It's official...

The threat was there, the forecasts were made, but still, I was not prepared for this day. This special day reserved for only one day out of each year. Now there has been some speculation as to the determining factors of this day, however after much careful consideration and observation it is official.

CONGRATULATIONS OCTOBER 10th! You have hereby become officially earned the distinction of being my LEAST FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR for 2009!



*For those of you wanting to know why this day has earned this special recognition it is simply this: SNOW!!!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince review

The much anticipated sixth installment of the Harry Potter saga has finally arrived and I, along with probably millions of other nerds, was in attendance for the midnight release, as I have been for the majority of the films. This, however, is the first time I have had a blog so I figured I would again join the ranks of millions and offer my humble opinion of the film.

SPOILER ALERT: DISCONTINUE YOUR READING OF THIS BLOG IMMEDIATELY IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO KNOW THE ENDING OF THIS MOVIE

Before I begin I will say that I long ago gave up hope that the movies would stay true to the books, and the people who constantly complain about there being so much left out need to come to grips with reality. Movies rarely live up to the books they are based off of. It's just the way things go so get over it and move on.

Ok, here we go...

I think the movie starts out pretty strong with the whole Death Eaters reeking havoc thing. My only criticism (and this comes from Order of Phoenix as well) is that the Death Eaters are flying...isn't that something that only Voldemort is supposed to have accomplished (according to Deathly Hallows)?

Bring on Daniel Radcliffe. I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. There's a little more professionalism in his acting and I'm liking it. Still not sold on Michael Gambon as Dumbledore though. Oh well. Actually I think all of the returning actors have a little bit more finesse in their approach to their respective characters.

Enter what is soon realized as the main focus of the movie: awkward teen romance. I actually thought they pulled this off brilliantly...in large part due to the improvements in their acting. The comedic relief that this brings to the story is refreshing and I'm guessing the writers focused on this aspect of the story to bring some light to an otherwise dark story (much like they tried in Prisoner of Azkaban). Jessie Cave is great as Lavender Brown.

Thank you for bringing back Quidditch. I thought Rupert Grint (Ron) was fantastic in the tryout scene and the game. Hysterical.

The surprise attack on the Burrow was random but the whole mystery and suspense of walking through the tall marsh grass and reeds was kind of cool. Totally unnecessary but I think they put it in because of what they took out at the end of the movie (more to come on that later).

I can't believe I'm saying this, and I hope my friend Mary doesn't read this, but I loved Tom Felton (Draco) in this movie. He's obviously got a more prominent role, but does a brilliant job of portraying the weight of the situation and the stress of the task that's been entrusted to him. It's enhanced by the comedy that the other characters are involved in but I think he does a great job in that role.

I loved the scene in the cave when Harry and Dumbledore were going after the horcrux. The inferi were awesome and I loved that pretty much the entire theatre knew one of them was going to grab Harry as soon as his hand went into the water yet the whole place jumped (myself included) when it happened. The underwater shot was magnificent and then Dumbledore raging with his fire power!!

So as I'm nearing the end of the movie I am actually really liking it. There are a few things I would have liked to see done differently:

1) I think they should have given just a little more time to introduce Fenrir Greyback, other than the brief sweep of the Wanted poster in Diagon Alley. People who haven't read the books will be confused as to who that big, out-of-character-for-a-Death-Eater, guy is. It's a great portrayal of him but who the heck is he?

2) I know you're not following the book exactly but can you at least get some of the small details right...Felix Felicis is GOLD!!!!!!!!! not clear. And you can't apparate on the Hogwarts grounds!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr...that should have been an easy one.

3) I was really hoping they would spend some more time on Harry diving into (literally) the life of Tom Riddle before he was Voldemort. It was such a fascinating part of the book and I think plays such a crucial role in Harry's quest to find the horcruxes during Deathly Hallows. Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Frank Dillane are awesome as the young Tom Riddles. I wish we could have seen more.

Ok, on to the end of the movie. Basically they rushed it. I think they just ran out of time and tried to cram everything into the last few minutes like they had a time limit. The run time is right at about 2 and a half hours...add the stinking extra half hour and get the ending right. I sat through 3 hours of King Kong!!! I can most certainly sit through an extra 30 min of Harry Potter...especially given the intensity of the end. I really wanted that battle at Hogwarts with the Order of the Phoenix members coming in.

In every movie Harry always seems to recklessly but bravely run into a dangerous situation, which he does at the Burrow (see above), but when it counts the most, when his hero, the man he looks up to pretty much as a father, the man he's sworn his undying loyalty to time and time again is in mortal danger, he passively sits on the sidelines and watches him die simply because Dumbledore asked nicely and said "Please." NO!!!! I wanted him to be pissed, horrified, angry, upset, furious, etc. etc. because he was detained against his will.

And then the flight of Severus Snape...OMG, he's the half-blood prince? Oh well. Move on. End of movie. WHAT?!?!? That should have been the pinnacle!! The book/movie are named for that moment and it lasted all of like 5 seconds...are you kidding me!!!???

Wow! So yeah, like I said before, I was really enjoying the movie right up until Dumbledore and Harry got back from the cave. It was all just so anti-climactic and sadly the ending for this book is almost more dramatic and significant than the ending of Deathly Hallows. I just hope they don't screw that one up.

So anyway, that is my long-winded review of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I am definitely going to see it again, and it will be in my movie collection as soon as it is released on DVD. Was I disappointed? A little. But overall, very good movie!!

taking a look back

I started this journey back in January and as usually happens with my journaling, I haven't been very good about regularly posting. Oops!

Ok, so in January I signed up for the Hy-Vee Triathlon, something I've never really even thought I would do and let me tell you it's been a fun and crazy ride. I don't want to even count the number of hours I've spent training for this thing and now it's finally here. In 2 days I will race in what's quickly becoming one of the biggest triathlons in the country. Crazy!!!

The last couple weeks have been, well not exactly what I had hoped for. Around the beginning of June I started to feel a little lag in my training. I was getting tired and unmotivated to do the work I needed to do. June 14 I ran my first triathlon...a sprint tri which was basically half the distance of the Hy-Vee Tri. There were several things about racing that I had no idea what I was doing so it was really an experimental race. I survived, had a decent time, but more importantly figured out things that I needed to work on to be ready for this weekend. I was excited to get out and train hard for a couple days to work out the kinks in my race. Plans changed...

Tuesday of last week I was playing Ultimate Frisbee with friends from church. I went sprinting hard after the disc and felt this really sharp pain in the back of my leg. Crap! I just pulled my hamstring. Hamstring pulls can be pretty nasty so I was forced to take it easy for the last couple weeks and as a result I haven't had the chance to work on the things I wanted to work on. So going into this weekend I've been pretty stressed out thinking my entire race is going to be ruined.

Now hold on a minute...

I haven't been training for the last 5.5 months to have 1 not so hot week ruin it. I'm fine. I'm going to race, but I was letting one lousy week negate 5.5 months.

How often do we do that with our faith lives. I know I do. If I have a partiularly rough day where I'm struggling with things or I give in to a temptation I know I shouldn't, I tend to let the guilt of that one situation dwell on me for days. What I fail to do is look back at what God did 2,000 years ago on the cross and what He has offered to me freely since my salvation...GRACE!!

God's Greatest Gift!!

God's greatest gift to mankind is His Son, Jesus Christ...

...closely followed by McDonald's Shamrock Shakes!!! Sad that they are only available for a limited time each year :(

Old Dog Trying to Relearn Old Tricks?

Sometimes I wish I wasn't brought up in a church. Sometimes I wish my childhood, teenage years and early adult life would have been a complete mess and then someone would have swept into my life, shown me the light and love of Jesus Christ so that I would have been saved when I knew what I was doing.

For me, growing up in the church (especially a traditional Lutheran one) has made the Bible and really everything about being a Christian, kind of...well...old hat, I guess you could say. Since I started going to the DTC, I've realized just how "old" my faith really is. So...I've been trying to make a conscious effort to change that.

I've started being intentional about starting my day in the Word but I still feel like it's the same old, same old. The Bible is the living, breathing Word of God, therefore each time we read it there really should be something new, just like all living organisms are in a constant state of change. However, I can't help but read the Bible and feel like it's the same, old story. It's humbling really...to be in this position. I won't say that it's enjoyable but I think it's a good place to be.

good times!!

So there was this young boy today who came into Prairie Life with his mother and he was not having anything to do with the day care center. He ran screaming through the club trying to get away from whatever evil was lurking through those doors (I'm sure that's what was going through his mind)...

Anyway, that reminded me of the time when I was younger and my family went to Disney World for the first time. We were standing in line for the Haunted Mansion ride and as we got towards the entrance they stopped the line right at our group so we were first in line. After waiting a couple minutes the doors opened up and a large (I was in fourth grade), creepy butler guy walked out and said (in a very eerie, think Dracula style voice), "Your time has come." Now my brother was in about preschool at the time and he was having nothing to do with this butler dude and his large, creepy mansion...and apparently nobody else was either cause he planted his feet, threw out his arms and wasn't going anywhere. Well, we eventually got him into the mansion and on the ride and then it gets to the part where you look in the mirror and one of your group members turns into a ghost. Guess who got turned into a ghost? Yep, my brother.

So yeah...random story but I got a chuckle reliving that little piece of history today.

Something to ponder...

So I've been reading the book The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning (HIGHLY recommend if you haven't read it already!!!) and I read something today that really made me think so I thought I'd share it...

We all know the "Golden Rule" and then there's Jesus' teaching of "whatever you've done to the least of these, you've done to me." In the book, Brennan brings up a reflection on this passage by Carl Jung. It says, "What if you discovered that the least of the brethren of Jesus, the one who needs your love the most, the one you can help the most by loving, the one to whom your love will be most meaningful - what if you discovered that this least of the brethren of Jesus...is you?"

Interesting...

Also, later in the book, Brennan is reflecting on the subject of failure and how we live in a society where failure is not looked at favorably. Then he offers this thought, which really hit home being the perfectionist that I am...what if God expects more failure from us than we expect from ourselves?