In which I see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Orgazmo and do a lot of bike maintenance.
On Thursday I went to see The Two Towers with Tal and Jim. I thought it was well done. It has been so long since I've read the books that I didn't spot many of the changes, although I was surprised to see the elves come to the rescue of the humans at Helms Deep and disappointed at the lack of the giant spider at the end. Anyway, it was a very enjoyable three hours.
I've decided I like Éowyn the best out of the lead female characters. When she started showing off with that sword, I involuntarily said ``Ooh!'' to myself. (The next moment, I wondered why she was using two hands on a one-handed grip.) But it's the light sprinkling of freckles on her face that pushes her ahead of Arwen.
Kate tells me that Legolas is the LotR guy she finds most attractive. I would have guessed Aragorn, but maybe that's just because he's the character I'd most like to be myself. (Actually I'm split between Aragorn and Gandalf, but I think Aragorn wins.) Legolas has that boyish look—especially considering he's hundreds of years old—that I guess women find attractive.
Later Tal and Doantam rented Orgazmo and we watched it in Tal's apartment. Despite the name, it's not a porno. No, it's a Trey Parker and Matt Stone movie about a Mormon kid who, having just finished his mission work, gets pushed into a job as the star of a porn action flick. Hilarity ensues, of course. Recommended, if you can handle crude humor and language.
Last night was bike maintenance night on my mountain bike. The chain had been stretched out by a few thousand miles of riding, so I replaced it. The new chain has a ``PowerLink'' that can be broken and replaced without tools. Breaking it is a real pain, though, especially when it's under tension. I found that out the hard way the first time I threaded the chain through the derailleur and connected it and only afterward realized that I'd fed the chain through the tension and guide pulleys in the wrong order. It took ten minutes of screwing around to get it apart again and fed through the right way.
I think it may be necessary to replace the rear cluster, too. The new chain skips if I apply much force to the pedals, which as I understand it is indicative of worn teeth.
After I replaced the chain I had to adjust the rear derailleur to match. I did so carefully and it worked out well. I was surprised, because the last time I tried to adjust a derailleur, the cable broke. I guess that must have just been a fluke.
I also replaced both sets of brake pads. The old pads were smooth and flat. The new pads stop the bike so much better. I should have replaced them weeks ago, but I assumed it was just the rain that was making stopping so crappy.
I made an attempt to adjust the bike properly to fit me, too. I've had the seat way too low. I raised it about 2 inches and rode it around a bit and it felt much better. After riding it around today, I think it might want to come down from there just a little, though.
Today I went out for a ride on the road bike. I put on biking clothing, filled up water bottles, pumped up tires, donned the helmet, and set off. And when I was a couple miles away, I realized that I'd forgotten to actually put the water bottles into their cages. Sigh.