It was a somewhat subdued New Year’s celebration for me this year. I’m nursing a cold which has dampened my party spirit a little.
It’s probably for the best, though. I’ve been doing enough celebrating over the last week. I’ve been meeting up with some old friends, including my very good friend Diarmaid, who I haven’t seen for seven, eight… I don’t know how many years. Donkey’s years, as they’d say here.
Jessica and I, together with my friends Diarmaid and Gerard, also managed to see The Two Towers again, this time in more condusive surroundings. It was in a different cinema, at a different time of day with a different audience.
When the film started, however, there was still something spoiling the viewing experience. The curtains hadn’t been drawn back all the way so the left and right parts of the picture were being projected onto an annoyingly uneven surface.
By the time Gandalf and the Balrog were plummeting towards the waters under Moria in a ball of flame, I couldn’t take it anymore. With many apologies to the people I had to squeeze past, I made my way down to the usher and asked him if he could do anything about the curtains. By the time I was back in my seat, they had been pulled back and I was able to relax and immerse myself completely in Middle Earth.
Diarmaid said he felt like applauding. Gerard said that the curtains were bugging him too, but he knew that it would be ten times worse for me.
Ah, roll on the DVD release when I’ll be in complete control of the viewing environment.
In the meantime, I’ll settle for Irish television while I try to fight off this cold.
You haven’t really experienced The Muppet Show until you’ve heard Kermit’s voice dubbed into Irish.