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ladyoflorien) wrote2004-03-15 05:24 pm
ladyoflorien) wrote2004-03-15 05:24 pm
A bit of an update...
Is it weird I'm writing in POV/Narration? How can I be narrating AND in the person's POV? I think... I may need to start over. lol.
Dang, I need to get a more comfortable writing chair. *stretches uncomfortably* Stupid back.
Having had no place to go today I'm proud to inform you all that not only have I not left my computer all afternoon, but I'm still in my pajamas. Oh yeah. No, we don't want no scrubs, la la la..
Current count:
4 surplus pages written,
5 separate games played. Including Duck Hunt, which amuses my cat so much that despite her best efforts she can *not* take a nap in my lap until I turn it off. At around round 10 I felt sorry enough for her that I turned it off and stared at Word again, though I was on my way to a good high score. Oh, btw![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bstem03, my score was 163,500.
And, since I'm procrastinating some more,
Well, it's been nearly two weeks since the last time I wrote anything about my life down, so I suppose I could say a thing or two. I've seen Jonna and Joe a few times this week. Saturday the 6th mom, dad, & I went down to Manchester to give them a visit. Jonna wanted to show off her new couch set, and the ring Joe ordered for her had finally come in. It's gorgeous of course, one 7 or so karat diamond set in a band of white gold. For an entire week or more she would continuously ask you if you "like my ring?!" Hehe, she's so funny. But after a bit the 5 of us drove over to the Manchester Mall so she could show us their wedding-bands. Also very nice--Silver bands, twisted in the middle with two thin plain bands on either side. I don't think I explained that very well, but they're nice rings. Joe done good. ;)
Then Monday the 8th we all went to the auction in Concord because Joe wanted mom to teach him the ropes. *shakes head* He's so funny. He's great though, I like him better than all of Jonna's old boyfriends because he actually includes me and makes me feel like an equal rather than a child. I appreciate that. But we spent the day together, the four of us, because mom had to go pick dad's car up from the Honda shop early that afternoon. So we had dinner together (d'angelo's, YUCK!) and then spent almost the entire night at the auction, where Sandy joined us for a while. It was rainy and gross out that night, very difficult to drive in, but everyone made it home alive. And mom won a few things, including an old movie projector that we're going to use in the basement family room. Sweet deal. :)
Aside from that one night I haven't seen JD or Sandy for a long time. They were here for dinner last night but I was feeling so ill that I didn't come up at all to socialize with all the guests. I felt kinda bad, but it was probably all for the best. Ally was here.... ugh... so yeah, that's all I'm gonna say about that! LOL. So yesterday was pretty boring. I just surfed the net and watched movies on TV all day and felt sorry for myself, heh. I turned on Spy Games because I'd seen previews for it all week and thought it looked interesting. It wasn't until a few minutes after I turned it on that I realized I'd SEEN IT BEFORE. Yeah, it's that enrapturing of a movie. Beh, oh well.
Hmm... aside from that... Oh yeah, Concord is redoing their Kingdom Hall, so we've been having East Concordians (HA!) up at our meetings the last two Sundays. I wasn't there yesterday for obvious reasons, but I heard there was a huge crowd. And the WILLMOTTS were there Sunday before that (the 7th), which was awesome. I sat next to Sarah and it was just all very good. I miss her so much.
AND sometime this past week Lexi and I got together and hung out for a few hours one night. It's scary to think she drives now... yegh! We were gonna go out so she could chauffeur me around, but we couldn't figure out what the heck we could do up here in Nowhere Ville in the time we had before she had to get home (new driver curfew and all). So we just hung out here, ate ice cream sundays HEH, and talked a bit. It was great though, that's the first time I've seen anyone socially since Superbowl Sunday. So it was a nice treat. :)
Um... aside from that? I think that about wraps it up. I've seen a lot of movies and such the past few weeks, but I don't remember them all to give my reviews. Although a couple Wednesdays ago Mom and I went to see RotK. It was her first time, my second. I think everyone was a little surprised with my review/reaction of it after I saw it the first time opening night, but my opinions haven't really changed all that much. The only differing thoughts are:
Favorite Scene/Most Accurate to Book Scene: Remains to be Theoden's speech before the Rohirrim on the fields of the Pelennor. It was SUCH a powerful scene in the book and I think it was the scene PJ did the best at bringing to life. I remember it was the one scene I was really truly proud of as I drove home in the wee hours back in December, and it remains to make my heart swell. There's no matching the book, of course, which still makes me shiver and tear at but a glance, but Bernard Hill just stunned me in his rendition and brought me to great wavering gasps for breath. Stunning. Even when mom was like "Why the heck are the orcs scared? They totally out-match them!" and I had to explain the significance of the book, how in the book there was this heavy darkness and when the Rohirrim charged it broke the darkness with a sudden surge of light and that the faces of the Rohirrim were hard and fear-inspiring so that the orcs quailed, etc etc etc. To which she replied "Oh. Well they should have explained that better," and I just shrugged and thought to myself 'wait till you see the rest of the movie.'
Least Favorite/Least Accurate to Book Scene: That damned scene on the Stairs to Cirith Ungol still infuriates me to no end. Not only would Frodo never send Sam away, but Sam would positively NEVER leave his master's side, not even if Frodo threatened his very life. That scene goes against EVERYTHING Samwise Gamgee was and is and remains to be, and if J.R.R. Tolkien was alive today he would be positively horrified. That scene goes against EVERYTHING Sam embodied in Tolkien's mind, and it tears down the actual personality and mind of an absolutely brilliant rich character. Page 280, ROTK: "'Yes, I am with you, Master,' said Sam, laying Frodo's wounded hand gently to his breast. 'And you're with me. And the journey's finished. But after coming all that way I don't want to give up yet. It's not like me, somehow, if you understand.'" Even at the 'end of all things,' Sam's faith, stubbornness, determination, and will to continue forward saved both his and Frodo's life from otherwise certain doom on the ruined sides of Mount Doom. Sam would never have let Frodo leave him behind, and he ESPECIALLY WOULD NOT have turned back down the stairs. In all the trilogy Sam NEVER took not ONE step back, and for every time he even thought of or debated doing so he ended up taking two steps forward. That is what made his character so special, so heroic and true and virtuous, and I'm just so hurt and upset that anyone would ever change that. That scene was the most enraging thing I've ever seen, it was the most flat-out AGAINST the book scene of the entire series. It's bad enough that they screwed with one of my favorite characters, making him completely non-canon (Faramir), but the fact that they screwed with another one of my favorites, one that I hold so very dear to my heart and the true theme of the series, just appalls me. You don't frell with them, screw with the others as much as you want, but you don't. frell. with them!
Most Wonderful Attention to Detail: Without going into my obvious love for WETA (WETA WETA WETA OMG WETA, HOW I LOVE YOU SO! YOU ARE AMAZING AND WONDERFUL AND WITHOUT YOU THESE MOVIES WOULD HAVE SUCKED! WETA WETA WETA I LOVE YOU SO!), because it's obvious that the props, costumes, models, and CGI are really the heart and soul of these movies and their impeccable attention to detail is unsurpassed by anything, I'm instead going to mention the set design team. Almost every scene was done so precise to book canon that it's hard to tell if I'm actually seeing it or if it's just been pulled from my imagination. The camps of the Rohirrim by the Paths of the Dead. The stairs of Cirith Ungol shooting straight up. MORGUL VALE, THE TOWER OF THE MOON, which was ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. The Plateau of Gorgoroth. The Black Gate and Towers of the Teeth. The streets of Minas Tirith, though I am still a little peeved the women and children were still there. WTF, what on earth did Phillipa and Fran think that added to the movie? Regardless of what the book says, in ANY movie with a predetermined battle the women and children are always evacuated before the onslaught starts. So why on earth did PJ and crew think it was necessary to keep them there? *sigh* Well, there are scenes here and there that have their minor annoyances, which is to be expected of anything, but on a whole the set design and direction was incredible.
Most Gruesome Lack of Attention to Detail: Okay, this may just be me, but the permeating darkness was grossly understated in the movie. In the books it's described with such great fervor and detail that it becomes a character in itself, rather than just a piece of set decoration. A great deal of the war, the characters, the places, the atmosphere, and so forth is DEPENDANT on the ever-present darkness. It was pitch black for three days, and this was VERY important to the sway of the plot. Sure in the movie we saw a dark cloud here and there, but it was ALWAYS light. For those three days until the Rohirrim came dragging behind them the sun from the West, it was complete pitch dark blackness. I think this was a very important detail in the books, and I was very upset to see that it was so grossly understated in the movies. Another character PJ cut entirely out of the series. Even in Shelob's Lair it was described to be "darker than a starless night" and yet it was remarkably bright in the movie. Even with the impossibility of really making it THAT dark (I KNOW it would detract from the movie if things were so dark they'd be difficult to see) I KNOW there are tricks PJ could have used to make these things look darker and more foreboding than he did. Elijah did a great job of fumbling around in the tunnels and making it look like he really couldn't see anything, but even so it lost so much of it's power because it was filmed so light. Even had it been marginally darker it still would have been an improvement. But I think I missed that most of all, because Tolkien spent half the book trying to get us to fear and then overcome the darkness as though it were an enemy as real as the Nazgul, or even the Dark Lord himself. And a GREAT DEAL of Sauron's power was portrayed by the darkness. I think it would have made Sauron even more fear-inspiring and evil had not PJ overlooked this huge outlet of his power.
Closing thoughts: It's an adequate representation of the books on film. Whereas I'm pretty sure no director could have done FotR or TTT better than PJ, my faith wavered a bit by RotK. I'm also sure PJ did the best that he could, and the final product is adequate. Elijah thinks the Extended Edition is better, Sean thinks there IS no RotK aside from the extended edition, so I'm still anxious to see that. There are other discrepancies that turn me off from the film version, but those are mostly minor. Pippin's song still irks me to a great extent. A flaming Denethor running throughout Ichthalion is also aggravating (*VISIBLY ROLLS EYES AT PETER*). And the fact that Merry didn't get to say farewell to Theoden, someone who was "as a father to him, but for a little while" so much so that he openly wept for many days and held a great deal of love for him in his heart is still bothersome, for several reasons. I'm annoyed Theoden recognized Eowyn, for part of his joy and ease at passing was the fact he knew she was safe from harm. And I'm SO GLAD that PJ didn't try to beef up Eowyn's character to make her even more "woman's lib." That is a huge comfort to me, especially since I never could stand Eowyn's character in the first place, even when I was younger. So if they tried to glorify her and make her some kind of hero, I would have puked. Luckily they stuck to being more low-key for the most part. And there you have that.
Hmm, didn't think I'd get into another review of RotK, but lo and behold. In all-new quiz style format, too! Heh. Well that was exhausting, glad it's done with. Though, darn, now I should get back to writing... bleh.
And now that I think about it, I think I'm going to leave this cursed story in POV/narration. It's kind of funky. I like it. Quite a bit, actually. *rereads* Ehehe, how does one manage to DO that?!?! Hahaha, oh man I need more creative writing workshops.
sammi: *buuuurp* NICKOLAS! *smack*
me: Ahahahahahahaha
me: 9.5
me: 9.5
me: 9.5
me: 8.0 from the judge from France
sammi: N: Yayay! HEY! stupid judge from France
me: LOL
me: That's what they all say, love
Dang, I need to get a more comfortable writing chair. *stretches uncomfortably* Stupid back.
Having had no place to go today I'm proud to inform you all that not only have I not left my computer all afternoon, but I'm still in my pajamas. Oh yeah. No, we don't want no scrubs, la la la..
Current count:
4 surplus pages written,
5 separate games played. Including Duck Hunt, which amuses my cat so much that despite her best efforts she can *not* take a nap in my lap until I turn it off. At around round 10 I felt sorry enough for her that I turned it off and stared at Word again, though I was on my way to a good high score. Oh, btw
bstem03, my score was 163,500.And, since I'm procrastinating some more,
Well, it's been nearly two weeks since the last time I wrote anything about my life down, so I suppose I could say a thing or two. I've seen Jonna and Joe a few times this week. Saturday the 6th mom, dad, & I went down to Manchester to give them a visit. Jonna wanted to show off her new couch set, and the ring Joe ordered for her had finally come in. It's gorgeous of course, one 7 or so karat diamond set in a band of white gold. For an entire week or more she would continuously ask you if you "like my ring?!" Hehe, she's so funny. But after a bit the 5 of us drove over to the Manchester Mall so she could show us their wedding-bands. Also very nice--Silver bands, twisted in the middle with two thin plain bands on either side. I don't think I explained that very well, but they're nice rings. Joe done good. ;)
Then Monday the 8th we all went to the auction in Concord because Joe wanted mom to teach him the ropes. *shakes head* He's so funny. He's great though, I like him better than all of Jonna's old boyfriends because he actually includes me and makes me feel like an equal rather than a child. I appreciate that. But we spent the day together, the four of us, because mom had to go pick dad's car up from the Honda shop early that afternoon. So we had dinner together (d'angelo's, YUCK!) and then spent almost the entire night at the auction, where Sandy joined us for a while. It was rainy and gross out that night, very difficult to drive in, but everyone made it home alive. And mom won a few things, including an old movie projector that we're going to use in the basement family room. Sweet deal. :)
Aside from that one night I haven't seen JD or Sandy for a long time. They were here for dinner last night but I was feeling so ill that I didn't come up at all to socialize with all the guests. I felt kinda bad, but it was probably all for the best. Ally was here.... ugh... so yeah, that's all I'm gonna say about that! LOL. So yesterday was pretty boring. I just surfed the net and watched movies on TV all day and felt sorry for myself, heh. I turned on Spy Games because I'd seen previews for it all week and thought it looked interesting. It wasn't until a few minutes after I turned it on that I realized I'd SEEN IT BEFORE. Yeah, it's that enrapturing of a movie. Beh, oh well.
Hmm... aside from that... Oh yeah, Concord is redoing their Kingdom Hall, so we've been having East Concordians (HA!) up at our meetings the last two Sundays. I wasn't there yesterday for obvious reasons, but I heard there was a huge crowd. And the WILLMOTTS were there Sunday before that (the 7th), which was awesome. I sat next to Sarah and it was just all very good. I miss her so much.
AND sometime this past week Lexi and I got together and hung out for a few hours one night. It's scary to think she drives now... yegh! We were gonna go out so she could chauffeur me around, but we couldn't figure out what the heck we could do up here in Nowhere Ville in the time we had before she had to get home (new driver curfew and all). So we just hung out here, ate ice cream sundays HEH, and talked a bit. It was great though, that's the first time I've seen anyone socially since Superbowl Sunday. So it was a nice treat. :)
Um... aside from that? I think that about wraps it up. I've seen a lot of movies and such the past few weeks, but I don't remember them all to give my reviews. Although a couple Wednesdays ago Mom and I went to see RotK. It was her first time, my second. I think everyone was a little surprised with my review/reaction of it after I saw it the first time opening night, but my opinions haven't really changed all that much. The only differing thoughts are:
Favorite Scene/Most Accurate to Book Scene: Remains to be Theoden's speech before the Rohirrim on the fields of the Pelennor. It was SUCH a powerful scene in the book and I think it was the scene PJ did the best at bringing to life. I remember it was the one scene I was really truly proud of as I drove home in the wee hours back in December, and it remains to make my heart swell. There's no matching the book, of course, which still makes me shiver and tear at but a glance, but Bernard Hill just stunned me in his rendition and brought me to great wavering gasps for breath. Stunning. Even when mom was like "Why the heck are the orcs scared? They totally out-match them!" and I had to explain the significance of the book, how in the book there was this heavy darkness and when the Rohirrim charged it broke the darkness with a sudden surge of light and that the faces of the Rohirrim were hard and fear-inspiring so that the orcs quailed, etc etc etc. To which she replied "Oh. Well they should have explained that better," and I just shrugged and thought to myself 'wait till you see the rest of the movie.'
Least Favorite/Least Accurate to Book Scene: That damned scene on the Stairs to Cirith Ungol still infuriates me to no end. Not only would Frodo never send Sam away, but Sam would positively NEVER leave his master's side, not even if Frodo threatened his very life. That scene goes against EVERYTHING Samwise Gamgee was and is and remains to be, and if J.R.R. Tolkien was alive today he would be positively horrified. That scene goes against EVERYTHING Sam embodied in Tolkien's mind, and it tears down the actual personality and mind of an absolutely brilliant rich character. Page 280, ROTK: "'Yes, I am with you, Master,' said Sam, laying Frodo's wounded hand gently to his breast. 'And you're with me. And the journey's finished. But after coming all that way I don't want to give up yet. It's not like me, somehow, if you understand.'" Even at the 'end of all things,' Sam's faith, stubbornness, determination, and will to continue forward saved both his and Frodo's life from otherwise certain doom on the ruined sides of Mount Doom. Sam would never have let Frodo leave him behind, and he ESPECIALLY WOULD NOT have turned back down the stairs. In all the trilogy Sam NEVER took not ONE step back, and for every time he even thought of or debated doing so he ended up taking two steps forward. That is what made his character so special, so heroic and true and virtuous, and I'm just so hurt and upset that anyone would ever change that. That scene was the most enraging thing I've ever seen, it was the most flat-out AGAINST the book scene of the entire series. It's bad enough that they screwed with one of my favorite characters, making him completely non-canon (Faramir), but the fact that they screwed with another one of my favorites, one that I hold so very dear to my heart and the true theme of the series, just appalls me. You don't frell with them, screw with the others as much as you want, but you don't. frell. with them!
Most Wonderful Attention to Detail: Without going into my obvious love for WETA (WETA WETA WETA OMG WETA, HOW I LOVE YOU SO! YOU ARE AMAZING AND WONDERFUL AND WITHOUT YOU THESE MOVIES WOULD HAVE SUCKED! WETA WETA WETA I LOVE YOU SO!), because it's obvious that the props, costumes, models, and CGI are really the heart and soul of these movies and their impeccable attention to detail is unsurpassed by anything, I'm instead going to mention the set design team. Almost every scene was done so precise to book canon that it's hard to tell if I'm actually seeing it or if it's just been pulled from my imagination. The camps of the Rohirrim by the Paths of the Dead. The stairs of Cirith Ungol shooting straight up. MORGUL VALE, THE TOWER OF THE MOON, which was ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. The Plateau of Gorgoroth. The Black Gate and Towers of the Teeth. The streets of Minas Tirith, though I am still a little peeved the women and children were still there. WTF, what on earth did Phillipa and Fran think that added to the movie? Regardless of what the book says, in ANY movie with a predetermined battle the women and children are always evacuated before the onslaught starts. So why on earth did PJ and crew think it was necessary to keep them there? *sigh* Well, there are scenes here and there that have their minor annoyances, which is to be expected of anything, but on a whole the set design and direction was incredible.
Most Gruesome Lack of Attention to Detail: Okay, this may just be me, but the permeating darkness was grossly understated in the movie. In the books it's described with such great fervor and detail that it becomes a character in itself, rather than just a piece of set decoration. A great deal of the war, the characters, the places, the atmosphere, and so forth is DEPENDANT on the ever-present darkness. It was pitch black for three days, and this was VERY important to the sway of the plot. Sure in the movie we saw a dark cloud here and there, but it was ALWAYS light. For those three days until the Rohirrim came dragging behind them the sun from the West, it was complete pitch dark blackness. I think this was a very important detail in the books, and I was very upset to see that it was so grossly understated in the movies. Another character PJ cut entirely out of the series. Even in Shelob's Lair it was described to be "darker than a starless night" and yet it was remarkably bright in the movie. Even with the impossibility of really making it THAT dark (I KNOW it would detract from the movie if things were so dark they'd be difficult to see) I KNOW there are tricks PJ could have used to make these things look darker and more foreboding than he did. Elijah did a great job of fumbling around in the tunnels and making it look like he really couldn't see anything, but even so it lost so much of it's power because it was filmed so light. Even had it been marginally darker it still would have been an improvement. But I think I missed that most of all, because Tolkien spent half the book trying to get us to fear and then overcome the darkness as though it were an enemy as real as the Nazgul, or even the Dark Lord himself. And a GREAT DEAL of Sauron's power was portrayed by the darkness. I think it would have made Sauron even more fear-inspiring and evil had not PJ overlooked this huge outlet of his power.
Closing thoughts: It's an adequate representation of the books on film. Whereas I'm pretty sure no director could have done FotR or TTT better than PJ, my faith wavered a bit by RotK. I'm also sure PJ did the best that he could, and the final product is adequate. Elijah thinks the Extended Edition is better, Sean thinks there IS no RotK aside from the extended edition, so I'm still anxious to see that. There are other discrepancies that turn me off from the film version, but those are mostly minor. Pippin's song still irks me to a great extent. A flaming Denethor running throughout Ichthalion is also aggravating (*VISIBLY ROLLS EYES AT PETER*). And the fact that Merry didn't get to say farewell to Theoden, someone who was "as a father to him, but for a little while" so much so that he openly wept for many days and held a great deal of love for him in his heart is still bothersome, for several reasons. I'm annoyed Theoden recognized Eowyn, for part of his joy and ease at passing was the fact he knew she was safe from harm. And I'm SO GLAD that PJ didn't try to beef up Eowyn's character to make her even more "woman's lib." That is a huge comfort to me, especially since I never could stand Eowyn's character in the first place, even when I was younger. So if they tried to glorify her and make her some kind of hero, I would have puked. Luckily they stuck to being more low-key for the most part. And there you have that.
Hmm, didn't think I'd get into another review of RotK, but lo and behold. In all-new quiz style format, too! Heh. Well that was exhausting, glad it's done with. Though, darn, now I should get back to writing... bleh.
And now that I think about it, I think I'm going to leave this cursed story in POV/narration. It's kind of funky. I like it. Quite a bit, actually. *rereads* Ehehe, how does one manage to DO that?!?! Hahaha, oh man I need more creative writing workshops.
sammi: *buuuurp* NICKOLAS! *smack*
me: Ahahahahahahaha
me: 9.5
me: 9.5
me: 9.5
me: 8.0 from the judge from France
sammi: N: Yayay! HEY! stupid judge from France
me: LOL
me: That's what they all say, love
no subject
reading your review.... I think you should be a movie critic. You'd be soooooo good at it. Heck, you already are. Every new movie you see, you write a review in here, and they are so detailed, and your very good at picking out all the little details. Along with being a writer too, cuz your great at that also!
no subject
Oh my god, Sammi! You just made me smile SO big! And squee! I squeed! Thank you! That was soooo sweet of you! *feels loved* *blushes* Wow, I wuff you mah monkey!
*****Sean/Dom hugs of dooooom*****
no subject
Um....kinda...can't......breath.....
no subject
But then not quite like that.
*shakes head* :-p
no subject