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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
 Posted - 04/03/2007 : 10:58:16 PM
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i need a new pair of pants. |
death to false metal. |
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rubylith
Fluffy-Esque
1916 Posts |
Posted - 04/03/2007 : 11:21:13 PM
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Holy shit I almost need to change my pants too after that post. HAHAHAHHAA
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Arthen
Alien Abductee
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 01:08:06 AM
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I need a new set of eyes. They melted.
I look forward, greatly, to reading this. Especially with new illustrations by Alan Lee, we're set for gold. |
Steve Hackett: "I'm my own opening act, you see."
Tim (before "Faceoff"): "Peace, love....and SEX!"
cbenc41@hotmail.com |
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Hopeful Rolling Waves
Alien Abductee
South Sandwich Islands
2154 Posts |
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Arthen
Alien Abductee
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 11:45:31 AM
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Uh oh...
HRW's worried there will be words in the book he can't understand! Don't worry HRW, I hear they're releasing The Silmarillion for dummies quite soon. |
Steve Hackett: "I'm my own opening act, you see."
Tim (before "Faceoff"): "Peace, love....and SEX!"
cbenc41@hotmail.com |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 12:56:15 PM
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that you began your post in the prescribed manner only slightly lessens the blasphemy.
there are going to be words in there that nobody understands, unless they speak elvish. i don't, though. not at all. |
death to false metal. |
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Arthen
Alien Abductee
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 1:14:55 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by dan p.
there are going to be words in there that nobody understands, unless they speak elvish. i don't, though. not at all.
I'm actually surprised that you don't. |
Steve Hackett: "I'm my own opening act, you see."
Tim (before "Faceoff"): "Peace, love....and SEX!"
cbenc41@hotmail.com |
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sciphish
Chatterbox
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 1:27:24 PM
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| Wait. So, is this a new book? I thought he was fucking dead. |
I'm almost there... |
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Arthen
Alien Abductee
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 1:34:05 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by sciphish
Wait. So, is this a new book? I thought he was fucking dead.
Death means nothing. Tupac's released more albums dead than alive. Elvis made more money after he died.
Seriously, his son Christopher Tolkien edited together all the fragments and pieces of the book which Tolkien had spent around thirty years working on, if I remember correctly. |
Steve Hackett: "I'm my own opening act, you see."
Tim (before "Faceoff"): "Peace, love....and SEX!"
cbenc41@hotmail.com |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 1:45:58 PM
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the narn i nin hurin, or the children of hurin, was first written in 1918, and revised many times before tolkien's death. essentially what his son christopher did is is fill in the holes. it's a full length novel. a shorter version of it can be found in the silmarillion, but it only includes things relevent to the war against melkor in the first age. earlier versions can be found in one of the lost tales volumes.
sad but true: i used to speak pretty good elven. when the fellowship of the ring hit theaters, i didn't need the subtles almost at all. did i say sad but true? i meant rad but true. |
death to false metal. |
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rubylith
Fluffy-Esque
1916 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 2:14:03 PM
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WOW.  |
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tericee
Alien Abductee
USA
2579 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 2:39:56 PM
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| That is kinda cool. You could woo Liv Tyler, and she might understand you if she remembers her Elvish... |
teri 
Twittering about the DC adventure since Dec '09...
(Micro)Blog * Photo Album
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 3:51:41 PM
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| i actually found eowyn more attractive than arwen. of course, in real life, liv tyler is more attractive. and in middle-earth, arwen would be more attractive. you know, because she's an elf. |
death to false metal. |
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sciphish
Chatterbox
USA
155 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 5:00:55 PM
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yeah when I read the books, I like Eowyn better.
But in the movies it was more obvious that He should marry
Arwen. |
I'm almost there... |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 8:41:31 PM
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| that's because arwen is in about 3 pages of fellowship of the ring, and 3 more in return of the king. i liked eowyn better in both, but he's "supposed" to marry arwen, because of the whole beren and luthien thing. |
death to false metal. |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/04/2007 : 9:22:27 PM
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also, the story of hurin's children would make an awesome movie. here's what it would have:
huge battles
swords
magic
tits
dragons
can't beat it. |
death to false metal. |
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Arthen
Alien Abductee
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 12:14:11 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by dan p.
that's because arwen is in about 3 pages of fellowship of the ring, and 3 more in return of the king. i liked eowyn better in both, but he's "supposed" to marry arwen, because of the whole beren and luthien thing.
Plus, as you've pointed out, she's a hot elf babe. |
Steve Hackett: "I'm my own opening act, you see."
Tim (before "Faceoff"): "Peace, love....and SEX!"
cbenc41@hotmail.com |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 04:02:40 AM
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| a couple people are also writing a screenplay for john milton's paradise lost. that's probably one of my favorite literary works ever. it ranks above any of the fantasy stuff (outside of silmarillion/lotr) i've read. it's a fucking masterpiece. i guess they're focusing less on adam and eve, and more on the battle in heaven. a lot about making a movie of it concerns me. how will satan be portrayed? in pl, at first glance, he seems to be the hero, and he's easy to relate to and pity. deeper analysis of the text reveals otherwise, though. how will they do that? how will they deal with adam and eve? and don't get me started on adapting the language. |
death to false metal. |
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Hopeful Rolling Waves
Alien Abductee
South Sandwich Islands
2154 Posts |
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tericee
Alien Abductee
USA
2579 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 10:32:37 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by dan p.
i actually found eowyn more attractive than arwen. of course, in real life, liv tyler is more attractive. and in middle-earth, arwen would be more attractive. you know, because she's an elf.
Also, Eowyn doesn't speak Elvish, in which case you might not be able to woo her with your Elvish language skills. |
teri
Twittering about the DC adventure since Dec '09...
(Micro)Blog * Photo Album
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Arthen
Alien Abductee
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 11:24:01 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Hopeful Rolling Waves
I am cutting myself at the computer, thanks guys.
Down the road, not across the street! |
Steve Hackett: "I'm my own opening act, you see."
Tim (before "Faceoff"): "Peace, love....and SEX!"
cbenc41@hotmail.com |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/05/2007 : 12:06:20 PM
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actually, it's neither. it's through the jugular, past the spinal column.
cut your head off. |
death to false metal. |
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therippa
Fluffy-Esque
Kazakhstan
1099 Posts |
Posted - 04/06/2007 : 4:09:33 PM
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I heard it was what Chuck Palahniuk would write if he was the 7'4" autistic son of Michael Crichton and Jackie Collins. It's supposed to be that good.
Oh, and btw...
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Aspiring to Be Fluffy-Esque an Alien Abductee! |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2007 : 3:33:09 PM
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| heads up, fuckers. 3 days left. time to go camp outside of borders or barnes & noble or something. |
death to false metal. |
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gnome44
Yak Addict
749 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2007 : 09:49:11 AM
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Review: 'New' Tolkien splendidly rewarding
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/books/04/17/review.tolkien.ap/index.html
By Bruce DeSilva
Associated Press
Adjust font size:
(AP) -- Six thousand years before the Fellowship of the Ring, long before anyone had even seen a Hobbit, the elves and men of Middle-earth quaked at the power of the dark lord Morgoth.
Hunted by easterlings and orcs, they fled to the fastness of Nargothrond and to the deep forests of Brethil and Doriath. Among them, a hero emerged. Strong and courageous he was, but foolhardy and impetuous. His name was Turin, son of Hurin.
His story, released today by Houghton Mifflin, is a publishing event: It is the first new book by the creator of "The Lord of the Rings" in 30 years. The publisher calls it the culmination of an effort to bring to the public the vast body of work J.R.R. Tolkien had left unpublished, and largely unfinished, when he died in 1973.
Tolkien began writing "The Children of Hurin" 99 years ago, abandoning it and taking it up again repeatedly throughout his life. Versions of the tale already have appeared in "The Silmarillion," "Unfinished Tales" and as narrative poems or prose sections of the "History of Middle-earth" series.
But they were truncated and contradictory. Outside of Tolkien scholars and Middle-earth fanatics, few read them.
These works were, after all, largely unreadable -- dense, hard to follow histories and legends of Tolkien's vast, imaginary world, crammed with complicated genealogies, unfamiliar geography and hard-to-pronounce names. Readers who took up such books hoping for another Rings saga or charming yarn such as "The Hobbit" abandoned them after a few pages.
"The Children of Hurin" is the book for which these readers have been longing.
It is the fruit of 30 years labor by Christopher Tolkien, the author's son, who has devoted much of his life to editing and publishing the work his father left behind. By meticulously combining and editing the many published and unpublished versions of the tale, he has produced at last a coherent, vivid and readable narrative.
Houghton-Mifflin has treated the work well, hiring Alan Lee, who won an Academy Award for art direction for "The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King," to create stunning color illustrations.
The story unfolds in a region far to the west of where Frodo and Samwise would later roam, in a land destined to be swallowed by the sea in the cataclysm that would end the first age of Middle-earth. But even then, it was an ancient land, filled with legends and half-remembered histories.
As the tale begins, Morgoth has destroyed a vast army of elves and men and taken one of its leaders, Hurin, prisoner. The dark lord tries to bend Hurin to his will, but the great man defies him. So Morgoth pronounces a curse on Hurin's children, Turin and his sister Nienor.
The first chapter resembles "The Silmarillion," dense and confusing enough to discourage casual readers. But stick with it and the story soon becomes readable and engaging.
Don't expect an uplifting ending like the one to "The Lord of the Rings," however. This is a gloomy tale -- Hurin's children doomed to failure by Turin's hubris and, of course, the curse.
The story is told in the archaic style to which Tolkien fans are accustomed, from a man who admired old Anglo-Saxon and Norse sagas. A sample:
"In this way, before the summer had passed, the following of Turin had swelled to a great force, and the power of Angband was thrown back. Word of this came even to Nargothrond, and many there grew restless."
The story is short by the standards of "The Lord of the Ring," covering just 259 pages, the rest of the book consisting of an introduction and appendix in which Christopher Tolkien explains how he went about his work. The details are unlikely to be of interest to the casual reader, but the bottom line is this:
Christopher Tolkien says that in reconciling the various versions of his father's story, he added no new material, save for an occasional transition. The words, he says, are virtually all his father's.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2007 : 2:26:44 PM
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| i have no money and no book store around here. i'm fucking dying. |
death to false metal. |
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Arthen
Alien Abductee
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2007 : 10:44:54 PM
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| I suffer at your side, brother... |
Steve Hackett: "I'm my own opening act, you see."
Tim (before "Faceoff"): "Peace, love....and SEX!"
cbenc41@hotmail.com |
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Infant Eyes
Try A Little Harder
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2007 : 10:46:57 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by dan p.
i have no money and no book store around here. i'm fucking dying.
Your uncle may get some money out of it though. |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2007 : 11:29:26 PM
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i demand he buy a copy and bury it with me. i'll read it even if i'm dead.
not: this would not make me undead. i do not, nor have i ever condone being undead or the undead themselves. |
death to false metal. |
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Hopeful Rolling Waves
Alien Abductee
South Sandwich Islands
2154 Posts |
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tericee
Alien Abductee
USA
2579 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2007 : 11:59:08 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by dan p.
i have no money and no book store around here. i'm fucking dying.
Do you have an Amazon wish list and a post office? If so, send me your e-mail address and maybe you'll get a present... |
teri
Twittering about the DC adventure since Dec '09...
(Micro)Blog * Photo Album
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2007 : 1:09:25 PM
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i might as well wait til i get home.
thanks tericee, but i think i'll just go home this weekend and get it. |
death to false metal. |
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gnome44
Yak Addict
749 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2007 : 3:07:04 PM
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I just bought a bunch of them and set them on fire. Just because I could... |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2007 : 3:31:38 PM
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| i hate you. actually, there's a place within walking distance from here that carries mostly used books, but some new books. they carry the harry potters, so they damn well better carry this. |
death to false metal. |
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rubylith
Fluffy-Esque
1916 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2007 : 3:39:10 PM
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http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1611448,00.html
There are two kinds of Tolkien fans. There are the day trippers, the weekend warriors, who've read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and seen the movies and let it go at that. Then there are the hardcore — the Uruk-hai of Tolkien readers — who have delved further, into The Silmarillion and beyond, who seriously grok the deep history and elaborate geography and endless mystical genealogies of Middle Earth. Now there's a "new" work of Tolkien fiction called The Children of Húrin, cobbled together by Christopher Tolkien, son of J.R.R., out of manuscripts left behind by his dad. As it happens, it's got something for both of the Tolkien tribes.
The Children of Húrin is set in the First Age of Middle Earth, six and a half millennia pre-Frodo, back when Treebeard was barely shaving (Tolkien scholars will know that The Lord of the Rings takes place in Middle Earth's Third Age). The First Age has a different feel to it: it's younger and wilder somehow. The elves, distant figures in The Lord of the Rings, spend more time outside their secret spa-resorts mixing it up with mere mortals. When, in the midst of a huge battle, a balrog rears up and whips down a warrior like it's no big thing, right there in the thick of the press, you realize the rules of the First Age are a little different.
The hero of Children is Túrin (son of Húrin), an aristocratic human who has the good fortune to be raised and trained up by the elves into a bad-ass swordsman. Túrin is good-hearted but flawed: he's irascible, quick to anger and quick to act on his anger — he has a bad habit of killing people before he quite realizes what he's doing (though he's always remorseful afterwards). "Túrin was slow to forget injustice or mockery," Tolkien writes, "and he could be sudden and fierce. Yet he was quick to pity, and the hurts or sadness of living things might move him to tears." A dark cloud follows him, and Tolkien lays on the omens of foreboding: you get the sense that Túrin was born under an unlucky star.
The villain of Children is the cowardly and spiteful Morgoth, who's your basic evil incarnate. Tolkien's baddies rarely have much in the way of personality, and Morgoth spends most of his time squatting in his dark fortress of Angband, casting a shadow over the land and generally making war on all that is just and beautiful. He leaves most of the actual scrapping to his lieutenants, most notably Glaurung, a wingless, wormy, and rather sarcastic dragon.
Children is written in Tolkien's full-on high heroic style, which is light on the characterization and sometimes hilariously dorky. (An example, chosen more or less at random: Túrin's helmet "was made of grey steel adorned with gold, and on it were graven runes of victory. A power was in it that guarded any who wore it from wound or death, for the sword that hewed it was broken, and the dart that smote it sprang aside." Etc. The book also comes with some pseudo-Blakean illustrations by Alan Lee.) But once you surrender to the richness of Tolkien's vision, the immersive detail of it, the faux-archaic diction barely registers. Children, as a short work, never achieves the towering operatic grandeur of the trilogy, but it's a huge pleasure to be back in Middle Earth, and to see people and places that Tolkien only alludes to glancingly elsewhere. There's plenty of lore for the scholars and superfans, and there's no shortage of elves and dwarves and mighty smiting for the casual fan.
Just heed this warning: The Children of Húrin is a darker, bitterer tale than we're used to seeing from Tolkien. Its hero is proud and imperfect and willful — more Boromir than Frodo — and his story is full of accidents and disasters, poisoned barbs and ruinous betrayals and grievous misunderstandings. Which makes sense: after all, if the good guys had beaten the forces of darkness in the First Age, they wouldn't have been stuck with Sauron in the Third.
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2007 : 3:48:36 PM
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| why dost thou torment me so? |
death to false metal. |
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Arthen
Alien Abductee
USA
4845 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2007 : 5:11:31 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by rubylith
Its hero is proud and imperfect and willful — more Boromir than Frodo —
Awesome! Boromir's my favorite character from The Fellowship of the Ring. Man, I can't wait to get this one... |
Steve Hackett: "I'm my own opening act, you see."
Tim (before "Faceoff"): "Peace, love....and SEX!"
cbenc41@hotmail.com |
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Hopeful Rolling Waves
Alien Abductee
South Sandwich Islands
2154 Posts |
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dan p.
Alien Abductee
Uganda
3776 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2007 : 8:42:40 PM
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guess what i got? that's right, fucktards. children of hurin.
here's what you need to do. get up. go out your door. you get in your car, and you speed to the nearest book store. if you don't have a car, walk. if you're crippled, replace "walk" with "hobble" and you're all set. if you can't afford it, even if you're in devestating debt and have to mortgage your house, you buy this book. then you sit down and read it. don't stop, either. take it to the bathroom, work or school, the dinner table, everywhere.
so yeah, the book's pretty good so far. |
death to false metal. |
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Robin
Yak Addict
USA
598 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2007 : 11:10:25 PM
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I'm so psyched for this, but my kid has dibs on reading it first.
Read on! Peace, Robin |
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on a scale of 1 to awesome
