Monday, June 11, 2012

Another Succession of Events in My Summer So Far

Okay, I remembered a few other things of note that have happened in my summer so far that I forgot to mention.

First off, in the middle of May we had our spring piano recital. I have taken piano for about 13 years now, so these recitals are pretty much old hat to me. The only problem I have is actually deciding what to play! There are so many songs I like, and I can pick a maximum of two... I am traditionally the grand finale by now, as my teacher, Mrs. Enlow, does not have that many older students and of them I am the most advanced. At any rate, I played "Dawn" from the most recent movie version of Pride and Prejudice (the song that plays at the very beginning) and "You'll Be In My Heart", from Tarzan. (Tarzan is another one of those movies that is fundamentally really dumb, but has a great soundtrack. Quest for Camelot- the animated version-, too. REALLY dumb movie, great soundtrack. "The Prayer" comes from that movie, after all.)

Mrs. Enlow's husband is indeed the Dr. Enlow that I have heard so many good things said about. He is an assistant chemistry professor and all his students love him. Seriously. All positive reviews. Anyway, I had heard from some other people in my lecture class about jokes that he told, so after the piano recital I asked him about some of them. Here are two of them:

SOMEONE STOLE THE BATTERY FROM THE KING'S LIMOUSINE! -  or - "THE THEFT OF THE CROWN JOULES"

- and -

Atom 1 : I think I've lost an electron.

Atom 2 : Are you sure?

Atom 1 : I'm positive.

I don't know if anyone else thinks they're funny, but I love a good pun, so... hee hee. Oh, courtesy of the Ethan guy who perpetually hangs out in the lobby of Lafayette, I have another chemistry joke:

Two chemists walk into a bar. The first one says, "I'll have H2O." The second one says, "That sounds good. I'll have H2O, too." The second guy died.

---

Okay, for those of you who didn't get it, H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide.

Oh, and Dr. Enlow also volunteered that he does Elvis impersonations. He even demonstrated for us. This involved lying down on the floor, eyes closed and hands folded. He added that he's available for parties.

I have been in a Books-a-Million mood lately. I returned to the store Saturday, not intending to get anything and got three things. I was already wanting another puzzle (I like puzzles. I complete them, glue them to a piece of plywood, and mount them on my walls), since I like the intellectual stimulation, and I saw a two-puzzle set in a collector's tin there. Elaine got me a two-puzzle set similar to it a couple Christmases ago, so it was only fitting. They're both Star Wars sets. The one she got me had a 300-piece one of people from all six movies and then a shiny, 500-piece foil puzzle with Luke in the center, Leia and Han off to the side, and the Death Star, Vader, and Yoda in the background. MAN, it was hard. The shiny pieces look different colors when you turn them, so I was going on puzzle piece shape alone, and that's not easy, let me tell you.

Anyway, I started the 300-piece one from my new set when I got home and finished it that night. It had a large Darth Vader with his lightsaber in the middle with the Death Stars, a random planet, AT-AT's, an AT-ST, various TIE-fighters (including his own), and various Star Destroyers in the background. It wasn't too hard, other than his cape, since it was all black and I again ended up going on shape alone. I haven't started the 500-piece one yet, but it has Padme in the middle with various other characters scattered around and lots of gold swirlies.

Other than the puzzle set, I also got The Politically Incorrect Guide to the South (and Why It Will Rise Again). I also have The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History and The Politcally Incorrect Guide to Science. The PIG series is great; you should really read them all. They are honest, funny, and sometimes infuriating- only because you find out things you were never told, usually because people only tell part of the story in order to manipulate audiences and push their own agendas. The PIG to Science has a section on global warming, part of which contributed to my 16-page research paper on it.

I also got a t-shirt. Yes, BAM now sells t-shirts. They also sell Nooks, CD's, and DVD's. It's kind of sad to see a bookstore degenerating into technology. BAM sells Legos, too! All right, I like Legos. Even so... Ooh! Did you know there are now Lord of the Rings Legos? They are so cute! They have
(1) a Gandalf Arrives set, with Gandalf in his little cart with fireworks and Frodo
(2) a Weathertop set with Aragorn, Frodo, Merry, and two Nazgul
(3) a Moria set, with Boromir, complete with sword and shield, Legolas (hahaha... LEGOlas with his pointy ears and ludicrously long hair has to be seen to be believed), Gimli with a nicely detailed helmet, Pippin, a skeleton at the well for Pippin to push in, two Moria orcs, and, naturally, a cave troll. You should look up some of the TV spots for the LOTR Legos, since hearing Sean Bean's voice come from a tiny Lego minifigure is just plain hilarious. "They have a cave troll." LOL! There'e even Balin's tomb, with the rune writing on it (the first part reads BALIN FUNDINUL UZVAD KHAZADUMU- haha, I'm such a nerd), and a skeleton inside.
(4) an Orc Forge from Isengard, complete with several blacksmith orcs and Lurtz, aka Boromir's Least Favorite Orc. Not my set of choice, of course, since I'm not overly fond of even Lego orcs, but still. It's LOTR!
(5) The Uruk-hai Army set, which has three Uruk-hai with a ballista fighting a Rohan soldier up on a wall. The great thing about this set is that it also HAS AN EOMER MINIFIGURE!!!!!! *squees* Eomer's helmet is awesomely detailed and is only missing the horsehair crest. He even has a horse! I was under the impression that his horse, Firefoot, is gray in the movie, but the minifigure's horse is brown. Hmm... maybe Eomer's horse is brown in the scene where he shows up to save his uncle's skin at the end of The Two Towers. Honestly, I've never really paid attention to the horse in that scene; I've always been too busy drooling over Eomer... XD Haha. I admit it. The more I read/watch The Lord of the Rings, the more I like Eomer. Aragorn and Legolas are great in the book (Legolas actually has a few amusing lines in the book. He's a lot more serious in the movie. *shrugs*), not so much in the movie. Yes, they both have mad combat skills, lol, but Aragorn is plagued with self-doubt in the movie (may I take this moment to admit that I depise angsty heroes) and, well, they kind of flubbed Legolas's characterization. They made him into a Captain Obvious and also made him say lots of vague and portentious things. ("Something draws near. I can feel it." Really...) Oh, well, we can't win... Really, he's there for the silly fangirls to drool over. Eomer, on the other hand, is consistently awesome in both the book and the movie. He has an AMAZING attittude in the book and several funny lines (Tolkien's works DO have humor occasionally. C. S. Lewis, on the other hand... I'm sorry, but the Chonricles of Narnia are consistently unfunny. The only funny bit in any of his books is from Out of the Silent Planet where Ransom tries talking to the Martians. Now THAT is priceless.), plus he just has a horse and is awesome. People with horses are generally more awesome than those who do not have horses. It's a fact of life! XD Anyway, Eomer in the movie gets to look cool, act cool, and have cool lines. And his armor. Did I mention I love his armor? It is amazing! It's so detailed... I've tried drawing it several times, with success. I have The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare which is basically a guide to everyone's arms and armor in the movie. I love that book! It's the reason I can speak intelligently about the different pieces of armor (and why I can draw it intelligently). Even my family knows what piece of armor a pauldron is by now. (It's the shoulder piece. Pauldrons tend to be ludicrously huge in video games, for some reason...)
(6) There is also a Helm's Deep! Actually, the fortress is called the Hornburg, and the ravine behind it is Helm's Deep, so the movie gets it wrong. Oh, well. The set is AMAZING. I mean, I WANT IT FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! Along with the one with Eomer, of course. I WANT THEM BOTH! Anyway, Helm's Deep comes with Aragorn, Gimli, Haldir (the cool elf guy who dies, for your information), King Theoden, the Uruk-hai berserker who lights the dynamite, and a couple of other orcs. King Theoden can actually ride out the gate and down the causeway! There is a spring for Gimli to jump over to the causeway! (That way, Aragorn doesn't have to toss him. XD) If you have seen the movie, you know that Gimli is too short to see over the ramparts, so he asks Legolas what is going on out there. Legolas responds, "Shall I describe it to you, or shall I find you a box?" So the Lego designers put a box in the set for Gimli to stand on. LOL, gotta love those Lego guys... They think of everything! As for King Theoden, he makes an awesome minifigure as well. Haha, his armor doesn't make him look fat as a minifigure. In the movie, yeah, his armor kind of makes him look fat. He's also kind of whiny in the movie, which I don't get... In the Return of the King movie, he questions why Rohan should go help Gondor. I, who have read the Unfinished Tales, yell at the screen every time, "Hello! Your ancestors swore an oath ON THE PAINS OF HELL to go to Gondor's aid when they needed it. Gondor's ancestors swore an oath BY GOD to go to your aid when they needed it. You had seriously better go, old man." Oh, well. I'll take the minifigure.
(7) There is Shelob's Lair set. Shelob is the huge spider. Those parts of the Return of the King freak me out. I won't watch them. They're creepy! So I do not want this set. However, it has Shelob and Gollum, a tied-up Frodo, and Sam, complete with Sting and the Phial of Galadriel. Gollum is hilarious-looking! One of Shelob's eyes is even out, since Sam stabs here there. The Lego guys think of everything, I tell you...

Raise your hand if you also cannot wait until The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes out! I can't wait! I can't wait! Only half a year!

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

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