MiddleEarth mania, week three: The Return of the King

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Well, it’s done. Prairie and I just got back from seeing The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at the Cinerama.

I read something earlier this week on the ‘net. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where, so I can’t give attribution — but it’s a statement that I can now say quite safely that I wholeheartedly agree with. Until this year, had someone mentioned The Trilogy in conversation so that you could hear the capital ‘t’s, it would have been fairly understood that they most likely were talking about Star Wars.

Not anymore. LotR:TRotK caps off the new reigning champion of popular cinematic trilogys in grand style.

Prairie and I had tickets to the 7:45pm showing, but we knew that this being opening weekend we’d want to get there fairly early to ensure good seats. So, after an early bed last night and a good night’s sleep, we packed up our supplies (books for each of us, an umbrella, and two collapsible chairs from the trunk of her car), we headed down to the Cinerama at 4pm. We weren’t sure at first whether that might have been a bit too early, but as it turns out, our instincts were right on the money, as we ended up about 15 people back from the front of the line (in fact, we realized that we’d ended up waiting at almost exactly the same spot for all three weeks of our LotR experience), and it wasn’t more than about five minutes before more people showed up and took the spots right behind us.

Luckily enough, it turned out to be a nicely mild evening, without the wind and drizzling rain of last weekend. We’d each bundled up for the wait, and ended up spending a very pleasant three hours kicked back in our spot, chatting, reading, and watching the line grow behind us as more and more people appeared. About ten minutes before the doors opened I took a few minutes to stretch my legs and went off to find the end of the line…which had wrapped down from the Cinerama to the corner, around the corner, and then halfway again down the length of the block. We were quite happy we decided to come out as early as we did!

About the only downside was that when we arrived, there was one guy just ahead of us in line — but by the time the doors were about to open, he’d been joined by five of his friends (and this had also happened with a few other people ahead of us in line, and just behind us as well). I can certainly understand holding a spot in line for one friend, but it’s nothing but annoying when someone holds a spot at the beginning of the line for groups of people, who can then show up not more than ten minutes before the doors open and slide into line in front of people who’d been waiting there for hours. Very rude, and quite aggravating — luckily for them, I didn’t think my umbrella would stand up to smacking all six of them around, so I kept my peace.

Still, once the doors opened and the line surged forward, we made our way in and managed to snag good seats yet again — dead center, six rows back on the lower level (just one row closer to the screen than last week, and two rows closer than we were for Fellowship — thank goodness it’s only a trilogy!). After that, it was just a matter of waiting for everyone to fill in and find their seats, until eventually, the lights went down, and applause and cheers filled the room.

We were treated to three trailers before the show started. The first was for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which got applause and cheers from the audience. Next up was a trailer for The Mask is Back, which had the audience in dumbfounded silence until the end, when the auditorium was filled with a resounding chorus of boos and catcalls (which did something to restore some of my faith in the intelligence of the moviegoing public — or at least that section of the moviegoing public crazy enough to stand in line for LotR:TRotK on its first weekend). Last up was a trailer for The Butterfly Effect, which didn’t get much of a reaction at all (the trailers don’t impress me much, but I am interested in the premise of the film, so we’ll see how that goes once it opens).

Finally, the lights went down all the way, and the movie began… Rather than jumping straight into the action as was done with LotR:TTT, LotR:TRotK starts off with a look back long before the events of the trilogy, fleshing out Gollum’s background and showing the discovery of the Ring and the tragic events surrounding Smeagol’s acquisition of his “birthday present” from his brother Deagol. A marvelously creepy sequence shows us Smeagol’s deterioration into Gollum under the influence of the Ring, until we finally cut forward to hear Gollum muttering to himself as Sam and Frodo rest on their journey into Mordor.

(Note: much of the following text is “spoiler” information, which I’ve hidden for the time being — just swipe the blank areas of the text with your cursor if you’ve already seen the film….)

This is by far the most intense of the three films, moving back and forth among multiple storylines, hardships, moments of despair, and sudden triumphs. As jaw-dropping as the assault on Helms Deep was in LotR:TTT, the assault on Minis Tirith puts it to shame. There were so many wonderful (and wonderfully horrible) moments in the battles, from the Orc commander’s call to “release the prisoners” (at which point the severed heads of fallen Gondorian soldiers were lobbed into Minas Tirith), to the appearance of the giant war-Olifaunts, to Eowyn’s stand against the Nazgul king — “I am no man!” — (which got one of the loudest cheers from the audience) that I’m going to have to see it at least once more in the theaters just to start to take it all in. One amusing side-note about the Orc commander, though — I’d always wondered just what happened to Sloth after Goonies ended…and now I know!

Shelob was everything I’d been hoping she’d be, marvelously frightening and menacing. Her sudden appearance from the hole in the cave wall just when you think that Frodo made it through her lair safely got a wonderful gasp, and the scene where she hovers over Frodo was perfectly done! Everyone in the audience was on the edge of their seat, with nervous laughter filling the room from the tension of the moment…and when she finally strikes, everyone gasped and laughed with the sudden release of that tension — until the sudden realization hit that Frodo had been stung, when the entire auditorium fell dead silent.

I loved, loved, loved the look of the army of the dead that Aragorn confronts.

The interaction among Gollum, Frodo and Sam, as Gollum uses the effects of the ring to aid him in his own treachery was handled perfectly, so much so that it almost hurt to watch as his efforts took hold.

All in all, a truly masterful achievement. But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and — save looking forward to the release of the Extended Edition on DVD next November — the journey is finally finished. The credits rolled, the lights came up, and we left the theater, at first with little more than “Oh, wow,” on our lips. Next out from Prairie was, “I want to go back to stand in line and see it again!” I can’t really argue with that!

Congratulations, Peter Jackson (and everyone else involved) — you’ve filmed what was commonly held to be an unfilmable work. Now, would someone please release the rights so that he can do The Hobbit?!? I want to see Smaug on screen!

Jose Padilla held unconstitutionally, says US 2nd Court of Appeals

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More good news from the legal front: the US 2^nd^ Court of Appeals has just ruled in Jose Padilla vs. Donald Rumsfeld (188k .pdf) that Jose’s dentention was unconstitutional.

From the introduction:

We also conclude that Padilla’s detention was not authorized by Congress, and absent such authorization, the President does not have the power under Article II of the Constitution to detain as an enemy combatant an American citizen seized on American soil outside a zone of combat.

As this Court sits only a short distance from where the World Trade Center once stood, we are as keenly aware as anyone of the threat al Qaeda poses to our country and of the responsibilities the President and law enforcement officials bear for protecting the nation. But presidential authority does not exist in a vacuum, and this case involves not whether those responsibilities should be aggressively pursued, but whether the President is obligated, in the circumstances presented here, to share them with Congress.

And from the conclusion (emphasis mine):

In sum, we hold that (1) Donna Newman, Esq., may pursue habeas relief on behalf of Jose Padilla; (2) Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld is a proper respondent to the habeas petition and the District Court had personal jurisdiction over him; (3) in the domestic context, the President’s inherent constitutional powers do not extend to the detention as an enemy combatant of an American citizen seized within the country away from a zone of combat; (4) the Non-Detention Act prohibits the detention of American citizens without express congressional authorization; and (5) neither the Joint Resolution nor 10 U.S.C. § 956(5) constitutes such authorization under section 4001(a). These conclusions are compelled by the constitutional and statutory provisions we have discussed above. The offenses Padilla is alleged to have committed are heinous crimes severely punishable under the criminal laws. Further, under those laws the Executive has the power to protect national security and the classified information upon which it depends. See, e.g., 18 U.S.C. app. § 3. And if the President believes this authority to be insufficient, he can ask Congress—which has shown its responsiveness—to authorize additional powers. To reiterate, we remand to the District Court with instructions to issue a writ of habeas corpus directing the Secretary of Defense to release Padilla from military custody within 30 days. The government can transfer Padilla to appropriate civilian authorities who can bring criminal charges against him. Also, if appropriate, Padilla can be held as a material witness in connection with grand jury proceedings. In any case, Padilla will be entitled to the constitutional protections extended to other citizens.

Charge, try, and convict Padilla. But do so under the same rules and protections as are accorded any other citizen of the United States.

Thank you, Judges Pooler, B.D. Parker and Wesley.

(via Al-Muhajabah)

Annoy the ultra-right-wing!

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The American Family Association is currently running a poll to determine how people feel about the legalization of marriage between people of the same sex. Apparently, before the poll was made known to the world at large, it stood at 93% opposed to marriage or civil unions, 3% in favor. By the time I heard about it and voted, it was standing at 46% opposed, 53% in favor. I’m sure they’re interested in hearing from as many people as possible, though!

(via Mahalie)

M/A/R/R/S: Pump Up the Volume

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Pump up the volume, pump up the volume, pump up the volume, dance! Dance!

This was the first single I ever bought. I had no idea what a ‘single’ was until that point, and didn’t even realize I was buying one until I got home. I’d just heard the song on the radio and seen the video on Friday Night Videos, saw the cassette while out shopping, and bought it. I was really confused when I got home and the ‘album’ I’d just purchased had four versions of the same song in a row, plus one other song, and the same thing was repeated on side two. I thought it was a mistake of some sort.

Put the needle on the record…put the needle on the record…put the needle on the record, put the needle on the record, put the needle on the record when the jump beats go like this!

BlogDating

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Wandering randomly through the Seattle Weblogs Portal, I stumbled across a wonderful little story. A girl and guy meet, and as they don’t live terribly close together, rather than exchanging phone numbers, they exchange blog addresses. Later on, she has some time to kill…

From reading his blog, I’ve learned my nice guy is a heavy drinking angsty insecure agoraphobic cross-dressing DJ who watches too much television, writes poetry, and wants to be a philosophy professor when he grows up. :) But he is funny, and he did quit smoking.

Reading through that took about as long as your typical first date, but I learned a lot more than I would on the typical first date, during which everyone is on their best behavior. Much more efficient.

I wonder what sort of conclusions he’s currently drawing about me. :)

I like her sense of humor — and the gentleman in question responded quite well in her comments, too.

I have to admit, though, I do think that my favorite part of the whole post may be the comment likening exchanging blog addresses to “intellectually sleeping with one another on the first date.”

Nothing wrong with a little mental nookie!

ToySight

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ToySight Marble Factory

ToySight is hands down one of the coolest games for the Mac that I’ve seen yet. It’s a collection of several small mini-games and “toys” that you play by using your iSight camera as the controller!

Toysight is set of cool games and toys to play using your iSight™ or similar firewire camera. Using a system of object and motion detection to track your position, Toysight allows you to control buttons, sliders and perform gestures on the screen, putting you right in the action!

It’s a little hard to describe without seeing it, but if you’ve got an iSight (or other FireWire video camera) you’ve got to download this and check it out.

About airplanes

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After his many years of flying with the USAF and AANG, I’d bet that Dad has heard many of these before, or can at least vouch for their truism…

Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death…I Shall Fear No Evil…For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing.

— sign over the entrance to the SR-71 operating location Kadena, Japan

You’ve never been lost until you’ve been lost at Mach 3.

— Paul F. Crickmore, test pilot

There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky.

— Blue Water Navy truism

When a prang (crash) seems inevitable, endeavor to strike the softest, cheapest object in the vicinity as slowly and gently as possible.

— Advice given to RAF pilots during WWII

The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.

— Attributed to Max Stanley, Northrop test pilot

A pilot who doesn’t have any fear probably isn’t flying his plane to its maximum.

— Jon McBride, astronaut

If you’re faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into the crash as possible.

— Bob Hoover, renowned aerobatic and test pilot

If an airplane is still in one piece, don’t cheat on it; ride the bastard down.

— Ernest K. Gann, author & aviator

There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.

— Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970

Now I know what a dog feels like watching TV.

— A DC-9 captain trainee attempting to check out on the ‘glass cockpit’ of an A-320

If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it’s probably a helicopter — and therefore, unsafe.

Without ammunition, the USAF would be just another expensive flying club.

What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, the pilot dies.

The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviation are: “Why is it doing that?”, “Where are we?” and “Oh SHIT!”

Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers.

Progress in airline flying; now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant.

Airspeed, altitude, brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.

A smooth landing is mostly luck; two in a row is all luck; three in a row is prevarication.

I remember when sex was safe and flying was dangerous.

Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we never left one up there!

Flashlights are tubular metal containers kept in a flight bag for the purpose of storing dead batteries.

Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.

When a flight is proceeding incredibly well, something was forgotten.

Just remember, if you crash because of weather, your funeral will be held on a sunny day.

Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you.

The three best things in life are a good landing, a good orgasm, and a good bowel movement. The night carrier landing is one of the few opportunities in life where you get to experience all three at the same time.

If something hasn’t broken on your helicopter, it’s about to.

You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.

(via the usual suspects)

That's gotta hurt…

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Each evening, I get off of work right around 9:30. I set the alarm, lock up, and start walking down the street to my bus stop, which is about four blocks away. As I’m walking, I walk next to and then underneath one of the I-5 off ramps (Exit 162 to Corson and Michigan, in Georgetown), so there are always cars and trucks driving by.

Last night I was walking my merry little way along, when suddenly I heard an absolutely horrendous sound over the music from my iPod from behind me — the scream and cry of tortured metal. I turned around just in time to watch a car that had just made it off of the ramp skid to a stop in the middle of the street with sparks flying out behind it, as its front left tire went rolling and bouncing across the road, eventually swinging around and rolling to a stop about twenty feet behind the car. Luckily for the driver (and anyone else), it was a slow night, and no other cars were around when the tire fell off. The scene was still for about ten seconds, when the driver’s door opened and the driver got out and started walking back to retrieve their tire.

Kind of scary, and not a little impressive — that’s just not a sight you see every day. As there wasn’t much for me to do (I know jack all about cars, don’t carry a cell phone to summon help with, and the driver appeared to be okay), I turned back around and continued on my way to the bus.

Man that was a nasty sound.