Happy Winter Solstice! And happy beginning of the Fourth Age, according to the Long Count Calendar of the Maya!

(In case you're looking for some "holiday" listening, my analysis of the pop culture phenomenon surrounding 2012 - from history to science to fantasy - is available in two of my "Looking Back on Genre History" segments for StarShipSofa: ( Read more... )

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in my latest poll. It's still open, if anyone else wishes to take part!

And now, after three viewings, I think it's time for me to write up some thoughts on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Spoilers ahead!


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I've seen The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey twice now, and I'm planning to work up a proper review shortly. Nutshell version: it's definitely a flawed film (mostly related to the writing and special effects), but the positives far outweigh the negatives, and I enjoyed it more than any of Jackson's adaptations since The Fellowship of the Ring. The ( Read more... )

* Last call for holiday cards! If you'd like one from me, please reply here. Many thanks!

* Happy birthday to tuesday_darling, and happy early birthday to juliakarr, janellemadigan, mguibord, gypsyjr, tuilelindowen, whswhs, and arkhamdenizen. May all of you enjoy many happy returns of the day!

I've been thinking a lot about Bilbo Baggins, both because of the soon-to-be-released The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey film and in ( Read more... )

I can't believe tonight's the final lecture of my twelve-week graduate course. What a fantastic group of students I've had the privilege of working with! Next up: I'm going to spend the next week or so putting to bed my two outstanding projects, both of which have been wailing for my attention ( Read more... )

Happy Monday, everyone!

I'm pretty much buried under a couple of projects at the moment (including the Secret One of [Temporary] Secretness), so please forgive me if I'm quiet for the next few days. I'll be catching up with everyone ASAP.

A few quick notes of possible interest...

• Wiley now has the official book description and ordering ( Read more... )

Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the publication of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit.

Today is the anniversary of the Long-Expected Party celebrating Bilbo's eleventy-first birthday and Frodo's coming of age in The Lord of the Rings. Happy birthday to Bilbo and Frodo Baggins! It was on this day that Bilbo gave his infamous birthday speech, saying ( Read more... )

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Hi there! *waves* Lots of interesting things are afoot. I can only make brief mention of a couple of them at present, as I'm getting ready to head off to D.C. to give a talk on U.S. American Indian policy at the Cato Institute. It's a super-fast trip; I'll be back straightaway!

Brief notes of interest...

* It's official: The Hobbit will be three ( Read more... )

So many fantastic people were born on or around this day. Happy birthday wishes to agentxpndble, arymetore, caster121, and syrcleoftrees! And happy early birthday wishes to ghislainem70, tudorpumpkin, xjenavivex, lizziebelle, zmaddoc, supermusicmad, and wiccagirl24. May all of you enjoy a brilliant day, my dear friends, and a fabulous year to come!

A few quick items:

* I was offline much of yesterday due to a fun series of thunderstorms. I'm catching up now!

* ( Read more... )