Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) stark naked! (.gif)

UncleScoopy

GAME of THRONES SPOILER (obviously) …

Maisie Williams got nekkid in episode two of this season’s Game of Thrones, or at least her character did, as she chose to lose her virginity to Gendry during the vigil held by the living on the eve of the great battle against the dead. Here is a sound clip (direct link). In case that link does not work, here’s the gfycat container page.

Here are some 1080 stills from the scene

Given the show’s history, there could be cgi or doubling chicanery involved here, but Maisie seems to have admitted it’s the real deal. (I think. Her comments are not completely transparent.)

For comparison, the previous pics of a topless, bethonged Maisie (from behind), taken almost three years ago.

RCP has an interesting way to look at approval ratings

UncleScoopy

Donald Trump’s net approval rating of -12.5 seems terrible.

But when you look at it in context, it tends to show that people hate Washington, and they don’t hate Trump much more or less than the Democratic leaders, whose net approval ratings are almost identical to Trump’s

Nancy Pelosi -13.3
Chuck Schumer -12.4

There is one person people hate more than Trump – Mitch McConnell at -23. Hating him is the one thing that liberals and conservatives can agree on. Yet McConnell may wield the most power of any of them.

“The horrible terrorist attacks on churches and hotels that have killed at least 138 million people.”

UncleScoopy

So proclaimed our leader, using the same New Math he used to calculate his inauguration crowd.

Ya gotta love that guy! By the way, the population of Sri Lanka is between 20 and 25 million.

I have a theory about this. A lot of people think Trump is just careless or intellectually challenged. I disagree. I think he’s just manipulating us. I think he deliberately says “crazy shit” (to quote his former White House counsel) so the media, social media, pundits, late-night comics, and douchebags like me will concentrate on chasing micro-developments in these storylines, while ignoring all of his malignant schemes and his major failures in the realm of substantive policy issues. I think his theory is that everyone who discusses “covfefe” or “138 million” is someone who is not discussing his obstruction of justice, his lack of control over his subordinates, his lack of a coherent foreign policy, or his failure to work with lawmakers on either health care or immigration.

I may be giving him too much credit by thinking he’s cagey enough to use chaos as a strategy. Perhaps he’s just what he appears to be, a pathological liar and narcissist who has no control over his impulses, but I think it is dangerous to underestimate him. He was in the construction business in New York and New Jersey, sometimes underpaid his contractors, and is still alive, so you know he must have outstanding survival instincts.

Trump hilariously claims ‘nobody disobeys my orders,’ defying Mueller’s account

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The report read: “The President’s efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests.”

Instead of denying it, Trump should instead thank God they did. He probably in office now only because Chris Christie, Don McGahn, Dan Coats, Rob Porter and others failed to carry out his improper or illegal orders (“crazy shit,” as McGahn called it).

Mayor Pete is lookin’ pretty strong in the latest polls

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Polls, as of today (April 22)

New Hampshire: Sanders 30, Biden 18, Buttigieg 15

Iowa: Biden 19, Sanders 19, Buttigieg 14

That kinda makes Buittigieg the favorite, in that the other two are about 50/50 to still be alive come primary time. Beto O’Rourke seems to have run out of steam, having fallen to 6th in both states. I’m guessing that the Beto crowd has embraced Mayor Pete as their new savior.

The oddsmakers differ in one respect: they still place Kamala Harris above Buttigieg and Biden, and barely beneath Bernie. The polls show Harris barely making a blip on the radar (Iowa 6%, New Hampshire 4%).

Elizabeth Warren is foundering in both the polls and the odds, but she made a bold move today. She hopes to differentiate herself by being the only candidate calling for a Trump impeachment. Given that many Democrats agree with that stance, she hopes that might breathe new life into her campaign. Remains to be seen.

That whole zany Mueller thingy did not help Trump’s poll numbers

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Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 37%, and 40% feel he should be impeached.

I wouldn’t put too much stock in that second rating unless the pollsters defined “impeachment” before asking the question. I’ve found that as many as 3/4 of people don’t understand what impeachment actually is. They tend to think it means “removed from office.”

Carol Lynley (remember her?) naked

UncleScoopy

UPDATED with a Carol Lynley movie nude scene, thanks to Oz:

Carol Lynley naked

If you don’t remember her, here’s a reminder based on some obscure movie trivia.

In 1965 there were two movies released about the life of Jean Harlow, a legendary screen starlet. Because it was 1965, there wasn’t real nudity in either film. Both films were simply called Harlow, and both starred a Carol. Carol Lynley was one, Carroll Baker was the other. The Harlow actresses were not very similar, given their casting as the same woman. Baker looked as sassy as the real Jean Harlow, was buxom, and was already in her mid 30s. While Baker’s casting seemed at least superficially appropriate, Lynley’s always seemed questionable. She had kind of an innocent look, possessed an average figure, and was only 22 when her Harlow scenes were filmed.

At any rate …

Carroll Baker fled to Europe, where she did plenty of nude scenes. She was featured, often in various stages of undress, in what seemed like an endless string of awful 1970s Eurocrap movies like My Father’s Wife where she did her final nude scene at age 45. When her nudity days were over, she returned to Hollywood as a character actress. For example, you may have seen her as Dorothy Stratten’s mom in Star-80.

Baker did her last nude scene at 45, but oddly enough, Lynley did her first (and only) one at age 46, a brief topless scene in Blackout (1998). In most of her post-Harlow career, she was a minor star in the USA, primarily on television.

Ellie Kemper as “Crazy Blow Job Girl”

UncleScoopy

Either that or a really awesome episode of The Office.

“In 2007, Kemper appeared in Blowjob Girl, a humor video on the sketch comedy site Derrick Comedy. The video quickly went viral, especially after it was featured on CollegeHumor. Looking back, she now regrets doing it.”

“I really don’t like that video, and I wish that I hadn’t done it, even though I know that it’s a joke. I hate that it got sort of big, because I don’t think that it’s that funny and I don’t want that to be the epitome of my work.”

Here is that video:

Betting on The Iron Throne

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You can place a bet on who will be ruling Westeros at the end of GoT, so if you have a script, I’m sure some gamblers would like to talk to you about a partnership.

  • The current betting favorite is, surprisingly, Bran Stark, at about even money.
  • A lot of people seem to think it will be Sansa (3-1)
  • Jon Snow is the next choice (5-1).
  • Between the new power couple, Gendry comes in at 8-1, Arya 12-1.
  • Surprisingly, the Khaleesi is a long shot a 14-1.

I’m all in on Bronn at 150-1. I don’t really think he will get the job. I just want him to. If they decided it like a sort of “Westeros Idol,” where the audience votes, I’d be calling the toll-free number for Bronn non-stop.

Joking aside, I think there is a good chance that The North could be recognized as an independent kingdom in recognition of their defense against the White Walkers. This makes a lot of sense considering that the North will now include all the wildlings and all the land north of the wall. If that is the case, then Sansa could end up as queen, but not ruling all Westeros from the Iron Throne. If Sansa dies in the series, Gendry and Arya could end up ruling the North as a couple, unifying the Stark and Baratheon families. Those crazy kids are headed that way. Independence for The North under Arya and Gendry, two honorable young people, would be a very satisfying ending for part of the saga. I still expect a Targaryen (Jon or Khaleesi or another as yet unidentified) to end up on the Throne of Westeros, dragons in tow, but I’m just guessing.

It is also possible that Khaleesi and her armies will return whence they came and she will become some kind of queen or emperor there. There are many companies of non-Westerosi warriors (the Golden Company, The Second Sons, the Dothraki, the Unsullied) involved in the struggle on different sides, and I don’t expect them all to settle in Westeros when the war ends.

Another possibility for complete independence from the central government in King’s Landing: The Iron Islands, which seem to be going their own way, avoiding both wars (the war against the dead, and the battle for the throne). This could make Yara Greyjoy another queen in her own kingdom.

As for other areas like The Vale and Dorne, who knows? The show seems to have dropped all discussion of them for now.

But I think if you bet that nobody will rule all Westeros – in other words, that more than one character will end up as a king or queen in what has previously been ruled from King’s Landing as the unified “seven kingdoms” – you would have a pretty decent bet.

You would also have a very good bet if you wager that the Iron Throne itself will be gone, and therefore nobody will sit on it. Remember that all of King’s Landing sits upon a stash of wildfire, and that it could easily be ignited in one way or another – in warfare, by a traitor, etc. Furthermore, if any Targaryen ends up as a ruler, the seat of power would probably be moved from King’s Landing to Dragonstone, where Daenerys was storm-born.

Oh-oh. I sense I’m really geeking out.