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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Review
My thoughts can be summed up as follows: they padded and/or exaggerated parts that did not need it, and trimmed off some things it would have been better to develop more. The whole film was infused with a sense of stress and urgency it did not need. That said, it was entertaining. Details (and spoilers) below.
( Here There Be Spoilers ) -
(Justifiable) Nerd Rage and Disappointment
As you guys may have heard if you run in gaming circles, FFXIV's reboot is having serious problems. Servers are often full, but there seems to be no queuing system (or it's not long enough). Square Enix has frozen character creation on nearly all the servers. Some players have taken to hogging their server spot by sitting AFK all day. They can do ( Read more... ) -
Mars Hill Church
The "nondenominational" Mars Hill Church has sprouted up in the Seattle WA area like a noxious weed over the last 5ish years. They have locations in Oregon, California, and New Mexico, too. I am not sure if they fully qualify as fundamentalist, but warning signs are there: strict male (dominant) and female (subservient) roles, intolerance of other ( Read more... ) -
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey today. Overall, I enjoyed it very much. Here are some thoughts:
- Martin Freeman was excellent as Bilbo. So delightfully awkward and fidgety.
- Radagast was ridiculous. I don't mind his looks, but I wish they had written him as less...high-strung and rabbitish.
- The glimpse of Thranduil made me squee. On ( Read more... )
- Martin Freeman was excellent as Bilbo. So delightfully awkward and fidgety.
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Elephants in U.S. Zoos
The Seattle Times is doing a series on Elephants in zoos, and the shady things that go on there. This may only be relevant in the U.S., but it would not surprise me if similar things are going on elsewhere.
Part 1, “Elephants are dying out in America's zoos”
Part 2, “Elephant havens face zoo-industry backlashIf more articles are released, I will ( Read more... ) -
I am impressed
A local goth clothing shop (Bedlam Bedlam) carries stuff made by Lupa! =O At least, I'm pretty sure it was her work. There's only one Green Wolf who crafts with animal remains that I know of. (I almost bought a pair of fox-claw earrings. Almost.) The store also has Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab perfume oils, which is why I originally went there. It's a ( Read more... ) -
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Someone please tell me how Dreamwidth is better and/or different from Livejournal -- besides being newer. gargleblasted migrated over there, and there are so few roleplaying games left on here...except carnivalofrust, which began a month of more ago. A lot of my RL friends migrated to Twitter and/or Facebook. I am disinclined to write if so few people will read ( Read more... ) -
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Finally put together another icon post, over here. -
Reminiscences of Jade
Thanks to the well-informed bloody_arrowdog at the talesoftheabyss community, I learned today that the first volume of "Tsuioku no Jade" ("Reminiscences of Jade" / "The Secret Memories of Jade") will have an official english release -- in January! I've read the first four chapters as scanlated by the folks at buusagi_gumi, so I know the art is beautiful and the storytelling solid. I just ( Read more... ) -
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You guys, someone made an awesome WoW machinima to the Silent Hill song, "One More Soul to the Call!" It's beautiful. I love that the artist took the time to shape Lady Sylvanas' facial expressions and give her complicated poses. Any more excited rambling would spoil some things, so go watch! I command you, aztec and shin_michael!