How to combat the winter blues? EASY! ***HARRY POTTER!***

I love this!!!!

Unsurprisingly it has been a while...

Well, what can I say? It has been a while.... AGAIN.

I will make no promises to blog into the void anymore, but only sporadically at best... and at worst, which as it so happens is more likely, when I feel like it.

I often think of being a writer but I think I lack the discipline to follow through my thoughts and certainly lack in writing them down, which I am sure I know is an epic fail in attempting to be a bit of a writer.

Anyhow, no blog of mine is incomplete without a bit of an excuse as to why the blogging void on NotSoSpotlessMind.blogspot.... so here it goes...

Well I have a new job. At the V&A.... go woooo-ooooooh. But it is taking some settling into. I have been here over three weeks now and I am as confused as I was when I started. There is very little structure in what I am expected to do, since my job role seems to move its boundaries depending on the need. Then there is the lack of banter. From a job where they bossed me around to one where I now am a ringleader and have to herd the troops into action. And by the way this is soooo out of the remit of my job description.

I have also witnessed the worst public speaker. Worse than me. And trust me I have been bad, but there is something about working as a tour guide for two years that just shocks that shyness and fumbling awfulness as a public speaker out of ya. Either that or it cracks ya. For me, thankfully, it was the opposite! still this poor bookbinder was hosting a talk on her exhibit and if she rifled that through that pamphlet one more time for an answer or what to say next I would have cried.

It is not her fault. But it was one time in a lot the past three weeks where I just feel slightly... I dunno... I wanna say superior, but that denotes a sense of harshness that I just don't feel. They are no worse or better than me. They just need to be trained.

Still, I am just waffling here... Needless to say, I have had a rough transition of being in the world of crazy eccentrics, tourists, banter from fellow wardens and great laughs...

Still enough bemoaning my status. It just takes time as everyone keeps telling me. I actually like what I do. Not taxing but quite good fun! Plus I get to stroke old and priceless thingies :)

Now I am watching Harry Potter 1 and harking back to my year 8 class when we tried watching it in French. I tried setting this one in German but it wasn't having it, which was a shame. Hearing Hermione say "That thing has a name" in German is classic... "Das Ting hat ein Namen?!" The French just sounded very swish and unfunny. Shame.

Anyhoo that is enough waffles from me after a a near two-month absence! :)

Movie Blog: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

So, I went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last night with my brother, affectionately known as BFG (Big Friendly Giant). He is my Hagrid of the muggle world. We went out for a few bevvies, an all you can eat Chinese to placate the boy's growing hunger so he could concentrate in the film (and also as a kind of bribe for him having to sit next to me throughout it as I squeal and cover my eyes ten minutes before 'it' happens because I already know what is going to happen.)

Now, I had heard mixed reviews about this film, and many say it misses too much out, the plot is not as exciting, it just feels like a lead up to the last films etc etc blah de blah. As my Mam pointed out to me last night, Harry Potter has been a part of my life for ten years now and I have been more than obsessed by it in my earlier years. It got me through some difficult times and therefore I think I should be the harshest critic of the films. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince for me is the best film yet. Each HP film gets better and better than the last. The stunts, special effects and CGI was terrific, incomparable to any other film preceding this. Yes, things are missed out but it is a FILM. It is impossible to have everything in. What I look at in book/film ratios is does it capture the atmosphere, does it capture the book overall and does it have the integral plot structures in place?

The answer (in the Half Blood Prince) is yes.


RELATIONSHIPS:
Dumbledore and Harry's relationship is nailed to perfection. I love the touches that the screenwriter put in (Steve Kloves). Dumbledore's memories are used and captured wonderfully, although there are some that are excluded. Understandable I suppose, but it would have been nice to have seen them. However, the film manages to progress along without them (but I do wonder how the next film will progress without them being included in this film... those memories help Harry, Ron and Hermione find the rest of the Horcruxes- hello? The House of Gaunt? Why the ring was chosen by Voldemort to be a Horcrux?)

As Dumbledore acknowledges that Harry has grown up, so do we the audience realise that they have all grown up in front of our very eyes on the big screen. I have grown up with them. It actually transcended the cinema/audience perspective and made it all the more real.

It is the relationships that really flourish in this film and really makes this film great. We see the trio (Harry, Ron and Hermione) go through some tough challenges (namely hormones and a lot of snogging) and then get closer together. Harry and Hermione have a nice purely friendship relationship and you can really believe they are just friends (although Albus questions this- I loved that bit!!). The scene when they talk about love being semi-unrequited and seeing your "love" as it were snogging someone else and the hurt... really nice touch- and I know how you feel guys!!

I saw an interview with J K Rowling about the third film way back when and she said that she had wished she had come up with some of the ideas that the screenwriter had- namely in the Prisoner of Azkaban the talking heads. I think JK would have loved the touches that were brought to life from her book. The subtleties of the book are hard to bring to life on film. The Hermione-Ron-Lavender love triangle was funny, touching and very realistic.

Harry and Ginny- well, I did have a little squirm in the cinema when they kissed. It was a bit too lovey dovey but then I am a cynic!! BUT FINALLY GINNY GETS HER MAN!! The scene where Ron first gets with Lavender was what was supposed to have happened between Ginny and Harry but there you go...


COMIC GENIUS: Now, the comedy factor must not be ignored. It was actually belly-achingly funny! Ron/Rupert Grint was the comic masterpiece in this to Draco's emotional turmoil. The contrast between the two ensured that we do get the idea that a dark threat is ever present but the comedy really does lighten up the situation verging at times to making the film seem like a great Rom-Com.
From Ron's tryouts for the Gryffindor Quidditch team to Ron swallowing the love potion and everything that entailed was used to its full potential. The entire cinema was laughing, chuckling and at times roaring with genuinely good fun comedy.

CONTRAST BETWEEN DARK AND LIGHT: As I have already mentioned the contrast to this is Draco and the dark cloud of evil always presence. The clever way the film flicked between darkness and light was really effective. Draco the poor lad (and yes you really do feel sorry for him) is falling apart in this film. Bellatrix is deliciously evil and Fenrir Greyback was truly terrifying but I think underused- I look forward to him in the next two films being used more. Small touches like the Death Eaters testing the boundaries of Hogwarts as they try to get in shows that the school is very much under threat. Larger touches such as the Weasley's house being burnt down (not in the book!!!) does show how easy the Death Eaters nearly got to Potter and how they can punish the "blood traitors" if they so wish. It was shocking but it did serve its purpose. However, what is going to happen in the next book when Fleur and Bill get married huh?? I am sure the film writers have it all worked out... well they better had!!

Just a few more points before I round off.

I loved the Vanishing Cabinets. Great design.
I loved Professor Slughorn- not quite as described in the book, but Jim Broadbent was marvellous- the complete epitome of an eccentric, academic English professor. He was charming, crazy, amusing and pathetic all at once.

The Snape-Dumbledore relationship- perfect! I shall not reveal anymore on that one though... I do not want to be a spoiler!! OH SOD IT!! You could see the conflict in Snape's face as he killed Dumbledore. It was perfect. He so didn't want to kill him, and the audience getting a peep of Snape struggling against what Dumbledore has asked him is effective- we get to know Snape on a deeper level and at the same time are still mystified about who he really is.

The ending did annoy me a bit though. I think Harry should have been made not to be able to help Dumbledore- I was angry for him for not acting, but then he did as Dumbledore said- trusted him and followed his orders to the word, but I think if he was able to he would have tried to stop Snape. AND WHERE THE HELL WAS THE FUNERAL? WHAT ARE THEY DOING HAVING THAT WAND IN DUMBLEDORE'S OFFICE??? HUH??? WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO IN THE NEXT FILM???

I also wished that the film makers could have explained briefly why Snape was the half blood Prince- I had to explain it to my brother (whoops if I spoilt it for you- sorry guys :S) It was a good ending after Dumbledore had died- Snape stopping Bellatrix from hurting Harry yet the venom he still feels towards Harry because he is James Potter's son. I also liked Ginny comforting Harry whilst kneeling at Dumbledore's body and all the students and teachers light their wands and raise them to the sky to dispel the Dark Mark. That was a really great idea. And it is here that I admit I shed a tear. (But where was the funeral??)


So what next? I think I will see it again and blog about the things I may have missed the first time round. The set from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes shop to Borgin and Burke's shop, from Slughorn's house to Snape's house, the details of each set were as close to the book as humanly possible and at points the world of Harry Potter came to life.

Out of ten? I give this film ten :)

But then I would, wouldn't I?

Epic Fail/Win

EPIC FAIL 1: Okay, maybe not quite that epic but still... I still haven't started James Joyce AGAIN. It didn't fit in my bag on the way to Hatty's so it stayed behind. However "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova did fit in my bag. It is about history, vampires and books. What more can I say? A complete perfect book for me!!

I will do a little blog about it when I have finished methinks...

EPIC FAIL 2: driving post-driving test with the rentals = ARGH never again! It was like my first ever driving lesson all over again but without running over the wee child. However, on transporting myself to dance on Monday evening by MYSELF I was fine. I also have a list of errands to do today and I going to take my car out and give it a spin to do these errands.... however it does involve parking- ouch! I still haven't achieved parking within the lines as of yet. On the plus driving side, I have managed to reverse into our drive and avoid hitting the wall, fence and the other three cars on the drive so YAY!!

EPIC WIN 1: was my time well spent in Cambridge!! We had an excellent night out in which we managed to blag ourselves in free!! Vodka Revolutions whoop whoop! Had a bit of a boogie, I deftly dealt with some 30-something male pervs with a tact and polite approach of course and cheesy chips on the way home plus hare girly chats= epic win.
I punted... though I did end up finding myself doing it better whilst going "backwards". Personally I think they have been doing it wrong for years and that the right way was my way :P Then I did get stuck in a tree and the punt-stick-thing also got stuck in the tree and I was clinging to the boat-thing with my toes whilst trying to extract myself from the said tree. Hatty kept paddling forwards so the boat was very close to leaving me in the tree!! After untangling myself to the avid amusement of other (and more proficient) punters, we crashed into the bank and got stuck there. *EPiC FAiL* However it was the best fun I have had in ages! It was fun being a tourist. I have become so cynical whilst working at Windsor.

EPIC WIN 2: Bowling! I went bowling with my brother and rents for the first time in two years I think we worked it out as! It was great fun!! I hit like two strikes and a million squillion spares and won the first game!!! YAY!! I was really impressed though my mobile wouldn't take a photo so I could commemorate this victorious win! My dad was gutted as he is the usual big winner with a hundred strikes!! I nearly came last in out second game though. I still maintain the pint of beer in the interval was my downfall. I did manage coming second in the end because the boys cam joint first and I managed to his a couple of spares at the end to overtake Mam. Mama was not too amused. We had a real good time, and were a little naughty and had a Big Mac- it is the best Mac I have had in years- it was freshly made and MAN! could you tell!! We then had a game of pool in which the boys valiantly teamed up with one girl apiece. I potted the black ball extraordinarily well and won the game, but really me and mam were really BAD! haha... mam did miss the ball in fact of one occasion and I cheated so... good day all in all!

TODAY- I have a feeling will be an EPIC WIN. I AM GOING TO SEE THE NEW HARRY POTTER FILM!!!! YAY! THE WAIT IS OVER. I AM GENUINELY VERY EXCITED AND WILL OF COURSE BLOG THE NECESSARY DETAILS DOWN WHEN I GET BACK. Rob (brother) has kindly agreed to see it with me (but secretly he has been watching all the bits and pieces on TV before I have and he is already trying to guess who the half-blood prince is). We are also going for all you can eat Chinese before too so this is going to be great!!

Regressing to childhood... Reading Children's Books

Reading Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Little Princess and The Secret Garden not so long ago alongside Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories was great! Prompted by OF's blog on authors I feel comfortable with I thought about Burnett's books, which, having just read, was on my mind.

It was comforting and reminded me of being a child. I also re-read Harry Potter recently as I blogged about... sadly that was not really in my childhood; more my teenage years. However, the point I am trying very inarticulately to get to is: DIG OUT OLD CHILDHOOD FAVOURITES and give them a re-read! It is the most comforting thing in the world...

It has all the basics of a good plot, needs little thought and great characters = mega enjoyment and full relaxation!

Harry Potter, my one constant in turbulance

I feel I have neglected to write about my one constant and solace in this blog, and as the title of this blog shows their time to shine has arrived... yes, indeed it is the multi-million or rather billion pound character: HARRY POTTER.

Now, I had only just begun to get into reading through the 'Babysitters' books and the Judy Blume young teen reads at around the time the first Harry Potter book became famous (Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone for those of you who don't know). I was given it by my best mate who I had known since I was three years old at dance and went to both primary and secondary school with. At that time I didn't know that she would later be the bane of my existence at school whilst she and my group of mates decided they didn't like me anymore on a whim and as childish behaviour goes made my life hell. With all my friends 'turned to the dark side' as it were, I was left alone. (By the way, please no heartstring violins, this is just a true account of events from my rather biased and probably still slightly bitter opinion!!)

Now Harry had entered my life and I was grateful. I sat reading in the library devouring each word, the witty repartee between the three main characters, the tussle with Draco Malfoy and the adventures they experienced rather wishing I could be at Hogwarts rather than my school. Now it was here that I met a fellow 'reject', who sat in the library avoiding those who are far too cool to ever enter the library even to pick on the wimps!! Now, we bonded in our mutual geekiness and our new founded love of reading Harry Potter. She loved to criticise it and I loved to praise it! We rocked around the school in our own world, okay so it was mainly hanging out in the library with Mrs Lord, the generally hated librarian, who gave us the newest books she had just bought and recommended some of the best books in the world I have ever read. (Well they were poignant at the time!!)

I missed out the second book for some reason and I read the third book first, then when my brother got the second one for Christmas and I saw it was being abused i.e. being used to prop up his various piles of junk in his room, I stole it and read it! It was amazing! Even better than the first I thought! The adventure was getting even more dangerous!! But I am not entirely sure that was what captured my heart. I held a bias for this book because it beat being me hands down! True, I didn't have a psychopathic wizarding killer after me but sometimes I thought at least I knew what I was fighting if I was in Harry Potter land.

It was the Christmas 2000 I received the fourth Harry Potter book as a present the following day my parents split up. The book was my comfort. It amazes me now how I can set my life against the publishing of the Harry Potter novels. In 2003 I believe the fifth book was published alongside this event, almost to the date, my parents got back together. Now I realise that it was just a coincidence, but believe me it was comforting to know that a fictional character though he might have been was having ups and downs of his own. In the meantime I learnt to almost memorise these four books with scarily accurate precision! thankfully now I have moved on to read other things and become slightly less obsessive!

Now I am rereading the Harry Potter series again for the umpteenth time and believe me I doubt it will be for the last time. I have worked out that they are still very much a part of me and I can see what I saw in them and I am still finding new bits out, discovering pieces that make me laugh and make me cry that hadn't before. Today, however, I read it for fun not for escapism (though arguably reading is escapism). I can set store my life by these books and I have been every character within them, starting with the bullied Neville Longbottom, to the comic and most insensitive of characters Ron Weasley, to Harry himself the head of the group, the troubled one and most prized, to feeling like Hermione, clever but not amazingly brave like Harry, or funny like Ron, to today where I know resemble a mix between Dumbledore and Snape. It is an awkward mix I should probably explain more but for the fear of exposing myself too readily on the internet I shall just say I have the ounce of badness that was in Snape, mixed with the warped pure desire to have what he loved, and then Dumbledore the quiet noble hero with somewhat of a blind spot, a habit to make grave mistakes and perhaps thinking he was too smart for his own good but otherwise is a good judge of character. It goes deeper... but let's leave it there tonight folks!

Overall, Harry Potter has been praised for its mastery in bringing kids literature back too life, for getting kids to read again and for mingling adult and children fiction in one. On the other hand, it has been damned in America for its heathen manners (hum... mebbe another blog is due on this!!) and by others for its poor literary quality and banal plotting etc etc. Either way you can't claim that all those millions of copies of books sold in many different languages, with the popularity it has made in book, film, game and merchandise that it cannot be a poor read. Something must draw the masses... perhaps each of us a personal attachment to the books and for that they should be praised and JK too for reaching to the child and adult alike!!

Signing off... Night XXX