apropos of anything

Hmm. Apparently I forgot to upload my blog about President Reagan’s death. It’s at home, so I’ll have to retroactively squeeze it in tonight.

I meant to post pictures from the Human Development Fund fundraising dinner last night, but I think they’re going to come out blurry because I couldn’t completely figure out how to use Ken’s wacky camera. I had a good time, despite having to listen to the neverending and uninspiring litany of people who had no public speaking skills whatsoever. HDF has a very admirable mission, but I would have been far more inclined to increase my donation had they not put so much pressure on us, or talked in so much length about How Much We Owe Pakistan. (One guy even said he loved Pakistan more than his kids. Hooray?) Some of us are not Pakistani, people, and we don’t really have any desire to be, either. On a slightly different note, a lot of people of people were there, and I was somewhat surprised by how many of them I knew. Maybe I just keep moving in the same circles?

Hermione, Harry, and Ron sneak out of Hagrid’s hut

Saturday afternoon, Dan, AM and I went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the newest movie in the wildly popular fantasy series. (We had to go to Parkway Pointe after we sadly discovered the Madstone theater on Roswell Road has closed.) I saw The Sorcerer’s Stone because I was curious as to how they would translate the book to the big screen, and I avoided Chamber of Secrets altogether because the first movie was so mind-numbingly bad. Azkaban, however, is my favorite of the Potter books, was not directed by “that hack, Chris Columbus” (trademark our esteemed entertainment editor), and got decent reviews, so I took a chance. This is one fabulous movie, y’all. Alfonso Cuaron did an amazing job with a very long and beloved book, making plot cuts in all the right places (I suppose at least part of that praise belongs to Steve Kloves, the screenwriter — but Kloves was screenwriter on the two previous Potter movies as well) and coaxing strong performances out of his entire cast. He used just enough CGI to bring Hogwarts to life, unlike Columbus, who knocked us all unconscious with the weight of his special effects bonanza. This is what the Harry Potter movies should have been all along. I only wish Cuaron had agreed to do Goblet of Fire as well.

I’d also post pictures from Friday night’s ballgame if Asim ever sends them out. Which he’d better. Soon. I’m glad everyone had a good time, though, especially as I was worried about some people getting bored. Next up, soccer?

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