A Hobbit-y Halloween

(First off, can I just say how cute Babycakes was last Halloween?  So little!  So cute!)

Months ago I had a plan for Halloween costumes this year.  Then I realized it would be better and cuter if we had a second baby to fill a role so we pushed that to next year.  So what to do this year?  It seemed the time was right for Boo Boo to be a little Frodo, with Drew as Samwise.  As for me, well, when I made my Care Bears shirt, one of my other ideas was to do a shirt with the Eye of Sauron on it.  Hilarious! I cackled about the idea for about a month before actually working on the costumes.

I spent a week making them, and what can I say, they turned out even better than I expected!  Then we got this group photo and Babycakes made this face. 

(I must confess his expression reminds me of myself as a child, especially in one particular sibling portrait.  Family, I think you know which one I'm talking about.)

I made both the cloaks, plus the little vest (Eep, buttonholes!) and hemmed up both pants.  I used this tutorial for the little cloak and this pattern for the big one.  I had to lengthen Sam's and I used flannel instead of felt so I finished all the edges.  I think I spent half the time measuring hems, which is my least favorite part EVER about sewing.  But, like I said, I love how they turned out so I can't really complain.  I made the Eye in Photoshop.  Hey, let's look at pictures:

We took some pictures outside and Frodo went straight to the village of Bree.

Fortunately, he loves wearing capes!

It will probably come as no surprise that I already had a Ring and the brooches were found on ebay for about $1 each.

The cutest of hobbits!

 

New favorite pictureeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

"What's that over there...Mordor?"

(Hobbits are always careful about steps)

On a quest!

 

This distracted expression brought to you by the mail truck.

"What's that over there...Mordor?"

Hilarious!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- Chronicles II: Creatures & Characters

Author: Daniel Falconer
Year: 2012
Genre: Non-fiction/Art/Film
Reading Level: Adult
Series: Second in the Hobbit Chronicles

Summary: A detailed look at the creatures and characters in the first Hobbit movie, with behind the scenes information on the cast, costumes and characterizations.  Also includes details on the effects, both physical and digital, and plenty of photos to go round.

Red Flags: Many color photographs of hideous, hideous creatures

My Rating:B+
Again, I am always happy to read about movie making stuff, especially when it's Tolkien related.  But.  Do I want to read approximately 500 pages about the dwarves?  Do I want to read any amount of pages about goblins?  Do I want to see huge close-ups of the Goblin King?  The answer to all of these questions is no.  No, I do not. 

I mean, it's a well made, good looking book.  The creature and character scale at the back was very cool, and I always like movie making tidbits.  But there was so much information that, really, is just not very relevant.  All the actors talked about these details and back stories they created for their dwarf characters, but none of that came across in the movie.  So why does it matter?  It just seemed kind of silly to me, and basically drove home all my issues with the movie dwarves.  

Also Andy Serkis, my goodness.  How he does go on.  And, like, the first book, this one went on and on about how brilliant Peter Jackson is.  I object to this.  

Anyway.  It's a nice book and I enjoyed pulling little factoids from it, but overall it deepened my criticisms of the movie instead of enhancing my appreciation for it.  It was interesting to realize that there were a number of crew changes from the LOTR days (which makes sense, as that was a good long while ago), and I have to wonder how the Hobbit movies would be different if it had all the same minds behind it.  Perhaps it would just be a Hobbit movie...?

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Chronicles: Art and Design (Book Review)

Author: Daniel Falconer
Year: 2012
Genre: Non-fiction/Art/Film
Reading Level: Adult
Series: First in the Hobbit Chronicles

Summary: A detailed look at the art and design work behind the first Hobbit movie, including over a thousand images.  This book includes designs for costumes, characters, sets, locations and creatures.  There are pencil sketches, digital pieces and photos. 

Red Flags: Art and designs of hideous creatures

My Rating: A-
I love the three art books for the Lord of the Rings movie series, and I enjoy a good movie art book in general.  Strangely enough though, this book fell prey to the same malady as the Hobbit movies--Overstretcheditis.  No, of course I did not just make up that term.  (...)  Anyway, I love looking at all the designs, but I see no reason why this could not have been combined with the following book (Creatures and Characters).  

I rate the art and the behind the scenes stuff an A, but the drawn out nature dragged my rating down a bit.  I also object to putting just the artists' initials by their artwork.  I could keep track of a lot of them--I am pretty familiar with their names already--but, if it were me, I would be a bit peeved by that.  Give them proper, spelled out credit!  Also I got a little weary of people praising Peter Jackson for his genius.  I guess I just don't think he's a genius these days. 

The art books for LOTR are definitely superior, but I never object to seeing pencil sketches from John Howe and Alan Lee.  Movie making stuff always interests me too, but I wish this series were a bit more concise, as it easily could be. (Also I missed seeing art from Christian Rivers and Jeremy Bennett, but that's not the book's fault.  OR IS IT???)

Bump It Up

One afternoon, back in my working days, I was driving home and I saw a person on a bike near me.  For some reason, when I saw this on this particular day, my brain went back to the scene in Return of the King when Sam says "Share the load" to Frodo.  And for some even more inexplicable reason, I looked at that biker and said to myself, "Share the road."  Then I started laughing my guts out at the thought of a bumper sticker with that slogan.  I crack myself up.

Well, that was like two and a half years ago, and about a year later I actually sat down and make just such a bumper sticker.  Then my brother suggested one with Frodo and "Get off the road!"  Which is also hilarious!  So I made that one too.  

So, just this past fall (if you're keeping track, this was like two years after my initial idea...I may not be fast but I do things eventually!), I finally ordered them as actual bumper stickers.  I don't know what I'll do with them, but I HAVE them and I feel pretty awesome about that.

The Hobbit (Book Review)

Author: J.R.R. Tolkien
Year: 1937
Genre: Fantasy
Reading Level: Intermediate

Literary Awards: New York Herald Tribune Best Juvenile Story, Keith Barker Millennium Book Award, Books I Loved Best Yearly (BILBY) Awards for Older Readers (1997)

Plot Summary: Bilbo Baggins lived a comfortable, peaceful existence in his hobbit hole--until Gandalf the Grey intervened.  Soon Bilbo is swept away from his home, in the company of dwarves determined to regain their lost mountain.  A long quest stands between Bilbo and his homey hole, and he will not be quite the same at the end of it.

Red Flags: Some peril and very mild violence, creatures

My Rating: A
In the past I've always maintained that this is my least favorite of Tolkien's novels--not because I dislike it, but just because I like his others better.  While that is still the case, I think I enjoyed it more this time than any other reading (I think this was my fifth?).  It's such a great adventure story, and Bilbo is an endearing main character.  It's a fairly simple and straightforward tale but it's also very well written, funny and engaging.  I can't really find any fault with it, even if it's not the serious, bleak Tolkien I love the best.  

Memorable quotes:
"Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable , palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway."--ch. 3

"Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did.  The tremendous things that happened afterwards were as nothing compared to it.  He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait."--ch. 12

A Board of Smorgas

Sometimes you think you'll write a whole blog post about something only to realize that just a sentence or two will cover it.  Hence the origins of this post.  Some might call this a "brain dump" but "board of smorgas" has, well, some kind of ring to it.

--I was going to do a whole 2012 year in review post, but really all I have to say is that one of my favorite things to come out of 2012 was Keane's Strangeland.  I love it so!  It inspires me.  Thanks, 2012.  (And Keane)

--The last couple of years I've come to realize that if I want Christmas to be awesome and festive, I must make it so.  My Mama won't just show up with all the fixins for Christmas magic, as was her job when I was a tot.  Holidays are what you make of them!  And this year I have to say, we did pretty great.  Here's a quick rundown of our festivities: we saw a hand bell concert at the library (free!) and The Nutcracker (not free, and which nearly killed me with discomfort and heartburn...still good though...), made paper snowflakes, made gingerbread, had hot chocolate, watched the Christmas devotional, walked in the snow, ate some snow, went to the TSO Christmas concert, saw the lights at Temple Square, saw the MoTab Christmas concert (Alfie!  Live!) went shopping at the mall (I like going for pure festiveness) and, you know, had Christmas.  Of course it goes without saying that we also ate a LOT of food and saw lots of family as well.  Okay, this probably could have been its own blog post. 

--I've been rewatching all the appendices on the extended LOTR DVDs.  While I know movies are not *important* in the way that, say, brain surgery or child rearing are, what I do have to conclude here is that making a movie on that scale is HARD.  Wear your fingerprints off hard. 

--I miss running.  I've started dreaming about it and it feels so great while I'm dreaming.  At least I still have Pilates and my little bike apparatus.  I'll see you again, running shoes!  In like...6 months...maybe... 

It's so nice to get all these things off my mind at last!  So now you can REALLY stayed tuned for the ~*~*~*giveaway*~*~*~ and, oh yes, for the scoop on this whole BABY thing.  That might involve some word vomiting, which is only suitable considering the amount of actual vomiting that has taken place. 

Awesome Things, or, In Which I Ramble About Stuff

Have you ever been sitting in a public place and suddenly heard a sound like a tiny Godzilla cry?  That happened to me, just this very minute.  I'm going to take it as a sign that this blog post will be as epic as a gigantic reptile creature bent on massive destruction.

I like making lists.  I also like other stuff.  Sometimes these likes come together and I write a blog post dedicated solely to things I am currently liking a lot.  That's what this post is!  It has no other purpose.  

(Did anyone else read that last line with Aragorn's voice?  "It has no other master.")

Here's stuff I like lately:

The Amazing Spider-man!  I feel I should declare my love for it publicly, since people keep not believing me when I say it's my favorite movie of 2012 and I want to watch it everyday and I want to put Andrew Garfield in my pocket.  I (completely unexpectedly) loved it!  It's true.  It's true, I swear!

Strangeland!  I want to put this in my pocket next to Andrew Garfield.  He can keep pressing play for me.

Veronica Mars!  We just finished watching it recently (Drewbles had never seen) and every time I rewatch it I love it all over again.  And hey, Veronica would probably actually fit in my pocket too.  Two words: huevos rancheros.

Sherlock!  Need more be said?  I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of season 2 uponst my doorstep.

(We watched the second Sherlock Holmes movie the other day...I spent most of it killing Mephisto in Diablo II.  Need more be said?)

Summer!  I know summer has its sweaty inconveniences, but overall I think it has a lot of fun things to offer and this has been a great summer so far, full of fun and new things.  That said, I am very glad we have air conditioning--and a hearty supply of otter pops to keep Drewbles going.

Last and by no means least, is this beautiful thing:

Look at it big!  Giggle and flail over the anticipation!  Then put something awesome in your pocket. 

XD

I still can't believe this is actually happening in my life. It looks so great I won't even fuss about how good looking some of the dwarves are, hah.

Dwarfs are very upsetting...

...but not THESE dwarves! Well, unless you're an Orc, I suppose. Or a dragon. Or maybe an elf. Or an undisturbed mountain full of mithril.
It's interesting how they all look so different, but for the most part all look very dwarf-y (aside from the Hugh Jackman dwarf on the right). If I didn't know it was him, I don't think I could EVER tell that was Richard Armitage as Thorin.

Sweet. Now where are some more pictures of Legolas Bilbo?

(Speaking of Bilbo, when do I get more Sherlock, PBS?)

A Few Things

I haven't been blogging very much lately...let's change that, shall we? Here is a little meme type thing for your blog-reading pleasure.

One picture, one poem, one song, one quote, one item of clothing, one place and one Disney princess.

One picture.

Still one of my favorite movie posters. Just another reason why Prisoner of Azkaban is the best.

One poem.

Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo.
Shovel them under and let me work--
I am the grass; I cover all.

And pile them high at Gettysburg
And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun.
Shovel them under and let me work.
Two years, ten years, and the passengers ask the conductor:
What place is this?
Where are we now?

I am the grass.
Let me work.

--Carl Sandburg, "Grass"

One song.



One quote.

"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."

--Gandalf, The Return of the King

One item of clothing.

From RocknSocks

One place.

I just finished reading Persuasion so is it any wonder Bath sprang to mind?

One Disney Princess.

Belle! She was always my favorite, which is not so surprising since Beauty and the Beast is still my favorite Disney movie. She's a bookworm--how could I not relate and admire? Also, she has good taste in men. Hah.