babies & movies

Congratulations to Talis Kimberly and Simon Fairbourn, who are proud parents of a new daughter:

Philippa Freya Zo|AMP|euml; Fairbourn
Born yesterday morning at 05:44, weighing in at 7lbs 7oz

Thanks to Andrea for posting the news in Blatherchat.

While Ruth and Kaarel saw Lord of the Rings (Ruth's 3rd time, Kaarel's 2nd) and Jeff took Sara and Annie to see Jimmy Neutron at the Paramount yesterday, I stayed at home and slept. I did a lot of sleeping on the weekend, so haven't got a particularly exciting weekend report.

I did catch part of G.I. Jane on tv, which I watched mainly to see the actor who played Aragorn in LOTR. His character in G.I. Jane was somewhat despicable in the movie, so any drooling Aragorn fans out there might think twice before seeing it. :-) Also saw part of Goldeneye, which I watched mainly to see Sean Bean, the actor who played Boromir in LOTR. Wasn't nearly as appealing in the James Bond flick.



LOTR is doing really well at the box office, according to Reuters. As of Friday, the movie had grossed $350 million since its opening. Meanwhile Harry Potter passed $800 million worldwide on the weekend, setting a new record Warner Bros Pictures in North America. I anticipate a lot of bad copycat fantasy movies coming out over the next few years...I'll likely go see them all, no matter how abysmal the trailers. :-)

My dad is reading Lord of the Rings as a result of seeing (and liking) the movie. Except he's skipped ahead and is reading the last book in the trilogy FIRST, argh! He says he wants to find out what happened at the end before reading the entire trilogy (he also bought The Hobbit).

As a writer who thinks carefully about plot and building suspense and so forth, this makes me want to tear my hair out, of course. But then again I know of several friends (one of whom is a professional writer) who make it a regular habit of skipping ahead to the end before reading the entire book. Who am I to dictate other's reading habits? :-)



I'm bad at enduring suspense in the movie theatre. I cringe, I gasp, I sink down in my seat and hide behind my hands. I also sometimes grab the arm of the person next to me. Jeff claims I've drawn blood. Some of my friends won't sit beside me in theatres anymore.

What about you? Do you let yourself be emotionally manipulated by movies? (Do you even enjoy it sometimes, like I do? :-)) Feel free to answer in Blatherchat.



Today's Blatherpics:

The first three photos were taken in a grocery store in Chesapeake, Virginia, when I was visiting Moira Allen. The first photo is apparently some kind of flavouring that you insert into a chicken's back end before cooking (hence the name "Brew Butt").

One of the photos is of a whole cheeseburger in the frozen foods section. I know you Americans are probably used to this sort of thing (I recall seeing something similar when I lived in Philly), but I've never seen a Toronto grocery store offering an entire burger (with the bread, trimmings, etc.) you could just stick in the microwave. I'd be curious to hear from any of you who have actually tried this.

The last photo is of the Get Well card that my niece Annie made me yesterday. :-)

Today's Poll:

Have you ever skipped ahead to read the end of an engrossing book because you couldn't stand the suspense?