andave's place

It's been a long time since I've blogged. I dunno what's wrong with me this summer, but I've been in a weird mood when it comes to blogging and watching movies. Do you know, I still haven't sat down and watched a single LOTR movie through since BEFORE I went to Lebanon? Though I kind of think I know the reason why -- I'm writing a new LOTR fanfiction and it is very exciting. Boromir lives (of course!!) but he doesn't go to Rivendell alone; he goes with his wife. And they don't go willingly -- they're fleeing from Denethor who wants to imprison them so that they DON'T go to Rivendell. Right now I'm just about finished writing the wedding and WOW was that hard. I had to figure out Gondorian wedding vows and traditions but I had to keep Boromir and the others in character so I had to be sensible and a little bit but not a lot sentimental. So I really had to wrack my brains, but I think it turned out pretty well. And I've got a snippet of D.H. Lawrence' poetry for the next morning .

So I'm kind of excited about that. No duh, hunh? That's why I said what I did about LOTR and Doctor Who in my last blog entry.

I dunno if I've said this before, but the only reason I started watching DW (Doctor Who, for those who don't know) is because so many Litnetters have it listed as one of their favorite tv shows. I started with the first episode of season four, "Partners in Crime" and LOVED it. Now both my sister and I can say that we've seen every episode of Doctor Who with Christopher Eccleston and, of course, David Tennant. We also watched the Doctor Who movie with the Eighth Doctor (whoooo is he handsome!!!) and I watched an episode with the...Fifth Doctor, was it?...called "The Happiness Patrol". Watch it on Youtube!! It is hilarious!! I should pm Lily Adams again and tell her about it. It's got the Kandy Man in it!! And a companion who likes to blow up things is forced to audition for the Happiness Patrol, a very pink lot of girls with ratted pink, purple, and white hair who go around making killjoys disappear. It is, I kid you not, a brilliant episode.

Anyways, back to (ahem) more recent DW episodes. Let me see, my top favorite episodes are "New Earth" and "The Idiot's Lantern" and "Voyage of the Damned." "New Earth" makes me cry, seriously. The Doctor is so brilliant and Cassandra/Rose is side-splittingly funny. DW is really a uniquely quotable TV show. Why do the Brits get all the funny humor, seriously!! Not fair...all we Americans can manage is stupid passes at President Bush and not so funny stuff full of innuendo. Not anything divinely funny like this: “I’m not sure if it’s Marxism in action or a West End musical” when referring to a teen who stole food from tables during the London blackouts in the 40s to take to homeless children and orphans to feed. Or, say, “Excuse me, do you mind not farting while I’m saving the world?” Or, perhaps, “Such hospitality. I’m underwhelmed.” Or, I dunno, “This is my Timey-wimey-detector. Goes ding when there's stuff. And it can fry an egg at twenty paces. Whether you want it to or not, actually. It's... I've learned to stay away from hens. It's not pretty when they blow...” You know what, next time around I watch DW I’m going to make a list of all the best quotes and I’ll post them as a blog.

So, why do I like LOTR and DW so much? Oh so many reasons, not the least of which is the courage, wisdom, loyalty and love and wittiness so exquisitely displayed in the two. Find me another show/movie/book like that and I can pretty much promise that I will love it. (hint hint BIBLE!!) But why? Why are those things so special to me?
I really don’t know. Hardwiring I guess. But, um, that’s one of the things I think that makes me different. I love to wonder what would happen if I was put into those situations. How would I act? Would I freeze? Run away? Or would I stay and face the situation with courage? I like to think that I would have courage because seriously that seems like what I would do. My Mom agrees because she knows I would do what’s right. But I dunno; I haven’t exactly been tested. Which in a twisted way is the silver lining to trials—you learn how much physical/emotional pain you can handle. And that is something I want to know. I don’t really have any tolerance for pain but if it was for something I believe in, something I love…then what?

But my, what delusions of grandeur. Um, another thing about DW: it’s made me think about The Universe a lot more. Goodness we’re so tiny!! I am insignificant—and I can say that without immodest modesty. My mom told me that for some ten days straight scientists studied a tiny patch of sky, darker than the rest, and after ten days found more planets, more stars, more GALAXIES hidden within that tiny patch of sky. And we go around with these inflated ideas of ourselves when we’re probably too small to be seen. Isn’t it weird though? Humankind can be stupid but Humanity…Humanity is capable of greatness. But along with that it’s capable of ugliness. Why can some of us come up with classic books and others just go mug people. What makes us capable of that?? Sin yeah, but can it raise us up to the level of a Dostoevskian Alyosha? Beethoven’s Fifth? Faramir’s sacrifice?

Darn, why can’t people be more astute?! The Bible provides my explanation, and moreover it is an explanation that fits. Why won’t others even entertain the idea?