To all who have read this, I wish all of you a Happy New Year!
I’ll be back tomorrow for more interesting conversations with my spark of creativity. Same Walker Estate time, same Walker Estate place.
I’ll see you all next year, in 2014!
Muse: Happy New Year, everyone!
I’m going to make this short, since I’ve been busy lately.
I saw Anchorman 2, only there was one problem. The theater that I saw it in had technical difficulties, so I had to see the next showing.
This allowed me time to do some shopping. After that, I saw the second showing.
Today’s high was 16 degrees and the silver lining was seeing Anchorman 2.
To those of you who like to see good movies, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: The movie was good. I can’t wait to talk more about it!
With it being late in the afternoon, I’m going to cut this short. Just a while ago, I had some homemade Chex Mix fresh out of the oven. There is nothing like it. And if you buy the salty substitute at the store, you’re cheating.
Today’s high is going to be 36 degrees and the silver lining is being able to enjoy company and the freshly made staple of the holidays.
To those of you who enjoy homemade snacks, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: Chex Mix? What a coincidence! I just made a fresh batch. Time to eat it!
And there’s no poem this time. Just a breath of fresh air. A contented sigh of relief that another shift is over at the pizza pit. And after paying the required fare of $3.00, a bus escorted me home.
Coincidentally, my parents crossed paths with the bus I was on. The blue van went in one direction. The bus I was in went the other way, towards home.
After the bus dropped me off, the blue van pulled back into the driveway. A request. “Would you like to go eat with us?” I agreed, and entered the van with my work clothes.
The van was full, with my parents, my sister, and a few of my parent’s friends. We helped ourselves to dinner, and we came home. I had some of the hottest hot wings and some seafood nachos.
After relaxing, I played a little bit of my game. After I while I called it a night.
Now clad in my pajamas, I am relieved. I have two days off. That’s two days to think and reorient my direction in where I need to go. If oriented properly, I will be fully employed very soon….
Muse; Not a poem, but well said.
Thank you. I’m kind of tired tonight. I’m winding down from Christmas and getting ready for New Year’s….
Muse: I’m doing the same. Good night!
Good night!
Today’s high is going to be 40 degrees and the silver lining is having seafood nachos and hot wings.
To those of you who enjoy good food and good company, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: Time to read the next chapter….So tired….Maybe tomorrow…..
Having no snow to shovel today, I will now share with you the Christmas that I experienced.
When I woke up, no one was up yet. To kill time, I played some Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time. After this, I watched a YouTube video with my brother.
With a phone call waking my parents up, we were able to start early. The phone call was from the plant. There was an emergency, so fortunately they were able to resolve it, so dad didn’t have to come in.
After having Eggs Benedict Casserole for breakfast, we started opening the gifts. This is what it looked like before.
Muse: Wow! That’s a lot of gifts!
I know. This is what it looked like after we opened them.
Muse: That reminds me of the gifts that I opened couple days ago. The tree looked just like that when we were done.
It always does. But it was fun while it lasted. After that, I took inventory of my gifts. For those of you who are wondering, this is what I got for Christmas.
Muse: That’s a lot of gifts! For me, I got mostly books this year. You will be reading that First Phone Call From Heaven book, won’t you?
I will. I’m guessing that you had a good Christmas.
Muse: I did. All the Intangibles came over to my house and we celebrated Christmas there. Besides books, I got some jewelry, some lipstick and a couple of electronics.
That’s a lot of good gifts. As for the gifts above, I got more when I went to my grandparents. Moving on with the recap, I got ready and I went over to my grandparents. We opened gifts, had dinner, had dessert and came home. The dinner was prime rib, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, beets and a jello mold. The desserts consisted of a peppermint roll, a peppermint chocolate roll, an apricot roll, a pumpkin roll, some Christmas cookies, some Mexican wedding cake cookies and some other desserts. I just took a peppermint roll, a peppermint chocolate roll, a pumpkin roll with nuts and a couple of those rolled up pastries with glazed frosting.
Muse: That’s quite a spread! The food that we had was a little different, since not everyone there liked Tangible food.
Well, that’s the gist of it. Having shared that with you, I now need to get ready.
Muse: I need to ready myself. See you later!
I really need to get going. Today’s high is going to be 32 degrees and the silver lining is getting paid today.
To those of you who are enjoying your new gifts, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: I got a lot of gifts this year! And with all those new books, I’m going to have a lot of reading to do….
To understand this reason, I will summarize. I shoveled a ton of snow today with hard snow that would make diamonds look like wet tissue. After that, I got ready and took it easy, since I had an enormous headache. I then worked at the pizza pit. I picked up dinner with my brother and brought it home. I ate the dinner. The dinner, you ask? It was Thai Chicken Curry from Asian Express. I volunteered to bring dinner home for the family and this is what I got for them. The only other person who got the curry was my brother, and his was with shrimp. The rest of the family got other dishes.
Now, I’m staring at a screen which consists of the summary that I just shared with you. Am I really going to share with you my Christmas recap at almost 8:30 at night? I want to relax. I am tired and I’m burnt out. The recap will be tomorrow, since I won’t have any snow to shovel.
Today’s high was 25 degrees and the silver lining was having Thai Curry tonight.
To all of you who enjoyed their Christmas, I hope that you all have a good day. Or night, since I don’t see the sun anywhere….
Muse: No recap? That’s okay. I still have a lot of my gifts to sort. Time to finish doing that….
Muse: Wake up! Wake up! It’s Christmas! Come on!
Alright. I’m up! You’re a little spunky today….
Muse: I’m so excited! I got so many presents! I’m gonna open them all and it’s gonna be fun! Yay!
I’m kind of excited too, but this is a little early….
Muse: I know! But I couldn’t wait! Tee hee!
Tee hee?
Muse: ….It was the remnants again. But really, I’m excited about Christmas. Tee hee….
You said it again. It’s not the remnants of that bad idea. Get out of her, now!
Muse: What are you talking about? Do you think that the Dark Muse is inside me? I’m fine!
No you’re not. Get out of her now, or I will assure you that you will be gone for good.
Muse: Fine! You’re no fun! Can’t I even visit my home for Christmas? I wanted to be home for the holidays. Tee hee!
That Muse is NOT a home.
Muse: Well, it is to me so NYAH!
Stop sassing back and get out of her. It’s Christmas and I want her to enjoy it.
Dark Muse: Fine! Fine! I’m out of her! Okay? Can’t even be in my own home for Christmas! *sob* *sob*
You wretched idea! Why would you need to be in my Muse when you have the dark clone of yours to control?
Muse: Huh….What….It’s YOU! Get lost! Now! NOOOOOOOW!!!! *lets out an ear piercing scream while slapping the Dark Muse in the side*
Dark Muse: *sob* Stop! Stop! I only wanted to visit my home for Christmas. Okay? Stop being a meanie! And I’m not a stupid little idea anymore! You meanies killed me and now I’m in this new body!
Spare me the tears. Just leave us alone. Alright?
Muse: You can say that again! Leave….us…..ALONE!
Dark Muse: Ow! OW! Stop hitting me! I only wanted to visit my home! Why do you have to be so mean? It’s Christmas, and I do my best to be a good girl on this day!
Muse: Well, you deserve a spanking! You’re five – the perfect age to receive one! Come here….
Let me handle this. You wait in the other room, okay?
Muse: Okay. Let me know when she’s gone….
*Muse enters adjacent room*
Now you said that you wanted to be a good girl?
Dark Muse: *sob* Yes! Yes! I’m always a good girl on Christmas! Santa won’t give me any gifts if I’m bad….All he’ll give me is a lump of coal. And I hate coal! *sniff*
Well, can you get out of here, then? My Muse does not like you, and neither do I. But because it’s Christmas, I will try to hear you out on what you have to tell me. You wanna be a good girl? Get as far away from here as you can! And don’t come back!
Dark Muse: Well, I got to visit home for one day and it was fun while it lasted. And because it’s Christmas, I’ll be a good girl. Merry Christmas! Bye bye! Tee hee….
Merry Christmas to you, too! Don’t come back!
Dark Muse: Don’t worry. I’ll be back. Just not today. Tee hee! Merry Christmas! Tee hee!
There. Now we’ll….
Muse: Is she gone?
Yes. You can come out now.
Muse: Let’s start over.
What? This entry? Okay. We’ll start over from the beginning….
Once again, it’s the most wonderful time of the year. This is, without a doubt, my most favorite holiday. Christmas morning. Now it may be early, but I’m up and ready to open my presents. My parents may still be sleeping, but I’m excited. If it’s any part of me that has never grown up, it’s the part of me that acts four on Christmas morning.
Muse: For me, that just happened. But I want to experience the positive side of that this time.
Quick question. What can you last remember?
Muse: It was the night before Christmas Eve and I fell asleep in my bed. That was the last thing that I can remember.
She had me fooled, if she was inside of you the whole day! Anyway, let’s move on to Christmas. Are you excited?
Muse: I’m very excited. Part of me wants to squeal with excitement, but I will spare you that since I don’t want to wake up your parents. I’ll do it quietly instead. *whispering* Yaaaay!!!!
I can see that one part of you hasn’t grown up either.
Muse: Who EVER grows up on Christmas morning? When I wake up on this day, I feel like I’m five again. Adulthood can wait for one day, can’t it?
It can. And I see that you’re cozy with your footie pajamas…..
Muse: I am, and I’m not taking them off. They feel comfortable and they keep me warm. You’ve worn them before so you should know, right? In fact….
That’s enough. We don’t need to discuss what we wear to bed.
Muse: We do. This is a JOURNAL and anything like this is fair game…..
Fair enough. Getting back to what you said. Adulthood can wait on Christmas. Whatever memories I have had when I was younger, they all return on this day. Now this may differ for some people. But for most, they can feel some aspect of their childhood calling back….
Muse: Yes. And some people fight it and repress it. They try to hide it, but this is unhealthy. Everyone. If you feel excited on this day, don’t hesitate to let it out. Listen to your memories and set them free. Remember your youth, and how fun Christmas was for you. Your memories only want to remind you of this. Listen to them and recapture the moment. Take a step back in time. Christmas only comes once a year!
I totally agree. But remember. There is another side of Christmas. A side that some people don’t pay attention to. Christmas is not about presents and Santa Claus. It’s about the birth of Jesus Christ.
Muse: Yes. I also look at the Advent Season when I celebrate this time of year. We need to know why we give these gifts.
And we do. What can we give to God what he doesn’t already have? All we can give to him is ourselves. And while we can’t give anything else to him, we give gifts to others to show our love and appreciation for them.
Muse: I also think of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. It’s the only special where we hear the true meaning of Christmas.
Yes. Linus quotes the Christmas story found in Luke. Matthew refers to the Wise Men delivering gifts to the baby Jesus.
Muse: What were these gifts for, anyway? I understand the symbolic meaning behind them. I believe they were used to pay for the trip to Egypt.
It probably was, for they had to flee from Herod, since he issued orders to kill every firstborn male baby. Jesus is the reason for the season. He was born to be the perfect sacrifice. To bear the sins of humanity so that we may live.
Muse: It must have been a heavy burden to bear all that.
It was. Today is indeed a joyful day.
Muse: Should we make him a birthday cake? I don’t know what frosting he would like!
I think he would be happy with any frosting.
Anyway, I want to wish everyone who is reading this Merry Christmas. Whether you celebrate one side, both, or don’t celebrate Christmas at all, understand that this is a very special day. Most importantly because Jesus was born on this day, both for you and for me. And from this day, many traditions have developed. The most popular one being the exchange of gifts.
The high today is going to be 26 degrees and the silver lining is celebrating the birth of Christ and the opening of presents. My parents are still not up. But when they are, it’s present opening time!
To all of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: Merry Christmas, Kyle! My company just arrived so I’ll see you later!
….and all through the house
Kyle’s got no work so there’s no need to grouse
His Santa cap was sitting on the bedpost with care
Reserved just for Christmas to be crowned on his hair
Kyle’s begun his two days of vacation
Just two whole days of rest and relaxation
The day will be merry, the night will be bright
With plenty of snacks on this cold winter night
Then out of the oven before they get black
I will feast on few a Christmas snack
Then after that meal, I’ll don my PJ’s quick
So we can see a good Christmas flick
Then after that, it is on to tradition
My brother and me must carry out our mission
The door will be closed, the room fillled with heat
When we both watch The Miracle on 34th Street (1994)
Following that, it’s off to bed
Visions of CDs and games will dance in our heads
Looking at this, that’s all I have to say
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good day
Muse: Christmas is tomorrow! Eee! I’m so excited!
I know! Today is the day I can finally take a breather.
Muse: All my things are done too. It’s only a matter of time….I’m so excited! Tee hee!
Tee hee?
Muse: Sorry. I just got a little….excited!
I know that, but what’s with the “Tee hee”?
Muse: It happens every now and then. There are tiny remnants of that bad idea that are still there. The last time that I said “tee hee” was a month ago….
Good. You had me worried. I thought that Dark Muse was back….
Muse: No. And I’m glad she’s not! I hate her! Let’s not talk about her today, okay?
We won’t. Today is going to be exciting. It will be a day to relax before the excitement tomorrow….
Muse: I’m going to shower. Be back in a bit!
Okay. I need to shower myself.
Today’s high is going to be 14 degrees and the silver lining is watching the movie with my brother later tonight. This day is going to be quite fun. For today and tomorrow, I’ll be in vacation mode. It will be a day of snacking, relaxing and visiting with the family.
To all of you who love having a couple days off, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: Tee hee! I can’t wait until tomorrow! I wish I could open my presents early! Eee! I’m so excited! Tee hee….
If Tom Hanks was a train conductor, this is what he would be shouting outside your house on Christmas Eve.
Now what would Tom Hanks be doing here? Your train has arrived. You stopped believing in Santa Claus so you are now greeted by a magical train. A train bound for the North Pole. Make your decision quick. The train conductor is very strict about being on time and he is not going to wait for you another minute.
If your decision was yes, then welcome aboard. You are on The Polar Express. A special service offered to help kids who have any lingering doubts about the man in red. The ride is free, and every kid will meet Santa before he takes off to deliver his gifts around the world.
Tonight, I will be seeing this movie. If I have said it before, I will say it again. This movie gets better and better every time you see it. It’s magical and nostalgic. Can you remember your childhood memories about Christmas? This movie will bring them all back, because you, the viewer, are riding that train with them.
Muse: So you’re seeing the Polar Express? I LOVE that movie! Rather than seeing it alone, I think I’ll join you.
Please do. Just remember, miss. The conductor does not like to wait. We want to start the movie ON TIME and end ON TIME! We have a tight schedule to keep tonight….
Muse: Okay, Tom Hanks.
Besides that, I have one more day to work at the pizza pit. And then, the celebration begins.
The high today is going to be 23 degrees and the silver lining will be watching The Polar Express tonight.
To those of you who love reliving your childhood memories through Christmas Movies, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: To gear up for the movie tonight, I’m brewing up a a large pot of HOT CHOCOLATE! Hot hot! Oh, we got it! I love that movie….
Since I’m burnt out from shoveling today, I will give you the short version of what happened.
I attended church at Midland Free this morning, shoveled everything at my house, shoveled everything at grandma’s house and watched The Nativity Story with my brother.
Muse: That is a good movie. I just finished watching it myself….
I will now wrap some last minute gifts and play a classic Nintendo 64 game – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
Today’s high is going to be 27 degrees and the silver lining is having the day off and watching The Nativity Story with Ryan.
To those of you who look forward to Christmas, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: Last minute gifts? Oh yeah! There’s one more gift that I forgot to wrap! Better finish wrapping it now….
But am I finding out who’s naughty or nice? No. And there is a reason behind that. The list that I am making is not a list of the 2 billion children that exist in this world. The list that I am making is a list of all the things that I need to do before Christmas. It is a short list, and I plan on getting mostly everything done on it today.
The Winter Solstice is also today, so if you think our days are too short, don’t worry. Today will be the shortest day of the year. After that, our days will slowly and gradually get longer and longer.
Getting back to the list, one of those items are in progress. My bedding needed to get washed so I am getting that done. That will be another item that I will be able to check off once my bedding and comforter is washed and dried.
That is an example of one of the items on my list. As for the others, I will leave that up to your imagination to figure them out.
Muse: You don’t have a list.
That is where you are wrong. The list that I have is a mental list. It saves paper and I can throw it away when I am done.
Muse: Fair enough. With you being a Club Coach, you surely have a couple of Toastmasters things on that list, right?
I do, and the items on my list are ordered by priority. I will get to those items as the others are completed.
Muse: My Intangible Toastmasters District is doing fine, and I have appointed an assistant District Governor to oversee things in my absence. She will be the District Governor next year, if no one else wants to step up.
Sounds good. Another item on that list is more recreational, and it will be done later on.
Muse: Christmas footage, right? I just got through my 21st Christmas. I don’t have too many more to go!
And how old are you?
Muse: What do you think? I believe you are asking that question for the audience’s benefit. We share the same birthdate. You do the math.
Yes, I am asking that question for their benefit. I think that it’s important that everyone knows your age.
Muse: And why is it important now?
You just mentioned that you finished watching your 21st Christmas. With that information, I wanted everyone to know that you’re as old as I am.
Muse: Why wouldn’t I be? I’m the steward of your imagination!
Not everyone knows that about you, and I wanted to make that clear. The new people that just started reading this would not even know a thing about you.
Muse: You have a point there. Anyway, I have my own list that I’m working on. So far, half of it is done, and I want to finish the other half. The end, of course, consists of watching those last remaining Christmases.
Well, let’s complete our lists then.
Muse: I’m way ahead of you on that. Good luck on yours. Bye!
I almost have my laundry done. There was some difficulty in balancing the load, since one of my covers absorbs a lot of water when it’s wet. I had to take it out and let everything else spin out. I am now spinning that blanket out. After this, I have a few more items to go before my list is complete.
Today’s high is going to be 32 degrees and the silver lining will be getting my list accomplished.
To everyone who loves to finish their to-do list, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: Laundry trouble? That is not an issue for me, since my bedding can cleaned instantly. As much as I want to be a real person, there are some advantages to being an Intangible, and I prefer those advantages a little more than the drawbacks my Tangible master has to deal with. Time to go and make some cookies!
During this time of year, I can’t help but share with you a tradition that I have started a few years ago. It is a Christmas tradition, and it involves watching every recorded Christmas memory from the past. And in all of the 21 Christmases that have been recorded on the video camera, there are 11 hours of footage in all.
So the Ghost of Christmas Past doesn’t even need to pay me a visit. The memories can be easily revisited by putting in a DVD and watching whichever volume I want. My thanks go to my brother for taking on the task of recording all of the video camera tapes onto DVDs. A project that he took on a few years ago.
Tonight, I will be watching the Christmases from 2001 to 2008. I have already watched the Christmases of 1999 and 2000 with him, and have watched the Christmases of 1988, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 over the last couple nights.
Muse: That’s a lot of memories!
It surely is, and I will have the remainder of them watched tomorrow.
Muse: It’s so great to look back and reflect on memories.
It’s quite fun to do, actually. It reminds of things that I have done in the past that I otherwise could not remember.
Muse: Speaking of memories, I will go watch some of mine.
You have your own home movies?
Muse: Yes. And believe it or not, every Christmas has been recorded! Even the ones from when I was a baby….
I’m impressed. The first Christmas I have is from when I was four….
Muse: Well, every one of them is there, and I’m going to go watch them. I’ll watch every one of them from four months to age five. Enjoy your shift!
I’ll try. Today’s high is going to be 31 degrees and the silver lining will be watching some more Christmas footage later on.
To those of you who love reflecting on the fond memories of the past, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: Man! I didn’t realize how whiny I was at four months! I guess I was….
In just 10 minutes, grandma and grandpa will be picking me up. I will go to their house to shovel their driveway. After that, I will be working at the pizza pit. Then I will be carpooling to another Toastmasters meeting tonight.
For that reason, this entry will be short today.
Muse: Out of time again? I won’t bother you then.
Today’s high is going to be 34 degrees and the silver lining is going to tonight’s meeting in Saginaw.
To all of you who end up getting really busy, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: So your sister got the job? Tell her that I said congratulations!
Just a quick update for today. My sister found two results on SimplyHired. I am going to apply for those and see how everything turns out. Since I’ve been helping her out, it’s good to see her return the favor.
Muse: See? More opportunities! Just keep looking!
And before I forget, there is only one week left until Christmas. So if you haven’t started shopping yet, you better get out there. The crowds only get worse from now to Christmas Eve….
Today’s high is going to be 26 degrees and the silver lining is my friend coming over tonight. There will be a gift exchange, and it should be fun.
To all of you who love finding opportunities and being with friends, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: I have one third of my list done. I better get going!
I’m sorry that I can’t make a longer one today.
In just a couple hours, I have to shovel some snow, look for a job and get ready for tonight’s meeting. So this is all you get.
Muse: *sigh* Okay….
Today’s high is going to be 28 degrees and the silver lining is attending tonight’s Toastmasters meeting. To all of you who are busy this time of year, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: Now that he mentioned it, I have a bunch of things to do myself….Better get started!
You have heard the saying that things happen for a reason. From what happened a couple days ago, I can definitely say that this is the case.
My grandparents talked to someone that I haven’t seen in eight years. It was my college professor. He taught public relations when I was a junior. During my sister’s graduation night dinner at Genji, my grandparents talked about meeting him and they arranged a date that I could see him. That day was today.
From the meeting, I can say that things went pretty good. I got another contact and I will be working with him with pinpointing my next big career choice.
Muse: That’s really good news.
Thank you.
Muse: You see? I TOLD you that something good was about to happen! Just wait. You haven’t seen anything yet….
How do you know all this?
Muse: I don’t. I’m just very optimistic.
I appreciate your optimism.
Muse: Thank you. I’m going to bed now. Good night!
Good night!
I look forward to working with my college professor. As I said, things happen for a reason. This clearly did not happen by accident. It just happened, and I’m glad that it did.
Today’s high was 16 degrees and the silver lining was having the meeting this morning.
To all of you who have had fortunate events happen to you, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: I hope that he gets a job soon….
Having typed a rather in-depth movie review, I’m going to make this short tonight.
To summarize, I went to church, went shopping, shoveled snow, typed a review and had dinner.
In less than a half hour, I will be watching the Survivor finale. It should be a good one, considering who’s left….
Muse: Survivor finale? Really? I’ll be in the other room, reading. Bye!
Today’s high was 24 degrees and the silver lining is tonight’s finale.
To any of you who like reality shows, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: After tonight, there will be a two month vacation from that show. Good riddance. Oh! And there’s 10 days left until Christmas! Don’t forget that!
When we get to the middle of the road, there are two things that are for certain. There is the road behind us that leads back to the beginning, and the road ahead of us that leads all the way to the end.
With Bilbo Baggins being one year into his unexpected journey, he was right in the middle of it. The road ahead led to the Lonely Mountain. To Erebor, where the lost treasure lay. The Arkenstone. The heirloom from the ancestral line of Durin, great Dwarven king of Erebor. The company consisted of twelve dwarves, with Thorin, son of Thráin, son of Thrór leading the way. Accompanying them was Gandalf the Grey (a wizard) and Bilbo Baggins (the burglar). The treasure of Erebor was guarded by an old and crafty dragon named Smaug. The road behind Bilbo led back to The Shire. And this point, it was too late to go back.
And at this point, why would he? Having found the Ring, Bilbo’s life was changed forever. He also promised the dwarves that he would help them reclaim Erebor and get their home back.
But the countdown begins. Being on the chase from a horde of Orcs, Bilbo and company need to open the door to the Lonely Mountain before the end of Durin’s Day. From there, Bilbo must infiltrate the mountain and steal back the Arkenstone from Smaug, who sleeps deep in the mountain, buried in piles of gold coins. This is the premise of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the long awaited second part in the trilogy released by Warner Bros. Pictures and MGM Studios.
As we already know, Tolkien is the master behind this masterpiece, but Peter Jackson is the director that is bringing his vision to life. But how does he deal with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug? Is the movie a victorious masterpiece or a desolation doomed to decline in piles of burning rock and smog? Let’s find out.
The movie begins in a dark and stormy backdrop, with Thorin (Richard Armitage) meeting Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) at the Prancing Pony in the town of Bree. Gandalf tells him clearly. There is a bounty on Thorin’s head and the orcs want him dead. He then convinces him that a burglar would be needed to steal back the Arkenstone from Smaug.
After that, the plot shifts to one year later, where we are right after the end from the previous movie. Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and company are on the run from a band of orcs, led by Azog (Manu Bennett), their leader. Bilbo’s party seeks refuge in Beorn’s (Mikael Persbrandt) house. Beorn, being a skin-changer, despises dwarves. But he despises orcs even more. For that reason, he helped them out and protected them with his giant bear form.
Using Beorn’s house, the party makes their way to Mirkwood. At this point, Gandalf sees some Black Speech graffiti on an old ruin and receives a telepathic message from Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) to go and check it out. Gandalf leaves the party, and Bilbo and company get lost. They encounter some giant spiders in Mirkwood and were rescued and imprisoned by Wood Elves. All except for Bilbo, who was invisible because of the Ring that he had on.
With all the dwaves captured, how will Bilbo rescue them? Will Thorin and the dwarves unlock the door to the Lonely Mountain before the end of Durin’s Day? And what about Smaug? Will Bilbo be able to steal the Arkenstone from him? Watch the movie and find out.
The length of the movie was completely understandable, and I thought that the plot progressed pretty smoothly. With almost three hours to work with, that was plenty of time to get to the Lonely Mountain and Bilbo’s encounter with Smaug. The music was pretty good, although there wasn’t really anything noteworthy like the previous movie. The cliffhanger was agonizing, making me want the next movie to release immediately, so that I know how it turns out. (Really. The cliffhanger was that sudden.) I know how it ends. I just don’t know how Jackson’s version is going to end.
Getting to the characters, they were all portrayed faithfully as they were in the book. There’s Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves from the last movie. Smaug is what made the movie for me. There was the inclusion of a new character named Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly), which I will discuss a little bit later. Legolas (Orlando Bloom) too, was oddly present. Odd inclusions aside, I thought that all the other characters were portrayed well.
The movie had a great number of nitpicks. So many that I could write a book on them. The first one is the one that I hated the most. It was the inclusion of Tauriel in the movie. Nowhere in The Hobbit OR Lord of the Rings universe is there a She-Elf named Tauriel! Alongside Tauriel was Legolas, who had no place in the movie at all. He was not even in The Hobbit so he shouldn’t be in the movie. Another thing that confused me was Gandalf going to Dol Guldur. He never goes there in the book! The dwarf Kili never gets injured and there is never a scene where he gets healed by a She-elf that doesn’t exist in Tolkien’s universe. In Tolkien’s universe, there is no Ancient Elvish that I know of. For Elvish languages, only Sindarin and Quenyan exist. Some other changes were added in Jackson’s director’s cut that didn’t exist in the book. This included no lids on the barrels when they were traversing the river (fish was added later on the boat), Azog’s promotion, Smaug being buried in treasure, Smaug being 747-sized and an inter-species love triangle. I could go on and on about this, but to be honest, this is all that I can stand. These changes were made to make the movie more appealing to casual audiences, and I thought that it was unnecessary. Why did they make Gandalf go to Dol Guldur? This was an addition that I hated the most. Even more than Boromir taking Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath in the Two Towers. This subplot was totally made up and only served to fill in the three hours of time that Jackson had to work with. If any of these nitpicks were not there and the adaptation was closer to the book, the movie would’ve been way better.
How did The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug do? Looking at the box office results, it’s doing okay. The expectation was for it to gross $70 million and it did just that. In one weekend, it grossed $73.7 million during its opening weekend. Even with a modest opening, it is still the third highest grossing movie of the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit series. Fellowship of the Ring grossed $47.2 million on its opening weekend. The Two Towers grossed $62 million and Return of the King grossed $72.6 million. Last year, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey grossed $84.6 million during its opening weekend. The current domestic gross of this year’s movie is $73.7 million. In adding the foreign gross of $131.2 million, the worldwide gross stands at $204.9 million. That’s a little shy of the $230.5 million that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey grossed last year at this time. With a production budget of $225 million, it will surely make it back within the next weekend. With all the nitpicks aside (and there were many this time), I really enjoyed the movie. I loved the visuals and I loved the Erebor scenes with Smaug. Jackson has done it again. Although it is a masterpiece, he needs to stay true to the book more. The unnecessary additions of out-of-place characters made the plot a little confusing for me. With the differences aside, the success continues. The formula was implemented again. It just needs to be tweaked for the finale. As with every story that arrives at the middle of the road, this story accomplished this, and has set the stage for the wonderful conclusion. For this prologue to be better, I advise that Jackson abstains from making tweaks that are too out of place, as this alienates the fans of Tolkien’s masterpiece prologue. Nobody gives the Mona Lisa a mustache. Jackson really should’ve avoided doing this to part two of this story. I give The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug a 4 out of 5.
Since I’m extremely tired, I’m going to keep this short.
Today was a fun day. It was spent going to my sister’s graduation commencement (congratulations to her!), shoveling snow, having dinner at Genji and shoveling more snow at my grandparents.
Since I got up at 6:00 this morning, I am really really tired.
Today’s high was 22 degrees and the silver lining was watching my sister graduate from Central Michigan University.
To all of you who are proud of someone’s accomplishments, I hope that you all have a fantastic day.
Muse: Tell your sister that I said congratulations to her, too!
Okay. It’s been almost a day since we saw the movie. Are we going to talk about it, or what?
Muse: Yes. I’m ready.
You slept in quite a bit today, didn’t you? Until 1:00 in the afternoon if I can recall correctly….
Muse: There’s a reason for that. For the remainder of the night, I kept having these nightmares about Smaug. I was cornered, and he roasted me alive with his fire….
*sigh* Is that the only reason?
Muse: Yes. I know….It’s pretty dumb, isn’t it? I have these dreams a lot in some of the mystery books that I read….
Well anyway, let’s get to the movie.
Let’s begin with first impressions. What did you think of the beginning? There was the scene where Thorin met up with Gandalf at the Prancing Pony. I believe that this was put in to tie in this story to Lord of the Rings.
Muse: For me, I liked the beginning. In adapting this book to a movie, some things like this had to be done. I had no problem with this at all.
After that, the plot progresses on, and the company of fourteen, who were chased by the Orcs, had to take refuge in Beorn’s house. Not to spoil too much of the movie, we eventually get to the Lonely Mountain, where Bilbo and the Dwarves are in a race to open the door before the end of Durin’s Day.
Muse: Let’s go over the differences in the movie, because there are a few differences that infuriate me.
I know. There were a few things that seemed “off” in the movie.
Muse: A few? There were a lot! One inclusion I hated the most was the addition of Tauriel. There IS NO Tauriel in the book! Also, Legolas is not in The Hobbit at all! Also, Gandalf never goes to Dol Guldur, Kili never gets injured and there is no Ancient Elvish language. Just Sindarin and then formal Quenyan, of course….
That’s quite a bit of differences! I knew that Tauriel wasn’t in the movie, and….
Muse: I’m not done. In the book, the barrels that everyone travels in have lids that are tightly fastened. They travel all the way to Lake Town, where Bilbo opens all the barrels. However, in the movie, they hide in barrels covered in fish all the way to Lake Town with the aid of a traveling merchant’s boat. Some other things that didn’t happen in the book include Azog’s promotion and Smaug being buried underneath all the treasure. Smaug was also made bigger in the movie. There are also inter-species love triangles that were NOT in the book at all! Urr! Jackson just about ruined it for me….
Alright. There were a lot of changes in the movie that were not very good. One redeeming quality was the Smaug scenes….
Muse: Those scenes were okay, but I HATED all the Dol Guldur scenes! Gandalf NEVER went there in the book! It was just a stupid story arc that Jackson decided to include to make the movie appeal more to a casual audience.
I know. That could fool anyone who has not read any of the books.
Muse: Exactly! That’s what infuriates me. Anyone who has not read the books will not see the story as it should be. Everyone. Read the book! There are so many things wrong with this movie….
Let’s get to the ending. There was a cliffhanger at the end that really annoyed me. But in a good way. After seeing that cliffhanger, I want them to release the next movie immediately!
Muse: I know. Let’s move on to the next one and see how many more mistakes they can make….
Overall, I give this movie a 4 out of 5. The movie cannot be five stars, considering all the mistakes they made with the unnecessary additions….
Muse: That’s quite generous of you. I give it a 3 out of 5. Just good enough to see the next movie. I would’ve given it a 2, but I’m in a pretty good mood right now….
Thank you for your insight on all the differences. I really have to go back and read that book again.
Muse: Please do. You’re welcome. I have some more reading to do. And my Galadriel dress needs to be washed. It’s stained with popcorn seasoning from last night. See you tomorrow….
I’ll let you do that.
That’s it for the discussion. Stay tuned for the review!
Until then, I’ll see you tomorrow!
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