Random Thursday

Posted: Thursday, May 20, 2010 by Travis Cody in
21

I've gotten some good feedback about the new template, particularly the location of the comment link.  I understand that it can be difficult to find right away.  Plus after getting to the bottom of a longer post, you have to scroll back up to the top of the page to comment.  

Thanks to everyone who has taken that extra step.  I like to hear what you think and I love to read and respond to comments.

But I did just realize something as I was reviewing my post from yesterday...reading through to the bottom and then scrolling back up means that a visitor can see the doodads in the sidebar twice!  So that's something, right? 

Mr Tucker wanted to say hello, so here is our first official video.





Cute eh?  You got almost the full range of his speaking voice. 


Kobe has the face going against Phoenix.  

His teeth are clenched and his lower jaw is jutted out.  It's the focused face of a champion trying to create a special legacy.  He's doing whatever it takes.  If he needs to score, he does.  If he needs to drive and kick to the open shooter, he does.  If he needs to dig in on defense, he does.

And the rest of the crew is following his lead.


Kobe and the Lakers have rounded into championship form.  Right now, the Suns can't match them.  Phoenix is a good team.  They proved that by having a great 3rd quarter last night, harassing LA with a small line up.  The Suns shot the ball much better and battled to tie the Lakers heading into the 4th quarter.

Ultimately, the Lakers asserted their dominance to take a 2-0 lead in the series.  Pau Gasol led LA in scoring with 29 points, Lamar Odom had another big rebounding game with 11 boards, Kobe had a playoff career high with 13 assists, and the Lakers' bench outscored the Suns' bench 36-26.  The Lakers have scored 252 points in the 2 games with 5 of 8 quarters at 30 points or better.  I think Phoenix can win a game on its home floor.  But if the Lakers maintain this level of play, the Suns just don't have enough to take this series from LA.


This makes me happy!


And so does this!  There are only six months to go until the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.  The scheduled release date is 19 November 2010, to be followed by Part 2 on 15 July 2011.


I am so ready!

Let's see...the first book in the series was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, published in the US in 1997.  This book is also known as the Philosopher's Stone in the UK.  It was followed by Harry Potter and the...
  • Chamber of Secrets in 1999 (US)
  • Prisoner of Azkaban in 1999 (US)
  • Goblet of Fire in 2000
  • Order of the Phoenix in 2003
  • Half-Blood Prince in 2005
  • Deathly Hallows in 2007
The first film adaptation was released in 2001.  

For fans of the films, it's been wonderful to have the same actors filling the key roles throughout the series.  Michael Gambon stepped in beautifully to fill the shoes of Richard Harris, the actor who played Dumbledore in the first two films.  Mr Harris died in 2002.

The list of talent associated with the series includes Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Jason Isaacs, Helena Bonham Carter, Jim Broadbent, Brendan Gleeson, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branaugh, Miranda Richardson, Warwick Davis, Fiona Shaw, Timothy Spall, Imelda Staunton, David Thewlis, Mark Williams, David Tennant, Bill Nighy, and Julie Walters.  The films have been directed by Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, and David Yates.


Of course, the core of the books and the films is Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger.  We got to watch three terrific young actors grow and mature right along with the characters.  Danielle Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson all looked like I imagined the characters as I read the books.


Though it's a bit bittersweet that the end is just over a year away, I've enjoyed the last decade of Harry Potter adventure.

21 comments:

  1. I love the HP books, but not the movies... I feel as though they lack some of the essence in the books. But that's just me...

  1. Debra says:

    Mr. Tucker sure is a cutie. Look like he was trying to blog a little in this video :)

  1. Jaye says:

    I love the Harry Potter story! Cried buckets at the end! Agree with Terra though, the films don't capture all the backstory, be interesting to see how they cope with it all tying up in the last one!

  1. Anonymous says:

    I don't have to scroll back up to comment because I click on your post from my reader. Clever, I am!

    My cats loved hearing Mr. Tucker's voice, especially Gracie. Her ears went the full range of motion during the video!

    I've been a huge Harry Potter fan since I bought the first book (2 copies) for myself and my then-10 year old niece to read together. She was doing quite poorly in both English and Reading Comprehension in school and I was determined to teach her to love Reading!

    We read the first book together, but seperately, and then we had discusions between chapters. Prior to The Sorcerer's Stone she had never read anything other than 40-50 page books assigned to her by her teachers.

    Needless to say, she loved it!

  1. Anonymous says:

    Trav: Isn't that the truth? A decade of adventure. What a wonderful thing for fans to have looked forward to all these years. I wonder how many 'new' readers were spawned because of the Harry Potter series. Reading is a good thing.

    And I don't mind scrolling back up to the comment section - now that I know where it is. I flubbed the first time, but didn't see it as negative on your part. Just an old lay who got into a rut of commenting at the bottom.

    Hey! I think it could be great fun if we all started commenting at the top - BEFORE we read you post. Then we don't have to scroll back up. Might not make sense, but could beinteresting. :-)

  1. Anonymous says:

    Awww. Mr. Tucker looks like he's blogging too! My girls and hubby loved the HP books and movies. I've seen a few of the movies, but haven't read the books.

  1. Marsha says:

    I see Mr. Tucker was totally unimpressed by the presence of the camera too.....just like a cat to ignore isn't it!!

    Looking forward to the next two films myself. Started out loving the books!! And really what film can ever really do justice to a book, but now I care about these actors and want to see them to the end, can't wait!

  1. Mr. Tucker, a cat of few words. I was very sad when I got to the end of the Harry Potter series. I enjoyed it very much.

  1. I saw a hand...now I have seen a hand and a foot! LOL

    Mr Tucker was editing this post, was he not?

    Laker's look tough right now

  1. Akelamalu says:

    Mr Tucker's a star!

    I love the Harry Potter books. :)

  1. Anonymous says:

    Oh dear!!! I meant old LADY. What an unfortunate typo. I hope you are laughing as hard as I am. I nearly snorted in the bookstore when I saw what I typed. If you can edit your comments like I can, you can fix my embarrassing typo - or leave it and let other commentors enjoy a snicker on my hehalf.

  1. Travis, is this you? Love the new template!! My 5 on Friday is done and I just need to post it which I will do in a few minutes... :)

  1. Ivanhoe says:

    Mr Tucket is too cute. That made me smile :)
    Can not wait for the Deathly Hollows to come out. It's been a while since I finished the book.

  1. Terra: I enjoy both books and movies differently. I love the detail of the books while I enjoy seeing the stories come to life on the screen.

    Debra: He's a character!

    Jaye: I've always thought part of the difficulty with the movies was not knowing what was coming next, so some characters or events I thought were important were left out of earlier films.

    GGG: Now that's a funny idea...comment before reading the post. HA!

    Lois: He does watch videos with me, when he's not trying to shove the computer away.

    Marsha: He's one of those odd cats that doesn't mind the camera all that much.

    Charles: Few words sometimes. Try him at 3am though!

    V: It was Pam's hand! She made the video.

    Akelamalu: He is! And so do I!

    GGG: HA! I totally missed that typo. LOL!

    Mary: It's me! I'm really pleased with the new look.

    Ivanhoe: He's a sweet cat.

  1. Linda says:

    Nice to see Mr. Tucker "in person" via video, that's quite the vocabulary he has there!

    Even though Amanda has faithfully read every single HP book and I even went out to get her a volume or two at midnight on their release dates I've never read them myself. Perhaps I'm saving them for retirement when I can enjoy one right after the other?

    I have seen most of the movies and must say that I always liked Snape simply because I like Alan Rickman as an actor! And Richard Harris was brilliant.

    Speaking of brilliant, I love the new blog look and like Barb, I read your post in Reader and then can go to the comment box without having to scroll back up!

  1. Anonymous says:

    Trav: I snickered myself to sleep thinking about my typo. If laughter is the best medicine, raise your glass to good health embarrassing typos.

  1. I can't wait to listen to Mr. Tucker later when I get home!!!

  1. Jeni says:

    As much as I have always loved to read, I've yet to read any of the HP series -nor have I read any of the Twilight books that are so popular either. But then too, the past 2 years, I've been so engrossed in either reading blogs or embroidering, I've only read maybe 4 or 5 books in all -which is a huge drop in my reading counts!
    Loved the video of Mr Tucker though. He is such a pretty cat -maybe I should say "handsome" after all is it appropriate to call a male anything "pretty?" I may have to do a video sometime -now that I have a new camera of my very own again -of our ultra-lazy cat here -Fluff-Nuts! He's got a much louder voice though than Mr. Tucker does -and Fluff-nuts is extremely demanding with his voice too! (Sometimes to being quite the pain in the behind! LOL)

  1. TopChamp says:

    haha! Mr T's beautiful voice had my cat very confused.

  1. Awwwwwwww! Mr. Tucker! Love him. :)

  1. Like your new look Travis and Harry Potter!
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