Some rejection letters are harder than others. The one I received this week came after I saw a notice that anyone who hadn’t heard yet was on the short list. That raises expectations considerably. So I was bummed when I found out I didn’t make the final cut. At least that tells me the story is fundamentally solid. However, I’ll have to do some work to it before I can send it anywhere else.
We went grocery shopping yesterday to stock up on supplies for the coming week. We may venture out every now and then but for the most part we plan to stay in, cook food and watch videos and read and veg. When we were putting stuff in the trunk, my wife noticed that my Obama/Biden magnetic bumper sticker was gone. I’m not quite sure when it disappeared, but I wasn’t surprised. Not really. In fact, I was surprised it lasted as long as it did in this conservative community. Disappointed, but not surprised. I had a lady at Wal-Mart curse at me a few months ago when she saw it. I left it on to commemorate the first time I was able to participate in an American presidential election, but I knew I was tempting fate. At least they didn’t key my car.
The rest of yesterday was Hobbit day. We watched the first movie on DVD in the afternoon. I thought it might still be OnDemand but when I checked a couple of days ago, it was no longer available. So on Friday I hazarded a trip to Best Buy just after it opened and was able to zip in and out. My one close encounter with Christmas shoppers. To put a ribbon on top, I had a $10 coupon on my rewards card so I got the DVD for $2.15.
After watching The Five-ish Doctors reboot it was fun picking out Sylvester McCoy, Doctor Who #7, as Radagast the Brown. We again hazarded the region near the shopping mall for supper, but because we were fairly early in the afternoon/evening, we didn’t have to wait to be seated. We finished about 30 minutes before the next showing of The Desolation of Smaug, and the theater was just a short walk across the street. Got our pick of seats. I thought the second film was a great and exciting adventure, although some of the elvish fight scenes were a little over the top. The dwarf troop reminded me of Monty Python at times. It’s an interesting blend of pratfalls and Matrix-style action. I was sure they were going to pull the rug out from under us and end the film in much the same way the first one ended, with the opening of Smaug’s eye, and maybe a little dialog, but they didn’t, much to my relief.
It took me a while to figure out why I recognized Beorn, the shapeshifter. He was played by Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt, who was Gunvald on the crime series Beck. I didn’t mind the addition of the Tauriel character at all. The show seriously needed a strong female character. And I found it amusing to think that Sherlock and Watson were battling each other beneath the mountain on those heaps of gold. It was a rollicking adventure and some of the scenes, especially those in the wide open, featured the best 3D I’ve experienced. So much 3D is set in confined places, but the scope of the New Zealand vistas was impressive. There were a few over-the-top 3D moments that shook me up, like the bumble bees that fly out of the screen, but for the most part it did its job, that of adding true depth to the experience.
As Neil Finn wrote, the movie’s title was hard to work into a song because of the funky way “Smaug” is pronounced.
