Music Fix For The Day

Apparently it's a thing now where every so often I share the latest songs I have heard and liked on the radio. It's not my fault that I listen to a Christian station and so the songs that I share are all Christian. If you want weird rap songs, go look them up yourself.

"Help Me Find It", by Sidewalk Prophets:

"Steal My Show", by TobyMac:

"Build Your Kingdom Here", by Rend Collective:

I'll be back in a few more weeks with more songs... not that anyone listens to them, anyway.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Further Proof That Tolkien Fans Are Just That Awesome

Look at what else TheOneRing.net ran today!

If it's too small to read, run over to TOR.n and check it out. Tolkien fans are seriously awesome. Who else would think to do this? XD

And, no, for your information, I am not planning on doing this. If I ever braid my hair like a Dwarf, it'll be like Fili. Because I'm blond and Fili needs more love.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Reepicheep Speaks The Truth!

I finally did it! Now I can use it in a great variety of situations. Primarily those directed towards silly fangirls who write terrible, terrible Mary Sue fanfics.

It was really hard trying to get a good screencap of Reepicheep, though. Could definitely tell the CGI was a few years old. I guess they didn't mocap him, did they?

Ah, well, WETA is a wizard no matter how you look at it. I think they have a Narnia book... I should look into that...

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Smaug Behind-the-Scenes!

These pictures, courtesy of TheOneRing.net, appear to be from an upcoming video blog. Cannot wait for it! We get a sneak peek of Smaug behind-the-scenes, although it's probably not what you think it is.

It's Benedict Cumberbatch doing motion-capture.

How they managed to mo-cap a dragon off of a human, I'm not sure, but I am equally sure that the wizards at WETA are up to the challenge. What would have greatly helped them is if they did decide to make Smaug only four-limbed instead of six-limbed - i.e., with his wings and forelegs put together. While I would prefer a six-limbed dragon, the four-limbed layout has its scientific appeal: after all, there are no known vertebrates with six limbs.

I guess we'll find out.

Like Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch should win some sort of award for his facial expressions. Someone a while back on TORn started a thread about how *evil* and snake-like some of his expressions in Star Trek: Into Darkness were, and how perfect his Smaug is going to be. I agree whole-heartedly. He can be very scary when he wishes.

See?

That is, of course, provided you ignore the gray dots and red "REC" flashing at the top of the screen, LOL.

How do you mo-cap breathing fire? Hmm. Oh... Hey, WETA! Now I *really*, *really* want to see diagrams of Smaug's innards in your next book. Because I want to know what sort of biological processes you have theorized would lead up to his ability to breathe fire. In the trailer it looks like you can see some sort of 'pilot light' in the back of Smaug's mouth. Come on, I know you've given thought to this!!! ENLIGHTEN US!!!

Okay, not in the die-a-fiery-death way.

Now for a sane picture (cue fangirls squeeing):

I'd say he got off easy. He doesn't appear to be wearing the skin-tight suit that Andy Serkis had to wear to play Gollum ("complete with obligatory matching underpants", as one vlog from LOTR said). That, or they didn't want to release pictures of that lest fangirls across the world suddenly develop severe nosebleeds.

...You know, I'm not sure whether I was sarcastic or sincere with that last comment. Ah, well. Fangirls will be fangirls.

As for me, I'm just repeating my mantra: "Smaug is gonna be awesome. We've got a dragon, we've got a dragon, we've got the best dragon in cinematic history..."

Only 51 days!

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

AUJ:EE TRAILER!

It's in German, though. That is fine by me, but unfortunate for the rest of you. XP Sorry, losers.

Nah, okay, I'll give some rough translations of the new dialogue. Gandalf asks Bilbo, "What does it feel like?" and Bilbo responds, "It feels like... it feels like magic." At this point, the area behind them resembles the passageway to Rivendell, so I think it's a nod to the book where Bilbo thinks, "Hmm! It smells like Elves!"

The Goblin King inspects an Elven silver candlestick Nori filched, and says something along the lines of, "Second Age Elvish make. Totally worthless." *chunks it*

Elrond says to Bilbo, "I have heard that Hobbits are a resilient people." And Bilbo quotes LOTR: "And I have also heard, go not to the Elves for counsel for they will say both no and yes."

At the end, beginning with a voiceover, Bilbo says, "I'm not a hero or a warrior." Then it cuts to a line from Gandalf earlier saying, "That remains to be seen."

Did anyone notice the part where Bofur is dancing in Rivendell and Bombur is throwing food at him, though?? Looks like Dwalin might also be about to toss something as well.

OBSERVE!

Not sure what Elrond thinks of this fiasco. But, more importantly... LOOK AT THORIN. He's on the far right. And is he... is he tapping his foot? Is he approving of all this??? Granted, it annoys the Elves, but... THORIN? Implicitly approving of a Dwarven food fight?

*MIND BLOWN*

...I think my opinion of Thorin has changed again. Did NOT see this one coming. O.o.

Also... where Bofur is dancing, that's where Frodo will put the Ring 60-ish years later during the Council of Elrond. There. Now your minds are blown even further. XD

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

New DoS Banner!

Behold the glory!

...The very tiny glory.

Here is a nice link to the full thing: DoS Banner.

My only gripe is Fili. Hey, they at least put him in, which was more than I was expecting. But why did they pick that particular pose? I mean, come on. Why is he looking down at the ground? It makes no sense!

Meanwhile, people on TheOneRing.net have already noted that the statue behind Gandalf appears to beholding a palantir.

And, if you haven't noticed, Fili and Kili are wearing armor. Niiiiiice. XD

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

I've Been On a Catholic Roll...

I was always afraid of this when I was the lector for Friday morning Mass. Fortunately, we switched to missalettes with the daily responses in them, which helped a lot.

You know, I had never realized that before. But it is a brilliant point. XD I think it should be brought up every time when the feminists now. They always like to demonize everything masculine, after all, so they like to think that satan should be a he. Nothing like using their own logic against them, though.

I did not know this. Isn't life amazing? "Truly I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

I'm not sure what that means, but it's funny all the same. My confessions are pretty boring, too. Not to mention repetitive... must work on more patience.

What's also funny is that this picture is from Fullmetal Alchemist, where the thief Psiren 'decides' to be a nun. This is after she posed (or actually was, I'm not sure) as a nurse. Then she goes to being a schoolteacher. The whole time, Al has the greatest of sympathy for her and Ed is just over it all.

Today is Venerable Fulton Sheen Day apparently... not that I grudge it, since he does have great quotes.

Cannot argue there. XD Ahahaha. And this is from when Pokémon were more imaginative! They're mostly just blobs of color with eyes now. Even so, how does it stand on just one leg?? Those wings must be vestigial, because there is no way it's getting off the ground like that. In short, there is no evolutionary scientific reason why it could be alive.

Not that I exactly believe in macroevolution...

It must be said, though, that our cardinals nowadays do not wear armor. I'm also not sure why they're in a tickertape parade or a baseball arena (or whatever it is). This is when a writer takes the whole 'Church Militant' aspect a little too far.

Also, lol, the Swiss Guards in the back. The poor Cors Helvetica. And, no, their uniforms were NOT designed by Michelangelo, just for your information.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

A:TLA Again

Guess I'm not what I should be.

Comment #1: Ozai almost did that, but in a different sense than what St. Catherine of Siena intended.

Comment #2: That is a really awesome picture. Wish I could draw like that. My drawing style is completely different and I cannot do perspective AT ALL. Never ask me to draw buildings. I'd rather do horrible trees than buildings. Not that I am great with backgrounds in the first place... I also cannot do shadows. At all. I don't make them dark enough.

Comment #3: Still shipping Zutara. I mean, really.

Comment #4: Why is there blue lightning in the background? Is this supposed to be set during his duel with Azula? O.o

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Bleh

I'm having my midterm life crisis at the moment. My current outlook on everything is a mix of, "Meh," and, "Bleh," and I want to either scream or bang my head against a wall. Neither is a great idea.

In other news, we got our second organic chemistry test back today. The teacher did soften the news with donuts. She actually gave donuts to the people with the highest scores, and gave donut holes to everyone else. WOW.

*opinion of this teacher improves dramatically*

However, she's still the type who will insist that the clock in the room is fast right up until the next professor invades the room. Luckily, I don't have a class right after hers.

I have two tests tomorrow... Oh, joy.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Look! A:TLA Memes!

*dying of laughter this time over something entirely different*

Poor Zuko and Azula... don't you just want to invade the Avatar: The Last Airbender world and punch out Ozai? Because if there is some sort of twisted award for Worst Father Ever, he wins it. The fact that he's voiced by Luke Skywalker is simultaneously hilarious and horrifying.

What has Sokka been drinking? Because I'm not sure it's just Iroh's tea...

I still totally ship Katara and Zuko. I mean, it's symbolic: fire and water. I can vouch for that. I would totally be a waterbender myself, and yet my favorite characters are always the fire people. *coughRoyMustang*coughArcanineRapidashNinetales*cough

It's a very lovely piece of artwork, though. I just really don't get the little hearts by Mei's head when, you know, Zuko forgot about her and left her in prison. I just can't see her forgiving him that easily. And meanwhile he took a lightning bolt for Katara? I mean... really... it makes no sense...

That's the primary reason why I can't get into Korra. I just disagreed so much with the ending of A:TLA.

And now for bonus Yu-Gi-Oh!:

I love how Yami's hair almost makes him as tall as the rest. XD

In Pace Christi,

Elyse