huzzah

crafty time

2008-12-22T20:38:18Z

I ended up getting a spot and registering for an artist's alley table at my yearly anime convention in May. So, I figured I should probably start, you know, MAKING CRAP TO SELL.

I know I want to resin cast some phone charms and hair clips. Standard anime/manga/asian items that will intrigue the otaku in attendance. I'll be buying the necessary supplies after the holidays.

I've been sneaking around that different craft communities/websites/blogs for other ideas. I thought this one looked pretty cool: Scrabble tile pendants. I'd seen these before, my friend Claire has a 'f' one with a koi painted on the other side. I think they're adorable and they sound pretty easy and cheap to make. Would anyone on my flist be interested if they saw something like this? What would they want drawn/glued/whatever to the side of it?

When I went to the Third Sunday Market (ginormous antique/craft fair) a few months ago I saw some people make jewelry out of old bingo pieces and typewriter keys, so that's another idea. I'm just brainstorming here, so any feedback would be awesome!

MAD MEN PIMP

2008-11-13T21:44:45Z

It's time to talk about my new favorite show...

MAD MEN

Enter the high-powered world of advertising in 1960's New York City and all the sexism, drinking, and awesome clothes that come with it.

Did I mention the drinking? And the smoking. Don't forget the smoking.

Mad Men is a period drama about the advertising men on New York's Madison Ave and their professional (and more adult) exploits. It's sharp, sexy, and sleek. And pretty much awesome. It does an amazing job of exploring the prejudices, racial, religious, and sexual of the time without turning the characters into caricatures.

Don Draper - our mysterious protagonist (only not really because he's kind of a bastard A very handsome bastard).

Don lives what many would think is the perfect life. He has a wife and two beautiful children, a house in the suburbs, and is amazing at his job. Only thing is - he's far from faithful to his wife. And, he's not really Don Draper.

Betty Draper - is Don's wife. She lives a life of quiet boredom out in their giant suburban house.

In the beginning of the show Betty would have attacks where she'd lose feeling in her hands. This led to a minor car crash and Don finally letting her go see a therapist (which was not common then, by any means). She's been working things out since then.

Pete Campbell - is an Account Exec at Sterling Cooper (the ad agency everyone works at). Only he wants to be on the creative side of things. Basically he wants Don's job and makes no qualms about it, even stooping to black mail that totally failed. He's like Don in that he's talented and cheats on his wife. But he's no Don Draper. Basically he's a prick and I kind of hate him. So here's the back of his head.

Besides, this was the actor that played Connor on Angel. I was trying to figure out why I hated him so much, when everyone else kind of likes him, and that explains SO MUCH.

Roger Sterling - Partner in Sterling Cooper

He's a WWII vet and takes great pride in that and is serious about his work. Too bad he's kind of a dog and made a pass at Betty after dinner at the Draper's one evening (Don made him pay for that by filling him up with oysters and climbing up a billion flights of stairs to the Sterling Cooper offices. Vomit City!).

Joan Holloway and Peggy Olson

Joan and Peggy are both very strong women, but approach the world in vastly different ways. Joan is the Office Manager and understands the games she has to play as a woman in the workplace. But make no mistake, she's tough as nails.

Peggy is slowly climbing the ladder at Sterling Cooper because she is talented and Don trusts her (good thing, since she knows a LOT about him). But Peggy is far from perfect. No one is worse to a secretary than someone who was once a secretary themselves.

Ken Cosgrove, (Pete), Paul Kinsey, and Harry Crane

Account Executive, Copywriter, and Media Buyer respectively at Sterling Cooper. They are kind of the perfect example of men from the 60's. They dress nice and are smart, but the respect they show women and anyone who isn't THEM is all on the surface. It's all style, a show, and no real subsance. Doesn't mean they are bad guys, they just think they are better than everyone else.

I'm tired of writing. On to the pictures!

Mad Men is beautifully put-together and shot.

I LOVE THE CLOTHES. The men wear crisp narrow-lapeled suits with slicked back hair and the women wear adorable skirts and dresses.

The entire show is a beautiful tapestry of rich, full colors. I wish I could eat it, it's so gorgeous.

The entire show is just so 60's.

They incorporate all the kitchy stuff like toasters...

...and concentrated orange juice. But it never comes off as fake, because they've done such a spectacular job of creating this world.

The children even play in plastic bags like it's no big deal!

GOOD TIMES!

Probably one of my favorites parts is the copious amounts of drinking and smoking. Seriously it's ridiculous.

They

Smoke

And

Drink

All

The

Time.

That last shot is Don getting his gazillionth beer while building a play house for Sally's birthday.

It's ridiculous. There are even comments made by the employees at Sterling Cooper about how other agencies see the guys at Sterling Cooper as a bunch of lushes - WHICH THEY ARE.

But so is everyone on this show. Not a moment passes without someone lighting up a cigarette or pouring another drink. MAYBE when they are sleeping, but I wouldn't put it past them.

Pregnant or not, it doesn't matter.

Betty once caught Sally smoking a cigarette in the bathroom and got mad at her because she might burn the house down. Not, you know, because the kid was FREAKING SMOKING.

Anyway, that's just one of the points that makes Mad Men awesome.

It's stylish and thoroughly absorbing (my caps and descriptions don't come close to doing it justice). AND EVERYONE SHOULD BE WATCHING IT.

Barack the Vote!

2008-11-05T04:37:41Z

I AM SO EXCITED RIGHT NOW

p.s. Excellent concession speech by McCain. I've always thought he was a decent man and wouldn't have hated the idea of his ticket quite so much if he hadn't chosen Palin.

Table Refinishing: Phase One

2008-10-24T15:04:49Z

I said I would document my first solo journey into the world of home decor projects, and here it is:

Table Refinishing: Phase One

Thanks to a tip from my mother, I decided to use a table stripping gel rather than plain ol' paint stripper because it's safer and not as time sensitive. Meaning, it can stay on the surface for up to 24 hours without evaporating. And when someone is as slow as I am at projects, this is an awesome thing.

So, I came home on Friday (two weeks ago, because, as I just stated, I'm really slow thus this late post) and it was time to get to business. First I had to scare away the neighborhood cat that has been taunting my cats recently. Earl has a fit everytime this guy walks by. His tail gets HUGE, which is hilarious, but alas, was not captured in this photo

Anyway, enough about my stupid cats. Let's get back to business, table business. Here is the table that I inherited from my uncle when he gave me my futon (RIP). It was a bonus and has come in handy, alas, I despise the paint job. Let say goodbye to Southwester Style, shall we?

Good riddance.

OK, now I take off the glass piece and set it aside. Both of the cats found this incredibly interesting and waranting of further investigation.

Let's leave them to their glass sniffing.

STEP ONE: Prepare your work area

With huge piece of glass removed the table is a thousand times easier to move. So I lay out the tarp over some cardboard on my little patio and set the table on it. Observe the stellar mulching job of my community! *cough*

STEP TWO: Assemble your tools

This evening we are just applying the stripping gel, so we don't need that many things.

1. Metal paint tray, since the gel would eat through plastic.

2. Paint Brush, to apply the gel

3. Stripping Gel, found at your local Home Depot (environmentally friendly!)

4. Gloves, so your skin will remain on your person.

Earl wanted to help, but he doesn't have opposable thumbs, so I felt he would just get in the way.

STEP THREE: Apply the gel

Pour the gel into the paint tray and brush it on to the table surface

It was goopy. Fun and gross all at the same time. Plus, no fumes to really speak of, so that was extra nice.

STEP FOUR: Wait

Watch the gel do it's business. It looks like my table stayed in the bath a little too long.

STEP FIVE: Have a beer and watch "Life on Mars" (I finally finished it, and it was awesome!)

Then, go to sleep because you'll have a FULL day tomorrow

STEP SIX: Wake up bright and early and assemble your tools again!

This time we need quite a bit more

1. Disposable baking trays, to hold all of the stripped paint

2. Gloves, duh

3. Paper Towels, in case of any unfortunate accidents

4. Reusable sandpaper, a god send let me tell you

5. Steel wool, I never ended up using this, but it's a good option

6. Stiff brush, for helping to get the paint out of cracks

7. Lots of putty knives in a variety of sizes and flavors, because differend areas of the table have different needs

After having set all night the table is super pruney and ready for stripping!

STEP SEVEN: Start Stripping!

The fun parts were the flat sides of the table, because they were super easy. The rest was a bitch.

Actually it all was a bitch, because the primer underneath the paint did NOT want to come up.

I went through about twenty pairs of gloves because they kept tearing. I don't know if heavy duty gloves would be any better. I suspect you'd pay $5 for a pair and they'd still end up getting torn.

STEP EIGHT: Reapply the gel

Because the primer is a bitch.

STEP NINE: Get to Stripping AGAIN

The second time around it was really gross. The primer didn't come off in sheets and pieces like the paint. It kind of melted and came off in watery globs that stuck to everything.

This is where the reusable sandpaper came in handy. It got off all the residue that the putty knives couldn't scrap off.

STEP TEN: Congratulate Yourself on a Job Well Done.

Viola!

STEP ELEVEN: Get Over It

You're not done! There is still the matter of all the paint still stuck in the cracks of the detail work. That's what I'm doing this weekend: sitting down with a toothbrush and tsp and going after this mother.

I'm so excited for the part where I get to stain it!

D*C

2008-09-02T13:04:40Z

Back from my first Dragon*Con, which was a BLAST. I was a little overwhelmed by the whole thing, and ill-prepared, so I didn't get everything that I would have liked (like pictures with Firefly cast members), but I had so much fun besides that it's not even really a factor. And now I really want to go back because I have a better idea of what all the con offers. Their program book didn't do the best job of explaining stuff, so didn't find out about things until too late, but now I know where to look. Definitely planning on going back next year if I can swing.

Only now, I am dead tired. SO TIRED. But I'm back and work and being a productive member of society.

OH, most importantly, I caught this little video of Dragon*con tv (they con had a station broadcasting panels and random funny videos on the hotel tvs which was a fantastic idea and huge undertaking):

Harry Potter and the Deadly Abridgement

It's only the first chapter but I CAN NOT wait for more.

rosdrise @ 2008-07-22T16:17:00

2008-07-22T20:21:04Z

How could I have been so remiss as to forget that the freaking X-FILES movie comes out this weekend? Seriously. There is something wrong with me.

My weekend was awesome. Three undergrad friends flew in for the weekend. We went to the Indianapolis Zoo and ate chinese food (my mapo tofu was delicious) and watched Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail (since one had never seen it @_@). It was relaxing and fun and made me miss college, or at least the friends I used to have then. I need to meet more people in Indianapolis.

Zuzu has the shits, which is awesome for my apartment. Luckily, I can't smell, so I don't suffer. But that also means I can't tell when she dropped one until I come across it. I'm pretty sure it's a bacterial infection, because this happened last year. Her teeth are bad, because some cats just have a lot of bacteria in their mouth, especially persians. The vet just gave me some antibiotics then. I'm supposed to gather a stool sample (joy) and bring it in tomorrow.

I put up my first piece of art in my apartment! It was just a cheapo print because I wanted SOMETHING on my walls besides paint. It's a skinny vertical print of a japanese brush painting of some white flowers. It had a gold background that I thought looked good on the green paint in the kitchen. It's now up between my fridge and pantry.

I put a nail in the wall! So different from hanging stuff up in college (methods that pretty much destroyed the corners of a lot of posters).

My mother is currently staying at my apartment as she has a series of meetings this week in town. She brought with her some meat she bought out of the back of some guy's truck. So, yay for free dinner! But, nay for sketch meat guy. I'm sure it's fine, she's bought from the company before and the steaks looked good. I just think it's hilarious she bought meat from a door-to-door salesman.

But anyway... X-FILES MOVIE. Oh to be in middle school again (no thank you).

Also - MUSIC:

HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR - HOT LIMIT: This reminded me of a friend who was a huge fan of T.M. Revolution back in the day. This is a cover of one of his songs.

Arashi - One Love: The theme song for the HANA YORI DANGO MOVIE. It was released at the end of June and I want to see it NOW. At first I was disappointed in the song, but it's growing on me (it was the same way with the other HYD songs they did).

aiko - Yakusoku: Umm... I like aiko and I like this song. I hope you all enjoy it as well!

Yamashita Tomohisa - Daite Senorita: The opening song for the jdrama Kurosagi. I had to do this, my sister was recently complaining about Yamapi's nasally voice and wondering why he was so popular. Sometimes I wonder too, especially since he can bare a striking resemblance to a robot. But he does get pretty good songs.

water, water everywhere... because this is Indiana and we don't believe in sewers

2008-06-10T18:23:33Z

As some of you may or may not know, the state of Indiana is currently a giant puddle.

As of 8:30 this morning, so was my office.

Apparently there was a crack, or two pieces of concrete that weren't level, that the contruction workers just decided to carpet over. Because, if you can't see the problem, it's not there.

Well, when the heavens opened up last night for the millionth time in the last two weeks, the soil, the drainage ponds, and the ditches on the side of the road, simply couldn't absorb anymore. So, the water escaped into our offices. Not the entire building, mind you, just the web department.

EVERYTHING that was on the ground was soaked, I lost some posters, a cardboard box, some random papers. PLUS I almost ate linoleum when I went into the break room to get coffee because my shoes were so wet from the sopping wet carpet.

They vacummed up a bunch of it this morning, so it doesn't SPLASH when I walk now. It's just plain, old wet. I have two fans going in my office, so we'll see if that has any effect.

It'll be fun breathing in all the mold spores during the days to come :D

hearts!

2008-02-14T19:19:03Z

Someone left about a dozen boxes of truffles, a dozen or so fancy chocolate bars, and various other treats in the break room. Usually I don't bother with stuff in the breakroom because word spreads like wildfire around here. Seriously, the moment some food hits the table there is a swarm of people around it. You'd guess they'd never seen a bag of chips or some popcorn before the way they go after random freebies. It's crazy.

BUT next to the various truffles and chocolate hearts, was a box of chocolate covered toffee, which is like one of my most favorite things ever. So, it was neccessary that I grab a piece (or two). It was delicious. I bet it's all gone now, which makes me sad, but not that sad because my sugar buzz is still in full force.

SO GOOD.

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day everyone <3

aww, fudgecicles...

2007-07-17T12:44:05Z

I'm just going to have to stop reading LJ, aren't I? Why? WHY would someone leak DH? I just don't understand and for once I'm REALLY NOT INTERESTED in reading spoilers. Keep them far, far away. Is it time for radio silence until the release? I think so.

get your toothbrush ready...

2007-06-26T17:44:23Z

Because all I do is post youtube apparently...

I'm betting Zuzu would have looked something like that when she was little. Makes me wish I'd had her since she was a baby. Tiny furry balls of cuteness :x

Earl? My humane society cat? Not so much with the fluffy...

rosdrise @ 2007-06-19T07:51:00

2007-06-19T11:53:16Z

I keep forgetting to post this...

All other flashmobs on YouTube pale in comparison.

I hate winter...

2007-02-14T14:59:29Z

It finally stopped snowing (yay!)... and all my morning classes were cancelled (yay!)... so I decided to take some snapshots of the damage (from the safety of my crappy studio... because it's freaking cold out there!)

The poor kids that live on the other side of the parking lot...

Luckily, my car is relatively free of a snow prison...

And because I didn't post it here back around Christmas, but I saw it when I logged into photobucket and thought it fit the theme of this post... my own cat macros (starring Jack!)

election day

2006-11-08T23:57:29Z

So, the Dems took the House, which is awesome. Still waiting to here about the Senate (come on Virginia, how long does it take to count votes?), but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Blagojevich is still our governer, which would be good (Democrat and all), if he weren't a complete moron.

More IMPORTANTLY. Such a shame, I really thought those kids were going to be forever. *tear*

Behold the power of cheese! .... I mean, Television!

2006-09-22T15:20:06Z

After I had been living in Indianapolis a while, and I had settled in to a routine, and I wasn't so worried I'd be insanely late for work, I decided to turn on the tv. I'm scrolling through my vast options on digital cable (the vastness is quite lacking as any one who turns on tv knows), and lo and behold... Buffy! What a perfect thing to have in the background as I go through my morning routine. I haven't seen Buffy since, well, it went off the air.

Now, the episodes they were airing were from the season 5, with Glory. Definately some good stuff, minus the addition of DAWN. Could she be more annoying? No, I think not. Glory was an excellent villian though. I loved every scene she was in. Next came the season with the trio, an excellent idea that just never clicked for me. Towards the end of this season is when I started to lose interest, it all started to turn way to dark for me. Especially the end, I hated what they did at the end. Completely unneccessary and what I felt was quite un-Buffy. Then the final season, or rather, a boredom fest. Potential slayers, Buffy thinking she's better than everyone and being all hard-ass, angst angst ANGST. WhatEVER. The First? Good idea, bad execution. The best part was Nathan Fillion as the crazy monk, but I really wish he had more of a humor role since that would have equaled GOLD. But, alas, Joss was too busy being deep and dramatic and uninspired. The rest was a snooze fest. I couldn't bring myself to care about anything that season. It started taking itself way too seriously and lost any of the flavor it had left as a series.

But now we're back to the first season! I got to watch the pilot when the CW was doing it's farewell thing (and then promptly changed the channel when the Dawson's Creek pilot started, thank you). THAT brought back memories. When Buffy first started it was my mom who said "We need to watch this!" I was "Vampires? I don't know... Fine, whatever." And we did and it was AWESOME. I loved the humor and the camp and the sheer cleverness of it. Back when everything was fresh and the characters weren't jaded and it was just fun. I can hardly wait to watch the 2nd season, by far my favorite. The Halloween episode? Fantastic.

Like when X-Files was interesting. Before everything was GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY. Back when the conspiracy episodes were good. The Duane Barry-arc, anyone? Excellent stuff (Plus, Krycek=love, but that's not the point). Even then, the Monster of the week episodes were GREAT. Humbug, Jose Chung's From Outer Space, Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose? AMAZING and funny, and smart, and I don't think I can say enough good things about them. THen it all got bogged down in Chris Carter bringing up mysteries and not answering anything, until I don't think he even knew himself what the hell was going on. And then Duchovny left and they brought in new agents that were so freaking uninteresting I couldn't stand it. I stopped watching it. I still haven't seen the final episodes, and really, I don't have a desire to. I'd rather remember the good stuff.

I blame it partly on the writers getting stale, And who wouldn't after five years? I don't think it can be helped. But also on getting popular. You have to please the masses. And the masses like shows like Dawson's Creek and ER and Survivor(gag). So you gotta bring in the sex and the angst and kill any sort of quirkiness in the show.

And now, what is on TV that even compares to these shows? Angel was cancelled, Firefly was cancelled. Veronica Mars is okay, but I don't think it compares to Buffy or X-Files in their glory days. I did come in during the end of lastseason, so I need to play catch up. Maybe I'll be more interested then. And I need to watch Doctor Who, I know, but I consistently miss it.

And as much as I like Lost, it's a drama. There is not a lot of room for comedy in a show like that, and I really appreciate comedy. Grey's Anatomy has that, but it doesn't have that edge that a show about flipping VAMPIRES has. Scrubs is amazing, and anyone who doesn't watch that is a fool.

... thus ends my entirely pointless post...

Questionarre

2006-02-13T19:42:23Z

If anyone has time to spare, I would greatly appreciate it if you filled this survey out. It is for an art project I'm working on this semester. So really, if you like art (and I know you do) you should fill this out, because then you too will be an art piece. Fun!

Oh, and all comments are screened, so fear not!

-----

What makes you an individual?

Describe Wal-Mart in 5 words

1) What is your relationship with Wal-Mart?
2) How does being inside Wal-Mart make you feel?
3) What do you think of the other people at Wal-Mart?
4) How big is your Wal-Mart?
5) What if Wal-Mart closed?
6) How far would you drive to get to a Wal-Mart?
7) What are Wal-Mart’s logo and slogan?
8) How often do you make impulse purchases at Wal-Mart?
9) What is your favorite thing about Wal-Mart?
10) How do you feel about Wal-Mart driving smaller stores out of business?

-----
Please leave your name (first, last, nick, screen, whatever) and location (state, country, hemisphere, dimension, just something)

If you filled this out you get all sorts of sparkly karma points.

Auf Wiedersehen!

2006-02-09T04:35:50Z

Ooo, I am not pleased with the decision the judges made on Project Runway tonight. Not at all...

Icons?!

2006-02-03T22:10:07Z

So I thought I'd try my hand at some icons. Here are my efforts:

Some made from my own pictures of Galway, Ireland:

Others using photos done by the amazing Joyce Tenneson:

Galway:

1.2.3.

Joyce Tenneson:
1.2.3.4.5.6.

Brushes by ohfreckle
Textures by dearest and tre_xture
Gradients by crumblingwalls

Though, truthfully, Tenneson's photos don't need much help. They are absolutely gorgeous on their own. Every should go look at her work <a href="http://www.joycetenneson.com>here</a> Feedback is greatly appreciated

rosdrise @ 2006-01-27T23:44:00

2006-01-28T05:51:21Z

So, I went to Ikea today... which was awesome. I can't wait till I have my own apartment and get to furnish it with all sorts of not-the-best-quality-but-super-cute-and-decently-priced Swedish Furniture. Anyway, we bought to armoirs and a new day bed for my bedroom. It's one step in getting our house ready to sell. The way my room is now, I don't think people would be too enticed. Furniture from grade school? Just a little outdated... although it is nicer than what I have in my current apartment at school... Oh, and I got a GIANT print of some of Monet's waterlillies. And by giant, I mean huge. It's about the length of my bed, and it's awesome. I had been thinking about painting something on my wall, but this is so much better and now I don't have to worry about messing it up.

Anyway, while driving through Chicago we passed a billboard. It was a billboard for a talk radio station. In giant bold letters it pronounced "Liberals Hate It"

Wow, they must be so proud.

Way to support non-partisan politics... -_- I'll never understand how people can just be so hateful. What must it be like to go through life with so much hostility?

Book of Daniel

2006-01-25T14:34:29Z

Stuff like this kills me. People that think they can decide what I get to watch on tv irritate me to no end. Really, who do they think they are? It's a tv show people. They aren't preaching anything, there is no agenda. Book of Daniel was a story about a family, a troubled American family. They weren't perfect, far from it, but who is? They were interesting, the dynamic of the the characters was well thought out and the plot was better than the majority of shows on television. Why go after a show like Book of Daniel when there is _so_ much trash on tv that spouts off worse morals? Things like Elimi-date, Next, and any number of raunchy, horrible reality shows and sitcoms.

In the end, I know it comes down to ratings. And the show didn't get enough. Fine, whatever, cancel it, even though I enjoyed watching it. If they don't make money, whatever. I'd like to say give it a chance, I mean, It's been on for three weeks. Network execs are so anxious. And besides, Aidan Quinn is a handsome man. And I'm not even sure if the criticism played any role in the show getting cancelled, because any publicity if good publicity, right? What I can't stand is that a number of BC affiliates refused to air it. What is that?

So Book of Daniel get criticized because they have Jesus on their show? These people didn't like how Jesus was being portrayed? First off... TV SHOW. It's fiction people. I mean really... He was trying to guide Daniel down the right path, I don't see anything wrong with how is it portrayed. I believe God is forgiving. And if Jesus did give his life for our sins, then I believe he would be the most understanding when it came to our faults and would want to be supportive if anything. Who are these people to decide how Jesus would act? Have they sat down with him? No, but they feel completely filling to force their beliefs on me and others with no qualms. Not exactly something I believe the son of God would do.

Who needs crack when you have HP

2005-11-28T17:59:34Z

I don't know if anyone who friended this lj will care, but I just wanted to post my thoughts on the GoF movie.

I can't end this entry without mentioning Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which I saw twice this break. Once on Friday with my friends Wilma, Liz, Tori, and Isaac and yesterday with my mom and sisters. It was so much fun going to see it with Wilma. I went with her and Tori to Applebee's beforehand and had drinks and appetizers, which was a blast. Luckily we bought our tickets ahead of time and were able to get in. Unfortunately, we came back late, and were stuck up at the front of the theater. I kind of felt like I was laying on the floor while watching the movie (and sharing comments with Wilma). But you know what? It didn't matter, because it was totally worth it. This movie just blew me away. It is by _far_ my favorite one yet. The first two were fun, the third was a piece of art, but this one was just a culmination of excellence. I mean, wow.

I really don't know where to begin. I just walked out of that theater so pleased and amazed for a long time I couldn't think of just what exactly clicked so well. I've enjoyed all of the movies, I just think that this one really captured the world that J.K. Rowling has created. I think it was helped in large part by the fact that the real story starts to take off from this point. The first two movies (and books for that matter) there is a definate feeling that Rowling herself is experimenting with the world she is creating. She's introducing the audience to this strange world of magic, and like Harry we are kind of swept away in wonder by all the cool things. Even the first two movies have a sort of cartoony (not meant in a bad sense, just more fun than other-worldly) look to them. We're seeing it through the eyes of a child who is dealing with troubles, but nothing compared to what is coming. The third movie did a good job of transitioning into the fourth. There was still a sense of wonder, but that's when Harry really starts dealing with the darker aspects of the Wizarding World (dementors, anyone? Creepy stuff).

The third and fourth books have a lot of information in them, especially in comparison with the first two. J.K. Rowling really starts building the mythology of the story here. She lay a slight foundation in a first two, but it really wasn't too deep. It was a light introduction to what is revealed and explored in the fourth. The first two movies are almost exact replications of the first two books, I think this was only accomplished because not much happens in the first two. As I said before, Rowling it just setting things up. We, and Harry , are just so taken with the world around us. They are fun reads, and easy to make into movie form. The third movie is when they started leaving things out (like, oh, btw Harry's dad was a freaking Animagus and helped create the Marauder's Map! I don't see why they left that out, it wouldn't have taken much to include it). But it was just such a well done movie, I didn't care.

I think knowing that GoF couldn't possibly be an exact replica was key to my loving this movie so much. A LOT was adapted for this movie. But whoever developed the screenplay did an excellent job turning a 700 page book into a two and a half hour movie. That can not be an easy task, especially given the wealth of information Rowling jammed into this book. You have to give the screenplay writer credit for that. He had to make it understandable for people who hadn't read the book and I think he did a good enough job. You hate to see changes, but I could see where they were neccesary, especially when it came to the pacing of the movie, which was excellent. I love it when a movie doesn't drag.

I didn't mind how they changed Barty Crouch Jr.'s role, I do wish they had done more in the courtroom. I would have loved to see the LeStranges. There should have been more Malfoy (this is just a personal thing, since he cracks me up) especially when he warns Hermione to stay hidden during the Death Eater attack at the Quidditch World Cup. But I can live with that. I at least got the ferret scene.

What did bother me was how they cut out Hermione in this movie. Now, this has been true for all the movies, starting with the first where they cut out her solving Snape's guard on the Philosopher's Stone. No, they had her stay and care for Ron. LAME. In the fourth they cut out the _entire_ S.P.E.W. plotline AND how she bests Rita Skeeter. Hermione is constantly pushed to the side in the movies and it really bugs me. She's always turned into the caring little girl friend that stands at the side and complains. It's so annoying! And is it just me or did Emma Watson go a _little_ over the top with her acting this round? I thought she was going to burst into tears with every scene she was in.

The rest of the acting and characters were excellent though. The twins were hilarious, I loved the bit of Snape we got to see (I adore every scene he is in in all the movies). And, okay, Daniel Radcliffe was just spectacular as Harry. He has really turned into a good little actor. He just blew me away this time. Part of it was his developing skills as an actor, and part was definately the improvement of the script and storyline. The students were allowed to behave like students. It made everything seem so much more real. I mean, just because they are wizards doesn't mean they aren't still teenagers. I think that aspect was wonderfully handled. The humor and angst were balanced expertly. And I usually don't care one way or the other when it comes to action scenes (usually I'm just happy when they're over), but I thought they were excellent in this movie. The first task had me on the edge of my seat, the second one was great (Shark!Krum), and the third was just how I pictured it (creepy ass maze!). Voldemort could have been creepier, but whatever.

The two scenes that really got me were when Harry's parents come out of the wand and his mom tells him to let go and then when he lands back at Hogwarts. Just the sound of the band playing happily and people cheering, and then Harry's cries break through. Then when they pulled him away from Cedric's body, I about died. It had me in tears both times I saw it. I'll probably cry everytime I watch it. It was just so well done. The entire movie as a whole was just excellent, I can't say enough good things about. It's definately my favorite one so far.

I think I should end this now before you all become too bored to live.

Dramione art

2005-11-13T00:09:14Z