Last Friday, I was part of a panel for a podcast at the Calgary Comic Expo. I’ve attached the link to the details below.

This is something I’ve never done before. I had the chance to speak in front of a group of people who may know more about what I’m talking about than I do and try to make a proposal on how I believe a film could have been improved. I chose a film, and gave all the ways I would make it better. It doesn’t mean that the film was necessarily entirely poor, it just means I have reasons why I think it could have been better.

So I picked the Hobbit. I love Lord of the Rings and I think it’s cinematic genius. It’s my favourite all time film(s) and three of my favourite books. I was so excited for when the Hobbit was announced for film production because I had such high hopes for it. Alas, that was not to be. However, I was pretty happy with a fair amount of it. So I chose the Hobbit in the thought that this was a film that could be improved because it had a strong foundation. The casting was excellent. The score/soundtrack was excellent. Those are really big things right off the start. They were able to get performers from the Lord of the Rings back, and bring in Martin Freeman and Luke Evans who are phenomenal. I’m actually not going to give away anything more about my argument, but the link to the podcast is below and the “Tales From Another Dimension” should be up this week with the recording of it live.

So, I went up against the reigning champion and the host of the regular podcast with my thoughts on the films. Yes, I took on the entire trilogy, because it’s technically one story (plus appendices). I was more than a bit terrified. While I was selected based on the fact that I was on the debate team in university (I even went to the national competition one year), it still doesn’t make it any less nerve-wracking when there’s the chance that everyone there may know more about the topic.

Why is this important? I love running. Love love love. But last week (days prior to the panel) I went for a run and part way through had a terrible headache. I didn’t know what it was from, or if it was just a headache. I cut my run short and headed home. As it turned out, it was just a headache. I didn’t know that at the time so I jumped into bed and started watching a movie. I watch a lot of films. I love movies. I have Netflix, I have the iTunes Store, I have shelves of DVDs and Blu-Rays. As a result of my condition, there are days where I have to be in bed or on the couch and I watch movies. As anyone with a similar condition knows, it’s not relaxing in the way that it sounds. It’s a preventative measure to avoid injury. Nothing may happen, but I would rather be safe than knock out my teeth again.

As a result, I tend to watch a lot of films repeatedly, in case I fall asleep. The end result is that I can quote them, know the score completely, can even discuss the camera angles used. Not exactly the most remarkable of skills, right?

Except it is.

I love events like the Comic Expo. I love meeting people who have similar interests and who recognize my tattoo, or know what my shirt is referring to. I loved being part of the panel, because it meant that something I am interested in could be applied. I like the thought that I am a multi-faceted individual. Whether or not someone gives value to any of those facets (like knowing the year that the Hobbit was published), is up to them. To me, it’s interesting. I believe it’s important to have more interests. I believe it’s important to be more rounded than being just an athlete and being a person with a medical condition. It’s not all running and epilepsy.

I love embracing all of the facets of me. I like to think that there are many. It’s not just about running. I have taken what I have, what my circumstances are, and evolved them into things that I love. Now, I am the champion of the Tales From Another Dimension panel because I can both argue and know the Hobbit inside and out. I also know the history of comic book characters. I also know the history of the Marvel Universe in film. I can discuss/argue both sides of everything.

It is important to have hobbies. Hobbies get us outside, or inside. We learn and grow. I have plans to learn to play Destiny. Although I originally turned it down, I am considering learning to knit. It doesn’t matter what other people think of our hobbies. As long as we enjoy them, hobbies are more about growing beyond the moment we are in.

New hobbies may lead to “An Unexpected Journey”, and as we know from Bilbo Baggins, that is both treacherous and entirely worthwhile.

Here’s the link: https://m.soundcloud.com/wasting-your-time-podcast/