Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone — Sixty Sixth Post

What I remember from the first movie, which I watched when I was in fifth grade:
very vague, the scene with dumbledore, mcgonagal, and hagrid at the beginning.
The snake scene at the zoo
the letters bursting into the house
wand selection, vaguely. meeting quirrel, I think
running through the wall to platform 9 3/4
neville's toad? Draco malfoy in train, for sure. So, imagined that, actually.
Oh, sorting hat. I vaguely remember that, and that must be where I remembered malfoy.
unicorn blood- detention with hagrid, but strictly the unicorn blood part
Quirrell taking off turban, talking to Voldemort. V and Q crumbling or something

What really happens in the movie, plus my impressions thereof (in a stream-of-consciousness sort of style):
So, I definitely only remembered snatches of that first scene. Very, very vague snatches that I suspect were invented after reading the book. I also have no memory of the theme, which reminds me of the Hook theme.
I had forgotten how adorable daniel radcliffe was when he was 11. So cute!
Fairly certain that the snake was from brazil and said "thanks, amigo" and the amigo was omitted from the movie.
They skipped moving harry into the smallest bedroom...
Hagrid's entrance well done.
I did remember a bit of the wand-picking scene, with the papers flying.
Ah, the initial draco-harry-ron confrontation well played. well placed, too. draco is such a smarmy little bastard, with his hair all slicked.
wait, why is hermione first? what happened to alphabetical order? and the song! Gah!
hmm. should have been inside the head during sorting. hmmph. I guess I'm now a purist for the books.
I thought john cleese was peeves? hmm. nearly-headless nick isn't bad.
The fat lady isn't quite what I pictured, but she's not bad. nice and fat, I guess.
classic scene with orphan in moonlit window. Why is hedwig in his bedroom? dubs-tee-eff...
alan rickman is awesome. friggin' awesome. he plays hateful really, really well. really well. damn.
madame hooch is cool. I wish I could pull off that hair. hair envy... mine's long and floppy and looks stupid and floppy short.
aw, they're so cute little.
McGonagall's supposed to look pissed, but she keeps looking awesomely happy.
"no one's died in years!"
Oh, i did remember that james potter was a seeker. I vaguely remember the plaque.
oliver wood's actor is cute. cute accent.
hermione is insufferable. I like her later, but she's really insufferable. seamus is great for explosions.
poor hermione, when ron says that she's a nightmare in her hearing. It's a case of feel bad for but still don't like much, because she was an insufferable bitch of a kid. harry giving ron a dirty look for hurting hermione's feelings is great.
Oh, I might remember the troll. maybe.
"Coo." Go ron.
oh, alan rickman is good. he plays an absolutely hateful snape.
"let's open it," honestly. it's a cleverly disguised broomstick, derp.
harry looks so tiny...
"I, uh, don't really remember. I took a bludger to the head two minutes in. woke up in the hospital a week later." accent!
lee jordan has an oddly effeminate voice. I hope that improves. I mean, he's at most thirteen years old, but I distinctly recall my classmates having lowered voices by then.
come on, harry, look for the damn snitch. snitch, dammit!
I have the advantage of hindsight... snape ftw.
"I shouldn't have said that."
honestly, don't you two read?
alan rickman is so good. ftw.
quirrell/voldemort's demise is rather horrifying for an 11 y/o to witness.
they left out neville in the points at the end? oh, good. they didn't.
why does james have pattern baldness? I thought he was supposed to have the same hair as harry...
Over all, I approve of the movie for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The music is pretty (oh, God, how shallow. It's gorgeous, evocative, masterful...), and the actors were mostly well-chosen. McGonagall isn't quite how I pictured her, but the Maggie Smith is great and makes up for it.
And Alan Rickman is awesome.

Fifty Ninth Post

Hi, everybody.
You may or may not know about my past flirtation with the world of vlogging. It started in february, but then I ran out of time to edit videos and had to do school things.
I filmed myself rambling about "zen" tea that destroys me, but that one never went up.
I filmed my house, but that will never go up.
But yesterday, I filmed and edited a video thanking JK Rowling. It's not very good as far as videos go. I just have my built-in iSight camera and microphone with which to film, and, while adequate, they are not the best.
However, it's a start. I have a slightly romantic view of vlogging- I'll just make videos on my built-in camera and post them, crappy as they are, and people will watch them and like me! Then I'll have internet friends.
Unlikely.
I kind of want a video camera for when I go to england, but I doubt that will happen. Most likely I will just blog, post a lot of pictures on the study abroad blog, and make about one video the whole time I'm in another country.
ANYWAY. Back to the Harry Potter vlog post.
The idea of the original video (italktosnakes' "Want to say "thank you" to JK Rowling?" video) was for lifelong fans to thank JK Rowling for the impact she's had on their lives for the past fourteen years.
I talked a little bit about how Harry Potter has impacted the world in general: Ravelry.com has groups devoted to Harry Potter, there is a whole new genre of music that grew up from the internet, and someone has invented a sort of "ground quidditch".
Fact: Harry Potter had no impact in my life at all until five years ago when people started wondering why I had never read them (Answer: for the lulz gained from people's shocked reaction).
However, since I read the books in quick succession last summer, I've noticed depths to Harry Potter that I might have missed as a child. Harry is not just some kid who plays a mix of rugby, baseball, basketball, and bocce on broomsticks; he's not even a particularly lucky/talented kid who vanquishes ultimate evil. He embodies some of the good things that we like to think about ourselves, as a good protagonist should (at least in "children's" literature, as the series began). He's heroic, he's loyal to his friends, he's a natural leader. He also, however, embodies things that we like to ignore about ourselves. This is where we leave the realms of children's stories and get into the depths of human nature. His awareness of his wizarding prowess leads him to be reckless, foolhardy, and arrogant. Harry is a real person, in other words. He's a real teenager, unfortunately. He mopes, he whines, he takes out his anger on the wrong people. What makes him a protagonist, someone that people want to emulate, is the fact that he deals with the stupid human faults to which he is prone. In spite of his failings, he manages to get himself back on track and save the world.
Imagine if everyone could do that.

Fortieth Post

First, I have discovered a few things on the internets.
1. Records of a Mad Scientist. JW, a biochemistry graduate student from Indiana, winds up teaching (which she never wanted to do) at a state school in America's Midwest.
2. Alex Day ("nerimon") on Youtube. Just a guy with a camera and internet access who is also a skillful singer-songwriter and a hilarious dude. Also, I have to say as an American that his accent is fascinating. I sometimes suspect that I have an unnatural obsession with British accents, but I think it might just be one of those "American things". Anyway, enough about my obsessions. Look up nerimon's channel on youtube. (the people to whom he links are also pretty cool)
Oh hey, you know that I'm American now. Oh, well.
3. The Legend of the Seeker. A scifi/fantasy television series about a normal guy thrust into another life by a prophecy. It's absolutely amazing, at least thus far, with good acting and a worthy script. See if you can guess who played the Mouth of Sauron from the extended version of the Return of the King (from Lord of the Rings, and if you really didn't know... I have nothing to say to you). All the episodes are up on Hulu because it ended, but why should I care? I don't have a television, not to mention cable/satellite/whathaveyou.
You may or may not know (I can't be expected to remember all I've told you, can I?) that I'm also obsessed with two other television shows- Heroes and Sanctuary. I think Heroes might be over, so all the seasons might be up on Hulu. Sanctuary is not over, Gott sei Dank, but it's on a very weird upload schedule.

I recall saying at the beginning of this blog that I had no interest in Harry Potter or Twilight, two things that seem to drag other sites down.
That is now a lie. I have read Harry Potter, and I enjoyed them immensely. Check out Mark Reads Harry Potter if you want a chapter-by-chapter review of all seven books; it's hilarious and enjoyable if you've already read the books. I have also-

I don't really want to tell you. It's kind of embarrassing.
Actually, I've told no one. Not roommate, not best friend (who I text because he's at another school), not close girl friend. I think I might even have the library people in the dark about it.
...not that I check it out, I just lurk back to my little study cubicle with no power outlet for my laptop (the darling thing) and then leave it there when it's time to go.

Nope, not telling. If you guess, more power to ya. You can win 10 internets.

Okay. So a funny thing that happened was I was in the Target near my school looking for... I think I was looking for chocolate, socks, and shampoo. Oh, and a Christmas present for my roommate. Anyway. My best friend is a freshman in college and an overachiever. I mean, the man wants to be a surgeon, so he kind of has to be an overachiever, but I think that high school was too easy for him. Now, however, he is in college.
I was just going along, browsing through random stuff, when I got a text message that made me laugh so hard that I had to sit down under a clothes rack.
Here it is, exactly as it appeared on my dumbphone screen.
"Ohmygoodnessit'sthu
rsdayandfinalsarene
xtweekpanictimei'mgoi
ngtofailatlifeandendu
pasabumonthestreet
sellingcracktokidstos
upportmyselfuntilthe
mexicanskillme"
(character limit)
"becauseidon'tspeaks
panishandallbecausei
failedmycalculusexam
firstquarteroffreshm
anyear!"

Picture me, sitting under a clothes rack in target, laughing at a text from my friend who is worried about becoming a bum selling crack to kids until mexicans kill him, all because he failed a calculus exam.
Well, you can't picture me because you don't have my picture. Okay. Picture a 20-year-old girl, er, woman now that I'm over 18 (and have been for two years...), with long brown hair, blue jeans, a green shirt, hiking boots, and a black jacket sitting under a clothes rack in target, laughing at a text from my friend who is worried about becoming a bum selling crack to kids until Mexicans kill him, all because he failed a calculus exam.
Poor guy. I gave up worrying about finals when the kids in one of my high school classes discovered that one would need to totally fail an exam worth 10% of the grade to really affect one's grade that much. Oddly, I do much better when I'm under pressure, so I'm not too worried.
Well, I am worried about the fact that most of my finals are at 0800 next week. I am not pleased one bit.
And now it's well after 0400 -- more like 0500 anymore -- and I was trying to reset my sleep schedule so that I won't die during my 0800 finals. Oh, well... So much for that. I'm still getting up at 1000 tomorrow to study for my hell classes.
Also, if you get a chance and you're as unfamiliar with German Christmas (or "Winter Holiday Season") traditions as I am, look up "Krampus" in Google Images.
Just Do It. You will never see Santa Claus the same way (get your filthy minds out of the gutter. I didn't mean it like that).
Okay. Goodnight. I do not even remember why I was writing this. But it's awesome.

Eighth Post

We had a holiday here. I slept in until 13:00 instead of getting up and doing homework. Also, I sat around and stayed out of my roommate's way while she cleaned and redecorated almost frantically out of sheer boredom.
It is my intention not to put on socks today, thus having a "sockless day." A friend from home and I were always excited to have one (no, we didn't have lives before college, either), and it's hard to have a sockless day when you have to walk five minutes to get to food. Today, however, I have food in my room.
Anyone thinking about college as an epic, harry potter-filled time of nerf guns and frisbee games is wrong. Just give up to boredom now. It's easier that way.

Second Post- Housekeeping

I would like to note, without creating an exceptionally long post, that there will be absolutely no Harry Potter references. On a similar note, before the Twilight fangirls get all excited, I will find you and injure you as well as ruining your chances for employment if I find Twilight references. This is a respectable blog. We do not discuss such things here. Thank you.