Ron Paul Update

The Children of Hurin (Tolkien)

I didn't even know this book existed until my friend loaned it to me. I've avoided most of the "releases" from JRR Tolkien's son, Christopher, since reading the Silarillion years ago. That book was lame and spelled out why Tolkien never released it why alive. It was a sort of "Bible" for the Middle Earth realm, but not really a great read in itself, so only of interest to real nerdy types.

This book, however, surpasses that crap legacy and is a great read all by itself, Tolkien fan or not. In fact, if you're a hardcore, read the trilogy five times a year fan, you'll probably hate this book. Mostly because it's not like the Lord of the Rings - or even the Hobbit, for that matter.

It's a tragedy, not really a story of true heroism like the other books. It's closer to Greek tragedies like Homer. REALLY awesome, though. I very much recommend that you read this book.

The story itself is alluded to in the LoTR series, though at that time it is "ancient history" for the humans. The story of Elrond and Gondolin is more thoroughly fleshed out (as this happens during the beginning, when Turgon was Elven King). Mostly, though, the story focuses on Turin, son of Hurin, a great hero for the Elves and Humans at the time.

Get this book, read it, and enjoy! I guarantee that unless you're some kind of illiterate or a hardcore Tolkien nerd, you'll love this one.

Mission Impossible III (MI:3)

Well, another one of Tom Cruise's career flicks - his version of Rocky, I think. To be honest, this series of movies hasn't been too bad, though not really great either. Of the three, I guess one is second only to the first one, but that's not really saying much. This one could have been much better if they'd not chopped it up so much to make it fit within some obligatory time-frame. Hollywood seems to be doing a lot of this lately. Some idiot probably did some inadvertently-biased survey and found that "under two hours" is the optimum time-frame for a flick. Geez.

Anyway, the movie is worth renting, but don't bother buying it. Unless you want it cheap, then you can get mine off eBay. :) The guy who plays the bad guy does a pretty god job, all told, but Tom Cruise is, of course, the highlight. Oh, and he runs funny. Probably some kind of L Ron Hubbard teaching or something...

The Simpsons Movie

I watched The Simpsons Movie, finally. I didn't expect much out of it and was greatly surprised at how hilarious this flick is! It's one of those rare, funny films that you can watch several times and keep seeing things that you didn't notice before, keeping you in belly laughs.

Of course, this movie isn't appropriate for the kiddies - in fact, I'd question whether teenagers should see this either. It's not too risque' or full of swear words, but it is very adult.

What is it then? It's frikkin' hilarious! That's what it is. The humor ranges from bathroom humor to politics to slapstick and more.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to laugh a LOT and who has an open enough mind to watch the movie. If your religious or "moral" sensibilities cause you to cringe and get sickly when some types of humor are made, then you're better off watching something else. In fact, the "end of the world" scene where the people come screaming out of the church and come screaming out of the bar and trade places is priceless in this regard. :)