Takin' A Break

Hi gang! Due to a quick trip to Arkansas this weekend, I won't be able to post anything for a bit. I'll try and get something up on Tues. or Weds. Until then, you'll just have to amuse yourselves. Try to stay within legal parameters please.

Also, the quote is a line from Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. It's a quick conversation between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. Ginny is coming down the stairs looking for something to wear not expecting to see Harry at the table and gets all jittery and shy when she spots him. This line always makes me laugh.

9 1/2 Hours Later

To steal a bit from Comic Book Guy...

Best. Book. In. Series.

When I awoke this "morning" at 11am-ish, I had a nasty headache. No, my scar was not burning, but it might as well have been. I began reading and only took breaks to make and eat meals and sneak in a quick cat nap for about 30 min. And now that I'm done all I can say is...

WOW!

I won't tell you what happens since I don't want to ruin it for those still reading the book. Or those waiting till the final movie comes out in about 3 years I suppose. I will say this though. I think she really put a great deal of care and thought into the final installment. It moves really quickly. It is funny in parts and sad in others. All the pieces seem to fit, though I think I need to re-read the last couple of chapters. I was moving through them so quickly because of my excitement that I missed a certain bit and was surprised when it was referenced a few pages later. Duh to me.

As far as my predictions go, I won't say which ones I got right and which ones I got wrong but I'll give you a rough idea of how I did.

8 of my guesses were spot on. (Oh, before continuing, I will mention that under each heading I had multiple guesses in reference to the heading don't forget.)

For 3 of my guesses, my theory was right, but a slight variation kept me from being fully correct. Which I guess makes those particular ideas half-assed...hee,hee.

4 of them were just plain wrong, or wrong enough that I didn't even want to count them as half assed.

There was sort of a 5th wrong answer, but I don't know that this one should be counted since my logic for arguing why it wouldn't happen wasn't bad and the event itself happend on accident and without anyone's knowledge (or without being truely known, though someone had guessed it had happend).

Confused yet? Basically, I'm saying I didn't completely suck at this guessing thing, but I didn't pour over the books enough to be a hard core expert. And, I'm okay with that fact.

A couple more things to add. There were more deaths than I thought. For some reason I had it in my head that there would be just the 2 or 3 deaths ever since Rowling made the comment about re-writing one of them. Pretty silly on my part, this was going to be a war after all. Still, given the people who died, I'm unsure of who she was most sad about. I have a guess, but it's probably a bit off. I can also say this---I can't wait for this to be made into a movie. It is seriously going to rock.

Finally (I do realize I say this and then follow with four more paragraphs of rambling), a quick wrap up of the festivities. Fully enjoyed my evening at the table with Jackie and Jillian. We all got snarky at about the same time which was fun. The most annoying bit was when (repeatedly) a person would approach the table to get their wristband and we would ask if they had a reservation. They would look at us dumbstruck. "Reservation for what?" they would ask. "For Harry Potter" we would answer. "No." they'd say. "But I ordered the book ________ (insert time period here)." Our response. "That would be a reservation." Man, people are stupid.

One kid took our picture while sitting at the table because he wanted to have a record of every bit of the evening. We also got a group picture taken that actually turned out pretty well considering we were getting towards the end of the night. Not sure where that went though, hopefully Jillian snagged it off the table. Got home at around 3am, watched Psych to unwind and went to bed. Probably should go to bed now actually. Think I will. Night.

So there's this book coming out soon...

Approximately 25 hours from now, the final book in the Harry Potter series goes on sale. Some of you may not care. That's fine. I have vowed to never watch the film Titanic. I had also vowed to not watch Pretty Woman, but it was on a tv right next to me while I was playing cards with some friends so I couldn't leave the table. I did ignore it as best I could.

Bits are already leaking online, but it's hard to know what is true and what is conjecture. All I know is I have enjoyed the books and I can't wait to read this final installment. I was going to write down my predictions and seal them in an envelope, but then I thought, duh, put 'em up on the blog. That way when I am completely wrong it will be there for all to see. I fear not the "paper trail."

WHO'S GOING TO DIE:

I'll be honest. I can't remember if 2 or 3 people are expiring. I'm leaning towards Snape, Malfoy and Mrs. Weasley. Mom Weasley is a guess, but I think it's definitely possible that one of the Weasley's will no longer be with us. And, since she is a member of the Order, she's atleast one of the potential victims. Some people believe Hagrid is going to die, but I think he was the one that J.K. gave a reprive to. She said she re-wrote one person's death and let them live. I think that person is Hagrid.

WILL HARRY DIE:

Nope. But I think there's a good chance that once Voldy has been defeated his scar will be gone.

IS HARRY A HORCRUX:

This too is a nope. Why? Voldy has to create a Horcrux after murdering someone. As far as he knew, Harry was going to die the night he was attacked. Why would you plan on putting part of your soul in a dead person? I suppose there is a chance he could have made Harry one by mistake, but would that mean Voldy's "death" created the magic needed to make Harry a Horcrux? That's just too illogical.

WILL RON AND HERMIONE GET TOGETHER:

No duh. The question is who will make the first move. I'm sort of voting for Ron on this point. Hermione likes to plan so much you'd think she would've figured something out by now. I think it's going to be impulsive and Ron will be the one taking the big leap. Yeah!

SNAPE AND MALFOY--GOOD OR BAD:

Snape will turn out to be a good guy and will sacrifice himself to help Harry. I think he will see it as fitting punishment for offing Dumbledore.

Malfoy is still bad, but I think he will be so afraid of Voldy that he will be forced into helping Harry somehow. He still bites it though.

PETER'S PART:

Mr. Rat's Ass still owes Harry big time. I think Harry will go to him to find out the location/identity of one of the Horcruxes.

WILL WE HEAR FROM DUMBLEDORE:

Sure, his portrait will be in the Head Master's Office--although Harry claims he won't be back at Hogwarts that doesn't mean he might not try to sneak in to get some chat time. Also, it's safe to assume that their are other portraits around of the Big D that Harry could get to and talk to him that way.

WHAT'S UP WITH MOM:

This is the one I'm not so sure about. I haven't poured over the books, etc. to search for clues in the way others have. Allegedly, we will find out why we kept getting references to Harry's eyes being green like his mother's. The only thing I can come up with is we get confirmation that Lily was related to Godric Gryffindor (on JK's website the wizard of the month is Godric and in his illustration he has green eyes) and perhaps had an item that at one time was Godric's that will either help Harry or was stolen by Voldy and contains part of his soul. I'm stretching here I know.

And, of course, Harry and Ginny will get back together. Thus ends my prediction.

On a quick side note:

I saw an ad today for a drug that's supposed to help relieve restless leg syndrome. I was caught off guard by some of the side effects which include an "increase in gambling, sexual, and other urges." What the hell?

Some sort of review: Sicko

I should probably state right up front that I am a fan of Michael Moore's movies. Ever since his first film, Roger & Me, I have enjoyed his other efforts and still miss his television show. I also want to state (and I think most of you know this about me) that I question almost everything...even if it's written, sung, or stated, by someone I like or agree with.

Disclaimer over--now to the review.

Where to start? I liked the movie. I liked that it opens up a venue for debate. I think you would be hard pressed to walk out of this movie and not at least wonder if our health care system could be better. And, ultimately I think the debate is the point of the movie.

Moore doesn't really offer concrete solutions for the health care problem here in the U.S. He asks the blanket question--why don't we have universal health care? Seems a fair thing to ask, especially after you hear the testimonials from citizens of countries where universal care exists. And after hearing what has happened to U.S. citizens who have insurance, you want to storm the Bastille, er...United Health Care perhaps?

The pull of the film rests within the faces of those who have worked hard, who have paid their premiums, who are trying to do the right thing and get screwed over by companies that are more concerned with the bottom line than the care of their customers. I suppose one could argue "that's capitalism," but I think that's a cop out. The well being of the populace shouldn't be placed in the same venue as the competition between Playstation and Wii. It shouldn't be about purposely denying claims to keep revenues up in order to get a monetary bonus. Moore has pretty much left those without insurance out of this argument. What kind of country are we where the people who pay for the services can't get the services? One woman was charged for an ambulance ride because it hadn't been pre-approved...she was knocked out and had to be removed from her car by the fire dept. How was she supposed to get approval?

It's not so much about one country's health care system being better than another, but about how people in those countries regard their fellow citizens. The impression you get from the Brits, French, Canadians, and ex-Pats is a healthy populace is a strong populace. You take care of those who are sick so they can get better and can contribute in their own way. You take care of children so they grow up to be productive. You do it because it is the right and humane thing to do.

The film stumbles a bit because there is not much discussion into what problems may exist in these other systems. But, I will say, everyone he spoke to looked very surprised when he kept asking them how much someone would have to pay for various medical treatments. Granted, he could easily leave out someone who had a less than positive opinion. You have to remember, Moore has a specific purpose to his movie and while it would be better for him to present another view, I think you can cut him some slack because he doesn't really claim to be unbiased. He pretty much lets you know up front what you are going to see.

There are plenty of sad stories along with some laughs. Moore is savvy enough to know which buttons to push and when you're trying to get a point across that's what you do. If we wanted a dry debate on health care, we could watch CSPAN. Of course, then you'd just get pissed off 'cuz no one ever seems to be there when they should be...seriously, are these people ever in their seats? Is this why we have senators and congressmen wasting our time standing up in front of no one to talk about the 50th Anniversary of Peeps?

I think my favorite moment had to be when Moore takes several 9/11 volunteers, who have been denied health care for conditions created because they were helping clear debris and find bodies, to Gitmo in hopes of getting free medical attention. We are shown a montage of various politicians talking about how good the medical care is in Gitmo. We are told how each enemy combatant is monitored, how they have the latest examining equipment, how they even get regular colonoscopies for goodness sakes!!! (Hope I got that right.)

I'm sure at the time all this discussion came up it was to show how Gitmo wasn't Abu G. Some of these guys were going out of their way to talk about how great AND FREE was the care of the people who allegedly were behind one of the worst events in our countries recent history. Funny how shit comes back to haunt you.

Moore takes a boat load of folks to Gitmo (technically US territory, not Cuban) to try and get them some help. Obviously, he will not be able to get them inside. Obviously, it is being done to prove a point. But, it is one hell of a funny and somewhat sickening point to make. The gang go ahead and go to Havana where the 9/11 folk get super cheap meds and get evaluated (for free) and are given medical treatment plans to follow in the U.S.

I'm not so naive that I don't wonder a bit at how good it looks for Cuba to treat these people well. Moore probably had to get permission to shoot in the hospital. They knew he was there. They knew he had cameras. They want to make a good impression. But here's the thing, I wonder if these same people showed up at their respective hospitals, etc. in the U.S. with cameras in tow, would they be given the same care they were given in Cuba? Or, more likely, would they be asked to leave the premises?

I also have no problem with Moore playing the "9/11" card since virtually every politician seeking re-election played that card and Bush drags it out almost daily. At least I feel like Moore is trying to draw attention to an issue rather than create a distraction to keep us from thinking about what our problems are.

Here's a bit of coincidence for you--when I got home I read an article online about a group of 9/11 rescue workers suing WTC Captive Insurance for part of the $1 billion set up by Congress to help those injured during the clean up. Here's the rub. Apparently the excuse is the Captive Insurance fund is not so much a fund from which medical claims can be paid; the fund is set up to make payments only if someone sues and wins. Congress seemingly never set up a fund to flat out take care of these people. They essentially set up the fund to handle legal issues. How's that for a thank you...

UNRELATED TOPICS:

No one got the quote this time around. It was from Animal House. John Belushi is trying to convince his frat brothers that now is the time to fight back at their expulsion and get back at the school, etc. Also, I'm moderately bummed no one voted in the poll. I'll admit it wasn't the cleverest question. It was one of those things where I discovered I could put something up so I just winged it. Perhaps the next one will be better.

A Revolution With Just The Smattering Of Facial Hair

It took in over $12 million during its midnight showings. The total for Wed. was $44.2 million. Who hasn't seen Harry Potter yet?

If you answered, "Me!" and you don't want any spoilers, skip most of tonight's blog.

As for the rest of you...let me set the scene.

Crowded theater (no duh, opening night), the promise of a digital "print," and a family with a toddler just across the aisle from you...sounds like potential disaster doesn't it? Actually it was only a minor annoyance. I will say this though. The local theater lied about how many DLP showings they were having. I pulled for this place specifically for the DLP and instead we got a regular print which took the loser working the projector about 5 minutes to pull into focus.

Let's put all that aside and just concentrate on the flick itself. I always need to see Harry Potter films twice. The first time finds me noticing what was left out from the book. I fully understand why things get cut, but the realization of the missing bits always proves distracting. Having said this I should tell you I've only seen the movie once (going again on Sat.).

I can say I did enjoy this movie alot. Is it my favorite? Not at this moment. I'm a big fan of Prisoner of Azkaban, with Goblet a close second. I will tell you what I really enjoyed though.

The opening sequence with the dementors. Luna Lovegood. The crazy evil of Umbridge (she sort of reminds me of a certain employee at the store). Ron's efforts to impress Hermione. Ginny's telling glances when she sees Harry and Cho. The big Sirius moment. The two big battles at the end. Most of the training sequences. Meeting Gwarp (er, however you spell his name). Trelawney getting kicked out. Umbridge questioning Harry.

Okay, I know there's more, but I'm blanking.

Here's what I wasn't so keen on.

Why was Kreacher even in this? When he was introduced, I thought that meant he would come into play later, like he does in the book, but na-da. I would've liked to have seen more in the scene where Mr. Weasley gets attacked. I wish we could have seen more of the kids fighting the Death Eaters before the Order arrived, like the book. I wish we could've seen more of Snape's memory (esp. the part involving Harry's mom). I thought having Cho being set up to take the fall for snitching on the D.A. was sort of a cop out. In the book, it is her snarky friend who lets it slip. Cho defends her friend and gets mad at Hermione for having done a spell that would reveal to everyone who the snitch was. It shows (along with a few other scenes) how shallow Cho is and that seemed like a more logical reason for she and Harry breaking up. In the film, we are lead to believe she willingly told Umbridge what was going on. The rest of the D.A. ignore her as does Harry, but at the end of the movie we find out she was given a potion to make her tell Umbridge so her movie version of the character wasn't really a bad person. That just sort of irritated me.

As you can tell, most of what I wanted would have made this movie about 3 hours long. Obviously that wasn't going to happen. Oh--and I would've liked a bit more between Harry and Dumbledore at the end.

Overall, the film flows pretty well, though if you haven't read the book you might get a bit lost as some plot points aren't really explained. There is definitely humor throughout and some good nasty bits as well. AH--just thought of something else--I was genuinely disappointed that the "line writing" scene wasn't more like the book. I was really looking forward to seeing what I considered to be a truely sadistic punishment being given. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, in the book Harry gets detention and he's supposed to write "I will not lie" or something like that. He's given a special quill, no ink required. He doesn't need ink because once he puts quill to parchment the "ink" is his own blood and the line he is writing appears cut into his other hand. In the book, his hand heals after each line...only the more he does it the less it heals. Umbridge tells him he will keep writing till he has gotten it down. In other words, until it is almost permanently etched in his flesh. I was blown away by this scene in the book. In the movie, we see the line get etched, which is pretty cool, but the scene is short and you get the impression that there is no healing and re-etching. Of course, it is a PG-13, so maybe they thought that would be too intense for kids.

Screw the kids!!!! Give me the pain brother!!!!

One last bit, the title of tonight's blog refers to the lovely Mr. Radcliffe. We get several tight close ups when Harry is suffering through his nightmares and in virtually each one I thought, "hmmm...looks like Harry needs a better razor." Thank goodness he turns 18 very soon. Seriously, have you seen the promo pictures for Equus? And the cover of the latest Details magazine? Daaaaamn sister. Although there is one shot inside the mag where he is wearing the worst leather vest. He looks like a younger, slightly less gay version of one of the Village People.

WATCH IT:

NEW PSYCH ON FRIDAY! NEW PSYCH ON FRIDAY! ALL HAIL JAMES AND DULE!!!!

LISTEN TO IT:

Interpol--Our Love To Admire. Their latest just came out on Tues. and I've been listening to it almost non-stop. Right now my faves are The Heinrich Manuever (I know I spelled that wrong), Mammoth, and Rest My Chemistry. This cd sounds more relaxed than the last one. Sometimes these guys sound like they are so beyond the rest of us in the coolness realm, which can be a little off putting. This cd though is very inviting and I think will sound amazing when played live.

READ IT:

Still working on Chuck K. IV at work and HP and the Half Blood Prince at home.

Finally, props to Laura who once again got the quote right--Dante from Clerks for those of you who don't read the comments.

Little Bits of Fluff

So close, and yet so very far away. Our Springfield just missed being picked as THE Springfield as a part of the Simpsons Movie Springfield Challenge. We came in second with about 700-ish less votes than the winner, Springfield, VT (pop. approx 9300). Those folks get to host the US premiere of the movie on July 21. Their theater seats 100. I actually sort of like the idea that a small town won the contest myself. I think it would be surreal to be a part of a big premiere like this.

Speaking of movies, going to check out the new Harry Potter movie tomorrow night. Depending on when I get home, I'll either post a review Wed. or Thurs. I was going to check out Sicko, but realized I was already deep in Potter-ville so I think I'll save that for Thurs.

Quick update to the "Penthouse card saga," I went ahead and mailed it. The 3 phone calls that it took to get the dumpster taken care of pretty much made my mind up for me. Hopefully I haven't jinxed myself.

Went to another child's birthday party this weekend...this time for a 4 yr old. Kicked some serious ass when the adults played Scene It later that evening. Won the tie breaker game by figuring out that 2,880 Minutes was an alternate title for 48 Hrs. Thanks Nick Nolte! I also attempted to explain to an 11 yr. old the concept of faking a gay marriage in order to collect your pension (he'd seen a trailer for I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry before the Transformers movie he'd gone to). Explaining gay marriage was easy...I got stuck on explaining what a pension was. Also had some trouble trying to explain why Jessica Biel was offering up her rack to Adam Sandler to touch. I told him that only happens in the movies. It's up to the folks to give him "the talk" not me!

Speaking of trailers, the secret trailer that showed up during the Transformers belongs to a hush hush project being produced by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias, upcoming Star Trek flick). There is no title for the movie yet...or atleast not one being released at this time. It's been referred to as Cloverfield or 1-18-08 (which is the apparent release date). The trailer was put up online by the distributors yesterday. You can find it at comingsoon.net or YouTube. It's rather trippy.

Hand held shots, starts out at a party, the lights go out, sounds like an earthquake...but hey, this is NYC, that doesn't happen here right?...then everyone goes to the roof to check out the cityscape when in the distance you see explosions and hear some weird ass sounds (are they some sort of creature? some sort of bizarre combustion?), the explosions come closer, you get off the roof, you're on the street, another big explosion, something weird and large comes hurtling your way and rolls over the car near you...it comes to rest and......

It's the head off the Statue Of Liberty! End of trailer. Damn.

Check it out, as I'm sure I have not done it justice.

Also, Laura got the quote--it's from Say Anything. Let's see who can get the new one first.

Lots of Rats

I actually wrote this blog on Tues., but blogger wasn't playing nice and rather than get uploaded it disappeared into the ether.

Rat Number One: Ratatouille.

The tale is a classic one. Misfit looks for his niche and struggles along the way, gets some help from new friends, has a set back but returns to the winning side. You can't be a good underdog (or rat) story. Remy is easily the cutest rat you've ever seen. In fact, most of the rats look pretty good. The whole freakin' movie looks pretty good when you get down to it.

I've never had a supreme burning desire to go to Paris, but after the scene where Remy first looks out on the city at night, I was ready to board a plane. It looked spectacular. And, it looked real. There is a second scene later in the movie that is a shot of a city street. The way the sunlight hits the buildings is so warm and "true" you would swear you were looking at a live shot and not CGI.

That's the way Pixar films work. Watching one of them reminds me of reading Shakespeare. If you haven't read the Bard in awhile, it takes a bit to recall the vocab, the flow, the beat of the words. Once you do, it's as if you've been hearing this language all your life. It becomes familiar and real. Pixar does the same thing, but visually. At first, you know you are watching a cartoon, but then you begin to recognize the language, the context, and the ebb of the film and suddenly everything is real and true. You become a part of the world and it's only when a character appears that is done in a more "cartoon-y" style do you remember it is animation.

The film was lovely to look at, funny, and even made me tear up at one point. It is enjoyable for both kids and adults. Plus, the short at the beginning was a riot. Be sure and check this out on the big screen to really be able to appreciate its beauty.

Rat Number Two:

Can you believe Scooter got to scoot? Notice how the Prez made the announcement 1) on the day an appellate court said Scoot couldn't put off his jail time and 2) in a press release on one of the laziest newsgathering weeks of the year so he wouldn't have to face any questions. The Prez claims the punishment was too severe. Apparently some dumb ass heiress is a bigger threat than the man who had the ear of the VP and was within earshot of the P. Impede an investigation into the leaking of the name of a spy who served this country, possibly at risk to their own life, in order to protect the rest of us...no biggie. Our intellegence community doesn't matter that much anyway. Not as much as covering one's own ass after behaving like a 5 year old on the playground.

Rat Number Three:

The other day I was tossing boxes into the cardboard specific dumpster only to discover some loser had tossed in plastic bags, books, and what appeared to be a decent sized counter top sample. After a few minutes of using the F-word, I was poked and prodded around till I got out the counter top and most of the bags. I wasn't able to reach all of the books.

Just a bit of advice, if you are a big enough dickweed to toss your flippin garbage where it doesn't go, don't be stupid enough to toss out pieces of mail with your name on it. You just never know what might happen.

Well, I can tell you what happens. The pissed off person who has to clean up your mess will find an unwrapped copy of Penthouse, shake it till the subscription card falls out, fill out the card with your information and ask to be billed later.

The card is sitting in my car right now. I haven't decided if I will be the bigger person and not mail it. On Tues. I was involved with three different phone calls trying to get the dumpster picked up. We have to pay extra if non-cardboard items are inside. I think sending the card out will depend on how I feel when I get up tomorrow morning. And considering I'm not a morning person, the outlook is not good.

Here's a bit of a kicker. The ass wank in question--he's a doctor here in town. Classy.

LISTEN TO IT:

Green Day--Waiting. Easily my favorite Green Day song. Off of the Warning cd, I'm not sure if this was written from the perspective of a young person starting their adult life, or if you can claim it as your own and make it about getting your moment in the sun. Either way I always feel a bit of comfort and hope when I hear this tune.

READ IT:

Chuck Klosterman IV--Chuck is a pop culture/music writer who has several books out and writes for mags such as Esquire, Spin, and others that I can't remember. I just recently started reading him last year when I got a free copy of Killing Yourself To Live. I thought it was funny, but sometimes he spent too much time talking about himself. This book is a collection of stories he's written over the past decade and I'm finding I'm really enjoying it. I'm probably projecting here, but if I was a better writer, was a guy and really liked Whitesnake, I think I could be Chuck. He has a sense of humor very similar to my own and who doesn't enjoy indirect ego pumping via reading something you think you could have written.