Harry Potter Small Group

 We have a new small group at my church...it's finding God in Harry Potter. We're going to be watching the films (reading the books would take too long) and discussing the Christian symbolism in them. We had our first meeting last Sunday and I know this will not only be fun for us HP nerds in the group, but it will be informative for the parents of kids who are cautious about the witchcraft and wizardry in the books.
  Because there's been such a backlash in the Christian community about these books I think taking a closer look at them can make all the difference in the world. 


   All that said, I'm very excited and can't wait to get start....although I'll probably skip the 3rd movie...it sucks!

Pirates, Chicken Alfredo and Housesitting...

I'm at Paul and Amber's house again this weekend (just for the day and overnight). They went up to Pismo and didn't take Shelby (the dog) so she and I have had a laid back day of movies, food and car washing. Speaking of car washing, the worst part of washing your car is after it's all said and done...and you come back to it later and a bird has already defaced it (....several times!).
Today was a great day, I made brownies, watched the American President and the Notebook (for the first time) cooked for myself, washed my car and some clothes and now I'm wrapping up the night with a little Pirates of the Caribbean. I've also cleaned the kitchen (they thought the cleaning lady was going to come before I got here, but she called and cancelled at the last minute, so if I wanted to cook, I had to clean...) it wasn't that bad, just plates and glasses, they ate out last night so I didn't have to worry about pots and pans.
Anyway, work this week was okay. I'm not looking forward to this up coming week, but this month starts my summer swing off right...next week Star Trek beams into theaters and I don't know about you but Zach Quinto looks hot with Vulcan ears! It would only be better if Lt. Commander Data was in it, but since this is a movie only involving the o.g. characters I'm kind of assed out on that. In a couple of weeks it's No Doubt, then Comic Con, my birthday and Vegas baby...and in between some babysitting opportunities and more house sitting! I'm so looking forward to this summer, it should be really cool.

Until Next Time....WAY IS THE RUM GONE!

Movie of 2009

So you all know how much I love movies, how I enjoy going to the theater and letting the film engulf me into it's storyline. So at the beginning of every year I go on to Movies.com (which was taken over by fandango and now sucks!) and see what movies are coming out. I then do my research and decided what movies I want to see. I calendar them and make notes about if I'm willing to go out to IMAX or opening weekend to see them. It's a very involved process.
There are movies that I hear about years before and wait patiently to see, and then there are some I have no desire to see until a commercial or trailer sparks my interest. Also, some actors I will always go see in films...Angelina, Keira, Johnny, Orlando, Jennifer G. (not to be confused with any other Jennifer's), Natalie, Shia etc. . Then there are stories that interest me that will always have my attention. Over all I'm pretty interested in all types of films dramas, comedies, girly, action....kick ass movies and movies that make me smile. The biggest drawback is a movie you think will rock but sucks and you end up wanting your money back, but I've seen many more movies that I loved then ones I've hated.
With all that said, below are the movies I'm interested in seeing this year. Maybe you'll go see them too.

1. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
2. Bride Wars
3. Confessions of a Shopaholic
4. The International
5. Madea Goes to Jail
6. Transformers 2
7. Star Trek
8. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
9. X-Men Origins: Wolverine Watchmen!!!
10. Knowing
11. Fast and Furious
12. Angels and Demons
13. Terminator Salvation
14. Public Enemies
15. 2012
16. New Moon
17. The Princess and the Frog
    

Twilight

Okay , I mentioned before that I read this book series this past summer, well I loved it and the only reason I found the books was because of the movie. Now, at first I thought the trailer looked stupid but after reading the books and whose going to be on the soundtrack and seeing like 5 different trailers, I'm completely excited about it. In fact I'm so excited that every time I see a new trailer or commercial I get even more excited.

I only know two people who have actually read the book (twilight) and a ton of others who want to read it...so I have a question. Who wants to go see the movie.

With less than a month away (22 days to be exact) til opening weekend, we are running out of time to make good plans to see this movie. Honestly I would love to see it on opening weekend but I'm not trying to beat up anyone. I enjoy my movie experiences way too much for me to see it with a 100 screaming teenage girls and their screaming middle-aged moms (check out the twilight moms website, they're out there). So I might wait and go the week after opening, but I'm excited and if anyone wants to go see it with me. Let me know I'll be there!

Harry Potter, July 2009

So, here are some things you should know about me....(don't worry I'll get to the title of this post soon enough).
I'm the oldest child of Randal and Shirley Slayton, my parents have been together 31 OR 32 years. I have one sibling named Randal Jr. and I've lived and gone to school in East Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, City Terrace all my life.
I sing and write and make a fool out of myself on a regular basis and I love the people around me, even if I don't tell them enough. I wouldn't allow you in my life if I didn't love you! I love to listen to music...some of my earliest memories involve music, because my father is a musician. I love to read and I love to watch movies.
Reading and movies are the same thing to me...if a book is done right, while you read it, there should be a picture in your head continuously playing out what you read like a movie. It should take you away from the place you are and transport you into the world the author has created. In that same token, a movie does the same thing. I love movies because I can be completely lost in a world I don't belong to. Sometimes its an epic adventure, sometimes its heartache, sometimes love. But all these things are wonderful stories that sweep me away to a place where nothing else matters for a short amount of time.

Some of my favorite books have recently been turned into movies....Lord of the Rings, Twilight (which is a new favorite, but still I couldn't put the book down) and of course, the Harry Potter Saga. I learned with LOTR that I can't be disappointed with a movie version of a book, I have to learn to appreciate it on a separate plain. It's different and that's okay, as long as the director is trying to stay true while, trying to deliver his/her best work.
I love the LOTR Trilogy and am grateful for the work Peter Jackson did on it, and for the fact the he tried to stay as true as possible while also trying to deliver a great film/s. Even though my love for the Harry Potter Universe runs as deep as the world of Arda, I am not quite so in love with all of the HP movies like I am with LOTR.
I understand that WB couldn't hire the same director to do all 7 (or 8) HP films, but I do question some of their choices. For Prisoner of Azkaban, WB hired Alfonso Curion, who had won great acclaim for his work the year before, but it seemed to me like he took the previous movies and book and threw them out the window turning the HP world into a horrible reinterpretation of itself. He jacked up the timeline and confused people, even those of us who read the book! Even though his misguided attempt made money, I am sad to say that I refuse to watch the movie when it's on. That is my least favorite HP movie, but it seems like later directors took their lead from that third film and started building theirs on top of the shady foundation. A joke I think, even though the material does get darker, big things changed that just don't make sense (I'm not going to get into them cause this is already long!).
Now, I don't agree with everything done in the movies, but I do plan my year around when the next HP is coming out (I know, it's sad). This year there where only a handful of films I knew I wanted to see when we rang in the new year....

Prince Caspian
Wanted
The Dark Knight
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

You all now that I was upset that I hadn't seen a trailer, but rejoiced when I finally did. Now I hear that the last movie of the year (beside twilight) that I wanted desperately to see has been pushed back to July 2009! The blame is being put on the write strike! But I think that just a bunch of crap! It's about the money. The WB has made enough money to cover the misguided and horrible Speed Racer, The Dark Knight and now Harry Potter.
They have made the money back that they spent on those films and now don't feel like they need to put Harry out now, save to make money next summer. Well that sucks, you can't have one of you two biggest franchises list for a year as coming out a certain day, give us fans a trailer and then say "Well you know, maybe next year!" This isn't the world series this is even more important especially to people like me, who go to the movies and enter a world to lose themselves and forget about their troubles.
I'm so disappointed!

Vulnerability

I was just watching this movie called "In the Land of Women", the mother in that movie gets breast cancer and they show her in the hospital with a head scarf on talking to her daughter. It brought me back to a moment in my life where I felt completely helpless...a moment I've never spoken about before.

When I was in High School, 10th or 11th grade, my mom had to have surgery...it was major surgery and she was in the hospital for a few days. I knew she was having the surgery and both she and my dad told me it was routine and okay. Ultimately she was going to be fine, but she needed this in order to be healthy. I understood and went about my life as normal, I understood the seriousness of it all but wasn't really concerned because I trusted my parents. I trusted my parents, but was not completely prepared for the moment I saw her laying in the hospital bed.
I don't know how most people feel when they see their parent/s at their most vulnerable moment, but for me it was so shocking and sickening that I didn't know if I should cry or scream.
I walked into the room and saw my mother in a way I had never seen her before, a way I never want to see her in again! She was disheveled, weak, hooked up to machines and barely able to move. I remember she had a morphine drip for the pain, which terrified me, because even then I knew morphine was not something you messed with. But how much pain could she be in if the doctors put this in her?I asked if she could become addicted, but was assured that she wasn't getting enough to cause any trouble.
We sat in the hospital for a couple of hours with her until we had to leave. I held myself together, but closed into myself, I couldn't handle the reality I saw...that someday my mother, my strong, loving, invincible mother...wasn't invincible and one day I would be in this world without her. One day she would die. It was a daunting thought and I've never been the same since that night. I had already had several traumas in my life by that point, but I think that this one opened my eyes to the world I didn't see. I think that in a lot of ways I became an adult that night. An unwilling participate in a world where my mommy wouldn't be able to protect me forever.
And still, now more than 10 years later, I'm still fighting against that ache in my heart and that memory in my head.

Ask and you shall receive

The trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is now online...and I figure out how to upload it on here so here's the link....enjoy!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwNpg_xj6ck

Harry Potter and the Half blood Prince

As some of you may know, I ADORE the Harry Potter series...although I wasn't allowed to read them in some peoples company (Momma Maria). So every year I look forward to either a new book or movie. And well as most of us know the Harry Potter story came to an end last summer, but we still have some movies to look forward too.

Warner Bros., well at least this is what the HP fansites said, put out a press release saying that the new teaser trailer for HP/HBP would be out with the Dark Knight. I can understand that, i heard from some that they saw it and from others that they didn't (go figure). But for the life of me, I can't find anything about it on line and the WB hasn't put up the new site either.

I know I'm jumping the gun a little, but come on, the movie comes out in November, I NEED something to get me through til then...my next major movie fix is HARRY. And I'm stating to get all itching...it doesn't help that I've run into a snag with the summer reading, but only until Saturday!

Oh, I guess I just have to wait!

Lord of the Rings

So, I was in the midst of a Lord of the Rings marathon...but I had to give it up...I started watching the extras (I have the special edition versions of each movie...4 discs each, two for the movie, two for extras) their fantastic and even though I've seen them at least 50 times, I still have to watch them.

Then I found out today that my lovely friend Kristi is having a LotR themed birthday party...FANTASTIC...I'm not sure if I can go but I know it'll be wonderful.!

Inspired by "A New World"

She mourns him at the feet of the river and covers herself in the warm ash of an old fire.
I'm sad for her, I'm sad for her life and the love she lost because of a lie. The light of the sun shines on her but all she sees is the darkness of death that chills her skin and and breaks her heart.
Her tears stream down her face and she does not care enough to wipe them away.
You can look into her eyes and see that she will never be the same.
Years have passed, moments have lingered and still her eyes show her loss.
She is married now, but her love for him who was lost is all the fills her heart.
But she now has hope...hope in her child, hope in the life she has helped to create, the son that will fill her heart with the love she lost so long ago.
She plays with him, chases him, feeds him...reads to him.
Teaches him the world through her eyes.
But still in her heart she still mourns at the feet of the river longing for the love she's lost.

Lord of the Rings Marathon

Hallo Shire Folks,

Today Eden Grace and I had our second movie marathon day. The first one we had was last year and we watch the Harry Porter Movies, well today we watched all three Lord of the Rings movies and not just the theater versions either. We watched the extended versions of each movie. We've both seen all these movies several times, but thought that it would be great to just sit and watch them all back to back to back.
We started at 10 am with a brief breakfast and turned the first movie on at 10:30. We sat and ate popcorn, m&ms, pastries, chips and dip and we drank, water, soda and juice. My mom and brother watched the movies too, but they didn't sit with us.
Eden's favorite character in the films is Legolas and I really like Gandolf. Although Legolas is my favorite in the book and I'm partial to Elijah Wood out of character.
Our Marathon day went way into the night and we finished up at about 11pm. I didn't cry at the end of Return of the King like I usually do, but it was still good. We dropped Eden off and except for everyone involved having gas I think we had a great adventure in Middle Earth.

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us take over the living room and and thank Randal for not eating all our food. Thanks to the Fenwicks for letting me steal their kid and thank you Eden for spending a great day with me.