Last Day to Vote!!!!

Just to remind you all that this is the last day to vote on which
LOTR soundtrack you think is the best. Look down at previous
posts to find my review (my Ancient Greek review :-) ).

The War is OVER!!!!!!

Just letting all of you know that the debate is resting now (in peace
we'll hope). Absolutely NOTHING was accomplished by it. It was
a rather trivial debate and while it was fun fighting until the number
of comments rose past fourty, I never want to do it again. But it
would be fun to have a post on here with over fourty comments.
Why don't we try it?

LInk (Not the Nintendo Character)

The description of the link to the Disciples of Diotima blog is now officially accurate. In the space of one day, one post has recieved 25 comments.


(A note from Ancient Greek Philosopher)
COME SUPPORT MY SIDE!!!!!

Seriously, this is probably the most heated debate I've ever seen.
And I need help with the negative (okay, only partially negative)!!!!

The Shire

The Shire. That peaceful place where Frodo and Sam began their
journey. That quiet, joyous land where the carefree Hobbits live
their uneventful lives. Their only concern is what goes on in the
Shire, and no where else. However, the outside world won't leave
them alone forever. No matter how hard they try to shut it out,
the plans of evil will reach them sooner or later, and all the peace
and goodness will be destroyed.

Now, the childlike nature of the Hobbits is good. However, they
are a bit naive to think that they can bury their heads in the sand
to avoid danger. But perhaps we do the same. There are
well-meaning Christians out there who would rather not pay
attention to the outside world and just live their lives without
concern. And who can blame them!!!! Who would want to get
involved in the evils of this world?!??!!? Why can't we just be
Hobbits?!?!?

The truth, of course, is in the middle. We can't go out seeking to
fight evil on our own, and we can't bury our heads in the sand and
say it doesn't exist. If we seek to fight evil without God's protection
and calling to do so, we will surely be lost to it ourselves, as was
Denethor when he used the Palantir. But if we bury our heads in
the sand, we will be helpless to resist the evil when it comes to our
doorstep. The Bible talks about being vigilant, "for you adversary
the devil is like a roaring lion seek for someone to devour". It also
says that the battle is not of natural means, but of "Principalities and
powers".

My advice would be to trust in God to protect us. We must come to
Christ as little children. Children know there is danger, but trust that
those more powerful will than they will protect them. When we
encounter evil, we must pray to Him and remember His
Commandments. And when He calls, we must be ready to fight for
our God.

The battle is in the Lord's hands.

To Spell Check or Not To Spell Check??

I have heard about many complaints on the subject of the
automatic "spell check" from an English major I know. He first
of all says it is ineffective and misleading. So, should we use it?
When I think of the spell check, the first thing it (for me) appears
to symbolizes is the laziness of the American culture by means
of technology. One could easily type any way they want and then
just run through it with the spell check. The problem with that is
the spell check has the possibility of giving the wrong word. So
our glorious technology isn't infallible after all. However, when
it's use is correctly monitored, it can be a very useful tool. Now,
of course, it would be much better if one knew how to spell the
word in the first place. But we humans are imperfect, so we need
a little (a lot!) help.

Having said all of this, I will tell you what I do. When I write
something, I make the best effort to spell everything correctly.
Then I simply use the spell check to be sure. I think if one uses
it correctly, there's no reason to object to the spell check,
unless you resent the fact that you can't spell perfectly (by the
way, I used the spell check to write this article :-) ).

A Paralell

Just wanted to point out that the defining feature of the poetry of Rohan, alliteration, is also a defining feature in Old English and Middle English Poetry.

The Lord of The Rings Soundtracks

You've all probably noticed the poll by now, "Which of the three
LOTR soundtracks is the best?". Well I thought it deserved an article
of it's own. Which one is the best? The Fellowship, The Two Towers,
or The Return of The King? Let's briefly look at each individual
soundtrack.

• The Fellowship of The Ring

The Fellowship starts with a segment of the ethereal and mysterious
Lothlórien theme, which quickly evolves into the rising and falling
ring theme. Obviously, many of the themes are introduced in the
Fellowship. Some of the themes include the ring theme, the the
Mordor themes, the Shire theme, and the Isengard theme.

• The Two Towers

The Two Towers doesn't include some of the themes introduced
in the Fellowship. The Isengard theme is the only theme from the
Fellowship that is predominant in the Two Towers. But the Rohan
theme and the Ents' theme is introduced, and these are developed
much later.

• The Return of The King

The Return of The King brings all of the themes from the previous
two films into play, as well as adding many pieces of new music, such
as "Into The West" (I know, it's a commercial pop song, but the bits
that are used in the film are quite effective). I think The Return of The
King soundtrack has an edge because it develops all (or most) of the
themes from the previous two movies while adding more material.


So much for my brief analysis. Now you are informed enough to make
your own decision. Some people can't decide between the Fellowship
and The Return of The King, but what I decided on for Return of The
King was the grand and glorious use of the Gondor theme as the
beacons are lit. How can the Fellowship beat that?

Non-Topical Subject :-)

Just so none of you are in the dark about this label. :-) When I label
something as "Non-Topical Subject :-)", I simply mean something
not Tolkien related. This is simply to emphasize that this blog is a
Tolkien blog first, but that anything may be discussed on it
(anything reasonable).

Lazy Me

I'm sure the whole world has noticed that there haven't been any
posts in a few months, so I decided to post SOMETHING!!!!! I admit,
I am as much to blame as anyone for this inartistic atrocity (as I
hilariously call it). I personally hope to get over the American
Christmas madness and post something soon (sometime this month).