Miscellany in the morning.

When writing fic:

Please don't...Make your horses
a) whimper
b) pant, without being in any kind of distress
c) have black blazes
d) purr (!)

Please don't...Have your 19th-century cowboys use a term like "sexual harrassment," especially when describing the behavior of one man towards another.

* * *

Been getting some very nice "I want one" comments for my Riven beetle reproduction over at Mystcommunity...combined with the reception it got on myst_library, maybe I ought to think about making them to sell. Not sure yet. I actually made the thing a couple years ago, so it's been a while since I looked at it closely. I could probably make others by carefully taking this one apart and making a mold of it.

Mostly, though, I have no idea how to ship it.

Miscellany in the morning.

When writing fic:

Please don't...Make your horses
a) whimper
b) pant, without being in any kind of distress
c) have black blazes
d) purr (!)

Please don't...Have your 19th-century cowboys use a term like "sexual harrassment," especially when describing the behavior of one man towards another.

* * *

Been getting some very nice "I want one" comments for my Riven beetle reproduction over at Mystcommunity...combined with the reception it got on myst_library, maybe I ought to think about making them to sell. Not sure yet. I actually made the thing a couple years ago, so it's been a while since I looked at it closely. I could probably make others by carefully taking this one apart and making a mold of it.

Mostly, though, I have no idea how to ship it.

Oh freddled gruntbuggly...

So I went to see Hitchhiker's Guide yesterday. Hadn't planned on seeing it so soon, as being a long-time HHGTTG fan I had some reservations about how it would turn out, especially as DNA is no longer with us. But my friends brought it up, and I thought, oh well, I'll see it sooner or later anyway.

In short:

First half: excellent.

Second half: hit or miss, but still entertaining.

Quick non-spoiler-y comments:

Stephen Fry is the narrator? What rock have I been under that I didn't even know he was involved in the movie?

It took me most of the movie to realize Sam Rockwell was also in Galaxy Quest. His Zaphod is completely not what I was expecting, but it worked for me. Though I'm a bit less fond of the "second head" gag in this version; it's an elaborate character trait that in this incarnation I'm not sure is really all that funny.

Also in the "not what I was expecting but" category: Mos Def as Ford. Here's a strange confession: Ford has right from the start looked like, in my head, Chow Yun-Fat circa mid-'80s (which is when I first read the books). Mos' Ford still doesn't mesh well with the Ford in my head, but he plays the role with enough charm and appeal that I'm happy to watch him.

Third but not least in this category: the Book's displays. I love them, and am happy to let them supplant the text-only version of the Book in my head.

Speaking of supplanting, the movie pretty much lives and dies by the portrayal of Arthur, and I was thrilled to find that after the first five minutes, Martin Freeman was Arthur Dent for me. He also brings some marvelous touches to the part: there's a scene where he's nearly in tears at the sight of something (being vague here so as not to spoil); I had never thought about it that way, but it's dead on.

::checks imdb:: Whoa, Hugh Laurie and Jack Davenport were at one time considered for the role? Now that would've been something to see.

Marvin is marvelously-voiced by Alan Rickman, but I never, throughout the course of the entire movie, bought Marvin's look. I really had trouble seeing it as Marvin; just couldn't get my head around it. Closest I could get was seeing it as an android character who happened to have Marvin's lines.

Best thing about the movie: the virtual smorgasbord of referential jokes. So much for my worries about this movie not being made with love.

I'm a little alarmed to discover that, after not having read the books for a few years, I can still recite Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz's poem off the top of my head. Fortunately, my friends didn't notice.

* * *

I thought about re-reading the books last night, but hesitated to find them. My paperbacks, which have the old "jeering green planet" covers, were trashed years ago by someone who I loaned them to. I still have them somewhere; they're just beat up beyond belief. This was long before those covers went out of print, or I would never have let them out of my hands! At least my Radio Scripts is in pretty good shape; it's a UK printing that I stumbled across in a Canadian airport shop and promptly snatched up despite the inflated price; this was a couple years before the US printing came out. I never loaned that one out--I knew better! I still regret not picking up the UK printings of the books, the ones with the picture-matching puzzles on the covers, when I was in England in the early '90s. Oh well. Maybe I can find the "green planet" covers on ebay?

Oh freddled gruntbuggly...

So I went to see Hitchhiker's Guide yesterday. Hadn't planned on seeing it so soon, as being a long-time HHGTTG fan I had some reservations about how it would turn out, especially as DNA is no longer with us. But my friends brought it up, and I thought, oh well, I'll see it sooner or later anyway.

In short:

First half: excellent.

Second half: hit or miss, but still entertaining.

Quick non-spoiler-y comments:

Stephen Fry is the narrator? What rock have I been under that I didn't even know he was involved in the movie?

It took me most of the movie to realize Sam Rockwell was also in Galaxy Quest. His Zaphod is completely not what I was expecting, but it worked for me. Though I'm a bit less fond of the "second head" gag in this version; it's an elaborate character trait that in this incarnation I'm not sure is really all that funny.

Also in the "not what I was expecting but" category: Mos Def as Ford. Here's a strange confession: Ford has right from the start looked like, in my head, Chow Yun-Fat circa mid-'80s (which is when I first read the books). Mos' Ford still doesn't mesh well with the Ford in my head, but he plays the role with enough charm and appeal that I'm happy to watch him.

Third but not least in this category: the Book's displays. I love them, and am happy to let them supplant the text-only version of the Book in my head.

Speaking of supplanting, the movie pretty much lives and dies by the portrayal of Arthur, and I was thrilled to find that after the first five minutes, Martin Freeman was Arthur Dent for me. He also brings some marvelous touches to the part: there's a scene where he's nearly in tears at the sight of something (being vague here so as not to spoil); I had never thought about it that way, but it's dead on.

::checks imdb:: Whoa, Hugh Laurie and Jack Davenport were at one time considered for the role? Now that would've been something to see.

Marvin is marvelously-voiced by Alan Rickman, but I never, throughout the course of the entire movie, bought Marvin's look. I really had trouble seeing it as Marvin; just couldn't get my head around it. Closest I could get was seeing it as an android character who happened to have Marvin's lines.

Best thing about the movie: the virtual smorgasbord of referential jokes. So much for my worries about this movie not being made with love.

I'm a little alarmed to discover that, after not having read the books for a few years, I can still recite Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz's poem off the top of my head. Fortunately, my friends didn't notice.

* * *

I thought about re-reading the books last night, but hesitated to find them. My paperbacks, which have the old "jeering green planet" covers, were trashed years ago by someone who I loaned them to. I still have them somewhere; they're just beat up beyond belief. This was long before those covers went out of print, or I would never have let them out of my hands! At least my Radio Scripts is in pretty good shape; it's a UK printing that I stumbled across in a Canadian airport shop and promptly snatched up despite the inflated price; this was a couple years before the US printing came out. I never loaned that one out--I knew better! I still regret not picking up the UK printings of the books, the ones with the picture-matching puzzles on the covers, when I was in England in the early '90s. Oh well. Maybe I can find the "green planet" covers on ebay?