Come seeking adventure and salty old pirates, stay for a delightful crew getting in touch with their feelings. HBO Max’s Our Flag Means Death reimagines the myth of those dangerous scallywags in a series loosely inspired by the true story of Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), the “gentleman pirate.”
Marvel and Sony have blessed live-action Spidey fans today and released an infinitely memeable gag reel starring all three Spider-Men. Most of the gags are, as usual, actors breaking character—but it’s always fun to watch performers giggle at inappropriate times in a narrative. I will state, on record, that Marvel’s…
Första tecknet på att Steam är på väg till Chrome OS kom för drygt två år sedan. Nu har en Google-anställd gjort ett kort uttalande om projektet.
Google säger att deras team arbetar tillsammans med Valve för att föra Steam till Chrome OS. En tidig version med ”alfakvalitet” ska snart släppas för ”ett litet antal” Chromebooks.
Vi återkommer när Steam har blivit tillgängligt för Chrome OS.
In new research out Monday, scientists say they’ve found evidence that our immune system appears more prone to inflammation and other metabolic changes in the aftermath of even a mild case of covid-19. More research will be needed to understand how these changes could be linked to post-covid symptoms, however.
We asked, but David Tennant can’t do the accent.
Employees of Pixar have sent a scathing letter to their parent company Disney, accusing it of censoring virtually all LGBTQIA+ content from Pixar’s films. The letter comes one day after Disney CEO Bob Chapek claimed the company’s leaders were opposed to Florida’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill, in which schools will be…
I look around, and I don’t know where 2021 went. I blinked and it was gone. Not a year that I am going to mourn much, any more than 2020. A global pandemic, so many deaths (including friends of mine, as well as celebrities of all sorts), politics grown increasingly toxic… it was a year best forgotten. I did, however, get a lot of work done in 2021. An enormous amount of work, in truth; I seem to have an enormous number of projects.
(I am not complaining. I like working. Writing, editing, producing. There is nothing I like better than storytelling).
I know, I know, for many of you out there, only one of those projects matters.
I am sorry for you. They ALL matter to me.
Yes, of course I am still working on THE WINDS OF WINTER. I have stated that a hundred times in a hundred venues, having to restate it endlessly is just wearisome. I made a lot of progress on WINDS in 2020, and less in 2021… but “less” is not “none.”
The world of Westeros, the world of A SONG OF ICE & FIRE, is my number one priority, and will remain so until the story is told. But Westeros has become bigger than THE WINDS OF WINTER, or even A SONG OF ICE & FIRE. In addition to WINDS, I also need to deliver the second volume of Archmaester Gyldayn’s history, FIRE & BLOOD. (Thinking of calling that one BLOOD & FIRE, rather than just F&B, Vol 2). Got a couple hundred pages of that one written, but there’s still a long way to go. I need to write more of the Dunk & Egg novellas, tell the rest of their stories, especially since there’s a television series about them in development. There’s a lavish coffee table book coming later this year, an illustrated, condensed version of FIRE & BLOOD done with Elio Garcia and Linda Antonsson (my partners on THE WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE), and my Fevre River art director, Raya Golden. And another book after that, a Who’s Who in Westeros. And that’s just the books.
There are also the successor shows. Those have taken a ton of my time and attention this year. I have seen some comments out there questioning how much I am involved in these new series. The answer is: a lot. Deeply, heavily involved in every one of the new shows. It’s my world, and while I have been working closely with some fantastic writers and showrunners, ultimately it is up to me to try to keep the canon… well, canonical… and to do all I can to help make the new shows great. (And I love these stories too).
So far, I am very excited. HOUSE OF THE DRAGON has wrapped in London and is now in post-production. What I have seen, I have loved. I am eager to see more. I am excited about the other successor shows as well, however. I am dying to tell you all about them, but I am not supposed to, so…
Well, maybe there a few things I can tell you. Things that HBO has previously announced, or hinted at, or…
We are developing live action shows for HBO, and animated shows for HBO Max. No, can’t tell you how many. But it is my hope that a number of these shows will get on the air. Not all, no, it is never all, but more than one. I certainly hope so. Some of the ideas we are working on are quite different in tone and approach than what has gone before, and that thrills me. The world of Westeros (and Essos, etc) is huge, and there is room in it for many types of stories, about a wide range of characters.
What can I tell you? Well, let’s see. Bruno Heller, the creator and showrunner of ROME, is writing his pilot script for the Corlys Velaryon series. That one started out as NINE VOYAGES, but now we’re calling it THE SEA SNAKE, since we wanted to avoid having two shows with numbers in the title. The other one TEN THOUSAND SHIPS, the Nymeria series. Amanda Segel, our showrunner, has delivered a couple drafts of that one, and we are forging ahead. The third of the live action shows is the Dunk & Egg series, helmed by Steve Conrad. My team and I have had some great sessions with Steve and his team, and we really hit it off. He’s determined to do a faithful adaptation of the stories, which is exactly what I want; these characters and stories are very precious to me. The first season will be an adaptation of the first novella, “The Hedge Knight.” Contrary to what you may have read on line, the show will not be called DUNK & EGG, which could be mistaken for a sitcom by viewers unfamiliar with the stories. We’re leaning toward A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS for the series title, though THE HEDGE KNIGHT has its partisans as well.
Over on the animated side… well, I am not allowed to talk about most of what’s happening, except to say that things are moving very fast, and I love love love some of the concept art I am seeing. And.. wait, come to think of it, the news leaked several months ago that one of the animated shows would be set in Yi Ti. That’s true. Our working title is THE GOLDEN EMPIRE, and we have a great young writer on that one too, and I think the art and animation is just going to be beautiful. I would tell you more if I could. I don’t think I can say a word about the other animated shows. Not yet.
So… there is lots going on.
And HOUSE OF THE DRAGON is coming soon. That’s what you will see first.
And me? I will continue to work with the writers and showrunners and directors and producers on all these shows. Plus ROADMARKS for HBO, and DARK WINDS for AMC, and WILD CARDS for UCP and Peacock. And NIGHT OF THE COOTERS should be finished this month.
And in addition to all that, let me say one again, yes, I am still working on WINDS OF WINTER.
Sammanfattning längst ned!
Tillägg skrivet 14/3 2022:
Förtydligande kring kalorier och kaloriräkning.
Förklaring till Randle cycle och vilken typ av “burner” du är.
Jag skulle egentligen varit med i My Westerdahls pod Viktig! och pratat om varför man är tjock, men på grund av att My fick prioritera sitt bokskrivande la hon ned podden innan vårt avsnitt hann spelas in. Ämnet “därför är du tjock” är dock så intressant att jag ville prata lite om det ändå, så att du kan ta del av infon även om det inte blir i poddform.
Nu är det ju dock så att jag själv aldrig varit överviktig, men angriper ämnet ur ett biokemiskt/fysiologiskt perspektiv, så även om jag inte har personlig erfarenhet av “övervikt” är jag en extremnörd när det kommer till biokemi!
Här nedan följer således min förståelse för “övervikt” baserat på biokemi och fysiologi, och svarar på varför man är eller blir tjock.
Kaloriräkningen stämmer inte!
Det är en definitionsfråga vem som är tjock och inte men låt oss säga att “tjock” är BMI 35 så har vi tagit lite höjd för extrem muskelmassa och annat som kan ge högt BMI. Jag vet att BMI är ett trubbigt verktyg som togs fram av en matematiker, men BMI 35 är i vilket fall i klassen fetma. Många tror att tjocka personer äter mycket mer än smala, och att de därför är tjocka. Det här är sant ibland men oftast inte. Om du tittar på genomsnittligt kaloriintag hos vuxna kvinnor och män så rör det sig över ett ganska smalt spann. Vissa äter 1500kcal och andra 3500kcal och det är inte uppenbart vem som äter lite och vem som äter mycket. Det finns tjockisar som äter 1500kcal och smalisar som äter 3500kcal och vice versa. Det finns ingen generell kalorigräns för “här blir man tjock” eller “här blir man smal”.
När man tittar på viktminskningsappar så har de räknat ut hur mycket man ska äta för att väga en viss vikt. Detta stämmer sällan. Många knappar in önskevikten, blir tilldelade ett antal kalorier, och följer detta men det händer inget ändå. Om du känner igen dig så är det inte dig det är fel på. En app kan inte veta vad du ska äta!
De flesta som blir tjocka upplever att de gör samma sak som innan men plötsligt börjar vikten skena. Det är väldigt få som plötsligt dubblar eller tripplar sitt matintag. Finns säkert dem som gör det men det verkar inte vara det vanliga.
Vilka hormoner har vi då som påverkar vikt?
Låt oss säga att du lever under otrolig stress en period på grund av sjukdom eller annat. Binjurarna pumpar kortisol och noradrenalin dygnet runt. Kortisol är ett katabolt (nedbrytande) hormon för muskler, men anabolt (uppbyggande) hormon för fett. Det betyder att kortisol kan göra att du tappar vikt i början, men det är musklerna som ryker! Om du på grund av stressen sover dåligt, så sjunker viktiga könshormoner och tillväxthormon. Nattsömnen är superviktig för friska nivåer av östrogen, progesteron och testosteron samt tillväxthormon. Om du får en plötslig dipp här, är ett av symptomen ökad fettinlagring.
Ett annat tillfälle då könshormonerna kan gå bananas är vid pubertet, graviditet och klimakteriet. Dessa hormonella svängningar kan också starta igång en omfattande fettinlagring.
Binjurarna påverkar sköldkörteln: kronisk stress (emotionell, fysiologisk, psykologisk, metabol, cellulär stress – alltså ALLA typer av stress) påverkar sköldkörteln negativt. Sköldkörtelns hormoner (TSH, T4 och T3 sjunker!!) Du märker att ditt T3 gått ned om du plötsligt blir ännu mer känslig för stress.
Känner du dig överväldigad ofta? Det kan vara lågt T3!
Det finns en process i kroppen som kallas för Randle cykeln, som bland annat har att göra med det faktum att kroppen måste välja mellan förbränna kolhydrater eller fett. Ja alltså självklart förbränner vi båda, men vi är olika bra på att förbränna kolhydrater, fett (och protein). Vissa är väldigt bra på att förbränna skräpmat, medan andra (de flesta?) inte är det. Du kan själv testa att experimentera med det för då kommer du se att det kan skilja över 1000 kcal i vad som behövs för att upprätthålla din vikt, beroende på vad din kropp föredrar.
Om du äter ketogen kost (högfettkost) kan du träna kroppen att förbränna fett så att den blir överlägsen på det, men de flesta är inte ketogena utan har en naturlig lutning mot det ena eller andra. Personligen är jag en väldigt bra carb-burner, medan personer med tex insulinresistens/diabetes typ 2/envis övervikt oftast inte är det. Bränner man inte carbs bra är det ingen bra idé att käka majoriteten av energin från kolhydrater, och vice versa. Inte nödvändigtvis för att man blir tjock av det, utan för att ens metabolism blir helt motvals.
Är du en amino-burner?
Vissa är varken bra fettförbrännare eller kolhydratförbrännare. De kan behöva rikta in sig på aminosyror istället. Dessa finns det gott om i kött, fisk, ägg, kyckling, kalkon, bönor och linser. Även magra mejerier som keso räknas in här.
Om du testat att äta både high carb och low carb och inget funkar, testa då high protein och se hur det känns! Inte för att gå ned i vikt nödvändigtvis utan se om det känns bra i kroppen. Om du känner dig mätt och nöjd.
Utöver att välja livsmedel som vi har lätt att förbränna kan man också tänka på att vissa livsmedel är termogena. De ökar vår förbränning. Exempel på termogena livsmedel är just proteinrika livsmedel, men även vissa grönsaker som sparris och kålväxter till exempel. Termogena livsmedel gör att man kan äta mer mat och lättare känner sig mätt och nöjd.
Ett viktigt koncept att förstå för att förstå förhållandet mellan fett och muskler på kroppen är nutrition partitioning. Det hör ihop med Randle cykeln: att du till viss del kan styra vart energin från maten ska “sätta sig”. Om du tränar mycket och bygger muskler, så är energin mer benägen att gå till musklerna där den behövs. Tränar du före du äter, det kan räcka med 50 air squats (knäböj utan stång) så öppnar du upp GLUT4-receptorerna på muskelcellernas yta och kan slänga in näringen där.
Träning är effektivt för att det hjälper kroppens energitillverkning, det hjälper mitokondriernas arbete och det hjälper näringen att hamna där den gör bäst nytta.
Bilden ovan är från American Journal of Physiology. Titta på staplarna! Ser du hur otroligt stor skillnad träning gör? Det fina är att receptorerna är alerta flera timmar efteråt, och tränar du hårt 5 ggr i veckan så är de alerta nästan jämnt. Därför är regelbunden (hårdare) träning så effektivt att det (oftast) kan reversera typ 2 diabetes!
Vilken träning? Jag säger styrketräning men älskar du cardio så kör cardio. Det är inte jätteviktigt vilket men ansträngningsnivån behöver vara hög. Vid styrketräning så behöver musklerna pumpas igång ordentligt så att det bränner och svider. Du ska känna att de riktigt suuuuger energi! Yoga är inte tillräckligt men ett längre pass simning duger! Och kom ihåg att det INTE handlar om att “bränna kalorier för att bli smal”, det handlar om att FÖRÄNDRA den metabola miljön i kroppen till att bli mer fördelaktig för dig.
Målet? Mer energi, styrka och fysisk förmåga!
“Men Martina jag kan inte träna, vad ska jag göra?” Jag är helt medveten om att träning inte är för alla. Det är okej! Det är ETT verktyg i verktygslådan för att förändra sin metabola och hormonella miljö men vi har många verktyg. Förändring behövs bara om du har hälsoproblem. Om du mår bra, är fysiskt aktiv och känner dig bra – så är det antagligen bra också! Eftersom människor kommer i alla storlekar och former så är det inte nödvändigtvis bättre att gå ned i vikt bara för att gå ned i vikt. Träning har heller inte med viktminskning att göra utan poängen här är att träning bygger upp kroppen på det sättet som många eftersträvar. En starkare fysik är alltid eftersträvansvärt och kommer med många hälsofördelar som mindre benskörhet, antidepressiv verkan, lägre risk för Alzheimer, bättre sömn. Sånna saker!
Det du vill göra är att förstå varför du är tjock. Inte späka dig med olika dieter, prokrastinera livet eller uppgivet tröstäta för att “det är ändå kört”. Nej jag tror vi måste börja titta på övervikt på ett helt nytt sätt. Övervikt ses som en sjukdom i vårt samhälle, men det är ingen sjukdom. Det är inte “fruktansvärt ohälsosamt” att ha “extra” fett på kroppen. Om du förstår varför du är tjock kan du nysta i huruvida du ens behöver gå ned i vikt. Kanske är din kropp bara en kropp, som inte kan väga vad samhället anser som rätt vikt. Du kanske redan har rätt vikt för dig!
My har ett så bra exempel med att tunnhåriga män löper ökad risk för hjärtsjukdom. Hjälper en hårtransplantation? Nej för det är inte håret i sig (eller bristen därav) som är problemet utan den hormonella/metabola miljön som råkar korrelera med hjärtsjukdom. Samma sak är det med övervikt som såklart kan korrelera med alla möjliga sjukdomar, men inte nödvändigtvis leder till massa sjukdomar. Att överviktiga får sämre vård och inte blir lyssnade på av läkaren i samma utsträckning är däremot faktum, och jag tror alla som är överviktiga eller känner någon överviktig är extremt medvetna om det.
Genetiken avgör hur mycket muskler vi kan bygga och hur tjocka vi kan bli. Vissa kan väga 300kg medan andra bara kan väga 100kg som sin maxvikt. Det är genetiskt, liksom huruvida det är möjligt för dig att väga 40 kg eller inte. Man kan säga att vi är födda med ett visst viktspann som vi kan röra oss inom.
Det här viktspannet har också att göra med NÄR du blev tjock. Blev du tjock efter första barnet? Eller när du själv var barn? Ju tidigare du blev tjock desto svårare kommer det vara att bli “smal”. Om du var tjock som 5-åring och genom hela puberteten kanske du aldrig kan bli smal som en tandpetare. Likaså om du var en tandpetare när du var barn och genom hela puberteten kommer det vara väldigt svårt att väga 200kg som vuxen. Det är nämligen i puberteten som vi bygger våra fettceller.
Många som vill gå ned i vikt bryr sig nästan bara om siffrorna på vågen. Här är det viktigt att poängtera att det inte är VIKT du vill gå ned utan FETT. Det är metabolt fördelaktigt med muskler, så det är toppen att ha så mycket som möjligt. Mer mitokondrier är kopplat till ökad livslängd och allt det där. Vi har alla olika mängd fettceller, och de har olika storlek. Vi kan krympa dem, men inte minska antalet det kan bara en fettsugning göra. Då sugs fettcellerna ut med en grov nål och kommer aldrig någonsin tillbaka! Så fort vi blivit vuxna kan vi inte få fler fettceller, så en person som gjort en fettsugning kan inte bygga tillbaka fettet på samma ställe. Viktuppgången kommer sätta sig någon annanstans.
Om du har många fettceller pga överviktig i din ungdom så kommer viktminskning att innefatta att krympa dem. Strunta i vågen!
Kroppen försöker ALDRIG jävlas med oss, den försöker bara få oss att överleva och därför har våra fettceller 2 vägar in och 1 väg ut. Hos vissa är utvägen stängd 99% av tiden och de 2 invägarna är öppna 99% av tiden. Det gör att fett lagras in snabbt och lätt, en stor fördel när vi levde som jägare och samlare och tillgången på mat var knaper. Den som vill viktminska behöver fokusera på att hålla ut-vägen öppen så mycket som möjligt. Det är ett metabolt fenomen som stavas glukagon.
Glukagon öppnar den enda fettcells-dörren som låter fettet komma ut. Insulin stänger ut-dörren och öppnar de 2 in-dörrarna. Därför brukar det vara fördelaktigt att inte höja blodsockret om man är ute efter fettminskning. Om man inte höjer blodsockret, så höjs inte heller insulinet (lika mycket) och då håller man igång glukagonet.
Men nu handlar inte den här texten om hur du kan gå ned i vikt utan om varför du är tjock.
Som du ser är det otroligt förenklat att säga att någon är tjock för att den “äter för mycket”. För mycket för vadå? Hur lite ska man äta egentligen? Är “äta mindre” rimligt som viktminskningsmetod? Borde inte exakt alla dieter funka då? Varför har de då så låg success rate? Jag vet att många hånskrattar åt oss som inte älskar kaloriräkning, men titta på de hormonella mekanismerna bakom energisystemen här nedan… kaloriräkning blir lite futtigt va…?
Detta är bara 450 olika reaktioner men det finns fler! Alla dessa reglerar såklart inte vikt, men zooma in så ser du att allting är metabola processer.
Den här texten är en otrolig förenkling, jag hade kunnat skriva 10 sådana här inlägg och ändå inte få med allting, men stoppar här och skriver en liten sammanfattning av det vi gått igenom hittills!
Länkar:
Länk till Mys blogg
Podden Viktigt!
Biokemi: om GLUT4 och träning
Artikel om glukagon och termogenes
Artikel om nutrition partitioning
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Förtydligande kring kalorier och kaloriräkningBetyder den här långa drapan att “kalorier in kalorier ut” inte funkar?
Nej det är inte vad jag säger när jag skriver “kaloriräkning stämmer inte”. Jag hade appar som exempel så låt oss ha det igen. Säg att din viktminskningsapp säger att du ska äta 1500kcal om dagen för att gå ned 0.5kg i veckan. Tar den hänsyn till var dessa 1500 kcal kommer ifrån? Inte?
Många som bantar vill “beat the system” och få in så mycket godsaker som möjligt på diet för att det då känns som att man kommer undan lindrigt, så säg att du gör detta. Låt oss samtidigt låtsas att du är en dålig carb-burner som mest får högt blodsocker och högt insulin av kolhydraterna, så varje gång du stoppar in en godsak i munnen får du mycket högre insulin under mycket längre tid än en smal person får. Det drar också igång ett sug som gör att du upplever din kaloribegränsning som plågsam. På grund av din envishet lyckas du ändå hålla dig till dina 1500kcal och går ned i vikt. Du är nöjd med viktminskningen, men efter några veckor har du glömt bort hur lite du måste äta för att hålla den nya vikten och går sakta upp igen. Det är så det brukar gå till eller hur?
Låt oss säga att du vet om din kolhydratintolerans och istället väljer en strikt lågkolhydratkost för att viktminska. Vi använder app-exemplet igen, och samma app säger att du ska äta 1500kcal om dagen för att gå ned 0.5kg i veckan. Den här gången har du noll sug och eftersom blodsockret är platt som ett salsgolv får du inga särskild insulinsvängningar. Det gör att glukagon (insulins motsatshormon) kan hålla sig aktivt större delen av dagen. Till slut kommer du även in i ketos (fat burning mode) och kilona rasar. Ketoner är muskelbesparande, så vikten du går ned är fett och vatten istället för “lite av allt” som på din förra kolhydratdiet. Plötsligt märker du att du äter mycket mindre än 1500kcal för du blir mätt redan på 1200kcal. Viktminskningen slutar vara en kamp.
Det är detta jag menar med att kaloriräkning “inte stämmer”. Kroppen märker skillnad och reagerar helt olika om du äter 1500 kcal glassbåtar eller 1500 kcal entrecote. Det beror på att vikt och viktminskning är hormonstyrt!
Det går att använda kaloriräkning, men om man inte räknar med de hormonella faktorerna finns risken att man blir onödigt förvirrad och frustrerad när det inte funkar.
Det finns ett exempel som många, många drar till med (även jag är skyldig till detta i någon av mina böcker) och det är historien om en skotte som under läkarövervakning fastade i ett helt år! Under detta året tappade han cirka 125kg. Du kan läsa Wikipedia-artikeln här.
Det här är en otrolig bedrift förstås, men vi måste komma ihåg att det här är EN person. I alla andra fall där EN person gjort något ovanligt så ser vi det som ett ovanligt case, inte bevis för någonting. Just det när det kommer till viktminskning, kalorier och fasta verkar dock Angus Barbieri som han heter vara någonslags föredöme och bevis för att minskade kalorier visst funkar för viktminskning. Ja men självklart, det är inte det som argumenteras emot. Vad som är poängen med hela mitt inlägg är att de hormonella systemen som styr vår vikt, är så dominerande att det i praktiken kan bli otroligt svårt eller till och med omöjligt att gå ned i vikt för vissa människor, utan att de “äter för mycket” eller “gör något fel”.
Men man kan bara fasta ett år? NEJ!!! Varför ska man ha en så otroligt inhuman människosyn bara för att det handlar om kroppsfett? Jag tror att otroligt få människor är beredda att “fasta ett år” eller leva på en kalorinivå som känns som ren tortyr. Självklart KAN man det, men varför? Det var väl hälsa vi var ute efter? Om du inte har hälsoproblem av din övervikt, varför plåga dig ned i vikt? Varför svälta kroppen på byggstenar och riskera skador på de inre organen? Det är inte så hälsosamt att viktminska, och det finns inget likhetstecken mellan låg vikt och hälsa.
Man kan vara smal och sjuk och tjock och frisk, och man kan vara smal och frisk och tjock och sjuk. Som jag avslutade mitt inlägg med tror jag att vi måste börja se på övervikt på ett betydligt modernare sätt. Jag hoppas innerligt att övervikt kan avstigmatiseras och att läkarkåren ska komma ikapp med insikten om att övervikt inte är en sjukdom!
Förklaring till Randle cycle och vilken typ av “burner” du är! Kom ihåg att det här med kost är långt ifrån en exakt vetenskap. Det är så många som älskar att tala om för andra vad de ska äta, och jag vill verkligen inte vara en av dem. Därför förespråkar jag ingenting särskilt, utan fokuserar på att förklara hur saker och ting funkar – utefter min egen förståelse såklart. Jag kan inte garantera att min kunskap alltid matchar den senaste publicerade forskningen, men som forskare försöker jag såklart vara up to date! Dock är livsstilsgrejer väldigt personligt, och väldigt mycket trial and error. Min kunskap om fettförbränning kommer mer från fitness än från forskning, för inom fitness gör man vad som fungerar. Det är från fitness-experiment (testa själv, testa på andra, mäta massor, göra tester, testa på andra, diskutera med fitnessfolk osv) som jag byggt min förståelse i praktiken. Så det här med att det spelar roll varifrån kalorierna kommer, och det för vissa är helt avgörande, har jag sett många gånger.
Jag ville inte att det här inlägget skulle innehålla bantningstips men vill samtidigt svara på era frågor, så hur man vet vilken burner man är, är ganska enkelt: Du har på känn om du är en person som tittar på en kanelbulle och går upp 5 kg! Vissa är tvärtom. De sätter i sig 2 påsar gifflar och verkar inte få några konsekvenser av det, inte viktmässigt i alla fall. Om man är väldigt bra på att förbränna kolhydrater så kan man äta mycket “skräp” utan att vågen rör sig. De flesta smalisar är carb-burners. Alla åt väl säkert chips, godis, kakor och läsk som barn, men smalisarna blev inte tjocka av det. De “tålde” det på ett annat sätt. Det är därför low carb, keto, carnivore, medelhavsdiet osv är så effektivt vid stor “övervikt” för de här personerna är ofta dåliga carb-burners men desto bättre fat-burners.
Vad man förbränner bäst kan skifta över tid. Vissa slutar få effekt av lågkolhydratkost efter ett tag och behöver gå över till high protein – high volume. Det är det mest effektiva för de allra flesta. High protein – high volume brukar upplevas mättande, och protein från bra källor (fisk, ägg, kyckling, kalkon, keso, måttligt med bönor osv) ger gott om byggstenar till alla fysiologiska processer. Sen kommer vissa att protestera mot high protein ur ett “longevity-perspektiv” pga mTOR, men det är ett ämne till ett helt annat inlägg. Skriver bara ut det för att visa att jag vet om “problemet”, men finns också sätt att kringgå det.
Fortsätt gärna kommentera så svarar jag i mån av tid, och återkommande frågor får ett längre svar
Inlägget Därför är du tjock! dök först upp på Next Level Biohacking.
According to Deadline, Prime Video is in negotiations for a live-action God of War series, based on the popular video game. That’s enough to make a lot of ears prick up in curiosity—but it gets better. The adaptation is said to come from a powerhouse pairing of showrunners: The Expanse‘s Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, and Wheel of Time‘s Rafe Judkins, working with Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions.
It’s practically unfair how tantalizing that possibility is.
Everything is still very “maybe” and “possibly” and “in development,” and Deadline notes that neither Sony nor Amazon would comment. But video game adaptations are cropping up everywhere right now, from Paramount Plus’s Halo series (premiering later this month) to the highly anticipated Last of Us adaptation coming to HBO Max. Peacock has Twisted Metal in the works, and Amazon already has Fallout and is developing a Mass Effect series. It wouldn’t be the least bit surprising for a series as popular as God of War to be next.
Created by Santa Monica Studio, the God of War series began in 2005 and now consists of almost a dozen games; the latest, God of War Ragnarok (pictured above), is due out later this year. In the first game, the ex-Spartan soldier Kratos seeks to defeat Ares, the god of war, for complicated reasons (as is generally the case where Greek gods are concerned). As the series goes on, the games extend from Greek mythology into Norse, and Kratos becomes a god, learns secrets of his history, has a kid, and does a lot of very dramatic mythological god stuff. Various games from the series often appear on lists of the best PlayStation games, and a GameSpy review of the first game raved, “It doesn’t happen often, but every now and then a game is released that’s so outstanding that all kinds of gamers must play it regardless of their genre preferences.”
With millions of copies of the games sold, God of War has a built-in audience; with Judkins, Ostby, and Fergus on board, it has a stellar creative team that knows now to navigate complex adaptations set in beloved fictional worlds. Now we just have to see if this one makes it past the development stage.
Last year Krissy decided that she wanted to upgrade our bathroom suite, and not in just a “new hand towels and shower curtain” way — a whole revamp. I was fine with this, I said, if I got what I wanted out of it: a supercool space age “intelligent toilet” with all the bells and whistles. It took a while, because 2021 was The Year of Supply Chain Issues, but the new bathroom is 90% completed and the Space Toilet is now installed and operational.
I’ve now availed myself of the Space Toilet a couple of times, and I have to say, coming from your basic commode, it’s something of a surreal experience. One, it knows when you’re on your way and raises the toilet seat for you, with a little light in the bowl to guide you at night. Two, it then spritzes the porcelain bowl before you sit, presumably so whatever horrible thing you’re about to put into it doesn’t stick to the side of the bowl. Three, when you do sit, the seat is warm — not an awful “this seat was immediately previously occupied” warm, but a “I was expecting you and have thoughtfully prepared you a pleasant experience” warm. The sort of warm that invites you to settle in.
When you’ve done your business, whatever that business is, you have the option of the bidet. The bidet is adjustable for “front” or “back” (figure it out), allows you to adjust the pressure and temperature of the water, and offers both “massage” and “swirl” settings, which you can select from the remote control which hangs on the wall. When you’re done with that, there’s a dryer option, which runs just about as long as you like. When that’s completed, there are two flush modes to choose from, but if you forget (or are just an awful person) and walk away without flushing, the toilet will automatically flush for you. Then it does a little bit of sanitizing and closes the lid until the next time you come in to pursue your business.
It’s probably the single most complicated piece of machinery in the house, and it’s utterly ridiculous. I am very happy with my purchase so far.
Also, in case you’re wondering what happens if you lose the remote, you can operate it from the toilet itself (note the line of lights on the seat, which are buttons), and should the power go out, it retains flushing ability and so on. It is a basic toilet and can do basic toilet things (and we have three other more standard toilets in the house in any event). It just branches out from there.
Would I recommend my new supercool space age intelligent toilet to others? Well, let me sit with it (so to speak) for a while longer before I say. Partly because this thing is absolutely not in any way inexpensive; there are more expensive individual objects in the house, but not many. I suspect you can get 90% of the utility of this toilet for about a tenth of the price. But, oh, that extra ten percent.
It’s entirely the most bougie thing in my place, and while I am just fine with that, I’m not sure that’s for everyone. Give me a month or so with it and I will offer my final thoughts then.
— JS
I don’t know if you knew this, but in certain quarters of the Internet, it is currently the fashion to suggest that men are being squeezed out of mainstream science fiction and fantasy, as it is being overrun by all the people who are not men, writing stuff that men certainly would never read because the man quotient in it is too low (or something).
Well, I am a man, and I write science fiction and fantasy, and I was curious if indeed I and other dudes like me, being men and all, were currently in the process of being squeezed out the genre. I figured a good place to start would be my own publisher, Tor Books. As it happens, I have access to the Tor Books catalogue for 2022, detailing the titles that it is publishing in hardcover and in trade paperback. The hardcovers are all new releases, while the trade paperbacks are either new releases or re-releases of titles previously in hardcover. Because Tom Doherty Associates has several imprints (aside from Tor, there’s Forge, TorDotCom, Nightfire, Tor Teen and Starscape), I decided to focus specifically on Tor Books, i.e., the imprint my work is published with (save for one novella at TorDotCom).
For the purposes of this exercise, I will be counting authors (as opposed to editors) and if an author appears twice — as several do, because they are either releasing two new books in 2022 or (more usually) one new book and one reissue of the previous hardcover into trade paperback — I’ll count them only once. I’m also not counting editors, no matter how large their name is on the cover (sorry). If a book has more than one author, I’ll count them both. Also, and finally, this analysis comes from the Tor catalogues I found on Edelweiss; it’s possible there will be late additions/subtractions and that I might have missed a few titles here and there. But I did try to be careful and also made sure to double-check publicly-presenting genders when I was in doubt.
So for 2022, I counted 38 male authors with work coming out from Tor Books (alongside 31 authors who are women or non-binary/genderfluid). These male authors include debut authors, current bestsellers, genre stalwarts, beloved authors, authors lost to time but being reintroduced, and authors expanding on the worlds that others originated. There’s fantasy, science fiction, alternate histories and the stuff that slides in-between the usual categorizations.
It’s a pretty good range of (male) authors, presenting a pretty good range of material! One might say, with literally dozens of books across several subgenres, that there might be something for everyone there. And that’s just a single imprint of a single publisher — albeit the imprint and publisher that so many of the folks wringing their hands about the state of men in SFF like to single out as being at the forefront of stomping men out of the genre. However, the numbers, at least, do not seem to support this argument.
Where are the men in (mainstream) science fiction and fantasy? They are, literally, right in front of y’all, and have been all this time. What has changed, I suppose, is that the genre is now wider than it used to be, and that it’s not just men (and not just white men), or at the very least, not just mostly white dudes with a sprinkling of others. This is not to suggest there’s not still work to be done expanding the genre even further. But it’s a more diverse genre than it used to be, and in my opinion, better for it.
So, yeah, if you see someone out there complaining that they can’t find work from men in the SFF genre, remember that there are literally dozens of dudes putting out books this very year, from a single imprint, from a single publisher. I would be very surprised if Tor’s output here is notably unusual for the genre; other mainstream SFF publishers seem likely to me to have more than a smattering of men among their authors.
Maybe if the people complaining can’t find them, it’s because they’re not bothering to look all that hard. Try a bookstore or a library, folks. These titles, and authors, will be there, waiting for you.
— JS
Google låter användare stänga av riktad reklam, samt nollställa annons-ID för Android. De som kör Android 12 kan dessutom radera sitt annons-ID helt och hållet.
Från och med första april kommer det gå att radera annons-ID för Android från alla systemversioner, tack vare en uppdatering av Google Play Services. En annan förändring från och med april är att appar behöver deklarera tillåtelse till annons-ID i Android 12 och senare versioner.
Appar som är avsedda för barn får inte begära annons-ID alls, så riktad reklam för barn förbjuds i Googles annonssystem.
Last week, the joyous announcement that 20th Animation and Hulu were reviving Futurama for an eighth season was almost instantly marred by the discovery that voice actor John DiMaggio, who played the iconic character of Bender on the series, was suspiciously absent from the list of the show’s returning cast. Now…
I guess… what I’m really asking you is… is this what pleases you?
There’s a lot to love in season two of Netflix’s The Witcher, but many admirers of the fan favorite bard Jaskier are left, well, wanting. Our central protagonist, the Witcher himself, Geralt of Rivia, opens up a good amount from the grunty hmm-er we met in season one—with a notable, confusing, and canonically heartbreaking exception.
In season one, their dynamic seems to be built on a mutual “this man is a disaster. I should protect him.” It’s notably one of the longest relationships we see Geralt maintain, and unquestionably the closest, though the show chooses to leave a lot of the basis of it offscreen. Jaskier is wrapped up in Geralt’s destiny, though he’s certainly not to blame for it—Geralt finds his way to both Ciri and Yennefer, through his own choices, but also undeniably because of Jaskier. Yet unlike the women Geralt’s bound to, the bond between Geralt and Jaskier is a choice, one that both of them make over and over for decades. The intricacy of their specific intimacy is founded on suggestions and quieter, smaller moments than most of the rest of the show, and in this way, Jaskier ends up being an emotional core of the show, and certainly for Geralt.
Jaskier, unlike almost everyone else in Geralt’s life, is interested in Geralt before he even realizes Geralt’s a witcher. While they wind up making each other famous, their relationship begins with Jaskier’s simple, blatant interest in the big man who looks like he could snap Jaskier in half. When he does find out Geralt’s a witcher, he doesn’t spend a single moment afraid of him.
The idea that they’re simply close friends doesn’t hold up, because they’re notably not—we see Geralt with Nivellen, with Mousesack, with Nenneke, with his brothers. He’s kind, playful, verbose, and understanding. But with Jaskier, there’s layers of emotion, pent-up and frustrated, shifting into a greater distance specifically when Yennefer comes into their lives, which she notably does because of Jaskier. The way he treats Jaskier is different, there’s something specific there. One could argue he just finds Jaskier annoying, but there are too many moments of tenderness, in twenty years of choosing to let Jaskier remain in his life, for that to be at all convincing.
Screenshot: Netflix
Meanwhile, Jaskier’s feelings are frankly an essay of their own. They manifest in every look he gives Geralt. In the flirty head-tilt he gives him at their meet-cute, when he leaves behind his lute to go talk to the big, scary man in the corner before he ever knows he might get some stories out of him. In the way he never once doubts Geralt’s goodness, even after Geralt punches him in the gut. In how quick he is to defend Geralt from anti-witcher sentiment like no one ever has, how he makes a life’s mission out of it. In your lovely bottom and later bloated biceps. In the buttercup-printed doublet he puts Geralt in after the bathing they’ve so clearly shared before. In maybe someone, somewhere will want you, and, most intensely in the first season, we could get away for a while. Head to the coast. And when Geralt gives him the out of composing a new song? Jaskier doesn’t take it, looking at Geralt more seriously than he ever has, with his lip trembling and his jaw working, and says, no. Just trying to work out what pleases me, in a way that can only mean it’s you.
While season one may leave some room for interpretation, where we meet Jaskier in the second season makes it disingenuous to argue his feelings are ambiguous. He is canonically heartbroken over Geralt blaming him for everything that went wrong in his life and abandoning him in Caingorn. This could have been minimized—Jaskier could have been annoyed but over it—but instead, he takes his heartbreak seriously. Joey Batey delivers a masterful, nuanced performance yet again, and it is clear Jaskier’s heartbreak is his strongest defining characteristic in the second season. Jaskier could not be less over it, especially as it’s clear he’s been trying so hard to be.
Jaskier’s season two blatant break-up anthem evidences just how thoroughly Geralt’s rejection has wrecked him. Did you ever even care? he asks. After everything we did, we saw, you turned your back on me. It leaves no ambiguity as to whether this is solely about Geralt pushing him away the following morning. The crux of the song lies in Geralt’s rebuff of Jaskier’s mountaintop proposal, even Jaskier’s question in the bath many years ago. What for do you yearn? he wails and snarls, his voice breaking. It’s openly demonstrative, not least because he can’t even get through it without doing exactly what his song indicates he’s trying so hard not to do—getting lost in the very memories he shared with Geralt that he’s trying to “burn.” And ouch, the irony! It’s only a short while later that he endures hours of torture, of getting burned himself, to try and protect Geralt. For all his bluster, for all his I hear you’re alive—how disappointing, his burn, butcher, burn! and watch me burn all the memories of you, Jaskier suffered and would have died to protect Geralt and Ciri. When Yennefer rescues him, it’s one of the first things he says—you’ve got to warn him.
Screenshot: Netflix
Even the reception of the song itself feels like a minimization of Jaskier’s feelings. Both within the story and how it was treated by the show, “Burn Butcher Burn” was never positioned to be a viral hit like “Toss a Coin,” a song that only celebrates Geralt instead of challenging him. Jaskier’s use of “butcher” is so specific and so vulnerable—it feels like the word that might hurt Geralt the most, like it’s Jaskier’s only line of defense against what happened on the mountain, and it emphasizes the depths to which Geralt hurt him. The entire song marks such a clear shift in Jaskier’s character. It’s a devastating evocation of Jaskier’s pain, and it hardly feels like the show takes it seriously. Geralt never even has to hear it.
The parallel of Jaskier’s season one introduction versus his season two is clear and jarring. Gone is the light-hearted, carefree flirt; he still goes through the motions but he’s distracted. Crucially, he has everything it seems like he wanted in the first season: He’s functionally the Continent’s hottest bard. He’s got fame, fans, probably fortune, and even a greater purpose, as The Sandpiper. And yet he can’t even get through the song without losing himself in the memories he can’t burn. He says it himself, to Yennefer: it did come from the heart. Perhaps even a broken one.
His dynamic with Yennefer is one of the strongest this season. Part of it is the actors’ easy chemistry and charisma, and the rich character dynamic that actually develops based on where both of them are on their emotional arcs. While this season demonstrates they have more in common than Geralt—their sense of survival, their inherent compassion—their entire rivalry is founded on him. Their banter, the way they compete for his attention and his affection. Indeed, the moment Yennefer meets Geralt and Jaskier, she clocks Jaskier as a romantic threat: just friends, I hope? The tension between them builds until Geralt shoves both of them away, in parallel, and then diffuses in their season two reunion, as they bond over their shared ex. We’re better off without him, Jaskier tells her, as he’s clearly been trying to tell himself, and neither of them believe it.
Screenshot: Netflix
So his eventual reunion with Geralt, seven episodes into an eight episode season, stings. We know Jaskier’s been nursing a broken heart, and we know that for some reason Geralt doesn’t seem to spare him a thought until Yennefer brings up that he’d “gotten into some trouble,” which doesn’t really tell us if Geralt even knows Jaskier’s been tortured for him. It’s odd, because the entire time, it’s not clear if Geralt’s meant to be wrapped up in what’s happening with Ciri or if the show simply thinks it’s not worth dwelling on Geralt’s thoughts on Jaskier—yet Jaskier’s storyline, even though he spends most of it apart from Geralt, is centered on Geralt, because his heartbreak defines his character this season.
It’s so painful that that hug comes before the apology, even before Geralt says we need your help or I need you, even before I missed you! Jaskier clearly has his lecture ready to go! “You abandoned me on a mountain!” he says, “Don’t fucking Jaskier me, I’m talking to you, this is how it works.” He’s clearly not stopped thinking about that moment since it happened, he’s told himself and Yennefer they’re better off without him, he’s spent months and months singing did you ever even care? and watch me burn all the memories of you and burn, butcher, burn! and yet! And yet! It takes nothing on Geralt’s behalf for Jaskier to step into his arms! All he does is appear and Jaskier doesn’t even care, the lecture can wait, he keeps his eyes open in that hug because he knows Geralt’s about to disappoint him again and he does but “fuck it!” Fuck it, he says, because he can’t help it. I welcome my sentence / give to you my penance / garrotter, jury, and judge. He knows he deserves better at this point. Yet when the moment arrives, he finds he’ll take that hurt and that disappointment over and over if it means he gets to be part of Geralt’s story again, and all Geralt has to do, seemingly, is let it happen. If I had to do it over, I’d do it all again…
Also, the entire season we see him notably drinking. When he meets Yennefer, I’m not having this conversation unless we’re drinking, and then he’s clutching a wineskin and hungover for the last episode. Jaskier never drank this heavily in season one—indeed, the only time we saw him drink like this is when he’s been left by the Countess de Stael, and goes to find Geralt on a riverbank. When, in his words, he fears he will die a broken-hearted man. It feels like such a deliberate parallel—why would he be drinking so much again now? He’s heartbroken again.
I’m not particularly interested in participating in the argument as to whether or not this reads as deliberately, intentionally queer within the first two seasons. I’m very aware how I’m intended to take it. It’s the default. And I also know what I’m seeing. How I’m to take “and sooner or later they will come for everyone. Anyone that they deem ‘the other,’ so… sooner or later no artist is safe,” when we’ve never once seen artists as a marginalized identity in The Witcher, Jaskier’s a very popular bard and a viscount, and all we have seen of Jaskier at that point in the season are his feelings for Geralt. Or lines like “left quite the sour taste in your mouth.” Or the moment Jaskier sees Geralt for the first time since the mountain and speaks his name like it’s the most precious, ruinous thing he’s ever experienced. Jaskier’s storyline is queer to many queer viewers. For me, the point is, no matter how you see the shape of these feelings, the fact is that Jaskier has unrequited feelings for Geralt. He’s remade by them, wrecked by Geralt’s actions at the beginning of the season, and when we leave him he’s only more so, with the show allowing a newly communicative Geralt to demonstrate absolutely zero interest in acknowledging Jaskier’s feelings specifically.
Screenshot: Netflix
Ultimately, season two fails to deliver on the season one promise and premise that Geralt cares about Jaskier, which complicates our understanding of Geralt’s growth. In both seasons, most people see Geralt as an arbiter of destiny, a means to an end, or a monster. Jaskier, meanwhile, notably keeps asking Geralt what he wants. He’s preoccupied by it. You must want something for yourself, when all this witchering is over, he says, before Destiny even comes into their story. What’s going on, Geralt? Talk to me, he says before the djinn attack. We could get away for a while, he offers, before Geralt breaks his heart on a mountaintop. It’s at the heart of his most iconic song this season: what for do you yearn? And each time, Geralt deflects. When it comes up this season, in such a perfect, verbatim callback to the last thing he asked Geralt, I guess what I’m asking is… is this what pleases you? Geralt still deflects. He says that he thought ignoring Ciri would make everything better, but it hasn’t. He once again addresses what he has to do, what he believes he’s destined for—which is not, in fact, what Jaskier asked.
It would make sense if, at last, after everything that’s happened since they parted ways, after all the growth Geralt’s meant to have gone through, Geralt answered him. At the very least, if Geralt and the show acknowledged what, exactly, Jaskier is asking. Yet Geralt seems to have no idea anything is wrong with Jaskier. He brushes Jaskier off when Jaskier tries to talk to him about it in the prison cell, and seems to take Jaskier’s deflection of his apology as sufficient. If life could give me one blessing it would be to take you off my hands was brutal, and such a specific cruelty to the one person who’s been trying for years to ask Geralt what he actually wants out of life. The witcher who’s meant to be more thoughtful, more communicative now, should know better than to imagine a simple apology that doesn’t get anywhere close to accountability is, well, putting salve on a tumor.
And for his part, when Jaskier realizes he’s still not going to get Geralt to speak openly about what happened on the mountain, he deflects with humor to protect himself. He’s even told the audience he deflects his heartbreak with humor: “watch me laugh as I burn all the memories of you,” he says, while visibly falling apart. Oh Jaskier, I’m so sad and complicated, he teases, and you can see it in the set of his jaw, how close he comes to confronting how Geralt’s never acknowledged what Jaskier confessed pleases him. How he can tell Geralt just wants to go back to normal, how he’ll give him that because after being without him, fuck it, he’ll take shut up, Jaskier over losing him again in a heartbeat, even if it means settling for the dynamic he’s so clearly promised himself he wouldn’t go back to.
There is a queer reading here—there is a queer reading in every Jaskier scene of the series, but it’s painfully potent and blatant in this moment. He can’t answer that question, the one only Jaskier asks, because it doesn’t matter what Geralt wants, perhaps. He’s never been able to confront to himself why his relationship with Jaskier is different, why he still can’t call Jaskier a friend. What matters is his duty to the woman and the child for whom he’s always been destined.
No matter how you read their dynamic, though, where is the Geralt who snarled “Leave off! He’s just a bard. And you can let him go,” when he himself had just hit Jaskier in the gut? Where is the Geralt who told an incredibly powerful sorceress “Fix him and I’ll pay you, whatever the cost”? Where is the Geralt who lets Jaskier dress him up in a buttercup doublet and bring him to a party, who stopped correcting some insufferable nobles about manticores because Jaskier pouted at him? Where is the Geralt who’s immediately ready to protect Jaskier against a hirikka—because this season’s Geralt doesn’t appear to spare a glance for him in a final battle up against monsters who easily slaughter far more equipped men. Jaskier gets tortured this season because of Geralt, and Geralt doesn’t even so much as ask him about it. It’s emotionally incongruent.
The thing is, his season two relationship with Jaskier is inherently such a missed opportunity to demonstrate Geralt’s character growth. Geralt’s dynamic with Jaskier is such an interesting, unique part of his character, and it feels oddly truncated here. We could’ve seen regret, accountability, atonement. We could’ve seen him earning back Jaskier’s trust. When he’s being tortured, Jaskier screams “Geralt does not have friends, and he does not have weaknesses!” This could have set up Geralt refuting exactly that—because clearly, as we saw this season, he’s capable of having both.
Frankly, it feels like the only reason it’s not explored more is for passable deniability of Jaskier’s feelings.
Especially in season two, when we find out how Jaskier’s been helping the elves as the Sandpiper, which is a storyline I adore, though I’m afraid of where it might be going. I don’t love The Witcher’s overall fantasy racism plots, but I do love Jaskier’s role in this season. While everyone else is embroiled in magic and politics, Jaskier is on the ground, helping the people who need it. He does this single-handedly and the moment he recognizes it’s necessary. Not for fame, not for power, notably not because of destiny. He does it because it’s the right thing to do. This is real growth, because the first time we met Jaskier, he believed the propaganda he’d learned about the elves. One of the first moments we get real depth to his character is when he finds out through Filavandrel that he’s been lied to. It’s a packed scene, but Joey Batey’s acting in that single moment is so special—you can see something in Jaskier shift. And now, we find where that shift has led him. He’s a humble bard, he’s not going to influence politics or fight in the war. He sees those who are suffering the most in the machinations of larger forces, and he risks his life over and over, to help however he can. Jaskier has become, in fact, the exact sort of protector of the common people that a young Geralt himself once fantasized about becoming.
What would I have given for Geralt to ask Jaskier what he’s been doing since Geralt abandoned him, for Geralt to react to Jaskier’s role as the Sandpiper. It would have made sense—he’s talking to everyone else now, right? Even Nivellen, even Istredd. Geralt would have to see Jaskier differently, gain a deeper understanding of the bard he dismissed and continues to take for granted. To see who Jaskier’s become without him, perhaps to admire that Jaskier defaults to helping people, even though nothing binds him to it but his own sense of justice. It makes Geralt seem selfish. It seems like he doesn’t care, and when we see him capable of care for everyone else this season, even a girl he spent roughly twelve years ignoring, it stands out as strangely cruel. Is it guilt, or is it just new ambivalence?
In a season that’s concerned with Big World Destroying Destiny, Jaskier is so crucially focused on caring for those who need it most, those in immediate risk. That used to be not far off from Geralt’s role—protecting small towns and individual farmers from the monsters that plagued them. There’s so much rich potential for their dynamic to develop this season! It simply fell by the wayside, and Jaskier suffered for it, alone. He entered the season with deep scars, to not only have those same scars ripped open to bleed anew, but gain fresh ones as well. Jaskier is such a selfless protector this season, not only with the elves, but instinctively, with Yennefer. Even while she’s saving his life, he’s trying to protect her. Not because he’s “destined for it.” It comes naturally, and it has since he saw a witcher in a tavern with a blood-soaked story and decided to single-handedly and successfully change it forever.
There’s room for Jaskier to bring thoughtfulness, humor, and brightness within the rest of the central cast too. The show keeps suggesting Geralt teaches Ciri to be a witcher, Yennefer teaches her magic, and they’ll both teach her to be human… yet neither of them have been human for a very long time? He’s so notably that energy in their lives. It would have been wonderful to watch the two of them interact.
Screenshot: Netflix
In a show ostensibly about found family, why is Jaskier the one who so openly wants it only to end the season alone again? It feels like he’s being narratively punished for his feelings, because they’re his guiding force this season. He’s as vulnerable as an open wound and it never gets tending—his storyline is hurt without the comfort, heartbreak with no catharsis, and it’s so primed for comfort, it’s jarring. If anything, we had a central villain who preyed on pain this season and she didn’t even seem to consider Jaskier’s, though it’s as blatant as anyone else’s.
I have hope that some of this gets addressed, that they’re setting it up for confrontation and catharsis in season three, but it’s still unfair or at least unpleasant to end this season where it does emotionally for Jaskier, to make him and his fans wait so long yet again.
Yet I worry that the audience, like Jaskier, is meant to be contented by Geralt’s “I am sorry, Jaskier”—even though Jaskier clearly isn’t, so I’m not either. (Sidenote: without even looking him in the eye? Honestly, couldn’t Geralt have bartered two horses? Also Jaskier would have definitely asked about Roach.) Anyway, I also worry that there’s the possibility of Dijkstra enticing Jaskier to turn on the very people he loves, and the bright, compassionate, selfless light of Jaskier’s character would turn dark and cruel. Hard to blame him, after the way Geralt’s treated him—but it wouldn’t behoove the show to darken one of its few elements of heart and humor, at least not without confronting exactly why Jaskier feels so betrayed and abandoned yet again.
I’m hoping part of Geralt’s arc will be reckoning with the way he’s treated the very first person who saw him as the hero he could be. At the very, very least I hope Geralt has to hear “Burn, Butcher, Burn” and take some genuine accountability.
Because I can’t stand the thought that for the second season in a row, Geralt is still oblivious while that beloved bard makes his way down a mountain, broken-hearted and alone.
Maya Gittelman is a queer Pilipinx-Jewish diaspora writer and poet. Their cultural criticism has been published on The Body is Not An Apology and The Dot and Line. Formerly the events and special projects manager at a Manhattan branch of Barnes & Noble, she now works in independent publishing, and is currently at work on a novel.
Florida is inching closer to changing the state’s solar industry—and individual ownership of solar panels—for the worse.
Five years have passed since we last saw multiple Tatiana Maslanys on the hit show Orphan Black, and now a new series set in that world just got a big shot of adrenaline. Anna Fishko, best known for writing on Fear the Walking Dead and Colony, has reportedly been hired to write and produce a new Orphan Black show…
For good or ill, the releasing of character posters has been a thing for a while now. Studios and networks need social media content, y’know? And a detailed peek at a character’s costume can be quite telling.
But Prime Video has taken that to a whole new level with the releasing of… characters’ hands posters.
Some of these are very cool and hint at details about the series, and some less so. Wanna play a guessing game? Silmarillion readers, this is probably your time to shine!
(You’ll want to click to embiggen these images, as the previews cut off some of the important details!)
Either this is a hobbit, or they grow really big blackberries in Middle-Earth.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Big beard, big hammer. We know a dwarf when we see one.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Does the gold dust imply this person is involved in the forging of the Rings?
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
That’s quite a nice staff you’ve got there. (You’ll want to look closely at the top of this one.)
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Very lush robes, very fancy scroll.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
This is the coolest armor? There’s a face hidden among the leaves? I’m extremely into it? Someone tell me who this is so I can make them my favorite character already.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Something very bad happened to this very elaborate sword. (Or wait, is that a wizard staff?)
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Gonna go out on a limb here and guess that a person with a horse-shaped sword hilt might come from Rohan.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
This scroll is considerably less fancy than the one above. Is it a map? Are those trees or runes under their fingers?
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Again, either they grow acorns real big or this person is rather small.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
We’ve seen armor like this before.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
It’s kind of nice to see a splash of color.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Everything about this fancy armor is extremely cool.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Tell me the apple didn’t make you think of Denethor’s dinner.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
This one looks friendly.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
I would have thought this was an intense walking stick, but the descriptive text calls it “a primitive farm implement of some sort.”
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Everyone’s hands are either very dirty or pristinely clean.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Sailor vibes? Sailor vibes.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Acorns, blackberries, an apple, and now a flower.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
This person is holding a book, but against the red dress it kind of looks like a clutch.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
Everything here is deeply ostentatious.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
That… that’s a lot of rings.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
An interesting contrast of implement and outfit, here.
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) February 3, 2022
So, who are these characters? You’ve got plenty of time to theorize before The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres on September 2nd.
Yesterday, I met up with my old friend John Stead – director, stunt coordinator, and hunter of bears. We’d planned to meet up for a long overdue lunch, but it being the first day of the post-lockdown era (for now), I wasn’t sure which restaurants would be doing indoor dining. So I suggested we meet in Kensington Market at the corner of Nassau and Augusta, steps away from three different burger joints. We could just walk over and see what was open. As it turned out – all three. We started at Top Gun Burger where we both went with the Bobcat (beef patty, fresh onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles and top gun aioli).
“Wow. This is a really good burger,”said. John after his first bite. And he was right. I, as always, especially appreciated the crispy end bits.
Once we were done, I suggested we could do a Bang Bang. A Bang Bang is a term coined by Louis C.K. that refers to the act of having two dinners. Enjoy a meal at one restaurant, then head over to another for a second meal. Yes, like a hobbit. It’s usually dinner, but I’m sure lunches still apply. John was game so we headed over to another military-themed burger joint – Burgernator. Service here was effusively friendly and all around exceptional. We did the Commander Burger (all beef patty, cheddar cheese, Burgernator sauce, lettuce, tomato, pickles).
John took a bite and marveled: “Wow. This is a great burger too.” It was!
Once we were done, I asked him: “Still hungry.” “No,”he said, perhaps owing to the chocolate shake he’d ordered. “You?”he asked.
To be honest, I wasn’t super hungry, but I could pass up the opportunity at my first Burger Bang Bang Bang. And so, shortly after, we found ourselves at Ozzy’s Burgers where I ordered the Cheeseburger (beef patty, Canadian cheddar, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and Ozzy’s special sauce).
Although he wasn’t hungry, that didn’t stop John from snapping out his trusty hunting knife and cutting himself a piece. “Wow, this is a totally different taste,”he remarked after the first bite. “But also really good.” And he was right. It was!
It was great to see John. You can catch his most recent directing and stunt coordinating work on the latest season of Pretty Hard Cases.
Happy Chinese New Year to all who celebrate – like Akemi and I who are doing so with the assistance of our friend Dr. Blackjack!
Kung Her Fat Choy!
The post February 1, 2022: Burger Bang Bang Bang! appeared first on Joseph Mallozzi's Weblog.
Den nya vyn i Gmail som Google presenterade i början av förra hösten kommer snart gå att testa. När funktionen slås på integreras Chat, Meet och Spaces direkt i Gmail.
Från och med 8 februari kommer det gå att prova den nya vyn. Den blir standard i april men de som vill kommer kunna gå tillbaka till klassiska Gmail.
I slutet av andra kvartalet (någon gång i juni) kommer den nya vyn bli standard utan möjligheten att ändra tillbaka. Kring samma tid kommer Chat på webben få ”den nya strömlinjeformade navigationsupplevelsen”.
When enabled, the new navigation menu allows you to easily switch between your inbox, important conversations, and join meetings without having to switch between tabs or open a new window.
Notification bubbles make it easy to stay on top of what immediately needs your attention. When working in Chat and Spaces, you can view a full list of conversations and Spaces within a single screen, making it easier to navigate to and engage.
