Thoughts from the Other Side

This is it...

...my last blog from Scotland. Zach and I did most of our packing last night and I just have some laundry to finish up so I can toss the rest of my clothes in my bag. I really can't believe its over. The last four months have gone by so fast that I'm sort of stunned. This place isn't a foreign country anymore...its been home for so long that I feel like I should be writing my cross-cultural about the trip back.

I've learned alot since being here. I've seen many things that I never thought I'd be able to see. I took a tour of the Highlands and spent a day on Skye...I went to Paris...I climbed the Wallace Monument...and of course many other things. I think I'll go berserk if for some reason my pictures don't come out.

But I think that out of everything, I'm definitely going to miss my flat the most. I'll miss the all-night card games we've had in the last month. Spades is not going to be the same without seeing Duncan's poker faces or hearing Tanisha screaming at someone who took her trick or trading insults with Curt and attempting to learn some Irish words from Lisa. I'm definitely going to miss the parties too...I'm definitely going to be teaching Kings to people back home. :)

This trip has been an amazing experience... Its probably the best thing I've ever done and I'm really going to miss living here. But I'm ready to come home too...there's some people I want to see again. :) To everyone in my flat family...take care. When Cat and Duncan come to visit we are definitely going to have to get together at least once. Keep in touch and take lots of pictures for me and Zach, I'll do the same. To everyone back home...look out 'cause here I come. Covenant had best be ready...

This is Steele...signing off for now. Next broadcast will be live from America.

Cheers!

Hail to the King baby!

Shameless reference to Army of Darkness, I know. I couldn't resist. I think its fitting that my 100th blog should also coincide with my review of Return of the King. Somehow it just works.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm slightly fanatical about this stuff (consider yourselves warned). I read the trilogy for the first time when I was 7 or 8 and I've read it at least 5 or 6 more times since then. My dad and I have been known to have discussions of the books and/or movies that last for hours... Ever since I first read the books I've waited to see the movies, because of this, what I witnessed last night was the culminating cinematic experience of my 20 years on this earth. It was amazing...perhaps even beyond amazing. If I were never to see another movie, I would still be content.

But I won't force spoilers upon those who haven't seen it yet. Continue at your own risk.

When I came out of the theater after seeing The Fellowship of the Ring, I felt kind of euphoric. Seeing Tolkien's vision come to life for the first time was an incredibly powerful experience for me. I proceeded to see that movie four more times before it left the theater, with each viewing bringing some new aspect of the film to light (I love it when that happens...). Then last year I saw The Two Towers and left feeling a bit disgruntled. As amazing as it was to see Rohan, resplendent Edoras sitting on the hill, and as lifelike as Gollum was, why did they have to 'kill' Aragorn? Why did Faramir have to take Frodo and Sam to Osgiliath? I left with the image of Gandalf charging down the hill to Helm's Deep with all of the Rohirrim following him, an image that still gives me chills, but I also left with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I was afraid that after all my anticipation, I was only setting myself up for disappointment. Repeated viewings and many intense discussions with various people have since made me appreciate at least some of the changes Peter Jackson et. al. made to that story. The scenes with Arwen and Aragorn actually ARE in the book...you just have to check the appendix. And as appalling as Faramir's decision was at the time, how else was Jackson going to portray Sauron's acceptance of the belief that the Ring was going to Gondor? I still don't like it, but I understand why it was done.

With that said, Return of the King makes up for ANY and ALL adaptational liberties that Jackson may have taken. For the past year everyone has been hearing him and the actors talking about how this third film is better than the other two together. Obviously I met these statements with a healthy degree of skepticism, but in the end they were most certainly correct. Return of the King is, for lack of a better description, a masterpiece. I know that statement is going to be met with cynical replies from some, but I will hold to it. The story manages to create the largest, most complex battle ever displayed and then meshes that with all the individual character stories that make the trilogy so amazing. Finally we get to see the hobbits take the center stage and they never really leave it. There's a scene at the end immediately following the crowning of Aragorn that really moved me. Finally, the hobbits are shown as the heroes, even saviours that they are.

The whole film is full of images...scenes that I want to rewind over and over again so I can soak up all that is there. Gandalf coming to the aid of the fleeing defenders of Osgiliath... The charge of the Rohirrim is awe inspiring...there's no other way to describe it. Shelob comes to life and scared the hell out of me...and everyone else in the theater. Grond battering down the gates of Minas Tirith...beautiful, yet so disturbing for it signals the fall of the city. The final stand of the men of the west at the black gates... The eagles... The destruction of the ring... The crowning of Aragorn and honoring of the hobbits... The farewells... Its all there, everything I read growing up. How can one movie mean so much?

I truly respect what Jackson did with Gollum. Moving past the visual spectacle that he is (and the CGI is amazing), Andy Serkis deserves a raise. Anyone who was worried about the almost cutesy way he was portrayed in TT need not fear. From the very beginning of ROTK we are shown a very different Gollum, going all the way back to the beginning when his friend/brother found the ring. He's treacherous, ruthless, and pitiable, all at the same time. The way he interacts with Frodo and Sam is amazing, more than once I had to remind myself that he's not actually there.

Aragorn's journey into the Paths of the Dead was chilling...for the first time do we see him take up the mantle of the king. Any misgivings I had about Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn dissolved during the movie. He really came into his own. The same with Theoden. I was fairly impressed with him in TT, but I felt something was missing. Not anymore. He has a scene with Eowyn towards the middle of the film which is truly wonderful. Gandaf also works perfectly. People who see this movie are going to laugh at seeing Ian McKellen running into battle and wielding a sword like a warrior, but they have to realize that Gandalf is not an old man. He's a spirit, one of the Istari (like Saruman) and the body he inhabits is merely a shell. The dialogue between Gandalf and Pippin alone should be enough to warrant some sort of award nomination. Speaking of Pippin, he and Merry really come through in this movie. I would say Pippin more so as I feel Billy Boyd is the better actor, but both leave the goofiness of their former selves behind and grow up tremendously in a very short time. Frodo and Sam are also amazing. As much as I love these movies I always felt that Elijah Wood was a bit of a weak spot as Frodo, but again ROTK puts those thoughts to rest. But contrary to what most people believe, he is not the hero of the story. That title really has to go to Sam. For everyone who keeps chanting Rudy in their heads, Sean Astin has officially adopted a new persona. He truly does become Sam...in every way. I can't really explain it better than that without quoting lines and that would spoil too much for certain people who haven't read the books... :)

Bringing this long-winded discussion to a close, I really think this movie accomplishes what Tolkien would have wanted. After a long journey, each and every character arrives at the destination set out for them. The king is crowned, evil is destroyed, homecomings are made, a ship leaves, and a hobbit goes home (two very emotional scenes too). As I look back at these movies as a whole, something I was unable to do until now, I am amazed at just how effective Peter Jackson actually was at telling this story. At the end of the books, one thing that always runs through my mind is the amazement at how much everyone has changed from their original personae. This same thing is accomplished almost perfectly by the end of ROTK. Yes, there are more 'adaptational liberties' taken in this film and yes, people will be upset by them. But everyone has to remember that this is not 'J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.' This is 'The Lord of the Rings'...directed by Peter Jackson. People who are upset because he changed certain features of the story need to understand that a perfect conversion would have been nearly impossible. What Jackson set out to do was tell an abridged version of the story...to convey the emotions of the story...to take his audience on the same journey as his characters. And he did that. What he accomplished through these three films is something that has never been done before...by ANYONE. He's certainly not a hack, anything but that. Jackson had a vision, and he showed the world that vision in a way which should earn him the respect of all.

Aren't I creative?

One of the beautiful things about being done with school is that you can bum around on the internet without having a specific goal on your mind, and without feeling like an idiot for procrastinating.

If any of you are, like me, just waiting around until its time to go home for Christmas, this place is a lot of fun. Wish I could have been this good with scissors when I was kid...

Two more hours until my flatmates and I head down to see Return of the King...I can't wait. Expect a review soon.

I love the feeling of freshly printed paper

Maybe its just a mental thing. As in, I just spent a pretty good length of time creating these papers and its nice to finally see them manifested here in my hands.

I dunno...whatever the case may be:

Hehe. I love this feeling. I feel so free, released of responsibility...

The flat is having a goodbye party tonight. Sadly we've already lost Lisa to her Irish brethren (and a bad virus), but everyone else is still around. I have a feeling this is going to be a depressing week overall. Cat leaves tomorrow, Curt and Duncan on Thursday or Friday and Liz on Saturday. Me and Zach are going to be practically all alone for several days...we should've booked earlier flights. Just 7 more days.

Before running off to take care of a few things for the part tonight, I want to leave you all with a new list. Something different this time...a new genre, in honor of school being done.

Explanation: These aren't necessarily celebration songs...just songs you listen to when you've just accomplished something big...like finishing school.

5. 'Going Under' -- Evanescence
4. 'I Wanna Rock' -- Twisted Sister
3. 'Numb' -- Linkin Park
2. 'Sweet Child O' Mine' -- Guns n' Roses
1. 'Tribute' -- Tenacious D

Almost...finished...

I only have one more paper to finish and then I'm done for good. I've spent more time in front of a computer this past week than most of the rest of this semester combined...2000 more words. I can do this...

We had to say goodbye to one of our flatmates yesterday. Lisa wasn't feeling well and she had already finished her classes so she went home a bit early. It was really sad...I can't believe its that time of the year already.

We're going to have some sort of party tomorrow night before everyone else takes off. There will probably be much Spades and Rummy and Oh Hell going on...then we're all going to see Return of the King on Wednesday. I can't think of a better way to wind the semester up. Zach and I will be pretty much alone on the flat for the beginning of next week. I need to go to Edinburgh again and I want to do some Christmas shopping too. Between that and packing I should be kept pretty busy.

Ok...got to go finish this paper.... Wish me luck.

Ladies and Gentlemen...its over.

Sometime during Iraq's Saturday evening coalition forces conducted a raid on the outskirts of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown....and they got him.

I'm speechless...nothing really to say. I'd throw up a link, but there's really no need. Just head on over to your web newsite of choice.

Its over....

Mesmerized...

That's me right now. I've spent pretty much the entire day in front of my flatmate Liz's (if you read this, thanks again for letting me borrow it) laptop screen. Had a brief break for dinner and a quick game of rummy, but other than that I've been at it pretty much all day. So far I've put the finishing touches on my Swift paper (it rounds out at about 2750 words) and I'm roughly 1700 words along in my Burns paper. Zach and I both vowed not to sleep until our 18th century papers were finished so I still have a ways to go yet before I can retire. I figure maybe...700-800 more words and then I can call it a night. Then I can research my Victorian Lit paper tomorrow afternoon and start writing on Sunday. Who knows? I might even be finished by Tuesday... That would be really cool. :)

I know that whole thing was really boring for those of you who actually read it so here's some more funness...

...in keeping with my current theme, I present the newest top 5!

5. Michelle Pfeiffer/Gwyneth Paltrow
4. Madeline Stowe
3. Uma Thurman
2. Nicole Kidman
1. Jennifer Connelly

Have at it!

The joys of being random

All kinds of stuff to talk about tonight for some reason. For starters, I'm holding off with the new top 5 list until tomorrow. I'm sorry to disappoint any of you that were actually looking forward to it, I promise it will go up tomorrow morning. Speaking of the lists, I'm really happy with the comments everyone has been putting up. Keep visiting...keep writing stuff. Makes things interesting. :)

Now for something random...

This semester I've primarily been using the student email account that GU gave me. However, I obviously cannot access the Wittenburg Door from there so I am still required to go through Covenant's ridiculously slow webmail system in order to get to it. As I was slogging my way through the unecessary amount of icons which must be loaded before I can do anything, I decided to open the latest issue of a disturbingly large amount of spam I have received from my fellow students over the course of the semester (didn't there used to be some sort of fine for campus spamming?). The subject line for this email was 'Men of the Mountain.' Now, I'm sure many people who are reading this very blog also received this very same email. Upon opening it, I was bombarded with large blocky letters, all in different colors. These letters were advertising for a new calendar which was compiled this semester, made up entirely of male Covenant students chosen specifically for their ability to be "really really really ridiculously good looking!" I sat there for a minute, rolling around in my mind the concept presented by the email in front of me. My initial reaction was confusion. Then a bit of anger, and then feelings of despair settled in.

I mean, I can understand the concept of a model calendar. They're everywhere. You can get calendar's for everyone from Justin Timberlake to the Olsen twins. But its always kind of bugged me that at Covenant its considered to be okay for women to have pictures of "hotties" posted all over their walls, but if a guy were to do it there would be accusations bordering on the pornographic. And I digress...

I don't know. I guess it just frustrates me that Covenant has sunk so low that we can now get away with huge emails advertising for calendars featuring pictures of Covenant students...a concept which to me graphically suggests the sexual frustration which runs rampant all over our campus. I wonder what the reaction were to be if someone were to somehow find enough female students to make a calendar for the guys. I have a feeling it wouldn't be seen as funny or cute...more likely it would be met by unfettered outrage by the majority of the school population. Oh what a biased world we live in.

And a little more randomness...

Thankfully not all of what I saw online today was frustrating. I also stumbled upon the latest from Penny-Arcade. Its great...I strongly suggest that you all check it out.

13 more days until Steele and Zach cross the big blue sea...

Even Leprechauns have birthdays

That's right folks. Yesterday my friend, roommate, hallmate, and fellow-traveler, the simian/leprechaun Zach celebrated his 20th birthday. You know what's cool about turning 20 in Scotland? It means that you can actually go to a pub to commemorate. Almost everyone on our flat went down to an Irish pub last night... Its a place with a nearly unspellable name (maybe Lisa will read this and correct me) but you pronounce it something like 'Yushkevah.' We bought Zach a couple pints and played some rousing games of the Spades-derivative card game called 'Oh Hell.' Great stuff.

After the pub we all hiked back up to Hillhead St and our flat and watched The Two Towers. Think of it as a kind of warm-up session for Return of the King next week. Obviously I can't speak for the man, but I think the whole thing was alot of fun. I'm sure you'll be able to catch some sort of summary from him at some point on his blog.

Later on today I'm going peruse the Wittenburg Door and try to find a new Jeff Kyle Quote of the day so keep your eyes peeled. On the off-chance that any readers are actually interested in coming events, I may also be tossing up another top 5 list in the near future...your input is, as always, appreciated. I'm now off to try be productive for a little while.

Wow...

As of today I've been over here in Scotland for 100 days. That's really scary for some reason. But, have no fear. Only 14 more days until me and Zach come back to crash Covenant's party. Let the countdown begin! :)

2 down...2 to go...

I just put the finishing touches on my presentation on Robinson Crusoe for Restoration Literature. I've got to actually present it in just over an hour. I also am putting the final revisions on my paper on the varieties of satire in Swift for the same class. All together that's about 4500 words written...I feel pretty good right now.

Unfortunately, I have two more papers to research and write by next Wednesday so I can't exactly call it a semester yet. One of them is going to be on Robert Burns' use of persona in his poetry (18th Scottish Lit) and the other will be something involving Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker (Victorian Lit). Give me another 4500-5000 words and I should be good to go. Then I can go celebrate by watching Return of the King with my flatmates.

Here's a new top 5 list for you...

...please note that this is not necessarily for the greatest actors of all time. Just your favorite actors. It can be anyone.

5. Tom Hanks
4. Brad Pitt
3. Daniel Day-Lewis
2. Sean Penn
1. Johnny Depp

Post your favorites...

Freezing Goodness

Well it finally got cold here. I've been in Scotland for about 3 and a half months now and the entire time I've been kicking myself for bringing so much cold weather stuff. Then, this morning there was frost and ice everywhere. As of 3:30 this afternoon the ground was still completely frosted over and the sun was already going down...I love it. The best news though, is that its supposed to rain tonight. Who knows, maybe we'll get some snow before I leave after all. That would be nice.

In other news, I tossed up a new Jeff Kyle quote in honor of Mesh. Its a pretty good one too. I apologize for going so long with out a new one. I'll try to be a little more frequent with the JK updates from now on :)

Championship Vinyl

Me and my flatmate Curt have this not-really-a-competition-but-sort-of type thing going on right now where we each try to come up with really good movies to rent that other people on the flat haven't seen. His latest entry was The Sting with Robert Redford and Paul Newman. Great movie. I was a bit skeptical at first, but by the end I was loving it. My last pick was High Fidelity, starring John Cusack and Jack Black. I really love that movie. Its quite funny in parts (mostly the parts with Jack Black) and quite romantic in others, despite the main plotline of the film.

I was thinking about that movie yesterday and I realized that I now have a new ploy with which I can fill many more blogs. Its something I've always kind of wanted to do anyway, but kept forgetting to actually implement. So...I thought I'd start doing some top 5 lists. I'm always talking with people about favorite movies and actors and actresses and bands and stuff anyways, so why not start coming up with lists? Its the pasttime of the guys in Championship Vinyl, why not start it here too? And before someone like Zach or Nut says something, I do realize that there is no place called Championship Vinyl. At least not one owned by John Cusack.

Anyways, the first list is....

...rather general actually. I'll see how this goes and maybe get more specific later.

5. Fight Club
4. Kill Bill vol 1
3. The Shawshank Redemption
2. Mystic River
1. The Lord of the Rings

Ok, so I know I kind of cheated on that last one, but oh well. This list changes quite frequently. More so than I would like actually, but I can't really help the fact that my taste in movies shifts around so much.

It would be awesome if at least a couple of the people who are reading this would post their favorite movies. It doesn't really have to be a top 5. It could just be one. Whatever. This is yet another attempt to get more discussion going in the comment regions of this place. I am now going to return to being productive and finish my Jonathan Swift essay. I'm currently sitting at something in the area of 2600 words and I have at least two more hours to put into this thing. Wish me luck...

Tickets and departures

I'm a happy man. This afternoon I bought tickets for me and Zach to go see The Return of the King on opening day. Its a big relief since I was kind of worried everything would be sold out before I heard they were on sale (advertising is terrible). But now its all good :) Still have to get train tickets. . .

I haven't really had much to blog about lately. I've been kind of swamped by papers I'm trying to write (mostly unsucessfully I might add) and things have been pretty uneventful in general of late. Its just now dawning on me that I'll be leaving here in a little over 2 weeks. Scary. This place has been my home for awhile now and my flatmates have been my family. I feel like I should be writing my Cross-cultural papers on the shock of coming home...instead of the other way around.

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to being home and seeing everyone and everything that I know and love once again. But at the same time, I'm really going to miss this place. I'll miss the raucous, wide-ranging conversations our flat has during meals and parties. Conversations which would probably cause most Covenant students to run screaming from the room, but which I greatly enjoy myself. I'll miss being able to do my schoolwork with the assistance of a good beer. I'll miss playing rummy with one or two people who've had a little too much to drink. I'm going to miss 54A. . .the place, the people, the experiences. . .shoot, I'll even miss our SR and cleaning lady in some weird, twisted kind of way. :)

There's alot of things I'm going to miss.

Simply amazing

I was going to put up another Jeff Kyle Quote of the Day today, but after reading the current events on the e-door I came up with a better idea. Below you will find the transcript of an exchange between Covenant's Cliff Foreman (professor in the English Dept) and Jeff Kyle.

A little context: Dr. Foreman is responding to a recent post by David Phillips who wrote an entire entry in lower case.

Dr. Foreman:

"youprobablycanreadthisbutitisprobablyharderthanifihadusedpropermechanics
whichiwhytheywereinventedorelseeverythingwouldbelikeromaninscriptionsbut
atleastispelledthewordscorrectly."

Jeff Kyle:

"You spelled the words right, but your statement didn’t make sense at one part when you said towards the middle “whichiwhy.” It doesn’t make sense. I know you probably meant to say “which is why” and you just forgot the s. Just thought I’d point that out."

Dr. Foreman:

"yougotthepointbutifihadsaiditsnotimpotantyoumightthinkiwastalkingaboutsome
sortofsexualproblemwhichisbecauseofambiguityanothermatteraltogether."

I can't wait to take classes with this man.

Can you smell it? (LOTR pictures)

Last night was the world premier for The Return of the King, held in Wellington, New Zealand. There was a hugnanimous parade through the city which ended at the steps of the theater and which was cheered by over 100,000 denizens of the city (roughly 3/4 of the overall population).

It is my fervent hope that everyone who is reading this has at least heard of trilogy of movies Peter Jackson has spent the last 7 years of his life making, at a cost of over $250 million dollars. If you haven't, I am now going to resist the urge to lash out irrationally. Instead, I'd like to encourage anyone who hasn't seen these movies (*coughCatcough*) to start watching them ASAP...the final chapter approaches. As a matter of fact, as long as some serious injury does not strike itself upon me I will be watching this final part of the trilogy in exactly 16 days. I cannot wait...

I am now going to post a bunch of pictures I've come across over the past few days which show scenes from the new movie. If you haven't read the books and don't want to have the story spoiled, don't click the link below. Otherwise, I invite you to whet your appetite.

Enjoy. . .

The next two weeks are going to be way too long.