On the scales this morning...

I've lost twenty pounds!

I had promised myself that when I lost twenty pounds, I could get a massage. Now I can schedule it.

Oh happy day.

My stated goal back in March was to lose 30 pounds. I'm 2/3 of the way there.

I'm just... tickled. I did it! I'm doing it!

Now for my morning walk towards Rivendell. Elrond's house is almost in sight: I've walked 413 miles, which leaves 26 miles to go.

It looks like a lovely morning, too - cool and sunny, after days of steady rain.

Changing times....

Hey, didn't I say just a few minutes ago that it was a sunny day? Now there's no sign of sunshine. What happened?

The Frog Pond

Every time I go for a Sunday morning walk I encounter something unexpected. Last time it was a heron in the Rideau River, and the exercise park at Mooney's Bay.

Last night Beulah and I drove by the Arboretum, and I said, "That would be a nice place to go walking." I haven't been there in years: it's the eastern part of the Experimental farm, bordering on Dow's Lake, where there are beautiful old trees, nice lawns, tiny canals with curved bridges over them, and many weeping willows. Many of the trees are labelled as to species, with their name in English, French and Lain, and the date of planting. As a kid, I went there for picnics in summer and tobogganing in winter.

So I went there this morning, and found the walking path on the western side of the lake, and walked southwards. The first surprise: a pipe band was playing at Carleton University, across the canal. I wonder why! It looked military, with read coats and busbees. They were playing a marching tune whose title I don't know, but recognized from Horatio Hornblower. No, not the Marseillaise - the other, British one.

There were some beautiful, happy dogs and their well-exercised owners. I went as far as I could but had to turn west again at the other end of the locks; past a blunt-ended motorboat and several lock-related buildings, up the road towards Fisher Ave. There I stumbled on the second surprise: a Wildlife Park.

It was full of twisty paths and wildflowers. I heard birds singing, but the only wildlife I saw was a morning dove wandering along the path, and a cute terrier who sniffed my ankles in friendly fashion, leading his owner behind him.

I ended up at the west end of the arboretum, where a young man had a booth where he was selling strawberries so aromatic I could smell them thirty feet away. I was wishing I had been there a month ago, when the flowering trees would all have been in bloom. There was a huge wild cherry that I coudn't identify till I read the sign.

Since I was so close, I decided to go to the frog pond, one of my favourite spots in Ottawa. First I wandered through the Ornamental Gardens, leaving the Frog Pond for the last, climactic spot.

The lilacs were no longer in bloom but the roses were magnificent - or at least, as magnificent as Canadian roses can be. I thought our roses were fine till I lived in England and saw what rose bushes can look like in another climate. I love the names of roses, and tried to remember a few of the breeds this time: Bonica, Prince Edward, Careless Wanderer. There are huge beds of roses, and roses on trellises over the paths, and roses on hedges delineating the sections. That area smelled lovely too. One interesting trellised area was not over a path: looking more closely, I saw it was an extremely decorative water fountain. Beautiful.

Then I got to my Frog Pond. I love it as much as I did when I was five. I remembered it as smaller, and darker. There are no real frogs there and never were. There are - or were - two big brass bullfrogs, one at either end of the pond, which is about 20 feet long. The frogs shoot a fountain of water out of there mouths. (I shouldn't have said that - I'm really bad at estimating sizes.) Currently there is only one brass frog, which makes me doubt my memory that there used to be two - but there's a spot for a second one. I hope it is being cleaned, not that it was stolen or broken.

I went home by cutting through Commissioner's Park, where a group of people in red t-shirts were doing exercises - I thought at first it was tai chi, but no, it was quite different.

Maybe three miles each way, putting me six miles closer to Rivendell.

The Hottest Hottie at the WB....

bonibaru talked about this site in her LJ, where fans vote for the sexiest man on the WB network. bonibaru couldn't decide. Well, for me, the answer was obvious and easy, since I only watch one show and John Glover wasn't listed, though Tom Welling was a consideration.

Pirates of the Caribbean....

Johnny Depp is a god among actors.

What a wonderful movie Pirates of the Caribbean is.

Originally I thought it would be corny, and I didn't have high hopes - except that I know Johnny Depp is terrific, I'm in love with Legolas, and I like the idea of pirate movies, solely because I liked Alan Moore's take on pirate comics in the comic book Watchmen.

But it's a story based on a Disney ride. That's like basing a movie on a game. How lame is that? (Oh, yeah... Have I mentioned that I liked Tomb Raider?)

Okay, it turns out to be a wonderful, entertaining, funny, slashy movie and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

It's the kind of plot you don't want to think too much about, but you don't need to: you've got lots of swashbuckling derring-do with terrific characters, nice fantasy settings (don't expect any real history) and witty one-liners that take you by surprise and make you laugh out loud.

The best thing about the movie is Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, who is so original and outrageous and clever and funny and cute that I am in awe. I've never seen a hero played that way; the unexpectedness is part of the joy. And the unrelenting skill with which he does it.

It's to Orlando Bloom's credit that his character, Will Turner, doesn't fade away to nothing in the bright light of Depp's performance. He doesn't; he holds his own as more than a straight man and more than a foil. He is delightful.

And Keira Knightly as Elizabeth Swann! I liked her. In a world full of movies where I find the women bland and stereotyped compared to the men - well, she was stereotyped enough, but definitely not bland. She was fun. She was all my childhood fantasies.

There was a lovely moment when I thought Jack, Will and Elizabeth were going to run away together in a delightful piratical menage a tois, which, alas, didn't quite happen - at least, not on screen. The script was so slashy you'd think a slash fan wrote it - except, as squashed pointed out to me, if a slash fan had written it there would have been more kissing.

I hope there will be slash. (Will I be able to write some? Am I not to obsessed with Smallville? We shall see. Jack Sparrow might be just too irresistible.)

I can think of a few negative things to say: I got a little tired of looking at ugly pirates and skeletons; I couldn't always catch the dialogue; um.... I can't think of any other problems. The historical setting was pretty bogus - wigs from one decade with clothes from another - but I don't care about that. I'd rather have a good movie than all the accuracy in the world, and hey, this is a fantasy about piratical skeletons.

The monkey gave me the creeps - which I suspect is what he was supposed to do. It's worth sitting through all the credits for the easter egg.

I'm not sure whether to credit the director (Gore Verbinski) for the success of the movies, or the writers (Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio) or Johnny Depp, who really made it what it was. I suspect it was Depp - and it could be that the director and writers were playing up to his considerable talents. It was the character of Captain Jack Sparrow that really lifted this movie above others of its type.

Is there any good Jack/Will slash out there yet?