Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2!

I saw it last night (opening day), and I absolutely loved it! I'm a huge fan of the books and I own all but the first two (which I should really go buy at some point). I liked the first two movies, but after the third one the quality of the movies went down a bit. I understand it's hard to get everything exactly the same as it is in the book, but by the time it hit the fourth movie, the movies had strayed quite a bit from the books.

So, when I heard that they weren't going to cut anything out of the seventh movie, I was so excited I could've literally peed myself. They split it up into two movies, so that they could keep everything from the book. I saw the first part in theaters, then saw the second part just last night.

I wasn't originally going to go see it this close to opening day, but my cousin wanted to see it and is going to Hawaii tonight, so he invited Mickey and I to go see it with him and a friend of his. I have to say, that movie had some of the best graphics, and everything looked realistic even in 3D. I loved the story from the book, and the movie followed fairly faithfully besides a few edits here and there (for example, the final battle in the book takes place in the Great Hall for the most part, but in the movie it's spread out to the entire castle and even onto the grounds), and some dialogue was added, but it only made it a bit more epic in my opinion. One of the only issues I had with the movie was that, if someone had only seen the movies and not read the books, they would probably have a hard time figuring out who all of these characters were. I know at one point I even looked at Tonks and said to myself, "Wait, who is this?" because she wasn't in the movies all that much after her introduction in the fifth one.

*shrug* Oh, well.

At least it kept faithful to the books.

I do have to say, however, that the ending was "semi-anti-climactic," as my cousin put it. This was the way it was in the book, too, so I'm not really complaining, but there's just something about the way the whole series ends that just leaves me wanting more from the final battle. I felt this way reading the book, too, so it's not the movie's fault in that respect.

All in all, I really enjoyed the movie. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Harry Potter, and even some people who didn't like the first movies! Trust me, it's pretty epic.

Holding the Hose

Okay, so.

Recently my parents split the cost of a tent trailer with my aunt and uncle. The thing is totally old and needs a lot of work, including pinstriping along the sides. So we bought some pinstriping and it's taken us three days, but we managed to get it done...I hope.

But today. Today I lost all semblance of sanity and made a complete ass out of myself. Today, when we were pinstriping, Tinkerbelle told me to grab hold of a hose for...some kind attachment to the trailer so that she could get under it to get the striping to look nice. I grabbed the small hose, held it up, looked over to my mother, and said with a totally serious face and a nod:

"Holding the hose!"

It sounded so ridiculous that all three of us started laughing hysterically to the point that we couldn't even stand up anymore. I had to wipe off my glasses three times because I was crying.

And I feel like a total ass for it.

It was ridiculous, and I have no idea what the hell possessed me to say such a thing in such a way. It just came out of my mouth without me even really thinking about it. Such a dirty remark...Oi.

Anyways.

This weekend, we're going camping. We just got back from Vegas, I just got done with jury duty, and now we're going camping. Criminey, can't we just find SOME kinda time to...rest? Oh well. At least the trailer will be pinstriped and my mom and sister will have a funny story to tell about me to my relatives.

*facepalm*

Kid's Shows

Yes, I occasionally do watch shows meant for little kids. The fact that I babysit has something to do with it, but I'll admit that even before taking on the responsibility of watching a 7 year old girl I occasionally watched shows like Dora the Explorer or Handy Manny.

Because I am a dork.

I find it hard to watch the shows on Disney Channel though, because I grew up with classics such as The Lion King and Aladdin and the shows those movies spawned. I watched shows like Mickey Mouse Club and Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers. I watched movies like The Little Mermaid or Beauty and the Beast, and I enjoyed them.

Kid's shows didn't seem to insult the intelligence of the kids watching them. They treated kids like smart individuals who could understand more than people gave them credit for. Some people might say I'm remembering the shows this way because I was a kid myself when I watched them. But I recently found myself looking up some of the old shows I used to watch on the internet (lovely place, isn't it?), and watching a few of them. And while some of the dumber jokes came across as cheesey to me now, the shows themselves were good. I could enjoy them just as much as an adult as I did as a child. Maybe it's nostalgia talking; but maybe, just maybe, shows were smarter back then.

Take Peter Pan for instance. Looking back on that movie now, there were actually quite a few adult themes hidden within it (not the least of which is the blatant racism against Native Americans). As a child, I enjoyed the movie, but as an adult, I find I can appreciate it just a bit more, and formulate my own opinion about what's going on rather than rely on my parents to explain some of it to me. The same goes for many of the movies I watched as a little kid.

And I'm all for making a television show based on a movie. I used to watch Timon and Pumbaa all the time when I was little. And hell, I LOVE Penguins of Madagascar. As long as the television show keeps true to the original characters from the movie, it's not a big deal.

Which leads me to the point of this post.

Remember when I mentioned Peter Pan earlier? Captain Hook was right up there in the list of Disney Villians that scared the living shit out of me as a kid. The fact that he was willing to kill a little girl (Wendy) by making her walk off the edge of a plank and drown in the water terrified me to no end, especially considering that I was a little girl myself when I first watched the movie. And I knew perfectly well that, if Wendy died, Hook would have killed the rest of those kids as well. It was terrifying to me. Sure Hook was a little whiny and annoying, but when it came right down to it, he was scary as hell.

Well, the other night I fell asleep with my tv on. I had been watching a movie on Disney Channel, so that's what was on when I woke up. Now, Disney Channel, like many other television networks for kids, has a broadcast time in the morning reserved specifically for preschoolers. These are the types of shows adults watch that make us literally feel like our brains are melting. They call it Disney Junior. And most of the shows are like any other kid's tv show, and they like to teach children lessons about life and how to act around other people.

Well, Disney Junior recently became host to a show called Jake and the Neverland Pirates. I guess it's primary purpose is to teach children how to share, or something. I don't know, I've never actually watched a full episode. The premise is that Jake, his two friends, and their obnoxious talking parrot somehow managed to get into Neverland and become child pirates. They search for treasure and stuff. *shrug*

Okay, remember what I said about Captain Hook? How he used to terrify me as a child and all that jazz?

Well, if you ever watch Jake and the Neverland Pirates, you will be throwing everything I said about the pirate out the window.

Hook, as I said before, was always kind of whiny and ridiculous, but he always managed to get the job done. If it hadn't been for Peter Pan, he would have probably killed off most of the people in Neverland by now. And true, it's a little silly that one boy with the power to fly could take down an entire crew of pirates just with wit and a little bit of gumption, but that was part of what made the story charming.

In Jake and the Neverland Pirates, they've completely taken out any competency Hook may have possessed, and turned him into a whiny, completely useless man-child. He LITERALLY throws temper tantrums when things don't go his way, and instead of trying to steal back the treasure the kids stole from him (way to teach kids a lesson, Disney! Let's teach them to steal!), he just sits on his boat and sulks like a little boy.

Now, as I've said before, I don't mind when people make a television show off of a movie, so long as the characters match the personalities of the originals. With this particular show, they've made Captain Hook a laughing stock within the Disney universe. It's absolutely ridiculous, to be completely honest.

I'd hate to see what the writers of this show would do to other Disney Villians.

I guess my main problem with this is that kids now will never be able to truly appreciate the "classic" days of Disney. The little girl I babysit has never seen Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Beauty and the Beast (though she does know all of the princesses by name). I had to force her to sit down and watch Aladdin, which she wound up truly enjoying anyway.

I know that I'm a little biased toward the way I first saw things. I hate remixes of songs simply for the fact that it's a change from the original song, and I hate change. I don't like it when Glee performs songs like Defying Gravity, because it takes away from the original, and those who have seen Glee's version first like that version better and say that Idina Menzel "sings it wrong." Maybe this whole rant is simply because, yes I do hate change, and I hate the way they've changed one of my favorite Disney Villians.

I don't know, maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic? Either way, it annoys me.

A Big Decision

I've decided to go back to school.

I'm hoping to go to school and gain my BFA in musical theater. It unfortunately requires me to go to school out of state, because Colorado sucks when it comes to theater, but I think I can do it. I'm pretty exciting, and I've already applied to three schools and have an audition set up with one. If all works out, I should be heading out to classes at the beginning of next year (January or February, depending on which school takes me).

I'm pretty excited, but also nervous. I'm trying to get into an INCREDIBLY competative field, where only the best of the best excell at what they do. I know I'm good, and I'm somewhat confident, but I also have this fear that I won't be good ENOUGH. It sucks really.

Oh, well. At least I'm trying, right?

Another Game Night

My family likes game nights. Well...not my immediate family, my extended family. My immediate family is fine with sitting down to play a game of cards or Monopoly, and we don't need to make a huge deal out of it.

Game Night wouldn't be such a big deal (to me, anyway) if we didn't play games like Cranium or Trivial Pursuit at 10:00 at night, when we're all fighting to stay awake. It's like everyone on that side of the family doesn't ever sleep. They're awake in the middle of the day, and then they're awake at freaking midnight, and THEY NEVER SEEM TIRED! It's ridiculous.

Unfortunately, they also seem to believe that everyone else is the same.

Every time we have Game Night, we don't start playing until 8 or 9 at night. Now, Tinkerbelle gets bitchy when she gets tired, and games are not an acception to that rule (although, lately she's been bitchier than normal, so being tired seems to have nothing to do with it anymore). The main problem is that we seem to have to work around everyone's work schedules -- everyone's work schedules except ours, of course.

Last year, Thanksgiving was postponed because my cousin had to work.

Everyone wanted Tinkerbelle to try and get off early from work the last Game Night we had so that we could work around their schedule.

My cousin had us hold off on Christmas presents because he had to work (really, what kind of shitty job has you working on Christmas?).

Tinkerbelle had to get up early the next morning for work, and they were here until almost midnight.

See what I mean?

It's like the entire family revolves around my know-it-all cousin. Now, keep in mind that my cousin is nearly 40, has never had a girlfriend, works at Comcast answering phones for a living (seriously, what a shitty job), has some kind of computer degree he does nothing with, is working toward getting another degree he'll probably do nothing with, and may as well still live with his parents since he's always around them anyway. He lives in his grandfather's house (his mother's father), and visits his parents every single day. He vacations with them, every time they go on vacation. He goes curtain shopping with his mother. He goes grocery shopping with his mother. He shares every single opinion he has with his mother. Seriously, there's something wrong with that relationship. I mean, I completely and totally understand loving your mother with all your heart, but if you can't even stay home when she goes on vacation halfway across the world, you have a serious problem. It would be different (maybe) if her husband were dead, but he's not.

And I'm sick of the family revolving around this Mamma's Boy.

Luckily, tonight we played a game we could all enjoy. It wasn't too difficult, but still kept us on our toes, and it was entertaining while being something everyone could do (instead of acting, sculpting, or drawing).

Now, my entire family? We're visual learners. We need to physically see how something is done in order to understand it. Which basically means that, when we're playing a new game, we all need to see, read, and understand the rules in order to have a good time.

Unfortunately, my cousin is like, the Rule Nazi, and doesn't share the rules.

Tinkerbelle actually had to stand up and steal the rules from behind his back just to understand what the hell she was doing in the game. He never noticed, but I'm sure he would have uttered an annoyed sigh and audible eye-roll had he seen. He's like a man with the remote to the t.v. except...with a piece of paper that comes inside the game box.

To top it off, my aunt seemed really pissed off tonight, for no reason I could really understand.

Oh, and my aunt's brother and sister-in-law (my aunt married into the family and isn't related to us by blood) have a SEVERELY autistic little girl, who likes to scream for no reason and tear glasses off of your face. Granted, I know she can't really help that sort of thing, but...damn. I really, REALLY hope I don't have an autistic child, because I would not be able to handle it. And this is coming from someone who's mother once told her that she thought she was autistic as a baby (and I still may have Asperger's, though I've never been diagnosed). Luckily for us, the nurse they have working for them offered to stay until the game was over. That kept the little girl occupied the whole night, which was nice. Yes, they have a nurse working in their house taking care of thier child. That's how severe she is.

Anyways, it's been an eventful evening, my cousin's birthday. Oh, yes, it was that same annoying cousin's birthday today. I've lost track of how old he is but...I think he was born when my mom was 8 or so...I don't feel like doing math, bleh.

He's good for something, though! He's taking me to Les Miserables in September.

Legally Blonde the Musical

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to see Legally Blonde the Musical. Well, I did. We just got back a few hours ago. It really was a blast, and I'd actually love to go see it again. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive at first. I mean, Legally Blonde isn't the kind of thing you would expect to see on the Broadway stage. I loved the movie, though, so I was willing to give it a chance.

Plus, it's a Broadway show, so...duh! Of course I'm going to go see it!

The show started out with a song called Ohmigodyouguys. Which has to be one of the most annoying songs ever in any Broadway show I've ever seen or heard. Luckily for me, the rest of the songs were actually pretty good, and the story very closely followed the movie (with a few script changes here and there to accomodate the stage). Unfortunately for me, it seemed to be the show's freaking theme song, and they liked to stick it in there whenever they got the chance. The song Ireland was fairly amusing, and since it had an Irish sound to it, I liked it. And of course, there was a song titled Legally Blonde, which surprisingly didn't even show up until act two.

The highlight was Bend and Snap though. Yes, they made an entire song and dance out of the one scene in the movie. And yes, it does in fact end with Paulette breaking the UPS guy's nose (he's named Kyle in the show, but I can't remember if he had that name in the movie). She ends the song with a lovely little "Oh, crap!" It's funny.

It seemed like a lot of the cast had a cold though. Emmette in particular (played by a very cute actor named Nic Rouleau) missed a lot of his notes. And it's not like it wasn't noticable; he was very clearly falling just flat of hitting his notes. Most of the cast seemed to be like this, but it was Emmette who was the most noticable.

And may I just mention one thing?

The men in this production? HOT!

H-O-T, hot. Smoking, really. It was fun to watch, just for that alone.

There's a scene in the very beginning of the play, when Elle is trying to study for the LSATs to get into Harvard, where all these frat boys appear on stage to announce that there's this big party. They're all very cute...and very, very shirtless.

Again, HOT.

All in all, I had a nice night! I just wish Tinkerbelle had enjoyed it more. Apparently she had a headache. She just didn't seem that into it. Which is a shame, since she was the one who invited me. *shrug* Oh, well. She did laugh a few times, so I suppose it wasn't a total loss.

Colds Suck

The title pretty much says it all.

I caught a cold from Mickey and Tinkerbelle, who both had it for about two weeks. Yay. I can't breathe through my nose, I'm sleeping like crap, I'm dizzy and cold, and I'm achy. On top of all of this, I need to work this week, babysitting. Fortunately for me, my little charge seems to understand someone being sick. Unfortunately for me, she also can't seem to entertain herself for long and therefore keeps asking me to do stuff with her.

I hope this cold at least suppresses itself by Thursday. Tinkerbelle and I are going to go see Legally Blonde on Thursday, and if I'm all gross and sniffly, I won't be able to enjoy it. Well...not as much as I normally would, anyway. Let's face it, it doesn't matter how bad I'm feeling, seeing a live Broadway show will always entertain me in some way.

By the way, colds suck.