Friday night we caught The Lord of the Rings : The Two Towers . It did not disappoint. Even though it clocks in at nearly three hours there is never a dull moment. Great story, great special effects. As good if not better than the first film in the LOTR trilogy which up to this point is making Star Wars, particularly the last two episodes, look silly and shallow by comparison.
I have never read Tolkien and so don't want to speculate as to the allegorical meanings of the Lord of the Rings, but as my wife said on Friday it's hard not to watch the latest installment and not think about events of the day. The acknowledgment of evil in the world, the need for groups to unite to fight it, the inevitability of having to face conflict no matter how you hope to avoid it, and the benefits of fighting the enemy on your terms not his (when the Rohan king elects to abandon his city and withdraw to the "impregnable" fortress of Helms Deep rather than confront Saruman's army in the field I couldn't help but think him worthy of honorary EU membership) were all brought out at various points in the film.
Saturday morning was a crisp wintery day with the temperature hovering just under ten, the sky blue, and the sun bright. Perfect outdoor hockey weather which I took advantage of by playing shinny for a couple of hours at a rink in Minneapolis. It don't get much better than that.
Saturday night brought a gathering of friends to watch the first two movies in the Godfather saga since I had received the DVD box set at Christmas and was itching to break it out. The evening was filled with eating, drinking, and animated discussions nearly leading to blows which is probably the perfect tribute to viewing the story of an Italian family. Civility was maintained for most of the entirety of GF One but during the Second (and undoubtedly better) of the two classics orderly debate broke down into a cacophonous chaos of overheated rhetoric and overwrought opining which resembled your typical DFL convention. I guess that's to be expected when you elect to venture into such passionate subject matter as whether 'Dumb and Dumber' is one of the best movies of all time as JB Doubtless championed.
Sunday brought much needed rest before reffing two hockey games in the afternoon and playing in another one that evening. Home later that night for a post game night cap and NFL playoff game recap on ESPN before bed. I quickly slipped off to sleep pondering the meaning of life and more importantly the meaning of funny. Pretty typical weekend.
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