10 Faraday, 35 A.T. (Dec. 17, 2003) - 8:37 p.m.

In which our plucky young zero sails into the Uttermost West, leaving his faithful gardener behind.

Last month, I went to two movies that opened the same day. I just didn't go to them both on the same day.

One was a prestige piece, a period technothriller. I liked it and heartily recommend it.

The other was a piece of fluff sold by A-list names. But the bearers of those names were very much on form, so I heartily recommend it as well.

(I haven't been to see Bo Welch's Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat. I'm not planning to go see it, either. If I'm feeling generous when the DVD comes out, I might give it a rental. But given the ratings it got, I'm not exactly inclined to that act of generosity. The trailer gave off the fumes of Ron Howard's Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, and you notice I'm not linking to that thing either.)

I also went, last month, to a sequel I'd been eagerly anticipating. I, personally, was so hyped up by it that I was doing karate moves in the theatre aisle while watching the closing credits. Other people have not been so thrilled. Here's one of them, my good friend Wanderer. Here's an alternative analysis of what went wrong, implying that it only went "wrong" from the perspective of the Anglosphere. And here's someone else's idea of what was missing. I think that would've made a damn good Easter egg.

And, of course, just today, I went to a movie a lot of people have been waiting for (and one person I know hasn't, but that's because she loves the books so much). I think The Matrix will be remembered as a great film whose sequels didn't live up to it, while The Lord of the Rings will be remembered as three great films that are more than the sum of their theatrical release. We've been waiting years to see it on the big screen, and now that wait (at least) is over.

And so, for the most part, is this diaryland. Those who know where I'm going can follow me.

Let's not say goodbye, since it's not being completely abandoned. (From now on, expect posts here to be short enough not to need cutting.) Let's not even say "-30-" like I usually do. Let's say this:

And the ship went out into the High Sea and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance in the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.

But to Sam the evening deepened to darkness as he stood at the Haven; and as he looked at the grey sea he saw only a shadow on the waters that was soon lost in the West.

— "The Grey Havens" (The Lord of the Rings, chapter 59)

last time, on The Slack Shack - our next inciting exstallment