Dreams And Bunnies And Other Stuff

I've been meaning to update for a while now, but haven't for some reason. Oh well.

Because it's quite possibly the biggest thing in the cinematic world at the moment, I fell I should say a few words about Inception.

I went to see it after two friends had told me they liked it a lot. Well, I did too, sort of. The script was very good, and some of the details were intriguing, but I feel Christopher Nolan could've gotten more out of the idea. Leonardo DiCaprio did alright, I guess, though the character annoyed me to no end. And it was extremely interesting to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt in this kind of role - at least if you're used to the Third Rock From the Sun. The ending of the movie pleased me.
Yes, I am aware this is a bad review. It's been about three weeks since the movie, and the things I mention are the ones that have stuck with me. It wasn't sensational or a Best Motion Picture of the Year nominee, but it's entertaining. Take ear pluggs with you though, the effects are loud. Afterwards you may feel the need to have a big gun, just for the kicks. I know I wanted one.
Nolan should get a nomination for the script.
I like that poster, oh yes I do! It's so nifty! :D


A latter movie I saw - Miss Potter (2006).

As a Ewan McGregor fan I've been wanting to see this film, but never actually got to the cinema to see it. Now I'm glad I didn't - I cried my eyes out. Renée Zellweger was like she always is, this time a tone down from Bridget Jones and move like Barbara Novak. But oh, Ewan! He did such great work as Norman Warne! Even with the disturbing mustache. This is a short movie, only about an hour and a half, and it's very fresh and airy. I warmly recommend this. I found it to be of inspiration - Beatrix became an author despite what her family (well, her mother) thought of it, and was extremely successful, as we all know.
Here another sweet picture from the movie. I dare say it might be from my favourite scene:

You'll have to see it to know why I think it so sweet.



What else, what else? Books, maybe?
I read A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire, and came to the conclusion that yes, Wicked is the best one in the series. But this book gathered some loose ends from the two first ones, so I forgave almost all the politics.
After Maguire, I finally got my hands on the Fall of the Kings by Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman. With much regret I have to say I didn't enjoy this one as much as the other Riverside books, maybe because there was some magic in this one. Don't take my wrong, it's not a bad book - you can read it to just enjoy the language. But it wasn't as intricate as I had hoped, and I was slightly disappointed with the ending. I think the Privilege of the Sword remains my favourite (though I have to read it again to be sure), and chapter XXI from Swordspoint my favourite chapter. (A thought - Katharine Talbert reminds me of Elizabeth the First.)
Now I'm rereading Pratchett's Going Postal, which is rapidly taking the Hogfather's place as my favourite Discworld novel. The reason for this second reading is the movie, of which I saw trailers and am now a little suspicious about, because good books usually don't translate to film so well. But I'm hopeful - the actors seem decent.

So after I'm not with Mr von Lipwig, it's finally time to reread all the Harry Potters. I intend to do that in less than two weeks for two reasons:
1) Orientation week starts in two weeks and
2) There's a series of Oscar Wilde lectures, the first one about the Picture of Dorian Gray, and I intend to read that wonderful book again before the lecture so I'm sure to remember everything.
And then I probably have so much school stuff to read I have little time for fiction, but I'll go through the Secret History by Donna Tartt somehow. A friend just read it and was thrilled, so I promised to read it as well, seeing as we have it.

That about covers it, I think. Now I shall turn to fanfiction and then go to gym - we're dancing latin at last, after a long pause. I'm so looking forward to it, zumba is getting boring.

With love,
Wilzo

One Ring To Rule Them All

I think it's time to show my obsession with the Lord of the Rings. It all started in late 2001 or very early 2002 - I can't be sure because I've lost that ticket - when my friend insisted I come watch the Fellowship of the Ring with her. I went, I watched it and fell in love. I read the Hobbit and then, for my birthday, I got a LotR of my own. I was done with it before the Two Towers was out. It took me about four months to complete, if my memory serves.

From then on I've been a fan. Sometimes I don't even think about this magnificent book for a long while, but something always brings it back to my attention. At the moment I'm participating a LotR One Shot Contest in Quizilla, so some research is in place.

Anyway. The amount of money I've put into LotR merchandise is ridiculous, but we have to remember I was only 12-13 at the time, and I regret none of it. So here goes, with pictures.

There are the books I've got in Finnish. Unfortunately I haven't got the illustrated guide to the Fellowship of the Ring, but I saw that in a second-hand bookshop and am contemplating of buying it... It's in English, though. But maybe I could trade my Finnish books for the English versions? Anyway. There's also The Book itself. The back almost came off about a year ago, but I taped it back together. The three books at the bottom of the picture are:
- Brian Sibley: the Lord of the Rings Official Movie Guide
- Chris Smith: the Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare
- Brian Sibley: the Lord of the Rings: Making of the Movie Trilogy
The middle one is quite possibly my favourite, with awesome pics of swords, armour, bows, spears... There's lots I didn't know, about the LotR-verse as well as the weapons themselves. Very enlightening, I can recommend it.

Oh, what is that the books are lying on? Why, it's my LotR sheets! :D My clever cousin gave me them for Christmas around 2002, and I've loved them ever since. And what's more, they go well with the other colours in my room - green, white, brown.

Sorry about that - stupid computer refuses to let me rotate the picture. But yeah. There's Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf and Saruman on it, even though you can only see the first one here. And the Ring-pillow case. Pure love.

We were in New Zealand 2008 with a friend of mine, on a language course. As luck would have it, there was a trip to Hobbiton, and we signed as soon as we got the chance. The weather was merciful and it didn't rain, the guide was great and we had cameras - it was perfect. It was also my 18th birthday, and I got to spend it under the Party Tree!
So that means I have some random LotR merchandise as well. There are postcards, magnets, a T-shirt... I even brought my brother a cap. I didn't take pics of all this, though, because I'm a little lazy. ^^;

My mission in NZ was to buy LotR in English. I found these beauties - well, FotR and RotK, at least. The bookstore didn't have TTT with this cover, but I'm determined to find it somewhere, some day. I don't even know what it looks like, but it will be very easy to recognise if I stumble on it.

Of course I have all the music from the movies. I also have all the films on VHS, but only FotR and TTT on DVD - extended versions but no extras. I really want to buy that special deluxe extended edition (or whatever it is called) box, with all the extra material possible. This is the trilogy that got me into movies, after all.

Favourite character? Éomer. All my friends know this painfully well. I have posters, cards, quotes, and even a Karl Urban shirt my friends made for me. It's a little faded now, but I still use it from time to time.

Only slightly obsessed. ^^; I used to be into horses, which is probably part of the reason I first took to liking Éomer, but after reading TTT and RotK for countless times I'm certain that he's the best.
...Though I've lately taken a liking to Faramir as well. The ultimate quote from RotK has to be:
"Do not scorn pity that is the gift of a gentle heart, Éowyn!"
*sighs*
They should've cut Arwen from the films and replaced her with Glorfindel and some proper Faramir/Éowyn. Arwen is very unnecessary.

I think that's about it. Before I go, a picture of some random stuff:

There's the Éomer bookmark I got from a German pen pal (though we only ever exchanged two letters), playing cards (well used), the Evenstar necklace I bought from Greece, the bag to keep it in, the box it came in (currently filled with my collection of LotR trading cards) and a badge I bought from the Finnish Tolkien Society's table at Finncon. It says "Not all those who wander are lost". It's not attached to my bag, because I realised after buying that people will think I'm a fan of Lost the tv-series. I've never watched one episode. Oh well.

Elen síla lúmenn' omentielvo.

Lol, I can still do that. xD
Professor Tolkien was a genious. My prep course teacher saw me reading his biography and told me a friend of his studied under Tolkien. I looked like this: O.O
What can you say when someone tells you something awesome like that? Nothing.
Speechless.
What did Sheldon say about 'being rendered speechless'? There was some scientific ground for it.
I forget what that was.

I'll stop here.

Namárië.

~Wilzo