a legendary demon.'

I resisted as long as I could, I scoffed as my friends discussed weather Jon Snow or Robb Stark was hotter, I avoided even opening the books simply because they're so long but it was pointless; Game of Thrones has got me hooked.

I started off watching the first season while on sick leave from work. My first impression was that this show was a bit grim and rapey for my liking but as I kept watching I suddenly found myself thinking about the show all the time and planning what each character should do in order to claim the iron throne. Within a few days I had finished the first 2 seasons and filled my time waiting for the start of season 3 by arguing with friends about why Robb Stark is such a babe.

I've started reading the books now so I would say that the obsession is in full force. I invite you to join me and daydream about what a great couple Jon and Daenerys would make.

This Month I'm Loving...

well any month that isn't February.

I hate February.

And yes I know it's kind of silly to hate a month. But I do.

There's just something about February that is off-putting.  Whether it's the heat, the fact that the holidays and relaxed mood of Christmas is finally over or strange vibes in the air.  There is something about February that is unsettling.

Strangely enough I've discovered that I not the only one to feel this way.  Which is nice  - it's always great to find someone who shares in your insanity, whether it's rational or not.

Luckily for me I've discovered heaps of new things to help ease the unsettled blues as well as getting reacquainted with some old friends.

So how is the month that shall not be named, treating you?

The Lumineers

Music as always is one of the best way's to shake those unsettled blues away and The Lumineers are one of my favourite new discoveries.

These guys (and girl) are amazing.  A folkie-indie-pop band I could easily listen to them all day... oh right I pretty much do.  Their music is catchy and bouncy and just a pure delight.

I can hardly wait for them to do another CD.

My favourites are Ho Hey, Stubborn Love, Flowers in Your Hair and Submarines.

My one and only thrill / Melody Gardot.

At 18 a car ploughed into her while she was out cycling.  What helped in her in during the years of recovery was music.  From her hospital bed she began writing songs.

And this, along with her other 2 albums, are the results.

Featuring nearly all original material she is a jazz-blues singer along the likes of Diana Krall and I have just fallen in love with the song Who Will Comfort Me.  It's just a great foot-tapping jazz song that is sure to make you smile.

Punk goes pop. Volume 4 

Now I'm not a huge punk fan.  But as they say there's punk and then there's punk.

I love the Clash and The Cure and The Pretenders.  Bands who had punk roots in their music but who also sang across other genres.

Now of course there's a wide range of punk styles and bands who fit into other genres.  It seems that punk has become popular - who knew.

This CD features an array of punk artists doing they own unique take on some popular songs.  My absolute favourite is Tonight Alive's version of Little Lion Man which I think is almost better than the original by Mumford and Sons.

Golden age [compact disc] / [by James Goss].

I have a new addiction. 

Yes I know I have a lot of addictions (Supernatural, fanfiction, books, chocolate...)

But audio books or more exactly audio dramas have completely hooked me.  Or at least the TV show based ones have.

I blame it all on Big Finish.  Nearly all their audio's feature a full cast plus sound effects and they are AMAZING!

The Stargate ones were the first and from there I just had to have more and so onto Torchwood and Blake's 7 it was.  The Blakes 7 The Dust Run and The Trial had Benedict Cumberbatch (how could I go wrong) and the Torchwood ones... well let's just say the one of the stories in  Torchwood: the lost files made me cry.

Now I just holding out for some more Stargate ones to be made and maybe some with David Tennant as Doctor Who (cross fingers).  Until then I've got the BBC's Neverwhere with James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch and co to look forward to.

PS: If you've got any recommendations let me know.

Zoo : the graphic novel / James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge

I've read the odd comic in the past.

Buffy Season 8, Angel Season 6.  That kind of thing.  But I've never gone out of my comfort zone of comics based on TV shows.

That is until I picked up this one.

James Patterson was part of the appeal.

I've always enjoyed his books (at least his earlier ones) so thought it might be alright and the story held even more appeal.  Dystopian, animals gone wild, man fighting for survival.

Yep definitely my kind of thing.  And books with pictures... well how can you go wrong.  I mean really pictures make things a lot easier


Inside HBO's Game of thrones / Bryan Cogman

Game of Thrones.

If you haven't heard of it you don't know what you're missing.

This show has it all.

Betrayal, treachery, blood-letting, sex, violence and families who give a whole new meaning to family squabbles.

It seems like we (the fans) have been waiting for forever for (too many for's) season 3 to start let alone the next book in the series.

Beautifully illustrated, this book might just help with some of the impatience and fill the void in with your Game of Thrones addiction.

Roll on the 31st March.

The Guild 

I love Felicia Day.

She's funny and quirky and hugely talented and probably one of the biggest and well known geeks around.

From her writing and starring in her online web series The Guild, to guest starring on Supernatural, to staring up her own YouTube TV channel (Geeks & Sundry - check it out); she is a one of the biggest online personalities around.

Think a female Wil Wheaton (who also appears on Geeks & Sundry) with a bit more sass and red hair and you've probably get a glimmer of who Felicia Day is.

Go the Red-Heads!

"Winter Is Coming..."

Some of you will be thinking I am talking about the fact that tomorrow is the first official day of winter but for others these three words are an ominous and mysterious foretelling that something bad is on its way. Like many (and there are many) I have been pulled into the world that is Game of Thrones and am loving every minute of it.

Now I've never been a big fantasy fan (shock, horror, I know) but I just didn't see the appeal. It was a whole genre that just left me feeling a little confused.

Magic? Fairies? Flying horses?

I wanted something a bit more realistic. A world of possibilities. Any possibility. Good or bad.

I want glimpses into the future, whether its grim and gritty or glorified and great and I want characters who were flawed and real and oh so human. Give me a world of spaceships and aliens and wormholes rather than worlds populated with elves and dragons and dwarves.

I have, of course, tried to get into fantasy. Robert Jordan, David Eddings, Raymond Feist, I've read them all at various stages with little success and when the Lord of the Rings movies came out it seemed like a good idea to try reading the books, after all so many people raved about how good they were. Perhaps if I read them, I too would finally understand the appeal of all things magical.

Sad to say I only managed to get half way through the first one before I tossed it across the room. I just didn't get it.

Then Game of Thrones came along.

This was fantasy?

Betrayal, bloodshed, murder and mayhem. How could I have not known about this. It was like Lord of the Rings meets the Sopranos with hefty dash of The Tudors and Spooks thrown in.

I was hooked.

This is a series that has it all. There's death and political intrigue and family feuds and well... more deaths. It's violent and sexual and raw and not for everyone, but for those who prefer their fantasy with a lot more grit and realism then this is a series for you.

In the world of Game of Thrones the magic takes second stage to the characters and what wonderful characters there are; from the sharp tongued dwarf to the bastard son who is torn between family and duty to the psychotic son of a fallen king, these are characters that you love to hate or just plain love. It is the characters that drive the story and for me that's a major part of it's appeal.

This is a world where good men can die from doing the honourable thing and bad guys can get ahead through lies and manipulation. It's about survival at all costs. As George R. R. Martin so aptly puts it.

"When you play a game of thrones you win or you die."