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BathKol

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Posts posted by BathKol

  1. Yes, I don't quite get what is so bad about fantasy with a conservative worldview. And I don't agree that LoTR has a contrived happy ending.

    Frodo post-quest can never go back to the "eat, drink, and be merry" Hobbit lifestyle. Sam, the plucky sidekick, gets to settle into comfortable domesticity, but not Frodo.

    Agree. I could not read LotR for enjoyment, but I did read many parts to compare to the movies and found the last book, Return of the King, heartbreaking for Frodo.

    I don't consider myself conservative by any means (does being Eastern Orthodox count?), but I don't like fantasy novels that are dogmatic in their anti this/that views. I tried to read 'Mists of Avalon'. I decided to browse through the book when I got home and some of the scenes with Morgase I believe and Arthur were...strange. Okay pornographic. But creepy. I threw the book out and was pissed I had wasted $21 on that crap. I'm not a goody two shoes either - when I was younger I used to read grimories and spell books and tarot cards because I was an idiot and was angry with my dad and thought that was a solution to my problems. Nope.

  2. I would add "Top Chef" as another exception....

    And don't forget Next Food Network Star winner Guy Fieri, who basically half owns the Food Network now.

    That reminds me, the girl Tyra said had the alien face, I've forgotten her name, but her Tyover (heh) was to become bleached blond, had bangs at the final runway walk. It was a big improvement. I think much of Tyra's makeovers are to just make freakish personas for the show. She let that guy last cycle keep his mountain man long hair that looked filthy and greasy every shoot, but she shaved Adam's head when he could have rocked his long locks. Go figure.

    Tyra used to sorta do nice makeovers, but then by cycle seven or eight I don't know what happened to her. I guess she had an epiphany and decided to do whatever she wanted to these people's heads, like rats in a test factory.

    Phil has gotten work but it is mostly in the hipster modeling genre. You still have to be reasonably beautiful to be a major working male model, you know, without too much of anything on you. He's not going to be walking Givenchy or Commes des Garçons with a nappy ass weave growing on his head like a hairy tumor I can tell you that.

  3. Winters in London are actually quite mild compared to most of the US. It rarely dips below 5C and tends to hover in the 10C to 12C range in the winter. Of course, it can often not get much warmer in the summer. And the rain tends to be misty, but often, and barely demands an umbrella. As I type it is 11C there and raining. The sleeves and Justin's back aren't huge warmth issues. I thought Justin's back just looked unflattering even on the thin model. Also, it appeared he went with that approach because he couldn't find a design option for the back that worked with the front. I thought it was a mess.

    Thank you. I noticed, too, how warm it was when we went. My grandmother and I had gone walking along the Thames river one day and it was a high pressure day like in California - deep, clear blue skies, a balmy wind, around 72. It was actually colder in Paris than it was in London. Most mornings started out overcast and sometimes stayed that way. When my mom and grandma had visited a few years back in the winter it only sprinkled.

  4. That's almost one-half million dollars in one year! What the frak? Even after taxes takes half, that's one-quarter million dollars. And I expect that's approximately what he got in the injury settlement, at least one-quarter mil. Isn't THAT enough to get mom out of the projects? Regular people are living on $20,000 (or less) a year and making it work without having to live in the ghetto.

    Either Keith's sob story is a total lie or he's a selfish jackass who took all his NFL money and jacked it away on himself. There's no excuse. Plus he's saying the $50,000 (after taxes) he's getting from ANTM will save his family from the projects. So where the heck was he and his NFL money before that?

    Please. Just thinking about that makes me ill. I wasn't an Adam fan but I would rather have had him win and say he was using his win money to finish grad school and become a mathematician at some university.

    Like I posted earlier, I know someone who was tackled/injured on his way to the field at his very first NFL practice, never even got in one practice much less one game, and was set for life with his settlement. His name is not Keith.

    Unfortunately, they either spend the money on frivolous, useless things or get caught up in legal trouble with the team because they do something stupid, like not reading the contract, and lose it all.

    The only big money sport I understand is horse racing. I am vaguely aware of basketball and tennis because my mom and grandfather are big fans and if I can't wheedle them into watching the Breeder's Cup or local meets I have to sit up and stare at that. Football is a weird world to me.

  5. Sounds like some of you might be interested in Michael Moorcock's somewhat famous essay on why he doesn't like Lord of the Rings: "Epic Pooh"

    Wooh, that's a lot to swallow. I don't agree with his God/Christian ranting (if that's what he's on about?) and since he seems to be a big fan of Philipp Pullman, whose books I tried to re read before donating, so unfortunately I don't think we're on the same page exactly. I just found LotR a bit complicated and massive and vast...

  6. Has anyone else noticed Fabio's fingertips? The nails looked marked, in some way. Does anyone know what that is?

    It could be from handling fabric dye over long periods of time. The cloth smiths of Zanzibar have indigo hands and fingers from soaking linen in big tubs of dye. However, I think it's a weird form of tattooing I've heard about where they mark the skin beneath your nails for the crescent moon look... I have to look next time I'm watching.

  7. I'm pretty neutral on Heidi and Alyssa. All Stars has a much lighter (read: less bitchy) tone than normal PR seasons, mainly because these people have already lived the TV experience and thus, aren't hamming it up as much. Well, except Jay. What a drama kween.

    I don't like Zanna from her vibes - despite the fact she says nothing of any noticeable importance, she's there because she wants to be there. She comes off to me as a bit pinched and narrow, like she has tunnel vision when it comes to fashion and people. Not in a conservative sense, but more or less like those annoying people who love modern art/dance/music and refuse to believe it's hideous and a bit deforming to the human condition. They'll stand up for hours explaining to you that this BLANK canvas with its singular RED dot is an expression of FEAR and doubt in the midst of the emptiness that is MODERN MAN. It's not to say that is not true, but it is most certainly not the best or most beautiful way to represent an idea.

    • Love 2
  8. Whomever did her product design such as the compact colors and lipstick tubes did a tacky job. Looks like drug store quality. I can't vouchsafe for her products as NARS and Smashbox have already done multi use beauty sticks and probably do them better. Lipstick is kind of old now and you can get away with stained balms for more natural color.

    IDK. I'm happy for Tyra and she seems like a relatively versatile woman who has the ability to exist in a market where self-pimping sexuality becomes the norm. Maybe she's getting ready to close the door on ANTM finally? I've been a begrudging fan since its early days and now that C.22 is in casting...it has been over 12 years since this show was considered fresh, divergent, and exciting. It's bad but I hope she ends it before it gets worse.

  9. BathKol, if you found LotR difficult to get through The Silmarillion may be impossible. It was written like an ancient archaic text so it is not something that can be read casually. The stories are marvelous and the history of this world is stunning, but you know any novel that starts with the creation of the earth is going to be dense.

    That's what I was worried about, Haleth (pretty username btw). I just like to try no matter what, because on a recent trip to the bookstore I purchased a copy of Tolkien's short stories and loved them! It took me by surprise. I had a problem with all the characters in LotR vs. the actual story/setting. I don't think Frodo and company had left the shire till about what, chapter 38???? I couldn't take it anymore.

    • Love 1
  10. Yeah, I get you. Just thought I should let you know what the deal is. :)

    Thank you, Joe! I was just worried because in another forum a poster seemed to have gotten upset about something I said in fun only. ;-)

  11. That'll never happen. Christopher Tolkien owns the rights, and is very anti-movie. And when he dies, he'll pass the rights on to someone with the same views. If further Tolkien movies are ever made, it will be when the rights pass into the public domain.

    I am not trying to offend or anything. A lot of people thought this was on the table so I just kind of threw it out there - I'm not a diehard Tolkien fan so I just stay on the fringes of the gossip. The only thing I want is that beautiful illuminated copy that a German ??? art student created for his degree. I've also been meaning to read the book since it gives a general outline to the world but never seem to get around to it.

  12. He brought in a bunch of stuff from the backstory/Tolkien's notes. Even then it feels stretched thin, like butter scraped over too much bread.

    Or trying to put oil paint on tissu paper. Ain't gonna happen.

    To me, Hobbit is just another mega cash cow for probably some future project Jackson is working towards; studios have a tendency to do this before they start production on complicated years long films. I think they'd done better to adapt the Silmarilon (did I spell that right???) than the Hobbit, which is either rumored to be on the table or was originally the direction Jackson was going before TPTB suggested Hobbit as a Christmas Family Adventure Trilogy.

  13. I managed to muddle through The Hobbit, both as assigned reading and later in an effort to do a read along with my husband. It's maybe the very longest short book I've ever read. It's still mind boggling to me that Peter Jackson managed to get three movies out of it.

    Because my husband is such a huge Tolkien fan, I've tried repeatedly to read The Fellowship of the Ring. I've never gotten past the first chapters which seem to go on for about a million pages on the virtues of pipeweed. I've tried and I just can't. I really love the LOTR movies and so every couple of years feel compelled to take another crack at it, but even trying to skip ahead a bit can't seem to make any progress. Yet I managed and really enjoyed George R.R. Martin just fine.

    I found that I loved the Hobbit as a book but am not really impressed with the movies. I'll read anything if it is I interesting but, like you, I found LotR impossible to read as books but gloriously well adapted as movies. I guess all that source material allowed the directors and such to build s concrete storyline.

    On the other hand Peter Jackson is stretching Hobbit pretty thin...because it's a prequel and there aren't a bunch of hobbits and elves and men and wizards and orcs and stuff. The movies are good to watch but not enough to make me want to constantly rewatch.

    On the other hand I am so over the whole post apocalyptic teen novels. When it was Twilight it was 15,000,000 incarnations of sparkly vamps. Werewolves never really caught on as much as I thought - I love 'Blood & Chocolate' and the cheezy movie, too, but I guess that's a good thing? It seems the latest trend now in YA fiction is medieval Renaissance stuff with everybody all over Game of Thrones. I want to read one of the books someday, though the TV show disturbs me. Ew.

  14. I think Saleisha, Whitney, Naima, Krista, Old grandma Lisa, and orange Laura from the college cycle are all worse winners than Keith.

    In many ways they are like the same person incarnated multiple times. But I do agree with you - Keith occupies a different domain in comparison. Saleisha, Whitney, and Laura were dull and pretty much background for most of their seasons. Laura was kind of there but she never really stood out to me so... Naima was just such a let down - everybody on panel built her up soooo much and she just...kinda drifted here and there. Lisa??? I...I have no words, but she seems pretty knowledgable on how TV works. Especially reality TV.

  15. Ugh. They were all horrible walkers and so-so at taking photos. Keith's sexy face looks like an angry face, and I don't get why the judges think it's awesome.

    I can't tell the difference between Keith's sexy face, angry face, bored face, dreamy face, orgasm face, hungry face, pensive face, or sleepy face. He's so stiff and cold - does he have emotions? He's seriously kind of creepy.

    • Love 6
  16. You're right about the Campbell's Soup Go Red challenge, and here are the hideous results. I watched that season and don't recall these horrors. I think I might have selective amnesia.

    That was a terrible challenge in terms of fug. The only thing it did and still does is making me have a serious hankering for a cheese and tomatoes.

    I can't say I am fan of how most designers on this show dress but if you think Americans are the only ones with terrible fashion sense you have definitely never spent any time in the UK.

    I was just joking. Ow.

  17. As a 'One Color" challenge, have they ever done anything for "Go Red for Women" or breast cancer awareness (all pink, all the time)?

    I'll agree with what others have said: The animator responsible for Paddington Bear needs to find a new line of work. How that cuddly bear became cold and kind of creepy is beyond me.

    They did the Campbell Soup for the heart attacks in women campaign red carpet thingie. It was Jay's season - I remember Mila, Mia...Suede??? or Jarrell or somebody of that ilk and Seth Aaron. They had to MAKE SURE to use the Campbell Soup logo and all red with some cream. We might be speaking of the same thing.

    I never was into Paddington Bear, so I found all the squealing and screeching from a bunch of grown ass muthahooting people annoying over a PlayDoh CGI dust bunny on a screen. The only bear I want to see is Winnie the Pooh.

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  18. Bath Kol I agree with you on Sanji being able to wear what she wants since it is a free country. That being said I still think it was fugly and inappropriate. But I often think many of the designers look like they dragged out of bed with no chance to properly dress.

    That must be the old lady in me. I always see celebrities and others and television and think my god why is your ass hanging out, or the girls on full display. Guess I am too uptight and old fashioned, must work on that.

    No no, I understand. Don't feel bad. :-) I have my restrictions, too. I just thought she actually looked pretty good - I refuse to wear anything too short or so tight it hurts.

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  19. Well, if Adam didn't win, he still got top 3, which means I can totally try out for next season as my drag king persona and can probably get pretty far. If you see a really short guy with a weird accent and a much more realistic fake beard than Denzel's, that will be me.

    Don't forget to come up with a really sad, Charles Dickens-esque sob story about how your single momma raised 14 adopted children in a converted warehouse while you mined coal nuggets in a local factory.

    • Love 6
  20. Isn't Keith's mom gay? I seem to remember him saying something like that after Denzel made another homophobic comment.

    Also, I just have to say that my 8-year-old niece is the reason why I know who 2NE1 is. *blush*

    Yeah, his moms are lesbian or whatever. I still think he was assembled in a laboratory cause he's so robotic and weird. His voice creeps me out. HE creeps me out. Weirdo.

    Your niece is awesome. :-) I haven't kept up with 2NE1 since they released their first single...

    • Love 1
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