I meant to write something after The Two Towers, but the week went by and I didn't get to it. And now the whole thing is over. :-( There were a lot of parts of The Two Towers that I didn't remember. I think with it being my least favorite, I haven't watched it as many times, so therefore I'm bound to forget some stuff. It was really good. I thoroughly enjoyed the introductions by Peter Jackson. It felt like we were really getting a personal insight into a few of his thoughts on making these films. I wasn't sure what to expect, but we got a different intro for each movie, talking about specifics of each.
Three favorite parts of The Two Towers:
1. The introduction of Gandalf the White
2. Shadowfax - I remember loving him in the book too...can't help it, I'm an animal lover
3. Faramir going against what his father wanted when he let Frodo and Sam continue on their journey...doing what he believed was the right thing.
In regards to The Return of the King, my feelings are bittersweet. Great things happen to end this story, but it's so sad that everything is over and the great characters who became close friends are no longer together. Also, it's really long. Four hours is a long time for any movie, not to mention, the third part of one. Peter Jackson said it's 12 hours if you watch everything back to back. Whoa! Unfortunately, this time we were in a much smaller theater and it was practically full by the time I got there, so I couldn't sit in my 'usual' spot, I had to sit in the second row. There are so many things to mention, I'd need to pick three favorite parts for each character.
Three parts I loved in The Return of the King:
1. Pippen saving Faramir. First of all, he has to put up with that jackass Denethor (Faramir's & Boromir's father) being useless, gluttonous and degrading. Then no one listens to him so he moves with haste to find Gandalf. And Faramir lives!
2. Sam's courage to make it to the end. He does so many brave and smart things to eventually help destroy the ring and defeat Sauron. He takes the ring off Frodo before capture, he dresses up as an orc to fit in, he knew not to trust Gollum and carries Frodo right up to the fires of Mordor (don't want to think too much about the spider-eek). Go Sam!
3. The general bond those of the Fellowship have with each other. Such a small group goes up to the gates of Mordor and they fight courageously for Frodo knowing they could never beat thousands of orcs. Aragorn, newly crowned king of Gondor, bows to the hobbits for their bravery. The reuniting of everyone in Rivendell and then the tearful goodbye are both so touching.
Obviously, there is so much more, but I will end there. What a wonderful story by J.R.R. Tolkien and a spectacular production by Peter Jackson and the thousands who made it possible for us all to enjoy.
End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.
White shores, and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Fellowship
It is already known that I'm a nerd, so I'm gonna go ahead and talk about seeing the Fellowship of the Ring (for the first time on the big screen).
The back story---I thought LOTR was so stupid the first time I saw it. My sister was watching it on DVD one holiday when I was home from college. I didn't even understand what they were talking about. I even tried to watch it and just didn't get it. I tried watching it a couple other times and finally made it all the way through. I admitted that I liked it. Almost a year later, Two Towers came out around Christmas time and I went to see it with Rachel in the theater (most likely opening weekend). I even was looking forward to it. After that movie, I made it my goal to read the book before Return of the King was released the following year...definitely becoming a huge fan. As always, the book is better than the movie, but I'm telling you, the movies are awesome, if you haven't seen them. It took me a loooong time to get through the Fellowship of the Ring, book version. There is an extremely long section in there that isn't mentioned in the movie and it was just really long. I'm a slow reader, but I kept at it and finally got through. The Two Towers and Return of the King went a little faster and by then, I couldn't wait to see the final installment of the movie version. And oh it was so good. So good. It was such an exciting event and I had been looking forward to it, and then it was over. So sad. I mean, we are on this journey with this great group of characters for so long, so it's difficult when that journey comes to an end. Anyway...that's how I got sucked into the LOTR and I'm so glad!
So, when Rachel told me that they were re-releasing the extended versions three Tuesdays in June, I was on the fence. That's a lot of money to spend for someone who pretty much never goes to movies and is on a tight budget. Then, I watched the trailer. It was simply the music that got me. I own the soundtrack to the trilogy and absolutely love it. Ah! I was still contemplating on whether or not I was going to go until the night before. Then I finally just decided...how often is this opportunity going to come along? Every ten years if we are lucky and I get my wish! It's just the equivalent to a tank of gas, I bought my tickets and went with the splurge! Let the excitement begin. I got to the theater early, with the rest of the nerds and on my way in, saw a MY FRDO license plate. Lol. It wasn't sold out, but it was pretty full.
Then I realized, I'D NEVER SEEN FELLOWSHIP IN THE THEATER. Omg! The scenery is just spectacular and I was instantly so glad I'd decided to see it. Why did it take me so long?! Ah. Loved every bit of it and the three-and-a-half hour movie went surprisingly quick, even though my butt was hurting a little. I laughed, I cried, I got the chills and our audience clapped three times. I just love when an audience claps in the movie theater. It's just a great feeling to enjoy one of the most fantastic, truly amazingly well done, epic productions of our lifetime with a group of people who appreciates the movie and the original story as much as I do. Oh. So. Good. Looking forward to the next two Tuesdays, but will be sad once again when it's over. These movies were meant to be seen in the theater, so definitely go if you can. You don't know when you'll have another chance!
I caught so much more this time around watching, so I'm thinking that will be the same for the next two movies. I remember Two Towers being my least favorite, so maybe I'll even like it more after seeing it again. Three things I loved the most in the Fellowship (hard to only pick three):
1. Life in The Shire and how happy things seem for the hobbits
2. Sam's loyalty to his promise to Gandalf and unfaltering desire to not leave Frodo's side
3. Legolas's general bad assness and such keen senses
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
The back story---I thought LOTR was so stupid the first time I saw it. My sister was watching it on DVD one holiday when I was home from college. I didn't even understand what they were talking about. I even tried to watch it and just didn't get it. I tried watching it a couple other times and finally made it all the way through. I admitted that I liked it. Almost a year later, Two Towers came out around Christmas time and I went to see it with Rachel in the theater (most likely opening weekend). I even was looking forward to it. After that movie, I made it my goal to read the book before Return of the King was released the following year...definitely becoming a huge fan. As always, the book is better than the movie, but I'm telling you, the movies are awesome, if you haven't seen them. It took me a loooong time to get through the Fellowship of the Ring, book version. There is an extremely long section in there that isn't mentioned in the movie and it was just really long. I'm a slow reader, but I kept at it and finally got through. The Two Towers and Return of the King went a little faster and by then, I couldn't wait to see the final installment of the movie version. And oh it was so good. So good. It was such an exciting event and I had been looking forward to it, and then it was over. So sad. I mean, we are on this journey with this great group of characters for so long, so it's difficult when that journey comes to an end. Anyway...that's how I got sucked into the LOTR and I'm so glad!
So, when Rachel told me that they were re-releasing the extended versions three Tuesdays in June, I was on the fence. That's a lot of money to spend for someone who pretty much never goes to movies and is on a tight budget. Then, I watched the trailer. It was simply the music that got me. I own the soundtrack to the trilogy and absolutely love it. Ah! I was still contemplating on whether or not I was going to go until the night before. Then I finally just decided...how often is this opportunity going to come along? Every ten years if we are lucky and I get my wish! It's just the equivalent to a tank of gas, I bought my tickets and went with the splurge! Let the excitement begin. I got to the theater early, with the rest of the nerds and on my way in, saw a MY FRDO license plate. Lol. It wasn't sold out, but it was pretty full.
Then I realized, I'D NEVER SEEN FELLOWSHIP IN THE THEATER. Omg! The scenery is just spectacular and I was instantly so glad I'd decided to see it. Why did it take me so long?! Ah. Loved every bit of it and the three-and-a-half hour movie went surprisingly quick, even though my butt was hurting a little. I laughed, I cried, I got the chills and our audience clapped three times. I just love when an audience claps in the movie theater. It's just a great feeling to enjoy one of the most fantastic, truly amazingly well done, epic productions of our lifetime with a group of people who appreciates the movie and the original story as much as I do. Oh. So. Good. Looking forward to the next two Tuesdays, but will be sad once again when it's over. These movies were meant to be seen in the theater, so definitely go if you can. You don't know when you'll have another chance!
I caught so much more this time around watching, so I'm thinking that will be the same for the next two movies. I remember Two Towers being my least favorite, so maybe I'll even like it more after seeing it again. Three things I loved the most in the Fellowship (hard to only pick three):
1. Life in The Shire and how happy things seem for the hobbits
2. Sam's loyalty to his promise to Gandalf and unfaltering desire to not leave Frodo's side
3. Legolas's general bad assness and such keen senses
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.
Monday, June 13, 2011
TV Shows
I don't watch a great number of shows on a regular basis, but those that I do watch, I definitely don't miss them. I watch them online if my stations aren't coming in very well (stupid digital TV) or if I have something to do. Lately, it seems most of what we have to choose from is Reality TV. I know some of the shows I watch are really stupid and dramatic, but I can't help but enjoy them. A lot of the shows I watch, I really like to pay attention to the clothes and makeup of the stars and just the fashion overall. We have to get new inspirations since SATC no longer has new episodes. I realize this may make me lame, but when life gets you down, you gotta have something to look forward to!
These are the shows I watch, in no particular order:
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Modern Family
3. The Office
4. The Biggest Loser
5. The Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad
6. The Voice
7. Brothers and Sisters (just ended this past season)
Shows I would probably almost always watch if I had cable:
1. What Not to Wear
2. Most shows wedding related
3. Home decorating shows
These are the shows I watch, in no particular order:
1. Desperate Housewives
2. Modern Family
3. The Office
4. The Biggest Loser
5. The Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad
6. The Voice
7. Brothers and Sisters (just ended this past season)
Shows I would probably almost always watch if I had cable:
1. What Not to Wear
2. Most shows wedding related
3. Home decorating shows
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Miss You
This has been quite an emotional week already. Monday morning I learned that a dear friend from Miami passed away. It's been hard to think of much else since then. I met Corrine my sophomore year of college and quickly became pretty close. She was always someone I could talk to as a student, after I left Miami and when I came back as staff. This news was so shocking, it was always her husband who was going in for another heart procedure. Corrine always had a smile on her face and said things straight up, she was nice to my friends and family and she felt like family to me. She's been the secretary in the Miami Men's Basketball office for the past 26 years and will be missed by so very many people. I wish that I could be there for the services, but everything was so soon and I couldn't make it happen. She wouldn't have wanted people to make a big fuss over her anyway. But this week and always she'll be in my thoughts. Love you, girl!
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Happy Easter
It's about that time, for another post. Happy Easter everybody. Still truckin' here in Austin. Wish I could have been with my family today. I went to a great service this morning at Riverbend Church. The music there is just amazing and the sermon was good too, about 1 Corintians 1. My kitties are sitting here with me now, surprising that they are both on the same couch during the day, just napping. Normally one is in the closet or under the bed or something. Guess they are really starting to come around. Bette Davis (the little one) really likes me now and always comes to me when I am home and she's become really friendly. Daisy (the orange one) doesn't like me as much, except when the food dish is empty. She's still nice though and lets me pet her. I bet that eventually we will seem like a family.
This week though, there were two incidents of bad cats in the middle of the night. Tuesday, I woke up to find a broken glass jar all over the steps that previously held sand and shells from a beach I went to...what a mess! Wednesday, I woke up to find my flip flops with many many teeth marks in them. Tally used to chew flip flops all the time, so I knew to put them up high where she couldn't get them every time I took them off. These cats never seemed to go near them, so I didn't think it would be a problem. Well, I left them out and of course the next morning they were all chewed up. :-( I thought my days of ruined flip flops were gone! At least now I have an excuse to shop for new ones!
In sad news, I just read that Dr. Shriver passed away last night. He was former President of Miami University and a wonderful guy! I'd met him several times, I worked with his daughter for a long time at Miami and his son was our announcer, so I worked with him at all of our home events. I feel sad for their family! They were all really close. He will be missed along with all his Miami history stories that he told.
This week though, there were two incidents of bad cats in the middle of the night. Tuesday, I woke up to find a broken glass jar all over the steps that previously held sand and shells from a beach I went to...what a mess! Wednesday, I woke up to find my flip flops with many many teeth marks in them. Tally used to chew flip flops all the time, so I knew to put them up high where she couldn't get them every time I took them off. These cats never seemed to go near them, so I didn't think it would be a problem. Well, I left them out and of course the next morning they were all chewed up. :-( I thought my days of ruined flip flops were gone! At least now I have an excuse to shop for new ones!
In sad news, I just read that Dr. Shriver passed away last night. He was former President of Miami University and a wonderful guy! I'd met him several times, I worked with his daughter for a long time at Miami and his son was our announcer, so I worked with him at all of our home events. I feel sad for their family! They were all really close. He will be missed along with all his Miami history stories that he told.
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