of tolkien & birds of steel

I've picked up J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings once more. I try to read the trilogy every 2-3 years, and each time I pick it up, I love it a little more than I did the last time I read it. I figured since I just read a couple C.S. Lewis books, I might as well "cross the street" to his contemporary and friend Mr. Tolkien. The whole mythos lying beneath Tolkien's story is marvelous, but I'll be honest: I'm not a big fan of the movies. The Hobbit movies, though... Those are spot on.

I'd have to say my favorite character is Aragorn.

Did you know the members of Led Zeppelin loved Tolkien?

Several of their songs are inspired by The Lord of the Rings.

Let's see... Misty Mountain Hop, Ramble On, and Battle of the Evermore.

There are lots more, but Kashmir is NOT based on Tolkien.

A lot of people think it is, but it isn't.

Also, one of the members named his dog Strider.

He named his dog after Aragorn. That's badass.

Led Zeppelin is one of my favorite classic rock bands. I usually listen to them when I work out (but I didn't work out today; I had Wendy's for dinner last night, and it did something awful to my lower digestive tract, pretty much flattened me out). I remember watching a documentary on them. In concert they looked like hardcore rockers. But when the show was over, what did they do? They didn't party, take drugs, or drink heavily. They retired to the quiet of their hotel rooms and would wind down reading newspapers or (you guessed it) J.R.R. Tolkien. #awesome

Jason and I are watching Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone.

Albus Dumbledore said something that just straight-up struck me.

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

That Dumbledore, he's a wise fellow.

When I'm not working out to Led Zeppelin, I've been spending my evenings at home (a) burning incense, (b) lighting oil lanterns, and (c) playing Birds of Steel. I forgot how fun that game is. I love aviation (I want to get my pilot's license one day) and I love history; Birds of Steel brings it all together. There's nothing quite like getting out of a hot bath, reading about American bombing raids on the German factories in the Ruhr, and then saddling up in a B-24 and dropping payloads through fields of artillery fire. 

Is it ridiculous? nerdy? dorky? 

It's all of those things. 

But mostly it's awesome.