The Hall of Fire

I saw the midnight show and absolutely loved it. Tauriel was terrific, Tharanduil was perfect, Bilbo was excellent and Smaug was ... Scary, menacing, vain, evil ... Everything I hoped he would be.

Too tired to write more now. See it!

Imagine if all our politicians were like Mandela: dedicated to freedom, willing to fight for power but unwilling to cling to it, steadfastly opposing evil systems without demonizing his opponents, rejecting vengeance in favor of reconciliation, strong in compassion and compassionate in strength. If ...

I've seen Citizen Kane several times and enjoyed it. Casablanca is probably my favorite, though. Others of note that I've watched multiple times: North by Northwest Rear Window The Lion King The Red Violin Moby Dick (the old version, with screenplay by Ray Bradbury) Night of the Hunter Life of Pi LO...

What, no discussion yet of the totally awesome, amazing and astounding 50th special? I had high expectations, and they were EXCEEDED in every respect. I'll restrain myself from saying more to avoid spoilers. :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :b...

When I think of yearning in relation to true beauty, it is not yearning to recapture that perfect moment. It is yearning for an existence that fully embodies that moment. It is yearning for that transcendent experience of living beyond limits, when the entire cosmos exists in a falling leaf or an in...

So, Ax, are you saying that anything that is truly beautiful is grounded in pain, sorrow and the brokenness of being human? If so, that's an interesting thought. I'd be inclined to agree, except that I think there is a kind of beauty that transcends the imperfect but is far deeper, far more real tha...

Just in case it's of interest, here is another story about Orson Scott Card.

There's nothing quite like putting on live theater, whether on stage or metaphorically pulling the strings (literally in puppet shows, I presume). And you have such great material to work with!

KW, thanks for clarifying my drive-by comment. I meant that Tolkien wrote about the phrase ("On Fairy Stories" was where I first heard of it), not that he either created it or approved of it. But since I didn't say one way or the other, it was certainly right of you to set the record strai...

Perhaps Bard will fight his way to the ballista, fire it, and discover that it doesn't do the trick. As a last resort, he picks up the bow, grabs the right arrow, remembers Bilbo's tip and ... Bard the Bowman makes history.

It's not as though PJ is planning to rush through the battle scenes.

I don't see anything wrong with Bilbo being drawn to the mural. Magic rings were already a part of tales and legends, and there was no reason for him to assume that the ring he later found had anything to do with Sauron's. i don't know why he wouldn't know its the same ring either, they look exactl...

I don't see anything wrong with Bilbo being drawn to the mural. Magic rings were already a part of tales and legends, and there was no reason for him to assume that the ring he later found had anything to do with Sauron's.

I've got a Bluetooth keyboard, but who wants to lug that around? Besides, I haven't heard any complaints about posting briefly. :D (I'm trying not to :shock: at the concept of someone who is now an adult learning to type at age 5 on old MS-DOS keyboards. Needless to say, they weren't available when ...

Unfortunately, North Carolina is going the opposite direction.

Someday.

I took a typing class in high school and loved it. My fingers like to dance, whether on harp, piano or keys.

What's been hard for me is learning to type on phone or iPad, where the two-fingered method works better. I'm pretty fast now, but nowhere near my 80-words-per-minute on a proper keyboard.

The older I get, the more I hope that people aren't deciding who I am based on what I look like.

I find that people like your friend are often terrified. They need certainty. They need clear, definite answers. And anything that weakens the structure -- especially blythe questioning -- is a threat. I do not mean to be judgmental about this. Fright is fright, and we all have lines that we fear to...

Another SF book that was memorable in that it haunted me with nightmares was Dahlgren by Delaney. Weird, inexplicable and circular ... it was a dive into madness. I read it 30 years ago and it's still on my shelf, mainly so I can keep a wary eye on it.

I cannot imagine any ride or souvenir shop "in the spirit of Tolkien." At least not the Tolkien I've read for almost 50 years.

If I want to have a Tolkien "experience," I would rather visit New Zealand and see the natural settings that so captured what I found in the books.