In a complete reversal of roles, yesterday Jodie took me to see the Lord of the Rings, played in the Princess of Wales theatre in Toronto. It’s an absolutely incredible piece of theatrical work. The show goes on for 3.5 hours, which goes by incredibly quickly. The music is excellent, the props and effects are great, and the actors are incredible. By far the best actor is the guy who does Gollum. He very effectively did the scene where Gollum’s two personalities fight each other, and he ends up doing a way better job than the movie portrayed.

One of my favourite scenes is where Gandalf fights the balrog (huge demon-like thing)… the massive fans pointing at the audience fed with millions of bits of paper, the deafening sounds and lights make it seem like the balrog is after you, rather than Gandalf.

Too bad the show is only on for another three weeks. The critics initially gave the show a poor rating, and unfortunately the critics have far too much influence, and attendance was poor (although it was sold out yesterday). I rank ‘the critics’ right up there with the stock analysts… a select group of self appointed individuals who wield far too much power, and don’t understand the consequences of their actions.