So Tanja and I saw the Golden Compass. Twas a good time. Not as twee as Harry Potter or Narnia. Kick-ass battle sequences, interesting story, and they didn't give away everything ion the first chapter, leaving some mystery for the rest. Nicole Kidman was a slimy lizard-like creepy woman with a bad monkey attached to her. So a real acting stretch for her. Picked up the book on the way home. Much different tone. Very 19th century, and much less child-like-wonder than the film. It's STEAMPUNK! Hooray! I spent what was I'm sure a boring 20 minutes explaining steampunk to Tanja. I'm annoying that way.