Wordless Wednesday: seasonal roof decorations

Feastin' and watchin'

Some of my long-time readers might remember that 'way back in February I was promised the birthday present of an LOTR geek's dreams. My wonderful kiddos made plans to chip in and finance an Alamo Drafthouse Lord of the Rings marathon/feast for us. (The rather hefty tab would be wasted on Henry, who was thankful not to be included.)

Well, months passed. And the scheduled marathon/feast, which had been put on a few times a year in the past, didn't seem to be finding a way onto the Drafthouse's busy schedule. Finally, the word was out for a December date, and Sally got her computer ready to be an early purchaser. [As it turned out, she had to be very early, since they told us they had sold out in eight minutes!]

The paucity of showings meant that Hal and Carey would have to miss out, since they would already have departed for their New England holiday trip. But their absence, while most unfortunate, was the only thing that wasn't absolutely perfect about the event!

Yes, we did have to get there a little early (for the 11 a.m. start) and wait in line to be sure we'd get good seats. But there was the Drafthouse decor to admire (see above right), free old-school Tron to play (see above left), Onions to read...in short, the wait time went quickly. And our seats were fantastic!

This was my only attempt at a shot during the event, but I got a good one! The Doors of Moria glowing in the moonlight and empty wine glasses littering the table!

What an amazing experience! I can't decide which aspect—the movies or the food—was most enjoyable.

The food was what made the day unique, though. What a spread! Sally had upgraded to the wine package, so we truly ate like Númenorean kings the whole day long. We can't figure out how they were able to serve so many people (probably about 150?) and have the plates always a perfect temperature, lovely to look at (as much as we could see in the dark) and heaped with such high quality, and imaginative foodstuffs! I just wish I could have taken a picture of each plate but Sally assured me that would be very bad form as we were served during the movies.

I also wish I had not licked the first few plates so squeaky clean, as I had to skimp on some of the later items due to a seriously distended stomach. I haven't eaten so much in a single day in years!

The menu is pictured on the right (click on the image to see a larger version) and a quick look will give you an idea of how imaginative the fare is. The first 3 items came out during the first movie, with two each for the second and third. Our favorites were probably the pork/cheese galette (I didn't even know what it was before, but WOW! what a delicious little pastry!) and the mead (since it was also a very pleasant surprise). But everything was scrumptious. The lamb, tomato soup, eggs, sausages and strawberries, especially.

Not to mention the "lembas bread"—yummy scones (complete with authentic leaf wrappings) that unfortunately I had little room for:

(picture taken during an intermission)

Being in the same theatre with a group of other geeks was fun as well. There were folks in costumes, including the girls pictured on the left in the lobby. One of the group had made their dresses. And the girl wearing a replica of my favorite Arwen dress, on the right, had it made for her by her grandmother!

A bonus feature came in between the first two movies. Sally dashed back to our seats after a potty break to tell me she had seen FRODO in the hallway. Now, we hadn't been drinking that much, so I took it to mean that Elijah Wood was visiting the theatre.

And I was right! He came out shortly thereafter and had a chat with the chef/master of ceremonies, answered some questions from the audience, and just gave us all a thrill.

And so, what about the movies? With all this other stuff going on, was it worth spending 11 hours inside on a nice, crisp winter day?!

Heck, yes! We had both worried about getting tired, getting stiff, not really being able to enjoy the last movie, etc., but it was wonderful!! Not tired at all!! And it was such a delight being able to see the whole panorama of the story all at once. To know as one movie ended that you wouldn't have to wait a year (like we did when they first came out) for the next one, or even until the next night!

One reason the viewing was so enjoyable was that, for the first 2 movies, we were watching the extended cuts! On film! What a treat! For some reason, films of the extended versions of FOTR and TT are available but not ROTK. However, we were happy to be able to see any of the extra footage from the DVDs on the big screen.

I'd do this again in a heartbeat. But, with the following enhancements:

• have all kids present
• share the wine upgrade so that not too much booze is consumed (and save some $$)
• hold back from cleaning plates in early courses
• and, maybe, make myself one of those dresses!

Wordless Wednesday: hand-me-down

What makes Austin weird?

Some examples of the charming weirdness that is just up IH-35 from sleepy San Antonio, seen on a weekend visit:

randomly-themed imaginative playground equipment in a taqueria parking lot [it's a moustache]

backyard with beautiful chickens, etc.

And, especially for the season, incredibly imaginative yard displays. The first one might look familiar...you can see an earlier incarnation of it here.

super dinosaur/guitar hybrid creature
[the guitar is obscuring a window that was showcasing a Godzilla movie on a tv facing the yard...multi-media!]

Getting weirder...

monkey-sock-doll nativity scene

...and weirdest...

More multi-media: yard light display augmented by large screen showing Twin Peaks, complete with rows of chairs for serious viewing

I don't think you can get much weirder than that. I mean, who doesn't think of Twin Peaks every holiday season?

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Enjoyable as taking this all in was, it wasn't the Main Event that drew me to Austin last weekend. I'll tell you about that in a post later this week. Stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday: a reason to get up in the morning

[Almost] Winter on the River

Finally! I did something blog-worthy! After a very lazy and uneventful period centered on the Thanksgiving weekend, we went winter paddling yesterday. Although the weather was anything but winter-like, with a high temperature near 80. Like those Christmases spent in shorts that so often seem to happen around here.

In spite of the good weather, it was a small paddling group, and I was left by myself during the shuttle run from Edge Falls to Guadalupe River State Park (on the river of the same name). Lots of time for picture-taking. And the clear blue sky was matched by the clarity of the water, which gave me lots of inspiration.

I love looking through clear water to see what's on the bottom. I think it might stem from an early childhood experience with glass-bottom boats in Florida (you can see some pictures from that early '50's trip here). At any rate, even the pile of debris on the upstream side of the Edge Falls bridge was photogenic when you could see below the water surface.

And, without the sun reflecting off the water, would you even be able to tell which part of this gravel bar was dry and which was wet?

We have our normal winter drought to thank for this clear water. No rain = no runoff = no silt = clear rivers.

The Edge Falls put-in is one of my favorites, since and it provides not only great scenery but some comfy places to sit and snooze. And I always have to wait on the shuttle. Just behind the big tree to the left of the small channel in this photo there's a root-encircled, almost campsite-sized bower, where I have spent some relaxing waiting time before.

Of course my solitude was eventually interrupted by the return of the shuttlers and we were off.

The river really does exhibit a distinct beautyin this season, with the low winter sun and the trees' infrastructure almost completely exposed to view. Don't you think?

We mammals weren't the only critters enjoying this sunny day. There were turtles on several logs along the way, we saw a fair number of birds, and then there was this little fellow, who hopped onto a log right next to where my boat was moored at our lunch stop.

He reminded me of his cousin, who hitched a ride with us on the Colorado last month, although this guy wasn't as pretty and green. But he did sit still for several photos, of which I think the one on the left is the best.

This short stretch of the Guadalupe probably doesn't make the must-do list for adrenaline-seeking kayakers, but that's really ok with me. I'm more in favor of nice little trains of ripples like this one, so I find this portion of the river, at this water level, just my cup of tea.

You can just see Henry, who does prefer a bit more adrenaline in his paddling, in the photo above. He's decided that there wasn't enough water for his more exciting way of negotiating this particular rapid, which involves squeezing between the two big boulders on the far left in the background.

A great scenic plus when you paddle down to the state park is a very photogenic series of boulders, close to the take-out point. Here's one of the most spectacular, with Reiko and Claire kindly providing some scale.

Scenic as it is, we all agreed that we're glad not to have been around when this guy cut loose from the cliffs on the left. I'll leave those adventures for the adrenaline-junkies, thank you very much, and just enjoy the aftermath.

Forgotten Wordless Wednesday

...so since I forgot to post this picture yesterday, today I can talk about it a little!


Not that there's much to say. My intended WW caption was: this is as far as I've gotten.

So my lack of postings lately can't be blamed on furious Christmas decorating. That's an excuse for next week!


Yes, those are wine corks on the wreath, by the way. Corks that, as Henry has mourned, "gave up their lives" for Christmas. I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out (thanks to Michaels' great selection of holiday doo-dads) although it gets a little smushed in between the [as yet unpainted] front door and the screen.


As long as it survives the season. And if I have to re-adorn it next year, I wouldn't mind getting to pick out a new selection of doo-dads.


I hope all of you are enjoying the lead-up to the winter solstice holidays and that you are further along in decorating than I am.