Jul 17, 2009

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

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Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceI stayed home from work today because I woke up with a pretty bad cold.  However, whenever I’m sick, Corey gets it in his head that he needs to get me out of the house.  He thinks I’ll get over whatever I have more quickly.  I agree most of the time, but not all the time.  Today, I did agree. We decided to go see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

As I said in the post Recanting a Former Complaint, I’m trying to be more forgiving of movies that started out as a book.  As I watched Half-Blood Prince, I tried to keep an open mind.  I do have some complaints, but there were a lot of things I liked about it as well.

As far as whether Half-Blood Prince is the best movie yet, I don’t really have an opinion on that.  I have a hard time choosing between the movies because they’re just portrayals of the stories, my favorite being Azkaban, even though Deathly Hallows is my favorite book.  And, unfortunately, the movie for Azkaban disappointed me so much I have no way to base an opinion on which movie is the best.

I want this post to end on a happy note so I’m going to get my complaints out of the way first.

  1. I didn’t like the scene that was completely made up.  It occurs while the characters are at the Burrow for Christmas.  I understand why the director and screenplay writer thought it might be necessary, but they needed to leave the fight between the Order members and the Death Eaters where it belonged, at the end.  Instead, you see Harry and Ginny chasing after Bellatrix, almost being eaten by Fenrir, and being joined by Lupin, Tonks, and Arthur.  After which, the Weasleys’s house blows up of all things!  What the crap was that?
  2. The ending was too neat in my opinion.  I missed seeing the battle between the students, the staff, and the Death Eaters.  I didn’t like how the Death Eaters just left without any type of scuffle.  It seemed unrealistic.
  3. I didn’t like that Dumbledore didn’t go more into the Horcruxes.  Even though he didn’t know what all the Horcruxes were in the book, he had ideas and he passed them onto Harry, giving him a head start.  No such head start in the movie.
  4. I also didn’t like that we didn’t see the Dursleys.  What was with Harry being in the subway?  That just seemed so out of place and inconsistent with the other movies and the books, especially since Dumbledore was out in public without Muggle clothes.
  5. My biggest disappointment in the movie was what I was looking forward to the most.  One of the reasons I love Half-Blood Prince is all the one-on-one time Harry gets with Dumbledore.  I felt cheated, especially since I knew what was going to happen at the end.

Now, for the things I liked.

  1. The special effects were awesome!
  2. The actors did a superb job.  I’ve always thought that Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson were cast perfectly and they didn’t disappoint me this time either.
  3. I especially loved the scenes involving the budding romances between Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny.  They just seemed so awkward and that’s how I imagined them as I read the book.
  4. I loved the little nuances with Snape to help the viewer know what to expect in the future.  They almost seemed too obvious to me, but then again, I know what happens.
  5. I loved the Quidditch trials and the Quidditch match.  It helped reinforce my love of Ron’s character.
  6. My favorite scene in the entire movie was the cave.  It captured what I had conjured in my imagination completely (other than Harry falling in the water and the Inferi looking more like Gollum than dead people, but I can live with those).

Even though I have a lot of complaints, overall, I liked the movie and I thought it was well done.  I’ll definitely buy it and I wouldn’t even mind seeing it in the theater again.

Because Corey hasn’t read any of the books, I always ask him what he thought of the movie and what he thinks will happen in future ones.  I was especially curious after this movie because I formed my theories after reading Half-Blood Prince.  Corey thinks Harry’s a Horcrux, Dumbledore will come back in Deathly Hallows because he has a Horcrux for Harry to destroy, and Snape killed Dumbledore on Dumbledore’s orders to solidify his “in” with Voldemort.

Filed Under: Harry Potter, Movie Reviews ·  Tagged: · 6 Comments
Jul 15, 2009

Park City Getaway

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Yesterday, some friends and I went to Park City for a girls’ night out.  Actually, it was more of a girls’ couple of days out since we stayed the night there too.  Debbie’s parents have a timeshare there and we were able to stay in a double room for a great deal, especially since we were dividing the cost between us.

The nine of us ate at a not-so-good restaurant on Main Street.  We were trying to find something that all of us would enjoy and that wasn’t too expensive.  Unfortunately, in Park City, there isn’t a lot of inexpensive, good restaurants to choose from.  And, most of the inexpensive restaurants are fast food joints and we definitely didn’t want fast food.  However, even though the food wasn’t spectacular, the company was awesome and I’d eat there again if I was with the same friends.

Dinner in Park City

After dinner, we went back to the hotel.  We were planning on playing some games, but we ended up just enjoying each other’s company by talking and taking pictures with my computer.  We laughed a lot and had a ton of fun.  Around 10:30 pm, Christie and Emily went home because they had other plans.  The rest of us stayed up until around 2:30 am talking and having a good time.

Rachel and Me Debbie and Me Tawnya and Me

Christie, Me, and Sue Cami, Me, and Emily Me and Jamie

Today, we went shopping at the outlet stores.  I didn’t get anything and neither did anyone else really.  I guess it was between seasons and there wasn’t much to choose from.  Plus, I’m really anti-buying clothes right now.  I don’t want to buy something I’ll only wear for a little bit.  Corey thinks I should because I can’t keep wearing clothes that are too big for me.  Maybe, once my pants won’t stay up, I’ll go buy some new clothes.

It was so much fun to spend the evening and day with my friends.  I’m so lucky to have them in my life.  And, the trip was a much needed break from reality.

Filed Under: Friends, SLTA · 6 Comments
Jul 14, 2009

Under 200 Pounds

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I’m finally below 200 pounds! I’m so excited!  I’ve been waiting for this since the beginning of my healthy lifestyle journey.  (Incidentally, the beginning of my journey started 24 weeks ago.)  At the beginning, I felt like if I could just get below 200 pounds, I’d know I could reach my goals!  Thankfully, I realized I could reach my goals early in the game, which helped me keep going.  However, being under 200 pounds still feels awesome!  At this point, I have lost 29.2 pounds.  I’m .8 pounds away from hitting 30!

My personal training sessions have been going really well.  I’m always exhausted when I come home and I’m usually sore for the next couple of days.  It’s so worth it because I sleep better at night and I’m starting to feel like I have a little more energy as long as I go to bed at a decent hour. I also think I’m already getting stronger, which is awesome because I have no upper-body strength.

Eating has also been going really well.  I still stay under my calorie limit each day and I also make sure I eat low-fat foods.  I’m going to start taking Vitamin B12 supplements because they help give you more energy and help you burn sugars more efficiently.

I really appreciate all the words of encouragement each time I post an update about my weight loss.  It means a lot and gives me more motivation to keep going!  Thank you so much for your support!

Filed Under: Getting Healthy, Weight Loss · 8 Comments
Jul 13, 2009

Another Harry Potter Revelation

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I’m still listening to Half-Blood Prince.  (Don’t worry; I’m nearly done. I only have four chapters left, which I’ll finish tomorrow at work.)  Anyway, I had another realization while listening to “The Cave” (chapter 26).

While Dumbledore’s drinking the potion in the basin with the supposed Horcrux, there are a few protests that come from him:

“It’s all my fault, all my fault.”

“Don’t hurt them, don’t hurt them, please, please, it’s my fault, hurt me instead.”

“Please, please, please, no … not that, not that, I’ll do anything.”

Without reading Deathly Hallows, this may just seem like standard protests caused by the potion.  However, now having read Deathly Hallows, I think it becomes evident why Dumbledore says the things he does.  We learn a lot about Dumbledore’s background and, more particularly, his family.  I think this has something to do with them and how the events played out with his sister’s death or, even possibly, with his father’s arrest because of torturing those Muggle boys.  However, I can’t be positive until I listen to Deathly Hallows again as I don’t remember all the details very well.  Afterall, the only time I’ve read the book is when it was first released almost two years ago.

Update: I just got to the point in the book when Harry tells Aberforth about Dumbledore’s experience drinking the potion.  And, Harry says as much just like Ashley said in the comments. This isn’t as much of a revelation as me just realizing what it’s in reference to as I listened to it in Half-Blood Prince rather than waiting for Harry to say something in Deathly Hallows.

Filed Under: Books, Harry Potter · 3 Comments
Jul 12, 2009

Another Crash

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Every Sunday, I ride my bike to choir practice.  Normally, I don’t have any issues and it’s nice to get a little bit of exercise before church.

Today, as I was on my way home, I realized I had left my sunglasses on top of the piano, even after I made a mental note not to forget them. I turned around to go get them and on my way back, I biffed it big time!

I was biking a little fast and I needed to slow down to turn into the driveway of the house we practice at.  And, instead of slowing down on the road like I should’ve, I braked on the gravel. Needless to say, the gravel didn’t provide very much traction and my bike slid out from under me.  I fell sideways onto the gravel and slid a few feet from where I first hit the ground.  When I got up, I noticed my foot was a little scraped up, but not too bad.  Then, I realized my arm was stinging really badly and I saw a huge gash or road rash on the back of my arm just under my elbow.  Once I got back home, I felt some stinging on my leg and found a little bit of road, or jean in this case, rash on my calf and thigh.

Corey and I thought it’d be better to get the dirt and gravel cleaned out of my arm and foot instead of taking pictures of the wounds.  It took about 15 minutes to sanitize my wounds with water, rubbing alcohol, and Neosporin, but I’m all cleaned up and bandaged now.  The ironic thing is that my wounds from my previous crash are just starting to disappear.

I checked my bike and the pedal and handlebars are a little scratched.  Other than that, it looks pretty unscathed.  I was hoping to keep my bike looking new a little longer.

Update: I needed to change the dressing on my arm.  While I was doing that, Corey decided to take a picture.  Here’s what my arm looks like.  The creamy substance is Neosporin.

My Arm

Filed Under: Life · 8 Comments
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