Alethiometer

I caught The Golden Compass with mum this evening. She had the tickets from her office. I had absolutely no idea what movie it was. All I was told was its the premiere. It was an absolutely brillant movie with the special effects and the very beautiful Nicole Kidman and the adorable yet seemingly sensible Dakota Blue Richards. It was also great to see familar faces like Christopher Lee (Star Wars, Count Dooku) and hear Ian McKellen as the armoured bear. Unfortunately the plot left little to be discovered and the ending was a tad abrupt. I'm expecting sequels since its supposed to be based on a trilogy. Hmm....how familiar is that. This movie is directed by the LOTR team. Loads of similarities in angles and shots, if you love LOTR.

Of course the most interesting piece of equipment was Lyra's alethiometer. Its mostly fantasy but how interesting is a compass, so complex that it is able to dust out the truth or at least lead you to it? Its almost as mind boggling as the Cryptex. Need to know how to read the alethiometer? Here. Need a virtual version? Here.

Hmm....now there's something even better than a vintage musical pocket watch -- an alethiometer! Its on my christmas wishlist.

Folks, are you reading this?