The Doctor Who/Wings Experience

Holly and Kelly: I've come to realize that this has been a very slow month for blogging. Probably one of the lowest and slowest in a while. A lot has been going on; nothing bad by any means, but still quite busy. One of the things that has gone on is something we are talking about today. A couple of weeks ago, on the 16th and 17th to be exact, our local movie theater put on this special event that featured the screening of two Doctor Who episodes one night, followed by a documentary the second night. They screened Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel, and we aren't really sure why they picked those two, but anyway. It was just fun and awesome to see Doctor Who on the big screen, since we kinda missed out on Day of the Doctor because we were lame and stupid and weren't fans yet. Sorry, got some coffee in me. On the second night, they aired a documentary about birds. No seriously.

It wasn't just any documentary about birds though; it was in 3D. It was narrated by none other than David Tennant!!!!!!!!! Let me tell you, watching 3D birds and listening to a Scottish accent for 90 minutes was pretty remarkable. But the documentary was REALLY well done. But that wasn't even the highlight of the evening, no. What was was something that we touched a bit on while we were doing our 30 day Doctor Who challenge. The first night we were at the theater there were other Whovians there as well...trust us, they're pretty hard to miss. The credits were rolling at the end of Cybermen/Steel and this older guy sitting a few seats down from us turns to face the rest of the theater and says "These are my kind of people."  Later, Kelly ran into a girl who was maybe 11 or 12, and she was wearing a bow tie and a fez.  Kelly said "Bow ties are cool" and the girl smiled.  It's a community, a family of sorts, and we really haven't seen that in any other big movie or TV franchise.  And that's a really incredible thing.  Yeah, when you boil it down it is just a TV show, but for all of us, it's so much more than that.  Also a really incredible thing.  It's an experience and a TV show for some people, but for others, it's much more. It's a bit excessive and obsessive for some (eek) but as for us, we just enjoy it. We enjoy the show, the characters, and the community it brings.

"From the smallest beginnings come the greatest legends..."

Holly: If you are a Hobbit/Tolkien fan, watch it.  If you aren't....watch it anyway because it's just that AWESOME!

NEW Hobbit Trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, and P.S: To Martin Freeman, I've always liked you, but now I just freaking LOVE you.  You are the perfect Bilbo Baggins and I can't wait to see it for myself.  :)

Two will become three....and some crazy dives!

Holly: Well...it's the end of July, going into August, and it's an even numbered 4 year period, and you know what that means??

SUMMER LYMPICS!

Yep...from London this year (tears!!!!!! considering I was there this time last year...).  Anyway.  Enough of that.  The three of us (and two very uninterested felines) from humble Apartment #1 are pouring over the diving men's finals right now.  Wow!  Such poise.  And they're SO together!  It's practically perfection, flawless.  How do they do that?  And two guys from Mexico just did a 4 1/2 inverted somersault...so much spinning...perfect spinning!  Crazy!  Perfect!  But we always cringe when they jump off because they're so close to the board and I don't want to see lovely toned divers go splat!  We watched the Opening Ceremony when it came on, but I'm sad to report that we missed James Bond/the Queen parachute in.  But we did catch the bajillion-foot Voldemort and the crazy era music dancing montage.  And the doctors and nurses.  A bit odd, but still well done if I do say so myself.  Hopefully this evening on the beach volleyball front, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh will pull another win....man, that stuff is just as exciting as Sherlock!

Now, onto the second big piece of news that's sweeping the nation...literally!  I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit series.  If you're not, I suggest you claw yourself out of that rock you're hiding under and remedy that as soon as possible.  Seriously, I have just recently seen the light and I have no clue why I waited so long.

ANYWAY....

As of today, the illustrious Peter Jackson (if you don't know who that is....oh geez, just look it up) announced today that the originally slated two part movie series of "The Hobbit" will now become a THREE part movie series!  Of course, I have some.....concerns.....with this:  First off, the book is only 271 pages.  Now, there is plenty of material for two movies, but even with some series drawing out, editing, tweaking, etc...it will be interesting to see such short of a book into 3 parts.  I mean, the LoTR series itself is WAY over 1000 pages, and each of those movies is well over 3 hours.  So that makes sense.

My second concern is that of the actors.  Kelly and I are now hopelessly "Sherlocked", and, of course, the illustrious actor playing the hobbit protagonist Bilbo Baggins is also the charming Dr. Watson in Sherlock.  I'm just wondering how that will work in terms of filming and production.  See, Sherlock's seasons are only 3 episodes, but they're 90 minutes.  Season 2 finished in January of this year, and Season 3 starts in January 2013.  The Hobbit (part 1) is being released at the end of this year, December 2013 next year, and now with part 3, theoretically summer 2014.  How will this work??????????????????

Until then, I shall wait anxiously for The Hobbit.  And Smaug.  Who is being voiced by the smooth-as-silk Benedict Cumberbatch (who is also Sherlock).  Can you say SPAAAZZ??? &^%@(*&P_)_)(#$(*&^@#^%$^&

Kelly: As I posted on my Twitter earlier, I stated that I was going to be cautiously optimistic about the fact that a 2-part movie is now going to be turned into 3. Though my concerns have nothing to do about characters, plot holes or material. The way I see it is simple; MONEY. Think for a sec; the LOTR trilogy pulled in over $2 BILLION. No...not million. OVER 2 BILLION DOLLARS. So really it seems like a no-brainer; die-hards will watch and wait for a 3rd movie. They'll wait and pay to see the three movies. Shoot, I'll wait and pay my dues to see the three movies as a recent Ringer. Like Holly, I too am concerned about the overlapping in Sherlock and this third Hobbit film. Again...cautiously optimistic.

And US just won a bronze in diving! TEAM USA!!! For what it's worth though the Chinese team were really good (they won the gold). Mexico completed the most difficult dive and they walked away with the silver. Let's see what is coming up next...YES. Beach volleyball! May-Treanor and Walsh are coming up next and taking on Czech Republic. We've been waiting patiently since Friday, so we are getting very excited. I really have nothing else to add so I am going to post this humorous picture that a fellow Sherlock fan of ours linked to me and Holly via Facebook. Enjoy the Olympics and don't shoot walls if you're bored.

Holly and I have friends. Sherlock doesn't. Except Watson. 

A Three Dimensional Glimpse of Our Childhood

Holly: Missing the Richmond shuttle was the best thing to have happened to Kelly and I last night. 

My overly gracious and amazingly awesome roommate saved the day by driving us up to the theater to partake in what Kelly and I saw as "reliving our childhood": Yes, folks, we watched The Lion King in 3D!

We aptly called this Friday night adventure "reliving our childhood" because this movie came out originally in 1994...we were FOUR years old!!! Crazy to think back on that! From the first opening sounds of "Circle of Life", I had chills everywhere and, almost instantaneously, I was five years old again.  Watching it again at 21 made it much more surreal; the 3D just completely captured and perfected this Disney classic that I will probably watch again and again, even when I become old and decrepit.  Also interesting and sort of awesome to note: Many of the children that I saw in the theater last night were probably seeing that movie for the very first time! CRAZY!

What really sold me this time was the music!  Never in the umpteen times that I have seen this movie have I ever been so captivated by the music; I was singing along to every song in the theater (nonetheless probably pissing off the people in front of us, but, hey, I paid a small fortune for this ticket and I was going to get my money's worth!).  I was so much so captivated by the music that when I returned home to my shoebox Berea dorm I proceeded to download several Lion King tracks, including a few from the second movie!

Bottom line: If you get the opportunity to see Lion King 3D, SEE IT! Do not miss it!  Period! 

Wait, there's no mountain too great...hear these words and have faith, have faith!

Kelly: (this is straight out of my journal. I wrote this this morning)

He lives in You, He lives in me. He watches over everything we see. Into the water, into the truth, in your reflection, He lives in you. 

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20

Growing up, the Lion King saga was by far my favorite Disney movies. I don't know what it was about them but that's just the way it was. I knew all the words to every song and would watch the movies over and over. Rewind to last night; seeing the first one in 3D. It was as if I was watching my childhood all over again right before my eyes. Last night when I was alone in my room listening to music from the movie, I suddenly remembered my favorite song from the second movie, titled He lives in You.

Sure, it makes sense. A young prodigy in the shadows of her king father. Anywhere she looks, her father is inside her. What occurred to me was that, hey...this is what being in a relationship with Christ is like. That's the sheer beauty of it; everywhere I am He is in me. When I look at myself in the mirror every morning, He's also there looking back at me. Maybe there was a reason that as a child I enjoyed that particular song so much. Maybe that was God trying to tell me something. I didn't understand it then, but I do now.

I will cherish last night for the rest of my life; such a captivating experience to relive wonderful happy times of my youth. But let me tell you; the thoughts that I have included in this blog I will cherish as well. I love that God's works and mysteries are in every aspect of my life, including cherished childhood movies.   And now, for your listening pleasure, I have attached our favorite Lion King songs. Enjoy and have a blessed weekend/week to come! :]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjfM6NiMGG4 (He Lives in You, from the second movie!) :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcOJTCSyvx8 (We Are One, from second movie)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOf78z3Hi4U (score from first movie)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5uYB9T_GlY (Our favorite...if you don't get goosebumps at 4 minutes onward then you are crazy!)