| 20 dec 2001 dude. _lord of the rings_ was really really really good! although, i have to admit, that if i wasn't such a big fan of the book, and i hadn't read it, then the movie wouldn't have been as good. i think for the uninitiated, there are way too many names and way too much history to wade through. alan was kind of complaining about that... too much information. but if there's anything that i am even closely fanatical about, it is LotR. because i was just mad about the book back in high school... i even learned how to write my name using the dwarven and elven scripts. in fact, the symbol that i sign off in letters is an adaptation of the dwarven rune for the sound "ng," which is obviously the last run in "chang." the whole film was just epic. i was especially impressed with the visuals of moria and lorien. i was concerned that the first half (from bilbo's brithday party to the arrival at rivendell) was going to be boring, because not much action happens in the book in that sequence, but the movie spiced things up with more encounters with the ringwraiths. they totally cut out the tom bombadil and barrow downs episodes, but i guess it's ok. the 2nd half was pretty accurate, and i was pleased with the fact that they showed the showdown between gandalf and saruman, as well as the creation of the uruk-hai. and if they ended the movie like the way the book ends, it would have been rather boring and anticlimactic, so i could understand why they needed to take the early parts of the second book (the fall of boromir) and other stuff and put it in the end. i hope i didn't give anything away... i was trying to be vague about it. but anyways, yeah. i was shaking with happiness and bliss after seeing the movie, despite the fact that it was almost 2am by the time we got out. seeing my most beloved book translated for the screen in an awe-inspiring way was just really good... and that, coupled with _harry potter_, has made for perhaps the most satisfying tandem of movies that i have ever seen. now i can't wait to start reading _the two towers_. so basically it was a week of anticipation and buildup for me. because i finally got off my ass and read the entire _fellowship_ book in the past 5 days or so, and that culminated in me seeing the movie. so the book + movie kind of meshed into one single experience for me, and one greatly enjoyable experience at that. ok. i'll stop raving about it now. i got home last night, waiting for alan to stop by. i started playing halo a bit, and i started fretting that i was running out of rounds for my shotgun. i didn't get far in halo before alan called, and we went and met up with peter at the de facto best pho place i've ever been to, pho to chau in mountain view. adam says that pho hoa is better, but i totally disagree. alan wanted to get a double whammy (which we've both done): order a bowl of pho coupled with a rice plate to satiate our hunger, but knowing that he'd feel sick, i persuaded him to just get one item. you know, when you're starving you think you could eat a shitload of food, like i think i could have three steaks (which is something i've done too, to my bowel's dismay), but the time you actually start eating, your body realizes that you can't handle that much food. so even though it feels like you're cheating on your hunger, not going crazy with food will save your stomach some pain and your wallet some cash. afterwards, the three of us played a round of chinese checkers at the pearl milk tea place... i could tell that peter really wanted to take us on because i narrowly beat him last time... but this time, he utilized some really hot superjump movies to kick my ass; he was in my territory way early in the game, which just fucked me up. then, alan and i headed to the movie theater an hour early, and it was raining. every single showing was sold out, and i noticed there were a lot of annoying high schoolers there. i guess winter break is here. there were hardly any stanford people there because last week was the end of finals, so most of the kids are probably back home. anyways... oh yeah. i yacked for the first time in a while. i guess having that fruitier drink at pho to chau along with the pearl milk tea didn't sit well in my stomach. so i pretended to go off for a smoke, found a nice quiet nook at the theater, and barfed. ewww. but i'm getting better, though, and that's good because i don't want esophogeal cancer. or melted teeth. ----- my rant yesterday about k2's sensitivity and privacy got the most e-mail responses i've ever received from any journal entry. i thank everyone who wrote to me, and i'm still not sure how i'm going to behave from now on. now that k2's name is anonymized, i feel like i have freer reign over all the stuff i can spill. but i have also learned that i don't like getting hate mail, so i should just shut up. i swear, after the fallout from k3 and now k2, i'm actually afraid fo check my e-mail because i'm scared of getting another harsh e-mail from somebody. i consulted alex over the legal issues of public defamation (although i don't believed i've defamed k2 in any way), and he swiftly dug up the california statutes on slander and libel. i haven't lied about anything, so what i've done probably doesn't fall under that, but alex did tell me that i could be sued for emotional distress. that's such a lame thing... like my little rant on PCness yesterday, people are just way too sensitive. and too litigious. bastards. i just don't know why k2 and her spies are still reading. what, praytell, is the point of all that? if you know something might upset you, then why go back to it? it's masochism if you ask me. yes, it's tempting, and i understand the curiosity of it all, but shit, man... have some self restraint and stay away if all you're going to do is bitch at me about it. i told clare a joke a few months ago, and she wrote me and used the joke to convey me a message... basically, a woman is looking out her window into a stream, and there are all these naked boys swimming around. so she's offended, and she calls the police to have them removed. so the boys simply move to another location. still, the woman calls up the police complains about the boys. but the police say, "but you can't even see them!" and the woman says, "but with my binoculars, i can!" get my point? have some self control and close this browser window if you can't handle what goes on here. i swear, it's like poking yourself with a knife and complaining that it hurts. ----- so i leave for LA tomorrow. yuck. fucking LA. but it's the only time i have this year to see my mom and my brother, so i have to do it. i want to do it. but i'm coming back on christmas eve. yeah, it sounds lame, but my mom and bro are starting a church conference that day, and i don't want to participate, so i might as well come back then... that'll give me xmas eve and xmas day to hang out by myself and chill out. although i wonder if i'll get depressed or something because it's the holidays, and i don't really have anyone to spend them with. sad sad. so anyways, i'm back to writing at work. i like it. for whatever reason, i feel like i have more to say when i have a job. |