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A daily series, Connect! Unite! Act! seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups regularly socialize but also get out the vote, support candidates and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers-that-be. Visit us at Daily Kos every morning at 7:30 A.M. Pacific Time to see how you can get involved. The comment thread is fun and light-hearted, but we're serious about moving the progressive political agenda forward. |
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SPOILER ALERT!
This story contains spoilers for the HBO series Game of Thrones as well as, to a lesser extent, the book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. If you have not seen or read these and you plan to, or if you are in the midst of watching the show or reading the books, please do not read any further if you wish to avoid spoilers. Thanks.
Who is your favorite TV character?
I ask that question because today is the 30th birthday of the actress who plays my favorite TV character. The actress’s name is Emilia Clarke and the character she plays is Daenerys Targaryen (better known as Dany) in HBO’s blockbuster series Game of Thrones. Why Dany? Silly question. She’s the Mother of Dragons!
For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Dany is a fascinating character who grows from a frightened orphan girl abused by her older brother into a confident and formidable leader over the course of the six seasons the show has run.
Dany is destined to regain the Iron Throne that was taken from her father, “The Mad King,” and she is on her way to do just that as the show currently stands. Crucial to her rise have been her three dragons, which she hatched from petrified eggs placed in her husband’s funeral pyre and from which she emerged unburnt. She has also freed the slaves of three cities, gained the loyalty of a freed slave army, taken command of the Dothraki (a nation of raiders on horseback), and formed crucial alliances with important dynastic families. And she’s captured a fleet of over a thousand ships. She’s a badass nasty woman.
Dany is enormously charismatic. She is breathtakingly beautiful with striking platinum blonde hair and a natural air of command. She inspires devotion in nearly everyone she meets—and she expects it and demands it. The fact that she has the only three dragons in existence and is impervious to fire tends to enhance her godlike status exponentially.
At times, Dany can be cold and ruthless, yet she can also be deeply caring and compassionate, especially to the downtrodden. She is sometimes afraid, but she is always courageous and audacious. Watching her learn from her many obstacles, setbacks, and missteps helps to create an enormously believable character, despite the elements of fantasy. Over six years, the audience has watched her rise and fall and rise again, this time to the brink of fulfilling her seemingly inescapable destiny.
So, anyway, today Emilia Clarke hits the big 3-0. She was 23 when she began filming the series, only two years out of drama school, an unknown actor working three jobs just to survive. She is enormously talented, and, like Dany, has lots of names: She is actually Emilia Isabelle Euphemia Rose Clarke and grew up in Berkshire, England. Her father is a theatre sound designer. She wanted to be an actor since age three and auditioned for her part in GoT, replacing Tamzin Merchant, who played Dany in the original pilot but left for undisclosed reasons. The first episode was reshot with Clarke in the role. Now that GoT has become a worldwide phenomenon, Clarke and other leading cast members command around $1M per episode.
In real life, Clarke’s personality is Dany’s polar opposite. Dany is very reserved, composed, and distant most of the time, a steely, intense woman burdened by destiny who rarely smiles or laughs—very much a porcelain queen in aspect. Even when enraged, she manages to maintain self-control, albeit barely at times. Emilia’s portrayal of Dany was shaped in part, said Clarke in a 2015 interview, by studying Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth.
On the other hand, Clarke herself is a very animated, funny, and gregarious prankster with a megawatt smile, an infectious laugh, and the best eyebrows since Groucho Marx. While Dany is a pale blonde, Clarke is a warm brunette. But, just as Dany has grown up in the past six seasons, Clarke has had a chance to mature alongside her. She received her first Emmy nomination in 2013, followed by two more in 2015 and 2016. (Since she didn’t win, it was obviously rigged.) She was named Esquire’s Sexiest Woman Alive in 2015. Hard to argue.
She’s starred in several movies already, including Dom Hemingway with Jude Law in 2013, Terminator Genisys with Ahhh-nold in 2015, and Me Before You with Sam Claflin in 2016. Box offices have generally been good but reviews have been mixed. In 2013, she did a month on Broadway as Holly Golightly in a new stage adaptation of Truman Capote’s novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but the production was not particularly well-received. Still, her future is very bright.
So kudos and happy birthday to young Emilia Clarke. Thanks for your wonderful portrayal of my favorite TV character. I can’t wait for Season 7. So who is your favorite TV character?
Here is an excellent mash-up of the Dany character from Game of Thrones, done in 2015:
Next is an interview with Emilia Clarke done back in April 2012, early in Season 2:
And finally, here she is being silly with Jimmy Kimmel in 2015:
As always, this is an Open Thread!
LET'S BUILD IN-REAL-LIFE COMMUNITIES!
Our team is here to provide support and guidance to new and existing volunteer leaders of each regional and state group, helping them with recruiting, organizing and executing social and action events. We invite you to join in this effort to build our community. There are many ways to pitch in. If there isn't a group to join near you, please start one.
The orange pinpoints are the location of each organized group of Daily Kos readers. If you'd like to join a group, click on a point and a box will pop up showing contact links. If you'd like to start a group, contact navajo for instructions.
THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
Colorado: Sunday Mornings
Michigan: Wednesdays, 6:00 PM Eastern
North Carolina: Sundays, 1:00 PM Eastern
Washington: Sundays, 3:30 PM Pacific
Missouri: Wednesday Evenings
Kansas: Monday Evenings
We appreciate everyone’s work on the ground locally while the general is ramping up. Please let us know in the comments what you’re working on. For example, GOTV, down-ballot campaign volunteering, blogging about our races, etc.
All hands on deck.
Let us know if you’ve got any events that would be of interest to other readers of Daily Kos IN-YOUR-REAL-LIFE space.
ATTN: New England Readers of Daily Kos!
It's that time of year again- the crispness of fall is in the air and we are due for a meet-up. The date is October 22nd and we will be meeting in Kittery, ME at the Farm Bar And Grill (the same site where we did our Midwinter Meetup in January). farmbargrille.com/...
The site was chosen to give our southern NE friends a venue that was a little closer to home. We will start at noon and probably go until about 2-3PM.
What: A Daily Kos meet up for DK members and interested parties before the Moral Mountain Monday rally in downtown Asheville.
When: Monday, October 24th — 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Where: Asheville
Why: Connecting face to face, sharing information, getting inspired and adding to the crowd that is there to support Reverend Barber the week early voting starts.
Food: White Duck Taco
The Downtown Duck is adjacent to Pack Square and easily walkable from any hotel or parking garage. The Biltmore Ave Parking garage is next door. There is a pet friendly courtyard seating 50 in the back of the restaurant.
12 Biltmore Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801 (828) 232-9191
Fun: Yes Family: Yes
Attendees:
randallt, Joieau, davehouck, Lamont Cranston, SteelerGrrl, SteelerGuy, Gordon20024, Otteray Scribe, Burns Lass
Maybees: TexDem
Click here to add your name
Read more details here.
SFKossacks Holiday Party!
Saturday, November 19th, 1:00 PM, Wine Country in the town Windsor. Private residence address will be given to the folk who RSVP.
Please send navajo a kosmail to RSVP and state your potluck item. We need non-alcoholic beverages, appetizers, side dishes, (plus vegetarian versions) salads, and bread. Ice and large ice chests, too!
Also tell navajo if you need to carpool. AND! Dogs okay. FTW! No livestock, though.
RSVP & POTLUCK LIST:
1. Andrew McQuire—Host
2. navajo—Whole salmon for bbq for whole crowd
3. MrNavajo—8 six-packs of beer
4. side pocket—
5. Mrs. side pocket
6. smileycreek—Mini jalapeno polenta cups
7. paradise50—
8. Glen The Plumber—
9. remembrance—
10. TLO
11. jotter—One case of wine
12. aha aha
13. dsb—Ice in an ice chest, baguettes & cheese
14. marge—Curried potatoes and roasted vegetables
15. kimoconnor—
16. maggiejean—Salad
17. elfling—
18. Hunter
19. elfling/Hunter offspring, not livestock
20. Lorikeet—side dish
21. norm—
22. jck—side dish
23. Lusty—Vegetable side dish
24. ebby—
25. jakedog42—
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Maybees: Silky & Dixie
citisven
Deb
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NEW GROUPS FORMING:
Peregrine Kate organized canvassing for her local candidate, Paul Clements. Details about the event are here: Canvassing for Clements in MI-06! WE Are Making a Difference. YOU Can Help! Great job, Kate!
Seattle & Puget Sound Kos got together Sunday, August 14th to catch up. Even though some were hard-core Berners, they’re all voting for Clinton. Unity. Thanks to bleeding blue for organizing this meet-up!
navajo maintains the above event list. Kosmail her if you have any diaries about your event or if you have changes or additions.
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