Two thoughts

It's late and I have to get up early, and I have only two thoughts:

1. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is much better the second time around.

2. I am in love with Alias, and don't know if I have a bigger crush on Sidney Bristow or Jennifer Garner.

Hogwarts explosion

So, Harry Potter. Well. I've seen the movies at midnight opening night several times, and this was by far the most intense pre-Potter experience. Danyeal and I drove down to River Park Square at 10, thinking that was more than early enough for even the most popular midnight movie. By the time we got there, though, the theater was already a Hogwarts explosion. There were people everywhere -- every one of the 17 (I think) theaters was set to start showing the movie at precisely 12:01, and our assigned theater, 17, was completely packed with people. Billions of seats had been reserved by coats, bags, and broomsticks. We had a group of four, and there were no groups of four seats to be found anywhere. After scavenging for a while and covering random groups of two and three seats with our sweatshirts and purses and stuff, Autumn found a much much much less crowded theater, lucky number 12, so we just ignored the fact that our tickets had assigned us to a certain room and headed down there. By the time the movie started, even theater 12 was completely packed. I think the entire place was sold out.

A few highlights of the pre-movie experience:

• 10 zillion people running around from theater to theater, wearing 10 zillion awesome costumes
• ranking our favorite Harry Potter books, movies, and moments -- and gasping when I saw Danyeal's shocking book rankings (The Goblet of Fire as the number one choice?! I did not see that coming)
  
• playing a Harry Potter version of "would you?" (or, our favorite adaptation, "Kiss or Push?")
• Autumn watching a teeny little bit of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on her portable DVD player
• Popping DayQuil at 11 in an attempt to fight off a giant coughing/running nose/sneezing catastrophe

As far as the movie itself goes, I'm sorry to say that I didn't love it. I have very low expectations for each of the movies; the books are what I really care about, and since I think they are almost perfect, any greatness in the movies is just a bonus. But this one was disappointing, I thought. Quite a few scenes were added, removed, or changed. I know that's what happens when you make a book into a film, but some of these choices seemed to lead to some mediocre storytelling and shortchanged really good stuff. Ginny Weasley was pretty bland. And a huge part of the book, a part that seemed destined for movie greatness, wasn't included in the film at all.

Of course, I am an old lady and did take a few teeny tiny catnaps from time to time, so to be fair, I should (and will) watch the whole thing again. There are a few things I liked a lot: Ron Weasley, who was a fine and hilarious specimen throughout; Horace Slughorn, who was way more likeable that I'd ever imagined while reading; and hunchback Harry on his lucky day.

I'm waiting

More details about last night's Harry Potter extravaganza are coming soon! But, I've decided that I am not going to blog again until Danyeal leaves another comment. Posting every day is not all that big a reward in an of itself, as it turns out. I need the feedback of my 1.5 readers! So, I'm waiting.

nerds

So, tonight is a big night. Why? Harry Potter! Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! I will be on my way to the theater for a midnight showing before long, which means I'll be staying up until 3 in the morning for the first time in a verrrry long while. I wanted to take 12 espresso shots at the stroke of midnight in order to stay awake, but that big baby of a coffee shop, Starbucks, is apparently only open until 9. Home brew it is!

Danyeal and I came up with a list of essential Harry Potter prefunk activities that we've been checking off over the past few hours. So far, we have watched part of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, gone on a Harry Potter dog walk, and had a race where we each did a (3-D!) Harry Potter puzzle as fast as we could while listening to wizard rock (Danyeal kicked the crap out of me). Soon, we'll slip into something more comfortable (our super hip Kingsley Shacklebot t-shirts) and go to the theater to meet Autumn and wait in line with all the nerds. Oh yes, that includes us.

dress-up

I'm just drinking tea (ew!) and trying to get over being sick before tomorrow night, when I'm going to see Harry Potter at midnight! And, I will be wearing an awesome t-shirt, featuring Kingsley Shacklebot (and that is not a typo). I'm not especially into dressing up for events, big or small, but my t-shirt (thanks Beth!) really makes me laugh, and I'm excited.

So, the question is: when is the last time you dressed up (not dressed NICE, mind you), and what did you wear?