Harry Potter is So Lame

I mean in the movies, of course! I am a huge, ridiculously so, fan of the Harry Potter novels. It's fair to say that I've read each book at least ten times. And last night I went to see the latest movie, "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince". I think I am with most fans in that I liked the more faithful approach of the first two films (directed by Chris Columbus, screen play by Steve Kloves), I was befuddled by the darkness of the third film (directed by Alfonso Cuaron) and hated (and still do) the ridiculous portrayal of Dumbledore by Michael Gambon, who was brash, unpleasant, and spoke primarily in cheesy fortune cookie one-liners. I made my piece with the darker directing in "The Goblet of Fire" because let's face it, the books were getting darker too. Gambon was in rare form when he began snapping at students and even lunged at Harry at one point, shaking him violently while asking him a simple question. The fifth one and now this latest installment have been directed by a David Yates. I don't even remember much from "The Order of the Phoenix", though I am sure it bugged me in some way or another. But while the latest film is so fresh in my mind I shall make some points about it, all SPOILERS, so if you haven't read the books (and why on Earth not???) or haven't see the film yet, I would suggest you don't read ahead.

First and foremost Daniel Radcliff is a remarkably shitty actor. Sure he isn't very attractive, but that shouldn't be held against a person. He is just plane dull. Think Keanu Reeves and that cow in the headlights out to lunch blank stare. This brings me nicely to the part of the movie that irked me the most - the Harry-Ginny relationship, or rather lack thereof. Harry is supposedly pining for Ginny, and though I knew he was supposed to be (having read the book), I saw no hint of it in the movie until Hermione asks Harry how it feels to be wanting Ginny and not being able to have her. And then (!!!) Ginny kneels down and ties Harry's shoelaces. What!?! Who thought that was a good idea, unless it's supposed to be some kind of "while you are down there" reference. The two do finally share a little peck of a kiss in the Room of Requirements, initiated by Ginny, Harry standing there entirely unresponsive.

On the plot side, they entirely skipped over the speculation about Horcruxes being objects of importance to Riddle, without which I have no idea how Harry and the rest will figure out what objects to search for (the cup, the diadem, etc).

Minor pet peeves also include Harry not being bound by a spell while Dumbledore gets killed, but hiding out of sight (way out of character), and the random attack on and destruction of the Burrow.

Still, weirdly, I thought the movie was overall ok. They managed to cram most of the book in (unlike "Order of the Phoenix", which if I recall correctly was butchered mercilessly). And Ron and Hermione were brilliant, in all respects, including their more developed romance.

P.S. This was such a cute picture of the two of them I had to include it, even though it seems to be from the fourth movie, and I don't recall that scene at all. Perhaps it's photoshopped? Any ideas?

















Update: The picture above was created by this person using a scene from "The Prince and Me". Good job!

Incidentally, why are there suddenly over a 1000 views on this post? Is it linked somewhere?

The Omnivore's Dilemma

I have been on a reading spree lately and there are two books I really want to write about. First, Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma", which was so fascinating and inspiring, I even committed it's message to canvas.

The thesis of the book is that the way in which our society obtains food is unsustainable and unhealthy, and though we as omnivore's are able to adapt to the lower quality of food, it does not mean we should. You may think the book preachy or one-sided, but it is so well researched, eloquent and frankly humorous, that I hope you'll give it a chance.

Pollan writes about four meals - what goes into them, what it took to obtain the ingredients, about the quality of the ingredients themselves, and the impact the meal has on our body (health, mind and spirit). The first meal is the "industrial" one. It begins with fields of corn, where the crop is grown in the usual unsustainable ways (monocrop, soil depletion, fertilizer runoff, pests and pesticides, etc). Machines do most of the work but the farmers don't make any money, because it costs more to produce the corn then what it's worth (the rest is made up by subsidies from the government so farmers can break even). Corn is then used to feed the lifestock, chickens, pigs, trukeys, sheep and even salmon and tilapia. Corn is processed into corn starch, corn oil, corn flour, as well as additives like lecithin, mon-, di-, and triglycerides, food coloring, and vitamins. Most of those things you see on your junk food label are derivatives of corn in one way or another.

Pollan also follows the production of beef in an industrial setting. Calves are born and raised for 6 months on independently owned ranches (complete with actual pastures). After they are weaned they spend several months learning to digest corn, at which point they are sold to feedlots to be fattened up. Some interesting problems arise when feeding corn to a cow. Apparently the high starch/low roughage of the corn makes belching difficult for the cows, causing a foamy slime to form in the rumen, which then inflates like a baloon. Corn is also more acidic then grass, causing the steers to have heartburn and ulcers, the acid eating away at the rumen wall, allowing bacteria to enter the bloodstream. So they need antibiotics. The manure of these cattle is so rich in heavy metals and hormones they the can't be re-used as fertilizer, so they sit in ponds on the feedlot. Oh and of course they sleep on a bed of dried poop, which sticks to their hide and gets transfered to the beef during slaughter - hence food poisoning. The final first meal that Pollan and his family ate? McDonalds!

The second meal was industrial organic. Better for you perhaps because it does not contain pesticide or antibiotic/hormone residues, but problematic in other ways. Still monoculture where crops are concerned, still large scale but now using manure for fertilizer and plant derived "organic agents" as pesticide. Since the veggies are not sprayed to preserve them, they need to be packaged and/or prewashed with some bleach. "Organic free range chicken" is an interesting bird. To be organic it is fed organic feed, without drugs or cages. To avoid the use of drugs the birds stay in a shed until they are about five weeks old, at which point a door is opened to the outside courtyard (a small lawn) where they can but don't really go for the remaining two weeks of their lives, hence free range.

The third meal, and by far the most fascinating, is the small scale or "beyond" organic. For this he spent a week on Polyface Farm in Virginia, a family operation that is honestly beyond cool. First there is the pasture. It is so much more than just grass: orchard grass, fescue, clover, millet, bluegrass, plantain, timothy and sweet grass. The cows graze in their allotted space for the day, mowing the grass, while also stomping it with their hooves, which will allow new seeds to germinate, and leave their manure for fertilizer. They will not be returned to this same spot again until he grass has grown (but before it grows to much and hardens). Chickens follow a few days behind the cows, so when they arrive at the spot, maggots have filled the cow patties. The chickens scatter the manure in their search for the maggots, enrich the soil with their own nitrogen rich poop, and in the mean time get fed a plentiful meal they were designed for eating (which leads to some superior tasting meat and eggs, I am told). Turkeys live in the orchard, where they fertilize the trees and vines, eat the bugs and mow the grass. In the winter months cows live inside but their manure is left in place, covered with a fresh layer of wood chips or straw every few days and the whole thing rises at a rate of about a foot per month. A few bucketfuls of corn are also tossed into the mix. All winter long the bedding composts providing heat to warm the barn, and the corn ferments. Once spring arrives, several dozen pigs are brought in, who turn and aerate the compost (killing the pathogens) while looking for the fermented corn. Polyface slaughter their chickens themselves, in broad daylight for "sterilization", and it's open to the people who come to buy the meat in case they want to watch (or help out).

The final meal was hunted and gathered. It involved wild pig, mushrooms, berries and veggies from the family garden. It was also interesting but this post is getting to be WAY TOO LONG again. Sorry about that.

Just a few more interesting facts I learned from this book:
- Most of the carbon atoms in the American body comes from corn. Mexicans have far fewer corn originating carbons because they consider feeding corn to lifestock a big no-no.
- Corn is unable to reproduce without men because the seeds are trapped in the ear (behind the husk) and even if they do get through it, they will die of overcrowding (consider the number of seeds stuck together on an ear).
- After WWII the government had too much ammonium nitrate, main ingriedient in explosives. They considered spreading it on the national forests to help out the timber industry, but in the end they decided to market it as fertilizer.
- The reason corn fed beef is less healthy for us is because it is "marbled" with fat that would not normally be there, making it more rich in saturated fat and less omega-3 fatty acids.
- Chicken Nuggets contain the carcinogen dimethylpolysiloxene and tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), a form of lighter fluid for "freshness"

Final summary - for food that is good for you, good for the environment and less cruel (if you are into that), buy local organic, preferably from CSAs (community sponsored agriculture) or farmers markets. Yes it is more expensive, but that is because you are paying what the food is actually worth. Spend less money on something else. This is your health and our planet we are talking about! I make exception for the really poor, who are screwed the most by our current food system (though I find that I spend less money on food now that I don't buy meat and shop at a co-op, so go figure...)

To find local farms go to:
http://www.localharvest.org/
http://www.eatwild.com/ (for animal products)

And now the art. Here we have a different kind of dilemma. My first attempt at this painting was really energetic and bold, but thusly less finished and frankly a bit of a mess. For the life of me I could not decide if I loved it or hated it. In the end I decided to tame it a bit, which makes for more pleasing but far less exciting work. I'll let you see both, the first now gone forever under layers of paint. Adieu!

First try:


Second try:

Coincidence? I think not!

21 Venezuelan polo ponies die in a freak incident and three vials of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus are missing? Dodgy!
Anyway, I'm back from Russia. It was an excellent trip. I shall recount my adventures in later posts, day by day but perhaps with less words. I feel like I have been treating all of you to daily novels instead of short little blog posts. Or maybe you like novels? Let me know.
Speaking of novels, I'm re-reading "His Dark Materials" by Phillip Pullman. I am glad to be doing it because I feel that I missed a lot on the first read through. Pullman maintains that he writes mainly for children but in an adult way. As an adult I am wondering how many children really got the full meaning of his books.
In case you are not familiar with "His Dark Materials" (or if you only saw The Golden Compass movie), here is a brief summary (SPOILERS): original sin is not a sin, and god is a sham.

And now: xkcd

Lord of the Rings - Book vs Movie Showdown

I tried to read J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" back in high school but by the time I was done with "Fellowship of the Ring" I was so bored out of my mind that I could read no further. Having seen all three movies, I thought I would try it again and I am glad I did. It took me almost two weeks to read, but now that I had seen the movies I could understand a lot more of what happened which was otherwise dull and incomprehensible (battle scenes and geography primarily). Tolkien's purpose in writing these books was to tell a history, and so the books really read as history books, full of endless details, long dialogs, little foreshadowing or simultaneous story lines and few proper climaxes. Overall I felt that the movies followed the books very faithfully, omitting little and adding the action, emotion and crescendos that make a movie palatable.

Some things that I thought were better covered in the book than the movie:

- Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are two very fascinating characters in the book that are entirely absent from the movie. Though I see how it would have slowed the movie down I would have dearly liked to have seen the portrayal of the River daughter and the man who is Master of the land.

- Theoden King of Rohan was far less fearful and confused in the book, riding out against Isengard instead of 'hiding out' in Helm's Deep, so even though the battle still took place, he did not cower and his spirit was never in doubt.

- For dramatic effect the movie made a great deal out of the wear and tear on Frodo from the Ring, which was much more subdued in the book. I was also pleasantly surprised to discover that Frodo never sent Sam away but that they had entered Shelob's layer hand in hand.

- Faramir was super cool in the book, cooler even in some ways than Aragon. He rejected the Ring right away, was wise and brave, and his love affair with Eowyn was one of the high points of the story in my opinion (seeing how she is the only woman really involved in the book at all).

- The book finally explained to me what the heck that stick and banner was that Arwen was hiding behind at the coronation (though such a scene never took place in the book it always pissed me off as I watched wondering why she is holding a stupid flag). I think it was supposed to be the standard of Aragorn's royal house or whatnot, with which in the book he commands the army of the dead.



Some things that were better off in the movie than in the book:

- By far the best part of the movies for me (I am a girl afterall) was the love story of Arwen and Aragorn, which was barely mentioned in the appendix of the third book. Aragorn himself was much more admirable in the movie in my opinion, especially in his treatment of Arwen but mostly because it is impossible to resists the charms of Viggo Mortensen

- Just about all the battles, which were actually climactic and followed some sort of interesting pattern, especially the battle of Helm's Deep.



I am ambivalent about the chapter in which the Shire is besieged by Saruman who is then driven out by the four hobbits upon their return. It was an interesting side story and certainly made sure that they got a lot more respect from their fellow Shire-folk for their deeds than they seemed to in the movie.

So that's my two cents.

Dumbledore is gay!

Oh what a hoot!

Albus was outed this past Friday by creator Rowling during an appearance at Carnegie Hall. Reports are saying "the rumors are true" but I have to admit I was surprised, mostly because I always thought of him as some sort of Buddhist monk, asexual and celibate. But it could be my own orientation-centricity (is there a term I could use here? anyone know?).

Some comments on the news include:

"My mind is blown and lying in little pieces all over the floor."
by your mom

"Now, that you made her millions, she reveals it. She was a clever one. If I had known this sooner, I wouldn't have never allowed my children to read the books or see the movies."
by jac

"I think this is great. It's a good statement for tolerance. Especially the fact that no one in the HP universe seemed to care."
by Apophenia

And now onto Laura Mallory. Mother of four from Loganville, GA, she keeps trying to get the Harry Potter books banded from her kids school because she claims they promote Wicca. Mind you, she hasn't actually read the books, but I am sure her opinion is very well informed. While appeal after appeal was being rejected, she became ordained as a Minister and was named Washington Post's 2006 "Idiot of the Year." Mallory told ABC news:

"My prayer is that parents would wake up, that the subtle way this is presented as harmless fantasy would be exposed for what it really is: a subtle indoctrination into anti-Christian values. A homosexual lifestyle is a harmful one. That's proven, medically."

For further musings from Mrs. Mallory visit www.hisvoicetoday.org

Thief of Time

Weather has been unseasonably warm lately (global warming anyone?) but it is starting to cool down now. My professor says that is because the high pressure area over the Atlantic is finally subsiding into its winter diminutive state. But we've been getting some gorgeous sunsets the last few days, even if they do happen earlier and earlier (what? why? where did the summer go?).

Monday evening especially, the sun turned the sky an insane gold and the air itself seemed to glow, while in the east ridiculous black/purple clouds actually stood like mountains or really dirty cotton balls, just to make sure that you wouldn't miss the sun-lit autumn foliage in its foreground. And then, as if it wasn't enough, it began to rain. And the sun shone through the water, and you could see every drop, which was, of course, gold, and a rainbow appeared against the black sky, and it was a full half circle with one end starting, I swear, over our home. I am sure that nature that day had decided to drive me mad! It was an infuriating situation to be in - standing as I was in the middle of this perfection, wet, overwhelmed by the sight, and completely unable to capture the moment with any of the numerous digital devices at my disposal. I tried of course, but 'lame' does not begin to describe the photos that I took.

Being an artist, I could just paint it, but who would ever believe it? There is a great quote from Terry Pratchett's novel, "Thief of Time" (which is an excellent book, and by far his best and this quote does not due it justice, nor does it pertain to any subject matter covered in the rest of the narrative - but it made an impression) :

"Sometimes the gods have no taste at all. They allow sunrises and sunsets in ridiculous pink and blue hues that any professional artist would dismiss as the work of some enthusiastic amateur who'd never looked at a real sunset. This was one of those sunrises. It was the kind of sunrise a man rises and looks at and says, "No real sunrise could paint the sky Surgical Appliance Pink.""

So there you have it. There was magic happening all around me for a few minutes, and all you get is this blog.