My day
10:15am
First chapter of the day out the way! I'd forgotten how long they were in the Harry Potter books until I started rereading them, I must say. This one managed to run right from Oliver Wood's Quidditch fervour, through the revelation of Slytherin's new young Seeker, Ron's slug problem and Harry's detention with Lockhart, to the moment he first hears that terrible voice echoing in his mind. A VOICE EVEN MORE TERRIBLE THAN LOCKHART'S!
My thoughts on this chapter? Well, I found it very interesting that in the BOOK, both Ron and Harry (in the aftermath of the Cornish Pixie fiasco) and Hagrid (during the slug-a-thon) peg Lockhart as an outright liar. I'm fairly sure that doesn't happen in the film, presumably for a bigger shock factor when the truth comes out at that crucial moment later on. I also love the fact that Lockhart not only has loads of pictures of himself in his office, but HE HAS SIGNED SOME OF THEM. Such a glorious little detail that says so much about his ridiculous vanity. It's really a wonder he has time to, y'know, sleep. And eat. And do anything that doesn't involve admiring his own face.
8:30pm
Okay, so most of my day has involved decidedly non-bookish things like going through some of my dresser drawers, watching random York University videos on YouTube (why did I not think of this earlier?!), watching Charmed on E4, and sitting downstairs playing 'chase the squeaky mouse' with Domino. Yes, I am a prematurely middle-aged cat lady. And I'm okay with that. :)
I DID, however, read another chapter of HP2. I did NOT go back to Jane Eyre as I had planned. I'm starting to feel seriously guilty about that now, but it's just so much easier to drift back to Hogwarts for one more chapter than it is to get all buried in moral indignation at Thornfield. Maybe when I finish Chamber of Secrets I should make a concerted effort to get back into Jane Eyre before I start Prisoner of Azkaban. Assuage my guilt without breaking up the flow of TWO books...
So, what did I think of THIS chapter? First up, I registered the fact that the massive crash above Filch's office that saves Harry from detention is Peeves dropping a very valuable vanishing cabinet from a great height - is this THE vanishing cabinet? The one that has to end up in the junk roomy thingy in time for the events of Book the Sixth? I tell ya, J.K. Rowling must be a frickin' genius to have set up so many of these little hints and clues and plot devices so far ahead of time. GENIUS. Second thought of this chapter: Nearly Headless Nick's revolting death party food is the FIRST meal description that makes me want to run to the toilet instead of the fridge. So that's nice. Third thought (and I considered this in the movie too): does the basilisk actually emerge from the pipes/bathrooms of Hogwarts into the corridors in order to wreak havoc? Like, when it freezes Hermione and she's seen it in a hand mirror round a corner, that means it's in a corridor, right? HOW MUCH SCARIER DOES THIS THOUGHT MAKE THE BOOK? Couldn't some kind of magical surveillance have been put in place? It's kinda hard to miss this thing, I would have thought!
On that note - sleep well, kiddiwinks! Haha, oops. I'm off to make more hot beverageness of some kind, because I think I'm getting a cold. Which would explain those headaches, maybe. Also, I have to go to work early tomorrow to pick up some books en route, and I'm not very good at getting up early at the moment, so I'm hoping to combat this by going to bed stupidly early too. Wish me luck!
Movie trailer of the day
My sister showed me this last night, and it looks so good! She'd heard me describe Lia Habel's Dearly, Departed before (click here for my review), about zombie Bram, his relationship with human teen Nora, and their fight against 'bad' zombies - and when she saw this trailer she thought of me! She's right - there are definitely some similarities. It's called Warm Bodies, it's based on a book by Isaac Marion, and it stars Nicholas Hoult (aka The Hot One From Skins, or Little Marcus From About A Boy All Grown Up). Did I ever tell you that one of my best buddies at uni was the bully in that film? Oh, how we laughed... Anyway, watch the trailer. It looks fantastic!
I too have been wondering about the logistics of basilisks emerging from the pipes at Hogwarts into view of the students - and also just how big the pipes must be! These things bother me.
ReplyDeleteThere was a lad in the shop today who looked just like a Warm Bodies zombie. Not all decaying and suchlike, but had the same sort of clammy pallor and slouchiness and wouldn't meet the eyes. Then again, he could just be an unsociable teenager...
Hmmm. I can imagine the pipes being huge great things, it being a castle and all. I mean, there are bound to be at least a few massive main ones, particularly because Hogwarts is over 1000 years old. Pretty scary, the idea of a basilisk being out in a school corridor for even five seconds. I mean, bloody hell, no wonder everyone who'd been Petrified looked so... well, petrified.
DeleteOh yes, I get a few zombie teenage boys in here too. Pale and slouchy and communicating solely in dull grunts. It's an absolute PLEASURE to speak to them, it really is. So chatty and lively! ;)
Warm Bodies has recently gone on my wishlist after watching this trailer and an interview with Nicholas Hoult. I loved him in Skins. Did you know that he's dating Jennifer Lawrence? I'm a bit obsessed with them as a couple!
ReplyDeleteDidn't they just break up? (I only know that because I saw an article about how he was obviously not broken-hearted because he was draped across his WB co-star at the premiere... Thanks for that, Google!).
DeleteHe was cute in Skins, I agree. I'm getting the book from the library so I can go see it at the cinema with my sister, yay! :)
Once, when Andy and me left work at about 9.00pm and walked to the car (which, bear in mind, was parked in Leeds city centre!), there were about 20 people playing some kind of live zombie "game" where a few of them dressed up as mad scientists, a few of them were lurching around dressed up as zombies and the rest were running away from them and screaming and trying to get to some kind of package in the car park. I'm sure it was great fun for them (:-/) but it freaked me the HECK OUT while I was just trying to get to my car! And it reminded me that I'm rubbish with zombies so maybe I won't be rushing to watch Warm Bodies, no matter how much I love Nicholas Hoult...I might read the book though!
ReplyDeleteAnd also, I know that a lot of people aren't keen on CoS but I love it. I'm in the Dobby Is Good camp and I love the spooky basilisk parts so I'm a fan :)
Ohhh, I've heard about those Zombie events. Did you know they also do Zombie Runs, which 'encourage' you to exercise by turning your running experience into a zombie nightmare. Yeah, you run, zombies chase you, and there are obstacles and stuff. I just know that at some point I would totally panic and burst into tears. If I hadn't keeled over after 100m, obviously. I DO NOT DO RUNNING.
DeleteThe movie looks so sweet! YES I rather like CoS. I like the Parseltongue thing, and the 'Is Harry related to Slytherin' mystery. I think you'll like TODAY'S journal if you're a Dobby fan - he cried in today's chapter and I melted like a total sap. :)
That movie actually looks good. I saw that trailer and couldn't help but fall in love with the premise and the characters already!
ReplyDeleteRight?! Usually the sign of a good movie, I find. It looks sweet and funny and probably a bit moving, all my favourite things. :)
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