Book Review: Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix

Well I have finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Well I finished it on Tuesday to be exact. And I just need to say I loved this book!

For those that don't know, or don't remember (because let's face it, I took a long reading break), I have been reading the Harry Potter series for the first time. I actually made it a New Year's goal this year to finish the series before year end. And by golly I think I might do it.


This book had me captivated from the very beginning. I did not want to put it down. There was so much of this book left out of the movie (and honestly I've only seen the movie once), that it felt like it was all for the first time. From the Dursley's to Harry's hearing for using magic in front of a muggle, to Umbridge (ultra bitch) to the Death Eaters, to Voldemort, I was pretty much pissed off the entire time I read the book. I was so angry for Harry! I know they're only characters in a book, but you get so involved that they become your family. I wanted to kill Umbridge. If I were Harry, I would have said "fuck you all" and done the death curse on her. It's a good thing I'm not Harry. The book would have been a lot shorter, and less interesting. The politics in this book reminded me why I don't like politics or religion. You always get the crazies. Fudge was so frustrating in this book. His constant need for power and adoration was nauseating, and only fueled my continual anger while reading. Harry was portrayed how a teenager would have been at that age. The teen angst, "I hate the world" attitude, is so typical of a 15 year old, and J.K. in my opinion captured it perfectly. And losing Sirius was heartbreaking. Needless to say that although I was angry the entire time I read the book, it was by far my favorite so far. I still have two more books to read, so that could change. 


I've started reading Half-Blood Prince and am about 230 pages in, I'll be giving you my thoughts on that when I'm done. 


Happy weekend!


Again I have no idea why my words are highlighted, and frankly it's making me Hulk-out a bit.

100th Post! Get It While It's Hot!

This here be my 100th post. I've been writing this diamond in the rough blog for a little while now and have managed to share with you 100 times. When I started this blog back on Halloween night last year, it was because I was lying in bed unable to sleep. I had so many ideas going through my head and I thought to myself, "I should just start a blog". So I did. I am so grateful to those that have chosen to read my ramblings. You're all amazing to have stuck with me. 

For this 100th post I wanted to make it something special, but honestly couldn't think of one thing in particular, so I thought I'd share on what's been going on lately:

1. One of my best friends in the world has been in town and I have loved every moment I've had to spend with her. I thought I'd give her some love on my blog. Shout out to you Jennie Swain! I love spending time with the Salisbury family, I love them like my own. Thank you for letting me be a part of the fun.

2. Some new shows I've been watching:
                           Drop Dead Diva - This isn't necessarily new, but it is to me. It's a really cute show, that can make me mad at times. It's about an aspiring model who dies and comes back in the body of a lawyer who is her opposite. I liken it to Legally Blonde in many ways being a girl who knows fashion and pop culture, but is brainy.
                          Twenty Twelve - This is only an ok show. I love British tv, but this one kind of missed the mark for me which really disappointed me because Lord Grantham is in it, and it's narrated by David Tennant. It had super hit written all over it, but I think it fell flat a bit.   
                          The IT Crowd - I loved The IT Crowd, it was completely silly, but I found myself laughing really hard a lot. It's another British show about an IT team at a corporate office, and the shenanigans that ensue.

I will soon be starting Breaking Bad at the request of many. I was only able to watch the first couple episodes of Falling Skies and haven't seen anything further than that. I'm hoping Netflix will have it on there soon. And I'm still from time to time trying to watch Battlestar Galactica.

3. I finally started reading Harry Potter again. I started the 5th book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday. It's been very enlightening so far, as there is so much left out of the movie already. I'm excited to see where this book takes me. Everyone who has read it has warned me that Harry is super annoying in this book, and I can already see it and I'm less than 100 pages in. So that will be interesting as well.

4. Yoga has been going pretty well. I'm taking it on Saturday's only right now as that's when the beginner class is, and I feel most comfortable in that class. When I'm more in tune with the poses I will probably go back to Sunday's doing the all levels class (which honestly isn't for all levels).

5. I spent a good part of my Saturday this weekend watching the Comic-Con coverage Live on G4. Thank you G4 for being awesome and providing this coverage for those of us who are too poor to travel to the actual convention. The best part of the coverage was that John Barrowman co-hosted. Love him! (see my posts about Comic-Con and John Barrowman).

6. We recently took my grandma out to dinner for her 83rd birthday. We went to Olive Garden and had a good time. She is hard of hearing and has been all her life, so when you speak to her, you have to speak loud. You can imagine how it was going at a restaurant with other people talking. We were yelling and I'm sure it was quite a scene. Needless to say I think she enjoyed the night out, and she made us all some raspberry jam. Yum!

As you can see my life is not of the most exciting, but I thought I would share the highlights. Happy 100th post to me, and here's to the next 100!

P.S. I have no idea why part of my words are highlighted. That is not my doing, and I can't fix it. argh.

Comic-Con Depression

With sadness I am yet again not at Comic-Con this year. I have wanted to go every year for a very long time and have never had the chance. This year proves to be the year I've most wanted to attend. A big chunk of my shows are hosting panels there and all of the exclusive swag and previews are killing me to not be able to have and see. Well luckily some things are being released soon after the debut at Comic-Con, and this has helped a little, but I still want to have the amazing experience of hearing the stars of my shows discuss upcoming stories. And I know it would be amazing.

I'm going to share a couple things that have happened so far at Comic-Con here on this very blog. I feel like if I can cover some of the happenings for others in one place it will help the sadness of the others that couldn't be in attendance.

So here we go:

Firefly Panel Live Blog: (Not live anymore)
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/07/13/firefly-comic-con-panel/

Firefly Cast Reunion Photos:
http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/07/13/firefly-reunion-photo/







First Two Minutes of Dexter Season Premiere: (Thanks Jordan for finding this you rock!)








Doctor Who:

And no Chris Hardwick isn't on Doctor Who, but he's
wearing a Dalek so it counts.

Series 7 Insight:
http://io9.com/5926180/doctor-who-shows-us-something-weve-never-seen-before?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow






The Walking Dead Season 3 Preview:









Once Upon A Time Season 2 Preview:

So John Barrowman co-hosted the live coverage of the Comic-Con on G4. It was sweet! Four hours of interviews, previews and floor coverage. Although some of it was cheesy and dumb, it was the best I could get with not being there. I'm just glad they covered it just for me this year.

Sequels, Sequels, Sequels

So I just saw that there is going to be a Taken 2 movie. I'm trying to figure out where this movie can go. Let's be honest, it's most likely not going to be up to par with the first. I also heard that a Jurassic Park 4 is in the works and many more sequels to come I'm sure. Why is it that Hollywood feels the need to beat us to death with the same movie over and over? How many times can people get trapped on an island with dinosaurs? Sometimes Hollywood, there is too much of a good thing (*cough Transformers cough*).

The lack of originality in Hollywood is daunting. The slightest amount of money that is made on a movie seemingly warrants a sequel. No Hollywood it doesn't. And this new fad of remaking every movie ever made before 1990 needs to stop as well. They are called classics for a reason, leave them be.

There are so many books out there with original stories that can be adapted to film. Not that I'm a serious proponent of Hollywood destroying a perfectly good book, but if they are looking for original stories, go to the library and do some research (some writers and directors actually can transfer from book to film pretty darn well).

I was hearing that they were thinking of making a sequel to Dumb and Dumber to star Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey. Um, the first was great, the "prequel" was horrid just from the previews, and then to try a sequel is just dumb (no pun intended). Jim Carrey apparently thought so as well, as he has since pulled out. It might be good for a few laughs, but won't be as good as the first.

I'm not going to say I haven't enjoyed a sequel of a movie, but it's far and few between. And there are those movies with multiple sequels where they just dwindle in quality the more they make. A few examples would be Indiana Jones and Lethal Weapon. By the time they reach the fourth movie it's just crap.

Hollywood needs to learn when to say stop. I know it's more about making money than putting out quality, and this is where it's gone wrong. A little thought and time put into the process would help a ton. Maybe we could get some original stories that way.

I'm not holding my breath.

P.S. Sorry for the disappearing act. I will be better at this blogging thing.