The Walking Dead: Survive, Settle, get Slaughtered. Will Season Seven be any different?

‘The most gruesome television death of all time.’

‘My heart is literally broken’.

‘Please don’t let this be true.’

Season Seven of AMC’s The Walking Dead certainly got off to a horrific start, surpassing even itself in terms of shear onscreen brutality. The image of Glen’s severely dented skull, blood oozing like lava from the cracks after a smash from Lucille (Negan’s weapon of choice – baseball bat covered with barbed wire), will be with me for some time. The quick young pizza delivery boy we first met in season one is no more. His headless body has been driven back to Alexandria for burial and his brain juice has likely been slurped up by the undead.

Though Glen’s death was particularly hard to take, being one of the last remaining characters from the first season, the tragic nature of his demise is something that Walking Dead fans have grown accustomed to, with the deaths of Sophia, Dale, Lori, Andrea, Hershel, Lizzie, Mika, the list goes on. We are used to tragedy. We are also used to the pattern of survive, settle, get slaughtered. Season Seven has already given us tragedy. Will it follow the same plot as all the others, or will it break the mould? Are we about to see the  birth of the New World. Here are a few thoughts…

I started watching The Walking Dead a year ago. I’ve got to be honest, the first season utterly frustrated me. Rick’s sense of duty (attached to his refusal to take off that stupid fucking police hat) and Lori’s obsession with Carl practising math incensed me. The world is falling apart around you and you’re more worried about your son’s ability to calculate ? Give him a gun and a target, for christ’s sake. However, thankfully the show moved on. Rick grew ruthless. Lori got eaten. Morgan became Mr. Miyagi. And now here we are. So what next?

Season Seven’s introduction of The Kingdom, ruled by King Ezekiel, as well as its closer focus on Negan’s Saviours, has immediately increased the scope of the series. Whilst the previous Six seasons have been spent either rambling through gutted towns or making house in new-found havens, Season Seven appears to be signalling a change in the post-apocolyptic world. Now there are communities, tribes, dictators and Kings. There is a distinct geography, as well as a clear ruler, in Negan.

Personally, I find this new direction refreshing. Too often have zombie and post-apocolyptic films and TV shows ended in either total ruin, or a return to the old world, minus a few billion people. What The Walking Dead is doing is introducing the beginnings of the new world, based upon the principal of how the old world was formed. Thousands of years ago, the Romans conquered lands controlled by hundreds and hundreds of tribes, each one with their own set of customs and practices. The Romans either wiped out these tribes and forced the survivors into slavery, or made them pay tribute, in return for peace. Negan is doing exactly the same thing, forcing communities around Washington to give him a percentage of their produce. If they fail to do so, he’ll introduce them to Lucille. It’s as simple as that. If The Walking Dead continues in this direction, then there is the opportunity for real growth of plot, for the development of a new state, once Negan has been removed from power, and the rise of a new leader, perhaps in Rick?

Yet, who knows? I could be wrong. Season Seven may end in much the same way as all the others: The Kingdom will be overrun by a herd, or sacked by Negan’s men, its inhabitants slaughtered, another couple of well-loved characters will meet their end, Rick will kill Negan and the group will be forced to once again hit the road. I hope this isn’t the case. I hope Season Seven moves us some way toward an end game, a cure even. For now, however, we’ll have to wait and see.

Game of Thrones: Five Minor ‘What-might’ve-been’ Moments that you’ve Probably Forgotten all about.

 

        **CONTAINS SPOILERS**

 

It’s late October, which means I’ve now started my annual ritual of re-watching Game of Thrones. Since the massacre that was the season six finale (death by fire is certainly not the purest death, Melisandre), rumours of what is to come in season seven have spread across the internet like (sorry, I couldn’t resist) wildfire. Will Jon and Danny team up? Will the Wall come crashing down? Where the fuck is Gendry? However, going back through those early episodes, I’ve found myself wondering more and more, ‘what if?’

‘What-ifs’ and ‘What-might’ve-beens’ are crucial to any successful tv series, film or book. Consider the Titanic, or Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. Every time I watch either film, I nearly convince myself that the horrific events due to take place will not come to pass, even though I know for a fact that thousands died in the icy waters of the Atlantic and that Anakan Skywalker will indeed become Darth Vader, after lobbing off Samuel L. Jackson’s hand. But the films make me question that knowledge, doubt it even. Game of Thrones is similarly littered with such moments: if only Ned Stark had seized power when Renly Baratheon advised him too, if only King Robert hadn’t missed his lunge against the boar (in all fairness, Robert Baratheon’s infamous love of whores and wine meant that he was probably long overdue a heart attack), if only Rob Stark had kept his vow and married the Frey girl.

These are major moments that everyone can point to. However, Game of Thrones is also strewn with lesser-known events, which have had major repercussions for our best-loved characters. Below are a list of five somewhat minor moments that, in all the excitement over the upcoming season, you’ve probably forgotten all about. Minor though they may be, the consequences of these events have been huge.

Number One: Catelyn Stark’s Broken Vow (S3, E2: ‘Dark Wings, Dark Words’) 

Upon hearing the news of Bran and Rickon’s disappearance, after the Iron Islanders who occupied Winterfell supposedly put the castle to the torch and its inhabitants to the sword,  Catelyn makes a prayer wheel, in the hope that it will keep Bran and Rickon safe. Lady Talisa, Rob Stark’s ill-fated wife, offers to help; an offer Cat rejects. Catelyn then tells Talisa of another time she made such a wheel. She reveals to Talisa that when Ned brought Jon back with him, after ‘Robert’s Rebellion’, she wished the baby boy dead. Cat recalls how she repeatedly prayed to the Gods, begging them to kill the infant. A few months after Ned’s return, Jon suddenly came down with the pox. Catelyn tells Talisa that she realised  Jon’s illness was her doing. In a moment of remorse, Cat then prayed to all of the seven Gods to spare the boy, promising that if he survived she would be a true mother to him and convince Ned to legitimise him and name him Stark. Jon survived, yet Cat failed to keep her vow. If she would’ve, then perhaps Jon (Stark) would not have joined the Night’s Watch. He would not have infiltrated Mance Rayder’s Wildling Army. He would not have warned the Night’s Watch of the impending attack. The Wildling’s would have taken Castle Black and invaded Westeros from the North, leaving no one left to defend against the White Walkers who would’ve undoutedly followed them.

Number Two: Edmure Tully’s search for Glory (S3, E3: ‘Walk of Punishment)

After Rob Stark’s grandfather and Catelyn Stark’s father, Lord Hoster Tully dies, Rob, Cat, and all of the Northern host (aside from Roose Bolton and his force) head to Riverrun for the funeral. During a counsel of war meeting, Rob confronts his uncle Edmure (Cat’s brother) over his decision to attack the Lannister forces in the Battle of Stone Mill. His decision to engage the Lannister army and push them out of the Riverlands gave Tywin Lannister the chance to retreat back to King’s Landing and save the city from Stannis Baratheon. It also enabled Ser Gregor Clegane (The Mountain) the opportunity to slip from the Northern army’s ever tightening noose. If Edmure Tully had obeyed Rob’s orders then The Mountain would have been captured and killed. He would not have fought Oberyn Martell in Tyrian Lannister’s trail by combat. More so, however, King’s Landing would have likely fallen to Stannis Baratheon, as Tywin Lannister’s forces could not have broken through the Northern lines. Edmure’s search for glory is one of the main reasons why Rob Stark ultimately lost the war.

Number Three: Theon Greyjoy’s capture of Winterfell (S2 E5 & 6: ‘The Ghost of Harrenhal’ & ‘The Old Gods and The New’) 

Another case of how failing to follow orders can really screw things up. Yes, Theon’s choice to betray the Starks is a major what-might’ve-been moment in the series. Yet, his decision to take Winterfell, rather than obey his father’s orders and raid the fishing villages along the Northern coast, is a somewhat minor part of his betrayal that can sometimes slip passed unnoticed, when his crimes, which include the beheading of Sir Rodrick Cassel and the burning of two innocent farm boys, are considered as a whole. By taking Winterfell, Theon diminished the Starks ability to control The North and gave Roose Bolton the opportunity to claim it for himself. If Theon would have followed his father’s orders, then both Bran and Rickon would’ve remained in Winterfell. With a Stark in Winterfell, any attempt by Roose Bolton to seize The North would’ve ended in failure, as the Northern Lords, sworn to serve House Stark, would have rallied to their cause. Also, Theon would’ve kept his cock, which is a loss I’m sure he mourns deeply.

Number Four: Danny’s empathy costs her (S1, E8: ‘The Pointy End’)

To prepare for the invasion of Westeros, Khal Drogo orders his men to raid villages close to Vaes Dothrak. The men living in these villages are killed and the women are repeatedly raped, before being sold into slavery. As Daenerys enters one of these villages, she witnesses the bloodshed first hand and, appalled, orders the Dothraki to stop the carnage. Danny claims the surviving women as her own, meaning that no Dothraki warrior can now touch them. This move angers Drogo’s men, as one openly challenges him. Drogo easily kills the man, ripping out his Jugular with his bare hands. Yet Drogo is also slightly wounded. Danny asks one of the women she has claimed to see to the Khal’s wound. However, it begins to fester and Danny is forced to sacrifice a life, that of her child, to save Khal Drogo’s. Drogo never fully recovers. Danny’s act of empathy brought about the death of her husband and her son. Yet, without it, she would have never walked into the flames and her dragons would have never been born. Their importance, in terms of the future plot, is something we are yet to truly discover, though I’m certain a few White Walkers are in for a sizzling.

Number Five: Gendry is sold by the Brotherhood Without Banners (S3, E6: ‘The Climb’)

Remember Gendry? Rumour has it, we may be seeing him very soon, after three seasons of endless off-screen rowing. Yet, back in season three he was a regular character. Upon escaping form Harrenhal with Arya Stark and Hot Pie, Gendry is captured by the Brother Without Banners. Whilst in their custody, he deicides to join them and become their armourer. Just as Gendry and Arya are saying goodbye to each other , Melisandre and some of Stannis Baratheon’s men arrive at the Brotherhood’s camp. Melisandre is aware that Gendry is the bastard son of Robert Baratheon. She also knows the power of King’s blood. Melisandre pays the Brotherhood two bags of coin for Gendry and he becomes her prisoner. Here’s where this somewhat trivial moment becomes important. Back at Dragonstone, Melisandre uses Gendry’s blood to perform blood magic, as Stannis drops three leaches, all of which have fed on Gendry, into the flames. As he does so, he names three men: The Usurper, Rob Stark, The Usurper, Balon Greyjoy, The Usurper, Joffrey Baratheon. All three are killed, betrayed by either family or those sworn to serve them. Whilst there are plausible explanations for each King’s death, this is hardly a coincidence, considering the significance the TV series places on the power of magic. Therefore, you can say that, if the Brotherhood Without Banners hadn’t have sold Gendry to Melisandre, then perhaps some, if not all of the men Stannis named would still be alive. Heavy!

So there you have it, five somewhat minor moments that turned out to have major repercussions. Game of Thrones is absolutely full of these events, forks in the road where characters inevitably make the wrong decision for themselves and those we as the audience care about, but the right decision in terms of plot. Here’s to season seven! I’m sure there’ll be many more moments to come. As for me, I’m putting a bet on Gendry becoming a major player in the future. The Stormlands are up for grabs now that Stannis is out of the picture. Will he be the one to bring them into the fold? Let’s hope so!

Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize & Ten lesser -known songs of his you must hear!

Yesterday, it was announced that Bob Dylan had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature; the first musician to ever achieve such a feat. My reaction as a huge Dylan fan? (Evident in the title of my Blog!) It’s been a long time coming.

I bought my first Bob Dylan album at the age of seventeen. It was a hot summers morning, already above twenty degrees, and I was suffering from a steaming hangover, the kind where any sudden movement of the head reduces you to a retching mess. I’d stayed at a friends the night before, after a mid-week gig in Portsmouth. Back in those merry days, I had the luxury of a college bus pass. This thing could rescue you from any situation (providing you were located in the Hampshire region). On my way home that morning, I stopped off at Commercial road to peruse the shops. This was during the golden age of EMA (Education Maintainence Allowance), where the government paid students from less well-off families £20 a week so they could afford books and travel etc. I already had a job which earned me enough, so I spent my EMA on booze and CDs. On that fine morning, waiting for my connecting bus, I went into HMV and made the most of their 2 for £10 offer. I bought Arctic Monkeys’s Favourite Worst Nightmare, a band most of my generation were (and still are) in love with, and Dylan’s seminal Blonde on Blonde. I got home just before midday, set up a deck chair in the garden, and fed Dylan’s album into the CD player. From that moment on, I was obsessed.

At university I studied English literature and Creative Writing. One of my first assignments was to do a presentation on my favourite writer. Whilst others picked novelists such as Nick Hornby and J.K Rowling, I chose Bob Dylan. My lecturer thankfully approved and my obsession intensified, as I started to write my own songs in his early ballad-esque style.

For me, what makes Dylan stand out is the fact that his songs operate on a dual level. On the one hand, they are artefacts of popular music culture, symbols of a time and a generation, which play a vital role in the reflective identity construction of decades such as the sixties. However, once you take away the context, the notion of time, even the music itself, his songs are still able to stand alone as pieces of exceptional poetry. For this reason, the Nobel academy selected Dylan as the worthy winner of the 2016 award for Literature.

When I first started listening to Bob Dylan, I was obviously aware of his main hits: ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, ‘Blowing in the Wind’, ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, etc. However, the real joy in getting to know an artist’s work is in discovering the lesser-known jewels hidden amongst their extensive musical output. For this reason, I have compiled a short list of ten Bob Dylan songs that, if you haven’t heard already, you absolutely must listen to.

• ‘Girl from the North Country’ – The Freewheelin (1963)
• ‘With God on Our Side’ – The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964)
• ‘My Back Pages’ – Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)
• ‘One of us Must Know’ – Blonde on Blonde (1966)
• ‘Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’ – Blonde on Blonde (1966)
• ‘I Threw it all Away’ – Nashville Skyline (1969)
• ‘The Man in Me’ – New Morning (1970)
• ‘Shelter from the Storm’ – Blood on the Tracks (1975)
• ‘Baby Stop Crying’ – Street Legal (1978)
• ‘Jokerman’ – Infidels (1980)

I was tempted to write a little review of each song, but I thought it’d be better for you to make up your own mind about them. So go ahead and check them out! Discover for yourself the brilliance of Bob Dylan. Long may it continue.

To the future then. Bob Dylan is the first musician and songwriter to be awarded the Nobel Prize, yet he will not be the last. Once again, at the age of 75, Dylan has shown the way for others to follow. Now, only one question remains. Who will do so?

Musings of a Confused Graduate

When I was a boy, I developed a theory about life. It went like this. I wouldn’t be seeing the things I’m seeing, feeling the things I’m feeling, experiencing life through a body I alone control, if my existence was going to be anything less than extraordinary. Well, at the age of twenty-two, I can confirm that my boyhood self knew fuck all about life.

It’s quite a theory for an eleven-year-old (I think eleven) to develop. Yet I was always full of those grand thoughts. I used to spend hours fantasising about my life, what I’d do, who I’d do, the lengthy paragraphs on my obituary when I’d finally pass at a ripe old age. How would I be remembered? What would I achieve? This obsession with thought led to a successful education. Yet my academic intelligence now feels like a burden, a duty of birthright, an order to succeed, to be a success. For as long as I can remember, my life has been moving forward, school year upon school year, birthday cards serialized upon the mantelpiece, each one a different number, a different date on the calendar. And now, here I am. Time has stopped, the world awaits, and I’m to wander amongst our civilisation, hunting for a path long covered by concrete, paving slabs and litter.

You might call this a self-help post, though my primary aim, at this point, is helping myself alone. You might also describe this as a work of fiction, which, it also is. So here we are, The Diary of a Confused, Scared, and Psychologically Compromised Graduate…I need a shorter title, also Diary sounds awful. Confessions, perhaps? Musings? Musings is okay. Alright…Musings of a Confused Graduate…It will do for now. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this initial ‘musing’, which I intend to evolve into a weekly stream of consciousness post all about life after death (of your life as a student ). I hope you laugh, cry, and react in anyway your mind sees fit.

Start:

One of the key issues I’ve had to combat over the past few months is nostalgia. Nostalgia is a bastard. It sneaks up on you like a villainous butler approaching his elderly employer. It adds fuel to your hearth, lays a blanket over you, and, when you’re nice and comfortable, offers you a poisoned cup. I’ve been tempted to drink in the past. Now I shut it out. Raise a shotgun from underneath my dressing gown and blow the fucker’s head off, leaving nothing but a bloody stump and a bow tie beneath. This brings me to my opening sign off. Don’t allow nostalgia to corrupt your memories, turning them from a living source of happiness, to a pool of silver misery, whereupon we gaze, like Narcissus, and lose ourselves in the abundance of our melancholy. And now for some lines that bring me comfort once again, rather than pain.

‘From the land beyond beyond, past the world of hope and fear, I bid you, Genie, now appear!’

(Green Manalishi)

Poems That’ll get you into Poetry

‘Lets be honest, do kids really care about the symbolic importance of the colour green? Of course not!’ – Photo – Charles Bukowski

 

I’d actually set Saturday aside to write this post but due to laziness, and a tasty Gillette Soccer Saturday, I put it back to today. So what a coincidence (or is it perhaps fate?), it’s World Poetry Day! To celebrate, I’ve compiled a small selection of my favourites. In a nutshell: these poems are incredible and you must read them!

Before I get stuck in and lose myself in the magnificence of verse, I want to promptly shatter some negative assumptions about poetry. There’s this common misconception that poetry’s a highbrow art form, inaccessible and difficult to interpret, unless you know your Virgil from your Homer. (Note: The Aeneid and The Iliad, by the aforementioned, are incredibly similar. The previous line is a shit joke. I know. It’s not funny.) Personally, I blame English literature curriculums and that blue A4 anthology with waves on the front. You know the one. Heaney, Armitage, Duffy and Plath. As a lover of all things literary, I will freely admit to despising that anthology, because, lets be honest, do kids really care about the symbolic importance of the colour green? Of course not! However, going back to my original point, poetry is often not as ‘highbrow’ as people assume.

Robert Herrick – ‘The Vine’.

Robert Herrick’s ‘The Vine’, written in the 1640s, is a prime example of Early Modern seduction poetry. In the poem, the speaker has a dream that his ‘mortal part’ (take a wild guess) is ‘metamorphosed’ (transformed) into ‘a vine’, which then ‘enthralls’ (wraps around) his ‘dainty Lucia’. Herrick then spends most of the poem describing the twisting motion of his ‘vine’, as it moves over Lucia’s ‘belly, buttocks and thighs’. This poem recounts a sex dream. However, unfortunately for Herrick, there’s no Thai Massage Finale (‘happy ending’), as he awakes to find, ‘ah me, this flesh of mine, more like a stock (the stalk of a plant) than like a vine’. Essentially, the plot of this poem goes as follows: Herrick has sex dream then wakes up with massive hard on. The dirty bastard.

Shakespeare – ‘Sonnet 130’

Stop it! Don’t you dare groan. I know most of you hated him at school but there’s a reason why Shakespeare is held in such high regard, and that’s because no selection of poetry is complete without at least one of the great bard’s works. Put simply, he was a genius.

At a time when women were poetically described through otherworldly, unattainable language, Shakespeare chose to reject the norm and represent his ‘mistress’ as she really was: human, imperfect, yet ‘as rare any she belied with false compare’. The opening line to Sonnet 130 – ‘My Mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun’ – is perhaps one of greatest lines in history. Throughout the poem, Shakespeare compares his mistress to the goddess-like figures that other poets wrote of, describing her breasts as ‘dun’ and her breath as reeking. Yet, whilst first appearances suggest that Shakespeare is just being a massive prick, what he’s really doing is bringing her down to a human level and representing her as she is. Therefore, his mistress exists on the page as herself, not as another illusive goddess who will simply merge into the next one.

Katherine Philips – ‘Upon the Double Murder of King Charles’

I doubt many people have heard of Katherine Philips, which I think is a massive shame. In terms of the history of feminism, she is a huge figure. Writing after and during the English Civil Wars (1642-1651), Philips was one of the first politically active female writers. Her poem ‘Upon the Double Murder of King Charles’ is an example of her poetic talent, but also her daring. If you’re good with your British history, you’ll know that Parliament won the English Civil Wars. Married to a Parliamentarian officer, Philips was, herself, a royalist. For a woman to go against her husband in this period was one thing, but for a woman to be politically active in her criticism of the ruling regime was, well, incredibly risky.

‘Upon the Double Murder of King Charles’ is an attack on those who executed and supported the execution of King Charles I, in 1649. In the poem, Philips writes that ‘nature’s laws’ have been ‘breached’ as the ‘dying lion’ is ‘kicked by every Ass’, which, along with the word ‘Murder’, present in the poem’s title, tells you everything you need to know about her political beliefs. The poem itself is quite lengthy, but, after reading it, you can’t help but admire her courage. She’s definitely one to read and I’m surprised no one’s yet made a film about her life. For those who are interested, I suggest a quick Wikipedia search to get the gist.

Charles Bukowski – ‘Law’

Charles Bukowski, the first modern poet included in this selection, is writer I studied a lot last year for the final stage of my undergrad degree. His first novel, Post Office, is a modern classic and a must-read for fans of smutty seventies literature.

I came across this poem when watching spoken word clips of Buk on YouTube and, since then, I count it among my all-time favorites. ‘Law’ mocks the processes of democracy, using the image of a hanging tree and people dying upon it to do so. In the poem, Bukowski’s speaker goes out to the tree each morning to find different people and animals all hanging from various branches, ‘most of them dead or dying’. ‘Law’ is a narcissistic representation of modern politics and is still relevant to this day. I’ve included a link to a reading from Bukowski himself, so spare a couple of minutes. It’s worth it.

Raymond Carver – ‘Happiness’

The final poem I’ve included in this minimal selection is Raymond Carver’s ‘Happiness’. Whilst other poems here fulfill a certain function, this text is the closest I believe poetry comes to being a pure representation of reality, capturing a moment as it is rather than diluting it with imagery. Carver, like Bukowski, was a prominent writer of the 70s and 80s and is now regarded as one of greatest writers of the 20^th century.

‘Happiness’ is, quite simply, a poem about a man looking through his window, early in the morning, as two young boys make their way down the street on their paper round. Carver’s speaker describes how ‘the boys’ are ‘so happy’ and ‘they’re not saying anything.’ The silence present in the poem is reflected through the poet’s minimalistic language. Yet, taking Carver’s personal life into consideration and his struggles with alcoholism and violence, this poem seems to represent a moment of solitary peace and consolation. ‘Such beauty that for a minute death and ambition, even love, doesn’t enter into this’ Carver writes, ‘this’ referring both to the moment captured and the poem itself. In this sense, Carver forgoes poetic ambition and reflects reality as it is. If you were to read any of the poems included in my selection, then this is the one I’d recommend.

There are many other poems I wanted to include in this post, but, alas, all things must come to an end. The real goal of this is to re-engage people with the subject of poetry. If anyone is offended or outraged by my choices then I’m glad, because at least it got you thinking.

So folks, whilst you flick down your newsfeed this evening, why not take two minutes to Google one of the poems I’ve mentioned. It’ll literally take seconds to read Sonnet 130 or Happiness, so there’s no excuse.

Oh and Happy World Poetry Day! Big up the Bard! Big up Verse! Big up the next Shakespeare whenever he may be…