Meanwhile, in Rivendell . . .

Greetings, my dear Shirelings!  Yesterday was Hobbit Day, and it marked the commencement of what is probably my favorite annual online event:  Rachel's Tolkien Blog Party.  Check out Rachel's kick-off post here  and be sure to enter the fabulous giveaway she's hosting in honor of the party as well. I plan to answer this year's tag questions later this week, but for today's post, I'm casting my mind back to this time last year.  During 2023's party, Rachel hosted a game that gave players the opportunity to build a hobbit name for themselves.  (You can check out that post by clicking on this link .)  Per the rules of the game, my hobbit name turned out to be Cloverpin Sackcobble , and you know something?  I actually love it.  "Cloverpin" as a hobbit name?  Are you kidding me??  So cute, so versatile.  Fantastic. Anyway.  I enjoyed playing that game so much that it got me thinking about what my life would actually look like if I were, in fact, a hobb

Sally Silverscreen from 18 Cinema Lane has nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award!  Always a treat — thank you, Sally! Like most awards, this one comes with a few rules: 1. Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog. 2. Thank the person who nominated you. 3. Provide a link to your nominator’s blog. 4. Answer your nominator’s questions. 5. Nominate up to 11 bloggers. 6. Ask your nominees 11 questions. 7. Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts. Those noted, let's proceed to Sally's questions and my answers. ⸻ 1. You’re about to introduce someone to a film genre. Which movie will you choose as the respective introduction? Funny you should ask; I just thought about this subject the other day.  I was re-watching Belle (2013) on a flight home and was impressed once again by just how fantastic of a period drama it is.  It really does have everything:  stunning cinematography, sumptuous costumes you could eat up with a spoon, swoony

*peeks timidly around the corner* Hello, there. Who's this sneaking back to very belatedly wrap up a party that ended several days ago? Couldn't be me, certainly . . . Yes, folks, I must admit that the end of this year's Legends of Western Cinema Week rather got away from me.  Several real-life engagements commandeered my attention in rather unavoidable ways; c'est la vie.   Still and yet, I enjoyed this year's party and look forward to (hopefully?) sharing more posts in next year's.  Thank you to everyone who joined in the fun last week; be sure to check out everyone's contributions (linked below); and we'll see you next time. *waves*

Before we begin, a few notes: #1.  I purposefully decided to go with "heroes" instead of "cowboys" for the title of this post, because not all of these characters fit the "cowboy" job description.   #2.  I also decided to limit myself to one character per given show, hence why Print and Heck from Broken Trail or Vin from The Magnificent Seven don't make appearances. #3.  As usual, I'm none too confident in all of my picks for this list, nor in all of their rankings.  I knew of about six or seven characters who deserved the title "favorite," no question, but the well started to run a bit dry after that.  In other words, to be ruthlessly frank, I was rather scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came to rounding out this list.  It's a stretch to call the first few characters in this post "favorites," but one does what one must for the sake of continuity. 😜 Now to it . . .  ⸻ #10.  Billy Hyatt The War Wagon (1967) "Won

Another Legends of Western Cinema Week has come around the mountain, y'all!  Today marks the beginning of a rollicking summer tradition hosted by Heidi , Rachel , and myself, during which we celebrate all things Western.  We invite you to join in the fun by contributing your own Western-themed posts over the next several days:  reviews, lists, analyses, games, etc. — you name it!   As always, we're starting things off with a fresh set of tag questions — or, in this case, tag prompts.  Following last year's lead, we're providing you all with a list of adjectives to fit to the Western of your choice.  Want to see what I mean?  Read on for my own answers. 2024 Tag Prompts Cozy Gritty Serious Comedic Romantic Lively  Unpredictable Hopeful Joyful Adventurous My Tag Answers Cozy Does it get any cozier than the outrageous Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954)?  Not in a conversation about Westerns, at any rate.  Romanticized pioneer lifestyle, boisterous dance breaks, problem