Swords, dragons, and politics

HBO's Game of Thrones (Season 1: 2011; Season 2: 2012)

I have heard of the television series Game of Thrones late last year. With so much raves and recommendations about it, both on the cyberspace and real life word-of-mouth, I finally decided to give it a try. It's only the second US-based show that I've seen in its entirety, and after finishing the two seasons in a little over a week, I cannot wait for the next.

Lord Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, died of a mysterious illness and the King, Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), sought the service of his friend and fellow warrior, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell (Sean Bean) to serve as the new Hand. Despite placing his family at risk in the face of unknown enemies, among the other dangers it posed, Lord Stark journeyed from the northern winter walls to the humid and lavish lands in the south,to the seat of the Seven Kingdoms. On the journey and upon arriving at Kingslanding, Stark tried to keep holding the realm together while discovering the mysteries and deceit that plagued the court and the kingdom. Meanwhile in the lands far from Kingslanding, from the free city of Pentos where the children of the ousted and slewn King Aerys Targaryen continued to live (and plot to reclaim the Iron Throne), to the wild winter lands north of the Wall, dark forces within and without continue to hasten, putting the whole of the realm and beyond in peril.

(c) 2011-2012/ HBO/ George R. R. Martin/ David Benioff D.B. Weiss/ Game of Thrones partners

Based on the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (which is also the title of the first book in the series) is a complex medieval story set in a host of kingdoms, cities and holdings, islands, and desert wastelands as vividly imagined as they were different from one another. The story spurred forward with various characters as distinct as the lands they came from--from kings (and false kings) to knights and sellswords, from ladies and princesses to bastards and savage war lords.

This series constantly reminds me of JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings with its vastness and depth of scope. And while risking that such complexities and intricate details would make viewers lose interest, Game of Thrones achieves the exact opposite, making them hang on with the story, with its brilliantly acted characters, befitting use (and creation) of language, breathtaking sceneries and costumes, and complicated plots and subplots.

What totally pulled me in, I guess, is the visual aspect of the show. I had to pause and stare at many a frame and mutter to myself, "Look at that! Just look at that." From lush royal gardens and deary winterlands to gritty tribal camps and  sunny bustling city isles, Game of Thrones is nothing short of a spectacle, an epic brought to life. Added to these visual treats is the brilliant musical score to accompany the pulse-racing cavalry battles and sorties, the haphazard tribal dances of the Dothraki, the (faux) serenity of the capital city.

(c) 2011-2012/ HBO/ George R. R. Martin/ David Benioff D.B. Weiss/ Game of Thrones partners 

The series also tends to be a tad risqué in my opinion. I am not sure of the standards in late-night American television, but a few sex scenes are very much a part of this series. Although I could assume that the purpose of these is to appeal to a relatively male (and perhaps more mature) audience, quite a number of backstories and character developments happen during these scenes. 

And perhaps what makes the whole franchise so immensely appealing and interesting is the ability of the creators to maim the pre-conceived notions of good and evil. The characters have no defined roles as protagonists or villains. Instead they are humans with family backgrounds, ideals, loyalties, honor (or lack thereof), ambitions and desires. Each one is capable of riddles and banters and threats and deception and willpower to fight their way through. Their actions, lives, and even deaths, are so deftly established in the events that transpired, it would be quite hard to have a permanent view of a character throughout. 

Immensely inventive, dazzling, and intriguing, Game of Thrones makes for a sumptuous high fantasy treat. 

Untitled [02]

Goodbye to the one
that never was.
Today is the day
I'll be seeing you last.

Il pleut. Il pleut fort.

Describe the rain, I told myself as I tried to sleep at almost five in the morning, describe that heavy rain pouring right now as it has never been described before.

I knew it was futile to vie for originality. I was stuck for a long time and I got disheartened when I thought that if this or that writer were to do something similar, s/he would have an awesome answer in just a few seconds.

Maybe the rain drops pelting on the roof are the water balls that two warring tribes of cloud sprites hurtle towards one another. Or perhaps they are the molten slivers of icestones used for building ice castles in the sky.

Perhaps the heavy rain is the sigh of relief you cannot take, every drop that reaches you pushes you further into the skin you long to escape from.

Maybe he pattering of the rain is the only thing offering a symmetry, a balance, amid the discord inside your mind. The rain coming drop after drop against the roof, you listen and you savor the rhythmic sound, the imagined smell, willing it not to end so soon.

Meh. XD

A letter unsent [05]: To the med student

To the med student who held my hand and cleaned my wound, how long since you had a solid eight hours-worth of sleep? I could see it's been a while. The dark circles under your eyes betray your fatigue. And yet you managed to keep your wits about you as you tend to the blood and cuts and cries of agony of the patients streaming into the emergency room. You can't afford to rest even for just a while: You and a couple of your fellow interns, under the command of a single physician, were all that made up the skeleton crew of this public hospital's Surgery section.

Have you had a decent meal yet? I wouldn't be surpised if that sloppy burger I saw you hurriedly buy from the fastfood joint across the hospital was your lunch and dinner combined. And yet you handled well that bloodied but mulish drunken old man who kept resisting and pushing you away as you tried to patch up the cut on his forehead. He kept standing from the plastic chair you're operating him on and I saw you struggle to let him make you apply medication and the gauze. After you're done with him and you're barely seated came more patients--men and women and a little girl--all covered in blood, one of them throwing up on the hospital's floor, and the kid crying from the pain of the huge gash at the back of her left thigh. Meanwhile, more victims of vehicular mishaps, cuts, concussions, and all kinds of injuries  made their way to your section incessantly. So much for dinner.

To the med student who held my hand and cleaned my wound, pardon me for my (and my companions') whining and inconsiderate actions that night. While I was fuming after a couple of hours of not being taken care of since I arrived at the emergency room with mere scratches, a small wound, bruises here and there, I finally understood that there were more who needed your attention--broken bones, blood splayed everywhere, and even deliriousness. Watching you deal with them one by one, not once did I see you heave an exasperated sigh, nor heard you raise your voice when a particularly hardheaded patient kept refusing the medication he was being given.

It was the first time I get to be treated in that hospital and as I understood how things went in such a place, I sat quietly with and waited for my turn, half-expecting to be told to just go home since my injury seemed inconsequential. (Although I have to admit I was feeling faint probably both from the shock from the accident itself and the situation inside that emergency room.) I was therefore surpised that you took the trouble to come over to my seat bringing a iodinated cotton swab and a gauze to clean and cover my wounded forearm with. And looking at you as you bent your head to treat my wound, I wondered if amid all that went on you ever felt quitting, or if you desperately wanted to leave such a forlorn public hospital, or if you can't wait to leave this country altogether and practice medicine in a more rewarding place.

To the med student who held my hand and cleaned my wound, I watched you, in your white uniform with your broad back and a mess of black hair, perform your duty behind the big bellied kind-faced doctor. I don't even know your name and I now find myself wondering where you'd be in a couple of years, whether you'd stay to serve your fellow Filipinos or go where the pasture greener as they say, and whether you'd choose to practice privately and enjoy its comforts or take command of a Surgery section of another bustling and despondent public hospital such as the one I had the chance to see you at.

-------


Yes, I got a minor injury from a minor road accident some days ago, causing me to miss work, giving me bruises on my arms and legs, and causing right hand to be put in a splint and be immovable for a few days. Other than those, I was thankfully okay.

'Please cut the crap'

Image shared on Facebook, lifted from here.

Awww.

Okay-- Ready, Steady, Go!

L'Arc~en~Ciel opens voting for next world tour stops

The moment I got wind of this news here, I knew my/our chance had come at last after letting go of our L'Ac~en~Ciel in Thailand concert dream earlier this year. 

Suddenly, my accounts on different social network sites had a purpose. Suddenly, I began to actively participate in an online campaign, urging friends and even casual acquaintances who don't even know a thing about J-rock to vote. My accounts are all #LArcMNL.

Photo from L'Arc~en~Ciel Pilipinas on Facebook

Because as I have said on a tumblr post, #THIS IS SERIOUSLY ONE OF MY LIFETIME GOALS (IF NOT THE ONLY ONE AS OF THE MOMENT HAHA).

Damn, Laruku, you bet we do, too.

So friends, imaginary readers, and kind souls, please vote vote vote vote!