My nephew is home from his first semester of college, and we decided that tonight would be a good time to get together. The question was – what to do?
Our first choice was to watch Monday Night Football.
Are you ready for some football? Not really.
I don’t mean watch it on television. I mean watch it at the stadium. Tonight’s game was our Tennessee Titans against the New York Jets. Both teams suck, so we went with another option.
That option included a meeting of the Agriculture Center Management Committee. This is government at its highest level as we discussed putting in a bid for a championship rodeo. The presentation went on and on until I finally asked if we needed to vote on this. My comment included something about how we had been talking about it for 45 minutes. It was time to vote.
As soon as it passed, my nephew and I left. On the way out, he said that we didn’t follow parliamentary procedure and could have taken the vote about 40 minutes sooner. Look, if it takes that long for a county level committee to decide something, then think about all of the crap that goes on in Washington. It’s a wonder that anything gets done. Maybe, we would be better off if it didn’t.
After the meeting, we went to an Asian restaurant for fried rice and sweet and sour chicken.
I wonder if they really eat this stuff in China.
Once dinner was devoured, we saw “The Hobbit”. My nephew has not seen the original trilogy, and I wondered if that would make a difference. It didn’t. He kept talking about how cool the special effects were and asking how long the movie was going to last. It did last a long time. They spent a lot of time talking in the middle of spending a lot of time fighting.
I won’t spoil the movie for those who haven’t seen it or read the book, but a few things stood out. First, no matter the situation there is always a magical or miraculous way out. Second, Gandalf seems to want people to struggle.
You must struggle before I save you.
With a little magic, he could make things a lot easier. Of course, that’s the way it is with all magic stories. It is a struggle throughout but turns out to be simple in the end.
After the movie, I told my nephew that he should watch the trilogy. His first question, “Is Dumbledore in them?” I told him that Gandalf cam before Dumbledore and that Dumbledore was probably some kind of copy. I ended my little speech with, “Yes, Dumbledore is in them.”
SBI: A Thinning Crowd 
No Dumbledore, huh? Haven’t seen The Hobbit yet. Some time this week and hope to catch it on the HFR format that Peter Jackson has been talking up
It was a good movie. I liked the trilogy better, though.
Man oh man is this movie long.
I’m really not sure why Jackson feels the need to turn a 300pg book into three, three-hour movies. Sheesh!
Fried rice sounds really tasty, though…I may need to get takeout for lunch.
It was long. I kept thinking that some scenes could have been shorter and provided the same information. I mean, how long does it take for everyone to arrive at Bilbo’s house and have a meeting?
The fried rice was great.