There and Back Again

It's mostly a blur now. I can't believe I'm actually back here in my room, contemplating on what I have gone through, beginning at 11 pm last Monday.

The bus ride to Rochester was generally uneventful, except that I wasn't able to sleep well. For one thing, I did not anticipate a snorer on the bus. This proved to be the sleep killer. I moved to the back where I could not hear him, but the bus was a little wiggly over there.

Rochester seemed like a quaint, sleepy place and it was very white: snow was still on the ground. Sean and Kerri picked me up at the bus station, and we waited in line beginning at 9 am. I tried to catch up on my sleep, but it was noisy. At 12 noon, we entered the theater. Being one of the first in line, we got good seats in the middle.

I got through The Fellowship of the Ring Extended without a hitch. It reminded me how magnificent Boromir's death scene was. However, I still have my issues with those elves: they just look sooo gay. And for some reason, I was half-expecting Elrond to say "Hello Mr. Anderson." (They should probably make a parody film of the Lord of the Rings - it's just so ripe for it).

I had some problems watching The Two Towers Extended. I began to get headaches, most likely due to sleep deprivation. I didn't want to spoil it for myself during the third film, so I decided to "pace myself" and sleep during parts of this one (basically the slow middle love scenes). I justified it a little bit by telling myself that I've watched this five times already so I'm not missing too much. But I did try my best to be awake during the "extended" portions which ended up in the earlier parts and the last parts. By the time the siege of Helm's Deep arrived, I decided to be awake all the way.

During the 30 minutes however between TTT and Return of the King, I felt nauseous. I wanted to throw up the hotdog I just ate, but I didn't think this was a good idea at this point in time, with the most important film just minutes away. I tried to rest myself for the 15 minutes I had left (which kinda helped) by just sitting in my chair and drinking more water. I went to the restroom just before the start (my other "pacing" routine), and I was ready as I could be.

The Return of the King proved to the most exciting and action-packed of the three. Mario mentioned to me last year about the Battle of Pelennor Fields which was supposed to be bigger than TTT's Helm's Deep, and it turned out to be just that way. Amazing. This is the special effects film that just tops everything else. I've never been to a film where the audience cheered at every hero's great feat, and the film had plenty. And I didn't know that Legolas and Sam had really faithful fanboys. An eye-opener that one.

I am wondering how the film will look like to me as a stand-alone. After watching the two films before the last one, Return of the King really turned out to be the climactic ending it was supposed to be. I don't know if it will have the same effect by itself. I think I'll be watching ROTK two to three more times over the course of the holidays.

By 1:30 am, it was all over. Sean and Kerri wanted to take me around Rochester a little bit more, but by this time, my migraine was already setting in, and all I wanted to do was rest. We did go to this nice mall before they dropped me off at the airport. I slept on a couch for two hours before checking in at 4:30. I tried to sleep on the plane a little bit more, but I was greeted once again by a snorer (who was a similarly built fat black man from the night before). I wanted to wake him up and tell him to get medical treatment because everybody around him will start to think that he's a nasty man who will never get a date, specially with his mouth open and tongue sticking out, making a horrible noise in a public space. 55 minutes later, I was back in a New York City subway headed for work. At 2 pm I finally got some rest on a decent bed.

And at 11 pm, I download the soundtrack on iTunes.