Harry Potter and the Half Assed Plot

I must preface this whole blog by saying I am a person who whole-heartedly understands that a movie CANNOT be a book. There must be cuts and edits and some re-writing to translate the written page to the big (or small in Danielle Steele's case) screen. And up to this point I have never had any large issues with any book I've liked being turned into a movie. If I have, it's been because the acting was terrible or in the case of 'Flowers in the Attic' the screenwriter couldn't have possibly read the book, maybe the cliffs notes...anyhoo, that was until I saw 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'. Suffice it to say, if you have not read the book or seen the movie and do not want to know anything, stop reading now and move along.

First off, I had read some reviews and articles stating that the big finale wasn't like the book at all. The rumor that Dumbledore wasn't killed off is completely false. He dies, just like in the book. What doesn't happen is there is no big fight between the OOP and the Death Eaters, and no funeral scene. Nichols (the director) had a good point about not having the big fight; there's going to be one at the castle in the last movie, it would be redundant in the films. Instead of a funeral, there's a bit of a nice tribute. Cool. It was good. Now on to my gripe. This movie went from one that should have helped set up the finale in the way it needs to be set up, to one long crappy teenage lovey dovey fest!! The sub-plot concerning the love lives of the main characters was turned into the major plot of this film! And for some reason, they decided to burn down the Weasley's burrow! WTF?? No mention was made of Harry inheriting #12 Grimauld Place or Kreatcher, VERY IMPORTANT INFO. No explanation of WHY Snape is the Half-Blood Prince, VERY IMPORTANT INFO. And there was very little build up of the Horcurxes..a MAJOR plot point in the next two films!
We waited an extra EIGHT frickin' months for this movie only to be handed this crappy sitcom that's 5 times too long??? Bring back Chris Columbus for fuck's sake, at least he kept something of the storyline resembling the actual plots of the first two books and visually was a damn genius! How the hell did they get JK Rowling to sign off on this adaptation?
I have read all of these books to the point of not really needing to re-read them completely to enjoy them anymore and I can say unequivocally this has been the worst adaptation, not only for the series, but for adapted movies from books that I have ever seen!! The last book of the series is an awesome piece of writing. It's smart, well thought out and leads us to a great ending, let's hope the last two movies redeem this franchise and don't make me want to slit somebody's wrists!

Albert Einstein Invented Science, didn't you know?

So my son says to my husband while they are in the bathroom at Chipotle; "Albert Einstein invented science." Then after they wash their hands he says, "If you waste paper towels, it's rude to Jesus!" This is my child. My wonderful, smart, sport enthusiast of a child. A child who has been to Christian church a handful of times and believes both in Jesus and reincarnation due to his father and I's differing beliefs.
I was raised Catholic for the first 6 years of my life, when I began to behave so badly in Mass (hello, it was BORING) that my mother drug me out of the church proclaiming we'd never come back if I couldn't behave. I suppose you could say ( and I do - often ) I couldn't take the guilt so I didn't go back.
Instead I went more regularly to the southern Baptist church with my paternal grandmother, or Maamaw as I lovingly called her. It was definitely more fun there. Less structured, not so hard on the knees. And I believed it all, every bit of it, until I was about 10 or so. See my mother taught me to read before I started school, so by the time I was in Kindergarten I was reading books that were high school level. Therefore, I didn't have that same innocent mind akin to blind faith as most children. I was a questioner, and I questioned everything. Questions like what's the difference between hearing 'God' and just being schizo? If 'God' can perform the miracle of immaculate conception for Mary, why not for a man? I mean, it's one thing for a chick to show up preggers and claim she's never had sex, but it's totally something else for a man to show up in the 'motherly way'. Now THAT would something.
But then again, I had deeper questions. Questions that couldn't be shaken off with just "Have faith. Faith is the answer." Umm, I call BULLSHIT. We had a youth pastor when I was around 14-15 and we were going on a mission trip. Before hand we had to fill out a questionnaire and have a sit down with him. These were pretty heady questions, things like: do you believe in God? I answered maybe. It also had a place for us to ask what we wanted. I asked how do we not know that every religion is actually perpetrated by the same higher power? Suppose that in an effort to fulfill all of the different kinds of peoples needs around the world, different beliefs were handed out, just like different skin colors and languages. And then a secondary reason for this was to help reinforce the value of loving each other as we are, of accepting differences and making them work.
That youth pastor didn't give me the bullshit line. He told me that what I thought could very possibly be true. That my idea was something that we could explore and research. He valued what I had to say. Unfortunately, we never got that chance. Other's in the church, you know the ones (you gotta just have faith) didn't like his forward was of thinking, and made his job such a nightmare he eventually resigned and moved on. This example shows full on why most organized religion is more of a hindrance to fulfillment rather than something beautiful that glorifies anything or anyone. They don't allow for growth or better interpretation. They are about keeping you down, underfoot. If you are happy, you must be sinning. If you are in despair, then damn you're doing RIGHT!
I will allow my child to learn about all religions that he is interested in. If he wants to find out about Judaism, Hinduism or what have you, I'll help him on his route. But I'll be sure to instill in him the ability to allow everyone to have their opinions and not degrade them for it. He'll also be able to stand up against those that will put him down for his choice, whatever that may be. And if he ever decides he wants to cast a circle with me and call his God and Goddess Jesus and Mary, I'm okay with that.