Because the VMAs were the night BEFORE and he wasn't invited
August 26, 2014 8:50 PM Subscribe
The highlight of Monday Night's Emmy Awards telecast was (MeFi's Beloved) Weird Al Yankovic performing a medley of the lyrics that popular shows' theme songs SHOULD have. (With Very Special Guest Andy Samberg as 'Joffrey' making a very special presentation to George R. R. Martin in the audience... that [SPOILER] apparently was NOT poisoned)
Because GoT was up for drama series and he's an executive producer on the HBO show so he was legit up for an Emmy.
But yeah I assume they returned him to the bunker shortly thereafter. :)
He took the "write faster!" jokes in good humor.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:27 PM on August 26, 2014
But yeah I assume they returned him to the bunker shortly thereafter. :)
He took the "write faster!" jokes in good humor.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:27 PM on August 26, 2014
George R.R. Martin gets to go to all the award shows because he's always been the biggest fucking geek on the planet and now that's awesome. I mean, c'mon, the guy had a book series of short stories with all his writer friends based on their RPG adventures.
I could only be happier if I saw him on some sort of party beach somewhere with his bolo tie and sea captain beard surrounded by shirtless people making margaritas in their mouths.
In case it is not obvious, I am not being sarcastic and am supremely happy that GRRM gets to go do all the cool stuff in the world. He deserves it. But I do wish he'd take a break from his super fast writing on ASoIAF and finish "Black and White and Red All Over" before we have to put his brain in a robot body.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:28 PM on August 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
I could only be happier if I saw him on some sort of party beach somewhere with his bolo tie and sea captain beard surrounded by shirtless people making margaritas in their mouths.
In case it is not obvious, I am not being sarcastic and am supremely happy that GRRM gets to go do all the cool stuff in the world. He deserves it. But I do wish he'd take a break from his super fast writing on ASoIAF and finish "Black and White and Red All Over" before we have to put his brain in a robot body.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:28 PM on August 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
Of course, he did almost die of e.coli shortly before A Dance with Dragons so... he should just go back to writing. WORK FASTER.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:29 PM on August 26, 2014
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 9:29 PM on August 26, 2014
George R.R. Martin gets to go to all the award shows because he's always been the biggest fucking geek on the planet and now that's awesome.
In my day, you didn't get to go to a party until after you finished your homework.
Hey, get those damn dragons off my laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:33 PM on August 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
In my day, you didn't get to go to a party until after you finished your homework.
Hey, get those damn dragons off my laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgh.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:33 PM on August 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
Weird Al was in the charts when I was a kid, and I am now 44 years old. And he looks about 5-10 years older than he did back then.
He should not look that fresh. He should not look that clean. And yet, he does not look like he's had work done, either.
Is Weird Al an immortal, or what?
posted by misterbee at 9:41 PM on August 26, 2014 [34 favorites]
He should not look that fresh. He should not look that clean. And yet, he does not look like he's had work done, either.
Is Weird Al an immortal, or what?
posted by misterbee at 9:41 PM on August 26, 2014 [34 favorites]
I'm totally good with that if he is.
posted by wotsac at 9:42 PM on August 26, 2014 [16 favorites]
posted by wotsac at 9:42 PM on August 26, 2014 [16 favorites]
If he is, that means that we don't have to find a Weird Al back-up... phew!
posted by Cold Lurkey at 9:43 PM on August 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by Cold Lurkey at 9:43 PM on August 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
I was watching this wishing someone would turn his mic up.
Great concept though.
posted by bleep at 9:52 PM on August 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
Great concept though.
posted by bleep at 9:52 PM on August 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
>Is Weird Al an immortal, or what?
I believe that is one of the vegan powers, right?
---
Also, the "GRRM write faster!" jokes/demands are getting thin. I get that it's an expression of love for the man's work, but he doesn't owe any of us fans a goddamn thing. And there's a weird "you look like you're on death's door, so do something nice for me" vibe going on, too. /grump
posted by DGStieber at 9:55 PM on August 26, 2014 [5 favorites]
I believe that is one of the vegan powers, right?
---
Also, the "GRRM write faster!" jokes/demands are getting thin. I get that it's an expression of love for the man's work, but he doesn't owe any of us fans a goddamn thing. And there's a weird "you look like you're on death's door, so do something nice for me" vibe going on, too. /grump
posted by DGStieber at 9:55 PM on August 26, 2014 [5 favorites]
I thought this whole bit was pretty horrible, though I do find Andy Samberg as Joffrey to be kind of funny. I think the write faster George jokes are getting more than thin, I think he's probably really close to punching the next person to say it.
posted by Hazelsmrf at 9:57 PM on August 26, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by Hazelsmrf at 9:57 PM on August 26, 2014 [5 favorites]
Vulture interviews Weird Al about his Emmy medley.
posted by Gary at 10:09 PM on August 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Gary at 10:09 PM on August 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Hey, remember back in the late 90's and early 2000's when there were a bunch of "geek chic" trend pieces with obnoxious titles that were almost always puns on Revenge of the Nerds?
posted by graphnerd at 10:14 PM on August 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by graphnerd at 10:14 PM on August 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also, the "GRRM write faster!" jokes/demands are getting thin. I get that it's an expression of love for the man's work, but he doesn't owe any of us fans a goddamn thing. And there's a weird "you look like you're on death's door, so do something nice for me" vibe going on, too. /grump
Eh, in most contexts you'd be right, but here it felt like "we (the TV industry) need new scripts because the show is rapidly catching up."
posted by graphnerd at 10:16 PM on August 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
Eh, in most contexts you'd be right, but here it felt like "we (the TV industry) need new scripts because the show is rapidly catching up."
posted by graphnerd at 10:16 PM on August 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
Even I, as such an extreme Weird Al Fanboy that I took a pilgrimage to the mens room down the hall from the Cal Poly U. radio station where he recorded "My Bologna" (the acoustics WERE better than the radio studio), have to admit that wasn't really his best work; I think a little "True Detective" theme would've helped, but it was no surprise he put it together quickly with some collaboration from the 'Emmy show writers', so I'll just blame them. I was surprised he went in a direction that Paul & Storm had pretty much nailed with the "write faster George" premise. (And I can speak as a long-ago Professional Song Parodist, having been paid in the late '80s to write 'musical bits' for a radio comedy service... I was fairly proud of my 45-second Star Wars lyric that included... "Star Wars / Nothing but more wars / With big honking death stars / Giving Reagan ideas...")
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:17 PM on August 26, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:17 PM on August 26, 2014 [5 favorites]
The whole thing seemed like an excuse for the Games of Thrones bit.
posted by maryr at 10:23 PM on August 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by maryr at 10:23 PM on August 26, 2014 [2 favorites]
I think he's probably really close to punching the next person to say it.
I think he probably says nothing, smiles politely, laughs at the joke, and then just mentally pencils in another day of not delivering the manuscript - because if anyone seems to enjoy torturing fans, it's GRRM (sorry Joss, but you gotta step up your game, man). Which means at this point I half expect that whenever he finally dies (and I hope it's years from now because he deserves a good many more years of having the fun he's clearly having) they'll find the finished manuscripts, carefully printed out on a dot-matrix printer and sitting neatly in a cardboard box under his desk, where they've clearly been sitting and gathering dust for years, with a brief hand-scribbled line on a little yellow sticky note stuck to the top page: Who's laughing now?
posted by mstokes650 at 10:27 PM on August 26, 2014 [19 favorites]
I think he probably says nothing, smiles politely, laughs at the joke, and then just mentally pencils in another day of not delivering the manuscript - because if anyone seems to enjoy torturing fans, it's GRRM (sorry Joss, but you gotta step up your game, man). Which means at this point I half expect that whenever he finally dies (and I hope it's years from now because he deserves a good many more years of having the fun he's clearly having) they'll find the finished manuscripts, carefully printed out on a dot-matrix printer and sitting neatly in a cardboard box under his desk, where they've clearly been sitting and gathering dust for years, with a brief hand-scribbled line on a little yellow sticky note stuck to the top page: Who's laughing now?
posted by mstokes650 at 10:27 PM on August 26, 2014 [19 favorites]
It's true that he doesn't owe fans anything but it's equally true that fans don't owe him anything beyond what we owe anybody which is to not be assholes. Saying crap to his face about getting back to work would be being a jerk, making jokes that he's never going to hear about it is not being a jerk.
I don't think people realize how little Martin actually writes, though. He only writes at home in his office when he has uninterrupted stretches of time. Which is like one month a year at this point.
posted by Justinian at 10:34 PM on August 26, 2014
I don't think people realize how little Martin actually writes, though. He only writes at home in his office when he has uninterrupted stretches of time. Which is like one month a year at this point.
posted by Justinian at 10:34 PM on August 26, 2014
Do you all know David Gerrold?
He was writing this "War with the Chtoor" series. He got to book four, and somebody on Usenet pointed out this problem with the first book.
He said "Oh, you're right…I guess I'll just have to start over."
The fifth book in the series is still unpublished -- and it has been 21 years.
So, yeah, you keep ragging GRRM about speed and see what happens. That's a *brilliant* idea.
BTW: The TV guys have *an* ending. If GRRM dies, which is by no means impossible, they have a logically thought through thread to follow. However, that can change at any time he publishes a book. Indeed, the scenario of the books and the TV series having drastically different endings has been considered and accepted.
So. You can either keep ragging on him to publish the sixth book of the trilogy*, or you can accept that he's writing it and it will be done when it is done. And, if you choose to keep ragging him, he might just say "Fuck You" and never finish it.
He doesn't need the money. He doesn't need your acclaim. He writes, nowadays, simply because he likes to write. And if you want him to finish this story (and he has an ending) then you'll just accept that it will be Done When It Is Done. If you want to keep bitching at him because he's "not writing", then maybe he won't like writing anymore.
I don't think people realize how little Martin actually writes, though. He only writes at home in his office when he has uninterrupted stretches of time.
This is as wrong as wrong can be. The problem for him is not that he writes, the problem is he edits. All. The. Time. And then he has to go back and make sure everything before is good with that edit. The good thing is that's why he can handle a story with this many characters. The bad thing is that maybe *nobody* can handle a story with this many characters, and he's fated to tilt at that windmill forever. Worse, this is the era of the Internet, where if a horse who had brown eyes now has blue eyes, there will be a web page about it, expressing how incompetent the author is to have missed that obviously critical plot detail.
But the idea that he doesn't write often? He writes all the time. The first editor, however, that has to approve that writing is him, and he will be the first to tell you he's a complete bastard as an editor.
And, yes, he only writes in his office. He's there at least 250 days a year. I know this because I've known him for a decade, I've known his wife for two decades, and I know who keeps that computer running. **
* Of Seven. GRRM will be the first to admit that this work ran away from him. In fact, given the length of the current manuscript of The Winds Of Winter, it wouldn't be surprising to see it split into two books, much like A Feast For Crows ended up being split into that book and A Dance With Dragons. This would put the trilogy at eight books, with at least one more coming.
If you don't understand how a story can surprise an author, you've never written.
Also, those thinking "Brendan Sanderson", he's made it very clear that either he finishes the story or it dies with him.
** Not me. Thankfully. I don't have that much old hardware lying around. I have pulled a save on the traveling machine.
posted by eriko at 10:54 PM on August 26, 2014 [41 favorites]
He was writing this "War with the Chtoor" series. He got to book four, and somebody on Usenet pointed out this problem with the first book.
He said "Oh, you're right…I guess I'll just have to start over."
The fifth book in the series is still unpublished -- and it has been 21 years.
So, yeah, you keep ragging GRRM about speed and see what happens. That's a *brilliant* idea.
BTW: The TV guys have *an* ending. If GRRM dies, which is by no means impossible, they have a logically thought through thread to follow. However, that can change at any time he publishes a book. Indeed, the scenario of the books and the TV series having drastically different endings has been considered and accepted.
So. You can either keep ragging on him to publish the sixth book of the trilogy*, or you can accept that he's writing it and it will be done when it is done. And, if you choose to keep ragging him, he might just say "Fuck You" and never finish it.
He doesn't need the money. He doesn't need your acclaim. He writes, nowadays, simply because he likes to write. And if you want him to finish this story (and he has an ending) then you'll just accept that it will be Done When It Is Done. If you want to keep bitching at him because he's "not writing", then maybe he won't like writing anymore.
I don't think people realize how little Martin actually writes, though. He only writes at home in his office when he has uninterrupted stretches of time.
This is as wrong as wrong can be. The problem for him is not that he writes, the problem is he edits. All. The. Time. And then he has to go back and make sure everything before is good with that edit. The good thing is that's why he can handle a story with this many characters. The bad thing is that maybe *nobody* can handle a story with this many characters, and he's fated to tilt at that windmill forever. Worse, this is the era of the Internet, where if a horse who had brown eyes now has blue eyes, there will be a web page about it, expressing how incompetent the author is to have missed that obviously critical plot detail.
But the idea that he doesn't write often? He writes all the time. The first editor, however, that has to approve that writing is him, and he will be the first to tell you he's a complete bastard as an editor.
And, yes, he only writes in his office. He's there at least 250 days a year. I know this because I've known him for a decade, I've known his wife for two decades, and I know who keeps that computer running. **
* Of Seven. GRRM will be the first to admit that this work ran away from him. In fact, given the length of the current manuscript of The Winds Of Winter, it wouldn't be surprising to see it split into two books, much like A Feast For Crows ended up being split into that book and A Dance With Dragons. This would put the trilogy at eight books, with at least one more coming.
If you don't understand how a story can surprise an author, you've never written.
Also, those thinking "Brendan Sanderson", he's made it very clear that either he finishes the story or it dies with him.
** Not me. Thankfully. I don't have that much old hardware lying around. I have pulled a save on the traveling machine.
posted by eriko at 10:54 PM on August 26, 2014 [41 favorites]
I don't think anyone was going to take my "one month a year" about him being at home as a statement of actual fact rather than hyperbole. But thank you for the correction.
The first editor, however, that has to approve that writing is him, and he will be the first to tell you he's a complete bastard as an editor.
That would make sense if half of AFfC and ADwD couldn't have been left on the cutting room floor. He may edit a lot but he's not making good choices about what to edit. I guess both can be true; he edits a lot and he's no longer making good judgments about what to edit with regard to this series.
posted by Justinian at 11:28 PM on August 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
The first editor, however, that has to approve that writing is him, and he will be the first to tell you he's a complete bastard as an editor.
That would make sense if half of AFfC and ADwD couldn't have been left on the cutting room floor. He may edit a lot but he's not making good choices about what to edit. I guess both can be true; he edits a lot and he's no longer making good judgments about what to edit with regard to this series.
posted by Justinian at 11:28 PM on August 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
(Personally, I hope he finishes the series but I'm not holding my breath nor is it that important since it's pretty obvious the TV series will pass him soon. So we'll get an ending one way or another.)
posted by Justinian at 11:30 PM on August 26, 2014
posted by Justinian at 11:30 PM on August 26, 2014
** Not me. Thankfully. I don't have that much old hardware lying around. I have pulled a save on the traveling machine.
Someone should tell that man about VirtualBox. He doesn't have to have a machine capable of running DOS on bare metal anymore, he can run Wordstar on DOS on just about anything else.
BTW, people sticking with Wordstar in this age are my heroes.
posted by JHarris at 11:35 PM on August 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
Someone should tell that man about VirtualBox. He doesn't have to have a machine capable of running DOS on bare metal anymore, he can run Wordstar on DOS on just about anything else.
BTW, people sticking with Wordstar in this age are my heroes.
posted by JHarris at 11:35 PM on August 26, 2014 [3 favorites]
(He can do that, and make backups of the hard drive image file and keep those someplace safe. If the backups are timely, then if his current computer has a hard drive crash, not only is the document safe, but the OS environment with DOS and Wordstar is safe too. If it's DOS, the file can't even be more than a handful of megabytes, so he could make hundreds of backups if he wanted. He could keep the most recent version current between all his machines. I'm sure he knows people who would tell him this though.)
posted by JHarris at 11:39 PM on August 26, 2014
posted by JHarris at 11:39 PM on August 26, 2014
oh come the fuck on, we have more chance of having an atheist otherkin voted into the white house than we do of ever seeing the end of this series
posted by elizardbits at 11:39 PM on August 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by elizardbits at 11:39 PM on August 26, 2014 [4 favorites]
Do you all know David Gerrold?
YES! I do know David Gerrold! (not in real life)
He wrote the two books that ruined Star Trek and most similarly structured one-hour television shows for me forever!
posted by hippybear at 11:48 PM on August 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
YES! I do know David Gerrold! (not in real life)
He wrote the two books that ruined Star Trek and most similarly structured one-hour television shows for me forever!
posted by hippybear at 11:48 PM on August 26, 2014 [1 favorite]
oh come the fuck on, we have more chance of having an atheist otherkin voted into the white house than we do of ever seeing the end of this series
I think you're right. I'm just curious in what horrific way he is going to finish off the remaining characters I've grown attached to. I *had* a back up but theyhad their head chopped off and stuck on a pike were shot through the heart with an arrow head squashed like a bug had their unborn child stabbed before throat slit married off and left the series to live happily ever after. I think the television writers will do fine tidying up the loose ends of the story, but only GRRM can truly take away all faith in humanity, squashing any hope I may have had in characters before I consciously realize I'm invested in them.
So how about that Weird Al, funny funny stuff, eh?
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:03 AM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think you're right. I'm just curious in what horrific way he is going to finish off the remaining characters I've grown attached to. I *had* a back up but they
So how about that Weird Al, funny funny stuff, eh?
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:03 AM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
I just wish that sort of minor (should have been major) internet campaign to get Weird Al to perform the Super Bowl Halftime Show had taken off enough to make a difference.
The list of who they have short-listed for this year is depressing.
posted by hippybear at 12:08 AM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
The list of who they have short-listed for this year is depressing.
posted by hippybear at 12:08 AM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
So. You can either keep ragging on him to publish the sixth book of the trilogy*, or you can accept that he's writing it and it will be done when it is done. And, if you choose to keep ragging him, he might just say "Fuck You" and never finish it.
Considering that one major purpose of the project is to shortsheet readers' expectations, he may have planned from the get-go not to finish the series. Which is fine by me if that's how he wants to roll -- I still say Rowling should have skipped the final Potter book just to see the reaction.
But if you set out to write a series, you really can't blame readers for being anxious to see it continue and conclude and, in fact, writers and publishers bank on that "addict in need of a fix" anxiety. When Sue Grafton gets to "Z," they're gonna promote that motherfucker like you have never seen. That doesn't mean GRRM owes anybody anything, but he of all people should know that it's naive to think you can rile up a hungry caged beast and then expect it to be docile.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:56 AM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Considering that one major purpose of the project is to shortsheet readers' expectations, he may have planned from the get-go not to finish the series. Which is fine by me if that's how he wants to roll -- I still say Rowling should have skipped the final Potter book just to see the reaction.
But if you set out to write a series, you really can't blame readers for being anxious to see it continue and conclude and, in fact, writers and publishers bank on that "addict in need of a fix" anxiety. When Sue Grafton gets to "Z," they're gonna promote that motherfucker like you have never seen. That doesn't mean GRRM owes anybody anything, but he of all people should know that it's naive to think you can rile up a hungry caged beast and then expect it to be docile.
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:56 AM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Do you all know David Gerrold?
I'll see your Chtorr and raise you Alexie Panshin's Villiers series, whose fourth novel The Universal Pantograph should've come out in 1969 or 1970 -- I've been waiting for it to be finished for longer than I've been alive.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:44 AM on August 27, 2014
I'll see your Chtorr and raise you Alexie Panshin's Villiers series, whose fourth novel The Universal Pantograph should've come out in 1969 or 1970 -- I've been waiting for it to be finished for longer than I've been alive.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:44 AM on August 27, 2014
I just wish that sort of minor (should have been major) internet campaign to get Weird Al to perform the Super Bowl Halftime Show had taken off enough to make a difference.
Considering the NFL not only not pays its artists, it now wants artists to pay them for the privilege, eh maybe not.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:47 AM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Considering the NFL not only not pays its artists, it now wants artists to pay them for the privilege, eh maybe not.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:47 AM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Ha! From the Vulture interview:
What did the True Detective theme sound like?
One of the lines was, “It was like Starsky & Hutch — if Nietzsche had written it.”
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:28 AM on August 27, 2014
What did the True Detective theme sound like?
One of the lines was, “It was like Starsky & Hutch — if Nietzsche had written it.”
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:28 AM on August 27, 2014
I'm pretty sure that Weird Al signed the same deal with the Devil that the perpetually young Raquel Welch did many years ago. Mario Lopez got in on that action as well. And it looks like J-Lo is about to sign on the dotted line. She looks amazing.
posted by pearlybob at 4:50 AM on August 27, 2014
posted by pearlybob at 4:50 AM on August 27, 2014
No, the highlight of the Emmys was Bryan Cranston and his mustache.
posted by Windigo at 5:07 AM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Windigo at 5:07 AM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Is Weird Al an immortal, or what?
"Fame! Fortune! Immortality! What's the catch, Mr. Satan, sir?"
"Here's your accordion."
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:13 AM on August 27, 2014 [33 favorites]
"Fame! Fortune! Immortality! What's the catch, Mr. Satan, sir?"
"Here's your accordion."
posted by Slap*Happy at 5:13 AM on August 27, 2014 [33 favorites]
Worse, this is the era of the Internet, where if a horse who had brown eyes now has blue eyes, there will be a web page about it, expressing how incompetent the author is to have missed that obviously critical plot detail.
Jesus man, how about a spoiler warning?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:20 AM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
Jesus man, how about a spoiler warning?!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:20 AM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty sure that Weird Al signed the same deal with the Devil that the perpetually young Raquel Welch did many years ago. Mario Lopez got in on that action as well.
And Rob Lowe! And John Stamos! Devil, call me, let's talk.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:25 AM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
And Rob Lowe! And John Stamos! Devil, call me, let's talk.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:25 AM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
BTW: The TV guys have *an* ending. If GRRM dies, which is by no means impossible, they have a logically thought through thread to follow.
It's a poor substitute if you want a culinary tour throughout Westeros or the biography of minor characters though.
posted by ersatz at 5:35 AM on August 27, 2014
It's a poor substitute if you want a culinary tour throughout Westeros or the biography of minor characters though.
posted by ersatz at 5:35 AM on August 27, 2014
Saying that Martin might not have time to write for all the characters is massively glossing over the fact that he introduced all of the characters.
Finish an arc. One time. I've seen college students do it.
posted by Sphinx at 6:57 AM on August 27, 2014
Finish an arc. One time. I've seen college students do it.
posted by Sphinx at 6:57 AM on August 27, 2014
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Then someone signed the wrong deal for me at birth; I only got the "look insanely young" bit. I don't have the amount of money I'd be all right with, nor is Hiddles my doting husband.
Whom do I need to speak to about renegotiations?
You could totally tell that the medley was not 100% Al's work. It felt like a last minute add-on, you know? Even his snippets on that one episode of 30 Rock were funnier than this. I think if he had written the entire thing, he would've made fun of the whole obvious "Get back to work, you!" trope. At least his dancing was energetic!
posted by droplet at 7:00 AM on August 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
Whom do I need to speak to about renegotiations?
You could totally tell that the medley was not 100% Al's work. It felt like a last minute add-on, you know? Even his snippets on that one episode of 30 Rock were funnier than this. I think if he had written the entire thing, he would've made fun of the whole obvious "Get back to work, you!" trope. At least his dancing was energetic!
posted by droplet at 7:00 AM on August 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
Weird Al is a Time Lord but all his regenerations look the same
posted by Lucinda at 7:15 AM on August 27, 2014
posted by Lucinda at 7:15 AM on August 27, 2014
I have to admit that when I heard the opening chords of the Game of Thrones theme, I thought that Weird Al was going to start singing Peeeeeeeeee-terrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Dinkla-age, Peter Dinklage...."
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:30 AM on August 27, 2014 [9 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:30 AM on August 27, 2014 [9 favorites]
Does GoT really need to be finished? Or put another way, does it ever have to end? It seems more like an intergenerational soap opera than a specifically arced storyline. (I say this as a fan)
posted by gwint at 7:56 AM on August 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by gwint at 7:56 AM on August 27, 2014 [3 favorites]
Martin has certainly finished some plotlines. In a fountain of blood.
posted by maryr at 8:01 AM on August 27, 2014
posted by maryr at 8:01 AM on August 27, 2014
Oh god this show was so awkward and uncomfortable. I have an unironic love of Awards shows cause I am a sucker for spectacle and pretty pretty dresses but Seth Meyers delivered every line like there was a sniper rifle trained on him shoukd he miss a cue.
posted by The Whelk at 8:06 AM on August 27, 2014
posted by The Whelk at 8:06 AM on August 27, 2014
I'm pretty sure that Weird Al signed the same deal with the Devil that the perpetually young Raquel Welch did many years ago.
A potion, a tonic, a bit of magic in a world obsessed with science.....
posted by The Whelk at 8:25 AM on August 27, 2014
A potion, a tonic, a bit of magic in a world obsessed with science.....
posted by The Whelk at 8:25 AM on August 27, 2014
Does GoT really need to be finished? Or put another way, does it ever have to end? It seems more like an intergenerational soap opera than a specifically arced storyline. (I say this as a fan)
Well, Coronation Street is in year 54 or something, so, there you go.
But yeah, even if GRRM is thinking of this as a ginormous War of the Roses, history did not end at Bosworth Field.
posted by PandaMomentum at 9:06 AM on August 27, 2014
Well, Coronation Street is in year 54 or something, so, there you go.
But yeah, even if GRRM is thinking of this as a ginormous War of the Roses, history did not end at Bosworth Field.
posted by PandaMomentum at 9:06 AM on August 27, 2014
Does GoT really need to be finished? Or put another way, does it ever have to end?
Well, whether it ends with Peter Baelish being elected Chancellor of the Republic, or Danaeris Targaryen, Jon Targaryen, and ??? ruling Westeros on the wings of fire breathing dragons, or the White Walkers meeting the forces of Azor Ahai in a pitched battle where the balance of power is held by Varys and the secret Merlings (no I can't keep a straight face) - in any case, clearly GRRM had a destination in mind when he started. The breadcrumbs along the trail prove it - whether they are the real trail or just false ones planted to mislead readers.
So I was hoping that we were over the hump with AFFC/ADWD and on a downhill ride, with loose ends being terminated, probably with extreme prejudice. Even if the story doesn't quite end, the current crop of characters do need to get their various comeuppances. The Lannisters need to pay their debts, Winter needs to Come, Fire and Ice need to clash...
I liked that phrase above, about how "a major purpose of the project is to shortsheet readers' expectations". Yeah. It makes me sad but it explains everything.
posted by RedOrGreen at 10:08 AM on August 27, 2014
Well, whether it ends with Peter Baelish being elected Chancellor of the Republic, or Danaeris Targaryen, Jon Targaryen, and ??? ruling Westeros on the wings of fire breathing dragons, or the White Walkers meeting the forces of Azor Ahai in a pitched battle where the balance of power is held by Varys and the secret Merlings (no I can't keep a straight face) - in any case, clearly GRRM had a destination in mind when he started. The breadcrumbs along the trail prove it - whether they are the real trail or just false ones planted to mislead readers.
So I was hoping that we were over the hump with AFFC/ADWD and on a downhill ride, with loose ends being terminated, probably with extreme prejudice. Even if the story doesn't quite end, the current crop of characters do need to get their various comeuppances. The Lannisters need to pay their debts, Winter needs to Come, Fire and Ice need to clash...
I liked that phrase above, about how "a major purpose of the project is to shortsheet readers' expectations". Yeah. It makes me sad but it explains everything.
posted by RedOrGreen at 10:08 AM on August 27, 2014
The thing that makes come down more on the side of "Holy fuck, Gurm, just finish the fucking series already" is this: By releasing a series of books with a definitive endpoint, he has gotten many of us to embark on the thousands and thousands of pages of text, learning the story, understanding what's going on etc., with the presumed knowledge that we will in the end find out how everything wraps up.
It's rude to demand of an artist, sure. But when that person has taken your money in return for a promise, yeah, they do kind of owe it to you to fulfill that promise. Hell, Robert Jordan knew he couldn't finish so he actually worked with someone before he died to make sure the series actually got finished.
If Gurm were an author who was writing an open-ended series just following bits and pieces of stories loosely connected in the same world, it would absolutely be rude and inappropriate for fans to demand more, except in the sense of "Hey wow we love your work! MOAR PLZ KTHX." But that's not what he's doing. What's going on here is much closer to fans demanding that he write the last two chapters of a book they've read; that's the implicit promise when we start on page 1, that by the final page there will be a resolution of sorts, the story comes to an end.
So, yeah, from that perspective I very much believe he needs to:
1) Stop all this awards show convention gallivanting around being famous whatever nonsense and finish the damn books as promised;
2) Hire an editor who can view the material with a dispassionate eye and get him to stop fiddling with his own editing.
I realize this may be an unpopular view, but it really does boil down to the fact that he made a promise to readers of the books, and it is decreasingly likely that he's able and/or willing to deliver on that promise. He is the reason I will never again pick up an n-ogy book series before the final book is published. It's too annoying.
And as trashy as they are I'm still bloody vexed about Melanie Rawn's Exiles series. I know she was in a car accident and all, but for God's sake, you had a first draft completed and you know the broad outlines of what was going to happen and who Collan's parents were so can't you just write a two page synopsis if you're never ever going to write the third book? I mean seriously.
I liked that phrase above, about how "a major purpose of the project is to shortsheet readers' expectations". Yeah. It makes me sad but it explains everything.
I don't buy for a second that is his purpose, at least in terms of not finishing the series. If he claims it is, I'll need to see dated and preferably notarized statements claiming that from before the first book was published. The reality, I think, is that the story got away from him, it's way too big, and he has no idea how to actually finish. Either that or he's having too much fun being Famous Writer Doing Fun Things to be nearly as interested in finishing the project as he was in starting it.
The very, very least he can do is insist that something be published posthumously giving the broad outlines of what happened to whom and why. Given the deviations from the text that the show has already made, I find it difficult to believe that the show's ending will be 100% congruent with the ending he has in mind.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:22 AM on August 27, 2014
It's rude to demand of an artist, sure. But when that person has taken your money in return for a promise, yeah, they do kind of owe it to you to fulfill that promise. Hell, Robert Jordan knew he couldn't finish so he actually worked with someone before he died to make sure the series actually got finished.
If Gurm were an author who was writing an open-ended series just following bits and pieces of stories loosely connected in the same world, it would absolutely be rude and inappropriate for fans to demand more, except in the sense of "Hey wow we love your work! MOAR PLZ KTHX." But that's not what he's doing. What's going on here is much closer to fans demanding that he write the last two chapters of a book they've read; that's the implicit promise when we start on page 1, that by the final page there will be a resolution of sorts, the story comes to an end.
So, yeah, from that perspective I very much believe he needs to:
1) Stop all this awards show convention gallivanting around being famous whatever nonsense and finish the damn books as promised;
2) Hire an editor who can view the material with a dispassionate eye and get him to stop fiddling with his own editing.
I realize this may be an unpopular view, but it really does boil down to the fact that he made a promise to readers of the books, and it is decreasingly likely that he's able and/or willing to deliver on that promise. He is the reason I will never again pick up an n-ogy book series before the final book is published. It's too annoying.
And as trashy as they are I'm still bloody vexed about Melanie Rawn's Exiles series. I know she was in a car accident and all, but for God's sake, you had a first draft completed and you know the broad outlines of what was going to happen and who Collan's parents were so can't you just write a two page synopsis if you're never ever going to write the third book? I mean seriously.
I liked that phrase above, about how "a major purpose of the project is to shortsheet readers' expectations". Yeah. It makes me sad but it explains everything.
I don't buy for a second that is his purpose, at least in terms of not finishing the series. If he claims it is, I'll need to see dated and preferably notarized statements claiming that from before the first book was published. The reality, I think, is that the story got away from him, it's way too big, and he has no idea how to actually finish. Either that or he's having too much fun being Famous Writer Doing Fun Things to be nearly as interested in finishing the project as he was in starting it.
The very, very least he can do is insist that something be published posthumously giving the broad outlines of what happened to whom and why. Given the deviations from the text that the show has already made, I find it difficult to believe that the show's ending will be 100% congruent with the ending he has in mind.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:22 AM on August 27, 2014
I don't buy for a second that is his purpose, at least in terms of not finishing the series.
I doubt that as well, but I also doubt that the ending he has in mind is at all tidy or loose-end-tying in any way. I mean, when I got to the Aftermath of the Event that happened to the Person in the Place with the Things near the end of the last volume, I was like, "OK, man, you are no longer subverting and twisting the conventions of sword-n-sorcery fantasy; you are flat out FUCKING WITH US in what has become a manic slapstick screwball comedy-of-gore." I expect Cary Grant to pop out of a Duesenberg in a frilly nightie any second now and eat some babies.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:50 AM on August 27, 2014
I doubt that as well, but I also doubt that the ending he has in mind is at all tidy or loose-end-tying in any way. I mean, when I got to the Aftermath of the Event that happened to the Person in the Place with the Things near the end of the last volume, I was like, "OK, man, you are no longer subverting and twisting the conventions of sword-n-sorcery fantasy; you are flat out FUCKING WITH US in what has become a manic slapstick screwball comedy-of-gore." I expect Cary Grant to pop out of a Duesenberg in a frilly nightie any second now and eat some babies.
posted by FelliniBlank at 10:50 AM on August 27, 2014
I expect Cary Grant to pop out of a Duesenberg in a frilly nightie any second now and eat some babies.
shut up and take my money
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:01 AM on August 27, 2014
shut up and take my money
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 11:01 AM on August 27, 2014
I don't think GRRM owes me anything, for the 10 bucks or whatever I paid for each of the books, I feel that I've gotten more than my money's worth. I've spent hours debating the possible meaning of X or Y or Z, I've had moments 3 books in where I went "So THAT's what that meant!", it's been a glorious ride. Sure I want to know the end of it, but I don't think he owes me anything. If he wants to keep writing more Wild Cards, then he'll keep writing more Wild Cards. If he wants to go to XYZ convention, he'll go. As Neil Gaiman so elegantly put it, George RR Martin is not our bitch.
posted by Hazelsmrf at 2:42 PM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Hazelsmrf at 2:42 PM on August 27, 2014 [2 favorites]
I wish that instead of this thread being about GRRM, we could just talk about the other lyrics we make up for TV theme songs.
posted by rossination at 2:47 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by rossination at 2:47 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
All threads which mention GRRM inevitably become GRRM threads! Like gun control or Israel.
posted by Justinian at 3:14 PM on August 27, 2014
posted by Justinian at 3:14 PM on August 27, 2014
We could always talk about the Emmys more generally instead of GRRM specifically.
For example, they gave Steven Moffat a writing Emmy for Sherlock this year. I'm sure we can all generate some strong opinions about that!
posted by dialetheia at 4:14 PM on August 27, 2014
For example, they gave Steven Moffat a writing Emmy for Sherlock this year. I'm sure we can all generate some strong opinions about that!
posted by dialetheia at 4:14 PM on August 27, 2014
I really like Lucy Liu in that show.
posted by Justinian at 4:33 PM on August 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Justinian at 4:33 PM on August 27, 2014 [4 favorites]
The Emmy thing was okay, but I could tell that it was sort of written by committee rather than a true Al parody.
But this? This is amazing. "Dare To Be Stupid" (live string quartet version)
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:55 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
But this? This is amazing. "Dare To Be Stupid" (live string quartet version)
posted by Strange Interlude at 8:55 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
We could always talk about the Emmys more generally instead of GRRM specifically.
Or other past "the Emmys have fun with musical numbers" moments. Like the time Josh Groban sang a medley of a whole ton of TV show themes (and does a really good imitation of Cartman, in fact).
Or the time they did a dippy "American-Idol" type "competition" among theme song performances, but it brought about this GLORIOUS rendition of the STAR TREK theme which paired William Shatner with opera singer Frederica von Stade.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:43 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Or other past "the Emmys have fun with musical numbers" moments. Like the time Josh Groban sang a medley of a whole ton of TV show themes (and does a really good imitation of Cartman, in fact).
Or the time they did a dippy "American-Idol" type "competition" among theme song performances, but it brought about this GLORIOUS rendition of the STAR TREK theme which paired William Shatner with opera singer Frederica von Stade.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:43 PM on August 27, 2014 [1 favorite]
Tatiana Maslany's Emmy 'Snub' Referenced By 'Billy On The Street'.
posted by Pendragon at 5:17 AM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Pendragon at 5:17 AM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
George RR Martin is not our bitch.
Indeed he isn't. But do you disagree that by saying "I am writing a series of seven volumes, here's #1" he made an implicit promise to those of us who have quite literally given him money in anticipation of getting the answers in #7?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:52 AM on August 28, 2014
Indeed he isn't. But do you disagree that by saying "I am writing a series of seven volumes, here's #1" he made an implicit promise to those of us who have quite literally given him money in anticipation of getting the answers in #7?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:52 AM on August 28, 2014
But do you disagree that by saying "I am writing a series of seven volumes, here's #1" he made an implicit promise to those of us who have quite literally given him money in anticipation of getting the answers in #7?
Yes, of course.
posted by Lemurrhea at 9:49 AM on August 28, 2014
Yes, of course.
posted by Lemurrhea at 9:49 AM on August 28, 2014
Seriously?
What if he wrote a single book but left out the final two chapters? Do you not feel that by publishing a book there is an implicit promise made that one will be able to finish said book?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:35 AM on August 28, 2014
What if he wrote a single book but left out the final two chapters? Do you not feel that by publishing a book there is an implicit promise made that one will be able to finish said book?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:35 AM on August 28, 2014
Are we talking about the Sopranos ending again?
posted by maryr at 11:40 AM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by maryr at 11:40 AM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
That Josh Groban video was amazing. I'm kind of surprised at how sedate the audience seemed though.
posted by bleep at 11:43 AM on August 28, 2014
posted by bleep at 11:43 AM on August 28, 2014
In the midst of laughing uncontrollably during the Billy on the Street segment I was also tickled by the Orphan Black mention. I've read people complaining about this year's Emmys online but I can't lie, I laughed a lot.
posted by bleep at 11:45 AM on August 28, 2014
posted by bleep at 11:45 AM on August 28, 2014
Seriously?
What if he wrote a single book but left out the final two chapters? Do you not feel that by publishing a book there is an implicit promise made that one will be able to finish said book?
Well sure. There's a difference between a single purchased entity (a book, a pre-ordered version of all seven books, a box-set), and a serialized entity where you buy each one individually. He's promising that the book you buy is complete, and it is.
Is Alien(s) ruined because Alien3 sucked? Is it a failure of the inherent promise of Alien that Aliens is a very different style of movie? Of course not.
posted by Lemurrhea at 11:45 AM on August 28, 2014
What if he wrote a single book but left out the final two chapters? Do you not feel that by publishing a book there is an implicit promise made that one will be able to finish said book?
Well sure. There's a difference between a single purchased entity (a book, a pre-ordered version of all seven books, a box-set), and a serialized entity where you buy each one individually. He's promising that the book you buy is complete, and it is.
Is Alien(s) ruined because Alien3 sucked? Is it a failure of the inherent promise of Alien that Aliens is a very different style of movie? Of course not.
posted by Lemurrhea at 11:45 AM on August 28, 2014
Is Alien(s) ruined because Alien3 sucked?
your premise is flawed - Alien3 did not suck.
i am totally kidding about your premise
but not about Alien3
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:17 PM on August 28, 2014
your premise is flawed - Alien3 did not suck.
i am totally kidding about your premise
but not about Alien3
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:17 PM on August 28, 2014
There's a difference between a single purchased entity (a book, a pre-ordered version of all seven books, a box-set), and a serialized entity where you buy each one individually. He's promising that the book you buy is complete, and it is.
No, because by stating there will be seven books he is making an implicit promise that there will, in fact, be seven books. If I'd known ahead of time that I would most likely never live to see the final book written, I doubt I would have gotten into it. You're making the mistake of treating them as individual entities when in fact they are just components of a single larger entity, same as chapters in a single book.
Is Alien(s) ruined because Alien3 sucked? Is it a failure of the inherent promise of Alien that Aliens is a very different style of movie? Of course not.
That has nothing at all to do with what I am saying.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:51 PM on August 28, 2014
No, because by stating there will be seven books he is making an implicit promise that there will, in fact, be seven books. If I'd known ahead of time that I would most likely never live to see the final book written, I doubt I would have gotten into it. You're making the mistake of treating them as individual entities when in fact they are just components of a single larger entity, same as chapters in a single book.
Is Alien(s) ruined because Alien3 sucked? Is it a failure of the inherent promise of Alien that Aliens is a very different style of movie? Of course not.
That has nothing at all to do with what I am saying.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:51 PM on August 28, 2014
Hang on a second.
by stating there will be seven books he is making an implicit promise that there will, in fact, be seven books. If I'd known ahead of time that I would most likely never live to see the final book written, I doubt I would have gotten into it.
DID he say there would be seven books?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:01 PM on August 28, 2014
by stating there will be seven books he is making an implicit promise that there will, in fact, be seven books. If I'd known ahead of time that I would most likely never live to see the final book written, I doubt I would have gotten into it.
DID he say there would be seven books?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:01 PM on August 28, 2014
Yes. I can't dig up a quote because searching for that needle in the online GOT haystack is beyond my google-fu. But yes, he has.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 1:09 PM on August 28, 2014
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 1:09 PM on August 28, 2014
Depends on when you're talking about. According to the wiki, it was planned as a trilogy, then expanded to 6, then 7. But 7 is firm! Until it's not firm.
posted by Lemurrhea at 2:05 PM on August 28, 2014
posted by Lemurrhea at 2:05 PM on August 28, 2014
Oh, hey, I just noticed something on a rewatch that may explain why Al's volume was off!
If you look about halfway through, you'll notice that at some point the body mic has come off of his back/out of his suit and is dangling behind him like some kind of tail. I'm sure that may be the source of some volume issues.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:37 PM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
If you look about halfway through, you'll notice that at some point the body mic has come off of his back/out of his suit and is dangling behind him like some kind of tail. I'm sure that may be the source of some volume issues.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:37 PM on August 28, 2014 [1 favorite]
Other great Emmy moments:
Bryan Cranston. Just, everything he did, from kissing Julia Louis-Dreyfuss to Sneaky Pete.
Ricky Gervais's acceptance speech for NOT winning.
Sarah Silverman, looking gorgeous and high as a kite, running up on stage barefoot.
Matthew McConnaughey and Woody Harrelson in their amazing suits. Harrelson's impression of MM was spot on, too.
posted by misha at 11:36 AM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
Bryan Cranston. Just, everything he did, from kissing Julia Louis-Dreyfuss to Sneaky Pete.
Ricky Gervais's acceptance speech for NOT winning.
Sarah Silverman, looking gorgeous and high as a kite, running up on stage barefoot.
Matthew McConnaughey and Woody Harrelson in their amazing suits. Harrelson's impression of MM was spot on, too.
posted by misha at 11:36 AM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
I know who keeps that computer running.
ty franck?
posted by kliuless at 5:32 PM on September 1, 2014
ty franck?
posted by kliuless at 5:32 PM on September 1, 2014
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