'Tis quite an honor, to have the members of the Royal Family all posting consecutively this way. I don't think I've seen that happen before. Your posts are all a pleasure to read, as always.

I've seen news coverage of the ice storm hitting the southern US...I'm glad that most of the time it's too cold here for that. Snow's easier to deal with than ice. Though we did have a few minor ice storms last month...

It's snowing again here, that light fluffy stuff. At the current rate, we may end the season in the top 5 or so for total snowfall (we've had about 50 inches so far...and most of it is still right outside my window. ).

I'm getting together tomorrow (later today? ) with friends for an early lunch. I really should retire for the night.

*grabs a remaining chocolate off the tree on the way out*

*waves to Ithilwen, NN95, Elanor, Queen Susan, Lucy of Narnia, KingLune, and gazer*

LYSANDER! So good to see the Epic One in the Square again - even if only for a fleeting moment. *curtsies*

Thank you! It's lovely to see you too. I've been on here for multiple fleeting moments this break, something I fear that will soon discontinue when my semester begins.

@ Cor: Thanks for the info; I do think the old one can be found for around $15 at EBay, but I'm not sure I want to pay that much. I have so many more soundtracks to purchase ... can you believe I only own eleven? It is truly horrific, and contemptible.

This is my last week of freedom! I go back next Tuesday. Meant to already be out and about today, getting my car radio installed, but I got up late and am now having to bake a frozen pizza for me and the kiddos. (I suppose my brother isn't a "kiddo" really, at 17. But I'm going to refer to him as such until he turns 18, just so I can feel superior. )

Hello all!
Time moves on, and today on of my brothers college friends comes to stay at our house - Awkward . . I mean, he's very nice, but - well, I told my sister last night that he was like Mr. Darcy. That was kinda an exaggeration, but he's kind of intimidating. So we'll see how that goes!

Thank you! Yours is lovely as well! How've you been? Oh, and just making sure- you're Destined's sister R----------------, right? Or wrong? *laugh* (I did too many dashes on purpose.
Oh yeah, and I'm praying for Destined! Man, that's gotta hurt. Hope she heals soon!

Thank you! I'm doing very well indeed - I think I've finally gotten over my sleepiness . . sleeping in till 10:00 two days in a row helped there.
Yes, I'm the sister with the same name as yours - and the only one, too.
Thanks - we appreciate your prayers! She's healing pretty well.
*waves to Cor*
*waves to Lys*

Catchup time!

Yet another reason for me NOT to become a monk, Villain-to-be!
LOL

Oh, shoot. You never miss a beat, do you?

*Adds to her ever-growing list of new years resolutions that she absolutely has to read The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings before 2012 rolls around* Never seen the movies or read the books. I know my brother's read some Tolkien and enjoyed it, but since I was rather destructive as a child (I don't think he's ever gotten over me pulling the decals off of his toys ), he's never been one for lending me his things.

Welcome to the Town Square, Radagast of Mirkwood! I've never read LotR, but I have a penchant for words and names, and I think your username is rad. OK, that came out a lot lamer than I intended.

*waves back to Rose-Tree Dryad. How was your Christmas?

It was good, thanks! It was pretty quiet and peaceful, but since everyone had been running around like a lunatic right up to Christmas Eve, it was really nice. I hope you had a nice holiday, and are enjoying the new year so far!

Right. It must have been. Probably wasn't aimed at me anyway and I just happened to get in the way.

Of course. *Surreptitiously kicks the catapult calibrater into a snowbank*

Oooh, that is a beautiful drawing!! I love how you use color, and the horse is very nice. *Has never quite grown out of the obsession with horses she acquired around age ten*

Hi CSLN!! Wow, you're doing animation? That sounds really interesting! What kind? Recently my brother has been working on a 3D modeling program called Blender (yesterday he made a jeep with a missile mounted on the back of it—I'm so proud of him ), and he's talked about doing some Narnia-themed short films with it.

Who's Peter Lorre?

He was an actor in the 30's, 40's and 50's. . . early 60's too, I think. My brother and I are mostly familiar with him from his appearances in Humphrey Bogart films of the 40's—Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, Passage to Marseille, and All Through the Night, to name the ones I can pull off the top of my head. (We're fans of Bogart, can you tell? )

Lorre was spoofed several times in Looney Tunes cartoons, though, and I honestly think that's where my brother picked up the accent, because he was doing it long before we were slowly working our way through Humphrey Bogart's film career. I'm trying to come up with a way to describe his accent, or a good film clip that shows it, but so far I haven't been able to run across anything that would give you a good idea of the way my brother does it. Maybe I'll just upload a sound clip of him doing it one of these days.

*Waves to Miss Rosa* I hope you're feeling better!

*Waves to Fee* It's good to see you here!!

*Waves to Benjamin* Thanks for the welcome! Your camping trip sounds like it must have been lot of fun! Did you see any interesting wildlife?

. . . Oh wait, you answer that later on. That's what I get for not posting for a few days! Alligators are very cool indeed. We see lots of deer in my area, and they're one of my favorite animals. When we go to the park sometimes in the late spring, we'll sometimes see some of the young fawns if we're lucky. So cute!

Greetings, Square Onions! I've been away for a couple days due to my busy schedule, but I wanted to let you know that I am alive and breathing (last time I checked anyway). A catchup post is in the works, as long as I survive school tomorrow. I actually kind of missed doing it...

Oh, I know how that feels! I've only been posting here for a few weeks, but already I feel funny if I go a few days without posting. I'm glad you're still alive and well! Was beginning to wonder if the aliens had gotten you. I hope the busyness and getting back into a school isn't driving you too crazy!

Yo, folks! Passing through, wanted to say hi. I peeked in yesterday but didn't say anything. I'm still alive and doing fairly well. Missing Dad today, but friends are caling me, and I've got the ol' chat room keeping my busy!

*Waves* I think we talked a couple of times on the group chat a few months ago? I'm pretty sure we did.

I wanted to tell you that I've been thinking about you and your family ever since I heard about your dad. I suffered a similar loss a few years ago, and knowing what my mother, my brother and I went through and continue to go through, my heart really goes out you and your family. Will be praying, and I hope the future holds lots of good things for you and yours.

That's awesome! I've been keeping a diary since I was around 7, and I really love it. I wish you luck!

Oooh, good for you! Wish I'd had the foresight to start keeping a diary when I was seven. I'd honestly pay good money to be able to go back and read my younger self's thoughts, dreams and schemes.

Hmm... I've been keeping a journal since I was 12 and I'm still not even half way through the notebook. I'll hopefully be more inspired now that I've been given 3 new journals for my birthday.

Oooh, that sounds nice! So far I've been just doing my journal on a Word doc, which I've found is working marvelously. My hands tend to cramp a lot when writing by hand, and I can type almost as fast as I can think. (Whether I'm a slow thinker or a fast typer, I'm not sure. ) Plus, I've had some journals in the past that I thought were so beautiful, I never wrote in them for fear I'd make mistakes and have the pages full of crossing-outs.

*Waves to WinterStar* Hi there!

*Waves to RubyGamgee* That's a really nice video! You have a very pretty voice!

*Waves to NarniaNut95* Thanks for the welcome!

This was me, 3 years ago. I could never keep it up, until suddenly, I forced myself to for awhile, and I haven't stopped since. You really should - it's really rewarding to look back on afterwards, and it helps me work out my thoughts better. I don't tend to end up writing much about mundane things that happen in my day, just random musings about life. But anyway, that was just my way of encouraging you to do it.

I definitely agree on it helping work out thoughts. I've found it great for that already, although sometimes the self-analysis can be troublesome. Thus far I've just been keeping a short record of anything interesting that happens each day, and then let myself prattle on about whatever's on my mind for a few paragraphs, and so far I'm getting on splendidly. Heehee, thanks for the encouragement!

Your hobbit-house sounds very cozy, Lucy! And the kitten sounds rather nice, too. *Loves kittens*

Hmm, it occurs to me that I haven't any sort of abode. Does anyone know of any secret garden that is in these parts? Oh wait, if people know about it, then it won't be secret.

Still, I'm very proud of TCM for keeping their programming consistent, not caving in and starting to show more contemporary films. AMC and TV Land failed me on that account. But TCM has stayed strong.

Ahh, we used to watch TV Land quite a bit when I was younger, but it got to be such that there just wasn't much point in tuning in anymore. If TCM ever goes downhill, I'll probably just give up on television altogether.

Speaking of the '38 Robin Hood, my most memorable viewing of it (although not my first) was in an actual movie theater! When it was digitally remastered for DVD in 2003, it was also given a limited release in art house theaters around the country, and I was able to go see it with my brother and grandparents. It was wonderful seeing it on the big screen, with crisp colors and sounds, after watching it several times on the library's old VHS.

Oooh, that sounds like an awesome experience! Goodness, why don't theaters do that more often? I'd pay more for the chance to see an old film on a big screen, just like they used to be viewed back in "the old days," than to see a new one!

*Makes a mental note to see if there are any theaters in her area who do that sort of thing*

*coming back* Were you the person who said your state had the best pork barbecue? 'Cause that comment just came back to me. The best pulled pork I ever had was in Tennessee. Is that where you're from?

Yep, that was me. You've very close, but not quite: North Carolina is my home state. Supposedly Lexington NC is the "Barbecue Capital of the World"—insert fanfare here —but of course that's up for debate. Confidentially, the very best barbecued pork was the kind my grandfather used to make. But I might be a bit biased.

Thanks for the suggestions on McKillip! The Bell at Sealey Head is on my To-Read list (read a few of the opening pages online, and I see what you all are saying about the prose!), and I'll have to check out Riddle-Master.

My siblings and I went skiing on Friday, and my sister banged into a tree and broke her collarbone. It's not too bad, but she is experiencing pain, and we would appreciate your prayers. It's kinda fun being her nurse.]

Aww, I hope your sister heals up very quickly! Will be praying for a speedy recovery.

*Waves to Lady Amalthea* . . . Rootbeer? You wouldn't happen to have any ice cream on hand, would you?

*Curtsies to His Royal Majesty, King Lune*

He was unable to appear this evening, as he is recuperating from having his mane and tail washed and curled by That Dragon of Cor's.

Oh my.

*Dittos everyone else who said they enjoyed How to Train Your Dragon*

@ Dryad. You're quite welcomed, miss. I believe I'll use "Dryad" from now on. It sounds prettier and more.... interesting than RTD.

Recently someone on the west coast told me that RTD is the name of a bus and light rail transit system over there. So yes, Dryad is fine.

*I'm afraid very few have.... I thank you very muchly for the kind compliment. Vern bows his head (a dragons version of a bow)*

Have you ever thought about writing a book about dragon etiquette? Nearly all of the dragons I've read about in fairytales seem like they could benefit enormously from your decorum and good humor.

If I may ask, what is this movie Brave you mentioned? I'm not familiar with it.

Brave—*cough*The Bear and the Bow*cough* —is a Pixar film set to be released in 2012, sometime in the middle of the year, I think. It's supposed to be their first fairytale, about a "Scottish princess, Merida, who defies her parents by perusing an interest in archery, but inadvertently jeopardizes her father's kingdom in the process." It looks like it should be good. The talk of misty Scottish forests alone makes me excited.

I've seen news coverage of the ice storm hitting the southern US...I'm glad that most of the time it's too cold here for that. Snow's easier to deal with than ice. Though we did have a few minor ice storms last month...

It came through my area, but we were quite lucky. No power outages. A few years back we had a pretty bad ice storm, and trees were coming down all over the place and we didn't have power for days. I was so glad that didn't happen this year. Of course, winter isn't over yet, so knocking on wood.

Time moves on, and today on of my brothers college friends comes to stay at our house - Awkward . . I mean, he's very nice, but - well, I told my sister last night that he was like Mr. Darcy. That was kinda an exaggeration, but he's kind of intimidating. So we'll see how that goes!

Oh, that made me giggle! I hope he thaws out soon. Try getting him talking about sports or something he likes, that usually works. And if not, challenge everyone to a game of capture the flag or hide and seek. Even if it doesn't help, at least those games are fun. (And who knows, you might accidentally stumble into Narnia! )

Ohhh boy. I am never going this long without doing a catchup post ever again if I can help it. Scary long post. I need to learn how to do this "skimming" thing you guys all seem to be so proficient at.

*Staggers out of the Square*

I feel the need to warn y'all now... there will be ketchup at the end of this post. Quick! Quick! Scroll down! Scroll past!

No, no. You're supposed to scroll down further. Stop reading, I say. There's no need to indulge in that tomato fabulosity, that puree and sugar, the grace of hamburgers...

Seriously, why did the filmmakers decide that Emma Woodhouse should have permanent bedhead?

*peers closely at the statement* I could have sworn you wrote that she was a redhead... and if you think that's a bedhead, you ain't seen nothin' yet. *thinks Emma '09 a very pretty film, and forgives much on that count*

Another pretty film is Persuasion '95 which I also like very much. However, the family is not as impressed with it as I am, preferring S&S and P&P. My dad's comment, "Anne doesn't say much, does she." It bears no resemblance to the sappy romance it appeared to be from the trailer I viewed, but does seem to use a darker pallet than the newer version.

Indeed, you found the very Robin Hood I wast thinking of. Gramercy, kind sir.

(Incidentally, that is not ketchup. That is a conversation, so you are forgiven if you are still reading. But I urge you, stop now! Stop now!)

Nooooooo. I asked you to stop! I beg you! I plead with you, on bended knee! We draw closer to the ketchup. You must scroll on past!

Secret passages need to remain, well, secret.

Truer words were never spoken. "Right you are, chief! Keep it up, chief! Never said it better, chief!" *tries to hide the Dufflepuds* Ever so sorry, I don't know how they got in here.

What, still here? Still reading in hopes of ketchup? No, no, I insist. There is a mouse button conveniently located by your finger--scroll down now!

*Surreptitiously kicks the catapult calibrater into a snowbank*

To quote Officer Shrift from The Phantom Tollbooth, "Guilty, guilty! You're all guilty! I've never seen such guilty people."

I don't think I've grown out of my obsession with horses either, though it hasn't developed into the career or fabulous riding skills as seems to happen to heroines in the horse stories. It's not quite fair... I ought to be a famous endurance rider or something by now.

I'd honestly pay good money to be able to go back and read my younger self's thoughts, dreams and schemes.

Being possessed of one of those myself, I can assure you that it if you paid for such a document, you would find yourself wishing you'd spent the money on something else! Still, it is quite nice to have when you want to look up when something happened.

I warned you. I warned you and warned you and warned you. Now it's too late....

I think this lacks a great deal of the charm of the original There's a Monster at the End of this Book and I also think you would derive more entertainment from reruns of the Ruby-Winter show.

*Lu peeks in just to start discussions!*

What is better: Narnia or LotR? Why?
Do you like the idea of Elijah Wood as Rilian?
Who's your fave character ever in Narnia?
LotR?
What movie is the best?

My answers: Hmm, hard. They are so different and I love them both!
Of course I do!
Eustace Clearance Scrubb. Or Lucy. But soon to be Jill Pole! (played by me??)
Frodo.
LWW and FOTR's beginning, or the end of RotK. I either want happy Frodo or dramatic Frodo!

Lu

*enters after 1 and a half pages absence though the days have been a lot longer...*

Hello all you Square Onions! How are all your Mortereves doing of late?

So we just got moved into a new house- hence my absence. It was quite chilly this morning! Around 29 degrees when we woke up, which is not usual for Florida...

Well I finished The Hobbit (which was great) and now I am reading The Fellowship of the Ring, good books! If you have not read them read them. (side note) isn't that odd, 'read them read them'? How funny English can be sometimes!

Well Catchup time!

*waves back to Benjamin* Hey, hey! It's good to hear from you! Haha, thanks. I personally thought that it was horrible singing.

Well as you said you just threw it together real fast and for that it was great! You definitely could make a wonderful song if you put a little time into it

Anywho, I noticed that you were listening to Phil Wickham's song "Cielo". *eyes go all dreamy*. That is probably my favoritist of his songs! It's so, so beautiful. I wish I knew how to play it on the piano.

Speaking of piano, how are lessons going? I'm starting piano lessons up next week, hopefully. I haven't heard back from my teacher yet.

I'm teaching myself a new Tenth Ave. North song on the piano. I'm teaching myself "You Are". It is a beautiful piece on the piano actually. It's very similar to "Hold My Heart". At least, the music and rhythm is.

It's one of mine as well, though all of them are Haha I love his music a ton.

They are going well, still plugging away and learning things, though it does get tiring sometimes
I hope that all yours go well

That is really cool, speaking of which I need to practice 'On and On' :S

lol. I wish I could still ride one - I have one from when I was, like, 9 or something, which is wayyy too small.

Well you should get another, they are so much fun. I just started practicing juggling on it, and am getting it down some.

Yeah, Frodo from the book would never have betrayed Sam. Ever. It adds more impact.. I suppose. And I never really understood why Sam climbs all the way down the mountainside before seeing the lembas bread Gollum threw down and goes back up again. Anyway.

Yeah it's too bad they did that... but can't change history now....

I've heard quite a few through just clicking on random ones on Youtube - I can't remember all of them. Along with Cielo I bought Beautiful, Safe, and True Love. Any recommendations?

All of them, lol Lets see: The Time is Now (Heaven & Earth) , is great, After Your Heart (Cannons). Pretty much any of them will be excellent

Well, Ben, there were the typical alligators. I remember the birds most of all, however. Pelicans, grebes, herons, egrets, cranes, ibises, anhingas, and comorants. There were so many unique species, and they weren't afraid of us at all. We could have touched them if we had wanted to.

No, there weren't too many accidents on the trip. I just hit my head on the fire pit that one time. Talk about vivid memories.

Oh that is really cool! I only remember seeing a couple herons, we hope to go back sometime soon and do some canoeing and camping, then we should see more wildlife when we are in the heart of the Everglades.

Oh ouch! Yeah really

So- who else is thrilled that

Spoiler

ELIJAH WOOD IS COMING BACK AS FRODO IN THE HOBBIT!!!

I AM THRILLED!

PLease give him a big part- it might wreck the story, but still- please give hm a big part! Frodo is the absolute coolest hobbit EVER!

I was not too happy with the idea at first because that would mean a big diversion from the book, but with their idea of a 'bridge' movie then maybe it would be good... maybe....

What is better: Narnia or LotR Why: Lord of the Rings, I just like the story better I think, and also the audio books for Narnia kinda butchered the story a little for me (which is why I am just reading the books now)

Do you like the idea of Elijah Wood as Rilian: No, no, no. He is Frodo Baggins and no one else...

Who's your fave character ever in Narnia, LotR: Reepicheep, Edmund, (plus a billion more ) . That is hard as well! Gandalf, Merry, Pippin and Sam. (Not to mention Leagolas and Gimli and......).

What movie is the best: Lord of the Rings. The completely butchered Narnia in the last two films.......

*waves back to Micah* So is that your first name?

Hey Ben. Doing well. And you? Read or seen any good books or movies recently?

Other than a really bad knot in my back and coming down with a cold of some sort I am doing good

Well I am going through the Lord of the Rings (and The Hobbit) again which are always good books!
Actually it's been a while since I watched a movie... I hope to watch How To Train Your Dragon sometime soon because I heard it was pretty good. Have you seen it?

Have you been reading any books lately that you have liked?

*waves to Prince Cor and Vern* So you liked How To Train Your Dragon? Has it given you some tips with Vern?

*Waves to Benjamin* Thanks for the welcome! Your camping trip sounds like it must have been lot of fun! Did you see any interesting wildlife?

. . . Oh wait, you answer that later on. That's what I get for not posting for a few days! Alligators are very cool indeed. We see lots of deer in my area, and they're one of my favorite animals. When we go to the park sometimes in the late spring, we'll sometimes see some of the young fawns if we're lucky. So cute!

It t'was!

Fawns very cute indeed!

And now I need to be going. Good bye all! Or as the elves say:

Namárië!

--Benjamin

Mortereve all!

Haha - aw, that's too bad. But I only mentioned my very favorite books, so maybe we have more in common than you think! You really should read LoTR - have you watched the movies?
I really like mysteries too, which I have just discovered. I love love Agatha Christie, or the little I've read of her's, and I love Sherlock Holmes, and Father Brown, and everything else too! Oh come - tell me some of your favorite books or styles.
And then we can move to movies.

Like I said, I do intent to read the rest of LotR. Yes, I have seen the movies, many times, and I loved them!
Well, really, that's all I've read recently. Most of the reading I do is school stuff, and with the little time I have left I've been working through a large book of Sherlock Holmes and re-reading VDT before I see the movie. It hadn't occurred to me, but I haven't read anything else in a while. Ha, not very interesting, is it?

*Waves to NarniaNut95* Thanks for the welcome!

You're welcome! It's always fun to have new people join us! Do you have a nickname?

*waves back to Micah* So is that your first name?

Yes, it is! And, I assume Benjamin is your first name?

Have a great mortereve all!

Hello, all!
Time for a bit more catchup!

Oooh, good for you! Wish I'd had the foresight to start keeping a diary when I was seven. I'd honestly pay good money to be able to go back and read my younger self's thoughts, dreams and schemes.

Heh heh - I'm glad I did it, and it is funny to look back at how completely stupid I was . . But it's embarrassing too, and it's the more recent diaries that I enjoy more. I didn't have much interesting things happening at seven. But like I said - I'm glad I did.

Aww, I hope your sister heals up very quickly! Will be praying for a speedy recovery.

Thank you - we appreciate it.

Oh, that made me giggle! I hope he thaws out soon. Try getting him talking about sports or something he likes, that usually works. And if not, challenge everyone to a game of capture the flag or hide and seek. Even if it doesn't help, at least those games are fun. (And who knows, you might accidentally stumble into Narnia! )

I guess it does sound kinda funny, doesn't it? It's not so much him thawing out - he's just scary! But it's better than I expected. Instead of ignoring me, he teases me (which is almost worse), and I just try to stay out of his way. lol . .
sounds good!! Too bad it's so cold . .

What is better: Narnia or LotR? Why?
Do you like the idea of Elijah Wood as Rilian?
Who's your fave character ever in Narnia?
LotR?
What movie is the best?

Hard questions!
I like LoTR better. I mean, Narnia is great, but LoTR is AMAZING!!
No. No.
Aslan? Or Edmund, or Lucy, or Caspian. . . too hard!!
Aragorn. Gandalf. Arwen. Eomer.
I haven't seen LoTR, and though I love Narnia, I think I'd like it better. But who knows!

Like I said, I do intent to read the rest of LotR. Yes, I have seen the movies, many times, and I loved them!
Well, really, that's all I've read recently. Most of the reading I do is school stuff, and with the little time I have left I've been working through a large book of Sherlock Holmes and re-reading VDT before I see the movie. It hadn't occurred to me, but I haven't read anything else in a while. Ha, not very interesting, is it?

Yay! Oh, that's awesome. You lucky. I really want to see the movies . . so badly . . Everybody loves them!!
I understand - I do loads of reading, so I could never list everything I've been reading lately! But a lot is for school, too. Oh - that was pretty interesting!

Hello all! *Waves*

Hey, Winty, good to see you. How are you?

Good to see ya, too! I'm pretty good, actually, and you?

*Waves to WinterStar* Hi there!

'Ello! How are you? BTW, have you got a nickname I can call you?

*Waves to Benjamin!* How are you?

See y'all!

Hi everybody...

*really needs to stop bye more often so she can comment on everyone's posts*

How's life going?

*brings cookies, brownies, and assorted beverages for all*

Hope everyon'e doing well. I've barely been able to read these past two weeks... Life has been very eventful.

And on top of everything, yesterday I almost killed my internet (fortunately I was able to fix it) and today...somehow... a wren got into our kitchen! (Fortunately my dad got him out)

today on of my brothers college friends comes to stay at our house - Awkward

Hey, we random college friends aren't that bad! At least, not most of the time. I've practically been adopted by a couple of my college friends' families! (We're talking honorary titles and everything.) And remember, Lizzibe Bennett didn't particularly care for Mr. Darcy at first either, and looked what happened! Never mind me ... I kid, of course....

What happened to Destined? I must have missed something.

*Makes a mental note to see if there are any theaters in her area who do that sort of thing*

If you have any sort of "art house" theater nearby, they do show old movies every now and again. Apparently there are some artsy/metropolitan areas (i.e. San Francisco) where theaters do such things all the time. Robin Hood is the only one I've ever seen (oh, and The Wizard of Oz, but I believe that was for some major anniversary and actually had a pretty wide release).

I really miss the old TV Land -- I Love Lucy, Andy Griffith, even an occasional Get Smart. There's still a fair bit of Andy Griffith, but it's just no the same anymore.

My aunt and uncle live in NC, but I don't think I've actually had barbecue there. Must, next time I'm there.

It [Persuasion '95] bears no resemblance to the sappy romance it appeared to be from the trailer I viewed, but does seem to use a darker pallet than the newer version.

Have you seen the new one? I would actually say it's the opposite. The new version is quite dark, with a lot of steadycam. Anne comes across as severely depressed, moreso than in the book, and spends quite a bit of time staring into mirrors. I also recall a lot of overcast days and rain.

Emma '10 is very pretty, it's true. I do like the art direction of that film, and several of the actors. I just wish they had used a different director and screenwriter (aaarrrrgh, Sandy Welch! ). They could also have used a good period specialist on set. I wrote a research paper for my Jane Austen class on (prepare thyself for the long-winded, academic title) "Propriety and Nonverbal Communication in Adaptations of Jane Austen's Emma," and I'm afraid I came down rather hard on the 2010 version. Waltzing? Laying one's head in a man's lap? Answering one's door? Unheard of.

What is better: Narnia or LotR? Why?

Are we talking about the books or movies? If the books, I cannot choose. I love them both too dearly. If it's the movies, LotR, no question. Those are among some of my favorite films ever -- not always 100% accurate to the books, but very faithful in terms of tone, style, and intention -- and beautifully put together. I confess I'm not particularly overfond of the Narnia films.

I like Elijah Wood quite a bit as an actor, and am rather sad that he really hasn't had any major film roles since LotR, but I think it would be a great mistake to cast him in another fantasy film series. People wouldn't be seeing Rillian; they'd just see Frodo Baggins, sorry to say. Personally, I'm all for Hugh Dancy as Rillian.... (Of course, I've also thought of Romola Garai for LotGK, which means I'm letting Daniel Deronda influence my casting choices far too much. That would be an awkward re-pairing, too....)

I spent a fair deal of today watching the BBC PC and VDT with my little sister, who has bronchitis. It was a library DVD and so had innumerable scratches. Thus, we watched a highly abridged (heh) version of PC, and a somewhat shortened one of VDT. Still, it was fun to introduce her to them.

*thinks of days gone by in Ditto Town Square as he sits with a jet-black one eyed squirrel*

Stopping in to have some Acorn Tea with my good friend Gorse. Stepped into this place almost six years ago now. Had something to do with fantasia kitty and a dead racoon.

Master Oliver and Stardf29 were going back and forth about scary movies at night.

Remembering Jints and Earel going back and forth during the wee hours of the night.

JillPole and the Sirens. Never did quite get the hang of that. My use of words felt like that of lumbering silverback gorilla. Still does. My use of words is up there with a gorilla trying to change a light bulb.

To name a few from back then I remember well, but does not diminish how important others are to me -

Abraham Lincoln, AJAicken, Aravana, Berninbush, Coracle, Coraline, Cymru, Earel Alquawen, JillPole, Jints, Leuthilalda, Littlgriz, Lizziekins, Lysander, Master Oliver, Meltintalle, Miss Pole, Puddlejoy, Shawna, stardf, Stargazer, Starkat, Violet Vale ... this list will likely grow today as I add others. My memory fails me on the names but not on the fond feelings for Ditto Town Square.

People come. People go. Thats Ditto Town.

I saw a full scene clip from the newest Persuasion; it was the dinner scene and it was daylight as opposed to the '95 which was candlelit. I think most of the screencaps I've seen contribute to that impression, though it's quite possible that they've been significantly altered since the bulk of those showed up in avatars.

I thought Anne did a significant amount of staring into mirrors in the '95 version myself.

Answering one's door? Unheard of.

I can't claim to have noticed that one. Well, okay, I suppose I did notice that she came to the door but that didn't scan as an anachronism.

We were at the library chatting with friends about P&P yesterday and we convinced them to watch the '95 S&S. Hopefully, they were also encouraged to read the book... I mention that because it is entirely due to conversations like these that I am called in as the family expert on Jane Austen adaptions.

Was there anything left of the BBC PC? It's amazing what they managed to include, though, in that small amount of time.

EDIT: Hi, cep! It seems movies are still a hot topic of conversation here in the Square. How are you and Gorse today? When did Gorse loose an eye?!

Gorse lost the eye in a messy disagreement with an old friend that died some years ago.

We are well, thank you. Thinking of times past. I need to add you to that list of old timers in Town Square ... and Lysander.