*whistles*

I dooon't... have anything to saaaay...

It's cold like Minnesota here... 20 degrees, what? Snow on Saturday! Huzzah!

Today at Costco we found Doctor Who. For $12.99. Okay, half a season for $12.99. BUT STILL. So we came home with seasons six and seven. Which makes me happy. Even happier because the last time we were at Costco, they were selling an individual season of Doctor Who for $60, and we got the same individual season for $26.
If you wait long enough, Costco will eventually have AMAZING prices on Doctor Who. Last spring we found seasons 1-4 for $20 each.

The Seahawks won the Superbowl. That's exciting. I didn't watch the game... but after it was over, I went outside and people were setting off fireworks one street over. Our neighbors were cheering loudly. People one street over were yelling "WOOOOOOOOOO SEAHAWKS! GOOOO! YEEAAAAAHHH!!! WOOOO!" at the top of their lungs.
While part of me says, "Man, it's just football," the other part of me is enjoying watching how crazy everyone is over this. Over 700,000 people packed into Seattle today for a special Seahawks parade and rally. It's hard to imagine what 700,000 people looks like... but you know what? Everyone was peaceful! Isn't that amazing? 700,000 people and there was no major damage done!

Did you know that this guy:

from The Hobbit is actually called Lindir?

Elladan and Elrohir are missed. (Elrohir is such a cool name too!)
Lindir is also this guy from the Lord of the Rings, who interrupted Arwen's vision-thing of her son with Aragorn. "You never told me there was a son!"

He's ALSO the guy who wrote this song for the latest Muppet movie:

Am I a man or a Muppet?
At least Lindir doesn't have freaky elf-eyes like the Royal Elves.

 

 

 Yup, can you say creepy? Thranduil's worse, though.

I've been reading lots of fantasy lately. I think it's because my new story is fantasyish.

I spy Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Alice in Wonderland. Also, Eclipse from the Twilight saga, but who cares about that?

Anyway, it's about time for me to go to bed and I've run out of things to ramble about so goodnight!

The Desolation of Smaug.

Thoughts upon first viewing:
Well, that was a good movie! When does The Hobbit start?
I had just finished the book the day before and could spot every single deviation from the plot. It was as if P. Jackson went into an old building, ripped out all the wallpaper, furniture, pictures, and fixtures, and replaced them all with new. The foundation of the building/story was still there, but all the decorations/details were changed.
I was a bit disappointed... It was a good movie, but it could have been so much better if they had added some parts from the book into it! There are countless brilliant parts in the book that would have been amazing if they had been put into the movie... Such as Bilbo yelling "attercop!" at the spiders. And Gandalf bringing the Dwarves in by two to meet Beorn (more on that a little later).
Other initial reactions... (these are to individual scenes)...

Balin (in the elf prison): "A deal was our only hope."
Me: "No! Obi-wan is your only hope!"

Gandalf: *is looking at an elven statue just inside the borders of Mirkwood forest*
My dad (whispers to me): "Is that a Sleeping Angel?"

Gandalf: *is in the tomb of the Nine Riders. He nearly falls off a ledge after sliding down a slope. He tries to get down to the tomb*
Me: "Where are the controls for the bridge?" "I think I just blasted them!"



Gandalf (this will be a rough paraphrase): "Radagast, promise to go away!"

Radagast: "Alright."

Me: "Rule no. 1 - the Doctor always lies!"

Radagast: *comes back*

Me: "I knew it!"

Radagast: "Wait, Gandalf! What if it's a trap?"

Me: "Luke, it's a trap!"

Gandalf: "Just go! It's undoubtedly a trap."

I obviously had Star Wars and Doctor Who on my mind that night, for no particular reason.

Thoughts upon second viewing: I enjoyed that much, much more! The additions aren't as horrible as I originally thought, and some of them are even pretty cool... though I still wish that some of the fun parts from the book had been added.

Smaug was absolutely AMAZING. I loved him! He was absolutely brilliant. Benedict Cumberbatch did an amazing job with the voice and also with the motion capture. He was also great as the Necromancer. I think that Smaug and Laketown were tied for my favorite things in the film.

Speaking of Laketown... Wow. It was amazing. It reminded me slightly of City of Ember, except above the ground. Especially with the greedy Master of the city, and his sly helper-dude.

I love the idea of a city floating on the water. Isn't there something like that in C.S. Lewis' space trilogy? When Ransom first lands in Perelandra?

Peter Jackson portrayed Laketown wonderfully, and the people within it. I would have loved to live there in it's glory days - when the lake ran with gold and trade was good.

Anyway, Bard was wonderful. I loved his children too. In the book, he only has the one son (Bain), I believe... but the addition of two daughters were lovely. Especially because they were played by James Nesbitt's (Bofor - my favorite Dwarf) two daughters.

It was cool to see the inside of the Lonely Mountain too. Wow, what a lot of treasure! I thought that was done brilliantly too. Especially the bit where Bilbo is looking for the Arkenstone and she shushes the coins that are moving under his feet. Hee hee.

Another great part was the barrel scene. It's very different from the book. In the book there's no huge battle... but I liked the battle part. It was hilarious when Bombur went rolling all over the place, squishing all the bad guys.

Tauriel. I didn't mind her, and actually liked her. I don't like the reason she was added (just for a female character), but I did like her. She's got great hair, and I think she's got her head in the right place. But let me say this... if Kili dies defending her instead of Thorin... I am going to hunt Peter Jackson down and slap him upside the head with The Hobbit book.

I could mention a thousand small things that were "wrong" with The Hobbit movie... but I'm only going to mention the three biggest things that bothered me.

First: Gandalf. I had a huge problem with Gandalf in this movie. Partly in relation to Bilbo (which I'll talk about now) and partly in relation to Beorn (which I'll talk about in a moment).

In the book, Gandalf makes it known to the Dwarves that this is their quest. He doesn't want anything to do with it. But they want a fourteenth member, so they aren't an unlucky number. Gandalf provides Bilbo and at the first opportunity, leaves them (at the head of Mirkwood forest) to go tend to his own business (like taking care of the Necromancer).

In the movie... well, Gandalf takes much more interest in the quest. The opening scene of the Desolation of Smaug is Gandalf and Thorin talking in the Prancing Pony Inn. Gandalf urges Thorin to go and reclaim the mountain and to unite the Dwarves, but Thorin is wary because he doesn't have the Arkenstone, which is the thing that unites everybody. So Gandalf's like, "You need a burglar." Peter Jackson totally changed Bilbo's reason for being in the quest! In the book, it was more about getting the Dwarves their fourteenth member, and also getting Bilbo out his front door and on an adventure, to change him for the better. In the movie, he's there to steal the Arkenstone.

I didn't really appreciate that deviation... And when Gandalf says "Don't go into that mountain without me" I cringe because it totally goes against his character. In the book, he makes it very apparent that it is the Dwarves quest, not his. He doesn't want to take part in it. What happened to "The incident with the dragon? I was barely involved"?

So that bugged me...

The second thing that bugged me was that four of the Dwarves get left in Laketown while the others continue on to the mountain. What?! Why? Actually, this is how I figured out the above point. I totally missed it at both viewings of the movie... but then I was writing this post and I was trying to make it logical to myself that the Dwarves would need fourteen members, and then leave four behind, when I realized that the "fourteen" plot hadn't even really been relevant in the movie!

That made the leaving of four Dwarves behind a little more bearable... But still, I really don't think that they would leave each other behind. Did they leave Bombur (in the book) when he fell into the river in Mirkwood which made him fall into a deep sleep? No! They carried him with them, even though he's the heaviest of them all.

The third point is the biggest. It annoys me SO much. It has to do with Gandalf and Beorn. In the book, Gandalf is courteous enough to meet Beorn at his house, with only Bilbo in his company, and explain their reasons for being there. He starts telling the tale of their escape from the goblins under the Misty Mountains. Two Dwarves come around the corner every few minutes. The story gets interrupted and Beorn's curiosity is aroused. By the end of the story, all thirteen Dwarves are there and Beorn decides to help them, even though he hates beggars and people in general. He's a bit of a hermit.

In the movie, however... Gandalf bursts into Beorn's living and even locks the skin-changer out of his own house! He doesn't have any respect for Beorn's privacy. He comes in and tells everyone to get comfortable. Don't worry, your host might kill you when he gets home, but for now just get comfortable in his hay!

I think that's very rude and totally against Gandalf's personality. Sure, he's a wizard, the mighty Gandalf the Grey, who is always in the right... but that doesn't give him the right to go bursting into people's houses.

That's my biggest problem with the movie. I did, however, LOVE that they included Beorn's giant bees in the movie. I was watching for them. =)

Okay, one more complaint about the movie... What in the world was up with Thraduil and Legolas' eyes? Can you say creepy? If I met someone who just stared like this all the time...

...I would turn around and walk the other way very quickly!

Let me post something less-scary to leave you with:

Anyway, I really enjoyed the Desolation of Smaug. I thought it was a great movie... I just wish they'd had more of The Hobbit in it. I'm curious to see what's in store for the next movie.

Live long and prosper!

Happy 50th anniversary Doctor Who!

50 years ago Doctor Who, one of the best and most popular sci-fi shows, was created.

They had a special episode called The Day of the Doctor which played on BBC America, as well as in select theaters around the world. Since we don't have BBC America, my dad and I went to see it in theaters.
OH. MY. GOODNESS!
I won't post any spoilers because some out there have not seen it yet.
My advice to you is: go find it now and watch it. Go to England if you have to. (Okay, maybe not)
It was fantastic! Brilliant! And Moffat has gained major points with me.

The experience at the theater was SO cool. It was like a mini comic-con in there! You look around and there's the Doctor. You turn the other way, there's the Doctor! There were too many Eleven's and Four's to count. (Not enough Nine's and Ten's in my opinion.) There were TARDIS' and Daleks, and even a Weeping Angel! (Seriously, that girl would have won a Best Costume award if there had been one. She looked frightening like a Weeping Angel. When she came in, everyone went 'don't blink! Oh, I guess we can't blink anymore.') There was a Martha, a, Captain Jack, a Rose (in her Idiot's Lantern costume)

several Amy Pond's, and even a Wilf! That was hilarious.

Antlers and all.
Everyone not in costume was wearing a Doctor Who t-shirt (although several boring people were dressed as regular people).
OH OH! There was also someone dressed as this guy (from Gridlock):

She had done a really amazing face paint job!

Anyway, it was SO. FUN. And the episode was SO. GOOD! Go watch it now!

Also at the theater were huge posters of the characters from The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug! That was cool.
Speaking of the Desolation of Smaug... What's up with Thranduil in this picture from the official Hobbit blog?

He's like, "I'm fabulous."
AH! Speaking of The Hobbit, we got the extended edition and watched it! It was great! I loved the extra scenes they had in Hobbiton and Rivendell. Those were fun.

Anyway, I had a hard time quelling my inner fangirl today. Especially because when I got home I saw that they have a SHERLOCK SEASON THREE TRAILER OUT! And I may have giggle-snorted at the close-up of John's upper lip...

Live long and prosper! (Speaking of which, only two-ish years to wait until Star Trek's 50th anniversary!)

Summer reading list.

I have a review of The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway for you.... but I don't want to write it tonight because it is getting late. But I figured I had better post something so I decided on my summer reading list! Usually I just read whatever I want to.... but this year I've compiled a list of books that either a) have to be read because they are due at the library soon b) have been sitting on my shelf for a number of months begging to be read, or c) they are on my huge list (over 150 titles) of Books To Read Before I Die.

So, without further ado, my summer reading list!

1. The Future Door by Jason Lethcoe.
Remember the No Place Like Holmes book I did a review on a long time ago? It was the sort of Steampunk-ish book about the kid who moves into 221c Baker Street...?
The Future Door is the sequel. I bought it in April with a gift card from Christmas.... It involves time travel, so that should be fun to read!

2. Crater by Homer Hickam.
Homer Hickam is supposedly a well-known author... He wrote a book called Rocket Boys which is a memoir about his time working with rockets. It was made into a movie, October Sky.
Crater is the first novel in a trilogy that Mr. Hickam wrote for young people (such as myself!). Crater's cover drew me to it. It is about a boy, named Crater, who lives on the moon mining Helium-3. Then he runs into adventure.... That's about all I know about it. But it looked intriguing. And I had to spend the gift card on something!
The other day when we were at a different Christian bookstore, I saw the sequel, Crescent. It has an equally stunning cover.... but I have to read the first one first!

 

3. A bunch of random Agatha Christie stuff.
I've been buying some of her books at thrift stores for cheap.... so I have quite a small pile to read now! Death on the Nile, Dead Man's Folly, Miss Marple Short Story Collection.... Just to name a few. Also Murder at the Vicarage which has to go back to the library soon - so I'd better start reading it!

4. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
I follow this one blogger who loves this book. It mildly interested me and I made a note to read it eventually.... Then I found out that a movie was being made and that Harrison Ford was going to be in it. I'm a big Harrison Ford fan so I decided that maybe I should read the book, just in case I go see the movie.
But, of course, the library has a million holds on it (because everyone else is thinking the same way as me - read the book before the movie comes out! This happened with The Great Gatsby too. Luckily we bought our copy last August, before the big movie-rush came). So I put a hold on two copies... hopefully it will come in soon. But not too soon, as I would really like to read it next month, when we're camping.

5. Emma by Jane Austin (and perhaps some of her other work as well).
My mom and I LOVE BBC's production of Emma starring Ramola Garai and Jonny Lee Miller.

 

And I've been meaning to read the book for awhile now.... It seems like a good summer read, and I've been craving some Jane Austin.... so it works out perfectly! I'll probably start this one very soon. As soon as I finish Fever Crumb and The Penderwicks series.

6. Sew, it's a Quest and Do You Take This Quest? by Kendra E. Ardnek.
Kendra is a fellow blogger of mine and I've been meaning to read her books for a bit now.... But I'm a paperback kind of person, so I've been waiting for her second book in her Bookania series to come out in paperback. Six more days!

These next few are questionable.... AKA, it depends if I feel like reading them or not:

7. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.
I read Anne of Green Gables in 2011 (I think) because my mom said I would really enjoy it. I didn't really enjoy it. But I think that was my own fault.... I was reading it more for her sake than mine and I probably would have rather been reading something else. Something not classical-ish.
But now I think I would really enjoy this book! So it's on my reading list for now. I would really like to read all of Anne's books.

8. The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss.
Once upon a time my family and I went on vacation somewhere and listened to The Swiss Family Robinson in the car to and from. This must have been prior to 2010... But I remember really, really enjoying the book. I have been meaning to re-read it for awhile now. Just typing about it makes me excited to read it. Perhaps I'll save this one for camping as well (I have a whole pile of books that I want to take camping with me. And we'll only be there a week!)

9. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.
Several of my friends have read this recently and enjoyed it.... and so I thought I'd give it a try!

10. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain.
This is another book that has to go back to the library soon... It is about an American who is thrown back in time to King Arthur's time! It looks very funny and hopefully I can get it read before it has to go back to the library. Otherwise, I'll just have to take it out again.

11. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.
This is a Vancouver Sun classic... number five, I believe. I don't know too much about the story, but what I do know sounds interesting. We'll see if I get to it.

12. The Magic Bicycle by John Bibee.
This is the first in a series. My dad read it to me a long time ago and I remember it frightened me... I was a little too young for it, I think. But he loves the series.
Now I think I would probably really enjoy it too. It's about a boy who finds a magical bicycle (if memory serves me right).
Plus it has a super cool cover:

 

13. George Gershwin. His Life and Works by Howard Pollack.
This is MASSIVE biography about, well, George Gershwin. Gershwin was a composer during the Jazz Age. He is most known for Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris.

 

This biography deals with his life and his works.... But it is so huge I don't know if I will read it all. It's 800 pages long! We'll see about that.....

14. Just 'cause I don't want thirteen.... not that I'm superstitious or anything. Fourteen is just a better number. Maybe this last book has something to do with it... I don't know:
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Because the second half of the movie will be coming out in December, and I have to re-re-read The Hobbit before then. And no, I didn't put too many "re's." I just recently re-read The Hobbit (April of 2012, I believe) but I need to re-re-read it again... so that I know what's to happen in the movie and where P. Jackson takes liberties.
I'll also probably read the appendixes at the end of The Return of the King because a bunch of stuff from the Hobbit movies is supposed to come from there....

How about all you? Do you have any big summer reading plans?

Live long and prosper!

Well, I posted all the other days of this week!

So I had to post today too!
Now... what do I post about???
This week has been a week of reviewing things. So hopefully I won't have anything else to review for awhile.

I suppose I could blog about The Hobbit.

Here, watch this - it explains it:

Top Tuesdays: Top Tolkien Dwarves.

Keeping with my Tolkien themed Top Tuesdays.... Here are my top Tolkien Dwarves!

12. Nori.

The only reason I don't like Nori (and the only reason he's last) is his hair. I can't get past the fact that he looks like a star up in the sky.
I do like his actor, though. His actor seems like a nice guy. I'm sure Nori is a nice guy as well... I just don't like his hair.

11. Bifur.

Mostly I just put all these Dwarves in random order because most of them don't have epic personalities... Especially in the books. Peter Jackson did a good job giving most of them personalities in The Hobbit and I think they will have even more personality in the next movies.
Bifur, again, has a really cool actor who seems like a nice guy. Not sure what's going on with the mini-anvil in his forehead....

10. Dwalin.

Dwalin. Haha. He's like the brawn of the group. He's super tall (for a Dwarf) and likes head-butting people. He's cool.

9. Dori.

Dori is Nori The Star's brother. He seems very nice in The Hobbit; he offers tea to Gandalf (who, if I remember correctly, refuses him and asks for some wine). Dori seems like a nice Dwarf.

8. Thorin Oakenshield.

 

(This is where my actually opinions start to play a part)
The Dwarf king. I don't remember him too much from the books.... He's a bit too serious for me in the movie. But I suppose he is kind of preoccupied with saving his mountain from a fire breathing dragon (think furnace, with wings).

7. Gloin and Oin.

 

Gloin is Gimli's father and Oin is Gloin's brother. They are pretty cool. In the movie Oin has a hearing trumpet like Calculus.

6. Bombur.

 

(Hee hee, I couldn't resist.)
Bombur is my second favorite in the book, but is sixth in my top movie Dwarves.
He eats. Everything. One of my favorite parts in The Hobbit is when the other Dwarves have to carry Bombur after he fell into the river in Mirkwood. I can't wait to see what Peter Jackson did with that in the second film.
My other favorite Bombur moment is in The Fellowship of the Ring (at least I think that's where it is. It might be in the end of The Hobbit. I can't remember) when Gloin is telling Bilbo about the other Dwarves. He mentions that Bombur has to be carried around by a couple of young Dwarves because he's gotton so big. Hee hee.

5. Gimli.

 

"Just keep breathing, that's the key!"
I love Gimli. He's hilarious, especially when he's with Legolas. They are kind of like Odo and Quark from Deep Space Nine. They hate each other but then end up getting along (to some degree). Plus I love the guy who played him.

4. Fili and Kili (because you can't have one without the other. They even DIE together!)



They are Thorin's nephews and the youngest (in the books. In the movie, for some reason, Ori is the youngest...).
Fili and Kili were always pretty cool in the book and in the movie they are wonderful! Why do they have to die?!

3. Ori.

 

I LOVE Ori. He is SO adorable! And he's very polite and shy and I'm told that he carries around a sketchpad... Though it has yet to make an appearance. He's just too cute!

2. Bofur.

 

Bofur beats Ori by only a smidgen. He is so jolly and funny. And he has a cool hat. He's great.

1. Balin!

 

The Santa Claus of the Dwarves.
Balin has always been my favorite. I'm not sure why... He just always has been, ever since my dad first read me The Hobbit. He's the eldest, I believe, and therefore has seen much and has a lot of wisdom. He's kind of like the grandpa of the group.

Now some random pictures:

 

(Dori encouraging his little brother to try "green food")

 

 

(Balin and Dwalin looking like they are cooking up a plan.)

 

(I have this as a poster hanging on the wall of my room.)

And to complete this post I leave you with.....

May your beard grow ever longer.

Top Tuesdays: Top Hobbits.

That's right, folks! My top five Hobbits! Hobbits are a race of beings that inhabit the Shire, which is in a corner in Middle Earth. They are generally under four feet high and have a lot of hair. They can disappear when they don't want to be seen, because they are stealthy (it also helps if they have a magic ring that makes them invisible).

5. Frodo.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love Frodo, the main player in the Lord of the Rings trilogy... He's just never been my favorite. He's heroic and saves Middle Earth... and... he's a main character. I've never been overly fond of the heroic, humble main character (Luke Skywalker is another example).

4. Merry.

 

Merry's pretty cool. And he has some nice lines in The Fellowship of the Ring. That's about it....

3. Pippin.

 

Come on, it's Pippin. You HAVE to love Pippin! He and Merry are best buds who have not yet reached adulthood (33 in Hobbit years). They are happy-go-lucky and grow a lot over the course of the books (because, of course, they have been Taken To Isengard and take part in a battle or two and have all sorts of adventures).
Pippin has the majority of good lines. "It comes in pints?" That line has been in my head all day because of Thinkgeek.com. They are selling Doctor Who pint glasses and I was just waiting for someone to post in the comments "it comes in pints?"

2. Sam.

 

Sam. Frodo's loyal gardener. He follows Frodo literally to the end of the (Middle)earth at risk to his own life because he promised Gandalf to watch over Frodo. He's like a puppy, except better. Sam is an amazing friend and just an amazing guy all around.

1. Bilbo Baggins.

 

Bilbo is not typically your typical hero. Gandalf basically signs him up for an adventure without his consent and because of Bilbo's Tookish curiousity, he can't help but go along with the Dwarves to take back their home.
Bilbo likes the fine things in life: his pipe, food, a clean hankerchief, food....
Through his adventures, he finds courage that I'm sure he didn't know he had. He isn't driven by necessity like Frodo and ends up being very brave. He wants to show off his burgaler skills which gets him in more trouble than it's worth.
Bilbo is one of my favorite characters in the Tolkien world, and, indeed, in the literary world. And he doesn't have to swear every other world, take revenge for the death of his brother, or sleep with every girl on the block.
Plus, he's got hairy feet. You gotta have a hero with hairy feet every once in a while.

Live long and prosper! And who is YOUR favorite Hobbit?

Top Tuesdays: Top Tolkien books (that I've read).

J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite author so I thought I would do a Top Tuesdays with my favorite books (that I've read) from him!

7. The Tolkien Reader.

 

A collection of short stories by Tolkien... Including one about Tom Bombadil!
Also, Farmer Giles of Ham. It's a great story about a farmer who has to go kill a dragon.
The reason this book is on my last list is because I haven't read it for awhile and don't remember anything about it... Other than that is was good!

6. The Return of the King.
Again... I don't remember this book because it's been a long time since I read it. I'm sure it's still as good as when I first read it, though!

5. The Two Towers.
Great book - although it kind of drags in some parts.... And I can't seem to get through it! Argh!

4. Mr. Bliss.

 

Tolkien used to write stories for his children and Mr. Bliss is one of them. Mr. Bliss decides to trade his bicycle (which can only ride downhill) for a car. He then proceeds to run down a few people and wreck their modes of transportation... Mr. Bliss offers them rides and they go through a dark scary forest where they meet some bears. Then they go to someones house for dinner and the bears make trouble.
It is a very, very cute read and surprisingly long for a children's book. Tolkien illustrated it himself as well which is super cool. It's a great book.

3. Roverandom.
When one of Tolkien's sons lost a toy on the beach, Tolkien wrote a book about it!
Rover was a dog... until he bit the bum of a wizard, when then turned Rover into a toy. Rover runs away from home and has all sorts of adventures (he goes to the moon and to Atlantis on the bottom of the sea).
It's another very cute children's book. Tolkien also did some illustrations for this book.

2. The Fellowship of the Ring.
I re-read this last summer and really enjoyed it; more than I thought I would. I enjoyed it much more than I remembered.

1. The Hobbit!

 

Of course. =) The Hobbit is one of my favorite books. It is filled with fun and adventures and Hobbits!

So there you have it - my favorite Tolkien books that I have read.

In other news.... I rescued a book from the thrift store yesterday.

 

This copy is by Elinor M. Buckingham and was published in 1905 - that's over 100 years old!
I rescued it. The people at the thrift store put a big sticker over the front! Of a rare 1905 book!! I was outraged, so I rescued the book. Plus, you can't have too many copies of Robin Hood (since they're all different - based on the same legend)!

I also found this at the thrift store....

 

The Star Trek Magazine was run by Paramount and ran from 1999-2003. They were $8 a copy and were filled with cool Trek stuff - interviews, ship layouts, stuff you could buy, inside looks at how the writers write, bios on aliens.... stuff like that.
Well, before the the magazine came out in 1999, Paramount did four test editions in 1998. They only sold in two cities: Seattle and Columbus.
This magazine is one of those magazines (I feel like Randalf from Veggietales: Lord of the Beans).
Here's the best part, I got this rare copy for only 49 cents!
Of course, I doubt it's worth very much today, even though it is rare. But it means a lot to me. I get to see pictures from the "new" movie Insurrection (of course, if I really wanted to, I could just pop it into the TV and watch it instead). And how about that new Dax? And the DS9 and transporter technical briefings are super cool too!

Live long and prosper!