When I was about thirteen or fourteen years old, I walked into a bookstore with my mother. My mother was a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, and was on a quest for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. She had just been introduced to the series by her sister, who was a fellow fan. We happened to be in a small town in Upstate New York on the way home from vacationing in New Hampshire, so I thought we'd have fun checking out some of the local bookstores. We did... The Book Loft was my first stop.
Upon walking in, I stood at the counter and gaped at the section marked 'Young Adult'. There was a sign above it that read "No one under 18 admitted." I guess I thought that since I was there with my mother, that wasn't going to be a problem. After all, I could read, and she couldn't. Not only that, but my mother was also over twenty-one. So, with that thought, I asked the lady at the counter if I could see some Young Adult books.
She shook her head sadly, but pointed me to a shelf that was behind her. "You might have better luck there," she said, almost sadly.
I was so shocked by the woman's response that I went through the entire shelf for what seemed like an eternity. I read every book in that shelf - for that day, at least - but none of them had the words "Harry Potter" anywhere on the cover. There was a reason I didn't think I'd be able to get anything. The books were written in a foreign language, which I knew would probably make it harder for me to read them. And the fact that I was seeing "Harry Potter" on several foreign covers wasn't helping, either.
It was this moment that led to one of my more embarrassing stories. Not only was I embarrassed, but I was also embarrassed on behalf of my mother. I was sure she was wishing she had opted for a more generic choice.
One night while I was visiting her in Florida, she got a call from the bookstore where we had our encounter. She had asked them if she could have an estimate for her books, since she was a returning customer. They informed her that they had a special offer for their customers who were returning, and that the book she had wanted was on special offer at 50% off. However, they had a policy that a child couldn't purchase anything on their premises - it was a violation of a child protection law.
Of course, this didn't happen - at least, not that I know of. In fact, my mom did return to the store, and later on, I got the copies of the series that I wanted. However, the part that would have been the most embarrassing was that she had called them, and told them she'd be in town and could come get the books herself. I'm almost positive that they told her the story, and probably had a few laughs. I still feel bad for the way she was treated. I've never told her how embarrassing it was to be a witness to, because I knew it was embarrassing for her, as well.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Like most people who love music, I was thrilled with the announcement last year that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone would be made into a musical! I wasn't as enthused by Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, but all the Harry Potter movies have always been a dream come true for me, in a way.
At the end of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry is able to speak Parseltongue and transforms the pet snake, Dobby, into his very own bodyguard. The scene ends with a very dramatic image of the huge snake wrapped around a branch, with Harry, James and Lily in his mouth.
When I first saw the live-action trailer for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, I was a bit surprised, to say the least.
The only time we see the snake is in the trailer. I had hoped that the musical would include Dobby, but unfortunately, he's not mentioned at all in the script. It seems that a lot of the Harry Potter stories have gotten axed for time. When I say axed, I don't mean a new writer was brought in to change the story from the book. I mean they axed the story. I've heard about several other things that were cut from the last movie in this series. So, I guess there will be at least one more movie to see at a later date, like, say, the final Harry Potter movie, since there were only three more to go. But what about when that happens? It seems the movies will be starting to get weird. There's no telling what will be in the next script, especially with the fact that the Potter movies have to include at least one movie every year, even if it's just some flashbacks or something else to take away from the main story. The next movie will probably be shorter. That's my prediction, anyhow. I can almost guarantee there will be a film based on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but I'm sure there will also be the usual Harry Potter spin-off movies, along with a few books about Harry's friends and a trip to school for each of them. Oh, and there will also be more books about Harry, which will probably include the Chamber of Secrets. Maybe Dumbledore has the key?
That would also explain why there have been two movies (the first and second in the series) that show up more than once in the movies, which would include the last two.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
I love, love, love movies, so much that I had a hard time narrowing it down to five films. Of course, there are more that I could have included, but I chose these because I have them all on DVD and own them. A girl can't have too many movies in her collection, right?
I've always had an amazing time in the theater, and that might have even started when I was a little kid. I love a good musical - well, more like a good singing-and-dancing musical - and in my mind, that's exactly what The Sound of Music is. It's one of the best musicals ever, and one of the only musicals with a musical number in every single act. The Sound of Music is probably the first musical I ever watched on DVD, but it didn't start me off watching other musicals. One thing I really like about musicals is that they have so much more going on that just the music. With The Sound of Music, you don't just watch the movie. You watch them with the song "I Have Confidence" - you have to be in a choir to do that! However, it might just be one of my favorite memories of being in college, singing and dancing in the back of the church with my choir. We watched The Sound of Music with the whole choir (minus a few people who weren't in the right voice range), in the back row of the theater, while having dinner before church.
Yes, my church has a choir, but I wasn't in that choir - I just had an active interest in the choir. The choir also does lots of volunteer work in the church. If you ever have the chance to be part of a church choir, I highly recommend it. It's a lot of fun, and as long as you don't mind singing really loud music every Sunday, then you'll get a kick out of it, too. The choir isn't the only fun part about attending church; you get to spend time with your friends, and meet new people, too. However, there's just something about being able to listen to the loud music while eating dinner after church that I haven't experienced anywhere else. It's so much fun!
Another really great thing about church - and church-related activities - is that you're able to meet a whole lot of people that you probably wouldn't have met anywhere else. I'm not saying you couldn't meet those people through normal social activities, but the church makes it much easier for you to develop a friend group. There is, of course, one caveat to this, and that is that if you're on the fence about going to church, I would say that you probably shouldn't go. A lot of people don't think you should go to church if you're not a Christian. However, I think you should go if you're already Christian, and want to meet a lot of people who share your faith.
If you've never been a part of a church choir, I highly recommend it. One of the best parts about it is that you can take part in fun church-related activities and just have fun while doing it. It's a lot of fun, and that's the most important part, I think. Plus, as I've said before, it's really hard to find a church where you can do this.
Another memory I have of church-related events was going to school and watching The Music Man. It seems like I would have been about ten when we went to see it, and I'm sure I had already started watching it on DVD by that time. The Music Man has the best production numbers, though, and it's very entertaining. I can't believe that music is now old enough to show on the big screen. I loved all the great songs in The Music Man
