Harry Thought « anyways…

Harry Potter - Again

July 27, 2007 at 5:54 pm | In Harry Thought, Reading | No Comments

You know what I noticed today? I have a way to track visits to my blog. It records no personal information, just that the person was referred to my site by search terms, other web sites or if they just walked right in. It counts visits. I have had over 550 visitors since I opened the site! Cool!

What I really noticed is that the terms dealing with Harry Potter brought in more traffic. Indeed, a person on WordPress conducted a non-scientific experiment to see if he could drive traffic to his site by posting Harry Potter spoilers before the book was released (’er somethun li aat). So anyways…it’s true. Mention Harry Potter on your blog and get more attention! Hmmm…

So my Harry Thought of the day is…

What is JK Rowlings main point with the books, anyways? I think it is about this…Don’t judge. It doesn’t matter where the person comes from, how old, how much they know, or how different they are. The series is wrought with differences and how they can work together. The ugly fear of unknowns and death often divert our allegiance and trust. Don’t judge the person - it’s not your place. However, you must discern between good and evil. You have a choice. You can choose the right. Don’t judge a person’s ability to choose the right. Always, always forgive and believe in others. Keep trying. Which one or ones do you think are right? What is your view? Do you even have a view?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - DONE!

July 23, 2007 at 7:10 pm | In Harry Thought, Natter | 1 Comment

SOME OF THIS MAY BE SPOILERS FOR YOU. For your information, I am done with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It came at a terrible cost - sleep. I stayed up until 4am this morning reading it. I got up this morning to read the last 100 pages of the book! Some of my suspicions were true (e.g. Snape’s Loyalties, if Harry dies or not). What I didn’t know (e.g. what the Deathly Hallows were and how Voldemort would die and if Harry was a horcrux) fit nicely with what I did know. Things like Gryffindor’s sword and Dumbledore’s wand were explained - even the twin cores of the wands had meaning. Dumbledore’s brilliant, but has a checkered past we find out. I am particularly sorry for Snape. I feel a pang of regret come from Dumbledore, and an auxiliaration when I reread the ending. Job well done, Rowlings.!

Harry Potter, the Birds, Jobs, blah blah…

July 13, 2007 at 3:34 am | In Harry Thought, Movies, Natter, magic | No Comments

Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix reviews detail how I feel about the flick. I feel satisfied to have watched the embodiment of Rowling’s imagination, but I left wanting more. Then again, I put the book down wanting more. Harry walks around in a sort of stupor through the whole book - AND the whole movie. I loved watching Umbridge get mad and the students getting even. Nice to see the Centraurs doing their part. Neat special effects for Dumbledore’s battle with Lord Voldemort. I am waiting to see book seven next week.

The kids report that all the birds left the nest today. One even flew back up into the tree.

I interviewed with Orchard Park yesterday. It looks like they will do just fine at offering me a job tomorrow. We’ll see.

Speaking of Magic - HP - OoTP

July 11, 2007 at 3:59 am | In Caleb, Harry Thought, Movies, Natter, Reading | No Comments

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I am dying to see the movie. I know that it will start in 15 minutes. I missed the one o’clock door opening to buy the midnight showing tickets. They sold out in minutes. I’ve been able to think of nearly nothing except Harry Potter these last few days. I asked a friend to borrow the first 3 movies so I can catch up. I have the Goblet of Fire, so I didn’t need to borrow that one. I am now caught up and ready to watch the fifth movie. However…book seven (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) is coming out soon. I’ve read all the books thusfar. I think Dubledore will come back, Snape is good and Harry will not die. Ron will kick the bucket and Voldemort will of course be destroyed. Those are my predictions. I know that I’m 30-something and I shouldn’t focus so much on such frivolity - but one of me gifts (and sometimes weaknesses) is that I can get completely lost and involved in a story, book or movie. My mind drips of the imaginary and unimaginable. THings that we don’t naturally see come to life in my mind. I like it.

Caleb has this gift - but it’s uniquely his own (as most things are for him). He devoured The Sorcerers Stone and didn’t finish HP and the Chamber of Secrets. THe deal we made is that he reads the books, then he watches the movies. He’s seen the first, but as of yesterday morning he hasn’t seen the second. Well, I let him watch what he read from the second book and now he’s finishing it. He wants to see what happens. When he picked the book back up, he remembered that he was in chapter eleven…half-way through it. Oh my…he remembered that without a bookmark. Ok that’s not sooooo strange (even after 6 months or so). No problem. However, He knew each part in the movie and described the upcoming parts of the movie with great anticipation. He remembered EVERYTHING from the book when he was only lightly interested. EVERY little detail was precisely recalled…he even pointed out descrepencies from the movie and the book! It was so long since he last picked it up. Tonight, he read from chapter 11 until mid-chapter 16. He will finish the book tomorrow…and the movie. We will have to find the last 4 books so he can plow through those too. Caleb’s so amazing!