Snow!

We had our first delay/closing today at Chillicothe High School...a two hour delay that I missed the memo for.  I didn't actually check the voice messages I might have gotten in the shower this morning until I was warming up the car to leave for normal time.  I was already put together and very awake, so I couldn't go back to sleep.  So I just sat there, watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets until it was time to leave (the extended version at that, so there was no hope of completion before time to leave for late work...its almost 3 hours long!).  I think its interesting to go back and look at the "Potter" films again, especially since the first two are almost 10 years old and so much has progressed in film techniques and special effects since then.  Also, and this goes without saying, the stories have matured throughout just as they have in the books.  I won't hop on the 'later books = better books' bandwagon just yet though.  I've heard so many critics call the first films childish and even 'candy-ass' compared to the more mature, later installments, and it always strikes me as a huge missing of the point.  The earlier films, like the earlier books, were more childish because they were about children.  In both series, when the kids entered their teen years and were dealing with more grown-up problems, the maturity level, the dark tone, and the seriousness was ratcheted up a notch from the earlier chapters.  But you know something...they aren't really that much darker (aside from adding death).  Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets both have very, very dark sections that interrupt the childish whimsy of finding one's self, at the age of 11, suddenly a part of a secret wonderful world.  The Quirrell/Voldemort confrontation and the scene in the dark forest are both very scary in Stone, as is the Basilisk battle in Chamber.  Chamber is especially dark for a children's story because it is, at is core, a murder mystery (where death has been replaced with petrification) and we feel suspense as the attacks keep getting worse and worse until the criminal is caught.  I sometimes wonder what film these critics were watching...I guess since by the 4th and 5th years everything has lost its whimsy pleases these guys a lot...but by age 14 and 15...life had lost a lot of its whimsy for me too.  Its just another example where our culture is not very 'child friendly'.  I don't mean that we hate children, but we do get annoyed when children's films and stories are bright and happy in places.  I wouldn't call the "Potter" books or films exceptionally bright or happy, but there is a definite amount of light in the earlier ones that is akin to the innocence of childhood...and I don't know why that threatens adult viewers when watching the films.

Anyway, that's my little rant for today.  On the personal life side, I had a date on Sunday.  I don't have a huge amount of details on the subject, but it was nice and we do plan to see each other again.  I haven't figured out a fake name for him with yet, so for now he will just be called The Guy.  I can't wait till I get to see him again.