Fringe

[shireling]

Wow, how many times have you read it?

About thirty - just LOTR, though. The Hobbit just a few, but could never bring myself to finish Silmarillion even once.

I'd love to re-read everything from The Sil, The Hobbit and LotR, but feel pressed to read a stack of other books that I've bought, and I can't seem to get enough reading time. Concentration is an issue, isn't it?

Yeah. Just can't get focused.

I think it's menopause frankly. I blame everything on that! As for dropping stuff, are you troubled with arthritis? Have you looked into getting yourself a Kindle or one of those reading tablets? Mistress has one and just loves it!

I've got a neuro-impairment of unknown etiology that started with a tapping index finger about 2 years ago. I shake constantly now, and use a quad-cane so I don't fall. My handwriting has gone from very good to very poor, and I don't have much of a grip in either hand. I don't think Kindles would survive me for long. One slip and boom - byebye Kindle . I hope to get diagnosed this year. Apparently specialists in my area don't do that anymore; they just line up folks already notified for drug companies, so I have to go to Ohio State and be seen by students .

I have the DVDs of the BBC Radio version of LotR and just love listening to it when I'm busy in the kitchen. Of course, they don't read every word of the books, but it's still a good enactment!

I think that's what I'll do. God, I miss the books though. When I could read I would hear the actors' voices in my head, even if they never said those lines in the films, I heard them. It was pretty sweet .

[Vairë]

I'm so sorry to learn of your medical issue, Shireling! It's hard to imagine you've gone two years without a diagnosis! I assume they've ruled out Parkinson's though. I hope you get this dealt with very soon and you can get some help!

Thirty times! You must be able to recite it by now! I think I've read it 5 or 6 times, I forget, but haven't read it for a couple years so I'd better put it in my line-up. The Sil is hard going, especially getting into it (I find) but if you can remember the characters and their stories, it's very how they fit in to the LotR background.

I see I typed DVDs when I meant CDs.

When I could read I would hear the actors' voices in my head, even if they never said those lines in the films, I heard them. It was pretty sweet .

Absolutely! I do that too! It's got to the point where I often pretend to hear Gandalf's voice speaking to me when I'm mulling over some problem and he's telling me something "wise".

[shireling]

...I assume they've ruled out Parkinson's though. I hope you get this dealt with very soon and you can get some help!

Nope. Nothing's been ruled in or out because specialists won't see me until I've been diagnosed by an OSU student and faculty. And the only reason I can think is because people like me don't fit the criteria for the drug trials, which, I don't because I haven't been diagnosed and I need to have been at least five years ago : ...Don't think about it too hard or you'll break something. Anyway, I stick to my journal for talking about this. Thank you, Vaire, and a hug right back !

...I do that too! It's got to the point where I often pretend to hear Gandalf's voice speaking to me when I'm mulling over some problem and he's telling me something "wise".

It works for me!!!

[MsBrandybuck]

So Peter never existed?? That's ridiculous! He is the catalyst to everything! They can't possibly write him out of this. I'll quit watching. (That's my tv, not the computer)

Well, I don't think it means that Peter never existed - though I don't have any ideas of what it *does* mean.
Where would he have gone when he winked out? Both worlds were overlapping- in just that one spot, right? Or was in the entirety of both worlds existing together in the same dimension? I'd have to watch it again to decide, unless one of you lot knows.

[MsBrandybuck]

I couldn't have one anyway (my religion highly recommends that we don't cremate anywhere, including the water), but I'd dearly love a eulogy like the one Boromir got and a boat to float me to the cemetery . Maybe a campfire afterwards...with Viking sagas.

Good ideas, all! A Viking funeral.... not sure I'd want one of those. Though other than cremation, I've really not given much though about my own funeral.

I don't think Peter never existed. He's too necessary to the machines in both universes - to me. God, I hate cliffhangers!!!! Especially cliffhangers that have a really lame solution. And they wouldn't do that to us, you think?

I agree - Peter did/does exist. I hate cliffhangers, too! And the solution better NOT BE LAME!!!!!! I will reach into the TV and b!tch slap JJ Abrams if it is....

[MsBrandybuck]

Yes, I agree - what's the point of the machines if there never was a Peter? Those Observers drive me crazy. And there's no way Walter and Walternate will work together, and I suspect the two Olivias won't either. I suspect next season will be full of "mistaken identity" situations. Blech.

OK - the way I understood it:
Walter invented the machine(s.) When he used it (them?) the first time the result was the breakdown between worlds. And then the worm hole* appears.
So he gets rid of the machine by sending it into the way distant past by tossing it into the worm hole. And then he wrote the book, the one thought to have been written by the "first people" so that they would know what to do when the machines were found again.

*Worm holes- as a story device, I hate it! This temporal shift - altered timeline juju makes my brain hurt.

[MsBrandybuck]

Yes, the sneaky Observers. I wish they'd give us at least a tiny hint about who or what they are!!

The Observers!! It seems like they've been doing some Nudging rather than mere Observing, yes?
But I think that they are trying to make sure that both universes are destroyed.

But who are they- and where did they come from? And do they exist simultaneously in all worlds? Or move freely between them?
If so, they seem not to have an effect on the environment - not like Walter going to the other universe which resulted in a temporal break down of that world.

[MsBrandybuck]

Wow, how many times have you read it?

About thirty - just LOTR, though. The Hobbit just a few, but could never bring myself to finish Silmarillion even once.

I'd love to re-read everything from The Sil, The Hobbit and LotR, but feel pressed to read a stack of other books that I've bought, and I can't seem to get enough reading time. Concentration is an issue, isn't it?

Yeah. Just can't get focused.

I think it's menopause frankly. I blame everything on that! As for dropping stuff, are you troubled with arthritis? Have you looked into getting yourself a Kindle or one of those reading tablets? Mistress has one and just loves it!

I've got a neuro-impairment of unknown etiology that started with a tapping index finger about 2 years ago. I shake constantly now, and use a quad-cane so I don't fall. My handwriting has gone from very good to very poor, and I don't have much of a grip in either hand. I don't think Kindles would survive me for long. One slip and boom - byebye Kindle . I hope to get diagnosed this year. Apparently specialists in my area don't do that anymore; they just line up folks already notified for drug companies, so I have to go to Ohio State and be seen by students .

I have the DVDs of the BBC Radio version of LotR and just love listening to it when I'm busy in the kitchen. Of course, they don't read every word of the books, but it's still a good enactment!

I think that's what I'll do. God, I miss the books though. When I could read I would hear the actors' voices in my head, even if they never said those lines in the films, I heard them. It was pretty sweet .

Shireling: Wow, 30 times! I would have outpaced you, I think, because I'd read them 26 times but stopped re-reading about 10 years ago. I think I'd finally had enough, what with including the movies and all - and I hope it's not sacrilege to say that!
I've read the Sil twice - but found it very hard to get through and not as satisfying as reading a single, cohesive narrative story. It's been probably 25 years since I've read the Sil, though. And maybe it's time to try a re-read.

Vaire: YES! I think that menopause IS to blame for scattered, unfocused thoughts! I had that REAL bad a couple of years ago- along with horrible nightmares. I really began to think i was going crazy. Things have settled and aren't so bad now - but I am still absent minded and suffer a bit of short term memory loss.

Apologies for all the consecutive posts! I've been saving up all my responses until I had time to add them here- it's hard to write a thoughtful post while at work.

[shireling]

Another terrific beginning to this season!!!! My heart breaks for Walter (these sightings he doesn't understand) and I do love the testiness between "Bolly" & Olivia. I also like that the Observers have a rebel in their midst!!! I will definitely stay tuned!!!

[MsBrandybuck]

Well, I wondered how long we would have to wait this season until we "saw" Peter.
At the very beginning of last night's show, I knew it was him, though they tried to toss out obscure clues to mask it.

I can't help but think that the rebellious Observer knows something... why he did not erase Peter from the Time Line. Why is it he knows, and no one else does?

And poor Walter... he seems so much more lost and in pain this season. I am so impressed by John Noble's acting skill. He can convey so much emotion with just a facial expression - he has quite a full selection of them. He evokes so much sympathy and mothering instinct from me... I just want to hug and comfort him, LOL!

[MsBrandybuck]

Well, I wondered how long we would have to wait this season until we "saw" Peter.
At the very beginning of last night's show, I knew it was him, though they tried to toss out obscure clues to mask it.

I can't help but think that the rebellious Observer knows something... why he did not erase Peter from the Time Line. Why is it he knows, and no one else does?

And poor Walter... he seems so much more lost and in pain this season. I am so impressed by John Noble's acting skill. He can convey so much emotion with just a facial expression - he has quite a full selection of them. He evokes so much sympathy and mothering instinct from me... I just want to hug and comfort him, LOL!

[shireling]

...And poor Walter... he seems so much more lost and in pain this season. I am so impressed by John Noble's acting skill. He can convey so much emotion with just a facial expression - he has quite a full selection of them. He evokes so much sympathy and mothering instinct from me... I just want to hug and comfort him, LOL!

Oh, I know!!! He's just wonderful!!! We're days behind in episodes because we tape them, so the last one I saw was the one with the little boy. That's a popular topic - at least in sci-fi - children that are haunted by monsters of their own emotional embracings.
But I digress. Having Peter mirrored on every reflective surface is classic! At least now that Olivia knows what Walter's been going through might help a bit.

[MsBrandybuck]

I can't stand the way they break up the season like this! It didn't use to be this way. A series would begin in September and end in May, period. None of this 2 months on and 3 months off deal, then resume in January for a couple of months- getting preempted by ball games and specials. And ending in April.
It really upsets the flow of the story and the building of tension and such.

[TomCotton]

I can't stand the way they break up the season like this! It didn't use to be this way. A series would begin in September and end in May, period. None of this 2 months on and 3 months off deal, then resume in January for a couple of months- getting preempted by ball games and specials. And ending in April.
It really upsets the flow of the story and the building of tension and such.

Agreed indeed.

Every freakin' show is subjected to that. It is rediculous. Another annoying thing is changing the day and time for the show. Instead of hunting the show down, it is usually just forgotten about on purpose. Not worth the hassle.

Something else, too, is this cliffhanger mentality that has creeped in. Bad enough that there are cliffhangers for the mid-season finale, but now there are cliffhangers before every commercial.

The network execs wonder why viewership is falling.

[shireling]

Ditto on what both of you said! Makes me as grumpy as a root beer float without Walter !