On Random Thoughts Part III: The Returnering

In which a multitude of topics are covered in no particular order whatsoever...

I recently finished reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I had forgotten how dry a lot of Tolkien's writing is, especially after (spoiler alert) the ring is destroyed but before the scouring of the Shire. The Shire chapter is great, however, and along with the Dúnedain riding with Aragorn represent two of the moments I was most sad to not see in the movies¹.

Huck asked: "Is it creepy to go to a high school basketball game if you don't have kids or never went to that school but you just love basketball?" Not if you live in Indiana. Unfortunately Huck just moved to Alaska, I don't think they even know what basketball is up there. I hope you like sled dog racing and ice fishing Huck.

Daniel Radcliffe, you are officially on notice². You gave an interview recently in which you complained about Hugo getting nominated for an Oscar while HPDHPII did not. Look, bro, HPDHPII was a serviceable conclusion to the HP saga, it was a giant summer spectacle that entertained for the two hours I was in the theater. What it was not: one of the best movies of the year, one of the best movies of the summer, heck, it wasn't even the best HP movie. Hugo meanwhile was a beautiful story that pushed the boundaries of a new medium of film making³, it was probably the best movie I saw this year and while I don't think it will win Best Picture it deserves to be in the running (and to win).

Sara Trombley's awesome son, Luke, asked me to blog about scary monster and Voltron. Voltron, for those you who are out of the loop, is a giant super-robot that is made up of five smaller lion robots. Each lion is piloted by a human member of the Voltron Force, they fly through space busting the heads of nogoodnicks and scoundrels alike. If things get tough they combine into Voltron, go teamwork. Scary monsters are monsters that are scary⁴. In a fight between scary monsters and Voltron, Voltron would win 10 out of 10 times, because Voltron is a good guy and they always win and because scary monsters are big dumb heads.

Bonus Voltron fun facts: 1) Voltron was created by taking a Japanese show, Beast King GoLion⁵, and editing it and writing new stories. B) I had a Voltron toy when I was a kid, it's made of plastic and metal, it clocks in at about 2-3 pounds despite only being a foot tall. Last one) Each lion resided in a different environment.

One of the best movies to watch with someone who hasn't seen it is The Usual Suspects. I wish I could go back in time and watch it again without knowing anything about. In high school some friends of mine were over and we had rented this but I wasn't really paying attention, someone said that if I wasn't going to actually watch it I should just turn it off. That was some of the best advice I've ever received in my life.

I asked TaraB what I should write about, she said, "probably kittens." If you were hoping you could use that as your blog's name, too late, some girl took it, but she only wrote once last May, so maybe she will give it to you. However, your band, album, or book can all be named "Probably Kittens" if you want and you won't run into copy-write issues. Is your cat mysteriously getting fat? Probably kittens⁶.

I don't know if you heard, but the Indianapolis Colts had a rough year, after which they cleaned house, Jim Irsay fired just about everyone he could. Now the question is which players will be returning, with Manning obviously being the biggest question. Irsay has been running his mouth a lot, or his twitter, and has repeatedly made an ass of himself and many think Manning is on his way out of Indy. Here's the thing, Manning made the Colts relevant, he is the greatest quarterback of his generation, possibly any, he deserves to end his career as a coach. No one has asked me what I would do in this situation, but based on what I've read this is what I would suggest: Step one) Manning has offered to restructure his deal to be a pay-for-play option, do this. Then roll the dice with Manning, it's risky but a player like Manning is worth it. Step two) trade the first pick, lots of teams want Luck the Colts probably get three picks this draft and three next year as well, then you build your team. The most important step is no matter what he decides Isray needs to keep his mouth shut. Jim Irsay, consider yourself on notice.

Tim Street says, "calvinism."  I don't know if I'm a calvinist in the purest sense⁷, but we do see eye to eye on a few topics.

Motivation

The Education System

Simplicity

Calvin has some...interesting views on life.

Back to LotR. I think this is my favorite quote from all of the books:

There are many things in the deep waters; and seas and lands may change. And it is not our part here to take thought only for a season, or for a few lives of men, or for a passing age of the world. We should seek a final end of this menace, even if we do not hope to make one. - Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, 319

Sparkles says, "I think you should write...about why the commerce clause is the basis for nearly every constitutional question the supreme court considers." We must first consider commerce as a concept and then take into account the inherent ramifications on both the national and the international zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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¹ But not at all surprised
² That would be the official "D-Bag Warning Notice"
³ It was seriously the most original use of 3D that I've seen in a film
⁴  It's also the title of David Bowe's 1980 album
⁵ Apparently the animation company originally wanted a different show about a giant lion-based super-robot but were sent this one instead
⁶ Unless it's a boy cat, then probably not
⁷ I'm more of a Hobbesist if anything