Gridski

Lord of the Rings crying mix

Mom had never seen Lord of the Rings so we marathoned all 3 movies over the past couple days. I cried 7 times during 7 separate scenes, like always —so made a compilation nerd video (Kelly’s Lord of the Rings Crying Mix) *spoilers*

Nerd Tears Video

1) “Give them a moment, for pity sake!” The Fellowship crying, in tears, sad music, slow motion, outside the caves after Gandalf dies. And then you cry harder when you finally see Frodo’s face

2) “I would have followed you, my brother. My captain. My king” - Boromir’s death scene in the forest after he saves the hobbits

3) The long slo-mo scene of Faramir and his cavalry leaving the castle while maidens drop flowers at their feet and then riding out across the field to face certain death against the orc siege walls while Pippin sings a sad song in the castle watching Faramir’s asshole father eat tomatoes

4) Final Ride of the Rohirrim - Theoden’s army arrives at dawn on the hillside to save Gondor and charge down on their horses towards the much larger orc army and to certain death

5) Eomer sobbing and wailing when he sees sister among the casualties on the battlefield.

6) Frodo waking up in his hospital bed after its all over and the Fellowship reunites, all of them coming in to see him one at a time and then Sam peeks in the room and they see each other and just smile 😭

7) “My friends. You bow to no one” –King Aragorn and the entire city bowing down to the four Hobbits after it is all over (and the music soars)

Star Wars Film Rankings

Everyone’s doing their list this past week. Here’s mine after recently powering through a Star Wars marathon after seeing Solo.

1. A New Hope -1977  The original. Saw it in the theater on opening weekend in 1977 as a kid. This film was a groundbreaking cultural event. Who doesn’t put this movie first?!

2. Empire -1980 Actually, the better movie on every technical level…but nostalgia wins…ranked #2 by a squeak.

3. Rogue One -2016  yep, it was that good. Tight, clever script, booming visuals, faithful to Star Wars history in minute detail….I loved every minute. And wow, that ending…..you knew what was coming after a minute or two and just watched how they handled it with a huge smile right up until the credits.

4. Force Awakens -2015  The canonical sequel. Exceeded demanding expectations, an almost impossible task considering a hard core nerd fan base stretching back 40 years. Really great casting, awesome story, a great new villain, no complaints

5. Return of the Jedi -1983  Would be higher up, but the Ewoks and the cuteness at the end killed it for me a little - even back in 1983. Perhaps a minority opinion ranking.

6. Solo -2018  Don’t believe the reviews, it’s excellent. The Han Solo origin story -which may or may not have been a good idea in the first place - but there it is. A fantastic heist movie at heart.

7. The Last Jedi -2017  Still pondering this one. Such a weird story and some truly terrible decisions. BUT, gets better with every viewing. I should watch it a third time and I may rank it higher one day. But I’m not sure that’s how it works. Multiple viewings to “get it” isn’t a good look.

8. Revenge of the Sith -2005  Great for “Order 66” and the “Detailed Beginners Guide in How to Turn a Democratic Society into a Fascist Empire” -message. Lava light saber battle at the end is excellent and holds up VFX-wise. But Anakin still whiny and unbearable up until the end.

9. The Phantom Menace -1999  Only ranking this  2nd to last over “Clones” because of that awesome pod racer scene on Tatooine.

10. Attack of the Clones -2002  My god, the dialogue. Also emo pouty teenage Jedi wannabe Anakin dominating most of the movie makes this almost unwatchable.

For anyone who doesn’t think cats are superheroes…

Random Observations from on board my first cruise ship

Leaving Venice. When big ships like this leave, everyone on shore comes out and waves and whistles endlessly as you pass by. You also get a unique view of the city

Our first view of the ship coming from the water bus. It seemed freakishly large and I was embarrassed for a minute by this display of runaway consumerism

When you first enter your cabin, the TV turns on and knows your name. Creepy

The emergency drill happened within hours of boarding and leaving port

Everyone was very serious about it and no one laughed or joked (see Costa Concordia)

The entire port side of the ship was the smoking section. Everyone smokes.

Tacky carpets and disco lighting everywhere

Glitzy Las Vegas style Theater. You just have to giggle

The Captain and his officers (notice there is only one woman…and she was the entertainment director). We had a few drinks with the ship’s doctor (6th from right) and his Norweigan mistress one night at the bar

They make you dress up on “Formal Night”. Yes, I am wearing a ball gown 

Epic view of Istanbul from the ship. You can’t get this angle from an airplane

Another leaving the port of Katakolon, Greece

You can teach people how to make BIG shaka once everyone has had a drink or two.

If you buy cigarettes on board, this is how they come

They have a Cigar Bar on board that sells Cuban cigars (Ukrainian gangsters at the table behind us)

Condiments come in long NASA-like tubes.

Your precious, precious ID card is the lifeline on board. Lose this and you’re a nobody. You need this card for EVERYTHING. They might as well have tattooed the bar code on our forearms. This was a cashless soceity.

A newsletter for the following day appears on your bed every night after you come back from dinner. I called it the ‘propaganda paper’

Unbelievably gigantic ship

I think this was the GPS antenna

Smokestacks are bigger than my apartment

“Water money” Bottled water is weird on the ship. Everyone has to pay EXCEPT Americans. They get 7 free waters. We never understood why.

Lifeboats. They seemed really complicated and you would need heavy duty shears to open one of the boxes. Also, the crane thing looks complicated. A week’s training to operate that thing. We would all have to jump into the water before figuring it all out.

If you’re really lucky, you meet a few incredibly cool people to hang out with at night on board the ship before the next days’ adventures. 

Catholic countries, gay marriage and dictatorship

Why do countries with large Catholic populations (Spain, Portugal, Argentina) vote in favor of marriage equality laws?

Considering the Church’s views on gay marriage and homosexuality in general this is rather surprising. But the people who study this sort of thing have a theory: Portugal, Spain, and Argentina were all under dictatorship until well into the second half of the 20th century. The older generations, which in countries like the USA generally tend to be against same-sex marriage, remember what it is like to be persecuted for things you can’t control.

via Mental Floss