ParaNorman

 

 

Me to my three contributions to the universe:  ParaNorman got really high reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, who's in?

Kenneth: ME!

Frances: NO WAY I don't do zombies...

Lowell: ME!

P: Are you sure? it’s going to be scary.....

L: I want to see the zombies....

Well, it is rated PG, how scary is it, really?

Fine... the boys and I go, and we do our thing...we know how to buy tickets in a line and we know to use the bathrooom and we know we don't play video games or ask for snacks...

Kick it up a notch:

So boys, what theater are we looking for?

Number 9....

we find 3, 7, 11.....I think they put them out of order to annoy me..

Finally...there is the 9, with a poster of our movie by it and.....

Lowell starts shaking like a leaf over the poster, not the movie, not a trailer, a poster. 

This kid sat through all kinds of Superhero and Transformer and Ben Ten whatever, but ParaNorman seems to be the limit.

Lowell: Ok mommy, I changed my mind I want to go home now.

It is such a bummer to be a third child, I really feel for them and thank God everyday I'm the oldest.

P: Um… I already bought the ticket.  The 3D tickets, we can't really just go home.  Why don't you try it?

Lowell:  I....I....

K: Really Lowell?  You can't watch zombies?  I can watch zombies...

Lowell  was suddenly  torn between wanting to run out the exit door and hanging with his older brother.  Not a good place to be.  We went inside with him holding on to me for dear life.

He perfected the watch and hide technique.  He would sit in my lap for some of it and then hide under his seat like a turtle.  Again, with the third child...I didn't wipe the floor off.

I did feel it was my obligation to tell him he was doing a diservice to the film.

P: Sweetie, you are missing really good dialogue-that’s when two people talk to each other…and whoever wrote it did a brilliant job...

Lowell: I don’t care

I tried one more time:

P: Angel baby, this is a really good special effect … we could make our own puppets and use the iPhone….

L: Mom, I’ll just hide under this seat, ok?

I'll give this to Lowell. Even under his plush red seat,  he laughed at the more intelligent jokes.  He still can't get over the humus bit.

All right, he is fine.

So I turned my attention to the other guy I was with. Why don't I do this in real life?

He was much more into it.

Kenneth: "Mom!  This is awesome!  Thank you thank you thank you!!!  See that zombie!  The judge.  He reminds me of William Shakespeare...

Now that's more like it.

I started whispering him about the movie and explained the references to other movies.

Such as:

Friday the 13th
The Exorcist
The Sixth Sense
The Others
The Uninvited
28 Days Later
all the Zombie films I never watched...

Kenneth: Awesome mom-how old do I have to be to watch those?

P: Ummmm I'm not sure, I know some people pushing forty that won't watch any of those now.  We'll talk as you get older.

Kenneth: Ok, but maybe we should quit whispering now.

Righto

As the movie progressed and the plot developed, Lowell climbed out from under his seat and cheered the hero/underdog on.  All types of kids who are different and misunderstood were represented.  One scene in that movie is going to annoy the hell out of certain conservative groups.  YAY!!!!

On the way home we discussed the movie and a little about the Salem Witch Trials which are referenced in the film.

Some parts of history just can't be grasped by six year olds:

Kenneth: The Salem Witch Trials- wait what?  In America? Really?

Must google book for children about the Salem Witch Trials-perhaps there is a Magic Treehouse....

Best things to come away with:

1) The boys want to hear "Little Ghost" by White Stripes over and over again right now. Stay for the closing credits.  Thank God I like folk music.

2) It's one thing for other people to be afraid of your differences, but your family should love you, support you,  and roll with it.

3) My mom reminded me that my children have no interest in Tim Burton's Frankenweenie coming out in October.

I asked them about it when we got home:

P: What’s deal with that boys?  ParaNorman yes, Frankenweenie, No?

Kenneth: We’re men-we mix our messages...

Lowell: Yeah-like my zombies....

Ain’t that the damn truth…

Enjoy your differences…let it roll.

A Happy Harry Potter Day....

*Warning and Disclaimer: I am a Harry Potter fan and have the right to write what I want. If it is too over the top for you and you can’t enjoy the entertainment of it-go read a foodie recipe blog and leave me alone.

Now….My Happy Harry Potter Day….

July 31, 2012- Harry Potter is 32 today.  It has been 15 years since he defeated the Dark Lord…wow.  That was the same year I graduated from college, got married, and started teaching in the public schools.  He and I sure have grown up.  Here I am in New York City..by myself.  I don’t have to be anywhere or answer to anyone. I have a ticket for Potted Potter tonight at seven. My ticket stub will say July 31^st. Yay!!!

But what to do with an entire day for Harry Potter?  I’m not in London, but this is New York. I can find something Potter-like  to do. 

He was the Gryffindor Seeker-flying on a broom up high in the air….I need to hit the Empire State Building.  Sure, millions of tourists come up this high every year just to pretend they are watching a Quidditch match-right? They must.  I can’t be the only person who thought this.  I waited in the line and I walked the six flights from floor 80 to 86 because I thought it would be good cross training. I looked at all the views-no Quidditch, but I was up high. 

What next???

Hmmmm…Harry could speak Parsletongue.  He got mad and set a boa constrictor loose on his cousin.

 It was time to hit the Central Park zoo.

I saw all the snakes and not a one of them winked at me. That is actually a good thing, because if one of them had I would know for sure I was completely crazy. 

I was trying to find 3rd street after that, and stumbled across…

Dylan’s Candy Bar

Honeyduke’s anyone?  Harry spent many a Galleon on the candies that only exist in the wizarding world.  I doubted I could find a Chocolate Frog that really jumped or Pepper Imps that would make me breathe fire or a Fizzing Whizbee  so I could levitate.  Instead,  I found lots of yummy treats that would force me to run not one but two marathons if I ate them all at once.

It was an awesome candy shop.  My only complaint is the name candies.  They never have my name spelled correctly and forget any of my children.  That’s not a completely bad thing if your goal is to be different.  So I’ll just drop it.

What they did have was an entire wall of Jelly Bellys-the Muggle equivalent of Bertie Bott’s.   I mixed my own bag of every flavor beans… popcorn, espresso coffee, margarita..:0)

All those sweets made me hungry for lunch.  What would Harry Potter have on his birthday?  He wouldn’t have a hotdog or a pizza slice.  He wouldn’t grab a gyro on the run.  I needed to find a pub.

I’ll try the Room of Requirement incantation and see what happens: I need to find a pub, I need to find a pub, I need to find a pub…

Just like that, an Irish one appeared out of nowhere.  Hmmmm Harry lived in Little Whinging and his house is now in London. Hogwarts is up in Scotland..but Seamus Finnegan came from Ireland!!!! Yay!  Ireland has a presence in the magical world-I can eat there.

Since I was alone, the hostess told me to sit at the bar.  I ordered the Shepherd’s pie and a Guinness for Harry Potter.

I didn’t notice the guy sitting next to me until he asked about the Olympic soccer match.

The small talk continued about what I done that morning and the play I was going to that night.  He looked at me, he looked at my candy bag, and he looked at the Guinness.

Then he said, “Are you on a Harry Potter mission today?”

“Yes.”  Since he figured it out why lie?

“Well, I’m a middle school English teacher –aren’t you glad you didn’t sit down next to an investment banker that would have thought you were crazy?”

“Uh…maybe?”

“What’s the next thing on your Harry Potter agenda?”

I had originally planned on having my red lochs blown dry straight like Hermione did before the Yule Ball with the Sleekeazy Hair Potion, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Nothing until Potted Potter tonight at seven.”

“Would you like Irish Pub hop for Harry? I will have you at your theater in time for your play.”

Now everyone please don’t freak-I’m smart.  While he went to the bathroom,  I Googled his school-there he was in the English department.  The Room of Requirement sent me an English teacher that understood it was July 31^st.  Never leave home without your iPhone.

My favorite part of the hop was McSorley’s-it’s a famous place-Seamus Finnegan would be proud….

 Yes…I made it to my play and it was AWESOME.  The Potted Potter parody is another example of how the fans can take the Potter world and make it their own.  These comedians took each book and told the story in seventy minutes with a lot of props, witty one-liners, and a Quidditch match in the middle.

You don’t have to go to the UK to have a Harry Potter day!

 All my stubs and receipts from that day say the 31^st and reflect something from the Harry Potter world.

From now on, July 31^st is better by than my own birthday. 

What a Patronus full of happy memories….