Bryce Moore's Blog, page 257

Lance Armstrong is a Slimeball

I'm not a huge cycling fan, but I've watched the exploits of Lance Armstrong over the years like most of you probably have: with admiration for the man and what he was able to accomplish. He's been an inspiration to a lot of people, and his charity work has done a lot of good. And as all the accusations got aimed at him, I tended to side with him through it all. People will do anything to make a name for themselves, I thought. Tear down a hero to try and make themselves look more important.



Of course, that all changes now that Armstrong has admitted he did, indeed, use performance enhancing drugs.



And now we start to hear how contrite he is and how he wants to change things about drug testing and blah blah blah. Whatever. Here's a man who went on and on for YEARS AND YEARS protesting how innocent he was, and how outraged he was that anyone would try to cast doubt on his sheer awesomeness. And now we find out that the whole time, he knew what he had done, and he knew all those people were right, and yet he continued to publicly insult them all?



What a slimeball.



That's pretty much the textbook definition of a slimeball, actually. Just because he happens to be able to bike fast (when properly medicated) and can raise money for charity by successfully conning a bunch of people . . . doesn't make him a person worth defending.



Perhaps some of this would be different if he had come clean on his own. If he'd had a change of heart and chose to tell the truth. But he didn't. He finally got sick of being called a cheat, stopped fighting the charge, started losing tons of money from sponsors, and now decides he needs to come clean. It's the money that got him.



Slimeball.



Does the fact that he did a lot of good--raising money and awareness and hope for cancer--nullify the slimey nature of these revelations? Not really. Not in my book. He profited off people's good nature. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't need to hear another word about him. I don't care to watch his interview on Oprah. I don't care about any publicity--er, apology--tour.



This is a classic example of why it's silly to idolize sports stars or movie stars or any type of stars. We see a tiny slice of their life, and we make all sorts of assumptions about who they are and how great they are. A lot of that is just publicity.



I'm getting too worked up about this. Sorry. I'm feeling a tad grumpy today. Didn't mean to take it out on you. Maybe I'll go find some dark chocolate . . .

Movie Review Extravaganza

I've watched a ton of movies over the past few weeks, tucked here and there between my flights and bus rides and being sick before and after my trip. I don't have time to give full reviews of each of them, but I thought it would be worth your while to at least get my general read on them all. Ready? Here we go:



The Dark Knight Rises--I finally caught the final Batman flick in less than ideal circumstances. Edited, on the plane home from Europe. And I was sick. So it says something that I enjoyed the movie as much as I did. It wasn't quite up there with The Dark Knight, but it was a very solid movie, and I think Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is one of the best superhero trilogies out there. I loved how this one completed the arc. Three and a half stars.



Moonrise Kingdom--Wes Anderson isn't for everyone, but I tend to really like his movies, and this is one of his most accessible. It's a child's love story, with two tweens running away together on a small island. Very quirky, but very well done. And it's got Bill Murray. Three and a half stars.



Bottle Rocket--Wes Anderson's first movie, which tanked at the box office, but launched his career, as well as Owen and Luke Wilson's. Quirky to the extreme. Three friends plan a heist. But it's not much of a real heist movie. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't my favorite Anderson. (That goes to The Royal Tenenbaums.) Three stars. Rated R for language.



Get the Gringo--Mel Gibson in a gritty Mexican prison movie. He's a thief, and he escapes to Mexico, where he's immediately thrown in jail. An awful, hell hole of a jail. It's an "I want my money back" sort of movie. Good enough, I guess. Though I have to admit watching Gibson these days usually makes me want to wash my hands afterward. Two and a half stars. R rated.



Out of Sight--George Clooney breaks out of jail and connects with Jennifer Lopez, a US Marshall he kidnaps during his escape. Based on an Elmore Leonard novel, and directed by Stephen Soderbergh, this one was a delightful surprise. Fun throughout, well acted, well directed--a few bumps here and there, but I really liked it. Three and a half stars. Rated R.



You're a Good Man Charlie Brown--I had no idea there was an animated version of the musical. This one brought back a lot of old memories, since I played in this show in Middle School. Really loved it. Four stars, but for personal reasons.



Iron Sky--What if some Nazis fled to the dark side of the moon, started a moon base, and plotted their ultimate return to conquer the world? Yeah. This is That Kind of Movie. Pretty insanely stupid. I think I was feverish when I watched it. A surprising one and a half stars. Because any movie that can scrounge one and a half stars out of that premise is . . . commendable? R rated.



It Happened on Fifth Avenue--Fantastic Christmas movie. A homeless man moves into an empty mansion on Fifth Avenue, and bit by bit, he invites other homeless people to live with him--including the home's actual owner. Really liked this movie. Three stars.



A Black Adder Christmas Carol--Rowan Atkinson plays a reverse Scrooge--a man who's the kindest person imaginable, only to be visited by spirits who start to show him that maybe there's something to be said for being mean and nasty after all. Loved the twist on the tale. Three stars.



The Watch--Ben Stiller leads a group of men who are out to protect their neighborhood, or at least use that as an excuse to goof off without their wives. And then aliens invade. Yeah. Pretty stupid. Saw this one edited on the plane. Two stars.



Total Recall--The only recall I had watching this was that I'd seen it with Schwarzenegger before. Updated with new setting and effects, but not much to write home about. Saw it on the plane. Two stars.



Bourne Legacy--Another plane view. This was better than I expected. Not my favorite Bourne movie, and I'll probably forget most of the plot, but diverting enough. Two and a half stars. Maybe three? It's been a while already. The fact that I can't remember probably is a clue in and of itself.



And I think that brings me up to date, more or less. Phew!

Downton Abbey 3.1 and 3.2 Review

Ah, Downton Abbey. It's been a while. And I missed the season premier--too busy being sick in Germany to be able to watch it--but I'm back up to speed now, and I thought I might continue by Downton commentary from last year now.



First off, a note: Downton feels like it's lost a lot of momentum. Is that just me? Last year, I'd finished season one just in time to get hyped up for season two. This time, it's been so long since I saw season two, getting hyped for season three took me a bit of effort. (Not to mention the fact that much of season two had been so darned soap opera-y. I was worried going into this season. Would we get more of the same? More coincidences that drove the plot? Or would it be a return to season one strengths--with the setting and characters generating the interest, as opposed to happenstance?)



Having now watched the first two episodes, I can say I've very pleased with the season thus far. Here's a rundown on my thoughts to date. (SPOILERS!!!!)




Losing the Downton fortune in a bad Canadian railroad deal? Um . . . okay? That sort of came out of nowhere, plot-wise. Suddenly we're just forced to accept the fact that there's been this whole conflict running underground all along, and we only find out now that disaster has struck. That might be a bit of a stretch, but then again, Lord Grantham was hiding it from everybody. So it blunts the blow a tad. Better yet, it doesn't turn out to be one of the Main Conflicts of the season. It's already fixed now, at the end of episode two--setting up a far better conflict (in my opinion)--the chance for Matthew and Lord Grantham to clash over how Downton is tu be run, and what its future should be. Without this Canadian Railroad Deal, Lord Grantham keeps his position of power. Now he and Matthew can be on somewhat even footing, and I'm a fan of that. So it's a net gain, for me. Kind of zany, but whatever.
Sybil--I still have no idea why she married that nincompoop of a chauffeur, but whatever. The conflict of having the chauffeur sitting at the dinner table? Almost worth all the crap I went through last season. Almost. (But then in the episode three teaser, it looks like he's back to being an imbecile. Sigh. Groan. Please.)
The American Grandma--Overrated. All that hoopla ahead of time, and Shirley Maclaine ends up to just sort of . . . be there. I was unimpressed, and just as glad as the rest of Downton when she was gone by episode two.
Edith--Don't Want! What is it about me that dislikes Edith so much? I find her self-centered, simpering, weak-willed, and just a whiny mess. Going into the wedding scene, you just knew she was going to get left at the altar. Didn't you? She's such a leech, sucking the fun out of just about anything she touches. That said, I felt a smidge sorry for her. Then again, I didn't like her fiance at all. What a twit. Hoping to see the end of that plot line at long last.
The Cancer plot--I approve of this one. I feel like it added weight to the character's lives, and it helped remind us all that cancer is hardly a new scare. Then again, I'm not a big fan of the fact that it's already over and done with. Not that I want Downton people to die, but still--it seems too tidy to me right now, and I wouldn't be surprised one bit to find out Ms. Hughes is lying about being recovered. Because the alternative is that the show just blew a good half hour in two episodes. I doubt the writers would do that.
Mr. Bates in Prison--Not a fan. What are the outcomes of this plot? On the one hand, he finally gets exonerated. If that's the case, it'll likely be to the efforts of Anna, plucky amateur detective. Downton isn't a plucky amateur detective sort of a show. If he's not exonerated, then it means he's guilty. In which case we see Mr. Bates was a terrible person all along, and who can be rooting for that? I suppose there's the middle ground, where he's exonerated but forced to stay in prison somehow. And that would just suck. No--this whole plot is full of yuck, and it isn't even showing us anything interesting about the prison system at the time. Make it stop. Now.
Thomas vs. O'Brien--Now THIS is a conflict I can get behind. We get to see both characters being mean and nasty to . . . each other? Evil vs. Evil? Yeah, baby! I have to say I'm rooting for O'Brien at this point, but I kind of enjoy watching Thomas being terrible to her. It's a win/win.
The new Footman--He gets thumbs up from me for now. We're not deluged with him, and he's not dominating the new plots (like a certain maid from season two who just. won't. go. away. Even now.)
Daisy--I'm liking her subplot right now. She's not getting to whiny, she's expressing doubts about the changes in her time.


Again, overall I've been enjoying the season. I do find it curious that much of the conflict from episode one is already resolved by episode 2--which is what leads me to think that it's just setting the stage for much greater conflict to come.




What have you thought of things so far? Please share!

Book Review: A Memory of Light (Spoiler-Free)

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Like most of you, I've been reading The Wheel of Time for ages. It feels like the wheel has rolled around a few times at least since I first saw Eye of the World, sitting on my library's shelf, looking so thick and inviting. I've been to midnight releases, read each installment as they came out. I was twelve when I first read the series, for crying out loud. I've reread the books multiple times as each new installment would come out.



I'm a fan.



And having been such a long-time fan of this series, reading the final book was a bittersweet experience. Having a personal friend of mine write it? Surreal. Not as surreal as I'm sure it was for Brandon himself, but still. Very strange.



This is all to say that when it comes to giving an independent, unbiased review of this book, you've come to the wrong place.



Then again, just because I'm friends with Brandon doesn't mean I'd automatically like the ending. I've been a WoT fan much longer than I've been his friend, after all. If he screwed the ending up . . . . :-)



I got the book on Saturday. I finished it on Sunday. 900+ pages. I had initially planned on enjoying this final read through for the first time of a WoT book, but I was sick, and 22 years was long enough. I wanted to know how it ended.



(This isn't going to be a review with any spoilers, so you can read and not be worried.)



Brandon said that the Epilogue of the book is almost all Robert Jordan's words. And so I look at Brandon's job as a writer for these final three books, and I sum it up like this: he had to take the series from where Jordan stopped writing and connect it to that final epilogue, and do it in a manner that made it all feel right.



Mission: Accomplished.



I loved the final book. Was it my favorite of the series? Probably not. One of the things that appealed to me most about the series was the character interactions. The good characters helping each other and living their lives. And a lot of that has no place in this final book. It's not called the Last Battle for nothing, folks. It's non-stop action and intrigue. Plots within plots. And you have to see some of the characters you've really been attached to for so long . . . go through some very rough times.



People die. Significant people. Book One sort of people.



But that had to happen. It felt right. You don't have the Last Battle go down and have all your friends live to see the end of it.



In the end, I finished the book, closed the cover, and stared at it for a moment, thinking. The series was over. I knew how it ended. How did it feel? Perfect. Did I know all the answers? No, but you never do. I knew what happened, and I had thoroughly enjoyed the ride.



So often, a big long epic can just fall apart in the final climax. There was a significant risk of this happening in WoT. I'm so relieved to say it doesn't.



A few years from now--maybe when my son's old enough to read these books--I'm going to reread the series one more time. From the beginning. Straight through. And I think a lot of the frustrations and impatience I had with the books will be washed away. Jordan had a destination. The series was far more EPIC than any of us had any idea of when we started Eye of the World. This is an Epic Fantasy taken to the next level, and it's provided the genre with whole new fields for growth.



Judged by today's standards, is it the Best Series Ever? I wouldn't say so. It's not a today series. It's a series from the 90s. It's THE series from the 90s, and it stays true to that right up to the end.



Fantastic series, fantastic book.



Thank you Brandon, and thank you Robert Jordan.




View all my reviews

Family Newsletter 2012

Each year, I write a Christmas Newsletter as part of my Christmas gift to sundry people. This is the fifth year I've done it, actually. And once the newness of Christmas wears off, I post the newsletter up on this site so you all can share it. Because I'm nice like that.



I'm doing it a bit late this year, obviously. That whole "Europe" thing got in the way. But if you're interested in seeing what the fam and I were up to this past year, then click on over to the link down below to see it all. The link will actually take you to a list of all five of the newsletters. The one you're looking for is the 2012 one. (Usually I assume you're all bright individuals who can remember what the year was last year and deduce which link to click on all by yourselves. But I've also discovered over the years that it never hurts to be thorough.



Enjoy!



Click Here for the Newsletters

Newsflash: You Can't Go Back to the Past

I suppose this should have been something that was obvious to me, but it wasn't. Ever since I left Germany when I was a missionary, I've wanted to go back. Wanted to return and check out the cities where I lived and worked. I would go to Google Maps from time to time to scope out old haunts and remember the good times I had there. (Surprising how quickly one forgets the bad times--at least how quickly I do.) Denisa and I would go to Slovakia every three years, and each year we went, I'd try to figure out a way to get over to Germany. Prague is only about  2 hours from where I was a missionary, after all--and I'd been to Prague twice.



But it never worked out. We didn't have the time, we couldn't afford it--there was always a reason it didn't come together. And each time I couldn't go, the desire to make it there only grew. This time, when we looked at our finances and realized we could swing a Christmas trip to Europe--I was Going To Go.



And so we went.



Actually being back in my mission was a far different experience than I'd expected. It first hit me in Schwarzenberg, the first city I had lived in. My apartment had been torn down. That was somehow very unsettling, and a sign of things to come. The city was the same in many ways, but I was different in many more. I have a family now. I was showing TRC all the places I'd done things, telling him about what it had been like. The last time I'd been there (15 years ago now--am I really that old?), I'd been 19. Single. Struggling to understand this strange dialect of German they spoke in the Erzgebirge.



Life had moved on in Schwarzenberg, just as it had for me. I know this should have been a no brainer, but somehow, it took me actually being there to realize it.



The same experience held true in my other cities. Leipzig. Gotha. Weimar. All of them were the same in many ways, but because I had changed, they had changed. I had anticipated being back in my mission would be some sort of dream-like experience, full of magic and memories. (So sue me.) I discovered it was like any dream: very different in real life.



And as I went to those other cities, I realized that what I had been missing--remembering--all those years wasn't the places. Well, not entirely. Yes, I'd missed the food and the language and the country and the cities. But what I really wanted to recapture was the whole experience. That time period in my life.



And that's something you don't get back.



I know this is turning into a pretty mopey post, and I'm sorry about that. Don't get the idea that I didn't have a fun time being back in my mission, because I had a blast. It meant a lot to me to be able to share it with my family. To show them the places. I think it was great for TRC especially, to be able to connect to this event in my life in a much more tangible way. My mission was one of the best things I ever did. It helped me grow in so many ways, and I hope TRC gets to do the same thing.



Would it have been different if I'd been able to meet up with some of the people I had taught or interacted with back then? Maybe. I do wish I'd had time. But even then, I tend to think I would have soon discovered the people were just like the cities. Different. Changed.



And that's okay. I'm different. I've changed. It's only fair they get the same right.



The bottom line is that I'm cured from wanting to go back to my past. At least for now. I had a lovely time being in Germany again. The food hadn't changed a bit, and I wish I could open up a local Doner Kebab place in my hometown now. I'd gladly go back to Germany again, but at the same time, there are plenty of other places I'd like to travel still. Italy. Spain. China. Mexico. Who knows? You live in the present and enjoy it as much as you can, because that's the only shot you have at it.



I'd like to think that when we die, we're able to return to the past in some way--to relive the moments we'd like to. Then again, I wonder . . . If we choose to try and relive too much of our past, doesn't that detract from our present? Right now, my kids are just that--kids. There will come a time--I know this--when I will look back on these days with the same nostalgia I look back on my mission. And I will want to return here, and I won't be able to.



TRC still likes holding my hand. That will last how much longer? A year? Already I can tell he's beginning to get self-conscious about it, and each time he reaches for my hand, part of me wonders if that will be the last time. I try to enjoy each time.



Because if you don't do that . . . you might end up like Uncle Rico.

Getting Back in the Swing of Things: Internet Addiction

(Note: Did you know Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is streaming now on Netflix? What a wonderful world we live in!)



So I'm back from vacation. Returned from the land of me-not-having-internet, and boy oh boy does it feel good to be--OH MY GOSH! THERE IS SO MUCH WORK I HAVE TO DO!



Seriously, people. Can't you all just put everything on pause when I leave? Life would be ever so much easier. Hundreds of emails, thousands of blog entries--just so much to do.



Which has led me to a realization: I might be addicted to the internet, and not in a good way. I was talking to my friend Dan while I was on the trip, and we were both without internet. He was talking about how liberating it was. How much he enjoyed not having to worry what was going on everywhere else. I was talking about how much I missed it. I like knowing what's going on. Hearing from my friends from around the globe.



Telling all you people what I'm doing.



It seems crazy to me (and maybe it is), but after years of blogging, I'm to the point now that I sometimes don't feel right--don't know exactly what I think about something--until I've blogged about it. A ton of things happened to me on my vacation. I got massively ill on the way home (so what else is new?), got a migraine and discovered ibuprofen really can cure them for me (HOORAY!), revisited where I lived on my mission--did all sorts of interesting things. And I had many interesting thoughts, and I'm going to try and write up some of them over the coming week or two, but who knows how good they'll be by then? (I always blog better when the thought is fresh).



So this leads to the question: is my life better or worse due to the amount of it that's led online?



In some ways, I don't think this question is entirely fair. Yes, I'm online a lot, but then again, my career is related to technology, and being an author requires (in my opinion) one to be online a tad, too. And even then, it's not like I'm on all. the. time. I'm not locked up in a basement 24/7. I get out. (Really! I just went to Europe.)



But still, I think it's a valid question, and one that needs to be asked. Between the news sites I check, my Facebook and Twitter feeds, and my blogs that I follow, I invest a good portion of time into the interwebs. Could this time be better spent elsewhere? (This is a question I try to ask myself about a lot of the things I do. Because time is limited, and I want to use what I have in a way that I'm happy with.)



I believe you should do things because you want to do them, if at all possible. Some things you have to do so that you can do other things you want to do. Work is like this for some people. Some days it's like that for everyone. But for the most part, I think a great goal is getting to the point where you can say "I only do what I want to do." This isn't to say that you then live a self-centered life. It doesn't have to be just about you. Ideally, you choose to spend some of your time helping others, caring for your family and friends, making the world a better place. But if you're doing things like that because you want to, there's a big difference.



Why bother making a ton of money, if it doesn't get you closer to this goal? What's the point in having lots of doo-dads if you have no time to use them? Getting rich, getting a better job title--all that is a means to an end. If it becomes the end, then . . . that doesn't seem (to me) to be a very pleasant end.



This is getting off track. Sorry. Too many thoughts stored in too small a brain for too long.



What I want to say is that I think I need to trim down a bit on how much I'm online. Maybe declare some "Internet free" times during the day. I've already done that somewhat by banning devices at the dinner table, but I'm thinking of extending it to other activities. I find myself checking my email or Facebook during movies. Movies! If the movie's that bad, that why in the world am I wasting time watching it? I check email first thing when I get up. Maybe it would be better to just leave myself some surprises for when I get to work. I feel obligated to read about what happened to everybody in my Twitter feed--maybe I need to just see the highlights.



I don't know. I *do* know that it's goal setting time for me for the year, and this is one category I'm considering implementing. Any of you have any thoughts?

Yet Another Trip Update

Let's see--lots to catch you all up on, but not a ton of time to do the catching. I'm in Slovakia this morning, about to head into Trencin to show the castle and the city to the illustrious Dan Wells and family. It should be exciting, as long as the weather decides to play along with us. (Honestly. I came to Europe prepared for a real winter, and I've seen more rain and freezing rain than I have snow or sun. Meanwhile, my house is getting completely dumped on. I've had 2.5 snow days since I was gone, and I wasn't even there to bask in their snowy goodness. Not that I'm complaining, mind you, but still . . . For a guy who likes snow, I've been unable to make its acquaintance this winter so far.)



We took the fam to see Heidelberg, where I had my first real German Doener in . . . 13 years? Something like that. It was glorious. Just as I'd remembered them. And then we drove off to Nuremberg and I had a real Thuringer Bratwurst again. That day was one of the high points of my life, from a culinary standpoint. Imagine having your two favorite foods that you'd eaten all the time for two years, and then had gone for a decade without eating them, and finally you have them both on the very same day. Heaven.



The Nuremberg Weihnachtsmarkt was ginourmous, with a two story carousel, children's area, multiple squares filled with stalls, Lebkuchen that was out of this world, pretzels the size of my children--good times. Getting there was a bit of a different story. The Autobahn is great and all, but it suffers from crippling traffic just like everywhere else, from time to time. And how frustrating is it, to know there's no speed limit, but you're still going less than 5mph? Very.



Munich greeted us with a light rain. We saw the Residenz and the famous clock, which the kids thought was pretty cool. Our hotel was a ways outside the city, and it took a while to get there. It would be nice to be able to afford the swanky downtown hotels, but when you've got a trip this long, you have to save money where you can.



We saw the Christmas market in Munich, too. It's hard to miss. I'll say this--I love the Christmas Markets, but they tend to make all of the cities start to blend together. The stalls sell mostly the same things--the exact foods differ slightly from Markt to Markt, but after a few days of gorging on treats, you start to miss real food that maybe saw a vegetable once in its distant past. :-)



Salzburg was very nice. Saw Mirabell Gardens and the castle, though I'd have to say I prefer Salzburg when it's a bit warmer. The gardens just aren't the same, you know. Still. the castle had a live brass band playing in the courtyard, and there was live choral music in the squares, and street musicians all over the place. Very musical and magical for an afternoon and evening. Wish I could have stayed longer.



From there we drove off to Slovakia through freezing rain and fog. There were some white knuckled, but we made it okay. Austria wins the award for Most Annoying Driving Rules this trip. You need a sticker to drive on the freeways, a translated drivers license, mandatory reflective vests in the car for every adult, mandatory winter tires on your car. All these little nitpicky rules. Blech. But I have this handy reflective vest now. Maybe I'll wear it in hunting season to make sure I don't get shot.



We had our Christmas (which I've already written about), and we've spent the last few days visiting with Denisa's family. TRC got a bow and arrow set and got to try it out, my brother-in-law Milos made me a medieval peasant's sword for Christmas. He's a blacksmith in his spare time (one of only two smiths in the world to make real authentic medieval arrowheads these days, if I understand him correctly). (Technically, it's a really big knife, not a sword. Peasants weren't allowed to have swords. So think of a two and a half foot long steak knife, and you get the point.)



Anyway. Out of time for now. More rain in the forecast today. Hopefully it holds off. I also hope this finds you all in good health and spirits, and I'll try to write more when I can. Check my Facebook page for pictures.

Slovak Christmas: The Wonders of the Golden Pig

I thought I had already heard all about Slovak Christmas traditions. How they watch fairy tales on television and play with a carp in their bathtub. (I am not making this up.) Then yesterday evening, my wife and I had the following conversation:



Denisa: And remember. Don't have any food tomorrow before dinner, or you won't see the Golden Pig. (Slovak: Zlate Prasa)



Me: (staring at her, not comprehending) Say what?



Denisa: The Golden Pig.



Me: What in the world is the Golden Pig?



Denisa: A pig made out of gold. If you don't eat before dinner, you get to see him.



Me: Does he bring you anything?



Denisa: I don't know. Nobody's ever seen him before.



The conversation went on from there, but I'll sum it up for you. Basically, Christmas in Slovakia is celebrated on the 24th in the evening. (They call it Stedry Vecer--generous evening, roughly.) There are tons of treats and goodies and food, and you eat until you pop. To keep the kids from getting into all the food too soon and too much, there's the legend of the Golden Pig. Parents keep reminding their kids throughout the day that if they eat before dinner (usually around 2), then then won't get to see the Golden Pig. But there are so many goodies and treats to eat, no one can resist sampling some--and so no one's ever seen the Golden Pig.



I told TRC and DC about it this morning, but they'd already eaten breakfast. They were both very disappointed they wouldn't get to see the Golden Pig, but they've decided they'll try again next year.



When I commented to Denisa that this seemed just a tad ridiculous, she reminded me that Americans believe a magical rabbit comes to hand out eggs and presents every Easter.



Touche, Denisa. Touche.



Merry Christmas everybody. And try not to eat anything. If any of you manage to snap a picture of the Golden Pig, please share!

Movie Review: The Hobbit

Before I left for Germany, I simply had to see the Hobbit. I'd read some varied reviews on it. Some fans loved it. Movie critics seemed to agree it was bloated and had poor pacing. So I was somewhat worried when I finally sat down to see it. (In 24fps 3D, for those of you wondering--more on that in a bit.)



I loved it.



Adored it, really. And it's easy to see why. I'm a fan. I've loved this book since I was in second grade. And Jackson is doing a very "faithful" adaptation. Where he had to pick and choose what to include in the LotR movies, in this, he can just throw everything in. Which is both a strength and a weakness. For fans, it's lovely. For people wanting a succinct, single-movie experience? Not so much. Because this is the first third of the book, basically. There's a bit of a climax written in (fabricated from Tolkien appendices--not in the book), but for the most part, this one movie is one long beginning.



To find out if you'd like the movie ahead of time, ask yourself a few questions. Do you like maps in the front of books? Meaning, do you like books that are complicated or fantastical enough to mean that having a map will make it easier to understand? If yes, you'll love the movie. Do you not mind having your movie chopped up into three pieces, meaning you'll have to wait a year for the second installment? You'll love the movie. Did you watch the extended editions of the LotR, and wish there was even more to see? You'll love the movie.



Even if you don't fall into any of those categories, I still think you'll really enjoy the movie.



It ties into the original trilogy, but this is a lighter movie. More comedy. Funny dwarves. Now and then you've got extra scenes not present in the book, but they add to the movie, fleshing out the story and showing how greater things are at work.



The action scenes are quite intense. Too intense for TRC just yet, I'd say. One too many beheadings for me to feel completely at ease having him watch it.



What else to say? The music was lovely, the acting great (Bilbo especially), the cinematography impeccable. This is a Peter Jackson movie through and through. He gets into details. He glories in them. I can't wait to see it again.



I watched the movie in 24fps 3D, and I thought that was a great way to see it. The higher frame rate is something I'm really interested in, but I didn't want it to mess up my initial impressions. Like Avatar, the 3D is very well done. Not distracting. It involves you even more. I had worried it might make the film murky or hard to see, but that wasn't the case.



Anyway, that's what I thought. 4 stars out of 4. Simply superb.



Have you seen it? What did you think? (Sorry if I don't respond right away. Internet access is spotty while I'm in Europe . . .)