Photo of the Week -- The Hobbit is Coming 14 Feb 2011

Well, as part of my "reclamation" (yes, I'm a project and always will be) as an "uncultured and unrefined philistine", I am watching the BBC mini-series North & South with Mrs. RoSA. (All quotations are approximations and/or completely fabricated) I pointed out somewhere between my incessant snide remarks and sleeping that the dude playing Mr. Thornton (Richard Armitage) has an awesome voice, and Mrs. RoSA replied "Yes. He'll make a mighty Thorin."

Agreed. Mr. Armitage will be playing the lead dwarf, Thorin, in The Hobbit that is currently in production.

I recently re-read the book -- the first time since my illiterate days of childhood* -- and it was awesome. The Lord of Rings trilogy is one of my favorites, but The Hobbit is much more a display of Tolkien's wit and light-heartedness. There's just not as much (ie the end of the world) at stake and it's a fun read. (Plus I don't foresee any longing and uncomfortable stares shared between Bilbo and any of the dwarves, a la Frodo and Sam fjwionav... [<-- Sorry, I just shuddered], so that's an added bonus for anyone who found those scenes in Return of the King unbearable. That, and Bilbo won't be a worthless protagonist like Frodo. What a loser) And with 13 dwarves, that will be a lot of facial hair floating around in each scene. Awesome.

*The recently revealed family story is that, because I didn't read as much as my sisters who always had their noses buried in books, Shigeko thought I was more or less an illiterate teenager. So apparently she pulled my oldest sister Jen aside and asked her to get me reading so I wouldn't end up eating out of a dumpster for the rest of my life. Jen's book of choice was The Hobbit.

Happy (late) Monday to you. I was busy buying flowers and chocolates and dinner for the Mrs.