Tuesday, October 08, 2013

Monsters and Hobbits Lead Such Interesting Lives

Finished out The Hobbit during breakfast. Oh boy, that was a fun ride. I did see the first Lord of the Rings film, but never bothered with the other two and didn't regret it. Now I think I might have to give them a shot. The Hobbit was delightful, especially Martin Freeman as the bewildered title character. Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) opens up his door one evening to discover 13 dwarves and a wizard (Ian McKellen) on his doorstep. They want him to go with them to recover their homeland, the Kingdom Under the Mountain, from the evil dragon Smaug. There's many adventures that away them on their way, from an encounter with two nasty mountain trolls to capture by goblins and an encounter with greedy little Gollum (Andy Serkis). Bilbo refuses all of this at first, but he finally comes to realize that underneath his small stature lies a hobbit with more courage than anyone could imagine.

If you're a fan of the Tolkien books, the original Lord of the Rings film trilogy, or fantasy in general, hop an eagle and fly right in. This is a grand time.

Did one of the four Bowery Boys horror-oriented films while putting up the Halloween decorations. In Spook Busters, the Boys are exterminators who find themselves trying to get rid of what seem to be some pesky ghosts. When Sach discovers a secret hallway, he finds a lot more than just a bunch of poltergeists wandering around!

The decorations took me a while. I have the items Mom gave me in addition to my own things. There's the four stuffed bats alone - Boo the WebKinz Bat, Scarem the cute little Beanie Baby bat with the orange-lined wings, a navy polka-dot bat I found at a yard sale, and the Eckard's holiday beanies bat. The jack-o-lantern bell went on the front door. The witch scarecrow on the dresser in the music area has an Eckard's beanie cauldron. All of the McDonald's and Burger King toys and their tin are on the top of the closets with my collectible dolls and bears. The little plastic jack-o-lanterns are scattered with various stuffed animals or toys.

I did retire a few smaller items and some of the cardboard wall and window hangings, notably the leaves I put on the windows every year. They're getting wrecked from all the condensation that tends to collect on the windows during the fall and winter, and I've had them at least since I've moved here. Not to mention, I'm tired of hanging tons of stuff on the windows. I did put cardboard pumpkins on some of the windows, but they'll only be there for the duration of the holiday.

I had just enough time for a Looney Tunes short before heading to work. "Water, Water Everywhere" is Bugs' second go-around with Gossamer the Monster. Gossamer's boss wants Bugs' brain for his robot. Bugs isn't in a hurry to lend any part of him to science, so he makes use of the many potions hanging around to dodge the crazy duo.

Work was steady all day. It was partially due to chilly, very fall-ish weather that was far more pleasant than yesterday's, and partially because of the tail end of the beginning-of-the-month people. They day went by fast enough, though it did slow down enough by 6PM for me to leave without a relief.

When I got home, I made Buttermilk Honey Bread and continued the spooky Looney Tunes theme with Daffy Duck's Quackbusters. The last of the compilation films has Daffy inheriting mega millions from a rich financier who has passed on...provided he can provide an honest service with the money. He goes into the ghostbusting business and hires Bugs and Porky to help out. One of the best of the Looney Tunes "movies," with more original material (including two full shorts written for the film) and a far more interesting plot than most.

No comments: