by John Walters (sorry, I’m back)
Bob Dylan turns 75 today, but I’m not about to suggest that he’s knockin’ on heaven’s door….
Starting Five
If only he had some sort of wedge to lock the door from the outside, as Khaleesi had
1. Hold The Door!
By now you know that our beloved Rim Protector of Winterfell, Hodor, died. A few thoughts:
- Since Hodor was his name since the very first episode, Bran was always going to make the mistake of allowing the Night’s King to touch him. It wasn’t as if this was an accident. So why did the Three-Eyed Raven, who can warg, allow him to do this while he was asleep?
- Second GoT episode in a row that ended with an incredible death scene that involved a door being jammed or locked. If only Hodor had a wooden plank to hold across the door as Daenerys had.
- The actor who portrayed young Hodor, i.e. Wyllis (Sam Coleman) did an outstanding job with his seizure scene, no?
Are there Single Scene Emmys? Should there be, because Coleman deserves one.
- So you have Meera pulling Bran on a sled through a blizzard as Hodor’s death gives them, what, a five-minute head start? At the moment, it still doesn’t look too good for them.
- You have to love actor Kristian Nairn, a.k.a Hodor. For five-plus seasons he had a prominent role on a show in which he only had to know one word for all of his lines. It must have been fun for him getting the scripts each week.
2. Everybody Loves Draymond*
Common basketball move
*The judges will also accept, “Ain’t That a Kick in the Pants?”
If intentionally kicking an opposing player in the groin merits a suspension, then Draymond Green deserved a suspension. Simple as that. I’ve seen some folks on Twitter suggest other punishments for Green because they don’t want “the series to be ruined” by having him miss Game 4, but this is a common logical flaw: the NBA wouldn’t have “ruined” the series, Green would have by choosing to do something that is illegal.
It’s not the guy who enforces the law who creates the outcome, it’s the guy who breaks it. Remember that, SEC fans.
Anyway, NBA VP of Ops KiKi Vandeweghe, a former player, was on SVP last night and suggested that part of the reason that Green was not suspended is that he tends to flail a lot. Well, KiKi, that’s not an excuse. If I tend to shoot off my gun in the backyard in crazy directions, that doesn’t excuse me when a random shot I fired hits an innocent victim.
3. Mudder of God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZC9MedUFto
It was three days ago, but we’re catching up here and my, what a terrific Preakness. No? In the slop at Pimlico, Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist took off like a bat out of hell. Exaggerator, who had finished second at the Derby, was as much as 11 or 13 lengths behind early. But watch Exaggerator slowly reel Nyquist. And then on the homestretch, watch as Nyquist’s jockey panics and pulls out from the rail to try and go outside of E, wasting valuable time and energy. I think Tyronn Lue was riding Nyquist. Outstanding race.
4. The Mountain Wins Again
You’re not gonna need that return flight ticket
Four people died attempting to summit (and just as difficult to return from) Mount Everest over the weekend. Personally, I LOVE that there is a mountain such as Everest that remains such a treacherous goal for men and women. I love that there are people who would risk their lives for the glory of doing it. And I love that Nepal isn’t governed by a bunch of sissy Marys who would outlaw climbing it. I love that they don’t want to protect us from ourselves.
Climb every mountain, said Maria Von Trapp. Especially if you’re trying to escape the Nazis. Or even just escape banality. You may pay the highest price. But so what? At least you lived.
5. O, Caput-in, My Caput-in*
*The judges acknowledge your use of Latin (“caput” is “head”)
The season finale of Saturday Night Live, hosted by former cast member Frank Armisen, had a vintage feel. There was a cold open that segued into a dance sequence that took our characters off stage and beyond the fourth wall, something that Steve Martin and Gilda Radner once did decades ago. There was a final skit, the Harkin Brothers, that didn’t go for a laugh as much as it did a vibe. And there was Bass-o-Matic level gross-out humor with “Farewell, Mr. Bunting,” an instant classic.
By the way, “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost had a very strong second half of the season. Last week’s joke, at the end of Jay Pharaoh’s bit about the rapper intervention, when he asked, “Were there any rappers there that I like?” was perfect. And this past weekend he ended with a joke that he and Michael Che said was too racy for them to use at the time: “Jared Fogel from Subway was sentenced to 15 years. The good news for his cellmate is that Jared is used to eating the same thing every day for 15 years.”
Music 101
Girl From The North Country
Bob Dylan, who turns 75 today, wrote this song in 1963, when he has just 22 years old. How do people have this much talent so young (or maybe it’s just the opposite? This is the age at which people are their most creative?) ? He re-recorded this song of love and loss six years later, with the legendary Johnny Cash, for his 1969 Nashville Sounds album.
And just as a little bonus here, this is Dylan appearing on TV at the age of 22 with “A Man of Constant Sorrow.” Finally, here’s a good read on Dylan, his interview with Ed Bradley of “60 Minutes” in 2004. It was his first TV interview in 20 years.
Remote Patrol
The Night Manager
10 p.m. AMC
Dickie Roper seems too smart and savvy to not realize who his Judas is
If you’ve stuck with it this far, you know that tonight is the six-episode miniseries’ finale and that Jonathan Pine/Andrew Birch is right back where he started: at a swanky hotel in Cairo. Sure, Warriors at Thunder (9 p.m., TNT) Game 4 should be a kick in the pants as well.