Peronal Thoughts and Rantings
I know you’re not reading, but are we watching the same Series?
John Makohen, NYC, NY
04 April 2019
I went to the Game of Thrones Premier on Wednesday evening, at Radio City Music Hall in NYC. Still trying to figure out if it was a mistake or not?
But first things first -From the title, you might think I’m straying from Year of the Johnny’s theme which relates to my personal experience with addiction and recovery, but I am not.
Radio City Music Happ Presents the Game of Thrones Season 8 Premiere.
Wednesday,
03-April-2019
However, this post does relate to the end days of my active addiction. And if Old Johnny was around last night, he would’ve smashed someone upside the head, at the Game of Thrones premiere. Because clearly most of the fans (at least the fans standing by me) are definitely watching a different show. I don’t have to comment about reading. We all know that shit ain’t happening.
I’m a writer. So that means I’m a reader And readers just can’t read enough. We enjoy reading everything. I can honestly say reading and writing were crucial to my getting off the streets, off dope, and well, pay for all the great life I have today.
I read the first 5 books before I saw the HBO’s series. I started with
“A Storm of Swords.” I was homeless when I found ‘Swords’ one evening while riding the NYC Subway to keep out of the rain. Someone left their copy on the 5 train, and I picked it up somewhere in the Bronx. I opened to a page and read. It was so good. I read into the early morning only stopping to switch to a new train once I reached the end of the line. I exited the train at Wall Street the next morning to panhandle. Once I got to my spot, I impatiently waited for the sun to rise to escape my wretched life and return to Westeros.
I was hooked. Needless to say, I got my hands on the rest of the books and devoured them all and had to wait for “A Dance of Dragons” to hit the shelves.
I hungrily craved for Dragons to be published with the nervousness and anxiety-like any good junkie. It was released minutes before I climbed out of the gutter.
I didn’t know HBO had created the series. I was homeless and nodding out on dope and methadone most of the time, so I didn’t pay much attention to the advertisements on the buses.
Plus, I was just concerned about staying alive, kicking dope, and finding a where I fit in this world, especially after the relapse that claimed everything good in my life.
One day a booster friend of mine left a bag full of DVDs for me to hold for him while he continued to boost (shoplift). I looked through the titles and saw Season One – A Game of Thrones.
Seeing these DVD’s excited me and angered me. Was it any good? Did the producers nail it? How could these guys write this for television? So much detail? The anger went deeper.
I didn’t stop me from putting a ten dollar bill in the bag with the other DVDs and sliding Season 1 into my sack. Ha, he was probably expecting much more for a full season, but he would understand. I couldn’t wait for him to get back so I could go to Starbucks and binge watch Season 1 on a vast Hp Gaming Laptop an engineer gave me one morning. He only used it twice- it was too big and bulky for him.
Why was I angry about seeing the DVD’s? It was for the same reason I was angered last night!
3 new embarrassing facts a boy learned from standing with a crowd of NYC Game Of Thrones Fans at Radio City.
1. George? Who is George?
I knew many fans of the show didn’t read the books. I get it. Reading isn’t cool in the USA, Hell, Sci-fi/ fantasy readers get classified as “nerds, geeks, and bookish things.” Unpopular to say the least. So I took the elitist position and most of the time despise those who don’t read.
However, TV viewing fans should at least be curious enough to Google – Who wrote Game of Thrones? I wouldn’t expect them to know the name of the series – A Song of Fire and Ice. For the record, I dislike The Lord of The Rings fans who never bothered to read Tolkien’s Trilogy and the Potter series for that matter.
But when George R. R. Martin gets out of a limo at Radio City Music Hall, you better know who he is. C’mon? Seriously, why are you here? When did someone yell George the guy next to me said, Who is George? Oh that guy, and he points to the image of GRRM in the monitor and says, “Who is that guy, a cameraman?”
Argh. It is annoying. Because it doesn’t matter what becomes popular. People flock to it like sheep. Sorry Tywin, but when it comes to jumping on a wagon for the sake of belonging or fitting in, I concern myself with these sheep.
2. Will Tywin Lannister die in Season 8?
The next moment of cluelessness which sparked my ire was when two girls argued over whether Tywin Lannister would die in Season 8.
I was already upset with this girl because she had an overstuffed backpack which had settled uncomfortably onto my crotch. I asked her to take off the pack, but in return, all I got was a dirty look.
“Excuse me, but, do you mean Tyrion?”
“No. I know the imp will live, but his father will definitely die.”
“He’s already dead. And Tyrion killed him.”
“Really? When did that happen? Are you sure?”
SMH!
As they wet back and forth about who was right another fan joined the conversation to fill them in. But they didn’t believe him, either. He explained that Tyrion killed him with a bolt to the heart in the privy. They argued telling him he was wrong Tyrion killed Joffrey.
I bit my tongue. Took several breaths, and cried inside.
3. Why is the Maze Runner kid here?
A few feet a new conversation sparks up – “Hey look the Maze Runner kid, what’s he doing here?”
“He was in the series.”
“I loved Maze Runner, but I don’t remember him in any shows.”
“Yeah, His name was Reed. I can’t think of his first name.”
“Oh yeah, his character didn’t do anything.”
I yell Jojen. They turn to look at me, and one says, “What?”
“His name was Jojen Reed. And he convinced Bran the Three-eyed raven was real and helped him learn to Warg, Bran and lead him to the Three-Eyed Raven. No not significant at all, incredible!” I couldn’t stop after that and went on “Just because he didn’t have any fight, sex, or sneaky plot twist scenes doesn’t make him insignificant.” I shake my head.
My husband hits me in the back and says, “Stop giving people dirty looks. You look so aggravated.”
“They’re idiots Eddie.”
“Remember, You’re the one that wanted to come.”
I could tell you several more, but I already told you three.
Eff it, I’m on a roll and I’ll give you one more.
4. Why is Aquaman here? Is Jason Momoa gonna be in Season 8 of A Game of Thrones?
Just when I thought I’d get through the night without any more idiocy from the fans, Jason Momoa gets out of a car.
The crowd goes nuts.
Screams of Aquaman go up all around me. I think do these people know who he was in the show.
Looking around I figure they don’t because most of them were 6 years old when the show aired.
A person tells him that his name is
Silently I say, “Thank you
I couldn’t take getting shoved and bumped around, so I bounced before Kit Harrington arrived.
It wasn’t long after Eddie and I were working our way through the crowd, so I could empty my bladder for my bitchfest to begin.
Mental note to self –
Johnny, the next time you have a great idea to get all starstruck remember the crowd will be loaded with dunces and dullards. And do you really need to subject yourself to such nonsense?
All in all, it was still worth it. I went, got out of the house, and got some good pictures. I was able to stand by the giant throne and reflect on how different my life has become since I cracked open “A Storm of Swords.”
Image Credits:
1- Self
2- Coalition for the Homeless
3- Self
4-Charles Dance – Popsugar.com
5- Thomas Brodie-Sangster (no image for Premiere. Why?) Image source -dailymail.co.uk
6- Jason Momoa – Popsugar.com
7 – Shutterstock.com
* Affiliate links- Several links in this post are affiliate links, which means if you were to click and buy I will get a portion of the sale. It amounts to pennies on the dollar.
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