Tag Archives: middlecyclone

VoK 283: Cold Comfort Farm (by Stella Gibbons)

Posted on April 23, 2016 by bina007 | Leave a comment

There’s something in the woodshed!

Amanda (Middlecylone) and Bina007 discuss Stella Gibbons’ hilarious 1932 novel satirising rural melodramas, as well as the 1995 British film adaptation starring Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Fry and Rufus Sewell. There is much mollocking, clettering, and heaving of porridge, not to mention some of the worst West Country accents committed to tape.

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Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast

Tagged Bina007, middlecyclone

VoK 281: Alas Poor Yoren! aka The Great Linear ASOIAF ReRead (Part 17)

Posted on April 19, 2016 by bina007 | 2 comments

In the 17th part of the Vassals’ epic re-read of George R R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, we cover events from the 18th to 28th February 299. This translates into Cat 1, Arya 3, Tyrion 2 and Arya 4 of A Clash of Kings.

Your podcast hosts are: Adam (DrownedSnow) Amanda (Middlecylcone), Bina007, Claire (DarkSister24), Jackie (Joie-Olivier), Matt (Varley), Michael (Khal Wadege), and Patrick (Ser Patrick The Tall).

Podcast announcements at 1hr 15m and Aftershow at 1hr 24m.

Picture credit: The A Podcast of Ice and Fire MS Paint project of A Clash of Kings. Cat 1 by Mimi Mieville. Music credits: Alpine Universe & the awesome Talking Heads.

The chapters for the next episode will be Sansa 2, Davos 1, Tyrion 3, Arya 5 and Bran 2.

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Posted in A Song of Ice and Fire, ASOIAF ReRead, Books & Novellas, Podcast

Tagged Bina007, DarkSister24, drownedsnow, Joie-Olivier, Khal Wadege, middlecyclone, Nadia, Ser Patrick the Tall, Varley

VoK 262: Brideshead Revisited (by Evelyn Waugh)

Posted on February 24, 2016 by bina007 | 1 comment

Join Bina007 and Amanda (Middlecyclone) as they discuss Evelyn Waugh’s iconic novel of early twentieth century aristocratic tragic love and faith. We will also touch on the much-loved ITV miniseries and the more recent feature film as well as occasionally referring to works by Nancy Mitford, TE Lawrence, DH Lawrence, Christopher Isherwood….

Music credits: Geoffrey Burgon’s superlative soundtrack for the ITV miniseries is available on iTunes and other stores and streaming services.

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Posted in Books & Novellas, History, Podcast

Tagged Bina007, middlecyclone

VoK 237: The Iron Bidet aka The Great Linear ASOIAF ReRead (Part 3)

Posted on September 23, 2015 by bina007 | 8 comments

In the third part of our linear re-read the Fellowship of Vassals expands both in numbers and chapters covered. We go through the events of May and June 298 which sees an assassination attempt on Bran, Tyrion go north to the wall, Ned go south with Robert, and Dany visiting Vaes Dothrak. Naturally, the podcast contains spoilers for all works in the Song of Ice and Fire series as well as HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Bran 2 (0m); Tyrion 1 (20m); Jon 2 (45m); Cat 3 (1hr); Tyrion 2 (1hr 17m); Dany 4 (1hr 30m); Ned (1hr 40m); Aftershow (2hr).

For the listener playing along at home, the next instalment will cover the chapters in July 298 – Sansa 1 & Ned 3 – and the first half of August 298 – Bran 3, Cat 4 and Ned 4.

Hosts: Adam (Drowned Snow), Amanda (Middlecyclone), Bina007, Brett (Whiteraven), Calvin (KCenturion), Kelvin (Brum Riverlander), Matt (Varley), Nadia, and Tanja (Scilens).

Picture credit: HBO’s Game of Thrones. Music credit: Johnny Cash.

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Posted in A Song of Ice and Fire, ASOIAF ReRead, Books & Novellas, Podcast

Tagged Bina007, Brum Riverlander, drownedsnow, KCenturion, middlecyclone, Nadia, Scilens, Varley, White Raven

VoK 233: The Virtues of a 9-Inch Meat Pie aka The Great Linear ASOIAF ReRead (Part 2)

Posted on September 8, 2015 by bina007 | Leave a comment

The second podcast in our linear ASOIAF re-read begins with feedback on last week’s episode focussing on the character of Ser Weymar Royce and Lunar dragons. We then cover the events of April 298, with the King and the Lannisters arriving at Winterfell as news of Jon Arryn’s death reaches Cat. This translates into the Game of Thrones chapters Ned 1 (16m), Jon 1 (37m), Cat 2 (49m) and Arya 1 (1h5m). The aftershow begins at 1hr 15m.

Spoilers: All published novels in the ASOIAF series but neither spoiler chapters for The Winds of Winter nor the latest season of Game of Thrones.

Podcast hosts: FTWard (Thomas), Mordion (Michael), Claudius The Fool (Greg), Bina007, Middlecyclone (Amanda), Nadia, Varley (Matt) and Whiteraven (Brett) .

For those of you playing along at home, the next episode will cover the events of May 298, so Game of Thrones: Bran 2, Tyrion 1, Jon 2 and Cat 3.

Picture credit: HBO’s Game of Thrones. Music credit: Michael Jackson’s Billy Jean.

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Posted in A Song of Ice and Fire, ASOIAF ReRead, Books & Novellas

Tagged Bina007, claudiusthefool, FTWard, middlecyclone, Mordion, Nadia, Varley, White Raven

VoK 232: Panspermia! aka The Great Linear ASOIAF ReRead (Part 1)

Posted on August 31, 2015 by bina007 | 6 comments

In the first in a new series of VOK-casts, the Vassals return to their roots with a linear re-read of George R R Martin’s A Song Of Ice And Fire. This episode covers events from June 297 to March 298. This translates to the following chapters in Game of Thrones: the Prologue, Dany 1 (21 mins), Dany 2 (37 mins), Bran 1 (48 mins), Cat 1 (1hr 9m) and Dany 3 (1 hr 18m) in that order. Whiteraven then shares his theory of why seasons change (1hr 28m). In doing this re-read we are hugely indebted to the reddit author who compiled the linear timeline linked below.

Spoilers: All published novels in the ASOIAF series but neither spoiler chapters for The Winds of Winter nor the latest season of Game of Thrones.

Podcast hosts: Bina007, Middlecyclone (Amanda), Nadia, Varley (Matt) and Whiteraven (Brett) with extra podcast goodness from the Podcast Bard, Jed O’ White Hart.

For those of you playing along at home, the next episode will cover Game of Thrones: Ned 1, Jon 1, Cat 2 and Arya 1 which corresponds to April 298.

Picture credit: Jon Neimeister. Music credit: Sammy Davis Jr’s superlative Old Black Magic.

6 Comments

Posted in A Song of Ice and Fire, ASOIAF ReRead, Books & Novellas, Podcast

Tagged Bina007, jed o'white hart, middlecyclone, Nadia, Varley, White Raven

VoK 195: The Walking Dead (AMC series) – Season 5

Posted on April 21, 2015 by vokadmin | Leave a comment

The Vassals of Kingsgrave gather in the safety (relative) of Alexandria to review and discuss the 5th season of AMC’s The Walking Dead. Join Greg (claudiusthefool), Amanda (Middlecyclone), Augustine (linecom1) & Steven (SJLee) as we discuss how comfortable we are with a possible Ricktatorship, are the Alexandrians dumb or just ignorant of the reality in which they live, how awesome Carl is (just kidding, he’s still awful) and generally meander our way from topic to topic much as the survivors do on the show but still end up where we are meant to be in the end.

***Warning: This podcast contains spoilers for the first five seasons of AMC’s The Walking Dead as well as references and spoilers for The Walking Dead Comic by Robert Kirkman (up to the point where the show has reached in the comics. There will be no spoilers for the comics beyond that point.)***

Edited by Greg

Audio clip copyright AMC

Song: “Zombie” – The Cranberries

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Posted in Comics, Podcast, Science Fiction, TV Shows

Tagged claudiusthefool, linecom1, middlecyclone, SJLee

VoK 191: Looking (HBO series) – Season 2

Posted on April 11, 2015 by kcrumpton2013 | Leave a comment

“Who’s the weird guy crying?” Us, Aunt Sarah. Turns out it’s us. The Vassals gather ’round this week to pay their respects to HBO’s dearly departed Looking. Greg (claudiusthefool), Amanda (middlecyclone), Michael (Khal Wadege), and Katie (Lady Griffin) bid farewell to the boys who made all the mistakes and throw major shade at Slate.com, because, you know, aren’t we all Patrick at the end of the day?

Here is the Slate article we discuss.

Edited by Katie

Intro Music: “Simple Man” by Graham Nash

Outro Music: “Soul on Fire” by Spiritualized

All audio clips belong to HBO.

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Tagged claudiusthefool, Khal Wadege, Lady Griffin, middlecyclone

VoK 133: Looking (HBO series) – Season 1

Posted on August 9, 2014 by kcrumpton2013 | Leave a comment

Join Vassals Middlecyclone, Lady Griffin, and Khal Wadage as they explore the trials and tribulations of three fellows who make all of the mistakes on HBO’s Looking.

Edited by Middlecyclone

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Posted in Podcast, TV Shows

Tagged Khal Wadege, Lady Griffin, middlecyclone

VoK 102: LOTR ReRead (Part 8) – The Fourth Age of Middle-Earth

Posted on May 25, 2014 by bina007 | Leave a comment

Join the Fellowship of Vassals for the final episode of their epic eight part re-read of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings. In this episode, Bina007, Shellfish (Peter), Nadia, Middlecyclone (Amanda), Whiteraven (Brett) and EastTexasDirewolf (Shane) discuss chapters 5 to 9 of The Return of the King and the Appendices.

Topics of discussion include the logistics of Maiar reincarnation; the sex lives of elves; badass ninja hobbits; whether, if Galadriel had a beard, she would be more attractive to Gimli; the ineptitude of the White Council and the relative merits of a wiffle bat and a cricket bat in the event of a Zombie apocalypse.

The chapter discussion runs up to 1h 9m and the appendices to 2h.

This podcast contains spoilers for the works of Tolkien and George R R Martin.

Credits:
Edited by Bina007

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Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast, The Lord of the Rings

Tagged Bina007, easttexasdirewolf, middlecyclone, Nadia, Shellfish, White Raven

VoK 81: LOTR ReRead (Part 7) – The Destruction of the Ring

Posted on April 7, 2014 by bina007 | Leave a comment

The epic Vassals quest to destroy the One Ring finally reaches Mordor as we complete Book Five and begin Book Six of Tolkien’s fantasy epic Lord of the Rings. Join Bina007, Shellfish (Peter), Nadia, Whiteraven (Brett), Middlecylone (Amanda) and Teddard (Eddie) as they discuss how culpable Gandalf is; Breomer’s poor swordsmanship, and the general awesomeness of Sam as we journey to the Field of Cormallen.

Please note that this episode contains spoilers for Lord of the Rings and incidentally other parts of the Tolkien oeuvre as well as George R R Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.

Intro; 3m: Book Five Chapter Eight: The Houses of Healing; 17m: Chapter Nine: The Last Debate; 32m Chapter Ten: The Black Gate Opens; 44m Book Six Chapter One: The Tower of Cirith Ungol; 56m: Chapter Two: The Land of Shadow; 61m: Chapter Three: Mount Doom; 80m: Chapter Four: The Field of Cormallen; 90m: Outro; 96m Aftershow.

Credits:
Edited by Bina007

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Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast, The Lord of the Rings

Tagged Bina007, middlecyclone, Nadia, Shellfish, Teddard, White Raven

VoK 78: Full Cast(le) Recording #2 – Beware of Flying Babies

Posted on March 27, 2014 by kcrumpton2013 | 3 comments

In the second installment in the “Full Cast(le) Recording” series, the Vassals of Kingsgrave ascend the auditory stage to perform a dramatic reading of Jaime VI from A Feast for Crows.

Stick around after the curtain falls to hear the vassals discuss the chapter, debate the sanity and circumstance of Brynden Tully, and inevitably wind up debating the various deviations of HBO’s Game of Thrones.

2:00 – Chapter Reading
31: 40 – Aftershow Discussion

Cast:
Michal (inkasrain) – Narrator
Katie (Lady Griffin) – Jaime Lannister
Peter (Shellfish) – Brynden “Blackfish” Tully / Lyle “Strongboar” Crakehall
Leigh (LordManderBlee) – Edmure Tully / Forley Prester
Zach (Alias) – Daven Lannister
Eddie (Teddard) – Emmon Frey / Ryman Frey
Brooke (Asha Greyjoy) – Genna Lannister / Person Who Calls After Jaime / Queen of Whores
Paul (Pod’s Plight) – Karyl Vance / Spearman
Thomas (FTWard) – Addam Marbrand / Clement Piper
Amanda (middlecyclone) – Singer / Walder Rivers / Norbert Vance
Dan (witless chum) – Edwyn Frey

Crew:
Michal (inkasrain) – Host
Katie (Lady Griffin) – Editor

Credits
“The Rains of Castamere” Harp Cover by Harp Twins Camille and Kennerly
“The Rains of Castamere” Instrumental by Ramin Djawadi

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Posted in A Song of Ice and Fire, Books & Novellas, Full Cast(le) Recording, Podcast

Tagged Alias, Asha Greatjoy, FTWard, inkasrain, Lady Griffin, LordManderBlee, middlecyclone, Pod's Plight, Shellfish, witless chum

VoK 75: The Hedge Knight (by George R. R. Martin)

Posted on March 18, 2014 by vokadmin | 5 comments

The Vassals raise their pavilions at Ashford Meadow to discuss The Hedge Knight, the first story in George R. R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg series of novellas. Topics include the role of smallfolk in Westeros and the main story, knights and knighthood, how coinage and the economy of Westeros functions, the age old question of who has a right and claim to rule, and why fahrenheit is better than celsius. Zach (Alias), Bina (Bina007), Vikram (FortyTwo), Amanda (MiddleCyclone), Michael (Mordion), Leigh (LordManderblee) and Nadia (Nadia) also consider various theories that the story has spawned and how they relate to the A Song of Ice and Fire world at large.

Credits:
Edited by Zach (Alias)
Music excerpts taken from the soundtrack of HBO’s Game of Thrones, composed by Ramin Djawadi

Links:
Legends (The Hedge Knight)
The Hedge Knight Graphic Novel
Legends II (The Sworn Sword)
The Sworn Sword Graphic Novel
Warriors (The Mystery Knight)

5 Comments

Posted in A Song of Ice and Fire, Books & Novellas, Podcast

Tagged Alias, Bina007, fortytwo, LordManderBlee, middlecyclone, Mordion, Nadia

VoK 67: LOTR ReRead (Part 6) – The War of the Ring

Posted on March 2, 2014 by bina007 | Leave a comment

WitchKing

The Fellowship of Vassals record their best reread yet, covering the Siege of Minas Tirith; the Ride of the Rohirrim; and the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Naturally, this podcast is chock-full of spoilers for all of Tolkien’s works.

02:30 – White Raven recaps Chapters 1 (Minas Tirith) and Chapter 2 (The Grey Company). Shellfish accuses Aragorn of being a usurper and MiddleCyclone accuses Gandalf of knowing less than the average Gondorian. Bina007 defends Eowyn’s decision to abandon her people and ride to war, and Nadia supports the manliness of archers.

35:00 – Shellfish recaps Chapter 3 (The Muster of Rohan), in which it is discusses how good orcs are at math; how scary it must be to watch people lay siege upon you; and the difference between Book and Movie Eomer.

50:20 – Teddard recaps Chapter 4 (The Siege of Gondor), including the attack from the Mordor Air Force. White Raven argues that Faramir is baked and Bina007 plays devil’s advocate for Denethor.

1:12:00 – Nadia recaps Chapter 5 (The Ride of the Rohirrim), inciting the mantra, “Theoden is magnificent here, but also really stupid”.

1:28:00 – Middlecyclone recaps Chapter 6 (The Battle of the Pelennor) Fields, the coolest chapter in perhaps ALL of literature. Fact! But we all have a bit of a rant about how the movie handles the Army of the Dead.

1:45:57 – Bina007 recaps Chapter 7 (The Pyre of Denethor), and discusses what would happen if an Eagle took the ring, and more seriously, the overtly religious nature of this chapter (and the twisted love Denethor has for Faramir).

Credits:
Edited by Bina007

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Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast, The Lord of the Rings

Tagged Bina007, middlecyclone, Nadia, Scilens, Shellfish, Teddard, White Raven

VoK 64: LOTR ReRead (Part 5) – Forum Feedback Discussion

Posted on February 17, 2014 by bina007 | Leave a comment

In this episode our Fellowship of Vassals takes a break from carrying the Ring into Mordor in order to discuss all the fantastic feedback the four previous episodes have had in the Podcast of Ice and Fire forums.

Podcasters: Shellfish (Peter), WhiteRaven (Brett), Teddard (Eddie), MiddleCyclone (Amanda), Scilens (Tanja) and Bina007 (also editing, using music from the Brobdingnanian Bards and Chicago.)

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Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast, The Lord of the Rings

Tagged Bina007, middlecyclone, Scilens, Shellfish, Teddard, White Raven

VoK 62: LOTR ReRead (Part 4) – The Journey into Mordor

Posted on February 5, 2014 by bina007 | Leave a comment

Join our Fellowship of Vassals as they Journey Into Mordor, and discover that the much-dreaded Book Four of Lord of the Rings has more to it than just ‘more walking’. Not least, many spoilers for all of Tolkien’s oeuvre.

02:45 Shellfish aka Peter describes The Taming of Smeagol, and his deep and abiding fascination for Elvish rope.
12:45 JoThirteen aka Joanna taks us through The Dead Marshes, and asks what exactly the magicks are that are preserving the bodies.
19:20 EastTexasDirewolf aka Shane leads us to The Black Gate, in which we debate whether the black gate is, in fact, just a big gate.
28:40 Middlecylones aka Amanda speaks Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit in which we discuss the coolness of armoured elephants.
45:30 Bina007 gasps in awe at Faramir in The Window On the West, and gets excited about how the Dalai Lama could use the Ring to take over India.
57:50 Teddard aka Eddie watches over The Forbidden Pool and asks if Frodo was a victim of creaking doors.
1:01:30 WhiteRaven aka Brett takes a Journey To The Crossroads, in which there are some cool staves and a Venn diagram of doucheyness.
1:04:45 Nadia leads us into Cirith Ungol and Shelob’s Lair where we discuss Orc technology, Beren and Luthien and whether Frodo is Lord of the Rings.
1:19:00 Shellfish aka Peter describes the Choices of Master Samwise, as Frodo continues his habit of being stabbed by new and exotic things, this time off-screen, and Shelob Occupies Wall Street
1:30:00 Outro.

Editing credits: Bina007 using music from the original soundtrack to The Two Towers composed by Howard Shore.

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Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast, The Lord of the Rings

Tagged Bina007, easttexasdirewolf, JoThirteen, middlecyclone, Nadia, Scilens, Shellfish, Teddard, White Raven

VoK 60: LOTR ReRead (Part 3) – The Treason of Isengard

Posted on February 1, 2014 by bina007 | 1 comment

The ongoing quest to re-read Tolkien’s fantasy classic continues as the Fellowship of Vassals tackles Book Three of Lord of the Rings aka The Treason of Isengard.

In this third episode, Nadia, Eiffel aka Matt, Shellfish aka Peter, Amanda aka MiddleCyclones, Joanna aka JoThirteen, Brett aka Whiteraven and Bina007 enumerate their love for all things Rohan!

Beware of Spoilers: This podcast discusses Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and the Silmarillion in detail.

00:00 Introduction to the Fellowship and Bina’s geeky key stats.

05:00 JoThirteen leads a discussion on Chapter One – The Departure of Boromir – Should this chapter have been in the previous book? How were orcs and trolls made? Why does Aragorn keep Boromir’s betrayal secret?

13:00 Eiffel leads a discussion of Chapters Two and Five – The Riders of Rohan and The White Rider – Is Saruman deliberately trying to look like Gandalf? How come Gimli is happy to ‘ride bitch’? Is Aragorn every funny? Does Gandalf know about the Entmoot? Is it weird that Saruman is abroad before battle?

49:00 Whiteraven leads a discussion of Chapters Three and Four – The Uruk-Hai and Treebeard – is cutting off a hand harder than swinging a sword? Poor Orcs! Did the movie misrepresent Ents? What happened to the Entwives?

1:05:00 MiddleCyclones leads a discussion of Chapter Six – The King In The Golden Hall – in which we express our Hama-love for seemingly hours; Theoden compared to Mufasa and/or the Arthurian Fisher-King; why do they let Wormtongue go?

1:22:00 Nadia leads a discussion of Chapter Seven – Helm’s Deep – Do the movies rob Treebeard and Theoden of their agency? The Elves show up! Erkenbrand doesn’t! The absurdity of Aragorn parlaying with the Orcs!

1:45:00 Bina007 leads a discussion of Chapters Eight and Nine – The Road to Isengard and Flotsam and Jetsam – On the new no-nonsense Gandalf the White and the importance of chilling out.

1:54:00 Shellfish leads a discussion of Chapter Ten – The Voice of Saruman and Chapter Eleven – The Palantir – what is the nature of Saruman’s power? Would Theoden have fallen? How Theoden has all the best lines. Does Saruman know Gandalf has the Ring? Was Saruman always bad? Is it credible that Gandalf doesn’t know about the Palantir?

Edited by Bina007 using extracts of music from the official soundtrack to The Two Towers composed by Howard Shore.

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Posted in Books & Novellas, Podcast, The Lord of the Rings

Tagged Bina007, Eiffel, JoThirteen, middlecyclone, Nadia, Shellfish, White Raven