The Hobbit Part 1

The Hobbit Part 1 by Legendary Frog
 (picture is Property of Legendary Frog)

The Hobbit Part 1 is a flash short from about 5 or so years ago.  It was one of Legendary Frog’s last projects before starting Toonwerks.  The hobbit part 1 is a comedic movie that is about a Hobbit Bilbo Baggins who like other hobbits likes to smoke Pipe Weed.  It parodies the book the Hobbit very well and makes fun of its shortcomings like the fact that Golem and Bilbo play a strange game of riddles where if Golem wins he gets to eat Bilbo.  The video is worth the 10 minutes of your time it will take to watch it however it only covers half of the book and ends in the middle of Bilbo and Golem’s game of Riddles.

In a similar sense The Hobbit an Unexpected Journey covers the Journey of Bilbo Baggins about 2/3 through the book (basically up to Mirkwood) it is a well-made  movie with lots of action, humor, and follows closely to Tolkien’s original story.  Unlike most movies this movie has extra characters and parts added.  While some would find this annoying I would say that it only adds to the movie as Peter Jackson tries to make the movie not only the story of 13 dwarves and Bilbo Baggins but also a prequel to the Lord of the Rings series.  In addition to the book there is a white orc in the movie and also the character Radaghast the Brown makes a few appearances but instead of distracting from the main story the added portions make sense for the most part and add to the story line.  Overall if they were to have made the Hobbit into a one-part movie that was as good as this first part of three it would have had to have been at least a 5 hour movie so the Hobbit an Unexpected Journey as an Unexpectly good movie and is well worth your time.

Mazda 3

Shopping for a new car can be a hassle.  Dealing with Salesmen, reviews and opinions can cause quite a big hassle.  There are some good resources and everyone has an opinion about what car to buy and who to get it from.  This review isn’t about buying a car however, if I get enough requests I could write a review on that in the future.  Instead this is a review of the 2012 Mazda 3 i touring with Skyactive technology.

Perhaps the biggest selling point of the Mazda 3 is the available Skyactive technology.  There is a lot that goes into this technology however suffice it to say the car is lighter and averages about 36MPG according to its onboard dash. (See http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/skyactiv/ for more information).  The car gets this mileage using new engine technology which makes it more efficient without a hybrid engine.

While the exterior of the car is sporty what really matters the most is the interior.  The Mazda 3 comes with what seems to be a high quality cloth material.  While it may not have the greatest technology it is easy and fun to drive.  There are controls on the steering wheel for radio, and Bluetooth and space for optional navigation.  One of the biggest supposed downsides to the Mazda 3 is the legroom for the backseat.  While this may be a problem for some the car seems to offer a better interior, and more legroom in the back than the highly popular Toyota Corolla.  There is some road noise but it is not to the point of being bothersome.

While everyone has different tastes for vehicles the Mazda 3 is fun to drive, gets excellent gas mileage and is an overall great car.  If anything the one downside is that the car does not come with built a built in USB port for MP3 players (the 2013 model does have this feature though).  However I have not found this to be a problem because one can simply play music over the Bluetooth system. 

For anyone in the market for a midsized sedan I highly recommend considering the Mazda 3.  While it may not be the best car in its class according to reviews the people at Mazda took great car to create a good car that gives the competition a good run for its money.