 |
Weblog Archives |
|
 |
« fun fun fun in the fluffy chair | Main | retroCRUSH ripped off »
January 05, 2004
waiting for the eastern glow
On Friday morning, I woke up and felt like myself for the first time in almost a month, so I spent the weekend making up for the lost month of December.
Friday afternoon, Anne and I finally saw The Return of the King. I won't discuss specific spoilers, because I would have been pissed if anyone had done that to me, but I will say this: I left feeling incredibly saddened that it was over. I love those characters, and that world, and I was so sad at the final fade out that their journeys were over. I'm holding onto faint hope that Peter Jackson will make The Hobbit, so we can return to Middle Earth (and see Smaug!) one day . . . but just barely.
While I was sick, and couldn't get out to the movies (there was no way I was going to be that asshole in the theatre who's coughing and sneezing the whole time), I watched the extended version of FOTR and TTT, as well as all 10 or so hours of the appendicies, so I was really pumped up for RotK, and I wasn't let down at all. I can't wait for the extended DVD version, (which I hear will be about 5.5 hours long!) to come out!!
Saturday was pretty windy, and by the end of the day, the sky was so clear, I felt like I could reach up and touch it. When the sun set, it was like someone had painted the sky on a glass globe, turned it upside down, and placed it over Pasadena. The Eastern sky was a deep, deep indigo spotted with a few stars, and the Western sky was crimson and orange, and Venus hung just above the horizon. I've seen some beautiful sunsets in my life, and Saturday's easily makes the top ten.
Sunday, we took advantage of the clear air and unseasonably warm weather and went on a hike to Echo Mountain with my brother and his wife. The views were spectacular, and we all had a wonderful time. While we were up there, Jeremy and I finally found the Echo Mountain Geocache, that we couldn't find last year.
When we came back to my house, Anne and I made pizzas for all of us, with yummy artichoke hearts and freashly-made sauce, and then we played the Pop Culture edition of Trivial Pursuit. If you're in your early 30s, like me, you probably remember playing the original Trivial Pursuit in the 80s, right? Of course, by "playing," I actually mean "wanting to stab yourself in the eye with a fork because we could never answer any of the questions." Well, I am happy to report that the Pop Culture edition was built just for us! Trivial Pursuit is significantly more fun when you can actually answer the questions . . . especially when one of them is "What did Dennis Moore distribute?" (Answer: Lupins!)
It was a truly wonderful weekend, one that (to steal a phrase from Steve Jackson) restored many of my hit points. I think I may have gained a level, too, but I won't know until I tally up my XP.
For me, "playing" the original edition meant secretly memorizing all of the science, history, and geography questions and really pissing off the people I was playing with!
Posted by: MIchael Demmons at January 5, 2004 11:56 AMFirst post. W00t. Heh.
I'm glad you enjoyed LotR! I also found that it was a great film. When I was watching it, it seemed to go by so fast. I really didn't want it to end. But it did... sigh.
One thing to look forward to: Peter Jackson might do a movie on "The Hobbit". :-)
Posted by: Grace Smouter at January 5, 2004 11:58 AMI love Trivial Pursuit...but I learned to stay away from all the special editions. I do better with all the random facts. By the way, there is now a LOTR Trivial Pursuit. I got it for a friend and we are looking forward to playing.
Posted by: =^) at January 5, 2004 11:59 AMIf you ever get to Baltimore stop by my cache, "The Mills Effect." I wonder if "show biz kid" new he missed another show biz kid by such a narrow margin. Cheers
Posted by: Clark Oliver at January 5, 2004 12:04 PMGlad you were able to see The Return of the King, The movies were great, no.. they ARE great... I hope they release a bundle box set of all the DVD's because that will be on the top of my list!!
I was sad at the end of the movie also when it ended... Well IF it ended.....like some of the scenes at the end seemed like the last scene... I was about to get up and go and it was still going!!
Finally it ended and I was sad that it did... :(
Oh well it would be a great add to my DVD collection!
Posted by: Stephen Rosebush at January 5, 2004 12:05 PMha ha That's funny, because we played that Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture edition on New Years Eve and New Years Day. :) It seems to be the gift that's sweeping the nation!
Posted by: Samantha at January 5, 2004 12:08 PMMy distant memories of Trivial Pursuit consist of me being so dumb that my answer to every question I didn't know was "Moscow!" And everyone would laugh and shake their heads in disgust. But I was only ten so I didn't know it was in disgust.
What's a geocache?
Posted by: GangstaBitch at January 5, 2004 12:21 PMI'm glad you finally got to see ROTK. I saw it on New Year's Eve, and thought it was one of the best movies I've seen in years. I wish it was 5 hours long, I felt like I could have seen so much more.
Posted by: Kroeme at January 5, 2004 12:37 PMI played the 21 Century edition, and found it impossible. I should check out the pop culture version.
Posted by: MD at January 5, 2004 12:38 PMThankfully my family would give us younguns multiple choices on some of the hard questions (4 out of 5). Still couldn't win. I hate that game *crosses arms and pouts*. I do like the 20th anniversary edition.
I had the same feeling about ROTK. When the film was over, I wanted to stay and watch it again--just to hold on to it a little longer.
Posted by: dereth at January 5, 2004 12:44 PMI got the Pop Culture Edition for Christmas, too. It was a lot of fun to play, especially with the DVD and the all-play rule. I just hope there's a whole bunch of DVD questions to keep our interest.
Posted by: Joe Coughlin at January 5, 2004 12:50 PMI saw the Return of the King and it is an Awesome movie I also hope Peter Jackson can make the Hobbit too.
Posted by: Sherrie at January 5, 2004 01:02 PMWow, your weekend mirrored ours except for the geocaching. ;)
We saw ROTK again, and also indulged in the yummy goodness of artichoke hearts and played the pop culture edition of Trivial Pursuit that I bought the hubby for christmas. I am so glad you are finally feeling better.
Wil, I too was saddened when ROTK ended. In fact, it wasn't until the next day that I was able to enjoy the movie; the thought that it was the last one just cast such a pall on my enjoyment of the film. Still, I have since it seen again and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
By the way, my boss and I geek out at work and refer to ourselves in D&D terms, using HP and XP and levels to describe ourselves. (If anyone has any sort of help hotline number for this, please let me know. )
Posted by: Keri in San Diego at January 5, 2004 01:06 PMTrivial Pursuit has never been a strong game for me. However, I do remember it finally being fun after I answered a baseball correctly with "Paul Molitor." I'm glad you enjoyed Return of the King. Despite not being perfect, it was still a wonderful movie.
Posted by: Eddie at January 5, 2004 01:07 PMI have a friend who not only knows all the answers to Trivial Pursuit questions, but also tells you which ones have the wrong answers, and the year in which each question was first used.
:)
Posted by: ionicus at January 5, 2004 01:26 PM"...da, da, da, da... give to the rich...stupid ####, Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore."
But really, Wil. Do you think many people have seen that episode? Glad that you did and remembered it fondly.
Posted by: Rachel Kadushin at January 5, 2004 01:44 PMThank you for not spoiling RotK for me, I've been dying to see it also but here in Seattle we are such die hard fans the lines are still nearly 3 blocks long on a quiet day. Glad to hear you don't feel poopy anymore!
Posted by: angela peterson at January 5, 2004 01:48 PMI totally loved the third installment, but at the same time I was disappointed. It was very hyped up, and while it did deliver, it didn't blow me away like I thought it would. I still thought it was a good movie though, and I'll definitely be saving up for when they all come out in the triple DVD case with 500 DVDs inside package. I even have a Gollum figure with a Smeagol head. It was a birthday present, from a friend who hates that stuff. I'm such a geek. ;)
Posted by: Nero at January 5, 2004 02:07 PMThe Pop Culture edition of Trivial Pursuit rocks. I love that I can finally answer a string of questions rather than a random question every now and then. There's nothing better than knowing the answer to "What drink does Jermaine Stewart sing about in 'We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off'" because it's in your car cd player at the time! So, who won the game?
Posted by: Tony at January 5, 2004 02:23 PMYes you are,Nero.You most definitley are.
Posted by: Blake at January 5, 2004 02:25 PMI think I still have that original version of Trivial Pursuit!
Posted by: kendoka at January 5, 2004 02:25 PMhe's not in this bit...
Man, oh man, a couple of those pictures looks like they're straight out of LOTR. Especially this one: http://gallery.wilwheaton.net/echomountain/IMG_4080
He steals from the riiich and gives to the poooor, Dennis Moore, Extra Or---(dinary)
Posted by: StarkRG at January 5, 2004 02:27 PMYou take such nice pictures the trails in California remind me of the trails where I live thats good you got to see Return of the King.I am looking forward to seeing it myself
Posted by: Dan L at January 5, 2004 02:28 PMWhat the hell is with that guy and all that 'fucking' nonscense...?
Posted by: Stephen Rosebush at January 5, 2004 03:28 PMStephen, ignore the spammer. It's just some idiot wanting attention.
Posted by: me at January 5, 2004 03:38 PMWhat the hell is up with this 'fucking' idiot?
Hope Wil catches this..
Posted by: Stephen Rosebush at January 5, 2004 03:46 PMWil,
Whats happening with the messages???
Wil-
Thanks for stopping the spam! Perhaps you should use your "laser beam eyes" on the bastard. ;^)
Clara
Posted by: Clara at January 5, 2004 07:58 PMLOL @ StarkRG. I told Anne that we were going to see the Argonaths just around the corner :)
Posted by: wil at January 5, 2004 08:01 PMWil,
Well, glad to see you were up and out of being sick. It looks like you had a great weekend. ROTK is great but I can not say that I was sad when it ended because it is on film and will live forever. Soon, you will be able to hit rewind and enjoy it as often as you desire.
FG
Love the pictures of the trail hike. I just wish I had something like that to do here, it looked like a lot of fun too. Now I want to live in California, warmer. LOL
Posted by: MacBros at January 5, 2004 08:07 PMI checked out those hike pictures. Very cool. Part of me is extremely jealous that you *can* hike in December--as I sit here in double layers still thawing from my trip home in 21 degree weather and 31 mph winds (on a bike no less...oh yeah, count the fingers when you get home, and make sure they're all there...)
The other part of me is smuggly chuckling at what you label 'the view.' When you come back to Portland for the next big book tour, be sure to schedule some extra time to go hiking in the Columbia Gorge so you can see a seriously spectular view. :-)
Recall Trivial Pursuit if you're in your early 30's?
Gimmie a break ;) ...some of us old timers played it back then too...I don't think age had much to do with it...it was (and still is) a fun game. :D
Posted by: Oldguy at January 5, 2004 08:32 PMIt happened again... :(
Posted by: Stephen Rosebush at January 5, 2004 09:05 PMYou're an idiot, Leave the poor guy alone... Go back to your hole.
Posted by: Stephen Rosebush at January 5, 2004 09:06 PM| Read |
|
| Listen |
|
Watch |
|
| WWdN Sponsor |
| Act |
|
|Electronic Frontier Foundation| |
| Fear |
| Look |
|