Humans Are High in Fiber

A joint production of Golden Films and Felock Productions.

Once Upon a Time...

"It felt like the end of the world."

That was Xavi's take. Otherwise I might have called this post "How Qdoba saved 75% of the Goldens" (Remember - click on photos for the full size.)

Just a note to let people know we're okay, power's back on, and though we were around the worst of the storm, Camp Newaygo seems to have missed it for the most part.

Sunday afternoon we headed up to Newaygo to drop off Ysabela for church camp. Our main concern had been for the weather - but just the heat, as she is heat sensitive like Karen. The camp is beautiful, she seems to have a great counselor, and the main building just reopened after a 2.5 million dollar renovation. Air-conditioned, which was reassuring. Ysabela seemed happy and rapidly adjusting.

On the way home, the rain started. By the time we got to Muskegon, it was torrential, and we were looking for a place to eat to just get out of the heavy rain and lightning. We finally settled on Qdoba, and dashed inside. Just as lightning seemed to strike the Meijer parking lot across the street. Impressive stuff! The power was flickering, but the wanting-to-go-home crew of Qdoba made us dinner anyway.

When we left, every path seemed blocked. We finally found a route back to Grand Haven, and then a path back to our house. Block and a half away there was a major tree down holding down power lines, half a block away a silver maple looked like it exploded, and 50 feet from the house the silver maple in front of Paul and Sarah's had fallen over - into our front yard, rather than into the house, thank the Lord.

Power was out for our couple of blocks, but not city wide. The most nerve wracking thing was not being able to get news about whether the weather had been as bad at Camp Newaygo. Our first hour of power was spent assuring ourselves that they skipped the worst of it.

So we're thanking the Lord for sparing us, as the news of the storm was like an account of our route, for watching over Ysabela and the other campers, and blessings over the brave people out making repairs in this weather. Check out some of the news coverage at Wood TV and MLive. Poor people in Holland and parts east got another heavy soaking, 2-4 inches of rain in less than a few hours.

UPDATE: Terry's Tree Service came by and cleared the road last night, and the city came by and cleared about two trucks worth of wood this morning. Leaving just a few large piles on the verge on our property, and the trunk on Paul and Sarah's. It was a big tree! (Sounds like at least 80 years old.)

Very sweet girl came by this morning. Her mother explained that she wanted to go help someone, so they packed up their rakes and started driving. They helped us clear the clearable parts of the yard. I think Natalie's mother was glad to find a reasonable task, and Natalie seemed to get a lot of pleasure from helping. What a nice kid!

Animal Catch

X: Bela put me in a box and put a blanket over me.
J: That doesn't sound good.
X: We were playing Animal Catch.


X: I was the animal.

Ba-dum-bum

July Catsup

Well, we're into Coast Guard week, but haven't made too much of it. What have we been doing?
a) Nothing. Hence no posts.
b) Forced to flee the house again.
c) Stuff?

No worries, it's just stuff. After June felt crazy, we thought July would be easy, but July has felt crazy too. There were weddings, with Karen going to goddaughter Julie's solo, and Loren and Mike's, that we did a crazy drive in for the day thing. The house saw deck repairs, new windows, the couch back from Andre (who is like the answer to "what do you get when you cross a dutch fireman with George Clooney," but, man can the guy pretty up a settee), and painted what has alternately described as lime sherbet, mint chocolate chip hold the chips, fresh, cottagey, oooh bright, and topiary tint. (The last what Sherwin Williams calls it.) We had a terrific guy, Eric, for the windows and a great team from College Pro Painters for the paint, call for the numbers. And VBS, which we were more into again, with Karen running crafts, with Heather and Gail support, and John story-telling Joseph. (No pics as of yet, but you should see the Many Colors Coat that Elizabeth made. Wow.) Our church's education person, Leslie, does a great job and really treasures the kids. We also had the chance to do Loving Spoonfuls again, a nice service where the church provides a Sunday supper for free, run by Randall and Cissy. Andrew helped us, and we always welcome guest chefs/waiters to work with us. Xavier passed his second belt test in a month, and is now a green stripe. He has a group board break on Monday before the Whitecaps game. And that brings us to Coast Guard...

Cookies for cookies' sake. They weren't for anything in particular!
(EDIT: it has been pointed out that these were 4th of July cookies.
You know, with cats.)

Coming soon: the latest flick from Y's pen: Humans are High in Fiber, filmed with a full extended family cast. I'm excited because it looks like Tara's editing it instead of me!

Green Theme.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

A reviewish post by John. No spoilers about book 7, ever.

Non-spoilery part: It was a good movie. Unfortunately we are huge or devout or rabid fans of Harry Potter and expect greatness. The movie was shot well and acted well. The fault is with the screenwriter. He just didn't get it. I was horrified to see that he is writing 7a and 7b. I was stunned to find out he wrote all of the previous, except for Order of the Phoenix. (By which I was quite impressed.) Well, not stunned for all, because of course the other movies were bitterly disappointing. Maybe sourly disappointing. But he wrote Prisoner of Azkabhan, which I love. The credit for which I will now give even more to Alfonso Cuaron.

Jim Broadbent improved Professor Slughorn from the book by really fleshing him out as a person. Really made him more sympathetic. Tom Felton made good use of his increased screen-time as Draco. And, surprisingly, Emma Watson made big strides in her acting, without even a single seriously wince-worthy moment. There were odd changes of sets, like a completely revamped Burrow, which you would only expect with a director change, but David Yates continues on from Order of the Phoenix. (And on into 7a and 7b.)

Bottom line: go see the movie. It is still Harry Potter, and worthwhile. But it could have been so much more. To know how much more, read the book.

Spoilery-Part below the book image:

But the writing! The book is so rich in characterization and connections, and the movie just falls flat. It is largely ignorant of what has come before, what happens during and what is to follow.

The DA, the focus of the previous movie, is ignored. Their role in the book is just cut. The Order of the Phoenix is largely invisible, despite the many opportunities for subtle screen time. Grimauld Place isn't even mentioned. Once again the House-elves were omitted. Shockingly, Privet Drive is cut, despite the really charming scene with Dumbledore there. But the most glaring point is how little anyone cares about Voldemort in this movie. As a part of the series, it really makes it fall flat. As a stand-alone movie, it is just confusing. The movie opens with dramatic revelation of what a threat he is, and then... nothing. For a school year.

Even connections within the movie are lacking, as everything is about the eponymous book for the first third of the movie, and then it's completely forgotten except as an excuse for messing with how Harry and Ginny get together and a throw away line at the end. The entire focus of Dumbledore's and Harry's relationship in the book, the focus of understanding Voldemort, is cut. Crucial information about the horcruxes is cut. The big funeral in the book is cut, even though it serves large emotional and plotting purposes. The big battle in the book is cut, even though it is the WHOLE CULMINATION of the Malfoy plot which was made front and center in the movie.

And the worry is, after cutting so much, how will they tell the end of the story? So much of what came before is necessary and a part of the finish. Both emotionally and logistically. I have real fears about how they are going to muddle what is one of the most satisfying and deep culminations to a story that I have ever read. I understand that things need to be cut to make a movie. But then why add in new scenes of your own? Is it because Mr. Kloves doesn't understand the story? Because he's too focused on a chapter rather than the whole story? Because his ego demands writing himself (figuratively) into the story? It just doesn't make sense. When they disapparate from the castle, Harry asks how it is possible. Dumbledore answers with a joke, but it felt like it was the writer telling us he is messing with the story just because he can. Booo. I mean Boooo!

Last Post of a Busy Month

So it was finally time for our window installation. (Which went great, and we'd highly recommend the guys - call us if you need the name.) Due to Xavi's allergies, we felt like we should vacate while the house was open, so we headed to Lansing. With a surprise guest - the kids' good friend Mason!

First stop, even before the hotel, was the State Capitol. We got there an hour before closing, and got an excellent private tour with Barb, who had just finished a history study of the Capitol's architect, Elijah Myers. She also filled us in on restoration details, secrets in the paintings of the governors, and a story about an unnamed representative putting a sticker on a 130 year old antique desk.

Captiol exterior, senate chamber
looking up into the dome, on the steps

We stayed at the Kellogg Center on the MSU campus. The room was quite nice, great view of campus, and perfect for 5 with a large sitting area. There was much Magic (including Xavi!), and superhero playacting, action figures, reading and drawing.

On Saturday we hit the Michigan Historical Museum. We were disappointed that the prehistoric and frontier sections were closed, but the 20th century floor was super cool. The kids were given an assignment to learn three things, and they all found different interesting bits and did a great job writing about them. We're definitely going back when the whole museum is open. There was a cool connection with the capitol: the main rotunda has a display of battle-flag replicas from the civil war, and then the real thing was on display at the museum. (Barb tip!)

The Museum/Library complex, breaking with some Voyageurs,
replicas and the real thing

Other than that we spent our time touring MSU (with obligatory bad Dad stories), eating and hitting comic book shops. Clem's Collectibles in Lansing on Washington just south of the capitol was quite a hit, even though it's no Lange's (our local shop).

Care and Feeding of Dragons

The latest from Golden Film Studios, A Ferryport Landing Special Report.

No dragons were harmed in the filming of this video. If only we could say the same of the children.

In related news, the Feminineos came in for a whirlwind visit. We had a recap of the Grimm Party mystery, and then the kids made a mystery for the grown-ups. The Scarlet Hand had stolen the Bell of Au (one of the trippiest Grimm artifacts, involving church attendance and forest apes. Really.) and we had to solve three riddles to find it.

The next day saw an amazing encounter with our favorite children's author, Laurie Keller. She seems as nice as is humanly possible. Back home for the movie making and ... slinky? After a quick 24 hour visit they were off again, wending their way towards Florida.