Surprise Song Sunday: Concerning Hobbits - Howard Shore

Saw a screening of The Fellowship of the Ring with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra playing the soundtrack live Friday before last. Did not realise how long it's been since the release of that film.

It's 11 years old. Back when I was ending Year 6, and going into high school. For some bizarre reason, I was in to that kind of stuff at that age. I was so in to it, I watched it twice.

I also remember getting The Two Towers book from Santa for Christmas that year. For some strange reason, I read it anyway, and I thought Aragorn was a girl. Despite the book referring to Aragorn as 'he' many times. I don't know how I missed that, and I don't know when I realised he was in fact a man.

Awesome film, and awesome memories.

Word of the Day: He

Of idiocy and beauty in Florence, and travelling with uni.

This morning, I did something that was simultaneously fun and ridiculously stupid in Florence.

In the words of Boromir, it was folly.

I was going to have a nice quiet one, visiting the statue of David, and not visit the Duomo, because I figured it would be much the same as every other Duomo. Also, I had slept about four hours because the Italian people partake in traditional car honking celebrations after their team wins a football match.

Of course, I ended up at the Duomo, and not seeing David.

Why?

The line for David was just not moving. Because I am an ultra-patient person, I left after 10 minutes of queue inaction.

I went to the Duomo, expecting maybe just to walk around inside, take a few good photos of stained glass and whatnot, and go home.

What I ended up doing was scaling a bazillion stairs, not knowing where it would stop, because I had no idea what people generally did at that place.

What people generally did was climb to the top of the place. By climbing the aforementioned one zillion steps.

The view at the top, however, made the trip almost worth it.

(I'll upload a pic a bit later maybe)

Truly breathtaking.

The way down wasn't as bad as expected either.

So after that, long story short, I more or less stumbled towards Prato and uni people.

So we haven't done much so far, except for wandering around Prato. The two people I was wandering with, Jamie (Melbourne High old boy - saw it from a mile away - seriously) and Louise, were quite swell, and the wandering was fairly good bonding time. Met a few more cool people at dinner, which was all good, and I look forward to doing more of the same over the next few days. Off to a good start already. Not that I expected anything less.

Word of the Day: Folly

A (very delayed) Happy New Year

A (very delayed) Happy New Year to all and sundry. And everybody else too. I'd like to think there's a reason for the delay, but really, there isn't, apart from being busy with being busy.

Anyway, to kick the year off, a golden oldie!

Shalalalala

Apologies for the slightly weird middle part of the MV. I am, however, unapologetic and unrepentant for the fact that the song is now definitely stuck in your head. Forever. 

Brings back such memories. And with that blast from the past, we now look forward to the future. 

More than anything (or anything I can think of at present), this promises to be a fantastic year for films. The Hobbit, The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Something Else That I Can't Remember Right Now But Probably Begins With 'The'. 

Ah. The Hobbit. Not since The Return of the King have I been this excited about a film coming out. The trailer sends shivers down my spine. In a good way, too. 

I'm glad Peter Jackson's doing this film. Love that guy.

Funny story time! A couple of days (or weeks - I forget which) before the trailer came out, I was watching Love Actually. If you have watched that film in any great detail, you may have realised that the guy who plays Bilbo (in The Hobbit, not Love Actually) is the sex scene extra actor from Love Actually. Funny thing was, when I was watching Love Actually, I said to my sister, 'Hey, is that guy in Lord of the Rings? He looks like a hobbit. Was he one of the extras?' Ok, that was more curious than funny. Point is, my calling in life is clearly to be an actor/actress picker dude for films. It matters not whether the job exists or not. If it doesn't, I'll make it exist. If it does, well, all the better.

Cannot. Wait. 

Anyway, Happy New Year. I hope it's a good one for all of you, and I'll try to share more jolly times with all of you and all that. 

Word of the Day: Hobbit