Off-topic randomness - a place to ramble?

[Captain Brain]

Oh, and talk about vmk invading your real life... Every time they said "Yule Ball" i couldnt help but picture Mal and Canadian and think about the next mule ball lol.

I will probably think that when I go see it tomorrow.Every time I here Kingdom,I want to shout "Vmk where?"

 

[MiakodaWDW]

I see your point...I know that they had to cut a lot of corners to fit the whole story in, but it just felt way too rushed for me. You can really tell it has a different director too...he changes the entire feel.

I have one thing to ask you....PLEASE read the rest of the books! You can still enjoy the movies (I have the first 3 on DVD and watch them all the time) but ESPECIALLY if you have already read 1-3...and especially now that you have seen GOF....please go out and get GOF and read it! Not to mention the next two...the later books are the better ones and you will have so much more understanding of the whole story if you read GOF that you would from just seeing the movie (hint: Rita Skeeter is more than she seems...House Elves have rights, too!...and you may want to get to know the character of Fleur Delacour a little better...)

I can enjoy the movies and not get too upset about this one. I have cooled down since last night . But seriously, if you like to read, get back into reading the books. You can find them pretty cheap (used) on Amazon. com! It's where I buy all my books. I got my fiance into reading them (he didn't want to..but I told him "just read the first one and if you don't want to continue, you don't have to") I think within 2 months he had read 1-6....back to back....he hardly ever put them down! These books are not just for kids, and if you like to see Harry growing as a person (as well as the others), you will have a much fuller understanding of everything from the books.

Sorry for the diatribe...but I am a big fan of reading (everything!) and HP is too wonderful NOT to read from start to finish.

BTW, another great book series for both kids and adults (more directed at children than the HP books...but I really enjoy them and so does my fiance...) is the Series of Unfortunate Events. There will be 13 in all (I think 12 is the next to come out) and I have read up to #6 or 7. If you've seen the EXCELLENT movie....it is based on the first 3 books. They are very short, I can read one or two in a day. I love the way Lemony Snicket writes! Great, great books. Sorry, I am such a nerd and reading nut.

~Mia~

P.S. Please PM me with what you and your DH think is going to happen in the last HP movie/book....I have an idea too and I want to see if you have the same one!

Well speaking as someone who only read the first three...

My DH and I went and saw this last night too. I walked out of the theater feeling the EXACT same way I did when I walked out, after seeing Two Towers....I don't want this to end!! I am in such love with the movies that I am glad (gasp) that I stopped reading the books.
Obviously not every character or situation is going to be able to fit into an appropriate time frame (especially for those younger children in the audience...-even though it IS PG-13!), but I think this is really my favorite movie (HP) by far.

It is understood that die-hard HP fans who love the books are honestly, bound to be disappointed continuously down the road. You (HP Book fans) have been reading and have a deep emotional connection to the different characters. As we go along, HP is going to be faced with many dark things (which makes your love for him grow deeper since it is more adult based...know what I mean?) and the books just seem to be getting longer and longer. A lot really is going to have to be cut which only sets you up to be upset at what was not included in the movie, instead of what the movie DID have.
I really am sorry you did not enjoy it. I for one, am excited by how the characters are really growing up. This was one of the many conversations DH and I had afterwards. It WILL be interesting how they will keep the movies PG-13 and under (if it ever goes back to G...highly unlikely IMHO) in the future. Also, how are they going to keep it kid-friendly?! There were quite a few scenes I was a little taken by last night (can we say...bubbles?! ), but since I am way over 13, I have no problems with it. Just curious how those out there with under 13s felt about those scenes. And seriously, we all know the road that will probably have to be taken during the last movie (well...DH doesn't think so, but we have a $10 bet on it ) so how are children going to react to this?

But I digress...this has been quite a long post and I need to grab breakfast before work. MiakodaWDW, I hope you have not given up yet on the HP movies...and for the rest, I really hope you do sit back and enjoy this very entertaining story!

 

[MiakodaWDW]

Not sure if this is too risque, but it is completely random:

Upon hearing that her elderly grandfather had just passed away, Katie went straight to her grandparent's house to visit her 95-year-old grandmother and comfort her. When she asked how her grandfather had died, her grandmother replied, he had a heart attack while we were making love on Sunday morning." Horrified, Katie told her grandmother that two people nearly 100 years old having sex would surely be asking for trouble. "Oh no, my dear," replied granny. "Many years ago, realizing our advanced age, we figured out the best time to do it was when the church bells would start to ring. It was just the right rhythm. Nice and slow and even. Nothing too strenuous. Simply in on the Ding and out on the Dong." She paused to wipe away a tear, and continued, "He'd still be alive if the ice cream truck hadn't come along."

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MAY be a little risque for the DIS...but I am dying over here. That is great!
I will tell that one.
~Mia~

I have a very cool puzzle for you guys to try. It will drive you crazy, but please do not cheat. Trust me, it's so worth it when you finally figure it out. My friend cheated (you CAN find the solution if you search online...) and she was SO mad at herself. It's SO cool!

Go here first to read the story behind it: http://www.borrett.id.au/computing/petals-bg.htm

Then go here to try it yourself! http://www.borrett.id.au/computing/petals-j.htm

You will want to read the story before you try it, just to get an idea of what it's about. Read the whole thing: the last few lines about what Bill Gates wrote on a napkin are very important and you will see why it's funny once you have figured this out.

Even though you are only supposed to know 3 things about this game, as stated in the Bill Gates story: I will tell you this. You do not have to be a math whiz or even know anything about math at all. Smarter people (like Gates) tend to take longer to figure this out, so if you are stumped, feel intelligent!

And if you figure it out, PLEASE do not post the answer here or anywhere....it's one of the most important of the 3 rules of the game...you cannot give away the answer!!!!

~Mia~

 

[MiakodaWDW]

OK make sure you check out my previous post, it's cool.

I have a "poll" of sorts. My hair is long and red now, like in my sig picture. I'm thinking about going short and blonde again (my natural color), tomorrow or maybe next week sometime. I would like some opinions on whether or not I should do this! I like it short, but it has been growing for so long I'm kinda scared to cut it again.
Check out this old picture, its about what my hair would look like if I change it (except for the bangs, I would have short pieces in front but no bangs...I know they look bad). But the length and general style is what I would be going for. Sorry it's such a goofy pic but it's the only one I could find with the hairstyle I'm thinking about going for.
Your opinions are greatly appreciated! you can PM me if you want so this thread won't be taken over with junk about my hair.

Yes, I realize my tongue is hanging out in every picture. Like I have said before, I am a weirdo. But MOST people do not have a problem with the tongue ring




Thanks!
~Mia~

 

[CoughCoolGhoul]

Mia and I were both expecting them to cut out a LOT of stuff, but in my opinion they cut out way too much. I know that there are time issues involving movies, but I think this bodes as a bad omen for the rest of the movies.

I don't think that anything in the movie was too controversial to children, you have to put it in perspective. I mean, how many 5 year olds are watching this movie, and how many of them understand what is going on? The first movie came out in 2001, you have to figure that the average age of the children seeing the movie was probably 8-11, at least the ones that understood the movie, or even paid attention to it, so by now most of those children would be 12-15. I think by 12 the bathroom scene with Myrtle isn't too shocking, and it's not like they're doing anything, it is all very innocent, and besides, she's a ghost.

There are things I was glad to see cut. We didn't need to see the entire World Cup match, we've seen plenty of Qudditch already, but we did need to see the Veelas.

We definately didn't need to hear about SPEW. Totally unnecessary.

After reading all the books (except the last one for obvious reasons), I do think that it was very important to get to know Fluer better, know what happened to Percy, meet Bill, and know -- if not all of -- more about what happened with Barty Crouch.

And where was Winky and Dobby? I felt that they were critical to the story.

And why was Dumbledore such a raving madman in this one? He is never in such a state, not even in book 6.

Also, why was Krum acting so strange in the maze? I know, but can anyone else figure it out -- who hasn't read the book?

From the very beginning the movie felt extremely rushed and just didn't have the same Harry Potter kind of feeling about it, and I would be totally confused if I hadn't read the books.

I think this movie did accomplished a few things though: it did give us a pretty good introduction to Voldemort, and the vileness of the Death Eaters (at least Wormtail), it showed just how much you money you can spend on CGI effects in a relatively shallow movie, and it provided a very weak bridge for parents to link to their children regarding the story.

Honestly, I liked Jurassic Park 3 better than this movie, and that isn't saying much.

But what can you expect I guess, no 12-14 year old is going to sit through a 3.5 to 4 hour movie. In the future I'm just going to see the HP movies on DVD or in-demand.

 

[SorcMickey]

what would you do if this was your neighbor

http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM

(turn on your speakers)

 

[lab_girl]

what would you do if this was your neighbor
http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM
(turn on your speakers)

WoW!

That was amazing

 

[kitashus]

what would you do if this was your neighbor

http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM

(turn on your speakers)

Whoa, that is way cool. Does kinda remind me of my neighbors though (they aren't that creative though, just obnoxious).

 

[marypops!]

that video was really great
best thing to watch after a cross country run at school in freezing cold nearly about to snow for about 40 mins in shorts and t shirt getting lost half way through and getting dehydrated near the end

 

[Alyce]

what would you do if this was your neighbor

http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM

(turn on your speakers)

Thanks for sharing that....What would I do if it was my neighbor ?

Ask them to include my house in the production !

​

 

[pumpkinfish]

I love that!!! I am so jealous I am not advanced enough in Holiday Lighting Placement and Technology (HLPT for short) to even remotely come up with an idea like that! I really wish I had those skills...

 

[wdeversole]

I have a very cool puzzle for you guys to try. It will drive you crazy, but please do not cheat. Trust me, it's so worth it when you finally figure it out.

Great puzzle Miakoda - i figured it out. I puzzles.

 

[VirtuallyMe]

I'm a big time Harry Potter fan- even wrote some of my own fan fiction- and have read and re-read all the books more than once and books 1-4 probably more than 10 time- yeah I reread after each new book comes out- because when you know what to look for suddenly different little trivial things in the earlier books have all new meanings.

I went Friday to see the movie- went during the day while the kids were in school- mainly because of that PG13 rating I wanted to see what it was like before taking my 8yo who is "in love" with Harry Potter -lol

I have a different opinion about the movie- I actually liked it- but and that is a big but- I try to block out my expectations from what I read and watch the movie for the movie's sake. BTW I won't be bringing my 8 yo to the theatre I think this one was a bit too intense for her to see on the big screen- and she can watch it with me in our living room when the dvd is released in the spring.

Yeah I think I do agree with you on the absense of some things- Veelas, Winky, the real story of Barty Crouch, Jr., and I was most upset by the absense of Charlie and Bill and especially Percy= So much in that book comes out later that I can't believe it was omitted from the movie. For Instance- Snape showing his dark mark to the minister of magic to prove that Voldemort is back and Dumbledore calling for the "old gaurd" to be notified which is sort of important to lead into the fifth story lol. Oh and Rita Skeeter- she isn't in a jar for the summer now? what was up with that lol

I think all the movies were writen in a way that assumes that the viewer has read the books- because there is so much that has been left out in all of them- (I think the second movie followed that book the closest and still was off lol)

And the third movie - can we say "super Hermione" lol - that was my favorite book and so much was off in the movie that if I had looked at it only for that I would have hated the movie.

But if you look at this movie as a stand alone movie - it is really good at portraying a lot of emotion and undercurrent that would have been hard to show in a movie. And book five will have more trouble since lots of what is in book five is thought. And as much as some of the differences upset me in book three I loved the feel of the movie.

This last one doesn't dwell on the magical world so much- they aren't showing you so much new and incredible things in the story -but they are leading you up to future movies just as the books lead you to future books- things aren't nice and tidy- this is just part of a story a really long story- lol

And I liked the story- I wish I had seen it with someone else to discuss it with immediately after the show- because I had lots of emotions running around. And yes- had I seen it with other Harry Potter friends- the ones I know from the internet- I would have been more critical of the ommissions of things from the book that we all thought so important. But since I didn't do that I took the movie for what it is.

I do want to warn parents out there though- this movie does earn its PG-13 rating- and should point out the JK Rowling says she intends the books to be read by kids around the same age as Harry is in each one- at book four we are talking a high school freshman. I have a sister-in-law who has been reading the books to her kids- and I strongly cautioned her against reading book 4 to them and just shook my head when I heard she was reading book 6 to them this past summer (before she had read it herself). And I think there will be quite a few parents of young children who take their kids to this movie expecting something happy and fun and getting a pretty emotional wallup. In the time I saw the movie there were a few small kids- younger than my 8yo- most came in very excited- some began to play with other things and not watch the movie before it was halfway through- and two who looked to be about 6 yo girls were crying when we left- not sure if it was the movie or not- who knows mom could have said they couldn't have a candy or something- but they were upset.

But I did enjoy the movie for what it was and in the context of the other movies- now if I sat here and harped about things that were omitted or changed well- my opinion may change a bit. But I knew for this one there was lots that would have to be cut to get all the information in much less some of the fun stuff I wish they had included- but I am a bit surprised by some stuff that was omitted and/or changed- in the past JK Rowling has always been consulted as to what is important to future story lines to make sure that critical parts (that you may not know are that important now) aren't omitted from the movies- so now it makes me wonder if all those things that were left out won't matter in the future.

I was thinking that Dobby and Winky were probably left out because of the fact that Kreacher will be in the next movie and they don't want it to look too old when they do that... but some of the other things- well it certainly is making me think and rethink some of my predicitions for the last book.

BTW- Book 4 is what triggered my fan fiction- at least the first chapter did lol- I sort of took off from there when people asked me to continue what was supposed to be a one shot story- but never did finish it... sigh- I got lazy and book five beat me to the finish line and then I had no desire to go on any more...

 

[MiakodaWDW]

Is anyone gonna try this??? Besides wdeversole? It's cool, please play!!!
Also I need opinions on my hair choices on the previous page of this thread. Please help, I am unable to make decisions. It's a heriditary thing.

I have a very cool puzzle for you guys to try. It will drive you crazy, but please do not cheat. Trust me, it's so worth it when you finally figure it out. My friend cheated (you CAN find the solution if you search online...) and she was SO mad at herself. It's SO cool!

Go here first to read the story behind it: http://www.borrett.id.au/computing/petals-bg.htm

Then go here to try it yourself! http://www.borrett.id.au/computing/petals-j.htm

You will want to read the story before you try it, just to get an idea of what it's about. Read the whole thing: the last few lines about what Bill Gates wrote on a napkin are very important and you will see why it's funny once you have figured this out.

Even though you are only supposed to know 3 things about this game, as stated in the Bill Gates story: I will tell you this. You do not have to be a math whiz or even know anything about math at all. Smarter people (like Gates) tend to take longer to figure this out, so if you are stumped, feel intelligent!

And if you figure it out, PLEASE do not post the answer here or anywhere....it's one of the most important of the 3 rules of the game...you cannot give away the answer!!!!

~Mia~

 

[marypops!]

yes i have tried out the puzzle but i think i know how to do it and just when i'm getting it right i get one wrong

so still trying

 

[MiakodaWDW]

VirtuallyMe, about your fanfic....did you not finish it? I would like to read it...I got into reading a fan fiction (about another Magic School like Hogwarts with different characters) written by a girl of 18 on IMDB. From her writing, I would have guessed her age to be about 11 or 12. I was amazed that she was 18! Not that it was a BAD story...just seemed childish in its wording.

ANYWAY....if you don't mind I would really like to read one written by an adult, if would like to send it to me! Even if it's incomplete. I can PM you my email address if you want (or it may be on DIS...I don't remember).

On a side note, CoughCoolGhoul is writing a zombie story, loosely based on George Romero's films. He is either making it into like a diary form, or a novel. I told him he should make it a stage play, since I am into theater. I even joked that it could be a musical and he took me seriously! I can't wait until he is finished. I'm not into zombies like he is, but he is an excellent writer so it should be good. His best friend who owns a software company is even talking to him about making it into a video game!

~Mia~

 

[PurpleDuck]

what would you do if this was your neighbor

http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM

(turn on your speakers)

Whoa! Actually, I think those were my neighbors!

Thanks for sharing it!

 

[BuddyGenie]

what would you do if this was your neighbor

http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM

(turn on your speakers)

That's the Trans-Siberian Orchestra playing, isn't it?

 

[debbiedoo]

what would you do if this was your neighbor

http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM

(turn on your speakers)

Trans-Siberian Orchestra -- saw them here in the ATL -- greatly recommend if you have the opportunity

Wizards in Winter -- can be found on The Lost Christmas Eve -- release date oct 12, 2004(front of CD snowglobe with electric guitar in globe)

I own several of their music--will not be disappointed with any of it

 

[lajones81]

what would you do if this was your neighbor

http://media.putfile.com/WizardsofWinter-SM

(turn on your speakers)

So awesome!!!!!

I love that!!! I am so jealous I am not advanced enough in Holiday Lighting Placement and Technology (HLPT for short) to even remotely come up with an idea like that! I really wish I had those skills...

HLPT! LOL! You are too much girl!