dianaschnuth

Don’t worry; no spoilers here. Not even for the movie that just came out. I know there are people like my friend Mark who only watch the movies and don’t read the books, for whatever reason.

So, I just finished re-reading Book 6 (Half-Blood Prince) this evening, and saw Movie 5 (Order of the Phoenix) on Sunday. Suffice to say, I am completely stoked for Saturday’s release of Book 7 (Deathly Hallows). The only problem is going to be staying spoiler-free until I can finish the book!

I have an aikido seminar on Saturday, so Aaron will get a few hours of reading time while I’m off being tossed about (10am to noon and 3pm to 6pm, I believe). Then we’ll be spending Sunday together, as per usual, but I’ll get a little reading time while I’m doing laundry and he’s off doing grocery shopping. By the time I really get into the meat of the book (Monday evening after work), most hardcore HP fans will have already finished this final book of the series.

I don’t remember how I got spoiled for HP6, but I do remember that I was halfway through reading it when I heard the big spoiler about the ending. Granted, I still didn’t know how said event would take place, and it may have even made me more jumpy about every little plot twist… but I knew what would happen in the end, and that took just a little wind out of my sails, and took just a little of the Oh Shit moment away from the inevitable.

So, here I declare that I intend to remain SPOILER FREE about the final book of the series for as long as possible. Woe be unto anyone who spoils the story for me, for I will be Pissed Off. Please, *please*, at least ask me what chapter I’m on before blurting out something in conversation (verbal or otherwise).

Staying spoiler-free is a challenge already, though, because the HP books make me want to speculate about the characters and their motives. That’s one of the great things about JKR’s universe. Granted, I can see what some authors and critics say about her writing style in places; but once I get wrapped up in the story, the adverbs honestly don’t act as speed bumps. Hell, I have a hard time not letting my eyes stray to the facing page to see what will happen next, more often than not.

Back to the point, though: JKR’s characters just invite speculation and introspection. That, to me, is the sign of a successful and highly engaging universe. However, one can’t go speculating too much right before the release of a new book, or one is likely to have the book spoiled for oneself. So, no Leaky Cauldron or Mugglenet for me — not like I’m a frequenter of either under normal circumstances. However… if you ARE looking for spoilers, Mugglenet might be where you want to go, from the looks of some of their link titles. *I’m* certainly not clicking on the link that says, “Confirmed Information: What we actually know about Deathly Hallows.”

Regarding the Order of the Phoenix movie… I haven’t historically been a fan of the HP movies. I watched the first movie on DVD, and half of the second, but I just couldn’t get into either. I vastly preferred the characters and settings that had been painted in my mind already. I couldn’t get behind Alan Rickman as Snape, although he really does fit the part. (I was still hung up on him as Metatron from Dogma.) After seeing Order of the Phoenix, though, I’m going to have to at least go back and watch Goblet of Fire.

Without giving away any plot points in particular, let me just say that, as in all book-to-movie adaptations, a good deal of characterization was dropped from the story in favor of proper cinematic pacing. The book was a major building and backstory piece, whereas the movie seemed almost frenetic in getting all the necessary plot points in. Nothing was dwelt on quite long enough, it seemed. A very few minor plot points were changed completely, either to cut down on the number of major characters involved or to close some loopholes (one in particular to which I had been desperately clinging).

The special effects, for the most part, were amazing. Broomstick rides, magic duels, settings in general were well-done; they didn’t eject me from the movie (“Wow! Those are cool special effects!”), but rather drew me into the magical world of Harry Potter. The acting was greatly improved from what I’d seen in the earlier movies, of course. Some of the lines that were added near the end, though, that weren’t originally in the book, did come across as overly hokey and out of place.

I know I’m not a movie reviewer (nor do I play one on TV), but I did want to go over some of my thoughts about the movie while it was still fresh in my mind.

Not long now until the final installment is available for public consumption! And remember… no spoilers!

CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

A while back, Aaron borrowed the Pimsleur Language Program Japanese: The Short Course audiobook from the library. It was really almost on a whim — we were looking through the books-on-CD, and there it was. We hadn’t booked our trip yet, but we’d seriously discussed it; so Aaron borrowed the CDs from the library and ripped them to mp3s, which we promptly loaded onto our respective iPods.

One of the basic tenets of the Pimsleur Approach is that you listen, repeat, and engage in “conversations” with the native speakers on the CD — but you are NOT supposed to go look up how to write or spell the words. This is problematic for me, as I am naturally a visual speaker: I remember what words look like. Some people remember what letter a word or name starts with; I remember how many letters it has. If I can’t see how the word is formed properly, I’ll make it up in my head, and that’s probably not good.

For example, in the first lesson, you learn the word for “a little,” which is pronounced “skōsh”. Knowing what I know about Japanese already, I knew that the romanji spelling was probably “sukoshi”. While I really, REALLY appreciate the correct native pronunciations, not knowing how things are spelled (in our alphabet, anyway) makes some words difficult for me to remember.

I’ve discovered a solution: fellow bloggers who have already completed the Pimsleur Method lessons. These individuals have transcribed the conversations, new words, and review words in each lesson. I glanced over the Lesson 3 notes briefly before I listened to Lesson 3 today during my lunchtime walk, and I think it helped.

My favorite phrase right now? Watashi wa Nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimasu. Demo mada jouzu ja arimasen.

I’m also enjoying the JapanesePod101 Survival Phrases. I’ve taken to listening to one 30-minute Pimsleur lesson during the beginning of my lunchtime walk, then following it up with a 10 to 15-minute Survival Phrase podcast. I find that it brings me down slowly from the intensity of the Pimsleur method of learn-and-recall, but it lets me stay in the zone just a little while longer and learn some more vocab in a more light-hearted way.

Both JapanesePod101 and Pimsleur are teaching me phrases that will be ultimately very helpful in Japan, I think. Pimsleur is giving me stuff like, “I’m sorry,” “I understand Japanese a little,” “Do you understand English,” and other standard niceties… so far. JapanesePod101 is teaching me stuff like, “(Repeat) one more time, please,” “Slowly,” “What is your name,” “All right (OK),” and other helpful tips, like using the “magical ‘wa'” to infer a question. I’m enjoying having the dichotomy of the formal vs. the informal, and I like aspects of both. If I had to choose only one, I’d pick Pimsleur, hands-down… but I really do prefer pitting the two against each another for a more robust learning experience. ^_^

I had a bit of a Japanese epiphany today, and it combines my otaku geekery with my musician geekery. It occurs to me that some vowels in Japanese are pronounced like you would “ghost” notes in jazz. When I marched in the Bluecoats (a drum corps known for performing jazz), there was one particular phrase in which the brass staff had us “ghost” a note. That is, we pushed down the valves that would produce the note, but didn’t actually blow any air through the horn. The result is a note that is almost audible; it’s difficult to explain verbally, but makes perfect sense if you have a musical background. (Musicians and former musicians, back me up on this.)

Some Japanese syllables — most notably, “su” and “shi” and “ki” (and many others, I’m sure, in various word positions) — have vowels that aren’t voiced. They don’t seem to be silent, exactly, but they aren’t as pronounced as the others. And it struck me today, during my walk, that those vowels are like ghosted notes. You move your mouth like you’re saying them, but no sound really comes out. The result is a vowel that you might almost hear if you know it’s there. Not really like a apostrophe… it’s still there, just not emphasized, or really voiced at all. (Japanese language enthusiasts, tell me if I’ve got it right.)

I’m really enjoying learning a new language, and for a purpose, working toward a goal — that goal being basic communication in a foreign land at a specified time in the near future, rather than a high school or college exam. I’m enjoying making my brain wrap itself around new concepts again. It’s a feeling I hadn’t realized I’d missed.

OMG Japan trip! *squee*

When I was in middle school, I had the hardest time finding a deodorant that would keep me smelling fresh. Mom’s deodorant didn’t cut it for me, and it wasn’t until I saw an advertisement for a deodorant that was “So effective you could even skip a day™” that I finally found my brand. Over the years, my Lady Mitchum has served me well, though the products have changed from normal solid antiperspirant to a roll-on to a “hydrosolid” to a gel.

Recently, I got razorburn on my left armpit. Around the same time, I switched from my normal gel back to the “hydrosolid” that was on clearance. The hydrosolid ended up giving me a nasty rash where the razorburn was, so I had to forego the use of deodorant on my left pit for a few days, so it could heal. Eww.

Actually, it could have been worse. I put baby powder on my freshly-washed pit every morning, and it was fine until well after I got home in the evening. And, strangely enough, I enjoyed the feeling of letting my armpit breathe. That, plus a well-timed article in a health magazine, made me wonder if maybe I shouldn’t switch to a more natural deodorant.

Early this week, I received a shipment from Kiss My Face: natural deodorant, with no aluminum salts to clog the pores and possibly cause a host of medical problems. I’ve been using it all week, and it seems to work OK. Honestly, I’m not positive how much more effective this stuff is than the baby powder method, but it does smell nice. Like lavender. (I haven’t tried the patchouli yet, but it smells pretty strong. I’m gonna smell like a hippie.)

Right now, at almost midnight, my deodorant has long since worn off. That’s OK, though. I don’t mind the smell of me as much as I once did, especially since I’m all by my lonesome. I might reapply in the evenings if Aaron were here to smell my naturalness. 🙂

Again, as I said once before, mentioning that one has BO is probably not the best thing to do on one’s blog. But I’m feeling liberated from the evils of aluminum, and wanted to share. And the point of the natural deodorant is not to have BO in social situations, which I don’t.

It really does make you think about what our deodorant-deprived ancestors smelled like on a daily basis, or about people in other cultures or other countries — like the Mennonite I shared a Greyhound bus seat with, once upon a time. I don’t smell *that* strong, but it does make you wonder. Doesn’t it?

So, I saved five bucks by getting the new Civilization IV Presell Edition from Amazon with free shipping, which meant that, yes, I got the cool spiral-bound manual and fold-out Tech Tree and keyboard shortcut map and neato box and all that. For only $44.99!

It took a while to get it, what with the free Super Saver shipping and all, so when it arrived, all my willpower to resist playing Civ 4 went straight out the window.

Then I tried to play it.

Dude, where’s my map? I can’t see anything! I thought at first that maybe I just hadn’t explored far enough, but once I started building cottages and roads and pastures and shit, and I *still* couldn’t see, I realized something was terribly wrong.

Dude, where’s your head?! This looks like the outtakes from Shrek — you know, where they accidentally rendered Donkey inside-out? And his teeth and eyeballs were on the outside, and his fur was all spiky? Yeah.

Updated my video drivers, no help there. Tried a Windows Update, but I’m good there, too. Finally, I found a forum off of the 2kgames website, where I learned all about the “T&L” graphics thingie I read about on the box:

Solver (forum staff member) says:

T&L is a requirement, and that Intel graphics craptroller doesn’t have it.

Yes, indeedy, my Dell Dimension 3000 has an integrated Intel graphics card.

*pauses for giant hissy fit*

OMG, Civ is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE games. I never needed anything fancy with my graphics card before. I’m not a big PC gamer, really. I’m content with Civ and Starcraft and occasionally Warcraft.

I’m not sure who to be pissed at: the makers of Civ 4, who assumed that everyone who’s anyone would have a graphics card that supports T&L (which I’m honestly still not sure what it is which stands for Transform & Lighting, an apparent staple of 3D graphics), or the nice people at Dell and Intel, who didn’t integrate what seems to be a fairly normal and not at all cutting-edge technology into their graphics cards.

In either case, the game is currently fucking unplayable on my machine. I either have to a.) hope to God it plays on Aaron’s Dell Dimension 4600, and that he won’t mind if I bogart his computer while he’s gone at work, b.) spend X number of dollars on a new graphics card (does my computer even have another slot for a graphics card?), or c.) cry a lot and bang my head on my keyboard.

Fuckity fuck fuck goddamn mother fuck.

It looked like it was going to be so super fucking cool, too. I am severely pissed right now.

FUCK.

(And, yes, I know it’s just a game. But I’ve been super-geeked to play this game for over a month now, and this is really shitty.)

Update: Wish I would have known about this site before I blew $45 on Civ 4:

Oh, and FYI? I am not buying any of the fucking $300 video cards they recommend. Maybe I’ll dig up some reviews of the Diamond Stealth S80 or the GeForce4 MX 4000 or something. Effectively turning my cool $45 game into a $100 game.

*sigh* Just chalk another one up to me being a big stupid fuckhead sometimes.