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Posts Tagged ‘hobbit’

A Very Nice Weekend

I don’t mean to boast, but…

HO. HO. HO.

If you’re one of those unlucky folks out there who hasn’t read Hogfather, you’re in for a treat when you finally do get around to it.  Hogfather’s so much fun to read.  Terry Pratchett writing at the height of his powers produces a book that skewers and exults Christmas at the same time.  (As the Death books tend to do with their subject matter.)  Pratchett can do something few other writers dare to try: gutpunch you while you’re laughing, without spoiling the laughter.  At his best, he makes me want to laugh and cry and start a revolution all at the same time.

Lagavulin 16 is quite a nice single malt.  A reliable source (basically my friend Dan, who looks stuff like this up on Wikipedia) informs me that “Happy Christmas” came about as a phrase because Victorians thought “Merry Christmas” was too intemperate and promoted drunkenness.  Be merry responsibly, I suppose?

For all my joking above, Scotch-and-Pratchett was just the easiest-to-photograph part of an excellent weekend, that included, among other things, a wonderful Messiah Pt 1 performed by my wife’s choir, and a showing of the Hobbit, which I liked.

Writing and editing proceed well, though not remarkably on either front.  I have dinner in the oven so I’m going to sign off and do some more work before the alarm bell rings. That should put me well over threshold for the day.  Rock on, you crazy people.

Hobbitses

I’m really excited for the Hobbit movies, but I was a little worried by the first preview.  The Hobbit my parents read me (and it was one of the first books I remember being read) was scary, and compelling, and adventurous, but also funny!  This is the book of “Break the cups and crack the plates / that’s what Bilbo Baggins hates” and “Down down to Goblin Town” and trolls arguing with one another until the sun comes up and they’re all turned to stone.  Wit and whimsy are called for, and while the Lord of the Rings films don’t take themselves nearly as seriously as the books do, they tack toward dignity and composure.  Trying to imagine The Hobbit with the same hauntingly vast landscape and the beautiful, impersonal majesty of score and camerawork, I felt something would be lost.  The Hobbit has the same beauty and age as Lord of the Rings, but presented through a much more personal (and maybe less inherently tragic?  Need to think about that one…) lens.

I’m relieved to see, though, that Peter Jackson and company understand that the movies need to be funny!

All the talk in the trailer of Darkness and Bravery and Adventures is well and good, but the humor here, gimme as it is, has me excited for six more hours of Jackson & co.’s Middle Earth. And I love the thought of Gandalf getting in on the Dwarves’ betting circle.

(video via ToplessRobot)