(This is very belated blog entry that I meant to post last week but instead just left it piling up sadly in my drafts folder. In any event, onward ho and all that jazz.) Against my better judgment I went and saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with Chelle. While I adore the books to a squeeing fangirly extent, the movies leave a lot to be desired and usually only succeed in destroying another little part of my soul with each new book-butchering film that gets released to theatres. Considering that HBP is by far my favorite out of the seven, I was obviously extra concerned about how they were going to ruin this one. Surprisingly enough, while they did inevitably take HBP and viciously chop it into thousands of tiny pieces, it also ended up being the most entertaining one out of the series yet.

Let's start off with the good, then ease our way slowly into the horrible, agonizing bad that made me want to hit my head against the wall over and over. Warning: probably spoiler ridden.

THE GOOD

• Daniel Radcliff is the epitome of geeky cute in a bottle and his acting has improved leaps and bounds when compared to his cringe-worthy performance in Philosopher's Stone.
• Gambon's Albus was a finally a bit more Albusy. Overall, I've always very strongly disliked his version of Dumbledore -- he always plays him too rough and cranky sounding. However, there were scenes in HBP where he brings the overdue and much needed twinkle back to the roll. Plus the part where he fights off the Inferi in the cave was fucking rad.
• I really enjoyed the addition of the scene with Snape and Harry seeing each other under the stairs prior to the tower. The way Severus offers that (arguably false) gesture of reassurance is an aspect I wish had actually been in the book.
• I also really liked the way they replaced the funeral with the simultaneous wand salute to Albus. The movie scene didn't make me cry like I thought it would (though neither did his death in the book), but it was very touching.
• Molly's face as she stares up at the burning Burrow... gut wrenching. My heart broke.
• Tom Felton looks smarmy in a suit~

THE HORRIBLE, AGONIZING BAD

• They destroyed the Burrow? WTF? Where is the wedding in book seven going to happen? *So confused*
• Seeing as once again they were forced to take a 600+ page book and hack it down to fit in under 3 hours, it's still inevitably pretty choppy (though not as bad in the past movies at times.)
• Ginny and Harry don't seem to have much chemistry together. The actress playing Ginny at times was really good, and at other times just floundered awkwardly. MOST AWKWARD KISS SCENE EVER.
• I understand why it was cut, but I was still a little disappointed to see they didn't include the opening bit with Dumbledore paying a visit to Privet Drive. I would have loved to see the wine glasses flying around and clinking against the Dursley's heads. :B
• What was up with Narcissa's hair? The Malfoy family are supposed to all be platinum blonds, but they gave Cissa this horrible black stripe that made it look like a tacky teen dye job. Someone's version of symbolism foreshadowing her role in DH to come I guess? o_O She was also way, way too old.
• The didn't do the Unbreakable Vow scene justice! My favorite scene! D: *Angst* Neither Snape or Narcissa's roles in this scene had enough time to be flushed out given the right amount of depth that you feel from the characters in the book. It's the first time Narcissa is given any serious attention and it failed for me to nail down who she really is and what drives her -- that she's a mother first, and everything else second.
  
  And what about Snape? We weren't introduced to anything new about Snape! I remember finishing the "Spinners End" chapter in the book and going wow. The way he responded in just tiny, simple, but genuine ways to Narcissa's grief and desperation; that's a side of this character that we'd never seen before -- where the impression that perhaps this guy isn't just doing this simply under his master's direction. It added a new element to Snape. But in the HBP film, we don't get any of that. He's so flat and boring -- even up until the end when Harry is chasing after him and calling him a coward. Where is the Snape Flipout? When do we get to ever see this guy unhinge like he's supposed to? He looses his cool at three different important parts in the series and in the film's he has yet to have a strand of hair fall out of place. *Irked*
  
  Okay and while I'm getting completely off-topic, does anyone else notice that Alan Rickman talks like Captain Kirk? Very... drawn out... and sort of -- choppy. Like. This. Ugh. *Facepalm* RickmanSnape kills me.
• All right and obviously my biggest grievance with this movie was the blatant way they, for reasons I can't even fathom, completely replaced the two main plots of the original story with Teenage Love Woe Angst filler? Seriously, the two main plots in HBP are: 1) Harry journey with Dumbledore examining Voldemort's past and the memory traveling, and 2) the Half Blood Prince and potion text book bits; and instead they chopped both of those story lines into such itty bitty tiny side plots that you hardly remember that they're there, and instead focused entirely on PUBERTY AND TEENAGE LOVE AND WOW!GIRLS AND WOW!BOYS. *Hits head repeatedly against wall over and over and over again* How can you take all of the actual story and just shove it under the rug like that? They cut more than half of the memory traveling! They barely even touched actual Half Blood Prince aspects, which I find exceedingly stupid SINCE THE MOVIE IS CALLED "HALF BLOOD PRINCE". They didn't even bother explaining why Snape is the Half Blood Prince, so I really hope every one who sees the movie has read the book beforehand or else they're going to leave feeling VERY CONFUSED. *Pulls at hair*

THE HUH?

• Hahahaha, oh god the Snape/Draco shippers are going to have a field day. The smoldering stares... the dark corridor exchanges... The slashers must be going to town.
• Why did Draco have Snakey? Now that his father has been carted off to Askaban, does he carry Lucius' snake staff around with him everywhere he goes like a security blanket? Oh Draco, you're such a sap.

That is all. I still have like 9 hours that I have to struggle to get through today before the keys to our new house are placed in my hands. I don't think I'm going to make it! D: *Torture*

Countdown until shiny exciting house possession: OMG TODAY TODAY TODAY!

I really need to stop reading the books before I see the movie adaptations. Coleen and I went and saw My Sister's Keeper last night and I'm undecided whether I walked out so disappointed simply because the film wasn't that great, or because it was so completely butchered from the original novel version.

I understand that book-to-movie adaptations always involve some inevitable but necessary plot trimming, but I can't stand when for no apparent reason they cut out all these wonderful scenes from the book and then end up writing all-new scenes to fill up all that extra space that don't even end up doing the original's justice at all. Why don't they just keep the original bits? There were scenes in the novel that displayed the emotional battle this family is going through so simply and vividly -- whereas the new movie inserts were fairly bland and too drawn out.

I'm also a little irked that they completely changed some of the key character's personalities. They made Anna loud, annoying, and obnoxious. In addition to giving Jesse's self-destructive personality a complete 180 degree rewrite, they also cut out his entire storyline. And poor Campbell Alexander's character should never have been given to the likes of Alec Baldwin who is both much too old and not at all good looking or charming enough to pull off the role. Though I can't say they even gave him much a role in the film -- Campbell's entire subplot with Julie (who wasn't even in the movie) was trashed, and his health condition was barely even touched upon.

And did I mention that they completely changed and reversed the ending? D: That is most ridiculous rewrite of a story wrap up that I've ever seen. There was no heart wrenching impact or twist to the movie's finale! It was anti-climactic and completely negates Anna's entire purpose in the story that contributes so much to the title My Sister's Keeper. What a sham. *Grumble mumble grumble*

On a different but still petty fangirlsh rant, I'm about so sick of all of the recent Dark Knight LedJoker fanart that I could spew. I don't think I can stand to see another dozen duplications of the "Why So Serious" poster, the infamous playing card or head quirked shots, or Ledger sitting on the damn jail cell bench. (Don't even get me started on the amount of cosplay photos you have to swim through now. Ugh.) Don't get me wrong, I like DK Joker. It's just that that seems to be all you ever see now. The Chris Nolan Batman franchise has spawned a whole new generation of Batman fans that probably don't even realize that Heath Ledger is just this one microscopic version of Mister J in a pile of Joker incarnation gems of the past in cartoons and comics. *Sad* It makes weeding through the DeviantArt results to find interesting pieces very tedious.

(Hahaha, okay, but I did come across this creepy but adorable LedJoker chibi. So cute in a creepy-clown-doll sort of way.)

Also, has anyone else noticed how funny and a bit disturbing at times it is that pretty much no matter which popular fandom or character you search for on DeviantArt, you'll inevitably end up finding a picture of them depicted as either some sort of canine, feline, or horse relation? Look! It's Joker as a wolf! Look! It's a Jack Sparrow horse! Look! It's a Severus Snape lion! And well hey now, that seems to be a bit of strange anatomical position to put him in with that Dumbledore lio-- ohmygodmyeyes *close tab close tab CLOSE TAB!* DX I guess it just goes to show there's a crazy furry enthusiast in every fandom. Though for the sake of the rest of the fan community there should be some sort of browsing filter.

Countdown until shiny exciting house possession: 26

I didn't practice my piano homework nearly enough this week. I fumbled all through the first two pieces at my lesson today and looked like a complete arse, I'm sure. (At least I made it through the other two tunes decently enough.) ^^; I'll have to cram in a load of extra practice early this week to make up for the three days I'll be off camping during the weekend, or my piano teacher may begin to shun me.

I'd like to express my intense displeasure at looking out the office window today and seeing snow flying through the air outside. DURING THE MIDDLE OF MAY. *Grumpy*

Monday always arrives way too fast. I didn't get to do nearly enough napping on the weekend, and I nearly fell asleep at my desk at work today again. =_=; I need to start taking a break half way through the day and go for a walk or something, because this is becoming an alarming mid-afternoon trend.

On Friday I went on a hot girly movie date to see 17 Again with Nickie and Swoo, and it was surprisingly entertaining (extra points for teenage heart throb Zac Efron looking plenty fine in a button up~) Ten extra points to the ridiculously hilarious nerdism-filled love of Guy I Forget The Name Of and Closeted Geeky Principal Lady.

I also finally got my fabulously pretty Coach purse (knock off obviously, but still extremely pretty) repaired~ The cheapy leather straps were tearing off so I took them down to the mall to get them repaired/reinforced, and the man behind the counter seemed offended that I'd bought a fake designer bag and had the gall to want it repaired. He went so far as to try to convince me that the $20 he was charging me wasn't worth it. WTF. D:< Dude, I just gave you money! Shut your mouth and do your job! *Scowl* *Hugs pretty purse*

I watched Disney's Earth on Sunday! You can download the BBC version of the film already, and the only difference is the narration -- which as opposed to James Earl Jones, this one is done by sexy Patrick Stewart! Captain Picard makes everything better! (Yes that's right, I like my men old and English and who have boldly gone where no one has gone before~) The movie had some sad parts in it, but was mostly filled with adorable animals and a scene or two with some baby polar bears that Sarah Woo will probably have a massive heart attack from the sheer amount of cuteness. We also now have copies of every major Disney animated film *hearts* and the first season of Batman Beyond which I'm very excited to watch because besides the Return of the Joker movie, I've only seen one or two episodes of it.

Hahahaha, I'm working my way through a Zhao fan comic by legit Avatar storyboard artist, rufftoon. (Alternate universe: Zhao was spared by the ocean spirit at the end of the first season, loses his memories, and is taken in by the Northern Water Tribe. Hilarious Zhao facial expressions and general awesomeness ensues.) If you're an Admiral Zhao nut or just an Avatar art fan you should check it out.

I've been sort of... kind of... toying with the idea of starting a fan comic project of my own -- only obviously not nearly as amazingly detailed or shaded or awesome as rufftoon. T-T I'm too lazy to write the oodles of fanfiction that pile up and lay around doing backstrokes in my head, but it would be nice to at least get bits of the stories on paper of some medium. It's really intimidating though because of the sheer size of a project like that... I don't really have the piles of free time I'd need. And I have zero experience with comic layout and backgrounds and type. And that's a lot of freaking drawing... :x Knowing me it very well may never even be started let alone finished. Though I'm serious enough about the idea that I've at least randomly found myself instinctively going into fandomy research mode and jotting down notes and mapping out key scenes during my morning commute. We'll have to see if anything comes of it.

Mother eff. The lady living above us is vacuuming again. She vacuumes at the weirdest times of the night, last week she was up pushing that thing around at 1:30 in the morning. I've narrowed it down to either crazy double work shift mother, or deranged OCD psychopath. *Suspicious*

For anyone who hasn't heard of communitychannel on YouTube and has any sense of humor whatsoever, you should really go subscribe right now. The channel is comprised of the random video blogs of a young Austrailian woman, Natalie Tran -- who I'm not at all shamed to declare that if I batted for the other team I would totally do her. She's equal parts adorable, geeky, and hilarious.

I've been slowly working my way through her past couple years of videos. Some particularly LULz-worthy communitychannel videos off the top of my head:

• March 15, 2009: sliding escapes and POWERboards
• June 30, 2008: my seeds & your grandchildren

For these two she recommends you should go back and watch the other one first in the whole actual chronological order deal, but I really think it's much funnier watching them in reverse like I did:

• June 08, 2007: i was the dancing girl (follow up on my project)
• May 29, 2007: just to say hello and stuff about my project

I like communitychannel because it's a nice change at times from the vlogbrothers channel. I miss the old Brotherhood 2.0 videos. Don't get me wrong, I have so much nerdlike for the Green brothers still *hearts*, but lately it all seems to either be about John's book or Hank's music. BUY BUY BUY! It's like they've sold out... but... to themselves. :P

YES I know Paper Towns is John's meal ticket right now, and YES I know that Hank's self-written songs are very amusing, but all I'm saying is that I miss the geek-ejaculation that used to happen every week about completely random inane topics that made me laugh for absolutely no other reason than to make people laugh. :c Nat's little one-person skits never fail to fill the empty YouTube void of hilarity for me.

I have two words for you all: LEGO GRIEVOUS.

Thank you, Brock and Nickie! :B How could I have spent so much time scouring the interwebs for everything and anything General Grievous related and never have known about this?! *Twinge of fangirly shame* Look at him! He's AWESOME. XD

I have to admit though... the picture is a bit deceiving. I sort of just glossed over the whole "10,186 pieces" thing in my fangirly glee -- the box is freaking ginormous! 10,186 pieces! He's going to be 18 inches high! It came with TWO INSTRUCTIONS BOOKS. They could not fit all of his assembly instructions into one manual! D: I played with Lego when I was a kid, I built my share of you know... houses. And... walls... Something tells me Grievous is going to be a bit more a challenge. But I'm determined to get him done! *DETERMINED* The online reviews say the figure isn't very sturdy because he's so tall when put together, so I figure I'll put him together and then maybe glue everything except the pivot joints -- I'd love to be able to really move him around and pose him~ So far I've finished... the platform. It's a work in progress.

I'm reading Outlander, the first in a series by Diana Gabaldon. It's a bit of a romancy, historical, time-traveling fruit salad and was recommended to me by a couple different people. Basically the story so far is a married, English post-WWII nurse is suddenly transported back to 1700 Scotland. The first 170ish pages weren't bad at all, they were thought out and well-paced with the whole "hey we just traveled back in time!" thing -- but then in the span of the next mere 20 pages, the heroine suddenly seems to completely forget all about her beloved husband in the present time that she's told us she loves so dearly and is determined to get back to, marries a burly kilt-clad Scotsman she's only known for a month, and proceeds to have piles of guilt-free sex with her new Highlander beau.

*Blink blink* What? What just happened? *Flips back through the book to double check she didn't miss a few cleverly hidden chapters* How can you completely change the emotional mindset of a character in 20 pages? That's like being in a loving marriage and then going out to the store for 20 minutes to pick up milk and shagging the grocery clerk in the frozen food isle instead. I don't know. It's gotten a little dicey at this point, at times I just want to throw my hands up in frustration trying to get a grip on this protagonist's fickle thought process. =_=;