Wow, I can't believe that it's almost the end of September already! It feels like just a week ago that it was September last time...ah well, that's beside the point. The point is that two days ago was September 22nd, which happens to be the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, which happens to be the start of the sixth annual Tolkien blog party, hosted by the lovely Hamlette at The Edge of the Precipice! This blog party includes a very fun tag, which I confess I thought I was too busy to do this year, but as I have been struck by a sudden cold and have no inclination to get up off the couch, it seemed like the perfect opportunity! :D I would definitely recommend participating...it's immense fun! So, without further ado, I shall stop wasting time and actually answer the questions!
1. What's your favorite Middle-earth story/book? I think The Fellowship of the Ring. For some reason that one has always been my favorite, where there's still lots of lighthearted "hobbit talk" and the whole fellowship is together, as opposed to the other two books, where they are separated into a couple groups. Of course, The Hobbit is amazing too, because it just is and always will be--there's more chatty humor and witty banter, I think, in The Hobbit, which is always fun.
2. Do you have a favorite subplot? I'm not sure if this technically counts as a subplot, but I love the whole section in the books where Frodo plans his move away from Hobbiton to Buckland. That whole part, basically from Frodo's departure at Bag End to the Fog on the Barrow-Downs, is really fun! It fleshes out the story and what exactly is going on, and I like how planned and precise all of the hobbits' events were...Frodo was moving to Buckland to avoid suspicion of "disappearing," and that whole section when the four hobbit join forces and continue together was great. Sadly, we missed that entire bit, along with Farmer Maggot, the old forest, and Tom Bombadil in the movies...
3. What's your favorite theme in Tolkien's books? (Can be in one specific story, or overall.) I like how everyone is essential, in really all of his writings, especially the Middle-Earth ones. Every single character has a purpose and nobody is left out. Some serve more obvious purposes than others, but everyone contributes to the story and has some special way that they function as a person. Nobody is "extra" or put in just for comic relief. 4. Do you have a favorite weapon from Middle-earth? Sting all the way!
5. Would you like to be a hobbit? Absolutely! I could eat like seven meals a day, be surrounded by my family and friends, and never have to bother putting shoes on to go outside!
6. Do you have a favorite romance/couple? Hmm...although Tolkien never wrote about it in detail (or if he did, I don't know it...maybe he did, but I haven't heard so), I have always liked Elrond and the story of how his wife was almost killed by orcs (or some other foul beasts) and he wasn't able to heal her, so he sent her "into the west" for protection. I think that their story could be really nice if we got to see the whole thing. On a more down-to-earth level, though, Sam and Rosie are just so adorable! They're so happy together...and that makes me happy.
7. What's your favorite Middle-earth creature? (Can be "real" or "imaginary.") Hmm...I like horses a lot, but not just the regular old horses, the Shadowfax kind...oh, and Ents. I like the Ents, even though they are reeeeeeeaallllllyyyyyy sloooooowww sometimes. 8. What character do you look the most like? Well. Hmmm...I guess, since I'm a girl and I have dark hair, I would have to say Arwen. However, you will most often find me making faces like Bilbo...
9. Are there any books about Middle-earth or Professor Tolkien (but not written by him) you recommend? Someone might have already said this one, but the Tolkien Dictionary by David Day is super helpful. It even tells us the names of the two blue wizards!
10. List up to ten of your favorite lines/quotations from the Middle-earth books and/or movies.
"Never laugh at live dragons, Bilbo you fool!"
-The Hobbit, Inside Information
"It was at that point that Bilbo stopped.
Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did.
The tremendous things that happened afterward were as nothing compared to it.
He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone,
before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait."
-The Hobbit, Inside Information
Well, I guess that's about it! That was fun! Thank you, Hamlette, for hosting, and Happy Tolkien Week! :)
I have no idea where this came from, but it's fitting...
You know that sad feeling you have the first day of school after Christmas break? When you have classes but you just feel like studying and going to school is literally the last thing you want to do at the moment? When you get exceedingly grumpy for seemingly no reason and just mope around complaining (which I shouldn't do by the way--don't follow my example)? When basically you feel like this?
Going back to school after break is the saddest moment of the school year, worse than exams I think. But anyway, I digress. Other than school, here are a few movies in no particular order that I've been watching lately (the subtitle of this post should have been: "Movies I intended to review but didn't").
Okay, I'll start with Boss Baby. We watch a lot of animated movies and love lots of them. In fact, I'm pretty sure that we have more animated movies than plain old live action ones, but I digress. Boss Baby was actually a pleasant surprise! I was expecting it to be rather ho-hum and boring, even rather stupid, but it was really cute and had some EXTREMELY FUNNY moments with sibling humor. There wasn't any objectionable content *that I remember*, although there were a whole lot of diaper jokes and babies without any clothes on, but...other that that, I would recommend it! It was very fun. Also the way they used "Blackbird" by The Beatles was really kind of sweet, surprisingly touching for an animated movie.
.....................................meh. The first two Despicable Me movies were good, more than tolerable, but I found this one kind of bland. It was mediocre. There were some funny moments, but we had to wait through the rest of the movie filled with Minon humor *yawns* and no real plot line other than "this stupid 80s brat is trying to take over the world" and "Gru has a brother." It wasn't awful, but was definitely a step down from the other two. That's Universal's problem, they make too many sequels and then they ruin a perfectly good movie/series! That's what happened to Ice Age (that was Universal, wasn't it? If it wasn't, it's still what happened.)
Wow, this was a quite good drama. Obviously, it was about Winston Churchill and World War II. I was surprised at how short a time span in his life it covered, but so much happened in that time! I really enjoyed this one. It was well done, well acted, and painted a very poignant picture of life in that time, how people felt and how the situation was. There was a bit of language in this one, so I wouldn't recommend it for young kids, but I think it is a good film for any World War II history fan. Plot-wise, acting-wise, and simply quality-wise, it was very good and worth the watch. A moving story beautifully told (for the most part). Plus, I was surprised by Lily James and Ben Mendelsohn (who is Director Krennic in Rogue One) showing up!
I was surprised at how cute this movie was! I was definitely expecting it to be a stupid talking animal movie, but they made Paddington rather adorable and sweet! It's a very British movie, and I am not a huge fan of how the parents and children behave to each other, but they are reconciled in the end. I was so glad that the mother's "hero" in the story she was trying to write (she was an artist/writer/something) turned out to be her husband, not the bear. Hmm...what is there to say? It was a cute movie, totally unrealistic, but nice all the same. I wasn't a fan of the villain (of course, that's probably a good thing). There was a little British humor and one use of a synonym for 'gender-y' as a joke which will most likely go over the heads of kids (plus, the person it is said about is actually a man in disguise and a very poor excuse at pretending to be a lady--it's difficult to explain). Other than that though, it was quite entertaining and nice.
Sherlock Holmes: the 1930s/40s version with Basil Rathbone
I picked a collection of old Sherlock Holmes movies up at a secondhand store and was super excited to watch them! I love the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories, and while I have not watched BBC's Sherlock and I probably won't, I still think Martin Freeman IS WATSON! (Get that? I haven't seen Sherlock and I'm not planning to, but from pictures I've seen and the stories I've read and seeing him in The Hobbit, I've decided that Martin Freeman is the one and only Dr. John Watson. Except without a moustache.) What I have seen of the old Sherlock has made me love the stories all over again, because Basil Rathbone...I never thought I would say it, but here is an actor who exemplifies Sherlock in every way! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Of course, they are mostly murder mysteries, so there is a bit of violence involved, but it's from the 40s so (at least so far) nothing has been unwatchable. We can argue about the portrayal of Watson later.
I mean, come on! If it was possible, wouldn't they make a great team?
Speaking of Martin Freeman...I got to watch the extended edition of The Battle of Five Armies. Yes, it is rated R. Yes, this is the first and most likely last (last without any sort of filter, that is) R-rated movie I'll ever see. The violence really wasn't as bad as I thought it could have been, though there was a lot of splattering...need I say more? The thing is, violence with orcs being killed doesn't bother me much, as it would if it was humans being killed. I could never do that. But anyway, there are some excellent extended scenes that help the plot along, such as when Thranduil says, "If anything moves on that mountain, kill it." In the original version, he says that immediately before the movie cuts to Bilbo climbing down the mountain. In the extended version, Bilbo climbs down (after a conversation with Bofur, who is great) BEFORE that Thranduil scene. I feel like that makes more sense. And there was Thorin's (and Fili's and Kili's, but apparently they're not important) funeral added at the end, along with some other extra bits that I won't spoil right now. Overall I liked it a lot and it was just as exciting as ever. We still yelled at Thorin for following Azog under the ice...and I cracked up laughing so hard for some reason when an elf blew his horn...but that's another story.
I was actually surprised at how enjoyable this movie was. As my brother said, it was pretty much "THE animated movie" and wasn't super spectacular, but it was fun to watch and very entertaining. I was surprised at how they could make a bull be so likable and sweet a character. It was a very cute movie which would be fine for kids, I really don't remember anything objectionable. The music was quite lovely, too! It was just a nice, fun story...about bulls in Mexico...but it was still good! The German horses were hilarious--I think that if bulls and horses did talk to each other, what happens in this movie is exactly how it would be in real life. The dance-off between the bulls and horses was very hilarious (except for the horses dabbing, which was cringey). In conclusion, Ferdinand was worth watching. I don't think I would pay to see it, but we had theater gift cards and couldn't think of anything else suitable for our whole family. I would watch it again when it comes out on DVD, if we get it from the library.
*SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH* My older brother has been going on and on about how amazing this movie is ever since he watched it. Then when he got the DVD as a Christmas present, we had to watch it. The basic idea is this: aliens in their big egg-shaped spaceships have come and we need to figure out how to communicate with them. The main character is a linguistics professor (the lady) and that's probably why my brother likes it; he's a linguistics major. So, it's really artistic and quite well-done (there is some swearing, including an upper-tier word that would be easily skippable once you know where it is), really cool effects and the aliens are mind-blowing. Then I hated it once it was done. So, throughout the film, the lady has these flashbacks of her daughter, who died of a rare disease. Her husband had left her or they divorced I assume, and it's kind of a sad story. But then we learn that she was actually seeing the future and having "flash-forewards" and that she marries the guy that she's assigned to work with, knowing FULL WELL that he would get mad when she told him what she saw in the future would happen to their daughter, but decides to marry him anyway knowing all this!!! I mean, come on lady!!!!!! I was done with it then, and once it turned out the message of the movie was that all the world should be at peace and unite in peace (which I mean isn't a bad thing, but world peace movies are annoying) just in case aliens ever come...the movie was interesting, but the ending disappointed me in SO MANY WAYS.
My reaction at the end of the movie
All right, last one. I was wanting to watch this for the longest time and finally got the chance to a while ago. It was excellent. Really. Very good. The acting was pristine, the story was great and the message was beautiful. It just had a very deep feeling to it that was satisfying to watch. There were a few more language issues than I would like, but overall was not bad content-wise. The descriptions/depictions of slavery can be a bit disturbing and very sad, maybe not fit for younger kids, but overall I loved the movie and the story of William Wilberforce (at least the fictionalized story--you can't take everything in a movie for granted you know). It was interesting to see Romola Garai in another role than in Emma, and she was pretty much the same person, I thought, but just as good as ever. Of course Michael Gambon was in it...he seems to be following me around...and Benedict Cumberbatch. He was good too, but I really wanted him to actually...do...something...instead of just sitting in parliament with that sneaky smirk on his face. (N.B. Is he supposed to be good-looking? Everyone says he is...but I don't see it. No offense.) Ah well, wonderful movie, in all respects. Go watch it as an excuse to quit listening to my yakking.
And to close, two movies that I'm excited about that are coming out soon!!!
1: Aardman Animation's Early Man
2: Peter Rabbit
Have you seen/want to see any of these? Any thoughts you want to share? Comment below if you wish!
You can probably tell that this post is going to be about the new look/name of my blog. And, in part, it is. I have renamed it "Bookends and Bwopper-Eels" because that is much easier to say than my previous name, "The Blog of Iorlh." And I like it better. I've also done a bit of visual redesign as you can see, as well as going through and doing a bit of editing on my "about" pages and suchlike.
So, if there is anything you like or don't like (be honest!), or anything you would like to see added, let me know!
Now, on to other things. New things. (Don't get too excited.)
This semester was my first semester of college at Oakland University. I was majoring in music performance, but a few weeks in, I was beginning to wonder, "Is this really what I want to do? I didn't think it would be like this." Due to several reasons, I have now changed my major to creative writing, with a minor in music (that way my credits still count!). I am officially one of "those people" who change their majors.
Not gonna lie, I have been worried that people would be disappointed in me for changing my major and that I wouldn't be able to give them a satisfactory reason WHY I changed. I usually just explain that I hate practicing my instrument (who knew, right?). I have never picked up my flute and practiced 'for fun,' at least not that I remember. I've always practiced because I Had To; I love to PLAY the flute but not to PRACTICE the flute. And being at school, completely absorbed in music as if that was the only thing I'd ever do, I realized, "I don't want this." It seems like, to be a professional musician, there are so many things you have to sacrifice: your time for family and anything else, your energy, your enjoyment of anything else has to be ignored. Unless music is the very love of your life...it's hard. And don't get me wrong, I'll always love music! I'll always keep playing my flute, but I don't have the desire to be a professional musician.
I believe there are more important things--and to be honest, sometimes I struggled with having time for Bible study and my faith, feeling like I'm treating that as just another class that I want to get a good grade on. So many musicians (not all) have such messed-up lives in so many ways, and that has really discouraged and disappointed me. Not that I would be like that, but...I just couldn't do it. I can't sacrifice my faith and my family for music. And I guess that, in my heart, I always knew it would come down to a choice between writing and music. Now that choice has been made.
I'l probably still feel guilty about this when I'm 87 years old, but, when I finally decided it was a huge relief to know what I was doing. I don't know if this has made any sense at all. But it's been done. I only have two more days and the first semester of college is gone. The fact that I'm taking Thorin's advice helps a little...
That's all. That's what's new...other than the fact that we decorated for Christmas and I'm SO READY for it! Also there are like 7 inches of snow outside right now...but that's all beside the point. Happy end-of-exams-week, and goodbye for now! I go to study German!
This is just a short post to commemorate the birthday of two fantastic Hobbits! In honor of Tolkien week and the Tolkien Blog Party hosted by Hamlette at The Edge of the Precipice (you can read all the other Tolkien week brou-ha-ha and excitement by going there) we shall give Many Happy Returns of the Day to two of our favorite halflings! (Well, except for Pippin and Merry and Sam. They're our favorites too.)
The first: A ringbearer in his time who aided the dwarves on their quest to the Lonely Mountain, reclaiming their homeland and helping in the defeat of the dragon Smaug: Bilbo Baggins!
And his cousin/nephew (but Bilbo is referred to as "Uncle" so we'll go with that), also a ringbearer on the quest to destroy the One Ring forever! Happy Birthday Frodo Baggins!
Notice how they're both SMILING in those pictures? That makes me happy. They're finally smiling for once! :D
This is also to wish a happy birthday to two of my dear cousins. Let me explain: There are ten children in my cousins' family (I'm not going to use names, sorry) and of those ten, two boys were born on Christmas day about eight years apart and two were born on September 22, the birthday of our two Hobbits, eighteen years apart. YOU GUYS! I'M A COUSIN OF BILBO AND FRODO! WHICH IS JUST ONE MORE REASON TO WISH THEM (all four of them) A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Blow the party horns! Pull the party poppers! Dance! Sing! CELEBRATE! HOORAY!
*Ahem*
That's my last shebang for Tolkien week. So I will say "One last goodbye" (:P) and leave you with this cheery bit of video to end your week. Just...please don't dance like Frodo? Please? Thank you!
Note: Ok yes I know I posted this the day before the birthday! I wanted to get it out so I wouldn't forget. To avoid confusion, their birthday is September 22. I posted this the evening of September 21, for time reasons. :)
Okay. I know, I know, I said I wouldn't be posting much now that college is in full swing. But--but--a TOLKIEN BLOG PARTY? One does not simply not participate in a Tolkien blog party! ;) First off, thanks to Hamlette at The Edge of the Precipice for hosting the party! (Actually, I've never done this before, but hey! there's got to be a first time for everything right?)
And without further ado, the questions of...LOTR-ness!
Think, think, think! How shall I answer these?
1. How long have you been a Tolkien fan?
That's tricky. The thing is, I can't remember a time when I didn't know that somebody named Bilbo Baggins existed. I think I always knew about Hobbits (thanks to my dad who read the book to us at a very early age), but I don't think I really know what happened to them. I guess I have been a life-long fan. I grew up with them and The Return of the King came out on I believe my 4th birthday! Also, The Battle of Five Armies came out on my 15th birthday, which is an interesting bit of trivia!
2. Has your love of Middle-earth affected your life?
Absolutely! I CANNOT have a real conversation without alluding at least once to the Middle-earth sagas and can't see the real world without making parallels to the slightly less real one!
3. If you had to take the One Ring to Mordor, which character would you choose for your sole companion?
I'm sorely tempted to just say "Sam" because well, that's what Frodo did and it worked out pretty well for him, right? But I think logically I would have to say Gandalf. He always seems to know what to do and could whack me if I started doing something wrong. But he isn't mean and I know I could always trust him.
4. Which is scarier, Shelob or the Balrog?
Shelob, because BLECH spiders!
5. Which two towers do you think Tolkien was referring to in the title The Two Towers? (i.e. Orthanc, Barad-dûr, Cirith Ungol, Minas Morgul, or Minas Tirith)
Orthanc and Minas Morgul were what Tolkien was referring to, but I think Peter Jackson was alluding more to Orthanc and Barad-dûr. 6. Whose wardrobe would you like to have?
Ooohhh...wow. I think I'm going to say something rather unorthodox. I SHOULD say Arwen or Eowyn, but I'm not. Can I have Pippin's scarf?
And then for the rest maybe Bilbo's wardrobe. I am exceedingly jealous of his cozy bathrobe in the first movie and overall he seems to have very comfortable, practical taste. (And the acorn buttons. They're the best!) 7. What do you think an Ent Draught would taste like?
Homemade root beer (or maybe ginger ale, whichever one works). Like the really good kind that you get from small companies up north and nobody knows about! 8. Where in Middle-earth would you like to live?
Right here. :D
9. Do you have any Tolkien-related opinions that surprise other people?
I don't like to correct people's pronunciation, but I am very strong-minded that "Tolkien" is pronounced "toll-KEEN" not "toll-KIN." The Letters of JRR Tolkien: Letter #347 I am nearly always written to as Tolkein (not by you): I do not know why, since it is pronounced by me always -keen. Also, people hate on Elijah Wood's Frodo. I don't, really. I think he was very young to play Frodo (he was what, 18?) but considering that I think his portrayal was very good. Very good. The first time I watched the movies I was like, "Nope, he stinks!" but each time I re-realize how well Wood played Frodo. I mean, Frodo WAS supposed to be 40 years old, but...still. (I could ramble on for a while, but I'll stop now.) 10. List up to ten of your favorite lines/quotations from the books or movies. I have a couple up on my sidebar! But here are several more:
Again, thank you Hamlette!!!! Loved it! And I'll leave you with one little picture for your enjoyment!
Notice Thorin is in the same stance as Grumpy from Snow White is usually in! :)
