Ready for a long winter's nap

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: Chapter 10

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
People were stirring, watching "It's a Wonderful Life"
I was hanging out in a recliner in the next room
Reading about Harry Potter and his broom ...

Well, that's enough effort on my poetry skills, or lack thereof. After a long winter's drive and some soup to warm the tummy, I settled down in a comfy recliner and read Chapter 10.

About time those kids went off to school. There's nothing quite like the beginning of school. There are always changes, some welcome, but  most  not. Harry has to deal with his friends and Malfoy being prefects, no sight of Hagrid, somebody named Luna Lovegood, seeing those "horse things" for the first time, and still not knowing what his future holds.

It ought to be another interesting year full of trouble from all things Slytherin, more attempts on his life by Voldemort and probably girl trouble. Gotta throw some of that in there, I suppose.

Harry and his gang sprang to their carriage
And away they all flew off to the castle
And I heard them exclaim, 'ere the rode out of sight
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

One thumb up

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The movie

Most of my busy life has been to watch the movie, then maybe read the book. I have rarely done the opposite approach. I'm not defending that approach, it's more like I'm admitting it.

If Jeff was a masochist like Dobby, Jeff would get the books in hardback and beat himself over the head with them after such an admission. But I am neither house-elf nor masochist, so I will happily watch a movie before reading it in paperback in the future. (Just not the Harry Potter series.)

This time I am glad I read the book first. I know that movies cannot mirror books exactly, and that it's like comparing apples to oranges, or wizards to muggles, if you will, but the book is better.

A few observations from the extended version:

• Less of the dreaded Dursleys is OK by me, but they are more obnoxious in the book than in the limited screen time they got. (I did laugh when Dudley fell into the snake's cage.)
  
• Robbie Coltrane was well cast as Hagrid, but not as large as I imagined.
  
• Alan Rickman was the perfect choice to play Snape.
• Overall, the movie was well cast and the actors were largely true to Rowling's characters.
• The action scenes were pretty good. Some things were added for visual reasons, which is fine.
• I liked hearing things said that are verbatim, or at least close to it, from the book.
• The Quidditch match could've been better. The shots of Harry seemed more artificial than the other parts of the match.
• They explained some things after the fact in the movie, which tended to throw me off a little.
• If I hadn't read the book, I would have been more surprised than I was when Ron made Hermione cry and take refuge in the restroom. Ron and Harry's early dislike of Hermione should have been played up a little more. (Though she was good at being obnoxious.)
  
• Visually, things looked about like I imagined at Hogwarts. And Privet Drive was perfectly antiseptic. You would have no clue driving down that street what was going on in Number 4.
  

I believe if I had not read the book first, the movie would have been difficult to follow at times. If I was going to write a screenplay, I would make sure those who hadn't read the book got a clear picture of the story from reading the script from the first word to the last. Not an easy thing to do, but worth the effort.

Back to the "Chamber of Secrets." It's a rainy day in Jamestown. Perfect for reading.

A natural wizard

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Chapter 8

Hogwarts is definitely no place for me with all those stairways, hallways and doorways. My sense of direction inside a building is ... well, to call it a sense of direction is an overstatement. When I walk out of a store in the mall, Amy goes one way and I go the other. I don't even ask, I just change direction and follow her.

I remember the first days in a new school building. I would think there were more hallways than there were. I couldn't find my locker. I'm sure every corner I would have turned in Hogwarts, there Norris the cat would have been. Gives me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape ... . There's a video that you have to watch if you haven't seen it that will explain that little jingle.

Anyway, I have seen a couple of scenes from a couple of the movies, so I know that Alan Rickman plays Snape. He is one of my favorite actors (Diehard, Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, Galaxy Quest), but for a reason I can't remember I started pretending not to know who is. Of course, somebody would begin to explain to me who he is before remembering that I was pulling their leg. Maybe one of my daughters remembers how this all started.

So what is Snape's deal with Harry? I suppose that will unfold over the summer. And what's Hagrid hiding?

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: Chapter 9

I might have had trouble finding homeroom, but I could find gym class. Gym class at Hogwarts, however, is nothing like any gym class I ever took. It would have been fun to fly around on brooms, but it seems like all we ever did with Mr. Howe was play softball.

So Harry is "The Natural" when it comes to broom flying. Something tells me he will get the big hit - or the equivalent of a big hit in Quidditch - when his Gryffindor mates need it the most.

Harry's temper paid off when he took the broom ride, but not when Malfoy challenged him to a duel. He took the bait, but Harry seems smart enough to learn from his mistakes. Good thing I wasn't trying to lead them back to Gryffindor in the dark. We might have been dog food.

Hermione seems to be one to keep her cool under pressure. And whenever the time comes to see what the three-headed dog is guarding I'm sure she'll go along. Curious as a cat, that one.