So, I’m pretty sure this blog has covered this before, but some of us here at the Longest Wind (along with myriad friends of ours) are in the midst of a “Great Trek Watchthru” starting with The Original Series and moving on from there.

We recently finished Season One.

With each episode, we discuss what we thought about the episode (and sometimes live tweet the episode with the hashtag #TrekWithUs if you’d like to follow along and/or join in), and rate each episode.

Therefore, with the completion of Season One, I thought I’d run through my own personal Top Ten from Season One, the groups collective Top Ten based on the rankings, and how those top tens compare to the Top Ten based on the rankings of each episode on IMDb.

First, my season one Top Ten with looks at the grades from myself, the group, and IMDb users, as well as where each episode ranks (if it does) on the other Top Tens:

10.  NAKED TIME (My Grade 80%, Group Grade 80%, IMDb Grade 80%)

An episode that would get a sequel from the Next Generation, I really think this episode shows off how much fun Star Trek can be, while also often highlighting serious philosophical issues and tackling social issues oftentimes way ahead of its own time.

Group Ranking: 5

IMDb Ranking: NR

9. ERRAND OF MERCY (My Grade 81%, Group Grade 80%, IMDb Grade 83%)

The first instance of the Klingons in Star Trek, but even more interesting to me is how the problem of the episode is handled.  While both the Klingons and the Federation are both somewhat blinded to any other possibilities to their encounter beyond war, the people on the planet that the Federation was ostensibly there to protect (although, you could easily argue they wanted the planet for the same reasons the Klingons did) were interested in trying to show them both a better way, and this episode set up the fact that in the future, these two enemies would one day work together.

Group Ranking: 9

IMDb Ranking: 6

8. THE ENEMY WITHIN (My Grade 82%, Group Grade 80%, IMDb Grade 78%)

A fascinating (as Spock might say) philosophical discussion on the nature and importance of our baser sides.  While “evil” Kirk features William Shatner’s classic over-acting style, the subtle takes in “good” Kirk shows off how good an actor Shatner really can be.

Group Ranking: 7

IMDb Ranking: NR

7. TOMORROW IS YESTERDAY (My Grade 84%, Group Grade 67%, IMDb Grade 80%)

I’m a sucker for Time Travel episodes.  This one works for me, even if others in the group had some problems with it.  It has almost two separate episodes inside of it, first as the crew try to erase their appearance into the timeline, then as they try to go through with the plan that can get them back to their own time (which sadly makes the first part of the episode completely unnecessary, but they didn’t know that would be the case as they were doing it).  This is the only episode on my Top Ten which doesn’t occur in at least one of the other two Top Ten lists we’ll be discussing.

Group Ranking: NR

IMDb Ranking: NR

6. WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE (My Grade 88%, Group Grade 80%, IMDb Grade 79%)

The first episode filmed with Kirk as the Captain, but the third episode aired.  I think it suffers some with fans due to the similar storyline to the episode that aired before it, Charlie X.  However, for me, the way that this episode and that episode work together say some interesting things about the allure of and desire for power.

Group Ranking: 6

IMDb Ranking: NR

5. THE CORBOMITE MANEUVER (My Grade 89%, Group Grade 75%, IMDb Grade 82%)

Sure, the resolution might feel a little easy (although for me it is a twist that I love and which I believe works), but the episode has some incredibly tense moments, and the ideal nature of humanity begin to become clear with this episode.  We are more than just the high idealized words we use.  We have truly moved past the violent nature of our predecessors and are attempting to be something more.  That was the vision for the future that Roddenberry had, and that is what the crew epitomizes in this episode.

Group Ranking: NR

IMDb Ranking: 7

4. THE GALILEO SEVEN (My Grade 94%, Group Grade 80%, IMDb Grade 78%)

I love the episodes where others doubt or openly deride Spock. While he acts as though he doesn’t care what others think of him, Nimoy’s performance gives that hint that Spock does care, does have emotions and feelings, but desires to rise above what he sees as something lessor than who and what he aspires to be. The actions of the humans around him often show that to be a worthy desire. And yet often we get the sense that there is somewhere in between pure emotionless logic and simply allowing our feelings to dictate what we do, and that somewhere in between is where we should all attempt to reside. It’s an amazing performance that Nimoy gives, especially considering the entirety of the character, as Spock ultimately finds that place, thanks in part to his time among humans. And this episode is a great moment along that journey. Did watching it so soon after the death of Nimoy affect my judgment on this episode? Perhaps, but it has always been a favorite of mine.

Group Ranking: 8

IMDb Ranking: NR

3. THE DEVIL IN THE DARK (My Grade 95%, Group Grade 90%, IMDb Grade 85%)

Its a common Star Trek (and sci-fi for that matter) storyline, a being so alien it seems incredibly monstrous, but then it turns out that in actuality, the monster is us.  That storyline was first introduced and immediately perfected in this episode.  It is no surprise that this is a consensus top Star Trek (TOS) episode.

Group Ranking: 3

IMDb Ranking: 4

2. BALANCE OF TERROR (My Grade 97%, Group Grade 90%, IMDb Grade 90%)

This is the episode that introduces the Romulans, but also the first moment that any human sees a Romulan.  The striking resemblance they have to Vulcans (in fact, the Romulan commander looks exactly like Spock’s dad!) would be more fully explained later in Trek, but it lead to some intriguing points about how we judge others based solely on appearance (bringing up images of how Sikh’s were treated in this country right after 9/11 despite having no connection whatsoever to Islam much less al Quida).  The episode also brings up intriguing questions of how much we really have in common with those we fight.

Group Ranking: 2

IMDb Ranking: 3

1. THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER (My Grade 100%, Group Grade 90%, IMDb Grade 93%)

Quite simply, the best episode of Star Trek ever and among the best episodes of television ever. Fantastic questions raised about war and peace, and a moral situation that tugs at the heartstrings while also posing serious philosophical issues for discussion.  This is Sci-Fi at its best as well as Star Trek at its best.  Of course, as I told you earlier, I love time travel episodes!

Group Ranking: 1

IMDb Ranking: 1

So, with my rankings, you get a pretty good idea of the Top Ten of the Great Trek Watchthru group as well as of IMDb users, but here are their Top Tens

Our Group’s Top Ten (ties in rankings were broken first by number of votes, then by who had the higher score on IMDb)

10. The Return of the Archons (IMDb Ranking: NR/My Ranking: NR)

This is the only episode that is in the Group Top Ten that isn’t in either of the others.

9. Errand of Mercy (IMDb Ranking: 6/My Ranking: 9)

8. The Galileo Seven (IMDb Ranking: NR/My Ranking: 4)

7. The Enemy Within (IMDb Ranking: NR/My Ranking: 8)

6. Where No Man Has Gone Before (IMDb Ranking: NR/My Ranking 6)

5. The Naked Time (IMDb Ranking: NR/My Ranking: 10)

4. Space Seed (IMDb Ranking: 2/My Ranking: NR)

I really think the view of this episode is inflated because of how incredibly Wrath of Khan is.  If the second movie hadn’t brought Khan back, I don’t think this episode would be as highly thought of.  Other than the incredible performance by Ricardo Montelbon and the intriguing premise of genetically modified humans causing a World War, the episode itself is actually pretty weak.

3. The Devil in the Dark (IMDb Ranking: 4/My Ranking: 3)

2. Balance of Terror (IMDb Ranking: 3/My Ranking 2)

1. The City on the Edge of Forever (IMDb Ranking: 1/My Ranking 1)

IMDb Users Top Ten (ties were broken by number of votes)

The IMDb Rankings (unlike the group’s and mine) often have episodes that don’t appear in the other two top tens.

10. This Side of Paradise (Group Ranking: NR/My Ranking: NR)

9. A Taste of Armageddon (Group Ranking: NR/My Ranking: NR)

8. Arena (Group Ranking: NR/My Ranking: NR)

This has one of the most iconic scenes in Star Trek history, the hilariously bad fight between Kirk and the lizard-like Gorn, but beyond that iconic moment (which is iconic in part because it is so horrible), I don’t know why this episode gets the notice that it does.

7. The Corbomite Maneuver (Group Ranking: NR/My Ranking: 5)

6. Errand of Mercy (Group Ranking: 9/My Ranking: 9)

5. The Menagerie Parts I&II (Group Ranking: NR/My Ranking NR)

4. The Devil in the Dark (Group Ranking: 3/My Ranking: 3)

3. Balance of Terror (Group Ranking: 2/My Ranking: 2)

2. Space Seed (Group Ranking: 4/My Ranking: NR)

1. The City on the Edge of Forever (Group Ranking: 1/My Ranking: 1)

Finally, I thought I would list all of the first season episodes with the IMDb user rating as well as what the group rated the episodes with occasional comments, but mostly, I’ll let the numbers speak for themselves.

The Cage – IMDb Grade 77% (Group Grade 68%)
The Man Trap – 73% (52%)
Charlie X – 72% (69%)
Where No Man Has Gone Before – 79% (80%)
The Naked Time – 80%, (80%)
The Enemy Within – 78% (80%)
Mudd’s Women – 70% (47%) (by far our group’s least favorite season one episode.  However, IMDb users had an episode they ranked much lower, this was their 2nd lowest ranked season one episode)
What Are Little Girls Made Of? – 77% (55%)
Miri – 72% (53%)
Dagger of the Mind – 75% (60%)
The Corbomite Maneuver – 82% (75%)
The Menagerie: Part 1&2 – 84.5% (53%) (this was no doubt hurt by our group’s decision to watch the original pilot, so this episode was in many ways an early repeat for us, which probably resulted in some lower scores)
The Conscience of the King – 73% (60%)
Balance of Terror – 90% (90%)
Shore Leave – 77% (53%) (perhaps a product of the smaller sample size, a negative ranking by a few in our group can radically drop an episode’s score, I rather liked this episode)
The Galileo Seven – 78% (80%) (The Group and IMDb users rate this fairly similarly, despite making the Group’s Top 10 and missing IMDb’s, but I have it ranked substantially higher)
The Squire of Gothos – 76% (67%)
Arena – 81% (60%)
Tomorrow is Yesterday – 80% (67%) (while this is the one episode in my Top 10 in neither of the others, IMDb users do rank it fairly high)
Court Martial – 74% (60%)
The Return of the Archons – 73% (80%)
Space Seed – 90% (85%)
A Taste of Armageddon – 81% (67%)
This Side of Paradise – 81% (50%)
The Devil in the Dark – 85% (90%) (while on the whole, IMDb users rank episodes higher, they don’t rank individual episodes extremely high, even the best ones)
Errand of Mercy – 83% (80%)
The Alternative Factor – 59% (80%) (the only episode we ranked radically higher than IMDb)
The City on the Edge of Forever – 93% (90%)
Operation – Annihilate – 76% (70%)

Overall, this has proved to be an interesting experience as we went through season one, and hopefully it will continue to be throughout season two.

Let us know what your top ten episodes are from Season One of TOS as well as where you would grade any of the episodes.  Are there any where IMDb users are way off, any where are group are way off, any where both are wrong (I would argue Space Seed)?  Feel free to let us know in the comments.

And don’t forget to #TrekWithUs each week!

Minas Tirith and The Pelennor Fields – Twizel

We set out from the beleaguered city of Christchurch towards our final destination-  Queenstown.  But first we’d spend the night in the small town of Twizel where Jackson filmed the grassy outskirts of Minas Tirith, the capital city of Gondor.  The road south took us through two gorgeous turquoise mountain lakes formed by glacial terminal moraine.  Their distinctly blue color is a result of finely ground rock particles churned up by glaciers, otherwise known as “glacial flour”.  Unrelated to Lord of the Rings but equally as cool was the Church of the Good Shepard situated along the banks of Lake Tekapo.  It is considered to be the most photographed Church in the entire country, and it’s not hard to see why.

We continued the drive down from the mountain elevations into a large brown grassy lowland.  We had arrived in Twizel.  At first glance, there was really nothing that impressive about the region.  Sarah was really confused as to why I was so pumped up to see a big grassland, but it wasn’t just any grassland.  To any fan of Jackson’s Return of the King, Twizel’s importance is enormous.  This was the filming location for one of the greatest, most desperate battles conceived in literature and subsequently depicted on film. In the words of Gandalf, this was THE “Battle for Middle Earth”-or more precisely- the Battle of the Pelennor Fields during which thousands of Rohirrim, united under King Theoden, launched their heroic charge on the armies of Mordor during the siege of Minas Tirith.

We got into Twizel in late afternoon and we were racing twilight to be able to get some decent photos of the Pelennor Fields. I plugged in the lat/long coordinates into my GPS and we drove (sped) to the ridge from which the Rohirim made their charge, which was just off Highway 8.  Despite being a completely fake war, I looked upon the colossal battlefield with an eerie reverence.

Hundreds of horses and local riders had been cast (which was basically Twizel’s entire population).  I had learned that the horses were literally auditioned through a series of psychological and physical tests to ensure they could remain calm with hundreds of other horses, humans and the chaotic stimuli of a large film set.

After paying my respects at the Pelennor Fields, we ate dinner at a really nice local place called Poppies.  We set out early the next morning to Queenstown in order to arrive in time to catch our scheduled wine tour in the afternoon.

Ithilien, Nen Hithoel, The Pillars of the Kings, Amon Hen – Queenstown/Milford Sound

Queenstown, simply put, was the coolest most novel city of the trip.  It’s a bustling mountain town nestled around Lake Wakatipu- New Zealand’s longest and weirdest shaped lake.  Queenstown had a fresh and youthful energy about it.   Its denizens were predominately young people like us, and the local culture revolved around outdoor sports, music, pubs and individuality.   I’ve never really been to Colorado, but Queenstown is what I envision a small mountain town in Colorado to be like.

We did a wine tasting tour around the Central Otago region surrounding Queenstown (I had to give Sarah at least one non-LOTR activity on the trip).  We got wine-drunk during the day (first time for me), and it proved a pleasantly mellow, warm buzz.  Pinot Noir was the flagship wine of the Otago region and I learned to love it.

Still reeling from our wine buzz, we had enough wherewithal to hunt down one last filming location for the day – Ithilien – located near the Twelve Mile Delta campground.  Ithilien was the wooded region in Gondor where Frodo and Sam first saw the Oliphants and a company of Haradrim before being captured by Faramir.  Burned out from my LOTR sidequests, Sarah opted to stay in the car while I set out on foot down the trail from the campground.  I must of walked at least a mile through the lonely forest before I had my fill and turned back.  The backdrop of Lake Wakatipu also provided some of the wide shots of Amon Hen in Fellowship.  We then got to bed early that night in preparation for our 5am wakeup the next day for our long day-trip to Milford Sound.

Geographically only 40 miles from Queenstown, Milford sound is actually a long and arduous 8 hour drive through mountainous fjord land, in fact the region is literally called “Fiordland”.  The sound itself is an awe-inspiring costal region of sharp cliffs towering over the water, easily evoking the awesome spectacle of The Pillars of the Kings.   It was of course pitch black in the early morning, but it was truly sublime to see the untamed beauty of the mountains slowly resolve from the sunrise.  It was also on this drive that we finally finished our audio book of “The Fellowship of the Ring”.  It served as a bittersweet reminder that our trip, just like The Fellowship, was coming to an end.  It also served to highlight the insane amount of driving we had just done – well over 26 hours!

We stopped halfway in the small town of Te Anau to take a bus that would take us the remaining 4 hours to Milford Sound.  Much to our dismay, we got an awful foggy day to see what many call New Zealand’s grandest sight.  But like our trip to Hobbiton, we took the bad weather in stride, rationalizing that the blustery conditions added a certain majesty  to the views.

We boarded a small ship that took us on a 2 hour journey through the Sound.  Even despite the mist and low clouds, the giant slopes of the Fjords still made us feel like we were paddling down the Anduin through the mighty Argonath (the two giant statues of Isildur and Anarion that guarded the northern borders of Gondor).  The Howard Shore soundtrack was playing in my mind the entire time.

Amon Hen, Lothlorien, Fangorn Forest and Isengard  – Paradise/Glenorchy

The next day marked our final day of the trip, and what better way to end a 1,300 mile road trip-not in a car-but on horseback.  We made our way to Dart Stables located 20 miles north in a small rural town appropriately called Paradise.  The company had exclusive access to the private land on which the scenes were filmed.  Our first stop was in forest of beech trees where they filmed the Fellowship’s run-in with Haldir in the Elven tree-city of Lothlorien.  This area was simultaneously used to film most of the Amon Hen closeups in Fellowship, most notably the scene where Aragorn fights and beheads Saruman’s Uruk-hai captain, Lurtz.

We ventured further through the forest up to a ridge overlooking a giant valley carved by the Dart River.  This was unmistakably the valley that provided the core exteriors for Isengard and Fangorn Forest.

We then returned through the forest to discover the exact spot where Boromir was slain.  The forest floor was studded with fallen beech leaves which gave the spot that signature look from the film.  Boromir’s last stand to defend Frodo depicts one of the most beautiful scenes of heroism and sacrifice in the story and is a personal favorite of mine.  Although *spoiler alert* not actually in the book, I find his death scene appropriate—perhaps even crucial—to the Boromir narrative.  The idea that we can find the strength to fight on, even in the face of assured defeat, is one of the most beautiful and noble lessons of the Lord of the Rings story.  In the same way I looked upon the Pelennor Fields, my hopeless inner nerd looked upon the site of Boromir’s death with a solemn reverence.

And on that sad note, our journey came to its end.  The weather took a turn for the worse and we spent our final hours driving to the airport under Gandalf’s proverbial “gray-rain curtain of this world”.  The glum weather matched our mood as our Middle Earth holiday came to its end as our plane carried us back into the Northern Hemisphere.

Huge thanks to my wife Sarah for putting up with my film site hunting antics throughout the trip.  Sometimes it was a frustrating wild goose chase for little payoff, but most of the time the site hunts led us to spectacular views we wouldn’t have otherwise discovered.  Having lived in Hawaii for 3 years, I feel like we’ve become pretty desensitized to beautiful scenery and the fact that New Zealand still blew our minds is testament to its awesome beauty.

I was lucky to have visited Peter Jackson’s particular vision of Middle Earth, and I fully realize that Tolkien’s universe cannot be reduced to a single country or worldly locale. Middle Earth is ultimately what we make of it.  In much the same way as Prince fantasized about his beloved Paisley Park, the same is true of Middle Earth – it’s in our heart.

While Major League Baseball opens its season tonight (Go Cubs! Next Year Is Now), the world’s greatest sport is wrapping up its regular season, getting ready for the best playoffs the world has known or will ever know, the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  You might notice, if you take a glance at the standings this morning, that the Dallas Stars (favorite team of our very own Justin) are not officially eliminated from the playoffs as of yet.  That very likely will change Monday night, but since it is Easter and MLB Opening Day, two bastions of Hope in the normally dreary and dark world, let’s take a look at what it would take to get the Dallas Stars into the playoffs.

Well, the Winnipeg Jets currently sit just out of the playoffs with 92 points, and the San Jose Sharks are also currently ahead of the Stars with 87 points, so the Stars (with 86 points) would have to pass both of them.  As well as the current holder of that last playoff spot, the LA Kings, with 92 points.

Here’s the kicker.  The Stars only have 3 games left, so the most points they can finish with is 92, the same number the Kings and Jets already have, and the Kings and Jets both still play 4 more games.

So, clearly, best case scenario is the Stars, Kings, and Jets all finishing the season with 92 points, which means tiebreakers will come into play.

Before we get to those, let’s go ahead and play out the last remaining games for the four teams in this conversation, the Kings, Jets, Sharks, and Stars.  (Note: This is not my prediction for how things will turn out, I don’t believe things will go this way, but to get to the interesting tiebreakers, we’re going to have some fun with these as of yet unplayed games).

Monday – April 6 (Home team last)

Jets 2 Wild 5 F

Kings 1 Canucks 4 F

Stars 6 Sharks 1 F

Tuesday – April 7

Jets 1 Blues 3 F

Kings 0 Oilers 3 F

Wednesday – April 8

Stars 7 Ducks 2 F

Thursday – April 9

Jets 4 Avs 5 F

Kings 3 Flames 6 F

Sharks 3 Oilers 2 F SO

Saturday – April 11

Flames 2 Jets 1 F

Sharks 3 Kings 0 F

Preds 3 Stars 8 F

Alright, with those games in the books, there is a three way tie for the last playoff spot.

The first tie breaker is games played, but all would have played 82 games.

The next tie breaker would be ROW.  Regulation and Overtime Wins.  Shootout wins don’t count for this metric.  Currently, the Kings have 37.  They would finish with 37 under this scenario, since we have them losing all three remaining games in regulation.  The Jets have currently (and would finish with) 33.  The Stars, having won their three remaining games in regulation, would have 37 as well (they currently have 34).

ROW would eliminate the Jets.  Sorry, Winnipeg.

The Kings and Stars, however, would remain tied.  Therefore, we must move on to the next tiebreaker, head to head.

Now, the Stars and the Kings played in three games this season, twice in Dallas, once in LA.  So, to make it where neither team has a home-ice advantage, the first of the two games played in Dallas doesn’t count for this tiebreaker.  Unfortunately, LA won in LA and Dallas won in the second game played in Dallas, so the two teams remain tied.

We move on to the fourth (and final) tiebreaker: Goal Differential.

Currently, LA is a +17 while Dallas is a -10.  Of course, there are games to play, so those numbers will change.  You get the goal differential by taking the number of goals your team scored and subtracting the number of goals your team has given up.  Shootout wins result in a plus one to Goal Differential.  Since we came up with scores for the remaining games, we will retabulate the goal differentials to determine which team in this scenario will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs…

Okay, we have LA losing four games by a combined 12 points.  So we’ll subtract 12 from their Goal Differential of +17 and come up with +5.  Okay.

We have Dallas winning its last three games by a combined 15 points.  Remember, they’ll need a +6 or higher to move on in the playoffs.  Recalculating… they now have a… huh… +5.

They would still be tied…

There is no further tiebreaker.

Under this scenario, I have no idea who would make the playoffs.  I asked great Hockey Blog Puck Daddy what would happen under this scenario, and they also said they were unsure.

They suggested maybe a Rock/Paper/Scissors match to determine the winner.

Sounds good to me.  Let’s have the Captain’s battle it out Rock/Paper/Scissors style.

Jamie Benn and Dustin Brown, start studying strategies.  It might just come down to this.

It’s Sunday and it is time to catch up on the best the internet had to offer during the past week. If you have any article suggestions for the Sunday Roundup send me a tweet @tbone1225.

Sad tidings all around in Tom Mitsos’s last post for The Hockey Writers

Tom Mitsos discusses how the death of coach Mike Babcock’s father may have contributed to a difficult March for the Red Wings in his final post for The Hockey Writers titled “Mike Babcock Coaches With Heavy Heart in Red Wings’ Loss.”

We are going to miss your reports about the Detroit Red Wings for The Hockey Writers, Tom. The Sunday Roundup is going to be a different entity from here on out without you, as is The Longest Wind. Thank you for all of the work you’ve done in the past. We remember it fondly!

–The Longest Wind staff, readers, and family

This is not an April Fool’s joke.

Ted Cruz as a symbol of our American past, or, America’s League of Evil Exes

“In many reflections about the political life of Christians in the U.S., members of the dominant culture will find a myriad of ways to avoid discussions of race.” Rod Thomas points to the Golden Age “ideals” Ted Cruz represents for the USA and how most of them are under-girded by racist foundations in his post “Christian Politics From The Underside” for The Resist Daily.

And finally, the funniest (and least convincing) April Fools joke of the year

https://twitter.com/AndrewWK/status/583356013832740864

It’s Sunday and it is time to catch up on the best the internet had to offer during the past week. If you have any article suggestions for the Sunday Roundup send me a tweet @tbone1225.

Justin Abdelkader’s controversial goal leads to Red Wings victory over Blues

Nobody wants to win or lose because of a technicality, but Tom Mitsos describes how Justin Abdelkader’s questionable broken stick goal was just what the Red Wings needed in his article “Ugly Win Just What Doctor Ordered for Red Wings” for The Hockey Writers.

Andreas Athanasiou makes a case for topping Anthony Mantha on depth charts

In light of Anthony “Tony Hockey” Mantha’s injury, Tom Mitsos describes Andreas “Double A” Athanasiou’s ascension in the ranks of Red Wings prospects in his article “Moving on Up: Andreas Athanasiou Climbing Red Wings’ Depth Chart” for The Hockey Writers.

Not much has changed in the state of Mississippi

Richard Thomas writes about how many of the racial injustices of years past continue to plague modern-day Mississippi in his post “Lessons from #Selma50: #4: Mississippi STILL Burning #TCUCRBT” for The Resist Daily.

Prospect Dylan Larkin is skilled but has much to prove at professional level

Tom Mitsos analyzes two-way forward Dylan Larkin’s performance at college and junior level hockey and forecasts his AHL/NHL success in his post “Red Wings Prospect Dylan Larkin: Should He Stay or Should He Go?” for The Hockey Writers.

After Ten Years of NuWho

Joshua Toulouse reflects on the best of the best Dr. Who episodes released since the show was “regenerated” in 2005 in his post “The Top Ten NuWho Episodes in Honor of the Tenth Anniversary” for Fat Train.

Love in a Time of Hydra ups the ante for Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD

“[N]ow, the world of S.H.I.E.L.D. (and the ‘real S.H.I.E.L.D.) is not only fully connected, but also a  much larger, more impressive adventure than anyone could have imagined.” Anthony Ocasio of Screen Rant makes his case for why the most recent episode of Agents of SHIELD titled “Love in a Time of Hydra” has transformed the show into one of the best ways to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe in his article “‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: And Then It Became a Top 10 TV Show.”

There is no goalie controversy in Detroit

Tom Mitsos details how holes in defense and other issues contributed to an unsuccessful month of March for the Detroit Red Wings in his post “Red Wings’ Issues Go Far Beyond Jimmy Howard” for The Hockey Writers.

We departed Ohakune (Mordor) for a lengthy 4 hour drive down Highway 1 to New Zealand’s capital city of Wellington.   We took our first stop to catch a glimpse of the mighty Anduin (The Great River), which was partially filmed within the steep gorges of the Rangitikei River.  For the non-geeks, The Anduin is the river the fellowship used after departing the Elven tree-city of Lothlorien in Fellowship of the Ring.  Using my LOTR film location guidebook, we followed signs for “Mokai Gravity Canyon”- New Zealand’s tallest bridge bungee jump.  We figured it would be an innocent 15-20 min detour but it ended up taking about 45 minutes to navigate the winding roads deep into the rocky valley ahead.  The view was well worth the trip however.

We continued south and set our sights on exploring the Waitarere Forest on the western Kapiti coast.  It was here that they filmed the Trollshaw Forest where the Aragorn escorted the hobbits on their way to Rivendell in Fellowship (and also the location of Bilbo’s petrified Trolls in The Hobbit).  We arrived in the small beach-town of Waitarere and had lunch at a nearby café where I had some really great fish and chips.  We managed to find the entrance to the nearby forest but much to my dismay, it was gated off with a “no trespassing” sign- probably to ward off LOTR film-site hunters just like myself.  How lame!  I badly wanted to sneak in but my inner child was kept at bay when Sarah managed to talk me out of it.  We got back on Highway 1 and enjoyed glorious sunset drive along the dry cliffs of the Tasman coast which evoked a kind of California Highway 101 feel.

Wingnut Studios, Isengard, The Nazgul Chase, more Anduin – Wellington

Wellington is New Zealand’s capital and is situated at the very southern tip of the North Island along the massive Fitzroy Bay.  The greater landscape is markedly more arid and brown with large rolling hills and actually looked a lot like San Francisco.  The California-esque landscape is particularly fitting because Wellington-often referred to as “Wellywood”- is the heart of New Zealand’s film industry.  The next morning we took a guided tour through Peter Jackson’s “private” Hollywood in the nearby district of Miramar.  At this point I’m pretty sure Wellington has some kind of California wannabe complex going on.

Our first stop was at Weta Workshop.  This is the place that fashions props for Peter Jackson films and also many non-Jackson films such as Avatar, The Chronicles of Narnia, Van Helsing, and Kingdom of Heaven.  We took a tour of the workshop but were banned from taking any pictures due to copyright and film secrecy reasons.  But what was inside was a fascinating array of first-hand props, many of which were actually used in the the Lord of the Rings movies.    On the tour I learned a lot of interesting facts such as that Sauron was mostly filmed using a live actor in an actual costume (which was surprisingly smaller than you’d imagine) and that the “chainmail” used was actually made from lightweight PVC piping to keep the actors comfortable.  The coolest thing was that all the weapons used in the films were hand made  by local blacksmiths hired to work for Weta.  On the tour you could actually peer into the individual metalworking studios used by the local artisans.  The part in Return of the King where the elves of Rivendell forge Aragorn’s new sword, Anduril, with hammers and anvils wasn’t too far off from how it was actually made.  (And yes, I do know Anduril was actually forged in “Fellowship of the Ring” according to the books)…

On a sidenote, our tour guide told us a story about how Viggo Mortinsen, ever the method actor, was arrested in downtown Wellington for walking around in costume wielding his pre-Anduril broadsword.  Keep in mind this was before the film’s release so no one had a clue what was going on.  The cops, assuming he was some mad vagrant, apprehended him with a straight face saying the words “sir, please lay down your sword”.  How Viggo thought no one would call him out wearing his scrappy ranger costume in broad Wellington daylight is anyone’s guess, but major props to the dude for dedication.

After departing Weta Workshop we explored the nearby park where they filmed the Black Rider (Nazgul) encounter with the Hobbits in Fellowship of the Ring.  It was filmed in a public biking trail shrouded in a surprisingly small woodland area atop Mt. Victoria, which was more of a big hill than an actual mountain.     We walked the exact same trail they used when they filmed in the scene where Frodo says “get off the road!”

The little earthen alcove the hobbits used to hide from the Black Riders is still there- but a good eye will notice that the giant tree stump is missing.  It was actually just fake prop they imported from Weta Workshop down the street.

They also filmed the Hobbits tumbling down the hill from farmer Maggot’s crop, which of course, I had to lamely re-enact.

When I was done nerding out to Hobbit-Nazgul chase we grabbed lunch and drove out for an afternoon trip to the Hutt Valley- a northern suburb of the city where they filmed more of the Anduin, Aragorn’s river rescue, and the gardens of Isengard .  The highway paralleled the Hutt River which eventually took us to another Anduin film scene location as pinpointed by my film site guidebook.

Our next two locations were a true hunt to find however as the guidebook offered vague directions made more complicated by our subpar GPS.  We meandered through a big middle class neighborhood to find where the horse Brego rescues the befallen Aragorn after taking a “tumble off the cliff” in The Two Towers.  It was an overcast day and the sun had just started to melt through the clouds casting a heavenly glint along the river rocks.

We then turned down the street to hunt for the nearby Harcourt Park where Gandalf walked with Saruman in the gardens of Isengard.  They also filmed Saruman’s orcs cutting down the trees around Orthanc and Fangorn Forest in The Two Towers.  The irony made me laugh when I discovered Sarumon’s evil hideout was nothing more than an innocent disc-golf park in New Zealand suburbia.

The first half of our road trip was now over, and I returned our faithful red Toyota Camry to Thrifty the next morning.  Today we departed Wellington by ferry and sailed 3 hours through Cook Strait towards the South Island.

Rohan – Christchurch

We disembarked the ferry in the small fishing town of Picton, nestled in a beautiful little pocket of tall sloping hills riddled with evergreens.  We were going south, but the temperature was getting colder as we strayed further from the equator.  We picked up our new rental car, another Toyota Camry, and made our way south to the distant city of Christchurch.  Our travel itinerary had us spend the night in the gorgeous coastal whaling town of Kaikoura, which was actually our favorite town on the trip.  Here we caught our first glimpse of the mighty snowcapped mountain ranges bisecting the South Island from north to south.  These were the beginning of the Misty Mountains. Sarah and I of course commemorated this milestone by blasting the Led Zeppelin song of the same name from Led Zeppelin IV.  Growing up I had always associated “Misty Mountain Hop” with driving on the Brooklyn Bridge to New York city with Jimmy Fallon yapping at me as seen in the Cameron Crowe movie Almost Famous– but today that memory would change.

The Southern Alps have a significant effect on the South Island weather patterns. The prevailing westerly winds create a region of lush, cool, greenery and rainfall on the western half while leaving the east coast hot and dry.  It is this weather phenomenon that is responsible for the iconic brown tussock-filled landscape of Rohan, also known as the Riddermark.  This was the Beowulf-themed realm of the horse lords and the beleaguered King Theoden from The Two Towers.

When arrived in Christchurch to find a city devastated by a long and unusual series of earthquakes between 2010 and 2012, 4,558 earthquakes to be exact.  The city was a humbling landscape of futuristic new buildings spread among ruins, cranes and renovations.  It was eerily quiet, lifeless and devoid of people.  It felt like a warzone.  Not to diminish the city’s struggle, but my reaction upon arriving in Christchurch perfectly matched Gimli’s in Edoras – “you’d find more cheer in a graveyard”.

The hotel we stayed in was actually extremely nice (at least compared to the run of motels we’d just had).  It was brand new and still had that stale new-construction smell.  We looked up restaurants online and discovered a newly renovated district to eat in.  The new locale felt modern and comfortable- a far cry from the ruins only minutes away.  This was but one example of the city using the devastation to improve itself.  Christchurch was in the midst of a bold reconstruction program which aimed to rebuild it as a “city of the future”.  It was going to be greener and more energy efficient.  It sought to modernize its public transportation and infrastructure.  The plan called for a futuristic zoning concept of re-arranging the city into individual districts of the arts, government, business and recreation.

The devastation, and rebirth of the city became more apparent the next day when we drove through the city on our day-long trip inland to the Canterbury countryside – the filming locale for Rohan.  We drove in a large, rugged ATV that was necessary to negotiate the rough unpaved road that took us to Mt. Sunday where they built and filmed Rohan’s capital of Edoras.  The dry, brown mountainous expanse was unmistakably Rohan.

Our ATV crawled its way a few miles off road through streams and rock as we made our way to the base of Mt. Sunday.  The entire valley was a giant wind tunnel, and we battled 50 mph winds as we hiked to the top.  The Edoras set was built by hand, leaving very little to CGI.  To think that the film crew built such a giant set in violent winds was totally mind blowing (no pun intended).  It was also much smaller than it appears in the film.

The view from the top was easily the grandest, most epic scenery of the entire trip.  Mt. Sunday was perfectly situated in the middle of a vast valley expanse carved by the Rangitata River.  Looking northeast you could see the massive river delta that served as Helm’s Deep from The Two Towers.

The awesome, untamed grandeur of the Canterbury region is beyond description so I’ll let the visuals do the rest of the talking.  In Part 3 our trip comes to an end in Twizel, Queenstown, and Milford Sound.  Here we’ll explore Gondor, Fangorn Forest, The Pillars of the Kings, Lothlorien, and Amon Hen.

 

It’s Sunday and it is time to catch up on the best the internet had to offer during the past week. If you have any article suggestions for the Sunday Roundup send me a tweet @tbone1225.

The children we encounter along our journey

Gabe Pfefer reflects on the Lenten lessons derived from the mother/son relationship of Mary and Jesus in his post “Relationship: One of Jesus’ most important final words” for Ephphathoughts.

The Civil Rights Movement’s inability to confront white supremacy at its core

Richard Thomas describes the process of simultaneously eliminating racist legislation and the white supremacist ideologies that under-gird them in his article “Lessons From #Selma50: #3 From White Sign to White Mind” for The Resist Daily.

Red Wings cannot coast now and still make the playoffs

Tom Mitsos joins team captain Henrik Zetterberg in calling the Red Wings out for excessive fear of puck in his post “Red Wings Respond to Captain’s Criticism in Statement Win” for The Hockey Writers.

Just ask the Ducks:  Naming your franchise after a movie is a bad idea

“Would you be proud if your city named its team after a Will Ferrell movie?” Tom Mitsos discusses why the Flint Firebirds is a better OHL team name than the Flint Tropics in his post “Flint Tropics Would Have Made Mockery of New OHL Team” for The Hockey Writers.

The NHL ponders reducing the amount of nightly skills competitions

Tom Mitsos discusses three systems intended to limit the amount of NHL games decided by shootouts in his post “Which Overtime Format Should the NHL Adopt?” for The Hockey Writers.

The future of theology is now (or 2069, one of the two)

“It’s 2069 and Rick Santorum was never even born.” In the spirit to Mallory Ortberg’s piece “It’s 2050 and Feminism Has Finally Won” for The Toast, Gabe Pfefer of Ephphathoughts writes a satirical religious post called “It’s 2069 and the Complementarians Have Finally Lost.”

Panthers catch Red Wings by the tail

“Why the Red Wings constantly play down to their opponents is a concept that I haven’t been able to grasp.” Tom Mitsos discusses the frightening fact that the Red Wings losing games they should be winning in “Panthers Perplex Red Wings Again” for The Hockey Writers.

Education matters for goalie Jared Coreau

Tom Mitsos of The Hockey Writers interviews Grand Rapids Griffins call-up and regular Toledo Walleyes goalie Jared Coreau in his article “Jared Coreau Q&A: Shower Singer Extraordinaire?”