A Flight of Links

- Just how easy is it to become a jedi knight? 
- Why would anyone want to see a Harry Potter prequel? 
- SeaWorld is in trouble because of a documentary
- Wot I think: The Wolf among us
- The Wolf of Wall Street reviews: here and here
- 10 pieces of SciFi lore that help you
- Most beautiful space stations
- BSG Newbie recaps
- 18 futuristic predictions that became true in 2013 
- 6 scenes we love from Benjamin Button
- MovieBob has stuff about Man of Steel 2 
- Top 10 video game controversies

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 7

Thursday is court day! Only this week, Sunday. Because, christmas.

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 7 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is FTWard, a sellsword, black of hair and heart. He's a member of the APoIaF community who carries the banner of Team Stannis.

Sherlock mini episode

There's a teaser video about seven minutes long for the third season of Sherlock. Can't wait for it, this is such brillant TV.  But, even in Sherlock's world, Germans shouldn't speak with heavy English accent, and the German judicial system still doesn't know the institution of a Grand Jury.

Video after the break.

A Flight of Links

- Christpher Nolan is making a space travel movie and there's a teaser! 
- Stormsongs reread Sam II, part 2. 
- How much would a Death Star cost? 
- Wertzone reviews Agents of SHIELD season 1.1 
- Another Smaug-review
- Assassin's Creed 4 gets the first DLC, which tackles a delicate topic. 
- Race of the Iron Throne reads Catelyn VII. 
- Copywrong 
- Must-read: the new one from the Meereenese Blot
- Video game disappointments of 2013
- First Salem trailer
- Good news, everyone!
- Is this glorious stuff even real? 
- Anchorman 2 review
- Age of Ultron spoilers
- Boys behaving badly
 - 80s lego movie heroes
- GRRM shows Game of Thrones in his cinema
- Race of the Iron Throne has Sansa V

And with that, Merry christmas! One week left in 2013. 

The Walking Dead Season 2 (Telltale Game) - All that remains review

Finally, the good The Walking Dead gets its much anticipated additional installement! After season 1, which I reviewed here, the first episode of season two is now out. For those of you unfamiliar with the titles, Telltale Games produces these in the unusual series format, releasing the "episodes" one by one. Each episode plays about two to three hours, for a total price of around 25€, which is pretty fair. The gameplay is almost non-existent apart from walking around, clicking stuff and hitting buttons very fast when the game tells you to, amounting to a largely story and character driven game. It worked well in season one, presenting plot choices that actually felt meaningful, delivering good voice acting on engaging character interactions. The question is - does Telltale manage to pull the same stunt twice?

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 6

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the POIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 5 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Bobby Westfall who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a 25 year old master’s student in library and information sciences and is another TV show to books convert. He recently started a blog called Where Old Gods Rule where he will be writing about ASOIAF and other topics. Otherwise he hasn’t been very vocal in the community, but he posts sometimes on Westeros.org as robert_was_the_true_steel.

The Boiled Leather Audio Hour 25

Winds of War: The New “The Winds of Winter” Sample Chapter in the “A Dance with Dragons” Paperback

Cry havoc and let slip the BLAHs of war! Sean and I return for a discussion of the new sample chapter from The Winds of Winter included in the mass market paperback edition for A Dance with Dragons released last month. Our POV character is Ser Barristan Selmy, sizing up friends and foes alike as he prepares to ride through the gates of Meereen to begin the conflict colloquially known to the fandom as the Battle of Fire. It’s a relatively brief chapter and thus a relatively brief conversation, but there’s still much and more to talk about, from politics to prose, tactics to giants. It’s more a Boiled Leather Audio Half-Hour, honestly, but every second counts!

Mirror here.
Previous episodes here.
Podcast RSS feed here.
iTunes page here.
Sean’s blog here.
Stefan’s blog here.

A Flight of Links

- Doctor gets fined 25.000$ for fake Green-Tea-Cancer-Treatment. Good ruling.
- Sherlock season 3 trailer
- Smaug design info
- Disney's brillant strategy 
- 5 behind the scenes infos that show filmmaking is a horrible job
- Sesame Street Lord of the Rings hommage
- Godzilla trailer looks good IMHO
- Too many villains, very interesting and I agree
- Telltale even plans several seasons GOT. Better and better!   
- 5 reasons the Game Industry has troubles
- Extra Credits, new episode. Man, do I disagree.
- Wertzone reviews Princess&Queen. 
- BSG newbie recaps! 
- 10 superman villains who really suck. But hey, they all suck in a way. Comes with the territory.  
- MovieBob about Edge of Tomorrow. I don't know, I like the premise.
- MovieBob about Sony and Spiderman
- Disney plans a villain highschool movie.
- Tom and Lorenzo also reviewed the Walking Dead Season 4, by the way, and basically come to the same conclusions as I do.
- Wertzone reviews the new Hobbit movie.  
- Nobody suspects the Butterfly to write a Princess&Queen review
- Emilia Clarke is to star in the new Terminator-series
- First look at the Firefly MMO 
- MovieBob reviews the Desolation of Smaug 

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 5

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the POIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 5 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Marc N. Kleinhenz, the editor of Tower of the Hand: A Flight of Sorrows and a freelancer who has written for 22 sites, including The Huffington Post, Westeros.org, Winter Is Coming, and, of course, Tower of the Hand.  He's co-created and -hosted two podcasts and has even taught English in Japan. The latest book he's publishing is Waiting for Winter: Re-Reading A Clash of Kings, Part I, by Remy Verhoeve.

The Boiled Leather Audio Hour 24

Royals: Discussing “The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens” (feat. Steven Attewell)

It’s here! Dangerous Women, the latest in George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois’ long series of themed genre-fiction anthologies, landed in stores last week, and with it came an all-new, all-different tale of Westeros. Martin’s new novella “The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens” chronicles the Dance of the Dragons, the internecine civil war between rival Targaryen claimants to the Iron Throne that took place some 200 years prior to A Game of Thrones. The Princess is Rhaenyra, the (Dowager) Queen is Alicent, the narrator (a maester writing a history book) is unreliable, and the dragons are everywhere.
Join your usual hosts Sean & Stefan and special guest Westerosi history expert Steve Attewell of the masterful blog Race for the Iron Throne as we dissect the events, effects, and aesthetics of the story. How was warfare different during the dragons’ day? How does Martin convey his message without recourse to the emotions and insights of point-of-view characters? What do the story’s surprises tell us about events in the main series? Would Sean, Steve, and Stefan join the maesters’ centuries-long conspiracy to rid the world of flying nuclear dinosaurs if asked? There’s only one way to find out, people!

Mirror here.
Previous episodes here.
Podcast RSS feed here.
iTunes page here.
Sean’s blog here.
Stefan’s blog here.
Steve’s blog here.

The Walking Dead Season 4 Midseason Finale review

There were some reviewers falling over with joy and excitement over the Midseason Finale of The Walking Dead (the show returns in February): finally, the show was great again! The Mary Sue even dubbed the episode "The Red Wedding of Walking Dead". This is true in a sense - there certainly was a shock value to it, and we lost at least one character that was in a spot of sympathy - but the comparison (and the episode) still fall short. That doesn't mean it's bad. It's the show at its best. But the flaws that plagued the previous season and much of this one persist.

Andrea 2.0

A Flight of Links

- Tower of the Hand has some essays you must check out, yours truly among them. Click, click, click, click.
- Stormsongs gives us Samwell II, part 1 and part 2.
- Cracked has three things: 5 Hacking Myths you propably believe, 6 Iconic video games that resulted from glitches, and 4 famous movies/shows that lied their way into existence. 
- I don't own a TV. So true.
- J.J. Abrams admitting lying about Khan was stupid. 
- Pacific Rim cosplay. 
- Pink is not the issue. I totally agree.
- George R. R. Martin on bookLittlefinger and showLittlefinger.  
- Walking Dead Midseason Finale review, click, click
- What teachers make - so true!
- What a habitable planet twize the size of Earth would look like
- On X-Men Days of Future Past
- Review: Ryse: Son of Rome
- 7 things from GOT more disturbing than the Red Wedding. The sensational title aside, some of this really is gross and/or funny.
-  Zack Snyder and Wonder Woman
- Hook Movie Defense Force. I agree.
- MovieBob about Wonderwoman in the upcoming movie. 
- Pompeii trailer. MovieBob's comment on the title is hillarious. Plus: Kit Harrrriiiiiingtooooon!
- Race of the Iron Throne, Dany VI
- Fallout 4 coming?
- Wertzone about Man of Steel. I still like it.
- Oldboy review. Expected as much. 
- New Terminator series announced. Couldn't care less. 
- Really good discussion from Westeros swept on Boiled Leather. 
- Even better article about Summerhall, even though I'm not sure I agree.
- Telltale game officially announces their GOT game. GREAT NEWS!
- Why Smaug still matters

History Podcast, episode 2

In the second episode of my history podcast with Steven Attewell, we talk about historical perceptions and how they are changed based on the culture you live in. Specifically, we talk about the American Civil War and World War II and how Americans and Germans see them, respectively. The differences are striking, and I'd wager you'd be surprised at just how different two peoples can see the same event.

Download here, part 1 here.

South Park, George R. R. Martin and Wieners

Video after the break.

A quick thought about "The Princess and the Queen"

I won't provide you with a full review of George R. R. Martin's new...well, not exactly novella...let's call it text. The reason for this is that I will talk to Sean T. Collins and Steven Attewell about it next week on the new BLAH, and I guess we will all three be the wiser after it, because synergy. So, just let me give some bullet points. 

The Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 4

Thursday is court day! 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from the Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the POIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above. 

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

And now, up to ruling 4 of the Supreme Court of Westeros! Our guest judge this week is Steven Lee who lives in Canada's Northwest Territories. He is a historian, educator and political commentator and blogs twice a week at Orange Tory. He has a limited track record in the community and recently joined the A Podcast of Ice and Fire forums under the name of SJLee.

A Flight of Links

- Some GOT stuff, nothing new, but all in one post
- Interesting comment
- MovieBob makes Family Guy interesting because of the parallels to other phenomena.
- HeroQuest returns, in case you're interested.  - Or not.
- Wasteland 2 comes out soon 
- 21 real deleted scenes that change the meaning of the movie
-  5 reasons the English language is unlogical. Rest assured, it's not just English. I love the Latin story, though.
- Frozen seems to be great. 
- Winston Churchill wanted to build giant ice aircraft carriers. 
-  The 8 worst mistakes the Allies made. I disagree about some of this fervently.
- 12 weirdest moments from the Superman movie. 
- 8 Superhero origins the movies get right, and 8 they get wrong. 
- 7 things the world runs out - not fossil fuel.
-  Amazing Spiderman 2 stuff.
- Warcraft movie postponed, due to Star Wars.
- Penny Arcade :What is a game?
- More stuff on AC4
- More BSG newbie recaps