Quote of the Day (hell, Quote of My Life)

From the ever-brilliant Robert Benchley:

Anyone can do any amount of work provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at the moment.


Oh yes. Of course, this week I haven't even done any of the things I'm not supposed to be doing, let alone the things that I am. Any work that I completed yesterday was negligible at best. Indeed, the bulk of my day was spent watching hours and hours of The Avengers (the Emma years, natch), followed by Down with Love in a truly whiplash-inducing juxtaposition (Can the power of David Hyde Pierce defeat a seriously sketchy script and Renee Zellweger? Eh, not quite. And I usually prefer my entendres doubled. Fabulous-looking movie, though, and I really liked Marc Shaiman's score. Pastiche is hard to do well, and he did). Watching TV doesn't really qualify as an accomplishment, you know? And today has been even more of a loss. But at this point, I have thrown up my hands and said that's the way the mini-Milanos crumble (did you know they had mini-Milanos now? A thing of glory, truly. I had no idea the Kingdom had come. And brought cookies!). Climbing out of the hole I've dug for myself will be... fun... but I'll worry about that next week.

Oh, and another new icon, courtesy of jidabug. A crush on Perfect Tommy? Why yes, thank you. And Rawhide, too. And not one whit of shame about it, either.

Between Perfect Tommy, Peter/Egon, Nick/Greg, Martin/Danny, my adorable Archie, and Adam Rove, I think my weakness for geeks is pretty well-represented in icon form. Shiny. All I need now is one of live action Egon Spengler (I have mucho Egon love), and I'll be set. Dorky, but set.

One very, very exciting thing, and one somewhat exciting thing

The very, very exciting thing, mentioned in passing in Doug Adams's editorial in the current issue of Film Score Monthly, is his work-in-progress, The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films. Ah, that's so pretty, let me say it again: The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films. Ooooh.

Here's the relevant bit: "For the past several years I've been meticulously collecting information to create another unique entry in the world of film music: the official book on Shore's music from The Lord of the Rings. It's now a given that big films will release books showcasing the special effects, art direction, costumes and other production elements worthy of stand-alone appreciation. But original scores are often regulated to a few paragraphs piggybacked onto more generalized texts. We're told that John Williams telecommunicated with a Poland-borne Spielberg on Jurassic Park. It's mentioned that Danny Elfman helped hurl produce at the Penguin during a Batman Returns set visit. So the idea with The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films is to finally create an all-encompassing work- something that tells you everything you want to know, whether you are a film music fan, a professional musician, a movie lover or a Tolkien enthusiast. With any luck, this book, which should be out around the same time as the boxed set LotR CD anthology, will be a big step forward toward public recognition of this unique art form. And what better flagship than Shore's amazingly dense and intelligent work on Rings?"

I haven't found a publication date for it yet, but I must have this book. And since the plain three-disc boxed set was already available when this issue went to press, does that mean that the not-yet-released "boxed set LotR CD anthology" is the rumored (but not confirmed) expanded (or even complete) score? Very, very exciting indeed.


The somewhat exciting thing is this 12" Viking action figure. Again, ooooh. I'm not thrilled by his hair or face (hence the "somewhat"), but the clothes and accessories look really good. I just wish he were cheaper. Poor, solitary Barbiehilda would have someone to drink mead with.


ETA one more exciting thing, though there goes the title of this post (eh, I never could count)- shiny Saxon grave goods! Oooooh (hey, it's a running gag).