Spotlight Squee: Robert Jordan

Today, it's a year since the funeral service, so here's my hommage to the Creator. The only downside of writing this entry is that it has made cry, as I do think the world has lost a most magnificent storyteller. A toast to his memory! May he live forever in our hearts!

Who is this person?
Robert Jordan, pen name of James Oliver Rigney Jr., wrote The Wheel of Time fantasy series. He was born in Charleston, South Carolina on 17 October 1948, served in Vietnam in the late 60s and later took up writing. He's written some Conan books as well, but is most famous for tWoT. He was diagnosed with cardiac amyloidosis in 2006, and died on 16 September 2007.

How did I find this person?
A classmate suggested I should read "The Eye of the World", as it was a very good book... and so I borrowed it from the library and started reading. She was not wrong!

How long ago was this?
Must have been in 1996 or 1997, I think.

So what's the deal?
It's a world that lives and breathes. It's not full of annoying "we're in such a hurry and we're so much in danger as we're being chased... so we'll sit here for a couple of weeks and have a party with our new friends"... nor does it have pages upon pages of elvish singing... or women who keep fainting all the time for sympathy. Some people complain that the books are too full of descriptions, but that's what I enjoy about them. It makes for a very detailed understanding of the world, and makes it come alive. It's just books that tickle my imagination and my interest, and I love them for it. They're a great inspiration - and I could never manage to write to his level... but it sets the bar very high and gives a good rolemodel for fantasy fiction writing. Kudos, RJ.

If I met this person IRL, I'd...
...be very surprised, considering he's dead. :( But if I had had the chance to meet him when he was alive, I'd say "I love your books and the world you have created!"

Obsession rating:
Undecided. Still my favourite fantasy books and I'm eagerly awaiting the final installment. Just a shame it won't be penned by the Creator himself. :( Then again, I suppose I could say it's a little bit high, considering I have all the books, New Spring, The World of Robert Jordan's the Wheel of Time and a few years ago, I was given two SIGNED roleplaying books by my now hubby that he got off eBay from someone in America, which made me very happy. Oh, and I loved walking around in the PC game as well, but this computer won't play it. :( Was probably higher when I was an active WoT RPG member, back in 2002-2004.

Linkage:
Wikipedia: Robert Jordan
TOR Books: Robert Jordan
Robert Jordan's Blog
wotmania
Dragonmount
Virtuella Vita Tornet (a Swedish RPG sort of based on the world of tWoT)

Spotlight Squee: Sam Neill

The moment has finally arrived! A great big happy birthday to Sam Neill! Here's the story...

Who is this person?
Sam Neill is an actor and a director, who also has his own vinyard in central Otago in New Zealand. He was born 14 September 1947 in Omagh, Northern Ireland, but moved to New Zealand as a child. Eventually, he became an actor and is perhaps most known to people as Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (films 1 and 3)... but he's been in a myriad of other things. Some more memorable than others.

How did I find this person?
Well, there are a few different explanations here, because there are a few different occasions. The first one was watching the music video to Michael Nyman's "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" in school - the theme to the critically acclaimed film The Piano (it's actually rather good, even though it's critically acclaimed). I thought "oh hello" - and I can't have been more than 10 or 11 at the time...

Second was watching The Final Conflict: Omen III on TV. Before that, my sister had borrowed Merlin on VHS from the library, and I remember saying I thought he looked better in Merlin...

Third time, and in this case, it really was a charm, out of the blue, I went to bed one morning (yarr, it was about 8 or 9 in the morning... had been up all night chatting on IRC :look) and I had this strange, yet rather pleasant, dream I was Sam Neill's girlfriend (!). Not that kind of dream, I'll have you know, it was quite innocent. :P We got a warning that he was going to have an accident with something to do with water, and the dream ended with us going to hospital to visit a friend who was giving birth, but it was raining outside and he got hit by a car and died, and I was in hysterics, shouting over the phone at a reporter who phoned up to ask how I felt about Louise Edlind (the Swedish actress who played Malin in Saltkråkan) dying, which I at the time didn't give a shit about... understandably. I woke up at 3:30 pm, grabbed a pen and paper and couldn't put it down until I went to bed again that night. The story I wrote then is what I made into a script for Script Frenzy 2007. As it happens. It was after this I started collecting Sam films and became a fangirl.

How long ago was this?
a) Guessing it was 1993, as that's when The Piano was released.
b) Maybe 2001?
c) 14 December 2003.

So what's the deal?
He's a very good actor, and has the talent to bring out the best in his co-stars. Even mediocre scripts are lifted by his mere presence. (It's almost tangible in Wimbledon.) He's 61 today, and still looking great, as well. He's nicely down-to-earth, humourous, caring and seems like a romantic as well. (He met his wife, make-up artist Noriko Watanabe on the set of Dead Calm.) He enjoys a good wine - his own, that is, Two Paddocks wine has got very good reviews - animals, organic farming and politics.

If I met this person IRL, I'd...
...Ask if I could give him a hug, and thank him for being who he is.

Obsession rating:
I have most things listed under "Actor" in his IMDb filmography... and the rest are on my "to get" list... That enough?

Linkage:
IMDb: Sam Neill
Wikipedia: Sam Neill
The previously official Sam Neill website
Two Paddocks vinyard
Huntaway Films