Muggle Me This
Sunday night I figured I’d go see the new Harry Potter movie. I’m getting increasingly hooked on these films. I loved The Half Blood Prince—almost as much as the new Star Trek. It’s getting to the point where I might have to start reading the books. I just hope it doesn’t come to that.
I went by myself around 11:30 p.m. If I’m going to a movie by myself, I try to pick the latest show possible. When I approached the ticket kiosk, I said, “One for Harry Potter, please.” And the young lady behind the bulletproof glass said, “Just one?”
It wasn’t what she said, but how she said it. Just one. Those two words were heavily weighted. They were almost an indictment. Just one. As if it were strange for a 32-year-old man, unshaven and balding, to want a ticket to see a movie about teenage wizards without first being coerced by a child, younger sibling or significant other. I just love magic, lady. I even used to play the card game.
The Land of Ice and Snow
Legend was playing on the big screen at the foot of the stage when we entered Irving Plaza for the Dragonforce show. Not even at comic book conventions have I ever felt so comfortable in my nerdiness. On the floor, and on the balcony, nerds packed in for a dose of triumphant metal. Conversations ranged from the merits (or lack thereof) of Nightwish to roleplaying games.
A venue change caused us to miss the first band, but I wasn’t too interested in seeing them anyway. We did however make it in time for Turisas, whose power I was completely unprepared for. Their arrival was heralded by a speech over the PA about feasting and fighting. After the first song, the lead singer said they were from Finland, I remarked, for my ears only, “Of course you are.” If the songs weren’t about battles, they were about drinking, or drinking during battles. Or elves and trolls and forests and shit, I’d bet.
The band itself was striking to behold. It was as if Legend had spilled off the screen and into real life. They were clad like barbarians, faces covered in black and red war paint. A violinist looked danced around like an overgrown hobbit. A guitar player with a long braided beard stood ominously in the shadows. There was a woman too, a sort of Valkyrie princess playing accordion. It was hard to tell if she was truly attractive or not as far back as we were, but I’d like to think she was. I’d also liked to think she was the kind of fiery lass whose heart could only be won by the mightiest hunter, who could bring for her the finest pelts of the most feral beasts; whose dowery wasn’t jewels or good, but an enormous feast of roasted ox. But then again, I like to think a lot of things that have no basis in reality.
Other than that, I drank Newcastle from the can for the first time. It seemed flimsier than the bottled version. And Dragonforce melted my face.
Lvl. 30 Wizard casts sum spells.
