Lord of the Library

I started out a late morning by finishing Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. While Frodo and Sam continue to Mordor, Aragorn, Gimili, and Legolas head to a kingdom that may be able to help...if it's ruler hadn't already been affected by a follower of Sauruman. Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin escape their captors, only to run into a group of sentient trees who eventually help them overcome the evil wizard and his people. Aragorn, Gimili, and Legolas help defend their new allies against Saruman's orc armies.

I headed out to run today's errands as soon as Two Towers ended. I was originally going to volunteer at Studio LuLoo first, but they weren't open. My first stop winded up being Tuesday Morning by default. No, there were no Ever After High dolls I hadn't seen there. I quickly moved on to the Haddon Township Library.

I arrived at the Haddon Township Library at noon. They weren't that busy. I didn't even have that many DVD's to shelve. Most of the ones that hadn't been shelved were ones that couldn't fit. I didn't even have a problem getting most of the kids' titles in. There was only one audio book that needed to be put back.

I did find some movies I wanted to take out. Two musical biopics on sixties pop and R&B stars came out last summer, and I regretted missing them - Get On Up on James Brown, and the adaptation of the Broadway smash Jersey Boys, about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. I've been waiting for Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan to finally get in - that's the only original Star Trek movie I ever liked. Grabbed some more recent Care Bears, too.

It was too nice of a day to head home after I finished. Not to mention, it was only around 1:30. I decided to make up for yesterday's bad weather with a stroll in Collingswood. I had a slice of vegetable and a slice of cheese pizza and water at a quiet Cafe Antonio's.

I was disappointed to note that the nice little book store next-door to them had vanished, to be replaced (I hope) by a florist's shop. The older woman who owned and ran the store must have retired or passed away. They still haven't put anything into what used to be the International Market. There's another market listed in the window, but after the one in the Woolworth building across the street failed so badly it only lasted a few weeks, I seriously have my doubts about it ever debuting. Yogawood moved down the street to what used to be the musical instruments shop.

I didn't have much luck in Collingswood, but it was nice to walk around. There was nothing that interesting at the Twin Oaks Thrift Shop. I considered a black skirt at Frugli Consignment Shop, but eventually changed my mind. Treated myself to a Key Lime Coconut Sandwich Cookie from My Little Kupcake.

Another peek at Studio LuLoo around 3 PM revealed that they were now open. There wasn't much going on, though. I helped the head of the studio organize a craft project for Earth Day that apparently involves cutting paper coffee cups into flowers and trimming them with paper scraps and glitter, then putting yarn through a punched hole. I also tore up old yellow and green tissue paper to use for projects.

Finally headed home around quarter of 4. I spent the rest of the afternoon at my apartment, making Watermelon Cake, crocheting, and finally finishing out the Lord of the Rings series with Return of the King. While Aragon, Gimili, and Legolas round up several armies (including one undead one) to distract Sauron, Frodo and Sam continue their journey (after a scary and rather nasty encounter with an enormous spider), dogged all the way by the desperate little critter Gollum. When they get there, though, Frodo has a lot more than second thoughts about getting rid of the ring. It's the least-likely creature that finally destroys the ring....and teaches Sam, Frodo, and everyone in Middle Earth a valuable lesson in friendship and teamwork.

Wow. When they call these movies epics, they aren't mincing words. Return of the King is three hours long! That said, despite its Oscar, it wasn't my favorite of the three by a long shot. I think my favorite was Fellowship of the Ring, which was a tad bit more lighthearted, and concentrated more on personality than on orc battles. The long, protracted battle sequences in the later two movies got tedious quickly, especially for someone who isn't into war to begin with.

I think my favorite characters ended up being the hilarious hobbit duo Merry and Pippin. They go from being mostly comedy relief in the first film to full-fledged heroes in their own right by the third, and are rewarded with some of the best lines in the entire series. It's just so funny to watch those two together. I love how they rounded up the tree ents to invade Isengaard.

As well-done as the movies are, I mainly recommend them for fans of fantasy and epic action or the cast, and for people with long attention spans. Those nine hours do drag at times, especially in Return of the King.