I attempted to hike a 14’er last week. For those not indoctrinated by the outdoorsy culture, a 14’er is shorthand for a mountain summit that exceeds 14,000 feet, an elevation where oxygen is in shorter supply than confidence at a middle school dance. There were many small breaks to catch my breath, as much as it seemed determined to run away. I took these increasingly frequent stops as opportunities to marvel at the snow laden mountain scape surrounding me, and taunting me. You see I, and my partner with whom I’d been hiking, had neglected to bring snowshoes and the snow went from a thin layer to well over a foot deep when not hugging the wind-blown ridges. I was thinking of the scene in the Fellowship of the Ring where Legolas nimbly strides across the surface of the roughly Gimli deep snow as the group struggles to cross Caradhras, inevitably being forced back down to the Mines of Moria. Let’s just say I got increasingly jealous of Legolas with each step that sunk further than the last, grinding our progress to a crawling trudge. What’s worse, I in my stubbornness did not own hiking poles at the time (I bought a pair this week), and had to share with my partner who in her kindness was willing to take pity on me and lend me one. Needless to say we didn’t end up making it to the top, but I well and truly count our hike as a success. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that one can never win a fight with mother nature. We got half a mile away from the summit and recognized the snow and our lack of gear had slowed our progress and increased our water and food intake to the point continuing on would be foolish. We had a good hike and made it back to the hostel with only sunburns as marks of our struggles.
In other news I finished a rewatch of Gravity Falls, and I must say it holds up. For anyone that hasn’t seen it, it’s two seasons worth of an ostensibly kid’s animated show that, in the vein of many ostensibly kid’s animated shows, tackles adult concepts in fun and endearing ways. It chronicles the adventures of twins Mabel and Dipper, two nearly teenagers spending their summer with their great uncle (or gruncle) Stan helping to run the hokey roadside attraction known as the Mystery Shack. The show takes place in the small town of Gravity Falls, a town hidden somewhere deep in the woods of Oregon where, while the attractions of the Mystery Shack might be fake (think body of a taxidermy monkey stapled to the body of a fish), the strange happenings the twins slowly uncover are anything but. Don’t know if it’s me getting older or what, but I shed a few tears during the incredibly well-written ending. Without going into spoilers, I’ll say that Gravity Falls does endings right, tying up all the loose ends and delivering a resolution for all the characters that feels well-earned. The show doesn’t really have any filler, and narratively knows precisely where its going from beginning to end, with clever clues and foreshadowing dropped throughout.
In other other news, I was surprised to hear that Henry Cavill will be ending his time as Geralt of Rivia in the live action Netflix adaptation, and personally I’m sad to see him go. As far as the rumors surrounding his leaving, that of disagreements with the writers about staying true to the books, all I can say is I hope they’re not true. I’m a big fan of the books and in general much prefer adaptions that stay true to the source material (Props to the recent Sandman live action adaption’s greenlit second season. No surprise there given Neil Gaiman’s active role, but that is an adaptation done right!). Nonetheless, I wish Liam Hemsworth all the best in finding Geralt’s voice for the fourth season.
Think that’s about it for this one. If you made it this far, and even if you didn’t and never hear this, all the best.
M. Weald
M. Weald 