Eragon

Saw Eragon last night.  I will admit, it was a decent movie, not great, not sucky, but it did seem to re-package a lot of fantasy genre elements:  dragons, dwarfs (according to Tolkien, the proper spelling is dwarfs, not dwarves, though I forget why he used the latter in his books), elves, magic, a young farm boy, a fair maiden (damsel in distress), swordfighting... and I'm sure you could add more to the list.

With such an overused genre, it's hard to make a truly original movie.  But I have to admire the spirit of the author, and I was reading his biography on the alagaesia website.  Yes, he was 15 when he wrote the book, but the author was also a child prodigy.  He was home-schooled and graduated at age 15, then spent a year and a half writing the book (around 1998, if I've done the math right) and two more years revising it.  The author's family also self-published the book until  Knopf picked it up in 2002.  So even though everyone focuses on the author's age, it wasn't an overnight product from a high-school student who wrote the book in his spare time.  From what I can tell, a considerable amount of effort went into writing it.  And oh yeah... the trilogy isn't finished yet, at least according to the website.

So even after all that... I'm not likely to see Eragon again, or even get it on DVD, but I would still recommend it to others.  I'm also not about to run out and stock up on Eragon merchandise, though I may pick up the book.  And for some odd reason, the sound got muted right when the end credits rolled and never was unmuted, so I have no idea what the ending music was (I think it might have been the two songs mentioned in the credits though).

What I Did Since ...

My 8 Dec entry.

Saw Eragon (details, no spoilers in a separate entry).

Picked up a second Nintendo Wii controller (a couple friends went to a Wal-Mart last week and stocked up on Wii controllers, and I bought one from one of them).

Been in and out of it, haven't been feeling well the past several days.  On Tuesday, I had what I thought was appendicitis, but then noticed the problem was only when I was peeing.  That was followed up by flu-like symptoms, then my urine turning dark and bloody, so I suspected kidney stones.  Went to the doctor and after an X-ray and after having me provide blood and urine samples, he said I didn't appear to have kidney stones, but I did have some kind of infection.  It'll take more (apparently a CT scan) to hopefully provide more insight and hopefully rule out something more serious.

Took Lani to the vet for a followup vaccination.  She was well-behaved but kept meowing when she was in her carrier and couldn't see me.  When I got to the vet clinic and took her out, she stopped.  Then when I took her home, I put her carrier on the front seat (probably not the best thing to do) ... and interestingly enough she stayed quiet.  At home, she still wants attention though.  No matter where I am, she comes in periodically to investigate and keep me company (then again, I never let her outside, and I only have three small rooms plus the bathroom downstairs).

Helped out at church for a little bit today (was actually covering for someone until they got off work).  Couldn't help out as much as I wanted this past week because I hadn't been feeling well.

Got a Christmas card from ionotter .  Hope he's doing well in Rota, Spain enroute to the Persian Gulf (and no, he won't be going to FC... I suspect he won't be visiting here before I leave next November, either).

I should also hopefully find out sometime next week if I got picked up for O-4 (Major)... will keep ya posted!  Wish me luck!

Saw krag_carbine's  WCotP strip about Peter Boyle passing away.  I couldn't figure out who that was until I read the news articles.  Once I read that he was the wisecracking dad in Everybody Loves Raymond, I instantly knew who he was, and honestly, I wouldn't have watched Raymond if not for three things:  (1) my late mom used to watch it just before the 10pm news when I would visit her, so I got to know some of the characters;  (2) I recognized Brad Garrett since he's also done a few cartoon voices;  and  (3) Peter Boyle's character was hilarous.  :)

Can't think of anything else to add, but if I do, I'll add it... ttfn!