Wizards and baseball

I saw the newest Harry Potter movie today. I haven't watched any of the previous movies very recently, and it's been a while since I've read any of the books. I don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, I wasn't super-focused on all the things that were different from the book, because I couldn't quite remember everything that happened. On the other hand, I spent a good deal of the movie trying very hard to keep up. I had forgotten about Dobby's existence, I couldn't remember what happened just prior to the movie (for instance, I had forgotten the most recent death), and I couldn't always remember who was supposed to still be around and who wasn't. Occasionally, my brain latched on to things I had vague memories of and wouldn't let go - I remembered an additional Horcrux, but, try as I might, I couldn't remember them all.

I don't really know how I feel about the movie. I don't think it was bad, but I don't think it was good, either. I do think I need to reread all the books sometime, in order. I've never really done that - I've reread the first and third books many times, because those are my favorites, and I read each book as it came out, but I've never reread them all in quick succession. There were always things I forgot during the wait for the next book. It might be nice to reread them all now that they're all out.

Other than that, I've been working on my Hulu queue and DVDs. As far as DVDs go, I'm currently stalled on the third Red Garden disc. I will finish the show. Eventually. I'm just not entirely certain I like where things are going, and I don't really like half of the girls, which makes it a little hard to cheer for them. On Hulu, I'm bouncing around a lot. A little bit of Spice and Wolf (in Olden Times Europe, a wolf goddess travels with a merchant - could be quite good, but I haven't gotten far into it yet), Darker Than Black (criminals and assassins with mysterious powers - I love it, despite the feeling that I could poke huge holes into it without even trying), and The Great Queen SeonDeok (epically long historical drama), and a lot of Big Windup (baseball, teamwork, friendship, and individual growth - great shonen stuff). I had originally avoided Big Windup because it looked boring. Somehow, I had forgotten how much I LOVE sports anime and manga. Since the show (or at least what's up right now, the English dub version) is due to expire at the end of next month, I think I'll concentrate on it for a bit, at least until it makes my heart explode with joy.