Tag Archives: General

Jul23

Time to read?

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Time to read?

I got the laundry sorted and started. I was about to sit down with Harry Potter, and realized I’d need more laundry baskets, so I folded laundry. I was going to sit down and read Harry Potter after that, but it turned out that one load wouldn’t spin, so I had to take it out, set up the drying rack, and let it drip into buckets before I could dry it. Got that done, and I was really ready to sit down and read Harry Potter, and then Toby started harassing me for food – which she won’t eat unless I sit with her in the laundry room. I have to leave for an appointment at 12. It’s now 10:30. It’s going to take me a long time to finish this book. . .

Jul21

Going to the Movies

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Going to the Movies

You know, it gets less and less worth not waiting until things come out on DVD. Yesterday the kids and I went to the new Marquee Theatre in Toms River. Yeah, new is nice, but it wasn’t as nice as I was hoping. They claimed to have stadium seating, but it was actually somewhere in between regular seating and the stadium seating I’d gotten used to at the Clifton Commons. My view might not have been blocked by a tall guy in front of me, but his hair would stick up into the picture. I’m not sure if it was worth the extra dollar in ticket price and the extra driving (we could walk to the AMC Seacourt Plaza if we wanted).

But, we were at the movies, and that was good. The large popcorn was actually large, and we settled in for the 12:15 show of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Now here’s where my irritation really started. There was a commercial for an ABC “Family” show (about a frat house!). A long commercial recruiting for the National Guard. A commercial for laundry detergent. A commercial for fabric softener. A commercial for Yahoo. A commercial for Sprint. Another commercial for another ABC “Family” show (I wasn’t paying attention at this point, but it still seemed a bit unlike family fare.) Three previews. The movie actually started at 12:38. You know, when you spend over $40 to see a matinee, you shouldn’t have to watch commercials. I know I’m fighting a losing battle here in a day when even educational materials have corporate sponsors, and every entertainment concept is a movie, book, TV show, kids’ meal toy, sheet set, video game, breakfast cereal, etc., simultaneously. I hate tie-ins, I hate coupons that require the purchase of several items, I hate billboards, I hate supermarket checkout TVs. I hate being sold to all the time, and especially when I’ve already bought something. Leave me the F alone or I’ll F’in boycott your product. (Not quite infuriated enough to spell out the whole word, you can see!)

Now, the movie itself was enjoyable moreso than not. It did have the disclaimer at the end “Based on the book by J.K. Rowlings”, which was good because some of the editorial choices made it quite different from the book. I usually forget so much of a book after a while that I don’t see as many of the differences as some people do. (Notable exceptions: Dune, Ella Enchanted) However, a good deal of what was on the screen, visually, matched how I imagined it as I was reading it, so it triggered memories of what was supposed to happen next. When it didn’t, or it happened differently, it jarred. The screen adaptation might have to be changed for the next movie to keep it consistent with the changes made in this one.

I might go back and read the books in order again. Hubby is expecting his copy of Deathly Hallows to be delivered from Amazon today, and nobody else in the family is allowed to disturb him or touch the book until he’s finished. heh. I could use the opportunity to go back and refresh my memory. And one day we might do a movie marathon of the whole series. After they’re all out on DVD, so we can enjoy the experience of being entertained without feeling like marketing vultures are circling above us waiting to eat us up.

Jul19

Today in Philadelphia

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Today in Philadelphia

I finally managed to get the kids conscious and dressed, and we hit the road to Philadelphia. The first stop was the Mutter Museum, which was fascinating – the exhibit was not just human diseases and oddities, but a lot of history, some of the advances of early medicine, and the evolution of medical equipment. Since this is a Philadelphia institution, Benjamin Franklin’s contributions figured heavily. We had just gone around the center of the top level when we met a film crew from WHYY doing a piece on the museum. We’ll be on TV in about a month. Heh. As we went through the two lower level sections, it became clear that it’s hard to be grossed out by something so fascinating. Not only were the collected examples, grouped by various similarities, amazing in the way they were preserved or represented (how the specimens were created was a story in itself) but it was amazing what had been collected in the first place. Hidden under the staircase was a chest of shallow drawers filled with items that had been breathed in or swallowed by people – makes you wonder. Skeletons of human fetuses at various stages of development were somehow delicately removed and preserved to show the growth pattern and progress. Most exhibits included information about the disease, condition, and sometimes even the identity of the donors. It’s not a huge museum, but we spent over two hours there.

After lunch, we headed to Penn’s Landing. I remember when it was first unveiled – it’s suffered a bit over the years, no question. However, we did get a good look at a restored sailing ship, walked from there to the end, and then toured the Becuna (submarine) and Olympia, one of the first steel ships. These two were here at the opening, and when I went, they were packed with tourists and had plenty of guides on board. Today, we were the only ones going through them, and we had to read the displays to find out anything. Even so, it was good. We enjoyed taking our time and peeking around a little longer and closer than we’d have been able to if there were a crowd.

It was about rush hour by the time we hit the road, but even that wasn’t bad. It was humid all day, but not too hot, and it never rained. We made our own timetable, enjoyed the trip and each others’ company. Not a thing to complain about, and lots of fun – not too many days like that. Oh, and pizza for dinner. Woohoo!