We're having bad weather! Tornado warnings and stuff. Shan and I are going to see A Beautiful Mind at 4:00.... the weather's supposed to be calmer by then, thank goodness. I'm dying to see the TTT trailer again, but I can't justify paying $5 for a few minutes of footage.... the day after. The day after the day after, it will be fully justifiable. =)
12:27 PM |

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friday, march 29

Well. Wow. Just..... wow. I'm going to make every effort to make this post coherent. I just saw the trailer for The Two Towers, and it was absolutely amazing and breathtaking. They made a big deal out of Aragorn's destiny. Plenty of stunning shots of Eowyn. Drool-worthy shots of Faramir and Eomer. Theoden was just grand. And Gandalf the White! There are no words. Helm's Deep is astounding. I'm going to need a thesaurus, because I'm trying to use grand-enough words to express how -- oh, what the heck, I'll repeat amazing -- this trailer is! How am I going to carry on with real life (real life? what's that?) for the next nine months? The only downer to the trailer (and a minor one at that, compared to everything else) was the presence of Arwen. Oh well. She's going to be in the movie, even though she's not in the book, and I have to deal with it. But I will say this: the chemistry between Aragorn and Eowyn (that sword-fighting scene! putting her hands on his face!!!) is even more electric than it is in the book.... does that tell you anything? Truly, I love Faramir, and I love Eowyn with Faramir. I guess it's just that I hate the idea of Aragorn with Arwen. The trailer had some breathtaking cinematography, and interestingly, it's completely different in tone from the cinematography in Fellowship. I think it's cool that even though they're technically all one movie, Peter Jackson also made three individual films, each with its own atmosphere and tone. What a man! Best director, 2001, 2002, 2003....no matter what the Academy says. Sorry about this long, rambling post... but compared to the incoherent email I just sent to my mom, with every other word capitalized and approximately 77 exclamation points, this is a well-organized composition. Mom just had the misfortune of getting my first written reaction to the blissful experience. =)
5:28 PM |

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Jaimie at Musings of Viggo has put up a wonderful new page called the Cuddly Fellowship, which has tons of pictures of the LotR actors hugging (and in the case of Dom and Viggo.... other things....*ahem*) on each other at different premieres and events. Awwwww!
2:09 AM |

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Yep, new index page. *sheepish grin* I really like this one, so it'll probably stay there for more than a day or two. Conan was sooo funny tonight. One of his opening jokes was about the extra footage on the LotR DVD that would give the movie an "R" rating; Conan said that it was racy stuff, including a segment called "Hobbits Gone Wild." Later he showed "photographs" from his Oscar party, where he was dressed as Gandalf! The announcer guy was dressed as the Oscar statue, and the musician guy was dressed as Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge. There was also a commercial for the TTT preview, including a beautiful shot of Eowyn at Edoras and a shot of the Helm's Deep battle sequence. I can't wait to see the whole thing on the big screen!! Now I'm watching an early 90's SNL rerun on Comedy Central. Here's the Deep Thought from Jack Handy: "When I found the skull in the woods, I called the police. But then I started wondering about this person... who he was, and why he had deer horns."
1:08 AM |

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thursday, march 28

Yay!! Shannon has started her own blog!
8:04 PM |

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Yikes, disappointing Viggo news today. He was planning on starring in Neil Jordan's drama about the Borgia crime family, and Viggo fans were drooling at the prospect of seeing him in such a plum role. Today we got the news that he signed off the Borgia project to do a Disney Western called Hidalgo. Ummmm.... Viggo honey? What on earth were you thinking? I'm sure he'll be amazing as always, even if the movie turns out to be horrific, but I'm very disappointed. As for the Cesare Borgia role, Ewan McGregor wisely stepped up to take it.
1:48 PM |

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Time spent at computer with Herbert book open on desk: 8 hours
Time spent actually writing paper: 3 hours
Time wasted: 5 hours

Sheesh, am I tired. I'm looking forward to tomorrow (yes, I know, it IS tomorrow) because I love Thursdays. My last class of the week ends at 12:30, so Thursday afternoons are when I'm furthest away from my next class. Four-day weekends are great, don't get me wrong, but honestly, I wish I didn't have them. When you spend four days doing what you want and only three in class, you start to forget what you're really in grad school for: the class part. Gradually, the four days become the focal point of your week, and the three days of class are seen as a short nuisance. And it doesn't take long after that for you to completely stop caring about your classes. That's not good!! I have no idea why I'm writing all this. I guess my brain is just fried from trying to stretch a short paragraph's worth of observations into several pages.
3:55 AM |

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wednesday, march 27

Took a much-needed break from my boring paper to join House of Elrond, Hugonuts, and Elf-Obsessed. For the paper, I'm comparing two of Herbert's poems about love, creatively titled "Love I" and "Love II." If it sounds boring, just imagine how horrible it is to make myself write it. =)
10:53 PM |

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I have to write a five-page paper on George Herbert tonight. Blech. And yay! Comments are back now... wonder what's been wrong with YACCS all day??
6:26 PM |

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In 15 minutes I'll be leaving for Catholic Novel seminar to discuss The End of the Affair, which was pretty good. I plan to rent the movie soon, because Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore are two of my favorite actors. I guess YACCS is down, because my "comments" are gone. Grrrr. Only two more days till the TTT trailer! Yippeee!! Speaking of anticipated trailers, when are we going to see a trailer for Chamber of Secrets? I want to see Ginny and Lockhart! Maybe they'll put one on the Sorcerer's Stone DVD. *fingers crossed*
1:32 PM |

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Well, I was about to go to bed, then I got an email about a cool new fanlist for Haldir! I sent in the form to join and added Haldir to the affiliates for White Lady of Rohan. Yay!!
3:11 AM |

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Changed my index page... again. =) I've been planning to make one of my layouts a tribute to Eowyn (my favorite LotR character!), and I actually don't like this one very much. But since I took the time to make it, it's going to stay there for a day or two. And who knows, maybe it'll grow on me. When I was saving the Rivendell one, I realized that I had forgotten to make a link to my Jane Austen page on the image map! Yikes! I'll have to fix that before I use the Rivendell map again. *yaaaawn* Time for bed.
2:42 AM |

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tuesday, march 26

Tonight I went to my stack of books for Catholic Novel to get tomorrow's assigned book, Graham Green's The End of the Affair, which I intended to skim like a good procrastinator. Turns out, I didn't have the book, because it had been the one that the bookstore ran out of at the beginning of the semester. I had to run to Barnes & Noble, and thank goodness, they had a copy. Right now I'm watching Conan, who is probably the funniest man on TV, though Will Ferrell could probably give him a run for his money. Tom Green just came on, and is now showing off his Razzie awards. LOL!! It's hilarious that he's the first person ever to accept his Razzies in person.
11:55 PM |

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This day is turning out to be wonderful, and I usually hate Tuesdays! TORN has linked to a bunch of new TTT pics -- among them are gorgeous shots of Faramir and Eowyn!! I'm thrilled to finally have a picture of Faramir besides the official cast shot, and let me just say, he's right up there with Aragorn in my book, and that's saying a lot! I also love how his breastplate has the White Tree of Gondor on it! And the Eowyn pic is so perfect.... she looks beautiful and lonely, strong but frail. What a great day!
6:58 PM |

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Oh my! I just returned from Isaiah seminar with my Subway supper in hand, went to my blog real quick, and found the new layout that Chrissy made for me. I absolutely love it! It's going to be inconvenient, though, to swoon at Aragorn every time I come here to post a pointless bit of rambling. Wow. This completely makes up for the seminar, in which Dr. Kennedy got on a role and didn't give us a break. 150 straight minutes of Isaiah. Not good. It was the kind of day where you just need to come back to your apartment and find an awesome Aragorn layout on your blog. =)
5:20 PM |

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Ho-hum. Christian Classics is over and done with. My wholesome EasyMac lunch has been eaten and enjoyed. All I have left is Isaiah seminar from 2:00-4:30 (ick ick ick). In CC, we had been assigned George Herbert poems to present, and I had "The Quiddity." When I got up to do my presentation, I said something about the title sounding like a wizard sport... I just couldn't help it. Apparently, there were some Harry Potter fans in my class, including the professor, because he laughed. Just read a cool interview with Richard Taylor (the WETA guy who won two well-deserved Oscars) where he really complimented Viggo. I'd already heard Bob Anderson say that Viggo was the best swordsman he'd ever trained, and Richard added to that, saying that Viggo was the only actor who used a real steel blade, because he had the "skill and dexterity" to handle it. Woohoo! LOL.
1:09 PM |

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Just read an amazing description of the TTT trailer here. But I've got to leave fantasy-land now. It's Tuesday, the start of my school-week (mwahahaha), and I have my first class in 30 minutes.
10:23 AM |

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monday, march 25

Just found out in an article on Chrissy's blog the reason why Orlando, Dominic, and Billy weren't at the Oscars.... they didn't get tickets! That's right, the three actually flew in from England to share the glory of their 13 nominations, and they weren't invited. I am so angry!!
3:34 PM |

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Switched to yet another Middle-Earth scene on the index page. Hee hee. I'm keeping all the old ones so I can juggle them around and not get tired of looking at the same thing every day. This new Rivendell scene is dedicated to the awesome LotR art designers, who should have won that Oscar! Still, it's not the first time that people have been robbed. Cate Blanchett may be the worst Oscar-rob in history, losing best actress for Elizabeth to Gwyneth for Shakespeare in Love. Don't get me wrong, I adored SiL, but Cate was completely mesmerizing and amazing in E. And don't even get me started on best actor in 1991, which didn't include either Viggo or David Morse for The Indian Runner. *deep, calming breath*
3:51 AM |

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sunday, march 24

Disappointed, but not really surprised, at best director and picture. But I am thrilled for Halle Berry and Denzel Washington, both of them amazing actors who truly deserved the honor they shared tonight! HB made me cry, and I never cry at things like that. By the way, what on earth happened to the other members of the LotR cast?? They said they were going to do something special (horses, costumes), which they didn't. As if that wasn't disappointing enough, they weren't even there! Particularly Cate (who always goes to the Oscars anyway), Dominic, Billy, and Orlando (for Black Hawk Down, too). They went to the SAG awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAS....does anyone else think it's really weird that none of them showed up?
11:52 PM |

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RE: Best Song. What on earth happened here??? Okay, yes, I wanted Enya to win, but I would have been okay with Paul McCartney or even (eeesh) Sting. But Randy Newman for Monsters Inc?! The poor man even knew that he only won the award out of pity. Not only was it a poor decision, it was insulting! *breathe*
10:30 PM |

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Yay Howard Shore! *clap clap clap* I'm so glad the score won. Just joined a couple of new fanlists, one for Legolas and one for Orlando Bloom. How come there aren't more fanlists for the other characters and actors? Oh yeah, because Orlando is so dang cute. He's nothing to Viggo, of course, but he's DANG cute. Also applied for "Eowyn's Webring" and submitted my LotR fanlists to the Fellowship directory.
9:58 PM |

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The Oscars are almost halfway over. LotR was ROBBED in the art design category. I know it has two more years to win this award, and that Moulin Rouge was a creative achievement that only had this one year to win, but STILL. Arg. I'm thinking of gorgeous Rivendell and Lothlorien.... the huge scale models of Minas Tirith.... the Shire.... Sorry, LotR should have WON this category. And what about Ian McKellen? WHAT?? I'm very disappointed. Best director and best picture are looking more and more like long shots, especially best director. Hmph. Well, it has two more years. But still. STILL STILL STILL.
9:10 PM |

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* Hates and shouts curses at stupid Joan Rivers for calling Peter Jackson "Paul"....... arg!! *

* Loves PJ all the more for being nice about it *
5:27 PM |

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Just got back from Sams. I got the Breakfast at Tiffany's dvd for just $12! I love Sams. Also love Audrey Hepburn. Right now I'm watching the E! Oscar special. Joan and Melissa Rivers..... eeesh. They showed a little featurette on LotR -- nice behind-the-scenes shots of Viggo. Mmmm. Ron Howard will most likely win best director, because I still think they're waiting for all three films before they give it to Peter Jackson for such a massive undertaking. However, I'll be completely thrilled if I'm wrong. Same thing with best picture. Hope Sir Ian wins best supporting. The main guy I'm rooting for, though, is Richard Taylor in his three categories. He and the others made Middle-Earth so beautiful and real. Shannon showed me a video on her computer of what's in the Oscar gift "baskets," and I have to say, it's just obnoxious. $20,000 worth of stuff, as if these people need it! Also, Gwyneth Paltrow just came on to do one of those little E! commercial spots, and right behind her head was the cover photo from Perfect Murder with her and Viggo! Mmmmm. Lots of mmmm's today. LOL! Shannon just accidentally went to a porn site, when she was trying to get to Metacrawler!! She is now suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress.
4:40 PM |

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Oscars tonight!!! I know Beautiful Mind will prob'ly win the big ones, but I want LotR to win everything! I can't wait to see if the cast carries through with their plan to do something special -- and if so, what they're going to do! I hate Joan Rivers, but E! is the only channel that starts Oscar coverage a million hours early. Besides, I guess it would be funny to see her trying to talk to the Fellowship... absent one of their most important members, of course. Oh, why can't Viggo give up his award-show principles for just one night! Especially if they really do something cool, like all showing up in costume!! It just wouldn't be the same without him there. I finally joined the official LotR fan club. Hope they send me lots of nifty stuff. I didn't go to church today because I went to bed soooo late last night. Turns out I missed Palm Sunday. Eek. But my dad emailed his sermon to me, so I'm not utterly depraved. =)
1:24 PM |

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