TV: Winter is coming again.....next summer

HBO confirmed Monday that Game of Thrones’ seventh season won’t begin until summer 2017 and will include only seven episodes, as opposed to the usual 10. Rumors had been swirling about the shortened final two seasons 
(the eighth season will likely only include six episodes) and late start for weeks, but the network only now confirmed the changes. 

The next season will reportedly be shot in Northern Ireland, Spain, and Iceland. “Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, Executive Producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing,” said Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming. “Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”

Ketch Di Rake: Lottery fever hits the movies

Its not an uncommon category, but in this age of vampire overload and revamped 80s trash (read "Piranha')movies about winning the lottery deliver a nice "feel-good" quotient and the chance to vicariously enjoy the good life through the lucky participants.

in our typical side-by-side style, this time around its the Ice Cube-produced Lottery Ticket vs former commercial director Kirk Jones' Irish romp Waking Ned Devine. Not quote apples and apples, but the similarities are of course, obvious.

On the watchability scale, Ned wins hands down - better acting, better laughs and of course, Ireland beats Atlanta as a location in my book (notwithstanding the great time I had covering the Atlanta Jazz Fest in 2007).

But of course, don't take my word for it. take a chance on either or both of these comedies and see for yourself.