Maggie's Memos: "Ask Tess and Maggie Answers" (Finally) :}

So, I mentioned in my last post that we were attempting something "epic".

Yeah, scratch that.  We didn't exactly accomplish our goal.  In fact, it was more like an EPIC FAIL.

I guess I might as well tell you.  Tess and I toyed with the idea of doing our very first vlog.

I know.  Complete awesomeness, right?

The problem is, doing a vlog is apparently a LOT more complicated than just sitting down and typing a post. You have to get the lighting right, you have to rehearse what you're going to say ahead of time, you have to have someone who knows at least the basics of video editing (and trust me, Mama does NOT).  Add into the mix the massive heatwave that made all of us in the doll family wonder if we would end up just puddles of vinyl by the end of things, the fact that Tess was completely terrified of the camera, and the fact that we just flat ran out of time...well, as you can see, our evil scheme was doomed for failure.

So instead, you get the same old boring thing:  Tess and I sitting here talking to you via blog post.  And I don't know...maybe it's for the best.  You've probably pictured our voices totally different and would have hated the way we sounded anyway. ;)  This way, there are still secrets about us for you, our readers, to uncover.  I think it's good for a journalist and a writer to have an "aura of mystery about them", as Tess would say. ;)

But I suppose it's about time for me to stop making excuses and get on with the actual post. :}

Tess and I will take turns answering your questions, even the ones you asked the other gals.  We took the time to get their answers for you, so you'll still be getting their answer.  We just thought this would be simpler.  Oh, and also for simplicity's sake, from this point on, Tess's words will be in purple and mine will be in blue.  The questions will be in black and in italics.

So, Tess, would you like to start? 

Um, I suppose so...if you think I should.

I wouldn't have asked if I didn't.

Oh...right.  (clearing throat)  Our first two questions comes from All AG.  She asks:
       
       Where do you get all of your adorable Regency dresses?  And of course that pretty medieval dress from Hayden's Histories blog post in December. :D  It says it was handmade earlier, but by whom?
        And did you get your new sister yet?  I'm not asking who or anything, I want to be surprised! :D  Do you want anymore sisters also?

Excellent questions, All AG.  Thank you.  I'll do my best to answer them to your satisfaction. :)  

Our Regency dresses were all purchased by Mama on eBay.  She doesn't remember who made my pink one (she purchased it a rather long time ago), but the others were made by marcotsgirls on eBay.  You can click on her name to get to her eBay page. :)  Unfortunately, she was also unable to tell me who made Hayden's medieval dress.  I'm sorry we couldn't help you there.  I think it's lovely as well. :)

By now you already know that Alice, the newest addition to our group, joined us on June 21st.  Any of you who missed out on Emma's tale of her cousin's arrival can read it HERE.  

I personally am quite content with my two younger sisters and my countless friends.  Of course, if Mama chose to add anyone else to our family, I wouldn't be opposed to it.  Things are getting rather crowded, though.  I'm not sure where we would put another doll! ;)

All right, I'll go ahead and take the next one.  misspiggy=awesome writes:

     I (rather, some of my dolls) have a question for Rachel.
     Julianna and Samantha:  Did you know that there is a new Muppet movie coming out on March 21st, 2014?  Are you excited?  We are!

I showed Rachel your question, and she was surprised.  She hadn't heard anything about the movie yet.  Thanks to you guys, though, she spent like an hour Googling it.  ;)

She told me to tell you that she's cautiously excited.  I guess she read some article about Frank Oz and how he didn't like the last movie (the one she and Charlie watched on their vacation, I guess) and as a result wasn't involved.  It actually kind of ruined the newest Muppet movie for her a little.  So now she's waiting to hear more about the newest movie, but she hopes it will be great.

The next question is for Charlie.  Anonymous asked:
   
     How do you pronounce Rontu's name?  Is it Rahn-too?

I asked Charlie about this, and it made her laugh.  She said that she's always pronounced it "Rahn-too", but she has no idea if that's the correct pronunciation.  So in this house, at least, Rontu is "Rahn-too", but we may be horribly butchering the name as we are not familiar with the native language from "The Island of the Blue Dolphins".

Molly had a few questions for us.  I hope you guys have some time to sit and read, because I'll have a LOT to say about this one. ;)  She writes:

       Well, I have been wondering for a while what kind of doll Tess and Maggie are?  They're adorable!

      Also, how do you feel about the stuff they added to the Hobbit that made it different from the book?

      Okay, just one more question:  why is the blog called "Jane Austen and Unicorns"? (don't think I'm trying to be rude--I'm just curious. ;)  I think it's really cute!) I mean, I get the Jane Austen part, but is the unicorn thing just symbolizing your guys' randomness?  Just curious--like I said, I think it's adorable!

Sigh...I just have to say, it really stinks being labeled as "adorable" when that's the LAST thing you want to be.  I suppose I should be used to it by now, though. :}

So first off, Tess is a Gotz Little Sisters doll from the early 2000s and I'm an Alexander Girlz doll from the Madame Alexander Company.  I've been rewigged, though.  My original hair was really thick and tangled and gross (I was a thrift store rescue).  

As far as The Hobbit goes...whew!  Where do I even begin?  Tess suggested that I should start with the positives (so like her!), so I will say that I really liked the "riddle" scene between Bilbo and Gollum.  Part of that is just Andy Serkis' genius with the character of Gollum and Martin Freeman's excellent performance.  I would have LOVED to see some of the outtakes between those two. ;)

I also really enjoyed the early part of the story when all of the dwarfs came to Bilbo's house, and I love how they tied the very beginning in with the Lord of the Rings movies.

And of course, as you all know, I thought Thorin Oakenshield was pretty amazing.  And to think that Tess prefers him as Mr. Thornton...whatever.  Thorin is way cooler!!

Um...Maggie, you might try watching "North and South" before you make a judgement...

I don't need to.  Just looking at the cover of the DVD gives me all the information I need.  Epic dwarf with a weapon or prissy dude in a suit.  You choose.

He's actually not prissy...

Oh, and I thought the dwarf song at the beginning of the movie was pretty awesome, too.  I told Mama I wished she could sing like that.  She just rolled her eyes and said she prefers to sing soprano.  Whatever.

That being said, I thought some of the added parts were pretty out there.  Granted, it's been a long time since I've read the book, so I can't remember everything that was in it.  But overall, it felt like Peter Jackson was trying way too hard to make it this ginormous, epic story like the Lord of the Rings trilogy...which it isn't.  It was always much more lighthearted and fun.  I think he would have done better to keep it the way it was written.  I mean, what was up with the whole Bilbo battle scene at the end of the movie?  And those stone giant thingees...can we say "The Silver Chair" meets Middle Earth?

I think a big part of it is that I had a lot of high hopes for this movie, and the film just didn't quite meet my expectations.  

And while we're on that subject, have any of you seen the preview for the next Hobbit movie?  Some of it, admittedly, looks pretty cool, but a lot of it just goes from bad to worse!  Stop making this into an action flick!  There wasn't a huge battle when they were in the barrels.  But I suppose I shouldn't be surprised.  I mean, just look at the Battle of Helm's Deep.  It took a chapter or two in "The Two Towers" but ended up being half of "The Two Towers" movie adaptation. :(  Not only that, but the CGI on the barrel scene and on Smaug dragon looks really fake.  I seriously hope that was unfinished film...or something.

Okay, but enough of that.  You asked about our blog name, "Jane Austen and Unicorns".  In the years since we started this blog, my interests have spread a bit, but one of the things I originally collected was unicorns.  I still have my unicorn collection and my unicorn necklace, but now that Iron Man and my other action figures have somewhat taken over, my unicorns are a bit forgotten.  Maybe we should rename the blog "Jane Austen and Iron Man".  That should get some attention. ;)

Back to you, Tess.

All right, but I would like to point out that Mr. Thornton is not prissy by any stretch of the imagination!  

Whatever you say.  Shouldn't we get back to the questions?

Um...okay.  Our next two questions come from Charlie (a different Charlie from our own).  She writes:  

     Hi, I'm Charlie (short for Charlotte).  I'm a renamed AG Molly doll. :)  So I had a question for Maggie about whether or not you like Hawkeye from the Avengers?  You have never really mentioned him. I personally like him the most.  Especially his appearance in the Thor movie, that line was awesome.

Hawkeye:  Should I fire or let him keep going, cause I'm starting to root for him.

Totally my fave.

Question for Tess:

Random, but I was wondering whether or not you have heard of two books, Pollyanna and Pollyanna Grows Up.  The first book, Pollyanna, is about her when she is young, and Pollyanna Grows Up is about her when she's older.  It's also a sweet little romance story.  Would recommend trying to find and read those two books.

PS:  Hello other Charlie!!

I believe I'll start with the second question and let Maggie answer the first.  

First of all, our Charlie said to be sure to tell you hello. ;)  

I have read "Pollyanna" myself, but it's been a while.  I hadn't heard of "Pollyanna Grows Up" before this, but now I'm intrigued!  I'll have to ask Mama to try to find a copy.  Thank you for letting me know.  I was quite familiar with the Disney film before I read the book, and I was rather surprised to find how different the book was from the movie adaptation.  Mama told me that was fairly typical for Disney.  I liked the book so much better than the movie...but then again, that's fairly typical for me. ;)

Maggie here, Charlie.  I do like Hawkeye too.  Iron Man just appealed to me from the very beginning, probably because our personalities are so similar (except that I'm not rich or a flirt). ;)

I had completely forgotten that Hawkeye was in the Thor movie (although I'm sure Rachel remembered).  Now I'll totally have to watch it again. ;)

Okay, on to the next set of questions, which are pretty much all for me! ;)  Ari asks:

     Maggie~what is your favorite Narnia book?  Favorite Narnia character besides Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy?
     Team Frodo or Team Bilbo?  Hobbit or Lord of the Rings?
     Sorry Tess, don't know much about Jane Austen. ;)

Whew, I hit the question jackpot! ;)  

So first off, I have two favorite Narnia books.  I love "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" because it was the book that introduced me to the world of Narnia.  It was the first book in the series that C.S. Lewis wrote, and the story is just excellent.

My other favorite might surprise some of you.  I actually really like "The Last Battle".  True, it does start out really dark and sad, but the ending is so wonderful.  Mama says it always makes her long for Heaven, and I totally agree.  I also love the character of Jewel the unicorn.  He's the one that got me interested in unicorns in the first place.  And the book is a reminder that even when things are at their darkest, God is still in control of what happens and has a perfect plan.

My favorite character from Narnia is Aslan.  He really helped me understand a lot about the character of God.  But I also like Jewel (as I mentioned before) and Trumpkin the Dwarf.  Mama said she likes Mr. Tumnus.  Not that she's answering these questions, but I knew if I didn't mention it she'd bug me about it later. ;)  (She doesn't get to answer Narnia questions that often.)

And I can't decide between Team Frodo or Team Bilbo.  To be honest, I'm more of a Team Sam myself...or maybe a Team Eowyn. ;)

I do love "The Hobbit", but I'd have to say I prefer "The Lord of the Rings".

Okay, I'm done now.  Really.  Tess, go ahead.

Thank you, Maggie.  Our next set of questions come from Grace and Hannah:

     To Hailey, what is your favourite Hello Kitty item?
     To Alice, are you enjoying your time so far?
     To Charlie, which trip did you enjoy the most?

I had to be quite the investigative reporter to get these answers gathered for you! ;)  Hailey said that while she loves all of her Hello Kitty items, her very favorite one is her big stuffed Hello Kitty that sits on her shelf. :)

Alice has been enjoying getting to know her cousins and seems to be settling in quite nicely.  We are all getting well-acquainted with Doctor Who trivia, whether we ask for it or not.  :}  She is a dear, though, and we are all glad she's come. :)

Charlie said that her favorite trips were her recent camping trip and her visit to the coast last year.  She said she couldn't decide between the two. ;)

I believe there's only one question left, Maggie.

That's right!  Our last question is from another Anonymous.  She writes:

     Any Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus fans?  I LOVELOVELOVE those books!

Sorry to disappoint you, Anonymous, but no.  None of us have even read them.  Mama's not a huge fan of Greek mythology, so she hasn't tried them...which means we haven't either. ;)

Wow, thank you to all of you who submitted questions for us.  Sorry it took us so long to get to them, but hopefully it was worth the wait! ;)  We'll be back with more "normal" posts soon.

Goodbye, everyone!  Thank you to all of our wonderful followers! :)