Today, when we haven’t been wrangling Alex, we’ve been watching the extra bits on the 4-disc super-special edition of Lord of the Rings: The Fellowhip of the Ring. If you’re a film buff, or a Tolkien buff, then this 4-disc set is a must-have. The extras are an utterly compelling view into the truly enormous amount of effort and detail that went into making of the film, and in bringing Middle-Earth onto the big screen. Really, the stuff they had to do is amazing.
Toad Dates
A Christmas present has arrived early, in the form of the full set of dates for Toad the Wet Sprocket’s concert tour in February/March of 2003. Yay! And there are dates in convenient places, such as New York, Boston, Chicago, Detroit. Flights to these locations in February are very affordable, and we wouldn’t even have to hire a car. On the other hand, choosing someplace like Cincinatti would make for a fun road trip…
Road trip! Road trip!
I’m very excited, as you may be able to tell. I’ve downloaded one of the recordings from their 12 December tour in benefit of the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center, and the guys sound amazing. Seeing them live, in person, would be a dream come true.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and may your own dreams come true in 2003.
7
You know the rule of thumb that says humans can only hold 7 (+ or – 2) items in short-term memory at a given time? Well, while reading Information Architecture for the World Wide Web I came across a reference to the original research on the subject.
In his opening comments, Prof. George A. Miller says:
“My problem is that I have been persecuted by an integer. For seven years this number has followed me around, has intruded in my most private data, and has assaulted me from the pages of our most public journals. This number assumes a variety of disguises, being sometimes a little larger and sometimes a little smaller than usual, but never changing so much as to be unrecognizable.”
The paper explains what the number 7 really means in terms of human perception and cognition. It’s a fascinating article, and a must-read if you enjoy knowing the true origins of such pieces of modern folk wisdom.
Further reading:
The Two Towers
We went to see The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers yesterday evening. It’s a very impressive film, but I don’t think it was nearly as good as Fellowship. There are a number of reasons for that. It’s the middle slice of a trilogy, so it has neither a beginning nor an end. It relies more heavily on CGI, which is still a very risky strategy. It uses moments of slapstick to deliver comic relief where none are warranted. The book does a lot of character development that the film just dumps, and in one instance even completely rewrites. Also, in the context of current world events, the film is also dangerously jingoistic.
I use the word “dangerous” because in The Lord Of The Rings the war is being fought against inhuman opponents. In real life, though, the dehumanization of one’s enemies has led to some of the worst atrocities in history. I’m sure that the hawks will love the overt message that one has to go to war against evil, because for most of 2002 they’ve done nothing but paint Saddam Hussein with the “evil” brush. The timing of The Two Towers regrettably means that it (unintentionally?) weighs in as pro-war propaganda.
I’m going to have to write a full review and analysis of the film, even if it’s just so set my own mind straight about what I think of it. I may even have to go in and see it again. The only thing I’m certain of right now is that it is not going to get a five-star rating from me.
No-fly zone
Stories like this one are becoming increasingly prevalent of late (via WebWord). Some of them are simply made up, some are exaggerated to make for better propaganda, but some of them are just true. It makes me a little bit worried that with all the anti-war, anti-capitalist, and anti-Bush stuff I’ve written this last year, I’ll find myself on a no-fly list when Scott and I do our Toad the Wet Sprocket road trip next year.
We’ll see. I do find it encouraging, though, that both right- and left-wing voices (the Lew Rockwell site on which this article appeared bills itself as “the premier anti-state, pro-market site on the net”–not my usual reading matter) in the US are expressing dismay and fear over the policies and practices that could turn the USA into a police state. “Land of the free,” and all that, remember?
And while I’m in the politics/economics zone anyway, Andrew Orlowski in The Register has an interesting article about the beginnings of a backlash against short-termism in investment markets. Well worth reading.
The Dawn Of Amber
To borrow Alex’s favourite phrase: uh-oh.
“Roger Zelazny’s The Dawn Of Amber – The New Amber Novel by John Gregory Betancourt.” I found this in Transreal bookshop this morning, and I cannot help but be afraid…very afraid.
The reviews I’ve found of it (Paul Di Filippo on SciFi.com, and Alma A. Hromic on SFSite.com) do nothing to alleviate this anxiety.
I myself have extensively abused the Amber universe and mythology in numerous Amber role-playing sessions, but Zelazny’s canon has always been sacred. Yet here is the first volume in a new trilogy that has been sanctioned by Zelazny’s estate. (Note: not necessarily in accordance with Zelazny’s actual wishes.)
One of the cover quotes is from twice-Hugo-winning Richard A. Lupoff, who says:
“[Betancourt] is the ideal choice to assume Roger Zelazny’s mantle…”
Um. Neil Gaiman or Steven Brust would seem a more obvious choice, but there you go….
I bought the book, but I’m still not sure if I actually want to read it. I’ll let you know what I think if I do.