What do you assign to Orthanc?

[Brinniel]

New England weather, which can be very confusing at times. We had some beautiful weather the past few days, which was quite refreshing after months of wearing jackets. Then yesterday the high got to 93F (34C), which was in fact a bit too hot and very unusual for April. Today it's supposed to only get to 59F (15C). How on earth can the temperature be cut in half (and a little more) in 24 hours? Okay, I know New England weather does tend to be bipolar (much like my hometown of Boise actually), but c'mon this is a bit extreme. Can Mother Nature please decide whether it's spring or summer already?

[morwen edhelwen]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

We have Mordor, where we may assign the things we hate. We have the Shire, a veritable repository of the things we love.

But what about the things that we hate to love? Or, more accurately, the things that we know we should hate, but which we secretly (or not so secretly) love?

Should they not be assigned to Orthanc? OK, I was inspired by the "rooting for the bad guys" thread. We know we should disapprove of Saruman. And yet it surely cannot be denied that he is a facinating character. Perhaps the most interesting "baddie" that Tolkien presents us with. Apart from Gollum, perhaps, but the "below Goblintown, the Misty Mountains" is rather too unspecific as a location.

And Saruman had his gulity pleasures too. The Halfling weed, for example.

So, I'll kick us off.

- Cigarettes (obviously)
- Big Brother (the reality show, not the Orwellian creation)
- Reality TV shows in general ...
- George W Bush (I know I should disapprove of him, but I can't help finding something endearing about him )
- Intolerance towards shtoopid people
- Intolerance towards people who dawdle (eg, the "zombie shuffle" in tube stations at rush hour)
- Checking the Barrow-Downs at work
- Playing Werewolf (and making lists pertaining thereto) at work.

OK, that's enough from me for now.

Let's hear those confessions ...

Romance novels. Chick-lit like "The Princess Diaries" . Disney and things meant for young girls aged 11-12-13.

[Loslote]

Originally Posted by morwen edhelwen

Romance novels. Chick-lit like "The Princess Diaries" . Disney and things meant for young girls aged 11-12-13.

I second this. They're oh so corny, and oh so meant to suck money away from people, but you gotta love them anyways.

[morwen edhelwen]

Originally Posted by Loslote

I second this. They're oh so corny, and oh so meant to suck money away from people, but you gotta love them anyways.

Really, Loslote? So do you *like* "The Princess Diaries?"

[Loslote]

Originally Posted by morwen edhelwen

Really, Loslote? So do you *like* "The Princess Diaries?"

They're mind candy. They're junky and bad for you, but you enjoy them anyways.

[Lastande Took]

Originally Posted by Loslote

They're mind candy. They're junky and bad for you, but you enjoy them anyways.

Yeah...sometimes I'll watch a fluff movie, enjoy letting my brain rot, and then wonder why I spent the past hour and a half doing so.

I assign to Orthanc cheesy, bad, and laughable adaptations of my favourite books. The Bakshi LotR, a 1950s Sherlock Holmes TV series starring Ronald Howard, a radio dramatization of LotR I got at the library (Haldir sounds more like a Hobbit than Frodo does, and Gildor Inglorion sounds like a squeaky toy. They did keep Glorfindel!). They make me alternate between pounding my head against a wall and having fun. But yeah, guilty pleasures if I ever had them.

[Galadriel]

1. Chocolate
2. Turkish delight
3. Reading when I should be studying!
4. Lazing around all day when I know I should exercise

[Nerwen]

My tendency to dispute statements based on their (lack of) merit, rather than the likelihood of actually getting anywhere. It can lead to some interesting debates.

On the other hand, I just now had to tell myself:
"Wait a moment. I am actually arguing with a person who believes that the problem with the modern world is that too few people are raising families in their teens, and who is wringing her hands in despair over how technology has "broken" all our minds. Yeah... don't think we're going to find much common ground, somehow..."

I always hate walking away, but sometimes you do have to let the other party have the last word.

[Galadriel55]

Being done the midterm rush, finally having completed the last one... three weeks before the finals start.

[Inziladun]

Grass-cutting with a push mower. Pros: Exercise, thinking time. Cons: Heat, bugs, tired legs.

[Nerwen]

Discovering, after driving over a mountain range in a hurry to get to the nearest dentist, that my inflamed gum was not an abscess after all but merely the result of brushing too hard.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Discovering, after driving over a mountain range in a hurry to get to the nearest dentist, that my inflamed gum was not an abscess after all but merely the result of brushing too hard.

Can relate. I just had an incident with a bitten cheek which swelled and was shooting pain through half my jaw. "It will heal on its own". Yes, so would a broken bone. "You can close your mouth". Well, technically you can step on a broken leg too if you raise the pain threshold high enough. And I *can't* close my mouth completely and unlike you I can feel it, so let me be the judge of that. "You should go to the dentist, normally-shaped jaws don't bite cheeks". Normal legs don't break easily either, so instead of putting on a cast let's go do some tests for osteoporosis.