The Hobbit Trilogy and A Prison Riot

 

Well, I have done it.  I have watched all three of The Hobbit movies on DVD.  I laughed, I cried, I got sweaty palms sometimes, but I did it.

I thought it was quite a good story (it must be 15 years since I read the book) although it seemed to drag out sometimes, possibly because I was watching the extended version.  The final battle dragged out for so long that it became tedious, but overall, I enjoyed my nine hours of viewing.

The three movies were 1) An Unexpected Journey, 2) The Desolation of Smaug, and 3) The Battle of the Five Armies.

Waikeria Men’s Prison has been the focus of a prisoner riot the last few days.  Waikeria is a large rural area south of Hamilton, with multiple ‘prisons’ for various category prisoners. 

The men involved say they were “protesting inhumane conditions,” and they are probably right.  I have heard that prisoner treatment is not always as good as it could (or should) be, and the building involved here has been classed as unfit for use but was still being used while another facility was erected.

However, the men have been using very violent tactics to get their message through.  Nearly the whole of their unit has been burnt down and dangerous threats were being made to staff, but I see on the News just now that the remaining 16 men have thankfully handed themselves over to the authorities.

We have had some heavy showers here today, with a lot of thunder crashing around over lunchtime.  When the sun peeps through the clouds all the steam rises off the house roofs and we open all the windows to try and catch the smallest bit of breeze to make the humidity more pleasant.

As I am about to post this we have had another mighty crash of thunder followed by the call of a pheasant and the raucous squawk of a blue heron.  I guess birds are no more fond of thunderstorms than the rest of us!

Have a great day 😊

Margaret.

 

Watching The Hobbit

What better way to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon than watching the extended version of The Hobbit. 

I have actually never sat down and watched The Hobbit series before, although I enjoyed the Lord Of The Rings series.  So far I have watched the first movie, An Unexpected Journey, and am now half way through the second, The Desolation Of Smaug.

By tonight I will probably have also completed the third and last tale, The Battle of the Five Armies.

I watched the Lord of the Rings movies as they came out in the theatre – after the first one, my children refused to go with me because I laughed too much!  Apparently it is not meant to be funny, but I found parts of it hilarious.

It is the same now with The Hobbit.  I have had several good laughs which apparently I should not have.  But the stories are too over the top to be taken seriously, and therefore I view them as comedies.  Am I strange?

When I saw the last of the LOTR movies I found another woman with the same sense of humour.  We sat in the theatre laughing together at the most inappropriate times – and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

I will probably watch the Lord of the Rings again once I finish The Hobbit, as it is years now since I last saw it.  Son has both series in the extended versions as he is a fan of this type of story.

I was so impressed with one speech by Gandelf the wizard that I copied it down.  I thought it was appropriate for our current times:

“Sauron believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I’ve found.  I’ve found it is the small things, the everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keeps the darkness at bay;  it is the simple acts of kindness and love.”

Stay loving and kind to each other, and it will help us survive through this current crisis.

Margaret.

Emma, the Movie

The weather has changed!  This afternoon we have full cloud cover, with rain clouds showing in places, but it is yet to rain.  The temperature is oppressive, with no wind, but we are forecast a 40% chance of rain in the next couple of hours.  Here’s hoping!

On Tuesdays one of our local cinemas has a discount day for movies, so I went along this morning and saw Emma.

I know other movies have been made of this Jane Austen classic, and I have seen most of them, but I still enjoyed this one even with its few modern twists (such as getting a blood nose when proposed to!). 

It is a lovely story and the clothes and home décor are always a joy to see. 

There is nothing more annoying than reaching a critical part of a movie and having someone’s phone begin ringing!  Being a good citizen, I had my phone sound turned off throughout the movie, and then received several messages when I turned it on again. 

One message was from my daughter.  I am so glad we have technology in our lives and we can text each other in an instant over a distance of thousands of miles.  I shudder to think how families coped when the only contact between countries was mail via a three month journey on board a ship.  No wonder they looked forward to receiving letters!

With the movie finishing at lunchtime, I went to the foodcourt at the shopping centre to treat myself to some lunch.  The café had no sandwiches, one expensive dried-up meat pie, and lots and lots of cakes.  No.  The sushi shop sold each piece separately and had them all sitting out in the open.  No.  The roast shop (they make meals but also nice sandwiches) never came to serve me even though I stood there some minutes.  No.  In the end, I went to good old faithful McDonalds and bought a quarter-pounder burger.  No waiting, no fuss, and I knew exactly what I was getting even if it was not exactly what I wanted.

Stopped off to buy petrol on my way home.  It was still $2.02 per litre, when I thought it might have come down in price a little as they have been saying on the news that it was meant to drop.  Maybe it had been dearer but I hadn’t bought any (it was this price two weeks ago when I last filled up my car).

I was nearly home when son rang to see if I could collect grand-daughter from school as she was not feeling well (son was at work), so turned around and went back into town to meet her.

All morning I had been noticing a lot of Police cars around the city, and on our way home we passed two with their lights flashing and people being spoken  to.  One was outside the local shops, the other outside our local dairy, and son said they saw one this morning outside a house in a neighbouring street.  Makes one wonder what has been going on.  In total I saw ten marked Police cars this morning, plus two ambulances.  Most unusual.

Fingers crossed now that we will get some much needed rain.

Margaret.

Little Women

It has been a while since I have had a day out in town just wandering around.  I went looking for a narrow bookcase but couldn't find what I wanted - I know it is online, so I will have to order it from there.

Filled the car up with petrol and bought myself a couple of new puzzle books, then headed to Chartwell shopping mall. 

Quite accidentally, I met my brother and wife there and it was nice to chat with them for awhile.

Midday found me sitting in the picture theatre with a whole lot of other old women - I felt quite at home! 

We had all come to watch the movie Little Women.  I remember reading the book when I was about 12 years old, so long ago that I had forgotten much of the story.

I loved seeing all the costumes (although I don't think I would want to dress like that today!) and it is a good story with a happy ending - even though I did have to brush away a few tears a couple of times.

Inside the movie theatre

After the movie I drove to Hamilton Lake and went for a short walk.  The place was crowded with children on holiday, all wanting to play in the playground.  Lots of noise!

From there it was a short drive to the supermarket and then back home again.

Hamilton Lake (it wasn't quite this dark, just cloudy)

Now the evening is beginning to draw in.  The sun is shining, the sky is a little cloudy, and the wind has dropped to a comfortable level.  Must be time to go and prepare some dinner.

Margaret.