August began like any other weekday: Get up, mess around on the computer a bit (Silmarillion post), shower, dress, go to work. The fact that the gods had something else in mind was readily apparent when, barely out of the driveway, I came to the realization that I had a flat tire. Nonplussed, I pulled back into the driveway to change it (“4 minutes…time me!”). It was as I went to grab my spare from under the truck that I had one of those flashbacks that one gets sometimes in which I saw myself many months ago hauling donated furniture all over creation for work. At that time I removed my spare tire, which had been sitting in the bed of my truck, and left it at the group home which was our base of operations for the day. The manager there had been worried about the tire laying out so she stuck it in the back of the van, thus ensuring that it would remain ‘out of sight, out of mind’ once the day was over.
There are several chapters in the Bible consisting solely of genealogies, lists of who beget who, used mostly to establish bloodlines. The last being in Matthew in which the lineage of Jesus is established through the bloodline of King David. I have always found these fascinating because of what they don’t say. You look at the names on the lists and wonder just who these people were and what they did. What big or small things did they do in their lives that may have wrought monumental changes on the world for future generations. There is an unwritten history there that fascinates. The same can be said for J.R.R. Tolkien’s saga The Lord of the Rings. Whether reading the books or watching the films you come across names of individuals and of peoples that give historical depth to the work but also make you wonder who they were and what part they had to play in the development of the Middle-earth of the Third Age. Thankfully Tolkien didn’t just mention these people and pass on, he spent his lifetime developing the creation of his world. The culmination of these efforts can be found in The Silmarillion.
And since work is not what you want to be doing today anyway, here’s an interesting little webcomic that I discovered recently. I like the story and am interested in seeing how it progresses. Click ‘See’ here and enjoy.
Thanks everyone for the Friday Favorites comments. If you’re interested, discussion continues over on the Lady in the Water post. Some spoilers in a few comments if you haven’t seen the film. Good stuff everyone, thanks.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Uberlist, Music and Art posts coming up this week, should be a busy one! Have a great Monday everyone. Its supposed to be over 100 degrees today. I’m so thrilled about getting out! 😉
Today’s Friday Favorite comes courtesy of the Drawn website, for it is there that I was introduced to the colorful work of Sylvia Ji.
(Emily)
I couldn’t help but like Ji’s work. It has a color palette that reminds me of previous Friday Favorite, Jeff Soto. It has women whose complexions, especially Emily above, are colored in a way that reminds me of some of the colored covers of Terry Moore’s Strangers In Paradise comics (mostly because of the red noses). And the women have a sort of Gibson Girls feel to them.
I saw this on the recently discovered Tim Burton Collective website and it would be a gross understatement to say that I am excited about this. I did not see NBX when it was originally released in theatres and it is such a phenomenal film that I can’t believe I might be able to see it on the big screen. I say might because there is always that possibility that Disney will put this out in limited release only and that it won’t come here to KC. NBX is not only an amazing achievement in stop motion animation but it really is an almost perfect musical with a slightly gothic feel that makes it even better. The scheduled release date is October 20th. I’m there.
Saw the trailer for this at Lady in the Water this weekend. Looks very interesting. I like both Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz and am thus very happy with the cast. I mistakingly thought originally that this was based on Ayn Rand’s book but then realized that her book is The Fountainhead, not The Fountain. The story looks to be centered around the tree of life and the idea of immortality. The trailer is here or start here if that doesn’t work.
