Week in Review

We bought and put up our tree today. It seemed to have a few thick branches and a lot of thin ones, which made distributing the ornaments a challenge, but it looks nice. Chad's talking about doing another "science on the tree" series, so watch this space. Or his, I suppose.

Last night, we went to see The Golden Compass. Short version: I agree with most reviewers who say that the look of the film and the actress playing Lyra are great, but the pace is too fast. (As various people have said, this is a big-budget movie based on a fantasy novel coming out from New Line in December. It's allowed to be more than two hours.) I will add that the shortened pace leads to some anvilicious exposition, which I haven't seen any reviewers say, but they're probably not allowed to say "anvilicious" in print reviews. Enjoyable, but kind of exhausting.

( Spoilery version: )

We got a mostly dire batch of trailers, though The Spiderwick Chronicles continues to look promising, and Inkheart might be good—Andy Serkis in a main role. (I haven't read the book yet. Either of the books, actually, though Spiderwick isn't high on my list.)

And now, a selection of links, starting with two about His Dark Materials, then more entertainment, politics, and seasonal stuff (holidays and otherwise).

( links )