I went to The Hobbit on Thursday night and the nerd in me has several things to say:
1. If you are on a quest and have a wizard at your disposal, A. listen to said wizard and B. everything you do kind of becomes irrelevant because the wizard will just overrule you or the wizard will have to save you and fix your mistake.
2. I'm of the opinion that you should thank creatures that help you (in this case eagles) even if they don't  speak your language (although I do question the eagles' choice in this movie to deposit the dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf on top of a large rock/small mountain thing).
3. I have boots like the dwarves wear. Well, I have snow boots that go up to my knees and have awesome fur at the top. I would never survive all the walking, and definitely not running, in those things. When I go on my quest, I'll be wearing tennis shoes.
4. Of the creatures in Middle Earth, it seems to either A. be good luck to be a dwarf or B. be that dwarves are the most sturdy race ever because they can survive all kinds of falls, slips and bashings even from enormous heights and of grand weights.
5. The general dirtiness, bad teeth and creepy growths on some of those in Middle Earth might help me to slay the crap out of the bad guys.
6. My weapon of choice would never be a slingshot. I would argue that anyone who's is, is probably an idiot. David and Goliath was a one-time fluke.
7. If you're on a quest, take your pony with you so you don't lose it. Walking sucks.
8. Rain ponchos.
9. I need to study up on riddles.

Quick free write today in a lecture entitled: Utilizing Sports in Our Narrative

It’s an itch, a shiver in my bones, an ache through my muscles. Water hits face, stroke, full extension, rotate, roll, kick, pull, one, two three, breathe.

A burning desire to feel that stretch through my legs of a complete pedal stroke. Feet parallel to the ground, one circle of ankles at a time, pull back with the heels, push with the quads, pull with the hammies, breathe.

The need to stride out, pound the pavement cries in my heart. Mid-sole strike, keep hands loose, shoulders soft, breathe.