Too Much Fun!

So yeah, last Saturday afternoon was nonstop-action, more or less, and it was an incredibly fun day. Unfortunately, the few photos I have don't properly detail what I went through that day, so I have to try to explain.
First, I hiked a tough mountain trail with a good friend, and it was one of the most fun and memorable things I've ever done. For perspective, my hometown is 4000 feet above sea level. The end of the trail that I climbed is at 8000 feet. In addition to that, the trail is less than three miles long. And I covered the distance in what seems to be considered a blazing speed of 105 minutes. In fact, at several points, I was literally running up the hill, and my friend who completed the trip with me said even when I was barely trudging that he hadn't counted on going nearly that fast. All told, the round trip took four hours, and it was possibly the best I've ever felt about doing one thing for so long as that.
When we finally made it all the way back down, we went straight to his house, where our return was celebrated and our adventure told to admiration at our speed. But that was not the best part. The best part was when my friend put me behind the wheel of his family's go-cart, which they drive on a makeshift dirt track in their backyard. It was actually the first time I'd ever tried to steer anything bigger and more dangerous than a bumper car on a track, and it was awesome. My friend was thrilled at my drifting and my hairpin turns, and I eventually became so confident in my driving that I tried to drive an infinity loop (ka a figure 8) and I almost managed it, but on the last turn I turned too soon and wound up driving head on into some straw bales sitting in the track as a marker, which was actually the best result because I didn't have the presence of mind to take my foot off the gas and probably would have been stuck in drive mode until I crashed anyway pr used all the gas in the tank, which would have been embarrassing.
And after that, my friends took me along to a hangout hosted by another of their friends, which for personal reasons was less fun than what had come before. But I still had fun, because it became a singing party and they gave me a turn. After an awkward pause while I tried to remember a song, I gave them a rousing rendition of a tongue-twister of an Irish folk song which had everyone dancing. And then I raised the bar by following through on a claim that I could increase my speed. At the end of the night, at the urging of most of those present, I took the mic again and delivered a somewhat dramatic performance of a sad song that they specifically requested. That concluded, I told them enthusiastically that I would jump at the next chance to sing at a party. Then I had to leave.
It was literally midnight when I finally got home, and it was undoubtedly the wildest and most fun day I have experienced in far too long...

Bloggable Stuff

My life is a bit more bloggable now than it used to be, and by that I mean I did fun stuff and fun stuff is happening. I might even post a video here next week if all works out. I won't explain the video because it will explain itself  when and if I am able to post it. Regarding things I've actually done: I wrote a screenplay for a friend which I was only just able to deliver into his hands at 29 pages long. That is something of an accomplishment because he only asked me for 25 and I could not have made it any longer than it is if I wanted to.
I have seen Ant-Man and I found it hilarious when it was trying to be and cool otherwise. Thinking about it, I consider the first Marvel film I've seen that was actually a good movie, despite the patented Disney cop-out ending and a gaping plot hole in a fight scene that involves flying. Yes I enjoyed it more than Winter Soldier. I guess this is the kind of thing we can expect to see in theaters for far into the future; depending on the studio, you'll get dinos and ripped street racers, Tom Cruise doing thing that are literally basically impossible in reality,( see what I did there-sorry, couldn't resist...) and all your favorite brands that you grew up with alternately cracking wise, exploding things, and/or saving the world/universe. I mean really, why is it that it seems the universe is saved by every "because plot" resolution in alien invasion movies. Are they not smart enough to realize that there are probably 42 other ways they could build a superhighway through space? (bonus points if you understand that reference...)

Alfrid Can Jump Off A Cliff...

Well hey, what happened here? I just remembered that my post from December concerning "Thorin, Kili, and Tauriel: The Moneygrab" wound up so long that I cut it off. I'm going to take the liberty now of finishing it off six months after it stopped being relevant. I doubt that I remember much of anything about it anymore, but we'll see...

• See the title of this post...Not only is he an invented character, but he wasn't anything as a running gag either. By the second or third appearance I was thinking "Go die now. Disappear."
• Somebody tell me why they spent so much time on the dwarves putting on fancy armor, but then when they do their heroic charge out of the gate, not one is wearing a thing stronger than chain mail?

 Some things I liked

• Unlike a lot of people, I actually liked seeing the White Council attack Dol Goldur. Though there were some cons to that too-for instance, the wringwraiths being there at all to fight against was simply Jackson revising the history. Though you might as well admit, cliche as it sounds, "You should have stayed dead." is a pretty great line for going into a fight.
• The one callback scene I liked was the moment when Dain's army arrives, as it is set up expressly to remind people of the incredible shot from the originals depicting Rohan's sunrise arrival at Minas Tirith, which is probably my favorite movie moment ever.
• The one shot of the elf army jumping over the dwarf army was pretty impressive, and it made me think "Oh yeah!" Despite the fact it didn't make tactical sense b/c now the dwarves have to break formation in order to do anything.
• Smaug's burning of Esgaroth was really fun to watch, but I would rather have had Bard's impossible kill shot from the book than the monologue-induced death we got.
• Bard.
• Martin Freeman
• That little scene at the end where Bilbo and Gandalf smoke together and the acting tells you how they feel about everything w/o a word being said.

There you have it. I finally wrote that post. Now go ahead and enjoy this again...

I mean, it is ridiculously spot-on- pretty much exactly what I thought...