John D. Rateliff's Blog, page 170
November 27, 2012
A Bird in the Hand . . .
So, today something happened that makes it the kind of day you remember.
It started simply enough: I was out on the balcony, getting ready to fill up the birdfeeder, when a little finch landed on the railing next to me. Noticing how closely it was watching me, and how little fear it seemed to have, I poured some birdseed from the half-empty feeder into my hand and held it out. After a short pause, it flew over and landed in my hand, where it stayed for several minutes, eating seed out of the palm of my hand, occasionally rubbing its beak on my fingers, and towards the end almost dozing off. I stayed as still as I could, though my arm got increasingly wobbly towards the end of it all. Midway through another finch landed nearby and gave the whole proceedings a careful scrutiny but decided it wasn't worth it and flew off again. As for the little finch, I'm sure it was a juvenile goldfinch: it had a spotted tum and the kind of endearingly clumsy movement associated with youngsters newly out on their own. I hope this one has a warm nest and is suitably wary of everybody but me.
And no, I didn't let Feanor Finchslayer (with three to his credit, or infamy, so far) out on the deck unsupervised today, somewhat to his annoyance. I'll make it up to him later.
--John R.
It started simply enough: I was out on the balcony, getting ready to fill up the birdfeeder, when a little finch landed on the railing next to me. Noticing how closely it was watching me, and how little fear it seemed to have, I poured some birdseed from the half-empty feeder into my hand and held it out. After a short pause, it flew over and landed in my hand, where it stayed for several minutes, eating seed out of the palm of my hand, occasionally rubbing its beak on my fingers, and towards the end almost dozing off. I stayed as still as I could, though my arm got increasingly wobbly towards the end of it all. Midway through another finch landed nearby and gave the whole proceedings a careful scrutiny but decided it wasn't worth it and flew off again. As for the little finch, I'm sure it was a juvenile goldfinch: it had a spotted tum and the kind of endearingly clumsy movement associated with youngsters newly out on their own. I hope this one has a warm nest and is suitably wary of everybody but me.
And no, I didn't let Feanor Finchslayer (with three to his credit, or infamy, so far) out on the deck unsupervised today, somewhat to his annoyance. I'll make it up to him later.
--John R.
New Zealand live premiere
On tv right now, live streaming from Wellington, is the premiere of THE HOBBIT, movie one.
First came a half-hour set by the musician doing the closing theme music
Then two hours or so (so far) of red carpet interviews
Up next are speeches by Peter Jackson et al.
Here's one of many places where you can find a link:
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1092906/middle-earth-mania-new-zealand-capital-hobbit-debut
As soon as it's over, they're planning to re-run it in its entirety.
Enjoy!
--John R.
First came a half-hour set by the musician doing the closing theme music
Then two hours or so (so far) of red carpet interviews
Up next are speeches by Peter Jackson et al.
Here's one of many places where you can find a link:
http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1092906/middle-earth-mania-new-zealand-capital-hobbit-debut
As soon as it's over, they're planning to re-run it in its entirety.
Enjoy!
--John R.
November 25, 2012
Lewis in Poets' Corner
So, this week came the news* that next year C. S. Lewis's name will be added to Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. Janice and I were there just two months back, spending much of our last full day in London at the Abbey -- during which we had time to thoroughly explore, watch part of a service, marvel over the British appetite for putting up monuments of Nelson (of which there were already plenty in St. Paul's, not to mention Trafalgar Square), visit the tombs of England's greatest queen (who's buried with her sister, surprisingly enough, considering that the two didn't get on), and generally marvel at the place. And I finally got to see Poet's Corner, which turns out to be a rather modern conceit of eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century figures wanting memorials put up near Chaucer's tomb. Plus some of the people commemorated in the area can hardly be called 'poets' in any meaningful sense (such as Laurence Olivier).
As for Lewis, he was indeed a poet (and at the start of his career quite a good one, though he quickly lost his way**), though it's hard to imagine he's being added to the Poets' Corner on the strength of SPIRITS IN BONDAGE. Critics and scholars rarely gain that eminence either, nor do writers of science fiction or children's books or apologetics. My suspicion is that it's not on the strength of any of these things, but all of them together. Here's the announcement:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20426778
Curiously enough, Lewis will not be the first Inkling to be buried in the Abbey; as we were leaving, I spotted the floor-marker naming the first. Anyone who thinks he or she knows whom, post your guess in the comments.
--John R.
*thanks to Wendell W's post on the MythSoc list
**SPIRITS IN BONDAGE is a promising work, but DYMER is dire and thereafter he never took his poetry seriously enough.
As for Lewis, he was indeed a poet (and at the start of his career quite a good one, though he quickly lost his way**), though it's hard to imagine he's being added to the Poets' Corner on the strength of SPIRITS IN BONDAGE. Critics and scholars rarely gain that eminence either, nor do writers of science fiction or children's books or apologetics. My suspicion is that it's not on the strength of any of these things, but all of them together. Here's the announcement:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20426778
Curiously enough, Lewis will not be the first Inkling to be buried in the Abbey; as we were leaving, I spotted the floor-marker naming the first. Anyone who thinks he or she knows whom, post your guess in the comments.
--John R.
*thanks to Wendell W's post on the MythSoc list
**SPIRITS IN BONDAGE is a promising work, but DYMER is dire and thereafter he never took his poetry seriously enough.
The Die Is Cast (The Long Trailer)
So, we've now taken the plunge: yesterday we bought the ticket to see the new HOBBIT movie on opening day. I suppose we'd been holding off in hopes we might hear of someone organizing going as a group to a specific showing at a specific theatre, as was the case with the three LotR movies (where the group was most made up of current and ex-WotC folk). Which might still be the case: back in '01, '02, and '03 we saw each movie twice the same day -- the first time to just enjoy and the second to try to take it all in, looking more for specific details, given that I was asked to review each for the WotC website. That's not the case this time, but I'll still want to review it on the blog, and the watch-it-twice-in-one-day tradition worked so well that it seems a good one to preserve.
So here's where we'll be: Friday December 14th, Kent Station, 11.30 am showing. No Imax, no 3-d: just plain unadulterated film.
No idea yet where the second showing might be later that day, but we may try for one of the Imax/3d options there. Or not, depending on time and place and availability of tickets.
Meanwhile, thanks to Janice, here's the link to a seven-and-a-half minute trailer created by fans who edited together all the footage shown in the various trailers released so far. There's a lot here I hadn't seen before, so I must have missed a trailer or two along the way. This compilation lacks the pacing of the professionally produced trailers, but you really get a good sense of the movie, though of course an incomplete one,* through watching it. The usual spoiler warnings apply.
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/11/one-hobbit-super-trailer-to-rule-them-all
I think I'm now at the point where I can recognize each dwarf on sight.
I'll probably be watching this every day from now till Dec. 14th.
--John R.
*i.e., it naturally focuses the attention on what's included or at least referenced, and so makes it easy to forget about scenes and characters not represented in the trailers.
So here's where we'll be: Friday December 14th, Kent Station, 11.30 am showing. No Imax, no 3-d: just plain unadulterated film.
No idea yet where the second showing might be later that day, but we may try for one of the Imax/3d options there. Or not, depending on time and place and availability of tickets.
Meanwhile, thanks to Janice, here's the link to a seven-and-a-half minute trailer created by fans who edited together all the footage shown in the various trailers released so far. There's a lot here I hadn't seen before, so I must have missed a trailer or two along the way. This compilation lacks the pacing of the professionally produced trailers, but you really get a good sense of the movie, though of course an incomplete one,* through watching it. The usual spoiler warnings apply.
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/11/one-hobbit-super-trailer-to-rule-them-all
I think I'm now at the point where I can recognize each dwarf on sight.
I'll probably be watching this every day from now till Dec. 14th.
--John R.
*i.e., it naturally focuses the attention on what's included or at least referenced, and so makes it easy to forget about scenes and characters not represented in the trailers.
November 24, 2012
Tolkien Sings
So, it was from a comment on a post earlier this week (thanks, Trotter*) that I learned three new recording of Tolkien reading from THE HOBBIT not only existed but were being made public. That same day, Janice sent me a link to one of the pieces, which was available online. Here's JRRT himself, not just reciting but actually singing one of the dwarves' songs at Bag End ("That's What Bilbo Baggins Hates"):
http://soundcloud.com/harperaudio/j-r-r-tolkien-singing-extract
Following up on Trotter's information about all three clips being available on the enhanced 75 anniversary edition of THE HOBBIT e-book, we made the discovery that my Kindle is too old for the text-to-audio software to work (it worked when we first got it, so suspect it might still on the older books, but apparently there are compatibility issues with the newer books). But, lest we despair, it turns out that Janice's iPad plays them just fine. Even better, it turns out to have four clips in all (the fourth being the superb "Riddles in the Dark" recording made at George Sayer's house circa 1952) and the three new ones being
(1) "That's What Bilbo Baggins Hates" (see above)
(2) "Far Over Misty Mountains Cold"
(3) "Roast Mutton"
The first two are relatively brief: first Tolkien's singing a song and then his recitation of a second, both from Chapter I of THE HOBBIT. The most interesting thing about these is the tune of the first -- I tried to find out, when working on MR. BAGGINS, whether the many songs in THE HOBBIT had actual tunes, and eventually concluded that the answer was 'probably not'. Good to learn, from a most unexpected but unimpeachable source, that I was wrong: some did (though probably not all).
The third is by far the longest, covering the entire troll-encounter scene from Chapter II. Listening to this more or less answers another point that'd long puzzled me: it's often been asserted that Tolkien gave the trolls cockney accents, which seemed out of keeping with their decidedly rural character. Hearing him now, they come across much more like country lumpkins. So, with the addition of this piece, we now have recordings of most of two chapters of THE HOBBIT (II and V) in Tolkien's own voice. Amazing stuff.
--John R.
*http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/11/listening-to-hobbit.html#comments
http://soundcloud.com/harperaudio/j-r-r-tolkien-singing-extract
Following up on Trotter's information about all three clips being available on the enhanced 75 anniversary edition of THE HOBBIT e-book, we made the discovery that my Kindle is too old for the text-to-audio software to work (it worked when we first got it, so suspect it might still on the older books, but apparently there are compatibility issues with the newer books). But, lest we despair, it turns out that Janice's iPad plays them just fine. Even better, it turns out to have four clips in all (the fourth being the superb "Riddles in the Dark" recording made at George Sayer's house circa 1952) and the three new ones being
(1) "That's What Bilbo Baggins Hates" (see above)
(2) "Far Over Misty Mountains Cold"
(3) "Roast Mutton"
The first two are relatively brief: first Tolkien's singing a song and then his recitation of a second, both from Chapter I of THE HOBBIT. The most interesting thing about these is the tune of the first -- I tried to find out, when working on MR. BAGGINS, whether the many songs in THE HOBBIT had actual tunes, and eventually concluded that the answer was 'probably not'. Good to learn, from a most unexpected but unimpeachable source, that I was wrong: some did (though probably not all).
The third is by far the longest, covering the entire troll-encounter scene from Chapter II. Listening to this more or less answers another point that'd long puzzled me: it's often been asserted that Tolkien gave the trolls cockney accents, which seemed out of keeping with their decidedly rural character. Hearing him now, they come across much more like country lumpkins. So, with the addition of this piece, we now have recordings of most of two chapters of THE HOBBIT (II and V) in Tolkien's own voice. Amazing stuff.
--John R.
*http://sacnoths.blogspot.com/2012/11/listening-to-hobbit.html#comments
November 23, 2012
Pushback (Tolkien Lawsuit)
So, Tuesday I learned* of the Tolkien Estate and HarperCollins jointly filing suit against Warner Brothers/New Line/Saul Zaentz/"Tolkien Enterprises" over licensing. At issue is just what rights the 1969 contract grants the licenser. Previously it's generally been interpreted that rights not mentioned in the contract were included, even if they were in categories that didn't exist at the time the agreement was drawn up. This lawsuit reverses that line of reasoning, with the Estate and publisher arguing that the agreement only grants rights that could have existed at the time of the contract.
At that time, 'merchandising' from films or tv shows included things like lunch boxes, t-shirts, posters, jigsaw puzzles, and the like. I remember when I was in third grade at Fordyce I had a 'phaser' from Star Trek (circa 1967-68) that fired little whizzing disks, and a board game based on VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (the tv show, not the movie) about the same time.
Nowadays, the things that might be covered by 'movie merchandising' have vastly expanded. For example, the Iron Crown MERP roleplaying game, the Middle-earth: The Wizards collectable card game, and the more recent LotR Online games were not licensed by the Tolkien Estate but Tolkien Enterprises, as movie merchandising, although the link between the MERP game and the 1978 Bakshi horror it was supposedly licensed from is thin indeed (esp. contrasted with the strong, clear links between the Peter Jackson film trilogy and the more recent computer games based upon them). It was also Tolkien Enterprises, not the Tolkien Estate, that came down on a little company named TSR, circa 1974, and forced them to purge names like "hobbit" and "nazgul" and "balrog" and "mithril" from their new little game called DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, even though there was at that time no movie whose rights this usage could have infringed upon: it was pro-active enforcement of rights linked to movies that did not yet exist, or were even in the works.
Thus, the trend over the years has very much been to assume that the rights granted by the contract could be interpreted extremely broadly. And now comes some pushback: what if, instead of a 'loose contructionist' model, a 'strict constructionist' model were applied to the contract, by which it wd grant only very specific and limited rights? Nowdays contracts often explicitly include rights to mediums not yet in existence, but what if an old contract were taken in the context of the time? What if a 'movie merchandizing' clause did not grant rights to any new category of merchandizing that might come into existence at some point in the future, but were limited only to merchandizing as understood at the time? Courts have sometimes ruled one way, sometimes the other, when it came to disputes over new categories of rights.** The specific flash-point that seems to have set off this pushback is Tolkien Enterprise's granting Tolkien names and characters to gambling machines. Here's the story:
http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=9bdb7a52-839a-4d3a-9e6c-5e3867477757
Be interesting to see how this one plays out, both from the point of view of a Tolkienist and as someone who's worked in the rpg industry where rights and licenses and such are an integral part of the whole edifice.
--John R.
*thanks to Wendell W's post on the MythSoc list
**one famous case being when Wizards released a compilation of all the issues of DRAGON magazine in a cd set (for which there was precedent), only to have some contributors (mainly cartoonists) argue that this constituted a reprint (for which WotC wd need specific item-by-item, case-by-case permissions). That one turned out badly for all concerned: Wizards released the set, then had the ruling go against them, with the end result that the material disappeared down a black hole
At that time, 'merchandising' from films or tv shows included things like lunch boxes, t-shirts, posters, jigsaw puzzles, and the like. I remember when I was in third grade at Fordyce I had a 'phaser' from Star Trek (circa 1967-68) that fired little whizzing disks, and a board game based on VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (the tv show, not the movie) about the same time.
Nowadays, the things that might be covered by 'movie merchandising' have vastly expanded. For example, the Iron Crown MERP roleplaying game, the Middle-earth: The Wizards collectable card game, and the more recent LotR Online games were not licensed by the Tolkien Estate but Tolkien Enterprises, as movie merchandising, although the link between the MERP game and the 1978 Bakshi horror it was supposedly licensed from is thin indeed (esp. contrasted with the strong, clear links between the Peter Jackson film trilogy and the more recent computer games based upon them). It was also Tolkien Enterprises, not the Tolkien Estate, that came down on a little company named TSR, circa 1974, and forced them to purge names like "hobbit" and "nazgul" and "balrog" and "mithril" from their new little game called DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS, even though there was at that time no movie whose rights this usage could have infringed upon: it was pro-active enforcement of rights linked to movies that did not yet exist, or were even in the works.
Thus, the trend over the years has very much been to assume that the rights granted by the contract could be interpreted extremely broadly. And now comes some pushback: what if, instead of a 'loose contructionist' model, a 'strict constructionist' model were applied to the contract, by which it wd grant only very specific and limited rights? Nowdays contracts often explicitly include rights to mediums not yet in existence, but what if an old contract were taken in the context of the time? What if a 'movie merchandizing' clause did not grant rights to any new category of merchandizing that might come into existence at some point in the future, but were limited only to merchandizing as understood at the time? Courts have sometimes ruled one way, sometimes the other, when it came to disputes over new categories of rights.** The specific flash-point that seems to have set off this pushback is Tolkien Enterprise's granting Tolkien names and characters to gambling machines. Here's the story:
http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=9bdb7a52-839a-4d3a-9e6c-5e3867477757
Be interesting to see how this one plays out, both from the point of view of a Tolkienist and as someone who's worked in the rpg industry where rights and licenses and such are an integral part of the whole edifice.
--John R.
*thanks to Wendell W's post on the MythSoc list
**one famous case being when Wizards released a compilation of all the issues of DRAGON magazine in a cd set (for which there was precedent), only to have some contributors (mainly cartoonists) argue that this constituted a reprint (for which WotC wd need specific item-by-item, case-by-case permissions). That one turned out badly for all concerned: Wizards released the set, then had the ruling go against them, with the end result that the material disappeared down a black hole
November 22, 2012
Corn Souffle
And now, a short Thanksgiving break.
So, we had a great Thanksgiving over at our friends (thanks Jeff! thanks Kate!), who once again put on a terrific spread, with the main courses provided by our hosts and various guests bringing side dishes. Janice made not one but two apple pies, as well as appetizers, while my contribution was corn souffle. This seems to have gone down pretty well, since it got eaten up and I had requests for the recipe. Having just sent it off to my fellow guests from yesterday, I thought as long as it's written up and all I might as well post it here. Happy Thanksgiving, all.
--John R.
current reading: Hobbit OFFICIAL MOVIE GUIDE
current audiobook: Martin Shaw's THE HOBBIT
For folks who wanted to know about the corn souffle, it's actually an easy dish to make. Here's the recipe, and also how I make it, which are not exactly the same thing.
The Recipe1 can corn2 cans cream corn2 beaten eggs1/2 cup melted margarine1 cup sour cream1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese1 pkg Jiffy Corn Meal Mix.
Mix ingredients together, and pour into a greased 9"x13" baking dish. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
How I Make ItFor the past few years, I've substituted frozen corn for the canned corn; the canned corn, esp. the canned cream corn, seemed to me to have an aftertaste I didn't want.This time I used two 16-oz packages of yellow corn and 1 16-oz package of white corn, just for some contrast. But that turned out to be too much, so I had to take about a cup's worth of corn out. I also substitute butter for the margarine, since we don't use margarine anymore (Atkins diet).Similarly, I 'greased' the pan with butter.
First, I thaw the frozen corn by putting it, a pack at a time, in the strainer and pouring hot water over it. There's no need to cook the corn ahead of time, but it's good to get the chill off; think it bakes more quickly that way.
I dropped the eggs because of Kate's allergies. This meant it needed more liquid to help bind it, so I increased the melted butter to between a cup and a half to two cups: just kept adding it in half-cup portions until there was enough liquid between the butter and the sour cream to moisten all the Jiffy mix. Increasing the amount of sour cream or shredded cheese might also do the trick, but I suspect these might change the taste a little, more than the butter does. Besides, I like butter.
Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl and stir well. Once everything's mixed together nicely, pour into a baking pan. Really doesn't matter whether you use pyrex or corning ware; whatever you think'll be easiest to clean up afterwards.
Bake at 350 degrees or a little higher until beginning to brown on the top (that was about forty/forty-five minutes with our oven). If you like it cruncher, bake it a little longer; if you don't, pull it out while the top's still mostly yellow.
It makes a lot, but you can freeze it if you like to parcel out your leftovers.
Enjoy!
So, we had a great Thanksgiving over at our friends (thanks Jeff! thanks Kate!), who once again put on a terrific spread, with the main courses provided by our hosts and various guests bringing side dishes. Janice made not one but two apple pies, as well as appetizers, while my contribution was corn souffle. This seems to have gone down pretty well, since it got eaten up and I had requests for the recipe. Having just sent it off to my fellow guests from yesterday, I thought as long as it's written up and all I might as well post it here. Happy Thanksgiving, all.
--John R.
current reading: Hobbit OFFICIAL MOVIE GUIDE
current audiobook: Martin Shaw's THE HOBBIT
For folks who wanted to know about the corn souffle, it's actually an easy dish to make. Here's the recipe, and also how I make it, which are not exactly the same thing.
The Recipe1 can corn2 cans cream corn2 beaten eggs1/2 cup melted margarine1 cup sour cream1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese1 pkg Jiffy Corn Meal Mix.
Mix ingredients together, and pour into a greased 9"x13" baking dish. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
How I Make ItFor the past few years, I've substituted frozen corn for the canned corn; the canned corn, esp. the canned cream corn, seemed to me to have an aftertaste I didn't want.This time I used two 16-oz packages of yellow corn and 1 16-oz package of white corn, just for some contrast. But that turned out to be too much, so I had to take about a cup's worth of corn out. I also substitute butter for the margarine, since we don't use margarine anymore (Atkins diet).Similarly, I 'greased' the pan with butter.
First, I thaw the frozen corn by putting it, a pack at a time, in the strainer and pouring hot water over it. There's no need to cook the corn ahead of time, but it's good to get the chill off; think it bakes more quickly that way.
I dropped the eggs because of Kate's allergies. This meant it needed more liquid to help bind it, so I increased the melted butter to between a cup and a half to two cups: just kept adding it in half-cup portions until there was enough liquid between the butter and the sour cream to moisten all the Jiffy mix. Increasing the amount of sour cream or shredded cheese might also do the trick, but I suspect these might change the taste a little, more than the butter does. Besides, I like butter.
Mix all the ingredients together in a big bowl and stir well. Once everything's mixed together nicely, pour into a baking pan. Really doesn't matter whether you use pyrex or corning ware; whatever you think'll be easiest to clean up afterwards.
Bake at 350 degrees or a little higher until beginning to brown on the top (that was about forty/forty-five minutes with our oven). If you like it cruncher, bake it a little longer; if you don't, pull it out while the top's still mostly yellow.
It makes a lot, but you can freeze it if you like to parcel out your leftovers.
Enjoy!
November 21, 2012
Cat Report (Wednesday Morning 11/21-12)
With eleven cats in ten cages, the Cat Room is nice and full again (and, as an added bonus, they all of them seem to be well).
Congr. to sweet Quibble and sassy Gabrielle for finding themselves holms, and the kittens as well.
Since I'm late getting this written up (what with Thanksgiving and all), I'll keep this relatively brie.
EDNA JANE, the newcomer, stayed inside all morning, as did Mr. NIKO. But Edna did let me pet her, and didn't mind when I cleaned the cage around her. What a beautiful, beautiful cat! Once she's brave enough to be out and about I think she'll attract a lot of attention. As for Mr. Niko, he was calmer about this time, esp. when he realized I wasn't going to make him move. Both enjoyed being petted.
Our other shy cat, TARAH, is finding her niche, avoiding the other cats while doing what she likes best -- which in her case is hanging out at the base of the cat-stand by the door. The other cats seem to have decided she's not a threat and mostly ignore her, which is an improvement over her being picked on. She does enjoy being petted.
Little Lady CLAIRE is our new walker, v. endearing with her fluffy tail-tip and little squeaky mew. Her "walks" consist mainly of her going up to the nearest person and asking to be petted, then purring when picked up. She was delighted to find the cat-tree-forest, and also expressed considerable interest in the Banfield area, having discovered that there's a door to the outside there.
Our other semi-walker, MR. BROTHERS, still gets nervous when out; I think he enjoys the status of getting a walk (as something he can lord over the other cats) over the actual walk itself. Once back inside he at once sought out the catnip and was fine from that point on, spending time here and there before mostly settling on the right side of the cagetops. Oddly enough, he considers Tarah's cube his summer home, and is in and out of it quite a lot. Luckily this time she wasn't there, so all was well. Don't know why he's so interested in this specific cage.
Mr.ASHWYN was his usual vocal self, with more wails than hisses today. Early on (post-catnip) he settled atop the cat-stand furthest from the door. A little later I covered him (all but the head) with a blanket, and he loved it, staying that was the rest of the morning.
LEMURA and MARIE enjoyed the cat-stands, and being petted, but thought the kittens were a little too active. Each wanted more attention than I wound up giving them; have to make more time for the well-behaved ones next time.
GOBLYNN loves the cage-tops. She went up their early and stayed late, being one of the last to go inside at end-of-morning. She didn't mind sharing the World Above with Mr. Brothers, and he didn't seem to mind her being up their either (it may have helped that she stayed to the left and he to the right, a v. reasonable division of territory). Aside from playing with the ball-in-a-ring game, she had a quiet morning. I'll have to break out the laser pointer for her next time to get a little exercise.
And that just leaves the two adorable kitten-sister, NINJA and SAMURAI. Both were full of activity and much admired. Eventually Samurai claimed a newly-cleaned cage (Ashwyn',s as it turned out) and snoozed, while Ninja became v. interested in what I was doing, riding on my shoulder and 'helping' me clean the cages. She eventually claimed Lemura's cage, until it was end of morning and time for everybody to go back into their own places -- which they did will relatively little fuss.
Lots of visitors, some of whom are in the 'thinking about it' stage (lost a cat lately, beginning to think of finding a new cat to fill the empty cat-shaped place in their lives), but no serious nibbles.
At one point I got a string-game going that involved about half the cats in the room, w. Marie and Lemura on either end and the kittens in the middle; Mr. Brothers was also deeply interested.
Health concern: Eveyone seemed fine, except for some dried throw-up on Edna's blanket.
Great news to hear the kittens will soon have a new home. Glad to have made their acquaintance, even briefly, esp. little Ninja.
--John R.
Congr. to sweet Quibble and sassy Gabrielle for finding themselves holms, and the kittens as well.
Since I'm late getting this written up (what with Thanksgiving and all), I'll keep this relatively brie.
EDNA JANE, the newcomer, stayed inside all morning, as did Mr. NIKO. But Edna did let me pet her, and didn't mind when I cleaned the cage around her. What a beautiful, beautiful cat! Once she's brave enough to be out and about I think she'll attract a lot of attention. As for Mr. Niko, he was calmer about this time, esp. when he realized I wasn't going to make him move. Both enjoyed being petted.
Our other shy cat, TARAH, is finding her niche, avoiding the other cats while doing what she likes best -- which in her case is hanging out at the base of the cat-stand by the door. The other cats seem to have decided she's not a threat and mostly ignore her, which is an improvement over her being picked on. She does enjoy being petted.
Little Lady CLAIRE is our new walker, v. endearing with her fluffy tail-tip and little squeaky mew. Her "walks" consist mainly of her going up to the nearest person and asking to be petted, then purring when picked up. She was delighted to find the cat-tree-forest, and also expressed considerable interest in the Banfield area, having discovered that there's a door to the outside there.
Our other semi-walker, MR. BROTHERS, still gets nervous when out; I think he enjoys the status of getting a walk (as something he can lord over the other cats) over the actual walk itself. Once back inside he at once sought out the catnip and was fine from that point on, spending time here and there before mostly settling on the right side of the cagetops. Oddly enough, he considers Tarah's cube his summer home, and is in and out of it quite a lot. Luckily this time she wasn't there, so all was well. Don't know why he's so interested in this specific cage.
Mr.ASHWYN was his usual vocal self, with more wails than hisses today. Early on (post-catnip) he settled atop the cat-stand furthest from the door. A little later I covered him (all but the head) with a blanket, and he loved it, staying that was the rest of the morning.
LEMURA and MARIE enjoyed the cat-stands, and being petted, but thought the kittens were a little too active. Each wanted more attention than I wound up giving them; have to make more time for the well-behaved ones next time.
GOBLYNN loves the cage-tops. She went up their early and stayed late, being one of the last to go inside at end-of-morning. She didn't mind sharing the World Above with Mr. Brothers, and he didn't seem to mind her being up their either (it may have helped that she stayed to the left and he to the right, a v. reasonable division of territory). Aside from playing with the ball-in-a-ring game, she had a quiet morning. I'll have to break out the laser pointer for her next time to get a little exercise.
And that just leaves the two adorable kitten-sister, NINJA and SAMURAI. Both were full of activity and much admired. Eventually Samurai claimed a newly-cleaned cage (Ashwyn',s as it turned out) and snoozed, while Ninja became v. interested in what I was doing, riding on my shoulder and 'helping' me clean the cages. She eventually claimed Lemura's cage, until it was end of morning and time for everybody to go back into their own places -- which they did will relatively little fuss.
Lots of visitors, some of whom are in the 'thinking about it' stage (lost a cat lately, beginning to think of finding a new cat to fill the empty cat-shaped place in their lives), but no serious nibbles.
At one point I got a string-game going that involved about half the cats in the room, w. Marie and Lemura on either end and the kittens in the middle; Mr. Brothers was also deeply interested.
Health concern: Eveyone seemed fine, except for some dried throw-up on Edna's blanket.
Great news to hear the kittens will soon have a new home. Glad to have made their acquaintance, even briefly, esp. little Ninja.
--John R.
November 20, 2012
More New Books
So, yesterday's visit to the Barnes and Noble in Federal Way showed that three more of the movie tie-in books have now been released, two of which I picked up (I went by the Barnes and Noble in Tukwila today to pick up the third, but they don't have it -- interesting how the 'Hobbit Table' contents vary from store to store).
#10: THE HOBBIT -- AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY: THE MOVIE STORYBOOK by Paddy Kempshall [Nov. 2012]
This is a simple re-telling of the first HOBBIT movie, plentifully illustrated with photos from the film.* As such, it's the ultimate spoiler: those who want to experience the film with minimal spoilers beforehand shd stay clear of this one till after seeing the movie itself. That said, does a nice job of doing what it does: a glossy teaser for the film before it comes out, and then a useful reminder of what was and wasn't in the movie after the film's release but before the dvd is available.
#11: THE HOBBIT -- AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY: VISUAL COMPANION by Jude Fisher [Nov 2012]
Somewhat more substantial, but still pretty much focused on spreads with large stills from the film showing people and places from the film. It does the best job I've seen yet of distinguishing between the dwarves, giving a photo and backstory for each (which often differ markedly from what Tolkien tells us about them). I think I'll now be able to tell them all apart, most of the time. The book also contains a few interesting tidbits, like two pages from Bilbo's pocket notebook, or a glimpse into Ori's Book
- - - - - - - - -
In other news, I took our jar of pennies, into which we throw spare change (despite the name, not just pennies but nickels, dimes, and quarters as well) to the CoinStar machine. It took a long time to process them all, occasionally telling me to stop adding coins while it processed what was already in it. The total, once it'd all been counted, was $164.72. That's a lot of coins -- but then, it did fill a five-pound honey jar, so maybe I shdn't have been surprised. Since you get less for cash (they deduct their cut) than for a gift certificate, I opted to get the whole thing as credit for Amazon. Now seems like a good time to get several books that have hovered in the 'save for later' portion of my amazon.com orders basket for several months now, including several Tolkien books. More later.
current reading: Snicket's ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS (#II.3034), Atwood's TRUE STORIES (II.3035), Kempshall's MOVIE STORYLINE (3036A), Fisher's VISUAL COMPANION (3036B) (concluded); Atwood's THE HANDMAIDEN'S TALE (just started), Sibley's OFFICIAL MOVIE GUIDE (just starting)
current anime, new: THE AMBITION OF ODA NOBUNA (on Crunchyroll)
current anime, old: EL HAZARD: THE ALTERNATE WORLD (dubbed, on vhs!)
*and, oddly enough, a few pieces of concept art -- maybe there scenes hadn't been finalized by Kempshall's deadline?
#10: THE HOBBIT -- AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY: THE MOVIE STORYBOOK by Paddy Kempshall [Nov. 2012]
This is a simple re-telling of the first HOBBIT movie, plentifully illustrated with photos from the film.* As such, it's the ultimate spoiler: those who want to experience the film with minimal spoilers beforehand shd stay clear of this one till after seeing the movie itself. That said, does a nice job of doing what it does: a glossy teaser for the film before it comes out, and then a useful reminder of what was and wasn't in the movie after the film's release but before the dvd is available.
#11: THE HOBBIT -- AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY: VISUAL COMPANION by Jude Fisher [Nov 2012]
Somewhat more substantial, but still pretty much focused on spreads with large stills from the film showing people and places from the film. It does the best job I've seen yet of distinguishing between the dwarves, giving a photo and backstory for each (which often differ markedly from what Tolkien tells us about them). I think I'll now be able to tell them all apart, most of the time. The book also contains a few interesting tidbits, like two pages from Bilbo's pocket notebook, or a glimpse into Ori's Book
- - - - - - - - -
In other news, I took our jar of pennies, into which we throw spare change (despite the name, not just pennies but nickels, dimes, and quarters as well) to the CoinStar machine. It took a long time to process them all, occasionally telling me to stop adding coins while it processed what was already in it. The total, once it'd all been counted, was $164.72. That's a lot of coins -- but then, it did fill a five-pound honey jar, so maybe I shdn't have been surprised. Since you get less for cash (they deduct their cut) than for a gift certificate, I opted to get the whole thing as credit for Amazon. Now seems like a good time to get several books that have hovered in the 'save for later' portion of my amazon.com orders basket for several months now, including several Tolkien books. More later.
current reading: Snicket's ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS (#II.3034), Atwood's TRUE STORIES (II.3035), Kempshall's MOVIE STORYLINE (3036A), Fisher's VISUAL COMPANION (3036B) (concluded); Atwood's THE HANDMAIDEN'S TALE (just started), Sibley's OFFICIAL MOVIE GUIDE (just starting)
current anime, new: THE AMBITION OF ODA NOBUNA (on Crunchyroll)
current anime, old: EL HAZARD: THE ALTERNATE WORLD (dubbed, on vhs!)
*and, oddly enough, a few pieces of concept art -- maybe there scenes hadn't been finalized by Kempshall's deadline?
November 19, 2012
Listening to THE HOBBIT
So, a question came up last week on the MythSoc list about various audio-recordings of THE HOBBIT, and which was the best. I started to answer, then realized it's been a long time since I've listened to some of these. And, come to think of it, pulling them out and listening to them again is a good way to get myself psyched up for the forthcoming (indeed, I think I can now say 'imminent') movie. So below are my impressions of the various audio versions before listening to them again; I'll update this with a second post once I've finished re-listening to them all.
Here are the ones I came up with; if anyone knows of more, let me know and I'll add them to the list.
1. Tolkien's own recording of the scene with Gollum. Wonderful. If only we had a recording of him reading the entire book. But this is v. much a case of counting our blessings, and marvelling over our good luck that he made such a recording, and that it has survived, and been made available to us (orig. on Caedmon Records, since re-released in various compilations and formats).
2. The Mind's Eye radio play. By far the best adaptation of THE HOBBIT ever, into any medium. The same cast later did a LotR that is unfortunately not nearly as good, but their HOBBIT is the Gold Standard. Thorin's abilities as a leader throughout the long journey particularly come across in this version.
3. Nicole Williamson, for Argo Records. Wonderful, but unfortunately abridged. As I understand it, N.W. recorded the entire thing but the record company decided to cut it down to a four-album set. I've always hoped that the deleted bits survived and might be restored someday, but if so there's no hint of it. And Williamson himself having since died, there's no chance he might make a new recording of the whole. Alas.
4. Martin Shaw, for Durkin-Hayes. Well done, but unfortunately abridged. The abridgment is skillfully done: if you don't know THE HOBBIT well you'll never notice it, but the better you know the story the more you miss the little bits of dialogue and observations by the narrator that were trimmed. On the plus side, Shaw does a good job with the reading, and it's interesting to hear THE HOBBIT with a non-posh accent
5. Rob Inglis, for Recorded Books. Uninspired (I find Inglis's voice too monotone for a long story), but has the virtue of being the sole complete recording; all the rest are abridged or adapted. Maybe we'll be lucky enough that the films will be so popular as to cause a new recording to be made by the likes of Holm, McKellen, or Freeman. We can dream, can't we?
6. The BBC radio play. Not to be confused with the BBC radio LotR, which is an impressive piece of work. The BBC HOBBIT is much earlier, more obviously geared to children, and features sound effects that haven't aged well. Not bad, simply not as impressive as their other Tolkien work (which set the bar rather high).
7. Not sure if this really counts or not, but the soundtrack that was released in conjunction with the Rankin-Bass HOBBIT as a two-record set is in fact an abbreviated version of the whole story, with narrative between the songs (and this version was notable for including most of the poems, sung with gusto to Tolkien's original lyrics).
8. Finally, there's the 'text-to-audio' feature on the Kindle. Aesthetically it's dire, but it has the virtue of giving you the entire text just as Tolkien wrote it.
. . . Or at least that's how I remember them. Now to find out how well my memory matches up to the reality, or how much my response may have changed since I last listened to them.
--JDR
current reading: Lemony Snicket (ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS), Margaret Atwood (TRUE STORIES)
Here are the ones I came up with; if anyone knows of more, let me know and I'll add them to the list.
1. Tolkien's own recording of the scene with Gollum. Wonderful. If only we had a recording of him reading the entire book. But this is v. much a case of counting our blessings, and marvelling over our good luck that he made such a recording, and that it has survived, and been made available to us (orig. on Caedmon Records, since re-released in various compilations and formats).
2. The Mind's Eye radio play. By far the best adaptation of THE HOBBIT ever, into any medium. The same cast later did a LotR that is unfortunately not nearly as good, but their HOBBIT is the Gold Standard. Thorin's abilities as a leader throughout the long journey particularly come across in this version.
3. Nicole Williamson, for Argo Records. Wonderful, but unfortunately abridged. As I understand it, N.W. recorded the entire thing but the record company decided to cut it down to a four-album set. I've always hoped that the deleted bits survived and might be restored someday, but if so there's no hint of it. And Williamson himself having since died, there's no chance he might make a new recording of the whole. Alas.
4. Martin Shaw, for Durkin-Hayes. Well done, but unfortunately abridged. The abridgment is skillfully done: if you don't know THE HOBBIT well you'll never notice it, but the better you know the story the more you miss the little bits of dialogue and observations by the narrator that were trimmed. On the plus side, Shaw does a good job with the reading, and it's interesting to hear THE HOBBIT with a non-posh accent
5. Rob Inglis, for Recorded Books. Uninspired (I find Inglis's voice too monotone for a long story), but has the virtue of being the sole complete recording; all the rest are abridged or adapted. Maybe we'll be lucky enough that the films will be so popular as to cause a new recording to be made by the likes of Holm, McKellen, or Freeman. We can dream, can't we?
6. The BBC radio play. Not to be confused with the BBC radio LotR, which is an impressive piece of work. The BBC HOBBIT is much earlier, more obviously geared to children, and features sound effects that haven't aged well. Not bad, simply not as impressive as their other Tolkien work (which set the bar rather high).
7. Not sure if this really counts or not, but the soundtrack that was released in conjunction with the Rankin-Bass HOBBIT as a two-record set is in fact an abbreviated version of the whole story, with narrative between the songs (and this version was notable for including most of the poems, sung with gusto to Tolkien's original lyrics).
8. Finally, there's the 'text-to-audio' feature on the Kindle. Aesthetically it's dire, but it has the virtue of giving you the entire text just as Tolkien wrote it.
. . . Or at least that's how I remember them. Now to find out how well my memory matches up to the reality, or how much my response may have changed since I last listened to them.
--JDR
current reading: Lemony Snicket (ALL THE WRONG QUESTIONS), Margaret Atwood (TRUE STORIES)
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