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There are a handful of tarot decks I've had on my want list since I started collecting a couple of years ago, recently out of print, all of them. You can't find them in stores, and about the only place I see them available is half dot com or ebay. So when I find one of my "wants" on ebay I watch the auction and see how high it goes before I even assay a bid. I've been birddogging one since last Wednesday, and cursing under my breath it didn't end on Sunday. People are out doing stuff on weekends, particularly Sunday, so any auctions that have gone more or less unnoticed and end on a weekend are less likely to ignite in a flurry of last-minute bidding. But Monday, when people are amusing themselves online at work, there were still only three bids and the last bid was a quarter of what I've seen this deck go for on ebay.
So I hit all the online tarot sites I know have representative cards from decks, and checked out all the cards I could find from this deck. And sat there with my fingers poised over the "bid now" button, going, "whuh?" When I added this deck to the wants list, I had just started learning about tarot. My tastes have developed and changed, and this one, low price or not, no longer appeals.
This happens a lot. There's one deck, no, two, that will stay on the list, though. The Vertigo deck, done by Dave McKean from the Sandman novels. There are two versions, both usually go for $100, give or take, on ebay. You can't find them first market. I'd really like to find the William Blake. I've seen it, and the art is Blake's, as are the quotations used on the cards. It's a deck that's been retrofitted to tarot, but I find it intriguing. If I find a deck I can borrow and study, I may change my mind about wanting to own it. But the Greenwood deck--actually, deck and book--is my number one. I have several Celtic inspired decks, but the illos on the Greenwood just sing at me. Can't afford it, however, and even if I could I don't think I could justify spending that sort of money on a tarot set. But it's nice to have something to aspire to, y'know?
H and I caught the first matinee of The Last Samurai on Friday before he had to go to work. We haven't had a chance to discuss it yet, but I liked it, and loved many things about it. Oddly, I'd just seen Lost in Translation with a friend on Wednesday--it's set in modern Tokyo, with young Japanese showbiz and music people, so, there was more than a little culture shock. I was surprised they actually found the locations for Samurai that they did, of the mountains and the village, until I remembered that it was actually filmed in Middle Earth. Er, NZ.
I loved Watanabe, he's wonderful. Loved the actors who played his son, his toughest Samurai (the one whut whupped Tom's ass and left him lying in the mud--who was practicing with a sword in one hand and a fan in the other) and the chunky samurai, who was betting on Tom. And Bob. Loved Bob. And just let me keep in mind, Japanese archery school, Apex, NC.
The locations, as mentioned before, were breathtaking. The story, while farfetched, was one I could get caught up in. I even think Tom aquitted himself respectably. He obviously worked hard on his physical stuff and swordwork. I would have appreciated that more if we hadn't gotten the Costner-esque slo-mo replay of the five-on-one mugging in the street. Also, if somebody makes you a present of a nifty helmet that makes you look like a cross between a cape buffalo and a rhinocerous beetle, you should wear it, if not for the important brain-protecting properties, then for the intimidation factor. I also really hated when in several of the scenes the camera centered on Tom, when he was not the heart of the scene. And the fact that he rode ahead of his master.
I think it actually would have been a more finely nuanced movie if the lead had been played by, as at least one critic recommended, Tony Goldwyn, who is an equal talent to Watanabe, who completely commanded this movie, emotionally, for me. I resented Cruise pulling focus from him.
Also. When Tom and Watanabe stood on the hill looking down on the camp, I was hearing (as I was obviously meant to), "Six thousand spears. Less than half that I had hoped."
"Six thousand will not be enough to break the lines of Mordor."
"More will come."
And when the horsies charged, all in a line, in slo-mo, with tossing manes and screaming riders with drawn swords, I was listening for Billy Boyd singing.
But otherwise, it was a better movie than many I've seen, and I went through a handful of tissues, and I enjoyed it so much I didn't want to dilute it staying to watch Master and Commander. Maybe H and I will see that one this weekend--it's still playing at a couple of theatres here.
Oh, and also? I found a ticket on the floor to the day's matinee--I could have (semi-legally) gone in to see the last hour plus of RotK after Samurai. But I di'n't. I'm up to five viewings, now. One for every week of release. I think I need to wait a bit before seeing it again, though, it's starting to blur, and to get familiar--not the good kind, but like a commercial you've seen so many times you don't really see or hear it any more? You just recognise it? So, a week, two weeks, and hopefully it will still be in release and I can see it again on a big screen.
And further also? I nearly yelped with joy that I was right, that "Oh-MUR-ah" was in fact properly pronounced, "OH-mu-RA". I do know that the similarities between RotK and LS were coincidental--it's almost impossible to make a "hopeless charge" scene with horses without similarities--the dramatic points are tossing manes, grimly set faces, yelling, etc. And I've seen that observing the camp from above scene in several movies, yes, all very similar, can't avoid it. I'm mortally sure Jackson cribbed it from older movies, as well.
We did finally see Master and Commander, and H liked it, despite his reluctance (for MONTHS) to see it because of his reservations about Crowe. I kept saying, "It's not Crowe, it's nautical and square-riggers fighting and stuff." He did like it. I loved seeing Billy Boyd as a grownup, and a less-than-completely sympathetic character. It really distanced him from the role of Pippen for me, and helped me see that he was, indeed, playing a role. That scene where Pippen and Gandalf are waiting for the enemy to break in, where Gandalf reassures him about death not being an end? Breaks me every.single.time. Just that incredibly open, vulnerable face. Boyd is capable of much subtlety, something he didn't necessarily show in FotR, and only began to exhibit in TTT. That scene, plus "naked in the dark" and "let us be rid of it" and the "For Frodo" get me every time. Plus..."I know your face. Eowyn." Arrrgghhhh! Damned allergies!!
And in other news, I've ordered a couple of Maori hei matau (bone fishook) necklaces from NZ. Viggo and Bernard Hill each wore one at the Wellington RotK premiere, and they were sprinkled through Whale Rider, too. I've had a carved red jasper whale tail for years, which I wear often, and I like the look and the symbolism of the hei matau. Must be my piscean fishy side coming out.
So I hit all the online tarot sites I know have representative cards from decks, and checked out all the cards I could find from this deck. And sat there with my fingers poised over the "bid now" button, going, "whuh?" When I added this deck to the wants list, I had just started learning about tarot. My tastes have developed and changed, and this one, low price or not, no longer appeals.
This happens a lot. There's one deck, no, two, that will stay on the list, though. The Vertigo deck, done by Dave McKean from the Sandman novels. There are two versions, both usually go for $100, give or take, on ebay. You can't find them first market. I'd really like to find the William Blake. I've seen it, and the art is Blake's, as are the quotations used on the cards. It's a deck that's been retrofitted to tarot, but I find it intriguing. If I find a deck I can borrow and study, I may change my mind about wanting to own it. But the Greenwood deck--actually, deck and book--is my number one. I have several Celtic inspired decks, but the illos on the Greenwood just sing at me. Can't afford it, however, and even if I could I don't think I could justify spending that sort of money on a tarot set. But it's nice to have something to aspire to, y'know?
H and I caught the first matinee of The Last Samurai on Friday before he had to go to work. We haven't had a chance to discuss it yet, but I liked it, and loved many things about it. Oddly, I'd just seen Lost in Translation with a friend on Wednesday--it's set in modern Tokyo, with young Japanese showbiz and music people, so, there was more than a little culture shock. I was surprised they actually found the locations for Samurai that they did, of the mountains and the village, until I remembered that it was actually filmed in Middle Earth. Er, NZ.
I loved Watanabe, he's wonderful. Loved the actors who played his son, his toughest Samurai (the one whut whupped Tom's ass and left him lying in the mud--who was practicing with a sword in one hand and a fan in the other) and the chunky samurai, who was betting on Tom. And Bob. Loved Bob. And just let me keep in mind, Japanese archery school, Apex, NC.
The locations, as mentioned before, were breathtaking. The story, while farfetched, was one I could get caught up in. I even think Tom aquitted himself respectably. He obviously worked hard on his physical stuff and swordwork. I would have appreciated that more if we hadn't gotten the Costner-esque slo-mo replay of the five-on-one mugging in the street. Also, if somebody makes you a present of a nifty helmet that makes you look like a cross between a cape buffalo and a rhinocerous beetle, you should wear it, if not for the important brain-protecting properties, then for the intimidation factor. I also really hated when in several of the scenes the camera centered on Tom, when he was not the heart of the scene. And the fact that he rode ahead of his master.
I think it actually would have been a more finely nuanced movie if the lead had been played by, as at least one critic recommended, Tony Goldwyn, who is an equal talent to Watanabe, who completely commanded this movie, emotionally, for me. I resented Cruise pulling focus from him.
Also. When Tom and Watanabe stood on the hill looking down on the camp, I was hearing (as I was obviously meant to), "Six thousand spears. Less than half that I had hoped."
"Six thousand will not be enough to break the lines of Mordor."
"More will come."
And when the horsies charged, all in a line, in slo-mo, with tossing manes and screaming riders with drawn swords, I was listening for Billy Boyd singing.
But otherwise, it was a better movie than many I've seen, and I went through a handful of tissues, and I enjoyed it so much I didn't want to dilute it staying to watch Master and Commander. Maybe H and I will see that one this weekend--it's still playing at a couple of theatres here.
Oh, and also? I found a ticket on the floor to the day's matinee--I could have (semi-legally) gone in to see the last hour plus of RotK after Samurai. But I di'n't. I'm up to five viewings, now. One for every week of release. I think I need to wait a bit before seeing it again, though, it's starting to blur, and to get familiar--not the good kind, but like a commercial you've seen so many times you don't really see or hear it any more? You just recognise it? So, a week, two weeks, and hopefully it will still be in release and I can see it again on a big screen.
And further also? I nearly yelped with joy that I was right, that "Oh-MUR-ah" was in fact properly pronounced, "OH-mu-RA". I do know that the similarities between RotK and LS were coincidental--it's almost impossible to make a "hopeless charge" scene with horses without similarities--the dramatic points are tossing manes, grimly set faces, yelling, etc. And I've seen that observing the camp from above scene in several movies, yes, all very similar, can't avoid it. I'm mortally sure Jackson cribbed it from older movies, as well.
We did finally see Master and Commander, and H liked it, despite his reluctance (for MONTHS) to see it because of his reservations about Crowe. I kept saying, "It's not Crowe, it's nautical and square-riggers fighting and stuff." He did like it. I loved seeing Billy Boyd as a grownup, and a less-than-completely sympathetic character. It really distanced him from the role of Pippen for me, and helped me see that he was, indeed, playing a role. That scene where Pippen and Gandalf are waiting for the enemy to break in, where Gandalf reassures him about death not being an end? Breaks me every.single.time. Just that incredibly open, vulnerable face. Boyd is capable of much subtlety, something he didn't necessarily show in FotR, and only began to exhibit in TTT. That scene, plus "naked in the dark" and "let us be rid of it" and the "For Frodo" get me every time. Plus..."I know your face. Eowyn." Arrrgghhhh! Damned allergies!!
And in other news, I've ordered a couple of Maori hei matau (bone fishook) necklaces from NZ. Viggo and Bernard Hill each wore one at the Wellington RotK premiere, and they were sprinkled through Whale Rider, too. I've had a carved red jasper whale tail for years, which I wear often, and I like the look and the symbolism of the hei matau. Must be my piscean fishy side coming out.