Let's Party!

[wiseheart]

Two years ago we had great fun with this thing. So, I thought, why not give it another try?

It's called the Collapsed Threads Game, and the goal is to have so many comments that the individual threads would collapse. Deadline is October 9 (next Thursday), which is my 52nd birthday. Yes, I'm actually that old, at least on paper. *g*

Two years ago, we had 250+ comments. I aim to break the record this time. So, talk to me, ask questions, send people my way, have fun - the goal is to reach at least four pages. More were better, but four pages full of collapsed threads would be wonderful, too.

I won't have a birthday party in RL, so let's throw one in cyberspace and have a good time, eh?

Oh, and I'll bounce up the entry date each day till October 9, so that newcomers can join the party, too. The more, the merrier. *g*

Fazit:
Many heartfelt thanks to all those who came to my virtual party: those who generated interesting discussions, those who sent me virtual cake and those who just dropped by to brighten my day. I had great fun, I had inspiring discussions, and we have broken the record - thank you!

Special thanks to altariel and the_wild_iris who sent many new, lovely visitors to the party - I hope some of you will drop by from time to time later.

Thanks again, it was great fun... the best party I could have imagined.

Addendum:
And lookie, I got a wonderful birthday ficlet from Larner! Am so pleased! It has been forever since anyone gifted a birthday fic upon me. *is happy*

Comments

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, I agree! I can't even remember any true fantasy shows lately. Movies, yes, rare as they are, but shows? I'm afraid the last one I saw was an "Ivanhoe" adaptation, with a very young Roger Moore in the starring role - and even that was more history than fantasy.

OTOH - does Dinotopia count?

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

I reckon Dinotopia should count. Hmm, fantasy. I think BBC's Merlin and Robin Hood could be classed as fantasy, certainly mthyic, but more kids/family orientated. I'm trying to think of other fantasy shows...do vampires come under that or is that truly more of the horror genre?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Rather horror, I'm afraid. No, really can't think of any true fantasy shows, at least not such that would be shown in Hungarian or German TV. And there isn't any good, old-fashioned sci-fi any longer, either.

When I think about it, B5 used to have a great deal of fantasy in it, despite the Sci-fi settings. All those First Ones and their crusade against the Shadows...

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

Thought so, in which case I can't think of any true fantasy shows of recent times. That's quite sad. Mind you I'm not sure what exactly I'd hope for from a fantasy show...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Me, I'd like Elves, Dwarves, dragons, knights in shiny armour, seemingly plain women with magic powers, wizards, malevolent giants, benevolent giants, Orcs, Wargs, good wolves, talking horses... take your pick.

Actually, I'd have greatly preferred LOTR as a multiple-season fantasy TV-show, starting with The Hobbit, showing what Certain People (TM) did between The Hobbit and LOTR - Gandalf and Aragorn come to mind; the tale of Arwen and Aragorn could have been wonderfully romantic, IMO - and showing every single aspect of the trilogy, including the outrageous Tom Bombadil, the creepy Barrow-wights and the most important Scouring of the Shire. They could have used the same sets for at least five years, and afterwards still film two sequels, with stories of the First and Second Ages.

Actually, Helge Fauskanger, who happens to be the greatest Tolkien linguist of our time, suggested a possible plotline for a theoretical Second Age movie (http://www.uib.no/people/hnohf/num-intro.htm), which is, in my opinion, very intriguing. Of course, Mr. Fauskanger knows his stuff like very few people know - the least certain movie directors whose main interests are ugly monsters and bloody battles.

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

I have a friend who REALLY wants a tv show with dragons in it - seems he read Dragonriders of Pern at one time and had bbeen terrily looking forward to that being made but of course the writer pulled the plug as she's one who got in a ruffle over fic and not having direct control over everything...

Are there any other good fantasy books (apart from LOTR) anyone might consider doing for tv? I'm not a big fantasy reader. I suppose the closest thing I reader to that right now is Terry Pratchett, and the adaptions for tv for his stuff is mostly good but a bit hit and miss too.

[artemis10002000]

I think, actually, that Discworld would be a great setting for a fantasy TV show. It's such a big world, you wouldn't even need to do book adaptions, the screenwriters could just create their own Discworld stories. That'd probably make the studio bosses happy, less worry about making sure new viewers get it and fans being annoyed while staying within the budget. As long as it retains the Discworld feeling, I'd be content with that.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I should really give the whole thing a try one day. If only that Encyclopedia hasn't frightened me out of my mind - the whole thing is so frigging *huge*!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

What about Larry Alexander's "Prydain Chronicles"? They would make a great fantasy series for young viewers, IMO. Although I'd live in dread of the possible casting choices...

I almost said "Earthsea", but they've already butchered that one, making most of the canonically dark-skinned characters lily white and hyperoxide blond, not to mention raping both the storylines and the spirit of the original, so it's a show best forgotten.

Opportunistic as I am, I've still bought aforementioned abomination on DVD, because, well, even cheap fantasy is better sometimes than no fantasy at all, but it's really a badly made show.

[artemis10002000]

I've read this and I find it very intriguing, too!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

You would recommend the series? Really? I'll have to try and hunt down some of the books, then - not an easy thing in Hungary, alas... :(

[artemis10002000]

What series? Sorry, probably replied to the wrong comment, getting confused with all the different conversations going on here *g* I meant I was intrigued by the suggested Westernesse movie idea.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They are confusing a little, aren't they? But this time I was the one who misunderstood. I thought you were speaking of Discworld.

The Westernesse movie idea is cool indeed, but I still think it would work a lot better as one TV-movie + a series.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Erm, no, actually I meant the Pern books. Sorry. Am getting confused myself. *ducks*

[jen-rock.livejournal.com]

Happy pre-birthday! There is a fantasy series that's starting in November. It's called "Legend of the Seeker," and it's based on the "Sword of Truth" series by Terry Goodkind. I'm a fan of that series so I'm going to watch it but it's produed by Sam Raimi who produced Xena and Hercules. That makes me a little cautious as I associate him with campy series and SoT is a very dark series. But maybe he'll take it seriously. It will have dragons, wizards, swordplay, and other fantasy elements.

Also, I would recommend the Pern series in general but the more recent ones which were written by Anne McCaffrey with her son Todd are not very good. There's also disagreement among fans about whether it's best to read the series in chronological order or the order they were released. I'd go with chronological order because it makes more sense but there's also a difference in writing styles between some of the books that were written first and those that were released later so the quality can vary. But they're still pretty good.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)
I wonder when that series would eventually come to Hungarian - or German - TV, and under which ridiculous title. They always rechristen the series in a way no one would recognize them by title alone. For example, Queer As Folk ran on Hungarian TV under the title "The Boys from the Club". It took me a season and a half until I recognized it.

The new series sounds interesting, though, despite Sam Raimi's involvement. Let's hope he doesn't screw up too much. As long as his little brother doesn't play a starring role... or any role, just to be on the safe side...

And it seems I really have to look out for that Pern series. If only the single English bookshop weren't on the other side of the town... and if I could reasonably hope that they would have any sci-fi or fantasy... Ah, well, we're planning to go to Vienna on the end of the month, perhaps I'll get lucky there. Although they tend to keep nothing but crap, too. We'll see.

[jen-rock.livejournal.com]

Well, Ted Raimi is going to be in it in a small role but I'm a fan of him so I don't mind.

[artemis10002000]

Well, I can recommend Discworld, too. At least the books, I've only seen one movie. "Hogfather", which is pretty good, but to fully appreciate the movie, you should've read some books first. That bizarre world takes some getting used to, especially the commonly anti-climatic endings, but it's fun.

As for a Westernesse series, yeah, tht would work well as a series, wouldn't it? Really, I think from all Tolkien tales still to be told, I think it's one of these that would work best as a series. Or as a mini-series consisting of TV movie-length episodes (like "Taken".)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

The only Discworld-related book I own is a lexicon, so that I can check out all the hints I read all over the Net, but it's a bit frightening, I must admit.

[artemis10002000]

I know! Before I tackled this monster, it'd been on my to-read list for years, but I just didn't know where to start. Then I realised my public library had about a dozen or so books and I got a library pass after years again pretty much just for Discworld. I read them completely out of order, of course, so as I now read the earlier books, I'm only getting some jokes and hints in the aftermath. But if it hadn't been for the library, I probably still wouldn't have dared to get started on it.

If you don't have a library, I think it'd probably be best to pick one of the sub-series and read that for the moment, just so the monster series won't be all that monstrous. Or start with the single novels. I started with "Pyramids", which was a good starting place in hindsight since it takes place in a country that only appears in this novel... so it's introduced new in this book, no prior knowledge required.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the amount of stuff is downright frightening, and our libraries - such as there still are - never keep the good stuff, even less so in English. Sometimes I find a novel in a bookshop, but never a complete series, and anyway, I didn't know which book to buy. I'll give "Pyramids" a try when I see it.

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

A pity the Tolkien family is not going to give this a chance...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was actually considered by anyone. It's my impression that Mr. Fauskanger was just playing around with the idea for his own amusement... and that of his numerous fans. But it would be fantastic indeed.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Ooh, you might just like Merlin. Dragons - check. Knights in shiny armour - check. Wizards - check...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Looks promising. I'll have to watch German TV very closely. They always hide the good stuff in impossible times... if they bring it at all. And Hungarian TV is even worse. *le sigh*