Top Stories
The Lack of Words
Until recently, my little dog Bodhi was quite content, when I wanted to write, to sit by my side with a little rawhide bone and chew it quietly. But he’s a little over a year old now, and he actually wants attention - to be pet and have his ears scratched and stuff. So now he spends every moment I’m trying to write with his little paws on my knee, gazing up at me with those mini dachshund eyes.
So you can blame my lack of posting lately on my dog.
Sword of Gryffindor Updates
Harry Potter and the Baptism of the Imagination - a link to Carrie Birmingham’s article.
The Beginning of the End - JKR is getting ready to write book 7.
Around the Common Room
Entertainment
Top 5 Movies of 2005
I was asked yesterday at work for my thoughts on the top 5 movies of the year. The disclaimers here are that there are many I haven’t seen, and I’m not a movie expert. But here are the 5 I enjoyed the most:
5. Batman Begins - Excellent story and acting, and a bit of a redemption for the series after the last couple of bombs. (My thoughts on glimpses of the gospel in the movie).
4. Star Wars, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
- Sure, it had its dialogue and acting problems, but after Episodes I
and II, this was a welcome return to the "feel" of the original series,
and a fitting prequel to it. It’s also a tremendous stand alone movie,
meaning it doesn’t need Episodes I and II to be really good.
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Very funny, and not disturbing like the original version. I really enjoyed this.
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - The best in the Harry Potter series yet. Here’s my review.
1. Walk the Line - As far as I’m concerned, this one deserves the Oscar, and Phoenix and Witherspoon deserve best actor and actress. It inspired my Christian Storytelling series, which I plan to continue into the New Year.
No, Narnia doesn’t make the top 5. Sorry. If I did a top 10, it’d be somewhere in there.
New CDs and DVDs
If I had my choice as to what I got for Christmas every year, it
would always be gift cards. Though I had a bad experience with Best
Buy, my gift card there got us the Kodak Easy Share v550 digital camera
(great little camera), as well as the following media for our household:
Rusted Root: When I Woke
10,000 Maniacs: Our Time in Eden
Edie Brickell: Picture Perfect Morning
Phish: Lawnboy
And then, my favorite of them all, the greatest show on television, yes, ladies and gentlemen:
Sports
Fantasy Football: I lost miserably in the championship game.
Absolutely annihilated. My New Year’s resolution for Fantasy Football
is to never listen to the so-called experts again.
Editorial
My Year in Blogging
I have no strong opinions to share with you today, just a quick summary of my year 2005 in blogging.
A Resting Place
This site has gone through a wide variety of changes, including a
major shift from Blogger to Typepad. I’ve played around with the
template here, and it finally looks almost like I want it to, save the
couch not being centered in the banner. I don’t pay Typepad enough per
month to have the ability to fix it.
In any case, it’s been a fun year at A Resting Place. We’ve launched Weekend Report, which gives me mandatory weekly blogging, even if I can’t think of anything else to say in a given week.
I’ve introduced you to Fred the Fundamentalist, probably the most popular series here, and I plan to continue with his varied adventures into the New Year.
I took almost an entire year off political issues, which has been a
nice break. At the old blogger version, I spent too much time on the
subject.
Thank you for your reading and comments.
I managed to join this blog, thanks to Michael Spencer’s letting me
in, right around the time things got sticky over there with the "Truly
Reformed" blogs. It’s been a great time, and I’m looking forward to
continuing in conversation there. I’m truly grateful to be a part of
that excellent group of bloggers.
Thanks to Chad and Frontier Web Design and some technical help from Joe Thorn,
my Harry Potter blog was launched just two months ago. It’s been crazy
popular (at least, compared to this site), moreso than I expected. I’m
looking forward to reading and re-reading the series and continuing my
commentary on it. I’ll also be taking literature classes on a regular
basis (this semester, Mythology), so I’ll be spending more time setting
Harry Potter in the context of other literature.
Started by some folks over at BHT, my contribution here has been
limited, but it’s a great group of folks looking for beauty in God’s
world. Hopefully I’ll be able to increase the frequency of my
contributions there, but even if I can’t, keep visiting.
Happy New Year to everyone, and I’ll see you ’round the Blogosphere.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Allison 01.02.06 at 9:33 pm
Rusted Root! I’d *almost* forgotten about them… great CD choice.
We saw _Walk the Line_ with my parents last week– fantastic. I’d be hard pressed to make it #1 on my list, but it certainly was well done.
And we shall soon be purchasing a digital camera of our own… but what a nice relative/friend/wife(?) you must have to make that purchase solely on one Best Buy gift card!
Looking forward to see what 2006 will bring from your erudite blogging…although I’m sure baby pictures will be in the works come July. Congrats again!
Travis Prinzi 01.02.06 at 10:44 pm
Thanks!
Well, Walk the Line was sparring for first with Goblet of Fire, and I almost regret making it #1 now.
I also finally saw Cinderella Man tonight, which would beat out at least 3 of the movies on that list.
Yes, my parents are wonderful. Great big Best Buy gift card. They’re good people.