Julie's Journal : Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

I was in college when I first discovered Harry Potter, or rather when my dad handed me the first two books and told me to read them.  I, like most of the rest of the world, was immediately hooked.  Over the next few years I read each new book on the day it was released, watched the movies, and introduced my friends to Harry Potter.  When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was released it marked the end of a marvelous adventure.

However, in the last year or so, Harry Potter fans were excited to learn that a play, set in the world of Harry Potter, was going to be produced in London.  On July 31st, Harry's birthday, the script was released to the public.  Reviews of the script were mixed, and because of that I began reading it with a little trepidation.

Harry Potter is now middle-aged and struggling with the demands of parenthood and a career in the Ministry of Magic as the Head of Magical Law Enforcement.  The play begins with Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Draco seeing their kids off on the Hogwart's Express for the beginning of another school year.  Harry's middle son, Albus Severus, is nervous about which house he will be sorted into.  We get to see Albus sorted, (I'm not going to tell you which house he ends up in!) and then we quickly skip ahead to the beginning of his fourth year.  

Albus overhears Amos Diggory begging Harry to use a recently confiscated time-turner to return to the Tri-Wizard tournament and save Cedric.  (See Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire for the story of the Tri-Wizard tournament.)  Harry refuses the request, of course, but Albus, eavesdropping on the conversation, decides to try and right this wrong.  Albus and his friend Scorpious set off on a series of adventures, and in the process very nearly doom the entire wizarding world.

I thoroughly enjoyed Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  The script formatting took some getting used to, but made for a quick read.  I enjoyed seeing Harry as an adult, just trying to live a normal life.  Due to the limitations of the play format, Albus and Scorpious are the only kids whose characters were fully developed.  I would love to see the personalities of Harry and Ginny and Hermione and Ron's other children in the future.  I hope J.K. Rowling is not done with the Harry Potter world just yet.

Should Harry Potter and the Cursed Child ever come to a stage near here, I would love to see it!

Chance's Corner: Apocalypse Now Review

On August 15, 1979, Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece Apocalypse Now hit theaters and has remained on the world's conscience ever since.

Adapted from Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now is an odyssey into Hell - a journey to the darkest recesses of the human psyche. Army Captain Benjamin Willard (Martin Sheen) takes this journey with a ragtag crew deep into the Vietnamese jungle, along the river, with the goal of killing Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) - an all-star military man who has gone off the grid and set himself up as a god amongst the Montagnard tribe.

And what's Hell without its colorful inhabitants? Colonel Kilgore (Robert Duvall) is a surfing maniac who loves the smell of napalm in the morning (I'm sure at anytime, honestly). A photojournalist (Dennis Hopper) is a little spaced out in the jungle. The devil himself, Kurtz, is a domineering figure who hides in the shadows and mutters bone-chilling ideals and beliefs (most, if not all, improvised by Brando).

After all these years, I finally sat down and watched this film (on it's 37th anniversary). I've been avoiding it because war films are not usually my cup of tea, and I also believe some films are better appreciated (and understood) at certain ages. I'm glad I finally gave Apocalypse Now a chance. It is an experience. Within its filmstrips is the greatest (and darkest) magic cinema has ever produced (and it was a hell of a production). Director Francis Ford Coppola once said that his film isn't about Vietnam. It is Vietnam. I'll take it one step further. This isn't a war film. This is war. And this is the closest glimpse of war I ever want to see.

Apocalypse Now Redux is now available to rent at the Franklin County Library!

Tom's Two Cents : Florence Foster Jenkins: The Tyranny of Ambition and the Ecstasy of Delusion

Florence Foster Jenkins was a wealthy New York socialite with a passion, rather than an innate talent, for classical music.  In the New York City of the 1940's she was a mover and a shaker, a founder of the Verdi Club, patron of Toscanini, and unfulfilled singer. Her amusing and often poignant climb to the pinnacle of music--a debut at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall--is the subject of Meryl Streep's new film, "Florence Foster Jenkins."

For those Streep fans who are now legion, one can only look forward to what the Miraculous Meryl will pull off next.  As usual she doesn't disappoint, but wrings both the poignancy and the delightful kookiness out of the Jenkins character.  But the biggest surprise and delight of all is Hugh Grant, who plays her slightly scandalous, but oh so devoted husband, determined to protect Florence from the slings and barbs of the New York critics.  Why?  Well the simple truth is, she not only can't sing, she sings so badly that she can't even carry a tune--yet she appears on stage, blissfully unaware that her butchering of great operatic arias is hysterically funny.

Streep sings all the songs and arias herself and does them live.  Not since the recitals of Anna Russell, a great satirist of opera in the 1950s, have I been so entertained, and at the same time moved by the sincere love of this deeply odd couple.  Grant emerges as a mature comic/dramatic talent worthy of the late Cary Grant.  And Simon Helberg, one of the fabulous four in "Big Bang Theory," makes a gem out of a secondary role, Mme. Florence's accompanist, Cosme McMoon.  Sets and costumes evoke a marvelous sense of New York society during the late days of WWII.  And when you next make potato salad, you will immediately evoke the infamous bathtub scene--enough said!

Inventory

Anybody who has ever worked in retail knows the joys of inventory.  I (Julie) have never had that pleasure, but I learned all about inventory when I came to the library.  For the first several years of my employment, we were pretty random about inventory, but four years ago we decided to do it all at one time, in the summer.  It's a BIG job and it has been mostly the responsibility of our summer help, but this year, the bulk of it fell to Christian.

Today she is finishing up the last section, the children's area.  We saved the kids' area for last so we would be done with summer reading before we started.  It's not the easiest section to inventory, but so far Christian isn't complaining!  She claims to even enjoy it!  Finishing the children's section will mean that Christian, (with a little help), has inventoried over 16,000 items this summer.  I consider that a job well done!

Julie's Journal : What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Those of you who know Jason and I, know that we rarely venture too far from home.  Most of the time we both enjoy spending our breaks around the house and working on improving our home.  Occasionally, we will take a short trip that usually includes taking in a Texas Ranger's baseball game, but that's about as exciting as we get.  This year, though, we both wanted to do something different - something that would get us out of our routine.

Early last Thursday morning we started driving north and east and by the end of the day (actually late that night), and after driving curving mountain roads in a thunderstorm after dark, we were in Gatlinburg, TN.  Friday, we spent the whole day exploring the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  It was spectacular!

It was also wonderfully cool.  Our truck thermometer read 66 degrees and there was a very pleasant cool breeze blowing!  We did not miss the Texas heat!

We stopped at Newfound Gap on the Tennessee/North Carolina state line and ventured a very short way down the Appalachian Trail.

Now, during those ice-breaker, get-to-know-you type games, I can say that I have hiked the Appalachian Trail!

Coming down the other side into North Carolina, we stopped at Mingus Mill.  Mingus Mill is an 1886 grist mill powered by a flue that diverts water from a mountain stream.  We found the design to be ingenious, and a friendly park ranger demonstrated the mill in action.  Cornmeal was a main staple for most households and families from miles around would bring their corn and wheat to be ground at the mill.

 After lunch, we drove through Cade's Cove and enjoyed a different view of the mountains.  I felt small and insignificant standing surrounded by the mountains.  The pictures really do not do justice to how magnificent the scenery was.

Cade's Cove is also home to several historic cabins, churches, and cemeteries.  One gravestone was inscribed "murdered by rebels", which we found interesting.

Jason did not want to go back to Gatlinburg, so we took a different exit from Cade's Cove and found ourselves on a 12-mile 1-way "unimproved" road out of the mountains (Rich Mountain Road).  It was a narrow gravel road with no guard rails, and for the entire 12 mile trip, we saw only one other person, a man on a motorcycle.  Jason says that this was his favorite drive of the trip, but I was pretty  nervous and only took one picture.  The picture doesn't show it, but some parts of the road had steep drop offs on one side or the other.  It was crazy!

The next day we ventured into Georgia, to Atlanta, to visit the Georgia Aquarium.  It was interesting, but very crowded.  Our favorite part of the trip by far was the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  We look forward to a return visit, as there are several things we didn't have time to see!