The FOMC meeting announcement on Wednesday seems to be overshadowing the large amounts of economic data, and company earnings announcements.
Non-Farm Payrolls on Friday.
The following is dark and full of spoilers.
As all its loyal fans know, this is the last season of Game of Thrones. And it is even more poignant because it seems increasingly doubtful that George R. R. Martin will ever finish the books and provide the kind of well thought out plotlines for which he is known.
Last night was the dramatic confrontation with the Night King at the Battle of Winterfell. The first thing the survivors should do is hold an inquiry. Who designed their defensive and offensive tactics, the Democratic National Committee?
It was a nice touch that they built a very strong defensive trench, that was at the back of their troops deployed on the fields in front, creating a lovely bottleneck for their own people when their inevitable retreat was called.
Almost as clever as having your Dothraki cavalry charge far out ahead into a spear wielding horde in the dark to be slaughtered. But then again, packing all the women and children in a closely confined crypt full of dead people, who would almost certainly be called to life by the Night King, was also a stroke of genius.
When the trench was finally lighted, the difficulty of which was laughable, the crafty zombies thwarted it by what— just stopping and looking at it. I'll bet the defenders were sad that they placed the fireball throwing trebuchets out front where they would be almost immediately overrun. But at long last someone decided to man the walls. tra la.
And as suspected, a deus ex machina event in the final minutes snatched victory from defeat. It was hard to tell if they copied this universal kill off gimmick from Blade Trinity or Resident Evil. The 'battle' itself was right out of World War Z and The Walking Dead.
There were some very well filmed moments, and lots of 'cool scenes' and poignant action, for people to comment online to their friends. Unfortunately they were stitched together almost after the fact. It was like art imitates a twitter feed.
And is this surprising? Our own political discourse has devolved into a series of zingers and gotcha moments, of spectacles and theater, loosely stitched together with a thin mockery of priority, planning, and policy.
But no matter, let's get on with it. Next up to bat is Cersei and King's Landing. I hope the final two episodes can do a little better in resolving some open questions, and the many, many fan theories. It is hard to accept that this was the great confrontation that we have been waiting literally years to see.
I have been trying out some new techniques around the yard, including using Quoddy blend 'lobster compost' from Coast of Maine.
A local higher end supermarket chain had a load of it on sale at a great price, and I bought it for all the shrub planting and tending work. It was the same price as common garden soil. I don't know if the lobster shells will make any serious difference, but the composition and suitability of the stuff was very nice indeed.
The lawn has responded very well to the overseeding and general maintenance, and I am pleased that I used starter fertilizer rather than a high nitrogen stuff that provokes top growth and maximizes your need to mow, and little else.
Growing things around here is difficult, because we are located in what used to be mountains, but have been ground down over the millenia into foothills and escarpments with a nice rock and clay mixture of problematic soil with a natural acidity. It is rare that you can dig a simple hole for planting here without the help of a pickaxe.
The severe moss problem seems to be getting back under control. Its funny how when you stop paying attention to things for seven or eight years how easily they can finally go all to hell. Kind of reminds one of the lack of integrity in the financial markets after years of regulatory capture.
Have a pleasant evening.
