We’ll just get this one out of the way. Went with Ian to see The Hobbit yesterday. I read a few reviews that suggested disappointment. I was glad I did because I felt like I went in without super high expectations. I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed the movie, although I was annoyed by the same things the reviewers were annoyed by. Ian thought it was just terrific, but he’s more of a fanboy than I am. 
My review, if you’re interested: PJ and crew make the same mistakes they did in LotR – for me, that means taking several points too literally. I understand the need to make some things work on screen which involves a completely different method than writing on the page, but I think in the hands of someone else this could have been handled better. I was less annoyed by some of the “changes” than I thought I would be, and most of them I thought were fairly minor. Then again, Fellowship’s changes were also pretty minor compared to numbers 2 and 3. So we’ll see what develops in the later movies. Martin Freeman made a great Bilbo. Ian McKellen is good, but not quite as good as he was in LotR. Guy playing Thorin is fantastic.
Favorite scenes: the whole Bilbo and Gollum sequence. They got that one right to a T (though there is a continuity problem with how it’s shown in LotR).
And I am really excited to see Smaug.
Movie previews suggest many dark-themed superhero or other action movies next summer. Maybe I’ve just gotten dumber, or action movies have actually gotten better during my lifetime. I was actually mildly interested in seeing several of them – particularly next Star Trek movie and Man of Steel.
Benedict Cumberbatch is developing quite the career as guy who plays villains or other “weird” characters. I only just got to know him from watching Sherlock and that guy…can really act. Or he’s just that weird all by himself.
On a completely different note, Alisdair is almost completely weaned. I have been “working on it” a little bit, although I didn’t want to push him too much. I have been increasing the variety and volume of food I offer him during the day, and he was already weaned at night. I think I’ve reached the point in my pregnancy where I am starting to “dry up” anyhow. For the past several days he’s only nursed once or twice, usually before naptime or when waking up in the morning. Ian gets him to sleep at night without my nursing him (usually.)
It’s good timing though because we are going to attempt tonight Alisdair spending the night at his grandparents’ without us. It will probably happen when the baby comes, so we wanted to try it now and see how he handles it, when it will be relatively easy to “come to the rescue” if needed.
And what will we be doing on this fine, no-toddler evening? Going to a holiday party and staying AS LATE AS WE WANT. Which probably means we’ll stay half an hour before wanting to collapse from exhaustion.
I didn’t sleep very well last night, mostly because we were sleeping at Ian’s parents’, Alisdair ended up in the bed (to cuddle with his dada), and then kicked me in the back until I left and went to sleep on the couch. It was a very comfortable couch, don’t get me wrong, but I have grown quite used to having a toddler-free bed, which is very useful when one has toddler-filled days.
I was shocked to log on Facebook yesterday evening and see all that had been written about the tragedy in Connecticut. I just can’t even begin to understand why people do what they do. Please pray for the souls of all the victims and their families and friends, who are grieving, and also for the soul of the shooter, who is in plentiful need of God’s mercy. His family will also need a lot of strength in the days and weeks to come.
Sin is real, and it affects all of us, even the innocent. I have great hope that those children are now with their Father in Heaven.
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I am an unabashed superhero fan, because they ARE better than they used to be. Way better.