- This morning as I pulled out of my garage on the way to work, I caught the traffic report on the radio: "North-South Tollway is backed up with an accident around the North Ave. exit". I kind of feel guilty, but I seem to get a sense of pleasure from knowing that people are stuck in traffic on the very road I used to drive on every day, while I can now enjoy a smooth 9 minute commute. There's even a little voice in my head that sounds like Nelson from the Simpsons going "HA-HA".
- One of my lesser known passions in life these days is knowing the shortest routes from one place to another. You might say I'm a little obsessed with trying different paths and figuring out what way will get me there in the fastest time. When I first moved to the townhouse in Palatine, I kept a stopwatch in my car so that I could measure the times it took from various exits on 53 to get to the townhouse, then record them in Excel, average the numbers and analyze them (the best exit is Euclid West to Hicks north). *nerd alert* A couple weeks ago, I got into a heated argument on the phone with Chras, Anuj, and Andy about which Hooters to meet at before going to Dave's house for cards. I let them have their way, though not without a fight, but when I arrived at Hooters in Vernon Hills, I was armed with a 3x5 Post-it Note to show them I meant business. On the Post-it Note I had drawn a crude map diagramming why I was right and they were wrong, and apparently Andy, having known me since high school and roomed with me for a year, predicted that I would do something like that beforehand. But the important part is, I was right: it would have been significantly faster to have met at Schaumburg Hooters instead and then drove to Dave's, than to drive past his house to Vernon Hills and come back.
- As part of my important policy of talking about Britney Spears in my blog, I thought I'd pass on the latest information I have. Her next video is set to premiere on January 13th. The video is for the song "Toxic", and apparently features her as a homicidal girlfriend out for revenge on her cheating lover. Sounds spicy. The song itself is probably my favorite on the album, so I am especially excited. It sounds a lot different from any of her other music, features the Stockholm Strings as well as her sexy voice, and above all that, is quite catchy. I know I had it in my head for about a week straight after I first bought the album. So now that I've hyped it up, everyone watch MTV next Wednesday as I will most definitely be doing.
Thursday, January 08, 2004
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Crocodile Hunter
I was watching some news thing and they were bashing the Crocodile Hunter guy because he "endangered" his baby son on one of his shows. Then they showed the tape, and basically from what I saw, all he did was hold his son in his left arm while feeding the crocodile a piece of meat with his right.
Now, I'm no lover of the Croc Hunter, actually I find him to be very annoying, but I gotta say, leave the man alone! I think people are way too sensitive about kids and babies these days and this is just another example of that. I mean, babies are cute and all, but let's not get carried away. It's like we worship children in this society, and that's taking it too far.
Obviously, I believe we have to protect kids to some point. It's not like I'm saying it's ok to dangle your toddler over a balcony or anything. And it goes without saying that I'm against child abuse, molesting, whatever other bad stuff that people do to kids and babies in this cruel world (by the way, I would include abortion somewhere in this category).
But this Croc Hunter guy, working with these dangerous animals is his life. If you've watched any of his shows you know that he's regularly in a lot more dangerous situations than feeding a crocodile a piece of meat. Whatever "danger" he put his baby son in, he put himself in at least twice the risk if not more. I gotta say, if I were a kid, I'd rather be brought up by a dad who is gonna expose me to risks and dangers in life (within reason), than to be constantly sheltered and "protected" from anything that might remotely harm me.
I think all these people who act so horrified that the Croc Hunter would bring his baby boy on his show are probably the same parents who would raise their own kids in a bubble if they could. In their minds they think it's about protecting children, but really, it cripples the kids in the end. You know the parents who don't let their kids play in sandboxes with other kids for fear of them getting sick? Guess what, their kids are the ones who grow up with underdeveloped immune systems, not to mention a severe lack of social skills.
Well, I think now I'm getting carried away. I guess all I'm saying is, some people in this country need to chill. Kids are great, but how about we don't act like every single 2 year old is the second coming of Christ. Thank you.
I was watching some news thing and they were bashing the Crocodile Hunter guy because he "endangered" his baby son on one of his shows. Then they showed the tape, and basically from what I saw, all he did was hold his son in his left arm while feeding the crocodile a piece of meat with his right.
Now, I'm no lover of the Croc Hunter, actually I find him to be very annoying, but I gotta say, leave the man alone! I think people are way too sensitive about kids and babies these days and this is just another example of that. I mean, babies are cute and all, but let's not get carried away. It's like we worship children in this society, and that's taking it too far.
Obviously, I believe we have to protect kids to some point. It's not like I'm saying it's ok to dangle your toddler over a balcony or anything. And it goes without saying that I'm against child abuse, molesting, whatever other bad stuff that people do to kids and babies in this cruel world (by the way, I would include abortion somewhere in this category).
But this Croc Hunter guy, working with these dangerous animals is his life. If you've watched any of his shows you know that he's regularly in a lot more dangerous situations than feeding a crocodile a piece of meat. Whatever "danger" he put his baby son in, he put himself in at least twice the risk if not more. I gotta say, if I were a kid, I'd rather be brought up by a dad who is gonna expose me to risks and dangers in life (within reason), than to be constantly sheltered and "protected" from anything that might remotely harm me.
I think all these people who act so horrified that the Croc Hunter would bring his baby boy on his show are probably the same parents who would raise their own kids in a bubble if they could. In their minds they think it's about protecting children, but really, it cripples the kids in the end. You know the parents who don't let their kids play in sandboxes with other kids for fear of them getting sick? Guess what, their kids are the ones who grow up with underdeveloped immune systems, not to mention a severe lack of social skills.
Well, I think now I'm getting carried away. I guess all I'm saying is, some people in this country need to chill. Kids are great, but how about we don't act like every single 2 year old is the second coming of Christ. Thank you.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Britney Spears
It seems like everyone I know has informed me in the past couple days about Britney Spears getting married. I guess for some reason people tend to think of me when Britney Spears is in the news. Why, I have no idea? Anyways, for those of you who haven't heard the story, I guess she "took a joke too far" with her high school boyfriend in Vegas, they got married, then she had it "annulled" 55 hours later. Seems like a really unlikely story, but then I think about some of my friends and how they take jokes too far. If Britney and this guy are anything like us, I could kind of see it happening. Instead of being like "Boats?" or "40's?", it would be like "Get married in Vegas tonight?", and you know neither one can back down once it's said. The only thing is, I can't really picture her saying "shibby", which is kind of key in those situations.
*****
Pete Rose
So the guy gets caught betting on baseball, and he's banned from the sport entirely for the past 14 years or so. Meaning he can't coach in the major leagues, and he's not eligible for the Hall of Fame. Then this whole time he's stubbornly denied ever gambling on baseball, until the past week, when all of a sudden he finally admits it. I guess that's great and all, but in the words of Chris Rock, "what you want, a cookie?"
Well, what he really wants is to be allowed to coach again and voted into the Hall of Fame. Personally, I don't really care if he does either one or not, although I think if you break a rule knowing the exact consequences of getting caught, then you should suffer the consequences when you do get caught. But really, when I think about the whole thing, I just wonder what it's like to be Pete Rose. If I were him, I'd just go away. What's the point of forcing your way into the Hall of Fame, or wasting your time trying to coach in a league where half the people hate you to begin with?
It seems like everyone I know has informed me in the past couple days about Britney Spears getting married. I guess for some reason people tend to think of me when Britney Spears is in the news. Why, I have no idea? Anyways, for those of you who haven't heard the story, I guess she "took a joke too far" with her high school boyfriend in Vegas, they got married, then she had it "annulled" 55 hours later. Seems like a really unlikely story, but then I think about some of my friends and how they take jokes too far. If Britney and this guy are anything like us, I could kind of see it happening. Instead of being like "Boats?" or "40's?", it would be like "Get married in Vegas tonight?", and you know neither one can back down once it's said. The only thing is, I can't really picture her saying "shibby", which is kind of key in those situations.
*****
Pete Rose
So the guy gets caught betting on baseball, and he's banned from the sport entirely for the past 14 years or so. Meaning he can't coach in the major leagues, and he's not eligible for the Hall of Fame. Then this whole time he's stubbornly denied ever gambling on baseball, until the past week, when all of a sudden he finally admits it. I guess that's great and all, but in the words of Chris Rock, "what you want, a cookie?"
Well, what he really wants is to be allowed to coach again and voted into the Hall of Fame. Personally, I don't really care if he does either one or not, although I think if you break a rule knowing the exact consequences of getting caught, then you should suffer the consequences when you do get caught. But really, when I think about the whole thing, I just wonder what it's like to be Pete Rose. If I were him, I'd just go away. What's the point of forcing your way into the Hall of Fame, or wasting your time trying to coach in a league where half the people hate you to begin with?
Monday, January 05, 2004
What I Did On My Winter Break
A while back, I wrote about how working life was becoming routine for me and predictable. I said that having a routine wasn't so bad after all, that it was actually comforting to feel like everything was in order and "been there, done that".
Well, comforting as it might be, I had a week off from work for Christmas and New Year's, and in this relatively short time, I quickly fell back into a life that was happily nonroutine. Waking up late, eating my first meal at 5 pm, laying on my bed and watching TV for hours at a time, and not working out. It didn't really help that my mom, sister, and girlfriend all left for Taiwan, leaving me by myself (or with my dad) for most of the time.
I definitely enjoyed the extra rest, the freedom, and the Newlyweds marathons on MTV while it lasted, but in many ways, I think I'm about ready to get back to the grind. Not so "ready", of course, that I would voluntarily choose to end my break and come back to work, but it's not as miserable being back here as I thought it would be. Definitely a different feeling than coming back from Winter or Spring Break back in the college or high school days.
You know that game Jenga, where you build up a tower of wooden blocks and then take turns removing blocks until the tower falls over? Well, I never really liked that game, cause I'd rather just leave the tower there after making it nice and pretty, but that game was kind of like what the past 12 days reminded me of. I spent a good deal of time and effort in the previous months to organize my life and get it to a situation where I felt like almost everything was in the right place. Then, when the holidays came, I started taking out blocks left and right (cause it was the "fun" thing to do for whatever reason), but all the while I had to be mindful of not completely messing everything up.
The good thing is, I didn't really mess up my life's tower too much during my break, but I think that's the direction I was headed. So even though it means I have to wake up early again and start grinding away towards the weekends like before, I guess it's for the better.
Nevertheless, I will say that the holidays were very fun and I hope everyone out there had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as I did. I've decided to record some highlights here:
- Washed my car with Dennis. I don't care if it's the dead of winter, as long as the sun is out, it's not too windy, and the temperature is above freezing, I'm taking every opportunity possible to give my baby a bath. Our experience was not without obstacles, however. The hose was packed with ice, so we had to spend a lot of time massaging it to break up the ice, then pouring hot water into and around the hose to speed up the melting process. It was a tedious and messy process, and Dennis wanted to give up, but I persisted and in the end we were rewarded with flowing water. The whole thing was pretty ridiculous, but probably an entertaining scene for anyone watching us. I even took a few pictures to remember the story, maybe I will post them sometime.
- Hung out with friends on New Years Eve. Played some Cranium and Pictionary, drank some champagne, and argued about whether or not the kid in About a Boy looked like Roi. The next day, I had one of the worst hangovers ever. I didn't even feel like I had that much at the time, but I guess wine and champagne give really bad hangovers, much more so than beer or regular liquor. Basically, it took me out of commission for most of January 1st, not a great way to start out 2004 but oh well. By the way, I didn't make any New Years resolutions, I think for the first time in my life. I decided that those are dumb and don't work for me, either that or I just forgot and didn't feel like thinking of anything.
- As I mentioned earlier, I watched a lot of Newlyweds. Me and Chras agreed that the show is just as funny, if not more funny in reruns as it was the first time around. Everyone rips on Jessica Simpson for being dumb, but I like her. At least she's not mean spirited or anything, and she tries to be a good wife. You could do a lot worse than that. Sure, she's whiny and spoiled, but she can also be a really nice and sweet girl. And you know what? I think there's a little bit of Jessica Simpson in every girl that I've ever met, and it's not entirely a bad thing.
- When I was little, one of my best friends was Jason, whose mom was friends with my mom. He moved away when we were still like 8 years old or so, but we kept in touch for the next few years by "snail mail". Jason's dad was in the Air Force, so their family moved a lot, but whether he was in North Carolina, New Orleans, Portland, or wherever, he would always send me a letter to tell me about what was going on. Somewhere along the way, I think around the time I moved to Taiwan, we eventually lost touch, but last week he sent me an email out of the blue. It turns out my old friend Jason is now a 3rd year med student in Virginia. I can't explain how weird a feeling it is, that one day we're just these kids playing Atari, having snowball fights, and making Chinese Stars, and then all of a sudden I'm working as an engineer and he's close to becoming a doctor. It was definitely cool to hear from him though, and exciting that I got to talk to an old friend on the phone. And I really hope that with the technological advances in email, IM, and cell phones, we won't lose touch this time.
- Went out to Lions Head Pub on the Day after Christmas. A good night, got to see most of my favorite people there. Took some pictures which I might post soon, if I remember to.
- Went out to Barleycorn on a Monday night with most of my favorite people who didn't have to work the next day. The place was so chill and empty that night, which was weird cause I've never seen it in any situation where it wasn't completely packed with people.
- Played a healthy share of cards. Our holdem games are getting huge, with enough people to make multiple tables and everything. I think I've been playing too much lately though. Wouldn't quite go as far as to say I'm "pokered out" just yet, but maybe I should try to keep things moderate. All right, so my rule shall be: NO MORE THAN 3 TIMES A WEEK WITH NO EXCEPTIONS... haha
- Played some Starcraft and realized that I still suck a lot.
- Watched the 1st season of Friends on my sister's DVD. This show was so good, especially in the early seasons. Not only was it funny, but I think they did a good job with the Ross and Rachel story. I actually kind of cared about what was gonna happen with their relationship, which is more than I can say for Chandler and Monica. That one just seemed so contrived to me. And then the Joey and Rachel thing was even more unneccessary. Anyways, I think I might have to buy the Friends DVDs for myself. The only bad thing is that the commentary and special features were pretty weak. It was hard for me to understand how such dry and lifeless people could actually be the creators of this entertaining and well written show.
- Drove through a lot of snow yesterday and was reminded of how rear wheel drive sucks in snow. Although, I think I might have to write an Ode to Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) sometime. That being the feature in my car that electronically stabilizes the vehicle when it starts to skid by cutting power to certain wheels and stuff, a feature that probably saved me from crashing more than a few times yesterday. What disturbed me most throughout the whole driving in snow experience was not that it was cold, or hard to maintain control, or that it was such a pain to clean off all the slush and ice. I was most freaked out when I saw a Honda Element driving by on the road, and caught myself almost wishing I had one. Well, then when I realized what thought had just crossed my mind, I threatened to kick my own ass, so hopefully that won't happen again. Those things are UG-LEE...
- Played football on Saturday. It was just touch, but I'm still sore today. I kind of wish we had played in the snow instead, that would've made for some fun tackling. Also watched a lot of the NFL playoffs. It sucks that I won't have my fantasy team to root for anymore, but I guess that means I can go back to being a regular fan and just watch the games for purely entertainment value. I kind of forgot what that feels like.
*****
The Frozen Hose
Pieces of ice that we broke out of the hose:
A gallon of hot water used to speed up the melting process:
Finally, the breakthrough:
*****
Lion's Head 12/28/03
A while back, I wrote about how working life was becoming routine for me and predictable. I said that having a routine wasn't so bad after all, that it was actually comforting to feel like everything was in order and "been there, done that".
Well, comforting as it might be, I had a week off from work for Christmas and New Year's, and in this relatively short time, I quickly fell back into a life that was happily nonroutine. Waking up late, eating my first meal at 5 pm, laying on my bed and watching TV for hours at a time, and not working out. It didn't really help that my mom, sister, and girlfriend all left for Taiwan, leaving me by myself (or with my dad) for most of the time.
I definitely enjoyed the extra rest, the freedom, and the Newlyweds marathons on MTV while it lasted, but in many ways, I think I'm about ready to get back to the grind. Not so "ready", of course, that I would voluntarily choose to end my break and come back to work, but it's not as miserable being back here as I thought it would be. Definitely a different feeling than coming back from Winter or Spring Break back in the college or high school days.
You know that game Jenga, where you build up a tower of wooden blocks and then take turns removing blocks until the tower falls over? Well, I never really liked that game, cause I'd rather just leave the tower there after making it nice and pretty, but that game was kind of like what the past 12 days reminded me of. I spent a good deal of time and effort in the previous months to organize my life and get it to a situation where I felt like almost everything was in the right place. Then, when the holidays came, I started taking out blocks left and right (cause it was the "fun" thing to do for whatever reason), but all the while I had to be mindful of not completely messing everything up.
The good thing is, I didn't really mess up my life's tower too much during my break, but I think that's the direction I was headed. So even though it means I have to wake up early again and start grinding away towards the weekends like before, I guess it's for the better.
Nevertheless, I will say that the holidays were very fun and I hope everyone out there had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year as I did. I've decided to record some highlights here:
- Washed my car with Dennis. I don't care if it's the dead of winter, as long as the sun is out, it's not too windy, and the temperature is above freezing, I'm taking every opportunity possible to give my baby a bath. Our experience was not without obstacles, however. The hose was packed with ice, so we had to spend a lot of time massaging it to break up the ice, then pouring hot water into and around the hose to speed up the melting process. It was a tedious and messy process, and Dennis wanted to give up, but I persisted and in the end we were rewarded with flowing water. The whole thing was pretty ridiculous, but probably an entertaining scene for anyone watching us. I even took a few pictures to remember the story, maybe I will post them sometime.
- Hung out with friends on New Years Eve. Played some Cranium and Pictionary, drank some champagne, and argued about whether or not the kid in About a Boy looked like Roi. The next day, I had one of the worst hangovers ever. I didn't even feel like I had that much at the time, but I guess wine and champagne give really bad hangovers, much more so than beer or regular liquor. Basically, it took me out of commission for most of January 1st, not a great way to start out 2004 but oh well. By the way, I didn't make any New Years resolutions, I think for the first time in my life. I decided that those are dumb and don't work for me, either that or I just forgot and didn't feel like thinking of anything.
- As I mentioned earlier, I watched a lot of Newlyweds. Me and Chras agreed that the show is just as funny, if not more funny in reruns as it was the first time around. Everyone rips on Jessica Simpson for being dumb, but I like her. At least she's not mean spirited or anything, and she tries to be a good wife. You could do a lot worse than that. Sure, she's whiny and spoiled, but she can also be a really nice and sweet girl. And you know what? I think there's a little bit of Jessica Simpson in every girl that I've ever met, and it's not entirely a bad thing.
- When I was little, one of my best friends was Jason, whose mom was friends with my mom. He moved away when we were still like 8 years old or so, but we kept in touch for the next few years by "snail mail". Jason's dad was in the Air Force, so their family moved a lot, but whether he was in North Carolina, New Orleans, Portland, or wherever, he would always send me a letter to tell me about what was going on. Somewhere along the way, I think around the time I moved to Taiwan, we eventually lost touch, but last week he sent me an email out of the blue. It turns out my old friend Jason is now a 3rd year med student in Virginia. I can't explain how weird a feeling it is, that one day we're just these kids playing Atari, having snowball fights, and making Chinese Stars, and then all of a sudden I'm working as an engineer and he's close to becoming a doctor. It was definitely cool to hear from him though, and exciting that I got to talk to an old friend on the phone. And I really hope that with the technological advances in email, IM, and cell phones, we won't lose touch this time.
- Went out to Lions Head Pub on the Day after Christmas. A good night, got to see most of my favorite people there. Took some pictures which I might post soon, if I remember to.
- Went out to Barleycorn on a Monday night with most of my favorite people who didn't have to work the next day. The place was so chill and empty that night, which was weird cause I've never seen it in any situation where it wasn't completely packed with people.
- Played a healthy share of cards. Our holdem games are getting huge, with enough people to make multiple tables and everything. I think I've been playing too much lately though. Wouldn't quite go as far as to say I'm "pokered out" just yet, but maybe I should try to keep things moderate. All right, so my rule shall be: NO MORE THAN 3 TIMES A WEEK WITH NO EXCEPTIONS... haha
- Played some Starcraft and realized that I still suck a lot.
- Watched the 1st season of Friends on my sister's DVD. This show was so good, especially in the early seasons. Not only was it funny, but I think they did a good job with the Ross and Rachel story. I actually kind of cared about what was gonna happen with their relationship, which is more than I can say for Chandler and Monica. That one just seemed so contrived to me. And then the Joey and Rachel thing was even more unneccessary. Anyways, I think I might have to buy the Friends DVDs for myself. The only bad thing is that the commentary and special features were pretty weak. It was hard for me to understand how such dry and lifeless people could actually be the creators of this entertaining and well written show.
- Drove through a lot of snow yesterday and was reminded of how rear wheel drive sucks in snow. Although, I think I might have to write an Ode to Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) sometime. That being the feature in my car that electronically stabilizes the vehicle when it starts to skid by cutting power to certain wheels and stuff, a feature that probably saved me from crashing more than a few times yesterday. What disturbed me most throughout the whole driving in snow experience was not that it was cold, or hard to maintain control, or that it was such a pain to clean off all the slush and ice. I was most freaked out when I saw a Honda Element driving by on the road, and caught myself almost wishing I had one. Well, then when I realized what thought had just crossed my mind, I threatened to kick my own ass, so hopefully that won't happen again. Those things are UG-LEE...
- Played football on Saturday. It was just touch, but I'm still sore today. I kind of wish we had played in the snow instead, that would've made for some fun tackling. Also watched a lot of the NFL playoffs. It sucks that I won't have my fantasy team to root for anymore, but I guess that means I can go back to being a regular fan and just watch the games for purely entertainment value. I kind of forgot what that feels like.
*****
The Frozen Hose
Pieces of ice that we broke out of the hose:
A gallon of hot water used to speed up the melting process:
Finally, the breakthrough:
*****
Lion's Head 12/28/03
Monday, December 22, 2003
It's the most wonderful time of the year... the week of Christmas. The only bad thing is that I have to be at the job for today and tomorrow. The bright side is, a lot of other people aren't around to annoy me. Traffic this morning was so light that my commute was cut by about 1/3 of the normal time, to 6 minutes. Here at work, everything is so quiet today. It's nice because the mood is so relaxed, the parking lot is emptier, and I know that it's gonna be a very short week. Zero days would have been nicer, but I'll take two.
Now would be a good time to send shout outs, much love, and props to all the hardworking people like myself, who are grinding it out today and tomorrow instead of relaxing at home. You guys are awesome!!
The main topic of my blog today is Lord of the Rings. For those of you who haven't seen the entire trilogy, skip the rest of this entry. But for those who have, maybe you can explain some of my questions about the movies. Sorry if any of these are supposed to be painfully obvious, or aren't even relevant. Maybe I'm just stupid, or slow, or I didn't pay good enough attention. Also, these are mostly based only on the parts of the trilogy that I watched in the past week, that is, the last 2/3 of the Fellowship and the first 1/2 of Two Towers on TV (Starz! was playing them a lot), and then the whole Return of the King in the theater. The rest of it, I watched a year ago and I forgot what happened. Maybe some of my answers lie in those parts too, and I should watch them again.
Lord of the Rings Questions
1. What is the significance of eagles in these movies? In the third one, they just show up out of nowhere and start taking out those "wraiths" (Starcraft word #1). I thought that was pretty random, but then I saw the first one on TV, and then an eagle saved Gandalf from that one tower when he was about to be porked by Saruman. So I guess there must be some story about why or where these eagles come from.
2. How did Gandalf the Gray become Gandalf the White? It's like he fought that demon thing, chilled on the side of the mountain for a bit, and then next thing you know, he comes back as a White Wizard. Also, are White Wizards cooler or stronger than Gray wizards? Was Saruman formerly a Gray wizard? Would Gandalf the Gray have been unable to drive out Saruman from the King of Rohan (Theodan?)?
3. Is there a relationship between the dead people army that took out the "corsairs" (Starcraft word #2) in the third movie, and the dead people in that swamp in the second one, when Frodo gets mesmerized and falls in? And why are those "bright lights" so mesmerizing anyways?
4. How come one minute Arwen (Liv Tyler) is about to die, and then at the end she's all of a sudden healthy and ready to hook up with Aragorn again?
5. Why did Frodo have to leave the Shire at the end and go with Gandalf?
6. How could Frodo and Sam make it through an entire trilogy of movies while continuing to deny all of their homoerotic feelings towards each other? There were at least 5 or 6 moments throughout the 10 hours of action, when I could have sworn they were leaning in for a passionate kiss. Yet instead of going in for the kill, they broke into a hug every time. So weak... And don't tell me it was a "brotherly love", I know a horny look when I see one. Oh also, in the ending when Sam married the girl in the braids, what a total sham! Completely not believable at all.
7. What exactly is Sauron? In the movies, he's just this huge eye, but then there was a flashback in the first movie where he was this warrior looking guy dressed in black when he got his finger chopped off by Aragorn's dad Arathorn (?) and lost his ring. So how did he become the eye?
8. Why is it Lord of the "Rings" (plural)? Are there other rings? If so, who made them, what do they do, and what happened to them?
9. Who was Cate Blanchett? For that matter, what was the point of meeting her and all her elf homies in that forest? Other than getting that glowing water, of course. And is her group of elves friends or relatives of Legolas's group of elves?
10. This isn't about the plot, but is the guy that plays Liv Tyler's elf dad (Hugo Weaving) in any movies as a character that talks normally? Every time he talked in Lord of the Rings, I couldn't help but think of him as Agent Smith in the Matrix movies. Mmmmmmiiiiisssster Aaaandersonnnn...
11. Is it actually true that "no man" can kill a wraith, but the princess of Rohan can because she's a woman? If so, how cheesy is that? Also, in the first movie when all the wraiths are surrounding Frodo on that mountain, and closing in, why do they run away from Aragorn? Are they afraid of fire? If so, then that is also cheesy.
12. Did anyone else feel like a lot of parts reminded them of certain parts in the original Star Wars movies? For example, the scene when Gandalf is hanging off the cliff, and Frodo watches him fall, that totally made me think of when Luke Skywalker watches Obi-wan Kenobi get killed by Darth Vader in the Death Star. Both in their horrified reaction as someone is holding them back, and also how the old guys just kind of smile and give up. When Gandalf falls off that one platform where Saruman is abusing him, and an eagle catches him, it's like when Luke falls from that post in Cloud City and the Millenium Falcon catches him. Saruman and Count Dooku are like the same character with the same role, they're even played by the same guy, Christopher Lee (I know Count Dooku wasn't in the originals, but still). The second movie in both trilogies starts with a scene in a snowy land. The Balrog in the cave is kind of like the Rancor in Jabba the Hutt's palace. Hobbits are kind of like Ewoks, not in looks, just how they're small and everyone underestimates them. The pale wrinkly face of the possessed king (Theodan?) is kind of like Darth Vader without his mask. Frodo getting his finger bitten off is kind of like Luke getting his hand cut off. And I could've sworn I heard the sound of TIE Fighter engines in one of the movies. I know, some of those are quite a reach, and I'm probably just too obsessed with Star Wars.
13. What race is Gollum/Smeagol?
14. When the army of dead people were fighting that battle in Return of the King, could any of them actually die? Was it basically just a no-lose situation for them against the Orcs? I wish I had an army of dead guys fighting for me.
Now would be a good time to send shout outs, much love, and props to all the hardworking people like myself, who are grinding it out today and tomorrow instead of relaxing at home. You guys are awesome!!
The main topic of my blog today is Lord of the Rings. For those of you who haven't seen the entire trilogy, skip the rest of this entry. But for those who have, maybe you can explain some of my questions about the movies. Sorry if any of these are supposed to be painfully obvious, or aren't even relevant. Maybe I'm just stupid, or slow, or I didn't pay good enough attention. Also, these are mostly based only on the parts of the trilogy that I watched in the past week, that is, the last 2/3 of the Fellowship and the first 1/2 of Two Towers on TV (Starz! was playing them a lot), and then the whole Return of the King in the theater. The rest of it, I watched a year ago and I forgot what happened. Maybe some of my answers lie in those parts too, and I should watch them again.
Lord of the Rings Questions
1. What is the significance of eagles in these movies? In the third one, they just show up out of nowhere and start taking out those "wraiths" (Starcraft word #1). I thought that was pretty random, but then I saw the first one on TV, and then an eagle saved Gandalf from that one tower when he was about to be porked by Saruman. So I guess there must be some story about why or where these eagles come from.
2. How did Gandalf the Gray become Gandalf the White? It's like he fought that demon thing, chilled on the side of the mountain for a bit, and then next thing you know, he comes back as a White Wizard. Also, are White Wizards cooler or stronger than Gray wizards? Was Saruman formerly a Gray wizard? Would Gandalf the Gray have been unable to drive out Saruman from the King of Rohan (Theodan?)?
3. Is there a relationship between the dead people army that took out the "corsairs" (Starcraft word #2) in the third movie, and the dead people in that swamp in the second one, when Frodo gets mesmerized and falls in? And why are those "bright lights" so mesmerizing anyways?
4. How come one minute Arwen (Liv Tyler) is about to die, and then at the end she's all of a sudden healthy and ready to hook up with Aragorn again?
5. Why did Frodo have to leave the Shire at the end and go with Gandalf?
6. How could Frodo and Sam make it through an entire trilogy of movies while continuing to deny all of their homoerotic feelings towards each other? There were at least 5 or 6 moments throughout the 10 hours of action, when I could have sworn they were leaning in for a passionate kiss. Yet instead of going in for the kill, they broke into a hug every time. So weak... And don't tell me it was a "brotherly love", I know a horny look when I see one. Oh also, in the ending when Sam married the girl in the braids, what a total sham! Completely not believable at all.
7. What exactly is Sauron? In the movies, he's just this huge eye, but then there was a flashback in the first movie where he was this warrior looking guy dressed in black when he got his finger chopped off by Aragorn's dad Arathorn (?) and lost his ring. So how did he become the eye?
8. Why is it Lord of the "Rings" (plural)? Are there other rings? If so, who made them, what do they do, and what happened to them?
9. Who was Cate Blanchett? For that matter, what was the point of meeting her and all her elf homies in that forest? Other than getting that glowing water, of course. And is her group of elves friends or relatives of Legolas's group of elves?
10. This isn't about the plot, but is the guy that plays Liv Tyler's elf dad (Hugo Weaving) in any movies as a character that talks normally? Every time he talked in Lord of the Rings, I couldn't help but think of him as Agent Smith in the Matrix movies. Mmmmmmiiiiisssster Aaaandersonnnn...
11. Is it actually true that "no man" can kill a wraith, but the princess of Rohan can because she's a woman? If so, how cheesy is that? Also, in the first movie when all the wraiths are surrounding Frodo on that mountain, and closing in, why do they run away from Aragorn? Are they afraid of fire? If so, then that is also cheesy.
12. Did anyone else feel like a lot of parts reminded them of certain parts in the original Star Wars movies? For example, the scene when Gandalf is hanging off the cliff, and Frodo watches him fall, that totally made me think of when Luke Skywalker watches Obi-wan Kenobi get killed by Darth Vader in the Death Star. Both in their horrified reaction as someone is holding them back, and also how the old guys just kind of smile and give up. When Gandalf falls off that one platform where Saruman is abusing him, and an eagle catches him, it's like when Luke falls from that post in Cloud City and the Millenium Falcon catches him. Saruman and Count Dooku are like the same character with the same role, they're even played by the same guy, Christopher Lee (I know Count Dooku wasn't in the originals, but still). The second movie in both trilogies starts with a scene in a snowy land. The Balrog in the cave is kind of like the Rancor in Jabba the Hutt's palace. Hobbits are kind of like Ewoks, not in looks, just how they're small and everyone underestimates them. The pale wrinkly face of the possessed king (Theodan?) is kind of like Darth Vader without his mask. Frodo getting his finger bitten off is kind of like Luke getting his hand cut off. And I could've sworn I heard the sound of TIE Fighter engines in one of the movies. I know, some of those are quite a reach, and I'm probably just too obsessed with Star Wars.
13. What race is Gollum/Smeagol?
14. When the army of dead people were fighting that battle in Return of the King, could any of them actually die? Was it basically just a no-lose situation for them against the Orcs? I wish I had an army of dead guys fighting for me.
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