tommy's answers are too good to contravene.

(Though I will note the peanut kill was the most amusing thing in the movie and something I think about when flying next to an obnoxious co-passenger.)

The paperclip was pretty good. I liked the extra flourish.

Dog sleep disorders in Disney films

University of Barcelona researchers noted that dogs in classic Disney films frequently seem to exhibit REM behavior disorder (RBD). Below is the full abstract for their scientific paper, published in a 2007 issue of the journal Sleep Medicine:

During a viewing of Disney's animated film Cinderella (1950), one author (AI) noticed a dog having nightmares with dream-enactment that strongly resembled RBD. This prompted a study in which all Disney classic full-length animated films and shorts were analyzed for other examples of RBD. Three additional dogs were found with presumed RBD in the classic films Lady and the Tramp (1955) and The Fox and the Hound (1981), and in the short Pluto's Judgment Day (1935). These dogs were elderly males who would pant, whine, snuffle, howl, laugh, paddle, kick, and propel themselves while dreaming that they were chasing someone or running away. In Lady and the Tramp the dog was also losing both his sense of smell and his memory, two associated features of human RBD. These four films were released before RBD was first formally described in humans and dogs. In addition, systematic viewing of the Disney films identified a broad range of sleep disorders, including nightmares, sleepwalking, sleep related seizures, disruptive snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep disorder. These sleep disorders were inserted as comic elements. The inclusion of a broad range of accurately depicted sleep disorders in these films indicates that the Disney screenwriters were astute observers of sleep and its disorders.

The Chicago Tribune's given Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince 3 1/2 stars (out of four), and he calls it among the best of the bunch, next to HP&PoA. The review is not spoilerific if you've read the book.

I am so excited!! t bounce bounce bounce

I see it in, like, 24 hours!!

hmm. very interesting! given that they are splitting up the final book into 2 movies, I wonder if this will be the last opportunity for a really GOOD movie.

Why did I think HP didn't open until Friday? I was just looking at the show times, and it opens Wednesday--yay! (And, d'uh! on my part.) I've got to buy my ticket for Wed. night after work.

HP:HBP is easily the biggest departure so far from the source material, and this is a VERY GOOD THING. The ridonkulously pointless A-plot is given almost no time at all in favor of some really juicy arcy character stuff. Which was a huge relief to me because it could have gone the other way and been Weird Book 2: Electric Boogaloo.

The weakest point, as usual, is in the acting of the main three - they were all cast perfectly as children, but none of them have grown into really good actors. Radcliffe acts mostly with his jaw, Watson entirely with her eyebrows, and Grint is pleasantly goofy but can't offer anything in the way of substance. They're all good enough because they've lived with these characters for so long that we're used to it, but it's a shame they're not better. (I feel the same way about JKR's writing - she's a great children's author, but once the books migrate into YA territory she's out of her comfort zone.)

The teen romance angle is handled well for the most part except for one very weird scene between Harry and Ginny. They were going for a sweet domestic moment and wound up...weird.

I wish more time had been given to Draco, because his storyline in this one is IMO the most interesting, and it's very well done. OTOH, the movie is already nearly 3 hours long.

Still don't like HBC's Bellatrix. She needs to be more Nazi, less Wicked Witch. (There's certainly a place for pure mad evil in this universe, but HBC plays Bella as so completely round the bend that I have trouble believing this character could dress herself in the morning, let alone lead an army of Death Eaters.)

I have trouble believing this character could dress herself in the morning, let alone lead an army of Death Eaters.)

Have you see HBC IRL lately. I think she's living Wicked Witch.

I am so psyched (but knowing it won't live up to my own hype). There's a theatre nearish my work that has a showing at 4:30, which is when I get off work. I'm wondering if I could duck out early...

I'm going tonight. I have compartmentalized the movies and the books. Being such a book-to-movie purist, I had to make myself be ok with book canon and movie canon. The upside is that there are several canons to follow when writing fic!