PETRONA: A bit quiet

23 December 2006

A bit quiet

I am not going to be posting much in the next few days, mainly because I am rather behind on my Christmas preparations, and also because there is a blogging ban on Christmas day and some degree of disapproval of blogging over this weekend. A further complication is the annual tradition chez Petrona of watching all three extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a considerable time-sink.

So I shall simply wish you all a very Happy Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful holiday. I will be back when I can. Here is a hoiday photo of (from left) Cathy, Malcolm, Jenny and me.

23 Dec 2006 15:41:53 | Miscellaneous

14 Comments

Merry Christmas to you and your family.
I hope that you have lots of fun.

Posted by: Caroline | 23 December 2006 at 20:07

Ditto that. Now that I'm done with shopping (did it all *today* -- chore that I hate b/c I hate the crassness of it all, plus I don't like shopping at any time of year), I'll kick back, cook, and be happy.

Wishing you a very merry one, Maxine. And check your e-mail, 'cause I sent you a photo of ma famille. I think it's cool to know what all the posters look like; so much easier to picture people correctly when I do. (Interestingly, Maxine, you look almost exactly as I'd pictured: tall, willowy, radiating a luminous intelligence.)

Posted by: Susan Balée | 23 December 2006 at 21:13

Merry Christmas to all of you, and may you all have a splendid new year!

Posted by: Frank Wilson | 23 December 2006 at 22:48

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Maxine. I mentioned your Lord of the Rings tradition to my wife: she thinks it sounds like a wonderful idea: this year may mark the beginning of a tradition for our family.

Posted by: Dave Lull | 24 December 2006 at 02:56

Merry Christmas to all of you, Maxine. It has been a pleasure to 'meet' you.

Posted by: Marie | 24 December 2006 at 08:05

Merry Christmas Maxine. Hope your 'quiet one' is not too quiet - roll on Boxing Day!

Posted by: Minx | 24 December 2006 at 10:40

Have a happy time, Maxine - great photo.

Posted by: Clare | 24 December 2006 at 11:36

Merry Christmas, Maxine and family.
Your "Lord of the Rings" family tradition seems eminently sensible, and considerably warmer than our family New Years Day tradition.
We go down to Budleigh Salterton and walk along the beach. Roll on global warming.

Posted by: Norm alias Uriah Robinson | 24 December 2006 at 12:23

That is very funny and apt about the blogging ban! Nice picture BTW, and have a lovely holiday season...

Posted by: Jenny D | 24 December 2006 at 12:33

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Maxine!

Posted by: Lynne W. Scanlon | 24 December 2006 at 13:00

Warm and joyous wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy New Year!

Posted by: Steve Clackson | 24 December 2006 at 14:14

What a lovely photo, Maxine! I hope you and your family have a lovely Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Posted by: Amy | 25 December 2006 at 17:43

Thanks for the lovely comments,again, everyone. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas.
Incidentally, I don't know why I do look so tall on this picture -- Malcolm is taller than me but he must be kind of hunched over on his mad dash back into shot after setting the delayed timer on the camera. And Cathy is now only half an inch behind me.

Posted by: Maxine | 27 December 2006 at 16:07

Happy Holidays, Maxine! (You don't look a bit like I'd pictured you, but now I know.)

Posted by: Isabella | 30 December 2006 at 03:23

The comments to this entry are closed.

Outdated bloggers I'm concerned to read on Berkshire Blog: a global point of reference: Trying not to be "soooo 2006" that I am likely to be left behind on the technological rubbish heap as 2007 starts. The reason? "2007 will be the year of the multimedia blogosphere. If you don't have video, podcasts, photos, screenshots and other visuals on your blog, well then you're soooo 2006. Not to worry. Adding a YouTube video to your blog is as easy as copy and paste." I can't see this happening here, as I blog because I like writing about things, not because I want to get into audio or video. Oh well, I am sure I will find a few other people who are happy to potter about in the pleasant backwaters of Petronaville, and maybe who won't be upgrading their own blogs to all-singing-all-dancing either.

Lord of the Rings again (and again) Lord of the Rings The film of the Fellowship of the Ring was released in December 2001. The Two Towers came out a year later and The Return of the King a year after that. The films were released on DVD, first in “theatrical” (as it is termed) form and then in extended editions. It has been an annual tradition for an increasingly large subset of our family to watch the movies every Christmas holidays so that for the past 3 years (including this) we’ve seen all three extended editions over a period of 3 days – nearly 16 hours of film. Are we mad? Have we had enough yet? The answers are no and probably yes. Tolkien’s classic books address timeless themes of friendship, valour, honour, sacrifice and sadness. The films may deviate in some details and omit others, but essentially they are equally, if differently, superb, being true labours of love rather than solely commercial propositions. In a parallel with the fellowship itself, the films represent a partnership between director, writers, designers, actors and musicians which provides a magnificent, emotionally involving total. The extended editions of the films are so much more complete than the “theatre” versions, but...